Page 55 of Magic and Medicine

‘I think they got the message, love.’ I said, equally embarrassed and happy at his eagerness to stake his claim.

Kris walked toward us, his posture radiating challenge, and I frowned, never having seen him do this before. My gentle giant stood before Leszek, beginning a staring contest before he said.

‘Only if Sara wishes. Make her unhappy, and I’ll bring the whole firefighter squad to kick your arse.’

I couldn’t believe it. We had a job to do, and here they were, prancing around like peacocks. I freed myself from Leszek’s arm and slammed my hands on the table.

‘Oi. Calm your bollocks. I need you to focus, not engage in a pissing contest. We have half a fecking army out there shooting shifters and a weird Warlock who wants to; well, I’m not sure what he wants, but he’s a creepy shit. We can’t trace the Warlock because of some temporal magic, but I want you to help me find his men. Between us all, we should be able to locate some Russian soldiers with too much money and saying weird shit about amber and Gates.’

That seemed to sober them up.

‘Fine. I will check with immigration and the border police. They have a register for all visas. How far back do you want me to dig? Would the last three months be enough?’ Kamil was already pulling out his phone when I grabbed the map from my bag, catching Leszek’s nod and confirming the timing.

‘Perfect. Nina, you have the number for your crush in search and rescue, yes? See if they’ve had any reports of unusual activity near Hel, both the town and the peninsula. Damian, is your military friend still in the Border Force?’ I asked, and when he nodded, I pointed to the Kaliningrad border. ‘If they entered the country illegally, that’s the most likely spot. So check the records for any sightings, arrests, etcetera. Rysiek, they’ve stolen a lot of amber, so probably need trucks or some heavy transport. Your job will be to phone the car dealers and rentals. If you can, sweet-talk transportation services to see if they’ve had an increase in freight citations as well. I will call the local hospitals to check for people injured in animal attacks and check the rumour mill for any stories. Kris and Adam, analyse the data and see what you can connect.’ I said, taking a deep breath and looking at Leszek. ‘I need a whiteboard, food and if you could ask the Coven if they know a way of detecting temporal magic? Also, if we can include Nadolny in this, we could eliminate their operations from our results.’

He looked at me, eyebrows raised and blinking in disbelief before he caught sight of the gathered faces. The mischievous smile that lit his face made my heart stutter, especially when this impossible man sent me a mocking salute.

‘Yes, ma’am.’ He snapped out, but before he left to fulfil my wishes, he bent down, kissing my temple gently. ‘You are incredible. I am fortunate to have you by my side.’

His words warmed the depths of my heart. My first step to merging both of my worlds was done, and looking at my friends chatting with their contacts, it felt like I had made an excellent decision.

By the end of the day, I wasn’t so sure of my decision, as tempers had shortened and our initial progress ground to a halt. Still, the whiteboard was full of clues, accidental encounters, and reports. Much to the joy of Damian’s border control colleague, we located a few cigarette smugglers and an underage prostitution ring. We also helped Leszek’s business when we discovered a fake amber factory. Each problem we solved seemed to help everyone but us.

Kamil even went so far as organising a teleconference between all involved parties, then shamelessly lied to Interpol, asking for extradition warrants from the Russian Federation, claiming it was part of an undercover investigation.

I felt something elusive teasing the edges of my understanding, which irritatedmetothecore.

‘You tried, my love. It is not a failure to eliminate other possibilities. Each negative result narrows down the field and saves time later. I’ve been looking for over a month, so it’s alright if we continue tomorrow.’ Leszek tried to cheer me up, but I was angry. So many hours, pins on the board and telephone calls that led nowhere. I even called the tax office because… death and taxes, but I only surprised the poor clerk with my demands.

‘I thought I could give you answers. I feel so useless!’ In my outburst, I hit the board with the map and carefully pinned notes, screaming shortly when one of the pin’s plastic caps broke, and the metal sank into my skin. ‘Fuck! Now what?’

I tried to pull back my hand, but a vision overwhelmed my senses. The sight of an old fort, abandoned except for an archaeological exhibition, blossomed in my mind. The image twisted, moving inside to show a stone table encrusted with shards of amber and covered with the blood of several bodies that were discarded to the side like garbage. When I saw men carrying large unpolished blocks of amber, I knew I was seeingcurrentevents.

When the vision faded, I found myself held in Leszek’s arms while the rest of my team looked at the board with stunned expressions. The papers, so carefully pinned into place on the map, with all their important information, were now ripped and covered in blood, all except for one location.

‘The hill?’ I queried, frowning as not a single note pointed to this place, but Leszek ignored my confusion, grabbing my hand and turning it over to check the wound.

Nina was the first to react, her usual brusque manner only slightly shaken. ‘We have a suture kit downstairs. Damian, you know where they are.’ she said, and my friend obediently ran to fetch one.

‘I don’t have time for this. Look at the map. I know where to find them and why you couldn’t sense Rostov.’

‘No. I need to make sure you are alright first. Then we will see to the map.’ He said, holding me firmly, earning himself an appreciative grunt from Kris while, with a sigh and roll of my eyes, I allowed Leszek to be overprotective, giving myself permission to enjoy it.

‘Well, that’s new. Congratulations. Sara never listened to me,’ Kamil said, and I wondered if he’d developed a death wish over the years because even he should know goading Leszek wasn’t the wisest choice. Before I could open my mouth to shut him down, my lover answered.

‘Thank you. Open communication is important in a successful relationship. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. You’d be in a ditch, unable to even remember your name. Sara is wise, only fighting battles she can win.’ He said before leaning down and kissing the top of my head, whispering in my ear loud enough for everybody to hear it. ‘Can I hex this one, just a little? He is getting on my nerves.’

His teasing made my lips twitch, especially since I wasn’t entirely sure if he was joking, but Damian saved the day, returning with a suture kit and together with Nina, they patched me up, fussing more than I was comfortable with.

‘Have you finished? Can I talk now?’ I asked, irritated at two seasoned emergency practitioners fretting over a minor wound before Nina pointed to the board with an offended expression.

‘If you’re finished spraying blood around like you cut an artery. Adam said blood magic is powerful and can give you control over the victim.’

‘Since when did you become close enough to share educational pillow talk with the vampire?’ I asked, only now noticing she was wearing a turtleneck jumper.

‘Since you saddled me with him, and he refused to leave.’ Nina snapped, and I reached out, pulling the edge of her collar down.

‘Oh, that motherfucker! I’m going to kill him!’

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