They were welcomed down to the ICU unit after their surprise landing on the helicopter pad. Apparently, having an entire wing of the hospital did count for something if you spoke to the correct person. Or maybe being a dragon counted for something. In either case, not only were they allowed to loiter in the waiting rooms near the ICU unit, but a doctor also came to pull Derek out of the coma and assess his condition to see if one of the new ritualistic, magical surgeries was applicable to his case. They’d moved him to a private room.
The hallway outside was flush with activity. Nurses hurried past. Nearly every one of the comfy chairs in the little waiting area was taken. Some people hunched over their phones and talked quietly into them, while others waved their arms about wildly and talked loudly until a nurse glared at them. Then they lowered to a whisper-shout. Zanie sat in one of the chairs, talking on the phone like everyone else. Jeremy had positioned himself on the floor by the burbling water cooler and table with disposable coffee cups. There was a coffee machine, but no coffee left to brew.
Now that they were actually inside the hospital, Jeremy had a chance to see more of the healing magic in action, but most of it occurred down in the emergency room. He was not stupid enough to go down there and get in the way. And when he asked the nurse manning the desk nearby if they had any resources he could look at, just checking to see if there were additional spells beside the ones Mary provided, he got a scolding for his trouble. The doctors did not want anyone who was not properly trained in casting spells to mess with them. There had been too many incidents.
Jeremy saw one such incident when he was walking back from the vending machine earlier. A gurney came hurtling down the hall with nurses on either side trying to strap the patient down because he was hollering at the top of his lungs in pain and trying to claw at his arms. There were huge bulbous growths beneath the skin. As Jeremy watched them rush by he could actually see some of them shifting and growing up his arms. But the man had not been someone brought into the hospital. He wore scrubs and one of the nurses pushing him was rapidly explaining to the other that a spell had backfired.
Jeremy stopped asking around about healing magic after that. The nurse had enough on their plates and Mary had already given them a lot of good information. Which was how he found himself sitting outside Derek’s room, waiting to hear about his condition, so he could see what Moira was planning to do before figuring out their next steps.
“This is really working out for Moira now, isn’t it.” Caleb looked toward the door of Derek’s room. They were currently discussing options with the doctor.
“I’m glad.” Jeremy hung his head between his knees and used the hand propped against his thigh to rub over his face, “Something needs to work out for one of us. All that back there was…”
“Expected.” Caleb finished for him. He slumped down beside Jeremy and took a similar position, “I mean, the last time you met council members, they tried to use you as a human sacrifice. Is it really so surprising that they tried to kill you this time around?”
It was not. And Jeremy really should have seen it coming. For all his supposed paranoia and hypervigilance about strangers, he’d ended up walking right into a dangerous situation anyway. The fact that he’d run across a few harmless, and even helpful, people like Abel, Mary and Zanie did not mean everyone would be like that. He’d let himself go in this as well as in his goal of documenting spells and keeping in shape.
With a sigh he sat back up and let his head thump back against the wall. He glanced over at Zanie and narrowed his eyes. She’d been just going along with everything pretty easily. Maybe that was just her nature or maybe he should be a little more suspicious of her.
“I’m more surprised that Sean tried to speak for you,” Caleb said. “I can’t figure that guy out.”
“I think he’s an asshole,” Jeremy said, “But he’s also a lot smarter than people give him credit for. I bet he was being deliberately vague in the car before we ran into the kelpie. It would honestly have been stranger if he had just started teaching us all the stuff the council knows, especially after taking the paperwork away. Plus, it sounded like he figured out my special skill is something unusual.”
“He uses his assholery to throw people off.” Caleb nodded slowly. “I can see it.”
“But I don’t know. He also might just be a dick.” Jeremy conceded.
“Nah,” Caleb nudged Jeremy with his shoulder, “You tend to have the right impression about people. It’s not like he or Leon tried to kill us. They seemed just as upset to see that hit squad as we were.” Caleb smacked him on the arm with the back of his hand, “And Moira! Can you believe she just literally bit someone’s head off?”
“That doesn’t surprise me one bit.”
They lapsed into silence, but it did not last long.
“What are we going to do now then?” Caleb asked, “Moira’s reunited with Derek. The council is dead-end. What next? Go find your parents?”
Jeremy hummed, “We have to go back for Atticus.”
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“What are you talking about?” Caleb asked, “Atticus is right there.”
“What?” Jeremy whipped his head around to follow Caleb’s pointed finger. Sure enough, Atticus lay curled at Zanie’s feet, little cat halter and all. She stared right at Jeremy with her unnerving eyes. “But that’s…,”
She turned away and rested her head on her paws. He shook his head and frowned at her. “Maybe she managed to stow away in one of the bags or something.”
“Maybe,” Caleb agreed.
The number of things that Jeremy could not explain seemed to be piling up. He despised it. He looked from Atticus back to Caleb. “What was that back there with the bullet?”
Caleb’s face broke into a grin, and he turned bodily to face Jeremy, “I don’t know, but it was cool! Do you think that’s my gift? Maybe I’m telekinetic.”
“You stopped the bullet in mid-air, right? If it had been a barrier of some kind, the bullet would have hit it and fallen to the ground.”
“Unless it got stuck in the barrier.” Caleb pointed out. “I was just thinking about how I didn’t want any bullets to hit me. That’s all. How it happened, I don’t know.”
“It would be useful to be able to put up bullet-proof barriers.” Jeremy mused, “Especially since we seem to keep running into danger from people more than monsters lately.”
“I think that would change if we get out of the city and away from the council.” Caleb said, “Why don’t we try to go track down exactly where the monsters are coming from? Didn’t you say they seemed concentrated in the parks and places like that. We could go straight to the source? It’s not like the council knows anything more than we do, not really.”
Jeremy thought about how much calmer it had been when they were first driving away from Moira’s mansion before they reached the town. “That’s a good idea, but what about you? Don’t you want to go check on your family?”
“They’re fine.” Caleb waved dismissively, “You know how things are with them. It’ll just get messy if I try to go home. Stop trying to get rid of me.”
Jeremy smiled despite himself. The more he thought about getting away from the city, the more he liked the idea. It was a shame that the council did not turn out to be a workable resource, but he did have that ancient book that needed translating, so his involvement with them was not a total loss. Unless they decided to keep coming after him. He wondered if there were tracking spells. No matter what, getting out of the city and to a place where they could finally get their feet under them and figure out some spells would be a good idea.
The door to Derek’s room swung open and the doctor exited. Moira appeared behind him and made a quick, jerky beckoning motion of her hand. Jeremy sighed and pushed himself to his feet.
“Let me figure out what Moira is planning on doing, then we can maybe get out of here.” He told Caleb before walking into the room. Derek sat propped up on a wall of pillows. A clean white bandage wrapped around his forehead and a bald spot in his short, dark hair peeked out from beneath it. One of his arms was in a cast, while an IV drip was attached to the other. Beneath the pale pallor of his face, he was handsome with long, sharp features. He gave Jeremy a wane smile upon his entrance.
“Derek, this is Jeremy.” Moira’s tone was much gentler than Jeremy had ever heard, “He’s the one who was with me at the party and helped me get here. Jeremy, this is Derek.”
“Nice to finally meet you.” Jeremy held out his hand, then winced when he looked at the cast on Derek’s arm. Derek just chuckled as he awkwardly withdrew the hand.
“Thank you for helping Moira out.” Derek said, “I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble. But it looks like they will get me out of here in short order.”
“It’s not a clean break.” Moira interjected, “So the healing spell they have to do is a little more involved. And they want to be cautious with the head wound, but apparently the swelling has gone down enough that they are comfortable addressing it as well.”
Jeremy nodded, “So you’ll be staying here for a little while.”
“Yes.” Moira plopped into the armchair beside the bed and let her head drop back, “I can’t move anymore anyway.”
Jeremy had no doubt. Not after the long night they just had, which included transforming into a dragon twice for her. “Caleb and I think we are going to get out of the city.”
“That sounds like a brilliant plan.” Moira waved a hand about, then let it drop to the armrest, “The council might still be looking for you.”
“They are probably looking for you.” Jeremy told her pointedly, “And they won’t have to look too hard.”
“They won’t do anything to Moira, if that’s your concern.” Derek closed his eyes. His face pinched with pain, eyebrows furrowed just slightly. “Once inducted, they can’t harm you unless there is a unanimous decision in favor of execution. And it certainly won’t be unanimous now that I am awake. Besides, its not like it’s Moira’s fault anyway.”
“Wait, you are on the council?” Jeremy asked.
“Yes.” Derek sighed, “I’m not surprised to hear they are trying to squirrel away information. The fact that they are helping the hospitals and military is nice, I guess, but its probably more of a power play for the Director.”
“It’s not really doing people any good to try to decide who gets information and who doesn’t.” Jeremy agreed, “Not when people are just going to do magic anyway.” He hesitated a moment, before deciding that direct was the best way to go with things. “That’s why Caleb and I are going to go see if we can’t figure out a little more about what’s going on by exploring some of the wild areas that popped up. Maybe learn a little more about the creatures coming out of them get better at magic. Once you are healed, do you both want to come with us?”
Having a dragon along would be a huge advantage.
“No.” Derek opened his eyes a little, “I don’t want to make any rash decisions. Not just because of whatever pain meds are scrambling my brain. I have always thought it best to make changes from within the system if I can. That’s why I never did officially leave my parent’s corporation even though I don’t agree with a lot of their decisions.” He closed his eyes again, “Ah, I’m rambling, I apologize. I don’t know how much Moira had actually told you, so that might not make any sense anyway. Basically, I’ll stick with the council for now instead of burning that bridge quite yet.”
Jeremy listened patiently, then nodded. “We’ll probably head out after getting some rest then. Moira has Caleb’s number, so we can keep in touch. I’m not really willing to let go of my connection with the council quite yet, not when they tried to literally kill me for knowing about them.”
Derek smirked, “Recalcitrant. I like that.”
Jeremy glanced at Moira and saw she had already fallen asleep in the chair. Derek followed his eyes, then smiled softly. “And again, thanks for watching out for her. Anything you need, just ask, okay?”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Jeremy said.