she said simply, “He’s dead. Now, we—”
“Dead?” Jay interrupted, feeling his stomach drop. He hadn’t intended … And Rikai, sitting there like it didn’t matter … I have to call Sarah. If Xeke was dead, then what about—
“Still dead,” Rikai clarified, with an impatient wave of her hand, “as opposed to alive and human. He is a vampire, after all. His partner says he is fine. Get a grip.”
Trying to swallow the panic that hadn’t yet subsided, Jay stammered, “Well, um, g-good. That’s …” He took a deep breath. Had she done that intentionally? “What is going on?”
“I would like to examine Brina.”
“And I would like you to answer me!” Jay snapped anxiously.
“Of course you would, but unlike you, I try not to blather answers until I know what they are. Now, where did you leave Brina?”
“SingleEarth,” Jay answered, resigned.
“Excellent,” Rikai said. “I’ll get my tools, and then we will go.”
CHAPTER 17
BRINA WOKE FEELING disoriented, thirsty, and heavy. Sunlight was streaming in through a nearby window, and there was a rushing sound in her ears, impossibly loud. Standing up took a monumental effort, as if she were moving the weight of a small building.
Her gown started to slip off her shoulders, and she snatched at it with confusion before realizing that someone had undone the buttons down the back. She couldn’t do them back up on her own, and standing there clutching brocade was hardly dignified, so she shimmied out of the heavy gown and stood in only her chemise. She could breathe more easily that way, anyway.
Why am I breathing?
She tried holding her breath, but doing so made her dizzy, and made her chest and head hurt. When she stopped struggling not to, her body automatically kept breathing, as if it always had.
The rushing, pounding, slamming, overpowering noise in her ears, then … was that her heart?
She swallowed. Her throat was sore, and she was … hungry. She didn’t like being hungry. It reminded her of days she didn’t like to think about.
Brina stalked to the door, which was standing open. Where was she? Someone had brought her here, and made her alive, and they wouldn’t have done so without anticipating that she would need them.
The pretty witch!
She smiled, and then frowned, as she recalled him. He had been kind to her at the party, but then he had stolen Pet. Then he had agreed to help her in Pet’s place, and then—
Something had happened after that. It had been like people screaming and shoving her from all directions, ripping at her, furious and terrified. Somewhere in the chaos she had seen the witch.
He had brought her here.
He would help her.
But there was no one in the hallway to bring him to her.
Her chemise was more decent than many outfits modern girls wore, but Brina still stepped gingerly into the hallway, wishing she had another option. Her bare feet were cold, and she mentally added slippers to the list of things she wanted as she put on a proud face and tried to pretend she didn’t feel frightened, hungry, and half naked.
Most of the rooms she passed were occupied by sleeping people. Eventually, though, she found a large room that might have once been a ballroom or a gymnasium. It had been decorated for Christmas, but the unlit tree and bright decorations had been shoved aside to make room for a makeshift sick ward. Effort had been made to keep the ill comfortable, but blankets and pillows could not conceal their restless movements or the stench of their sweat.
Nurses circled like buzzards picking at the ill.
The world rushed around Brina as she looked around, and the pounding of her heart in her ears became louder and more rapid. There wasn’t enough air in this room, and what air there was she couldn’t draw into her lungs fast enough. There were so many here, coughing and gasping and calling for help.
She didn’t want to faint again. She fought against it; her knuckles went white as she gripped the doorframe, struggling to stay standing.
“Can I help you?” someone asked, taking her arm.
Brina shook her head, and at the same time she asked, “What is this plague?”
The human winced, and said, “It’s the flu. We think it may even be the one this year’s flu shot protects against, since none of the humans have it.” As she spoke, she touched Brina’s brow and the back of her neck. “How do you feel?”
“Cold,” Brina admitted. “Horrified. There are so many.”
“I know it’s normally