Sebastian and Olivia had no time to do anything other than exchange one mystified look. Then Khalil returned again to place the shrunken head in the Oracle’s hands, his expression filled with distaste.
The Oracle spoke again, silently. This time she appeared to be arguing. Her expression flashed with anger. She slapped a flattened hand on the table and barked out, “You will obey!”
Her Power shifted. To Sebastian’s magical sense, she seemed to reach out, grasp hold of an insubstantial something and shake it.
The next voice that poured out of her mouth was not hers. The rapid words it spoke were not English, but an indigenous language that was, to Sebastian, all too familiar.
Before he could react, Power flared out of the shrunken head. It cut through him like a saber and blasted him out of his chair.
Then with a snap, the Power disappeared.
Disoriented, his head ringing, Sebastian struggled to his hands and knees. Dimly he became aware that Olivia had fallen to her knees beside him. She flung her arms around him. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know,” he heard himself say.
Nearby, Grace said in horror, “Oh my God, I really am holding a shrunken head.”
The Djinn said in a gentle voice, “Yes, Gracie. I will just remove that object from this house forever, shall I?”
“Pleeeeeassse.”
Olivia cupped Sebastian’s face. Her hands were shaking. “Sebastian, look at me.”
He tried to focus on her. Everything in his head throbbed.
“Your eyes,” she whispered. “The black—it’s all gone.”
He shook his head and then wished he hadn’t. Carefully he shifted to sit cross-legged on the floor. “Your face is blurry. Everything is blurry.”
Grace said, “It will probably take a few weeks for your vision to return to normal.”
He blinked in her direction. “What did you do?”
“For the first time in my life,” Grace said grimly, “I forced a ghost to do something. And I’m not sorry, either. That chieftain was a snot. Feel free to use the guest room if you need to lie down.” A chair scraped across the floor. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go wash my hands in Purell for a couple of hours.”
The sound of her footsteps retreated.
Holy hell. Did Grace just say what he thought she’d said?
Carling had been right all along. They had needed the chieftain to use the shrunken head to lift the curse. It had been a totally impossible solution that had, somehow, still happened.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay.”
He groped behind him. The wall was nearby. He shifted over until he could lean his back against it. Only some time afterward did he realize that he had kept such a clenched hold on Olivia, he had forced her to scoot over with him. He pulled her onto his lap, bowing around her as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
After a few minutes, she loosened her hold enough to pull back and study him. He wasn’t sure, but he thought she looked shell-shocked, thrilled and concerned.
“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go to the guest room.”
He let her pull him to his feet. Taking his hand, she led him down the hallway. Wary of his blurred vision, he walked carefully, reaching out once to touch the hallway wall.
They walked into a quiet, shadowed bedroom where he eased himself down on a large bed. He stretched out with a sigh. That cutting blast of Power had been just like the first time. His body was still reacting to the adrenaline dump. All of his muscles shook with a fine tremor.
She stroked his hair. “Sebastian?”
“I’m all right,” he said. “Just, holy fuck.”
“That scared me half to death.” Her voice wobbled. “Did it hurt?”
“It happened too fast to hurt, but I have a headache now.”
“Let me get you some medicine,” she said. “Then you can rest for as long as you need.”
“Only if you lie down with me,” he told her.