Spring Rain (The Witchling #4)(18)

He shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve ever been here before.”

“Never mind. Come with me.” The doctor began walking towards the interior of the hospital and an elevator. “The girl’s condition is … well … we don’t even know.”

Beck’s gaze slid to her. As much as he didn’t want to get involved, he was also curious what could baffle a sharp, no-nonsense woman like Doctor Bridges. “Want to start from the beginning?”

“Yeah. Sorry. I work night shift. Should be home sleeping.” Doctor Bridges offered a tired smile. “A nearby apartment building burned down. They found her there. At first, it looked like she’d drowned but –”

“Wait, drowned in a fire?”

“Strange I know,” Doctor Bridges said. “It only gets stranger. We thought she was dead because her temperature is oh, twenty degrees below average. She shouldn’t be alive. But her vitals are strong. Nothing wrong with her heart, organs, brain or body that we can find. She’s just really, really cold – and healthy. It’s a medical impossibility.”

He listened, unable to place any known human or witchling capability with what the physician described.

“She was unconscious when they found her. We have her in an induced coma for now until we can be certain she’s healthy or at least, not in danger. We’re running every test known to man as well. If you can identify her, that’d help us out a lot.”

“Not sure I can help,” Beck said.

They reached the fifth floor of the hospital, and the elevator’s doors opened. The first thing he sensed: Decker. He knew his brother wasn’t the one in danger, but if he was here, it had something to do with a witchling. Beck was able to sense Summer but no other Light witchling. Whoever it was, she was probably one of Decker’s Dark sheep.

“Doctor Bridges,” someone called as soon as they stepped foot on the floor.

“Second door from the end on the right,” the doctor said before turning on her heel to address the nurse approaching.

Beck walked down the corridor. The odd instinct grew more insistent without revealing what exactly it meant. It was on days like this he wished he had a mentor like Decker had to ask about the Master of Light instincts that went above and beyond those of a normal witchling.

Before he reached the doorway, a familiar form emerged.

“Summer,” he said with a smile. “What’re you doing here?”

His brother’s counterbalance and girlfriend, the air-earth witchling with dark hair and eyes smiled at him but cast a worried look into the room. “I wanted to warn you.”

“About what? What’s wrong?”

“Your brother has been hiding something from us both.” The disapproval in her tone was clear. “It has to do with Morgan.”

“Morgan.” Even saying the name aloud hurt. Beck shook off the sensation. “What about her?”

“Well, apparently, she’s alive. Sorta.”

Beck’s heart leapt in his chest. For a moment, he didn’t think he’d heard right.

And then it clicked.

Decker had been much nicer to him the past three months than usual. He figured it was out of a shared sense of loss, since his twin had lost Summer for a few months, too. It never occurred to him that it was guilt, but it definitely fit the Master of Dark, who tended to act out of regret rather than think about his actions ahead of time.

“You can’t touch her, Beck,” Summer said urgently as he stepped forward. She blocked his path once more. “She swallowed the soul stone. At least, that’s what Decker thinks. You can’t touch her without Decker’s fire to balance the Darkness.”

Beck barely registered the words. He barely registered anything but the sense he wanted to pass out.

Summer touched his arm, her gentle earth magick prodding his to life. The soothing warmth steadied his trembling insides, and he blinked, the tension of his body easing despite his disbelief and concern.

“I’m okay,” he said quietly. He took her hand and squeezed it. “Thanks.” Beck walked past her into the hospital room, uncertain anything could prepare him for what he saw next.

Decker was at Morgan’s side, his magick loose and covering her body and the surrounding area in fiery shadows. Focused on her, he didn’t look up as Beck approached. “They knocked her out. She can’t fight the soul stone’s effects well when she’s asleep,” the Master of Dark explained. “It’s eating her up from the inside.” His fire magick was flowing into her.

For a long moment, Beck couldn’t move. He stared at the form of his counterbalance.

It really was Morgan in the bed. She had cut her hair to shoulder length, but the fiery red shade was the same and a contrast to her blue-white skin. She had the pallor and general appearance of death, though the machines monitoring her assured him she was alive as the doctor said.

He forced his body to obey and went to her bedside, gazing down at her.

Despite Summer’s warning, Beck touched Morgan’s skin. Pure, cold, familiar ice swept through him, sucking up the Light and his body heat. He had touched the soul stone once before and nearly died.

Summer’s air magick knocked him back several steps. Beck shook his head, dazed, and righted his balance. He felt … drained to his soul, his earth magick a flicker and the Light source inside him shriveled. They bounced back quickly. He stared at the still form of the girl he’d fallen for, horrified by the idea that his counterbalance was someone he couldn’t even hug.