“Naida!” Sebille screamed.
My head jerked up as something wrapped itself around my arms. My protective instincts, already in hyperdrive, slammed into high gear as I tried to jerk away. But the vines that entwined me were like steel. There was no breaking through them without a blade.
I threw back my head and screamed, my voice throbbing with rage, as whatever had me in its grip wrapped its way down my body and to my hips. I struggled and kicked, trying to expel the gnomes, which were inexplicably still attacking me despite the fact that the vining had me firmly in its grip.
“Naida!” Sebille screamed again. “You have to stop fighting.”
I was too frantic to listen. I struggled until I was coated in sweat, my body throbbing from the pain the gnomes had inflicted and the new damage I was doing to myself in the battle against the vines.
My feet left the ground, the vines carrying me toward the ceiling high above, and I was shocked into sudden silence.
“It’s okay,” Sebille yelled again. She was standing near the door, hands lifted and green energy bathing the air between her and the massive tree.
As I was lifted safely away from the gnomes, the vines a gentle, but firm vehicle for my flight toward the spot where Alice and Sebille waited, my gaze slid along the vining to where it began, wrapped around the trunk of the tree.
Sebille’s magic.
Not the gnomes.
Thank the goddess. I expelled a breath that carried some of my terror with it. And let myself go limp in the gentle grasp of the sprite’s magic.
I was going to survive.
But holy hippopotamus in a Humvee, I was gonna be sore.
14
Make Me A Magic Muffin Mister
I heard the bell clang through the library the next morning and knew I needed to get up, but my entire body felt like one giant bruise and I couldn’t make myself do it.
Just the weight of the covers on my skin was causing agony to throb through me.
I lay there for a long moment, trying to open my eyes. It was like somebody had glued them shut. I finally gave up, started to roll over to get into a better position to go back to sleep, and sucked in a gasp as the pulsating pain suffusing my body exploded into tsunami-level misery.
I gave a little scream and went perfectly still.
A moment later, footsteps sounded on the concrete floor. I lay as still as I could, my eyes open and tears of pain sliding down my cheeks.
“Naida?” Alice’s voice filtered toward me through the looming stacks of artifacts. “Are you okay?”
Moving only my eyes, I tracked her as she appeared from behind the shelves. When she saw me, her eyes went wide. “Blimey,” she breathed.
I forced myself to speak, though I was afraid that moving my lips might set off another wave of torment. “I’m okay. Just a little sore.”
She shook her head. “Rubbish. You look bloody awful. Stay there. I’ll call Doctor Whom.” She turned on her heel and clip-clopped away.
Thinking of the medicine the good doctor would be offering, I grimaced. We didn’t really need any more rodents running around. “You don’t need to,” I called out, a tinge of desperation in my voice. But, per usual, Alice ignored me.
“Maybe he’ll be too busy,” I murmured sleepily, letting my eyes drift closed again. Sometime later, I jolted awake again to the sensation of heat running over my body. A sweet, floral scent filled the air and I recognized it as magic. My eyes jerked open in sudden panic. I jumped when I spotted the woman bending over me. “Sebille! You scared me.”
She rolled her eyes. “You scared yourself.” The sprite sat back, lines of weariness on her long, homely face as she stared at me. “How do you feel?”
I grimaced, hoping Sebille’s presence there meant that Alice had been unable to contact the doc. “I’m fine. Really. Will you help me talk Alice out of calling Doctor Whom?”
“Already done.”
“He’s busy and I…” My lips slammed closed as I realized I didn’t need to convince her. “Oh. Thanks for that.”
She frowned and continued to sit on the edge of the bed as if waiting for me to do something. I had no idea what. The one thing I really needed to do, I was pretty sure Sebille didn’t want me to tell her about. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the ladies…” I shoved back the covers and sat up, jolting to a stop. My eyes went wide. “Wait… I’m not in agony all over my body anymore.”
Sebille’s lips curved slightly upward in the corners. She nodded once and stood. “I can go then.”
I reached out and touched her hand. “You did this?”
She fidgeted nervously, looking uncomfortable at the idea of having to answer my question. Finally, she just shrugged.
“Thank you so much. This is amazing.” I rolled my shoulders and then stretched my arms over my head. There was a slight tightness in my lower back, a touch of tenderness, but the pain was all but gone. “You’re a goddess.”
Sebille snorted out a laugh. “If you believe that, you haven’t been paying attention. I’ll see you up front when you’re…erm…” She shrugged again. “See you in a few minutes.”
I nodded, happy that she wasn’t leaving Croakies. I wanted to pick her brain about everything that had happened the night before. And about the suitcase.
I wasn’t sure how forthcoming Alice was going to be about it, and I wanted Sebille there to help me drag it out of her. The Keeper knew more than she was letting on about the artifact and what it did.
Which might mean she knew more about Gido’s death than she was letting on too. The thought made me frown. “See you in a few.”
