by E. A. Copen
“Um…His last name sounds kinda like yours.”
“It should. He’s my father.”
I blinked. How was it I didn’t know Nate’s dad was a doctor? Of course, he’d mentioned before he wasn’t super close to his family. They had a falling out when he chose his profession. Apparently, they didn’t approve. I had a feeling the divide went a little deeper. After all, you don’t stop talking to your kid because they become a medical examiner instead of a trauma doc. But it never felt like my place to pry. I did my best to stay out of his personal life as much as possible except if he brought it up.
The banging in the autopsy drawer started up again. Remy got up from where she was reading a magazine in the corner and kicked the drawer as hard as she could. “Don’t make me put you in one of the refrigerated units! I will!” She kicked it again.
Nate sighed and looked around. “All that banging is giving me a headache. Tell you what, Laz. Let me close up Mr. Perman, then we can go pay my estranged father a visit.”
“You don’t have to, Nate. I can go see him by myself.”
“No, it’s all right.” He yanked on a fresh pair of gloves. “I came to terms with my father’s disappointment a long time ago. There’s nothing he can say to me that I haven’t already heard.”
“You look terrible, son.” Ben Frieder sat across from us in a pristine white office on the bottom floor of the University Medical Center. Three diplomas hung on the wall behind his head, advanced degrees in biochemistry, anatomy, and pathology. He lacked Nate’s curly red hair, sporting instead a more conservative cut in silver. His white coat was spotless.
Nate folded his arms and sank into the chair slightly. “Thanks, dad. Just what I needed to hear after not seeing you for three years. How’s Mom?”
“Your mother’s worried about you. You should be calling her instead of sitting in my office with this…” He gestured at me.
“Friend,” I offered. “The word you’re looking for is ‘friend.’”
Nate’s dad frowned and turned back to Nate. “This is who you’re hanging around these days? No wonder you don’t call. I’d be ashamed too.”
I suddenly understood why Nate hadn’t spoken to his family in a while. “Ben, can I call you Ben?”
“Doctor Frieder.”
“See, that’s going to be a problem. I already call your son ‘Doc.’”
Ben folded his hands on top of his desk. “Nathan isn’t a doctor. Doctors help the living. He dismembers the dead. There’s a difference.”
I started to jump to Nate’s defense, but he put a hand on my arm, drawing my attention. When I looked over at him, he gave a subtle shake of his head.
When he was sure I’d understood to back off, he pulled his hand away. “Dad, I didn’t come here to have this conversation all over again. We’ve talked that into the ground. I like my job. I am helping people, and I think we both have bigger problems to worry about. You’ve got an emergency room full of very sick people.”
Ben’s face sobered. “Yes, I do, and soon you may have a morgue full of very dead people. We’re looking at an epidemic at this point. Strategies have shifted from saving as many lives as possible to containment, which is why you two shouldn’t be here.”
“Any idea what’s causing the sickness?” I cut in.
The doctor’s attention shifted to me. His gaze felt like it weighed as much as an elephant. “If we knew, we would be working to synthesize a cure, or at least some sort of treatment. As it is, the best we can do is put people on fluids and wait for the inevitable.”
“Any fatalities yet?”
“I’m sorry,” said Ben, flipping through a stack of papers on his desk. “Who did you say you were again?”
“My name’s Lazarus Kerrigan. Concerned citizen. I’m not a reporter. I’m just…an interested party with a vested interest in stopping the spread of the virus as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
He eyed me and let the papers fall. “It’s not a virus. At least not one that behaves like anything I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t behave like a fungus or a bacteria either. While flu-like symptoms initially present, the early patients are now progressing into comas. Brain function seems to peak at about twenty hours after onset of the first symptoms with erratic EEG activity that lasts for one to two hours. Some patients experience visual and auditory hallucinations. After the spike, we've documented a sharp neurological decline. Whether the coma is the end result or just another symptom remains to be seen.”
Nate folded his hands over his chest. “You said the morgue might fill up. You’re expecting people to die.”
“Without treatment, the high fever and dehydration from the first stage are going to have a high fatality rate, especially among children, the elderly, and those most at risk. And there are only so many coma beds in the city.” He cleared his throat in a brief bark. “Though I’m not sure what an interested party and an assistant medical examiner can do about any of this. The city’s best doctors are already working around the clock, and the CDC is on its way. They’ll get it sorted. The best thing for you two to do is to go home. Stay indoors and limit contact with those potentially infected as much as possible.”
“And don’t drink the tap water,” I added.
His disapproving frown deepened. “Excuse me?”
I rolled my wrist over and checked the time. “It should be breaking in the press any minute now. The new water treatment plant’s been contaminated.”
Ben went very still. “So it is a biological attack. Do you work for the government?” He placed his hands on his desk and stood. “How do you know any of this?”
I figured I was better off letting him believe whatever he wanted than to correct him. “If you wouldn’t mind, Nate and I would like to take a look at one of the more advanced patients, get a copy of his chart.”
“Absolutely not! Do you know how many federal laws that would violate?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You sure you want to play it that way, Doctor Ben? Because if you do, here’s what’ll happen. I’ll talk to my superiors who will talk to yours. They’ll waste time getting paperwork filled out, all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted. Then, when it’s too late to do anything, I’ll get the clearance I should’ve had tonight. And when the news breaks nationally and they ask who is responsible for the thousands dead or dying, my associates and I will be sure to pass your name along. Then we’ll see how much those three doctorates of medicine are worth.”
Nate’s face paled.
Ben clenched his jaw, then released it. “I knew it. This is a biological attack, and Homeland is trying to keep it quiet.” He sighed and opened the top desk drawer to retrieve a beige folder. “I suppose it can’t hurt to give you limited access, so long as it doesn’t get out. Never let it be said that I didn’t cooperate with the government. I want it to be known I did everything I could to assist.”
I stood and reached across the desk to offer him my hand. “I’ll make sure and notify the appropriate offices.”
He nodded. “This way, please.”
We followed Dr. Ben into the sterile white hallway. Nurses rushed past us going the other way while pages echoed through the hall. Nate elbowed me once we’d gone a few yards and I deliberately slowed my pace to talk to him. “What?”
“What was all that back there?” Nate whispered. “Now he thinks you work for the government.”
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Besides, he was being sort of a jerk.”
“He’s strict and old-fashioned, but he’s not a bad person. Don’t be too hard on him. He means well.”
“Sure,” I scoffed. “That’s why he disowned you for being a medical examiner instead of a proper doctor.”
Nate sighed. “It’s not really the sort of thing a proper Jewish boy does, but I don’t have the bedside manner to deal with live patients, and I like it better. Our falling out has more to do with me eating bacon and not attending temple than anything else. He still cares.”
A year ago, I might’ve disagreed with Nate, but since I’d become a father myself—and to a faerie queen no less—I’d watched, helpless, as Remy made a whole series of decisions I disagreed with. I wouldn’t stop loving her, no matter what she did, but there were times we had to take a break from talking to each other or else we might say something stupid.
Ben stopped in front of a sealed door and slid his badge through the card reader. The doors hissed open to reveal an elevator. We climbed in, he swiped his card again and pushed the button that would take us to the fourth floor before stepping to the back of the elevator. Nate and I took either side, leaning on the metal railing. Smooth, jazzy elevator music filled the car.
Ben looked at the ceiling. “You should call your mother. She misses you.”
“I will,” Nate promised. “How’s Eva?”
“Married. Two children now. Lives in Sacramento.”
“Huh. Good for her.”
I smiled. Nate was a good guy. Family was everything to him, so it was good to see him reunited with his dad, even if he didn’t follow through with calling his mother. Though I had a feeling he would, after this. Maybe they’d patch things up and someone would get a happy ending.
We could have a happy ending too, Emma and me. If only I could get out of this Horseman gig. That was the real reason I hadn’t popped the question yet. I wasn’t sure she’d say yes if I was still the Pale Horseman, which meant I had to talk Samedi into finding a replacement. Somehow, I didn’t think he’d be too keen to replace me.
The elevator doors opened with a ding. We let Ben take the lead since the hallways ahead were a maze of sterile white. Without him there to guide us, we would’ve been hopelessly lost. At least, I would’ve been. After a few twists and turns, we went through another locked door and finally stepped onto the coma ward. Ben waved to the nurse at the desk who didn’t bother questioning the two visitors he had with him.
The ward was already nearly full, with two beds to a room and three in one. At first glance, the patients simply seemed to be sleeping with a few extra tubes and wires inserted. They looked like they could wake up and get back to their lives any second, unlike the dead people Nate worked on. They still had color, vital signs, and the flexibility to their skin and muscles that the dead lacked.
We stopped in front of room 404, where Ben knocked and pushed the door open gently. A young woman sat in the recliner next to an unconscious man who might’ve been fifty or fifty-five. Based on the backpack full of books, she must’ve been a college student. She looked up from a textbook, the glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Ben flashed her a friendly smile and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Megan, right?”
She nodded. “Megan Monroe. What’s wrong? They said the doctor wouldn’t be back until tomorrow morning or unless something changed. Has something changed?”
He gestured to me and then Nate. “These are some associates of mine, Mister Kerrigan, and Doctor Frieder.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “Doctor Frieder…like you.”
“He’s my son.” Ben might’ve tried to hide it, but there was just a hint of pride in his voice. “They’re here to study and document what’s happening.”
“With your permission, of course,” Nate added.
Megan nodded. “If you think it’ll help.”
I glanced at a shadow moving along the wall. “There’s just one thing I’m going to need you to do, Megan.”
“Anything.”
“I need you and Doctor Frieder to take a little nap.” I put a hand on Ben’s shoulder and spun him around. He started to protest, but once he met my eyes, I sent a shock of magic down into his body through my arm, and it was all over. Nate caught him with a grunt just before he hit the floor.
At the same time, Finn stepped out of the shadows and touched two fingers to the side of Megan’s head. She slumped over in her chair, snoring gently. “That went well.”
“Let’s just hope they stay out long enough for you to finish.” I helped Nate get his father onto the rolling stool reserved for doctors and propped him up in the corner.
Nate pulled his dad’s head away from the wall and tucked a tissue box behind it as a pillow. “He’s going to be okay, right? Once the spell wears off?”
I tugged the privacy curtain closed so no one could peek in from the door. “Might have a headache and confusion, but those should wear off with time.”
Nate closed the door. “We’d better hurry then. They’ll be doing rounds every fifteen minutes.”
Finn went to Mr. Moore’s bedside and lowered the bed. “A little glimpse shouldn’t take long. All we need to do is confirm Mask’s involvement. If they’re anything like Foxglove or the others, it should be pretty obvious.” He let his hands hover about an inch over the patient’s body, slowly moving them up and down. After a long moment, he paused. “Can you see anything?”
I closed my eyes and called up my Sight. When Emma had been under Loki’s control, the entanglement had been obvious. Black lines ran all the way through her body, wrapped around the threads of her soul like barbed wire. Foxglove’s soul had been more like oil in water. The possession occupied the same space as his soul, making the two mostly indistinguishable except for a few places where he still managed to show through.
Mr. Moore wasn’t anything like either of them. His soul spun in his chest like normal, but the silvery pathways that ran through the rest of his body were gone. “What the hell am I looking at, Finn?”
“Something I can’t fix.” He pulled his hands away and wiped them on his shirt. “This isn’t like what’s happening to Foxglove, but he’s definitely been tainted by the same sort of magic. It feels the same.”
I extended my senses into Mr. Moore and immediately recoiled. Blinding pain pounded behind my eyes, turning my world black. I turned and vomited into the sink.
Nate pulled down a few paper towels and handed them to me.
“That’s Mask?” I spat into the sink. “It’s like licking a sewer and swallowing a migraine.”
“It’s not him directly. More like the shadow of a piece of him.” Finn shook his head. “I recognize the influence, but this guy is too far removed from Mask to hurt Mask directly.”
“So how do we help these people?” Nate went to the foot of Mr. Moore’s bed and picked up his chart, flipping through it. “We need to do something.”
I wadded the paper towels into a ball and tossed them in the trash. “We do the only thing we can do. We kill Mask.”
Chapter Ten
I left the hospital and drove back to Paula’s, while Nate and Finn returned to the morgue to let Remy know about the change in plans. They were supposed to bring Foxglove to the bar before dawn. I hoped Josiah had shown up while I was busy confirming my suspicions because I could really use the win.
The lights were on at Paula’s, which was a good sign. Usually, she cut out of there as soon as two o’clock hit and she had the place cleaned up. She’d managed to get a sheet of plastic over the broken window. It bowed and flapped in the wind.
There weren’t any other cars in the parking lot, but then Josiah wouldn’t have come by car. He would’ve used that quick travel spell he’d shown me when we were hunting my fetch during Mardi Gras. I shuddered at the memory of his warning. After finding out the spell could turn anyone who used it inside out, I didn’t blame him so much for charging extra.
I got out of the car and trudged across the parking lot, giving the darkness around me a cursory glance. Ever since finding out Mask was in town, every shadow had seemed deeper, darker, colder. He could be in any of them, just waiting for the right moment to spring out.
My phone buzzed. I let out a yelp of surprise and fumbled to get it out of my pocket without dropping it. A text from Emma. She’d gotten back safely, Grammy was just fine, and she was getting ready to turn in for the night. I texted her back: Don’t wait up for me. Gonna be a long one. Update you if anything changes.
“Bloody millennials. Always on their phon
es. Don’t even have the decency to watch where they’re going.” Josiah propped open the front door, one hand in the pocket of his jeans while the other tapped ash from the end of a cigarette. “How ya goin’, mate?”
“Had better days.”
“I figure you wouldn’t call me on a good day.” He took another long drag from the cigarette and dropped it to the pavement, grinding his shoe on it. “Took you long enough to get here. Get held up, did you?”
“Well, let’s see. First, there was the sludge monster at the water plant. Then I had to run to the hospital to confirm that the sickness sweeping through New Orleans is connected to Mask. I was really hoping I was wrong on both counts. I really hate it when I’m right.”
“You and me both.” He stepped aside, holding the door with the toe of his shoe. “Where’s this Knight of yours you want me to work over?”
“He’ll be here any minute. I sent Finn to go get him.” I stepped past him into Paula’s and paused on the other side of the door. The whole bar had been rearranged, all the tables pushed to either side of the room, the chairs stacked. Even the bar had been cleared off to make room for unrolled towels holding tools. I crossed the room to examine their contents, which encompassed everything from a brass bell to holy water to pouches of incense and herbs.
Josiah closed behind me. “Who’s Finn? You didn’t mention anyone else.”
The door to the men’s room swung open and someone I didn’t know stepped out, cleaning his hands with a paper towel. He was a little on the short side, under six feet, with dark hair, dark eyes, and a goatee. He’d also done time. Guys who’ve been on the inside, even if only for a few months, develop a special sort of awareness. Something in their gaze, the way they sweep a room, analyzing everyone in it in search of entrances, exits, enemies, and allies. He settled on me and gave me a nod.
This must be the guy Josiah said I should meet.
“Stefan Nikolaides,” said the newcomer, extending his hand. “Oracle.”
“Oracle, huh?” I asked, shaking his hand. “Didn’t know that was a thing.”
