“I don’t know.” I study his face for signs of improvement but find none.
The werewolves are hammering at the door behind us. People are attacking the other door with axes. I direct magic into the wood and walls to keep out the intruders. I also mute the sounds, so we can focus on Dervish and monitor his breathing.
“Can you look after him by yourself for a while?” Meera asks.
“Yes.”
She moves away, digs out her mobile phone and presses buttons. “Hellfire! I don’t have a signal.”
I consider the problem, then mutter a short spell. “Try now.”
Meera smiles her thanks, then makes several calls. She doesn’t bother with the police. This is a job for beings of magic—the Disciples.
Meera’s on the phone for half an hour. I keep a close watch on Dervish. He looks terrible, much older than he did an hour ago. I’ll be surprised if he makes it through the next few days.
Meera finally puts her phone away and returns to my side. “How is he?”
“Alive. For now.”
“Can you use magic to keep him healthy?”
“I can help. There’s more power here than in the house, but it’s still limited. If he has another attack…” I shake my head.
“Do your best,” Meera says, giving my arm a squeeze. “Disciples are on their way. They’ll be here within twenty-four hours. We can transfer him to a hospital then.”
“In his state, that will be a long time,” I tell her. “You should prepare for the worst.”
She chuckles weakly. “I’m a Disciple, Bec. We always expect the worst.”
We settle back and watch in silence as Dervish quietly duels with death.
After a few hours the sounds of the werewolves and their companions fade. Have they left or are they lurking nearby, trying to tempt us out? No way of telling. Best not to venture forth and chance it. Safer to sit tight and wait for help.
We have to deal with a few practicalities. There’s no water or food. We can go without food for a day, but we need water for Dervish. I try finding a spring in the ground below us. There isn’t one but I sense a pipe running overhead, carrying water to the house. Extending my magic, I pierce a hole in the pipe and draw a jet of water through the ceiling. We fill vases and a few of the larger, ornately designed candlestick holders. Then I plug the hole with dirt and a shield of small pebbles. It should hold for a few days. It’s a plumber’s problem after that.
We can’t improvise a drip, so I use magic to ease water down Dervish’s throat. Meera feeds it to him from a vase and I make sure he doesn’t choke or swallow the wrong way.
“I always hate it when a young person has a heart attack,” Meera says. I don’t think of Dervish as young, but I guess in this world he isn’t old. “It seems so unfair, especially if they’re in good shape and have taken care of themselves. Dervish never had the healthiest diet, but he exercised regularly. This shouldn’t have happened.”
She looks almost as drawn and tired as Dervish. This is hurting her. She still loves him. I know from her memories that nobody ever touched her heart the way Dervish did, even if he was unaware of it.
“Who did you call?” I ask, to distract her.
“Shark and Sharmila,” she says. “I tried a few others but they were the only pair who could come.”
“Will two be enough?”
“They’re two of the best. Do you know them?”
“Sort of. Bill-E met them in a dream once.”
She stares at me oddly, so I explain about the movie set of Slawter and a dream Bill-E, Grubbs and Dervish shared when they thought they were on a mission with Shark and Sharmila. It’s a complicated story. Meera knows bits of it, but not all the details. I fill her in, glad to have something to discuss, not wanting to think about Dervish and what he’s going through.
A thought grows while I’m talking, and when I finish explaining about Slawter, I make a suggestion to Meera. “I can open a window to the Demonata’s universe. We can take Dervish through and find Beranabus. I’ll be stronger there. I can do more to help. Beranabus could help too.”
“From what I know of Beranabus, he’s not the helping kind,” Meera mutters, considering the plan. “Could you find him immediately? Take us straight to him?”
“No. We’d have to go through a couple of realms, m