She shakes her head. “There’s not much we can do other than get it back. I have a feeling that the longer I’m without it, the weaker and more unwell I’m going to become.”
The sense of panic that hits at her words takes me by surprise as I twist around to peer into her face, marking the unnatural brightness of her eyes and how flushed she looks.
“So we have another reason for finding Kit as quickly as possible.” I pluck the spectacles from my nose and pass them back to her.
“Based on what Northcliff said about Araminta Stone, the sorceress, it sounds like we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
Chapter 25
Reva
Idrag Torin and Aster a little further from the reception room and then into a little alcove right outside. That last dizzy episode really knocked me off-kilter, and I need to feel the solid wall behind me before I risk walking further.
Thankfully, I was done with talking to Samuel Northcliff, or I might have given him the wrong idea when I clung to him to stay vertical. The nausea and dizziness hit first, and then the floor turned to sponge, and I found my legs shaking, barely able to hold me up.
But then Torin was there, pulling me upright and supporting me. His touch helped to resettle both the room and my stomach, and I felt like I could breathe again.
“Where’s Jack?” My throat’s dry and tight, and it’s a struggle to get the words out. Then Aster squeezes my hand, and Torin puts his arm around me, tucking me into his side, and I let out a shuddery breath.
“I think he’s still in there. Poor fucker,” Torin replies with a chuckle.
“We should rescue him. We need to get a move on now that we have a direction to head in.”
Not one, but two leads. Before the dizziness hit, I was so damn pleased with myself too. We’d come here and done exactly what we said we would with very little effort considering that getting information out of Northcliff was surprisingly easy. All he needed was acouple of words and a smile and he was filling my ear with his complaints about his ex-partner.
Talking to him felt like I was back to my usual life, or at least a version of it. Not exactly hiding smuggled goods or trying to find them a buyer, but it was like I was doing something more useful than sitting around and hoping for the answers to fall in our laps.
I give myself another half minute to recover and then start back toward the dinner that isn’t a dinner, hoping we can grab Jack and then get out. But before we reach the doorway, a familiar hissed voice pulls all three of us to a halt.
“—whoring myself out, Mother.” That’s Jack’s voice, just as relaxed as ever, although there seems to be a hard edge to it.”
“If you cannot be useful in the usual way, you need to show what value you have in that pathetic body of yours. That old fool likes you. Goodness knows what she sees in you, but who am I to judge?” I’m fairly certain that’s his mother’s voice, filled with vitriol that she’s not even trying to disguise.
I suppose it makes sense. She was terrible in a room of other people, so it shouldn’t surprise me she’s even worse one-on-one.
“You’ve gallivanted for long enough, sowing your wild oats with those wild creatures. Now, it’s time to settle down.”
“What are you doing? Do. Not. Touch. Me.”
“Change back, now. I won’t have people thinking I associate with beasts.”
Aster grips my hand tight, his eyes wide, and then unfolds my fingers.“Tanair an dor.”He spells the letters out on my palm. I don’t recognise the words, so I’m frowning as I murmur them outloud.
A rush of heat travels from where our hands are connected, and the chandelier overhead shatters right when Jack’s mother starts yowling like a cat at midnight. When I dare to look closer, her foot has somehow got stuck in the tile beneath her feet, like the stone is eating her.
Holy shit.
“Did you just do that?” Torin mutters.
“I think so,” I whisper back.
Torin darts into the room, grabbing Jack’s bag and hustling for the door, right as Jack’s mother lets out another wail. Aster grips my hand, tugging me toward the front door of the hotel. The three of us exit as hastily as we can without drawing attention to ourselves.
Once we’re out on the street again and a safe distance from the hotel, we stumble to a stop beside an alleyway. A raven flies overhead, darting into the alley and reappearing as Jack.
Naked.
“What was that?” Torin pants, throwing Jack’s bag at his chest before turning to me and Aster.
