Hidden Nature

by S. M. Savoy

  He growled with frustration and repeated, “Don’t kill the fucker!”

  Nelson wisely said nothing.

  A paramedic ran into the room a minute later and handed Charlie a bag. “You’re sure you don’t want help?”

  The man’s anxious gaze scanned Sara’s convulsing body. He took a step forward then retreated to the open door, rising a hand to wipe his sweating brow.

  Charlie was glad it had been a paramedic who ran in as they were neutral to him. He’d feel his aura as evidenced by his hurried retreat but unless Charlie focused on him, he shouldn’t run away in terror. The police on the other hand were likely to react strongly because Charlie didn’t trust them, and his magic would know that.

  Not that he disliked cops. He respected them but they were a threat, and as much as he tried to tell himself they were all on the same team, the magic knew it was a lie. In his heart he knew that police were a danger to him.

  “I need the EPI pen and to take blood samples. Give Paul the stuff.”

  Paul took the bag the paramedic handed him and ran to Charlie. Charlie gave Sara the shot in her thigh and then took a blood sample. She stopped convulsing but didn’t wake.

  Paul said, “My sister has studied first aid. She volunteers in the hospital and with our local volunteer ambulance. Maybe she wouldn’t scare her. She likes Abby.”

  “I’ve got this, thanks. I need her other medicine in her blue bag,” he said, lying through his teeth. He needed them to leave so he could throw a heal on her.

  The paramedic stepped into the hallway and Paul retreated to the other room, returning a few moments later to hand Charlie the small box containing Sara’s vitamins.

  The magic’s panic was easing, the burn beneath his skin lessening, and Charlie was daring to hope.

  He said, “See if they found out anything.”

  Paul nodded and joined the paramedic. The two men spoke quietly but Charlie’s attention was on his wife.

  He spell stole Sara’s heal again. To his immense relief, her temperature began dropping.

  “Get the IV in, Charlie,” Liz said. “She might need more antihistamines. Get another pen. They won’t want to give you one; it would normally kill someone. If you have to steal one, do so.”

  “I heard her,” the paramedic said. “I’ll get you one. Carry a pen at all times if her allergies are this bad.”

  “We didn’t know she had any. Whatever he gave her is causing this. Can you go find out what it was?”

  Charlie grinned wryly as the paramedic nodded and raced away. Fearful Presence was a blessing and a curse, he thought for the millionth time. He wished he could control his aura, but he was grateful Paul at least didn’t feel it.

  Paul said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes with the pen. While I’m down there, I’ll ask.”

  As soon as they were alone, Charlie let his magic loose. It sank into Sara, and he sighed in relief.

  Her eyes opened but didn’t see him and his breath caught in his throat. She wouldn’t survive another fight for dominance with her magic.

  “Please, Sara, fight it.” He closed his teary eyes, leaning his forehead against hers, trying to project his need of her.

  Her eyes closed again. She lay perfectly still under the cold water. The paramedic returned with two more epi pens. He sidled into the room and laid them on the bed. “They found a vial of something, but they don’t know what it is. He isn’t talking. Your friend told the policeman the FBI would be here and would want it at their lab. She looks a bit better,” he finished doubtfully.

  Charlie nodded and lied. “She is. Her fever is down to one-o-six and still dropping, her pulse is more regular too. She’s taking experimental medicine and might need another shot if it spikes again.”

  The normal body temperature of a sun-priest was one-oh-six. Right now, her temperature was a hundred and fifteen. No normal human could survive that.

  “Cancer?” the paramedic’s gaze traveled Sara’s wasted frame.

  Charlie nodded agreement. Cancer and experimental medicine were as good an excuse as any for what was happening.

  “Want us to take her to the hospital now?”

  Charlie smoothed Sara’s hair back. “I promised her I’d never send her to one. There’s a clinic I can take her to. I have a helicopter coming for her. She needs the cold water anyway.”

  “Charlie, her temp is rising, and her heart rate is up. Give her the second shot,” Liz said.

  Charlie glanced at Liz and his heartrate accelerated. Liz was biting her bottom lip and looking scared, not an expression he’d seen much from her. It scared him to see her like that. His fear was now stronger than his anger and the paramedic relaxed slightly as the pressure of Charlie’s aura faded.

  Charlie gave Sara the shot in her arm. “Can we have some privacy here? I’ll call if I need you, and thank you, you saved her life.”

  * * *

  The paramedic nodded and left the bathroom, closing the door behind himself, grateful to leave the room. The man hadn’t done a thing to warrant his reaction and it embarrassed him how afraid he was.

  The man’s friend stood beside the door, making sure no one tried to enter uninvited. The paramedic’s partner joined him there with a stretcher and more emergency gear. He lifted a questioning eyebrow.

  “Not good.” He shook his head. “One hundred and six-degree fever and he said that was better than it was.”

  His partner winced. “Brain damage.”

  “Likely, and it’s a damn shame too. She was very smart.”

  “You know her?” his partner asked in surprise.

  “Not personally, no. I saw the interview on TV. She had two doctorates at eighteen.”

  “They should hang the bastard.”

  “How many times do you think he’s done this?”

  His partner shook his head, his lips tightening.

  The man guarding the door clenched his hands.

  The paramedic eyed him uneasily, but he didn’t inspire the same level of terror as his friend. The guy in that room was clearly on a short fuse for mayhem. He hoped the police had searched him for weapons because he’d been called in on the aftermath of enough fights to see that the guy wasn’t going to just let this go.

  A light flickered and he turned in time to see a fluttering Winged woman appeared. The three-inch figure gestured and appeared to break into black smoke that solidified into a screen that looked perfectly ordinary expect for the fact that it hung in the air.

  “You have one of the new Val thingies? I thought they weren’t available yet?”

  “It’s a prototype we’re testing.” The kid held out his arm to show him the watch he wore. “She helped design it.”

  “It’s much cooler than I thought it’d be.”

  His partner said, “I thought they’d doctored those images, but the screen really does look solid.”

  “It’s a crying shame,” the paramedic said again, shaking his head. He wasn’t surprised to see four officers and three men in black combat gear approach. “I bet he was trying to kill her.”

  * * *

  Charlie sat in the tub holding Sara’s limp body under the cool water and casting her heal every time his Spell Steal was up. The cold water soothed his temper or perhaps it was just holding her close, but whatever the cause, the effect was his rage settled enough that he no longer had to fight the urge to run from the room to kill the bartender. His magic was calming too and no longer pressing for release. Her rash faded and the redness receded as her fever dropped.

  “Turn the water off, Charlie. Get her dry and make her comfortable.” Liz turned to Oz, holding up her crossed fingers. “Let her wake as calmly as we can.”

  Charlie lifted her from the tub and wrapped the towel around her. He grabbed the IV that hung from the shower rod and carried it and her into the other room. The paramedics and Paul waited in the hallway while he dressed her. He left his shirt off so she could feel his sk
in. Her cold wet hair dampened the pillowcase, but he left it as he hung the IV from the light fixture. In her sweatpants and tank top she looked small and defenseless. He had to take a minute to fight his rage.

  A police officer knocked on the broken door and entered without waiting for a reply. “We should move her to the hospital.”

  Paul followed the officer in, frowning anxiously.

  Charlie backed as far from the officer as the room allowed, not liking the way man’s hand hovered over his gun.

  He said, “Paul, show him Sara’s vitals on your wristcomp. A helicopter is coming for her. She’s doing better. The clinic where she receives treatment is preparing for her arrival.” He pointed to Sara’s snow pants in the corner of the room. “I’m sure his prints will be on them. He had her partly undressed before Paul got here.”

  “This is Major Harris and I’m in charge of her medical care,” Liz said from Paul’s wristcomp. “She stays there undisturbed.”

  The policeman hesitated a minute, staring with narrowed eyes at Charlie, then shrugged, bagged the pants, and headed back out the door.

  Charlie heaved a relieved sigh that Liz echoed.

  Paul said, “There’s an FBI team here already going through the lodge, questioning everyone and taking statements. State troopers are on the scene as well as local law enforcement and two news vans.”

  Charlie could hear sirens and see the red and blue flickers of police light in the window. He knew the place must already be surrounded by law enforcement, and while he was glad of the turnout, it would make their disappearance hard to explain if they used a summons to leave— if he didn’t cause a riot first.

  - 3 -

  NOW OR NEVER

  The bartender sweated in the back of the police car. He’d never been so scared in his life and he couldn’t believe the turnout for this. Agents and officers from every branch of law enforcement scurried around the building. That scrawny little nobody was someone important, or maybe the boyfriend was someone important. They’d found her earring in his pocket and were sure to find his other trophies.

  Nausea roiled in his gut. He thought he might’ve killed her. It wasn’t murder. She was only supposed to go to sleep, he told himself, but his mouth was dry and his hands sweaty.

  A helicopter that had been circling slowly slowed even more to hover almost directly over the police car he was in. Black-suited figures jumped straight down from twenty feet up. Heavily armed, wearing face masks and headsets, only their eyes showed. A group of three approached the police car he sat in while others ran off. His eyes widened and he bit lip so hard it bled as they got closer. He’d have peed himself, but her boyfriend had already emptied his bladder.

  The Marines had shown up in force in less than ten minutes. Who the hell were these people? he wondered with dread. I picked the wrong girl. I should’ve picked the brunette.

  One of the black clad men opened the door and leaned in. The bartender shrieked and pressed against the far door. The Marine’s blue-eyed stare was cold, hard, and very intense. “You better hope you spend a long time in jail because the day you’re released is the day you die.” The door slammed, and the men turned away and entered the lodge.

  He believed them.

  * * *

  Paul stationed himself outside the door of Charlie’s room and stopped the FBI agent from entering. He stuck his head inside the door. “Want to use our room, Charlie? The FBI wants to come in yours.”

  Liz spoke from Paul’s wristcomp again, “This is Major Harris, and I don’t want my patient disturbed. Clear the hallway please and we’ll clear the room for you.”

  Charlie waited anxiously as the two agents conferred.

  Liz said, “They’ll go and if they don’t, I can stall them for the few minutes it will take to get the raid there to force them back. Under no circumstances leave that room while agents are in the hall. I want you as far away as we can keep you.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Charlie said tightly.

  Liz sighed hard. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I don’t mean to worry you more, but we really can’t afford for them to attack you. I’m tempted to summon you out but…” she took another deep breath, frowning and chewing her bottom lip. She was opening her mouth to speak when the two agents retreated and both Charlie and Liz heaved relieved sighs.

  Sara moaned when Charlie picked her up to bring her to Paul’s room. “Oh, thank god,” he said sincerely. “I’m right here, sweetheart. Come back— you fight, you hear me!” He grabbed the IV and followed Paul, who let him in. “No one comes in.”

  “I’ll make sure.” Paul planted himself in front of the door.

  Charlie kicked it closed as he said, “I’m here. You’re okay, just a bad reaction to a sedative. You’re safe, completely safe. No one is hurt.” A fresh surge of anger rolled over him. It was a surprisingly liquid sensation as if the anger had form and mass. He could feel it like thick honey coating his body, heating to a hot sticky mass as if it could both help him slid off attacks and pull them in, entrapping them in his rage.

  The strength of his anger blocked whatever she might be feeling. The magic wanted the threat to her dead. It pushed him to become Chief and destroy their enemies. It took a real effort of will to remain in the room beside her instead of breaking the bartender in half and ripping him apart.

  Logically, he knew the man wasn’t a threat to her now— the police had him in custody. Killing him would do nothing, it would be murder. The magic didn’t care about any of that. It wanted the threat eliminated.

  Sara moaned and retched as she struggled to sit. Charlie tried to calm himself, she needed peace, not anger. He rubbed her back and hair and thought about how much he loved her, which did nothing much to calm his anger because his thoughts kept circling back to how close that asshole had been to taking her from him.

  She threw a heal on herself and tried to sit again. Charlie pulled her more upright. “You’re okay, just a bad reaction to a drug. You’re perfectly safe now.”

  “I feel awful. I don’t think I’m okay,” she said weakly.

  He sagged in relief that she was speaking to him, that her magic hadn’t taken her.

  “If I’m okay, why are you so upset? Are you okay?” Her voice rose as her worry grew.

  “Everyone is fine. I’m upset because you were so sick. You had an allergic reaction to a sedative.

  Sara lifted a trembling hand to her brow and licked her lips. “I feel terrible. Did you take some blood work?”

  “Yes, it’s on its way to Liz now. Paul is watching the door. No one will come in. We’re safe and private here.”

  He called his magic out and offered a glowing hand. The hand she held to him trembled badly. His magic was absorbed into her. He stole her heal and used it on her again.

  “I’m so tired,” she murmured as she slumped against him. “You caught who did this?”

  “Paul did. I don’t think it was about you in particular. I think he was just a random pervert. Paul stopped him right away. Nothing bad happened to you except the sedative.”

  “Can I sleep now? We can talk later. I’m so tired...”

  “Yes sleep, I’m here. I’ll be with you.” Charlie tried to concentrate on his love for her, not his worry or anger. Relief made him slightly dizzy or maybe that was just the result of his absorbing so much rage. The hot sticky feel stayed with him even though he knew she was safe now, asleep in his arms.

  * * *

  Andy and Abby found Paul still guarding the door.

  Andy said, “What the hell is going on? Charlie jumped from the ski lift like twenty feet straight down. There’s police and FBI everywhere.”

  “Sara was poisoned and they’re investigating.”

  Abby bit a thumbnail and glanced away as her eyes filled with tears. “Is she dead?”

  Paul put an arm around his sister’s shoulders. “No, but she’s very sick. She was weak to begin with… I’m worried.”

  “Sh
e’s in your room?”

  “Yeah, I have orders to see no one goes in except Charlie.”

  Andy said, “Damn, she was just getting better too. He must be freaking out.”

  Paul shrugged helplessly. His wristcomp beeped, notifying him of an incoming call from Charlie.

  “Paul, she woke and her temp is normal again. She’s still sick, but I think she’ll be okay in time. She’s sleeping now. Can you send someone for some bottled water for her?”

  “I’ll get it,” Abby whispered.

  Paul nodded and waved his sister away.

  Charlie said, “I’ll need to take more blood for testing as well. I’ll need a cooler and some supplies to do it.”

  “Andy will get you what you need; I’m staying at the door.”

  A big man approached. He was dressed in black from head-to-toe, including black sunglasses and he carried a rifle.

  He said, “Beta is here, Chief. I’ll be right outside. The helicopter is ready to move her when you are.”

  Charlie said, “Paul, Harrison is part of our security. He can watch the door. Get the supplies, please.”

  * * *

  Charlie turned off the call to Paul and spoke in the open raid channel. “She’s sleeping now. She woke and was calm. Should I move her, Liz?”

  “This is Doctor Gotlieb; I’m following the call. Stay there, Charlie. If she isn’t panicked to leave, let her stay. She worked very hard to make her magic listen to her, let’s see if it is. Beta can summon you out instantly if it’s a problem.”

  “What are her symptoms?” Liz asked.

  “She said she feels horrible, but you heard that. She’s weak, unable to sit on her own, and her hands shook badly. I’ve given her magic twice. She hasn’t tried to give me any. She’s sound asleep and feels cool to the touch.”

  “I’m watching her vitals from here and her temperature is still dropping. If it goes below ninety-five degrees, get her in a warm bath. I’m calling for a heating blanket right now. Doctor Elliot is on his way to you, but it’ll be two hours before he arrives.”