A feeling of wrongness swirled up around me. She wasn’t this bad the last time I’d seen her. “We only need a few minutes.”
“You heard the lady, Cel,” Max said. “We can come back tomorrow.” He lowered his voice. “Or never …”
Dani was bound to the bed with leather straps. Her fingernails had scratched down her palms, leaving jagged cuts where she’d tried to get at the binds. A groan built in her throat.
I took another step closer. I could practically hear Max’s heart beating from where I was standing, his aura spiking with alarm. He held the rein bit that was his object, clenching his fingers stiff against the leather. If I concentrated, I could almost hear horses nervously stamping the ground.
Max’s voice lowered to a whisper. “She can’t get out of that, can she?”
Maritza shook her head. “The binds have held so far, and the room is enchanted. Even if she does get out, she can’t escape.”
“Oh, okay, so then we’re trapped in here … with her.” Max scratched the back of his neck. “That makes me feel loads better,” he whispered.
Dani’s eyes were ringed in black circles, and her blond hair stuck to her cheeks and neck. She looked so helpless and frail—something about it struck me as familiar. She looked like Aaron had in the hospital, after they’d tried to resuscitate him.
Blood flowed freely from the bandages on her legs. “Will she need a tourniquet?”
Maritza shook her head. “A cut from Magic is not like a normal cut … It will bleed for a bit, then stop, off and on throughout the day. If it keeps on much more, we will need to take her to a hospital.”
“You didn’t do this, Dani,” I whispered. “I know you didn’t.” I touched her hand, and Max’s shoulders stiffened.
“Cella,” Dani rasped suddenly.
“I’m here.” She tried to sit up and coughed herself hoarse. “I think she needs water.”
“Cella, help me,” Dani rasped.
“Of course,” I said, sitting down next to her. “Just tell me what to do. I want to help in any way I can.” I looked over at Max. “I knew we should have seen her sooner.”
Her gaze took on a hopeful, hungry look. “Please.” Her hands twisted in the restraints as blood trickled down her wrists.
“Are these really necessary? She’s clearly in a lot of pain.”
“Yes,” Maritza said firmly. “And you shouldn’t get so close.”
“I agree with Maritza. Come back over here,” hissed Max.
“Please,” Dani rasped, her fingers stretching out toward me. “Please stay. Don’t leave me here alone.” She shot a frightened look at Maritza.
“How can I help?” I asked, my voice quickening, my heart thumping in my chest. “How can I make you more comfortable?”
She squirmed in her binds, her wrists twisting this way and that to get out of them. “They burn.”
My teeth ground in my skull. How could they just leave her like this, tied up like some kind of animal? “She’s in pain! This is barbaric!” As soon as we got out of here, I was going straight to Robetresse’s office. Just what kind of school was she running here?
“Please stay,” Dani rasped.
I ran down the list of symptoms I’d read for hexes. The scarring of her skin and the blood were consistent with what I’d read. I peered into her eyes, looking for constricted pupils. But her pupils were the opposite of tiny; they were blown wide, like she needed to drink in every inch of her surroundings, everything that entered or left the cottage.
“Dani, I want to help you. I need to know who did this to you. Was it one of the other students?” My voice dropped. “Another teacher? Was it Dr. Strauss?”
Something flashed over her face, but it was gone in an instant. Her voice took on a more urgent plea. “Please,” she said, “they burn.”
Blood pooled around her wrists and dripped down her palms.
“They’re so tight,” I pleaded. “She’s rubbing them raw.”
Maritza gave me a hard look. “Cella, step back.”
