“I’m going to help you, Mom,” he said as he wrapped his arm around me and helped me to my feet. I didn’t argue. Instead, I uncorked the lid off the first potion and once we made it across the threshold into Finn’s room, I threw it, not even bothering to see which potion it was. A moment later, the scents hit my nose, and I smiled with satisfaction. Dragon’s Blood, frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon. Fiery Command Oil. A strong potion to be used with extreme care. Imposing one’s will on another was tricky. You had to have a strong disposition to begin with, and sometimes your will wasn’t enough. My will was cast iron, now that this thing had targeted my family.
I could give this SOB the bum’s rush just like I had with Frank.
Except that wasn’t what happened. The potion didn’t arc across the room the way I’d hoped. Instead, it erupted right before our eyes, forming a vapor that flickered through shades of scarlet and orange. The vapor then wound like a snake before rearing up to strike at the unlucky creature beneath it. The small, dragon-likethingterrorizing Andre let out a shrill cry as the vapor bore down on it. The serpent-like stripe of color wrapped around its tail, dragging it off course. The bat swung out wildly...
And hit Andre in the back of the head. I watched in horror as he paused, swayed, and then collapsed to the ground. I could barely pay attention to the ongoing battle between whatever creature I’d just unknowingly created and the thing that had attacked Finn and now Andre. Instead, I pulled away from Finn then ran-walked-hobbled to Andre’s side and knelt, hands fluttering helplessly over him.
Should I move him? Was it possible the bat had broken his neck?
I wasn’t sure how long Finn yelled at me to get my attention back to him. When I finally blinked out of my panicked haze, the room was still. The sounds of screams and breaking furniture had gone silent. There was just Finn’s labored breath and my hiccupping sobs. I was dimly aware of the tears dripping off my nose. They splashed onto Andre’s hair. I couldn’t see blood, but it didn’t matter. This had been my fault. I’d been reckless and let my alchemy off its leash. Whatever that vapor thing was, I hadn’t intended to create it. It had just sort of… happened. And it had gotten Andre hurt, I was sure of it.
“Mom,” Finn said again. “I called 911. The lady on the other line says she needs to talk to you.”
A small flicker of pride thawed some of the ice in my stomach. Finn was such a smart, brave boy. And I wasn’t surehow to tell him that. My voice was locked beneath the desire to scream and I still felt like I was going to vomit.
I reached mechanically for the phone. My voice barely sounded like mine when I said, “I’m here. Tell me what to do.”
Chapter Twelve
Inches. That was how close I came to losing him.
A hand’s span apart in either direction, and the damage would have been worse. Possiblymuchworse. And it had been my fault. The thing had panicked becausemyrogue power had nearly… I don’t know what my power had meant to do to it. All I did know was that a gypsy potion wasn’t meant to do what mine had done. What was more: after replaying the events over and over through my mind, I was fairly sure the thing lunging for the bat had been survival instinct, not malicious intent. It had seen that vapor creature and armed itself.
I’d nearly lost Andre. Onaccident.
I stared at my fingers numbly as I waited for an update from the doctor. So far, it looked like Andre only had a concussion. If the thing in Finn’s bedroom had superhuman strength, it could have caved Andre’s skull in with that bat. Fortune had been on my side. Well, and on Andre’s too. The bat had simply glanced off Andre’s skull instead of impacting head-on. If we hadn’t gotten lucky, Andre might have been looking at brain damage.
My nails were short now, after an incident had torn a few down to the quick. My fingers weren’t shapely and tipped with a manicure like Wanda’s. The mess beneath the nails had been part of the brewing process. I took pride in the work I did with my hands. Now my opinion of them had soured. How could my hands have turned traitor and hurt someone I loved?
A figure moved in my periphery, and I spun instinctively in their direction. I thoroughly expected to see the short, slowly balding Dr. Green rounding the corner. But the figure that stepped into the waiting room was a hell of a lot taller than the good doctor. Between the long leather coat he wore, the fringe of dark hair that framed his face, and the steely gray of his eyes, he looked like a modern day cowboy just minutes from highnoon. His hands moved more slowly and cautiously than the rest of him, as though always on the lookout for danger. It was a good thing he wasn’t in possession of a firearm. His magic was dangerous enough without adding bullets to his arsenal.
“Maverick?” I croaked.
I expected him to wince at the sound of my voice. I’d been crying off and on since Finn and I had arrived here. Finn had volunteered to grab snacks from the vending machine during the most recent jag. I suspected he was waiting until the coast was clear and I had my tears under control again. I couldn’t blame him. Watching someone you care about go to pieces was a truly helpless experience.
Maverick nodded in greeting. “You look like hell, Poppy.”
“I feel worse.”
“Have you slept at all?”
I shook my head with a grimace. “I think I got about an hour before things went south. I’ve just been waiting for updates. The CT was apparently backed up.”
I’d wanted to find the tech on duty and shake them until they provided prompt service. Watching Andre suffer had been almost more than I could bear. If Finn hadn’t been present, I was sure I’d have been a true wreck.
“I’d tell you to go home and get some sleep, but I know you’ll ignore me. So let’s skip the argument. Tally and I need your statement.”
I glanced over his shoulder, noting a conspicuously absent faerie queen. It would be hard to miss her even in her human glamour. Taliyah’s attitude entered a room before she did. I’d have felt the crackle of her magic in the air before she ever stepped into view.
“Tally’s on the phone,” Maverick explained. “Priss broke curfew again. She needs a ride home. I’m sending Astrid to collect her. I’m also going to have Astrid look after Finn untildawn. Finn needs to sleep, even if you don’t plan to. I know you’ll rest easier if you know Finn’s got a babysitter, even if he doesn’t technically need one.”
“Just tell him Astrid wanted to visit. He’s sixteen—he won’t take well to being told he has a babysitter.”
Maverick nodded. “Noted.”
If we both hadn’t been happily taken, I might have kissed Maverick for that consideration. It wasn’t just that he was thinking of me, which was a huge step up from where he’d started when we met. It was that he’d grown enough as a person to put others before himself on the occasions when it truly mattered. It didn’t stop him from being a grumpy asshole most of the time, but he wasourgrumpy asshole. But instead of a kiss, he ended up with an armful of grateful, crying gypsy and seemed utterly flummoxed about what to do. He settled for an awkward patting of my back.
“Thank you so much,” I cried into his shoulder. “And tell Astrid I said thank you as well.”
