Free Living Nightmare by Shannon K. Butcher

wirework shaped into an intricate vine that scrawled across the entire surface. “With this.”
    Grace reached for it, but Gilda’s harsh command stopped her. “Stop. Do not touch it until I’ve told you everything.” She waved to the empty seat across from her. “Sit.”
    Grace sat.
    “Inside that box is a device created by my ancestors. Their ability to imbue artifacts with power has never been matched. This device was created for the sole purpose of healing.”
    “Then we should get it to the Sanguinar. Torr is getting worse fast.”
    “The Sanguinar will not use it.”
    “Why not?”
    “The cost to them would be too great.”
    “Then who can use it?”
    Gilda pinned her with a cold, black stare. The light of Grace’s suite seemed to be sucked into the dark depth of her eyes, and for the first time, she saw something bleak and unforgiving inside the woman she’d come to respect. Something frightening.
    In a quiet voice, the Gray Lady said, “You are the one who can save him. Perhaps the only one.”
    “Why me? I’m not special.”
    “Yes, you are. Not in the way of my people, but among humans, you are special. You can save him, should you wish to.”
    “I do.”
    “Not so fast. If you do this, you will pay a price.”
    “I don’t care. Torr saved me. He saved my brother. I’ll do anything to save him.”
    “Anything?”
    “Yes.”
    Gilda nodded. “It is as I suspected, then.”
    “What is?”
    “You love him.”
    Grace didn’t deny it. There was no point. Gilda would know she was a liar if she did. “I love him more every day. It’s killing me to watch him suffer.”
    “If you do this, he’ll be healed, but you’ll take on that suffering. This device can’t create health, only transfer it. From you to him. You’ll become weak and paralyzed. You’ll be tied to a bed or wheelchair for the rest of your life, if you don’t simply die.”
    Shock left Grace reeling. She swayed in her seat, gripping the soft fabric of the chair for support.
    She could save Torr.
    If she did, her life would be over.
    In the end, there was no real choice. “If I do this, will you protect my brother, care for him as if he were your own son?”
    Gilda’s beautiful mouth curved in a slow, satisfied smile. “I vow it.”
    A heavy, comforting weight settled over Grace’s shoulders as Gilda offered her promise. Her brother would be safe. Torr would live. It was all she’d ever wanted.
    No. That was a lie. She wanted more than that. She wanted a lifetime with Torr. She wanted to have him love her in return, but that was just a girlish fantasy. Regardless of whether Torr got better, he would never be hers. He had bigger, more important things to do with his life than to tie himself to a human woman. She knew that. She’d always known that.
    He had a destiny, and Grace was going to see to it that he fulfilled it.
    “Tell me what I need to do to save him.”

Chapter 5
    N ika was greeted by a line of angry faces when she arrived back at Dabyr. They were all waiting for her inside the entrance to the main hall. The glass ceiling high overhead let in the morning sunlight, and several humans sat sipping coffee in the dining area. Other than that, the place was empty, giving the angry mob room to attack.
    Andra led the charge.
    Her short, dark hair was dusty, and her blue eyes were bloodshot, like they got when she’d been funneling too much of Paul’s power. Apparently, they’d just gotten back from a Synestryn killing spree and hadn’t even bothered to clean up yet.
    If Andra found out that Nika had taken the bone, she’d flip out and take it back to that stranger’s grave. Nika couldn’t let that happen. “Where have you been?” Andra asked, her voice clipped with thinly controlled anger.
    Nika gripped the bone tighter. She still had Madoc’s jacket on, which hid her treasure. “I just wanted to get out for a while. Go for a drive.”
    “A drive?” asked Andra. She stepped forward. She was more than