Page 187 of Plug and Drain

“They…Do you mean to tell me,” she spluttered, “that they have nothing better to do, so they just use up all their magic?” He nodded. “They’re knowingly endangering themselves and…” She made a sweeping gesture at his chest and arms, “and doing that to you, all because they’re bored? Are they suicidal, or just nuts?”

“Honestly? I think they’re just raving mad. Nathaniel’s given them plenty of opportunities to end their own lives…but they’re not very good at it.”

Susie dropped her hands and rubbed her eyes, looking so exasperated she looked ready to scream. “I haven’t even met them yet, but I want to kill them.”

“Yes, well, they do tend to bring out that quality in people.”

“Can’t you just convince them to refrain from using magic?” Susie pleaded.

Suddenly, a loud bang made them jump, and the roof of the manor’s east wing exploded upwards in a shower of tiles and glowing green light.

“Oh my goodness,” Susie cried, leaping back from the gate and colliding with his chest. “What—?”

He steadied her, placing his hands lightly on her shoulders. “They have their good qualities, as I mentioned, but if you wish to meet them, we really ought to return at another time…” He glanced at the manor where thick, green smoke was wafting up into the predawn sky. “Preferably when they don’t have fresh magic coursing through their veins. They’re always a nuisance right after a feeding.”

“I see what you mean,” Susie said faintly as they re-entered the shadowy forest. “They’re quite different to how I expected. I thought they’d be quiet and…”

“Sensible?” Arken offered.

“Right. Sensible.” She grew thoughtful, and they walked in silence back to the portal.

“There is one other thing we should discuss,” Arken said, stopping outside the portal.

“Can we walk while we talk about it?” Susie asked, fidgeting with her hands. “I don’t really feel like standing still.”

“If you are feeling up to it. How is your back? And tail?”

“They’re sore. But I don’t think a little more exercise will hurt. If we take it slow, I’ll be fine.”

Arken hesitated.

“Please, Arken. I’ve been lying in bed for weeks, now, and—”

“All right, all right,” he said gently. He gestured at a nature trail off to the side. “That way leads to a creek. It’s a five-minute walk.”

They could soon hear the gurgling of water, but Susie’s back spasmed just as the low wooden bridge came into sight. She braced herself against a tree.

“So…” she began, her face perspiring with effort that plainly had more to do with her injury than the exercise. “Should we discuss what happened…with Henrikk?”

Arken nodded gravely. “I want to explain why I didn’t stop him.”

Susie dipped her head back at him, but she crossed her arms and turned away, her face in the tree’s shadow. “Yes. I’m sure you had your reasons.”

Her voice was thick, and he wanted to reach for her, but instead, he kept his arms firmly by his sides.

He wasn’t sure how to begin, even though he’d rehearsed the words a thousand times in his head. He’d failed to protect Susie from Henrikk in a monumental way, and the rest were minor details. But she deserved that explanation all the same.

“I’m sincerely sorry for what happened to you,” he began, “and for what I allowed to happen to you. Truly.” Now came the ‘but’, which seemed like a poor way to preface such a sensitive conversation. “But there are things you should know about the circumstances surrounding my…complete failure to protect you.”

Susie didn’t speak. Her face was turned away, her body rigidly still, and he could sense the rush of despair consuming her. He wanted so much to comfort her.

“After I killed Oscar at the school assembly, I was speaking to Henrikk when you approached me. Henrikk grabbed your arm…Do you remember?”

A small nod.

“He gripped you hard—hard enough to draw blood. I’m afraid he wasn’t just doing it to physically hurt you. He was collecting your blood.”

Susie’s head whipped round incredulously. “Collecting it? Why?”