Damn, he didn’t hold back.
“You’re right, of course, and you have my sincerest apologies for troubling you during the beginning of your holiday rest period.”
My eyes skate to Gemini, and he looks at me in equal surprise. Is it possible Jasper’s heart has grown three fucking sizes like that green dude who hates the Whos? My lips curve as I remember that cartoon KK showed me, as my grumpy dragon isn’t very different from the guy on the mountain being mad about happy people. However, unlike the furry holiday hater, Jasper doesn’thave to do anything but get out of his own way to have a joyous Krampusnacht or Yulemas.
“I am a physician to the crown, and at your service, Prince. Your friends, especially those friendly with Master Kit, are like my own. Please move aside and lend me the quick hands of Master Zavida, so I might help these two.”
Scrambling over to the prone visitors from the surface, I wait for the floating demon to give me instructions. Once the doctor is next to Lucas, he hands me the bag and pulls his hood down. The flames are sparking high as he also removes the mask to reveal his avian skull. “You must get the following items out in exactly this order, Master Zavida. Mortar, pestle, ferrous oxide, powdered horn, the teeth, the vial of blood, the vial of tears, the rusty nail, belladonna, the dirt, and finally, the jar of scales.”
My eyes widen, hoping my brain allows me to remember that list in the right order as I panic. Pulling the dark ceramic bowl and the pestle out of the bag, I hand them to him quickly. “I’ll try to do it right, but tell me if I mess up.”
“I can help,” Angelo says as he drops to the ground next to me. “I’ve been around Fae long enough to get a little experience with spell shit.”
Smiling gratefully, I reach into the bag and pull out a jar labeled ‘ferrous oxide’. “Thank goodness they’re not here right now. This is definitely an enormous bottle of iron.”
The Gemini chuckles, watching as I hand it to the doctor. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be their favorite thing.” He looks into the bag and frowns as he lifts out another bottle. “Powdered demon horn, huh? I guess that isn’t obtained in a pleasant way.”
“It is not,” Dr. D replies as I hand it to him. “The demon must be dead to grind the horns to dust as needed.”
Yikes. Not a fan of that.
“Doc, that’s not exactly?—”
The fiery-headed demon turns to look at Jasper reproachfully. “Do you plan to quibble with every bit of this treatment, Your Highness? If you do, we will surely lose these friends and anyone else I have yet to see.”
Angelo whistles low as he hands me a small, see-through jar of what looks to be tiny human teeth. “First, marvelous job, Doc. Second, are thesebaby teeth?” I feel a shiver as the container passes between us and chuckle.
“They are gathered by the cousins of the Fair Folk who live in our realm as welcomed hybrids, Master Gemini. You may know of them as ‘tooth fairies’? It is a hybrid of a normal faerie and a bone demon descendant.”
My lips curve as I realize KK wouldlovebeing here to learn as the old guy works. Even with the… I blink at the blood vial labeled ‘hell boar & vampire’ before I give it to the doctor. “Not something I expected to handle today, but okay…”
“Being a healer is often full of surprises,” the doc says as he mixes the ingredients in his bowl. “Next, please, Master Zavida.”
I look at Angelo, and he gives me a grossed-out expression as he hands me the vial. It says ‘tears of unrepentant murderers’ and I don’t even want to imagine how those were obtained. In fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be involved in demonic casting this intense ever again if I can avoid it. “Here you go.”
The pattern continues until we reach the scales, and when I pull the jar out, I’m shocked to find that it’s got about ten of Jasper’s fucking dragon scales in it. I look over at my lover, and he shrugs. “They’re powerful, they grow back, and the doc needs them for some magic. I would not want him to be short of this rare resource in a situation like this.”
I have no idea how to respond to that, as it’s the second time this month Jasper’s shocked me by helping people outside of our caliphate without being compelled to do so.
“Most dragons wouldn’t give a flying fuck about what’s needed to heal others,” the twin says as he looks over his shoulder at Jas. “I’m pleasantly surprised by your generosity, Eversore.”
Jasper rolls his eyes at the other demon, sighing heavily. “Dr. D isourphysician, Gemini. He would be using them for me and my caliphate, especially with the Games looming. I’m not as charitable as it sounded.”
“Ah,butyou are pretty honest, even when it doesn’t reflect well on you,” I say as the doc finally finishes and leans over Lucas to dribble some of the weird-smelling shit from the bowl onto his lips. Licking my lips as he moves to Ignatius, I keep my eyes on the visitors as my brain races through all the ways their mate will attack us if we don’t fix them in time.
The prince huffs, bending to peer at the bear as the doc works on the professor. I see a tiny bit of concern in his eyes, but before I address it, Lucas coughs, spraying a little of the liquid in Jasper’s face as he comes to. Angelo and I look at one another, waiting for the explosion as the bear rolls to his side and wheezes. Jasper’s face is dripping with the smelly elixir, and he seems to be stunned in place.
I have to admit, this was alsonoton my bingo card for today, and I’m gonna have a hard time not laughing.
Twenty-Five
MORGANA
“Iknow that pokes a raw wound because of your missing future mate and other things,” I mumble as I look up at the ceiling. It’s hard to gaze at Rogue in the eye when the truth is that not seeing Magnus for who he was sooner allowed so many supernaturals to suffer. Had I given up my job at Swallowtail when we first got engaged like he wanted, I would have moved to the States and maybe caught on earlier. That wouldn’t have saved her brother, obviously, but it might have stalled out the shit going on now a bit.
Maybe? Who knows at this point. So many choices by thousands of supes led to the point in time we’re at now, so that might be my ego talking.
Rogue reaches over, smacking my arm lightly to get my attention. When I turn my eyes back to her, she gives me a suspicious glare. “Don’t youdarestart blaming yourself for the actions of that slimy knobgobbler. It’s so like us as women to do that because the world has trained us to take on the failures of shitty men, but hide our successes under a bushel.Youdidn’t take part in that disgusting shit, nor could you have usednonexistent ESP to know the guy was as much a snake as a lizard.”
