“I need you to totally relax your body. If you feel a tingle of magic, try letting it in,” he coaxed her.
Seconds dragged into minutes with nothing happening, but then I felt it. Emily had somehow let her control go. In the next moment Ivan’s magic pushed into her—grazing her at first, but then going deeper. His eyes were glassy as he studied her.
Lucas leaned down, his breath tickling my ear. “I wouldn’t believe it if I wasn’t seeing it. Perhaps I should try something similar with you.”
There was something very suggestive about the way he said that. I angled my head toward him. “Like what?”
He gave me devilish grin. “You’ll only know if you let me in.”
Someone cleared their throat. I looked back over to Emily and found her and Ivan staring at us with annoyed expressions on their faces.
“Are they always like that?” the nerou asked the teenager.
She snorted. “Pretty much.”
“Did it help to look into her?” I asked, hoping to get the discussion back on track.
“Actually, it did. She’s not just a sensor anymore, but something else. Closer to a nerou—though still more fragile than us. Her immune system is continuing to do much of the work killing the plague, but your blood strengthened her enough so she could fight it. I doubt she’ll ever get sick from anything again after this and may heal a little faster from wounds.”
“I agree,” Paula said from the back of the room where she’d been standing. “That’s the conclusion I came to from examining her blood. She’s not immortal, but she’s more resilient now. If she hadn’t been so ill I doubt it would take even this long to recover.”
Ivan returned his attention to Emily. “And you must focus on getting better.”
She sighed. “Did you at least figure out how to help the others by looking at me?”
“I believe I did, though I’ll need to do some experimenting before I can be sure. It is a difficult process and one I learned long ago.” He stood. “And I will need a lot of Dead Sea water.”
“How much?” Lucas asked.
“Enough that we can submerge patients in it entirely except their faces. Only five may be treated in it before the water will need to be changed out. It will require a lot, considering how many afflicted you have here.”
And around the world.
“We have enough for you to get started and treat at least ten,” Lucas informed him. “I’ll make the calls to get more.”
Ivan headed for the door. “Good. I’ll need a private room to begin work on the worst patient first.”
“I can arrange that.” Paula said, following him out of the room.
Lucas glanced at me and I gestured for him to go. He hesitated, but with my urging left as well. Aniya went with him after I gave her a pleading look. This was my chance to get Emily to myself and do whatever I could to comfort her.
I turned toward the teenager. “Do you need anything?”
Her expression turned vulnerable. “Would you lay with me for a while?”
“Absolutely.” I crawled into bed with her.
She wrapped an arm around my waist. “Invading Purgatory makes you tired, doesn’t it?”
“How did you hear about that?” I met her blue-eyed gaze.
“Aniya told me—after she heard you made it back okay.”
Word must have spread fast once we’d gone in for our little invasion.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I told her. “They needed a chance to be free and we needed the only man who might know the cure for the plague.”
She snuggled into my shoulder. “I know, but I missed you.”
It was strange seeing her so vulnerable. She hadn’t been this way since her head injury had changed her and even before that she’d tried to be tough.
“I missed you, too.” I brushed her hair out of her face. “With any luck I won’t be leaving town anytime soon.”
“Good.”
Chapter Thirty-six
“Have you taken leave of your senses!” a familiar voice woke me from a restful sleep.
I cracked my eyes open and found Kerbasi hovering over the bed, outrage written all over his face. He grabbed my arm where the cuff should be. It felt good not having the metal digging into my skin anymore, but it only made Kerbasi let out a huff and stare at his own—which was still there. The magic that tainted it before was gone, though.
“You are going to be in so much trouble for this.” He let go of my arm.
Emily rolled over where she lay next to me. “What is he blathering about?”
“He’s mad because I cut the armband off and left him sleeping while I went to Purgatory,” I informed her.
At least the drugs we’d given him took a long time to wear off. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten the—I checked my watch—six hours rest that I had.
“Oh, is that how you got away from him? I’d forgotten to ask,” Emily said, rubbing her eyes.
“And that’s another thing,” Kerbasi continued, waving his arms around. “You freed the nerou. I woke up to Micah and one of them in the kitchen making dinner. Do you have any idea how much more trouble you’re going to be in for that? None of this better come back to me. I will not take more punishment for something I had no participation in.”
“I’m sure they won’t blame you.” I lifted the blanket and got out of the bed.
“How could you do this?” The guardian put his hands on his hips.
“Easier than you think, actually.” I turned to Emily. “Do you need anything, hon? I was thinking I’d go pick us up some food.”
“Did he say Micah is at home?” She sat up.
“Yeah, he’s back.” I glanced at Kerbasi and decided now wasn’t the time to explain. “That’s a long story I’ll tell you later, but I should tell you he has a daughter we freed while in Purgatory. She’s nice. I think you’ll like her.”
“Oh, wow.” Her eyes widened. “I had no idea.”
At least the latest news was keeping her depression at bay.
“So do you want anything in particular?” I asked.
“Are you just going to ignore me?” Kerbasi’s eyes swirled angrily.
“Um, actually.” Emily brushed some of her hair behind her ear. “Could you get Hunter’s sweater? It’s in my room on my bed. And maybe bring some of whatever Micah is making. I miss his cooking.”
“Sure.” It was a longer drive than expected, but if it made her happy I’d do it.
“I’m going with you,” Kerbasi announced.
Even without the cuffs tying us together I couldn’t get rid of him. “You don’t have to. You’re free now and can go wherever you want.”
“Oh, no. Our punishment was to stay together and I’m not going to be the one to break that. And anyway, Micah was making stew when I left. I expect it will be ready by the time we get there.”
“Fine. Come with me if you insist.” I leaned down and gave Emily a kiss on the forehead. “Be back soon.”
She gripped me in a hug. “Be careful, Mel. He’s right…they could punish you for this.”
“Maybe, but they’re too busy at the moment to bother with it. I’ll be fine.” I pulled away and gave her a confident smile.
“Love you,” she said.
Those weren’t words she spoke very often to me. It was hard to say whether it was a good or bad thing she said them now.
“Love you, too, Em.”
I left the room. After Kerbasi and I sterilized ourselves and changed back to regular clothes, we made our way down the hallway. I sensed Lucas ahead. He was with Paula and half a dozen nerou in one of the private rooms along the hallway. The door was open. I stopped next to it and listened to Ivan talking.
“Once the patient is submerged in water up to their neck you can begin the healing process,” he explained. “Use your alternate vision to watch me locate the antibodies the patient has already formed. After you’ve identified them once it is easier to find them again. ”
Everyone gathered closer to the patient and I caught the glazed look in their eyes. I angled my head around one of the guys to get a better view. Ivan was hovering over a nude troll who was resting in a large metal tub of Dead Sea water.
“How can you be sure they’re already there?” Lucas asked.
“Because all supernatural immune systems react quickly to…” He looked to Paula.
“Antigens,” she said. The doctor must have coached him on the proper terminology before the class started.
“Antigens, thank you.” He nodded at her. “The trouble is demon magic is aiding the plague, allowing it to spread faster than the body can keep up. Our job is to replicate the antibodies in greater numbers until there are enough to fight the bacteria off.”
“What is the Dead Sea water for?” a nerou asked.
“It weakens the demon magic so that the bacteria will not spread as quickly.”
“But how do we replicate the antibodies?” A female nerou came out of her vision, shaking her head.
“You must memorize its shape and exact dimensions.” Ivan pulled out of his vision as well to look at her. “Then you must focus on doubling and tripling it. Have you ever watched a cell divide and become two—both exactly the same?”
“Yes,” she answered, then realization dawned on her face. “It’s similar to the way we heal wounds. As we remove the damaged parts we replace them with new…cells that look the same as the ones before the injury occurred.”
“Exactly. You must make certain each replication is exactly the same as the original.”
She moved closer. “Can you show us again?”
I gestured at Lucas and got him to come out into the hallway.
“Are you going somewhere, sensor?” he asked.
“Yes. Emily wants something from the house and word has it…” I inclined my head toward the guardian. “That your brother is cooking stew.”
Lucas’ lips thinned. “I see your shadow has returned.”
“It’s my curse.” I sighed.
He handed me the Jeep keys. “I brought your vehicle here. You’ll find it in the parking lot.”
I’d hoped he’d brought it for me.
“Thanks.” I gave him a kiss. “I’ll be back soon.”
He caressed my cheek. “Be careful. I saw humans riding around with guns on the drive here. They appeared ready for battle.”
“I will. You have fun with this.” I gestured at the room where Ivan was doing his demonstration.
Lucas grunted. “He makes it look easier than it is.”
“How so?”
His brows knitted. “There are many types of antibodies. Finding the one you want—if you haven’t seen it before—is time-consuming. He seems to have a knack for locating the right one. I spent many hours searching and couldn’t narrow the right one down.”
“Well, now you know what it looks like, right?”
“You’ve distracted me.” He looked me up and down. “Now I must watch again.”
I pointed at my temple. “Concentrate.”
Lucas gave me a sardonic look and went back into the room.
Kerbasi and I made our way to the lobby and found the rest of the nerou waiting for their turn to study the healing process. Aniya was giving them a basic class on medical terminology using a laptop screen with pictures. They might have a handle on healing, but they hadn’t learned all the proper words for what to call things.
“How do the nerou know any English?” That had been bugging me. It made sense for heaven’s servants to be multi-lingual, but I hadn’t expected it with the nerou.
Kerbasi followed me outside. “We don’t only make them mine the tunnels. They also get a basic education and are taught whichever are three most common languages of the time. It was expected that one day they’d return to Earth, but only once the need for them was great enough.”
“They shouldn’t have been kept in Purgatory at all,” I said.
“Within them they have many of the advantages of sensors and nephilim combined. It makes them particularly dangerous adversaries—or useful allies. We needed to ensure they were not corrupted by their parents and that they were taught proper moral values.
“For too long.” I located my Jeep and unplugged it from the electrical line. “They aren’t immortal and I heard some have died over the centuries.”
Kerbasi opened the passenger door. “It was unfortunate, but we’ve done our best to protect them after learning their weaknesses.”
“Too late.” I started the vehicle. “Those were people’s children and the archangels took them away from the ones who would have protected and cared for them the best.”
He kept his gaze forward and didn’t reply.
It was getting dark as we made our way through the city. At first I didn’t see any suspicious activity, but on the outskirts of town there was a mob of people in the middle of the road. They were attacking an angel of all things. I slowed the vehicle and pulled it over about a hundred feet from the scene.
“Are you seeing this?” I asked Kerbasi.
“I fear I am,” he answered. He had a disturbed expression on his face.
“Why isn’t the angel fighting back?”
Kerbasi’s fist clenched. “He may be restricted from doing so, as I am.”
“Can’t he just flash away then?”