Page 50 of Possession

Henry opens his mouth, probably to start the spell, but I say, “Wait.”

He looks back at me, patient. Even though he’s nervous about the other mages arriving soon, his expression betrays no trepidation.

“How do I know I can trust you?” I hate that I have to ask, but I need to see the look in his eyes when he answers.

“I’m one of the good guys, Mary,” he says, giving me a smile that melts my insides.

When I nod and smile shyly back, Aris starts to mutter to himself in a forgotten tongue, irritated. In a strange duplicity, Henry is also speaking a foreign language. His words are softer, the meaning kinder, but there’s no thrum of energy or power in the words themselves. It just sounds like he’s talking, maybe saying a short proverb.

After a few seconds, Henry pulls away and smiles, apparently finished, and I’m surprised to feel unchanged. I don’t know what I was expecting—sparks to shoot out of my body? Fireworks, maybe the sudden appearance of a rhino? But… nothing. The room hasn’t erupted into multicolor spirals or transformed into Wonderland.

I’ve sat up in the course of my evaluation and am suddenly struck by the fact that I’m doing it and feeling less pain. Curiously, I pull the edge of the gauze up, finding scabs and pink scarring instead of an open wound. I fold it back down, shocked.

“Thank you,” I say in quiet awe.

It isn’t that impressive.

Don’t be fussy.

“Can you walk?” Henry asks, and the moment catches up to me. Henry healed me so I would go with him, and now that I’m fixed…

How do we know that the mages are even coming? Maybe he’s lying.

Is Aris right? Am I being manipulated? Do I have to leave with him now?

“It makes sense to get assurances, right?” I say hesitantly, and Henry nods, though his eyes narrow. “I want to trust you, but I’m scared.”

“We don’t have a lot of time for this, Mary.”

“Look, you know that Aris is a telepath. Normally, he’d be able to read your mind, but he says you have some kind of inhibitor on. If you could take that off and let Aris read your thoughts, I’d feel a lot better.”

There’s a twinge of surprise from Aris. Well done, Mary… though I don’t know how I feel about you volunteering my abilities like a show animal.

My lips press together in exasperation—I can never win with him, can I? —but Henry distracts me by pulling up his sleeve. On a tan, well-muscled forearm are bands and bundles of dark tattoos. None go together in any particular pattern or order; it’s like they’re from different alphabets.

“They have their own meaning with bits of power attached to each,” Henry says, stroking the skin of his arm. He points to three vertical lines with another line slashing through them. “This prevents psychic attacks. I’ve had it since I was twelve, and I can’t very well take it off, so there’s no way to let him read my mind.”

I am willing to remove his skin.

Pointedly ignoring Aris’ comment, I study a few of the glyphs. They’re all so elaborate, emanating a feeling of otherness, which is exactly what I expected to feel when Henry cast the spell to heal me. I’m not sure where—or who—Aris stole magic from, but I’m hit with existential wonder as I look at these symbols. They’re special, almost intimate, and even though Henry can’t give me what I asked for, I’m not left wanting.

More than anything, I want to trust him.

I look up to find his eyes fixed on my face. “I’ll go with you,” I say, and Henry smiles.

Chapter eleven

It’s surprisingly easy to sneak out of a hospital, but I suspect that magic has something to do with that. No one acknowledges us, even though I’m infamous and half-naked in a hospital gown. Even when Henry steals a bundle of scrubs from someone’s open arms, we aren’t spared a glance. So, yes, there’s probably some magic involved.

In just a few minutes, we’re in the hospital garage and Henry is reversing out of a parking spot. While he navigates our exit, I climb into the back seat to change into the scrubs. I find they’re a little big, but I’m just happy to be wearing pants again.

I join Henry in the front, looking outside as it strikes me that I have no idea where we are. Things had been so chaotic that I hadn’t had the chance to ask Aris where he brought us. As we drive past the hospital’s sign, I see that it doesn’t have any geographic details listed, so I keep looking around for clues.

“Where are we?” I finally ask, giving up.

“Vermont.”

“Oh, I’ve never been here before,” I say kind of pointlessly, and Henry hums in response.

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