danger, I realized just how awful I felt. “So,” Dr. Zeigler said, “let me take a look at your shoulder.”
I didn’t argue. It felt as if the work of the evening had come crashing down on me all at once, and now that the adrenaline of the fight had faded, I was bone-weary and ached all over. I glanced around at my comrades in arms. Daniel Hunter stood by himself watching out the window, and although he was bloodied like the rest of us, he refused Dr. Zeigler’s treatment. I had already figured out that Hunter was something more than mortal. Chuck put up with being stitched and bandaged with the reserve of an old soldier. Lucinda’s injuries were minimal, since she had been largely out of the hand-to-hand combat. She looked utterly spent from the magic she had channeled, and dug ravenously into the food Maggie set out. We were too tired to eat, and too spent not to replenish ourselves. Everyone hailed Maggie’s cooking, and she beamed. Donnelly found a chair on the other side of the room and sat down, then leaned back and fell asleep almost immediately.
“Father Anne,” Sorren said in a voice that was strained but resolute. “Fill us in on what happened at Bloody Bridge.”
Father Anne’s short dark hair was bloody on one side from a scalp wound and she had stitches from deep cuts on both arms. “We got to the battle site before dark,” she said, “and stayed low until the park closed. Caliel set wardings while Mrs. Teller and Niella had powders and charms to drive the Reapers toward where Archie would be waiting for them,” she nodded toward Donnelly.
As Father Anne talked, Mrs. Teller and Niella made their way around the room with Dr. Zeigler, helping to cleanse and bind up our injuries, adding a touch of magic to the medicine. Neither of the root workers looked injured, though they, too appeared spent from the energy invested in their magic.
“Archie warned the ghosts not to rise at sunset. Most of the ghosts heard him, but some either didn’t hear or didn’t understand.” Father Anne shook her head. “As soon as they rose, the Reapers were on them. And then we were on the Reapers. I think there’s something in the Reapers’ magic that forces the ghosts from cover, because the ones we saw were trying to get clear or struggling to stay out of the way. The Reapers shredded any ghosts they got close enough to touch.”
“My charms and wardings worked with the ones Mrs. Teller and Niella set, to steer the Reapers right to Colonel Donnelly,” Caliel added. “And just to be sure, I set out an offering to Ghede Nibo. He’s the patron Loa of war dead and watcher of cemeteries, and he’s got no patience for anything that harms the souls in his territory.”
“We herded the Reapers toward Archie, and let him use his necromancy to send the Reapers back where they came from,” Father Anne picked up the tale. “Meanwhile, Caliel and I did our best to get the ghosts of the battle dead to cross over. Most of them were ready to go. That meant there was nothing for the Reapers to draw energy from, so Archie made quick work of them.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it ‘quick work’,” Donnelly protested from where he sat, not even opening his eyes. “Though I have to say that I appreciated the help from Ghede Nibo. I think it’s fair to say that the Reapers didn’t expect a necromancer or a Ghede.” He smiled tiredly. “Then we closed down that party and came over to bail you out.”
I knew his comment was a friendly jab at Sorren, but tonight that had been exactly what happened. Without the help Donnelly and the others had provided in the last part of the fight at the Angel Oak, I was pretty sure we would have lost several lives, even if we had been able to defeat Sariel.
Pounding on my door made us all jump. Chuck and Daniel both moved toward the entrance, ready for a fight. Maggie shooed them back and peered out the window. “It’s Anthony,” she said worriedly, and I nodded for her to open the door.
“Where’s Teag?” Anthony said, bursting into my front hall. “Something’s happened. I know it. Where is he?”
Before I could get to my feet to escort him in, Anthony glimpsed Teag lying on the couch. Teag’s eyes were closed, and Dr. Zeigler had hooked up