Page 31 of Outcast Fae
Elon handed a packet to Daniella and me. Taking one for himself, he glanced at the last packet. “Do you think Vaughn can eat?”
One glance at his feverish face had me shaking my head. “He’d probably just throw it up, but we should get some water in him.”
Daniella sat on the ground next to Elon and me. “I’m really worried about him, guys. He’s murmuring things. Weird things.”
“It’s the delirium,” I said. “Venom working its way through his system.”
Elon ripped open his silver packet and peered into the contents. “It looks like dog puke, but I don’t care. I’ve eaten worse. That Witch Hazel can make you do some trippy things.” Tipping the brown contents into his mouth, he chewed hungrily.
I examined mine, reading the label on the side. “Beef Burgundy? What is that?”
“Does it matter?” Daniella said. “It’s food. Eat up.”
I did as she said, not loving the beef and greasy gravy, but she was right. We hadn’t eaten more than two small eggs all day. We drank from the jug, passing it around until it was half gone. I reasoned we should keep some for the morning. We had no idea when our captors would remember to feed us again.
“Elon, take first watch,” I said, nodding toward the moonlight outside of the cave. “I’ll relieve you in a bit.”
I took the jug and walked over to Vaughn. Using the cap, I dribbled water over his lips and watched it slide over his tongue. It was the best I could do, but Daniella was right. We had reason to worry. Vaughn’s breathing had grown labored, making me suspect that he might not last through the night.
And if Meadow Song and Silver Bear weren’t paying attention, Vaughn might just die of neglect.
Could I live with myself if that happened when it was within my power to help? I wasn’t sure.
I sat down between Daniella and Elon at the cave’s entrance. The night was dark, only lit by a sliver of moon. It would be hard to see an attack coming. It would be impossible to track down the herbs I needed until morning. But could Vaughn wait until then?
“If only we had a light,” I murmured.
Elon sat up straighter. Soon, a blueish-white light glowed from his hands. With it, I could see their faces and beyond the cave entrance.
A light! We could look for what we needed to save Vaughn.
“Elon, why didn’t you do that sooner?” Daniella asked, marveling at the electricity that ran between his fingers.
He shrugged. “Most people don’t like Elementals. I try to use my powers as little as possible. You know, stay low-key.”
“There’s no time for low-key,” I said, taking his hand. “Come with me. We need to go back down there and look for medicine to save Vaughn.”
“What? Leave the cave?” Elon’s eyes went as big as saucers.
“I’ll explain on the way.” I gave the spear to Daniella and took Elon by the hand.
“If something charges us, can you shock them?” I asked Elon.
He nodded.
“Good. Don’t hesitate.”
Together, we ran down into the brush. Elon protested a little, looking around warily, but he helped me by keeping his electricity going. We scuttled from shrub to shrub, bush to bush, searching. Still, it took several hours for me to find what I needed. The smell of wild onion finally drew me to what I was looking for.
By the time Elon and I made it back to the cave, we were both exhausted, but that was nothing compared to Vaughn. He appeared to be near death.
As I worked frantically on making the poultice, Wally hovered over Vaughn’s sweat-drenched and shivering body. “He’s gonna die, man. He’s gonna die.”
“No, he’s not,” I said, now certain that I was not going to let that happen.
Hands moving quickly, I applied the poultice and wrapped one of his socks around his leg to keep the remedy in place. I watched him closely, dribbling water into his mouth, wiping his brow with his discarded shirt when he broke out into a sweat, and covering him with it when he shivered.
I muttered a faerie prayer for good measure.
