I needed to focus before the shakes came or I passed out again. Stumbling over to Leif’s pack, I found the Theobroma lumps. The wind had died down and a few half-burnt branches had survived last night’s flames. One good thing about being unable to light fires with magic was I kept matches in my saddlebags.

I coaxed the meager firewood into a small blaze and melted the Theobroma. Once the brown liquid cooled enough not to burn skin, I spooned the antidote into each of my companion’s mouths, guessing how much was needed. For the horses, I coated my fingers with it and rubbed my hands on their tongues.

My arms shook by the time I finished. Shivers racked my body. I wrapped my blanket around me and lay next to Kade, pulling his blanket over us both.

Leif woke me an instant after I fell asleep. At least, that was how it felt to me. I blinked in the light, cursing the brightness. My heavy limbs refused to move. I didn’t have enough energy to stand.

“Drink this,” Leif said.

He tipped a mug toward my lips. A foul-smelling liquid sloshed. I tried to pull away, but he put his hand under my head, dripping the yellow substance into my mouth.

“Swallow or I’ll hold your nose closed until you do,” Leif threatened.

I gulped and winced. It tasted like dirty wash water.

“It will help your body produce more blood. Make you feel stronger so we can get off this horrid rock and down to the soft sands of the beach.”

“Go on without me.” I shooed halfheartedly. “It’s not like you need me to save you or anything…Oh, wait. I did save you.”

“And you took your sweet time, too. Although I give you major bonus points for your…ah…very creative arguments about why they shouldn’t kill us.”

I shivered at the memory as Leif urged me to gulp more of his potion.

“I meant it, don’t let me keep you from the beach.”

“Nice try, but you’re going to drink all of this. Besides, if I tried to leave, a certain Stormdancer would probably zap me with lightning.”

“Where is Kade?” I sat up, feeling better.

Leif looked past my shoulder. “Walking the horses. They weren’t happy about being paralyzed. Once we calmed them, they let Kade work off their stiffness.” He met my gaze. “I’m sorry, Opal. We should have posted guards, but I thought the horses would warn us of any intruders. I never thought someone would use Curare on them.”

“Curare plus the wind. Tricky’s gang probably stayed downwind where they couldn’t smell them.”

“I notified the authorities in Thunder Valley with my messenger. Hopefully they’ll be caught, but we should take you home—”

“No. I’d love to chase them down, but the Stormdancers need orbs.”

“What if they come back?”

“They won’t. Tricky has what he came for.” And the spread of blood magic continued. For now. I would stop it. I promised.

“What happens when he runs out of your blood?” Leif asked.

“We’ll use me as bait and go fishing.”

“I’m serious, Opal.”

“So am I.”

Of course, my bravado didn’t last long. When Kade arrived with the horses, I wanted to melt into his arms and forget the whole nightmare. He held me in a tight embrace.

“You did well last night,” he said with pride in his voice. “I wanted to shout with joy when you regained consciousness. Until then…” His body stiffened as he struggled to find the right words. “Until then, it was hell. Not as bad as watching you be tortured by Devlen, but rather horrible. And here I’ve feared null shields, not knowing that…this…Curare is a million times worse.”

I agreed and Kade stepped back to search my face.

“You’ve been hit by it, too?” he asked.

I realized Kade didn’t know much about my history. Every time we were together we had a specific problem to deal with. Since he had returned from Ixia, we hadn’t spent too much time talking.

“Yes. Unfortunately, I have a lot of experience with Curare.”

“When?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.” I leaned against him.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Will the…strangeness go away? I can use my magic, but I still feel vulnerable. Fragile.”

“That’s the antidote,” I explained. “Theobroma opens a person’s mind to magical influences and destroys a magician’s mental defenses.” I gestured to Leif and Skippy. “If a weaker magician like Tricky attacked them now, they wouldn’t be able to counter him. It doesn’t last as long as Curare. You should be fine by nightfall.”

“Is it true Curare works differently for Stormdancers?”

“No. I lied to them, hoping to give them an incentive to leave without killing anyone.” I hugged my arms to my chest. Tricky’s goons had just started using blood magic, and hadn’t reached the point when the all-consuming desire to gain magical power overruled logic. Otherwise, they would have killed without a second thought.

“Opal,” Leif called. He crouched next to the remains of the fire.

I joined him.

He pointed to the two Greenblade bees. “They look like good knives, but I’m not crazy enough to pull them out.”

Interesting. The bees were dead, but hadn’t disappeared. I reviewed last night’s attack and realized I hadn’t given them a task.