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As Kaylin gently brushed aside my hair to examine my neck, I winced. My stomach was getting worse. Just then, my wolf rose up, whimpering. A ribbon of fire raced through me, so dry that I felt like I was kindling held to a match. I clutched my stomach. My wolf was sick. Grieve was sick.
"Help me, Kaylin . . . I don't feel so good." I tried to stand up but my knees buckled and Kaylin caught me. Through the fog that was encompassing my mind, I heard him yell for Leo to wake, and then the next thing I knew, he was carrying me upstairs. I let out a little moan as he jostled me, turning at the landing. The sound of footsteps behind us penetrated the haze.
"What's wrong with her?" Leo's voice echoed through the blackness. I realized my eyes were shut and attempted to force them open.
"I don't know. She complained about being hot--not feeling good. Look at the wound on her neck. What the fuck?"
Leo sucked in a hiss and I managed to open my eyes just a crack. "Water. I'm burning up."
Kaylin brushed his hand across my forehead. "She's hot, but not terribly so. Get her some water. Hurry."
My eyes closed again as Leo's face disappeared and I reached out, seeking comfort from the one who knew me best.
Ulean, are you here? Help me, please.
I am here, girl. You will be all right. You're not the one who's sick.
What do you mean? I feel like I'm dying.
I know, girl. I know, but trust me, you aren't. Ride it through, the wave will pass, and I'll do my best to pull you out of it enough for Leo to help you.
What wave? What are you talking about? Why does my stomach hurt so bad if I'm not sick?
Because, girl . . . Grieve is sick. Terribly sick. You have to ride it out, climb out of the communion in order to help him.
And then, Leo's hands were behind me, lifting me up so I could drink. The water was cool as it ran down my throat, ice on a burn, and I let out a single cry as my stomach cramped again.
No! Please, no! Out . . . let me out . . . now . . .
The slipstream eased just enough. I saw a chance to break out of the communion and leapt for the opening. There was a ripping sound, a horrible whining as if my wolf had been mangled and then--in the soft blink of an eye--I landed safe inside myself, the connection severed. My stomach ached from the spasms, but the pain began to diminish. The fog was lifting.
With Kaylin's and Leo's help, I slowly sat up, trembling. "What the fuck was that? Something's happened to Grieve! I know it." I tried to get up, to make it to the door but they stopped me and forced me back onto the bed.
"I need to examine you, Cicely." Leo held up a small kit. "I brought my healer's case when I got your water. You can't get out of bed until we know what happened."
"I know what happened." I tried to shake him off.
"Grieve is sick and my wolf felt it. I tuned in to him. Let me up."
"Sit still and allow Leo to do what he needs to," Kaylin said, holding me fast. He was stronger than he looked. "Just what are you planning to do? Race out there into the wood to find him? Run right into Myst's arms?"
Kaylin caught my gaze and I froze. He was right. What the hell could I do? Get myself caught? Out Grieve as a traitor? Resigned, I let Leo check me over. He listened to my heart, then took my temperature, and finally, using a cotton swab, he rubbed gently across the puncture wounds on my neck. I stared at the oozing liquid on the cotton.
"Crap, am I bleeding?"
"More . . . puslike. Either Lannan didn't brush his fangs before he bit into you or . . . Hello, what's this?" Leo held out the swab and murmured a few words I couldn't hear, then watched. The tip of the swab where the droplets were had turned bright pink--fuchsia to be exact.
"What's that mean?" I stared at it. Barring lipstick or flowers, anything that color couldn't be good.
"Poison. You were poisoned . . . but not with anything like arsenic. This is . . . a bacteria? Virus maybe? You were infected with something when Lannan bit you, Cicely." Leo looked at me, his meaning clear in his eyes.
"And when Grieve licked the wounds last night, he got some of whatever this is in his system. And he's terribly sick. But why is he sick and I'm not? We both have Cambyra blood in us, so it can't be against the Fae."
Kaylin shook his head. "Maybe it's not meant to hurt the Fae. But I still bet you anything Lannan's fangs were coated with whatever this is."
"If not the Fae then . . . oh . . ."
And I saw. The Indigo Court. The Vampiric Fae.
