Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell) (29 page)

“We asked her to do it, Lon,” Adella said.

He didn’t respond. I wished I knew what he was thinking, but I supposed it had to keep. He wasn’t going to say anything in front of Adella, especially if he was pissed. And if he was? I understood, but I wasn’t sorry for stripping the transmutation spell. Just sorry that I lost control after it was done. I suppose I’d be a lot sorrier if I’d fucked her up enough to do some permanent damage, but that remained to be seen. I wasn’t going to jump the gun and start falling apart just yet.

When we got to the hospital, Lon strode away to find his friend, “Dr. Mick,” as Jupe called him. Moments later, I watched Yvonne’s body being rushed in, strapped to a gurney with Rose trailing behind the ER team. They wheeled her behind a swinging door, and that was all I knew for the better part of an hour.

Adella and I sat together in a mauve-colored waiting room, smelling that depressing antiseptic hospital scent, staring at the TV like zombies . . . watching other people wait for bad news. I finally couldn’t stand the silence anymore, so I returned the Solomon’s Seal ring and attempted a conversation.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll give it back to Mama.”

I nodded and took a deep breath. “Adella?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you see me out in the yard with Yvonne?”

She gave me a confused look. “After Lon yelled for us to come.”

Okay, good. She hadn’t seen my reptilian form, or whatever the hell it was.

“Does my halo look funny?”

She glanced up. “It’s a little brighter and jumping around the edges.”

At least the tail was gone.

“I’m not upset at you,” Adella said, eyes weary but kind. “I just want you to know that. Whatever happens with her, it was the right thing to do. You said you’d try, and you did. So thank you.”

I started to reply, but that’s when Lon finally made his way to the waiting room and gave us the only update we’d had: Yvonne was stable. He promptly left us alone again. I watched him walk away, and sadness crept inside my chest.

I hadn’t killed her. But God only knew if I’d turned her into a vegetable. All I could hope for now was that she could be healed. And even if she could, I might’ve unintentionally made her into a martyr—one who suddenly had everyone’s sympathy and attention. Exactly what she wanted. How beautifully ironic.

Adella got up and paced the waiting room while I buried my face in my hands, trying to regroup and focus. To push away all the dissonant thoughts clamoring for attention inside my overtaxed brain. Maybe I could call the Holidays again, check on Jupe. Last I’d heard, he was still asleep. No more vomiting. That was something, I supposed.

“Here.”

I flinched and looked up. Lon was sitting next to me, offering a paper cup of hot chocolate. I’m an admitted hot chocolate junkie and will imbibe it in any form. Lon’s homemade hot chocolate was probably one of my favorite things in the world. Even the watered-down powdery instant chocolate from the hospital vending machine was a welcome distraction.

And a peace offering.

His fingers brushed mine when he gave me the cup. I was so needy for his attention, the tiniest touch sent a wave of longing crashing through me. His eyes met mine for a moment, anxious and searching. I wanted to be alone with him. To talk about everything that happened and find out what was going on behind his impenetrable poker face. But even that small, arbitrary touch and momentary shared gaze was a kind of sustenance.

It was alarming how much better I felt when he was around. I wasn’t used to this level of emotional dependence. So I looked away in embarrassment, unwilling to submit to it for too long. When I glanced back at him moments later, he was focused on drinking his own hot tea out of a matching paper cup, blowing on the surface to cool it.

We said nothing. Several minutes passed. As I was starting to make headway on my drink, a tall doctor with dark reddish-brown hair and a bright blue halo strode toward us.

“She’s out of the woods,” the doctor announced with a calm smile.

I could practically feel Lon’s sigh of relief aligning with mine.

“This is her sister,” Lon said to the doctor as she strode back to over to join us. “Adella Giovanni. Mick Bright.”

The infamous Dr. Mick. Lon’s friend, and one of the best healers in La Sirena.

“I think we’ve met before,” he said, squinting at her.

“We did,” Adella confirmed. “You pumped Yvonne’s stomach when she overdosed on New Year’s Eve about ten years ago. She nearly died.”

The doctor scratched his ear and nodded. “Yeah, I actually remember that quite vividly. You’ll be happy to know that this is more hopeful news. She had a seizure. Thought maybe it was an aneurism, but I’ve studied all the scans and they’re clear. Looks like she did, however, suffer a concussion. She’s also severely dehydrated and has some bruised ribs, but nothing major. We’re going to keep her here to watch the concussion.”

“Did my mama tell you she can’t have any pain medication?”

“Yes, I’m very familiar with her medical history,” he said. “She’s resting. You can go talk to her if you’d like. Your mother’s with her now.”

He waved down a nurse to escort her. Adella thanked him and made her way back.

Mick turned to me with an outstretched hand. “You must be Cady.” He surprised me with a big, toothy smile and shook my hand with a slightly jarring amount of strength. “Wish we were meeting under better circumstances, but I’ll take what I can get. You’re even lovelier in person than in the photos I’ve seen.”

I wanted to ask about these mysterious photos, but he just kept talking. And I let him, because he was so blindingly handsome, with ruddy hair tinged with gray near the temples and a perfect square jaw. A little too clean-cut and friendly for my preferences, but on him it was somehow appealing. Maybe it was the white doctor coat.

“I’ve been telling Lon we should all have dinner but our schedules haven’t synched. Maybe we can plan something after the holidays, when things cool down. Before you head out to France.”

He knows about France? I felt like I’d entered some weird alternate reality in which Lon had a normal relationship with a close friend he confided in. Sadly, this almost made me jealous, because I selfishly thought
I
was his only confidant. Every time I believed I had Lon all mapped out, along came a new road that led to some strange place I didn’t know existed. The secret Oreo stash I’d recently uncovered was one thing, but this? Fairly unnerving.

“Dinner sounds good,” I said. “But can we back up a moment? Because I think you should understand that I might’ve caused Yvonne’s concussion. I don’t know how much you know about what I am—”

“In regards to the mage thing, or the bartender thing?”

“Uh, the mage thing.”

“I know a little,” he said with a sly smile. He crossed his arms and nodded toward Lon. “He’s extremely protective of you. I suppose that’s no surprise.”

Lon grunted. I cleared my throat. God, we were so dysfunctional. “Well, anyway. I sort of used magick on her. That’s what caused the seizure. And probably the concussion.”

“I see. And on the bright side, should I assume that’s why her halo’s back to normal?”

Was Mick Hellfire? I tried to remember. I didn’t think he was, but surely he knew the story behind Lon’s dual-colored halo; if so, he also knew about Yvonne’s. “Yes,” I said simply.

“Don’t worry yourself,” Mick assured me. “I handled it. She’ll be fine. And your secret’s safe with me. Impressive, by the way.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

He slapped Lon on the shoulder with affection and a startling familiarity. “Go home to Jupe. Nothing you can do here. If Rose and Adella want to spend the night in her room, they’re welcome. But I gotta get back now. Duty calls.”

“Thanks,” Lon said.

“Don’t worry. I’m charging you double for making me save her. Joyce would have a cow if she knew Yvonne was anywhere near the hospital. It’s a miracle I never got caught in her web. I’d like to maintain my clean record.”

He hadn’t slept with Yvonne? I liked him more and more.

“If only I’d been so lucky,” Lon mumbled. “Go on, then. Heal the dead with your smile, or whatever the hell it is you do around here.”

Mick leaned toward me conspiratorially. “I don’t know what you see in this guy, but I’m damn grateful. Please don’t leave him. I’ll pay you.”

I laughed anxiously as he gave Lon a thumbs-up and walked away.

“What do you want to do?” I asked Lon.

“Get the hell out of here. I can’t handle hospitals. Let me go tell Rose.”

Of course he was overwhelmed with everyone’s miserable emotions. Why didn’t I realize that? I was so stuck in my own worries that I didn’t realize what kind of toll a place like this could have on his knack.

He reappeared a few minutes later and rushed me out the door, telling me that the Giovannis were staying with Yvonne tonight. Once we got a few yards away from the building, he visibly relaxed. I stopped him in the shadows between two parked cars. “What did you see earlier? What did I look like?”

His eyes searched mine. “You were . . . your skin was . . .” He paused, clicking his jaw to one side. “Your eyes were silver. Your halo was almost too bright to look at. It hurt my eyes. And I saw the tail.”

Ugh.

“I’ve never seen a tail like that on anything I’ve ever summoned,” I said in a small voice.

He didn’t comment. Didn’t have to. It was weird, and we both knew it. My mind leapt past the physical issues, to the reason we were here.

“Look, I’d lost control when you drove up and found us,” I said. “But I did what I thought was best at the time. Rose was right—you would’ve ended up in jail if I left it for you to handle. You didn’t see him, Lon. He was stumbling drunk, sick as a dog.” Angry tears pricked the backs of my eyelids. “She encouraged him to drink. Then she left him in the restaurant alone, when she should’ve been spending time with him. But the point is . . . the point is—”

He grabbed my face. Gold flecks from his halo glittered above his head. “You think I’m angry that you stepped up to defend Jupe? That you stopped me from hurting her or going to jail trying? Because, that would’ve been a real option. And sure, I’m upset about the situation. It was a stupid, ballsy thing for you to do.”

“I know, but—”

“But, I’m damn glad you did it. And I’m mostly upset because you’re going through something big, and I feel powerless to help you. All I can do is sit around in my library, combing through old books looking for a clue to whatever the hell is happening to you, and I’m coming up empty.”

“I—”

“And in the middle of all this, you have to deal with my baggage. I’m ashamed of it. And it worries me. Because I know you could be seeing some nice human with no crazy ex-wife, no hyper kid. Someone who won’t be a senior citizen when you’re still in your prime.”

“You know I don’t care about that.”

Hands tightened around my jaw. His look was so intense it almost frightened me. “Do you understand how lucky I am that you put up with all this bullshit? How fucking grateful I am? How much I love you?”

I stilled. His eyes widened. He hadn’t meant to say it. He was as surprised as I was. A low, deep shudder worked its way through my chest. My throat made a small, broken noise when I inhaled. I could barely get words out. “What did you just say?”

His eyes became unfocused. He blinked several times in rapid succession, then exhaled heavily, as if he was giving in, making peace with the idea. His gaze lifted and returned to mine. “I said I love you.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?” I grabbed his hands and pulled them away from my cheeks.

He let out a strained laugh and nodded. “Very sure.”

I didn’t have to say it back; he knew my feelings better than I did. But to hear it from him? It was like I’d just been given an endless supply of cool water and, until I drank a sip, hadn’t realized I’d been wasting away in a desert, dying of thirst.

My head dropped against him, falling into the space in the center of his chest where his breastbone dipped. A space that almost felt like it was made just for me. Where I could feel his heart beating. His arms wound around my back. He pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. And for a long moment, only the two of us existed, and nothing else mattered.

He loved me. How wonderful was that?

I wanted to stay like that, wrapped in his arms, feeling safe and good. But then I remembered the vial in my pocket.

I pulled away to look at Lon. “I need to tell you something important. When Yvonne left Jupe alone in the restaurant, it was because she wanted to be alone with some Hellfire guy named Evan—”

Lon’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Evan Johnson?”

“I don’t know. Jupe said you hate him.”

“Definitely Evan Johnson.”

I pulled the red vial out of my pocket. “She was buying this from him.”

A rare look of surprise crossed Lon’s face. He took it from me and studied it. “Is this . . .”

“Don’t know if it’s fake or real, but yeah. She admitted that’s what she was buying.”

“Evan’s the dealer?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Christ. He’s Hellfire. Just a regular club member— not an officer, and not all that active in the club.”