“Actually, I don’t feel so great,” I admitted.
Becca was by my side in a moment, bending in front of me. “If you’re anything like the other soldiers I know, you wouldn’t say that unless you feel like total shit,” she said. She felt my forehead, like a mom with a toddler, then pressed her fingers to my wrist. I felt too nauseous to be embarrassed at the moment.
Becca frowned. “I don’t think you have a fever, but you’re sweating and your heart is racing. Were you helping Odessa with the horses?”
I started to shake my head, but that made the dizziness worse. “No.”
At the mention of her name, I automatically looked for Odessa. She was still standing by the horse stalls, but her face was blurry. “Um . . .” I swallowed hard, mortified. “I think I’m going to . . .”
Odessa appeared at my side, thrusting a metal bucket in my hands. I leaned forward and vomited violently into the bucket. Becca held my hair back and made soothing noises.
When I was done I set the bucket under the bench and sat there with my head hanging between my knees. “Sorry,” I mumbled, although I still felt too sick to really feel embarrassed.
“It’s okay, Lex,” Odessa rushed to say.
“Did she eat or drink something that might have disagreed with her?” Becca said over my head.
“Just peanut butter toast and tea, the same as me. And I feel fine.” Odessa sounded worried. “Maybe we should get her to a doctor.”
“I think that’s probably a good idea.”
Odessa crouched down in front of me, though she left plenty of space between us in case I was sick again. “Lex? I don’t want you to have to dick around with the golf cart. I’m going to take it back to the house and get my car. I’ll drive around to the service entrance behind the barn so you can climb right in, okay?”
I nodded, too sick to answer.
“Good idea,” Becca said. “I can stay with her.”
“Thanks.” Odessa disappeared, and Becca sat down next to me on the bench.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked.
I was having trouble staying upright on the bench. “Need to lay down,” I mumbled.
Without another word, Becca guided me down to the concrete floor of the barn. I needed the help too, because my limbs were starting to feel floppy.
I stretched out, pathetically grateful for the cool concrete beneath me. It wasn’t exactly clean, but I didn’t mind a little dirt and hay if it meant I got to be horizontal. The barn was rotating all around me, and the rafters over my head blurred together. I let my eyelids close. “Spinny,” I whispered.
“I’m sure Odessa will be here any minute,” Becca was saying, though I wasn’t sure how long she’d been speaking. Through the sudden chaos in my head, something was itching at me, something I had seen and was supposed to pay attention to.
The metal pail; it was something to do with the metal pail.
I pictured it moving toward me, but I couldn’t hold on to the image. It started rewinding and fast-forwarding like it was stuck on repeat. “Stop,” I said out loud, or at least I think I did, because the image of the bucket being thrust toward me froze.
There. The fingers of Odessa’s right hand, where she’d taken off the rings to feed Deimos. The bottom third of each finger, below the knuckle, had been carefully tattooed. I hadn’t seen the script long enough to read it, but it’d been small and detailed.
Years ago, Lily had tattooed griffins on my arms to help me focus my boundary magic. Odessa’s symbols didn’t look anything like my griffins, and yet . . . there was something similar.
And she’d been hiding them. Since the night I’d first met her.
I opened my eyes and looked at Becca, who was leaning over me with both hands planted on the concrete. “Call 911,” I said, and the effort it cost made me realize that I was going to pass out.
I’m pretty sure I said it out loud, not just in my head, but Becca gave me a strange look and didn’t move. Maybe I was slurring?
I wasn’t going to be able to stay awake much longer, so I put all my waning strength into forming the words clearly. “Becca. Call 911 now.” I was sure it’d come out right this time.
Babe, look at her. Sam’s voice sounded panicked and far away. I almost giggled. How could my