by S. M. Savoy
Liz tapped the line displaying Sara’s blood pressure. “She needs fluids. If she wakes again, see if she can drink anything. I’m ordering another IV.” Liz paused. “Don’t let anyone inject her with anything. Only you touch her. Her magic could perceive it as a threat and cause another reaction.”
Charlie’s pulse jumped. “Can I use a regular blanket on her?”
“Yes, we want her warm, not hot. Let her feel your skin. Try to remain as calm as you can.” Liz frowned at the monitor showing Charlie’s vitals. “Should I order you a mild sedative?”
“Honestly, I want to say yes, but if this is our magic’s new way of dealing with sedatives, I better not.”
“I proscribe a shot of brandy,” Doctor Gotlieb said. “I’m serious, get him a drink. It should calm him.”
“I’ll bring you something to give him, Harrison,” Lee said.
Charlie checked his HUD for the Scout’s positions.
Lee and Manny were inside. Marcus, Joy, Brenda, and Mike were outside. He debated sending them away, grimacing as he flicked his wrist to close the screen. Marcus and Mike were protection warriors too and likely as concerned as he over their healer. Sending them away might be a bad idea.
He flicked the icon to speak privately to Liz. “I don’t want to cause problems. Is it safe for me to be here?”
Oz grinned and shook his head. “Scaredy cat.”
Charlie rolled his eyes.
Liz huffed a small laugh. “You tell me? How …um… in control are you?”
“I’m pissed as hell!”
Oz winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. Liz patted his hand absently as she reached past him to open a cabinet beside her desk.
She withdrew a blue pill bottle and Oz murmured, “It isn’t quite ready yet.”
Liz shrugged, her lips curving in an irritated smile. “Better than nothing. We need trials anyway if we’re going to perfect it.”
“What is it?” Charlie asked, not liking the expression on Oz’s face at all.”
“A tranquilizer.”
Before he could say no way, Liz said, “It’s really mild. Likely too mild, but when Doctor Elliot gets there, take what he gives you.”
Oz said, “Take it.” He opened his mouth then snapped it closed, gave Liz an annoyed worried glance and said, “I get you’re worried it will knock you out. I doubt it will. We’ve been testing on the other warriors but if it does, you know we’ll keep her safe.”
He didn’t say it, but Charlie knew Oz meant the other warriors would be there and their magic would ensure that Sara was kept safe
The conflict he felt over that must have been clear on his face because Oz said softly, “She’s the priority here and you causing a riot will endanger her.”
“I’ll take the damned pill,” he said gruffly and flicked the screen off. He hated the idea of it. His wife’s magic needed a warrior’s rage and if he couldn’t give her what she needed, it would force her to another. But Oz was right too. This wasn’t about his personal feelings. Exposure might kill them all.
* * *
Paul returned with his brother and the requested supplies and found a woman wearing the Scout uniform already there.
“I better call the school and report we’ll be late returning,” Paul said as he handed Harrison the supplies.
“Master Sergeant Guthrie will handle that.” Harrison took the supplies and opened the door after knocking once. “The police and FBI will need to question both of you. Assume you aren’t going back today.”
Paul shrugged. “I don’t really know anything, but I’m glad to help. How is she?”
“Not clear yet. Her doctor is on the way here. Her psychiatrist recommends not moving her while she’s unaware. Charlie is doing everything possible. A hospital wouldn’t help her, so we’ll leave her here for now.”
Two more Scouts approached and stopped and spoke with the paramedics. Everyone shook hands and the paramedics left.
“The supplies Liz ordered.”
A Scout handed a medium size cooler to Harrison. He smiled briefly at Paul but didn’t introduce himself. He and his partner left.
“Do you know what happened yet?” Paul asked.
“Yes, they think he’s a serial rapist. The FBI found his trophies. He had no idea who Sara is, and he’s denying he was trying to do anything to her. He claims she asked him for help to her room. Charlie’s recordings disprove that. His fingerprints are on her pants; both the button and zipper pull have clear prints. Her earring was in his pocket. Sara was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“He wasn’t trying to kill her then?”
“We don’t think so. We think he drugged his victims and they remained unaware of the entire episode. She was allergic. If you hadn’t been close, he would’ve raped her and left her to die there.”
Paul glowered and spun away. “Jesus, does Charlie know? He must be furious.”
“No, don’t tell him either. We want them both calm for Sara’s sake—” Harrison paused.
Paul narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. “I know she gets sick from stress. I know she’s recovering from a serious illness and is weak.”
“This could be a major setback for her. Too much stress will make her sick again. If Charlie is upset, she will be too.”
“How can I help?”
“Just be a friend.” Harrison slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll want this kept quiet.” He sighed heavily. “I doubt it can be. That man had a lot of trophies. He has a lot of victims out there.”
Harrison was right. The arrest made the national evening news. Paul was watching the late news in the lodge’s lobby with some of the Scouts, his brother, sister, and Hawk.
Hysterical women were calling the police station in droves. The police had confirmed thirty-three victims by eleven p.m. All the women reported the same thing; all had been traveling with a man and waiting in the lodge for the man to do one last run. While waiting, they’d ordered a drink and were woken later by their boyfriends. On waking, most of the women recalled bad headaches. The bartender’s trophies were used to confirm cases.
“And this is just the first day.” Paul curled his lip, gesturing at the television where the news played. “Sara should get a medal. Think how many women she saved from him.”
- 4 -
WHAT PRICE FEAR
Lee called Charlie and repeated what Paul had said. “That outlook might help her, Charlie.”
“Couldn’t hurt.” Charlie agreed. “Paul’s the one who should get a medal though. He ran in the room unarmed to stop him.”
Sara was still sleeping. She’d woken once and vomited but had fallen right back to sleep. Charlie had cleaned her up and reported to Liz.
Doctor Elliot arrived and handed him two small white tablets.
Charlie swallowed them dry, hovering anxiously as Doctor Elliot examined her. He took blood samples and skin scrapings, neither of which woke her, causing Charlie to worry more.
Doctor Elliot said, “I think she’ll be fine in time. Keep an eye on her temperature and stay close to pacify her magic.”
“Why isn’t she waking?”
“She’s recovering, Charlie. She just needs time to get it all out of her system,” Liz said reassuringly. “Because she was so weak, it will take her longer than usual to recover. Keep doing what you’re doing. Hawk is there if you need his aura.”
“I don’t know what she needs,” Charlie said worriedly. “She hasn’t said anything. She just got sick and went back to sleep.”
Doctor Elliot said, “Her temperature is normal now and her heartbeat and pulse are fine. Keep the IV in for fluids until her blood pressure is normal and she’ll be better soon.”
Elliot slapped his shoulder and left the room.
Charlie sat beside her bed, holding her hand, waiting for the pills to take effect.
Sara woke again thirty minutes later. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Charlie had to help her sit, she couldn’t stand or balance herself.
He lifted her and set her on the toilet. “You don’t need to be embarrassed; you’d help me if I needed it.” He held her steady as she used the toilet and carried her back to bed. “Liz says you need fluids. Can you drink some water?”
The water he handed her soaked her shirt. Both hands shook so badly she wore more than she drank. Charlie called Paul to see if he could get her a straw.
He took her hands in his and kissed them as he gave her more of his magic. It was seriously starting to concern him that she hadn’t given him any of hers. “Are you holding your magic in?”
“Always,” she replied tiredly.
“Let me have some, please.”
A weak blue glow came from the hand she held to him. The magic felt different, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He wasn’t sure if it was the pills making him muzzy, although he felt normal if more tired than he should be, or that the contact had been so fast.
“Are you magically depleted?”
“No,” she laughed semi-hysterically. “No,” she repeated more calmly. “I can’t let it out, Charlie. Do you need more?”
She held her glowing hand to his face. This time he recognized the difference. Her magic was no longer eager, it was afraid.
“Your magic is afraid.” Charlie released his completely, letting it surround her in the hopes of comforting her magic. Never before had her magic been afraid like this of him.
“It had better be afraid! I’m in control of me, not it! I’ll destroy it utterly if it tries again.”
Charlie jerked back and grabbed her shoulders. “Okay... Sara, sweetheart, we need to live with it. Both of you need to be happy. Don’t terrify it until it panics—”
“It didn’t mind terrifying me into a panic, or killing our child, or taking half of Alpha while killing me. Let it be afraid!” Sara said viciously.
The magic surrounding him began to whirl faster. His magic was becoming uneasy. Charlie withdrew his magic. They’d have to work this out, but now wasn’t the time.
“Can we go home?” Sara asked plaintively.
“Yes, we can go anywhere you want. There’s a large crowd outside. Do you want a port out?”
“No. We can take the jet. I’m okay. Is Paul mad we ruined his trip?”
“Not at all. He’s worried about you— about us. He says you’re a hero for stopping that man.”
Sara snorted. “He stopped him. That man couldn’t have done anything to me; your magic protects me. All I did was get sick.”
Charlie was surprised by how calm she was. She was angry and unhappy, but not afraid.
“Our Scouts are here. We’ll go back in the copter with them. One or two can stay here to go back with Paul.”
Sara tried to sit up again and couldn’t manage it. “I hate this,” she murmured.
Her frustration and building anger transmitted to his magic, making a cold sweat spring up on his brow. It wanted him to go to her but was afraid. His magic was confused enough to make him slightly nauseous or maybe that was the damned pills.
“You just need time and more water, and you’ll get better.” He stroked her hair, closing his eyes and taking slow deep breaths to quell his nausea.
“I’ll be okay.” Sara patted his hand. “Can you get me my socks and coat? This is so annoying,” she finished bitterly.
Charlie grimaced as her embarrassed frustration morphed to anger.
He let Harrison in, signing for Harrison to stay with her. He said, “I’ll wrap her in a blanket and carry her out. She can wear my socks.”
His magic was calming, and he hoped it meant hers was too.
He said, “Don’t worry about our gear here or checking out or the police or anything. We’re going straight to the helicopter. They know you need medical care. Nobody will stop us.”
Charlie threw on a sweatshirt and put his boots on as quickly as he could. A pair of his wool socks came to Sara’s knees.
“Do you need to use the bathroom or anything?” he whispered.
She flushed and shook her head.
He wrapped the blanket from the bed around her and handed her to Harrison so he could put his parka on. Once in his arms again, he kissed her temple and put his face against hers, letting his magic touch her a moment.
“It’s going to be crowded and noisy out there,” Harrison warned as they headed to the door. “Beta is here, and we won’t let anyone touch either of you.” He held the IV bag over his head and followed Charlie.
The small effort of holding her head up was exhausting her. A sympathetic yawn escaped him.
“Go to sleep, I’ve got you.” He shifted his grip as she tucked her face into his chest more and curled her arms on her chest, letting him take care of her, not holding on at all. She wasn’t asleep, but she was more comfortable and her trust in him soothed his magic enough to calm it completely or maybe it was just reacting to his relief to be leaving— or maybe it was the pills, but whatever the reason it had stopped pressing and he was too tired to be angry. He just wanted them gone from here. He wanted to hold her and feel her breath and know she was safe, that they were all safe.
He yawned again, hard enough to make his jaw click.
Liz said, “Charlie, I want a blood sample from you when you get in the copter.”
Oz said, “How’s the anger?”
“Good, I guess. I just want out of here— and a nap.”
“We’ll work on it but drowsy is better than riots.”
Charlie snorted and nodded at Harrison who opened the door.
Flashbulbs lit in a blinding display when he exited the building. Police held reporters back and cleared a perimeter around the helicopter while the reporters hollered questions. The Scouts surrounded them. News crews followed their progress with cameras from the tops of vans as they made their way to the helicopter in the lower parking lot. Hawk, Paul, Andy, and Abby trailed them.
“Harrison, stay here and make sure Paul gets back okay, please,” Sara said as they reached the helicopter.
“Thank you, Paul,” she said sincerely.
Paul stood in the doorway of the helicopter, biting his lip and still clearly worried. “You’re welcome— feel better.”
Charlie said, “Thanks, Paul. I owe you one.”
Sara closed her eyes, relaxing in arms. Hawk climbed aboard after them and buckled Charlie’s seatbelt for him.
She was handling this well, and he felt better now that they were leaving, but he was worried about how angry she was with her magic.
“Stop worrying. I’m fine. Well, not fine, but I will be.” Sara kissed his neck.
He let himself be angry, glad he could finally release it.
“I’m not fine. I’m so angry. What he did... God, I hope he rots in prison forever!” Charlie clutched her, his magic surrounding them both. Her hand traced his clenched jaw, a light blue mist of magic on it. He wanted all of it, a cloud to match his own. Angry, sad, and confused, he recalled his magic.
She shivered in his arms. “I can’t.”
She cried, not over what had happened, but because she was afraid to share her magic like he needed.
- 5 -
MEETING ON THE MOUNTAIN
Charlie was deep in thought on the flight back to Maryland. It was clear to him that Sara’s wild fear and panic were the magic. Harnessed tightly she remained calmer but at what cost? She’d live in fear of it getting free— or terrify it into a rash action.
“Don’t take us home.” Charlie told Drew who flew the helicopter. “Take us where we made Joy and bring the raid to us. All of them.”
He framed her face with his hands and stared into her teary blue eyes. The wild fear that had filled her in the past was gone. This wasn’t her magic’s fear, but hers and it was all the more gut wrenching to know it. “You’re the bravest person I know. We’ll face them all together and let our magic mingle with
theirs. We can’t go on like this, afraid of touching them, of seeing them. What will be, will be. We can’t be worried every moment of what the magic will do. Whatever happens, I love you. That’ll never change, not ever. If we need to leave them and move away, it’s better to find that out now than worry.” He kissed her cold lips. “Be strong for me now. There’ll be no better time to do this than now while you have control of it.”
She shivered in his grasp but didn’t object.
The helicopter landed on the empty mountainside. He jumped easily to the ground holding her. The fuzziness had faded and he felt alert and well rested.
Hawk followed.
“Hawk, summon them all.” Charlie walked away with her, whispering, “Release it. Let me take care of you. I swear on my soul, I won’t let it keep you.”
With a sob, she did.
The power of her magic pushed him to his knees and flattened the grass in a fifty-foot circle around him. Tingles raced through him. Somehow, he always forgot how powerful her magic was. She kept it so tightly leashed that the strength of it when she let go always surprised him.
A dense blue cloud lit with sparks surrounded him. Her magic greeted him with joy and fear, swopping and twirling around him in thick blue streamers. His magic joined it eagerly. A hum built, felt under the skin more than heard, and he knew the magic was communicating.
He lost track of time sitting with his eyes closed in a cloud of their magic. When he opened them, the raid had gathered. They were watching from the hillside by the treeline ten feet away. Light snow lit by the starlight covered the hilltop. Cold and crisp, the mountain air smelled fresh and clean. Sara’s body was warm against him wrapped in the quilt, but she shivered when he called Joy.
Joy came hesitantly. Their magic loved her.
Charlie took her hand and kissed it. “Release your magic.”
She hesitated, glancing back at Drew. Charlie knew she was worried their magic would change how she felt. He knew what he was asking. But he also knew they couldn’t afford to be afraid.
