Chapter Sixteen

 

“He’s stable again.” Daniel walked out of the room where Zack lay on what I prayed wasn’t his deathbed.

“Good.” Dev stood up and straightened his shirt. “I’ll go speak with Albert. Some food might do him good.”

He kissed my cheek before striding out the door. It was good for him to have something to do. He’d been pacing outside the room, his worry evident in the grim look in his eyes.

Rhys and Shy had taken little Justin to the house Neil and Chad were staying at. Neil had promised Lisa he would watch over her son while she tried to take care of his father.

Courtney wiped tears from her eyes and stood. “Can I see him? Is Mom okay?”

No one had been able to convince Courtney to leave. She’d sat in a chair by the fire, silent the entire time.

Daniel put a hand on her shoulder. “I think he would like that very much. And your mom is being strong. Like I said, he’s stable, but I’m still worried. He deteriorated very quickly. We’re bringing someone in. I need you to understand that I will do everything I can.”

She nodded and let Daniel lead her inside.

The door behind us opened and Lily walked through, a basket in her hand. She was followed by Lee, who’d gone to find her and Dean. Dean looked around the place like he wasn’t sure of his welcome. I rather thought he missed Kelsey. She’d been the one he’d spent the most time with when we were on the outer planes. He’d been shoved into this brand-new world and then pushed to the side because we’d been in constant trauma mode since the moment we got here.

He was far from everything he knew, and the person he’d been closest to was gone. He’d followed Lee around, but he still looked so lost. I hoped Lily and the other witches were taking him under their wings. He stopped in the middle of the room and went still as though he was taking in his surroundings and finding them alarming.

“I have a couple of tonics we can try.” Lily set her basket down on the coffee table. “But I also thought we could let Dean have a look. His magic is different from any I’ve ever felt.”

“Different how?” I asked.

Lily stepped in close, her voice going low. “Magic has a texture to it. I know that sounds odd, but it’s the only way I can explain it. You know how spells can leave a scent behind? Or how you can feel the air crackle around you when a powerful witch casts?”

I remembered how it felt when Sarah worked her magic. There was an electricity that surrounded her when she concentrated. “I do.”

“Dean has an aura around him. Like he’s not merely a witch. Like there’s something inside him that’s constantly giving off magic. It’s weirdly soothing,” Lily said. “When I get close to him, I feel…calmer than I was before. I would say he’s working some kind of charm magic, but he’s not. It’s not a charm or a glamour. I think it’s just who he is. Or what he is.”

“Do you think it’s dangerous?” We had no idea how strong he was. I felt comfortable with him because he seemed so genuine. He’d saved our butts on the outer planes when it would have been easier for him to leave us behind. He was facing his destiny despite the fact that he had a privileged existence on another plane.

And Summer had cared for him and he for her. Now Lee seemed drawn to him. I wanted another perspective, though. I wanted to know how a witch would feel around him.

“I think he has no idea what kind of power he could wield, so yes. He could be very dangerous if he was turned the wrong way,” Lily replied quietly. “Or he could be the hero he wants to be. There’s a goodness to him that’s hard to deny.”

Her answer eased my mind a bit. I knew any witch on Myrddin’s team would be wary of Dean and his odd magic, but it was good to know our witches liked him. “And you think he might be able to help Zack?”

“Zack was hit by a curse. It was battle magic, but there was a curse aspect to it. That curse is what’s killing him. We’ve tried clearing it, but it’s Myrddin’s magic. It’s the single most powerful magic we’ve ever seen on the Earth plane. That’s the problem. We’re using Earth plane magic to combat it. Even our dark magic flows from the Earth plane.” She glanced back to where Dean stood frowning. “I understand that Dean was conceived here on Earth, but he wasn’t born here. He was taken off plane while his mother was pregnant. Unborn souls are tricky things. They can be influenced, especially by their environments, or in this case by the mother’s environment or the things she experiences.”

Didn’t I know that truth? Mine was sitting quietly in the corner watching Dean. “You think the act of being taken to the outer planes might have changed Dean’s magic?”

She nodded. “Yes. From what he’s told me, his mother was transported by a Planeswalker. She was in the demon’s company for at least a day. That demonic energy is powerful, especially when they go through the doorways. It’s possible that energy changed what would have been normal Earth magic into something else. I’m going to check into his mother’s line. I suspect she might be from one of the lost families.”

That was what they called magical lines who’d chosen to ignore their talents in favor of living human lives. They allowed their magic to go unused and over time, they’d lost their power. Sometimes it flared again, but they usually quashed it wherever they could. “Okay. I think we should absolutely let him try. He needs to start testing the waters here.”

“I’m going to show him the ropes. I’ve asked him to follow me around when I go on calls. I serve as Frelsi’s healer.” Lily nodded Dean’s way. “He can start small and work on it. But I would like to see if he feels anything from Zack.”

Dean stepped up. “Your Highness?”

I held out a hand. “Thanks for coming, Dean. Did Lily fill you in?”

“Yes,” he replied. “I can feel the curse from here. It’s dark and it kind of makes me nauseous. It smells like rotten eggs.”

“Is it bothering you enough that you need to leave?” I wasn’t sensitive to magic the way Dean would be. Of course some people would just say I wasn’t sensitive at all. They’re usually the ones who would rather deal with Danny or Dev.

“No. I want to see if I can help. My old mentor was a terrible person, but she taught me a lot about curses.” Dean walked toward the door. “The myth is that a strong curse can only be reversed by the witch who cast it, but Erna taught me a few tricks. The witches of Arete really liked to curse men. Like a lot. Being able to reverse a curse was a necessary skill.”

“Erna was the one who had you in thrall, correct?” Lily asked.

Dean nodded. “She was from the witch plane, and one of her favorite things was apparently siphoning off other people’s magic. She used Summer’s for years, and I didn’t realize how much of mine she used until she accidently took the thrall stone out of my head. I’m finding more and more power deep inside.”

“You should have kept it. The stone, I mean. Like a souvenir.” Lee had planted himself on the sofa. “Like I kept my eye.”

He could still surprise me. “You did not keep your eye.”

“Oh, he did. He’s got it in a jar. He already showed it to me,” Dean admitted. “It’s well preserved.”

I shuddered. “You will get rid of that.”

Lee’s frown went mulish. “No way. Dean thinks he might be able spell it so I can carry it around and see with it. Like a spy cam. How cool would that be? I could leave it places and it could spy for us.”

I had been away for far too long. I would deal with the fact that my son wanted to be able to carry an eyeball around later. For now, I wanted to see if Dean could use his newfound power to help us out. “Let’s go in, if you’re willing.”

“Sorry about the eye thing. It probably won’t work,” Dean said under his breath.

“Come on. I miss peripheral vision.” Lee followed behind us. “Hey, do you think when I turn, the eye will turn, too? And then I’d have three?”

I sent him a look that would have had his eleven-year-old self shaking.

“Sorry, Mom.” Lee went serious, and when he walked through the door, he immediately went to his cousin and wrapped an arm around her. Courtney leaned into him with the ease of long familiarity.

My family had found a way to stick together even in the worst of circumstances. The love they had for each other was easy to see. I wasn’t sure if that made me happy they were so strong together or sad that I hadn’t been a part of it.

Lisa looked up from Zack’s bedside. She was holding his hand. “Zoey. Thank you for coming. He looks better, doesn’t he?”

He did. His color was back, and there was a brightness to his eyes that had been gone before. But then that had happened when Danny had given him blood yesterday, too. Still, I nodded and gave her a smile. “He does.”

“And I’ll look like shit again tomorrow.” Zack squeezed his wife’s hand. “Zoey, you always tell me the truth. I’m not going to lie to you now. I don’t think I come out of this. I think that it was a blessing that I have these last days with my family. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you all and how much comfort there is in knowing you’ll take care of them.”

Danny’s expression was grim, and I wondered how long Zack had been talking like this.

Lisa stood up and shook her head. “I need to go and find him some food. He has to keep up his strength so he can continue playing the martyr.”

“I’m not trying to be a martyr,” Zack argued. “I’m trying to be realistic. I’m trying to prepare you.”

Courtney was leaning against Lee, trying to hide her tears.

Everyone was focused on the family drama playing out. Everyone except Dean. He was looking around as though he could see something the rest of us couldn’t. His fingers splayed as though he was testing some invisible water.

“Do you see what you’re doing to your daughter?” Lisa asked.

“I’m trying to get her ready.” Zack sat up, his back against the headboard. “We can’t go on this way. She needs to be prepared for this.”

“Maybe I should take Courtney back to Uncle Neil’s,” Lee said tentatively.

She shook her head. “I want to be here with my dad.”

Dean was frowning.

I could feel the heavy weight of emotion. Sometimes a situation is so grim that you can feel the weight of the moment, the despair blanketing you and making you feel like you can’t breathe.

And sometimes it was an asshole’s magic that made everyone crazy. “This is part of the curse, isn’t it?”

“Zack’s health? Yes.” Lily moved in, setting her basket on the nightstand. “He’ll feel a bit better because of the king’s blood, but he got worse today. Worse than he’s been in a long time.”

Zack put a hand on his chest. “I’m going to get weaker. I’ll feel better for less and less time and get sicker. This is the last time I take the king’s blood. It’s better to go out on my own will.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that.” Lisa had gone pale. “You have to stay with us. You can’t give up.”

I was paying more attention to Dean. “It’s fighting, isn’t it? It knows Daniel might be able to save him.”

Dean shook his head, and his eyes seemed to sparkle in the low light. “It’s not the king’s blood it’s afraid of.”

“What are you talking about?” Lisa asked, wiping her eyes.

“The curse.” It was odd because now that I was thinking about it, I could tell the difference. It wasn’t even really subtle. It had been the night before, but now it was like a surge against my skin.

Lily gasped. “I can feel it now. I’m sorry, Zack. I’ve never noticed it before. I knew it was some kind of a curse, but this is a living thing. I’ve never felt a curse like this before. Something’s changed. I would have felt this.”

“It changed. It’s scared, and that is what you feel,” Dean said.

“I would bet Myrddin learned this on the Hell plane.” I watched as Dean went perfectly still though I spoke to Lily. “I know your father had a demonic background, but you haven’t actively used it.” Sarah had from time to time. It was why she’d been so strong at some defensive spells.

Lily shook her head. “Not in magic. When I was on the Hell plane, they used me like a battery. I certainly wasn’t taught in this fashion. It’s like it’s alive. Why now? I’ve been around Zack for years and I’ve never felt anything like this from him.”

“Please, Lisa. I don’t want it to end like this. I know you don’t want to face it, but I’m dying.” If Zack was listening to us, I couldn’t tell. He seemed intent on convincing his wife he wasn’t long for this plane.

Probably because the curse was working on his brain the same way it was his body.

Lisa had moved to her daughter, wrapping her in her arms as though she could protect her from what was happening. Lee stepped in front of them. My son was always putting his body between danger and others. He had since he was small.

“Dean, maybe you should go. I don’t like how it feels in here,” Lee said.

Dean’s eyes shifted slightly, glancing to where Lee was. “But if I leave it won’t be afraid anymore. It will sink back deep inside and hide like the coward it is. That curse will feed on his misery if I walk away. It’s not scared the king’s blood will save Zack. It knows I’m going to kill it. Stand back.”

Dean shoved his hand against Zack’s chest, and I struggled to stay on my feet when a blast of heat went through the room. Danny moved toward Zack like he was going to force Dean off of him.

“Don’t,” I yelled over the shouts coming from Zack. “Let him try.”

Lisa was covering her daughter, and Lee suddenly had a knife in his hand.

Lily seemed to shake off her initial shock. “I can help him.”

She closed her eyes and started to murmur a spell I knew well. It was an incantation of strength, to help power what Dean was doing.

And what it looked like Dean was doing was nothing short of sucking the evil out of Zack’s soul. Where his hand touched Zack’s chest, lines of black crept up Dean’s arm, the skin going from healthy to pale and sick in a second.

Before I could start to tell him this was a bad idea, that he shouldn’t take the curse inside him, it was over and Zack slumped back against the bed. Dean stood, but his eyes had gone from crystal to pure black.

Lily’s eyes came open. “He’s taken it inside him. Dean, you can clear it. Let it go. You’re stronger than the curse. You mastered it. You own it now. It is yours to command.”

Dean stood there, his feet planted to the ground and those obsidian eyes looking too alien to me.

“Hey, buddy.” Lee stood right in front of him. “You saved the day. Time to let it out. Tell the bad shit it can’t live inside you and let’s go get a beer.”

Dean simply stared at him, and then I saw a single tear fall. He was fighting something inside, something hateful and evil. “I dream about you at night.”

“I’m pretty dreamy,” Lee admitted with a hint of a smile.

“Lee, I don’t think you should be so close to him,” Danny warned.

“I think he saved my uncle and he needs to remember that he’s stronger than Myrddin’s curse.” Lee reached out and put a hand on Dean’s cheek, his thumb brushing the tear away. “I would hate for you to give in to this. So don’t. Let it go. Stay here with me. We just met and it would suck to not get to know you. I think you could be someone special.”

Dean’s eyes shifted, the darkness fleeing, and his skin went a little green. He stumbled toward the door. “I’m going to be sick. Oh, that was awful.”

Lee’s face split in the widest smile. “Hey, Uncle Zack. Good to see you again. I’m going to go hold back Dean’s hair. He’s got a lot of it. It’s hot, but in this case very problematic. I think this is going to be a long session. Try not to shed too much. I’m on cleaning duty this week.”

I turned and saw what had my son smiling. There was a big gorgeous brown wolf sitting on the bed, his eyes shining and tail thumping.

“He hasn’t been able to change in two years.” Lisa was crying freely, holding Courtney’s hand as they surrounded Zack.

“I’m going to go see if the boys need anything.” Lily picked up her basket. “I’ve got some herbs that might help Dean clear the curse. Or at least make his stomach settle more quickly. Your Highness, he’s extraordinary.”

Yes, he was, and I was starting to wonder why. We’d talked about his mother’s family, but I was interested in who his father was.

But I let that worry go for the moment. I let it go because a part of my family was whole again. They were also wolves, since Lisa and Courtney decided to change. Danny, Dev, and I watched as the wolves ran through Frelsi, and when they howled their joy my heart was as full as the moon above us.