Scheme by Jennifer Sommersby

Author:Jennifer Sommersby
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510732131
Publisher: Sky Pony
Published: 2020-03-30T16:00:00+00:00

28

HENRY GRABS XAVIER’S BLACK DUFFEL. WE THEN EACH TAKE ONE OF HIS arms over our shoulders and stumble down the Forum toward the centaur. My left hand feels sticky through my glove; I look down and am not surprised to see blood dripping onto the dusty ground.

“It would be great if this would heal. I’m out of gloves.”

“Can you help Xavier if you’re bleeding yourself?”

“We’ll make do. Just get us to the sculpture.”

Henry coughs again. “Is this what you feel like after you heal someone?”

“Weak and breathless and legs made of Jell-O?”

“I’m not a fan.”

We reach the sculpture and help Xavier slide down the ancient brick to the rocky ground. “I need to see the damage,” I say, ripping off my gloves and carefully lifting his shirt. It looks like the bullet went right through, but there’s no way to tell if any organs were hit. It’s a messy wound.

“Hurry up. We made too much noise,” he snaps.

“Or I could leave you here to bleed to death.” I wipe my hands off—his blood, and mine—on a shirt Henry’s handed me. “How do I know you’re really one of us?”

“Because Enzo is dead, and you aren’t,” Xavier says, glaring up at me. I lean back on my heels. “Is there a problem?”

“You show up in the dead of night with the minions of our sworn enemy in a clear ambush and point a gun at Henry’s head, so forgive me for being a little confused about where your loyalties lie.”

Xavier winces, the wound obviously hurting him. “Maybe we should back up and you can explain why you stole a speedboat and left me with its crazed owner in the middle of the Mediterranean.”

“Genevieve, we need to make a decision here—heal him, or let’s just go,” Henry says.

“Yes, Genevieve, heal me, or leave.”

Henry hands me his canteen and I use the water to pour over the wound, to get a better visual of what I’m dealing with. Xavier sucks in against the pain.

“Big baby,” I say.

He smiles as I nudge in closer, hands at the ready. I’m not gentle about it. I hope the energy I’m shoving into his body hurts like hell.

I don’t have much left in the tank, but when Xavier’s teeth grind together and he grimaces, I know he’s feeling every surge of healing energy—and maybe a little electricity thrown in for good measure.

I get him to the point where he can walk on his own, and Henry helps him to his feet. My heartbeat pounds through the carving on my left arm, sending fresh waves of nausea.

Henry lifts me up under my armpits and hands me the bloodied shirt from earlier. “Wrap this around your wounds until we can get some more gauze.” He helps me strip out of my coat, and I’m instantly chilled by the midwinter air.

“What is aconite?” he asks close to my head as he wraps the shirt and then ties it with the sleeves.

“Monkshood. It’s a plant,” I say, my voice solemn. “Deadly plant.

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