Angel Reborn, page 11
Twelve
Nick
It wasn’t at all unusual to go years without talking in lives that spanned centuries, but I still felt bad contacting Noelle out of the blue to request a house call. Especially when it was a same-day request—and on a Sunday, no less. But I needed a healer outside the Gilde whom I could trust, and I knew she’d be discreet.
I considered it a testament to our friendship that she didn’t hesitate in agreeing to oblige the request.
“What’s with the armed guards at the entrance?” she asked when she arrived.
“It’s a long story. It’ll make more sense when I explain why you’re here. Thanks for coming on such short notice.”
“When you call and barely say hello before telling me you need my help with a highly confidential matter of the utmost urgency, what do you expect? I was too intrigued to say no. Luckily for you, my plans for brunch this morning were canceled, so I happen to be free.”
“Quite fortuitous, indeed. Come on in,” I said, leading her to the living room. “Sit. Make yourself comfortable. Would you care for something to drink? I have some juices, coffee, and water, of course. We also have Danishes, doughnuts, and bagels left over from breakfast if you’re hungry.”
“I’m good, thanks,” she said as she sat in the overstuffed armchair and smiled up at me. “I must admit I was surprised when you told me you were here in Nyack. Of course, nowhere near as surprised as I was when you introduced me to your wife at the Ball last night. Your human wife. I would have thought you learned your lesson with Soph.”
There was compassion in her eyes when she said it, and I knew her well enough to understand the concern behind the words.
“Apparently not.” I sat on the couch and sank back against the cushions. “I was surprised as well when I saw you at the Ball. I wasn’t aware you were back in this area. Your friend seems nice. What was his name? JT?”
“JR.”
“JR. Right. How long have the two of you been together?”
“Only about a year, so it’s still new. But I’m happy. For now.” She cocked her head to the side. “Are we gonna sit around making small talk or are you gonna tell me why I’m here? You made it sound urgent on the phone.”
“It is, yes. I mean, not life-threatening urgency. At least, I hope not. And I apologize for being vague on the phone. It’s possible I’m being monitored, so I needed to wait until we could talk face to face.”
Her brows rose. “The plot thickens. Monitored? Really? Hmm…you’re unexpectedly in Nyack, though you said last night you live in Newburgh. Your house is being protected by armed guards, you think someone’s listening in on your calls, and you have a dire need for a confidential visit from a healer.” She clucked her tongue with a grin. “Nicky, Nicky, Nicky. What are you getting me into?”
“I’m not getting you into anything, I swear. All I’m asking is that you examine my wife and give us an honest evaluation.”
“An evaluation. That’s it? Why not come into the clinic? Why the urgency? The secrecy?”
“I think that will be obvious once you examine her.”
“She seemed great when I saw her last night. Did something happen?”
“I’d rather she and I explain it together. She’ll be down any minute. She’s getting our daughter situated upstairs with a family friend.”
Her brows had barely gone down before they rose again. “Your daughter?”
“My wife’s daughter,” I clarified, “whom I adopted when we married.”
“I see. Wow. You didn’t mention that last night.”
“I would have, but your friend seemed ready to move along.”
“Yeah, JR’s not much for the big crowds, and it was essentially a work event for me, which means boring for him. He was anxious to head over to a bar in Soho where his friend was performing. We left not long after I saw you.”
“Oh, so maybe you haven’t heard…”
“Heard what? What did I miss?”
We both turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs in the foyer.
“That must be Aria now.” I stood to go and greet her.
“Wait,” Noelle whispered, grabbing my wrist as I walked past. “How much does she know? About you…about the descendants…our existence?”
“She knows everything. She can be trusted.”
Noelle let out a low whistle with a roll of her eyes. “Famous last words of a fool. I suppose I knew when I came this would be an unconventional request. I want it noted that this means you owe me.”
“What? No way.” I grinned. “You still owe me after Buenos Aires. This will make us square.”
“Oh, please. Buenos Aires evened the score from Paraguay. We’ve been square since Buenos Aires. After this, you owe me again.”
“Hello,” Aria said as she joined us in the living room. Extending her hand in greeting, she smiled broadly at Noelle. “Thank you for coming, Noelle. Or should I call you Doctor Noelle? I just realized Nick hasn’t told me your last name. Or if he did, I don’t remember.”
“It’s Bernard, and Noelle is fine.” She accepted Aria’s offered hand with a firm shake. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Likewise.”
“Shall we sit?” I asked, taking Aria’s hand as I led her to the sofa.
Noelle smiled as she waited for us to get settled, and then she crossed one leg over the other and placed her hands in her lap. “So, what brings me here today?”
I looked to Aria, who motioned for me to go ahead and explain.
Clearing my throat, I reiterated the need for secrecy so Aria would know the request had been made. “Let me start by saying again that what we’re about to tell you can’t leave this room.”
Nodding, Noelle said, “I can assure you it will stay between us.”
“Right. Last night, there was a security breach at the compound. I’m assuming it was after you and JR left. The entire complex was placed in lockdown.”
“What?” Noelle drew back in shock. “You’re kidding me.”
“No, unfortunately I am not. You haven’t heard, then?”
“No. Other than JR, you’re the only person I’ve talked to today. It’s not even noon, and it’s a Sunday. We had quite the late night out. What happened?”
I explained about the invasions, sticking to what I knew would be public knowledge since there was no need to share all the details of the investigation with Noelle.
“That’s insane,” she said, her eyes still wide with disbelief. “I can’t believe it. Your mother must be pissed! Was anyone hurt?”
I looked to Aria, and though she’d bitten down on her lip as though she was still uncertain, she nodded for me to go ahead.
“During the chaos of the break-ins, Aria and I were ambushed on the rooftop terrace. Someone fired a crossbow at the two of us.”
“What?” Noelle’s hand flew to her chest. “Who would do such a thing? And why?”
“I wish I knew,” I said with a bewildered shake of my head. “I assume it was part of the larger effort against the Gilde. I took a hit to the shoulder and in my leg, and Aria was hit in the chest.”
Noelle’s eyes went immediately to Aria and then narrowed. “You were hit in the chest? With a crossbow bolt?”
Aria nodded, tapping her T-shirt where the arrow had entered. “It went in right here.”
Noelle looked to me, clearly skeptical. “And this was last night?”
“Yes,” I said. “Aria went down immediately, and I chased the shooter to the edge of the roof where he shifted.”
“It was a Vardiyati?” Noelle’s eyes widened further. “Why would a Vardiyati shoot at you at your family’s compound? Why would they risk your family’s wrath?” Her focus swung back to Aria. “Are you all right?”
“I think so,” Aria said with a slight shrug.
“When I got back to Aria, she was fading fast,” I said. “She had lost a lot of blood, and there was nothing I could do. But right after I removed the arrow—”
“Which you shouldn’t have done,” Noelle said, her gaze shifting to me. “She could have bled out.”
“She had already bled out. Her heart stopped. I don’t know for exactly how long. It seemed like an eternity, but it was likely a couple of minutes, tops. But then her pulse returned, and she came to.”
Noelle stared at Aria again. “How do you feel now?”
“Great.”
“The wound has already healed,” I told her.
“Since last night?” Noelle looked to me. “You’ve already taken her to a healer, then?”
“No,” Aria said. “It healed itself. There’s nothing left but a scar.”
She pulled the collar of her T-shirt down to reveal the small circle, which was no longer pink at all and barely raised.
“Fascinating,” Noelle whispered as she leaned in to take a closer look. “Does it still hurt?”
“No.” Aria shook her head. “It did. It hurt like hell when it happened, and when I first woke up after. I don’t really know when it stopped hurting because there was a lot going on at the time, but it was healed up and scarred over within a few hours. Just like Nick’s.”
Noelle sat back in the chair and crossed her arms. “And no one else has examined you? No one has done any healing?”
“No.” Aria released the shirt collar and then crossed her arms as well as Noelle turned to me.
“I must say I’m surprised by that. The entry is dangerously close to her heart and lungs, and you insist you heard her heart stop. She could have internal damage. There had to have been multiple healers at that party, and you had your father’s facility at your disposal. Why wait until today, and why call me?”
Sitting back, I stretched my arm along the top of the couch. “I’ll spare you the details, but believe me when I say there were extenuating circumstances that demanded our immediate attention last night. Aria didn’t seem to be in any distress from her injury. She was exactly as she appears to you now. As to why I called you, I trust you. I needed someone I could trust.”
“Are you telling me there’s no one at the Gilde you trust?”
Before I could determine how I wanted to answer, Aria stepped in.
“I asked him not to tell anyone there. I’m sure you can understand it was quite distressing to not only get shot in the chest but then to realize I’d nearly died and was somehow healing at a freakish pace. With everything that was going on at the time at the compound, I didn’t feel safe, and the extenuating circumstances Nick mentioned meant we were urgently needed at home. So, I asked him not to say anything. Physically, I felt fine, as I do now, but obviously, there are questions that need to be answered. Nick believes you may be able to help us find those answers, and that we can trust you to keep this matter private.”
“Aria, I will certainly guard your privacy, as I would with any patient, and I’m happy to try and determine if you have any internal injuries that still need to be addressed. As far as the other answers you seek, it’s not unheard of for a human heart to stop and then start up again. The connection between body and spirit is mystical. While I’d always prefer a medical or scientific explanation for what happens, we don’t always have one. If your heart did indeed stop and then start again, it could be that your spirit wasn’t ready to relinquish, and your will was strong enough to overcome the trauma of the flesh.”
“What about the healing?” Aria asked. “Have you seen a human heal like this before?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Noelle frowned. “No. I honestly don’t know how a human body could have done that without some type of supernatural intervention.”
“What if…what if I’m not human anymore?” Aria asked with a glance at me.
“You are.” Noelle gave her a reassuring smile. “That’s one I can answer.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because if you weren’t, I would have known right away, and so would your husband.” She shifted farther back in the chair and crossed her legs again. “You see, all living things are made up of energy. The energy of the bloodline descendants vibrates at a higher frequency than humans, which makes us much more sensitive to energy in others. We can detect whether someone is human or blood prodigy just by being in their presence. You’re human.”
Bumping her shoulder into mine, Aria squeezed my thigh. “Tell her what Zeck said.”
“Last night, a friend of mine—a rather powerful Veiori—read Aria as blood prodigy. It was fleeting, but he was certain of what he’d felt.”
“He must have been mistaken,” Noelle said, her smile fading. “Even the highest vibration in a human doesn’t reach the threshold of the lowest descendants.”
“I felt it from her as well. Not when Zeck did, but later.”
“What?” Aria turned to me in shock, and I belatedly remembered I had failed to share that with her. “When?”
“It was while you were sleeping. I meant to tell you this morning, but we got sidetracked with everything else.” I looked from her to Noelle. “Just like Zeck had said, it was momentary. One minute it was there, and the next it was gone.”
“That can’t be.” Noelle shook her head. “Your father would tell you it’s simple science. A human can’t present at those levels, nor can they flip their energy up or down instantly. No one can.”
“Then how do you explain what Zeck and I felt?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to experience it myself to try to determine its cause. How does she present to you now?”
“As a human, the same as she does for you. But I’m telling you, what I felt from her before was supernatural energy.”
Noelle’s forehead creased. “Energy does fluctuate. It can be affected by fear, excitement, temperature, illness. Perhaps Aria was spiking due to the stress she was under, but no way would it register high enough to be misread as a descendant. Maybe it just threw you because it was such a stark contrast to her norm.”
“No, I know what I felt, and Zeck was meeting Aria for the first time. He had no baseline to compare it to. She was presenting as supernatural.”
“But you didn’t feel it when he did?”
“No. I don’t remember sensing that anything was different, but there was a lot going on. I wasn’t focused on it at the time.”
“There’s more,” Aria said. “Since I regained consciousness, I’m seeing colors around people.”
“Like auras?” Noelle asked.
“Maybe? I’ve never seen an aura before so I’m not sure. It’s like they have a fog or a mist surrounding them, and the colors are different for different people. Only for the supernaturals, though. My daughter and my friend don’t have colors.”
“Hmm.” Noelle tapped her index finger against her chin. “Do you know if you have any ancestors who are blood descendants?”
“No. Nick and Zeck asked the same thing last night, but I don’t know of anyone.”
“Does anyone else in your family see auras? Or do they have any other odd manifestations of the senses?”
“No. I’m telling you…my family is about as normal and average as anyone can be. Boring, really.”
“It could have been passed down dormant for generations. Human offspring of blood prodigy don’t always exhibit supernatural abilities, but the markers can still be passed on. They might not have even known they carried it. It could be a latent trait you were born with, but then the extreme duress you were under last night brought it forth.” Noelle’s eyes brightened as though she’d suddenly had a thought. “Or maybe it’s not auras at all! It could be synesthesia. If so, what you’re seeing isn’t an aura emanating from another being but rather a reaction happening inside your own brain. The stimulation of one of your senses may be crossing wires with another. People with synesthesia might taste shapes or words. They may hear colors or letters. Or see colors associated with certain people, like what you’re experiencing. The condition can sometimes manifest as a result of traumatic stress.”
“So, you’re saying maybe everything I’m experiencing is due to stress?”
I reached to clasp Aria’s hand, hoping to comfort the frustration I heard in her voice. “This has to be more than stress, Noelle. Her body has never reacted this way before.”
“Has she been shot with a crossbow before?”
The look I sent Noelle’s way made her sit up straighter.
“Look, I’m not trying to minimize your concerns,” she said, intertwining her fingers in her lap. “What I’m saying is we start our search for answers in what we know and what we can explain. I was born a supernatural. I am part of that world, and I know it well. But as a doctor trained in Western medicine, I am also a student of science. The truth is that most things have a scientific explanation. I’ve learned to look for the science first, and then, once I’ve exhausted reason and logic and still cannot reach a proven conclusion, I seek answers within the mystical realm of my ancestors. What do we know in this case? We know you’re human. We know there are parameters around what the human body can and cannot do. Clearly, you had a traumatic night, physically and emotionally. It’s taken a toll on you, and your body has reacted in unusual ways. That’s the most logical explanation we have right now.”
Aria stood and went to stare out the windows toward the river in the distance, her back straight and her body tense.
“I get where you’re coming from, Noelle,” I said. “I’ve straddled the two worlds as well, and obviously, I respect your input or I wouldn’t have called you. I just feel like there’s something going on here that’s beyond those human parameters you mentioned. Even if Zeck and I were off with the energy, and even if the colors she’s seeing are synesthesia, how did she come back after an injury like that? How did she heal so quickly? Where’s the logic or the scientific explanation for that?”
Noelle shrugged. “I don’t have one. Like I said, I know of no way a human can self-heal that rapidly without supernatural intervention.” She looked to Aria at the window. “Are you by any chance a religious person, Aria?”
Her scoff answered the question before she spoke. “No. Quite the opposite. Why?”
