Heat Stroke (Hedge Mage and Medicine Book 3)

by SA Magnusson

  “I’ll think about it.”

  It frustrated me we weren’t able to do anything for him. Half the time, with guys like this, the hardest part was getting them into the ER. Now we had him here, and we were unable to do anything to help.

  “Do you have any kids?”

  “Two.”

  “How old are they?”

  “My oldest is sixteen, and just got her license. She’s not a bad driver, but you know how sixteen-year-olds can be. My youngest is fourteen.”

  “Don’t you think your kids would want you to have your heart looked at?”

  “Playing the same angle as my wife, huh?”

  “I’m not sure what angle your wife played, but I’m just suggesting you think about them.”

  “Fine. Where is the nearest alternative ER?”

  “Where is home for you?”

  “Edina. I was coming through here, and my wife told me we had to stop.”

  “So, she’s out in the waiting room?”

  “She should be, or she might have waited in the car. It was pretty hot in that waiting room.”

  “There is a hospital over in Edina you can go to. It’s not so far away, and the drive will not be that critical. I can even call over there to let them know to expect you.”

  “Fine,” he said, finishing buttoning up his shirt.

  After calling the other hospital, explaining the situation and giving the details on Mr. Stevenson, I suppressed a sigh. Were they all going to be like this? It was going to be frustrating if everything was this difficult. Hopefully, we could move some of these patients out of here more rapidly.

  As I was heading toward the ambulance bay to find out if Brad had made any progress, I noticed a surge of cold along the bracelet.

  Magic. Shit.

  Why wasn’t I surprised? And worse, why was there the sense of magic now? Something was taking place here, and maybe it was nothing more than a desire to try to draw me out, though I had a sense there was more to it than that.

  I paused, focusing on the sense of magic. I turned slowly in a circle, and pushed power out from me, surging into my bracelet, and hoping it would allow me to determine where I detected the source of power. There had to be something there I could determine. As I focused on it, using the bracelet and my connection to it as a way to try to uncover what other power there might be, I felt a surge of magic again. This time there was a distinct location to it.

  Releasing the circle, I held onto power, using that to surge through the bracelet. With it, I continued to trail after what I sensed. It was different from just a single spell, and I checked my phone for a moment, making sure it wasn’t Barden somehow trying to alert me he was here. But I had no message from him. That meant it wasn’t Barden.

  Had there not been the situation yesterday, I wouldn’t have headed toward the sense of magic, but I didn’t want anyone else to suffer because of me. If I could prevent someone from getting injured, then I was going to do it.

  The sense of magic brought me to the back of the emergency room. It brought me through the hall where the injured had been—and might still be. I focused on it, searching for whether or not there was anything I could uncover, and as I walked, I reached into my pouch, checking for spells. The Paralytic was the first one I would use. At least with the Paralytic, I suspected the person I used it on would still be able to talk. That, above anything, motivated me. I wanted to know who was attacking and why.

  Another burst of power came, and I crept further along the hall, readying the need to blast through my coin. Whoever was here used power, and their level of power was dangerous.

  It was almost too dark to easily see, and I wished I had more light. There was a way for me to use a spell to brighten things up, but now wasn’t the time to experiment, especially not if I was going to need my power in order to ensure I was safe in an attack here.

  Another surge came, and I reached the back door to the emergency room. From here, it would lead me into the hospital itself, and I frowned. Why someone be using magic within the hospital? If there was, they had to be trying to make a point to me.

  Stepping into the hallway, the hospital was completely darkened, too. It was strange walking through the hospital without any illumination, the same way it was strange making my way through the emergency room without any additional light. At least in the ER, I was familiar with it, having spent a lot of time here. I knew my way around even in the dark, but the rest of the hospital was different. I didn’t have that same familiarity, and without it, I was at a disadvantage. Whoever was out here, triggering whatever spell they were using, was in a better position to react. It took all my focus to hold onto the connection to the bracelet, and I didn’t dare release that, because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to reconnect to it. Holding onto it, I found I wouldn’t be able to create any protection. My best bet would be to trigger an attack before someone got to me.

  I was cautious as I made my way through here, not wanting to reveal my presence too soon. There was an advantage to me remaining hidden, to others not knowing I was even here. The moment they discovered my presence, I would be in danger of an attack.

  The sense of magic continued to surge. I thought I was heading in the right direction. It looked as if I was. From here, it shouldn’t be much farther. The sense of power continued to build, and I held onto it. Whatever caused it was nearby.

  I paused. I could practically feel the presence of the magic nearby. It was enough to make me hesitate, and as I did, I waited for the next attacker, but there was nothing. And then the sense of magic faded.

  Pulling out my phone, I punched in a quick message to Barden. If nothing else, I wanted him to know what was taking place and that there was another potential attack here. Furthermore, I wanted Barden to know the loss of power at the hospital had to be magically induced.

  Now I had to figure out how. After I did, then we could figure out why. Whatever John Adams wanted was tied to me, and yet I still had no idea why he would want me involved. What could he think to gain by drawing me in? It wasn’t as if I had an advantage—not compared to some.

  I reached the end of the hall. There was a door leading to the outside, and a small patio. As soon as I opened the door, heat wafted toward me, heat the inside of the hospital had managed to withstand for the most part. I didn’t feel any sense of magic like I had before, so I had to wonder if maybe I was mistaken. But then, I knew I wasn’t. I had detected something—though why here?

  I wandered around the courtyard, pushing out through my connection to the bracelet, searching for something—anything—that might help me understand why I would pick up on power out here.

  I found it at the center of the patio. It was subtle, and I think had I not been holding onto the power through the bracelet, I might not have even been aware of it. As it was, even with that connection, I wasn’t sure what it meant.

  Set in the middle of the patio was a small coin. Yet, it wasn’t really a coin. It was only something that reminded me of a coin and the type of spells Matt and the others from the organization used. I didn’t recognize the symbol on it. It was a spell, but I had no idea what the point of it would be. I was tempted to try to power through it, to send a burst of magic through it, but if I did that and was wrong, I could end up causing more problems than I solved.

  As I stood there, feeling the effects of its power here, I felt as if I needed to release that power. If I was wrong, what harm could I truly do? There was enough damage within the hospital already, and we had already experienced enough trouble with the attack.

  I made a circle, using it to draw more power, I shifted the way I pushed power out of me, and sent it into the coin. As it did, I triggered it.

  Unfortunately, triggering it wasn’t completely effective. The coin resisted my effort, and I continued to push, drawing more and more power; as I went, I could feel the coin was trying to push back against me. With every passing moment, with every heartbeat, I felt that if I failed at this, the hospital w
ould remain under attack, there would be no power, and it would all be my fault.

  Such thoughts sank me deeper into helplessness, and as they did, they gave me even more strength. I latched onto that sense of helplessness, diving deep within it, and pushed outward. It overwhelmed the spell, and with a pop, nothing more than that, the spell neutralized, the power within it faded, and I released my hold. Approaching the coin, I crouched down near it. It wasn’t supposed to be here. I dug underneath it, prying it free, and when I did, I found it popped out fairly easily.

  That couldn’t be good. There came a crackling, a rumbling, and the patio started crumbling.

  Shit.

  I ran back toward the hospital, pausing at the door, standing there as I did, watching as the patio basically turned to dust.

  That was my fault. There was no way it was anything other, which meant triggering the spell had somehow caused it to happen. Somehow, I needed to find a way to counter a spell without triggering it.

  I suspected Barden would have a way. It was time for me to get real help here.

  12

  By the time I got back into the emergency room, there was a certain sense of calm around everything. Brad found me, and he smiled. “We should have everyone evacuated,” he said.

  “The ER is closed?”

  Brad nodded. Looking around, he took a deep breath. “It’s strange. ERs aren’t supposed to close. We’re supposed to be there for people night and day, 365 days of the year. We aren’t supposed to close.”

  “We didn’t have a choice. There’s nothing we could do.”

  “I know, doesn’t make it any better. It just feels… wrong.”

  “Are they going to call us when things get back up and running?” I asked.

  “From what I can tell, the plan is not to reopen until we have full power back.”

  “Not even reopening when we have the generators back up?”

  “I think admin doesn’t want to risk having them go out again. We still have patients on the unit, but that’s up to them to deal with.”

  Here I had been concerned about the ER only and hadn’t put any thought into the fact there were other patients here, and they all ran the same risk of danger. Regardless of what we did, if we weren’t fast enough, and didn’t have enough luck, some of those patients might not survive. Many would be on ventilators, and while they had a battery backup of their own, those patients would need to be moved, too. These were the less critical patients, but how long were they able to wait?

  “This is a disaster,” I said.

  “I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before. They told us we can go.”

  I could tell there was something in the way he said it that he wanted me to go with him, but I wasn’t sure I could. I thought I needed to stay and figure out if there was anything more I could do. There might not be anything, but the fact I could detect magic, and I had found this last spell, suggested something more needed to be done.

  “Why don’t you go home, and I’ll stop over later,” I said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m going to see if any of the ICUs need any help.”

  “That’s what the administrative team is for, Stone.”

  “Weren’t you telling me I have basically shown I want to be a part of the administrative team?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t think you were taking me seriously.”

  I grinned at him. “I haven’t been, but they might need help. Even if it’s just moving patients, that’s something I can do. You, on the other hand, need to go and rest. You pushed yourself too hard yesterday, and I’m not sure you should have even agreed to come in today.”

  “Today was my regular shift,” he said.

  “They shouldn’t have had you on so many in a row so soon.”

  “I’m doing fine, Stone.” There was irritation in his voice, and I realized I should be more careful with him. He didn’t need me to baby him, the same way I didn’t need him to protect me.

  “You’re right. At the same time, I’m right, too. You go home. I’ll call you later.”

  I was a little worried Brad wouldn’t go, not that I wanted him to go other than I didn’t want him involved in any potential magical attack. He didn’t need to get caught up in that, and until I knew what was taking place, and what role I had in it, I preferred sending him on his way, let him get home, and hopefully be safe from whatever the Shara might attempt.

  “You know what, Stone?”

  I hesitated, worried I had upset him. That was the last thing I wanted to do.

  “I think Hennepin General is lucky to have hired you.”

  “Aw. You better save that sweetness for your girlfriend.”

  “I’ll make sure I do.” He took my hand, squeezing it, and headed out.

  The emergency room was empty, and I ducked into one of the rooms, realizing it had housed the nurses who had been attacked the day before. It was empty now, but there was still some of the stench. Had Matt healed them, or had they ended up getting admitted and hospitalized? If they were here, then I still needed to find them and see if there was any way I could help.

  Punching in Barden’s number, I waited for it to ring, tapping my foot anxiously.

  “Come on, Barden,” I whispered.

  He didn’t answer. If he wasn’t going to answer, then how were we going to find the other spells around the ER?

  Not we. Me. And I would need to call Matt.

  Hating that it came down to this, and that I had to rely on him, I tapped in his number, and he picked up on the second ring. Why couldn’t Barden have done the same?

  “What is it?” Matt said quickly.

  I told him about the power outage and the other spell, then asked, “Hey. Did you heal the nurses who were attacked?”

  “I did what I could. I think I got there in time. I was able to reverse the effects of almost all of them.”

  “Almost?”

  “There was an older guy, nearly dead, and I don’t know I was able to do much for him.”

  “What you mean, he was nearly dead?” I suspected he was talking about Scott, but as far as I knew, Scott was fully dead, not just nearly.

  “One of the things these spells do is a change the metabolic rate. Don’t ask me how. As far as I know, it’s complicated, and as you know, when it comes down to magic, there aren’t always easy answers as to what happens. Your guy wasn’t quite dead, though it won’t be long before he is.”

  Well, bumblefuck.

  Now I had to find the additional spells involved, and also figure out if anything could be done for Scott. If he was nearly dead, anything I needed to do would have to be quick.

  “I think I’m going to need your assistance here,” I said.

  “I’m a little bit busy.”

  “Going after the Shara?”

  “You need to be careful about how you say that, Dr. Stone.”

  “Think they’re monitoring my calls?”

  “I’m sure they are. It’s what I would’ve done if I were still after you.”

  “Well, considering you’re not, let’s just do what we can to make sure they aren’t a threat. And I have a sense whatever they’re doing is causing general disruption around the hospital.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of one of the spells I encountered.”

  After telling him about it, he whistled softly. “That could explain what’s been going on. Do you need me to come join you, or do you want me to get answers?”

  “Can you do both?”

  “Give me fifteen minutes with my guy. If I can’t get anything out of him, I’ll come for you.”

  I was sure I wouldn’t like what he was going to do to get that information but decided now wasn’t the time to pass judgment. “Will you be able to find me in the hospital?”

  “I should be able to. I can track you the same way I would have otherwise.”

  I didn’t know if I should be bothered by that or not. I chose not to be, thinking if nothing
else, it was probably for the best Matt could find me.

  When I hung up, I wasn’t sure where to start. The generators came to mind, but I didn’t know where to find them. The hospital was large and finding something like generators designed to provide backup power in the unlikely event we lost our main power was not something I was sure I could do. Would I even recognize what I was looking at if I found them?

  Then there was the fact I had told Brad I intended to try and help the ICU patients out. I still wanted to, and yet, I wasn’t sure whether that should be my first priority or whether it should be figuring out if there was any way to disrupt any spells around the power supply.

  As I was considering, a surge of cold came.

  Another spell.

  That couldn’t be a coincidence. Whoever was here, and whyever they were here, was tied to whatever they had planned. I worried about the nature of their plan, and whether or not I could disrupt it. They’d started with the main power, moved onto the generators, and now it seemed as if they were focusing on the foundation itself.

  Of course.

  I raced out of the ER, not bothering to summon power through my bracelet to try to detect where it might be coming from. I knew. I reached the stairs leading down into the parking garage, and once there, I paused. Only then did I try to determine whether or not I could come up with any sense of power flowing through the bracelet and use that to determine whether there was magic near me. Power surged, and I waited, focusing on it, straining to see if there was anything more.

  I reached into my pouch, taking another Paralytic, and had two ready just in case. I didn’t know if it would be needed, but preferred to be prepared. I stepped out into the parking garage. As soon as I did, the sense of magic surged along my wrist, blowing through the bracelet.

  I held onto the Paralytic, looking for signs of whoever might be here. There was somebody nearby.

  The hospital had mostly been evacuated, and the only people here would be people still trying to help with the evacuation efforts. I doubted anyone would be down in the parking garage, and if they were, it suggested they weren’t here for the right reasons.