Marcus didn’t ask questions. He clambered into bed beside Kallie, carefully maneuvering around the tubes for the IV and oxygen mask and cradling her against him.
A few minutes after Marcus had laid beside her, Kallie’s eyes weakly fluttered open. She went to pull at the oxygen mask, but Marcus did it for her, taking it off and laying it beside her. I kept an eye on the oxygen monitor, but her levels were stable. She could go without it for a bit while we talked.
“Marcus?” Kallie seemed astounded that he was right next to her, faintly grasping him back. “What’s… what’s going on?”
“I love you, pretty girl,” Marcus said, and he kissed her. “I’m sorry I ran off this morning. I was just nervous for what I was about to ask, but I’m not anymore. I want us to be together, all right? I want a relationship, the commitment, all of it. You’re my girlfriend now, okay? I’m here for you forever, and I never want to let you go.”
Kallie marveled. The look in her eyes was sparkling and full of light as she gazed at Marcus. The joy emanating from her was so powerful I could feel it from here. She truly felt like this was some kind of dream, or that she’d won the lottery. It was the sweetest thing to see in the world.
“Okay.” She laid her head against his chest, and gave the slightest of smiles. “I love you too, Marcus. Let’s be together.”
They nestled their heads together, and I melted inside. Rishi jumped up on the bed and settled between them, purring so loudly it echoed around the room.
Oberi ruffled her feathers, and Kallie settled into the pillows to look at me. “You guys got to me not a second too late,” she said quietly. “It was really bad this time.”
This time?
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” I asked carefully. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”
“Might as well. You guys should know the details, and I don’t want to go over it ever again, not after today.”
Kallie leaned into Marcus, and he held her closer. Kallie’s voice wavered as she said, “I remember taking another sip of mycoffee, but not much after that. When I came to, I was in some sort of alleyway, and I felt sick. Valen knew he couldn’t take me in a fair fight, so he drugged me. I could do magic, but the drugs made me so confused it was hard to cast a simple spell, and I knew I’d been compelled. He gave me just enough to keep me delirious, but not enough so I would pass out. He wanted me to remember everything.”
This was all stuff we knew, and I was terrified to hear what came next. Kallie gave a shudder and went on. “He wanted to drag it out. He punched me, broke my bones. I tried to take swings at him, but the drugs made me so uncoordinated. I never got a hit in. Then… he started stabbing me. Just… cutting me open. I was bleeding everywhere. I knew I wasn’t going to make it out.”
“Did he…” I couldn’t get the words out, but I’m sure she knew what I meant. Everyone did. Charlie stiffened across the room, and Marcus went pale.
Kallie stared at me. Then she did the most unexpected thing. Shelaughed.She let out a loud, startling cackle, one that turned into a series of coughs.
“Fuck… him,” she choked out, still laughing. “Oh, Ava, hetried, but he couldn’t get it up. His tiny little dick was all limp and pathetic. I laughed at him and spat in his fucking face.”
Her smile died, to be replaced by a deathly countenance devoid of all hope. “That was a mistake, though, because after I did that, he took my wings. He sawed them off while I was still conscious, because he wanted to hear me scream. He didn’t get what he wanted, though, because I passed out from the pain before he even got to the second wing. I didn’t wake up again after that, until just now.”
Marcus nestled his head into her hair, and Charlie said, “We’re glad we found you, Kallie. We wouldn’t be able to handle it if we lost you.”
“You got to me this time,” she whispered. “You missed your chance twice before.”
Marcus went paler than before, and I hushed, “Kallie, tell us what happened.”
“I went back. Three different times,” she said, and she started to cry. “I used my time powers to try and change the situation, so the Dollmaker never hurt me, and I never got captured.”
Her tears amplified into sobs. “But it didn’t work. He got me, all three times, and no matter what I did, it didn’t change the outcome. And every time I tried, his torture just got worse. I was able to put myself back in my healthy body, up until the point where I drank the coffee, but I couldn’t go back farther than that because of the drugs. The first two times, I had enough strength left after he beat me to go back and try to reverse things. I waited for you guys to find me then, but you never showed. I knew if I waited any longer, I was going to die, so I had to use my remaining strength to go back in time. This last time, he took my wings, which he didn’t do before, and I wasn’t able to influence time after that. I passed out thinking this was the end, and you guys weren’t going to get to me before I died.”
“What changed this last time?” I asked.
"I left the coffee cup," Kallie explained. "The first time around, the drugs started to hit when I got up from the table to leave the café. I threw away the cup just before he got me. When I went back a second time, I already knew that he'd drugged me. I threw my half-drank cup away, thinking the less drugs in my system, the more I could fight him, but I couldn't go back far enough to reverse what I'd already drank. You guys didn't make it in time, so I went back one last time to leave my cup there, so you'd know something was wrong and look for me sooner. You arrived just in time."
Tears leaked out of Kallie’s eyes as she closed them. “It’s all running together. I can’t remember exactly what he did to methistime, only the details of all three events. It won’t stop.”
My stomach churned in absolute terror. Kallie had relived this three times over. We hadn’t saved her the first two occasions, and barely managed to save her this time.
We’d failed her.
“Let’s go back and kill Valen before he ever takes you,” Charlie suggested. “Kallie, I know we promised not to use time magic unless it’s absolutely necessary, butthisis necessary. Then you’ll never lose your wings.”
“Ican’t, Charlie,” Kallie wept. “You don’t understand. Now that the Dollmaker took my wings, my power… it’s not as strong as it was. I can’t shift anymore. I can’t stop time. I’vetried, and nothing happens. All I can do is basic fae magic. I’muselessto you guys now.”
“You’re not useless. You’re everything,” Marcus promised, brushing her hair back from her eyes.
