Page 121 of House of Pain
She tried breathing through her nose, but her chest was going numb, and she struggled to get the air in.
“Jolene,” Blaze said. “She can’t breathe.”
Jolene cursed.
Alecto blinked, trying to relax, trying to just not feel and not freak out over the sudden need for air when she couldn’t have any. Her eyes fluttered closed as her lungs burned, and soon her head was swimming.
“Let’s freeze her. For fuck’s sake, take my hand.”
It was Blaze’s voice, or maybe Jolene’s. Alecto couldn’t tell as she drifted in and out of the blackness.
When her lungs finally stopped burning, she could take in a breath and let herself float away.
It was nice.
40
Alecto looked fucking dead.
Lying on her bed with her snow-white hair draped around the pillow, Alecto looked like a corpse.
Blaze could hardly bear seeing her like this.
He would have rather not lived at all than live in a world where she wasn’t around.
What a weird little thought.
Unsettling.
Instead of letting himself wallow in it, Blaze decided to channel his anger into something better.
“Why the fuck did you leave her alone?” he snapped at Val.
Val’s eyes widened. “She was doing great before I left! I forgot my bones, and I went to fetch them just for a moment!”
Blaze narrowed his eyes. “You left her for longer than that.”
“Yeah, because I went to help you fuckers reinforce the fucking wards. She was alone for less than ten minutes.”
“Well, that was more than enough,” Jolene chimed in, crossing her arms as they all stood over Alecto’s bed. “You should have fucking known, Val.”
“Oh, don’t fucking blame this on me,” Val snapped back. “Alecto is more than capable of taking care of herself. She basically saved everyone downstairs!”
“Yeah,” Blaze said. “It should have been you, our leader, to make sure that every witch is safe and sound. But of course, your protection doesn’t extend to Alecto, does it?”
“Careful, Blaze. You really don’t want to mess with me.”
It was a warning.
Oh, that’s a first.
Blaze was about to snap back at her, but then Andro and Rogue appeared in the doorway, Gillian right behind them.
“Are we too late?” Andro ran up to the bed, almost screaming.
“We froze her to stop the venom from spreading,” Jolene said, grabbing Andro’s arm. “She’s going to be fine.”
“Move away.” Gillian came around the bed.
