rushed to the fallen man. The men in black tightened their grips on their guns. Vane glanced at the Secretary without expression and sent a wave of green magic stunned the men in black. They froze in place.
“Anyone else care to test me?” he growled.
Black oblivion stood like a shadow over me. I held it back with a fragile tip of a finger, but it wasn’t enough. Pressure squeezed my lungs. I let out silent gasps, trying to suck in air.
Vane turned toward Grey. Grey’s fingers tightened on the seeing stone. Colin stepped in front of Grey.
“She’s dying, you idiots,” Vane barked at them.
Grey blanched. “What?”
Injecting as much vitality into the statement as possible, and with more effort than I actually possessed, I croaked from behind Grey, “I-I’m okay.”
His eyes snapped to me. “I don’t think so.”
Vane shoved him aside. He reached me. Monster green filled his irises. I couldn’t help flinching. Vane didn’t miss my reaction. The green receded to leave only hazel-brown. He said softly, “The beast’s caged, Ryan. It’s just me.”
The beast may have been caged, but its door had no guard. Still, I was glad to see him, ridiculously glad. Vane put his hand against my stomach. Green magic flowed over the cloth, but nothing happened. “Merlin, why isn’t this working?”
“It’s the same as in the hallway. The Kronos Eye seems to be blocking any magical healing.”
Throwing his brother a glare, he ordered. “Ragnar, call an ambulance.”
I blinked trying to stay awake as Grey scrambled to get his phone.
Vane grabbed my hand. Real fear rolled off tight shoulders. “If you close your eyes, DuLac, you’ll force me to gut my own brother.”
I almost smiled. Prince Charming, he was not. Then, my chest constricted. My arm jerked in his grip. Worried eyes, brown pupils surrounded by a ring of green, were the last thing I saw before my heart gave out.
***
I woke up to find myself in a sterile, white room.
Everything hurt. Even my eyelids were sore. When I took a breath, my side spiked with pain. My ribs were bruised. My breastbone ached as if it were pounded relentlessly, which it might have been. I remembered hazy bits of an ambulance. Beyond that, I lay immobilized on a metal bed. I looked up. Set against a tiled ceiling, bright fluorescent tubes illuminated the room with crisp clarity. A black-tinted window let in muted, natural light as if too much might be painful. The window showed I lay several stories high in a red brick building, a sign declared it as “Thoreau General.”
I stretched out my hand, wincing as something pulled at my skin. Thin tubes slipped beneath the dermis connected to an IV marked “saline.” A metal heart rate monitor was wrapped around my index finger on my right hand. Machines beeped steadily behind my head. I pushed up with my elbows on the slanted mattress of the hospital bed and reached for a plastic tumbler full of water. I only had enough strength to swipe at it drunkenly.
The door opened.
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Grey walked into the hospital room carrying a handful of white lilies.
I arched a brow, the only action that didn’t cause shooting pain. “You got me flowers? You must have been really worried.”
“Mom started it.” He crossed the room and pulled me into a tight hug. I squeezed him feebly. Weakness made my bones feel like liquid. I tried to drop back against the pillows. Grey held me tighter. “You look better. A lot better. Don’t do that again.”
With effort, I put a hand on his back. “I know I should’ve found a way to call you from Sri Lanka, but it was only for a few days—”
Grey pulled back with a strange expression. “It’s been two months since India, Ryan. I found you at the old bridge four days ago.”
My jaw dropped open. “What—?”
A round, middle-aged woman, wearing blue scrubs, bustled inside the room. “You’re awake! I was hopeful when your heart rate fluctuated.” With a beaming smile, she crossed to check the beeping machine behind my head. She gave Grey an impatient look and he quickly moved out of her way to the other side of the bed.
I watched her. “What happened to me?”
The nurse stilled, giving Grey an odd look. “We have an on-staff counselor. She will be happy to come and talk to you.”
On-staff counselor? That didn’t sound good. What story did they tell the hospital? I touched my stomach. Under the cotton blue gown, thick bandages taped my