It took half a second to realize the old man wasn't going to reach her in time.
I darted around the chair and threw my Thet out toward her, but I wasn't fast enough. The sickening crack of her head against that unforgiving marble wall echoed through the room. I slid to my knees, catching her before she hit the ground, and she fell back into my arms, her eyes in the back of her head, blood pouring from her forehead and nose.
I grabbed my com off my belt. "Colleena, get in here!" I yelled into it.
She rushed into the room instantly, followed closely by Rilyin, and shrieked. I could see how it looked in her mind: glass all over the floor, blood covering the girl's face, neck, and my arm and pants, Pharro gripping the arm of the chair like he was going to pass out, the tranquilizer on the floor where I had dropped it.
"What happened?" Rilyin bellowed.
"She got out of the chair herself," Pharro said, his hand trembling against his forehead. "Her reaction to the test was quite terrible."
"Why did she react that way?" I growled, unable to stop my eyes from blackening. Everything turned shades of violet. I took a deep breath, ordering my body to calm, and the room went back to normal.
Pharro shook his head but didn't answer, looking ready to pass out.
"We need to get her to the Infirmary," Colleena said, pulling herself together enough to give orders. "Can you carry her, Tritteon?"
I stood, cradling the girl against my chest. She weighed nothing. "Sir, are you alright?"
Pharro waved his hand impatiently. "Just take her. I'll put all this away and meet you up there."
It was times like these I wished the man's mind wasn't blocked from me. He was obviously ill. In fact, he looked exactly like Asis had before the Librarian had collapsed, though Pharro had seemed perfectly fine before the test began—uneasy, but fine.
I gritted my teeth. I would have to send someone for Pharro once the girl was taken care of. A hot, sweet smelling wetness had begun climbing up my arm. She was bleeding profusely. Only Rilyin's anxious concentration and Colleena's distressed, urgent thoughts were enough to overpower the strange urge to taste it and get me out the door.
* * * * * * * * * *
PHARRO
The second their hurried footsteps disappeared, Pharro collapsed into the white chair, gripping the top of his head between his hands. The room spun fast and his stomach clenched, threatening to relieve itself of its contents.
He had been afraid of this. He had known it would happen. He had even lessened the exposure of the electrical current to each of her Poeir points. But it had only kept the blocks in place. It hadn't stopped her merged DNA from leaking its toxic combination. He figured the only reason Colleena hadn't been affected despite her constant use of Poeir on the girl was the woman's strange immunity she and High Healer Padovani shared.
The girl was a radiation nightmare. It had taken everything out of him just to keep a shield up around Tritteon. He would need to find a way to get her alone as soon as possible. The concoction within the vial Desraeon had sent with her would need to be administered immediately before anything happened further.
And Desraeon would have to be notified about what had transpired. How dare he send her in this condition.
* * * * * * * * * * *
TRITTEON
Colleena threw the double doors to the Infirmary wide. The spacious, high-ceilinged room was bright and warm with a large fireplace on both ends of the room and ten beds, spaced at four-foot intervals, covered in lavender linens. Tall, black cabinets covered every inch of wall that wasn't already taken over by a door or floor to ceiling window and a small stone table occupied the space in the center of the room.
The door to our left banged open and three of her assistants rushed out, slowing only for a moment when they spotted Rilyin behind me.
"Do your jobs," he growled before they could bow.
They did as he said, only nodding their heads briefly as they rushed forward.
Colleena shouted hurried orders as she pulled a white hand towel out of one of the cabinets and pressed it against the girl's forehead.
I could hear every thought and word spoken but my focus was on the girl's vitals. Her pulse had slowed significantly, her heartbeat growing faint.
"Tritteon, her heartbeat?" Rilyin asked, fearful he was hearing it correctly.
"Yes," I confirmed. "Colleena?"
"All the way to the top," Colleena yelled to the woman filling the tub in one of the bathrooms. "What Tritteon?"
"She is fading."
Colleena checked the girl's pulse at her wrist and then her neck and cursed. She grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the bathroom. "Averin, out of the way. We are just going to put her right in." She grabbed one of the Asoiri stones off the plate next to the sink and threw it into the water. Bubbles erupted and the liquid turned pearly and smooth. "All the way under—" she began to say.
But I didn't wait to be told. I lowered the girl into the tub, holding her securely as she slipped below the surface, just as Colleena's thoughts directed. The Asoiri turned a reddish-pink.
Rilyin began pacing outside the doorway, his cane clicking against the marble floor as Colleena came around the other side of the tub, rubbing her hands together. Her fingers glowed and the air around them shimmered. "Good. Now lift her up slowly, just until her head is out. If she wakes, don't let her move."
I nodded and shifted so I could hold her arm in one hand and her neck in the other, the thick lines of her brand rubbing against my palm. Her eyes were still closed as her face broke the surface and she remained motionless. I felt for her pulse with a thumb, and released a long, relieved breath.
When the test had begun, I had been eager to have a reason to be rid of her. But after watching her suffer so horribly through what should have been a simple assessment, I'd been surprised by the relief I'd felt when I was able to put the tranquilizer down. She didn't deserve what the test had put her through, and I knew if it hadn't been live, Pharro wouldn't have kept going.
Rilyin paused in his pacing. "Is she stabilizing?" he asked, unable to hear her heartbeat clearly through the Asoiri.
I frowned at the anxiety in his voice, irritated that nearly every thought he had of her was hidden from me. He had only met the strange girl once a few days ago. With everything we had against us, why would he have already allowed himself to form an attachment? "Yes, sir."
Colleena let out a sigh. "Thank goodness." Leaning as far over the tub as she could comfortably get, she touched a glowing finger to the middle of the huge gash on the girl's forehead and held her other hand a couple inches above the girl's face. The air shimmered, smelling hot and sweet.
I had that curious urge again to see what her blood tasted like.
There were two loud cracks and a fresh rush of blood flowed from the girl's forehead and nose.
Rilyin swore.
I would have been alarmed had it not been for Colleena's serene, knowing thoughts. Things had to mend back together before they could heal.
"Everything is fine," I assured him.
"I'm always amazed by how difficult it is to startle you," Colleena said, looking up at me with a grin. "Even they grimaced, and they do this all the time."
"You were calm, so I saw no reason for alarm," I said, forcing a small smile. I hated when people paid attention to my reactions.
Colleena scrunched her nose. "I'll have to work on that."
Rilyin gave up pacing, the endless, sharp throbbing in his leg worsening with all the movement, and instead took to leaning against the wall to the right of the door, tapping his thumb against the sharp beak of his griffin cane.
The nosebleed stopped and Colleena dipped her free hand into the Asoiri, brought out a handful and poured it over the girl's forehead, washing away the new blood.
So very slowly, she lifted the pad of her finger out of the wound, and as she did, the edges of it began to pull back together. She placed all of her glowing fingers around it and I had to turn my head and shut my eyes so I wouldn't be blinded by the fierce light that radiated from the center of them. I wasn't the only one. Her assistants shielded their eyes and one even stepped passed Rilyin out of the room.
Colleena didn't blink, engrossed by the task at hand, her eyes protected by her own Nourr. I could hear her excitement. She'd had a difficult time healing the girl before. Something had changed.
Almost ten minutes later, the glowing stopped and Colleena stood, wiping her hands on a towel Averin handed her. "It worked. She reacted so much quicker to it this time. It took ages the first morning, and even her treatments haven't taken well. What changed?"
Rilyin swore in relief. "Well done, Thash."
I looked back down at the girl's tranquil face, and even though I had seen the finished result in Colleena's mind, I was still surprised to see only smooth skin. I brushed my thumb over the spot, awed by the woman's beautiful gift.
"She is lovely, isn't she?" Colleena said.
I pulled my hand away, scowling at the implications in her mind.
"Why is she not waking?" I demanded.
Colleena bent, her eyes narrowed. "Has she moved at all?"
"No."
Rilyin stepped closer, his brow bunching.
"Can you raise her higher?"
I lifted her until the Asoiri rippled around her shoulders.
Colleena's palms began to glow and she pressed them to either side of the girl's head. She closed her eyes and moved them slowly down the sides of the girl's face. The speed with which her mind went through every possibility was incredible. But I hid my disappointment as she reached the girls chin and no answer had come.
"Anything?" Rilyin demanded, proving once again he was far too invested.
She sighed. "Her heart rate is stable. Let's get her dried off and a new change of clothes and we will keep an eye on her. The test must have been more taxing for her than we realize."
"What do you suggest?" Rilyin urged.
"Let's give her twenty-four hours. She hasn't slept much the last few days as it is. If she does not wake within that period, I will give her a jump start."
Someone cleared their throat in the doorway.
I cursed myself for flinching. I hated how the man could sneak up so easily. I especially hated that Colleena noticed.
"I saw that. You can be startled," she laughed. She squeezed my shoulder affectionately. "Don't worry. He scares all of us."
Pharro's sweaty face did not hold any hint of amusement. "I have just received word that Lady Gailston took ill before the ride out and will need medical attention upon arrival. So, if the girl is stable, she needs to be moved to her room where she will be more comfortable and will not be seen in this weakened state."
Colleena's usual playful smile melted away. "Averin, Callie, Neill, could you give us a second, please?"
The three filed out past Pharro and Rilyin, grumbling internally. Pharro closed the door and his Thet shield rippled across it so no one outside the room would be able to eavesdrop.
She spun on both men. "I think now is as good a time as any to discuss who the hell this girl is."
"Easy, Thash," Pharro growled. "You are treading on things you are not privy to."
I had to force my expression to remain neutral. The ugly expletives Colleena was throwing around in her head were enough to make anyone cringe, her mind at the brink of daring us to try to convince her the girl wasn't here for the same reason the others had been. "So, it is a secret? It isn't just because no one has asked yet?" she said, taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
"That is correct," Rilyin said.
"Does she know why she's here?"
Rilyin shook his head. "No."
"And her amnesia...?"
"Is not amnesia."
She looked back at me. "Can you lift her out of there? It can only do so much," she snapped.
"Yes, ma'am," I said quickly.
I lifted the girl gently, cradling her so her head was against my shoulder instead of hanging limply. I doubted Colleena would take too kindly to that. I felt the blood laced Asoiri sink into my clothes—into my boots. I gritted my teeth. I had better be allowed time to change before I needed to be down to greet guests with Rilyin.
"What time is it?"
"The first pod is due to arrive in twenty minutes," Pharro said.
"You and I need to be down there in ten," Rilyin added. He pressed his hand to the door but didn't push it open. The shield was still in place, Pharro waiting for Rilyin to give the go ahead to break it. "Will that be all, Colleena?"
She scowled. "You've made that clear enough."
He nodded, satisfied, and Pharro flicked his hand, breaking the shield so Rilyin could push the door wide.
Pharro inclined his head toward me. "Colleena, will your people please take over? It is best if Tritteon isn't drenched in blood and Asoiri when he goes down to greet our guests."
She cracked the knuckles on her left hand and blew out an irritated breath. "Neill, take the girl from Tritteon. Callie, Averin, dry her off. And Neill, go get clothes for the girl. Colette should have them ready by now."
Neill rushed in, Callie at his heels. He scooped the girl out of my arms and Callie grabbed an armful of white towels out of the cupboard next to the sink. As they disappeared into the other room, I felt something in my stomach twist.
"Sir, may I have a quick word with Colleena?" I asked.
Behind Pharro, Rilyin nodded. "Yes. But hurry."
I threw Thet at the door the second Pharro was clear of it, snapping it closed in his face, and turned to Colleena. She took a startled step back.
"Colleena, I need you to promise me that you will be the one to dress her."
"What?"
"Forgive me, but I do not fully trust your assistants or their ability to keep vital information to themselves."
She folded her arms, waiting for more explanation.
"She was a Crossek, Colleena. And she does not want that information known."
Her arms fell to her sides. "That explains so much."
"Please do not let anyone see her mark."
A soft smile lit her face. "I promise. Thank you for trusting me with this. You are sweet, Tritteon. I forget, sometimes, that you have the ability to think about the feelings of strangers."
I rolled my eyes. "His Highness does not want it known."
She ground her teeth together. "There it is."
"Thank you, Colleena. I wonder from time to time what we would do without you."
She rolled her eyes. "No one wonders that more than I do."
* * * * * * * * * * *