Adapt (A Touch of Power Book 2)

by Jay Boyce

  Letting her healing magic wash through him, she had a full picture in her head. She concentrated on his feet, and then with a push, she pictured the cells dividing, following the mirror image of his other foot to create what was gone. Step by step, she was building his bone, muscle, and skin slowly and steadily. She could feel the energy being drawn from the rest of his body and spared a second to bark harshly, “Drink!” She finally heard the noise of the straw being used.

  It was working! Only, she could still feel his energy fading. “Healers, boost his energy now.” Her voice was hoarse, as if she was recovering from the flu. When she got to his shin, she paused, using blood magic to hold it all in again as she ordered, “Kevin, try to keep drinking. No one freak out.” She reached to the light streaming in from the windows as darkness surrounded her. She had to stop healing in order to absorb the energy, but she’d never make it through otherwise. Well, she might if she too was gulping down smoothie, but that was less efficient.

  There were still a few gasps when they saw the air around her go dark, and she had to use a good thirty seconds to recharge to the point she felt like she could keep going. She let the darkness drop and said to the younger generation, “Smoothie, please.” She went back to healing, barely noticing when one of the older girls was next to her. When a metal straw was placed against her lips, she absently began sucking it in, not even pausing to consider who was next to her.

  Kevin’s family was doing a good job holding him down, as were the healers. She could feel his body twitching, trying to kick in protest of the pain, but they held him steady. She pushed the healing on, moving down inch by inch. She barely noticed that her cup was being constantly refilled as she sucked it down to keep up her flagging energy. When she reached the ankle, she took another pause to absorb light and let the healers bolster Kevin’s energy. He looked pale and perhaps even a little thinner, but he was hanging in there.

  She vaguely heard the healers taking mugs with their free hands. Her underclothes were soaked with sweat and she felt completely gross, but kept going. And then…she was done. The tips of his toes and nails formed perfectly, and she went over everything again, making sure it was seamlessly connected. She made sure the blood was flowing properly, and once she realized that it was done, she sat back, giving them a tired smile. “You can let go of him now. It’s done. Kevin, keep drinking though. Your energy is still very low.”

  Keeping the straw in his mouth, Kevin let his family help him sit up, staring in awe down at his newly formed foot. She grinned the moment he wiggled his toes for the first time. There were tired cheers from the people all around her, and everyone seemed to be emotionally drained. Looking at her pocket watch, she realized it had been nearly an hour. It hadn’t seemed that long, but time flies when you’re afraid of killing someone.

  Having ditched her contraption, he was now sipping from a new straw in a mug like everyone else as his family helped him stand. He handed the mug away as he let go of his support, taking a few tottering steps before turning in jubilation towards her. She was surprised to find herself in a fierce hug as he said triumphantly, “You did it!”

  Chuckling softly, she lifted her arms slowly, feeling like she was carrying her own lead weights around. She hugged him back briefly before letting him go, as he went around laughing and hugging his family, interspersing it with more drinking.

  She took a seat in a chair near the wall, watching the excited faces in front of her as they discussed what had just happened with much animation.

  Looking at their happy faces, she whispered, “One small foot for Kevin, one giant leap for healerkind.”

  Chapter Sixty – Safe

  Jade was watching the happy celebrations as one of his sisters, she thought it was Jessamyn, walked over and refilled her mug again. She was smiling shyly, and Jade realized that she was the one who’d been helping her through the surgery. “Thank you for healing Kevin.” Her voice was quiet and sweet, and she smiled softly beneath her platinum bangs.

  She smiled at the younger girl, nodding. “It’s no problem. Thank you for helping me during the process.” Jessamyn blushed a little, giving her a little curtsy before walking back to her family. Jade stayed where she was, unsure that if she stood up she wouldn’t fall over. The sun had gone down, and with it, her easy source of energy. Now she just sucked at her straw, hoping the food would give her enough of a boost. She was going to have to pig out before bed again if she was even thinking about siphoning anyone tonight.

  The heavy exhaustion was worth it. Kevin looked so happy…so alive. His face was in a perpetual smile as he walked around to chat with his family and the healers. When she felt halfway alive again, she used magic to quickly clean herself up, hating the sticky feeling of her sweaty clothes sticking to her body like mud.

  When she was fully cleansed, she let her magic drop once more, feeling the ache of mana drain in her bones. Despite having her pool a little recovered, the abuse she’d put her magical veins through was intense and something she realized wasn’t going to go away instantly. Still, there was a smile on her lips as she walked slowly among the celebrating crowd. Almost every healer and family member went out of their way to thank her, and she was glowing with reflected happiness.

  If she had to say what her favorite part of this world was, it was the ability to give back and heal. Everything else was worth it if just for that alone. It felt a little like covering her in warm fuzzies to talk to these people and see their utter joy to have Kevin ‘back.’ She ignored the exhaustion and tried to match their exuberance for life because it reminded her of her initial joy at discovering everything this world had to offer. It was the joy she still felt when she discovered something new or played with her babies.

  People finally started to filter out, the entire Elliot family leaving while the men were making plans to go get blackout drunk in celebration. It was something she would never truly understand, especially not after her experience with devil man giving her half a cask of wine and the resulting hangover she’d had to deal with before she figured out what was wrong.

  Mike was the last one left as he helped her gather her things, putting them into her ring with more effort than anticipated. He offered his arm as they stood in the open door, waiting for her babies to precede her out. Lilith had given her images as each person left in the darkness, identifying them even though Jade knew they were leaving. She’d tried to send images during the surgery, but Jade had been too focused to notice, so Lilith had given her a recap of images for those who’d walked by during that time.

  She giggled softly as she realized that most of her inner group had walked by at some point, staring almost longingly at the door before moving on. Mike offered her his arm as he let the door close behind them. Several of her babies had taken up perches on her head, but the rest flitted about the area around her, sending infrequent images from above in joy, enjoying the newfound ability.

  “That was amazing. Thank you for inviting me to witness it.” Mike’s voice was calming as she used him slightly to keep herself upright and moving. He had paused for a moment before continuing, “I couldn’t help him, all those years ago. He was so young and so hopeful, but I wasn’t able to do more than seal off the wound.”

  Patting the arm she held, Jade smiled tenderly at him. “You did the best you could, and I’ll remind you that if I’d tried to do this by myself, I’d have failed. I may have taken point, but this was a team effort. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you only really fail if you give up and stop trying. There’s always more that can be learned, so if I ever tell you I’ve arrived at perfection, please give me a good slap so I come back to my senses. I may act like I think I know what’s best, but I’m just making it up as I go and trying to act confident. I’ve been incredibly lucky in what I’ve been able to learn, the people I’ve met, and the things that’ve happened to me. I can only hope it continues.”

  It was Mike’s turn to pat her hand on his arm. “I’m sure you’ll find your
way through. You’ll land on your feet.”

  She grinned. “Even a weak kitten can land on its feet.” She did feel a bit like a weak kitten at the moment, and she was extremely grateful for the company and her little troop of spies flittering about and informing her of any possible dangers, of which none had cropped up so far.

  “What’s a kitten?” Mike was looking at her curiously, and she realized she’d never seen or heard of anything like a kitten in this world. She didn’t even remember seeing anything similar in Mike’s glass figurines of the creatures of this world. She frowned, finding the thought of no kittens a little depressing. She was a little okay with no cats because she wasn’t super fond of the grown versions. Honestly, she mostly liked the baby pictures of animals. They weren’t half as cute when they were adults. Not that she had any experience with any of them, really. She’d had such a weak immune system that none of them had made it remotely close to her at the hospital.

  “I’ll show you an image some other time. I’m still feeling a little drained right now.” It pained her to admit weakness just a little, but Mike was still one of the people closest to figuring out her secrets, just because he’d been there in the beginning. He’d trusted her, and she’d chosen to trust him in return.

  He nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of time.” They checked in with the guards at the gate, walking slowly through the darkened streets. They were almost to the Green Dragon when she felt the hairs rising on the back of her neck, one of the things she’d classified as her ‘spidey senses tingling’ but was in actuality part of her danger sense. She checked in with each of her babies, not finding anything amiss. It wasn’t until she saw a pair of guards rushing past while looking around furtively that she realized what was going on.

  “Wait a second!” she called after them, causing the two men to pause and look over at them in obvious apprehension, a desire to move on clear in the movements of their shuffling feet. Cutting straight to the point, she questioned, “Are there mesmer in the city?”

  An astonished look crossed their faces as they exchanged glances, then one of them looked back to her and grimly nodded. “There are. You should get inside quickly.”

  Jade nodded absently while Mike tugged her forward and the two guards, seeing she wasn’t asking any more questions, hurried on to continue whatever task they were on. She turned her attention to her babies, asking them silently, “Fly high, see if you can tell where they are.”

  Her babies climbed higher into the inky night sky, looking for any activity in the surrounding areas. She wasn’t even aware that Mike was practically dragging her the last two blocks to The Green Dragon, her feet moving woodenly to keep beneath her as images flashed through her mind. There was increased activity at the wall and the palace, but she couldn’t see anything in the city from their eyes.

  She frowned as Mike said quietly, “You should get inside.” She recalled her babies and they began to descend as she smiled at Mike.

  “Perhaps you should come inside as well, until we know what’s going on.” Mike paused for a moment before nodding and ushering her through the door, waiting for her babies to come through and settle on her hair before closing it firmly behind her.

  The common room was filled with milling bodies as everyone clustered in small groups to whisper over mugs of something steaming. “Jade! Thank the heavens you’re back!” Kaylee came out of nowhere to envelop her in a huge hug.

  “Kaylee! What’s going on? Do you know anything?” Jade hugged her back, taking comfort in her warmth. She could feel the younger girl shake her head, seeing the sad smile on her face as she frowned.

  “No, we don’t know much. Just that the guards said they’d made it over the wall.” Jade frowned. They should have warning bells or something. She wondered if they didn’t do it so they didn’t cause widespread panic, but that didn’t make sense to her either. She nodded to Jackson, who was glancing over at her in worry.

  She spared him a tired smile before turning back to Kaylee and Mike. “I think I’m going to go to my room where it’s a bit quieter and try and contact someone on the mirrors to see if I can’t get more information. I’ll let you know if I find anything out.” They nodded, letting her hurry up the stairs as quickly as she could while Kaylee started fussing over Mike next, asking if she could get him something to drink.

  Jade quickly unlocked her room, feeling a breath of relief wash through her as she entered the very brightly lit room. Her babies flocked to their tree roost, munching on the leaves as she pulled the mirrors out of her bag. Who was she supposed to call? She didn’t want to interrupt anyone who was organizing the defense.

  Eventually, she settled on calling Stephen. He was more likely to know what was going on. She concentrated on him, letting the tiny amount of mana it required to maintain the connection slip into the mirror. She waited, waited…and had almost given up on contacting him when the mirror cleared and she could see his harried face. “Jade! Are you okay? Are you safe?”

  Smiling as the first words to leave his lips was concern for her, she nodded. “I’m fine. What’s going on?”

  He frowned slightly, running a hand through his hair as the mirror shifted angles a few times, signs that he was holding it and his hands were…shaking? “I don’t know all the details yet. I do know the wall was breached in at least two places, but it seems like…” He shook his head. “It’s not confirmed how many crossed. Your trap caught five of them, and they were killed before they could injure anyone. But we don’t know how many are in the city. The guards patrolling the walls in both places are…missing.”

  Clutching the mirror in a death grip, she mentally counted to ten to keep herself from cursing. It meant they’d gotten smarter and just taken the men instead of injuring them in search of better prey. Five. That was more than had ever come to the city, as far as she knew, and that was potentially just one group. Her fingers were shaking as she glanced towards the latched window. A little hoarsely, she choked out, “Please, let me know if you find out more.”

  Stephen nodded quickly, his voice echoing through the distant connection, “I will, but I should go now. I’ll talk to you later.” She nodded, watching as the mirror faded until it was showing her own reflection once more. Putting the mirror down before she dropped it, she pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them as she stared into the dark night.

  Her babies fluttered around her, sensing her discomfort. She wanted to go out there right now, but she couldn’t. She was too weak after the healing. Did that make her a coward? Was hiding in her safe, brightly lit room a sign of weakness?

  Shaking off her fears, she stood and collected the mirrors, returning downstairs to sit with the others. She accepted the warm mug of cider that Jessica had come out to give her with a squeeze, then spent the time trying to reassure her fellow students that everything was going to be okay.

  It had to be. Her trap had worked, at least somewhat. There were five more mesmer that were dead. There couldn’t be that many more in the city, right? Before, they’d only traveled in groups of four at the most. They were going to find the guards and everything was going to be fine.

  She kept repeating that mantra, ‘everything is going to be okay, it’s going to be fine’ in her head over and over. It was as if by sheer willpower, she could force it to be true. Her luck couldn’t be for nothing, right?

  She supposed that tonight, she would find out.

  Chapter Sixty-One – Message

  The time passed uneasily until most of the students had finally retreated to their rooms to get some sleep. Some of the guards that stopped by to check on the place had escorted Mike home, since he wanted to check on Elisa more than just about anything else.

  She sat by the dying fire, nursing a new mug of warm cider. Even Kaylee and Jessica had gone to sleep, leaving her to her vigil. Only Raphael had come in at some point to keep her company, staring silently into the embers with her. Her mirrors were laid out neatly along the t
able next to her, her pocket watch open beside them. The steady ticking complemented the small crackle and pops of the fire.

  Vibrations against the table signaled an incoming call, and she quickly grabbed the corresponding mirror, noting that it wasn’t Stephen’s. She let it take her mana, glancing at the time. Just after one in the morning. Raphael silently scooted closer, wanting information just as much as she did and knowing this was his best chance to get it.

  When Marcelle’s face swam into view on the mirror, Jade almost winced at the haggard look on the woman’s face. “Marcelle! Are you okay?” Her concern was evident. Marcelle looked like she’d aged years in the day or so since she’d last talked to her.

  Massaging the crows feet around her eyes, Marcelle slowly shook her head as she greeted Jade, “It’s… I’m fine. I have news for you.” Jade nodded, waiting as she stared avidly at the mirror. Marcelle wasn’t looking at the mirror, as if she didn’t want to meet Jade’s gaze, so eager for information. “There were five more mesmer that made it into the city. They also…made it out,” her voice seemed raw as she spat out those last three words.

  Throat constricting with dread, she choked out the word, “Who?” Her voice trembled even on those three small letters.

  Marcelle finally looked at her, eyes haunted. “They managed to sneak into the astronomy tower. Princess Tisha, Princes Hayden and Hunter, and their two tutors were taken. How they got in…” Her voice trailed off into heavy silence. When Jade was about to say something, Marcelle shook her head and went on in a dead voice, “There’s more. At the wall…they killed another guard and hypnotized the only survivor. He…keeps saying he has a message for the traveler.”

  The table she was clinging to crunched beneath her fingers, the wood becoming a pulp under her grip and leaving fingerprints gouged deeply into the wood as she stared at the mirror. “A message for me?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.