Page 43 of Magic and Medicine

As I turned back to the door, I flinched, confronted by the scowling face of Sara’s friend, Nina, inches from my own.

‘Where is Sara?’ she asked, and I didn’t bother hiding my grin as I answered.

‘In my bedroom, resting.’

‘Is she injured? Upset or angry? Does she know what happened last night? Come to mention it, why aren’t you telling me what happened already?’

‘Hold on. Give me a chance to talk, and I’ll answer you. At least we know why Adam’s pissed off.’ Rolling my eyes was probably a mistake, but I couldn’t resist. ‘Sara is fine, uninjured, but tired from her ordeal. As for last night, someone placed a magical symbol on her back, the rune of Svarog, using it to attack with the Black Arcana, which is forbidden magic.’ The frown I expected to transform into concern for Sara darkened into something genuinely fearsome, and I nearly stepped backwards.

‘Fuck! How do I combat something like that? Would ice help get rid of that mark? Or should I bleed it out or say abracadabra? How can I save her when you aren’t there?’ Nina’s matter-of-fact approach left me speechless. I looked at Adam, who stood before the coffee machine, pretending to figure out its controls.

‘You can’t help unless you cut the rune from her skin. You need magic to help effectively.’ I said, making Nina frown.

‘Then I’ll do that if it helps, but how…’ she said, stopping when we heard Adam’s grumbling.

‘I told you. She’s impossible and keeps asking pointless questions. The bloody woman even inspected my teeth, asking if they were hollow. I’m a bloody vampire, not a dentist.’ He said, shrugging when I sent him a questioning look, knowing Adam didn’t let women boss him around.

‘You told me she had to be safe, so I kept her safe, even when she pushed her fingers into my mouth, but that ends now. You can beat the shit out of me, but I’m not spending another day in her company.’

‘Just because you’re too stupid to answer my questions doesn’t mean they are pointless or that I’m a troublemaker. I have valid concerns, and you are just an arsehole,’ Nina shouted, burning with righteous indignation, making the vampire shrink back in his chair.

‘Oh…’ That was all I mustered to say before the image of Nina inspecting Adam’s teeth for cavities broke me, and I roared, shaking from laughter.

‘Why is it so noisy?’ Sara was standing at the top of the stairs, dressed only in my shirt, her hair tussled, eyes half closed from a passionate but sleepless night.

‘Sara, you all right? I was so worried… oh, damn, Honey, you need to go to the bathroom right now. I guess it’s too late to ask if you used protection.’ Nina gathered Sara under her wing, looking at me with one eyebrow raised, and I pointed down the corridor.

As she bundled Sara off in the direction I indicated, Nina looked over her shoulder, giving me a stare filled with accusation and disgust, but I kept my silence, even as they entered the bathroom, and she peppered Sara with questions about last night.

‘Antlers? What do you mean, antlers?’ The nurse’s strident screech was audible to everyone in the building, my smile growing wider as Michal and Adam turned to look at me, understanding flashing in their eyes.

Warmth blossomed in my chest. I was proud, but there was more to it than that. That Sara felt comfortable sharing last night’s adventures with her friend showed it wasn’t just the near death and an adrenaline-fuelled encounter, but she wasn’t ashamed of us.

‘Adam, make us all coffee once you finish playing with the knobs. I feel like it today,’ I said to the vampire, who hadn’t stopped staring at me over the industrial-grade coffee maker. I saw him rolling his eyes before he exaggeratedly bowed to me.

‘Of course, O’ Great Stag of the Primeval Forest, your lowly vampire servant, is happy to serve coffee and babysit whomsoever you send his way,’ he answered, and I flicked a simple wind spell from my fingers, smacking him on the forehead, and making him stagger. Adam snarled, his eyes completely black, and I realised how easily I’d manipulated my magic.

‘It looks like Sara did more than just coax back the Great Stag.’ I said, turning my head to listen to muffled laughs from the bathroom. ‘Adam, I want you to keep an eye on Nina. She makes my Sara happy. I know it’s a lot to ask, but everyone my Firefly cares about is under threat now. Use your talents to find her family and whoever else she cares for, then make sure our Russian friends can’t get to them.’

‘Fine, but maybe you should talk to her first. Nina has some strong opinions on how Sara should be treated, and from what I understand, she doesn’t like how you’ve isolated her. I’ve never seen you bother with women. You’ve only ever mentioned Jurata, and women have changed since the Romans invaded.’ Adam, as usual, couldn’t help teasing me, even as he tried to help, and I felt guilty until I remembered how distraught she’d been holding Scarface’s broken body in her arms.

‘This isn’t a permanent arrangement, so for now, keep it discrete, and once we have control of the situation, we will withdraw,’ I said, knowing I could accept her anger if it kept those tears from falling.

‘I still say you’re making a mistake. Now, will you stop thinking with your cock and focus on the problem? We caught some of his men causing problems around old Hel and Rewa right before the trouble in the club, but they were lowly goons. They were hardly worth the effort, so the probability of them being a diversion for the attack on Sara is quite high. If we could only discover how he’s getting around Tricity undetected.’

‘Maybe he isn’t moving around?’ Michal asked before placing two cups of coffee before us from gods knew where. I frowned, thinking about it, but none of my spells or our informers could detect him. Not even the ritual I performed during the Harvest celebration revealed his location.

‘That may be what he’s using the amber for, and with more shipments missing, it might be worth halting all trade for a while. There must be something else; I just need to find it.’ I was frustrated, and while Michal had a point, it also meant there would need to be a hideout near the docks allowing Rostov to slip out and attack.

‘You going to ask the Coven for help?’ Adam rubbed his stubble, ‘We had to halt the collection of amber. Our workers got attacked. Not the humans but the wolves guarding the excavation. They used those funky bullets. We lost three wolves and a Wila. Tomasz is furious.’

‘I’ll talk to Nadolny. Using his men will help deal with that fucking ammunition and let’s invest in a bulk order of bullet-proof vests. Insist on everyone wearing them; the bullets might not poison the humans, but they are still lethal. Lock down all the amber and explain to our customers that there’s an embargo on all sales but that everything will return to normal soon.’ It wasn’t ideal and would damage our reputation, but cutting off a potential power source to this Warlock was more important.

‘So what are we going to do about finding this bastard? There was a report of a fire at the public marina, with a witch confirming the presence of Dark Arcana, and Nadolny sent a text earlier that someone hexed his prostitutes and closed down the premises after reporting them to the health department. Nothing we’ve done has hinted at their location, so unless you have another idea….’ Adam’s question left me frustrated, as it felt like I was trying to catch a ghost.

‘Let’s focus on guarding the amber warehouses and stores. That is the only thing that is consistently attacked. If needed, move it all to one place. I will set up new wards and bolster the witches’ detection spells,’ I said, wondering how much power I could muster now that Sara had helped me access my avatar.

The women emerged from the bathroom, chatting happily as if my thoughts summoned them.

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