by Amy Crook
Julian felt a little overwhelmed at that, being thrown into the deep end so soon, and alone. "Yes, Father," he said, but he sank even further down in the chair, curled around his teacup. Then he sat up straight, dismayed. "Do I have to get purified every day?"
"No, no," said Stephen with a chuckle. "We'll do a very short version where we wash your feet and give you a blessing, but you don't have to do the full..."
"Monty?" provided Alex, winking at Julian.
"I was going to say ritual," said Stephen, but he was amused. "We're also going to be having your Alex help our priests with the new wards at Gainesbury, and so we may get your help there once it's deemed safe."
"Why me?" asked Julian. "I mean, I'm just an apprentice, it'll be years before I have even half of a Master's knowledge."
Father Stephen gave him a thoughtful look, considering the question properly before answering. "You love the Temple in your own way, and you love the plants you're giving into our care, and that is reflected in your talent and the energy you give to the gardens," he explained. "I revisited the Gainesbury Temple this morning, and the water garden glows to my sight with the goodness of the earth."
Julian blinked, then nodded silently. "Thank you," he said shyly, biting his lip for a moment, then nodding again. "I'd be happy to do any work the Temple needs."
Father Stephen smiled. "Good lad," he said. "Your talents are blossoming, and it'll be good for you to keep exercising them."
"He's right," said Alex. "All the work you've done recently has really strengthened your ability and control."
"I've noticed that everything feels clearer to me, and I can feel things farther away and more, I dunno, specifically?" Julian shrugged. "It's weird to try to talk about it."
"Tell me about it," said James wryly.
Julian giggled and felt better. "I guess there's just so many ways to sense magic, it's hard to talk about for everyone."
"Oh, yeah," agreed Geoff. "I feel magic, too, but it's a touch thing and it's... Yeah."
"Yeah," said Julian, and they had a moment of perfect understanding.
Except Murielle, who just rolled her eyes and said, "Magic users."
"Yeah," said Jones dryly.
That set them all laughing, and the topic moved back to the schedule and when Jones would come out, and what Julian needed to bring. Alex was planning to spend the evening at home with Julian's amulet and keep-safe, and he acquiesced to Julian's puppy-eyed pleas that he not destroy it if at all possible.
"It's the first magic I ever did," said Julian.
"Well, the first magic you ever did on purpose," said Alex, kissing him. "No doubt you've been encouraging the plants around your estate for years without realising it."
"Oh, maybe," said Julian. He finished off his tea and set the cup down. "So, who all is coming to dinner? And has poor Alys been warned?"
"We all are, except for the good Father, who is staying here and virtuously continuing his good work," said Geoff with a smirk.
"And I let her know to expect a horde of depleted magic-users for dinner, she'll be ready to feed us pretty soon," said Alex.
"Then we'll leave you to the peace of an empty office," said Julian, standing. "If you're all ready to go?"
There was a flurry of last sips of tea and agreement, and Julian gave Father Stephen a shy hug on their way out, and got a warm blessing-kiss to his forehead in return. He gave one to Alex as well as both Guardians, and then Jones who lined up hopefully and promised to stay for a purification one of the times he delivered Julian, though the first day they thought he might get the honour of ferrying plants around after he'd dropped off his precious passengers.
Murielle had already edged out the door, but Geoff accepted his own blessing with surprised pleasure when it was offered. "We'll win over your detective yet," teased Stephen, ushering them all out.
Murielle shrugged, then came over, looking almost shy. "I guess I never really understood what you're, you know, devoted to here."
"We're devoted to purity of spirit, and harmony with nature, supporting it as it supports us," said Father Stephen, taking her hands. "But most of all we are devoted to nurturing the goodness within each person, and protecting that goodness whenever it might be snuffed out."
Murielle thought about this for a moment, then nodded. "Then I would love to accept your blessing, Father, because that sounds a lot like what we do, but more, you know."
"Spiritual," said the priest, amused. He kissed her forehead and said, "Go in peace and strength."
"Thank you," she said, and the rest of them thanked him, too, and then they let the Guardians lead them back to the car.
They paused to check everything over even here, but soon enough everyone was crowded into the car, with Jacques up front with Jones and the smaller James sharing with Julian and Alex.
"It's a good thing we didn't bring MacLean," said Murielle, amused at the tangle of legs in their shared foot well. "We'd definitely be over capacity with him in here."
"Next time you get to drive your own car," said Alex, mock-crossly.
Julian giggled. "It's not her fault we picked up two big, strapping men." He snuggled up close, since they'd confiscated his earlier blankets in case of contamination, though his clothes had been declared clear.
"You just like the extra body heat," teased Alex.
James chuckled. "It's not the worst way to keep a client safe and well," he said, shifting just a little so he could let Julian get closer. Alex adjusted, too, so that Julian was cradled warmly between them.
"Ooh, I could get used to this," Julian said happily, relaxing into their body heat. He wasn't too uncomfortable, the Temple was kept nice and warm and he'd had the showers and sauna, but that wasn't going to stop him from basking when he was being spoiled so well.
Conversation on the ride home was about mundane things, and Julian let himself relax and tune it out, so much so that he dozed off before they got home. "Sorry," he said with a yawn, waking up as Jones made his way to their assigned parking spot.
"It's fine," James assured him. "You need your rest."
"We won't stay long after dinner," said Geoff. "Jones has promised to whisk us back to the Agency and our cars."
Another yawn stifled Julian's intended comment, which seemed to amuse everyone else, at least. "All right," he said, once he was sure he was done yawning.
Jones turned off the car and asked, "So, how are we going to do this?"
"I'll carry Julian," said Jacques. "That'll be the safest, since Alex hasn't got his flute."
"I can do some magic without it," said Alex, "but you're right, he'll be inside your Guardian magic that way. I'll go ahead and check the wards, and then whistle you in individually."
"You can add us to the wards properly once Julian's in bed," said James. "I'd rather they stayed strong until then."
"But really," said Julian, "this next bit's the dangerous part, between the car and home."
"Right," said Alex. "So you, me, and Jacques will go ahead, and then James will come along after with everyone else."
"And I get carried," said Julian dubiously. "I'm not broken, you know, I can walk."
"You're hardly a burden," said Jacques. "What do you weight, two stone? Three?"
Julian stuck his tongue out, but that seemed to be that, so there was a moment of paranoid eyes scanning the garage for anything out of place before doors were opened and Julian was carefully handed off to Jacques, with Alex following after. The rest of them went about locking up the car while Alex and Jacques hurried them to the elevator, which Alex had used a whistle of magic to call down to their floor.
The doors opened just as they got there, and it was blessedly empty. Julian swallowed, feeling a little tug of something at him, and he whispered, "Hurry."
"I see it," said Jacques, and they piled in and pushed the buttons. Another whistle from Alex got the doors closed without the usual delay, and up they went. Rising up away from the earth seemed to weaken whatever was
pulling at Julian, and he startled when the door opened as they approached.
"Alys, you're an angel," said Julian, too worried to laugh at himself.
The three of them hurried inside, Alex whistling all the way to let Jacques through without pause. The wards brushed away the sensation like pushing away someone's hand that had been tugging at his sleeve, and Julian relaxed finally and wiggled to be set down.
Jacques deposited him on his favourite chair, and Julian kicked off his shoes and curled up, trying not to feel ridiculous as he pulled a blanket over himself. "Thank you," he said to Jacques. "It was a lot weaker that time, but I could feel them trying again." He shivered.
Tea appeared floating in the air in front of him, and Julian took it gratefully. "Will you be hiding until my Guardians leave, Alys?"
"Probably not," said Alys tartly, "but the rest of 'em are on the way up."
"Right," said Julian, chuckling. "Well, you do whatever you need to stay as wonderful as you are."
A plate appeared before him with a sticky-sweet honey cake on it. "You're learning," said Alys.
Julian laughed and pulled the cake into his lap. "I'm trying."
Jacques and Alex were standing by the door, conferring no doubt about this second, much weaker attempt on Julian's magic if not his life. Julian decided to just ignore them in favour of the honey cake and hot tea, and he had them warming his belly by the time everyone made it upstairs and through the wards.
"So," Julian asked, once chairs were brought in and tea distributed, "What now?"
"Dinner," said Geoff, Alex, and Jacques in unison.
"I meant, how are we going to get me out of the flat without that spell coming after me every time?" said Julian.
"I'll fix it into your amulet," said Alex. "Jacques got a look at the spell, and it was my second time listening, so between us we've got a pretty good handle on how it works."
"Which means you can make a specific protection against it," said Julian. He gave a relieved laugh. "I was worried I'd have to stay here forever."
"That won't do," said Alex, kissing his cheek, then snuggling up with him in their chair. "We promised Father Stephen."
"We did?" said Julian.
"Of course, you promised to do the work, and I promised to make sure you're loved." Alex looked annoyingly smug at his own cleverness, but it worked as intended to make Julian melt, so he kissed him anyway.
"I'm worried about this doctor appointment on Thursday," said James, once the kissing had subsided.
Geoff looked thoughtful. "It's for Alex originally, he had some weird spikes in his magic profile when I did his physical, but Julian really does need to be seen by someone more specialised."
"And he probably can't haul all those weird instruments here for a consultation, even if he'd do a house call," said Julian with a sigh. "Well, we'll call him tomorrow and talk about it."
They changed the subject to more mundane things, like whether or not Jacques would be allowed to occasionally use Alys' kitchen, and whether their sneaking in to bathe in the mornings would wake Julian. The brownies had no problems with the Guardians' presence, though Alys and Jacques were still negotiating kitchen rights when dinner was served on floating trays.
Alys had managed to convince the butcher to deliver, and everyone had a lovely rack of lamb beautifully roasted and encrusted with herbs, a pile of mashed potatoes thick with cheese and more herbs, an even bigger pile of assorted summer squash dripping with butter, and a little side salad with crumbled cheese, fresh berries, and Alys' wine-and-honey vinaigrette.
"At least I know your brownie feeds you right," said Jacques, looking pleased. "I'll just sneak in and do a meal or two and some sweets for a treat."
"Alex isn't capable of feeding himself without takeaway," said Alys, though she remained stubbornly invisible.
"I can make breakfast!" protested Alex, but it was weak and no one was fooled.
"Alys makes it better." Julian chuckled and dug into his salad first, making a happy noise at the surprise of fresh herbs hiding among the greens.
"So does Jacques," said James, carefully cutting up his chops and setting the bones aside before starting on his food.
Lapointe was busy tasting a little of everything and making happy noises at all of it. "You guys are lucky all these herbs for strength taste so good, wow."
"The ones that don't get used in potions instead," Alex assured her. "Along with a lot of other things you don't want to know about."
"I have to admit, these young men have strained my ability to use the herbs in ways that don't get monotonous," said Alys, amused. "Creative challenges are good for me, though."
That got her and Jacques talking cooking, and though the conversation was peppered with commentary and compliments from everyone else, mostly they were all too busy eating the delicious meal. Julian was just finishing off his last bites of lamb when there was a knock at the door.
The two Guardians immediately went on alert, and their trays floated to rest on the coffee table, out of their way. "Are you expecting anyone?" asked James.
The knocking was repeated, though this time it was an authoritative pounding that managed somehow to convey irritation.
Alex and Lapointe looked at each other. "Fisher?" guessed Alex.
"We'll find out," said Lapointe. "Can't you check your wards?"
"Oh, right," said Alex with a laugh, and he whistled a complicated little tune so that they could see a faint image against the door of whoever was beyond it. There was Agent Fischer, scowl firmly in place, with Ms. Eberly at his side. "Okay, that's a strange combination."
"Your home is already too full of humans," groused Nat's fading voice. "Let me know when there's less of you."
"I can't help but agree," said Alex. "I don't suppose one of you would answer that? They can't come in unless I open the wards."
"We'll do it," said James, standing and straightening himself, pulling his Guardian medallion out of his shirt.
Jacques followed suit, and they went to the door looking unimpressed and implacable as stone.
Julian had to stifle a giggle. "I always forget they do that," he whispered to Alex.
"They're good at turning it off," Alex agreed.
They hushed at a glare from Jacques, and then the door was opened a tiny bit. "May I help you?"
Fischer's voice carried easily into the room, and all his annoyance with it. "Is Benedict hiding in there?"
"Mr. Benedict is busy. Who are you?" said James, completely unimpressed.
Julian hid his face in Alex's chest and tried not to laugh loud enough to be heard.
"I'm Agent Fischer, and I need to speak with him now," he said. There was a little sizzling noise followed by a curse, as apparently Fischer attempted to shove his way through the door and hit the wards. "Did you just assault an Agent?"
"No," said James, cold and professional. "You attempted to enter a warded private residence without invitation. What do you want from Mr. Benedict?"
Jacques moved so he was looming behind James, blocking all view into the living room, not that there had been much. James was carefully holding the door to show only an unoccupied sliver of the interior.
"That's none of your business," said Fischer, belligerent now. "He's not your Charge."
"That's not for you to decide," rumbled Jacques, pitching his voice low.
"The Temple protects whoever it chooses," said James. "State your business or leave."
Julian wanted to cheer.
"One of our Agents reported he was doing something suspicious outside the Agency this afternoon," said Ms. Eberly, her voice cutting Fischer off. "I collected evidence that seems to be burned hair from one of the victims."
"Oh, for fuck's sake," said Geoff, getting up and stomping over, narrowly avoiding his floating dinner. "That was after the attack, and Alex was doing a spell I asked him to do, to break the tie between the victim and his attacker."
There was a short silence. "What are you doing here, Dr.
Tamlinson?"
"I am seeing to my patient, Agent Fischer, who doesn't need any more of your bellowing when he's trying to recover. I assure you, Ms. Eberly, that Benedict's spell was not only harmless, but Agency-sanctioned and will likely appear on his next invoice," said Geoff.
There was a little bit more bluster, but in the end both agents left unhappy, despite having the information they purportedly came for. "Well, that was stupid and annoying," said Geoff, slipping back into his seat on the couch and tugging his tray over. "Ooh, you kept it warm, th- uh, that's great, Alys," he said, after a bite of his remaining potatoes.
"All in a day's work," said Alys, sounding amused at his near-slip.
Julian sat up and applauded, with Alex and Murielle joining in after a moment. "You guys were all awesome, getting rid of them like that. Thank you."
"It was rather enjoyable," said James with a wicked smirk.
"I wonder, though," said Lapointe, "who it was that 'saw' you doing the spell."
"It wasn't Wu, he wouldn't do that to us," said Julian, referring to the Agent usually stationed at the front door during working hours.
"Plus, I told him what I was going to do," added Alex.
Lapointe sighed, nibbling on a last bit of lamb. "Did anyone go in or out while you were working?"
"Probably," said Alex, "but you know how I am when I'm working. I'd never have noticed."
Julian chuckled. "You really wouldn't have," he said, kissing Alex sweetly. "You're even worse when you're doing spells than when you're just listening."
"Wu might know, though," said Geoff. "We'll bring him some coffee tomorrow and ask."
"He likes treacle tart," said Julian. "I heard him mention it."
"Good memory," said Lapointe, pulling out her phone and making a note. "If there's someone else with it in for Alex, we'll want to know."
"Might it have been, what's his name, Army-something?" said James.
"Armistead?" said Alex. "I don't know, he's very disruptive. I might have actually noticed him."
"He does tend to break your concentration," said Lapointe, sounding amused and exasperated. "But I always thought that was the bickering."
Alex shrugged. "No, there's something about him that just sets me on edge, he's like a background noise I can't tune out." He gave a little shudder, face scrunched up in displeasure.