by J. L. Ray
Phil looked up at the goblin officer who had spoken to him. Then he glanced over at Hiller and Davis. “They are Changelings. They must go back through the portal. Push them through!”
Hiller and Davis nodded and the officers started moving the stunned Changelings through the entrance.
Phil turned back to Tony. He pulled her into his lap, wincing as he pulled too much of her weight onto his wound. He wiped the tears away from her closed eyes, wondering what the hell this could be. As he watched her face, he remembered her reaction at Naama’s cottage to the Vision she had received in Fairie. “Talk to me, sweetness. What do you See?”
She sighed, a hitch in her breath from crying that broke his heart. “She’s in the room again. She’s so tired! They ask too much from her. She’s tired and hungry and she can’t fight it anymore.”
“Fight what?” When she didn’t answer, he shook her, “Fight what?”
“The Change!” Tony’s eyes popped open and she screamed.
After leaving Lieutenant Azeem at Jefferson Hospital to check on Heraphina and take her statement if she was able to give it, Cal had checked in at the SCI Bureau via f-light on his way back to D.C. He took the fastest route he could, but he was still an hour outside the city when he got the call that changed his route to Wise Daughter Memorial Hospital. The next excruciating hour of driving seemed to take far longer, and he regretted not pushing for a dragon to get at least part of the way to the Casters’ cabin. When he finally arrived, he found Tony’s parents in the waiting room, holding hands tightly.
“Anthony, Amanda, what’s the word?” Cal asked as he rushed toward them.
Anthony shook his head, “We’re still waiting to hear from the doctor. That fellow Akkadian was with her, and he got to go in with the medical team to the examining room.” He turned to look at Cal. “Calvin, what’s going on? What’s happening to her?”
Cal shook his head and reached his large hand out to put it on both of theirs. “I don’t know. But you’re girl, she’s one tough cookie. Whatever it is, she’ll kick its ass, uh, butt, and come out on top.” He insisted, “You just gotta believe, am I right?”
Amanda sniffed and rubbed tears off of her cheeks and nodded. “Calvin, you’re not only right, that’s exactly what Berthell said when she called us to check on Antonia’s status.”
Cal beamed at her, “See? If B and I agree, that’s just how it is.” He sat in a Super lounger across from them. “But I’ll just hang out for a while and make sure.”
“Oh Cal,” Amanda said in a tight voice, the brave smile she tried to give them flickering in and out like a flame in a high wind, “shouldn’t you go on home to Berthell and little Newman and the rest of your spawn?”
“B told me to get my sweet cheeks down here and keep you two company. I think Melly and Fred are camped out with my spawn, so it’s all fine for now. We just gotta wait.”
“You’re a good man, uh, ogre, Calvin Kelly,” Amanda told him.
Cal blushed and shrugged.
They sat in silence for a bit, but finally a doctor came back to talk to them. The news wasn’t what they wanted to hear, but they followed him back to the newest ICU ward. The glassed walls of each separate room in the renovated ward were meant to deal with a variety of different possible extreme patient conditions, magical or mundane. They walked up to the unit that Tony lay in and stood in a silent group, watching her for a moment, horrified.
Tony was on a bed, strapped down with restraints. Her eyes were open but unfocused and tears streamed down her cheeks, while her mouth moved constantly, talking and crying. She wasn’t screaming anymore, but it seemed that if she could have, she would have. She didn’t have the energy left to do it. Her body wasn’t still, but shaking and jerking, her muscles and tendons as tense as those in her face. Next to her, standing over the bed, was Mephistopheles. Dressed in black doctor’s scrubs, he leaned over Tony, talking and moving his hands all the while.
When Anthony Newman saw him standing over his daughter, he started to charge for the door. “What the hell is he doing to her?”
Before he could get into the room, Cal snagged him and pulled him back. “Hang on, there, Anthony. Doc, say, what is Mr. Akkadian doing?”
“Watch,” he said, pointing in the glass.
As Phil continued to pass his hands over Tony, her body relaxed and lowered completely to bed. Her face relaxed, and she sobbed a few breaths. Her eyes shut, but it seemed to be at her command rather than by reflex.
“I’m sorry. I thought he was almost done when I went to get you, “ the doctor continued. “Whatever is happening to her, I wasn’t getting any results with mundane medical tests or medicines. We tried everything we could think of. Then we brought in our magical practitioner, but she got nowhere either. Mr. Akkadian offered to try his own magic. He stopped the seizure for a few minutes.” The doctor shook his head. “He thinks this attempt may last longer.”
Phil looked up and saw the family and nodded at them. He then turned back to Tony and leaned down to hear her. He nodded and brushed her hair back from her face before turning to the door to come out and talk to the family.
“What the hell, Akkadian--” began Anthony, but Phil held out his hands.
“Not hell. Something or someone in Fairie is projecting through her.” He looked up at Anthony and Amanda, “Did you realize that your daughter has the Sight?” “The what?” shouted Anthony. “What do you mean, the Sight?”
Cal stepped back, then leaned in and grabbed Phil’s shoulder with one meaty hand. “Are you sure?”
“She had two episodes while we were on the investigation in Fairie. Did you read her report?”
Cal pressed his lips together grimly. “She didn’t put that in her report.”
“Oh my. Well.” Phil ran one hand down his pointed beard. “She had a premonition on this side as we were about to enter Fairie. Then while we were there, she experienced a Sight. It knocked her out, but it didn’t cause these spasms.” He paused and looked over at her. She was still resting quietly, but when Phil went out, she turned her head to the glass partition. She saw them all looking at her and tried to give them a smile, so like Amanda’s earlier attempt that poor Cal started tearing up.
“Why is this worse than the one in Fairie?” Anthony asked, bewildered by his daughter’s distressed state. “What happened to exacerbate her condition?”
Phil shook his head. “I don’t know why this is worse, but it was exposure to Fairie that brought it on. There was an illegal portal set up in my office by the main suspect in the case she and Cal are working. That suspect went through the portal. We were attempting to locate it to follow the suspect, but one of the officers opened it to a trap. We were attacked by the suspect and her minions. I think because it sat open, it allowed some kind of connection to get through that affected Tony, not just as severely, but more severely than the Sight in Fairie. What I don’t know is why it is still affecting her now that we’ve removed her from the vicinity of any open portal.”
“What is she Seeing?” Cal asked. “What’s so bad that it causes” he paused, working to find some unaccustomed tact and finally finished rather lamely “that kind of reaction? All screamy and stuff?” Ogres just weren’t prone to fits of tact and didn’t do it well.
“She seems to see herself, but the self she sees isn’t exactly her, and this other Tony is apparently being tortured. I think. That’s the closest I can come to understanding what she describes when she’s in the throes of an episode. She can’t remember what she Sees, so in that sense it is typical of all Seers’ experiences. She is only a conduit.”
Amanda, listening to Phil describe Tony’s Vision, got whiter and whiter, but as he finished the last sentence, she murmured, “Tortured!” and fainted. Cal managed a lucky grab before she hit the floor face first and hauled her over to a couch sitting in the hallway. Just as they got her over to the couch, the doctor gestured to Tony’s room, “It’s worn off! Go, Mr. Akkadian, go!” Phil ran back to Tony�
��s room to try to magically dispel the crippling pain coming from whatever she was Seeing, and the doctor dealt with Amanda’s faint.
Phil’s attempts to relax Tony physically took much longer to work, and when they did, this time Tony passed out completely. Phil looked down at her still form and shook his head. “This isn’t right,” he muttered. “I’ve never seen this happen before.” He grabbed a tissue and carefully wiped some of the sweat from Tony’s face.
Outside in the corridor, the doctor brought Amanda out of her faint, then started asking her medical questions. She abruptly stopped him, holding out a hand and putting the other to her mouth as if she would hold back her own words if she could.
“This doesn’t have a thing to do with my health,” she finally told them in a choked whisper. “I need to tell you something, Anthony. And I don’t know if I can.” She sat up a bit straighter.
Anthony squatted down on the floor beside her, all dignity forgotten. “Amanda, there is nothing you could tell me that should upset you so much you faint. If it will help Tony?”
She turned and looked at him, “I don’t know if it will help her, but it may explain this. I need to tell Mr. Akkadian, in case it might help him do something for her. And, the children should be here as well.”
Anthony frowned in concerned. “My dear, surely there is nothing so grave that you need--”
She stopped him and turned to Cal. “Please, Calvin, get Melly and Fred over here, can you?”
“Sure Mrs. N, I’m on it!”
Anthony sat for a moment, looking at the woman he’d been married to for thirty years, a confused look sitting uncomfortably on his strong features. Anthony Newman was rarely confused, but at this moment, he was at a loss. Finally, realizing that his knees just weren’t young enough to squat for much longer, he stood up and then sat beside his wife, taking her hand and patting it. She kept her face turned resolutely forward, as if she couldn’t bear to look him in the eye. The doctor moved on to other patients.
Calvin worked his contacts and soon had Melly and Fred picked up and brought to the ICU to join the rest of the family. Tony had not recovered consciousness since Phil’s last spell, but the doctor pronounced her vital signs steady and gave them hope that she might wake naturally. Amanda insisted on gathering in her room, though the doctor wasn’t happy to have so many people in one of the critical care units.
Phil had moved into the shadows to one side of Tony’s bed, and the rest of the family had crowded around her.
Melly and Fred hadn’t seen Tony’s seizures, so they were less affected by the sight of her in the ICU. However, within minutes of their arrival, the heavy atmosphere of the rest of the group settled over them.
“So,” Melly drew the word out. “Why did Calvin come and get us?”
“Tony’s not dying or anything, is she?” Fred asked carefully, making sure his voice didn’t crack.
Anthony turned to his wife. “Your mother has something she needs to tell you.” He stopped and gestured to her to continue.
She looked at Phil. “Mr. Akkadian, can you first tell my children why their sister is here?”
“I can shed some light on it,” he agreed, giving her a pointed look as he added, “However, I believe you will be the one who tells us all why she is here.”
Amanda nodded, flinching under Anthony’s sudden stare.
Phil looked at Melly and Fred. “When Tony and I went to Fairie, she had a premonition just as we got to the portal’s door. It was not particularly strong or specific, and I could not talk her out of going.”
“Of course not!” Melly exclaimed. “She’s always wanted to travel to Fairie. Why would you even try?”
Phil smiled at her and explained, “For someone with magic, someone who is not aware of it and does not control it, entering Fairie can be dangerous. The exposure to high amounts of naturally occurring magic can trigger unexpected reactions.” He frowned and added, “In hindsight, it is possible that had she never gone to Fairie at all, she might have only experienced the occasional premonition.” Then he shrugged. “I did not want her to risk it, but she insisted. You know your daughter.” He looked at her parents as if he needed their approval. “I watched her closely, and I saw no negative effects when we first got there. Even when we questioned the first person on our list, Tony seemed completely normal. However, when we went to the second person on the list, Tony had a Vision that time, a powerful one. She fainted.”
“You should have returned her then,” Anthony said angrily.
“Perhaps she would listen to her father, but to me? No. All I got was the detective, determined to finish the case. She woke from the faint, and Naama, the Being we questioned, did not indicate that it would be a problem. Naama is a Seer, a very powerful one, and a good friend. So I assumed that it was not a problem.” He sighed. “We finished our task of three interviews and returned.”
“How could she have the Sight?” Fred asked Melly. “Don’t you have to have magic in the family?”
Amanda moaned a little under her breath.
Everyone turned to look at her.
Phil gestured to her with both hands, the magician showing his trick. “I believe that it is your turn, dear madam, “ he told her, his voice filled with pity. Then he looked down at Tony instead of staring at her mother as she talked, to spare her at least one set of eyes boring into her while she told her tale. It was then that he realized that Tony, whose eyes were still shut, was no longer in an unconscious state. He hesitated long enough to decide that it might be easier for Mrs. Newman if he didn’t call the whole group’s attention to the silent eavesdropper in the center both of the room and of the story being told.
“My great, great grandmother.” Amanda put her hands up to her face, then brought them down. “She tricked my great, great grandfather into marrying her. He was a Natural. She was a witch.”
Cal managed not to twitch, but it was a close thing. With so little room to move, a twitchy ogre would be a bad thing.
“But mom, witches don’t marry. They, well, they reproduce,” Melly said, quoting her textbook.
“Euphemia was the attractive sister in her coven. They aren’t supposed to marry, just mate, and they aren’t supposed to marry Nattys because it dilutes the magic in children and breaks the chain. But Euphemia had a mind of her own and wanted to live here in the Mundane lands. She didn’t produce six or seven daughters and a son or two. She married a mortal, settled down, and had three children. And with each generation down to my own children, the line diluted.”
Anthony shook his head, still confused, “So Tony has some magic in her and the portal gates trigger it?”
“That is part of it, yes,” Phil said. “I told her after the first premonition that she probably had Fairie blood in her, but she laughed it off, said no one on either side of her proper family would ever marry magic.” As casually as possible, he took Tony’s hand in his and squeezed it. When she gripped his hand, he shifted to cover her movement from anyone else around them.
“According to my Grandmere’s diary, her own grandfather never knew that his wife was a witch. He was not a particularly curious man, and she was a very beautiful, very skillful woman,” Amanda told them.
Melly pounced on specific detail. “You have your grandmother’s diary and you haven’t shown it to us?”
“Child, I had a good reason for keeping that diary to myself,” Amanda told her gravely.
Phil nodded, “And that reason is why Tony is experiencing such disorienting Visions?”
Amanda’s shoulders slumped and she nodded.
“Best to get it out, my dear,” he told her kindly, feeling all three thousand of his years in that advice.
“Grandmere wrote at length about how her grandmother managed to escape her coven sisters and leave Fairie for Mundania. She made an arrangement with the community’s elder, Caridwen, to allow her to pass through a portal and escape her witch’s fate, to bear fatherless children and carry on a line of sisters. But the p
rice was high.” Amanda’s voice cracked, and they all waited for her to regain her composure. “Twins run in our family, but for several generations, the only twins were boys.” Tears started to roll down Amanda’s face as she continued.
Phil nodded, as if, at this point, the end of the tale had already unfolded, but the rest of the group stood, breathless in anticipation of the blow they all felt coming.
“Grandmere Genevieve said that her grandmother agreed to trade the second-born daughter of the first set of girl twins in the family for her freedom from the witch’s fate. And Caridwen accepted her offer. Grandmere found out about the curse when she was pregnant with twins, my uncles Louis and Luc. Her mother found out after she had born all of her children and had had no twins.”
Anthony must have sensed the blow coming for him. He began to blink uncontrollably.
“My mother told me when I married, but I thought nothing of it, until I was pregnant with Antonia...and her sister.”
The room went still.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The stillness lasted only a second.
“How?” Anthony asked, barely voicing the word at first, then louder, “HOW? I was in the delivery room with you! I helped you! I was your Lamaze coach, for God’s sake! How could I have a daughter whom I didn’t know existed?”
Cal knew that Mr. Newman was too much of gentleman to hurt Mrs. Newman, but since he was standing in for his partner, he got closer to the both of them, ready to grab him if things got a little too physical.
Phil looked at Amanda, who was obviously at the end of her ability to talk. “I believe I can answer that, sir.”
Anthony would never hurt his wife, but he had noticed this man’s interest in his daughter, and now that it was abundantly clear that Akkadian had misrepresented himself as a Natural, he was fair game. “Why? Did you have something to do with this?” he hissed.
Phil’s face hardened with three thousand years of hauteur. “Not this particular deal, no.”
