“She was found swimming in the river, talking crazy,” a young male assistant said to the doctor, handing her a clipboard.
Sage snapped her head to the female doctor fey, who had long flowing red hair like hers. “The flies are in the universe to my pots and pans!” Sage said urgently.
The doctor frowned. “She may have recently had a stroke. This sounds like word salad.”
Word salad? Was that a medical term?
“Let’s sedate her for transport to 3rdStreet Psych.” The doctor signed something on the clipboard and handed it back. Then she held out her hand and the assistant plopped a long syringe into her palm, the needle reflecting the light from the ceiling.
Fear spiked through Sage and I knew it was now or never with my wolf.
‘I won’t leave this place without you. I would die before that happened, you have to believe me,’I told Sage.
‘I trust you,’she whimpered.
My wolf leapt free of Sage’s chest then, but at the same time, she went invisible, activating whatever power Pearl also used,old magic.
“Don’t make the sleep come. Lizards are peonies,” Sage whimpered to the doctor, keeping up the act.
The doctor frowned. “Poor girl. I thought the wolves all died in the war or went underground or something?” she asked her assistant, a black-haired male fey with freckles.
He shrugged. “Maybe she’s a refugee.”
The doctor put the needle to Sage’s arm and I felt my bestie’s panic shoot through our pack bond. My wolf was hiding in the corner, waiting to see what would happen to Sage before she started trying to find Sawyer. If they were going to hurt her, we were out of here, and I’d have to find another way to get my man out.
“I like the wolves. They were once our strongest ally before Prime Minister Locke ruined that,” the doctor stated.
I nearly sagged with relief. They wouldn’t hurt Sage.
‘You’ll be okay. I’ll come right back for you,’I told Sage.
‘Okay…’was all she muttered, and then the doctor plunged the needle into her arm and the heaviness of drugged sleep took her quickly.
My wolf stayed, watching the doctor and waiting. She wouldn’t leave this room without knowing what was going to happen to my bestie, and I was grateful for that. I felt confident they wouldn’t hurt her after overhearing their conversation, but she wanted to wait one more minute.
Someone knocked on the door and peeked their head in. “Transfer called. They can’t get here until six p.m. for the wolf.”
The doctor nodded. “She can sleep it off in here until they come. I can give her another dose at five if she wakes and is still delusional.”
Five.
I looked at the clock. It was already three-fifteen. I had less than two hours to get Sawyer out of here and come back for Sage before they drugged her again. As the doctor and nurse left, they locked the room and I took one last look at Sage’s sleeping form before my wolf slipped through the wall and into the hallway.
She scanned the hallway, looking for a stairwell, and then started in the direction of a glowing exit sign. I could sense her thoughts. She was thinking that she couldn’t get into a crowded area, because although she was invisible, someone with the right magic might see her. And fey had the right magic. They were even more elusive than the trolls. God only knew what they were truly capable of.
I felt Marmal tug at my consciousness and I pulled away from my wolf, trusting her to know how to get to the eightieth floor. When I opened my eyes, Marmal was running toward me, holding her side as blood soaked her shirt. I rushed forward in panic.
‘We need to get on Pearl and take to the skies,’she told me.‘I’m being chased, but I got the blade.’She held up a bright silver fey blade and I nodded.
When she reached me, I stared down at her stomach.
‘How bad is it?’It didn’t look like it was actively bleeding anymore, so that was a good sign.
“I’m fine. Let’s go!” she whisper-screamed, just as I heard shouts come from the main walking trail.
“I was attacked!” a woman screamed.
Shit.
