I sat the drink on the table beside him, wondering if I should have grabbed some crackers too. Niki seemed too focused for me to ask. Instead, I hopped up on the table, transforming into my fox form. Niki had placed a pillow on a corner of his desk that I curled up in. I could keep a good watch on my warlock from here.
Niki took an absent drink of his ginger ale, swallowing a good portion in a single go. He then took out his phone and shot off a text. “I’m letting Martha’s sister know I have the charm and am working to counteract it,” Niki said. “I should probably call her, but I don’t want to do that until I’ve got this better sorted.”
Most likely Niki didn’t fancy getting yelled at again, not that I could truly blame him. While neither one of us were medical professionals, we both understood the severity of a situation when a human had to be placed in a medically induced coma. There was a very good chance Martha Phillips would never wake again. There was an even greater chance that if she did, there would be permanent brain damage. I wasn’t sure if the clock was ticking or if time had already run out. Either way, Niki wouldn’t give up and I’d be here, supporting him. I wished I could take this burden from him, but that’s not how my abilities worked. I could dismantle magic, but I couldn’t exactly reform it to do something else.
Destroying the charm wasn’t what Martha needed.Iwasn’t what she needed. Niki was the possible cure, assuming there was still time for such a thing.
Wiggling a little deeper into the pillow, I settled in for a rough day and night, possibly longer. Truth be told, I had no ideahow long this would take. I got the distinct impression neither did Niki.
I’m notsure when I fell asleep, only that after several hours of staring at Niki, I finally did. I’d managed to force a couple of sandwiches into him before I drifted into dreamland, but not much else. Niki had only stopped when Erasmus called to check in. Even then, his conversation was shorter than typical when speaking with his son.
Waking, I checked the time, noting that I’d been asleep for a little over three hours. Niki would need to eat again soon. The strain and fatigue were obvious. Dark circles hovered beneath Niki’s eyes and his skin was pasty pallid instead of luminous. Niki’s nimble fingers continued weaving magic around the charm which had lost some of its shady darkness.
I couldn’t be certain, but I hoped that indicated progress.
Standing, I stretched my legs and tails, fluffing my fur and twitching my tails. My barely there eighth tail wiggled, finding its place amongst the others. It was starting to feel like just another part of me and I relished its presence.
Hopping off the counter, I transformed midair, landing on two feet instead of four. “You need to eat,” I whispered into Niki’s ear while stroking his hair away from his haggard face.
“I’m not hungry,” Niki protested.
“You are and you will eat. I’ll get you something.” I kissed his temple before walking out of the room. Lifting my arms above my head, I took the time for a long, much needed stretch. I loved being in my fox form but became stiff when curled up for long periods.
Since I wasn’t much of a cook, I snatched Niki’s phone, pulled up an ordering app, andpossiblywent a bit overboard. In my defense, I was uncertain how long it would take Niki to untangle the magical knot twisting his charm. Undoing malevolent magic seemed to take a lot longer than instigating it. Then again, Niki had to be very careful not to make poor Martha’s situation worse. I could have destroyed the thing in less than the blink of an eye, but that wouldn’t have helped Martha.
Finished ordering, I noticed there were several missed calls and texts from Cilla. Niki normally wouldn’t ignore her. He must have been too fixated on fixing the charm and didn’t pay attention. I’d been awake when Erasmus called and had to be the one to let Niki know his son was on the phone. I’d most likely been asleep when Cilla called, and the rings and dings hadn’t managed to wake me.
Quickly pulling up Cilla’s contact information, I called her. I’m not even sure if a single full ring happened before Cilla answered, “N-Nikodemus.”
My tails twitched. I didn’t like the panic lacing Niki’s name. “It’s Hikaru,” I answered. “Niki’s working on fixing a charm.”
“You found one?” I liked the relief in Cilla’s voice better.
“We did. Unfortunately, this one’s already been activated. The human’s in the hospital in a medically induced coma. Niki’s trying to reverse the charm’s effects.”
“Oh, I…I guess that’s why he didn’t answer.”
“He’s very focused right now. I doubt he heard the phone, and I was asleep,” I explained.
“That’s understandable. I…I was probably overreacting anyway.” I could practically see Cilla chewing on her bottom lip.
“Doubtful.” Squirrel shifters could be flighty, or more precisely, they took flight easily, but Cilla struck me as a pretty down-to-earth shifter. She didn’t spook as easily as most of herspecies. “What happened? Are you safe?” That last thought put me on high alert. If Cilla was in a bad place, I’d dissipate and go get her and bring her to our home.
“I…I’m pretty sure everything is fine…now.” Cilla didn’t sound sosure.
“Now? What about before? What happened?”
There was a pause, and I could hear Cilla’s rapid breaths on the other end of the connection. Finally, she blew out a deeper breath and said, “Someone tried to get into my house, or more precisely, onto my property, but they couldn’t.” Cilla swallowed hard. “They kept trying and it was…goddess, it was scary. Someone attacked the wards. I mean, I’m no warlock, but I still feel Nikodemus’s wards wash over me every time I pass through them. I’ve never had someone try and get through that truly meant me harm. That’s what Nikodemus told me the wards prevent so I can only assume that whoever it was didn’t just want to come in and say howdy.”
My back was ramrod straight, my tails still as I listened. “Are they still there now?”
“No. They’ve been gone for over an hour. I…I was so worried when Nikodemus didn’t answer. I was afraid something happened to him. It’s rare for him not to answer when I call. I know he gets busy sometimes, but typically if it’s urgent, I’ll call two or three times in a row, and he’ll answer. This time, he didn’t and I…I’m afraid I feared the worst. I was just getting ready to call Erasmus to see if he’d heard from his father.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I swear, I had the phone in my hand, ready to pull up Erasmus’s information when you called.”
My shoulders eased as a bit of tension left me. Worrying Niki’s son was the last thing my warlock needed. Thankfully I’d woken just in time.
