Anna spluttered out what she’d seen, but the headache bloomed, sending pain down her neck, and she fought the urge to curl into Sean’s embrace and cry.
She wanted David. Wanted these to behisarms. But he neither spoke nor approached, and the emotional aura from his area of the room was nothing but ice, even as she told them what the being had said to her.
“Isobel,” Sean said when Anna’s words broke on a wince. “Please?”
Shaking herself, Isobel nodded, though a deep crease had formed between her eyebrows. “Right, sorry. Of course.” She bent and set soft lips against Anna’s, which only made everything worse.
The throb didn’t abate. Instead, a new pain strung beside it,stemming from her kiss—because there was nothing in her body that needed healing. It was all in her head, like someone had sliced through her mind and left it bleeding.
When Isobel finally backed away, she shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with her.” She looked at Autumn. “What could it mean?”
A tear leaked from Anna’s eye.
Sean’s brow creased. “There has to be. She was seeing things and convulsing in my arms.” A bright shard of horror lanced out from the place David stood, still silent, then disappeared behind ice. Sean’s gaze fell to Anna, and he pulled her close to his chest. “What role are you supposed to play? What pieces are in motion? What does that even mean,I am already here?”
Giving up on trying to be strong, Anna turned into him, letting his shoulder block the lights that felt like daggers in her eyes. He smelled of woodsmoke and fresh snow, a heady combination conjuring images of warm blankets and cozy fires.
Sleep would be so nice…
“Maybe the plague isn’t the treasonous beliefs like they’ve said,” Anna whispered. “Maybe it’s the person spreading them.”
The room went deadly still.
“But who is it?” Isobel said in a small voice.
No one answered.
As Isobel backed away, Autumn stepped forward. “Can you stand, Anna? We probably need to get you somewhere to lie down.”
She tried to push herself up, but her weak muscles, the strange sparks from Sean’s skin, and the pain stopped her.
“No, don’t,” Sean murmured. He stood with her still in his arms, like she weighed nothing at all. A quick glance at David told her she’d get no comfort from him. He’d retreated from them all, caged in ice, hiding everything.
Still being weird.
She shut her eyes, determined not to worry about it. “My headhurts,” she said as Sean carried her down the hall opposite David’s. “Wait, where are you taking me?”
“To Isobel’s bed.”
Eyes still closed, Anna tried to protest. “She doesn’t have to give up her bed. I can go to my own?—”
“She can sleep in my bed,” Sean said.
Oh. Duh.
“I’d feel better if you were close,” he continued without looking at her. “That was terrifying.”
He placed her on something soft, smelling of roses, and Anna blinked her eyes open. The room was lovely, with large windows that peered out on fat fluffs of snow, falling from the sky.
“We’ll check on you in a bit, okay?” he said.
Autumn dashed in after him, holding a nightdress. “You don’t have to sleep in those leathers. Here, take this.”
Anna stared at the fabric, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to undress herself.
“I’ll help you,” Autumn said, and Sean stepped out.
Once she was alone, wrapped in cotton and Isobel’s thick blankets, Anna’s eyes fluttered closed. Outside the door, male voices rumbled her way, sharp and aggressive, but she couldn’t make out any specifics.
