The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6)(40)
Author: Richelle Mead

The look on Rose’s face showed she felt as completely unprepared for that as I was, but she gave a quick nod. “I’ll try to find someone who actually knows what they’re doing. There must be plenty of people who’ve helped with that before. But Sydney, are you sure you want to go? There’s an Alchemist on the way to help destroy the bodies.”

“An Alchemist?” Olive gasped out.

I froze, and suddenly, a whole new sort of panic took over. “On the way?”

“Not here yet,” Rose concurred. “I think they said his name was Brad or Brett or something. Works out of Marquette.”

“Don’t risk it,” Adrian told me. “Stay here.”

I hesitated, knowing that was the smart thing to do. It would be idiotic to risk myself now after everything I’d done to avoid recapture by the Alchemists. Yet, at the same time, I was just as afraid of what might happen to Adrian if I left him alone to wield spirit. I shook my head. “Brad or Brett isn’t here yet. I’ll keep out of sight when he shows up.”

Adrian’s face told me he didn’t like that plan, but Olive spoke before he could. “Is he like you?” she asked, more concerned than I would have expected. “An ex-Alchemist?”

I shook my head. “Not likely. He’s probably the standard, analytical kind that thinks vampires are freaks of nature.”

Olive looked even more alarmed, and I recalled her fear when she’d seen me earlier. Rose gave her a reassuring smile. “I know they don’t always have the greatest personalities, but this one might be able to help with cleanup. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay. And in the meantime, I’m going to send someone to help with that baby.” She fixed a hard look on Rand. “Wait with her until someone else gets here. Come on, you two.”

Adrian and I followed her out into the darkened commune, and a feeling of dread settled over me, entirely different from what I’d felt during the Strigoi attack. The lanterns along the path made everything look extra sinister. We saw little evidence of the Strigoi until we reached Lana’s cabin, where they’d gathered the injured. A dozen dhampirs were there, bloodied and beaten, but being tended to as best they could. Dimitri hurried over to us when we arrived.

“Thank you for helping,” he said. “I know it’s hard for you.”

“It’s not hard at all, actually,” Adrian replied.

“Adrian,” I warned. “Be smart about this. Only tend to the truly critical.”

He gazed around, taking in all the dhampirs on makeshift cots. Rose was right that there was a lot of blood. Moans of pain filled the air.

“How can we choose who deserves healing?” Adrian asked softly. “Especially when they all just fought to keep us safe.”

“I’ll help you triage,” I said.

Dimitri pointed at the far end of the room. “Some of the worst are down there. Whatever you can do will help. I’ve got to get back out there. Turns out one got away and is out in the woods. We’re going after him.”

“I’ll go too,” said Rose promptly.

Dimitri briefly touched her cheek. “I need you here. Help Sydney and Adrian.”

“Help us later,” I said. “Get someone for Olive now.”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up at that, and she hurried off to find Lana. Adrian and I settled into helping the injured. I tried to warn him again to use caution with his magic, but it wasn’t easy. All he could focus on was the suffering around him—and how he wanted to fix it. He set into healing, using his spirit generously. He at least started with the critical ones Dimitri had pointed out. As for me, I began doing what I could with basic skills in the hopes that Adrian would see he didn’t need to use spirit on everyone. I patched lacerations and gave water. I even gave pep talks. Most of the patients were conscious, and I worked hard to keep up a good bedside manner, assuring them all would be well. Every so often I’d pause to check on Adrian.

Mallory was among the injured, and she and another guard were pretty bad off, having lost lots of blood. Mallory also had a number of broken ribs, as well as some internal injuries, according to Adrian’s read of her aura. A Strigoi appeared to have taken a chunk out of the place where her shoulder and neck met, and blood pooled from the wound, despite attempts to bandage it. She was one of the few unconscious ones, and it seemed hard to believe she’d been swooning over Rose and Dimitri only a few hours ago. Adrian made her his first priority, restoring her to almost complete health. I was glad for her but winced at the power that must have required. Wordlessly, he moved on to his next patient.

When he was halfway through her healing, Rose hurried up to me. “I sent someone to Olive. But you need to come with me now—upstairs. The Alchemist is about to come in.”

I finished the bandage I was applying and gave one more warning to Adrian about caution. He nodded at me, and I wondered if he’d even heard my words. But there was no time to linger, not with an Alchemist about to walk in who could potentially undo all Adrian and I had done to win my freedom. My heart raced as I followed Rose up to the second floor of Lana’s cabin. I breathed a sigh of relief as we reached it. It was little more than a loft, but it kept me out of sight from those below. Unfortunately, it kept me away from what was happening downstairs as well.

“Rose,” I said as she started to go, “you’ve got to make sure Adrian doesn’t—”

A dhampir suddenly appeared in the doorway and beckoned Rose out urgently. I saw them speak in concerned whispers outside the door. Rose looked distressed and glanced my way, then followed the dhampir downstairs. That left me alone for the better part of an hour with nothing to do but pace and worry about what was happening. Finally, Diana came up to tell me the Alchemist had moved on to a different part of the camp and that I could come downstairs, as he had no reason to return to the infirmary.

I wasted no time in complying and was shocked to see that nearly every single person who’d been lying on the floor injured earlier was now up and about, looking healthy and well. Adrian was just finishing up a healing, and I stared, openmouthed, unable to believe what I was witnessing. “Adrian . . . what have you done?”

It took him several moments to turn to me, and when he did, I could barely believe the difference in him. He looked as bad as the patients had earlier—pale, sweating, eyes glazed. I caught hold of his arm, afraid he might faint from exhaustion.