“Now that wasn’t too hard, was it?” he chuckled as he grabbed my hips.
“Wait,” I said quickly. “Before we go, can we nip to the café over the road? I want to grab something.”
“Sure thing, sugar. But you’re buying me something, too.”
No doubt it would be some sugary monstrosity with more calories in it than was sensible. “Whatever. Let’s just go.”
His magic hummed along my skin before the world disappeared from beneath my feet with a sickening jolt.
The world reappeared suddenly and my whole body lurched forwards. I hated portalling. Yes, it was a quick way to travel, but it always made me feel like my insides had been rearranged.
I fell into Acheron and his hands tightened around my hips to help steady me on my feet.
“Are you going to throw up?” he asked, mirth lacing his voice.
I shook my head despite it being a distinct possibility. “Can you get me, Benji? Please?”
“Another ‘please’ without me even having to ask? Are you okay?”
There was a high chance I was about to pass out. I had no idea what the witch hit me with, but I suspected it wasn’t just electrical energy. Acheron eyed me warily as I stumbled towards the long sofa. My entire left side felt like it was on fire. I dropped the food for Wilder on the side table and ripped my coat off, dropping it carelessly on the sofa.
Blackness danced at the edges of my vision and I pitched forwards.
“Whoa there, killer,” Acheron said as he caught me and helped sit me down on the sofa.
“I’m fine,” I said as I batted his hand away.
“No, you’re not. I’ll go and find Benji.”
“Wait,” I said as I grabbed his arm. I pulled the ring I’d stolen off the guy from earlier out of my pocket and handed it to Acheron. “Can you get anything off this?”
“Why?” he asked, eyeing the piece of jewellery like it was a snake about to strike.
“He was following Wilder… and…” Shit, it was getting hard to think. I tugged at the collar of my turtleneck, my skin heating and sweat starting to cover my body.
“You don’t look well, Byron.” He rested the back of his hand against my forehead. “You’re burning up. Who attacked you?”
“The guy… the guy following Wilder. The witch…”
“You’re not making any sense. Stay there. I’ll be back.” Then he vanished into thin air, hopefully to find Benji, because if he left me here to die, I was going to come back as a ghost and haunt him for the rest of his fucking life.
My body tumbled to the side as the world faded to shadows and for the first time, it bothered me that I might actually die. I wanted to see Wilder again and something like hope sparked in my chest. A fragile little flame battling against the darkness of my soul.
My mouth felt like cotton wool and my thoughts were sticky and slow as reality started seeping back in. My body felt like it had been through a tumble dryer, everything ached and my insides felt jumbled.
Fuck. I was going to be sick.
I rolled onto my side as my breakfast made its way back up but instead of hurling onto Damyr’s pretty white carpet, somebody held a bucket for me.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Bishop said brightly.
Too brightly.
His voice ricocheted around my skull like a ping-pong ball.
“What happened?” I managed to rasp out as I lay back on the sofa.
Bishop swiped at my brow with a cool damp cloth, and it felt like the most blissful thing ever. “You were hit with a curse.”