My scowl deepens, frustrated with all of them, and confused by their lack of help.
“We couldn’t get through the circle,” Esme answers when I give her a dirty look, and drop my attention back to Renata. “Sybil and I were with her—we talked to Petra. Kind of. When she was done, she wasdone.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Esme?” I demand and pull Renata’s limp body into my lap.
She quickly explains the events from the middle of the night.
Once she’s done recalling Petra’s memory, Sybil chimes in, surprising all of us. “Petra was finished talking—it was so abrupt. She gave Renata the go-ahead to end the conversation, then broke it before we had the chance. It… It must have exerted too much energy because Renata fainted off the chair and we were thrown away from her.”
My eyes quickly move between them, taking in the large bruise on Esme’s arm and the small cut on my sister’s cheek.
“Fuck,” I grunt, feeling guilty. “Bil, are you okay? Esme?”
“We’re okay,” Esme promises, and Sybil nods from the armchair.
“We tried,” Rowyn says through tears. “We all tried to get to her, but the barrier was blocking us.”
“She hasn’t been alone for a second,” Esme says with conviction. “We could see she was breathing, but she barely moved.”
“Can you leave the circle?” Clementine whispers. It’s the first time she’s spoken since I got here.
“Let’s see,” I mutter and lift Renata’s limp body off the floor.
Her head lulls backward, and one of her arms hangs in front of me. Seeing her like this makes me nauseous. It’s like she’s dead, and I think about how she might be soon.
Both of us.
With a deep breath, I step over the line and wait. After a few seconds, nothing happens, and I take another. Fully out of the circle, warmth hits me like a brick wall. I didn’t realize how cold I was in there.
The warmth is like a balm to Renata’s soul. She takes a loud, gasping breath, before going limp in my arms again.
Laying her down on the bed, I quickly move her under the blankets and turn back to the other women.
“How long was she in there?” My voice comes out sharp, but I can’t shake the unease of seeing her body on the floor like that. Not until she wakes up and can assure me herself she’s fine.
Standing up, Sybil is the one who steps up to my anger. “About eight hours,” she answers regretfully. “It was my fault—I asked her to do it.”
“She knew better. All of you did,” I snap. “She told me just last night how bad her hallucinations have been getting. How often they have been happening since I left.”
Too frustrated to even think, I wipe my hands down my face and say, “We need to wait for her to wake up before we do anything. I’m going to see if I can find her.”
“Yeah, okay,” Rowyn agrees and nods. “That’s a good idea.”
With one final assessing look, my sister turns and leads the group out of the room.
She knows I’m angrier than I’m showing the group. Arguing and causing riffs between us won’t be helpful right now.
Renata is the only thing of importance right now.
When we’re alone, I strip down to my briefs and curl myself around her thin body, holding her close. Her skin is warming andless sticky than when I first found her. There’s a hint of pink touching her cheeks again.
I take a long moment to watch her like this before closing my eyes and letting the post-adrenaline exhaustion lull me to sleep.
To her.
Chapter 46
Renata
