Chapter 7 #2
“I don't think you met Nancy last night, but she works in administration at the women's hospital in the Medical Center.”
“No, I didn't meet her, I don't think.”
“Right. She heard about your cancer diagnosis, and this morning she gave me this address.” He tapped the blue sticky note, which he’d stuck in one of the cup holders.
I waited. He was drawing this out, and I was getting more and more curious as to why.
He put his hand back on the steering wheel.
“So all the Wonders who work in the hospital system have some sort of informal chat network or something. I don't know any details.” He took a deep breath. “Nancy said word has been going around recently that there’s a magic carrier who is literally a healer.”
I blinked. “No way. No magic carrier has abilities like that. None of us can use our magic to affect anyone else, much less heal them.” Even as I said it, my heart began to beat faster. What if this healer was an anomaly? What if they were real?
“According to Nancy, the guy cured some kid of leukemia, but the info is really sketchy. All they have is this address and that we’re supposed to say we’re coming to see Mary Poppins.”
Sketchy didn’t begin to describe it. I told my hopes to calm the fuck down.
“Yeah, it could be some sort of con. Cash up front before he lays his hands on the patient and declares them cured.” I peered at the GPS.
“But that looks like a residential neighborhood. Seems like you wouldn't want to give your home address out if you were screwing people over.” I frowned. “For that matter, if you really did have healing abilities, it’d be dangerous as fuck to give people your real address. This has got to be some sort of office space or something.”
But when we arrived, the area was definitely residential.
The house was medium-sized, with white siding and a covered front porch.
The front yard was pretty overgrown, but there was a small sedan under the carport, and a potted plant on the porch.
From the street it certainly appeared as if someone lived here.
Rafferty parked the truck along the curb, and we got out. The street was quiet, but there were lots of other cars visible. No kids though, which was a relief. This area had a pretty high crime rate.
If someone had true healing abilities, they’d be rich, right? But if you charged an arm and a leg, wouldn’t you let people know up front so if they couldn’t afford it they didn’t waste your time? This had to be some sort of con, like Rafferty said.
He came around the front of the truck and joined me on the sidewalk. There wasn't even a fence around the property to keep people from walking up to this guy's front door. Was it a false address? Cautiously I opened up my magic and scanned the house. No one was inside, but in the backyard—
“Shit! Come on!” I ran toward the right side of the house.
“What? Elton!” Rafferty’s heavy footsteps pounded after me.
I rounded the front porch, and sure enough, ahead of us was a gate into the backyard.
“Wait! Let me go first!”
I stepped aside to let Rafferty pass. I appreciated how he didn't question me, just volunteered to use his strength to protect me. Not that the person in the backyard was any threat, but the thought was nice.
He slowly opened the gate, putting his face to the opening before pulling it wide and jogging through.
The yard was lovely. Some of the plants had lost their leaves for the winter, of course, but there were what I thought were mature fruit trees in the center, and a bunch of shrubs along the fence.
The grass was overgrown here as well, but about half of it had been tamed with the lawn mower that was sitting at the edge of the mown area.
The guy who'd been pushing it, though, was on the ground, rolling onto his side and attempting to sit up.
I pulled the gate shut behind me as Rafferty reached the man. “Hey, did you fall? Did you hit your head?”
The guy made it to a mostly upright seated position, leaning heavily on one hand. He lifted the other to tentatively feel at his scalp. “I just got dizzy. I don't think I hit my head.” He looked between me and Rafferty, staring at our chests, which meant he was examining our magic.
His own magic was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Most Wonders and magic carriers had a magical core, essentially a big spinning pinwheel of magical energy that kept our abilities going and created connections and bonds with other Wonders and magic carriers.
This guy, however, didn’t have a spinning pinwheel.
Instead it was like his entire body was infused with magic.
He didn't have a defined core at all. His body, his arms, his legs, and his head all glowed with magic, but it was faint, like a drained battery. If he’d had a regular magical core and was displaying that dim a glow, I’d have put him to bed for a week and fed him every few hours to get his energy back up.
Any hope I had of getting magically healed died right then. I pushed aside my disappointment. This man needed our help.
“Who the fuck are you guys?” He struggled to get to his feet, waving off Rafferty’s outstretched hand.
He was thin, and he appeared short next to Rafferty, but he was probably five foot eight inches or so.
Maybe mid-twenties. He had dark hair and amber skin, though his face had a gray cast I didn’t like.
I also didn't like the way his body listed slightly to the side, as if it didn't know how to balance properly.
The guy made a face at me. “If you're here to see me for that cancer you've got going on in your left nut, I'm sorry but I'm not in any shape to help you. I'm only taking on life or death cases these days.”
His healing abilities were real? I’d kind of thought so when I saw his magic, but still.
“Holy shit.” I shook off my astonishment.
“Don't worry about me. Why don't we get you inside and find you something to eat? Does your magic always look like that? You said you were in bad shape, but your magic is way too weak to be healthy.” I walked over until I was only a few feet from him.
He shrugged. “I have no idea. It's not like I can see my own magic.” Up close, it wasn't only his magic that was unusual. His fingernails were down to the quick, but they weren’t bitten.
It was more like they'd been cut that way. His eyebrows were almost completely plucked out, but not in a deliberate fashion statement. And what at a distance I’d thought was a short but messy hairstyle actually looked like he—or someone—had cut off his hair in chunks and even pulled some of it out by the root, based on the little bald patches here and there.
What the hell was going on with this guy?
Rafferty pointed toward the back door to the house. “Elton's right. Let's get you inside and put some food in you.”
The guy shook his head. “There's no food. I'm having some groceries delivered, but they won't be here for another hour or so.”
I glanced from him to the lawnmower and back. “You have zero energy to spare, you haven't eaten, and you thought now would be a good time to mow the lawn?”
His barely-there eyebrows came down over his nose. Annoyance sparked off of him, thick in the air. Too bad for him I could tell it was masking a fuckton of worry. “I think it's time for y'all to leave.”
Rafferty opened his mouth to respond, but I gave an exaggerated sigh. “We'll go, but only after I finish mowing your lawn while Rafferty goes and picks up a burger for you.” I considered him. “And a milkshake.”
Rafferty nodded. “And double fries.”
The guy narrowed his eyes, glancing back and forth between us. “Why would you do that? It won’t put you at the head of the line to be healed or anything.”
“So suspicious. I’m good. I’ve got surgery scheduled for Monday.
One of Rafferty’s pack members told us about you today, so we came by on the off chance you were real.
” I walked over to the lawn mower to make sure I remembered how to work one.
“Oh, I'm Elton. He’s Rafferty.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder.
That got me an aggrieved huff. “Whatever. I'm Manny.”
Rafferty gave him an indulgent smile, like Manny was one of the toddlers at the pack house. “Nice to meet you, Manny. Any place in particular you want me to get your food from?” Once again, I appreciated that Rafferty didn't object or second-guess me. He just rolled with what I wanted to do.
The two of them negotiated a restaurant destination, then Rafferty took off after giving me a significant look that I could tell meant I was to call him if there was a problem. I waited until he’d closed the gate behind him before shaking my head with a smile.
“What's the deal with you two? You seem like friends or maybe more, but you don't even have a connection.”
I grimaced. “We resonated so strongly the first time we touched that we're probably mates. He’s all in, but I've only really known him for two days.”
His face held recognition. “Yeah, you don't want to mess around with that unless you're sure.” He gestured toward my groin.
“And don't let him tell you being mated will get rid of your cancer.
It'll help, don't get me wrong, but there's no guarantee it'll be completely cured. There are plenty of mated magic carriers out there with advanced cancer.”
“Yeah, he tried that argument out on me right away, but I shut him down. Thanks for validating me.” I was relieved to have someone tell me I’d made the right choice. I trusted my instincts, but it was nice to get a second opinion.
“Anytime. Surgery will absolutely take care of what you've got there. But, regarding your guy, make sure you’re not letting your testicle situation hold you back. He’s a wolf shifter. From what I’ve seen, they’re possessive as fuck. He won’t care about a couple of missing balls.”
“So he says.” My pleasant feelings toward Manny fled, but I refrained from telling him Rafferty’s and my relationship wasn’t any of his business. I gestured toward the house. “Why don't you go inside and rest? I'll take care of this.”
It took some arguing, but after I pointed out how he couldn’t even stand up straight, Manny finally agreed to go inside. I was dead sure he wasn't planning to sit down, but at least he wouldn't be mowing the lawn.
I dredged up memories of mowing our family’s yard when I was in high school, and after a few minutes, muscle memory took over.
I’d been glad of the mild Texas temperature when I started out, but by the time I finished the backyard, I was wishing for a good cold wind.
I was halfway done with the front when Rafferty returned.
He got out of the truck and jogged around to the passenger side to pull out multiple bags of food. “I don't know if you're ready to eat again so soon, but I got enough for all three of us. Have his groceries been delivered?”
“No, not yet.”
“Okay. I’d like to stick around until they arrive. Plus it’ll give me a chance to check out the locks on his doors and windows.”
My chest warmed at how protective he was. “That's a good idea. I'll be done here in a few minutes.”
He started to walk across the yard to the side of the house, but then he stopped and gave the front door a considering look.
He walked up the steps, crossed the porch, and pulled open the screen door.
When he turned the handle, the front door opened.
He rolled his eyes before going inside. I heard the thunk of the deadbolt before I started the lawn mower up again.
I smiled, wondering how long it would take before Manny found himself living in the packhouse.