My eyebrows climbed up my forehead. “The entire island?”
“Hypocrites,” Selene muttered under her breath.
It was a fair point, but I didn’t comment, even as an uneasy feeling came over me. Marrow wanted all of magickind to turn away from ordinary technologies. When he’d said it, I’d assumed such a thing would be impossible. But apparently I was wrong.
As the elevator doors opened, we stepped out and made our way to Britney’s room. A werewolf sheriff’s deputy stood guard outside her door. In seconds, my mom convinced him to allow Selene and me inside to see Britney. I had a feeling the normal protocol would’ve been to ask the patient if she wanted any visitors, but my mom had a way of making people forget normal stuff.
When the deputy stepped aside giving us clearance, my mom waved us on without her. I didn’t question her actions. Talking to Britney would be easier without her.
The room looked nothing at all like an ordinary hospital room. Thick green tapestries embroidered with gold and silver runes and other magical symbols covered the walls, and the bed was made of wood with more of the same symbols carved into its frame. I guessed they were there to promote healing. In one corner of the room sat a massive porcelain tub with clawed feet. It looked big enough to swim in, or at least big enough for a mermaid to fully submerge.
My eyes turned to Britney, lying on the bed. With a pang of guilt, I saw she was asleep. The black stitches still marred her face, but her color had lost its zombie-ish hue.
I glanced at Selene. “Should we wake her?”
Selene sighed. “I’m afraid we have to. We came all this way and might not get another chance anytime soon.”
“Right.” I took a step nearer the bed. “I’ll do it.” I leaned over and gently touched Britney’s shoulder. She reacted at once, her eyes snapping open. For a second she looked like she might jump up and run away. She was staring at me like some kind of monster that had come to eat her.
I took a step back, my hands raised in an attempt to calm her. “It’s okay. It’s just me, Dusty.”
Britney frowned, her eyes narrowing. “I know who you are.”
“Oh, I thought … never mind.” I smiled. “How are you?”
She pushed herself into a sitting position. “What are you doing here? Nobody’s supposed to be here.”
Selene clucked her tongue. “Good to see you, too, Brit.”
Britney’s gaze wavered between Selene and me, as if she couldn’t decide which of us posed more of a threat. She’d always been on the flighty side, but this was downright paranoid. I wondered what kind of damage the spell had done to her.
“I mean it,” Britney said. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“We just, uh…” I broke off as my cell started ringing. “Sorry.” I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. Glancing at the number, I felt my stomach flip over. I’d deleted Paul’s contact information off my phone ages ago, but it didn’t matter. I had the number forever memorized.
I debated answering for a second, but then I pressed the END button and the phone fell silent.
“We just need to talk to you about what happened the night you were attacked.” Selene came forward and sat on the foot of the bed.
Britney recoiled away from her, drawing her legs up to her chest. She was wearing a green robe, thicker than an ordinary hospital gown, but not by much. More runes and magical symbols had been stitched around the collar and the hem of the sleeves. “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t remember what happened.”
Right away I knew she was lying. Eli had drilled the signs into me during our last “case” when we’d gone together to interview one of the suspects. Britney was displaying all of them—rapid blinking, short responses, defensive behavior, and so on.
“It’s okay, Britney. You can tell—” My cell sounded again, this time alerting me to a text message. Of all the times for the stupid thing to start working properly. “One second.” I pulled the cell from my pocket. It was Paul again:
Are you with Britney Shell?
Now my stomach contracted into a tight ball. How did he know I was here? The idea that he was spying on me made all the hairs on my neck and arms stand at attention.
I closed the text without responding and slid the phone back into my pocket.
I returned my focus to Britney. “You can tell us anything,” I continued. “Selene and I are here to help. We want to find out who did this to you and make them stop.”
Britney’s mouth fell open, and for a second, she looked at us like we were insane. She shook her head. “You can’t help. You can’t.” She sounded half-angry and all-the-way scared.
“Yes, we can. Eli’s helping, too.” I said, stumbling over the words in my embarrassment. “You heard what we did, right?”
“You defeated the Red Warlock,” Britney said in a low, desperate voice.
I nodded vigorously and then brushed back the hair that had fallen into my face. “That’s right. So whoever you’re afraid of has got to be easy by comparison.”
Ice crept into her expression. “You have no idea what you’re saying.”
I winced, because it was mostly true. I was trying to make it sound like we’d gone into the fight with Marrow with a clear plan of victory. In actuality, we’d just gotten lucky. Me in particular when I delivered the blow that killed him—well, his current incarnation.