"You save the beast that gave you the mark," Radulf said in my head. "How interesting. I wasn't so kind to the unicorn that scratched me." He laughed. "Actually, it gave me the scratch while I was killing it. I don't think it ever intended to share its magic."
I tried to ignore that, tried to shut out from my mind the thought of how Radulf could possibly have harmed a creature of the gods.
My body was feeling heavier, as if my limbs had turned to lead. The magic continued stirring inside me, but I didn't think I was generating anything new. Breathing was harder, thinking was slower. And I couldn't feel the mark on my shoulder any longer. Actually, I couldn't feel much of anything. I was a fading sunset.
Caela cawed, a stronger cry now, and this time when she fluttered her wing, she pushed my hand out of her way and rose up to her feet. Whether she intended it or not, she knocked me to the ground, and I was in no condition to get up again.
"Nic!"
Aurelia's footsteps pounded across the cement, and then she grabbed me beneath my shoulders and dragged me farther from Caela. I wasn't worried about that. Caela wouldn't step on me, or at least, not deliberately.
Once we were clear, Aurelia knelt beside me and asked how I was. I heard her, but not really. It sounded like she was in another room. Without answering, I closed my eyes and tried to find myself again. It felt as if everything I was had vanished, like rainwater into a thirsty earth.
"Healing her cost too much," Radulf said. "Your body can't hold such powerful magic."
"He's shaking!" Aurelia brushed my hair back from my forehead. "Nic, look at me!"
"This girl is special to you," Radulf said. "I feel the beat of your heart when she is near."
"For the last time, get out of my head!" I yelled. Then I forced myself to sit up, to put some distance between Aurelia and me. Waves of dizziness enveloped me, but through that fog, I heard Caela eating the meat I had brought her. Whatever was happening to me didn't matter. She would be all right.
"Those baths are some of the finest in all of Rome," Radulf said. "You've done the empire a service by ridding them of a dangerous griffin. I will tell the emperor of your kindness."
"Do that," I muttered. "Then I'll tell him about your plans for the empire."
"What's going on?" Aurelia asked. "It's Radulf, isn't it?"
"I do have great plans, after I get that bulla," he said. "You took what was mine, Nic."
"It was Caesar's. Never yours!"
Crispus appeared in my line of sight and said something to Aurelia, but all I heard was Radulf saying, "I'll trade for it right now. Go out to the gardens. Livia is there."
I sat up even straighter and felt for the bulla around my neck. No, it wasn't there. I had taken it off to heal Caela. I looked to Crispus, who seemed to understand what I wanted, even without words.
"Stay here with Caela," I said to Aurelia. "Just stay here, please, where it's safe."
"Where are you going?"
"Livia is outside. She's here."
Aurelia grabbed my arm. "Radulf's lying. You must know that."
I pulled my arm away and turned to her. "Of course he is. But I still have to find out for sure, don't I?"
Aurelia sighed. "Be safe, Nic. I'm not wrong about this."
It took everything I had to get to my feet. There was little left in me but the desire to see my sister, and that would have to be enough. Crispus ran back with the bulla in his hands. He hung it around my neck, and it immediately began to supplement my energy.
"I'll come with you." Crispus's offer was stupid, but brave. Two words that accurately described me at the moment as well.
"It won't be safe," I said. "Please don't."
"Better hurry," Radulf said, for only me to hear. "I won't allow Livia to remain there for long."
I did hurry, leaving the same way I had come. Once I was outside, I wasn't sure which way to go, but then saw a strange light, pulsing and floating midair, beckoning me out of the gardens and back to the road beyond the bath walls.
With every step, the bulla continued adding to my strength. I only hoped it would be enough for when I found Livia -- if I found Livia. Radulf wouldn't make it easy.