Salvaged Soul (The Ignited Series Book 3) (15 page)

“We’ve tried a few spells already,” I offered. “Nothing has worked yet.”

“We have three more to do now,” Micah spoke from the doorway, reminding me, as if I had forgotten.

I hadn’t, of course. But I also wasn’t all that optimistic that any of them would work. Maybe if the right spell were done by a capable Incantator. We were fishing in the dark, and I didn’t know if I had the skill to pull something like this off.

Nathan shifted to look at me. I saw an unreadable emotion in his eyes, but one thing I knew for sure—he was thinking. The wheels were turning in his head, and I really hoped he came up with a good idea, better than what we had tried so far.

“Do what you came here to do,” he told me. “I’ve got to go find Jared.”

“Now? You can’t stay while . . .”
While I try some spells that probably won’t work anyway?

“We learned something in Greece,” he said quickly. “I can’t be sure, but . . .” He looked down at Callie, who had decided that keeping her eyes open took too much effort.

He had been in Greece? While I was surprised to hear how far they had traveled for the mission, I wondered what he had learned there that caused him to look at Callie with that worrisome look in his eyes.

“You think it has something to do with what’s happened to her?”

Nathan nodded wordlessly, his eyes never leaving Callie. “Maybe.”

Chapter 15

{Nathan}

I took a chance and headed for Jared’s office, assuming he had made it off the beach by now. Before we left Greece, he had promised to send the gods another team of fresh soldiers to assist in tracking down the demigods. He had a busy few days ahead of him, and I assumed he would get started with the planning right away. Besides, his office was close, just on the other side of the building from the Infirmary, so I wouldn’t waste much time if he wasn’t there.

No one was stationed outside his door, but it was unlocked, and I waltzed right in.

He glanced up with a wry smile on his face. “Miss me already?”

“They brought Callie in while we were gone.”

Jared straightened. “Is it as bad as we were told?”

“It’s bad.” I paused to let that sink in. Jared, like all Kala, didn’t like to see any human suffer at the hands of the Skotadi. “Jared, she looks like those villagers. Same pale skin, rapid breathing, and imminent death. It’s identical.”

“I thought you said Lillian did something to Callie.”

I nodded as I gathered my thoughts. This was the hard part for me to understand, let alone explain. “The gods said an Incantator was working with the demigods, and was the one behind the curse, and that a small group of Skotadi were helping them, right?” I paused, and waited for Jared to nod so that I knew he was following me.

“Yeah,” Jared muttered. “That didn’t make any sense to me. What would the Skotadi get out of helping them?”

“Nothing makes sense anymore!” I threw my hands up. “Why do we have Kala on the island working as spies for the Skotadi? Who’s to say there isn’t a small group of Kala out there working for them, too?”

“Okay . . . okay. Calm down.”

I took a deep breath. “The point is, Jared,” I said slowly. “Lillian was the one who did this to Callie. I think Lillian is the Incantator who has been working with the demigods on this immortality thing. There were others, I’m sure of now, back in West Virginia. The Skotadi there were kidnapping humans. We didn’t know why at the time, but I would bet the same curse was placed on all of them too. Lillian was behind it. I know it.”

“Even if you’re right, we’re not going to get anything out of her. Not with the way she is now.”

I smiled and dug the vial I had been holding on to since we left Greece out of my pants’ pocket. “And that’s why we’re going to give her this.”

Jared frowned. “What is that?”

“Circe gave it to me. She said this . . .” I held the vial up between my thumb and index finger so that the light hit it. “This could bring Lillian back.”

Our first stop was to the lab, where we grabbed two more small vials. Jared looked at me like I was crazy while I poured a small amount of the fluid into one of the empty containers. We glanced at each other, then bent down to watch magic in action.

And nothing happened.

I stood up straight. “I don’t understand. She said just a drop of the stuff would make another vial.”

I needed two more vials . . . for Kris and Alec. No way would I give it all to Lillian, and leave them with nothing.

“I told you that didn’t make any sense.” Jared picked up the near empty vial and tipped it so that the small amount of fluid slid from one side to the other. He tipped it back again, then swirled it around—not that there was much fluid to be swirled. He set it on the table and shot me a look that said,
now what?

I replayed the conversation with Circe in my head. She hadn’t said much, but she had said a drop would make more. So why hadn’t it?

Maybe if I added another drop? Maybe it needed a little bit more.

“Ah, would you look at that?” Jared proclaimed. “It is working!”

I bent down to watch as the drop of fluid expanded until the bottom of the vial was covered. Then it moved up, slowly—so slowly it was impossible to visually see it rising. But over time, over the course of a few minutes, the single drop of fluid had multiplied until the container was full.

Just like Circe had said it would. I looked at Jared with a smug grin, and he gave a lazy shrug.

“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out. “I’m impressed.”

“And?”

“And?” He paused, and a slow reluctant smile tipped the corners of his mouth. “And . . . you were right. I was wrong. It doesn’t happen often, so I’ll let you bask in the glory . . . for now.”

I looked away from him with a shake of my head, and placed a drop in the second empty vial. This time, Jared and I patiently waited as the process repeated. When it was over, we had three full vials of the magical fluid—potion?—or whatever it was. One each for Kris, Alec, and Lillian.

I decided that Lillian should be first to take it, for two reasons. One, I was convinced that we would need Lillian’s help if Callie was to have any chance at recovery. And from the looks of Callie, we didn’t have any time to waste. Two, I wasn’t about to give Kris some mystery magical water until I knew it wouldn’t cause anything bad to happen to her. I supposed the same went for Alec. Though my reasoning made me feel like an asshole, Lillian was the chosen guinea pig.

“If this actually works . . .” Jared led the way from the lab to the wing in the Infirmary where Lillian was kept. I could tell from how fast he was moving just how excited he was about the possibility.

“This could change everything,” I finished for him.

We reached the heavily guarded area that had been sealed off from non-important Kala. Since I had been permitted through to check on Lillian’s progress a few times, the guards were used to seeing me. Having Jared with me only sped the process up, and we were ushered through without a problem.

Getting Lillian to actually drink the stuff in the vial would be our biggest hurdle.

Jared left to find the island’s doctor, leaving me alone in the small observatory room adjacent to Lillian’s exam room. The wall separating the two rooms was made up of a large one-way mirror. Though she couldn’t see or hear me, I could see and hear her clearly.

That was how it had been since the day we arrived on the island, aside from the few times I had attempted to talk to her. She didn’t know how many times I had come to check on the progress the doctors were making. She wouldn’t have cared anyway. Not in the state she was in now.

Those first few days, she had spent every minute trying to find a way out of that room. Free objects had to be removed to prevent her from hurting herself, or the medical staff when they entered to care for her. Aside from the bed, which had been bolted to the floor, she had nothing in the room with her.

She had long given up trying to escape. Now she spent her days pacing the room. Meals were delivered by guards, and I had heard that she had given up attacking them when they entered. The fire in her eyes had dimmed, but the evil residing underneath was still very visible.

To others it appeared that she had given up, but I suspected that she was merely biding her time. She was still very dangerous. Though hopefully not for much longer.

Jared returned with Dr. Ribbons, a tall and lanky weasel of a man. I wasn’t sure why he had been appointed as the Kala’s island doctor. I had always thought that doctors were supposed to have compassion and actually care about the people they were helping. From the few interactions I had with him, I determined that he didn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. I didn’t doubt that his eagerness to ‘cure’ Lillian was more about getting her out of his hair than helping her.

“You’re sure that this is safe?” he asked Jared. “I don’t want to get into any kind of trouble if anything happens to her.”

Jared glanced at me, and I shrugged.

“This is coming from the gods,” Jared answered. “It’s safe, but if anything happens, I will take the fall for it. Not you.”

“The problem will be giving it to her,” I said. “If she knows what it is, she’ll dump it.”

Explaining to Lillian that we were trying to help her wouldn’t do us any good. She didn’t want help; evil Lillian wanted to be evil.

Dr. Ribbons glanced at his watch. “Dinner will be served in twenty minutes. We could slip it into her beverage.”

My eyes met Jared’s from across the room, and he nodded.

We stuck around long enough to make sure Lillian drank the potion. As I discussed the specifics with Dr. Ribbons—like the fact that Lillian would likely sleep for three days—one of the guards let out a shout of alarm.

Through the glass, I saw Lillian crumbled on the floor as two guards rushed into the room. Dr. Ribbons quickly followed.

Jared and I watched through the mirror as the doctor rolled Lillian over onto her back. He pulled a stethoscope from the pocket of his lab coat and placed it on Lillian’s chest.

My heart sunk as Jared muttered, “Shit.”

This can’t be happening. 

The thought crossed my mind that Circe deceived us—deceived me. I had no idea why she would do that. It didn’t make sense. I was sure she had meant for me to give the potion to Kris. But it was my understanding that they wanted Kris—they
needed
Kris—to help them get rid of the corrupt demigods. It didn’t make sense.

Thoughts of a conspiracy came to sudden halt when the doctor looked up, his eyes settling close to where Jared and I stood on the other side of the mirror, and shook his head. “She’s just passed out.”

“Damn,” Jared chuckled. “That shit works fast.”

“No kidding.” She had literally just finished her meal, and drink, before standing up to return the tray to the shelf by the door. It had knocked her out in, maybe, two minutes. The guards lifted Lillian off the floor and put her in the bed, where she would stay for the next three days.

In three days, everything might change. I couldn’t wait to tell Kris the great news. After making sure the doctor didn’t need any more assistance, I left to go find her. Jared insisted on coming with me, to check on Callie. As we approached the room, I tried to prepare him for what he would see.

Much like mine had done earlier, his feet froze under him inside the door, and he stood gaping at the once very pretty girl withering away in her bed.

Callie looked the same. Her condition had not worsened in the last hour, but it hadn’t improved either, which meant that the spells were not working despite Kris’s best efforts.

Kris stood at the foot of the bed, and looked up as I approached. Her eyes were bloodshot and heavy, and she swayed unsteadily as she fought to keep them open.

“What the hell?” I barked, glancing over my shoulder to glare at the others in the room. “Is this what happens when she does spells?”

I steadied Kris with my arms, and bit back a grimace as Micah’s voice floated toward me.

“Only the elaborate, difficult ones,” he answered.

“And you guys just stand back and let this happen?” I shot back, beaming Alec with a hard glare.

I had asked him to look out for her while I was gone. And this? This was not what I would consider looking out for her best interest.

Alec’s eyes lowered to the floor before he answered. “It’s Callie. She wouldn’t let us stop her because it’s
Callie
.”

“I can’t help her,” Kris murmured softly. She swayed, and likely would have crumbled to the floor if my arms hadn’t tightened around her when they had.

“Not like this you can’t.” In one swift motion, I put an arm behind her knees and scooped her up. She was too exhausted to protest, and her head dropped against my shoulder as I hurried out of the room. 

If I had anything to say about it, the only thing Kris would be doing for the remainder of the day was rest in her room. The guard at the main entrance saw us coming, and opened the door for me. I nodded my appreciation as I stepped outside, squinting against the sun.

As I turned for the girls’ dormitory, I heard Micah coming up behind me.

“She wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.

“I don’t care, Micah. She needs rest right now.”

“I know that,” he insisted. “We all know that. She’s the one who won’t give up. It’s her best friend.”

I stopped and turned so suddenly he nearly ran into me. “There’s another way. I think I found it. I’ll know more in a few days.”

“Callie might not have a few more days.”

“She has to hold on, because this—” I nodded to Kris’s limp body, “—isn’t working, and she can’t keep doing this to herself. I’ll talk to you, and everyone else, about it later. Right now, I’m getting her to bed.”

Any other time, I would have expected Micah to object or to make a snide comment. With Kris in her current condition, not even he could argue with me.