The Magickers by Emily Drake

Author:Emily Drake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

17

Scars and Scares

ICY cold. He woke up shivering, teeth chattering, as if he’d been dunked in a tub of ice water. Dr. Patel was gently unfolding his fingers from around his crystal, saying softly, “Just relax a bit, Jason.” He tried to, but his body reacted on its own, jerking about like a puppet on loose strings. It took him a moment to realize he was staring at the ceiling of Lake Wannameecha Gathering Hall, and not the sky, or his own cabin, or even his very own attic room, so far away. She frowned at the bruising and tiny cuts around his crystal, but only said, “We’ll have to wash the grit out of those. Your crystals aren’t polished and cleaned yet.”

Dr. Patel leaned over him, and so did FireAnn, a worried look knitting her cinnamon brows together. Her hair had come unbound again, and surrounded her face in a hazy, burnished cloud of red. “You’re tough, laddie,” she said quietly. “Just take a deep breath.”

Jason nodded.

FireAnn shook his shoulder. “Dinna nod at me, laddie, breathe!”

He inhaled deeply. The warm air burned inside his lungs. He knew he’d never be warm again. Why was he so cold? Dr. Patel laid her silken shawl over him and despite its lightness, it seemed to blanket him with soothing heat as she tucked it about him with a few words of a language he did not recognize, then added, “What happened?”

“Ah, well.” FireAnn looked up briefly. “We’re nay sure yet! It’s a battle of wills out there.”

“What happens if we lose?” Jason forced words out through teeth determined to chatter.

Anita Patel hissed, and then gently added, “We can’t be losing. This is not the kind of battle we can afford to lose.” She helped him sit up.

He dared a glance at his scarred hand, saw nothing and tucked it under him. He could have sworn the skin had broken anew, the blood freshly running down his hand and trickling off his fingers from a jagged gash. But he saw nothing in his quick glance.

Not too quick for Dr. Patel to catch, though. She grabbed his wrist firmly. “Let me see that hand, Jason.”

He yielded to her because he had no choice. Fire began to creep through his body as the feeling came back, prickly heat pinching and poking numb places. He clenched his jaw tightly to keep his teeth from chattering. She spread his fingers to examine the scar carefully.

“I think it’s time you told me the truth about this, Jason.”

He couldn’t meet her level gaze.

“What is it?” asked FireAnn.

“A bite or scratch. He wasn’t quite sure when he came in at first. Scratch, we decided, and it looked like it, though deep but closing quickly. He had babbled a bit about a wild animal first, then let it go. Do you remember the night?”

The cook rubbed her head, fiery hair moving about her like smoke. “Without a crew to help with the kitchen, I was a mite distracted. Gavan was hounding me to get the Draft concocted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.