His frown deepens. “Cora…do you…do you care about that thing?”
“Of course I don’t fucking care for him.”
He looks like he’s about to say more, but we’re interrupted by Bobby when he places a box on the island.
“Phew,” he says. “I think I found all the batons. Can’t let them get into the wrong hands. On a human, a blast from one of these could stop a heart.”
Wait… “What did you say?”
Bobby blinks at me warily. “I said I’m glad I found all of them.”
“No, after that.”
“That we don’t want them getting into the wrong hands?”
“No, the other thing about the heart.”
“Oh, the electric charge could stop a human heart.”
The curse will see its course. If it wants her dead, it won’t stop until her heart stops beating…
Elijah’s words fill my mind, and I know what I have to do. “Bobby, what would we need to stop an outlier’s heart and then restart it?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Fee
Grayson was on the phone outside the pack house when Uri and I returned. I spotted several unfamiliar faces stationed around the building, and one was even on the roof. Looked like the civilian Loup had arrived. There was also a guard outside the garage where our vamp guests were being kept.
Grayson ended his call, raking us both over. His nostrils flared as we approached, but he wouldn’t smell Uri on me or me on him. We’d made sure to shower, separately, because the first time had ended in him inside me and my back up against the tile.
Uri was a fast learner.
Grayson seemed satisfied with his sniff test, and he inclined his head in Uri’s direction as the celestial passed.
“I’ll see you inside.” I grazed Uri’s hand as he passed and looked up at Grayson to find him staring at my hand. “Are you okay?”
“Are you?” he replied.
“Yes.”
“Then so am I.”
I wanted to hug him, to hold him, but Uri was like a barrier between us. Had I made the wrong decision? It hadn’t felt that way when I’d been with Uri. I’d wanted him, and it had felt right, but now, seeing the clouds in Grayson’s eyes made my heart ache. He’d told me he was okay with me and Uri, but he didn’t look okay.
“Grayson, did I make a mistake?”
He blinked as if coming out of a daze. “What?”
“You said you were okay with Uri, but you look upset.”
“Uri?” He looked at the entrance to the house, then back to me. “I’m not upset. I’m worried.”
Something had happened. “What is it?”
He pulled me into a hug and squeezed me tight. “Cora may have found a solution to your curse problem.” He stroked my hair and then pulled back so he could cup my face. “And it scares the fuck out of me.”
I stared at Cora as I absorbed her words. “You want to stop my heart?”
Cora nodded eagerly. “We stop it for a minute, and then we restart it.”
“So…I’ll be dead.”
“Yes. The curse will be done.”
“We’ll use a combination of magic and science to do it,” Cora said.
Like magnets we’d gathered around the island: Uri, Grayson, Cora, Bobby, and me. The rest of the pack were all over the house. Kristoff was still chained to the post, but he hadn’t spoken or moved according to Bastian, who was keeping watch on him.
“I’ve called Vi,” Grayson said. “She has a spell to stop your heart, and they have a physician the coven uses on a regular basis who will be able to start it again.”
“There’s no spell to restart her heart, is there?” Uri asked.
“No,” Cora said.
Uri looked to Grayson, but my mate had his attention on me.
“You don’t have to do this,” Grayson said.
They were all forgetting one huge fucking problem with this plan. Eve’s curse. “If I die, it’ll affect Lilith. I can’t die.”
“You won’t be dying properly,” Bobby said. “Your heart would need to be stopped for at least five minutes, maybe ten, for it to be considered proper death. Scientifically speaking,” he said. “I spoke to Petra, too, and she agrees that as long as we can bring you back within a couple of minutes, your soul will remain connected to your body, so you won’t technically be dead.”
But my heart would stop beating, which would stop the curse… “It’s still too risky. What if you can’t bring me back. Lilith will—”
“Fuck Lilith!” Grayson snapped. “All I care about is you. It’s risky because I could lose you.”
“He’s right,” Uri agreed. “We can find another way.”