Silence.
As he debated fetching Laurie to come sit with them, River rushed into the room. His hair was mussed, a two-day-old beard was on his face, and the dark circles under his eyes signaled he hadn’t slept much.
But in the next second, Joseph forgot about that as River blurted, “I think I found a way to help her.” He held up a book and continued, “According to this, it requires your and Laurie’s help.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about? Tell me the details, River. Plainly.”
“Since Meadow is still your unclaimed fated one, you and Laurie possess a little magic that will react with hers. Namely, if you each take a small bit of her blood, you should hallucinate and see what she sees right now. The book is vague about whether you can communicate with her in the hallucination or not. However, at this point, anything that might help Meadow is worth a shot.”
Joseph willed himself not to get hopeful. Yet. “What magic are you talking about? Full-blooded vampires don’t have magic.”
“Ah, but they do. All of you do. It’s a lingering result of the original curse put on your kind.”
He blinked. “That’s real?”
“Apparently. Thankfully, Khan let me scour his forbidden texts and said we could use this information to help Meadow.Although, obviously, you can’t share it with anyone else or Khan will arrest you.”
He tightened his grip on Meadow’s hand. “Of course we won’t tell anyone. But is Laurie strong enough to help? Or can I just do it by myself?”
“No, it has to be the fated one or ones, which means in this case it has to be the both of you. That connection is what will trigger the hallucinations. There’s more to it all, of course, but that’s the gist of it. As for Laurie, he should be fine as long as he listens to his body and acknowledges his limits. Normally, I’d wait another few days. But in this case…”
Joseph looked back at Meadow’s pale face. “If we wait much longer, she might never wake up.”
“Exactly.”
A knock at the door made him turn around, and he saw Nora wheeling Laurie inside. Judging by the determined look on his face, Nora or River had already explained the situation.
Laurie nodded. “I’m doing it because we can’t afford to wait. The thought of Meadow losing everything after she finally accepted herself makes me both sad and angry. I won’t let those arseholes traitors take that from her. From us.”
Nora stopped Laurie on the opposite side of the bed and spoke up. “Another healer is staying in Khan’s residence, too, in case we need her. River has barely slept over the last two days, and he might not be well enough to help with anything serious.”
River grunted. “I would argue, but she’s right. I can do minor things, but Meadow might need more. For now, let me go over what you need to do, and then we’ll get started.”
And as he explained the steps needed to maybe join Meadow’s hallucinations and convince her to wake up, Joseph listened to every detail. Because he refused to make a mistake and risk Meadow’s life.
Meadow was locked in a dark,humid basement. Only a single flickering candle kept the worst of her fears at bay.
They’d tossed her inside the magical rogue prison, blaming her for making things worse at the fae witch festival.
She hadn’t helped.
She hadn’t saved the day.
And Laurie and Joseph were dead.
She sat on the ground and hugged her knees closer to her chest. So much for doing better and not being the fuckup her father had always accused her of being.
If she had any tears left, she’d cry some more. But she’d cried until she was hoarse, and she struggled to stay awake.
But she didn’t want to sleep. The last time she’d tried, all she’d dreamed about were Laurie and Joseph’s lifeless bodies.
Their eyes open, staring at nothing, as they lay unmoving and pale.
All because of me.
The door opened, and Meadow jumped a little. The figure in the doorway looked like Yesenia, but she had white streaks in her hair. Her eyes were also hard and cruel, with no sign of affection or warmth.
Although could she really blame her? Maybe Meadow had also hurt or failed Leo. The darkness-clad guards had refused to tell her anything.
