Earle’s head cocks to the side. “One from the building she came from. No—four.” He turns toward another direction, sniffing the air. “One coming on the ground; I believe several follow at a distance.”
Enlilkian’s growl withers the plants around us. “Is it one of aberrations?”
Earle says, “Yes—both the one on the ground, and the one across the way.”
“Extraction will be difficult at this point.” The Harou Elder’s voice is brittle. “They will surely counter us.”
Enlilkian hisses, “Rudshivar and his abominations.” His eyes follow the ledge toward the ground below. “That one is causing too many problems already.” He swings around to look at the horizon. “You have all failed in your efforts to take care of this problem. I’ll deal with it personally today.”
Something dribbles out of my mouth. I think it’s blood. “I’ll ... kill ... you.”
He turns back toward me. I attempt a swing, but too much darkness is encroaching on me. “You can try.” I must surely be hallucinating, because he swipes a finger quickly across my chest and my words, and my words fail me before his touch leaves. “In fact, I’d enjoy that very much.”
It’s vomit. He ... my vomit is on his finger. He’s licking my vomit right off his finger. Fresh gagging spasms set off in my stomach and throat.
“Two minutes, Father,” Nivedita is saying.
Somebody is yelling my name. Somebody I love. More than one somebody. My name, my name, oh please, go back the other way—
A roar leaves my ears ringing. That sound, that awful, awful sound that just destroyed my father fills my head until I am nothing but pain and my name is being called and I’m shattering into too many pieces to count.
Explosions set off all around me amidst angry shouting.
They are oddly beautiful. Bright white, so bright and strong that the sight pierces my soul. They bloom, like fireworks, but do not disintegrate in bits of powder and smoke. I marvel at this splendor, at the sheer magnitude of being present for the birth and death of what surely must be the universe. But with all this comes pain. It engulfs me until I scream, scream, scream just like my father did. His voice comes out of me, and it makes me scream more, clawing the air around me, because he is dead, he is gone, he is now part of Enlilkian and I am the awful daughter who is left behind.
“Love, it’s okay, please don’t scream, you’re safe, I swear you’re safe,” a soft voice says. And it sounds like pain is their new friend, too. “I’ve got you. He’s gone. I’ve got you.”
My father watches me flail. His eyes, haunted and newly black like Enlilkian’s do not waver as they bore into mine.
“Chloe, can you hear me? You said—you said last time you could hear me. So, know I’m here. Open your eyes, love. Let me know you’re okay. Let me help you.”
My father’s mouth opens, says something to me, but he is too drifting too far from me to hear. I’m so sorry, Dad, I call after him. So, so sorry I failed you yet again.
“There is no pain, you feel no pain. Do you hear me? No pain.”
But there is.
Oh, gods, how there is.
I am not in the hospital, nor am I in my beautiful new home. I’m in a windowless room that looks like it belongs in a mansion, lying in a huge, four-poster bed surrounded by soft, gauzy white drapes. Beyond the white are deep red walls and dark, resplendent antique furniture.
“Hello Chloe.”
Sjharn Thunderbridge, the head Shaman for the Guard, is standing next to me, rubbing his hands together. “How are you feeling?”
“Like ...” I lick my dry lips. “I’m tired of waking up like this.” Except I have a leg up this time, since speaking doesn’t seem to be so difficult.
He doesn’t chuckle, though. “Any lingering pain? Discomfort?”
As I shake my head, I glance around the room. It’s just the two of us as far as I can tell. Where the hell am I?
“Good, good,” he mutters. “Can you shift to your side for me?”
I can, even though I’m slow. His dark green hands run up and down my spine. “Things seem to be in order.” A gentle tap on my shoulder lets me know I can roll back over.
I struggle to sit up. “How long?”
He opens up a small, neat black bag resting on the bed next to me and pulls out a bottle of hand sanitizer. “I’m sorry?”
“How long have I been out?”
The bag snaps shut. “A little over thirty-six hours. It took some time for me to repair your hand, so I ensured you were out during that time. You were lucky that the Emotionals found you as quickly as they did.” His smile is grim as he gently grabs my chin and tilts my head. “Can you tell me what it was the Elder was attempting to do?”
Chills run through though me at just the thought. “Some kind of ...” I shake my head, desperate to clear the memory. “It was a sound. An awful one that breaks apart minds.”
“Interesting.” His murmured words are filled with a sterile touch of wonder. “This is the same sound he used to incapacitate you last time?”