Page 47 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

I'm on my way, Bardov thought. I'll bring the first-aid kit.

Tomek must have left the front door open when he'd run out, so Yaaf didn't even need to stop to deal with the handle. He pushed it open and ran to the master bedroom. The door was open, the light was on, and Leehy was sitting on the edge of the bed, her daughter's hand in both of hers, sobbing and rocking.

She looked up when he came in, and her expression shifted from panicked to angry.

"What did you do to her?"

He didn't answer. He set Tomek down on the bed beside Leehy, went around to the other side, and put his fingers on Sullha's throat.

Her pulse was strong and even, calmer than his own, which was still pounding like a jackhammer. He could hear her breathing, but he put his other hand on her stomach anyway and felt it rise, fall, and rise.

"Sullha," he said, shaking her a little. "Sullha. Wake up."

There was no response.

Her face was turned toward him on the pillow, her mouth a little open, and her eyelids didn't even flicker.

"I tried that," Leehy said. "I tried everything. I shook her. I even threw water on her face. She won't wake up. I didn't know what to do. Tomek woke up from all the racket I was making, and he said he was going to get you. The one responsible for this." She tacked on that last sentence with venom in her voice. The poisonous kind, not the one responsible for her daughter's condition.

He was about to tell her to stop accusing him in front of Tomek when Bardov came in with a first-aid kit under one arm and a towel in the other.

"Tomek's feet are hurt," he said.

"Oh, dear Mortdh." Leehy's hand flew to her chest. "I didn't see. I'm so sorry, sweet boy."

Bardov knelt on the floor beside the bed. "Let me see your feet."

Tomek lifted one small foot, and Bardov held it gently as he examined the damage.

"This looks worse than it is," Bardov said, smiling at the boy even though he was seething inside. "Let's clean it first."

The wet towel came away red.

"Just little cuts," Bardov said. "From the rocks."

"I had to get Yaaf," the boy said.

Yaaf put his hand on Sullha's forehead, knowing even before he touched her skin that she would be hot. In fact, he'd known from the moment Tomek said that his mama wasn't waking up.

Fever and loss of consciousness were both signs of the start of transition.

"It's started," he said.

Leehy stared at him.

"Sullha is transitioning," he said. "It's happening."

Leehy's mouth opened and closed, and the tears kept coming, but the rocking stopped.

"How do you know?"

"Because it's what we were told to expect." He took his hand off Sullha's forehead and pulled out his phone. "I'm calling Julian."

The physician picked up after several rings.

"Yaaf. What's happening?"

"Sullha's transitioning."