suddenly feel the price of using.”
Didn’t that sound like fun?
“Any idea when that might happen?” I asked. “I like to plan for when I catch on fire.”
She turned back to the dresser. But Shame had already scuttled from the shadows and taken his share of the food. He was back in the chair in the shadows by the window, bowl in one hand, slurping it down.
“Utensils, Shamus,” she said.
“Mmm.” He pulled the bowl away long enough to get the hunk of bread involved.
“Magic will revive when the storm hits,” she said, “maybe sooner. It’s difficult to know. These things don’t calendar well.”
She walked to Zayvion’s bed, brushed her fingertips across his forehead. She had done that a hundred times for me in the last few months I’d been training. Her touch brought a sense of soothing, an ease of pain. She said it wasn’t so much magic as it was a knack. A little like my father and I have a knack for Influencing people, she said, she and her kin had a knack for settling the mind, soothing the body, easing, just a slight amount, the pain magic made you pay.
If Shame had the knack, I had no idea. I’d never seen him use it.
Zayvion didn’t move, didn’t so much as stir at her touch.
“He’s in a coma, isn’t he?” I asked quietly.
Maeve nodded. She folded her hands in front of her, fingers twined. I’d never seen her look helpless. “We think he’ll come out of it. When magic stabilizes.”
I was pretty sure she was trying to convince herself of that, because I wasn’t buying it. I’d seen Zay fall. I’d seen his spirit, his soul, get sucked into the gate. And I didn’t think magic coming back was going to fix that. Fix him.
Well, unless it blew open a gate. And if Zayvion was still capable of finding his way home through that gate, maybe that would work.
“He went through the gate,” I said.
Maeve looked over at me. I’d never seen that expression on her face before, but I knew what it was: horror.
“He what?”
“Went through the gate. Chase and Greyson opened it. I watched Zayvion’s soul cross over the threshold.”
It sounded like I’d just said he died. And in a way he had. But he was still breathing. He was right here in the room with me. Still fighting to live. I refused to give up on that.
“I see,” Maeve said, no more than a whisper. “That changes things.”
“How?”
She just shook her head. “Let me talk to some people first. When I know, I’ll tell you. Right now, you should rest. I want you to stay here until you are feeling better.”
“I’m fine.”
She raised one eyebrow.
To prove how great I was feeling, I pushed the tray away from the bed and then the covers away from my legs. Pajamas, plain blue, flannel. Not mine, but nice not to be in nothing but panties.
I stood, and brushed my hair back behind my ears. My hands didn’t even shake. Much. And the good thing? I wasn’t dizzy.
“You want to leave?” she asked.
“I’m not staying in bed.” I took a few steps. My body didn’t ache, really. Other than the hollowness of magic not in me, I didn’t feel like I’d done much more than work out really hard.
“Can I do anything for him?”
Okay, I’ll admit it. I was afraid to touch Zay. Afraid that if I did, I would have to come to grips with him not being there, not being present in his body. That I’d realize he was little more than a breathing corpse.
No. I pushed that thought away.
Maeve wove her fingers together again. “I don’t know.”
Three words I didn’t want to hear.
“So there’s not a lot about this in the histories?”
She shook her head. “Did you see him go through the gate with your bare eyes, or were you using Sight?”
“I don’t remember. I don’t think I was holding magic. It all happened so fast.”
She sighed. “I’ll talk to Sedra. To Liddy. To Victor. To Jingo Jingo. We’ll contact other members of the Authority outside the city. See if anyone has experienced this before.” She was suddenly all business again. Busy was her default mode when she was faced with an emergency.
“In the meantime, you’ll stay here. Not because I don’t think you are well enough to leave. We may need you once magic flares again, once the wild-magic storm hits. It would be easiest for us if you were nearby.”
“I’ll stay awhile,” I said.
“Good.” Maeve looked over at Shame, who had been sitting quietly, head back, eyes closed, for most of the conversation. It didn’t take magic to see how her body language changed once she looked at him. She was worried for him. She was afraid for him. I’d never seen her doubt Shame’s strength. Not even when magic had taken him to his knees.
“Will you sleep?” she asked like this had been a point of contention.
“Not yet.”
“Terric sleeps.”
Shame nodded, though he did not open his eyes. “I know. Why do you think I’m awake?”
I gave Maeve a questioning look and she only shook her head. Okay, fine. If she wouldn’t tell me what was going on between Shame and Terric, I’d make Shame tell me.
“Eat again, soon,” Maeve said. “I’ll bring you something in an hour or so.”
Shame didn’t move. Didn’t say anything.
With one last brush of her fingers over Zayvion’s hand, Maeve turned and walked out, shutting the door behind her.
I stood there a minute, trying to make sense of everything. Zayvion had been killed-no, sucked through to death. Magic was gone, or at least not accessible. Shame was half dead. I didn’t know what was up with Terric.
And Chase and Greyson, as far as I knew, were still on the loose.
It didn’t look like the good guys were winning.
Well, I sure as hell wasn’t going to wait around for magic to bail my ass out. I could take care of this without magic.
“You have some problem with light?” I asked.
Shame frowned, opened his eyes. “Why would you even ask that?”
“No.”
“Then open the curtain. I need to see Zayvion better.” And find my clothes, my shoes, and my gear. It was time to go hunting.
Shame pushed up on his feet. He moved like every muscle in his body was on fire.
“Maybe you should be in bed too,” I said.
“Maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.”
He grunted softly as he tugged the curtains over to one side of the window.
Evening light poured into the room. I hadn’t expected it to be that late. But it was still bright enough that the cool gray light revealed the room-white plaster walls and dark wooden beams and floor. Even better, I could see Zayvion.
He was breathing normally, deeply, as if he were sleeping. The IV attached to his arm was wrapped with gauze that I thought might have a spell woven into it. He looked like he was sleeping. Just sleeping.
I reached over, gently brushed my fingers across his lips.
