by SA Magnusson
“He won’t expect you’ll have had an opportunity to master these spells in the time since you last faced him.”
“And I won’t have mastered them.”
“Which is why you need to train.”
“What happens if he attacks tonight?”
“Then you should stay here.”
“Right. Stay in my condo. Risk John Adams coming here and attacking and harming my neighbors.”
“There are significant protections around this place. I think with the right spell, we’d be able to fortify it even more.”
“You’re welcome to fortify it as much as you want, but I’m not staying here to do so.”
I could tell it irritated Matt, and that surprised me. He’d made passing comments in the past, but none such that I’d believe he’d have any interest in me—not like he was showing now. He had to know it would be difficult for me to do anything with him after what we’d gone through. Then again, maybe he was arrogant enough that he didn’t view it the same way I did. It was possible that to Matt, there was no danger. He had been doing what was necessary, whereas I had been stuck in the middle of it.
“Anyway. I have this list for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of card stock. As he slid it across the table, I unfolded it, realizing it showed both the symbol on some of the coins, and a description for the spell. There were some like the Sleeper which were self-explanatory. I’d seen the effects of the Sleeper before and knew how that spell would work. There were others I didn’t understand. He had notes near them, enough for me to at least get a sense of what the spell might do, though not enough that I was confident of utilizing it effectively.
“How will I know to trigger only one of them?”
“Because I will give you this.” He slid something else across the table that I hadn’t seen resting there before. It was a leather pouch, and I frowned at it, still waiting for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I picked up the pouch, tracing my finger over symbols worked into the surface of it.
“There are protections on it?”
“There’s a barrier around this pouch. I had it designed so you wouldn’t be able to trigger it. I wasn’t sure if it would be effective, but I suspect you tried to trigger spells before coming into the condo, and…”
I nodded. I had tried to trigger them, and I had thought that maybe there was something Matt had done to prevent me from doing so, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all. It had been this pouch.
“If I have the other spells in the pouch, I can ensure I won’t trigger them?”
“I don’t know if you can or not, but I think it should keep the spells safe. I’m sorry it’s not more fashionable than it is.”
It was at least small enough that I thought I could stuff it into my purse and not draw any attention to it. If I did, it would make reaching into the pouch a little bit more difficult, though I didn’t expect I’d need to dig into the pouch and find a spell. If I did, I would be in more trouble than just trying to fish out a coin.
“Listen, Matt. I appreciate the gesture. I can tell you’re trying to help me, but if I’m under attack, I sincerely doubt this is going to make a difference.”
“More than you realize. If you need to protect yourself, having a spell—and against John Adams, it might just be any spell—will be more beneficial than having nothing.”
I wondered if that was true. “I don’t even know what some of these do.”
“I don’t know that you need to.”
“Right. I don’t need to know what these spells will do in order to use them safely.” I scanned the list. “What about this one?” I selected a spell which appeared to be a series of triangles stacked on top of squiggly lines. “This one is called the Stinger.”
“It’s like it says,” Matt said.
“It’s a Stinger?”
“It will give off the effect that whoever is attacked by it will have the feeling of thousands of bee stings.”
“That’s awful.”
“It is what it is.”
“I don’t understand why you would give me a spell like that.”
“Because these are the ones I could accumulate.”
“What do you mean?”
“Without John, it’s been a little bit harder to accumulate the spells we need. We’ve been working at it, but there aren’t as many people who know how to apply them.”
I smiled. “I suspect there is someone you could approach to work with you.”
Matt’s brow furrowed. “I’m not going to him for that.”
“I seem to recall you promising to help him find the weaknesses in his protections.”
“And I have. I’ve fulfilled the bargain I made with him.”
“And that’s as far as you’re going to go?”
“That’s not what I said, but anything more risks revealing secrets of the organization.”
“And we wouldn’t want to do that, would we?”
“We wouldn’t. You’ve seen how effective these spells are.”
I had seen it firsthand. The spells were incredibly effective, especially with someone like Matt who had trained with them and was skilled with triggering them as quickly as he was. It was impressive, to the point where I had been shocked by just how powerful a mere hedge mage could be. Even Barden, an incredibly powerful dark mage, had been surprised by what Matt had been able to do. That was enough to tell me how powerful he was, and the kinds of things we needed to be careful with.
“I doubt Barden would use the information like that.”
“You might doubt it, but I don’t. I’ve been around the organization long enough to understand the threat someone like Barden Leifan poses.”
I found it interesting how much people feared Barden, and they feared the things he could do. While I knew him to be powerful, I didn’t fear him the same way Matt and the members of his organization did. Partly, it came from my time with Barden, and because I had seen how he would go out of his way to defend those he considered under his protection. Partly because getting to know Barden had shown me he was caring, and I had a hard time seeing him the way Matt and others seemed to.
“Anyway, what’s to prevent him from studying these and trying to figure out the key?” I asked.
“I suspect he’s already tried, and has he managed to succeed?”
I stared at the coins for a moment, shaking my head slowly. Barden possessed several of the spent coins Matt had used, his spells drained from them, and despite having access to them, he hadn’t been able to uncover any secret within them. It was possible there was nothing he could uncover, but it was also possible that it took triggering something in the right way in order to gain an understanding of how to best utilize the coin.
“Unfortunately, he has not,” I said.
“Why unfortunately?”
“I’d like to better know how to use these coins.”
“And I’m trying to tell you how to.”
“Fine. I’d like to better know how to create these coins.”
“You’re a hedge mage, Jen. Even if you were able to create a powerful enough spell, it wouldn’t be a lot to store within any of these coins.”
I wondered if that was true or not. If I could use my own power, trap it within a coin like this, would I be able to create a more powerful trigger than I could on my own? When I had overwhelmed John Adams, I had drawn upon power from Barden, and wasn’t sure I’d be able to do something similar again without more power available to me. I had Barden’s wand, and could use that to draw power from him. But even with that, it might not be enough for me to use in certain circumstances. If Barden was drained of his own power, it might be beneficial for me to have access to other sources of magic.
“What about this one?” I asked, holding up one of the coins which had a label on it suggesting it was a Twister.
“That one, when used correctly, will force the target so their arms and legs are tied together.”
“That’s a Twiste
r?”
“Pretty much. There are other names we could call it, but that’s the one I’m the most familiar with. It twists the person so one arm goes to the opposite leg. It makes it harder for them to break free. It’s more of a powerful spell that way.”
“More powerful, or more painful?”
“A little bit of both, I suppose.”
I scooped the coins off the table, shuffling them in my hands, turning one coin over and flipping it to the next. There was a different feel between the different coins, and I suspected that was part of how Matt knew which coin to grab when he was attacking, though I wondered if maybe there was another technique to it as well. It had to be more than just finding them by feel, yet he might have a way of slotting them so he could keep track of where they were. Then again, I suspected Matt had far more types of spells than he had given to me. I had about a dozen, and I dragged my finger along the page, counting them out. I had more coins than that, but many were duplicates.
“What’s the key to triggering them?”
“That, Dr. Stone, I think you should be able to do very well. The key is finding something within yourself in order to trigger it.”
“The triggering part I understand. It’s the directing the spell that I’m not sure I do.”
“You remember what it took for you to target the statues?”
I nodded. “You told me to focus on John Adams.”
“Well, this isn’t any different. When you want to trigger one of these spells, you trigger them the way you have triggered anything else, but at the same time, you focus, holding the image of the person you intended to target within your mind.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much. These are for hedge mages. You don’t have to be a gifted magical practitioner in order to use them.”
Some of the magic Barden had been trying to teach me was far more complex. He was having me work with different specialists, thinking that eventually, I would come up with someone who could help me master my magic in a way which made sense to me. Considering how many people Barden had working with him, I suspected he was right. Eventually, I would find someone who would be able to help me master my magic, but I had yet to do so.
The spells they were working on with me involved a more complex coordination. There was something to them I had yet to master, and try as I might, I hadn’t been able to uncover the key to working through them.
“What if I were to use a spell on top of the coin?”
“Triggering it is a spell,” Matt said.
“But it’s not a spell with much control.”
“That’s the point. It doesn’t have to be.”
“Humor me, Matt. What would happen if I used a spell with more control within it?”
Matt wrinkled his brow as he considered. “I suspect you would be able to change the nature of the spell.”
“You suspect?”
“To be honest, Jen, I haven’t tried. My training has involved being able to trigger these spells. That’s the hardest part for us. Well, for most of us.”
It might be hard for them to trigger the spells, at least at first, but then they also had a different level of control over them once triggered. Matt had been able to use power quickly enough and with enough control to be able to battle an elder vampire. Not only battle one, but hold his own against him.
There was a knock on my door, and I glanced down at the coins. I hesitated, though I knew I shouldn’t. Matt was giving me something meant to protect me, not make my life harder, and yet the intent behind them looked as if it would. If I had to use them, then it meant something had happened that created a challenge I didn’t want any part of.
I couldn’t complain about it.
Scooping the coins off the table, I stuffed them into the pouch. Zipping it closed, I glanced at Matt. “Don’t come outside until I’m gone. After that, you can let yourself out.”
Matt looked at me as if he wanted to object, before finally nodding.
I made my way back to the door, getting my purse and stuffing the pouch inside, and ran my fingers through my hair. I looked behind me briefly, and didn’t see any sign of Matt in the kitchen. I hoped he would do as I asked and not try to pop out to cause problems for me.
Pulling open the door, I smiled at Brad. He had on a nice shirt, buttoned all the way to his neck. Most of the time, Brad would have a few of the buttons open, but since his injury, I suspected he wanted to keep it covered. He wore jeans, and I was thankful I didn’t feel out of place for how he had dressed.
“Hey there. Are you ready, or did you just want to stay in and finish those modules you needed to get done?”
I smiled. “I’m ready. I think a night out sounds fantastic.” As I stepped into the hall, sealing the door behind me, I couldn’t help but catch a fleeting glimpse of Matt suddenly appearing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. It troubled me that he would be there, but even more troubling was the possibility that John Adams might be out there, after me, and interested in something.
I didn’t like the idea I’d be in danger, but also wasn’t about to stay holed up in the condo due to the possibility he might cause trouble.
As we started down the hall, the slight cool along my wrist suggested someone was using magic near me, and I prayed it was only Matt.
4
Morning came quickly and I awoke to a strange alert, one it took me a while to realize came from my phone ringing near me.
Why would my phone be ringing at this time of the morning?
Rolling over, I nearly crushed Lucy who lay on the pillow near me. She barely bothered to move, seemingly annoyed I would dare disturb her sleep. I grabbed for my phone, looking at the number, wondering if it might be Barden or someone similar, but that wasn’t who was calling at all. It was a different number, a far more familiar number.
“This is Dr. Stone,” I said, answering it as I recognized the hospital as the caller.
“Stone. Thanks for answering.”
“Well, you called,” I said, recognizing the voice of Dr. Locks.
“Not everybody answered. We need you to work today.”
I glanced at my clock. It was a little after seven o’clock. Roberts and I had stayed up talking for some time. He had left sometime after one o’clock, giving me a chaste kiss on the cheek, something that had surprised me. Maybe just as surprising was the fact that I had wanted more than just a chaste kiss on the cheek. Then again, I didn’t know what Brad would be up for at this point. I preferred more than six hours of sleep and had counted on having most of the morning to sleep in, before getting up and giving Matt a call to figure out what he wanted me to learn about these spells. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as if I would have that day. As a new attending, I didn’t think I would be able to refuse a request to come in and help. Then again, I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to refuse.
The difficulty I had these days was trying to figure out the balance between how much of me wanted to practice medicine and how much of me wanted to understand magic. My friend Kate had struggled with that as well, and ultimately, had embraced her magical side. She had been gone for over a year, long enough that were she planning on returning, she would have by now. There had been a connection between us, a bond formed by the way she had restored me, healing me when I had nearly died. But our bond had faded, and I no longer felt the connection to her the same way I once had.
“What happened?”
“You were here yesterday.”
“The power outage?”
“The same. We haven’t managed to get our power back up, and we need to get patients in and out of the ER as quickly as possible. That means as many attendings on board as we can muster.”
I suppressed a groan. There were plenty of reasons I would have been content going into work but heading in and dealing with the sweltering heat again wasn’t one of them. I wasn’t sure I could tolerate it.
I could refuse. No one would be the wiser if I simply said no thanks and ref
used to go in, and I could even make up an excuse as to why I couldn’t work. It was a scheduled day off, after all, but I hated to do that to them. Besides, I wondered if Brad would get called in too. If he went in and I didn’t, it would look bad.
“Let me get dressed and I’ll be in,” I said.
“How long do you think you’ll be?”
“I don’t know. Half an hour?”
“Thanks.”
I hung up the phone, glanced down at Lucy, and stroked her fur for a moment. “Sorry, girl. It looks like you’re going to be on your own again today.”
She rubbed her face against my hand, almost as if she understood me. There were times when I was convinced she did, but I knew it had to be my imagination. There was no way a cat could understand me.
It took me a few minutes to get dressed, after I rinsed off quickly in the shower, knowing it would be the last time I’d feel clean for a while. I got a breakfast bar, chewing on it quickly before looking around the condo, and took my purse before I headed out.
Once outside, the heat struck me immediately. It was so uncharacteristically warm, the weather unpleasant in a way that left me miserable, and I dreaded the experience I was going to face when I got in.
By the time I reached the hospital, a trail of sweat had already begun to work down my back and between my breasts. This was going to be awful. The ER wasn’t any cooler. There was a humidity here, and an odor that was a mixture of medicinal and sweat and another funky stench I couldn’t place, one that almost was enough to make me turn around and head back home. At least there, I had the advantage of a cool room, the promise of TV, and the opportunity to take a nap when I needed it.
After tossing my purse in my locker and locking it up, I headed out to the nurses’ desk. I found James, a younger ER nurse, sitting in my spot. His eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet.
“Dr. Stone. I didn’t know you were working today.”
“It’s okay. I wasn’t planning on it, but it sounds like it’s all hands on deck.”
“I think they were hoping it would be, but they haven’t gotten hold of too many other people.”