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Chapter 16
Dorian
Perdita squeezed my hand tight while Nathan left the room to answer a call. She looked so small in the hospital bed. She’d gotten rid of Byron by tasking him to get her some essential items. I was the only one left.
“It’s good news,” I said, trying to cheer her up before another tear fell.
“I know.” She looked away. “For now.”
“You’re strong, and so is this baby.” I squeezed her hand. “The doctor said you’ll get through this as long as you get a lot of rest.”
“I’ll have to give up work. I won’t be able to help out with the community centre stuff. Everyone is going to treat me like…” She let go of my hand to massage her temples. “I know I’m lucky. I know, but I can’t help feeling like yet another problem to be dealt with.”
That statement confused me, but Nathan’s return distracted me. He looked uneasy. When he asked me to talk outside, I knew something had happened.
“What’s wrong?” Perdita asked. “What’s happening?”
Nathan’s face fell. I could tell he wished she didn’t ask. “It’s nothing. I just want to talk to Dorian for a bit.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t leave me out. I’m going to stress out imagining things anyway. Please. Talk to me, too.”
He licked his lower lip in thought then nodded. “All right.” He eased into the empty seat on the other side of Perdita’s bed. “Everyone’s okay now, but earlier, Amelia screwed up, and Margo passed out again.”
“What?” I half-jumped out of my seat in panic. “Is she okay? What happened?”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.” He gestured at me to sit then looked Perdita over. She seemed more alive all of a sudden, as though all she needed was a distraction from her worries.
“What did Amelia do?” Perdita asked.
Nathan rubbed his hand across his jaw, looking exhausted all of a sudden. “She got it into her head that she and Margo could save you and the baby with magic. I mean, we all panicked, but now that I think about it, if the baby had been at risk, Margo would have felt something, anything.”
Obviously. “You’re right. She would have, without trying.”
“Yeah, well, apparently that didn’t occur to either of them because they tried to fix things with magic.”
“Magic again,” Perdita said with a sigh. “So what happened when they tried?”
“I’ve warned her so many times not to mess about with things we don’t understand,” Nathan complained. “Sounds like she pushed Margo too hard, and Margo got overloaded somehow and passed out. She’s fine, according to Ryan, or at least well enough to go home, but he was concerned. He thinks Amelia could hurt Margo if she continues with this.”
Perdita tutted. “Poor girls. They were trying to help.”
“Amelia is hardly a girl,” Nathan said. “She should know better.”
A couple of memories hit me at once. “You said Margo got overloaded. With what? Magic? Hers or Amelia’s?”
“I have no clue. Why?”
“I was just thinking.” Things had gone haywire before. “Maybe Amelia’s magic isn’t compatible with whatever Margo does.”
“Does that make sense?” Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know the whole story. Trust me, I’ll be hearing it directly from my sister as soon as I see her.”
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Perdita pleaded. “She means well.”
“That can’t be her excuse every time she messes up.” He covered his emotions well enough, but my wolf sensed him seething with anger. “They had no idea what the consequences might be. Even if they managed to work some kind of magic, they had no permission or right to test it out on you or the baby.”
Perdita leaned back against the pillow. “I know. We have to go home and deal with this. Together,” she added meaningfully.
“We will. I promise,” he said. “But for now, let’s stay here like the doctor recommended. Amelia can wait.”
