Garden of Dreams and Desires - Kristen Painter Page 0,47
him in.”
“Doctor?” Harlow let Augustine go and stepped back. “I assume that’s for you?”
Lally pushed a chair next to Augustine and directed Harlow toward it. “Yes. Sit, child. Augie’s in a bad way. As you can see.”
“I’m not—”
Lally didn’t let him finish. “We think he’s got a couple of broken ribs from the beating he took. And you can see his face.”
“Beating?” Harlow’s eyes widened as she sat beside him, her hands soft on his thigh. She seemed incapable of not touching him. If he felt better, he’d be reciprocating. She leaned in. “Who beat you? No discussion later. I want to know now. Then we need to figure out what to do about Cy and all the other souls trapped in that pond.”
While the doctor examined him, Augustine explained about Pellimento, her loathing of all things fae, her missing son and how the police weren’t getting very far with any of the missing persons cases.
Lally sat nearby while Fenton stood, both allowing enough space for the doctor to work. Harlow listened intently. “How many tourists have disappeared?”
Before Augustine could answer, Dr. Carlson pulled out a tablet from his bag, then gestured at him. “Shirt off, please.”
Augustine shook his head. “Getting my arms over my head isn’t currently an option. Cut it off me.” He went back to Harlow’s question as the doc set the tablet down, took out scissors and went to work. “At last count, six.”
Harlow’s mouth opened slightly and she shook her head, her gaze drifting to the silver brand on his chest that marked him as Guardian. “I know where they are.”
A hush fell over the room and everyone except for Dr. Carlson looked at her. He was busy scanning Augustine with the tablet, making little noises and nodding.
“Where?” Augustine prompted. His patience was thinning, but that was because of the pain, not Harlow.
“They’re the souls in the witches’ pond. In the holding pit. There were six people already in there when I fell in, then they threw Rufus Ogun in after me and then Cy, but Cy said he heard one of the witches say something about ten down, two more to go. Whatever they’re planning, they need twelve souls for it.”
“Father Ogun. That stupid fool.” Augustine thought a moment. “Sounds to me like the witches knew you had Ava Mae inside you somehow.”
Harlow looked appalled. “Because that’s what Ogun took Ava Mae there for—so she could get rid of me and have my body to herself.”
The doctor shot a quick glance at Harlow, then went back to work. Let him wonder. He didn’t need to know what had happened. Augustine growled in disgust. “Unbelievable. They were all working together. Although Ogun got the short end of that deal. Not surprisingly.” He glanced at Grantham. “We might need Jewelia again. And now we should be able to return Pellimento’s son to her and get her men out of our city.” He tried to turn to see Fenton and groaned.
Dr. Carlson shook his head and flipped the tablet around so Augustine could see the bone scan. “You have one broken rib and two cracked ones. I need to bind them but they’re still going to hurt until they heal. Even with our fae metabolism, that will take two or three days. Bed rest would be—”
“Out of the question. I’ve got too much to do to lie around. I can handle the pain.” Augustine held his arms out as far as he could without passing out in agony. “So bind me up. I’ve—” He grinned at Harlow. He was done leaving her out of anything. “I mean, we’ve got some planning to do. After we rescue the people from that holding pit, our next job is to put these witches in their place once and for all.”
Fenton chimed in as Dr. Carlson started wrapping a mesh bandage around Augustine’s torso. “I won’t argue about including Harlow, but we’ve got to be smart about this, Augustine. There are human lives at stake. If this isn’t done right, there’s no telling what the witches will do.”
“Agreed,” Grantham said. “I want to rescue those people as much as anyone else, but I’d like to get a team together, maybe call in SWAT.”
Augustine considered it. “So long as the fae play lead on this. The witches are human, but they’re still more powerful than your guys.” He lowered his arms as Dr. Carlson finished the binding.
Grantham nodded. “I’m sure that’ll be fine. I know the fae have an understanding with the