Chapter 14
The trek back to the wayportal was long and laborious, with Reeve nearly a dead weight by the time they stepped through the magestone arch and made it to Jonas’s apartment.
As they burst through the front door, Viri’s discomfort from the ellixen ward was second to her aching neck and shoulders, with relief coming only when they lowered Reeve onto the couch she’d passed out on earlier that night.
“Hey, guys,” Jonas said, appearing from the hallway with a smile on his face and Walnut peeking out from his vest pocket. “Did you save the—”
He halted abruptly at the sight of their soaked, filthy forms, his smile faltering and nose scrunching at the water dripping onto his carpet. But then his gaze traveled to the pallid, bloodied Reeve, and his blue eyes widened in alarm.
“What happened?” he asked, hurrying over.
“Grimblade,” Reeve forced out, sounding like the effort cost him. “I don’t know what kind.”
Viri sucked in a shocked breath. Grimblades were extremely rare weapons used by the ancient mages, each infused with a specific kind of magic.
She’d heard rumors of grimblades that left untreatable wounds, others that could turn people to stone, or could track anyone whose blood they’d drawn, or could cut through the thickest of armor.
There were even whispers of ones that could nullify magic, like Viri’s fillium.
Whatever power they held, grimblades were all created and used with a single purpose: to bring suffering and death to their victims.
“Elders,” Jonas breathed as he bent closer and saw the green tinge spreading across Reeve’s side. “That’s not good.” He prodded the wound, ignoring Reeve’s pained grunt. “How long ago did this happen?”
Reeve rattled off a time, causing Jonas’s normally cheerful face to turn grave.
Sage tensed at his reaction. “You can help him, right?” she asked. “It’s obviously some kind of poison, but you’re good with poisons. You’ve studied them. You know how to cure them.”
“Not magical poisons.” Jonas waved a hand at Reeve’s wound. “I wouldn’t know where to begin with treating something like this. I’m just as likely to make it worse.”
“But you can figure it out, can’t you?” Sage pressed. When he said nothing, she leaned in and said, “You’re the genius here—there has to be something in one of your books that can help him.”
“Nothing on magical poisons or ailments, making them or curing them,” Jonas returned. “You know how limited that kind of knowledge is. I can’t heal something I don’t understand.”
“You could at least try—”
“Both of you, calm down,” Reeve interrupted Sage, but his authority was lessened by how weak his voice sounded. “I’m fine. I just need to sleep it off.”
Viri snorted, and all eyes turned to her. She flushed, but said, “You’re obviously not fine.”
“And whose fault is that?” Sage’s worry shifted to anger as she pinned Viri with her hazel glare, her hands fisted by her sides. “If he dies, it’s on you.”
Viri’s indignation rose anew. “I didn’t ask him to jump in front of that dagger.”
“You ungrateful little—”
“And I don’t know what you’re all so worried about,” Viri continued over Sage. “He’s a reaper. It wasn’t a death blow, so grimblade or not, he’ll heal. He just needs to siphon and the magic will clear the poison from his blood.” She felt sick saying it, but that didn’t make it any less true.
“Are you volunteering, hunter?” Sage asked, her voice filled with menace.
Viri paled but stood her ground, knowing the other girl was only trying to intimidate her. “He’d hardly get enough from me to heal a paper cut.”
“No one’s siphoning from anyone,” Reeve said as firmly as he could, trying to stand. “And no one’s dying. I told you, I just need to—”
He wasn’t able to finish before he tipped forward, and only kept from tumbling off the couch because Jonas caught him in time.
“Easy, Reeve,” the blond boy said, pushing him down again. “The more you move, the quicker the poison will spread.”
Too late for that, Viri thought, recalling the strenuous fight in the alley, most of which had taken place after Reeve had been impaled by the dagger.
She still didn’t understand why Sage and Jonas were so concerned about him, but at the same time, despite what she’d said about not asking him to save her, guilt clawed at her.
If not for Reeve, Viri would be the one infected with grimblade poison right now—and that was only if the eerie red blade hadn’t killed her on impact, as their attacker had surely intended.
The sooner Reeve was healed, the quicker she could let go of any debt she owed him.
“I saw Sage siphon from Jonas earlier,” Viri said, looking straight at Reeve. “If you’re worried about me learning that reapers don’t have to prey solely on children, then that ship has sailed. So just”—she waved a hand between him and his friends—“do what you need to do.”
“That’s not an option,” Reeve said mildly, his body beginning to shiver.
Viri threw her arms out to the sides. “Why the hell not? You’re a reaper—siphoning is second nature to you.”
“Are you really that dense?” Sage said cuttingly. “Look at him. Look at his veins. Does he look like a reaper to you?”
“Just because he hasn’t siphoned in a while—”
“A while?” Sage repeated incredulously. “Try seven years.”
Viri jerked backward in disbelief, but then she came to her senses and said, directly to Reeve, “You’re the right hand to the Reaper Priest. If you expect me to believe you don’t siphon—”
“I’m not sure I have the energy to care what you believe,” Reeve said, leaning back against the couch and closing his eyes, sweat now dotting his brow as he clenched and unclenched his hands, as if trying to shake feeling back into them.
His vulnerable posture should have alarmed Viri, but if anything, it just made her madder. “What’s next?” she demanded. “Are you going to tell me you’ve never siphoned from anyone, ever?”
Reeve’s eyes shot open, the silver suddenly blazing. “I didn’t say that. I’ve siphoned before. But as Sage said, it was seven years ago, and just the once.” In a mutter, he added, “That was enough.”
Viri blinked, caught off guard by his rare moment of honesty, and somewhat stunned that he’d managed to fight the addictive nature of ellixen and only siphoned once in all the years he’d been with the Priest. But even so—
“And what, pray tell, happened to your innocent victim?” she asked scathingly. “Did they miraculously survive?”
There was a pause as Reeve stared into her eyes, but then he dropped his gaze to look past her shoulder and admitted in a tight voice, “No. She died.”
Viri’s lips thinned with disgust, along with an unexpected dose of disappointment. But she pushed aside what she was feeling and said, “So there it is. You’ve siphoned before, you know how to do it, so just”—she waved toward Sage and Jonas again—“do it.”
Reeve shook his head. “I told you, it’s not an option.
I don’t siphon anymore, end of discussion.
” Before Viri could object, or ask how in Elders’ name he’d destroyed the nullicuffs and knocked her out with magic if he didn’t have access to stolen ellixen—not that he could have used it for that anyway—he turned to Jonas and asked, “What should I expect as the poison spreads?”
“I can’t say for sure,” Jonas said, looking anxiously between Viri and Reeve, “but if it works like nonmagical poisons, then it could induce any number of symptoms before it starts to shut down your internal organs and then, ultimately, kills you.” He straightened his glasses and continued, as if reciting from a book, “It could be fast acting or slow spreading. It could cause tingling in your extremities, numbness, fevers, chills, dizziness, abdominal cramping—”
“Let’s say I already have most of those,” Reeve said, wiping his brow and pressing his hand to his stomach—not his bloodied side, his stomach. “Is there a way to slow it down?”
“It’s not just the poison that’s the problem,” Jonas said, indicating his red-splattered couch. “Whatever magical toxin was in the grimblade, it seems to be stopping your wound from clotting. You’re bleeding out. If the poison doesn’t kill you first, that will.”
“Fabulous,” Reeve muttered, and then, before any of them could react, his face lost what little color had remained and he lurched forward to vomit all over the floor.
Sage cursed and jumped backward, but Viri froze at seeing the unnatural blackish bile Reeve had spewed out.
“That really isn’t good,” Jonas said, sounding panicked. “Reeve, can you tell me exactly what you’re feeling—”
Jonas didn’t finish before Reeve’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped over on the couch, unconscious.
“Reeve? Reeve!” Sage cried, avoiding the puddle of sick to reach out and shake his shoulder, but he remained unresponsive. “Jonas, talk to me,” she said urgently. “What are our options?”
Jonas ran his fingers through his blond curls, making them look even wilder. “We need someone who knows about these kinds of things. Someone with medical knowledge and magical knowledge. But that person doesn’t exist.”
Viri’s heart began racing, not just at the sight of Reeve looking like he was at death’s door, but also because of what Jonas had said. She licked her lips and shared, “Actually…they do.”
Sage and Jonas spun toward her, and for a moment, she wondered what the hell she was thinking.
Then she looked at the unconscious Reeve again, seeing his sweating, shivering, bleeding form, and suddenly, he wasn’t an eighteen-year-old reaper, but instead the eleven-year-old boy she’d once considered her closest friend.
He’d saved her life tonight—she couldn’t ignore that.
But even if he hadn’t, he was still Reeve.
She couldn’t let him die, no matter what kind of monster he’d become.
“I know someone who might be able to help,” Viri said. “Quick—get him up, and follow me.”