More Chinese from Ah Li, followed by a curt instruction from Fang, and the guard trotted off a second time. Then there was some back-and-forth in Chinese between Alice and Ah Li.
At last Alice spoke in English again. “Ah Li is not trained in Western medicine. Neither am I. It is difficult to translate what she perceives into terms you would understand. She has never personally treated someone suffering from the sting of téngtòng mǎy, but is aware of how they are to be treated. Lily’s reaction does not match what she has been taught. She does not know if this reaction is the result of the amount of venom involved—Lily was stung many times—or of some subtle physiological difference in Lily’s body. It may even be an allergic reaction, although if so, it is atypical. She considers Lily’s condition to be similar to shock, yet it is not truly shock. I’m afraid I do not understand the distinction. It has to do with the circulatory system.”
“I’ve had some EMT training.” Not enough to be a real EMT, but Cynna had needed to know some of the basics. A lot of the Finds she’d done for the Bureau had involved people who were missing. Sometimes they’d been injured or suffering from exposure. Or both. She’d usually had real medical people along to treat them, but she’d wanted some first aid training just in case. “What we call shock is circulatory shock. It means the organs aren’t getting enough blood. That happens for lots of reasons, usually involving blood loss, but sometimes snake bites. The venom of some snakes keeps the blood from coagulating, which makes the victim bleed internally, and—and is that what’s happening to Lily?”
More Chinese flew back and forth. Fang chipped in at one point. Finally Alice said, “Ah Li is aware of this bleeding problem with some snake bites. She does not think this is happening with Lily because of the lack of other symptoms typical of such bites and her failure to detect any large-scale bleeding. If bleeding were occurring on a very small scale, she would not be able to sense it. This is why we need the focusing spell.”
“Skip the commercial. Is Lily going to be okay or not?”
“Ah Li is reluctant to offer a prognosis when she can neither alleviate the symptoms directly with her Gift—she is quite frustrated by that—nor determine their cause. She hopes that palliative care will prove sufficient. She has sent for a syrup made primarily from sugar and water, infused with strengthening herbs. It is used here very commonly.”
“Sugar water and hope,” Cynna said flatly. That must be why the healer had wanted to know if Lily had diabetes—so she could give her sugar water. “That’s it. That’s the best you can do.”
“Ah Li will also give her a sleeping draught, as sleep is probably the best restorative. She will remain here until Lily is out of danger.”
“Out of danger?” Cynna snorted. “Guess Ah Li will be moving in with us, then.”
“You quibble with my wording, but understand my meaning. None of us want Lily Yu to die. I certainly do not wish to lose my best healer.”
“Your precious Zhuren would kill Ah Li if she can’t keep Lily alive to give to the Great Bitch?”
“That is one possibility. Another is that Zhu Kongqi’s brothers would be angry with him for possibly upsetting their arrangement with the Old One. That could lead to considerable destruction.”
From inside the cell came Lily’s voice: “No!”
Cynna took a step toward the cell door. Fang grabbed her good arm and said something in Chinese. Alice answered in the same tongue. Then he used that damn word again: “Come.” He tugged on her arm—away from the cell.
“I need to be in there,” Cynna said, trying not to sound frantic. They wouldn’t listen to frantic. She had to sound firm, certain. “I need to be with her.”
Alice shook her head. “You lack medical training. There is no room in there for someone who can’t help.”
“That other woman, whoever she is—the blond one—”
“Ah Hai was sent by Zhu Kongqi to help with Lily’s care. We cannot send her away.”
God knew no one here would go against one of the Zhuren’s wishes. Or whims. “I’m Lily’s friend. I can keep her calm. I can . . .” Tell her everything would be all right? Cynna avoided lying these days, but she used to be good at it. Even at her best, though, she didn’t think she’d have been able to pull that one off. “I can let her know she isn’t entirely surrounded by enemies.”
Alice hesitated. Nothing showed on that damn pale face. Nothing. “Very well.” She spoke in Chinese briefly.
Cynna didn’t wait. She slipped back inside the cell.
The two women tending Lily shifted enough for Cynna to kneel with them—Ah Hai on her right, Ah Li on her left. She ignored them.
Lily’s right arm lay alongside her body, outside the blanket. Her left arm lay propped on a couple of folded blankets. It was swollen up like an overstuffed sausage with red dots marring the skin like measles. Her complexion looked awful, with a gray cast beneath the light tan. Her hairline was damp with sweat, her mouth slightly open. Her eyes were closed, but as Cynna watched, she could see movement beneath the lids, as if she were in REM sleep. Or hallucinating?
Back in the bad old days, a lot of Cynna’s friends had tried drugs. She hadn’t. Her mom’s alcoholism had given her a horror for ingesting anything that might take her over. But she understood the lure, the need to feel good for once. One night, one of the dancers she’d worked with at the club had smoked some weed laced with PCP just before going on. She’d done that a lot; the weed mellowed her and the PCP made her feel strong. This time, though, she’d passed out. Too much PCP maybe, or maybe it hadn’t been PCP at all. Cynna had stayed with her to make sure she kept breathing. When she woke up, she’d sworn she’d been awake the whole time, but hallucinating.
Her eyes had moved beneath her lids just like Lily’s were.
“Hey, Lily.” Cynna put a hand on Lily’s cheek. Her skin felt cool and clammy. Her eyes didn’t open, but her right hand twitched. “This is Cynna. You know my voice, right? Ah Li is with me. She’s a healer. She can’t heal you, of course, but she can tell things aren’t right with your body. And they aren’t, are they? Something is messed up. It would help if you told us about it. What’s going on right now, Lily?”
A shudder traveled down Lily’s body. Slowly, as if she had to push each word out with great effort, she spoke. “Bloody. Burns. Melting. Things melting. All globs. Globs burning.” A pause, then a single, angry word: “Him!” As if startled by her own vehemence, her eyes popped open. Her gaze darted around, passed over Cynna’s face without recognition, then jerked back. She stared right in Cynna’s eyes. “No.”
Then she gave a little nod, a ragged sigh, and passed out.
EIGHT
RULE came awake suddenly, his heart pounding. “No.”
“What is it?” Madame Yu said.
He licked lips that were dry and cracked. He was thirsty. He hurt. It was dark now, with no fire to warm him, yet he was hot. Overhead was the same dull rock of the outcrop he’d been lying beneath before. “Something’s not right.”