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My eyes were on fire as I fought against completely shattering where I stood.
Where was this coming from?
My inability to move just now could have caused him and Rehema to get hurt. I had been standing right by the fae. I could have stopped her. But she was only a child. Just the thought of going near her and possibly repeating the past had immobilized me.
Rehema joined us, a wound on her left lower arm healing.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked me after my breathing finally slowed.
I placed a hand on my forehead. “I’m fine,” I mumbled. “I should be asking you that same question. What the hell happened?” She didn’t answer right away, but her eyes reverted to dark brown. At her look of concern, I said, “I’m okay, I promise. I just—she looks like a child.”
We all looked at the fae.
“She is a child,” Lucian growled, and Rehema sighed.
"I was closing up when she walked in. By the smell of her, I knew right away that she was infected. That’s when I messaged you, Natalie. When I ran to the back, she followed me. Then, luckily, you guys showed up."
Rehema’s words grew distant as I stared at the fae until I could barely hear her. The whispers I'd heard before returned, filling the space all around us.
The fae’s eyes moved a fraction. Now she was staring right at me, and my chest tightened.
I winced and covered my right ear, as the voices grew louder and more demanding. But I couldn't make out any of the words they said, and before long, my head throbbed.
"Natalie?" I heard Lucian call to me, but I couldn’t break eye contact with the fae.
“Can’t you hear that?” I asked through clenched teeth. “Can’t you hear the voices?”
Now the voices escalated to screams, and I hunched forward in pain. But still, I couldn't look away from the frozen girl. It felt like she was reaching out to me.
I could feel her.
“What voices?” Lucian and Rehema asked in unison, and I took a step forward.
It was as if invisible ropes were pulling me toward the girl. I raised my hand to touch her, but before I could do so, a portal opened to my left, and Rumir and Hekate stepped out.
* * *
Natalie
My hand fell to my side, and the voices went silent. In an instant, they were gone. Rumir rushed to my side, and I blinked rapidly.
He looked me up and down. “Are you okay?” he asked, and I nodded. Then he looked at Lucian and Rehema. “Are you hurt?” he asked Rehema, who shook her head.
He hadn’t asked Lucian, but I wasn’t surprised. As calm as things were between them, they still weren't on good terms.
I wanted nothing more than to see their feud come to an end, but this virus was taking precedence. The city needed to be put under lockdown, with another infected soul showing up so soon after the first.
Pressing a finger to my temple, I glanced at Hekate, who was standing in front of the swirling black portal.
Between her staggering height—she was at least seven feet tall—and the height and size of Rumir and Lucian, the spacious room suddenly seemed tiny and tight.
"I'm fine. Lucian and Natalie got here in time,” Rehema said, and then she bowed to Hekate. “Goddess Hekate, welcome.”
“Hello, daughter of Eir,” Hekate answered, and two Kruards exited the portal, both cloaked and covered as usual. "I'm glad no one was hurt. But I'll have to take a look at you.”
The Kruard both picked up the frozen fae, and I bit down on my lip as they took her into the portal.
What had just happened? Why couldn’t anyone hear the voices like I could?
