Page 44 of The Mage on the Hill
“This gentleman was looking—”
Darius waved his phone, as if it could put a magic shield between him and the hospice staff. “Sorry. My… mistake. Location.”
With that, he hurried out. If the doctor became suspicious, she might call around. It would get back to the guild director, and damn John anyway for putting him through this. Toby wasn’tthere. Darius got back in his car, drove out of sight of Shadow Creek, pulled onto the shoulder, and banged his head on the steering wheel.
What in all blazing fucks do I do now?
“TOBY? SWEETIE?Can you hear me?”
Blurs swam above him. Toby blinked, trying for focus. Wasn’t working too well. The voice, though…. “Mom?”
“Yes. It’s Mom.” Her voice cracked and thickened. She sounded like she’d been crying a long time. “Dad’s here too.”
“Hi.” The greeting sounded absurd in his own ears, and he snickered. Part of his brain registered that the situation wasn’t funny, but he didn’t have much control. “Where?”
A strong hand gripped his. Dad’s. “You’re in a really great private hospice, Toby. They called us when they brought you in. We flew right out.”
“Arms tired?”
Dad pulled in a heavy sniff. “What?”
“Said you flew.”
“Ha! Funny guy.” Dad’s laugh was horribly forced. “We heard what happened. Why didn’t you call us when you started having problems? Why did you go see that… person instead?”
“For help. Dad….” Toby tried to squeeze his father’s hand back. He wasn’t sure he managed. “Don’t want to die.”
Mom burst into tears, and Toby’s eyes stung at the sound. He didn’t want his parents to cry. If he could make them understand, they wouldn’t have to.
“Director Whittaker’s coming,” Dad choked out. “He said… well, I didn’t want to get your mom’s hopes up, but he said you might have channeled?”
“Animus. Don’t let them kill me.” Some of the fog was fading. He could see his father’s eyes now. Two eyes. Why was that important?
“He’s going to test you. Toby, this is important. If you managed to channel, you need to concentrate. I know it’s hard when your Arcana are new, but you can do this.”
“Drugs.”
“You’re coming out of it.” Mom’s voice shook so badly, Toby wondered if she’d fly apart.
“Okay.” He supposed he was if his clearing sight was an indication. Would he come out of it enough to make a run for it? Right. He didn’t even have a direction to run. “Where is this?”
Dad shrugged. “They picked us up from the airport. I wasn’t paying much attention.”
A couple of nurses bustled in and helped Toby sit up. They let him rest on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, working on a sippy cup of ice water, then manhandled him into a big rolling recliner. There was a name for those. Toby couldn’t remember. He sat by the window, blinking at the just-leafing rose bushes outside, trying desperately to think.
“Can I have Darius?”
“What?” Dad seemed to have a new favorite word.
“For the test. Can I have Darius? He helped me channel. He’d help me with it again.”
“No. That bastard’s not coming anywhere near you,” Dad snarled.
“Paul, please.” Mom reached over and put a hand on Toby’s arm. “Director Whittaker thinks that man, that Dariuspersonmight’ve lied to you. Might’ve made you think you’d channeled.” Mom twisted a tissue in her free hand, staring at her lap. “That would be incredibly cruel. And if it’s true, they should lock him up somewhere like a rabid dog.”
He could’ve wasted energy arguing, but there wasn’t much point. Either he could do this or he couldn’t.Notthat he had any doubts about what had happened at Pine Creek. Darius had guided him. He’d channeled. It was amazing. End of story. Except, yeah, this might be the end of his story for real.
Mom and Dad tried to chat about little stuff. How the flight had been. How the vegetable garden was coming along back home. How everyone here was soniceand sofriendly. Every conversation gambit petered out when it became obvious Toby was only half listening.
