One of the strongest powers is the power to heal…

Chapter 2

Darcinda smiled at the adorable male grinning up at her from her exam table in the healing center. His baby blue eyes were swoonworthy, his laugh infectious, and he didn’t disagree with her at every turn. Exactly what she was looking for in a male. Too bad he was only six months old.

She rubbed his tummy. “How are you doing, JT?”

“He’s good,” his mother, Alex, answered. “He’s been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth. I think he’ll be crawling any day now.”

“Well, aren’t you an overachiever?”

“Bah, bah, bah,” JT chanted.

“My thoughts exactly,” Darcinda said and started her exam.

“Devin’s been reading and says babies normally crawl between six and ten months,” Alex said. “So he’s babyproofing the house in preparation.”

Darcinda checked JT’s ears. “So you haven’t convinced your husband to stop reading every baby book he can get his hands on?”

Alex sighed. “I’ve tried. I can’t believe I’m turning out to be the more laid-back parent. I keep telling Devin to relax. JT’s development is not a competition.”

“Good for you. Do you have any concerns?”

“He’s been a little cranky lately.”

“JT or Devin?”

Alex laughed. “JT. But he’s been drooling a lot too.”

Darcinda ran her finger over his bottom gums. “He’s teething.”

“That’s what I told Devin, but he wanted you to look him over.”

Darcinda held her hand over JT’s head and concentrated as her healing senses expanded. She couldn’t sense any problems. “Has he shown any signs of magic?”

“Not since he made my stomach glow before he was born.” Alex’s eyes widened. “Should he be showing powers already?”

“Not necessarily. But since he’s faerie, elf, and human, it’s hard to predict what to expect.”

“I think that’s what’s got Devin so worried. Not knowing what will happen next.”

“Well, he’s not going to find those answers in the baby books he’s reading. That’s the adventure of parenting, regardless of the species.”

Darcinda sat JT up and handed him a foam block. “He’ll be fine.”

“JT or Devin?” Alex asked with a smile.

Darcinda chuckled. “Both of them.”

JT threw the block, and Alex bent down and picked it up, handing it back to her son. “You would think my abs would be perfect, the number of times I bend over and pick things up for him.”

“Have you been able to manifest any powers?”

Alex shook her head. “No. I guess I’ll never be accepted as a faerie.”

Darcinda blew out a hard breath. “Being a faerie is more than how much power you can wield.” One of the reasons she distanced herself from most of her faerie clan. Time to change the subject. “Well, you look good, and you seem happy.”

Alex smiled. “I am. JT is such a gift, and I love Devin with all my heart, neuroses and all. Plus the wedding planner business is going well. We have more paranormal clients than we can handle. And most of my friends are happily mated now.”

Darcinda had first met Alex when the woman discovered she was supernatural. Darcinda taught her what it meant to be faerie. And Alex had returned the favor by pulling her into the fold. A fold that included her husband, Devin, and his teammates, who worked for the Tribunal keeping peace among supernaturals and helping hide their existence from humans.

Alex had also made it her mission to find mates for Devin’s teammates. Even though Darcinda thought the Fates had played more of a role than Alex, she wasn’t about to say so.

“You are a perpetual matchmaker,” she said instead.

Alex shrugged. “I am. I can’t seem to help myself. Now Giz”—she shook her head—“I mean Tim , has found his mate, I can turn my attention to someone else.”

JT flung the block again, and Alex picked it up. “Okay, buddy. Hold on to it for a bit.”

He let out an I-don’t-think-so giggle.

“Who’s your latest matchmaking project?” Darcinda asked.

“I wanted to work on Peggy, but my sister-in-law threatened me. And since she is a high-powered elf, I take her threats very seriously. I was thinking about turning my attention toward the Demon Burrow.”

Holy Fates. Hopefully she meant someone in the village. Darcinda wasn’t sure if Jamie and Andrew were ready for Alex’s matchmaking attempts. They were both still young and had plenty of time to settle down.

“I’m trying to figure out who I could set McHenry up with.”

Darcinda barked out a laugh before she could control herself.

JT laughed along with her before flinging his toy. The yellow foam block bounced on the floor before settling under a chair.

This time Alex didn’t bend down to retrieve it since she was too busy glaring at Darcinda. “What are you laughing about?”

“Come on, Alex. McHenry is the demon equivalent of a porcupine crossed with a grizzly bear.”

“I think he’s really a sweetheart underneath.”

“I wouldn’t know. If I get within twenty feet of him, he blusters and curses my faerie existence.”

“Bah!” JT exclaimed.

“I’ll get your block in a minute, buddy.” Alex continued making her point to Darcinda. “McHenry’s all bark and no bite. I think he needs a mate. That should mellow him out.”

“I’m not sure anything could mellow him out.” McHenry was big, burly, and foul-tempered, especially when Darcinda was around. And while her blunt style often got her in trouble, his anger stemmed from who she was, not what she said.

“Well, you have to admit he played a part in the twins and Tim finding their mates. I think the least I can do is help him find his own.”

“Better you than me,” Darcinda said.

A gurgle sounded from the table. JT was busy chewing on the corner of the yellow foam block.

Darcinda looked down at the floor. The block was no longer underneath the chair.

Alex gaped. “How in the world—”

Before Darcinda could respond, the door slammed open and Devin filled the doorway. He was frowning and out of breath.

“What’s wrong, Devin?” Alex asked.

“We got an emergency call from Jamie. Something happened in the Demon Burrow. We need Darcinda’s help.”

Alex scooped up her son. “Oh no.”

Darcinda nodded before turning to her shelf of supplies. “Let me collect a few things. Do we know who’s hurt?”

“McHenry.”

She looked over her shoulder at Devin. “Does he know you’re bringing me? He’s not going to want me there.”

Devin shook his head. “Tough. He’s been outvoted, and he’s not in a position to object.”

She packed some herbs and potions. “Did Jamie describe his injuries?”

“He wasn’t making much sense. Something about flying metal and McHenry taking the brunt of it.”

Darcinda opened her bag, stuffed in more ingredients, and marched up to Devin. “I’m ready,” she announced, whether she was or not.

Even if he bellowed the rooftop off when he caught sight of her, the healer in her wouldn’t allow the stubborn demon to suffer—much.

In less than half an hour the team had gathered and were hiking along the forest path leading to the edge of the Demon Burrow—to McHenry’s home. Werewolf twins Jack and Connor led the way, followed by Charlie, who was a sea nymph, and Tim, a warlock. Devin, their team leader and an elf, walked alongside her as they briskly made their way.

“Can you go a little faster?” Devin asked her.

“Of course. The sooner we get there the better.”

Devin nodded, and the team took off at a slow jog, alternating between fast walking and jogging as they headed deeper into the forest.

An hour later, Darcinda and the team emerged from the trees into the cobblestone courtyard. To the right stood McHenry’s blacksmith workshop, and to the left was a large log house with a wraparound porch. Both buildings had stunning, complex metalwork adorning the outside. Every time Darcinda visited the site, she was impressed—not that she would tell McHenry that anytime soon.

The team split up, Jack and Connor heading into the workshop with Charlie and Tim canvassing the outside of the house. Devin had told her to stay back until they could tell if it was safe, and she hadn’t argued with him, even though she probably could take on anything the team went up against. But now was not the time to give the I-am-faerie-hear-me-roar speech. She wanted to get to her patient, even if she was the last person he wanted to see.

The twins came outside again. “It looks like a bomb went off in the workshop,” Connor said.

The front door of the house opened, and Jamie came out to greet them. He was a young demon in his early twenties. The look of fear and pain in his eyes reminded Darcinda of when she met him for the first time a little over a year ago. She was sorry to see that scared look again.

“Thank you for coming,” Jamie said.

“Are we safe?” Devin asked.

“For now,” Jamie answered cryptically.

“Where is he?” Darcinda asked.

Jamie beckoned for them to follow. Devin ordered Jack, Connor, and Tim to stay downstairs and check things out. Devin, Darcinda, and Charlie climbed the stairs with Jamie leading the way.

Jamie opened the door at the end of the hall, and Darcinda barely stopped herself from gasping.

“Damn,” Devin blurted.

McHenry lay on his side with his legs pulled up. Blood ran in streams from various pieces of metal embedded in his back. Andrew stood to the side of the bed with a bowl and a pair of large tweezers while bloody towels lay piled around him.

Charlie dropped his medic bag, walked around the bed, and checked McHenry’s pulse. “It’s steady. But it looks like he’s unconscious.”

“That’s probably a blessing,” Darcinda said. She turned to Andrew. “How did this happen?”

“I’ve been trying to take out the pieces I could.” Andrew’s hand shook as he looked down at his uncle’s ravaged back. “It should have been me,” he mumbled.

Darcinda took a step closer to him. “Andrew! Tell me what happened.”

He exchanged a look with Jamie before answering. “We were in the workshop, and there was an explosion. He pushed me out of the way and took the brunt of things.”

“What type of explosion? Was it a bad spell?” she pressed.

Andrew shook his head. “It’s my fault.”

He wasn’t telling her the whole story, but she needed to work on her patient. “The metal in his shop is magical, correct?” she asked.

Andrew nodded.

“That means we won’t just be dealing with the physical injury. We’re also dealing with magical injury, and those can be trickier.”

“But he’ll be okay, right?” Jamie asked.

She knew better than to promise things she couldn’t deliver, but she couldn’t stop herself from saying yes. As bad as things looked, McHenry was one of the most stubborn males she had ever met. That tenacity would work in his favor.

“We need to get him on his stomach so I can work on his back.”

Andrew cringed. “I tried to get him to lie on his stomach, but he was in too much pain.”

Which was why he was curved in on himself. It was a good thing he was unconscious.

“I’m going to need help moving him. Let’s do it together slowly. Devin, try to straighten his legs. Charlie, hold on to his shoulder and move him toward you when I tell you to.”

Devin worked on his legs, and at her word, Charlie tilted him forward. A moan wrenched from McHenry, sounding more like a trapped animal than man.

Andrew flinched, and Jamie’s face lost all color.

“You don’t need to stay in here,” Darcinda said quietly, to soften the words. She didn’t need more people to tend to at the moment.

“I’m not leaving,” Andrew said.

Jamie lifted his chin. “Me either.”

Darcinda nodded to them both. “Stubborn like your uncle, I see.”

She held her hands over McHenry’s back for a few moments to get an idea of the extent of his injuries. What she felt through her healing senses was a convoluted mess of torn flesh and mixed magic. Spells that were battling against each other but also trying to burrow deeper into McHenry.

The healer in her would not let that happen. Time to get to work.