Omens (The Dark in You #6) - Suzanne Wright Page 0,61
combining their powers, but that was something she’d keep to herself.
“You’re alive, but it’s possible that the orb did some damage to you,” said Knox.
Keenan cursed a blue streak, still stiff as a board. “What kind of damage are we talking about?”
“I don’t believe I’ve met anyone who survived such an attack, so I can’t say for sure,” said Knox. “There’s no way of knowing.”
“Maybe there is.” Jolene grabbed her cell phone from the table. “I’m going to call Vivian and have her take a look at you both.”
Keenan took Khloé’s hand. “Who’s Vivian?”
“An incantor within our lair who works as a nurse in a local hospital,” replied Khloé. “What makes her an excellent nurse is that she can see inside a person’s body.” So perhaps she could give them the answers they sought.
Khloé looked at her brother, who was staring into space. Raini was talking to him, but he didn’t appear to be listening.
It didn’t take long for Vivian to arrive. Jolene invited her to settle in the armchair and then told her about the whole death essence extravaganza.
Vivian studied Khloé closely. “Your cheeks are a little flushed. Do you feel hot, even with the chill in your bones?”
“Sometimes,” replied Khloé.
“Let’s take a closer look at you. After that, I’ll examine Ciaran.” Vivian knelt in front of her and weaved a pattern in the air with her hands. A light breeze built around them, and then Vivian stared hard at Khloé’s body.
A tense hush fell around the room as everyone watched and waited.
Vivian’s brow creased, and she jerked back a little. “What is that?”
Khloé tensed, her gut rolling. “What’s what?” But the incantor didn’t answer. “Tell me what you see.”
“Just a minute, honey,” said Vivian, her eyes roaming over every inch of Khloé.
A horrible tension built inside Khloé, and her inner demon went on high alert.
Tapping her foot, Jolene glared at the incantor. “Vivian, what do you see?”
Finally, the nurse sat back on her heels, her face a mask of concern. “I hate to say this, Khloé, but … it looks as if you didn’t drive all of the death essence out of your system, because tiny particles of it are floating around your bloodstream.”
Gasps and curses filled the room.
Khloé felt herself pale. “You’re sure?”
Vivian nodded, clearly distressed. “I can’t honestly say what the particles are doing to you, only that it isn’t good. I suppose it’s much like an infection. Or a virus. You’re feeling the symptoms of it. And given that you’ve been infected with death itself …”
Bile burned the back of Keenan’s throat, and he pressed his lips tight together. He heard what the nurse didn’t say. Khloé will probably die if she doesn’t get help.
His nostrils flared. This could not be fucking happening. It couldn’t.
For all his power, he could do nothing to protect the person who mattered most to him. He couldn’t kill Enoch permanently, and he couldn’t destroy the infection that would no doubt soon ravage her body if they didn’t find a way to stop it. Which they would. Keenan wouldn’t accept anything less.
“How quickly will the infection progress?” Keenan asked Vivian, who was now examining Ciaran.
“I don’t know,” she replied, her gaze on the male imp. “I’ve never come across a case like this before.” Once she’d finished her examination, Vivian swallowed. “You have a small dose of it in you, Ciaran, just as your sister does.”
Ciaran cursed. “This is just fucking great.”
“Shit, fuck, shit,” Harper hissed. “Is there anything you can do for them, Vivian?”
The nurse lifted her shoulders. “I could form protective shields around their vital organs, but that’s pretty much it. And those shields won’t last more than a month—the particles will eventually rot them.”
“The only thing that will combat death essence is pure life,” Knox added.
“Meaning only an angel can heal them,” Devon guessed.
Hope spiked through Keenan. “There are angels who’ll heal for a fee.”
“True, so the twins’ situation isn’t hopeless,” said Tanner. “But angels are always on the move, so they can be hard to find and pin down. Also, they won’t always intervene—sometimes they claim a person’s death is ‘meant to be.’”
Her eyes glittering, Jolene pulled in a breath through her nose. “Well, neither Khloé nor Ciaran are ‘meant’ to die yet—it’s nowhere near close to their time.”
Too right it isn’t, thought Khloé. “Where do we look for an angel? They spend most of their time at hospitals, clinics, and homeless shelters, right?”
“Places like that, yes,” said Vivian. “One visits my hospital twice a month,