Page 48 of Wizard of Most Wicked Ways

Fallon frowned. Owein coughed. Hulda surged forward with a handkerchief, followed by a glass of water. He downed the entire thing in three swallows. Looking out the window, he asked, “Who was it? In the stairwell.”

Jonelle’s smile fell. “John. Mackenzie. He is ... not well. He’s been taken to hospital, but ...” The words she didn’t say sat on Owein’s chest like a millstone.But he probably won’t pull through.

Voice rough, Owein asked, “The watchmen?”

“The rear is deceased. The two at the front door are hale.”

He nodded, absorbing this. Myra ... he needn’t ask about her. He doubted even Blightree could have saved her, with that much damage. He could smell her blood, in the back of his throat.

So many people dead. If Owein had been a little quicker, tried a little harder ...

“Miss Watson”—Hulda’s voice snapped him from the spiral of his thoughts—“if you would excuse us for just a moment?”

The woman nodded, stood, and stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

“You want to know about the vial,” Fallon guessed.

“Yes, you fool girl, because what we need to talk about isclassified, and that woman isn’t even an American citizen, let alone part of BIKER or the Congressional Committee for the Continuation of Wizarding.”

“I’m also not an American citizen,” she pointed out.

“I am well aware.” Hulda clutched Ellis, blinking rapidly and swallowing. She took a full ten seconds to build back her ire and refocus it on Owein. “Outside the fact that you could bearrestedfor entering that facility ... why, Owein? What was the goal?”

He cleared his throat and masked a wince from his pounding head. “Why don’t you tell me what it’s doing to me,” he managed in a slightly less raspy tone, “and then I’ll tell you why I have it.Hadit.”

Fallon added, “We came to talk to you about it. He didn’t plan to use it.”

Hulda wilted and sank onto the edge of Owein’s bed by his knees; Fallon occupied a chair beside his head. His left leg, where he’d injected the serum, felt sunburned and itched something fierce. He scratched at it under the blanket, but it didn’t help.

“What you imprudently injected into yourself was an experimental serum derived from the cadaver of Silas Hogwood.” She spoke quickly, softly, not giving Owein a chance to reel from the information. “Veryexperimental. We cannot test it on animals, as animals do not and cannot carry magic genetics. And we’ve been unable to test it on living persons. It’s tied up in a legal mess.” Sliding her fingers under her glasses, Hulda rubbed her eyes. “Myra knew more than ...” Her voice choked to a stop.

“‘Patient A’ isSilas?” Owein’s gut threatened to overturn again. When Hulda didn’t immediately respond, he handed her back the handkerchief, which she didn’t accept, so he set it on his blanket. “I’m sorry, Hulda. If I’d been there sooner—”

Withdrawing her hands, Hulda blinked tears from her eyes and kissed the top of Ellis’s head. The babe stirred but didn’t wake. “I’m so, so glad you came at all, Owein,” she whispered. “Or we would be dead, too. I am so incredibly wroth with you, and yet unceasingly grateful. I hardly know what to do.” She laid her cheek on Ellis’s soft hair.

Owein swallowed against a rising lump in his throat. “Keep explaining. I saw the laboratory.”

The woman’s posture sunk in her defeat. “The serum is made from bones. Which is where blood is made, too, so there’s a connection.”

“Merritt said magic connected to spirit.”

“Well, we can’t harvestthat.” She knit her hands together in her lap. “Perhaps the spirit in the body influences the blood. Who knows? What we’ve discovered is there are differences in blood between persons—differenttypes. We don’t all bleed equally.” She rubbed her temples, perhaps trying to remember. “A, B, I think there was a C in there as well. I tried not to betooinvolved, even if the place lies within my jurisdiction.” She sighed. “I do remember Silas Hogwood was A. And I know that if the blood types don’t align perfectly, there could be very adverse side effects. Side effects we’ve yet to document because we’ve yet to test them.” A dry chuckle escaped her throat. “I should be documenting everything happening toyou, but I cannot bring myself to care about the science today.”

Owein adjusted himself on the bed, hissing through his teeth at the acidic flash in his leg and pull on his chest. “I’ll write you a thorough list.”

Fallon squeezed his hand.

“So,” he went on, blinking away the sensation of grit from his eyes, “I took this serum, but I don’t have the right blood type? OliverWhittock is related to Silas Hogwood. Unless we’ve pulled another Sutcliffe I didn’t know about.”

Hulda passed him a withering look. “Hardly. But being a blood relation doesn’t guarantee anything.”

Lifting his free hand from the blankets, Owein opened and closed it. His fingers felt thick. “Silas ... I know his spells. You told me his spells. He didn’t have ... whatever that was.”

“Necrosis,” she stated, and a shiver coursed down Owein’s spine. “You used necrosis on him. It’s under the doctrine of necromancy. Myra’s theorized that the serum would not simply grant a person new magic, but rather enhance that which already exists.”

“So Oliver,” Fallon interjected with care, “didhave magic.”

“Dormant necrosis, it would seem.” Hulda pulled her hands apart and rubbed them together. “Silas Hogwood likely had dormant necrosis as well, since you twoarefrom the same family line, and his maternal genealogy is rife with necromancers. The serum must have activated something in your body.” She took a shuddering breath. “There’s still so much we don’t understand about blood and genetics and physiology, let alone magic’s tie to them. You doseemto be doing better, Owein, but I don’t know if your condition will worsen. I don’tknowanything. It’s all hypothetical. Untested. Mr. Blightree will arrive soon to heal you.”

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