As Penny was pulling Marley from the car, the front door of the house opened. Zachariah, silhouetted by the light, called, “What’s going on?”
“Marley is sick and wanted to come deliver her germs to you,” said Penny tartly. “It might be magic. Get your stethoscope.” Neath yowled in agreement.
“Sorry,” muttered Marley, clinging to Penny’s arm.
“It’s fine,” said Penny, her tone softening. “It’s just been a stressful couple of days. Zach, can I bring her inside or are you afraid of the plague?”
Slowly, Zachariah said, “Go ahead and bring her in. Settle her in the front room. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”
As usual, Zachariah’s house was over air-conditioned and Marley immediately started shivering. Neath nestled in her lap, but it wasn’t enough. She was so cold her teeth chattered. Penny looked around. “Doesn’t he have any blankets? Or a thermostat?”
“In the upstairs closet,” murmured Marley, but Penny didn’t hear her and started poking around the living room. After a while, a thermal fleece blanket settled over her shoulders and she looked up to see Penny smirking. “Found a cupboard under the end table,” she explained.
Marley said, “I didn’t know that was there.” She pulled the blanket tight.
“Well, you’re probably always too distracted to snoop. What the hell is Zach doing?” Penny went to the archway leading to the main hall and looked down it. “Should I go explore?”
“Please don’t,” sighed Marley. “He has defenses all over.”
“You can protect me.” Penny’s eyes were very bright.
Just the thought made the pain in Marley’s skull surge. She groaned and clutched her head. “I want Finn,” she whimpered. “He made the pain stop.”
“Here comes Zach,” reported Penny. “Best I can do right now.” She stepped out of the way.
Zachariah was holding a rod with a lens at the end, like an elongated magnifying glass. He handed it to Penny and said, “Give that to her.”
“Where are the girls?” managed Marley.
His voice softened. “They’re sleeping, Marley. Miss Karzan, please?”
“What, you’re not getting near her?” Penny said scornfully. She took the rod and put it on Marley’s lap, tucking it behind Neath against Marley’s stomach. It didn’t do anything to make Marley feel better, which was intensely disappointing right at that moment.
“I have two small children to take care of. Getting sick would be a hindrance.” He narrowed his eyes. “Neath, you need to move.”
The cat purred, ignoring Zachariah pointedly.
“Do you want me to help her? I could go back to my reading,” Zachariah told the cat flatly.
Neath licked a paw and then hopped down, remaining pressed against Marley’s legs.
“You’re still too close; you’re interfering with my diagnostic charm. Out of the frame, cat,” commanded Zachariah. Grumbling every step of the way, Neath made her way to Penny, who picked up the big cat absently.
Zachariah focused on Marley and then switched his gaze to Penny. “It’s hard to tell because of your unique circumstances but I suspect whatever she has, ordinary humans aren’t susceptible.”
“Lovely to hear it.” Penny scratched Neath’s ears. “Wouldn’t Marley’s magic protect the kids from dangerous illnesses?”
“That depends on if the illness is virus-like or bacteria-like.”
Penny tilted her head. “You have to explain that for everybody following along at home.”
Zachariah sank into a crouch, still by the entrance to the room. “A bacterium is an ordinary organism. It has an independent lifecycle that sometimes intersects ours poorly. A virus invades with intent to take over; it can’t reproduce itself without hijacking what makes Marley Marley. And Marley is immune to her own magic, and she can’t protect the children from themselves, except in the usual mundane ways.”
“I always hated it when my parents told me they were making decisions for my own good,” Penny complained.
He spared her a glance. “Yes, I imagine you did.”
Marley managed to focus her thoughts enough to say something again. “I’m sure I’ll be fine if I can sleep more. But I wanted to talk to you about Corbin. Corbin. That’s what’s important here.”
“I disagree,” said Zachariah, unperturbed. “Talking about Corbin is always a waste of time these days.”
“How can you say that?” cried Marley, pushing herself to her feet. The rod fell off her lap but since it hadn’t helped her pain she didn’t much care. “You were friends once. He told me how much he respected you, trusted you. But you never cared at all. You don’t care about anybody.”
He stared at her for a moment and then said, as if Marley hadn’t said anything at all, “Put the rod back on her, please. The charm relies on it.”
Penny let Neath slide from her hands and then put her hands behind her back. “Marley, I should go give Branwyn a call. I’ll just be right back,” she said, ignoring Zachariah the same way he’d ignored Marley. She wandered out, passing within a hand’s reach of Zachariah without looking at him at all, which meant she utterly missed his cold look.
He stood again. “Fine. Why are you obsessing about Corbin in your delirium, Marley? He left you; he made it clear he didn’t want you.”
“This isn’t about me,” said Marley, pulling the blanket tight around herself again. Neath came over and started cuddling her legs. “It’s about you. He’s been gone for almost a year. Haven’t you ever wondered about him? You must know something. You were friends.”
He passed his hand across his face, as if he was suddenly tired. “Corbin is barely more than a child.”
“And you’re barely more than a jerk,” said Marley bitterly, fever-drunk. “Maybe if you’d treated him like a friend rather than a misbehaving implement he wouldn’t be in the trouble he’s in now.”
“Um,” said Penny from the hall beyond and then backed into the living room. “It’s her again.”
“How lucky!” said Skadi from the hall. “Not at all where I expected you to go, but still a most pleasant surprise.”
Zachariah stiffened and then whirled around. “Skadi?” he said incredulously. Neath chirruped and bounded over to rub against the back of Skadi’s legs again. “What are you doing here?”
The blond woman pursed her lips. “What, no kiss? I expect better from my old friends, Zachariah.”
“It’s… it’s a bad time,” said Zachariah, and he was hesitant like he’d never, ever been hesitant in talking to Marley. The whispering in her head grew louder, bringing with it the fear of this woman.
Skadi’s gaze travelled to the cat nudging her and then to Marley. “I can see that it is. I’d hoped she would lead me to where I truly need to be, but this will have to do. Soon her magic will become a vector, and I saw from the front porch that you have tiny ones in the house?”
“Sleeping upstairs,” he said briefly, turning to look at Marley, his gaze once again cold and clinical.
“Penny,” Marley whispered. “Penny, get me out of here. Don’t let her touch me, Penny.” She pulled the blanket around her like it was a shield and moved so that the chair was between her and the others.
Penny gave Marley an anxious glance and then moved herself so she was between Marley and the two nephilim. She was smaller than either of them, but there was a solidity to her presence that nobody else had. “Who is she, Zach? She came to Marley’s apartment annoying her.”
“She’s Skadi,” he said simply, like that was enough of an answer. “She won’t hurt Marley.”
“You sure? Because Marley’s got the magic of how people get hurt and look at her. She’s terrified.”
“Marley is immune to her own magic. If she thinks that Skadi is dangerous to her, that’s just a sign of how disordered her thinking is.”
“A sign of what’s disordering her thinking, too,” Skadi observed. “As if I needed any more signs. You see her magic tree, Zachariah?”
“Yes. I see her nodes. I see everything,” he agreed.
“We have to catch her. You must hold her while I do what needs to be done.”
“Penny,” Marley whimpered. “Help.”
Penny looked at her with distaste—no, with concern—with scorn—no! Penny was her friend. She trusted Penny. Even though Penny had been altered once, possessed by something frightening, she trusted Penny.
Even if she’d been possessed again. Perhaps they were all possessed. Changed. Dangerous.
Penny said gently, “Marley, if they can help, I’m going to let them. I’ll be right here and if it gets weird, I’ll stop it. But even Neath wants her to help you, and Neath is always trying to protect you.”
Marley gasped for breath. Her danger-sight activated, skewing wildly, leaving smears of horror everywhere she looked. But Penny was a rock. Penny didn’t change. Marley held out her hand to Penny and Penny took it. Then, as Skadi and Zachariah came toward her, Neath herding them like a small sheepdog, she closed her eyes and reached for her reflection. Its eyes flashed red and green. Then it became her and she was screaming as Skadi’s warm hands came down on her head.
She’d meant to be good. She’d wanted to let them help. But as soon as the blonde witch touched her she kicked and struggled and bit. It didn’t matter. Penny and Zachariah held her by the shoulders and Skadi didn’t flinch from her kicks as her fingers stroked gently through Marley’s hair. She hummed and then sang wordlessly, a sweet, calm song that slowly grew in energy and intensity. It was the song of a reserved soul marching to war. And bit by bit, Skadi’s song and Skadi’s touch rooted the darkness out of Marley’s mind, taking with it the pain, the fever and the fear.
When Skadi’s lips brushed her forehead, Marley opened her eyes. She was completely exhausted, but her head was clear for the first time in a day. Skadi knelt beside the couch she was on.
“Much better, yes? Will we be friends now?”
Marley blinked and looked around. Penny hovered behind the couch back, while Zachariah sat on his heels at her head. Neath curled up on her thighs, her claws tiny pinpricks moving in and out through Marley’s jeans. She could feel the children upstairs, frightened by the noise from below, and she wondered that Zachariah hadn’t gone to reassure them already. “The kids. I woke the kids,” she managed to say. “They’re scared.”
Zachariah stood, his expression changing from contemplative to grim. Then Skadi followed him, her hair rippling as she moved. “Wait, Zachariah.” She pulled him into an embrace, drawing her fingers down the side of his face before kissing him deeply.
Marley watched, bemused, as Zachariah tensed to pull away and then relaxed into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Skadi. I should feel jealous. Didn’t I hate her? But she didn’t hate the blond woman at all; all she felt was a weary gratitude that Skadi had taken the pain away, along with a lingering sense of awe at her hair.
Skadi released Zachariah, pinching his cheek lightly. “We had to clean you up, too, didn’t we? The virus spreads very quickly when there’s physical contact. Now, go see to your children. I will wait and we can catch up.” She gave him a mischievous smile.
Zachariah dragged in a deep breath, looking slightly stunned in a way that he’d never looked around Marley. Then he staggered off to the stairs.
Skadi turned back to Marley and Penny and said, “Ah, he was never such a featherweight before. The cure is dazing.”
Eyes wide, Penny said, “A cure like that? I bet.”
Skadi giggled. “I’ve always wanted to cure that way, but it’s never been right. So. How are you feeling, my little one, besides concerned about others?”
“Better,” Marley muttered, and tried to sit. Skadi caught her arm in a strong grip and helped her up.
“Come, friend, sit beside her. Remind her of all that’s good in the world. The virus makes one forget very quickly.”
“Should I kiss her too?” Penny sat beside Marley, hip to hip, and slipped her arm around Marley’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug.
Skadi laughed. “Only as much as you and she desire, I think.” She looked between the two of them and her eyes widened. “Oh, have I been indiscreet? If it was not, after all, appropriate for me to cure Zachariah that way, I do apologize. We are very, very old friends.”
Slowly Marley shook her head. “I don’t care.” Penny made a doubting noise and Marley looked at her. “I don’t. Not at all. You’d think I would if—” She shook her head again, tiredly. “If he’s happy to see you, please, be happy to see him. I don’t care. I want to know about the virus I had, though. You said it passes through physical contact?”
Skadi nodded. “You touched our friend Corbin, did you not? It moved in then, began its wicked work. You see now, I hope, why I must find him. It is most fatal if not managed closely.”
Marley frowned. “He didn’t seem feverish. His node tree was strange, and his aura, but he seemed… a lot more competent than I felt an hour ago.”
“Oh? This is interesting. I believe he’s passed onto a stage of illness few survive to reach, but that makes it no less dangerous to him or those nephilim he contacts.”
Marley shivered. “I still don’t know where he is.”
Penny squeezed Marley’s hand and said thoughtfully, “I’ll go make that call to Branwyn now.” She went into the hall.
Skadi sat on the edge of the formal armchair. “That’s bad news. We’ll have to discover some other way of finding him.” She hesitated, gnawing on her lip, and then said, “If he contacts you, you don’t need to be afraid of getting sick again. It’s best if you aren’t. Fear will weaken your immunity.”
“How did he contract it?” Marley massaged her hands and then drove them through Neath’s fur, remembering the way they’d burned. It had been the worst when her magic activated at the end.
“He opened the box where it was being stored.” Skadi leaned back, moving her hair aside and crossing her legs.
Penny appeared again. “Marley, could you come here? Branwyn wants to talk to you and make sure you’re better.”
Before Marley could even try to stand, Skadi sprang to her feet again and helped her up, dumping Neath onto the floor. “Go, reassure your friend. But I don’t think you should leave Zachariah’s home yet? I’d like to observe you a few moments more, and judging from Zachariah’s reaction when I was curing you, he would be very distressed if you departed abruptly.”
“No, of course not,” said Marley vaguely, before she realized that Skadi’s words had been half-addressed to Penny. She could see why; Penny was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt like she was nervous about something.
“Thank you,” Marley told Skadi, and went with Penny to the front porch. ”What’s going on?”
Penny responded by offering Marley her phone. She put it to her ear. “Branwyn?”
“Marley! Penny says you’re magically all better?” Branwyn inquired.
“I’m absolutely exhausted but otherwise, I feel much better.” Marley watched Penny twist her hands behind her back.
“That’s good. Rest up. Because I really think you ought to come see Corbin as soon as you can.”
Chapter Nine
Branwyn
Branwyn leaned her head back against the headrest, waiting for Marley to respond. When she only said, “Oh,” carefully, Branwyn knew Penny had managed to keep her from blurting out something more revealing.
“I do know where he is, and I’ll tell you in a while, but I don’t think anybody but you should go near him. I don’t trust this Skadi person.”
“She saved me,” Marley pointed out, her voice subdued.
“Yeah, but who is she? Is she with Senyaza? Independent like Zachariah whom Penny says she knows so well? Corbin’s hiding up here, Marley. He doesn’t want to be found by anybody.”
“Even me,” said Marley softly.
“Well, yeah,” admitted Branwyn. “Technically true. But I’m pretty sure he’ll be awfully happy to see you healthy, all the s
ame. Look, I absolutely think if she can do it, this woman should help Corbin like she helped you. I just don’t think we should send her to him any warning.” She considered and then added, “And I’m not going back in there again.”
“Are you coming home now? Let’s talk more then.”
“I expect so. I may go find Rhianna and shake more information out of her first.”
“Okay.”
“Marley? I’m glad you’re feeling better.”
“Oh my God, Branwyn, so am I. Talk to you later.”
Branwyn hung up and looked at her phone for a moment. The message that had arrived while she was talking to Corbin had been from her mother, not Titanone. She almost didn’t want to play it, because she was tired.
But it was her mother. She sighed and listened to the message.
“Hi, sweetheart. We’ve had the most exciting time this afternoon. Meredith was on the way home from practice and she was almost run down by some madman in a Ferrari. Her bike crashed and she bumped her head and a man brought her home. We think she’s okay. The guy who brought her home has EMT training and he says she’ll be fine. Oh! And you know what? He says he knows you. Says you’re good friends but if he is, you’ve been keeping him a secret. Still, I could see why you might… I invited him to stay for dinner. If you’re not busy, maybe you could stop by and say hi. He says his name is Severin.”
Every ounce of tiredness vanished from Branwyn’s body, replaced by something white-hot. She listened to the message again, trying to decide if her mother sounded normal. She thought about who she could send to her family’s house to intervene. Marley was exhausted; Penny was taking care of Marley. Tarn… William… Simon… there was a good chance any of them would make it worse, not better.
“Fuck it,” she said, and peeled out of the parking lot. If anybody was going to provoke Severin into doing something awful, it was going to be her.
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