The Serpent in the Stone (The Gifted Series) (34 page)

Becky threw her off, shaking her head and sobbing harder.

Sara backed away a step.
Part of her had trouble reconciling this tearful woman with the one who had tried breaking into her tent.
Becky looked so...vulnerable.
She saw why Ian had been moved to help her, and could do no less.
“
All right, all right.
Don
’
t cry.
We
’
re going to fix this.
Come with me.
”

Becky hunched backward, clearly unwilling to take one step out of the relative safety of Ian
’
s tent.

One of his windbreakers had been draped over a chair.
Sara picked it up and eased it around the redhead
’
s shoulders.
“
I won
’
t let anyone hurt you—I promise—but we need to go now, if we
’
re going to get help for those injuries.
”
She glanced around the tent and found a protein bar lying on Ian
’
s nightstand.
She snatched it up and unwrapped it, then took a large bite.
She
’
d need the strength to steady the boat on the way to the hospital.
The storm had lessened, but not by much.

It would be a long night, indeed.

“
Come on,
”
she said, walking to the door.

Becky gave a shudder, but nodded and followed Sara outside.

Sara plodded along, rubber-kneed.
She reached the boat by sheer stubborn will.
“
I may need you to drive it, if I lose consciousness.
”

Becky
’
s brows shot up.

“
I
’
ll be all right.
It
’
s just exhaustion.
I ran all the way up here.
”
When Becky answered with a look full of questions, Sara bit her tongue.
She turned aside to pull back the boat cover.
No time—and no idea where to start—for explaining how she
’
d raced almost a mile to get to Ian
’
s tent.

The ocean raged.
She wondered how on earth she and Becky were going to get to the mainland in this tempest.
Better that than linger on the island, but she worried about Ian and Faith every second she was away from them.

She and Becky hadn
’
t gotten very far into open water before Mother Nature made good on her promised ferocity.
The boat pitched to and fro like a child
’
s plaything.
Sara clenched her fists on the steering wheel and called on her power again, using telekinesis to stabilize the craft as best she could.
It had scarcely any effect against the tumult.
Her head swam.
Lights danced before her vision.
She couldn
’
t lose it now.
What would happen to Ian and Faith if she didn
’
t get back to the island?

Becky stretched a bandaged arm toward her.
The redhead
’
s hand clapped over her own on the wheel.
A surge of power ran through Sara
’
s hand, and the boat steadied in the churning water.
She looked up in amazement.

Becky
’
s eyes were silver.

Sara passed out.

****

Light.
Silence.
No rain.
Am I dead?
Sara struggled to make sense of her surroundings.
“
Becky?
”

A white-coated figure ducked into her frame of vision.
The bleary image resolved into a smiling brunette.
“
Hello, there.
You had us worried.
”

“
Becky,
”
she said again.
Her head reeled with jumbled images of the Viking sword, Faith, lightning, and Ian.
She sucked in a defiant breath and forced herself into a sitting position.
“
Where is she?
”

“
You should get more rest.
Can you tell me your name?
”

Sara felt the shivery influx of her powers beginning to return.
Some of her strength came with them.
“
Where is Becky?
I need to see her.
”

“
Miss, please get a little more rest.
You were very dehydrated—
”

An alarm beeped, and the hospital P.A. system kicked on.
“
Code Blue, Unit One-Four.
Code Blue, Unit One-Four—
”

The nurse moved toward the door.
“
I have to leave.
We have an emergency on the unit.
If you need anything, you can put your call light on, and one of the aides will respond as soon as possible.
”

Sara nodded as if this sort of thing happened to her every day.
The nurse hurried from the room.

As soon as the woman was out of sight, Sara swung her legs out of the bed.
She wore a hospital gown.
An IV tube had been attached to the back of her hand.
She touched her fingers to her throat.

Her
bare
throat.

Trying not to panic, she ripped the IV out of her hand, then launched herself out of bed.
Her clothes were nowhere to be seen.
She wondered with a thudding heart whether they
’
d gotten rid of the amulet, too.
What the hell had happened when she passed out?

She crept into the hall, but it looked like everyone had raced off to handle the emergency.
The woman at the nurse
’
s station was on a call.
Sara crept around the desk for a peek.

The amulet rested on top of a phone book with its leather lace coiled around the stone pendant.
Sara
’
s breath spilled out of her in rushed relief.
She picked it up with a silent prayer of thanks, and looped it back over her head.

Now what?
She paused, uncertain, expecting the nurse
’
s station attendant to see her and chivvy her back to her room.

A nurse emerged from a staff room down the hall, and hurried away in the opposite direction.
Making sure no one noticed, Sara eased into the room and closed the door.

Phew.
Now the little matter of the hospital gown.

She found an open locker and—oh, thank God—a folded set of scrubs within.
Once changed, she ducked out of the room and started down the hall.

She found a directory listing the location of the burn unit, then followed the signs to another wing of the hospital. Becky’s name wasn’t on the board at the burn unit’s main desk; not surprising, if she hadn’t been able to speak. Sara snatched a lab coat from its hook in another staff lounge, then proceeded to check each room as she went down the hall. Some of the patients looked up in curiosity as she passed, and she murmured greetings that she hoped sounded professional. Any second, someone on staff would fail to recognize her, or notice her lack of a badge—or a patient would code—and her hunt would end in a sedated return to bed.

She found Becky at last in a room near the end of a hall.
The young woman lay sleeping in the midst of an army of machines at whose purpose Sara didn
’
t want to guess.
Her arm and face had been bandaged.
Sara crept toward the bed.
“
Hey.
”

Becky
’
s eyes flew open.
When she saw Sara, her shoulders slumped in relief.

“
What did you do to me on the boat?
”
Sara whispered.
“
You did do something, didn
’
t you?
”

The redhead gave a faint, groggy nod.
She lifted a hand to her throat and tapped it with a regretful look.

“
You can
’
t speak?
”

The woman shook her head.
Wayward, flame-red curls fluttered against the pillow.
At a sound in the hallway, her features contorted in fear, but it was only a cart going by.
She turned back to Sara with the same anxious expression, and it took on a pleading note.

Sara laid a hand over Becky
’
s ice-cold one.
“
Do you know what a
‘
conduit
’
is?
”

Becky frowned.

Sara pursed her lips, deciding how to continue.
“
A conduit is a person who has no paranormal ability of her own, but can amplify the power of others.
Do you realize that
’
s what you are?
”

The young woman nodded.

Sara paused.
Her insides echoed that look of anxiety on Becky
’
s features.
She took a long, shuddering breath, then asked,
“
How did you know I had telekinesis?
”

Becky shook her head this time, which Sara took to mean that she hadn
’
t known until their speedboat ride.
A thousand questions clamored to be asked at once.
She struggled to remain calm.
“
All right, this is very important.
I won
’
t say a word, but I need to know.
Was someone forcing you to use your ability when Cameron was killed?
Is it the same person that hurt you?
”

The young woman
’
s frightened gaze flashed around the room as if she expected her assailant to be there.
Her eyes welled with tears, and she looked back at Sara with her breath hitching.

A cart rumbled outside the door.
She and Becky jumped in unison.
A nurse entered, pushing the cart ahead of her, and stopped when she saw Sara in the lab coat.
“
I
’
m sorry.
I didn
’
t realize you were in here, Doctor.
”

God, I need to get back to the dig and make sure everything
’
s okay,
Sara thought.
“
I was just on my way out,
”
she said.
“
Miss Palmeter, I want you to contact my office as soon as you
’
re discharged, and speak to Holly Robbins.
She
’
ll arrange for your further care.
Don
’
t forget.
”

Becky nodded, conveying that she understood she was to go to the Gemini offices upon her release.
Sara backed away toward the door, wishing desperately that she knew more of Becky
’
s side of the story.

The redhead turned her attention to the nurse.
Frantic for more information, Sara made sure neither of them saw, then let her eyes change.

What she read in the frightened woman
’
s thoughts made her back hastily out the door into the hall.
She pulled off the lab coat and dropped it on the floor.
It couldn
’
t be.

Oh, God, Faith and Ian, alone at the dig with this.

A step, and another, and in the next moment she broke into a flat run.

****

Ian stripped off his muddy shirt, brooding, staring at the rifle propped against the table.
Thunder still pounded the heavens outside.
Three weeks.
Three weeks of cat-and-mouse on a remote island until they could do anything at all.

He hadn
’
t felt right about leaving Faith alone, but she
’
d sworn she was under protection, and that she had work to do with the sword she
’
d found.
Ian had his reservations about how much protection a long-dead Viking ghost could provide.
Restless, he paced the length of his tent.

Through the rumble of the storm, he heard the thump of fast-approaching footsteps.
Picking up his rifle, Ian went to the door flap and drew it back.