Shrinking to her smallest size, the tiniest she had ever been, she nestled into Clay’s hair without a peep.
“Asa would have lost himself to his daemon when he inevitably hurt you, and that’s not wise in a human establishment,” Clay explained, saving me from asking. “I offered to help, and he granted me permission to assist, but I gave him busywork. He’s less likely to rampage if we keep him away until you’re settled.”
Since I had no recollection of that exchange either, I must have blacked out longer than a second or two. I was still irked Clay asked Asa’s permission instead of mine. Though, if I was unconscious, I couldn’t have answered him either way. But it was the principle of the thing.
“Colby, when we get to the car, you’re on phone detail. Call the hotel office, the cops, and the tip line.”
Use of the tip line would preserve Colby’s anonymity while directing the real Black Hats to our location.
“Okay,” she said softly. “On the pink phone?”
“Yes.” He took the stairs at a clip, hit the parking lot, and rushed me to the SUV. “That one.”
Had he bought her a new phone? I had no idea. My brain was too crunchy. “Pink?”
“It’s untraceable.” He grinned down at me. “I put a flaming-hot-pink case on it to make sure we knew which cell was the emergency line. I’m proud to say, we’ve yet to make an anonymous call by accident.”
Back in my day, we didn’t have emergency phones. We also didn’t have cellphones, there at the start.
“The hotel is empty,” Asa said from nearby. “Not a single room was occupied.”
That was bad, but I was fuzzy on why that was so unnerving, thanks to the smoke pouring from my ears.
The back passenger side door on the SUV opened before we reached it, and I glimpsed Asa over Clay’s shoulder. Either he had changed and packed with superhuman speed, which was unlikely, or I had lost more time. That probably wasn’t a good thing. There were limits to what magic could heal, and brains topped the list of repaired organs that didn’t function as well as the factory model.
“Can you heal her?” Asa locked gazes with Colby. “There’s a white witch three towns over, but…”
“No,” she whispered, shame thick in her voice. “I might hurt her again.”
Heartbroken for her, I threw my weight in with Asa. “You won’t.”
Antennae wilting, she shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
“Didn’t you hear Clay?” I swallowed a cough to put on a brave face. “I’m psychic.”
As much as I wished she didn’t have to use magic at all, she’d used it to save me at Tadpole Swim. Our bond was cemented. There was no going back. She would die if she didn’t use her magic now that her body was producing a surplus for me to harvest what I needed to cast heavy-duty spells. This was a setback she couldn’t afford. One mistake couldn’t define her, not with that vile book whispering to her.
“We believe in you, Shorty,” Clay threw in too. “We know now any buildup can be spent in a burst.”
With her in control, I wouldn’t be left to cook. Worst case scenario, I could hobble over to the hotel and expel a blast where the damage was already done.
Straightening her wings, she shook off her doubts. “Okay.”
Colby glided from Clay’s head onto my chest, retaining her small form to keep the pressure on me at a minimum. Eyes squished closed, she began to glow, her magic humming in a soothing cadence. She let her power seep into me, the same as we had done to Asa, and light blasted from my pores, turning the inside of the SUV into a miraculous disco.
This time, as her magic peaked, I experienced no pain. Quite the opposite. She was healing me, and my body melted into a puddle of radiant goo as the agony within me tapered to a bearable twinge and then into nothing.
“Thanks,” I slurred, my throat parched but unhurt. “I’m just gonna…”
The lights went out, and I fell deep into a healing sleep.