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Frowning, he touched his injured cheek, and his eyebrows went up. The skin was whole and felt smooth and free of wrinkles. He saw the young woman move to Henry’s side again. The Satyr was breathing deeply and smoothly once more. The wound on his shoulder was gone. So, the green light was a healing spell- Ikehorn’s eyes widened in shock as he connected the dots. He needed to leave right now.
“We’ll leave him to you,” he said brusquely to the woman and dragged Deslin with him, only pausing for the agent to pick up his gun. They hurried down the stairs and saw a black SUV pull to a stop in front of the brownstone. It was the Valkyrie!
Ikehorn reversed direction and glanced down when his eye caught sight of something out of place. Quickly moving to the debris of the shattered table, he bent to pick up the pieces of an old glass syringe. There was blood on the floor where the syringe had been. Had the Werewolves been after the Satyr’s blood? Why? He tucked the device in his jacket pocket and pulled Deslin to the back of the house and out the shattered back door. They found Heathlane dead, head tilted at an unnatural angle on the bricks below the patio. Ikehorn lifted the body onto his shoulder and pointed to the gate on the back wall. “Magic.”Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.
Deslin smiled and cracked the lock with a quickly whispered spell. They slipped out into the alley and rushed away in the shadows. Throwing their glamors back on, adjusted for the load Ikehorn was carrying. They circled the block to get back to the van and loaded the tools, actually Heathlane’s body, into the back.
Ikehorn had to get to Queen Mab. She needed to know the Satyr was pulling the Global healing magic to him.
As Deslin drove, Ikehorn looked up and gasped softly. The Aurora Borealis? Visible above, even with light pollution of the city? It faded as he watched.
Many disturbing signs tonight.
-=-
As they got closer to Sigrid’s home, they began to notice people out on the street looking and pointing up towards the sky. They rolled down their windows and stuck their heads out to look up. Both were stunned to see the northern lights overhead.
They pulled their heads in, closed the windows, and shared a look.
“Go faster!” Sigrid instructed the driver.
Minutes later they pulled to a stop before her home. Sigrid got out and headed for the stairs as Camila slid over to exit Sigrid’s side of the truck.
The front door wasn’t locked. The first danger sign. Next, she saw the smashed hall table with blood in the splinters. She could see her back door was missing. Something serious went down.
“Meixiu!” she called out.
“Sigrid!” came the reply from the top of the stairs.
As Sigrid watched in stunned surprise, a tall version of Meixiu danced down the staircase like her feet never touched the ground. She rushed up and flung herself against the larger woman’s chest. Sigrid wrapped her arms around the trembling girl. “What happened to you?” she gasped.
Meixiu pulled back and gave her a guilty look. “I was with Henry. I sampled his essence. Too much of it. It changed me. It hurt, and I was frightened!” Then she waved her hands between them to ignore that as a delicate pink tone showed on her cheeks. “He is sleeping upstairs, but there was an attack in the house! Two men broke in and were after Henry. Two Fae followed them in and fought with them and drove them away.”
“The Fae did that? Are they still here?” Sigrid asked carefully.
“No, they left just after Henry healed himself… and one of the Fae.”
“WHAT?” Camila gasped from behind Sigrid who was blocking the doorway, subconsciously protecting her friend. “Sigrid, move inside!” Camila exclaimed in frustration. She pushed past the blond and gaped at the destruction. “Call in a cleaner team. I’m going up to see Henry!” she called out as she dashed up the stairs.
She found Henry asleep on the bed and after inspecting his chest, arms, and head for injuries, lifted the sheet to confirm everything was in working order down below as well.
“What are you doing?” Sigrid asked as she rushed in.
“Just making sure they didn’t injure anything important,” Camila insisted.
Sigrid rolled her eyes and made the call for the cleaners while Camila lifted an eyelid and took his scent.
“Someone drugged him!” she gasped. Looking to Meixiu, she frowned. “He’s deeply unconscious. I don’t know what those men gave him but what did you give him?”
Meixiu looked nervously between Sigrid and Camila. “I just gave him the pills from the bottle on the top shelf, as Sigrid instructed.”
“Did I say top?” Sigrid asked while she tried to remember. “Wait! Did you give him my Oxycodone? How many?”
“Three,” the young woman squeaked.
The two ladies glanced at each other and Sigrid shook her head. “He shouldn’t have reacted this strongly to three. Loopy yes, but I don’t think it should have knocked him unconscious.” They watched him sleeping peacefully for a moment. “I’m sorry Meixiu. I should have just said the acetaminophen. We’ll watch him tonight. He should come out of it soon. I’ll take him to his place in the morning. He can go back to work the day after,” Sigrid decided.
The doorbell rang, and Sigrid rushed away to answer it.
“The Fae, did they mention why they were watching the house?” Camila asked.
Meixiu shook her head. “I am grateful they were. I was upstairs becoming this,” she gestured to her new body. “I could not see or hear, and my body was in such pain from growing. Then it was suddenly over, and I heard gunshots and crashing sounds. I couldn’t walk properly as my body moves so oddly now. It took me time to get downstairs to this room. It was over when I arrived. The older Fae had a badly cut face but after Henry healed him the wounds were gone and he looked much younger! Henry’s wounds were gone too!”
Camila was aware of Henry’s link to the Fae’s globe-spanning healing spell, but she couldn’t mention it to Meixiu. Maybe Henry was learning how to use it for himself?
More concerning for her was the mystery men who broke in to get to Henry. She needed to know who they were. With a nod to Meixiu, she headed downstairs. The team was arriving with tools to do the physical repairs. The broken table debris was already gone, and the floor was mopped clean. She looked toward the back door and saw Sigrid talking to one of the workers. And Roy. She headed back there too.
“Roy? Where were you?” she barked.
The big man frowned as he turned to her. “One step behind, again.”
Camila huffed as she looked into his troubled eyes. They couldn’t talk while the workers were present. Her nose twitched, and she raised an exquisite eyebrow. “Do I smell cat?”
Roy nodded with a small smile. “Weirdest thing. I met some cats who like me. Maine Coons. They’re huge! And fluffy!”
“You gonna get one?” Sigrid asked with a grin.
Roy put a casual expression on his face. “I’m not ruling out the possibility.”
The lights suddenly went out when a transformer on a pole down the back alley exploded in sparks. All houses on the alley were now dark.
“Dammit! What now?” Sigrid growled.
Roy moved to the back door, and they saw his silhouette against the dim light from the next street over. He inhaled deeply. “Not a coincidence. We have company. It’s another kind of feline. Get the workers out the front door. Protect Henry.”
With that, Roy disappeared into the dark alley.
-=-
Mary parked her motorcycle at the end of the block. The vibration of the big bike on the ride had kept her awake, and surprisingly, she felt a little more alert.
She’d followed the redhead from Helen’s place across town to this neighborhood of brownstones. Definitely moving up in the world. She watched him climb the stairs and head inside one of the homes, midway down the block.
She was about to head down the sidewalk when she caught a distinct sound. A scream began but suddenly choked off. Frowning, she looked back down the row of homes to memorize the location of the one he’d entered then she jogged down the lane to an alley that ran between the two rows of homes. Someone had parked a dark blue van a short distance up the alley, and it was bouncing oddly on its springs. Another stifled scream came from inside. That was a cry of pain!
She ran to the back of the van and pulled open the right door as the left had no external handle. A young man with a mop of hair and a thick beard tumbled out into her arms. She caught the terrified look in his eyes, the gag over his mouth, and his bindings. He tried screaming, but something inside the van yanked him from Mary’s grip back into the shadows. His scream cut off with a gurgle and crunch.
Mary stumbled back from the door and narrowly avoided the left side smashing open. In the open doorway was something from a nightmare. Dense black fur, powerfully muscled, enormous fangs and claws, it was crouching in the back of the van staring at her. Its jaws dripped blood and bits of flesh. Its eyes were large and seemed to glow slightly with an inner light. The streetlight reflected oddly off the yellow irises.
Mary’s mouth worked, but she couldn’t speak as the creature unfolded itself as it stepped from the van. It couldn’t be real. Was it an illusion or projection?
“Ugly fucker,” Mary finally managed to gasp out then slammed against the brick wall on the opposite side of the alley to fall onto her back, staring at the sky. She hadn’t even seen the slap coming. Any thought of that thing being an illusion was gone. She shivered as energy flowed back into her body. She didn’t have time to think about that as the beast bent over to grab her leg. Frightened, she kicked it in the chin with all her might with her other foot. It grunted in pain as blood gushed from its mouth.