I forced my eyes on Britney, trying to make sense of her terror. She’d fallen back against the headboard and was thrashing around like a horror movie demon. Struggling against some unseen force, she raised both hands to her neck and started pulling at the collar of the robe against her throat.
A second later I realized what was wrong—the robe was getting smaller. Already I could see where the fabric pressed into her skin, making it bulge around the seam. Britney’s shrieks lessened as the pressure increased around her chest, cutting off her air supply.
The pain in my head eased, and I jumped forward, able to move again. Selene ripped the bedclothes off. The robe was shrinking everywhere, cutting into Britney’s wrists and ankles. It no longer looked like a gown but like a bodysuit, the fabric pressed against every inch of her body, crushing the life out of her.
I tried to grab the edge of the fabric and pull it off, but it was like trying to slide my fingers beneath two pieces of metal welded together. I searched my mind for some spell to use, but I’d never learned anything to combat this.
“Mom!” I screamed over my shoulder. Where was she? Neither she nor the deputy was visible in the doorway. I searched the room for some way to call for help, but there wasn’t a phone or any other recognizable device in the room. Abandoning the attempt to pull off the robe, I spun around and dashed to the door. There had to be someone nearby.
The hallway was empty. I raced down to the nurses’ station in the distance, but it was deserted. I searched behind the desk for a way to page a nurse, but again there wasn’t any recognizable device. My mom hadn’t been kidding when she said this place was run completely on magic. Mom, I thought, trying to focus my mind the way we did in psionics, where are you? I need you.
My chest bursting with panic and frustration, I raced back to Britney’s room.
Selene was singing at the top of her lungs, trying some kind of siren magic to free Britney from the robe, but it only seemed to be slowing down the pace of the robe’s shrinking. Britney’s face had gone a sickening shade of blue-gray, her lips like slate.
I pointed at her. “Alexo.” The magic left my fingertips, but when the shield spell hit Britney it dissipated uselessly.
“Aphairein,” I said, but the correction spell bounced off.
Britney’s thrashing started to slow, and for a moment I thought Selene’s magic might finally be reversing the curse. But the dread pounding through my body told me otherwise. I’d witnessed death once before, that slow giving in to the inevitable.
Mom, I cried again, putting all the force of my mind behind it.
A dead silence descended into the room as Selene stopped singing. Britney lay motionless on the bed, her body bound as tight as an Egyptian mummy.
I closed my eyes, too horrified to scream or cry.
Click-click-click.
The familiar sound of high-heeled shoes striking stone broke the hold of my despair, filling me with hope.
I turned to see my mom striding into the room. Her expression was dead calm, her eyes focused on Britney. She raised her hand toward the mermaid and spoke an incantation. I didn’t recognize it, but at once magic filled the air around us like a powerful wind. My skin tingled from the force of it.
There was a loud crack followed by a ripping sound. I looked down to see the robe falling off Britney. Her naked body beneath was a ruin of bruises and swollen flesh. I turned away, shielding my eyes from the gruesome sight.
I felt my mom’s arms slide around me. She began to pull me toward the door. “Come on now,” she said. “She’s going to be fine. I promise.”
I didn’t believe her. Couldn’t. Damage like that must surely be fatal.
* * *
We spent the rest next few hours inside a private lounge in the hospital waiting for news.
Across from me, Selene sat in the corner, her head in her hands, crying silently. My mom and I both tried to console her, but she wouldn’t listen.
“It’s my fault,” she said, her voice raw. “I shouldn’t have pushed her the way I did.”
I exhaled, desperate to hug her, but I knew she wouldn’t want me to. Not yet. Selene prided herself on always being tough and strong. But right now she was broken.
“You couldn’t have known what would happen,” I said.
But I had known. Paul had warned me.
I’d managed not to cry so far, but guilt pressed in on me every second, making it hard to breathe. I should’ve listened to Paul. We should’ve left. Britney might still be okay then.
How did he know?
I closed my eyes, aware I could drive myself crazy wondering about it. But I swore I would find out soon.
As we waited, my mom explained her disappearance. “There was a fight in the opposite wing, as far from Britney’s room as it was possible to be, it seems,” Moira said. “It was between a Mors demon and a Werra fairy who somehow managed to escape the psych ward. You can imagine the havoc it might’ve caused.” She made a face.
So did I. A magickind psych ward? A Werra fairy gone insane? What a horrible thought.
“I went to help as well, not knowing the danger I’d left you girls in.” My mom looked first at Selene and then at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how serious this situation was. I’ve been away and out of touch for too long, it seems.”
“What made you come back to the room?” Selene said, gratitude in her voice.
Mom smiled. “I heard Dusty calling.”
I returned my mom’s smile, glad it had worked. Mr. Deverell had told us in class that it was possible to communicate telepathically over long distances so long as the two people shared a strong bond. It was nice to know that included me and my mom. I would never forget the way she had charged in and saved Britney. We didn’t always get along, but right now, in this moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to be like her.