“You could call him by his name,” Jacque offered amiably.
Jen paused, giving it a thought. “Naw. I gotta get my kicks somewhere other than my doll-dismembering child.”
“Fair.” Sally nodded. “Thiaisa tad twisted.”
Decebel sighed as he followed Jen to the door. “Seriously, Sally. Give my kid a fighting chance, and let my female teach yours how to be ruthless. I’ll keep an eye on them.”
Sally’s shoulder sagged dramatically. “Fine, but no cuss words.”
“No promises,” Jen hollered as she walked out into the hall.
The door closed behind the couple, and Sally looked at Jacque. “I can’t wait until Slate is old enough to be corrupted. Maybe then she’ll lose interests in Titus.”
“Thanks for that thought,” Jacque said dryly.
Kara stood up and walked over to the other side of Sally, taking a seat on the couch next to her. “You ready to give this a goagain?”
Sally shifted to face the healer, and Costin was at her back. Nick stood behind the couch where his mate sat.
“Yep,” Sally said. “Fane, what should we ask her?”
Fane crossed his arms in front of his chest. Jacque took the hand that had been holding his and slipped it under the side of his shirt. Skin on skin contact. Whatever she needed to do to keep Fane grounded.
“First, you’re going to have to earn her trust. She might not give you any information at the start. This go-round, you may just have to build rapport. Tell her things about yourselves, the kinds of things you don’t like to talk about that will be relatable to her situation.”
Sally knew what Fane meant, and he was right. She didnotwant to talk about her past—the things she’d endured at the hands of the Order. But it would be a way to win Alice’s trust. A common struggle. Having someone tell Alice that she would make it amidst the crucible was probably exactly what she needed. “You’re not alone, Alice Douglas,” Sally said softly as she took Kara’s hands in hers. She stared into Kara’s wide eyes. “We got this.”
Then Sally closed her eyes and started searching for the cords that connected all the gypsy healers to one another. She just needed to find Alice’s. Then they could essentially hop on and figuratively ride that sucker all the way into Alice’s mind.
She searched for the purple strand and stifled a gasp when she saw it was no longer entwined with the other healers, but, instead, resting alone, off to the side.
“That’s not right,” Kara said next to her.
“What’s not right?” Nick’s voice reached through their trance.
“Shhh,” Sally told him. “We need to concentrate. Put a lid on that worrying crap, or I’ll ask Fane to ban you from the room.”
Nick cursed under his breath but went silent and stayed that way. Costin was quiet as well, though he kept a hand on Sally’s back, grounding her to the here and now.
“Why is her strand not entwined with ours?” Kara asked as she and Sally moved their own light forms toward the purple one.
“I don’t know, but we’re about to find out. Picture your hand wrapping around the purple cord.” Sally wasn’t sure how she knew this was the right thing to do, but it felt right.Famous last words.
As soon as both of their lights wrapped around the purple cord, Sally found herself zooming through the darkness. Sally had to struggle to maintain her hold. Her own light seemed eager to repel Alice’s, much like two magnets pushing against each other at their similar poles.
Sally flew forward as if on a roller coaster ride, her light form zigzagging wildly before being catapulted through a door and into a room. Once inside, Sally’s and Kara’s physical bodies materialized.
Both their heads swung around as they tried to gain their bearings. “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” Sally muttered. The room was dark and decadent. A large bed took up most of the space, and in the middle of the bed was Alice’s still body. She was deathly pale.
“What the hell?” Kara hurried over to the bed. She climbed up and sat next to Alice. Kara gently picked up the scientist’s hand and looked over at Sally. “She’s freezing.”
Sally walked around to the other side, her eyes taking in Alice’s facial features. She reached over and put her hand under her nose, feeling for breath. It was there, but shallow. “She’s still alive.”
“How can we communicate with her?”
Sally gave Alice a long look. “I don’t know. I can only assume this is not a natural sleep. If it was, she’d have woken as soon as she felt our presence. We are in her mind, after all. Invading someone’s brain has a tendency to get their attention.”
Kara put her hand on Alice and shook her gently. The other healer didn’t stir. “Damn.”
