Chapter 2 #2
“Why don’t you take a few days to get settled?
Raven, if you want to help her, take her shopping.
She’ll need furniture and clothes for this world, and…
well…basically, everything she needs to start over,” Morgana said.
“I’ll give you my credit card number and you can charge anything.
Don’t wipe me out, but spend what you need. ” She handed Raven a credit card.
Raven grinned. “You can trust me. Come on, Ash, let’s go.”
“Let me get her paperwork first,” Talia said, motioning for Ash to follow her out of the breakroom.
I sighed. “Well, where does that leave us for now?”
“It leaves us with another new case that came in a couple of days ago,” Herne said. “Another case in UnderLake Park.”
Kipa groaned. “UnderLake Park? Raven’s going to love that.
” They lived in the UnderLake Park District in Kirkland, on the very edge of the park.
The district was fading, with the majority of the houses in the area weathered and neglected.
Raven’s house—and their neighbor’s house across the street—were two exceptions that stood out.
But mostly, the area had gone downhill, and a fell energy shrouded the area.
The park had once been home to a monastery and an order of monks, but the order had long left the area, and the monastery itself was crumbling away, in the grips of a number of ghosts that were firmly embedded within the decaying walls.
The park also included a parcel of land once owned by the Castle family, of the Castle Hall estate.
The owners had been murdered in their home, and while no bodies were ever found, enough blood remained that they had to have died.
DNA verified that the blood had belonged to the owners, and the remains of the castle still rested there, under a growing network of brambles and vines.
A number of other gruesome murders had taken place in the park, including Raven’s late fiancé.
In fact, that’s how we met her—we took the case when she came to us, trying to find out what happened to him.
Unfortunately, he’d been killed, but we took down a serial killer, and made a friend through helping her. And now she and Kipa were together.
“What are we facing this time?” I asked.
“You’re not facing anything—” Herne started to say, but just as he spoke, Wager let out a groan and leaned forward, his head on the table. Talia, who was sitting next to him, jumped up and pressed her hand to his forehead.
“He’s burning up,” she said.
“Wager? Wager? Are you okay?” I glanced over at Herne, uncertain.
“No, I don’t think I am,” he said.
“Call the medics,” I said.
As Yutani put in a call to 917—the emergency number for Otherkin—I cleared the table.
Viktor lifted Wager up and laid him out on the flat surface. “He’s hot—his body feels too warm,” he said.
Wager curled up in a fetal position, moaning as he clutched his side. His right side.
“Oh, crap,” I said. “I’ll bet it’s his appendix. Tell those medics to get here soon.”
“Will do,” Yutani said, returning to his phone call.
“Should we ice his head?” Herne asked.
“I’m not sure. I know some of the symptoms, but not what to do about them,” I said, frantic.
Appendicitis could be bad—really bad—if it wasn’t treated right away.
The Fae weren’t usually prone to it, but humans and magic-born alike were.
And Wager was a tralaeth—half Dark Fae, half human.
Knowing him, he’d probably ignored the early signs, assuming it was something like stomach flu.
“I’ll get a pillow,” Talia said, hurrying out of the breakroom. She returned with a sleeping bag and a pillow. “Lift him up so we can lay him on something cushioning,” she said.
Viktor gently gathered him up again, and Talia and I stretched the sleeping bag out. Then Viktor laid him back down, and we tucked the pillow under his head. Wager was groaning loudly now, and while he was conscious, he seemed focused on the pain.
A few moments later, the EMTs arrived. They took over as we stood back, giving them room to work. A few moments later, they were ready to wheel him out.
“Do you think he has appendicitis?” I asked.
“He shows signs of it. But the doctors will have to make the final call. Do you have an emergency next of kin?” One of the medics pulled out a notepad.
I shook my head. “Most of Wager’s family disowned him. He’s part Fae,” I said. The EMTs were shifters, most commonly, and didn’t care about his heritage except as for how it would affect his treatment.
“I see. Then we’ll put you down as his to-contact on the form. Name?” The shifters might not hang out with the Fae all that much, but they understood what being half-Fae meant.
“Ember Kearney. Also, add Yutani to the list. And Raven BoneTalker.” Raven and Wager were good friends. She needed to have access to how he was doing.
“Ready,” the other EMT called. Wager was strapped onto the stretcher. “We need to get him to the hospital.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” the EMT said.
“Here’s our card,” I added, handing him our business card. He took it, and they headed out, wheeling Wager to the waiting ambulance. I turned to Yutani. “Go to the hospital and wait. Keep us updated about his condition.”
“On it, boss,” Yutani said, jumping up. He grabbed his tablet, phone, and laptop, shoving them into a messenger bag. He grabbed his keys and, long dark hair swirling around his shoulders as he hurried out to his car, he took off, following the medics as they headed for the hospital.