Wolves at the Door - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,48
more like her than you were like your father. Be proud.
It was his words, but also his confidence. He seemed sure that none of us were evil. Not me, nor the grandmother I never had the privilege of knowing. We were complicated, I would admit that. I wasn’t proud of everything I’d ever done in my life. But I never wanted to hurt anyone. I had always wanted to change the world in some way.
“I stand by everything I’ve done,” I said. “I own my mistakes. But I’m also proud of the real work I’ve done in this town. I thought I was just a human. I thought this was the whole world, and I tried to make it better.”
“You should focus on that,” Piers said. “And stay out of magical business.”
“But I can’t. I know too much.”
“Alas.”
I saw the fire in his normally cold eyes and now I tried to retaliate again, to catch him off guard a second time, but he slapped his hands to my chest and said, in a whisper, “May your bones break.”
Pain shattered through me and I slumped against the car, managing to get into my seat as white hot pain devoured me. Stars danced in my vision. I heard him telling me to stay away from Helena and then everything went black.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Helena
I was swept into a dream, the vivid kind where Byron appeared to me, and the line between dream and reality was thinner than usual. He was holding my hand.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” he said. “Follow me. Don’t let go of me. Hurry.”
We were standing in a dark woodland, so cloudy I couldn’t tell what time of day it was supposed to be. The gloom was heavy, and I heard crows cawing and creatures rustling in the thick growth.
“Are we in Sinistral?” I whispered.
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“I shouldn’t be here, Byron!”
“Graham needs you, angel.”
“Graham?” It took my mind a moment to connect real life with the dream. “Oh—Graham! I was worried about him. His election was tonight and he went missing or something!”
I picked up my pace and Byron led me around the bend in the path to where Graham was collapsed on the ground on his side. I could see that his arm was swollen.
“Graham!” I tried to run to him, but Byron tightened his grip.
“Stay with me,” he said. “As you said…this is not your world.”
As I knelt beside Graham, Byron put his hand on my shoulder, shielding me from the dangers of this dark world. Graham’s eyes opened a little.
“Helena…it’s you. Where am I?”
“You’re dreaming,” Byron said. “But you must have been attacked in the real world.”
“Yeah…Piers attacked me,” Graham groaned. “Fuck. Everything hurts. If I can’t escape the pain by going unconscious, I’m really screwed.”
“So your body is just…all messed up somewhere? I need to wake up and…I don’t know if I can get on a plane in such short notice. Maybe. Or maybe the guys would let me borrow—”
“No need for that,” Byron said. “He’s here for you, dear. You can help him without setting a foot outside of Greenwood Manor.”
“Ohh…I…I see.” Of course. Graham was an incubus. I could give him power, even through dreams. “But…I’m not sure he’s in good enough condition to…”
“There is always the simple act of a kiss,” Byron said.
“I feel like even a kiss might hurt you. I’m sorry.” I leaned down and pressed my lips to Graham’s.
“Don’t be sorry.” He managed a pained smile. “It’s my own stupid fault. I should have…”
“No,” I said. “Piers—” I gave the gentlest touch to his back and he screamed, breaking out into a sweat. I whipped my hand back, alarmed.
“What did he do to you?” I asked.
“He broke my bones. I don’t know which ones, frankly, because everything…hurts.”
“Are you at the hospital? In real life?”
“I have no idea.”
Very, very carefully, I rested my hand on Graham’s back again. “Le corps….” I whispered a brief spell just for sensing out the state of the body. What I sensed sickened me. Piers had broken Graham’s arms and legs and cracked a couple of ribs. It was a powerful spell and far worse than what he had done to Jasper, which was already bad enough.
He’s increasing his threats. I can’t trust that he won’t escalate further…maybe even to death. He could just attack us here, but I guess he’d rather pick us off first.
“Oh, Byron, it’s bad! I don’t know if I can do much for him.”
“Don’t doubt your powers, angel…nor mine.” Byron slid a