Frost Bite

by S A Magnusson

  Barden took a seat on the sofa across from me, and I opened my eyes to see him settling back, crossing one leg over the other. “Most don’t believe the vampires possess any magic. And perhaps they don’t, not really.”

  “I felt the way Donovan influenced me.”

  “You met with Donovan?”

  “Didn’t I tell you?”

  “Not before now.”

  “Is it important?”

  “Donovan Icahrn is one of the oldest of the vampire elders.” He took a deep breath, uncrossing his leg and leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He clasped his hands together, fixing me with an intense stare. “Has Dr. Michaels told you about the various vampire families?”

  “I know there are several, and within Minneapolis, one is predominant.” I couldn’t remember more beyond that. It hadn’t seemed important.

  Barden nodded. “Yes. In Minneapolis, the Vangalor family tends to reign, though in other cities there are different families with far more power. As the Mage Council understands it, there are three primary families including the Vangalor, Siren, and Icahrn families, though there are smaller ones seeking power.”

  “They aren’t with the others?”

  “I wish I could explain it more easily, but unfortunately, it’s in an area where my assets don’t generally have the most reliable information. The vampires are difficult to dig into, as I suspect your experience would help you understand.”

  I could only nod. Would I have been able to withstand the vampire influence without the sense of Kate in the back of my mind? It was a gentle reminder, nothing more, that had helped me find a sense of peace, and a resolve, allowing me to resist the same thing the vampire had been trying to do to her.

  “Many of the vampires have an element of persuasion, I suppose you would call it. Some are more impressive than others, and with some, the effect is so subtle you aren’t even aware they are using it upon you.” He waited for me to offer him confirmation, but I didn’t know I could. I’d been aware of the influence, however distantly. Barden shrugged. “Others, typically the younger vampires within the family, are blunter with their touch. They aren’t able to manage anything nearly as powerful as some of the more potent—and older—vampires. With age comes experience, I believe the saying goes.”

  I laughed softly, not looking up. “There you go again.”

  Barden chuckled. “Yes, I suppose that did sound a little more seductive, didn’t it? Regardless, each vampire family has their own set of gifts.”

  “And the Icahrn gifts?”

  “Unfortunately, I’m at a loss to provide more information there, either. We know something about the Siren family, but not nearly as much as we’d like. They have shown an ability to hear and smell that rivals the shifters, and I’m not certain they have the same persuasion as the Vangalor or Icahrn families, but then again, they do manage to seduce their familiars, so there must be something to it.”

  “When they had me, he was trying to convince me I could become a vampire.”

  “That is what most familiars desire. Some come by it naturally, willingly going to the vampires, seeking them out, thinking they will be granted great gifts if they only agree to the vampires’ demands, but others go to the vampires because they have no choice. I am uncertain whether they would go if they did have a choice, or if the power of persuasion would be too much for them.”

  “I managed to fight it.”

  “You did, but seeing as how you and I share a certain connection”—he tapped the side of his head, smiling slightly—“I wonder if we have an advantage others would not. It’s possible if you’d been there longer, they would have managed to overwhelm even our friend Dr. Michaels and her powerful protections.”

  We were silent for a moment and I couldn’t help but remember the seduction Donovan had tried to use on me. Barden was right. Any longer and it likely would have worked. “I wish she were here.”

  “You and I both.”

  “She can connect to us.”

  “I think she does so only in times of great need.” Barden frowned, his brow furrowing as he appeared deep in thought. “The only times I have truly detected her presence have been when there was some great uncertainty or a great need on my part.”

  “Why would you have great need?”

  “You would accuse me of being emotionless?”

  “No, I just would accuse you of not having any great need.”

  Barden smiled. “Dr. Michaels has been gone a while, and given the distance, and how rarely I am aware of her presence, I suspect she has crossed over the Veil.” He hesitated, looking at me. “Has she helped you understand what the Veil is?”

  “It’s a protection between this world and another.”

  “It is. The other world is one of magic and power. In the other world, the fae rule, but there are other creatures, many of them far more dangerous and deadly, and all of them far more magically gifted than we are on this side of the Veil.”

  “From what Kate told me, the Veil exists as a barrier to protect us from those beings.”

  “That is my understanding as well. The mages, the shifters, and the vampires all have a role in maintaining the Veil.”

  “What would happen if it failed?”

  Barden chuckled again. “I have considered that possibility as well, especially in the days since Kate began to operate. There have been times we thought it would fail. As far as I can tell, the danger in the Veil failing comes from the ease with which the beings on the other side would cross. We are most familiar with the demons as they are the most likely to cross, and so the Mage Council has trained archers to deal with them. Other beings are known to cross, though it takes considerable strength on their part to do so, and in order to generate that strength, they must sacrifice something of themselves.”

  “They kill themselves to cross the Veil?”

  “Not quite like that. They sacrifice part of their magic.”

  “What would happen if we crossed the Veil?”

  “I have crossed the Veil, and found my connection to magic was different.”

  “Diminished?”

  “Not diminished. Just… different.”

  Something about the way he said it told me Barden still sought answers. I knew he couldn’t be pleased with the idea of not knowing something, and he wouldn’t like there being a power he couldn’t reach.

  “I’m going to have to understand my connection to magic, aren’t I?”

  “I’m afraid you are, Dr. Stone.”

  “How?”

  “To begin with, you will need to learn spells, and the more you study, the more you learn, the more powerful you can be. It’s like your medical training, I suppose.”

  “That’s not entirely true.”

  “What part?”

  “The part where you say I will become more powerful,” I said. “If I’m a hedge mage as you have described me, there will be a limit on my strength. At some point, I will reach my capacity.”

  “Possibly.”

  “Possibly?” I asked.

  Barden only shrugged. “Few hedge mages have any kind of formal training. Most have a faint and distant attachment to magic, and because of that, they never really understand the extent of the power they could control.”

  “I doubt I’m going to get any formal training.”

  “Even if it means saving your life?”

  “Are you offering?”

  “I am willing to work with you, but I might not be the one capable of teaching.”

  “Why?”

  “As you’ve seen, there are two types of mage magic. There is what was once known as Mage Council magic, a type of power that seems to come from the Seelie fae, and there is the Dark Council magic, power that presumably comes from the Unseelie fae.”

  “Presumably?”

  “That was Dr. Michaels’ understanding, and it was logical enough that I believe it to be true. Either way, if you possess Mage Council magic, I might be able to help you understand
some aspects of your abilities, but there will be a limit to how much I can teach. In that case, you will need to ask one of the Mage Council to work with you.”

  “Does it matter which type of magic I have, based on the wand?”

  “I don’t think so. What matters is you have a connection to magic. Otherwise, the vampires wouldn’t have been able to use the wand, and we have seen all too well what they are capable of accomplishing with power like that.”

  Was that what I wanted? I thought about the idea of using magic, learning how to perform spells, understanding the world in a way I didn’t at this point, and I couldn’t deny some part of me felt a thrill at that idea. At the same time, it was mixed with fear. I still hadn’t even finished my medical training, had to continue my fellowship, and needed that experience because I wanted to be a good doctor and had to keep working at it. Then again, in order to know what was going on within the magical world, I might have to work at that, too.

  “Why did they want the Elder Mark back?”

  “That is something we must understand. Do you still have it?”

  “I don’t know. They seemed to think I did when they took me, but when we got to their vampire hideout, I didn’t have it. Why do you think it matters to them?”

  “If it’s from an elder vampire, there are many possibilities. Unfortunately, those would be difficult for me to know without better understanding what exactly they were after. And if you have the Mark, we must protect it.”

  “What will they do for it?”

  “Why, Dr. Stone, you have already seen what they will do.” He leaned toward me, the tips of his fingers pressed together. “It appears they will kill for it.”

  7

  I found it difficult returning to work after what I’d just been through. How had Kate managed to do it so many times after dealing with as much as she had? All I’d faced was a terrifying vampire, while she had dealt with the warring between the two Mage Councils, a crazy shifter of incredible power, and her mother, who’d wanted only to take power for herself. Through all of that, Kate had barely missed any work.

  The bright lights of the emergency room forced me to stay awake. A steady hum seemed to come from the lights themselves, but more was taking place this morning than just the hum of the lights. The emergency room was busy, and I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Sometimes, remaining busy was a surefire way of making the day pass rapidly. Other times, there was a danger in being so busy that exhaustion set in. I wondered what kind of day today would be.

  Shifting my white coat, stuffing my stethoscope into its pocket, I stepped into the first room of the day. I had glanced at the track board and saw a patient had come in with vomiting. It was a common enough occurrence, and considering the woman’s age, there could be a dozen different causes.

  I flashed my best morning smile, stepping up to the bed. The pale-skinned woman lying on it looked ill, wearing the grimace of someone who was suffering. She had the covers pulled all the way up to her chin, and the heart monitor showed a tachycardia, but it was a normal rhythm. Her blood pressure was good, and her oxygen saturations were normal as well.

  I glanced at her wristband, noting her name and making sure it matched the description in the chart. Tammy Price. “I’m Dr. Stone, one of the attending doctors here.” It was easier to refer to myself as that rather than a fellow, as few patients understood what that meant. Besides, I technically was an attending. “I understand you had some vomiting?”

  Tammy nodded. “The last two days.” She didn’t open her eyes, and she swallowed back what I presumed to be bile.

  “Has it been constant, or has it come and gone?”

  “It’s pretty constant.”

  “Any—” I almost asked if there had been any pain, but one of the residents—Dr. Gillespie, I realized—came into the room, and I turned to look at him. “Ms. Price, this is Dr. Gillespie, one of our emergency room residents. I’m going to let him work with you, and I’ll observe.”

  Matt flashed a smile at me. I could have handled it differently, and perhaps I should have, but at the same time, I wasn’t supposed to be taking cases from the residents. Dr. Allen had made it clear I needed to be a better teacher.

  Matt stepped up to the bed, leaning toward Ms. Price. “Hey there. Like she said, I’m Dr. Gillespie. I’m going to help you with the nausea you’ve been having.”

  “I don’t care who helps me, I just want it to go away.”

  “I hear you. It’s got to be pretty awful to have nausea like that. You were telling Dr. Stone you’ve had it for two days?”

  “Two days. And it won’t go away.”

  “Have you had any pain with it?”

  Abdominal pain could certainly cause vomiting, and certain types would be worse than others, including things like appendicitis. I had worked up enough appendicitis experience over the three years of my residency to know most sufferers came in with abdominal pain as their presenting symptom, but not all of them. Some came in with nausea and vomiting, complaints far more difficult to get to the bottom of.

  “My whole stomach hurts.” She rubbed across the front of her stomach, and Dr. Gillespie nodded.

  “Is there any point that hurts more than others?”

  She shook her head. “The whole thing. It hurts worse when I throw up.”

  “Of course, it does.”

  He pressed on her abdomen, watching her face. I watched him, unable to help but feel a little bit impressed with the way he worked. He was only an intern, and most of the interns we had there were good. Hennepin General was one of the best emergency medicine residency programs, so we typically only got the best residents, something Kate had made a point of reminding me in those moments of self-doubt, but it usually took years to develop the kind of bedside manner Matt seemed to have so easily.

  “Have you had any fevers?” he asked.

  “No. No fevers. Just the—”

  She sat up suddenly, her whole body contorting, and she started to retch. Matt grabbed the plastic emesis bag, and pushed it in front of her face, giving her something to keep from throwing up all over him or the rest of the bed. He waited as she continued retching, though nothing really came out.

  “Is that what it’s like?” he asked.

  “Most of the time.”

  “You were saying you haven’t had any fevers?”

  “No fevers. Just the puking.”

  “Any chance you might be pregnant?”

  She cocked an eye at him and shook her head. “Not much.”

  “It’s just that I’ve seen women who don’t know they’re pregnant, and vomiting in pregnancy can be pretty rough. It’s why we haven’t given you anything to help the nausea quite yet.” He tapped on the IV tubing, his gaze following it all the way to the IV bag hanging above her bed. It was nothing but saline, to help with the dehydration from ongoing vomiting.

  “Yeah? How many women who don’t fuck men do you see coming in pregnant?”

  I stifled a laugh, and to his credit, Matt merely shrugged it off. “Does anything seem to make it better?”

  “Yeah. Standing in the shower.”

  “Is that right?” He pulled his stethoscope off his neck and listened to her heart and her lungs before moving on to her abdomen. He paused there for a moment, moving his stethoscope around before pulling the earbuds from his ears and slinging the scope back around his neck. “Have you ever had anything like this before?”

  “Don’t you even look in my chart?”

  “I do, but I want to know from you.”

  She closed her eyes again, shaking her head. “I had this about three months ago. And you residents, and you attendings,” she said, glancing up at me and almost spitting out her words, “told me it was just a virus. Well, it’s not a virus if I keep coming in with the same thing. And I knew it wasn’t one,” she said, a little smugly.

  “You’re right. It’s probably not a virus if you keep coming in with the same thing. I’m just trying to get a sense of what you
have been experiencing so I can help you feel better.” He flashed a smile, and I smiled to myself. He was good. “I’m going to run a couple tests and we’re going to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Does that sound okay?”

  “Just make me feel better.”

  “That’s my plan. I want to make you feel better, so like I said, I’m going to have the lab come in and draw a couple of vials of blood, and when it’s done, I will come back and talk to you about the results.”

  “Fine.”

  “One more question.” She cocked another eye at him. “When was the last time you smoked marijuana?”

  “A couple of days ago. Why?”

  “Just trying to be thorough.” He smiled, patting her hand for a moment before stepping back from the bed. “The lab is going to come in next, and after that, we will get some information. I should be back in to talk with you in less than an hour.”

  “Fine.” She closed her eyes, turning to the side so she wouldn’t have to look at either of us. Matt started out of the room, and I followed.

  Outside, he glanced at the door for a moment. “Probably cannabinoid hyperemesis, but you figured that already.”

  I blinked, watching Matt for a moment, trying to be careful with my expression. I’d heard of cannabinoid hyperemesis but was unsure I’d have jumped to that diagnosis as quickly. He had known to ask about marijuana, something I might not have done. “Make sure she’s not showing any signs of renal failure or dehydration, then check back with me.”

  He nodded at me, then turned to the computer on the wall and began to enter some orders. I turned away. It was times like these I missed having Kate around. She understood my insecurities and was often able—and willing—to help calm me when I got to the point where I was second-guessing my own abilities. It didn’t help I’d recently experienced something that brought me so far out of my comfort zone, it felt like I didn’t even belong in the world.

  I needed a moment to collect myself, and in order to do so, I had to get away from there. Heading to the lounge, I took a seat on one of the sofas. Most of the time, I didn’t linger in the lounge, not the same way others did, but today felt different.