“By Mother Moon and Sister Sea, I call on my shield to surround me. Protect my body and my soul, let no pain take its toll.”
Normally, when healing, I’d take the pain into me and then redirect it elsewhere, if possible, or deal with the aftereffects later—like the bruising I’d had after I’d helped heal Oban. But toxins were different, particularly once magick was involved. They could mutate, enhance, and evolve, and taking them into your system was never a smart thing to do.
Mentally keeping a strong hold on the sludgy ball of poison wrapped in my web of magick, I tugged,hard, and ripped it from Mitch’s body and whipped it into the air. It tried, briefly, to jump to me, but it bounced off my shield and flew up, before shattering into a swarm of tiny black gnats. They buzzed around my head briefly before a strong gust of wind tore them away, and then Mitch rolled, gagging into the grass, heaving up the mushroom he’d eaten.
“There you go, boy. That’s a good lad. You’ll be just fine now.” Sweat ran damply beneath my jumper, and I stroked Mitch’s back lightly as he finished heaving, scanning his body with my mind. I couldn’t find any other traces of the toxin in him, and feeling comfortable enough to pull back, I retracted the threads of my power and furled it back inside me, tucking it in its safe space deep in my core.
Mitch turned and licked my hand.
“You’re welcome, bud. Scary stuff, eh?” I’d have to have a serious talk with Shona about her gnomes.This was unconscionable, what they’d done, and if she kept them about, they’d properly hurt someone one day.
“Is he okay?” Zara called, her voice panicked. I glanced over my shoulder to see Shona doing her best to comfort Zara.
“I was able to induce vomiting and he seems to be doing well now that he’s cleared it.”
“But what about toxins? His liver? Aftereffects?” Zara gripped Shona’s arm as she stepped forward. “Should I be worried?”
“It really looks like he’s cleared it all. If you’d like, I can take him home with me to monitor him for a day, but I don’t think it is necessary.” To prove my point, Mitch had sprung up and was racing across the lawn to Zara.
“Oh, buddy. You scared me.” Zara dropped to her knees and hugged Mitch but turned her head when he tried to kiss her. “Ew, vomit breath.”
Shona’s eyes met mine over Zara’s head. She raised her eyebrows in question, and I gave her a quick nod.
“The mushroom must have been a different variety from what I thought. Thank goodness.”
“He’s usually pretty good when he’s working, but sometimes he can’t help himself. I’m just glad it wasn’t more serious. Can you grab his harness for me?”
“I’ll go get it.” I went inside the greenhouse, closing the door behind me, and darting a quick look over my shoulder, I crouched.
The gnome looked up at me, still frozen, and I grimaced.
“Listen, you little shite, if you ever do something likethis again, I’m going to punt you into the loch. Understood?”
The gnome shifted into life and threw his hands in the air.
“Och, I swear I didn’t know. I swear it. I was just giving the dog a treat so he wouldn’t bark at us. I was worried it was going to give us chase and cause his owner to fall.”
“You swear it? Because I saw him almost pee on you,” I hissed, holding my hand in a fist over the gnome’s head.
“I swear to the goddess! Och, I’m not a fan of the wee beasties. They’re always trying to piss on me, but I wouldneverharm one. It’s against our code. We’re garden gnomes. We protect all creatures.” The gnome seemed to be serious, and I narrowed my eyes at it.
“I’m watching you.” I used two fingers to point at my eyes, and then at him.
“I’m sorry. I really am.” He seemed contrite enough and there wasn’t much else I could do. Grabbing the harness, I went back outside to where Zara cuddled Mitch on the ground.
“He seems fine,” Zara said, rubbing her hands down his side.
“He should be. But I’ll give you my number and you can call with any concerns.” I handed Shona the harness and she gave it to Zara.
“Listen, Zara, why don’t I drop you at home real quick and that way you can cuddle up with Mitch and make sure he’s doing okay?”
“You’ll want to monitor if he’s drinking water and eating normally,” I instructed.
“Yes, that’s probably best. I’ll wander back downanother day this week.” Zara dug in her pocket and handed me her phone. “Can you add your number?”
“No problem. I’ll save it as ‘Vet. Dr. Faelan Fletcher.’” I punched in my number, saved it, and handed the phone back before crouching to give Mitch one more rub. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just pet him with his harness on.”
“That’s fine. I haven’t called him back to work yet.” Gripping the harness, Zara stood. “Mitch, forward.”
