The Hail Mary Potion

The sight of Ash carrying Lady Margo bridal style would be funny if they weren’t both so ghostly pale. The color has drained from my aunt’s face due to the blood loss, and Ash looks anxious enough to barf. Her eyes widen when she sees me stumbling into the foyer towards her.

“Jane! There you are!”

“Follow me,” I tell Ash, wasting no time. The faster I get my aunt to safety, the faster I can go back to Will.

“Dude, hold on a second,” she says, trotting after me, my aunt still hanging limply in her arms. “There was a gunshot, and on my way down here, I walked passed a frozen wolf. What the hell is going on?”

I don’t have time to explain properly, so I give her the short version.

“The paralyzed wolf is Kade. He’s an evil psycho, and he’s not dead yet. Will’s alive, but he’s hurt bad. The Argent Pack is evacuating the city. Mercenaries may or may not be coming after us. Also, there’s a secret medical bunker under the manor, and the hidden passage is in the library. Keep moving.”

The look on my face is enough to silence any possible protests or questions she might have, and she obediently trudges behind me as we make our way toward the library.

Once we’re there, my eyes dart to the large window on the left and then to the third bookshelf to the right of it. I step up to the shelf, scanning the spines of the books lined up.

“How long until Kade… um… un-paralyzes?” Ash asks nervously.

“No clue. My guess? Not long enough,” I answer without turning to face her.

No sign of the green book.

Will said it was just above eye level, but he’s at least half a foot taller than me. I take half a step back and look up on the shelf above. There! I spot a book with green leather binding and a golden title that reads: Healing Arts & Sciences.

How ironic.

I stretch my arm overhead and push it. The book slides back with a soft click, and I stagger back at the sound of gears turning and mechanisms unlocking behind the wall. Behind me, Ash mumbles an awed string of curse words as we watch the section of the bookshelf glide open, revealing a dark staircase. We exchange a look of amazement and concern.

Without a moment to spare, I step through the threshold, and she follows. We begin our descent into the bunker, and the staircase seems to go on forever. The air becomes colder as we move further underground, but eventually, I see a light appear at the bottom of the marble staircase.

We reach a plain white hall at the base of the stairs. The polished floor glistens under the light of the bright panels along the domed ceiling. Besides the fact that there are no windows, this place looks more like a futuristic space station than an underground bunker.

But we’re not here to sightsee and explore. Will said the second door on the left is a surgical room, but before I can even reach for the handle, another door slides open. Ash and I whirl around at the same time and find ourselves facing a stout middle-aged woman with brassy hair and light blue robes.

The woman glances at me and then at Ash, and her eyes widen when they settle on Lady Margo. After a moment, she composes her shocked expression and sighs almost like she’s been waiting for this, or at least dreading something of the sort. I wonder how long she’s been working with my aunt.

“Hold on a minute,” Ash says suddenly. “Don’t I know you? You’re the Healer of the Argent Pack!”

“I am Elder Hilda,” the woman says with a polite nod.

Her mannerisms are too soft and calm, and this place is too bright and clean compared to our blood-stained panic. I shake off the uncomfortable sensation of being back in a hospital and motion toward my aunt.

“Lady Silver has been attacked. Can you help her?”

Elder Hilda scans Margo’s unmoving body. Instead of answering, she walks up to the door I’d been reaching for.

“This way, please,” she says calmly. She carries herself with the efficiency and authority one would expect from an experienced physician.

Ash follows her wordlessly into the room, but I linger in the doorway as the Healer gets to work. Elder Hilda gathers several potions and other tools I don’t recognize, organizing the space in a hurried but methodical manner as Ash lays my aunt onto some kind of hospital bed.

I’ve never seen my great aunt look so frail, and my heart aches at the sight of her as Hilda begins tending to the slash on her throat.

But I can’t stay here.

I gulp down my worries and straighten slightly before speaking.

“My mate has been shot.”

My voice cracks slightly at the words, and Ash’s expression turns somber. But Elder Hilda doesn’t miss a beat. She continues gathering supplies around my aunt and examining the cut.

“Did you call an ambulance?” she asks, not pausing for a single second.

Blunt and practical. No wonder she works for my aunt.

“That’s not an option. No one is coming,” I explain. “Is there anyone else in this bunker? Will needs help, but I don’t think we can bring him down here on my own.”

He’ll never make it down all those stairs, and as strong as she may be, there’s no way Ash can carry him.

“I’m sorry, Jane,” Elder Hilda says, and her pity feels like a slap across the face. “I cannot leave your aunt unattended, and there is no one else down here.”

Shit.

Okay, think; don’t panic. You don’t need a plan, just a general idea. It doesn’t even have to be a good one. I just need a heading. A hope.

Maybe Ash and I can try and carry Will together. Maybe we can call Marcus again and insist on that ambulance. Maybe the Healer can help my aunt quickly and then go up to tend to Will. I’ll find a way. Maybe, maybe, maybe….

Will is waiting for me, and we’re running out of time.

“Fine, then tell me what to do, Healer,” I say sharply. “Tell me how to save him.”

Elder Hilda finally stops, tearing her attention away from my aunt long enough to look at me. She holds my gaze for a moment, and her brow furrows at the mixture of fear and determination that must be written all over my face.

“If you intend to save your mate, child, it will take more than just medicine. It will also require magic,” she says, and before I can ask what that even means, Elder Hilda raises a hand to her chest.

For the first time, I notice the tiny glass vial hanging from a thin strap around her neck, half concealed by her blue robes. The ornate little bottle is small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. With a final ancient and knowing glance in my direction, she yanks it off and offers it to me.

“This potion was crafted by the Elders of the Argent Pack long before my time. It contains the extract of the ipomoea alba, also known as the moonflower. It has been mixed into a solution of colloidal silver and blessed by the priestesses of the Moon.”

I take the bottle from her hesitantly, and Ash snorts at the absurdity of what the Healer is saying.

“Liquid silver? Are you crazy? We’re trying to save this guy, not poison him!”

Elder Hilda ignores her. She keeps her sights fixed on me, stern and unwavering.

“For your mate to survive, you must remove the bullet and apply this potion to his wound. The silver will cauterize the injury and stop the bleeding, and the magic of the moonflower will heal him and restore his strength faster than any human medicine ever could. It is dangerous, but if it works, it will save his life, and your mate will be fully recovered within the hour.”

If it works.

“And if it doesn’t work? What do I do then?”

The Healer lowers her eyes, going back to work on my aunt’s wound. She does not look at me as she replies.

“Then pray, child, for only the Goddess herself would able save him.”