In spite of Cassie's assurances that he didn't need it, Drew tucked his bag under his arm and brought his small fortune along to the hotel. Getting Brandon the room next to Quan's and putting it on Veritas' account was a process. That Cassie paid, to keep it from being tied to either of the men, was the source of yet another argument between the two. All the while Brandon hung limp and suspended by Drew's arm, a ball cap from the office pulled down over his face to keep anyone from noticing the virtual corpse they had dragging along with them. Drew caved on the payment only because the strain from escorting Brandon was taking its toll on Drew, not all of it physical.
"Please let me help." Cassie whispered while they waited for the elevator, Drew stumbled catching himself on the wall.
"No, there's no reason for us both to be tired. I can't defend us if he comes back, you can." They still weren't saying Pritchard's name out loud even though Brandon was far from hearing them. His eyes were closed, his head lolled forward with the swaying of Drew's stride. Cassie knew what it cost Drew to admit that he would have to rely on her if it came to a fight, he was a proud man.
By the time Cassie slid Brandon's key card in the lock, Drew's face was wet and flushed and he looked about ready to pass out. The healer she'd called from the cab, the same one who'd fixed her up the other morning, would be here within the hour. Given the shape he was in, Cassie would insist upon having Drew examined as well. It would be wise to use the opportunity to get a read on anything else the amulet might have left behind psychically while she was at it.
Running on pure willpower, Drew let Brandon fall gently on the bed. Cassie had rushed ahead of him to pull the blankets down so he didn't have to wait. Freed of his burden, Drew stumbled back, his knees threatening to buckle. Cassie offered him an arm for the short shuffle over to the tan and red striped chair in the corner.
The second his hand touched her, a mind numbing flash of weariness nearly took her knees out from under her. Finding it hard to breathe, Cassie blinked as a blanket of concern for Brandon covered her, smothering all of her other thoughts. Sending her eyes over to the man laying unmoving in the cream and gold bedding, his skin barely distinguishable from the pale pillowcase, Cassie felt grief at his loss and feared for his death. Even more than death, she feared for the loss of his sanity knowing that the independent spirited older brother would sooner lose his legs than his mind.
Gasping, Cassie ducked out from under his hand once Drew was seated, both of them shaking and spent. "Here, keep your distance from him for now." She cautioned, leaving the room to get the complimentary bottle of water from the small kitchenette counter. "Drink this, you'll feel better."
Drew took a long drink. Screwing the cap back on, he gave a short, tired laugh. "Still have that ring? I'm thinking feeling nothing was a hell of a lot easier than all this."
Cassie sank down to kneel in front of him, being careful not to touch him again. He was raw and she was tired leaving her defenses patchy at best. Another dose of Drew's emotional upheaval might interfere with her already severely compromised ability to maintain a professional distance, not to mention draining her as it had Drew.
Her hands rested on her legs. "There's nothing wrong with using an amulet, lots of witches do it in certain situations. If you feel you need it, I have it." Her thumb stroked her pocket where it rode wrapped in an insulating rubber glove Drew had thrown on the office floor.
But he was shaking his head. "No, I don't want to use that thing again. I wasn't me while I wore it." He raised his face to hers, brown waves clinging to his head from sweat. "I'd rather be like this than a zombie without a care or thought deeper than what's for dinner." Gray eyes flashed resolute through the exhaustion dulling his expression.
Hearing him say it made Cassie's chest ache. Their encounter had been during that zombie phase and although it pained her to hear his confirmation that he hadn't felt anything more than the pleasures of the flesh, she was still pleased to hear that he sought deeper feelings. He was going to figure himself out and find a happy life. The joy she felt was bittersweet.
Drew's eyes closed and if he hadn't nodded off he would soon. His head rolled against the cushioned top of the chair and Cassie turned to watch Brandon. Lying still as death, his features were waxy as she leaned up against the bedroom doorway. She'd nearly forgotten they were expecting company when a knock at the door made her jump. She hurried through the short hall and into the sitting area to answer before waking either of the men.
The healer, a forty something woman dressed in a light blue top hanging out over tan casual dress pants, showed Cassie her Veritas badge marking her as Doctor Martha Jones. Even though they'd already met, it was procedure to show id.
"They're in here." She aimed a thumb over her shoulder and started to turn.
Dr. Jones balked, taking her shoulder bag off to lay it on the table by the door. "They? I was informed it was only the one suffering severe psychic fatigue." A thin finger tucked a stray strand of ash blonde hair behind her ear.
"It is, but his brother carried him in from the parking lot."
"Oh." Dr. Jones understood with no further instruction and, needing only that, brushed past Cassie to first take a look at Brandon, then Drew. Initial triage complete, she straightened and her expression was grim. "He's been used up. It must have taken a huge effort for him to break away from the one controlling him, and to stay away. I'm assuming he is coming back?" Using a regular or fellow witch was strictly prohibited according to law. Dr. Jones did not have to inquire as to the character of the man responsible for Brandon's current state.
"I'm pretty sure he's on his way."
Dr. Jones' thin lips were pressed firmly together pushing the color out of them as she continued examining Brandon and frowning all the while. "Do you have any idea the type of magick that one practices, where his strength lies?"
Cassie wagged her head. "Not really." She tipped her head toward the sitting room and they moved out of Brandon's hearing range. "He's only just shown up. He's been missing for a few days and I don't know what either one's real strength is. Quan says Brandon's is Chaos magick but whether that is pure or has been manipulated by the one who's using him we can only guess at this point."
"Well, as awful as he is, we must be grateful for his master 's return." Dr. Jones went to her bag and began to unpack her supplies: stethoscope, arm cuff, bag of stones each individually wrapped in silk, bowl, glass bottle of holy water, etc.
"Why?"
She stopped unpacking to study Cassie's confused features with warm brown eyes. "What do you know about the borrowing of another's energy?"
Cassie shrugged. "Book stuff from school mostly, and some stories here and there."
"Using another's energy forms a tie that connects the two beings until the initiator chooses to sever that tie. Not only his physical being will suffer with the distance between the two. Their energies are essentially joined." Dr. Jones put her stethoscope in her ears. "If the other one doesn't return, then that which constitutes Brandon will cease to exist. She put the end of the scope to his chest. "This one will become nothing but a soulless husk until his physical body eventually gives up and dies too."
Cassie's hands needed something to do. There was little for her in a room that wasn't hers and she couldn't bring herself to leave. She settled for making coffee. After bringing a cup to Dr. Jones, she poured one for herself and leaned against the wall to watch the healer work.
She set several pieces of rough cut quartz around Brandon's body and poured a container of holy water into her bowl. Cassie recognized the container as a cleansing station for when the stones were full of the dark energy overwhelming Brandon's system. They would be unable to save him as long as he was connected to Pritchard, but they could hold him back from the brink and buy time until her triad was able to arrive. Maybe one of them knew something that could sever the connection. Sympathetic to anyone suffering a fate worse than death, Cassie included Brandon in her prayer to Brigit asking her to guard his soul. It was the best any could hope for at this point.
Next, because it was a nonsmoking room and they couldn't burn sage or sweetgrass for purifying, Dr. Jones pulled out several sage smudges and her eyes flicked up to where Cassie stood. "I need your help getting his clothes off."
Neither woman relished touching a man so full of dark energy. Cassie set down her cup and joined Dr. Jones at his bedside. It was a king sized bed which made undressing the patient awkward. Dr. Jones climbed up on the bed and loosened his belt, pant fastenings, and top few shirt buttons making it simply a matter of pulling everything off. They both tried to limit their contact to his clothing but several times, when her hand brushed his skin, Cassie felt the darkness stick to her like cling wrap.
The darkness sucked at her, its fingers stretching and clawing to find purchase in her during their chance meetings. Its fingers scraped at the insides of her mind, leaving her feeling raw and abused. By the time they had Brandon down to his underwear both women were exhausted.
Dr. Jones wiped her brow with the back of a hand. "Let's give ourselves a little brush off before we go on with him, shall we?" She set about wiping Cassie down with a smudge stick in firm sweeping motions, starting at her center and flicking out. When she was done, she set the smudge bundle in a plastic bag and picked up another for herself.
"Here, let me help." Eager to keep busy Cassie took the smudge and performed the same ritual cleansing on the doctor and placed the used bundle in the bag with the other. Their contact had only been incidental yet still Cassie could feel the absence of it when the darkness had been brushed away, she couldn't imagine what Brandon must be feeling or Drew for that matter.
"Thank you." Dr. Jones straightened her shirt and grabbed another smudge bundle. "There is some salt in my bag. Could you pour some so that I can cast a circle? I would like to close it just as I finish his cleansing. How are your defensive spells?"
Circles were second nature to Cassie. Although not always fast under pressure, she could cast an effective one and leave it while she stepped out. The nice bit about being the one who cast it is that she would be the one who would feel it if anyone tried to disrupt it, a sort of warning device for intruders. "I'll cast it."
"Good."
Ten minutes later they both stepped outside Brandon's protective magickal bubble and the doctor had turned her attentions to Drew. Her brows furrowed and her fingers slid down over his forehead. "What's this?" She closed her eyes. "Has he suffered a shock? His mind is patchy and overloaded in spots. It doesn't seem right."
Cassie bit her lip fearing the full ramifications of her recklessness removing the amulet the way she did. She told the doctor what she'd done.
"And you removed it only a few hours ago?" She stood up putting her hands behind her hips and stretching her back.
Yawning, she bobbed her head in approval. "He's doing exceptionally well for having so much thrown at him and with such a raw emotional mind. He's strong."
Cassie made a relieved sound, drawing Dr. Jones' eye. "It was hurting him, the amulet." She explained feeling questions in the brown eyes regarding her calmly. "Whenever someone would use any energy around him it gathered in the stone and shorted out the protections. While those were down he would be on his own, no protections, no idea what was happening." She felt tears welling up, speaking faster as the guilt she felt for bringing harm to a man she was rapidly growing fond of gave way to relief. "He's never had any training and he's so sensitive to others' emotions, I think his magick is Sentimental but I didn't think of that at the time. It was foolish to have taken it off without thinking of the consequences. Especially with him being so interested in him. If I can't protect Drew, I've failed them both." Hearing herself running on, Cassie cut herself off with a choke and took a ragged breath, uncomfortably blinking back most of the tears welling there and wiping at her eyes for those that had escaped.
The doctor was watching Cassie, her thumb pressed up against her lips as she thought. "What exactly is the nature of your relationship with Drew? Is he a client?"
Cassie blanched. It was the question she'd been dreading for fear it would mean the end of her career. Then there was the simple fact that she really didn't have an answer.
"As I said, we met Drew during the course of our investigation only a few days ago. I was assigned to stay with him and wait for either Brandon or Pritchard to show up and be taken into custody. During that time he has proven himself a valuable asset and, given his status of untrained witch, I have a duty to protect him from harm until such time as he can be paired with a trainer for a thorough education."
"I'm not here as an Investigator Cassie. There is no need to be so formal." Dr. Jones gave her a kind smile. "I'm asking as a Healer. You are clearly under quite a strain being responsible for the lives and mental status of two unguarded men, one of whom you clearly care about." She lifted her chin at Cassie's intent to interrupt. "If you have feelings for the one, I fear you will not think clearly. This is a delicate situation and one that if handled poorly could result in the loss of both if not all three of you."
"I am thinking clearly." Cassie rumbled obstinately, ignoring Dr. Jones' statement confirming exactly what Cassie feared.
The doctor's brows rose and she pushed back more firmly. "All I'm saying is that if you let your emotions for the one get in the way, you won't be able to protect any. And if the one we're waiting for is as strong as I think he is, if he's going to do what I think he is, then you're going to need to be at the top of your game."
The burden that was hers to bear alone until her partners returned settled heavy on Cassie's shoulders. Wishing she could open the door and walk out, she took a breath, straightened her back, and forced a grimacing smile. "Tell me what you're thinking."