Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker #3)(98)

Lily could feel their prickly feet scaling up and down his skin, and she shuddered for him.

Please stop thinking of it. Please calm down, she urged.

Toshi unclenched his fists and took a series of deep, calming breaths, trying to rein in the frustration that choked him.

I’ve thought about nonviolent ways of killing her, like poison, but the Hive tastes her food. I thought about designing a virus specifically for her, but I can’t get close enough to take a sample of her DNA. Did you know that the Hive doesn’t allow even one of her hairs to fall to the ground? Silly as it sounds, I’ve even considered leaving booby traps throughout the villa, but the Hive scours every room she’s about to enter before she goes in there. Everything you can think of, I’ve thought of it. The Hive is everywhere and they watch for danger in everything where she’s concerned.

I’m sorry, Toshi, I should have known. Lily waited until she felt Toshi relax enough for the Workers to lift off his skin. I could still jump you out of there, she said. You’re mine now. You don’t have to stay in Bower City.

She could feel how tempted he was. He wanted to join her so badly it hurt.

I can’t leave, he said finally. Ivan and I are working on an antidote against the Workers’ stings, and some kind of pesticide to use against them. We’re trying to come up with some way to fight the Hive.

Good. We’ll need a way to neutralize the Workers. I can protect my claimed from them for a while, but I’ve never been able to sustain it for long, she replied. You mentioned that there were rebels in the city. How many of them do you think would be willing to become my claimed?

She felt hope swell in Toshi at the thought of a bewitched rebel force. Most are begging for that chance. Some might need convincing.

Let them know that they have one day to think about it. Tomorrow I’ll be back to claim as many as are willing.

They’ll be ready, he promised.

And, Toshi, there’s one more thing.

What is it?

Someone who needs healing. She may be past even your help, but I’d like you to try.

Have you touched her? Can you show me her sickness? he said, every inch a doctor again.

Lily passed along what she’d seen when she tried to help patch Lillian up enough to keep going.

It’s bad, he said. If I don’t get to her soon, she’ll die.

But could you help her?

I could do more than help. I could cure her, but it would have to be soon.

I’ll get you here, Lily promised. Somehow, I’ll get you here.

Her heart lifting, she cut off the connection with Toshi. She turned to Leto, who was watching her from a respectful distance.

“Did it work?” he asked, trying not to sound too eager. She could feel the rest of her coven waiting for a response as well.

“Yes and no,” she replied. “Assassinating Grace isn’t an option, but I think I’ve found us a rebel army inside the city. And I think I’ve found a way to help Lillian.” She looked at the lowering sun. More time had passed than she’d thought.

Leto mounted the drake and reached down to give Lily a boost. “That sounds like a very productive sojourn to me,” he said, visibly happier. Lily could tell he cared deeply for Lillian.

She climbed up behind him, trying to hang on to what hope she could, and not think of the thousands of rebels who would most likely be the first to die when the war began.

“He’s awake,” Breakfast said. His eyes closed as he made contact with Red Leaf. “Grace is there with him.” He frowned. “She’s asking about spirit walking.”

“She doesn’t waste any time,” Tristan grumbled. He shook a handful of nuts into his mouth.

“I didn’t expect her to,” Lily said, looking sternly at her bowl of lentils. She and Lillian sat side by side in Lillian’s big tent. Lily’s coven surrounded them, eating dinner. It had been a tense meal, shared out of necessity so Lily could spend more time training Lillian how to jump, but even still Rowan, Caleb, and Tristan stayed far away from Lillian, hardly looking at her.

“Aaand, he’s out again,” Breakfast said. He rubbed his eyes. “Grace is going to have Toshi work on him some more. Shouldn’t be long before he’s up and about.”

“How long to do you think it will take Grace to figure out how to jump?” Rowan asked.

Lily shrugged. “I thought about it for maybe a week, but I figured it out in a split second.”

“Because you had to,” Lillian said, nodding. “We’ve always worked well under pressure. I’ve been trying for two days now and I haven’t been able to do it.”

“You almost had it the last time,” Lily interjected.

“Still, I haven’t been able to do it,” Lillian repeated.

Because she’s weak, Rowan said to Lily in mindspeak. If she weren’t so distracted by her pain she would have been able to do it by now. She hasn’t eaten a thing tonight.

I noticed, too, Lily replied, trying not to care that Rowan was obviously paying more attention to Lillian than it seemed.

“So that’s good news,” Una said. “It’s not like the Hive is going to just appear and kick the snot out of us.”

Lily saw Caleb shudder at the thought. If the Hive caught them unawares, they were all dead. Pyres take time to get burning. If they were ambushed, their armies could be wiped out by the Hive before Lily and Lillian had a chance to bewitch them and give them enough strength to fight back.