“Then why haven’t they been stopped?”
Jo’s expression turned sad again and she was no longer meeting his gaze. “That’s a story for another time. I think you have enough to think about, yes? Besides, Florina is here.” She stood as another woman entered the room. This one was taller with steel-gray hair pulled up in a neat bun at the back of her head. She moved with purpose as she strode directly to the bed. “Have you told him?”
“Not everything.”
Florina turned her head to look at Jo, an evil grin pulling at her narrow lips. “Did you have to use magic?”
Jo sighed heavily and glared at the ceiling for a second. “Yes,” she answered in a huff.
Florina snapped her slender fingers and held out her left hand toward Jo. “Come on. Pay up.”
With another huff, Jo dug into her pocket and pulled out a folded bill that she slapped into Florina’s waiting hand. “I don’t know why. You don’t need it.”
“No. Just the principle of the thing,” Florina said with a smug look as she stuffed the money into the pocket of her linen slacks. She looked at Clay, a frown replacing her smile. “We’re short on time and the longer he has to practice, the stronger he’ll get.” With that, Florina picked up his bed tray and set it over on the chest of drawers.
When she returned, she placed her palms on his shoulders and stared hard into his eyes. As he watched, they began to glow white. Alarmed, he tried to pull from her, but her strength was unlike anything he could have imagined. He was stuck in place.
Pain started in his shoulders where she touched him, expanding outward in an intense burning sensation.
“Let me go!” He kicked his legs, but all he succeeded in doing was knocking off the covers until he lay exposed to both ladies. He writhed on the bed as the pain began to seep into the rest of his body.
“Flo, you could have worked into this with more finesse. Always such a damn ball-buster!” Jo hurried forward to cover him. “I’m so sorry, Clay.”
“This has to be done, and the sooner the better,” Flo muttered through gritted teeth. “It’s no picnic for us either.”
“Just hang on, Clay, it only hurts for a little while,” Jo said in a soothing voice he tried to cling to, but it was batted away by the burning in his body.
It was like swords of molten metal were searing through his frame. Slowly. The pain had reached his legs and again, he kicked at the covers, crying out.
“He’s going to alert Dane, for goodness sake,” Jo covered him again and climbed into the open spot on the bed so she could put her hands on his arms. Her lips were pressed in a hard, trembling line, and sweat started to dot her brow.
“You can’t make this easier on him, Jo.” Flo gasped and tightened her fingers. “Stop trying to ease his pain. You’ll only make this take longer.”
Jo made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat, but she moved her palms to his cheeks. “Clay, she’s right. Let go. Accept it. I promise it will go faster if you don’t fight it. Relax and let the magic flow into you.”
But he couldn’t do that.
He hadn’t asked for whatever they were doing to him. With his wounds, it felt like his whole body was ready to tear apart. The pain had reached his feet, and he curled his toes as every muscle in him went taut.
Then the pain suddenly stopped. Clay sucked in a deep breath, his eyes flying wide open. Something new curled inside his body. Some kind of presence that was tucked down deep inside, waiting for him to tap into it. He shoved Florina away from him and glared at her. “What the hell, lady?”
“It’s done now,” Florina said on a breathless sigh. She stumbled and collapsed in the chair Jo had been sitting in minutes ago. “The power is his.”
“Power?” Clay asked. “What power?”
Jo scowled at her sister, her expression smoothing out quickly as she turned to him. “You probably feel it.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Here.”
“I feel something. What the fuck is it?” he snapped. He’d definitely had more than enough of their crazy shit.
“We’ll talk. You’re officially mine now.” Florina glanced at her sister. “Don’t you have your own boy to look after? He’s getting close.”
A flurry of emotions flitted across Jo’s face before she finally sent Clay an apologetic smile. “I’ll check on you soon.” And then she climbed off the bed and hurried out of the room.
Clay rubbed his eyes. Now that the initial pain was gone, along with some of the older aches from the previous night’s attack, exhaustion was starting to make itself known. The heavy meal filling his stomach for the first time in days certainly wasn’t helping to keep him awake.