Page 93 of Silver Claw

Jared stood there with Beth, watching me.

I should have felt him coming, but my mind was too focused on Rick. My mind was too full of fear and anxiety.

When I’d arrived, Beth’s cheeks had been flushed high up on her cheekbones, and her eyes had been full of tears and anxiety. Her face had lost all color and she stared at me, emotions flashing through her eyes so fast I couldn’t read them.

She wet her lips. “Is he…did he…”

“God,” I said. “No,Beth. He’s just asleep.” I held my hand out to Jared and he strode across the floor to take it, his stare going from me to Rick.

“Ben called me,” he murmured. “I was close and came immediately.” He pulled me off the bed and into his arms. “What happened?”

“I should have taken him to the wolves,” I whispered, not wanting Beth to hear me. “He won’t wake up, Jared.”

“We’ll get him to Shadowfield,” he said. He brushed some loose tendrils of hair away from my cheek, then gave me a very light, very quick kiss. “Ben will take care of him, Kait.”

He didn’t tell me it wasn’t my fault or make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep. He just squeezed my arms, then pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down, while I sat once again on the bed beside Rick.

He leaned forward to study Rick’s face, and for a few minutes, no one spoke at all. I’d forgotten Beth was even in the room until she cleared her throat and asked if anyone wanted the coffee she’d made.

“Yes, please,” I told her, for what felt like the hundredth time, and she rushed away.

I pulled the sheets up over Rick’s chest, though his skin felt warm. A few minutes later, Beth hurried back into the room, with the doctor and nurse right behind her.

“Jared,” Ben said. “Kait.”

“Hello, Ben,” I murmured. I slid off the bed so he could have room to work, then gave his nurse a nod. “Belinda.”

Jared moved the chair back and stood as well, and together, we watched, waited, and hoped.

Ben turned to face us finally, and he was frowning. “He came straight here from Louis’s house?” he asked me.

“As far as I know, the mayor had someone drive him home after I left.” I stumbled over the word, because damn me for leaving. I looked at Beth. “Is that right?”

She nodded, then came to stand tentatively at the foot of the bed, as though not sure she should be there. “He sat out on the porch until I gave him his milk. He went to bed quickly after that.”

“Beth gave him something to help him sleep,” I told Ben.

He frowned harder but let it go. “After he went to bed,” he asked Beth, “nothing unusual happened?”

She shook her head. “He just didn’t wake up again.” Then she dabbed at her eyes and hurried to the door. “Excuse me.”

“What are you thinking, Ben?” I asked. “Why the questions?”

“His sleep isn’t natural. It’s not even the sleep of someone who was drugged. With a concussion.” He shook his head in disgust. “Come here a minute, Kait.”

I walked to stand beside him, fear beginning to rise inside me all over again. “What do you see?”

“It’s not really what I see. Lean closer to him. Do…” He waved his hand impatiently. “Something to connect to him. Put your hands on him, close your eyes, and push everything else from your mind. Tell me what you feel.”

I sat beside him and did as Ben asked. I closed my eyes, took Rick’s face between my palms, and focused on how he felt. I focused on what I felt not just with my hands, but my gut.

After about thirty seconds, I opened my eyes and my stare flew to Ben’s. “Magic,” I said. “I feel bad magic.”

He nodded soberly. “Magic,” he agreed. “It’s not Beth’s sedative that’s keeping him under. It’s magic. Someone did this to him, and I don’t think I can pull him out of it. The person who put him under will have to cancel the magic.”

My heart was thudding against my chest. Now that I felt it, I couldn’t unfeel it. It lay atop his skin like a layer of dust, clogging up his pores, sinking into his body, his brain. “What the hell,” I murmured. “How?Why?”

“Kait,” Jared said. “Where did you tell me Beth went when she left Rick?”