“Why are they hard to put down?” Merritt asked.

“Because they still have a functioning brain. They can think, plan, scheme, plot, hide, evade, and then attack.”

Merritt let out a sigh. “Great. Just great.”

Naja spread her hands. She was starting to look worse again.

“I hate to sound ungrateful to you both, and I want to help—that’s why I’m here—but I think that you need to get me to a place where you can finish healing me.”

Magda looked up at Merritt. “She’s right. We need to get out of here. We can talk more later.”

Merritt circled an arm around Naja’s waist as she started sagging. “I know just the place.”

Chapter 78

As they passed through the opening off the walkway around the inside of the immense circular stone interior of the great tower and into the sliph’s room, Magda saw Quinn sitting at a table across the room, writing in one of his journals. Dominating the center of the room, under a domed ceiling, sat the sliph’s stone well.

“Merritt!” Quinn called. He leaned over in his chair to peer past Merritt, helping Naja walk into the room. “And Magda!” Quinn skidded the chair back from the table and rushed to meet them. “So good to see you both!”

The young wizard was about Magda’s height, and of average build. His ready smile matched his good nature. But it was his brown eyes that were so riveting. They had a quality well beyond his years, an incisive grasp of all they took in, and despite the intellect behind that astute gaze, the man was always modest when others would have been cocky in their knowledge and accomplishments. They were the eyes of a wise advisor.

“Good to see you, too, Quinn,” Merritt said.

Quinn’s gaze finally settled on Naja. “Who have we here?”

With one arm around Naja’s waist, steadying her, Merritt held his other out in introduction. “Quinn, I’d like you to meet a friend of ours. This is Naja Moon.”

Grinning, staring at the woman for an instant, Quinn remembered his manners and gestured into the room. “Please, Naja, won’t you come in and have a seat. I’m afraid that there is only the one chair, please take it. You look like you may need to sit down. Let me get you some water.”

“She needs more than water,” Merritt said, getting right down to business. “She needs to be healed.”

Quinn regarded the sorceress with a more appraising look. “Yes, I can see that.”

Naja showed a brief smile of greeting to Quinn, but declined the offer to sit.

“To tell you the truth, Merritt, I don’t think any of you look all that good.” Quinn laid a hand on the side of Magda’s shoulder. “What’s wrong. You look ashen. You don’t look well at all. Maybe you had better sit down.”