He helps Roman carry me as the world swims. I can’t let myself pass out though. I have to hang on, I have to try to give this magic back to Cam and the others. But it hurts so much, and it’s making me so dizzy…
I’m not quite conscious of getting to the infirmary. I pick up a few flashes, but mostly all I’m aware of is the heavy weight inside my chest, feeling like it’s dragging me down. I’m hot all over, and it’s not like having a sunburn or sitting in front of a roaring fire. It’s as if I am the sun, and the blazing heat is coming from inside me, making me shine and burn.
Once we step through the infirmary doors, the world snaps back into focus. The healers look alarmed when they see me, and several rush over to meet us.
“What happened?” a tall man demands.
“There was a demon on the roof. A magic eater,” Roman says quickly. “Elliot has a mirroring power. She was able to retrieve the students’ stolen magic, but it’s all inside her now. Six people’s worth.”
“I can—give it back,” I manage.
“Are you sure?” Dmitri asks, his voice hoarse.
“She has to be drained of the magic.” Another healer looks at me with concern in her face. “If she isn’t, she’ll die. Her body can’t handle so much power inside it; nobody’s can. It’s an overload to the system.”
“No! I want to try,” I insist, drawing the strength up from—from somewhere.
“I’m getting Hardwick.” A younger looking woman nods decisively then runs out.
“This is… unprecedented,” the first healer says. “But—but it’s worth the chance, I suppose.”
Roman, still holding me in his arms, takes me into the room where all the students are lying in beds, doped up on pain-suppressing potions.
Asher shoots to his feet when he sees me. “Elle!”
I give him a weak smile. “Miss me?”
The two of them help get me seated in front of Tom, the first person in the school to have his magic stolen. Already, I can feel the power churning in me, like it wants to go home to the right body but doesn’t know how.
God, this is making me sick. I want to vomit, but I’m scared of what will come up if I do.
“You can do this, Reckless,” Roman promises me, his voice low in my ear. “It’s okay. I’m right here. Asher’s right here. We’ve got you.”
I can hear the rough, ragged edge to his voice, and I know he’s scared, even if he’s trying his damndest to hide it from me.
Outside, I can hear Dmitri demanding that the others not crowd around me, that they get me the best care, that they figure out what’s going on—he sounds snobbier than I’ve ever heard him, and I realize this must be what his parents do. They seemed like the type of rich, pretentious people who’d stride into a room and demand that they receive nothing but the best, and Dmitri’s using that to his advantage now, putting on a spoiled, rich attitude to make sure I’m being looked after.
I think at one point I even hear something like “well, if my father were to hear of this…”
Good God, Dmitri hates his dad. I’m gonna owe him so big for this later.
“What do I do?” I ask Roman in a whisper. I can hear my voice trembling, feel my body shaking, and I know I sound terrified.
Probably because I am.
It seems like there’s a very good chance this will go horribly wrong. Like I won’t survive it.
He takes my hand and gently presses my palm to Tom’s chest. My classmate is breathing steadily, his chest rising up and down, and if he’s still in pain, whatever potions they gave him seem to be nullifying it enough to help him rest.
“Just follow your instincts,” Roman tells me. “It’s worked for you so far. You’ve got good magical impulses. Use them.”
I take a deep breath and press my palm harder into Tom’s chest, feeling the magic rising up inside me. It’s like—like trying to undo a bunch of really tangled up necklaces, the pendants catching, the metal links looped around and around. But I can’t cheat by undoing a clasp and sliding it right through.
I try to grasp the magic that belongs to Tom, to separate it from the others. All the air leaves my lungs in a pained hiss. It feels like I’m holding onto a snake