Chapter One #2
“Yup. I am special. But seriously, they are trying to make it non-obvious that this is for me by dividing up XIA agents and sprinkling them through the ambulance corps.”
He chuckled. “You make it sound like vivisection.”
She glanced over her shoulder at the interested Demuel in the jump seat. “No comment.”
Skip laughed. “Agent Demuel, you are harshing our gossip session.”
He laughed.
Nylora got a ping. “Right, Alforth Arena, north parking structure. Common assault with related indicators.”
They went lights, no sirens.
Demuel said, “What does that mean?”
“That means there was an attack, while indicators are that there was a sexual assault taking place.” She checked the records for XIA dispatch. “Ah, Creep and his bunch are there.”
Demuel asked, “Creep?”
“Reymark, the guy walking away with the manager.”
He snorted. “Why the colourful names?”
“I am usually elbows deep in someone or other when there is an introduction. I also didn’t want to acknowledge meeting you guys before. It was embarrassing.”
Skip laughed. “They don’t know why it was embarrassing, do they?”
She turned toward Demuel. “I go to local schools and do the sex talk for the teens. Protection is always reinforced. I also have to remove some of the first-time dreaminess. That is always harsh.”
Skip whooped the siren to get cars to move and otherwise just enjoyed the first drive of the night. They got into the parking garage and eased as close to the scene as they could.
Skip murmured, “Split up?”
“Yup. I see her.” Nylora unbuckled and got out of the rig. She left it open, and Demuel squeezed out after her.
She opened the back and said, “You can just hop out here next time.”
He nodded as she grabbed her kit and Skip’s.
She brought Skip’s kit over to him as he treated a pouting man for head and nose injuries.
Nylora saw the claw marks on his neck and jawline and walked over to the woman, who was standing with her arms wrapped around herself.
“Miss, I need you to come over here with me and need you to sit down.”
The young woman nodded and came with her.
Nylora sat her on the bumper of the ambulance.
She spoke softly to her and got the whole story.
She had been coming back from the bathroom, and the creep Skip was tending to had grabbed her and slammed her up against the wall, dazing her.
Her boyfriend had arrived a few moments too late.
Nylora grabbed an ice pack and asked if the woman would be interested in telling the XIA.
“As long as you are here, yes.”
Demuel was brought from around the corner, the woman blinked at him, and he crouched and took notes.
He asked a few quiet questions, and when he had it all, he nodded and got her to read and sign it.
He then went to the man, scuffed up, and did the same with him, getting his hand released to sign the statement.
Reymark had the hall footage, and the XIA gathered around the tablet. Then the injured man was cuffed, and Skip signed off on the man’s condition. The girl had a concussion and needed to go to the hospital.
Her boyfriend was loaded into the ambulance a few minutes later, and with Demuel, the young woman, and her boyfriend in the rig, they were on their way to the closest hospital, where diagnostics could be performed as quickly as possible.
They were both minors, so a social worker, XIA, and their parents were going to meet them at the hospital.
When they were dropped off, Skip drove them to a centrally located layby, and they ate muffins and had a thermos break.
Demuel shared hers and ate the muffins. He chatted, “So, Skip, how long have you worked with Nylora?”
“Since she started in Redbird. She’s a solid partner and no silliness with dating. She’s the first celibate dark fae I have ever met. Well, until she came back from that speaking engagement, but then she was more in shock than anything else.”
Demuel coughed a little. “Celibate?”
“Yeah, once dark fae start, they don’t stop, so I never started.
It’s an imprinting sort of thing.” She chuckled.
“I had to keep the sheet from the hotel to find out what had happened. A seer showed me what went on, and I was willing, but I just wasn’t able to remember it afterward.
I recognized the faces from the seer projection rather than from the actual night. ”
Skip snorted. “Pity. You should remember how you got pregnant.”
“I watched it; I just don’t remember it.” She patted Bump. “Turns out, my memory was not a necessary part of the process.”
Demuel had his phone out and was tapping with one hand. “You didn’t mention it.”
“It is hard to admit. I mean, I know who you two are, and I have looked you up, but I didn’t know anything else.”
Demuel sighed. “Yeah, I get that. Fuck.”
“What?”
“This phenomenon with the ladies at Zerul’s event wasn’t just you. Two others had their memories taken. Neither were pregnant, though.”
“Lucky me. Whoops, we are getting a call. Shit. Lights and sirens. Fall from a third-story window. Teenager breaking curfew.” She gave Skip the address, and they were on their way.
“It’s nine o’clock.”
“If we see a reason for it, we call in social workers. This one, however, will be up to the hospital.” She slipped to the back as they moved, and she got the stretcher prepped and double checked the trauma kit.
She got back to her seat, and they rode out the last two minutes until they got out, and Skip got the backboard while she grabbed her pack as she headed to where folks were gathered around a figure on the ground.
She switched to her night vision and used a diagnostic spell on the patient.
“Okay, what’s your name?”
The girl was dazed, and there was blood and at least two out of six of her limbs were broken. “I fell.”
“You did. Why were you climbing?”
“I wanted to go out with my friends. I thought I had a grip on the window.” She shuddered.
“What’s your name?”
“Saretha.”
“Hello, Saretha. We are going to have to move you onto a backboard and onto a gurney. The backboard is so that we can keep your spine straight and keep your limbs from moving. It is going to hurt to get everything settled, but if we can keep you awake and alert, it will help the hospital treat you. Do you understand?”
“It’s going to hurt.”
“It is. We can numb it but not block it. If you can feel things, it’s better. It tells us how far the injury goes.”
“I understand.”
She went full dark fae. “I am Nylora, and my partner is Skip. He’s a brownie and will be here in a moment.”
“Who’s the guy behind you? Am I in trouble?”
“You are not in trouble. He’s here because some people get mad when we help them, and we end up looking worse than you do now.” She smiled.
“I have never seen a pure dark fae before.”
“There aren’t many. We usually dilute our bloodlines as fast as we can.
” She went to Saretha’s feet, and thankfully, the broken leg still had feeling.
The two arms on the same side were also broken but had feeling.
They inflated braces around the breaks to keep them from shifting and got Saretha onto the backboard.
Nylora looked at what were obviously the parents. “She’s a minor?”
The parents nodded. “Yes. She’s fifteen.”
“Okay, one parent can come in the ambulance with her, or you can both meet us at the Ravenhurst Children’s Hospital. A community member should drive the other parent if they are coming.”
The mother stepped and nodded. “I will come, and my husband will remain with our other two.”
Nylora looked at Dad, and he nodded. “We have two under ten. They are currently with a cousin, but they have school tomorrow.”
“Got it. Okay, Skip. Lift on three.”
Demuel stepped forward. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
He forklifted the teen on the backboard and walked her to the ambulance. Skip got in and angled the board onto the gurney. Nylora talked to the father for a moment, and he nodded. It made sense. Saretha was grounded for sneaking out with friends who enjoyed recreational substances.
Nylora got back into the ambulance, double-checked Saretha’s position, and made sure that the mom knew where to hang on. She pulled the doors shut and said, “We are on your time, Skip. I will start a line.”
“Alright. Smooth it is.”
She got an IV kit and explained things to Saretha. “We are just going to put this in so that the emergency room can get into action faster.”
She cleared the back of the goblin’s hand and got the needle in. The fluids started, and the drive was nice and smooth.
Saretha’s mother asked, “Is this the fifty-one?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Oh. You are pregnant?”
“Oh, geez. Dem-rah gave folks a lecture, did he? I wondered why it was like walking through a statue garden.” She answered. “Yes, I am.”
“Do you know what you are having?”
“A baby.” She grinned.
The woman smiled. “You don’t want to know?”
“Oh, sure, I do, but blood of a dark fae child is still used as an ingredient in dark magic, so it is not for the public to know. The father will light things up pink and blue the moment that he knows what it is. At that point, he has to keep us safe; for now, it is my job alone.”
Demuel stared and immediately started typing on his phone. His eyes bugged out, and he sent a message on his phone. Solor was probably having a very educational shift.
They pulled up at the hospital, and Skip glided them in. Broken bones were not fun.
Saretha’s mother said, “Why did that take so long?”
“Skip went down roads in the best repair to avoid jolting.”
“Oh. Wow. I didn’t know you could do that.”
“She’s going to be in rough enough shape without shaking her the whole way.”
“Goblins have thin bones.” The mother said softly.
Nylora nodded. “We know.”