19. Chapter 19
Marduk
When I got back to the hospital, I found Danzig standing in the hallway outside Jim’s room. I could hear Cheryle and Bec talking in low tones inside the room. I leaned against the wall next to my twin.
“What did you find out?”
“There was only a slight trace of magic,” I said. “It was on the back of the car. It could’ve been from the attacker or a shifter walking by. It was so slight it might have happened the day before.”
“Damn, I was hoping there’d be more,” I said. “Something that would help us trace the attacker.”
“I’m not done,” I said. “Jim’s car was parked across the street and a few houses down from the address that Bec found for Gale.”
He straightened away from the wall to face me. “What?”
I nodded and held up my phone with the map filling the screen. “There’s Gale’s house, and that’s where Jim’s car was.”
“That’s curious,” Danzig said.
I tucked my phone back in my pocket. “It’s good I went when I did, a tow truck showed up not long after I got there.”
“Did you find out anything else?” Danzig asked.
“There were broken bits of camera on the ground next to the car.” I said. “I think he was holding it when he was hit. The cops probably collected the camera as evidence.”
“Do you think Angel could get the pictures off of it for us?” he asked.
“I texted him,” I said. “No response yet.”
He slumped back against the wall. “How do Gale and Jim fit into all of this?”
I shrugged. “You know I was never into mysteries. You’re the one who reads all those novels, you should be able to figure it out.”
He gave me a half smile. “I like them, but I never figure them out before the big reveal at the end.”
A tall, lean man with tears on his face exited the elevator and rushed down the hall. Without needing to talk, we moved to stand in the open doorway, blocking him.
“I need to see Jim,” he said, choking on the words.
“Kevin?” Cheryle said from behind us. “Please let him through.”
We stepped aside, and Kevin moved into the room and grabbed Cheryle in a hug and lifted her off her feet.
“I’m here,” he whispered. She started crying again, hugging him tightly around the neck. “I’m never leaving either of you ever again.”
Bec stepped out of the room to join us in the hall, the door quietly swinging shut behind her.
“The doctor came in to talk to us while you were gone,” Bec told me.
“And?” I asked, looking between her and Danzig.
“The blow caused a horrible concussion, and they’re worried his brain is swelling,” Danzig said.
“The doctor said that he might need surgery,” Danzig said. “She ordered a bunch of tests for him.”
It was clear that the doctor hadn’t been able to give them any definitive news. This would be so much easier if Jim wasn’t human. There were so many healing options for the magical community that simply didn’t work for humans.
I had to be thankful for human ingenuity. Their lack of magic meant they’d developed the medicine that was keeping Jim alive.
Bec leaned her head back against the wall. “Today was a lot.”
It occurred to me that we’d dealt with a dangerous casket druid, interacted with a powerful bruja, and were now at the bedside of a badly injured human. It was a busy day even for a couple of world serpents, but Bec was still fully human and had to be overwhelmed and exhausted.
“We should go home,” I said.
Bec looked torn. “I don’t know if I should leave Cheryle and Jim alone. I didn’t think we were that close, but Cheryle was clinging to me like I was the last solid thing in her world.”
I opened the door a crack to look inside. Danzig and Bec moved so they could also see.
Cheryle was sitting on Kevin’s lap, her face buried against his neck. He was rubbing her back with one hand and holding Jim’s limp hand with the other.
“I think Kevin is going to stay,” Danzig said. “He'll be here to comfort both of them.”
Bec’s expression went from concerned to relieved. “Let me tell her we’re leaving and to call me if she needs anything.”
She slipped into the room and had a quiet conversation with Kevin and Cheryle.
I nudged Danzig to get his attention. “What did the cops ask Bec?”
“If she knew who Jim was meeting when he was attacked,” Danzig said. “They also said a detective would be contacting her for more details.”
I shook my head. “They won’t figure this out. It's up to us.”
“Agreed,” Danzig said. “But Bec needs to rest before we do any more investigating.”
“I wish she’d let us do all of this,” I grumbled.
“I know, but remember, she’s not helpless. She’s got the protection charm from Elena and the two of us.”
I still wasn’t happy about it, but that would have to be enough.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t visit Gale’s house?” Bec asked, even as we all filed into her condo.
“We’ll go first thing in the morning,” Danzig said. “We’re all tired and need a break.”
I pulled my jacket off and draped it over a nearby chair. The movement made me wince, and Bec caught it.
She straightened up from where she’d leaned over to pet an excited Hugo. “Marduk, are you okay?”
I didn’t want to admit weakness, but I needed to learn to be more open with our mate.
“I’m sore from earlier,” I admitted. “The magic attacks stripped off a lot of my protective aura. My entire body will ache while it rebuilds.”
Her eyes went wide, and she grabbed my hand. “I didn’t even think of how all that might’ve affected you. I’ve been so wrapped up in everything else that I haven’t considered what you’ve been through.”
She led me to the couch and urged me to sit. The moment my ass hit the soft cushion, a relieved sigh escaped me. It felt good to be off my feet. Hugo trotted up the doggie stairs onto the couch and settled next to me.
Bec crouched down in front of me to wrestle off my motorcycle boots for me.
“I can do that,” I said, trying to sit up. Danzig put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“Let us take care of you, brother,” he said as Bec managed to get one boot free and tossed it under the chair where I put my jacket.
Danzig pulled out his phone. “I’m going to order pizza. Bec, what do you like?”
She gave her order while working on my second boot. I didn’t bother speaking up because Danzig knew what I wanted.
“I’m going to take Hugo for a walk,” Bec said, standing back up and putting my second boot next to the first one.
“I’ll take him,” Danzig said. “You cuddle on the couch with Marduk. It’ll make him feel better.”
Bec sat next to me as Danzig picked up Hugo and walked outside with the happy dog trying to lick his face.
“Are you sure I won't accidentally hurt you?” she asked. She was a little stiff, but the moment I put my arm around her shoulders and drew her close, she relaxed.
“Never,” I said, feeling better already.
“This is nice,” she murmured.
“Agreed.”
I let my head fall back and closed my eyes. I must’ve drifted off because it felt like I’d only shut my eyes for a moment before Danzig and Hugo were back.
“The moment he did his business, he insisted on coming back,” Danzig said with a chuckle. The small dog rushed up the little stairs, walked across Bec’s lap, then made himself comfortable on me.
“I think he knows you’re hurting,” Bec said.
“Of course he does,” I murmured, petting Hugo behind his ears. “He’s super smart. Probably the smartest dog ever.”
“Definitely the most intuitive," Bec said. Danzig went into the kitchen and grabbed us all drinks.
He and Bec chatted about nothing much. I was content to just listen to them talk. Finally, the pizza arrived. I was starving and was sure I could eat an entire one by myself.
“Thanks for getting the extra larges,” I said as Danzig settled on the couch on the other side of Bec. For a moment, I thought about how we’d need a bigger couch to better accommodate the three of us, then realized that this smaller one encouraged us to snuggle.
Bec grabbed the remote out from under one of the boxes on the coffee table and clicked on the TV. She put on an old black and white movie, then grabbed a slice. The names of the actors and director displayed on the screen.
“The Big Sleep?” Danzig guessed between bites.
Bec looked over at him. “How did you know?”
“I remember seeing it in the theater when it came out,” he said.
“Everyone thinks Casablanca is Humphrey Bogart's best, but I think it’s this one,” I said.
“Sometimes I forget how old you guys are,” she said. She took a big bite of her pizza as the title of the film appeared across the screen with a dramatic beat of music.
We sat in silence, eating and watching until most of the pizza was gone and we were all sipping our beers.
“Mom never got into watching movies,” Danzig said.
“Oh?” Bec said.
“She has a hard time being still,” I said. “When she reads, she likes to pace. It’s interesting to watch. The moment they invented electric treadmills, she bought three.”
“What does she do?” Bec asked. “I mean for a living. Or does she have a hoard of gold like a dragon?”
“No hoard,” Danzig said. “For the last few hundred years, she’s been building companies from the ground up, then selling them. She likes the challenge but gets bored and jumps to the next project.”
“What kind of companies has she created?” Bec asked.
“Her first one made candles and other wax items,” I said. “Another built ships. She did a custom car company back when they were all hand-made. That one didn’t last long because she liked working with steam engines and wasn’t as fond of the gas engine. That’s when she moved to trains.”
“That one didn’t last long either,” Danzig said. “She loved the trains but then fell in love with planes so she jumped into that.”
“She built planes?” Bec asked.
“She raced them,” Danzig said. “She took a break from building and formed a racing team. That was in the 1920s so aviation was still very new.”
“Your mom sounds amazing,” she said. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
That thought made me uncomfortable so I changed the subject. “What about your mom? What does she do?”