She nodded and blew me a kiss. Then she slammed the door shut, sealing me alone in the room.
Only I wasn’t really alone anymore.
I dragged myself over to an old office chair that was missing a chunk of the foam seat cushion and plopped down into it.
Staring at my hands, I waited for whatever was going to come next—more cold or more heat? Or maybe my skin would break out in hives or boils or worse? What was worse than boils? Actually, I hoped not to find out.
I leaned forward and held my head in my hands to take some strain off of my neck.
Where was Doc? The clock was ticking now. I had twenty-four hours to live if I didn’t get this sucker out of me. Maybe less. I crossed my fingers that I hadn’t just signed my own death certificate with this plan.
I pulled out my cell phone, fumbling with my sluggish fingers, almost dropping it, smearing blood on the case. There was no cell service down here in this tomb. I was cut off from the rest of the world.
I decided to check if my eyes were still black by taking a picture of myself using the flash. One look confirmed it—they were like two black holes, no flash reflection to be seen in either of them.
I stared at my picture. “Look at that,” I said aloud and snorted. “I took a selfie with a lidérc.” Aunt Zoe could add this to our family history book.
Stuffing my phone back in my pocket, I stared at the ward next to the door. The blood was fading slightly as it dried. Would it stain? How long until someone came in here and found it? How long until anyone found me?
The clamminess was sinking deeper now. I could feel the cold ache in my bones, which surprised me. I guess I’d figured a hot mess like me would burn up if the lidérc attached to me, like my ancestor who had burned from the inside out.
I shifted, my skin feeling too tight in spots, starting to itch. Maybe I would go out like the other Scharfrichter I’d learned about from Aunt Zoe—the one who’d torn her skin off. I shuddered, praying it didn’t come to that.
Scratching absently, I tried not to think about my kids, not wanting to give the lidérc that kernel of knowledge about my life or any kind of hold over my emotions, but it didn’t work. Their sweet smiles filled my thoughts, bringing tears to my eyes. I should be home now, enjoying another meal with them and helping them get ready for school tomorrow, not sitting here in the basement of the courthouse on a broken old chair waiting for death to come knocking.
I sat up, my head not so heavy anymore. Neither were my arms. I held them out and made little circles in the air, like we used to do in gym class when I was a kid. Interesting. I lifted one foot and then the other. They had lightened up, too.
My lower back itched, though. Maybe I was going to tear my skin off after all. Gee, what a pleasant thought. What was up next on the Nightmare Hour? Getting my arm chewed off by a Nachzehrer?
I shifted in the chair.
A better idea would be to focus on what Harvey might have made for supper tonight if this Hungarian bastard hadn’t come calling. A bacon casserole of some sort would have been heaven. A queasy shift in my stomach disagreed. Damned lidérc. It was going to ruin my love for bacon before I died.
I scratched the back of my neck, feeling a small bump there. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Was it starting? I pulled my fingers away quickly and clenched my hands together in my lap. I would not rip off my own face, dammit.
The cut on my arm prickled. I lifted it to check the wound. “What the hell?” I whispered, frowning at what was now just a welt. I spit on a small, clean bit of my shirt sleeve and wiped over the skin. The scar where it had been was still bright pink, but the wound had sealed up entirely.
How did that heal so quickly? Did it have something to do with the lidérc being inside of me? As I stared at it, the redness at each end of the wound paled, the skin practically healing before my eyes. Holy shit!
Did this mean my brain was going tits up already? I lowered my arm and looked away, my breath coming in short bursts, blood whooshing in my ears. I needed to calm down. I had a little time yet before all hell broke loose—I hoped.
What was going on inside of me? Was the lidérc taking over like some sort of alien? I thought of the movie The Thing, and how the creature had replaced a human cell by cell, replicating them so that others wouldn’t know it was hiding under their skin. Was that happening to me? Was …
“Violet!” I heard someone call my name over the panic bells clanging in my head. “Open the door!”
I knew that voice. Jane had come through.
“Doc?” I rushed over to the door, pressing my hands against the cold steel. “Did you bring the mirror?”
“Yes. Now open the damned door so I can get that thing out of you.”
I tried the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t close it. Jane did.”
I heard mumbling coming from the other side, and then something clicked and the door popped open.
I took several steps back, wanting to keep my distance in case the lidérc tried to trick me into crossing the ward and letting it escape again.
The door eased open.
“Stay back,” I warned as Doc came into view, holding my mace. Cooper was frowning at me over his shoulder. “You can’t cross the threshold. I have it sealed with a blood ward. If you come in here, the lidérc
