A Bone to Pick, page 11
Ian’s arm moved, drawing just an inch closer to his side and bringing its ring farther away from her. The flinch was clear from my place behind him, but he might not have noticed it himself.
“It... it took me years to learn this much about using them,” Ian said.
Jason leaned over, past Lucy, to hiss at him. “So you let the Mob abuse it, and abuse me, for your survival, but you won’t share it with a friend?”
Ian didn’t answer.
Jason glanced at Lucy as he pressed on: “And then there was the rest of your bargaining. Telling them Adrian knew the Duvals.”
“Ian...” Lucy’s voice was a ghost of itself.
“Not helping, I said!” I managed to keep the words low.
We paced on, faster now, with the energy coiled in them all set to rip the group apart.
And maybe it should... except, how long would they last if they stormed off now, angry and blind and split in every direction with nobody to watch them? A car slowed as it passed us, but I saw a woman and kids inside it, not gunmen.
Then a tiny flower stall looked out onto the sidewalk ahead. We rushed past it, but even in the open street I had a moment where I smelled them, where I tensed for that scent to turn to ash again—
“Ian made some choices,” I said, in the calmest, steadiest voice I could form. “He was fighting for his life, in a situation none of us ever thought we’d be in. Blaming him now won’t help.”
“Won’t it?” Jason scowled at him. “You say everything you do is to find your potential as a healer. But, you remember that man who got shot in the square, the one you were wrestling with the EMTs to help? You couldn’t make a difference then...”
His voice went softer.
“But if you care so much, did you ever give him another thought?”
“I...”
Ian hung his head.
“It’s not as though I could follow up with him,” he said. “They didn’t even leave me my phone.”
“That’s fair,” Lucy said. I reached for my own cell, but she held up hers first. “He’s at Stadt General, clear across town. And what I could make out says that he’s still unconscious.”
Medical students, I remembered. Who’ve been haunting hospitals and clinics for people to heal. If it weren’t for Ian’s control issues and everyone chasing after them, they could...
“It’s no good,” Ian said softly. “I tried everything I knew with him.”
Shame dripped from his voice, from his bowed shoulders as if he stood soaked in it. I knew that feeling too.
Then he straightened, just enough to look over at Lucy. “I... always told you Dr. Lizt was the one who found out what I could do.”
“Yes?” There was caution in her voice.
“That’s still true, in a way. I mean, he gave me the rings, that and the key to using them.” Ian held up a hand, and steel flashed on his finger. “It was the last months of his life... he wanted someone to carry on the search to make them more reliable. He chose me because, he said nobody he knew was as driven as I was. So I... I can’t let testing rules or police or criminals or anything slow me down.”
“And you keep trying, don’t you?” she said. “And after all that time, there’s only so much you can treat, and at its best you can’t be sure if the results are stable. You’re so sure there’s no time for anyone else to try it?”
Ian didn’t answer. And I had a sudden sick feeling: does he even know he could make more rings, give them all healing tools, just by using their recharging secret right...
Then he looked at all of us, and back at me. He knew.
This was the same reluctant, helpless way he’d faced me when I told them I had my own magic. He knew I could see through his self-contained description of its power—and I could expose him with a word.
Up the street, some barista shouted about a five-minute coffee deal.
I studied Ian’s face, all boldness and trembling edges now. I’d been him, before the Bones and the Plan—so certain I was making a difference for good in the people around me. Only, Ian was reaching that same moment where he saw the harm he’d done, and he wasn’t facing it...
So it was no good forcing him.
Instead I said “You need practice?”
“Until it’s perfect.” Ian gave the joke an awkward smile.
“And the times it isn’t, what’s the risk to your patients? And don’t think you can lie to me,” I added. That was a bluff, with the Bones’ energy drained to the dregs, but none of that mattered now.
“Of course there’s no risk! That’s what I keep fighting for—if there’s any chance I’ll push at a blood vessel or a nerve wrong, I don’t harm the patient... well, until today. When I sold out,” and he looked at the ground.
With his stab-and-heal trick for Beltram, yes. He still didn’t look at Jason, but this time he didn’t defend himself.
“Then there’s a way,” I said. “A way I can get you to the patients you need.”
Ian’s face clouded. “I told you—”
“My day job is at Travers Insurance. It’ll take some time to set up, but I know the CEO—I saved her life, and she’s trying to forgive me for needing it. And she’s going to want all of you, if you’re interested.” I cast a slow glance between the three of them.
“Want us for what?” Lucy said.
“All the testing you could ask for. She can keep it off the records—she can keep you off the records where Tell can’t find you, she’ll be glad to when you have this kind of potential. Once you show her that it’s safe, there have to be ways you can get in to give patients any help you can, and nobody will know. Or...”
I took a breath and pushed out the next words:
“Or, she has the medical contacts to officially prove your healing works, and do that on your terms. You could bring it to the whole world.”
I stopped there, just letting those words settle in. The whole street seemed brighter now, glinting in the height of afternoon sunlight.
“You can arrange all that?” Lucy said.
“Helena Travers can.”
Jason was quiet, unmoving.
I watched Ian, wondered if he’d rise to the occasion. If he’d take this step toward bringing healing everywhere, and for everyone too if he admitted it.
What he said was “Okay. I’ll give it a try.”
He’s still holding onto control—but it’s his choice.
Except I had one more way to nudge him.
“Alright then. But, I want to make one stop first.” Eyes widened around me, and I added “It’s time I worked on some of my own magic.”
* * *
My phone looked secure, at least based on the apps I’d stuffed into it after my showdown with the Eye. They said Tell hadn’t bothered to tap the mobile while he’d had it, before Maya swiped it back—but knowing I could be wrong still gave me a moment of nervous nausea.
Helena didn’t answer anyway. So I left her a quick message:
“Hi. Listen, I hope we can meet soon, because... I don’t know if you remember our call this morning, but I think I’m really getting my chance to make things happen.” I flashed a smile at Ian, Lucy, and Jason, standing around looking almost comfortable with each other again. “Call me, soon.”
I shouldn’t be making promises in Helena’s name, I knew—certainly not after Ian’s own high-handed demands. But if this came together they’d have their refuge and every chance they needed, with her. They wouldn’t even be far away, any time I wanted to check in with them.
My phone said there was a Camille’s just a few blocks from us, about where I remembered, and I marched us toward it.
Coming to it now felt strange. I’d thought of shops like this as places I might run to if I lost the Bones, but instead I’d be using one to follow up on a whole other magic. As we closed in on the bold white-lettered sign, I promised myself I’d fill the Bones up too, and take as long as they needed. But these healers needed this magic now.
Their lesson started with their reaction, as they realized what shop I was heading for.
Jason was the one who said it. A jewelry shop? First his rings, and now you use it for your magic too?” He edged in closer, and his face and his whisper were calm—except for the fascination quivering at the edges. “Is this always how it works?”
And Lucy was watching us too, and Ian was...
I grinned. “I’m still trying to figure that out.”
Ian looked away, a little too fast. Every point I showed Lucy and Jason about magic was shedding more sunlight on how much he’d hidden from them. And I was just getting started.
We stepped into the store, and I wondered if this could be considered an armory for magic. I might not find the ivory that the Pulse needed, but Ian’s healing seemed to use steel, and I’d had a glimpse of the Duvals using some kind of metal, while Maya’s used onyx but also what might have been feathers... But this was about the black stone that I’d found alongside Maya, and lost. The only other magic I could recreate, if I was right.
The store was quiet as a library, and less full. A few shoppers trickled up and down, studying the glass cases along the walls and the big central island of cases surrounding the clerks. I caught one dubious look at us as we walked in—too many soot stains to blend in here, I guess.
One of the clerks went straight for Lucy. “Is there something you’re looking for...”
Was that what they taught him here, always pitch to the woman? I grinned as I stepped from the others and started my way around the room.
Quick looks through the glass brought me past a set of rings, then necklaces, and I was stepping around a slow-moving couple and moving on. If I could just find the right kind of black glitter, it could be a weapon, and something far more useful too.
One pair of earrings looked almost right, if I squinted through the glass—
Someone moved beside me. I jumped away, spun—
Lucy. I glanced around, flashing people an awkward grin for my nervousness. But I let my guard down too.
“Sorry,” and Lucy sounded more ashamed than I was, slumping her height down where she stood. Then she edged in closer. “Adrian? Can you really set up that whole plan for us, the way you said?”
“I think so. Just, no promises yet, you know?”
“I understand. And, thank you—maybe now the three of us can work out the parts between us too. Which might be thanks to you as well.”
“Oh, I haven’t done much there.” Not so far, anyway.
“Hey,” and Ian came trotting up to break in. “Let’s give him some space.” An edge showed through his voice, enough to make the nearest couple glance over again. Like he sensed I’d be telling Lucy more than he wanted.
Ian led her away, and I went back to my search.
It all depended on my finding the right kind of stone, just by sight and memory, the kind that could hold this magic. Maya and I had used its binding power to trap things and even to climb walls... but I’d never thought of what that could mean to someone trying to hold a wound closed. Too busy spying and fighting to remember what mattered.
And if one of these stones worked, I’d give it to the three of them, along with the secret to make more themselves—the secret Ian never mentioned about his own magic. Calling him a liar wasn’t my style, but I did look forward to seeing his face when I showed them the truth.
That gem had the right shade, but it could be too dull—
Up at the wall’s corner, Ian stole a look back at me—
I stared harder at a set of black earrings. Anything I picked would still be only a guess, until tonight when I could try charging it under starlight. And all these guesses were going to take a bite out of my savings.
Better that than how Maya simply stole hers.
The thought came as suddenly as any of her tricks. A rush of warmth, a helpless need to know what happened with her. Please, Maya, be alright. I don’t know what you’re doing with the Duvals, but just watch yourself. And let Ian and the rest stay safe.
Ian was standing by the displays up ahead. He snuck a look at me, then backed away like I’d caught him looking at something dirty. To ease his skittishness, I turned back to try a second look at the pieces I’d passed.
Before I finished turning, he spun around and marched boldly over to me.
“Alright, I have to know,” he whispered. “You’re just shopping for your emotion magic, right in front of all of us?” He tried to keep it calm, curious, but I could see the edge of shock prying at the edges of his face.
I managed not to smile. “I didn’t say it was for the Pulse. This is something else, that might help with your healing.”
A bolt of shock raced across his face. “You have—” He choked the gasp off.
“I only just found it, never had the chance to practice with it,” I added, but I could see that did little to soften the blow. “So I figured it’d do some real good if I gave it to you.”
You. All of you.
I tried not to tease him with that word, but I saw worry tighten on his face. This was about giving Lucy and Jason a chance, I reminded myself, not taking someone down a peg.
Ian said “I... see. Then, how many spells have you found for it?”
The world dropped out from under me.
How many spells... there were only the words that recharged each magic, what did he...
My mouth was hanging open. I managed to say “Um—one...”
Ian’s grin was a cat’s, if that mouth held a whole flock of canaries. And he simply walked away.
Somehow I kept from calling after him. How many spells... I’d been lying within a few feet of death itself to hear the words for the Bones, and Maya and I had risked our lives for this secret... and now Ian simply said...
I turned back to the displays. Ian had to be messing with me—and right now was supposed to be me teaching him and the others.
After that, picking the gems was over in minutes. A pair of cuff links seemed like the right shade of black, and one brooch made me think of the lost original piece with a new shape around its stone. And none of them were cheap—I’d need to put in more time at my official job at Travers to cover this. But this was no time to hesitate.
Then they were running my credit card. The card that Tell had had his hands on too, he could have started tracing it.
I shook my head, tried to push down the first wave of creeping fear. They could have someone watching for my card, it didn’t mean they were. And we had time to get away.
I grabbed my bags and looked around, spotted Lucy. I strode up to her as I looked around the store.
“Where are Ian and Jason?” My words came out too fast.
“Wasn’t he with you—”
The shop had only so many figures moving in it, no way to miss them. A few quick steps let me look down at the other side of the island, but there was nobody crouched below that either. Ian couldn’t have run off now—so it must be something else, this fast—
I made for the front door, Lucy right behind me.
Onto the sidewalk. Of the big, busy Jericho street with whole streams of people going both ways. And I could only stare up, down, with barely a drop of magic left to know if the Duvals were right behind us.
Lucy dashed up the street.
When I reached her, I saw what she’d spotted through the crowd: a nervous circle of people around where Ian lay sprawled on the pavement. He was just lifting his head, as blood trickled from it.
He held up a trembling hand. A hand missing its ring.
Through a gap in the crowd I saw the figure of Jason, running away.
CHAPTER EIGHT: STRANGERS
“Get him away from here!” I snapped at Lucy. She didn’t look up, her fingers brushed at Ian’s injured head, so I added “The Mob could be closing in right now.”
“No!” Shock reverberated all through her. “You can’t think Jason told—”
“Not him, it’s... just, do it!”
And I dashed away. It rasped on my nerves to shout her down and run, but Lucy could handle it. Jason was already fading from sight in the crowd.
I dodged, spun, dove through a crack between two couples to race up the sidewalk. There, a glimpse of Jason’s gray between two men—he moved at a pained jog, and the sweatshirt lay awkwardly with one unzipped side only hanging over his sling.
Ian was robbed. I raced on, telling myself the thief must be somewhere ahead of Jason. The street had swallowed up his gray outline from sight again, and I wrenched myself through the startled, protesting, rush-hour crowd.
Jason couldn’t have done it. None of his grudges against Ian went this far, but the crazy thought still buzzed in my head. At least I had to be catching up with him, his jog couldn’t stay ahead of my dash for long.
Or the thief had slipped out of sight, and I’d somehow lost Jason too.
Jason had to be up ahead, somehow. If he wasn’t the one hiding. Either I trusted him to be that fast, or...
I whirled around, bringing an outraged gasp from the people I’d just twisted past—an outrage I wanted to join in. I saw storefronts, knots and streams of people passing them—all shelter if someone were trying to hide from me, but—
Movement rippled within the mid-street crosswalk I’d passed. There in a cluster of pedestrians, a figure in a gray sweatshirt walked close ahead of them, using them to hide. Then the crosswalk light changed, and traffic closed in between us.
I kept walking, stealing glances over as if I’d missed him. Jason looked around and pressed himself back behind the thickest clump of people on the sidewalk. Half-hidden again.
Then he stripped off his sweatshirt. And the sling and the arm brace under it.
For an instant I saw him sway in pain, even with the crowd and the cars moving to break up my sight. But just seeing him remove that sling after so long...
Then he was walking away in the other direction from me, just a young man in a white shirt. He didn’t look back.
And I was still shut off on the other side of the street. I could only turn and follow him, parallel and at a distance, fighting to keep my gaze on him with all the cars racing past and the figures he stepped between.
