“She put her mortal body in a magically induced coma meant for a supernatural creature. With no food or water, her body has fed on itself and the remains of magic in the dragon scale these last months. My guess is, she wouldn’t have lasted long if you hadn’t woken her up. It’s touch and go.”
“I have questions, and she’s the only one with the answers.”
Grateful sighed. “She’s refusing to eat.”
“What? Why?”
“Says she’d rather be dead than help you.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic.”
“But she’s conscious and alive now. I’d make the most of it.” Grateful patted his shoulder supportively. “Who knows how long she’ll be with us.” With a nod, she padded down the hall to her next patient.
Adjusting his backpack, Silas stepped into the sterile scent and incessant beeping of Nickelova’s room. Only in Holocaust movies had he seen a body as emaciated as hers. Death pressed up against her like a lover. A full tray of hospital food sat untouched on her bedside table—beef stew, Jell-O, a dinner roll, the works. It smelled appetizing enough. A bag of phosphorescent fluids dripped into an IV in her arm.
“I made the same mistake with Alex,” she said, unprompted. “It’s why he wasn’t healing, despite the fire lily juice and the magic of my presence. I never fed him. Your humanlike constitution makes you vulnerable to hunger. Now I’m vulnerable too.”
“Where is Alex?”
She snorted softly. “I have no idea.”
“You must be able to sense when he uses your amulet.”
“I could if he was using it. He’s not. I haven’t felt the ripple of the amulet’s use in some time. Of course, I’m weaker without my heart. If you gave it back to me, I might be able to help you.”
“Find him first, and then we’ll talk about your heart.”
“I have no magic without it. I had one dragon scale, and I used all of its magic to preserve myself. I am useless to you now.” She turned her head away.
“I highly doubt that.” He strode to the end of the bed. “My sister was stabbed by someone who looked exactly like you. How is that possible? Do you have a twin?”
“No.” Her gaze darted in his direction. “Perhaps it was Alex with a camouflage charm.”
“There was a protective enchantment against him around the property.”
She adjusted in the bed as if she were in pain. “You’re fucked. You are so fucked,” she said through a forced smile.
“Why?”
“Because if someone else is helping Alex and using my identity to do so, your sister is only the beginning. Let me guess, there have been other incidences, other strange occurrences. Unexplained phenomena?”
“Maybe.” Silas pictured the Vampire stabbing himself in the chest.
“This isn’t about Alex anymore.” She paused, breaking into a fit of coughing. “This is bigger. Much bigger.” She closed her eyes and sank into her pillow.
“Don’t fall asleep. Tell me. Tell me what you know, or I swear to the goddess, I’ll crush your heart with my bare hands.”
This made her entire body vibrate with laughter. “You’re going to kill me, Detective? As if I’m afraid to die. As if I didn’t imagine my death a thousand times in that tomb I made in my mountain. You idiot. I welcome death. Death is far preferable to what’s coming.”
“And that is?”
“War. The underworld is rising. Panaal has been suppressed for far too long.”
“Panaal?”
“The horned god of the underworld.” She gave him a smug look. “You don’t even know who he is.”
“The devil. You’re blaming this on the devil?”
