Frost Bite

by S A Magnusson

  “Thought maybe you’d be looking for that sexy young intern you have working with you.”

  “He’s not all that young.”

  “Come on! He’s younger than me,” she said with a throaty chuckle.

  “You have at him.”

  “Really? I thought he would be just your type.”

  After what I’d seen from Gillespie, I didn’t want anything to do with him. As a matter of fact, the more I thought about Gillespie, the more concerned I was that he was after Kate, and was somehow using me, but that was for another time. For now, I had to deal with this vampire issue. Gillespie had proven he could handle vampires, though, so maybe I should have called him. He, at least, would understand.

  But then, I ran the risk of him trying to figure out why I was so concerned. I wasn’t able to explain that to myself, so wasn’t sure I’d be able to explain it any better to him.

  “Has he been here tonight?”

  “See? You are interested.”

  “Stacy.”

  “He’s not been here, though he’s come with Robert a few times. He doesn’t drink much. Strange coming into a bar and not at least having a beer.”

  “He was in the military. I think he believes he always needs to be ready.”

  “Military boy, now? He has that look, I suppose. Damn, but it makes me want him even more.”

  I turned and grinned at Stacy.

  As I did, the sense of magic bloomed near me.

  It sent a chill through the bracelet, leaving my hand trembling. I nearly dropped the beer and was forced to squeeze it tightly to ensure I didn’t.

  “Are you okay? Almost like you saw a ghost.”

  “No ghost, just…”

  I looked around, searching to see if there was any way for me to make out the magical user, but there was nothing there I could determine.

  Somewhere, within the bar, someone was drawing upon magic—of that, I was sure—and it was enough to leave my entire hand trembling and cold.

  I continued to survey the inside of the tavern, looking for an answer, but there wasn’t anything.

  Finishing my drink, I carried on looking around me. There were several others I recognized from the hospital, and the people with them were excluded as having some kind of magic. There were a few I didn’t recognize, so any of them could have had the hint of magic I was detecting. If that was the case, then where were they?

  “How about another beer?” I asked, sliding my glass toward Stacy.

  She frowned at me. “Jen?”

  “I’m okay.”

  Reaching for my pocket, I focused on the wand, drawing up the sense of anger from within me, the memories that fueled my magic, and let it all flow out from deep within. I held it there, right at the surface, prepared for the possibility I might need to use that magic, and if I did, I wanted to be ready. While I held onto the magic, I noticed something strange.

  One table of nurses got up all at once and headed out of the bar. Most of the glasses on the table remained partially full as if the people decided they’d had enough and it was time to go.

  Something both Kate and Barden had said to me came back to the forefront of my mind. People without magic were inclined to be anywhere else when it came to magic being used around them. It was an aversion, a way of protecting themselves, and something I completely understood.

  Now I was even more certain something was coming—that’s if it wasn’t already there.

  I sat with my back to the bar, continuing to look around, watching as table after table emptied. Most of them did so slowly, getting up and wandering away, but others were like the first, disappearing as a group.

  “What do you make of that, Stacy…”

  As I turned back to look at her, she had retreated to the far corner of the bar, ostensibly wiping out glasses, but seemingly doing anything but paying attention to the others around the bar. For a moment, I had to wonder if she knew what was taking place but doubted she did. Instead, this looked like her own way of retreating, and since she had to work, there might not be any way for her to do it fully.

  All of this was incredibly strange.

  The door opened, and I jerked my head around to see it.

  Barden entered, a long gray jacket covering him, his eyes sweeping around the inside of the bar before settling on me. He hurried over to me and took a seat at the bar.

  “I take it you’re not the only one using magic here?” he whispered.

  “You can feel it too?”

  “I noticed the people leaving and decided I should use a spell to see if there was a reason for it.”

  I looked around, and now only a handful of people remained in what had once been a full bar. At some point, Roberts and his date had disappeared too, which I supposed I should be thankful for. I didn’t want anything happening to someone I worked with, but I also wished I’d disappeared with them.

  “I didn’t intend to come out here,” I said. “I was walking home and thought someone was following me, and rather than lead them to my home, I came someplace I knew would be filled with people. So much for that idea.”

  “It’s a good thought, Dr. Stone. Most of the time, anyone who might be slinging around enough power to be dangerous would go somewhere else, but this might be an attempt to target you.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t fully know. I thought maybe it had to do with you saving that vampire, but seeing as how the Icahrn family released you, I’m not sure.”

  “I saw Jean-Pierre again,” I said, keeping my voice low as I looked around. I didn’t like breaking privacy laws, but in this case, dealing with magic in particular, I thought it necessary. “He was re-hospitalized. Some arrhythmia.”

  “A vampire with an arrhythmia?”

  I nodded. “It’s possible it happened because of the hypothermia.”

  “I understand, but it’s also strange a vampire would sustain hypothermia.”

  “Why?”

  “One of the benefits of their connections is an ability to regulate their temperature. It allows them to blend in. While enough cold might make it so they can’t withstand an attack, I find it surprising they would have any long-term consequences from it.”

  “Someone is targeting them.”

  “I believe that is true.”

  “He said he came to Minneapolis because of you.”

  “He told you that?”

  “He said he came because he needed to find out whether you would pose a danger or not.”

  “I suppose I should take it as a compliment.”

  “Barden—”

  “I had nothing to do with what happened with that vampire, Dr. Stone.”

  I breathed out a sigh and a tension I hadn’t even known to be filling me, began to ease. “I didn’t think you did, but…”

  “But you didn’t know. You don’t know me that well, Dr. Stone, and you certainly don’t know the magical world, so having some suspicion is natural and beneficial.”

  “Jean-Pierre admitted he is on the Council of Elders.”

  Barden looked at me. “He admitted he was one?”

  “Not eagerly. I think he wanted to avoid the topic, but me helping him motivated him a little bit.”

  “I suppose he felt an obligation. Vampires have a strange sense of honor, and it’s one I haven’t been able to fully comprehend. Not that I haven’t tried.”

  “If he was targeted, whoever was doing it might be upset I keep helping him.” Not that I’d had a significant hand in saving him this time; that had been Dr. Alan rather than me.

  “Indeed, what I find most perplexing is how someone would have uncovered that there’s an Elder visiting.”

  “What if it was one of the vampire families?”

  “It’s unlikely many of the vampire families would target one of their own.”

  “I had the sense the Council of Elders sat outside of the family.”

  “They do, but they also are of all families. It gets back to the strange sense of honor th
ey have. As I’m sure you have noticed, vampires don’t attack vampires. They use intermediaries.”

  “What if they did the same this time?”

  “It’s possible—”

  Barden jumped his feet, seizing my arm, and pulling me with him. We headed toward the door, and I didn’t have an opportunity to see if anything had changed. He pulled me outside and held onto my hand as we hurried along the street.

  “What is it?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know. There was a sudden change, and unfortunately, I thought it best for us to remove ourselves from a place where the likelihood of needing to attack would be high.”

  We continued to make our way along the street, moving quickly. I looked around, searching for the sense of whether anyone was following me, but didn’t detect it. It might have been there, but I wasn’t aware of it. Barden moved quickly, his back straight, and the skin on my arms tingled, likely from whatever magic he held at the ready. For my part, I tried to maintain my own connection, ready for the possibility I might need to use magic too, but I didn’t know if I could release it quickly enough. I also didn’t know how long I could hold on to it, and as it bubbled from deep within me, hovering just at the surface, I wanted to let it go.

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked.

  “Not far, now.”

  “Barden? I can just go home.”

  He hesitated, and we slowed just a little as he looked over at me. “You can. There are protections around the condo enough that you would be safe, but I remain concerned about whether someone will discover your location.”

  “Who and what are you concerned about discovering my location? We already know the vampires were able to find me… You’re not concerned about the vampires at all.”

  He shook his head. “I have been troubled ever since the revelation that the paramilitary is active in Minneapolis, and now I’m even more concerned they might be targeting you.”

  “Why would they target me?”

  “For a variety of reasons, but most importantly would be our mutual friend. I worry they might want to use you to draw her out.”

  “Kate isn’t a threat.”

  “Not to you or me, but to them? I fear they would view things quite differently.”

  Would Gillespie do that?

  I didn’t know enough about him to know whether or not he was a danger to me. The idea he would have gone through medical school matched with a residency all because he might uncover some magical plots seemed far too unlikely; yet, what if Barden was right?

  We continue to hurry through the streets, and as we went, I focused on whether there was anything else out there I could detect but came up with nothing. There might be something, but the sense of it had faded now, not enough for me to be fully aware of. I hoped that whatever I’d detected was gone.

  Barden grunted.

  His hand slipped from mine.

  “Barden?”

  “Keep going, Dr. Stone.”

  He had an edge to his voice, and I frowned. “What happened?”

  “Keep going. Get to your home. Seal the door.”

  I took a step, expecting Barden to come with me, but he didn’t. He collapsed, dropping to the ground, and I turned to go back for him when there came another tingling along my skin, the same sense of magic I’d been detecting.

  It wasn’t safe for me to wait.

  My gaze lingered on Barden, and I worried about leaving him, but at the same time, I also worried about who else might be out there.

  “Come on, Barden,” I hissed.

  He didn’t get up. He swept his hand around him, and a dark ring formed. It took me a moment to realize he’d formed the ring with his own blood.

  What had struck him?

  I spun around, looking to see if I could make out anything, but came across nothing.

  “Barden?”

  He lifted his head, and when he did, something slammed into him.

  And missed.

  A protection. That’s what Barden had been placing, but what had attacked him?

  18

  I remained frozen in place, knowing I should run, but not able to muster the courage to do so. I felt terrified, everything in my being demanding I take a step, and then another, but where would I go?

  Gripping the wand, I started to pull it out of my pocket when I realized I couldn’t use it.

  It was Barden’s, and anything connected to him would potentially draw power from him, weakening him even more.

  “Dr. Stone, you need to get running,” Barden said. He was standing again, so I figured that was good, but he kept his gaze locked on the street around him, sweeping his head from side to side. I wondered if he could see something I could not. He had an advantage in that he could detect something with his magic.

  “I’m not leaving you here.”

  “I’m not so helpless.”

  Blood stained his shoulder, and I was jolted into action, the physician part of me getting to work, forcing me to make my way toward him. I couldn’t penetrate the barrier around him, but I was able to look on either side of it and realized something had gone through his shoulder, leaving it bleeding profusely. “I never said you were helpless, but I’m not leaving you. You’re hurt.”

  “I am fully capable of restoring myself.”

  “Yeah? Then why aren’t you doing it?”

  He glanced down at his shoulder, his brow furrowing. “That is unfortunate. It seems someone thought to shoot me.”

  “Let me in and I can help.”

  “Unfortunately, if I let you in, there remains a danger to me in the brief moment I release the barrier.”

  “What about the danger to me in standing out here without the barrier?”

  “I believe I was mistaken,” Barden said.

  “How so?”

  “I suggested to you that you were the target, but I wonder if that was wrong.”

  “You?”

  Barden turned inside the barrier, and pulled out his phone, tapping a series of numbers. “Unfortunately. Now, help will arrive soon, and you do not want to be here when it comes.”

  “I’m not leaving you here.”

  “And I told you I am not helpless.”

  “You need my medical attention.”

  “When this is over, but until then, it is unsafe.” His gaze flicked around him. “Do you remember what I taught you about creating protections?”

  “A circle. You said it concentrates power.”

  “Please form one, Dr. Stone.”

  Though he tried to come off as calm, the tension in his eyes told me he was anything but. Whatever threat he observed worried him, and it left me worried, as well.

  “How?”

  “I would begin with dragging your foot around you in a quick circle. As you gain skill, you will find you are drawn to shoes that will wear easily.”

  I hurriedly made a circle around me, and then looked over to Barden. “Now what?”

  “Now I would have you release the magic you’ve been holding and let it flow into the circle.”

  “I’m not using the wand.”

  He tipped his head slightly. “And I thank you for that. As you have no doubt surmised, using strength through the wand will diminish me. I have no idea what we might face, but I am prepared for the possibility it will be considerable.”

  I focused on the circle that formed. How was I supposed to release magic into it?

  I didn’t know enough about magic to do that, did I? It had been hard enough for me to realize I could use magic, and now there I was, trying to push power from myself outward into this pattern, and…

  As it flowed away, I felt it captured by the circle.

  Strange. I continued to push that pent-up power from myself, letting it roll out from my inner being, hitting the barrier, and from there it solidified.

  “I think I did it!”

  “Excellent. Often the hardest magic is that which is done under pressure, something many mages never master.”

 
“I’ve learned to work under pressure.”

  “I imagine you have. Are you ready?”

  “Ready for what?”

  “For whatever is coming down the street.”

  I turned my attention and didn’t see anything, though there must have been something Barden saw—or detected. I waited, my entire body on edge, and with it came a fluttering sense of nervousness. I wasn’t prepared. I don’t know how I could be prepared, and yet what choice did I have?

  Movement flickered in the distance.

  Barden raised his hand, and with a twist of his wrist, a burst of light exploded, passing through his barrier like a crack of lightning which briefly illuminated the night.

  In that flash, I noted three people making their way along the street.

  “Barden?”

  “I saw them.”

  “What is it?”

  “I suspect that is the paramilitary.”

  “The what?”

  He brought his hand to his shoulder, fingering the wound for a moment before lowering it. Color began to leave his face, and I was distantly aware that the power he was holding onto was fading.

  “The paramilitary. I should have expected this when you claimed your friend was able to assassinate several vampires.”

  “Expected what?”

  “They have made their move.”

  Barden raised his hand, holding it out from him, and I could do nothing more than stand in place. I continued to draw on the power that flowed up through me, the strange sense reverberating within, but there came nothing more than that.

  A sudden fear rose. How long would I be able to hold onto this? If I failed, if I was no longer able to hold onto my connection to magic, would these oncomers harm me in some way?

  Worse, I worried about Barden. I could see his strength was fading, and because of that, he might not be strong enough to withstand another attack. I had no idea what they were using against him, but if he had magical defenses that normally would protect him, whatever they had used had broken through them. How long would it be before they were able to break through the barrier he’d erected?

  Thunder rumbled.

  “Is that—”

  “Help,” Barden whispered.

  With the rumbling, there came a flash of light. Another came. Then another. As the flash cleared, I realized we were no longer alone with these attackers.