Chapter 18 #2
Mia’s hands were shaking as she went through her contact list on her phone.
“Professor Double, it’s Mia Kavanaugh…good, thanks.
” Mia grimaced at the lie. “I need your help on…a case. Someone was given a Black Bore Orb…yeah, it’s awful.
” Her voice broke. “We need to know how to get it out.…no, we aren’t in a position to bring the patient to you. Can you talk me through it?”
Mia nodded as she listened. “Uh huh…oh. I don’t know how long ago he got it, but—”
“He called me two hours ago,” Violet whispered. “I think that’s when he was caught.”
“Two hours, probably less.” Mia’s face fell again as she listened to the professor. “We have to try…all right, I’ll call if I need you.”
“Should we take Kade to this person?” Violet asked.
“No, she’s bound by duty to report it.”
Violet searched for a place to pull over. “Do you want me to stop?”
“Keep going. Where are we going, anyway?”
“To the Fringe. It’s our territory…our advantage when they come for us.” She knew they would. “We need to bring Kade back to us before then. What did she say?”
Mia straddled Kade, but he continued to buck and spout nonsense. “It’s not good, not good at all. It’s going to, oh, gods…”
Ryan shook her shoulders. “Calm down and speak, woman!”
Mia’s eyes blinked, and she took a breath. “The Bore splinters a person’s memories. Three hours after getting it, Kade will be completely insane.”
“What if we stop it before then?” Violet asked.
“I don’t know. The outcome sounds iffy.”
Jessup said, “Do you want me to drive? You’re looking back there more than you’re watching the road. And all your blood just left your head. You’re as pale as a swamp lily.”
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll make sure we aren’t being followed. You keep your eyes on the road. Ryan and Mia can handle Kade.”
Violet wanted to be back there with them, but there was nothing she could do.
The glow of Mia’s magick in the rearview mirror caught Violet’s eye.
Mia created a clear, glassy orb like the one she’d made to camouflage Violet, only smaller.
She leaned forward, her eyes pinched shut as she concentrated.
“Come on, come out of there, damn you,” she said, her voice grinding with her effort.
Minutes dragged by as Violet tried to keep her focus ahead. It sounded as though Mia was wrestling with a demon back there.
“Come on, you little bastard! Or I’ll come in there and get you!”
“You’re getting it!” Ryan said. “It looks like a black bug coming out of his ear.”
Mia screamed.
“Damn, it went back in. Mia, get hold of yourself and try again,” Ryan said.
Violet gripped the wheel, frustration at Mia growing.
“Okay, I will,” she said, her voice resolute. She formed the bubble again, grunting with the effort. A thousand minutes passed, it seemed.
“It’s coming out again.” Ryan braced his hands on her shoulders, leaning over her to watch. “Stay with it, Mia. Don’t freak out.”
With a gasp, Mia fell backward against Ryan. The orb floated, containing a disgusting looking bug thing skittering around inside.
“Kill it!” Violet screamed. Bugs she didn’t care about, but that thing terrified her.
Mia straightened and, with her hands, sent a dark orb that swallowed up the clear one. With a loud smack both orbs disappeared.
“Kade!” Mia leaned forward, out of Violet’s view. “Kade, can you hear me?”
“Is he conscious?” Violet asked, her heart teetering between fear and hope. She could hear him murmuring, but it sounded like the same nonsense he’d been uttering.
“No. He’s not in pain anymore, not making that horrible grimace anyway. Kade!”
More murmurings, no actual response.
“Is he still fighting?” Violet asked.
“He’s struggling to get out of the straitjacket. I’m afraid to release him.”
Violet shook her head. “No, leave it on, as awful as it is. We need to keep him constrained while we’re on the road.”
The bore wasn’t in there destroying his mind anymore. Violet took comfort in that as it took friggin’ forever to get home. But how much was gone, destroyed, altered?
Once they reached the less congested roads of the Fringe, Violet sped.
They drove past her ma, who was pulling weeds in the flower beds.
She stood, giving her a curious look at the sight of Ryan and a strange woman crouched in the backseat.
Violet gave her a wave and bright smile but didn’t pause to talk. Gods, if she only knew…
Her brothers carried Kade into her home. His legs were stable enough to stand, but his eyes…hardly any mist, no sign of recognition now as he twisted in his constraints.
Violet stepped forward, trying to figure out how to free him. Mia helped as they unbuckled the straps.
Jessup said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Violet gritted her teeth at the effort. “Yes. I can’t stand him in this thing for another second.”
It took fifteen seconds, but she and Mia finally unraveled the thing. Kade fought them, pushed them back, and flung the jacket.
“Kade,” Violet said, standing a foot in front of him. “Kade, look at me.”
He did, his eyes wild, his chest heaving with his breaths. Suddenly he swung his hands out, and Jessup pulled her out of the way as magick shot out and shattered her ceiling light. He blew Ryan back against the table with another blast.
“Die, you son of a bitch!” Kade shouted, manifesting his dagger. He saw something, but it wasn’t them.
“He’s caught in a memory fragment,” Violet said. “Not fighting you but someone in his past.”
Ryan picked himself up as Kade swung the dagger in arcs. “That doesn’t help keep my ass in one piece.” He slapped his hand against his chest. “My Dragon wants out bad.”
“No, your Dragon will kill him.” She turned to Kade. “Kade!”
He stopped, looking past her, as though he’d heard a distant sound.
“Stop, Kade.” She walked closer to him, face-to-face, her hands gripping his shoulders. “It’s Vee. Do you remember me?”
He took her in, narrowing his eyes. Yes, she was reaching him.
“Kade, please stop fighting. You’re safe now.” She put her hand to his cheek. “Please.”
He said something unintelligible and raised his dagger again. Jessup knocked him back, sending him rolling over her coffee table and onto the couch where they’d…
He was up, his dagger now a tattoo again, and raced out of the house. Jessup shook his head and went after him, Violet and the others close behind. They came to an abrupt halt at the sight of Kade standing in the yard, looking down, hands fisted at his sides.
“My father wouldn’t do something like that.” He shook his head.
“He’s slipped into another memory,” Violet whispered, her heart breaking for him. In the memory of, perhaps, hearing about his father’s death and supposed betrayal.
Jessup leaned closer. “We have to contain him, Violet. He’s dangerous, to us and to himself. We need to pin him to the wall, just until…”
Until what? He died? Went fully crazy? Jessup gave her a soft look, rare for him. He was right.
“You’re going to do what?” Mia nearly shouted.
Ryan put his hand over her mouth and leaned close. “Damn, woman, calm down and hush up. We’ve got to keep him in this memory right now, the one where he’s not trying to kill us.” He explained what the wall of shame was.
Violet shook her head. “Go get the cuffs from the wall. We’ll contain him here, in my house. He needs to feel safe and comfortable.”
She could tell Jessup was going to argue, but he nodded instead. “I’ll be right back. Ryan, stay close.”
“He didn’t do this,” Kade said, his voice hoarse.
Violet approached Kade, touching his arm. “You’re right. He would never break out a prisoner without good reason.”
Jessup was back within minutes, and Violet distracted him while her brother cuffed Kade’s wrists. “Would you like to see your father?”
Kade let her lead him into the house, her brothers flanking her in case he slipped to another memory. She kept her hand on his arm. He was alive, with her, and yet…not with her at all. He stared ahead, pain clear on his face.
Violet was able to lead him to the bed, but he shifted into another memory and spun around, back in fight mode.
“Kade!” Violet said, taking his face in her hands and making him look at her. “You must get on the bed. It’s safe.”
His body trembled, with fear or rage, she wasn’t sure.
“Get on the bed, Kade. That’s an order.”