Bruja (6 page)

“That’s not a good idea,” I said. I didn’t know what these feral cages were, but I wasn’t sure they were strong enough to hold a witch. “They’ll be able to—”

“No. I’ll sedate them,” Dr. Gonzales said, appearing at Mr. Dawson’s shoulder with a black messenger bag slung over her shoulder. “They won’t be able to use their magic if they’re unconscious.”

The two girls gripped each other as they were led away by the two men, six wolves, and Dr. Gonzales. They headed toward the building where classes were held. It seemed odd, but a groan from Raphael and I forgot all about them.

“Let me see it,” I said as I knelt next to him.

“Daniel… He…”

“I saw.” No magic that animated the dead was good news. But this… This was beyond bad.

Green oozed out with my brother’s blood.

“Let’s get him to the infirmary,” Mr. Dawson said. “Dr. Gonzales can look at the arm when she’s done with the others, and we can see what we can do.”

I swallowed down my fear. “Okay.” I didn’t say what I was thinking, because I wanted to hope and not scare Raphael any more, but if the bite was infected, it was infected with something that medicine wouldn’t fix.

A hand came down on my shoulder and I looked up to see Yvonne. “One step at a time.”

“What should we do with the body?” Mr. Dawson said as he motioned down to Daniel.

I looked at what was left of my friend. We’d grown up together. Played together. Studied together. But this… This wasn’t my friend.

This was an abomination.

His skin had turned gray with patches of black. His mouth foamed white. Blisters covered his arms. And that was just what was visible. I stepped closer and choked at the foul stench of sulfur.

He held no aura. No soul. Whatever had been animating him was gone now.

“Burn it,” I said, and then I turned my back on him.

I had to focus on what I could do. I’d been too late to help Daniel, but if my brother was hurt, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to save him.

Chapter Five

“You should get some sleep,” Dr. Gonzales said and I nearly laughed. I’d used magic tonight—sending my already depleted energy reserves so deep into the red that my body literally ached all over from exhaustion, but sleep was not an option. Especially not now.

“I’ll be fine,” I said. I was sitting in the only chair in the tiny room. The hospital bed took up most of the space. A small table sat beside it with the lamp on dim, providing the only light. There was a small bathroom behind me, and a wall of cabinets took up what room was left.

Raphael quietly snored as the pain meds worked their way through his body. It had taken twenty stitches to fix up the mess that z-Daniel had made. Meredith liked to call him that. Z for zombie.

Only it wasn’t zombie so much as demon. I’d made that known but according to Meredith, d-Daniel sounded more like a stutter and way less cool. If he had to be brought back like that, the least we could give him was a worthy nickname. Again, according to Meredith.

What we called the abomination that Luciana had created didn’t matter to me. What really counted was that Raphael was all right.

“Well, if you’re going to stay in that chair the rest of the night, there are blankets in the cabinets.” Dr. Gonzales moved toward the door. “I’ll be just down the hall. Shout if you need anything.”

I nodded, not looking away from my brother. “Thank you.” I sat there, as still as I could be, until she left. Then, I scooted the chair closer, until I could rest my forehead on the bed.

The wolves had to sense what was wrong with him. I could only smell it when I was this close, but the scent of sulfur surrounded my brother now, and it didn’t take a genius to guess what would happen next. My brother would be just like Daniel. Luciana wouldn’t be satisfied until her twisted magic took everything from me.

What would I have left when she took Raphael?

Goosebumps ran up my arms, and I went to the cabinets on the other side of the bed. It took me three tries, but I found the blankets. The wolves liked to run the air conditioning a little more than I was comfortable with in the infirmary.

Or maybe I was still in shock.

The door opened and light filled the dimly lit room. “Hey,” Teresa said.

Oh God. I’d forced her change. She was going to be mad at me.
“Hi.”

“How is he?”

I sank down in the chair with the blanket bundled in my arms. “Not good.”

“I heard Dr. Gonzales cleaned the wound and stitched it.”

I nodded. “She did a great job taking care of him, but she can’t fix this.”

Teresa sniffed and I finally turned and met her gaze. Her eyes were glowing, meaning her wolf was close to the surface. “Is that sulfur?”

Tears welled, and I tried to blink them away. “Yes.”

“Oh shit,” she said as she sat on the end of the bed. “This is really bad.”

“I know.” A single tear managed to slip free, and I quickly brushed it away. I couldn’t break now. I had to be strong.

“Do you think…” Teresa started and stopped. I waited for her question, but I could guess what she was going to ask. I’d been asking myself that same question.

“Do you know what’s going to happen to him?” She said finally.

“I don’t know for sure, but… Did you see Daniel?”

“Yup.”

I gave her a level stare.

“No. No. That can’t happen.”

I shrugged. “That’s my best guess. Although nothing is certain. If I can find a way to stop it, then he could be back to normal in no time.” That was a long shot, but I had hope. I cleared my throat. “Thank you. I’m sorry I used you, but—”

She sliced her hand through the air to cut me off. “Don’t even. God. Whatever you did boosted my power to like the umpteenth degree. I never felt so strong or so fast before.”

I nodded. It had cost me a good dose of energy that I didn’t have to give, but if it had stopped Daniel from killing my brother, then it was worth it. At least now I had a shot at figuring out how to save him. Undoing some nasty magic was far better than trying to fix a ripped out throat. That was impossible to fix.

Thank goodness Teresa wasn’t angry. “Well, I’m sorry I didn’t ask your permission.”

“It’s fine. But now I know why Luciana wants you back so badly.”

I sighed. “Yeah.” Would I go back? If she promised to save Raphael, I wouldn’t have a choice.

“I know what those girls said, but take it from me. Trusting Luciana isn’t a good idea. No matter what she promises.”

“But if she can save Raphael…” I reached out, cradling his hand in both of mine. “I don’t know that I could risk his life.”

“Don’t even—”

A cell phone rang, and I recognized Raphael’s ringtone. That was his phone.

“That’s why I came down here. Not just to check on you, but Raphael dropped his phone in the quad and it keeps ringing.” She pulled his small flip phone from her pocket and handed it over. “It says Matt.”

I groaned. He was probably the last person I wanted to deal with right now.

“Is that the douchebag?”

I laughed. “Yeah. That’s the douchebag.”

“Why is he calling your brother?”

“Probably because I don’t have a cell phone.”

“You don’t have a cell phone?”

I took the phone from her and it stopped ringing.
Saved by the bell
. “You remember the amazing cell reception at the compound.”

“Right. I wasn’t thinking. Of course. Why would you have a cell if you couldn’t use it?”

“Exactly.” I held up the phone. “But this is Raphael’s. He left the compound every day for work so it made sense for him to get one. Clients needed to get in contact with him. But Luciana never let me out of her sight.”

The phone started ringing again. I didn’t bother reading the caller I.D.

“You going to answer that?”

I didn’t want to. Not eve a little. “If he calls again, I’ll pick it up.”

She grinned. “Makes sense.” She motioned back to my brother’s sleeping form. “So how do we help him?”

I leaned back in the chair. “I have no idea. That kind of black magic is so far out of my knowledge base. I’m hoping that the demon didn’t fully infect him, but I won’t know until he wakes up, and I’m not waking him up. Not yet.” I chewed on my lip. “Is Muraco back by any chance?”

She shook her head. “He’s not expected back until the afternoon. Why? What are you thinking?”

“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m thinking. But if Raphael needs white magic to fix him—and I have a feeling that’s what he might need—then I’m going to have to go to Peru.”

“All signs are pointing that way. You can break your oath there. You can fix Raphael there. And you can find magic to help us there.”

I nodded. “I noticed that, too. Powerful signs happen in threes. I got told three times in twelve hours that I should be in Peru. I don’t like to ignore the spirits when they shout at me.” I didn’t want to pry, but had to ask her… “Have you seen anything about this?”

She cringed and looked away from me. “Not really anything helpful. I’m sorry. Ever since…you know…it’s been hard. I feel like I’m blocked. It’s probably just psychological, but I’m worried that—”

The phone started ringing and I wanted to chuck it across the room.

“You don’t have to answer it,” Teresa said.

“He’ll just keep calling.” But boy did I
not
want to answer it. “Hello.” I held my breath as I waited for his response.

“Claudia? Finally. What the hell is going on over there?”

I didn’t know what to say. Or where to start. “A lot is going on.”

“I heard from Luciana. She’s freaking out. Whatever this little rebellious phase is, you should get over it and go home.”

Rebellious phase
? He made it sound like he was so much older than me. And he was. At thirty, he was exactly ten years older than me. It made him extra gross for getting engaged to a sixteen year old at twenty-six. Not that the age difference was the problem. It was more his lack of maturity. “I’m not going back to the compound. Not now. Not ever.”

“But—”

“No.” I nearly shouted the word. “You don’t know what’s been going on down here. And if you do, well then I’m even happier that we never got married. Because that’s not going to happen. Ever.”

He started yelling profanities, and I put the phone away from my ear.

“Hang up,” Teresa said.

“I’m just going to let him calm down for a second,” I whispered to her.

Her gaze narrowed as Matt let another insult fly. “You weren’t kidding. He’s totally a douchebag.”

I smiled, and put the phone back to my ear. “Matt. Stop.” I said the words calmly, and he actually quieted down. “Luciana is up to some bad things. Really evil. I’m going to do my best to stop her, and if you want to show up here and try to get in my way, fine. Good luck trying to get through the wolves, but if you want to try, I can’t stop you. But no matter what you do, you’re not going to change what I’m doing. Not at all.”

He called me a word that I would never repeat, and Teresa snatched the phone from my hand.

She pressed end, and snapped it closed. “And we’re done with that guy. Jeez. I thought I had a bad mouth.”

I laughed. Big, belly-jerking laughs. And boy did I need them. “You do have a bad mouth, but he’s worse.”

“No kidding.” She stood up. “I’m heading to bed. You staying here?”

I nodded. “I can’t leave him. What if he wakes up?”
And what if he’s not himself when he wakes up…

“I don’t blame you. When Meredith was sick, I spent a little time in here. I know it’s not the same. She’s not my twin, but it was scary. And I felt responsible for fixing it. Just…” She paused. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You can’t solve everything.”

“Says the girl who’s always rushing in to save the day.”

She snorted. “As my father says, do as I say, not as I do.” She laughed at her own joke. “Try and get some rest.”

She closed the door behind her, and I shook out the blanket, getting as comfortable as I could get.

When I’d woken up, over twenty-four hours ago, I’d thought the day couldn’t get any worse. Luciana was draining me and I was already exhausted and frustrated.

I’d been so wrong. It could always get worse.

I gripped my brother’s hand, and prayed like I’d never prayed before, letting the words slip from my lips as I waited for the sun to rise, and hoping that the new day would dawn with some measure of answer to my prayers.

Chapter Six

“Claudia.”

Something jerked my shoulder and I sat up, blinking the sleep from my eyes. “Oh, God. I fell asleep.”

“Have you been in here all day?” Teresa said. Her hair was piled in a sloppy bun. She wore a pair of dark skinny jeans and a black T-shirt with a sunburst around the word “orb.” I wondered briefly what that meant before remembering where I was.

The last thing I remembered was laying my head down on Raphael’s bed. I’d been praying, and then nothing. I completely passed out. “What time is it?”

“Just after two.”

I quickly did the math. I’d slept like the dead for almost ten hours. With no dreams. The magic Luciana had cooked up last night must’ve worn her out. My body didn’t seem quite as heavy as it had. “Wow.”

“I came to tell you that Muraco is back. We were going to meet in the library, but I think you need food.” She got that distant look in her eyes, which meant she was probably talking to Dastien via their mate bond. Her aura flashed with hints of amber, and then I was certain they were talking. “Okay. We’re heading to the cafeteria instead.”

My stomach rumbled.

“Come on.” She pulled me out of the chair, and my limbs felt stiff and clumsy. Teresa laughed and pointed to my face. “You have a crease in your cheek from the blanket.”

I rubbed my fingertips over the right side of my face. “I do. I was sleeping hard.” I quickly unbound my long, straight hair. It flowed past my butt when it wasn’t braided, which was why I usually kept it braided. I ran my fingers through it, giving it a rough comb, before quickly braiding it again. I straightened my peasant shirt, and pulled my skirt down, as it had ridden up while I was sleeping.

That would have to do. I’d take the time to shower later.