Selene moaned, gripping her stomach. Without being asked, Meredith hurried to her, rubbing her back and whispering comforting words to her.
The juju turned from red to purple and Laina’s body torqued off the bed. She parted her lips and a fountain of black sprayed from her mouth. Grateful was ready with a deep plastic bag, which she pressed to Laina’s mouth to catch the emission. Selene gave one last scream and then black poured out of her mouth as well. Powdery and copious, it fogged around her when it hit the floor.
“Don’t breathe it in,” Grateful commanded. Silas held his breath. With a flick of Nightshade’s blade, she muttered a series of unintelligible syllables and a bubble of magic floated toward the black powder, consuming and containing it. Selene continued to purge whatever the black stuff was from her body.
Meredith whispered to Selene, “It’s going to be okay. Breathe.”
The sickness seemed to go on for a day and a half. Silas helped Jason back to Selene’s side, huddling next to Meredith. Until finally, the juju turned black. The bones and feathers toppled over and became inanimate once more. Selene and Laina stopped retching, their previously tense, twitching bodies, calming. Jason pulled Selene into his arms.
Silas rose and helped Meredith from the floor. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. As he met her dark brown gaze, tension bled from his shoulders. Without a word, he took her hand in his, threading his fingers with hers. When she didn’t protest, he pulled her to his side.
“Why was that inside me?” Selene asked, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She searched every face in the room, but no one had any answers, not even Grateful.
In bed, Laina sputtered, her eyes fluttering open. Kyle gathered her into his arms. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.” He brushed her hair back from her face.
Her mouth worked.
“Water. She needs water,” Kyle said.
Grateful obliged, bringing a straw to Laina’s lips. She drank greedily. Jason got the hint and pulled a half-empty bottle of water from Selene’s purse, opening it and offering it to his fiancée.
Laina’s gaze left Kyle and sought out Silas, her hand twitching by her side. “Si… las,” she rasped.
“She wants you!” Kyle said, glancing at Silas.
He left Meredith’s side and crossed to Laina, taking her opposite hand in his.
Laina pulled him closer, her arm shaking with the effort. When her lips were near his ear, she rasped one word, “Dragon.”
“What did she say?” Kyle asked. Laina collapsed in his arms, the machine she was attached to going haywire. “Laina? Laina?” Kyle shook her gently.
“She’ll be okay. These things are meant for humans,” Grateful said, her fingers finding Laina’s pulse. “But she needs rest. Don’t push her.” She silenced the alarm and whispered to Laina to try to relax.
“She saiddragon.” Silas looked at his brother.
Jason, who had helped Selene into a chair, looked up in alarm. “Dragon? Did you say dragon?”
Silas nodded.
“She’s free.” Selene fisted Jason’s shirt. “Ryker must have returned Nickelova’s heart.”
Jason shook his head. “He would never have given up that heart.”
“Then how did I get the toxin inside of me?” Selene pointed to the black dust swirling inside Grateful’s containment spell.
Silas rested his hands on his hips. “You two have been out of the country. It seems unlikely that the same person who infected Laina infected you.”
“Unless she was already infected,” Meredith said. “Who knows how long that was inside her?”
Grateful slid on a pair of rubber gloves and scooped the juju into a toxic waste bag. “Meredith is right. Laina was stabbed. It’s possible that a different mode of infection would have a different reaction in the host. When you were Nickelova’s prisoner, did she give you anything to eat or drink?”
“Yes,” Selene answered. “Not much. Water and an awful tasting cake.”
“My guess is she infected you then,” Grateful said. “It’s possible Nickelova simply didn’t have a chance to use the power the sulfralite had over you.”
Jason stroked back the hair from Selene’s face, whispering to her, comforting her.
“What power is that? What does sulfralite do?” Meredith asked. Silas frowned. He should have explained to her what had truly happened to Laina.
