Page 60 of Cherish

“I don’t like this,” Jaxon grouses as he paces at the foot of Mekhi’s bed.

“Me either,” Flint agrees from his spot on the other side of the bed, and while he’s not pacing, he’s not exactly relaxing, either. More like just standing there curling and uncurling fingers that have suddenly become talons. “But you need to calm down, Jax.”

Jaxon starts to say something back to him, but in the end, he must think better of it because his teeth snap shut with an audible click. But the look he gives the dragon has uneasiness crawling up my spine. Because it’s not just stress and worry I see there. It’s a deep-seated anger that has me wondering just how many factors provoked Jaxon into offering to take the throne in Hudson’s stead.

I suddenly feel uncomfortable observing this moment between them and glance over to Heather…who looks back at me like someone’s kicked her puppy. Or worse, her.

Since we got here, she’s been unusually reserved, besides her amusement at everyone getting spelled. But I just chalked it up to the fact that there’s so little she can do to help as a human, and Mekhi appears so sick.

But as I watch Eden walk over to Macy, who’s currently facing the wall with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, I can see why Heather seems so lost. She and Eden have pretty much been inseparable from the moment they met. Which, okay, was yesterday, but still.

I start to tell her not to worry, that Eden and Macy are just friends. But there’s something about the way Eden puts her arms around Macy—and about the way Macy lets her—that has me wondering what’s up between the two of them. Even before Macy bows her head with a sigh and rests her forehead against Eden’s shoulder.

“Heather—” I put a hand on her arm, but she shrugs me off with a smile so bright, I’m pretty sure I can see my reflection in it.

“It’s fine,” she tells me, though it patently isn’t. “We’ve got way more important things to worry about anyway.”

We both turn to look at Mekhi. There’s a little more color in his cheeks, a little less gauntness, but as I glance at Lorelei and see the devastated look on her face, my stomach bottoms out and I feel slightly dizzy. I reach out with one hand to use the wall to steady myself, but Hudson fades to my side in a blink and pulls me close.

“I thought my blood would do more,” Lorelei says softly, and it’s like we all hear the ding of a nail being hammered into Mekhi’s coffin, the sound echoing through the quiet room with deadly precision.

Jaxon explodes with a litany of curses while Hudson asks Lorelei, “Should we take him to the Shadow Realm instead?”

“No, my blood did stave off his death more than I believe the Shadow Realm would. You would be wise to leave him here,” she assures us. “But I had hoped it would buy you a month, maybe even two.”

“How much timedowe have?” I ask, the words raw and painful in my throat.

“Two weeks at most,” she says, then bites her lip. “Maybe less.”

I knew he was gravely ill. We all did. Probably even knew deep down we had very little time left as well. But to hear it stated so bluntly—it’s like someone lobbed a ticking bomb in our direction.

And I’m afraid none of us will survive if it explodes.

36

Fountain of

Poof

Once the gates of the Witch Court are closed behind us, we all kind of stand around looking at one another. Macy said she’d meet us here in a few minutes. Presumably she’s off to grab more magic portal beans or something. At least, I hope that’s what she’s doing.

The statue is in the center of the piazza, but none of us takes a step toward it. Not yet.

It was painful leaving Mekhi behind, but Lorelei assured us she and Caroleena would look over him until we could return with an antidote. Which means we need to get to the Shadow Realmnow.

And still, we don’t move.

It’s almost like the weight of potential failure has us unable to lift our feet. I mean, even if the Shadow Queen makes a deal with us, we still don’t even know where the Curator is or who does—

My phone vibrates, and I glance down to find messages from an old friend.

REMY:Heycher

REMY:You can find what you’re looking for in Alexandria, Egypt

REMY:Sorry I can’t be with you now, but you won’t need me for a while. As soon as I can figure out how to break out of this place, I’ll meet up with you. Hopefully it’ll be in time

GRACE:We need to go to Alexandria?????

---