Chapter Three #2
The medic’s features went dark with silver eyes and a lot of tattoos. Huge fiery white wings shot out and then went from vertical lift to horizontal in a blaze of solid moonlight.
Reymark was staring. “That was...”
Day-ek nodded. “A dark fae.”
“The mage of moonlight. She’s been missing for two decades.” Reymark glanced at the white streak in the distance across the city already. He scrambled into the rideshare and found the purse. “Day, look up Isocar Lavrel. Whoever she is, she’s related to the mage, and that means she’s in danger.”
Day-ek paused. “That’s the woman who just restored Jennel’s house.”
Jennor blinked. “Shit. That’s going to upset her.”
Reymark chuckled. “We just saw a dark fae control moonlight into flaming wings and battle armour with binding marks carved into her head, and you think that Jen is going to be upset about a car accident? Wow. Well, I know for me, a new fetish unlocked.”
Day-ek laugh and looked at the other medic, who was attending to the concrete truck driver.
The other XIA team was waiting to take the werewolf driver away as soon as the man was patched up.
The investigation was pretty cut and dried.
He had been texting with his pregnant partner and missed the green turning red.
They had his phone and the chat that stopped at the moment of impact.
The man’s clan alpha had already been contacted.
Day-ek walked over to the medic. “What can you tell us about your partner?”
The brownie looked over at him. “Dude, isn’t your dance card full?”
Day-ek waved that off. “Absolutely, and she would gut us if we looked at anyone else, but we are looking into the victim. The medic knew her.”
“Well, Nylora doesn’t socialize, so it must be a casual thing. Where did she take her?”
“Danforth General.”
“Smart. They are the only hospital in town that keeps dark fae blood in stock. Nylora would know. She donates.” The brownie got the driver patched up and in a cervical collar. “There you go. Try to relax. Gentlemen, he’s all yours.”
The brownie lifted a tablet and concluded his report, sending it off with a tap. “Right. I should go and pick her up. By the time I get there, she should be ready to resume our shift.”
Reymark reached into his vest and handed over his card. “Can you have her call me, please?”
“Sure. You might want to register at the hospital for updates in case the passenger doesn’t make it. That will change the nature of this incident.”
Jennor looked toward the hospital. “Perhaps we should take a look. Interview the medic?”
Day-ek was talking to dispatch and got authorization. The other teams were on scene, so they got into their vehicle and headed for Danforth General.
* * * *
Nylora held her little cousin against her and flew as fast as she could, in the spot between vehicle and flyer heights. It wasn’t a legal flight height, and she passed a lot of vehicles with phones aimed at her, but this was her one chance to get Isocar to help.
Out of the five times she had run this possibility, this one had the highest chance of success.
She flexed her wings, and a streak of light followed her as she headed toward the hospital. She juggled Isocar and said, “Flying in, open the doors, I will head up to surgery.”
She heard the voice, and relief flooded her. “Opening doors, clearing hallways. Dr. Zatura is standing by.”
By the time she finished speaking, Nylora had folded her wings and was cruising through the halls with her burden against her, using magic for propulsion as she pulled them into the atrium and then up to level three. Surgery.
She saw a woman with dark fae blood next to a door and slowed as she approached, carrying Isocar into the surgical suite before putting her down with a kiss on her forehead, before Nylora walked out. The team came from the scrub area and got to work.
Nylora slumped in the hall across from the door, and the woman who had waited for her smiled. “You got her in. They are running the scans, and this is the best hospital for dark fae in the city. You did good, Medic Mills.”
Nylora looked at the thoughtful brownie and smiled. The tears came immediately. She took vials from her pocket and caught the tears. No sense wasting tears of moonlight.
“I will get you some coffee and a sandwich. You burned a lot of energy to get her here.” Administrator Brooks smiled at her. “How many times until you came up with this?”
“This hospital? Five. I had to call ahead, order the blood, get the direct flight up to surgery, and make sure that Zatura wasn’t on lunch.”
“How did you do that?”
“Uh, I don’t think I want to tell you that on the record.”
Brooks sighed. “Off the record.”
“Well, he and one of the admins at the night clinic had a thing, so I paid her to offer him a blow job after her break, but her break isn’t for another two hours.”
Brooks blinked. “Sex?”
“Yes. And because he was anticipatory, he’s very alert right now. He is going to work firmly and efficiently and fix my cousin up because he knows he gets depressed when he loses a patient, and he really wants that BJ.”
Brooks whistled softly. “What were the other criteria?”
“The atrium instead of the elevator. There would be a violent patient in the elevator, and while they subdued her, the elevator would be static. I had to ask for the cleared halls or someone would pop out, and I would drop her, and she would suffer more damage.”
“Wow. This one is tricky.”
Nylora looked at the doors. “I really hope that this time I did everything right. I have to.”
“How many tries in total?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“Ouch. She’s important to you?”
“She’s everything I have left.”
“Relative?”
“Yes. She was surrendered at birth and was adopted, but her adoptive parent just passed, so I am the only blood relation available.”
“You donate blood here.”
“Yes.”
“She’s your blood type.”
Nylora smiled. “Yes.”
“You donated for this.”
Nylora looked at the closed doors. “Yes.”
Brooks hauled her to her feet. “Stop glowing, and put your face on. Let’s get some food and coffee. On me, and you know I don’t give things away.”
“So, what do you want?”
“I want you visiting your... cousin. I also want to know more about your talent. The XIA could use it.”
“No. They don’t take my kind.”
“Dark fae?”
“It’s the demon bloodline that causes the fuss. I set off all kinds of alarms.”
Brooks chuckled as they walked. “The world is changing, and bloodlines are no longer the beginning and end of things.”
“I am good at being a medic. There is no one better at the edge of life and death than I am. I can see which way it is going to go with ninety-five percent accuracy.”
“Do you think you could use it on shift?”
“Here? No. Too many people. Too many variables. I can only see one step at a time.” She got a cup for coffee and put a sandwich on a tray while Brooks followed her.
Brooks tossed a dessert and a bag of chips on the tray. “Splurge. It’s on me, after all.”
“Yeah, that’s going to bite me in the ass, I can tell.”
Brooks swiped her staff card at the cashier. “Aw, Nylora, that costs extra.”
Nylora snorted and found a table away from the wave of employees on staggered breaks. She settled, sipped some water, and scrubbed blood off her hands with a wet wipe from her uniform and opened her sandwich. She started eating, and the gnawing hunger inside her subsided.
“Who knows about you?”
“Right now? I should be trending on local accounts.”
Brooks pulled out her phone. She winced. “You used the emergency corridor?”
“It was an emergency.”
“Fair. The mayor is going to comment on this.”
“Figured. The worst thing he can do is dock my pay for a shift. I checked the regulations.”
Brooks cackled. “You are interesting, Medic Mills.”
“Thanks.” There was a crackle in her ear, and she nodded. “Understood. I will get back to it.”
Brooks frowned. “What was that?”
“They need me to get back in my rig so my partner isn’t on his own tonight. We still have seven hours in our shift, and I just dumped him and took off.”
Brooks nodded. “Justified.”
“Yeah, but normally, we don’t deliver here. I just knew how much blood you had and knew she needed it.”
“How did you know that?”
“Uh, I was chatting with the admin that I bribed?”
“Shit. So, how does this work?”
“Well, she’s my blood. She’s the last of my blood, so I kept track of her. When I started seeing today, I had to narrow it down, make sure that I was on shift for tonight, and then I just had to pray that I had gotten it right.”
Brooks sipped at her own coffee. “What do you pray to?”
“Whatever is willing to help with no strings attached.” She stuffed her chips in one at a time.
Her phone chirped, and she paused. She looked and winced. Nylora Mills, please come to the Mayor’s Mansion at your earliest convenience before dawn. Mayor Matthias would like a world.
She winced and typed a response. Understood. She set the phone down with a slow exhale.
“What was that?”
“Mayor’s office.”
“Oh, shit. Wait. They have your private number?”
“I am registered with the office for reasons.”
“Right. When will you go?”
“If we are in the neighbourhood with time between calls.”
“Of course. When do you really have to be there?”
“Before dawn, so we are meeting with the mayor; if it were daylight, we could just meet with Leo.”
“Finish your dessert. We can meet another day before your shift starts. You are nights?”
“Generally, six to six. The night vision comes in handy.” She finished the Jello and whipped cream, melting everything with the coffee, and she looked at the administrator. “Thanks for dinner, Administrator Brooks.”
“No problem. You looked like you were going to collapse. I would call you when she’s out of surgery, but you aren’t on her file.”
“Right. Of course. The fact that they haven’t called you yet is good. It means she’s still alive, and they are still working. Can I get on a visitor list?”
“Sure. I am sure that she will want to meet you.”
“I will call and see if she is allowed visitors. She’s going to be in for two days. I will pay for healers who can speed things up. What are they doing here?”
The administrator turned and said, “Based on the agent carrying the purse, they have either retrieved it from the scene of the accident, or he is very confident.”
The bulky orc, minotaur, and whatever the hell the dark fae was approached them.
She piled her stuff onto her tray and stood up. “I am guessing my partner is downstairs.”
The orc nodded. “Are you new?”
“Just switched over from days.”
Brooks snorted. “Well, that explains that.”
She looked at the dark fae agent. “So, is that her purse?”
He nodded. “What the hell are you?”
“Late for work. I am on nights for another six months, so I am sure I will bump into you folks again.” She paused next to them. “She’s still in surgery, but I think I got her here in time.” She met the agent’s red eyes with his lenses down. “I hope I got her here in time.”
He nodded. “I am sure that you did, miss.”
“Thanks, junior. Have a fun night.” She stopped near the minotaur. “Thanks for the lift.”
She passed the orc and didn’t stop as she said, “Nice scars. She should work on them a little more.”
He looked at her and grinned. “We need some time.”
“I am sure. Time is important.” She left the cafeteria as the team talked to Brooks. Nylora made her way down to the main floor and headed for the emergency bay. The brownie was waiting. He hated driving.