by June Stevens
“That really isn’t necessary.” Luca’s voice had a hard edge.
Jarrett assessed the other vampire. He was tall, but still a few inches shorter than Jarrett, broad shouldered and muscular. He could possibly be a force to be reckoned with, but Jarrett bet the man had never had any hand-to-hand combat training. He was, after all, just a doctor. If push came to shove, Jarrett was confident he could take the med-mage.
“Yes, I really think it is,” Jarrett said, his tone brooking no argument.
“Seriously, you two, all this testosterone flying around has me giddy with excitement, but do you think you could put a cork in it. My leg hurts like a bitch and I’d like to get it healed so I can walk out of here before the two of you pull out a measuring stick,” Anya groused.
“Sorry,” they said in unison, and Jarrett felt like a heel. But he still wasn’t handing her over.
Luca sighed. “Follow me.”
Jarrett followed Luca to one of the narrow beds and laid Anya down on it.
“Thank you,” Luca said. “You can wait over there.” He pointed to a couple of chairs near one wall.
Jarrett walked behind the bed, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall. “I’ll stay, thanks.”
Anya looked at him and rolled her eyes, clearly indicating she thought he was acting like a child. But, she turned to Luca and said, “It’s okay, he can stay.”
“Okay,” the med-mage said, obviously unhappy with the situation. He pulled the curtain around them so they had a modicum of privacy.
“Pete checked my leg and said there was a torn muscle, but he advised I have a full diagnostic,” Anya said.
“Okay. Let me check you out first, then we’ll get you healed,” Luca told her, his voice tender.
As Jarrett watched, the other man ran his hands over Anya, making notes on a pad of hemp paper. Although it was all very clinical, Jarrett felt like the jealousy raging through him was much more justified now than it had been with Pete. He didn’t know how well Anya and the med-mage knew each other, but it was clear Luca had feelings for her that were more than just friendly.
But then, Jarrett really couldn’t justify his jealousy, could he? Anya wasn’t his. If this man wanted Anya, it was her problem, not Jarrett’s. He still didn’t like it. But most of all, he didn’t like feeling like this. He hadn’t felt jealous or possessive of a woman in centuries. And now wasn’t the time to feel it again. Not with this woman.
Even if he did want to be with someone for more than a few days at a time, it couldn’t be Anya. She was a norm, he was a vampire. She would grow old and die in just a blink of his eye. He had absolutely no business getting attached to her. Yet as he stood there and watched her talking to the med-mage, Jarrett knew it was too late. He was already attached. All he could do at this point was go with it, and once he left Nash, make sure his work didn’t bring him back for a decade or two.
“Pete was right in his assessment,” Luca said, breaking Jarrett out of his musings. “You do have a torn muscle, but I can heal it with no problem. You don’t have a concussion and your other injuries are minor. I’m going to have one of the other healers work on your cuts and bruises so I can focus on your leg, is that okay?”
“Sure. Thank you,” Anya said, smiling up at him.
Luca stepped beyond the curtain for a moment, then was back, a female healer following him.
Jarrett’s abilities to manipulate energy were minimal, and he couldn’t normally sense when magic was being used like some high-level mages could, yet as the two med-mages worked on Anya, he could feel palpable shifts of energy inside the tiny cubicle.
The woman first rubbed a salve over Anya’s cuts, and Jarrett assumed it was to clean and disinfect them. Then, she placed her hands over each cut and bruise, one by one, and pushed power through her hands. When she lifted her hands away, the bruise was gone.
“It’s good that you got here so quickly,” the female healer said after removing the first, darkest bruise. “I’ll be able to heal these completely. The deepest bruises might have a slight yellowish tinge for a few hours, but all discoloration should be faded by morning. There shouldn’t be any pain at all. If you had waited, that would not have been the case. Once a bruise is a few hours old, it becomes more difficult to heal.”
Anya turned her head and looked at him. He flashed a grin and a wink that clearly said ‘I told you so.’ Translating it well, she stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to pay attention to the healers.
While the woman healed the smaller injuries, Luca worked on Anya’s leg. He placed his hands over it and seemed to be pushing bursts of energy through his hands as he moved them up and down. After about half an hour, he pulled his hands away to reveal Anya’s ankle. It was back to its normal color and size.
“Okay, Baby Girl, you are all done,” Luca said, pulling her pants leg down and flashing her a flirty smile that made Jarrett’s urge to punch him in the teeth come back with a vengeance. “It’s healed and the pain should be gone, but that was a fairly serious tear, so the muscle will be weak for a little while. I want you to stay off it for about twelve hours. After that, you should be back to normal. We can put you in a room here until you feel you can walk back to the pub tomorrow.”
Jarrett pushed away from the wall. “I’ll take her home.”
Luca didn’t look at Jarrett. “You’ll need to stay off your leg, completely. That means you’ll need someone to help you to the restroom and bring you food and drink. You’re better off here with the nurses than at home where everyone is busy working.”
Jarrett pushed away from the wall. “I’ll be taking care of her, no need to worry.”
Anya looked up and smiled at him and his heart leapt in his chest when she took his hand in hers. “It’s okay, Luca, Jarrett will make sure I stay off my foot and am well taken care of.”
“Well, okay then,” he turned to go, and then turned back. “You were right to come here tonight.”
She crinkled her nose. “To be honest, if Jarrett hadn’t insisted I come here, I would have gone to the public clinic down the road.”
Horror flashed across his face. “I’m glad you didn’t. I know which one you are talking about. There are very talented healers there, but none that can do deep healing. You would have been sent across town. That kind of delay would have made the healing take longer and be more painful. You would have likely been on crutches for several days, if not weeks. Look, Sweetness, if you ever need healing again, come here and ask for me. If I’m not here, have me called in.”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Luca. That is so kind.”
“Anything for you, Baby Girl. I have to keep my favorite bartender able to pour drinks and listen to my whining.” He walked over to her, bent to drop a kiss on her forehead, and then left the tiny cubicle. Jarrett stared after him, fists clenched at his side.
After leaving the clinic, Jarrett carried Anya back to his boat, and then went out to get them some food. After they ate the fish tacos he’d purchased from a vendor’s stand on the dock, he helped her shower away the dirt, sweat, and blood. Then they settled into bed.
They lay there for what seemed like a long time. To Jarrett, lying with Anya snuggled into his arms, neither of them asleep or talking, just quietly being together, felt more intimate than making love. It was something he’d never experienced before, and he didn’t dislike it. But, after a while, the question that had been burning all night at the back of his mind made him break the sweet, peaceful silence.
“Why do you fight?” he asked, his hand lazily stroking her arm.
She shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess because it’s a waste of my training not to. You know Fiona got Sam to pull strings so that I could go to the Academy of Magic and Science with her.”
“I knew you attended, but I didn’t know that.”
Anya sat up, pulling the sheet with her and wrapping it around her torso to cover her breasts, much to Jarrett’s consternation. She sat cross-legged next to him on
the bed.
“Fiona started at the Academy at fourteen under a City-Guard contract, and because of her power and skill, went straight into the Blades. But I’m a norm, I couldn’t sign a guard contract and there were no guilds to contract with.”
Jarrett nodded. To him, the Academy was a new-fangled way of training city guards and Blades, but he understood how it worked. Originally built to teach and train the Black Blade Guard agents and City Guard officers, the cadets signed contracts to work at least two years in exchange for their free education and training. It had opened almost half a century ago to civilians, and now the rich could pay for their children to learn math, history, science, and magic beyond what they could learn at home or in community-run schools. But few could afford the tuition. Many mages were able to attend by signing contracts with local trade guilds. Depending upon their type and level of magic, they could contract with an organization like the crystal chargers guild, the healer’s guild, or any of a dozen other trade guilds, to work for the guild or in a guild-run shop for two years for a minimum wage and the cost of their education. There were no such trade guilds or scholarship contracts available for norms.
“Pinky couldn’t afford to send me,” Anya went on. “But Fiona wouldn’t take no for an answer. And you know how she is. Just before she started her second year at the Academy, she threw a hissy fit and threatened to quit if I couldn’t go.”
Jarrett chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me. I’m guessing she threw the fit in the middle of Sam’s office.”
Anya nodded, smiling at the memory. “Yep. Sam has always been like an uncle to all of us, and you know he can’t say no to Fiona. So, he pulled some strings and I got in. Of course, all I’d ever wanted to be was a Black Blade Guard, like I knew Fiona was going to be, so that’s the curriculum track I went on. I took physical training, law and administration classes, everything. But then the two years of school were done, and it was time to test and become an official guard cadet. I was allowed to take the test because it was a part of the graduation requirements, but despite the fact that I had the highest grades in the class, I was denied cadet status.”
“Because you’re a norm.” Jarret said.
She nodded. “Got it in one. They told me it was too dangerous of a job for a norm. I had always known that was the policy, but I’d ignored it. I guess I thought that Fiona’s temper had gotten me in the door, but my skill and determination would get me to where I really wanted to be. And I really wanted to be a guard. But it was a no-go. I was offered a job in administration. I could work at the City-Guard offices, or even in the Black Blade Guard offices, but I could never be an officer or an agent.”
“That really sucks.” He felt stupid because that was all he could think to say.
“You said it. It sucks.” She gave a half laugh. “Could you see me sitting behind a desk typing up reports all day? I’d have kicked someone in the throat two hours into my first shift just to relieve the boredom.”
“I could definitely see that as a potential outcome,” Jarrett said through laughter. “If it means anything, I think tending bar suits your personality more than administrative work ever could. Though I can see where you would want to do something more physical once in a while.”
“I started out just training with Fiona on the weekends when she was going through her year of Blade training. Then I started street-fighting for the money. Now, I still make a pretty good side income through the fight houses I frequent, but it’s more about the physical activity, and maybe a little about the adrenaline rush.”
“Nope, sorry, don’t buy it,” Jarrett said.
“Excuse me?” Anya said, sounding more than a little put off.
“I get that those are the reasons why you fight, to a point. But I think there is more to the story. Your frustration at not being able to work in your chosen field is enough to make you want to show off your skill every chance you get. But it won’t make you fight like a demon’s after you,” he said.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she replied, shaking her head, her brow furrowed.
“When you fight, you aren’t just fighting to show your skill. You are driven by something deeper, darker. I saw it a little in your first two fights, but nothing like that last one. After he knocked you down, you fought with a rage and fury that could only be fueled by deep, dark pain. And not the kind in your leg.”
“I…” she mumbled, a shadow moving across her features.
“Don’t deny it. I saw it.” He kept his voice low and gentle. “I know it’s not my business, but will you tell me what it is? Will you tell me what makes you fight so ferociously?”
She let out a tiny, sad laugh. “You know, you’re the first person to ever ask me. Well, my family knows, but no one else has ever paid enough attention or cared enough to ask.”
He took her hand in his. “You don’t have to answer. You can tell me to shut the hell up and mind my own business, but I hope you won’t. I’d like to know what caused you so much pain.”
She let out another laugh, and this one had a little more spunk in it than the first. “Why, so you can go kick its ass?”
He flashed his most toothy grin at her. “Maybe.”
Her smile had a sad tinge to it. “Somehow I have no doubt that you would if you could, but there’s nothing for you to assassinate. It’s just bad, old memories. But I’ll tell you, on one condition.”
One eyebrow shot up. “What’s that?” he asked, dubious.
“Let’s lie back down, and you can hold me while I tell you my story.”
“Okay,” he said softly.
They laid down on the bed, both on their sides, her back against his chest and his arms around her. They lay quietly like that for a long moment, but Jarrett didn’t want to push her. He had a feeling that whatever she was going to tell him was very painful for her to even think about. After a while, she began to speak.
“I know you’re older than Pinky, so that means you grew up in a world where most people had no idea magic existed.”
It wasn’t exactly a question, but Jarrett answered anyway. “I did. As a matter of fact, the world I grew up in considered magic an abomination. Magic and paranormal creatures were believed to be nothing more than stuff of fairy tales. Yet any talk of real magic was considered evil, an abomination. I had a hard time adjusting to the truth when I was changed. It took a long time to realize that I, and those around me, weren’t inherently evil because of what we had become.”
“Then you might understand this better than I thought. You grew up with fairy tales of magic. I grew up in a world of magic where the fairy tales I told myself at night were of a world where magic didn’t exist. I spent the first decade of my life wishing for such a world, or just one tiny place in it.”
Though he was positive he wasn’t going to like the answer, Jarrett asked, “Why?”
“I grew up in a gypsy clan. According to the few stories that existed, my ancestors fled their homes during the cataclysm, and like many families, never found a place to call home. After a couple of generations, traveling was home. It was the one thing I ever enjoyed about my childhood, moving around, meeting new people.”
Jarrett dropped a kiss on the top of her head and smiled into her hair. “Something we have in common. I’ve been a nomad all my life. First by the fate of birth, then by choice.”
She turned her head slightly to look at him, “Really? I’d like to hear about it.”
He kissed her again, this time on the tip of her nose. “Nice try. Some other time. Right now is time for your story.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, and then flipped to face him so that her head rested against his chest. “Well, as I said, I was born into a gypsy family, which isn’t such a bad thing. But, fate is a fickle bitch and didn’t seem to be in my favor. I was born a norm in a family of mages. Mages that used their powers to make money, both legally and illegally.”
Jarrett didn’t like where this was going, but he remained silent.
“I don’t really remember what it was like before my parents realized I was norm. But once they did, they weren’t happy.”
“But you still were quite young when you came to live with Pinky, weren’t you? Magic abilities don’t usually present until puberty,” Jarrett cut in.
Anya shook her head against his chest. “That is when they are measurable, and specific abilities become apparent. Most magic users have the ability to manipulate energy at least on very low levels at a young age. I don’t know exactly how old I was, around four or five, but I remember not being able to turn off a crystal lantern, and one of my cousins, who was the same age, turned it off for me. An adult noticed and they made me try over and over again for hours to turn it on. I couldn’t. That’s when they realized I was a norm, or dud, as they called me.”
Jarrett didn’t want to remark on the word ‘dud’ so instead he said, “But I’ve seen you turn crystal lanterns on and off.”
She rolled over to face him. “Of course I can now. Like you said, puberty. Even norms that rank with 10% or less brain usage can activate crystals charged with basic household spells, just like you can, even though your magic is limited. It’s not about being able to push energy. Those crystals are activated by the basic electromagnetic energy in our bodies, which gets more powerful after puberty. Norm children can’t use charged crystals.”
Jarrett’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t know that.”
Anya laughed. “I guess it is possible to learn something new, even when you’re older than dirt.” She laughed harder at his faux-offended expression. “But I only know because I am a norm, and I made it a point to learn what I could, after Pinky rescued me, of course.”
Jarrett felt his smile fade. “He rescued you?”
Anya’s expression shaded, all humor gone. “He did. As I said, my parents weren’t happy about my ‘dud’ status. I was considered useless because I wasn’t able to do anything to earn my keep. And not just by my family, but by all the families in the clan. I was relegated to nothing more than animal status, lower actually, because at least the dogs aided in hunting and security. All I could do was scrub pots and wagon floors. The fact that I couldn’t even use magic for those menial tasks made them even angrier at me.”
