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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.
"Do you think . . . could the vampires have made their first attack against Myst? And could I be their weapon?" I pushed myself out of bed, striding to the dresser, where I leaned toward the mirror. I knew it--knew it in my gut. The vampires had used me as their own personal Typhoid Mary. "I wonder if this thing can spread? And if so . . ."
"If so, then the Indigo Court may be in for some casualties. Or at least a nasty bout of stomach flu."
"Grieve's sick. I can't do a damned thing to help him right now. What if he dies? What if they used me to kill him?" I whirled around. "I need to speak to Lannan. Now!"
"You can't," Leo said. "Lannan's asleep for the day. You won't be able to talk to him until tonight."
"Then I'm heading out to Dovetail Lake. Lainule may know something about this and by gods, she's going to tell me." Frantic, terrified I'd lost Grieve a second time, I raced down the stairs, Kaylin and Leo on my heels.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Leo grabbed me by the wrist and spun me around. "I think you should just wait . . . wait until I can talk to the vampires tonight."
He knows something, Ulean whispered.
I stared at him. There was a flicker in his eyes. Ulean was right--his eyes read guilt all the way through. "What do you know about this? Tell me. Now! Before I bitch-slap you across the room. And trust me, I could do it."
Leo backed away. "I can't tell you."
"You'd better tell me. I learned to fight in the streets, boy, and you're smart enough to know you'd better not piss me off." I started for him, fists clenched.
Leo jumped back another step and held up his hands.
"Okay! Okay . . . stop. Don't hurt yourself. Or me." He paused, then shook his head. "Sit down and I'll tell you what I know. But if Geoffrey finds out, I might as well impale myself on a pitchfork."
I crossed my arms, waiting. "This better be good."
"Good? Not likely. But the truth." His eyes flickered and he let out a long sigh. "I heard Geoffrey and Lannan talking--neither one knows I eavesdropped and if they find out, I'm toast. They were discussing the best way to get in a first attack on the Indigo Court. Someone--not Crawl, but someone of his stature in the Vampire Nation, has apparently figured out a virus that affects the Vampiric Fae. It spreads through close contact, like kissing, hugging, shaking hands."
"Or sex and feeding on blood."
