“You’re a lifesaver.” She grabbed the mug, warming her hands.
“It’s purely selfish. I know what you’re like when you’re tired.” He shoved his hands in his jeans. “How’s Darion?”
“Good. I’m heading back if you want to come visit,” she offered.
“Sure, I have a few minutes ‘til I’m due at training.” He held the door out of the common room open for her. “Nikki says he’s doing well.”
“He harassed us all morning, so I’d say so.” The hot liquid warmed a path straight to her stomach. Truly the nectar of the gods. “So what’s going on with Nikki?” Becca glanced at him sideways.
He shrugged.
“She’d been great with Doc in taking care of Darion.”
“Glad to hear it.” His blank features and blunt tone told her there was more to the story, but she didn’t want to push. They walked the rest of the way in silence.
In the small medical room, Andre and Doc were talking to Darion. Andre sat perched on the bed next to Darion while Doc held a chart in his hands. Nikki attended to Marcus a few beds down.
“Hey.” Caleb approached Darion. “How’s it going? They feeding you good?”
Darion looked as if he’d been run over by a truck. “Oh yeah, with this broth, I’m sure I’ll be your size any day now.”
Caleb had a good six inches and probably fifty pounds on Darion. He gave a light laugh. “I’ll be ready for you.”
“Glad you both came. We need to talk.” Andre turned to Doc. “You said Marcus needed a walk today. Do you think you and my daughter could arrange that now?”
“Sure.” Doc turned to Marcus. “Come on. No more lying around on the job.”
Nikki helped him with Marcus, and the three of them left the room.
Caleb pulled up a chair, and Becca sat at the foot of Darion’s bed. She placed a hand on his leg. His magic pulsed strong. If she could only keep a hand on him all the time, she wouldn’t worry. Talk about smothering.
As soon as the others left, Andre spoke. “First, I wanted to ask you about the group that attacked us. Jemi got the impression they were searching for us specifically, and I’m trying to figure out how they found us. Could they have anything from you to track you specifically? Hair or blood? I protect against those kinds of spells, but I’m not sure what else it could be.”
“I don’t think so,” Darion said. “I’m usually pretty careful.”
“Maybe…” Becca’s thoughts traveled to the last time she saw her uncle alive. She had woken up trapped in a cell. “I was unconscious around Jeremiah. He could have…”
“He’s dead though. Ryma would have had to find it and know it was yours.” Darion’s voice tightened, proving he was just as unhappy about this topic of conversation as she was.
“And you haven’t contacted anyone else?” Andre looked to each of them.
“No,” she and Darion replied.
“I have no one to contact.” Caleb shrugged, the emptiness in his voice making Becca’s heart ache.
“Okay, then. I’ll figure out that one later.” Andre took a deep breath, a somberness falling on his features as he focused on Becca. “Darion showed me the spell you guys retrieved from Richard, and I’m sorry to say we won’t be able to complete it, Becca. We need to discuss what we do next.”
Becca bolted up. “What? We’re giving up?”
His dark eyes bored into hers. “Did you really read this?”
“Yes.” She’d actually memorized it. “I know it requires a blood sacrifice, but I saw a similar thing at Ryma’s where they cut their arm to fulfill the sacrifice. I can do that.” She wasn’t afraid of a little blood, and Andre was far from a pacifist.
“No.” He shook his head, pity seeping into his face. “It requires a complete blood sacrifice. And for a demon of this power, it will need to be quite a sacrifice. Someone relatively young, like your sister, and strong enough to attract the demon to the pentagram to trap him. Do you really want to kill a wizard on the slim chance your sister is still awake in there?”
A heavy weight pressed on Becca’s chest, making it difficult to breathe. Caleb stood at her side, and Darion struggled to sit up. She searched their faces and found worry. For her. Not her sister, who lay dying in the nearby room. If they knew Elizabeth, or really knew Becca, they would realize they were worried about the wrong sister.
“We did all we could,” Darion said. “We tried everything.”
“Is that it, then?” Her voice broke under the pain threatening to explode.
Caleb took her hand, but it felt far away as if she were disconnected from her body.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” Andre told her, so formal as if Elizabeth were already dead. In his eyes, she was.
Becca struggled to speak. “Can we do it tomorrow? I’d like to say goodbye.”
Andre nodded. Becca backed up, wanting to run away from everyone’s pitying gaze.
Caleb started to follow.
She raised her hand, palm up, stopping him. “I just need some time alone.” She couldn’t explain the pain in her chest about to explode, and she couldn’t break down here.
Once she was out of the room, she took off, sprinting down the corridors. Welcoming the pain in her sore legs, she ran away from the eating and training areas through unknown paths with no sense of direction. She didn’t care. She wanted to get lost, to be alone in the darkness like her sister had been for over a month. All of it had been for nothing.
Becca should have been the one trapped by the demon. The haunting accusations of her dead uncle came back to her−since Becca was ruined, he was forced to use Elizabeth. He was a monster. But maybe he was right. What if her choices caused her sister’s death? Then who was the real monster?
.
CHAPTER 19
B efore dinner, Caleb wandered the halls searching for Becca. She had wanted space, and he understood that. After his parents died, he needed time to scream at the world and curse God. But now as dinner was in full swing, he needed to make sure she was okay. He’d promised Darion.
Caleb caught sight of Navina’s braids in the halls and caught up to her. “Have you seen Becca?”
“Yeah. She was in training.”
“How was she?”
Navina shrugged. “Not too good. She even let me beat her a couple times.”
“Thanks.” He headed towards Becca’s dormitory. He’d never been down here before, since it was for women only. He knocked on the metal door.
An older lady with graying hair opened it. “Yes?”
“I’m looking for Becca.”
“Don’t think she’s up for company right now.” She opened the door wider and motioned to Becca on a top bunk, back turned to him. “Said she wanted rest after training.”
“I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“She’s not, but she will be with time.” The woman stepped farther into the hall and lowered her voice. “I spoke with Andre. We’ll keep an eye on her tonight.”
Caleb was grateful for their care, but it did nothing for the uneasiness in his stomach.
The woman placed a hand on his shoulder in a grandmotherly fashion. “She isn’t the first one of us to lose a loved one. We’ll take good care of her.”
He nodded. “Of course. Thank you.”
He slowly walked away, trying to reassure himself that Becca would get past this. She was the strongest person he knew. What was he going to do, watch her sleep all night? To be honest, he wanted to. It would be easier for him than trusting Becca to strangers.
Becca kept to her bed for the rest of the night. Someone brought her food, but she couldn’t stomach it. There was too much on the line.
The other women assumed she was mourning, and in a way, she was. But not for Elizabeth. Not yet. She avoided Darion and Caleb. They knew her better than anyone, so lying wouldn’t work. If things went wrong, she loathed the idea of not saying goodbye.
She drifted off once or twice as night fell. Not for long, just b
riefly. Images of her sister flooded her dreams, waking Becca to her real purpose. When the sounds of sleep filled the darkened room, she climbed out of bed. She’d have one chance at saving her sister, and it would have to be now.
Susan, the older widow, stirred slightly. “Is that you, Becca?”
“Yeah. I’m going to see Doc about getting something to help me sleep,” Becca whispered so as to not wake the others.
“Okay. Ask him for something to eat too.”
“I will,” she lied and crept out the door.
The halls were bare and nearly dark to save energy. But after living down here for a week, she didn’t need light.
She stopped by the kitchen, but not for food, and then continued on to Jemi’s room. This was the hardest part of her plan—lying to Jemi. Becca could only hope that Jemi would chalk it up to crazy emotions at her sister’s impending death.
Jemi lived alone, near Andre. Becca wondered at first why she didn’t live in the dorms with the rest of the single women, but after dealing with Jemi’s sharp demeanor, she stopped wondering and was grateful.
She knocked quietly, and didn’t have to wait long before Jemi answered.
“What is it?” she asked.
Becca wasn’t an actress, but she brought everything out for this performance. She had to. “I couldn’t sleep and wondered if you could talk. Maybe explain why Andre won’t save my sister. It’s like he doesn’t even want to try.”
A mixture of emotions crossed Jemi’s face as she struggled to wake up, annoyance the most prominent. “Sure, come on in.” She rubbed her face with one hand. “Guess I’ll make coffee.”
Becca took two steps inside, and then without hesitation, raised the pan she’d stolen from the kitchen and slammed it into Jemi’s head. Jemi collapsed in a boneless heap. Becca couldn’t have countered Jemi’s magic, but magicians often forgot about good old muscle.
“I’m so sorry, Jemi,” Becca whispered as she dragged Jemi’s body out into the hall. “I wouldn’t have done it if there was any other way.”
Jemi was the only person light enough for Becca to carry. She heaved the unconscious woman over her shoulder and staggered slightly under her weight. Bracing one hand on the wall, Becca continued down the path.
There it was. Elizabeth’s room. One guard stood outside. He carried a rifle over his shoulder, which was a good sign that he was one of Leon’s men. She didn’t recognize him from Lance’s training either.
Becca closed her eyes and focused her magic. She had been practicing with controlling animals. She was improving, more than she wanted to admit, because it scared her.
Today, regrettably, she even controlled Navina. The girl would go pick up the animal and then return to her spot, believing the animal had come to her. Normally Navina wouldn’t be so susceptible, but the girl was focusing all her power at beating Becca, not protecting herself from Becca.
It sickened Becca to do it, but desperate times, desperate measures. Desperate to right the wrong she started all those years ago by running away, resulting in her parents’ deaths and her sister becoming Soultorn. She needed to know if what she planned for tonight was even possible. If there was any chance of saving Liz, she had to take it.
Watching the guard, Becca projected her magic, pushing ideas of hunger, an uncontrollable hunger, into the mind of the guard. Flashes of food from the kitchen did the trick. Confusion clouded his vision. He shook his head a few times. Becca pushed harder, and then the guard snapped his head up and headed off right past Becca, towards the kitchen. She’d done it.
It left her breathing hard. Hopefully it didn’t drain her too much. She needed her magic for what came next.
She lugged Jemi towards the door, struggling with Jemi’s unconscious body. Finally, she propped Jemi against the wall and used her hand to open the door. It unlocked with a small click. She lay Jemi on the ground close to the wall so hopefully no one would step on her. Becca hated to leave Jemi where people could find her, but it wasn’t safe inside, especially for an unconscious witch. What Becca had planned shouldn’t take long.
Inside the room, Becca watched her sister. Elizabeth lay pale and still as if dead, except for the movement behind her eyelids. Her golden hair was braided to the side, soft pieces framing her face. Clear plastic tubing ran from her arm to a metal stand.
“Just hold on,” Becca told her sister.
The next several minutes felt like hours as Becca opened the glass barrier with her magic. Then she carefully drew a pentagram next to the one she’d previously drawn. She took her time, making it perfect, with every grain of salt and every word. She had only one chance at this, and Elizabeth’s life depended on it.
Bael’s power thrummed inside the room, pulsating on her skin. Becca took off her jacket for the first time in weeks.
“I don’t know if this will work,” she told her unconscious sister. “But whatever happens, know I love you.”
She stepped inside the pentagram and pulled out a knife she’d kept from Leon. Sitting with legs crossed, she locked the pentagram with a single word. Then she began the spell. She had ingrained the words into her mind the second she saw them. No one probably thought a person would use them on themselves.
She offered herself as the sacrifice to pull Bael out. She opened her magic. It felt almost perverse. It was similar to the same spell she used with Darion. Except this time, she was pairing with a demon. A demon who could and probably would kill her. She drew the knife down her arm, blood quickly welling to drip onto the floor. The wound wasn’t deep enough to kill her, but deep enough to entice this devil to leave her sister alone.
Gritting her teeth, she swallowed the pain blossoming in her arm. Blood pooled around her as she let it flow freely. The sight left her light-headed, but she wasn’t done yet. This was the only way, she reminded herself. Her sister deserved to live.
The knife clattered to the floor as Becca finished the spell. “Come and get me, Bael, you devil.”
CHAPTER 20
D arion thrummed his fingers on the edge of the bed. Trying to ignore the wound throbbing on his side, his frustration grew with every passing second.
“You need anything?” Doc grabbed his bag as if heading out.
Darion wanted to tell him to track down Becca, tie her up if he had to, and drag her back here. He hadn’t seen her all day since she’d taken off. Instead, he replied, “No.”
“Nikki will be here in a little bit. I have to go see a patient before I turn in. Will you be okay for a few minutes?” Doc covered a big yawn.
Marcus had moved out today, so Darion would be alone.
“Sure thing.”
“Thanks. Nikki can give you more pain meds in an hour, and that should help you sleep. Night.”
Despite Andre lending his magic to help Darion heal—something he’d never seen before—Darion was still sore as hell. But he didn’t want pain meds. He’d feel better when he knew Becca was okay.
Caleb had checked on her and told Darion she was in her room. Andre had even assigned a woman in the dorm to watch over her. Though nice, it did nothing to ease the dread growing inside. She’d lost her sister. The only reason she was grieving now, instead of a couple months ago, was because of him. He gave her this crazy hope that Elizabeth had a chance.
Once that shattered, the last couple of months were meaningless torture for all of them. He had to talk to her, make it right, and if he was going to have a chance, it would be now.
He slowly rolled to his uninjured side. The wound throbbed every time he tried to use his stomach. He continued off the bed and collapsed on the ground, breathing through his teeth. A cold chill traveled up his back. He wore loose cotton pants, but no shirt. At least the large white bandage on his side held secure.
He used the bed to pull himself up and moaned in agony. Once up, moving was easier. He shuffled forward along the bed and searched for a cane or something, but no luck. With clumsy steps, he made it to the wall. Holding on to the jagged surface, he w
aited for the pain to pass before continuing out the door.
The corridors were nearly dark and empty, thankfully. He continued down the hall, trying to orient in the dark maze before him. It was his first time on his feet since the attack, and the walls lurched around him. He gripped the rocky surface, determined to stay upright.
Which way to the girls’ dorms? They were on the other side of the cafeteria.
Low light barely illuminated the halls, but he could see his feet. Pushing out the pain, he focused on placing one foot in front of the other. Sweat dripped down his back despite the chill in the air.
With each step, the dread steadily grew to panic. He had to find Becca.
Someone approached. A guard. Darion held his hands open, magic ready. He wasn’t going back to his room until he saw Becca. The guard approached, his gun slung on his back, and a look of confusion etched on his face. His eyes skittered across Darion, but he didn’t speak. It was strange behavior.
Something in the air didn’t sit right. Leon’s men knew their jobs and performed them well.
“Where you going, soldier?” Darion steadied himself on the wall, hoping the young man wouldn’t notice.
The soldier had a blank look in his eyes. “I’m hungry. So hungry. But the kitchen’s closed. I don’t know why I’m so hungry…”
Magic. There were only a few people who could have done this, and Becca was one of them. But why?
“Where are you supposed to be?”
The guard shook his head for a moment, as if trying to clear his mind. “Guarding the Soultorn. I need to get back there. It’s my post.”
“You may need help. Take me with you.”
The guard looked Darion over. “I’m not sure about that.”
Darion’s temper heated. He may not have magic to influence people’s decisions, but he damn well wasn’t going to be left behind. “Unless you’re a wizard, that pretty gun won’t stop what’s hiding behind that door. We need to move. Now.” He gathered his strength and strode towards the man.
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