Page 54 of A Tempest of Intrigue
As I worked the poison away from his shoulders, Ianto pressed on his lower back and pushed the spreading black back toward the hole. I would try to suck the poison out, but it had spread too far for that.
Black ooze started to mingle with the blood as it bubbled out of him. It filled the air with the stench of tar burning but didn’t scorch his skin; I hoped that burning wasn’t Tucker’s veins.
It flowed down his sides to coalesce with the pool of red beneath me. Tucker remained unmoving, but our efforts were working as the black seeping across his back retracted until it didn’t stain his skin anymore.
Despite looking clear, I continued pushing more pure red blood from him for another minute to ensure all the poison was out of his system. The red blood washed away the black.
He’d lost a dangerous amount of blood, but with time and rest, he would survive that. I wasn’t sure about the poison.
When I was certain we’d gotten most, if not all, of the poison out of him, I picked up my shirt and stuffed it into the hole in Tucker’s back. It wasn’t a great bandage, but I could do something better for him later; now, I had to stop the bleeding.
When I finished, Ianto and I turned Tucker back over. We’d gotten at least most of the poison out, but his eyes darted back and forth while the rest of him remained unmoving.
Waving my hands, I opened a portal a few feet away. “Help me get him up,” I ordered Ianto.
I grabbed one side of Tucker and Ianto the other. With Tucker between us, we carried him into the portal.
Tucker’s eyes flicked over the trees we walked beneath. The sun filtering through the leaves shifted across his pale features to create a patchwork of light and shadows over his features.
I buried the uneasy feeling in my belly as I stared at my unmoving friend. We’d gone through hell together and somehow survived. I couldn’t lose him now.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Ellery
Night had fallenby the time I made it to the encampment. I’d spent too much time in the shower, brushing my teeth, and doing it all over again while I tried to figure out a way to tell Ryker about what happened without him exploding.
When I finished scrubbing my skin raw and no longer tasted Gaius, I spent more time reassuring Ruby I was fine. She’d taken up a position at my kitchen table and refused to leave until I told her I was going to the Revenant Woods to tell Ryker.
She’d finally gotten up, hugged me, and told me she’d be home if I needed her. While I desperately missed Scarlet, I was glad to have Ruby still.
She reluctantly left the manor, and I opened a portal to the woods near Tucker’s encampment. As soon as I entered the clearing, I knew something was wrong.
It was far too subdued. No amsirah stood at the targets, steel didn’t clang against steel, and the clack of clashing staffs didn’t fill the air.
The children, usually running around and laughing, now sat around one of the cooking fires. A couple of women sat with them, but they didn’t speak as they turned the meat; their attention wasn’t on what they were doing but on the large crowd gathered around another fire.
The incessant pounding of hammers and nails didn’t fill the air. The camp was growing so fast that new shelters went up every day… except today.
Though some men and women still cared for the animals, they often stopped in their chores to stare at the fire. The heavy air of expectation hung over the many gathered in the clearing.
With the help of the poltergeists, the encampment had swelled to over three hundred amsirah. It wasn’t enough to take on Ivan, but it was a good start, and everyone here was eager to fight, including the children… who would be kept out of it.
I searched for Ryker among the masses as I approached the subdued crowd but didn’t see him, Ianto, or Tucker. My heart raced a little faster as I pushed my way into the crowd.
“Excuse me,” I said as I turned to slip past two women.
It took some doing to get their attention, but once they realized I was there, they stepped aside to let me pass. The sad looks some of them gave me caused a spike of adrenaline to flood my system.
What happened? Where’s Ryker?
When I finally pushed through the crowd, I stumbled a little as I broke free. I caught my balance as my eyes landed on Ryker near the fire, kneeling beside Tucker. Ianto was across from him.
Ryker held a cloth to Tucker’s head and wiped his forehead while Ianto accepted a fresh bucket of water from one of the orphans he’d help save. He handed the current bucket over to the young boy.
“Thank you,” he murmured to the child.
Tucker didn’t move. His arms were out at his sides, and his legs were spread a little as he gazed at the sky. Over their heads, Farley floated back and forth like he was pacing.
