Healer's Magic

by Teagan Kearney

  The shaman laid his hand on the patient's forehead. "This one is fighting. Unlike the others, he hasn't surrendered. With some help, he may have a chance." Changing Sky took a large spray bottle from his backpack, and handed it to her.

  As with the ritual she'd performed for her aunt, she spritzed the room with water mixed with sage and cedar oils to cleanse the space.

  One vamp starting coughing and a couple of the others sneezed as the room filled with fragrance.

  Tatya stood by the end of the bed, holding the shaman's small drum, while Changing Sky positioned himself by the head.

  As he chanted, Tatya concentrated on maintaining a beat to accompany his rhythmic chant, watching him through half-closed lids. Within minutes, the soft whir of machines had faded and Changing Sky's voice, pulsating with power, filled the room. As she watched him work, his Spirit Guides, faint at first, solidified and became visible.

  Tatya stared in awe at their splendor and became aware of an inner response. Voices whispered in her head and images of women swaying, and a cup being put to her lips, rose before her inner eye. Changing Sky's voice became louder, dragging her back to the present. She forced the memories away. Now wasn't the time; not when lack of concentration might jeopardize Changing Sky's anchor to this world.

  As the shaman methodically stroked the air, his totem feathers in one hand, and rattle in the other, three effulgent spirits emerged from within him, flowing in and out of the patient's body. Tatya faltered, hypnotized by the sight in front of her, and struggled to focus on maintaining a steady beat.

  An old man led the three spirits, wearing a knee-length white cotton wrap tied around his waist, his body and headband decorated with beaded necklaces, wildflowers and feathers. In the middle, a fiercely beautiful woman with waist-length raven hair wore a cloak of white feathers that shimmered as she moved, and last but not least, a warrior wearing a magnificent, full-feathered war bonnet and a breechcloth with leggings, holding an immense bow and quiver completed the trio. When they exited the young man's body, straggling swirls of crimson and black smoke materialized, twisting upward before vanishing.

  The vision took her breath away, and Tatya lost awareness of time and place as her existence narrowed to the rhythm of the drum and the swaying movements of Changing Sky's arm as it rose and fell in time to the beat.

  Suddenly the youth's eyelids flickered open.

  The shaman held his hand up and Tatya slowed the beat and stopped drumming.

  The young man stared at them, his pale blue eyes dull, uncomprehending. "Where am I?" His voice was cracked and hoarse from the livid bruising around his windpipe, and he pulled at his restraints.

  A nurse hurried in, and her chin dropped as she realized her patient had regained consciousness. "Oh, my! I'd better get the doctor," and she rushed straight out again.

  "He'll remember nothing," Changing Sky said as he packed away his paraphernalia. The nurse returned with a doctor and two orderlies. The vamp guards leaped out of the way, their gazes averted, as the shaman and Tatya left.

  "That was a miracle," she said awed by Changing Sky's power to heal as they descended in the elevator to Vanse's domain. "I saw your Spirit Guides during the healing."

  "Ah!" he responded. After a few minutes, he asked, "What forms did they take?"

  "An old man led them. He reminded me of you, but his hair had more gray than yours. Next, came a woman wearing a beautiful embroidered white buckskin dress, and a cloak of white feathers. The last one was a warrior in a war outfit carrying a huge bow."

  "The first is Qaletaqa, an ancient Hopi elder. He is one of our Guardians. Meoquanee is a famous Cherokee warrior princess, whose name means Bringer of Blood. The warrior is called Otaktay. He has killed many, many men in battle. Was his quiver full of arrows?"

  "Yes."

  Changing Sky grinned, and for a moment her mentor, powerful with knowledge, became a boy. "They are here to aid us. The ancestors can't wear their true shapes, but take these forms so we can see them. You have guides within you, Tatya, and you must learn how to gain their help."

  More hazy images floated before her inner eye. Flickering torchlight in a cavern, a ceremony, and a blood-red drink, but the memory was blurred and floated out of reach, failing to become clearer.

  "Yours will come to you when they are ready," said Changing Sky as the elevator pinged to a halt. They exited to find themselves in the middle of a crowd of vampires standing around and glaring threateningly at no one in particular.

  Every single hair on her body stood on end, and the bitter taste of bile filled her mouth. "Aunt Lil!" Tatya tried to push her way through as anxiety and foreboding fed her fear. She made little progress in elbowing the milling vamps out of the way till Changing Sky took the lead.

  Holding up his hand, he cleared a path for her in no time.

  A furious Vanse guarded the door to their suite. Anger boiled off him and his pupils flared red and gold. He didn't even flinch at Changing Sky's rapid approach.

  "What's wrong with my aunt?" Tatya clenched her jaw and forced the tremor out of her voice as she opened her shields. She failed to sense her aunt's aura. Instead, something made her flinch back sharply.

  The door opened and two of the most muscular vamps Tatya had ever seen, hefted an unconscious Sean between them, half-lifting and half-dragging him out of the room by the arms.

  Vanse moved to block her line of sight, but he was too late.

  She saw what he was trying to hide—her aunt lay spread-eagled on her back on the floor with a pillow across her chest. She wasn’t moving.

  Nurse Shelby crouched by her side, sobbing.

  "Tatya, stop." Vanse's arm barred her way.

  "Let. Me. In." Tatya spoke, enunciating each word with care. A curtain of icy serenity dropped and separated her from her emotions. She was detached, hovering above herself and felt nothing. She was an observer, watching this tragedy unfold.

  Vanse stepped aside, and Tatya, entered the room, with Changing Sky close behind.

  Nurse Shelby's crying lessened. "I must report this." She mumbled between sobs. "I'll bring a doctor."

  As the nurse passed her, Tatya's aura prickled. She glanced at Vanse, but he seemed not to notice.

  "What happened?" She spoke in the same tone as if she was asking about tomorrow's weather. None of this was real. None of this touched her. She knelt and stroked her aunt's face tenderly. Aunt Lil couldn't be dead because her skin was warm to the touch. She was napping, had tried to get up and walk, but fallen. Any minute she'd open her eyes, look up at Tatya and smile. "Silly me," she'd say.

  "The woman…" Vanse spoke guardedly as if any harshness or sudden noise might shatter her composure.

  "What woman? The nurse?"

  "Yes. The guards heard her screaming. She tried to stop him, but by the time they came in, Sean had smothered her."

  She considered his words, turned them over and examined them. "You're telling me that Sean killed my aunt?"

  "Yes."

  "Are you sure that nurse didn't do it?"

  "Yes. Certain, because when the guards heard her screams and rushed in, Sean was still holding the pillow over her face."

  The ice shifted and cracked. She closed the gap; she needed to control the raw volcano seething underneath.

  "Well, thank you for giving me that final picture of the two people dearest to me," she snarled at him as her control wavered.

  "If you want," he hesitated.

  "If I want what? A funeral ceremony? A cremation? You'll arrange it for me?"

  "She has not been dead long," said Vanse, his voice low. "I can turn her."

  "You're offering to turn my aunt into a vampire? So she can become a murderer like you made Sean?" Sean was her friend. She knew him, knew his heart. He wouldn't do something like this. At least he wouldn't have, not before Vanse turned him. Vampires had killed her parents. Now her best friend, a recently turned vampire had killed her aunt. She stared up at Vanse.

  He flin
ched under her gaze and looked away as her disgust flared.

  Her grief shattered into a million pieces, and an incandescent ferocity boiled through her, vaporizing her control. Her skin heated and sparked. Tormented since she woke that morning by the ordeals of her past lives, her simmering hatred of vampires raged through her body and stoked her pain. She couldn't believe he'd said those words.

  Vanse stood silent, avoiding eye contact, as he waited, ready to accept her decision.

  Without hesitation, she opened the cracks wide, releasing control, her shields dissolved, and power saturated her body, filling it to the brim. She exulted in the intensity of the force she wielded. She saw and reveled in the red-gold glow of power emanating from her hands and skin. Vanse was to blame for this. He should share some of the pain.

  "Tatya! No!" Changing Sky's voice resonated with elemental power, and before she could act, he stepped in front of Vanse, raised both his hands above her head and with a sweeping downward motion, drove her power into the earth.

  Chapter Nineteen: Sean

  Tatya waited, kneeling by her aunt, and holding her hand, her emotions on hold till a doctor arrived and declared Aunt Lil’s time of death. She watched as medics arrived and took her body to the hospital morgue until a proper burial could be arranged. In the meantime, Vanse moved her to another suite and settled Changing Sky in the one next to her.

  Changing Sky sat with Tatya long into the night while she ranted. How could Sean, her Sean, have lost his mind and smothered the woman who'd taken him into her heart and her home? She hated Sean. She hated Vanse. She hated all vampires. She cried and ranted again until Changing Sky made sage tea, and she slept.

  When she woke, she looked around the unfamiliar room, wondering why she wasn't in the same room as her aunt. Then she thrust her fist into her mouth to stifle the scream building at the back of her throat. Tears poured down her face at the memory of Aunt Lil on the floor. Her gut knotted as disgust for the entire vampire species flooded through her. She clasped her talisman and swore she would have her revenge. Tightening control over her shields, she waited till the wave receded, then shut down and locked every wisp of emotion that threatened to unbalance her behind mental doors.

  She'd no sooner showered and dressed—not in the least surprised to find her new wardrobe transferred—when she heard a knock on the door.

  "How are you?" Changing Sky studied her face.

  She looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze. He could read her too easily.

  "Corwin has called another meeting."

  "I'm not going. What's the point?"

  "The point is, you might persuade Vanse to let you see Sean."

  The previous evening she'd badgered the vampire master about seeing Sean and asked had he said anything that might explain his actions? Vanse refused to say or answer her questions and told her they attended to their own. Since then, the link had been inactive. She was sure he was deliberately shutting her out, but she had to talk to Sean and find out why he'd gone berserk. Her Sean hadn't even hurt flies but shooed them out of the greenhouse instead, so this sudden transformation into a killer was incomprehensible. She couldn't let it go and had to understand why.

  Tatya quickened her pace to keep up with Changing Sky as they followed the escort sent to bring them to the scheduled meeting.

  The vampire shot frequent worried glances behind him as he endeavored to maintain a good distance between him and the shaman.

  "Do you have any idea where they've taken Sean?" she asked. Twenty-four hours had elapsed since her aunt’s murder.

  "They won't tell us. They consider discipline and punishment of their own a private business."

  "Can't you find out?" What she meant was scry.

  "I could, but that would be impolite. We are guests."

  Tatya left the subject alone and mulled over the question of how to finagle a visit with Sean. Fixing on this immediate goal focused her thoughts, and saved her sliding into the black pit of despair waiting, like an old friend, at the edge of her consciousness. Emotions she'd worked through after her parents' death resurfaced and needed to be dealt with yet again—but later, after this whole affair was behind her. For now, her emotional well-being wasn't a priority.

  Tatya and Changing Sky were the last to enter the room she thought of as the ballroom. Corwin, Bellamy, Bryson, Vanse, and the same vampire lords from the last meeting ranged around one end of the huge table, and the latecomers seated themselves in the two empty chairs between Corwin and Bryson. Tatya noticed that even though allied with the shaman, the vampires stayed as far away from him as possible. If the choice was theirs, they would have talked via video conferencing—anything to avoid being near to his shamanic power.

  Vanse sat opposite her.

  Tatya allowed his attempt via the link to test her mood and eyed him with indifference. She'd do whatever was necessary to see Sean.

  "I'm calling this meeting to order." Corwin's brisk announcement focused everyone's attention. "Bryson."

  "The last of the doctors, nurses, and patients were, as of 2200 hours yesterday, evacuated." Bryson's tone was as clipped as his hair. "We have our own medical team on standby to deal with any patients who re-awake." He turned to Changing Sky. "And thank you for returning that young man to sanity. We couldn't get any relevant information out of him."

  "When will your guys arrive?" Corwin studied the major, waiting for his response.

  Bellamy's pen hovered over his notebook.

  "Our units are small in number. Until now, we've never had a situation on this scale, so more troops and volunteers are being organized. I believe the first is on its way, but the logistics involved in mobilizing larger numbers are more complicated."

  "So, when will they get here?" Corwin didn't hide his irritation at having to repeat the question.

  "The day after tomorrow."

  "Bellamy?"

  "A news shutdown is in place. We're not giving the public any information on the real state of affairs. A mass panic is the last thing we need. Only those here and some hospital staff know what's going on. We're evacuating all residents within a mile of the hospital."

  Tatya wondered; what on earth they were expecting? A battle? How, in the name of all that was sacred, had she come to be at the center of this unfolding calamity? Humans and supernaturals got along just fine as long as everyone obeyed the rules. The trouble was, Angelus had a different rulebook.

  "I agree, no vampire can be allowed to disturb the balance." Vanse stared at the other vampires. None of the three offered him any challenge. "We, too, have reinforcements on the way," he continued, indicating the other masters. "Angelus is making their approach difficult."

  If that meant what Tatya thought it meant, vamps killing each other, she didn't care. In fact, she would be happy. Except right now, she felt nothing. The link sparked, but she paid no attention. She didn't want to feel anything. The block of ice sitting where her heart beat was good.

  "If Angelus's forces attack, we can seal off at ground level and stay here indefinitely," Vanse informed them.

  "Indefinitely?" Corwin asked.

  Vanse's mouth lifted in an almost smile at the policeman's wry comment. "Sheriff Corwin, you, Colonel Bryson, and your teams may leave. Angelus is not preventing anyone's departure."

  "Thanks for the offer, Vanse." Corwin almost smiled. "It's appreciated, but this situation is long past a simple territorial squabble between vampires. Bellamy here, along with my team and several volunteers from our department, are staying till this thing is finished."

  Vanse continued. "We have access to the city's sewer system, but if we deactivate our protective wards, Angelus will realize it, and take advantage to enter. We leave them in position and deactivate at the last minute if the need arises for a sudden departure."

  “Good to know leaving is an option you’ve considered. Thanks, folks. Stay in touch. We'll keep you posted." The Sheriff shoved his chair back and stood—his way of telling everyone the meeting had
ended. Before heading out, he took Tatya aside. "I'm so sorry about your aunt, Tatya. If there's anything, the smallest thing I can do, you let me know. Okay?"

  Corwin's face was more careworn and haggard than usual, with dark shades of red fringing the rim of his aura. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets. The jacket looked like he'd slept in it for a week.

  He was trying to save a town, yet he still had time for her. She gnawed her lower lip as hate, the desire for revenge, and loss reared, and threatened to break her resistance. He was prepared to risk his life for her, so Aunt Lil's death wouldn't have been in vain. If anyone could soften her resistance and break through her defenses, it was Corwin. "Sure, thanks, Bill."

  Vanse stood to the side, waiting for her, his manner outwardly mild, but the effort he was making to keep his fury on a tight rein vibrated through the dormant link. "Can I speak with you?"

  Changing Sky gave her a cautionary glance.

  She kept her expression neutral, her power locked tight. "I'll be fine," she told him.

  The shaman gave Vanse a hard look. The security outside had cleared well out of his way by the time he reached the door.

  "Tatya." Vanse's voice was neutral, but the underlying sympathy leaking through the link almost overwhelmed her.

  "Don't," she said. "This works for me. I shut down, operate on automatic, don't feel for a while, and by the time I do, I'm strong enough to handle the emotional fallout. But I'll explode if you do any sentimental shit."

  "Okay. But I regret your aunt's death."

  Regret? Yeah, she thought, that sums it up, doesn't it? "Is Sean conscious?"

  Vanse hesitated.

  "Well, is he or isn't he?"

  "I haven't worked out how, Tatya, but Angelus is behind this."

  "Is Sean conscious? It's a yes or no question." Raw power pushed, tingling in her bones, and her fingers twitched. She restrained herself, forcing her rising anger back into its cave, and shoved a boulder-sized block into the entrance. "Then you know I have a right to see him." The right of the aggrieved to face the perpetrator.