She pulled away, and his dad moved in to tug him into a brief embrace before focusing on his leg.
“Talon.” Lore glanced over at Mace’s brother. “Thanks for letting us know he was here. You said you paged Dr. Vale?”
“Vale?” Mace hadn’t heard that name before. “Is he new?”
“He?” A statuesque, bronzed female stepped into the room, her metallic skin stretched over a sharp, angular bone structure that could have been carved from flint. Three curved, black horns burst from her skull, forming a hard Mohawk from the front of her head to the back. She gave him a stern look, her ebony eyes glittering with contempt. “And I’m not new. I’ve been here twosextasnow.”
Sextas, a Sheoulic word that measured time in units of six years. So, she’d been at UG for twelve years, and he’d never once seen her? He’d have remembered seeing adraakdemon. The dragon-shifters were rare, and even more rarely seen outside of the Draig region in Sheoul. Which was good, because they were assholes. The malesandfemales.
“Dr. Vale specializes in treating injuries caused by spells,” his mom said, casting Vale a smile, which was returned. At least, Mace hoped the baring of a million sharp teeth was a smile. “A vengeful spirit cast a spell on me last fall, and Dr. Vale broke it in about thirty seconds.”
Mace cranked his head around. “You didn’t tell me you were attacked.”
“Please.” Idess waved her hand in dismissal. “It was a wart spell. Beginner stuff.”
Dr. Vale ran a scaly hand over Mace’s leg and made a hissing noise. “This is definitely not beginner stuff.”
The room’s curtain swept open, and Logan, Scotty’s cousin and fellow DART agent, stepped in, his expression a mask of worry.
Mace scowled at Talon. “How many people did you call besides my parents?”
“I didn’t call him. Not everything’s about you,” Talon said, throwing Mace’s earlier words back at him. He turned to Logan. “We’re kind of busy right now—”
“Eva needs help.” Logan shoved the curtain all the way back, showing where Eva stood, her face gaunt, eyes dull, and her skin a ghastly shade of dead-body gray. “We need Eidolon. Please. Hurry.”
Idess’s long braid swung against her navy sweater as she hurried over to Eva. Gently, she reached up to touch Eva’s cheek. “No doctor can help this,” she said softly. “Not even Eidolon.”
Eva swallowed dryly. “Is it…Harvester’s Grace?”
Idess nodded, her face almost as pale as Eva’s.
Ah, damn. When Scotty’s grandmother, Harvester, was killed, her angelic Grace had found its way inside Eva. But the human body wasn’t built to withstand that much power, and unless someone found a way to remove it, Eva would die.
Eva swayed, her skin going waxy. Logan leaped for her, catching her before she hit the obsidian floor.
“Take her to Trauma Two,” Talon barked, rushing out after them. He stopped at the threshold. “Vale, I’ll need an update on Mace’s condition ASAP.”
She nodded crisply and returned her scaly hand to Mace’s leg. It was agonizing, but his thoughts right now were with Logan and his mate. Mace hadn’t liked the former Aegis spokesperson at first, but now she was family and working for DART’s media team. It turned out she was pretty great.
“Is she going to be okay, Mom?”
He didn’t like the worry in Idess’s eyes, or the way she squeezed Lore’s hand, her mouth drawn tight. “If Aleka can’t locate Harvester’s blood for a ceremony quickly, there’s nothing anyone can do for her. She needs an angel.”
“You’re an angel,” he pointed out.
“I haven’t had any real angelic power for decades.”
“But you have brothers and sisters. All the Memitim—”
“All my Memitim brethren together wouldn’t be enough power to save her. She needs an Archangel. They have dominion over Grace.”
“But aren’t all the Archangels trapped in Heaven right now?”
“Yes,” Idess said softly. “So, without Harvester’s blood, Eva will die.”
Chapter 9
Gabriel groaned as consciousness took hold and pain overwhelmed his senses. A dull, throbbing ache in his head competed with stiff joints, muscle spasms, and cramps in his gut. Grit scratched his eyes when he opened them, making his vision blurry as he tried to figure out where he was.
