A Shade of Vampire 26: A World of New (6 page)

W
e remained looking
out of the window a while longer before he looked away, back toward the bed. I took that as my cue to return him there. He got worn down easily—first the vomiting and now wheeling up and down, although I had to admit that the corridor was pretty long. It would’ve made a human moderately tired, not to speak of a sick patient, at the speed he had been rolling.

I fluffed up his pillow and then assisted him in easing himself back on the mattress before laying blankets over him again.

His eyes were already closed by the time I looked up to his face again.

“Warm enough?” I asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Mm,” he murmured.

“ Okay,” I breathed. “Good.”

I sat by his bed until his breathing became deeper and heavier. Once I was sure that he was sleeping, I slipped out of the room and headed down to the apothecary. I found Shayla still there, bending over a bunch of tubes on one of the counters.

“Hi, Shayla,” I said, moving over to her.

“Hi, Grace, how’s it going?” she replied, not looking up.

“It’s going okay. I think. Look, I wanted to ask for your permission to do something.”

“What’s that?”

“I wanted to take Josh outside for a stroll.”

“Josh?”

I smirked. “Yeah, I suggested that he choose a name.”

“Good idea.”

“What is a good idea?”

“Both. Calling him Josh, and taking him outside. Some fresh air will do him good… In fact, it’s a funny coincidence that you come here now.” Finally she tore herself away from the counter and faced me. “I’m not having any luck with this blood sample,” she said, sighing and clasping her forehead. “I’ve consulted with other witches on the island, but none of us can figure it out. We’ve definitely found traces of vampirism, which would confirm what we already worked out, that he is a half-blood. But other than heavy sedatives, we can’t for the life of us work out the rest of Josh’s mystery. There are certainly other traces of drugs, but we can’t guess what they are, let alone figure out an antidote. They are quite unlike anything we have encountered before. So we are still in the dark about what they gave him, or did to him, to cause his memory loss, and his paralysis—assuming that his paralysis was indeed caused by the hunters and he hadn’t already lost use of his legs.”

“I honestly don’t think he was paralyzed before,” I said. “He acts as though his brain, his subconscious, has not accepted that he can’t walk.” I told her about his exercise earlier. “And he loathes being helped. I guess it’s possible that memory was wiped from him too, but… I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, I guess. It seems instinctive to him to be independent.”

“You’re probably right,” Shayla replied. “In any case, I was going to say that I haven’t given up yet. Corrine, Mona and Ibrahim are people we could consult about this. They may see something that we don’t. But in the meantime, I was going to suggest that you take him to visit the jinn. They pretty easily cured your uncle of autism, so going to see them should be much faster. I’ve done all I can for now insofar as a diagnosis.”

“Okay,” I said. “Sure. He’s sleeping now again, so I guess we’ll go as soon as he wakes up.”

“Good luck,” Shayla murmured.

I left the apothecary and returned to Josh’s room. He was still dozing, as I had expected. I sat by his side and reached for my notebook and pen. I wrote down some more notes on his character profile page, then turned to the next page and started brainstorming places I might be able to take him to see on the island—some of the most beautiful spots—as well as things we could do together. Though if the jinn managed to cure him, I would be out of a job soon. Still I made a list, not having much else to do as I waited for him to wake up…

Only he didn’t wake up. He slept for the rest of the day and then into the evening. By the time seven o’clock came around, I seriously considered waking him up. But I just couldn’t bring myself to. Shayla suggested that I might as well wait until tomorrow, when he would wake up naturally.

I felt disappointed, but optimistic as I headed back to my apartment with my backpack. By the end of the day tomorrow, he could very well be back on his feet and recalling all of his lost memories. Because if the jinn had managed to fix Uncle Jamil, why on earth wouldn’t they be able to cure Josh?

S
ince he had slept so much
the day before, I expected that he would be awake early. And I was right. When I arrived in his room at 6 AM, he was already sitting up in bed.

“Good morning,” I said. “Did you sleep well?”

He cast me a glance. “Not particularly.”

“Oh, well, let me get you some breakfast.” I hurried out of the room and headed to the kitchens. I found a pot of soup already cooked up. I filled up a thermos flask with the soup, grabbed two bowls and spoons, and placed them on a tray before heading back upstairs. I put the tray on his bedside table and proceeded to pour out some of the soup into a bowl and handed it to him. I had deliberately not eaten breakfast in my own home because I’d wanted to share it with him. I filled my own bowl and started eating. It was actually quite delicious.

“I would like to take you outside today, Josh, to see some other people on this island whom I really believe can help you—even better than Shayla.”

He raised a brow and stopped chewing. “Who?” he asked.

“Jinn,” I replied.

“What are jinn?”

I proceeded to explain what they were, but concluded by saying, “It’s best you just see one. My family has first-hand experience of being helped by their powers.” I told him about Jamil, and the cure they had given him. I couldn’t miss the spark of hope that lit up in his eyes.

“Yes,” he said, setting down his spoon. “I must see them.”

I called for Tom, who arrived a few minutes later. He took Josh into the bathroom, where, from the sounds of it, he helped him brush his teeth and shower.

“Would you like assistance shaving?” Tom asked.

“Thanks, but no.” Josh’s answer came as a grunt.

When he emerged in the room again, he was still unshaven, but wearing clothes more suitable for the outdoors than his pajamas: a thick, thermal sweater and pants, even though it wasn’t cold outside. I gave him a smile.

“Shall we go then?” I asked.

He nodded, though when I moved to take his chair’s handles, he shook his head.

“I’ll push myself,” he muttered. I opened the door for him, and out he rolled down the corridor. I wondered if we were going to have a repeat of yesterday, where he would roll for a bit and then collapse from exhaustion. But although he covered the same distance this time, by the end he did not appear as exhausted. Perhaps he was gradually gaining strength in his arms.

He allowed me to push him into the elevator. We descended to the ground floor and exited the hospital, emerging in the sunflower meadow. As I breathed in the fragrant morning air, I couldn’t help but steal a glance at him. His eyes were wide, bright and alert.

I pushed him until the end of the meadow and then along the path through the woods. Soon we spotted a group of human fourth-graders on their way to school.

“Those are pupils of The Shade’s school,” I explained as I caught him looking at them.

“Did you go to school here?” he asked.

“I still do,” I replied. “But I’ve been given some time off…”
So I can look after you.

Nearing the courtyard outside the Sanctuary, I was surprised to spot Victoria sitting alone on one of the ornamental stone benches.

“Just a minute,” I said to Josh, pushing him over toward her. Hearing the wheels crunch over dry leaves, she looked up suddenly, and that was when I realized that her eyes were bloodshot.

“Vicky?” I said, frowning. “Are you okay?”

She forced a smile. “I’m fine,” she said, her eyes flitting to Josh. “When did you get back?”

“Yesterday,” I said. “This is Josh. We found him at the IBSI’s base, unconscious. Shayla has been working to fix him and I’ve been appointed as his caregiver.”

I was tempted to press and ask if she was all right once again, but whatever was the matter, she probably didn’t feel comfortable talking about it in front of a complete stranger.

“We’re on our way to visit the jinn now, to ask them about some, uh, medical issues.”

“Okay,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, Josh.” She shook hands with him and then gave me a hug before I continued wheeling him along the path.

I could take a pretty good guess as to why Victoria was feeling down. She seemed to have developed quite an attachment to that wolf who’d saved her, the way she had been insisting that we go back to help him and his people. I hoped that wherever he was now, he was all right and she would be able to see him again.

As we made our way through the woods, Josh was looking around in quiet wonderment. He let out a breath as we arrived at the borders of the Residences. He had just spotted the first couple of treehouses: Ashley and Landis’, and Gavin and Zinnia’s homes.

“I live in a tree house like that,” I said proudly.

“How did you build those things up there?” he asked, squinting up at the treetops.

“With the help of our witches,” I replied simply. “We wouldn’t be able to do most things on this island without help from them and our jinn.”

A
s the morning progressed
, it really became very pleasant out. A warm breeze rustled through the woods, and I relished the silence, the snapping of twigs beneath the wheelchair, the occasional chirping of birds.

Finally we reached the end of the forest and arrived in the clearing in front of The Black Heights.

Ever since the jinn had arrived to live permanently in The Shade, there had been two main entrances into the bowels of these mountains. One for the dragons, for their portion of the mountains, and one for the jinn, for theirs. I headed to the jinn’s, further to our left, and pushed open the heavy wooden door. We appeared in a narrow tunnel with marble floors lit by glowing lanterns. Jinn typically made their residences a lot more luxurious than this, even the entryway, according to my parents who had visited the realm of jinn—The Dunes. But the jinn of The Shade had toned down their extravagance while here for the sake of fitting in better with the rest of us.

Reaching the end of the tunnel, we arrived in a circular entrance hall which split off down various corridors to the jinn’s apartments. Many of them were absent now, having accompanied the League to The Woodlands. I took the nearest corridor to our right and headed for Safi’s apartment. Safi was Aisha’s older sister, though I always remembered her as the girl who had fed my mother human bones.

I knocked on the door. She opened it after about a minute and hovered in the doorway, gazing at me curiously, then down at Josh.

“Sorry to disturb you,” I said, “but we’ve got a problem we need help with.”

She raised a brow.

“This is my friend, Josh,” I said. “We found him in The Woodlands, at IBSI’s headquarters. He has suffered a severe loss of memory and he doesn’t have any feeling in his legs. He can’t move them at all. I’m really hoping that you can find a solution, just like you did for my uncle.”

She looked at him thoughtfully. Without asking for permission, she placed her hands over his head and brushed her thumbs over his forehead. She eyed his legs.

“Well,” she said. “I can try. Josh is a half-blood, I note.”

“Yes,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Give me a few hours,” she muttered. “Most likely, I’ll deliver something by tomorrow. To the hospital, yes?”

“Top floor, room G5,” I replied.

“Very well.”

“Thanks, Safi.”

With that, she closed the door.

I checked on Josh’s expression again as I wheeled him away. He looked dumbstruck, like he was still processing the vision of Safi. Having been brought up on an island of supernaturals, I just took all of this for granted. It was hard to imagine what it must be like for Josh to wake up here.

“The bottom half of her,” he muttered, as we exited the mountain. “Why is there smoke?”

I found it amusing that this was the first question he asked about her. I remembered asking the same question of my mother when I was a kid.

“Jinn do have bottom halves, legs and the rest of it,” I explained. “But it’s kind of like a custom that they don’t reveal their lower selves to anyone but their significant other.”

“Oh.”

Now that I was on the subject of jinn, as I wheeled him back into the woods, I told him some stories about my father and mother’s experiences with the creatures. Jinn played a big part in their history. After all, they had first met while being kept as slaves of the Nasiris in The Oasis. And then there was the whole adventure with my father figuring out how to defeat King Cyrus. That was always a fun one. As I recounted my parents’ history, I realized just how many stories I had to tell.

Josh asked me all sorts of questions as I told him of our history. It was an encouraging change to see him so interested, intrigued.

“What about you, Grace?” he asked finally. “You told me that you are half fae, while your father is fully fae. What are fae exactly? What do they do?”

Ironically, in my overview the other day about supernaturals, I had not touched on fae. I had kept mostly to physical beings like vampires, werewolves and witches, and had not really gotten to the more subtle ones like fae, jinn and ghouls.

“I’ll show you what I do, if you like,” I said with a grin. “But I need to take you somewhere first.” He seemed to be in better spirits than yesterday, and he wasn’t showing nearly as much sign of exhaustion. So I started pushing him toward the direction of Sun Beach. Thankfully I found a witch along the way—Macie, one of Shayla’s friends—who transported us most of the distance. Josh looked breathless as we arrived by a line of trees at the border of the beach.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he managed. “Think so.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I should have given you more of a warning about what it’s like to travel by magic.” It was something I was so used to, I just took it for granted.

Josh gazed toward the rays of light spilling through the trees, his eyes widening.

I pulled out an umbrella from my backpack. I opened it and moved to hand it to him so that he could hold it over himself.

He just looked at me and frowned. “I don’t need an umbrella.”

“Well, you might feel more comfortable with it,” I said. “As a half-blood, you can tolerate the sun much better than vampires, but it can still be unpleasant. But if you want to try it…” I shrugged. “Up to you.”

I pushed him out of the shade and into full sun. I watched his reaction closely as the rays touched his skin. He winced, as I’d been expecting him to, though not too much.

“All right?” I asked.

“Hm.”

I glanced up and down the beautiful beach. It was completely empty at this time. It usually was during school hours on a weekday. It was weekends that this place got really packed, and on a Friday after school. Now we had it all to ourselves. I crossed the sand with him, pushing the wheelchair to the border of the ocean. At this point, whatever sensation he was feeling from the sun seemed to have intensified.

“I’ll have the umbrella now, please,” he said.

I handed it to him. Then, after making sure his chair’s brakes were on, I left him at the edge of the waves, facing me as I backed into the water.

“You said you wanted to see what I could do,” I said, scooping up water in my hands. Fixing my eyes on it, slowly I made it rise from my palms, every drop, and take the shape of a ball. I made it swell and churn in my hands, then rise until it reached the level of my neck. Here I paused to catch Josh’s reaction.

He was staring at me in wonderment. I smirked.

“How do you… do that?” he asked.

“I’m not really sure, to be honest.” Manipulating elements like fire and water came as second nature to me. They just responded to my will, the same way my limbs would. Though most fae usually had a leaning toward a particular element—in my and my father’s case, fire— all fae were able to affect other elements also.

Still molding the ball of water, I moved up to him, bringing it close enough for him to pass his hand through it. Then I relinquished my power, and it disintegrated.

For the first time, I witnessed him smile. A small, half smile, but a smile nonetheless. He shook his head in disbelief even as he chuckled. “Bloody amazing.”

He almost looked like a different person when he smiled. His worn, tired face lifted, and his tawny-brown eyes sparkled. I didn’t miss the dimples that formed beneath his sharp cheekbones, either. It made him look softer, younger… more like his age.

Perhaps the meeting with Safi had helped lift his mood.

I was surprised by how thrilled I felt at managing to evoke a smile from him.

As I stood in the water, the waves lapping around my ankles felt so soothing. Therapeutic. Without asking for his permission, I rolled up the ends of his pants before pulling his chair deeper into the water until the waves lapped against his feet.

I looked to him again for a reaction, but his smile had faded. If anything, he looked slightly awkward, uncomfortable even.

Then I felt like an idiot as I remembered.

“You can’t feel that, can you?”

He shook his head.