She sounded so matter-of-fact that Camellia nearly choked on the water she was drinking. She nodded when she could manage to speak. “That’s what Kyle overheard Crawley speaking to someone else about. I thought maybe the teams would send the women and children away.”
“There were two minds about that,” Kaden said. “First off, some of us worry that whoever is plotting against us is expecting that move and is ready for it. And secondly, it isn’t safe to move Marigold right now. She’s been in a health crisis ever since she got pregnant, and it’s only worsened since she gave birth.”
Camellia’s heart clenched to the point of pain. She pressed her hand to her chest. Marigold might not have told her about having a twin. She might have committed any number of sins, but they’d been sisters for many years, always having one another’s backs. “Exactly what kind of health crisis?”
Kaden’s blue eyes darkened almost to black. “She bleeds internally, I think. Lily would have to explain it. I don’t think she clots properly. Something called von Willebrand disease. In any case, jarring her right now by taking her over the road when it’s a pitted mess could cause her to hemorrhage. I’m probably not explaining this right. I’m not a doc, but she’s not in very good condition and hasn’t been for a long time, from what I understand.”
Camellia swung her head almost accusingly to look at Kyle. “Is he right about Mari?”
Kyle nodded. “Yeah. Her twin, Briony, doesn’t have the same disease, so no one even considered it. It doesn’t run in their family and isn’t genetic. Our best doctors here have come up with a theory, but that’s all it is. Marigold was given the original Zenith that Whitney developed when she went out on a mission.”
Camellia knew all about that mission. Marigold had been given Zenith when she went with her former unit to try to talk to Violet and Senator Ed Freeman to see if they would help the women escape Whitney’s breeding program.
“No one on Team Two knew she’d been given Zenith until it had been in her system for far too long and she was bleeding out. She crashed completely. Lily and Ken saved her life, but it took a toll on her body. She has struggled ever since, and her pregnancy made things worse. She has had numerous transfusions since then. When the doctors discussed her case, we did consider long-term side effects of Zenith, but no one thought about her acquiring von Willebrand disease.”
“What exactly is it?”
“It’s basically the lack of a protein needed for clotting. That’s simplifying things, but you get the gist,” Kyle answered. “Sometimes someone with cancer or lupus or autoimmune disease can acquire von Willebrand’s, but as a rule, it’s inherited. That’s why we didn’t catch it even though the signs were there.”
“What can be done for her?” Camellia asked.
Kyle looked across the table at Kaden, who leaned toward them and nodded. Kyle shrugged. “The other teams have a couple of good healers and doctors. We’re holding out hope that they might come through with a way to help her. Ken and Jack have asked for someone to come as soon as possible. This particular disease isn’t curable, but there are ways to help live with it. Her problem is severe and very complicated. We believe the way it developed and is presenting is the result of her body’s interaction with Zenith.”
Camellia’s bloodstream felt as if it were on fire. The sudden onslaught of antioxidants rushing through her system, spreading to her cells, snapping every neuron and looking for her pores, for an outlet, shook her. She forced air through her lungs. Kept her head down to prevent the others at the table from seeing the change coming over her face. In her eyes. Her entire body began to shiver, and she couldn’t stop it.
“I’m going to have to go outside for a few minutes, Kyle.” She wasn’t certain she could make it to the exit. She was that unsteady.
Her body felt apart from her, fighting her will, desperate to get to someone in danger. She hadn’t examined Marigold, but instinctively she knew. Red knew. The part of her that was Red knew. If she went outside and connected with the mycelium that spread underground, it would possibly tell her even more about Marigold’s condition—and she needed to know. She needed to know more than she needed to take her next breath.
She felt a gentle stirring in her mind. Jonas moved through the chaos, the twisting, urgent streams of her healer’s drive demanding she find Marigold immediately. She found it shocking that Jonas, who had disconnected himself from her entirely so that she wouldn’t be subjected to any part of the interrogation of their prisoner should he resist questioning, could so easily slip into her mind. More, that he would find her when she was so disoriented. How had he known she needed him?
I need to get outside where I can breathe. Where are you?
I’m still with Crawley. Is Kyle with you? I can send Jeff.
Kyle was helping her get to her feet, his hand under her elbow, then his arm slipping around her waist.
The moment we leave this table,Kyle cautioned,Tansy is going to take off her gloves and try to read everything there is to know about you that she can.
Camellia could barely focus on Kaden as Kyle gave the warning.She wanted to see his reaction when they were using telepathy. Her eyes were already seeing through a healer’s vision. It was difficult to make him out. Her hands hurt, the pads of her fingers felt wet. She knew the extremely potent antioxidants Marigold needed were rushing through her bloodstream, desperate for her to deliver the much-needed gift to a “family member.”
Don’t worry, Kyle.She tried to reassure him, but her mind was focused on healing, not on saving herself. It was difficult to know which path she was using to speak with him on.
Kaden rose instantly. “What’s wrong? Kyle, I want to know what’s wrong with her.” The question wasn’t coming from a friend. That was a demand from an officer.
“She needs to get outside,” Kyle said. “I don’t know what’s happening to her.” His voice rang with honesty because it was the truth.
Camellia, take a deep breath for me. Do it now.
Kyle’s arm was a band around her waist. Kaden moved up to the other side of her to walk her to the door that exited out into a garden protected on three sides by the building. Tansy stayed behind. Camellia heard Jonas’s command clearly and tried to obey him.
Something’s really wrong, Jonas. My reaction has never been this strong. I don’t know if it’s because Marigold’s condition is so bad, but even so, she’s a long way away from me, and the distance alone should protect me.She knew she sounded desperate. She felt desperate. The chemicals in her body weren’t letting up; they were growing thicker, stronger, raging through her, demanding she use her skills, her abilities and Red to heal where others couldn’t.
You were tied together for over twenty years,Jonas pointed out calmly.Do what I say, honey, just take a breath.
Camellia felt dizzy, her eyes going from clear vision to a heated, almost strobing light. She kept her head down and struggled to draw air into her burning lungs.Jonas.She whispered his name like a talisman. Reaching for him. Trying to understand what washappening to her. She’d had instances of needing to heal something, or someone, but never such an overwhelming, overpowering urge. Every cell in her body felt transformed, armed with weapons to take down the enemy.
Unable to process what she was doing in real time, she stumbled just before she reached the door. Kaden wrapped his arm around her waist to help Kyle lift her off her feet even as he thrust the door open with one strong arm. The moment that solid arm completely encircled her back, she realized what was wrong—what had been wrong all along. She wasn’t feeling Marigold, so far away.
