to his knees, his skin-tone almost grey. “What’s wrong with you?”
He was breathing hard. “Just over-exerted myself. I’m okay.”
He didn’t look okay, but he managed to rise. I hovered behind him, worried he was just going to collapse. When we reached Allastair’s chair, Ellis mumbled, “Let’s get him to his bed.”
“Can you carry him?” I asked.
He shot me a dirty look. “I’m fine.”
But when we lifted him, me grabbing him beneath the arms and Ellis taking his legs, it was a slow uneven walk to Alastair’s bedroom. Once there, we tried to lay him gently down. Again, he made a miserable sound.
“He’s in a lot of pain,” Ellis said, collapsing onto the side of the bed.
Grim was suddenly at the door. “What’s going on?”
I glanced back at him. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were only half open. “Alastair’s wound is bad.”
He stiffened instantly and came to stand by us. “How bad?”
“Judging by the pool of blood in the kitchen…really bad,” I said, and my voice wavered on the last word.
“Bring my stuff,” Ellis said, reaching for the bandage.
Grim took off to the bathroom where Ellis had a bag of strange healing stuff. Usually, we were more inclined to just use his horn, but I was guessing as stubborn as he was, even Ellis knew he was far too spent to be using his powers right now.
Grim returned a minute later with the bag and set it down on the bed next to him. Suddenly, Alastair’s phone rang, and Grim grabbed it, then stepped out in the hall to answer it. I watched, my stomach twisted, as Ellis removed the bandages. When the bandages were gone, we both stared in shock.
“He was trying to cut away the affected skin,” Ellis said, sounding horrified.
“Affected?” I saw the black lines stemming from the mark.
Ellis pointed to them. “This isn’t good. It means the glass that cut him probably transferred some of the curse into him… It’s making him sick.”
“So what can we do?”
He shook his head. “This is more than we can fix with magic, herbs, and stitches. Something inside of him is poisoning him. If he wants to live until morning, he’s going to need something to counter that.”
“Counter that?”
I was surprised when he rubbed his face and turned away from Alastair. Then, he stood and started to pace. There was a tension in him I didn’t understand.
“Sh-should I try to get more immortal flowers?” I was pretty damn sure I couldn’t, but it was the only thing I could think to try.
He stopped pacing and closed his eyes, fisting his hands at his sides. “No. That will help for today, but tomorrow, he’ll be right back here, because the curse won’t stop.”
“Then…are you saying there’s no hope?”
He opened his eyes, and his gaze was tortured as it connected with mine. “I would never give up on Alastair.” Then his gaze moved to Alastair. “But I want his consent if I’m going to do this…”
“Consent? For what?”
He moved back to the bed and shook Alastair’s shoulder. “I need to talk to you. I need you to answer me.”
Alastair winced and groaned, but his eyes didn’t open. More blood spurted from his wound, and Ellis cursed, grabbing a towel from the bathroom, then pressing it to the laceration.
“Alastair,” he tried. “I think I can help you, but this is going to change you. Do you understand me? This will change both of us.”
The warlock looked paler.
“Ellis…” I started slowly. “Whatever you can do, you might want to do it soon.”
Grim stepped back into the room a second later. “That was…that was my sister.”
“If she needs you, go,” I said. “We got this.”
I wasn’t sure about the second part, but I also knew that Grim was better suited for dealing with people after they died, rather than before. Right now, all he could do was worry with us, which wouldn’t do anyone any good.
“You’re sure?” he asked, sounding hesitant.
“Just go,” Ellis said, each word clipped.
Grim gave a curt nod, then turned and left.
I looked back at Ellis. “Please tell me you can really save him.”
After a long minute, Ellis nodded. “It won’t be a perfect solution, but it’s something.”
“What do we have to do?”
Ellis looked up at me, and there was a wealth of pain in his eyes. “I need you to shave off some of my horn.”
I jerked in surprise. “Fuck no!”
That was what unicorn hunters did. That was what the hunters had done to Ellis as a boy, and