"Say it again. It helps. Please. It's so hard not to …"

I swallowed. "I love you," I said.

She jerked, as though I'd punched her in the pit of the stomach.

"I love you," I said again. "Susan."

She lifted her mouth from my skin, and looked up, into my eyes. They were her eyes again-dark, rich, warm brown, bloodshot, filled with tears. "The vampires," she said. "They-"

"I know."

She closed her eyes, more tears falling. "I tr-tried to stop them. I tried."

Pain hit me again, pain that didn't have anything to do with poison or injuries. It hit me sharp and low, just beneath my heart, as though someone had just shoved an icicle through me. "I know you did," I told her. "I know you did."

She fell against me, weeping. I held her.

After a long time, she whispered, "It's still there. It isn't going away."

"I know."

"What am I going to do?"

"We'll work on that," I said. "I promise. We have other problems right now." I filled her in on what had happened, holding her in the dimness.

"Is anyone coming for us?" she asked.

"I … I don't think so. Even if Thomas and Michael got away, they couldn't storm this place. If they ever even got out of the Nevernever. Michael could go to Murphy, but she couldn't just smash her way in here without a warrant. And Bianca's contacts could probably stall that for a while."

"We have to get you out of here," she said. "You've got to get to a hospital."

"Works in theory. Now we just have to work out the details."

She licked her lips. "I … can you even walk?"

"I don't know. That last spell. If there was much left in me, that spell took it out."

"What if you slept?" she asked.

"Kravos would have his chance to torture me." I paused, and stared at the far wall.

"God," Susan whispered. She hugged me, gently. "I love you, Harry. You should get to hear it't-" She stopped, and looked up at me. "What?"

"That's it," I said. "That's what needs to happen."

"What needs to happen? I don't understand."

The more I thought about it, the crazier it sounded. But it might work. If I could time it just right …

I looked down, taking Susan's shoulders in my hands, staring at her eyes. "Can you hold on? Can you keep it together for another few hours?"

She shivered. "I think so. I'll try."

"Good," I said. I took a deep breath. "Because I need to be asleep long enough to start dreaming."

"But Kravos," Susan said. "Kravos will get inside of you. He'll kill you."

"Yeah," I said. I took a slow breath. "I'm pretty much counting on it."

Chapter Thirty-six