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“Like what?”
“Like vampires and werewolves and witches and that sort of thing.”
I had to shrug. “I’ve never met any of those, as far as I know.” I shook my head. “I take that back. I’ve met witches, but they’re not the ride-the-broom, cast-spells kind of witches. But vampires and werewolves?” I shrugged again, but I thought instantly of the missing essences. Was that some form of vampirism? And what about that dog-thing? “I’m not going to say that they don’t exist, because who am I to say that, but I’ve never met a werewolf or vampire that I know of.”>“What now?” she shouted over the strange whine of the vortex.
“Into the portal,” Ryan and I shouted at the same time. Or, rather, Ryan shouted and I wheezed. Jill wound up and winged it right at the slit in a beautiful underhand throw that would have made any fast-pitch softball player proud. I had a split second of panic that it would be too large to go in with the garbage bag and tongs—then it shifted and disappeared.
“Kara, close the portal down!”
I shuddered, then yanked the power free of the circle, sending it down to ground into the earth. The sudden quiet seemed deafening, broken only by our collective harsh breathing.
I tried to stand up and whimpered. Ryan snapped his head to look at me. “Ah, shit.”
The pain in my back was well on its way to excruciating now. He grabbed me and pushed me to lie facedown on the floor, ignoring my breathless scream at the motion.
“Jill, get hot water, a knife, and matches or a lighter,” Ryan commanded. “Also, any salt you can find.”
Jill dashed to the kitchen again. I couldn’t help but think that she was enjoying this introduction to the arcane far too much.
“Just stay still,” Ryan said, voice unnervingly calm as he pulled my shirt up. He didn’t have to tell me that, though. Moving hurt too much, and the pain was spreading.
“How bad is it?” I managed to get out between clenched teeth.
“Bad enough,” he replied honestly. I was grateful for that, because if he’d told me that it wasn’t bad I wouldn’t have believed him.
“It’s not going to be easy, but I think I can get you through the worst of this,” he continued. Jill careened back into the room, holding the items out for Ryan.
He took the knife from her hand. “Okay, Kara, this is going to really fucking hurt.”
Maybe honesty wasn’t such a good thing, because he was right. I heard someone scream, then realized that it was me. My vision went dark and I fought it briefly, then decided that maybe going with my instincts to pass out was a good idea right now.
So I did.
Chapter 19
I woke up to the same amount of pain in my back, or so I thought at first. But after a couple of cautious breaths, I was forced to admit that it was nowhere near as excruciating as it had been before I passed out. Now it was merely on the level of hurts like shit.
I was lying facedown on my aunt’s bed, the yarn of her afghan tickling my nose. I shifted to get a tuft out of my nostril, grimacing at the dull spear of pain that accompanied the movement. I heard a chair scrape, then Ryan bent down, crouching beside the bed. Behind him I could see Zack leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest and his brows drawn down.
“How do you feel?” Ryan said, voice soft and thick.
“Like someone decided to shove an ice pick into the small of my back. Otherwise, peachy.” I moved carefully, relieved when I was able to roll onto my side without the pain becoming overwhelming. I gingerly reached to feel my back and discovered a wad of gauze and tape. There was a thick smell of garlic as well, so I had to assume that it had been used somehow in the treatment of the sting. Though I had no idea where they’d found garlic. Certainly not in Tessa’s pantry. I’d tossed out anything perishable some time ago.
“Okay, so what was that thing?” I looked at him, eyes narrowed. “You sure knew what to do with it.”
He glanced at Zack and a shadow passed over his face. He lifted a hand and scrubbed at his eyes, as if to brush the troubled expression away as well. “It … it’s like dreams I had,” Ryan said, looking back at me. “I mean, I sit here and rack my brains and I know—just know—that I’ve never in my life encountered anything like that.” His eyes were shadowed, green and gold like the middle of a forest on a summer day. The light from the window caught his face just right to make him look like a rugged statue with marbles for eyes. Then he sighed and shook his head, and the image was gone. “I did what felt right, then called Zack. He knew how to deal with the sting and brought some supplies over.” Zack gave a small nod of acknowledgment.
“And how did you know?” I challenged, looking at Zack.
“Dealt with something similar on a case several years back,” he replied. His expression was pleasant, but I got the distinct impression that he was not going to be forthcoming with any further information.
I was silent for nearly a full minute, then cautiously pushed up to a sitting position. My back throbbed, but it was already starting to fade to a manageable level. “How long was I out?”
“Two days.”
“What!” I straightened in shock, which sent a fresh throb of pain through my back. I groaned as Ryan smiled.
“Just kidding,” he said, eyes twinkling. “Two hours.”
