“You were attacked by winged devils, Cozmos or something, from the Underworld. Apparently they have poisonous venom that impedes supernatural healing. You don’t remember anything at all? That must be powerful poison.” Naomi turned, noticing Danny for the first time, lying, thankfully, out cold a few feet away.
“Quickly. We need to wake him.” She sprang forward, crawling on her hands and knees, her voice trembling.
“Whoa. What are you talking about? You just woke up. You need to heal first.” I reached an arm out to stop her.
She brushed me off. “Non, non,” she muttered in French. “You don’t understand. If we do not get the venom from his system he will die within moments.”
“What?” I said, completely alarmed. I moved quickly next to her, crawling toward Danny, because it was the easiest way to get there. “That’s not what your brother told me. He said the wounds would fester, but not that his life was in immediate jeopardy, like dying in the next few minutes kind of jeopardy.”
“My brother is foolish,” she mumbled with annoyance. “He thought to save me, but he was careless about your wolf friend. Come. Help me wake him and do as I say. I will show you what to do.” She carefully rose up on her knees and reached into the pocket of her mangled jeans. There was material left, but not much. It wasn’t a jeans kind of day. “You need to insert this into his body.” She cradled something carefully in her palm. It was a small scarlet bag with a front flap, decorated in gold thread. Using the edges of the flap to protect her fingers, she pulled out a small cross and set it on top of the bag. It was beautifully detailed, the craftsmanship exquisite. It was carved with symbols and flowing decorations so small and intricate it must’ve taken years, and huge magnifying glasses, to complete.
“Is that silver?” I asked.
“Oui, yes, and it is spelled. It will destroy the venom and anything else in his bloodstream.”
“But silver can kill a wolf,” I said, my tone firm. “I’m not putting that inside his body. If it gets into his heart, it could stop it for good. I can’t take that chance. He’s too weak.” Tyler’s distrust rang through my mind as I put my hand out to push her hand away.
What if it was the vamps’ agenda to kill us all from the beginning and I’d been wrong? What if this had all been a ploy to get me to give her blood.
“Non,” Naomi tsked. “The cross is specially made; the silver will react only with the blood to kill the danger, not the body. Just do as I say. We are running out of time! You are stronger than I am now. It must be inserted deeply. Go!” She shoved it toward me again.
Something in her face, and the urgency of her voice, made me take notice. I had just saved her life. Surely she wouldn’t repay that debt by killing my friend? Reluctantly I took hold of the cloth by the edges, grasping the cross through the soft fabric. Silver was highly conductive to supernatural magic, the very essence that fueled us, and would burn me if my fingers touched it.
I bent over Danny and shook his shoulder. Maybe he wasn’t dying and I wouldn’t have to use this thing. “Danny, Danny, wake up!”
He moaned and mumbled incoherently, his cracked, bloodied lips turned down in a painful grimace.
“Insert it near the heart. Find a wound that is already open,” Naomi urged. “You must do it now.”
“Near the heart? You’ve got to be kidding!” I balked, feeling panicked. “Look. He’s waking. Maybe he’s not as dire as you think. He could heal on his own. Eamon might be wrong.”
“Do you want your friend to live or die?” Naomi snarled, her voice fierce. “Now stop wasting time!” I glanced at her to argue my point, and gasped. She was nearly healed. “You’re almost fully—”
She ripped the cross out of my hands and elbowed me out of the way, plunging it deeply into Danny’s chest.
It was inserted at an angle, only the top of it visible. As she drew her hand away, I could see the imprint of the cross left in her palm. I didn’t have time to do anything else, because Danny’s back arched beneath him and he let out a strangled howl. The hairs on my arms rose.
“Quickly, grab on to his arms and legs,” Naomi ordered.
This was a werewolf we were talking about, not a toddler. “Tyler,” I screamed. “We need help!” Nothing else but to trust her now, because Danny was bucking beneath us. The cross was clearly doing something. I just prayed it wasn’t killing him.
I chose to trust her.
Tyler raced through the trees toward us. “What are you doing to him?” he shouted.
“Naomi put some kind of charmed silver cross in Danny’s chest. She says it will cure him. Without it he dies from the venom.”