Page 12 of Magic and Medicine

‘Treat the body respectfully and give it back to the sea.’ I answered, trying to restrain the anger those words awakened, and despite their usual brash attitude, the pack completed the task with surprising sensitivity.

‘There are more girls in the Anchor. They don’t want to be there, but those bastards have a means of controlling them. Please, help them like you helped me. I swear we didn’t want to do it. Our Lady abandoned us, but you came for me. Only you guard this place now, and we have no one else to turn to.’

The siren sagged in my arms, finally succumbing to exhaustion, and I passed her to a waiting wolf. ‘Make sure she reaches her kin, no, find a pod outside the city, grant them a favour if they take her in, they will know how to help her, then inform your Alpha we are visiting the Anchor.’

The man nodded, carrying his precious cargo, and I strode back to the basement for another look. There wasn’t much evidence except for a few cages and the siren’s blood. It looked like our enemies used it as a convenient location rather than a permanent base. I turned to the leader of the wolves.

‘Call Adam, tell him I need surveillance on this location. I want him to check the security cameras and registration plates of all the cars in this warehouse zone. He must inform me immediately should he find something suspicious. Whoever looks out of place must be followed. I need to find their base, not their dumping ground.’

I dismissed the unit and headed to my car. It was too late to visit Sara. For a moment, I weighed driving to her house just to see the symbol I carved on her doorway, but ultimately, I decided against it. Still, the visceral need for her presence didn’t help to calm my senses. I hoped she enjoyed the flowers at least. Thinking how surprised she must have been brought a smile to my face. I would rearrange my visit for another night, as tomorrow I would be going to the Anchor. If Nadolny was cooperating with the trespassers, I had a bigger problem than I initially surmised. However, if they were using his club without his knowledge, he could be a valuable ally, especially since he was one of the few humans who knew about the existence of the Nether and Gedania.

Something in the siren’s words gnawed at my subconscious, warning me something was off, wrong, but try as I might, I couldn’t identify the issue. I decided it was more important to discover why someone was trying to enter the Nether and who these Russians encroaching on my territory were because the coincidence of their presence was too obvious to ignore.

As I drove through Gdansk, I allowed my mind to drift, mulling over the recent problems and concocting a plan of attack for the next day. With the streets still busy, despite the late hour, I focused on the siren’s words, feeling the return of my magic as they repeated in my mind. Only you guard this place now. She was correct; this domain was mine, and whoever encroached upon it would face the consequences.

I pressed the speed dial button on my steering wheel and rang my assistant. I knew he wouldn’t be happy, but I was past caring about his beauty sleep.

‘Call the Coven. I want to see their mistress in my office tomorrow.’ I said as soon as I heard the click of the open connection.

‘What? Who is it?’ The sleepy voice from the other side told me Michal wasn’t fully awake, not just yet.

‘Who would call you at three in the morning with orders to fulfil? Get me the Coven Mistress, and if she makes excuses, tell her she comes to me, and we talk in peace, or I visit her precious little villa in Sopot and ensure her cooperation by other means.’

‘Yes, of course. Is there anything else you need, Sire?’

I raked a hand through my hair before answering.

‘Do you remember what Adam said about the woman who stabbed him in that brothel?’ I should have looked into it earlier, but so many things had diverted my attention, and it wasn’t the first time a scorned lover treated my unruly vampire to a blade. However, this was the first time they’d used something as deadly as Czernobog’s dagger.

‘Well, he said she had a beautiful voice, a good pair of tits, and he was so enchanted he didn’t notice when she stopped reciprocating his interest.’

‘Enchanted…’

‘What?’

‘Nothing. I just realised why he acted like an idiot that night. It pains me to say it, but it may not be entirely his fault this time. Tell him to come by later, then you can go back to sleep. I can hear it in your voice. You will be unbearable tomorrow.’

‘And whose fault is that?’ I heard him grumble before I ended the call.

The warm embrace of my estate wrapped me up in a welcoming cocoon of love as soon as I drove through the gates, the tranquillity of the setting loosening the tight knot that surrounded my heart. However, for once, it could not ease the fury ignited by the scene earlier that evening, so instead of resting, I went to my grove to train, hoping to direct the anger into something useful. As I moved into position, I almost smiled, recalling my contempt for the old man who taught me this fighting style. He came from the east, and with a skill I’d never seen before, it took less than a moment to put the mighty Leszek on his arse without seeming to move.

Our friendship had been a beacon of hope and light in what had become the lonely fog of my existence, but as all mortals do, the man had died, leaving behind a legacy of brotherly love that still lingered despite the realities of the world.

As the first rays of dawn were turning the sky a beautiful soft pink, my kata came to a close, and, breathing slowly, I finally felt ready to rest.

Whoever knocked on my bedroom must have decided they no longer wanted to live, but when the door opened and my assistant strode in to rip open the curtains, I realised this was his version of payback.

‘Rise and shine, boss! What a wonderful day to finally wake up,’ he roared, an evil grin on his face. With one look through the window, I realised the sun was past its zenith, and it was already the afternoon.

‘The Coven?’ I asked, voice croaking until I cleared my throat. ‘Did you arrange a meeting?’

‘Yes, they will be here in an hour,’ he answered, his smug smile reminding me of the first rule of leadership; Don’t piss off your assistant.

‘Why didn’t you wake me earlier?’ I said, grumbling even as he put a breakfast tray on the bed, but he only shook his head.

‘Because I wanted to live? I haven’t seen you dance with a sword since I was a cub, and my predecessor told me to keep my distance if such an event occurs.’

I didn’t bother hiding my smirk. Michal was right. I hadn’t used a sword in a long time, preferring to perform the unique kata bare-handed. Still, whenever I was overcome with rage, the days of blood and steel would call, and my blade would appear. My body became death incarnate until the meditation of the stylised forms calmed my mind. I could use guns, but I didn’t like them, and they didn’t like me. Something with my magic disrupted the combustion inside the cartridge, causing misfires, so if I ever needed to fight, it was with my hands or a blade, their simplicity suiting me better. The poor man must have thought I was preparing for war, but after remembering last night, he might be right. Turning to Michal, the last of my meal put aside, I asked.

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