Page 103 of The Devil and His Sparrow

I clawed at Zagan’s arms like a mad woman trying to grapple at ropes as she dangled off a cliff. “I killed her. I killed my sister.”

“No,” he said with a firm shake of his head. “She’s not dead, yet. She could still pull through this, Iyla.”

“How?” I whispered. The tears finally spilled over.

He looked from me to Gemma lying still in her bed then back to me. I saw the helplessness in his gaze even before he answered, “I don’t know.”

This couldn’t be happening. Not my baby sister. Not when she’d just started getting better.

“Iyla.”

I turned to the doorway where Noya appeared. The grief she was trying to hide but failing to do so made my own ramp up. She wrung her hands in front of her as she said, “Dr. Seward called your mom. She should be here anytime now. We don’t know what happened. Gemma has been doing so well when all of a sudden …”

Zagan had warned me. He’d told me his blood was no guarantee and that it could even kill her. I’d chosen to try it anyway. I’d heard the risk and threw it away, too focused on potentially saving her. Instead, I’d signed her death certificate.

Mom appeared beside Noya at that exact moment, shoving her aside as she barreled into the room. Her hair was as pristine as always, her make-up in perfect condition, and her pantsuit crisp. She wasn’t the picture of a fearful mother but of a business woman on a mission, which didn’t zero in on Gemma but, rather, on me.

Mom’s nostrils flared, and her chest heaved as she pointed a finger right at me. “Get them out. Get her out now!”

Staff crowded the doorway at Mom’s furious shrieks with Dr. Seward pushing his way to the front.

“Mrs. Winters,” Dr. Seward started hesitantly, his eyes bouncing between her and me. “I know you’re upset, but …”

Zagan helped me to my feet, and his hold was the only thing keeping me standing.

“I want her out!” Mom screeched. Her eyes never left me even as she barked at Dr. Seward, “Remove Iyla from the approved guest list. She is not to be allowed back in this building.”

“Mom,” I cried pathetically, shaking my head in disbelief.

The nurses and Dr. Seward stood speechless and passed helpless glances between mother and daughter. No one liked her, yet she was the guardian. Who would they listen to in this moment? The raging mother, or the loving sister?

Finally, Dr. Seward looked at me, his frown apologetic. “Iyla. I’m sorry. You—You’re going to have to leave.”

My heart fractured, and the world swam as my breath seemed to run away from me. This was all my imagination. Gemma wasn’t dying. I wasn’t being removed from Bloomings. Mom wasn’t glaring at me with more hatred than a singular person should be capable of.

“Come on,” Zagan soothed in my ear, but I barely heard him.

I couldn’t seem to hear or think past the whooshing in my ears. It wasn’t until we were back in the parking lot with the December wind kissing my wet cheeks that reality caught up to me with a vengeance.

“Gemma!” I wheezed, turning in Zagan’s arms to try to rush back inside.

Zagan held onto me with strength beyond this world just as Mom barreled out the front doors. Her heels clacked against the concrete as she stomped toward me with a crazed look in her eye like she was ready to hit me. At the last minute, it seemed to register who stood beside me, and she stopped short, breathing hard and glaring at me.

“Please let me see her,” I begged between sobs. “You can’t do this.”

“I’m her mother. I can do as I damn well please,” she snapped, and in that brief hiss, I saw it—the flash of something truly nasty in her eye. Zagan must’ve seen it, too, because his arms tightened around my chest where he held me.

I didn’t have the strength to understand what it was, though. All I could do was plead, “Let me see her. Please. I-I need to see her.”

Before it’s too late.

The thought only served to bring more tears to my eyes. I could still remember the glow Gemma had the last time I saw her, yet now …

“You make me sick,” Mom growled, raking a hand over her pristine curls. “Such a worthless child. It’s ridiculous! Gemma shouldn’t be the one in there. It should be you in that bed!”

The ache clouding my mind opened partly enough for me to take note of my mother’s words. There were no tears on her face, and instead of being inside with Gemma, she’d followed me out here to spew more biting words. That flash in her gaze came back, and now I understood what it was.

Glee.

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