Page 26 of Ruthless Fae
My aunt seemed surprised at the question. “Because these poor victims possess answers that can help us solve the puzzle of what the Habermanns have done to them.”
“Yes, I’ve taken samples from Daniella,” the dean said. “We’ll send them for analysis. I have friends, well-known scientists, who might help us figure out what caused their changes and how to reverse them.”
Once more, Kiana looked taken aback. “Is there no way you can communicate with the creature? Use your magic to talk to her? Your scientists might find nothing or be too late with an answer. We have no time to waste. Besides, the answer is right there.” She stabbed her finger into the monitor.
“But how would Daniella know anything?” I asked, frowning. “She’s not a scientist to understand the Habermanns experiments.”
Kiana shrugged. “Perhaps, but I have a feeling there’s more to it than just experiments. There is a reason the Habermanns were concerned you would find Sinasre before they did.”
“I’m afraid this doesn’t change things,” the dean said. “Whether or not Daniella knows anything that can help us is irrelevant. I tried to communicate with her just a moment ago, and I got nothing from her. Her mind is nothing but a jumble.”
I let out a small gasp.
“What is it?” the dean asked.
“I think… I know someone who might be able to get through to Daniella.”
Chapter Twelve
“It’s okay.You can go in,” I encouraged Becca, gently guiding her into Daniella’s room.
Vaughn was already inside along with my aunt and Dean McIntosh.
The dean’s hands hovered over Daniella’s body, a light glow emanating from them. “She’s restrained, Becca. Even if she awakens, she won’t be able to move. I promise.”
Becca swallowed audibly. Her body shook under my hand as she scrutinized the length of the prone shape that lay on the floor. Daniella’s sickly green skin, the mud caked on her bare feet, the vines wrapped around her limbs.
“She was an inmate like us?” Becca squeaked.
“Yes, she was,” I said. “She’s my friend, an item witch like you. Do you see the earrings she’s wearing? They’re her item. The Habermanns took them away like they took your ring.”
Becca glanced down at the ruby ring on her finger.
I went on, trying to reassure Becca as I kept encouraging her to get closer. “Those monsters did this to her, and we’re trying to undo it. Like I said, we think she knows something that can help us do that.”
Suddenly, Becca froze, fear playing on her pale features. “I don’t want to touch her.”
“I know, I know. But I need you to be brave. If not for Daniella… for Bael.”
Becca’s gaze snapped to mine. I hadn’t told them about Bael to spare them the pain.
“They did something similar to him,” I said at last. “They changed him.” A lump got stuck in my throat at the memory of Bael’s new monstrous shape.
“Not Bael.” Becca’s eyes filled with tears.
Bael had saved her from Regina when the vamp had been blind with hunger and tried to attack them. He’d been through many trials with us, and the bond that those shared moments of anguish created between the inmates was difficult to explain. It made you protective of each other. It made you care.
Becca nodded. “I can try.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Slowly, she took a knee next to Daniella, grasped her hand tightly in hers, and closed her eyes.
“I don’t hear anything,” Becca said, her hand trembling as she pressed it into Daniella’s naked stomach. Becca’s pale skin stood out against Daniella’s green hue as she searched the poor, mutated witch’s head. “Her mind is a mess. Just chaos. I can’t make sense of it”
I bit my lip, not willing to give up. We’d been standing around the unconscious Daniella for twenty minutes, and Becca wanted to give up, but I couldn’t stop so easily. She’d been able to speak to Vaughn when he’d been unconscious. She could get through to Daniella. I knew she could.
“Keep trying,” I said, squeezing her shoulder.
