“I don’t know.Maybe an hour.”
“Damn.”Darien frowned.“It should have healed more thanthis.”
Duh.“Which is why I’m here.”
“Okay.”Darien held up the vial and popped off the rubberstopper.“I’m going to try this elixir on it.It’s good for a lot of the kindsof spells human witches use.”
“I don’t think it was a spell.It seemed innate andorganic.”
Spells cast by humans were often preceded by a warningtingle Hawkyn could feel like tiny pinpricks on his scalp, but abilities thatwere species traits usually gave no detectible warning, which was damnedinconvenient.
Darien’s hand paused with the dropper hovering over thepulsing gash.“Then...there might be some wee side effects.”
“What kind of side effects?”It was a safe bet that Darienwasn’t talking about dry mouth, blurred vision, or anal leakage.
“Depends on the species of the person who wielded the power.And the power itself, of course.”
That didn’t sound good.Hawkyn narrowed his eyes at thehealer.“Examples?”
“Well, I once used it on a strange blister that formed onLlewellyn’s arm after a Thraycer demon battle.The elixir caused blisters toerupt all over his body.You don’t want to know what came out of them.”Darien’s brown eyes glittered with excitement.He had always gotten a kick outof bizarre medical mishaps.“Ooh, and one time I used it on Gladys when a humancast a revenge spell that turned her blind.It restored her sight but causedtemporary insanity and a loss of bowel control for aweek.”
So...analleakagewasaconcern.
Hawkyn stared at his half-brother.“Where the fuck did youget your medical training?Hogwarts?”
“Ha.Funny.I did a year and a half stint at UnderworldGeneral.”
“Did they fire you, by chance?”
Darien looked hurt.“Fired is a strong word.Look, if youjust...oops.”
“Oops?”Hawk looked down at where a drop ofDarien’s magical mystery juice had fallen into his wound.A foul stench andhissing noise rose up as the liquid absorbed, disappearing into the mangledflesh.“Are you kidding me?”
“It was just a drop.Probably wasn’t enough to affectanything,” Darien said quickly.“Probably.”
Hawk shoved the guy away and staggered to his feet.“Nevermind.I’ll just drop by the hospital.”
“They treat demons,” Darien reminded him.“Not angels.”
He reached for the door, wincing at the stretch of hismuscles.“We’re half demon.”
“We’re halffallen angel,” Darien argued.“There’sa difference.”
Not…exactly.Technically, their father was a Heavenly angel.But he’d given up his halo willingly, so he was more like an angel turned evilthan a True Fallen angel.
“Have you evenmetour father?Azagoth is a demonif I ever saw one.He stopped being any kind of angel a long time ago.”
Darien nodded emphatically, his long bangs flapping againsthis cheeks.“Especially lately.”
“No shit.”Hawkyn paused with the door half open.“What’s upwith his grumpy ass?”
Shrugging, Darien popped the rubber stopper back into theelixir bottle.“I overheard Zhubaal and Hades talking the other day.They saidhe’s been demanding access to the Memitim Council.And several of our brothersand sisters mentioned that he’s been asking them weirdquestions.”
Hawkyn frowned.“Questions?Like what?”
“Personal stuff.It’s bizarre.He’s never taken an interestin us before, and now he’s wanting the history of our lives.”
Thatwasbizarre.Azagoth had always taken a cool,detached approach to fatherhood, treating all his children more like tenantsthan family.
