Dimitri suddenly burst through the door. “We found her. We found all of them. You have to come, Adrian. You have to come now.”

We followed without question, and I struggled to keep up with the others and their longer strides. Rose came too. “Did you find the Strigoi?” she called as we passed the commune’s center.

“Yes. There.” Dimitri gestured to two dhampirs dragging a dead Strigoi’s body. They brought it to where three other Strigoi were piled. A human guy knelt by them, pouring the contents of a small vial over the bodies. The Alchemist, I realized. I angled myself so that Rose was between us. Fortunately, he was engrossed in his work.

“Then what happened?” asked Rose.

“He got to Olive first,” he explained. “She’d already had the baby—out in the woods. She hid him there. We found him too. He’s fine—small, but fine.”

Adrian and I were still so overwhelmed by the course of events that we couldn’t respond, but Rose was ready with more questions. “Why are we going to her? Why didn’t you bring her in?”

Dimitri led us out of the commune and into a wooded area. “I was afraid to move her. I thought it best to leave her where she was until Adrian could heal her.”

Adrian grimaced. “You guys, I . . . I don’t know if I have enough spirit left to do it. If you can stabilize her until I recover . . . or if she’s not that bad . . .”

Dimitri made no response as we trekked out into the deep forest past the commune, but his expression said that she was, in fact, that bad. My stomach sank as the implications hit me.

We finally reached a clearing in the woods. Lana and two other dhampirs stood there holding lanterns. We hurried up to them and found Olive propped up against a tree, a small bundle held close to her with one arm. When I got a good look at her, I understood why they’d been afraid to move her. Her face was so white, she could’ve passed for Strigoi herself. Her arm—the one not holding the baby—was nearly torn from her. The side of her head looked as though it had been slammed hard against something, and everywhere, everywhere, there was blood. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow.

Adrian focused on her for several moments, and then shook his head, his face full of despair. “I can’t,” he murmured, nearly choking on the words. “I can’t even bring up her aura. I’m out . . . I’m out of magic.”

Olive’s eyelids fluttered at the sound of his voice. “Is that . . . is that Adrian?”

He knelt down beside her. “Shh, don’t strain. You need to rest so I can build my magic back up and heal you.”