She looked down at me again. “Okay. Let’s do this.” She reached out and grabbed something, but the second her hand closed, she flew straight up into the air. Her loose hair flew around her face, hiding it from view as her head brushed the ceiling.
She hung there for a split second before flying sideways across the room.
Her head hit the plaster wall with a whack.
I smelled copper just before she started to fall, leaving a trail of blood on the wall behind her.
I rolled to catch her before she hit the floor. I placed her carefully on the ground. I could hear her heart beating and air moving through her lungs, but her eyes were closed.
I tapped her cheek. “Samantha?”
Oh God. There was too much blood. I didn’t know what she was, but clearly she wasn’t supernatural enough to sustain this kind of hurt.
“Call 911!”
She couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let her die. She said my blood wouldn’t save her, but I wouldn’t let her die.
Six hours later, I was feeling worse than I had since Tessa was taken. Samantha felt like our last shot, and now…
Samantha was hurt. This was my fault. I’d gone to her for help.
Her mother hadn’t spoken to us. She’d gone straight back to the room, but she’d shot me a look before she headed down the hall. One that said I did this. That it was my fault. And she was right.
This was my fault.
A nurse came to get me from the waiting room. “Dastien? She’s asking for you.”
Michael started to get up, but the nurse shook her head. “Just this one.”
She turned without a word and started down the hall.
Michael shoved a candy bar in my hand before I could move. “Eat it. Your control is shot.” He added a warning glare as if his verbal one wasn’t enough.
I ripped the wrapper open—not caring what it was—and took a bite, chewing as I followed the nurse through the maze of the hospital. Past rooms and rooms of sick people. People crying. Stinking of pain and illness. I tried to ignore the smell, but I was already too close to the edge.
And then the nurse stopped in front of a door. “Samantha’s in here.” She pushed open a door. “You can go on in.”
The lights in the room were dim, and there was constant beeping from the machines. The scent of blood and death and disease seeped into every atom of the hospital, but Samantha was sitting up in bed. She was okay.
Her face was still ghostly white, and she had a bandage wrapped around her head. But she was awake, and I’d been so afraid that I’d gotten her killed.
I let out a sigh of relief as I stepped close to her bed.
“Don’t worry. I have a concussion, but I’ve had worse.” She gave me a half-assed smile. “They’re just keeping me overnight as a precaution. My mom just left to get me some better food, so this is my only chance to talk to you. She’s kind of pissed.”
I ran a hand down my face. “I’m so sorry. I—”
“I said, don’t worry about it.” She smiled, but it looked pitifully weak. “Whoever has Tessa is like mondo powerful. The magic on your bond—it’s not demonic, and it’s not witchcraft. It’s got something else to it, and if I had to guess, you’re probably spot on with the fey thing. But I found something that I thought might be useful. The new ones—the ones you said were council bonds—those are cool. Powerful. I could feel the fey in there—which was kind of neat. But the pack bonds were different than I remembered. I don’t think the new bonds you’ve gained should’ve changed your pack bonds. This…”
Samantha’s eyelids grew heavy and closed. For a second, I thought she’d fallen asleep, but then she shook her head for a second before hissing in pain.
She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. “I’m not explaining this well. Sorry. My head feels like it’s exploding.”
“It’s okay.” I moved closer to the bed, not sure of how to help. “You don’t have to—”
“No. Wait. I got a bump on the head to get this info for you. Just…” Her eyes fluttered open, and there was pain floating in them. “When I touched your pack bonds when you came to LA last time, they were…protected? I don’t know enough about the bonds to say for certain, but I could see them there before. I could touch them. And I remember the bond you had with Tessa. It was glowing and golden and special. I remember the others to your pack. It’s a messy web. Lots of different colors. Some were thicker than others. Some duller. I don’t know what any of that means. But they’ve changed. Now, there’s like this fungus on them. On just your pack bonds. There’s this film of…I don’t know. Sludge? It dims all the bonds. It’s magic for sure—bad magic—but the weird thing is that it’s woven into the bonds.”
“What does it mean?” I didn’t feel anything weird from my pack bonds.