“Minnesota?” I almost went weak at the familiarity. “Like, humans and stuff?”
She smiled kindly. “Yes. I was born a human, raised a human, and I didn’t come here until my mid-twenties. It’s an adjustment.”
“You think?”
A soft laugh. “I know it’s hard, but I need you to just assume this is all real for now. We can explain more later.”
“Is it?” I asked softly. “Real?”
Lily reached out, squeezed my wrist. “More than you can even imagine.”
Something in my gut told me this was a woman I could trust. Even if I doubted Silas’s intentions, I didn’t feel likeLily gained anything from my presence. Why should she lie? Maybe I had been brought here for a reason. A reason I’d have to figure out later.
“I think she might have too much salt in her system,” I said. “I’d like to start her on an IV in hopes we can get her rehydrated and awake. It needs to be a diluted solution though; if we go too fast, it could cause a cerebral edema.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Lily said lightly, despite the storminess on her face. “But I’m not the doctor.”
“Brain swelling,” I said. “Do you have a way we could get our hands on a hypotonic solution?”
“Fortunately, I am somewhat of a Mixologist.” Lily gave me a little wink. “Gus sent me with a kit I might need. He’s incredibly prepared. I’m sure he’s got something in here.”
While Lily busted open the suitcase she’d carried with her and made a selection of vials, I turned my attention to Millie, who’d brought in a huge container of sterilized equipment. I went through everything—laid out the scissors, slipped on my gloves, found a piece of string I could use. Set up the IV equipment.
By the time I was done, Lily offered me a solution.
“This was in Gus’s basic first aid kit.” Lily gave an affectionate shake of her head. “He’s my assistant. The best there is.”
“Thank God for Gus,” I said.
I started administering the IV. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something, and it had to work. We didn’t have a lot of other options. Silas stood at the door, watching. Millie fluttered about in the kitchen, bringing us more towels and hot water.
“It’s not going to be enough,” Lily said softly. “Once the curse takes hold, it kills.”
“I thought you said you’d never seen this before.”
“I didn’t say thatexactly,” Lily said grimly. “I just don’t know how to fix it. We had three deaths before Silas got the wards in place, and I couldn’t stop a single one of them.”
“From the curse, you mean?”
Lily nodded. “I’ve tried everything, and so have the Healers. It seems that once the curse takes hold, it’s impossible to stop. Our only hope is that Silas found Irina in time. By the time we got the others, the curse had taken over their whole body. We didn’t stand a chance; they were already on death’s door. Irina still has a chance.”
I considered this. Then my gaze jerked up to Silas. “Why were you wandering through a dangerous zone in the first place?”
“That’s irrelevant,” he said shortly.
I bit my lip, then turned my attention to Irina. Her color was improving, but it wasn’t enough. We needed more.
“If it is a curse,” I said, the words sounding foreign on my tongue, “we’re going to need more than IV fluids to fix her.”
“Here’s what I have.” Lily handed me a vial of something. “It doesn’t have a name yet; I usually name it after a drink, but it’s too new.”
Inside, it looked like strands of candy floss—thin, white strips floating in mid-air, almost as if she’d bottled DNA visible to the human eye—a strand of magic, twisting and turning on double helixes.
“You name your potions after drinks?” I squinted through the vial at her. “What do you mean, like Abraca-Daquiri?”
Lily just stared at me. “That’s brilliant.”
“I was just—”
