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He frowned but did as he instructed but didn’t move far enough back as the shattering boards crashed into him, knocking him down. He just managed to keep from passing out. When he opened his eyes again, he looked up into distorted reflections of himself as two silver people gazed down at him in worry.
“So sorry about that, fella,” one said.
“Yeah, we got a little too eager to get through the wall,” the other said.
“Henry!” Meixiu cried and pushed between the two to jump on him and kiss his lips.
“MMmmph!” he exclaimed. When she pulled back, he looked at the two Silver People in embarrassment. They just grinned back at him.
“We need to leave. These Weres are from Carl de Bellisle’s pack. They’re here to kidnap you again,” Meixiu said. “Roy is fighting their leader now.” She pulled her cell and quickly sent Sigrid an update. The Silver People helped him up to his feet, but they continued to hold his arms. He looked at them cautiously, so they released him reluctantly.
“Sorry, we don’t know why, but we’re picking up a charge from you. Just being next to you is giving us energy! Oh, I’m Sam, and this is Jake,” Sam said with a grin.
“Hi, I’m Henry,” he said awkwardly. He had no idea what would be safe to say to these guys. “We should probably go.” Then he recalled his promise. “Shit! I can’t leave without Minkah!”
Meixiu frowned at him. “Who’s Minkah?”
“She’s the one who brought me here and got me out of my cell. She’s going to help, but I need to stay in her custody. I promised.”
“Custody?” Jake asked.
“Long story, and we have no time. Let’s get out of the garage, but we can’t leave the property without Minkah.
They clambered out the hole in the back of the garage where two other Silver People were watching for danger. They immediately turned to stare at Henry when he stood before them. He could see they were female.
“This is my wife Jeannie,” Sam said in introduction. The smaller of the two did a strange little curtsey and burst into giggles.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
“And this lovely thing is my wife Brenda,” Jake said.
Henry smiled at the four. “Why do I feel a group hug is in order?”
Jeannie was the first to take up the offer, and Brenda was close behind. With Jake and Sam at his back, he was entirely encircled by Silver People.
“That was nice,” Henry said, suggesting it should end. Sam pulled away first, then Jake. They had to gently peel their ladies from Henry’s chest.
“Why do I feel so energized?” Jeannie said dreamily.
“He feels like fresh lightning!” Brenda agreed.
Henry twitched as he recalled his experience with the storm in Washington. His eyes became a little haunted. Sam was watching his face, and it clicked as he recalled speaking to the glowing man. Henry matched his size and shape. “Oh my god! You’re the lightnin’ man! From Washington, DC!”
Jake’s eyes widened as well. “Well, shit! That makes sense, don’t it!”
“I-I can’t talk about that right now,” Henry gasped as his mind rebelled against dredging those memories up again.
“Oh! Sorry!” Sam said, seeing the panic beginning to appear on Henry’s face. They watched Henry get control of his breathing as Meixiu leaned against his arm to give him comfort.
“I will find my friends and bring them here,” the Vampire said softly. Henry nodded, and she faded into the surrounding darkness once more.
Henry looked around the dark forest and realized he had no idea where he was or how to get home. The four Silver People were standing close with smiles on their faces, and he began to feel awkward as he couldn’t really say anything without jeopardizing the Big Secret.
Meixiu was immediately next to him and clutched his hand. “Raymond is hurt! I need you to come with me!” She tugged his hand, and he moved. He got the impression they were being flanked by the four Silver People, but he could only keep his head down at Meixiu’s level to avoid branches to the face and watch for trip hazards as she quickly drew him through the woods.
They entered a small clearing, and a large but injured man was resting back against the tree with a shorter woman watching him with a desperate expression. The man was pressing his hand over his side, and Henry smelled blood.
“Henry, this is Raymond and Eleanor. You must help her heal him!” Meixiu pleaded.
He looked at her in surprise. “I’m not a healer! I’m also exhausted. They starved me in that madhouse!”
“We can get you food!” Sam blurted suddenly. He grabbed Jake’s hand, and that man nodded. “Yeah, we can do that. There are houses just down the road. They’ll have fridges with leftovers.”
Henry snorted in surprise.
“Eleanor, give them some money to leave for the food,” he said with a weak smile.
Giving her husband an annoyed look, she pulled some cash from her pocket and thrust it at Sam. He took it, and Jake zipped away after him.
Henry knelt down next to Raymond and looked to Eleanor. “I’m not a doctor. I’m a CIO for an investment house. I build computer networks and write computer software.”
“We avoided the battle, but a stray bullet caught Raymond, and I think it nicked an artery. I’m a surgeon. I need to operate on him, but I have no instruments or an operating room,” Eleanor said nervously.
“I wish Dayshia and Mahati were here. They operated on me when I had glass fragments in my back. Dayshia used the light of the healing spell to make the instruments she needed,” Henry sighed.
Eleanor’s eyes almost glowed with excitement as she imagined working with such tools.
Sam and Jake were suddenly back, the latter smelling like soup. His wife struggled to suppress her laughter at his look of discomfort. “Hey! It isn’t easy running with liquids!” he said with a pout.
He handed Henry a reusable plastic container half full of chicken noodle soup. He thanked him and drank right from the container, gulping down the noodles without chewing. He set it aside and burped again.
“Excuse me, and thank you. Could someone go back to the garage to see if Minkah is there looking for me?” Henry asked.
“Sure, what does she look like?” Brenda replied.
“Either a tall brunette woman or a black cat. One blue eye and one yellow eye is the way to identify her,” he said hesitantly. The Silver People shared looks, and Brenda rushed away.
Sam handed Henry a plate of fried chicken. Accepting it, he turned his back and scarfed down the food as quickly as he could without choking. By the sixth piece, he felt his stomach complain, so he stopped.
He looked back and saw everyone watching him. “Sorry. That’s good. Thank you.”
Henry had eaten his fill, and now his abused body wanted him to sleep, but he couldn’t yet. He listened to the continuing fight and gave the others a worried look. “When I pull the healing magic, it’s gonna light up this area and draw everyone’s attention. We’re still too close to the battle.”
“You are fortunate I don’t shoot you myself!”
Henry turned to see Minkah stepping through the trees with Brenda behind her. Neither looked happy.
“You were supposed to wait for me in the garage!” she snapped.
“My apologies. I wasn’t going to leave without you, but Meixiu’s friend needs help right now.” He gestured to Raymond, who didn’t look good. He turned to Eleanor. “He needs blood. Can you take a little from me and feed it to him?”
She looked at him strangely. “I have no instruments-”
“He means with your mouth,” Meixiu explained gently.
“Oh!” Eleanor exclaimed. She was surprised by someone offering to feed her.
“Take a small amount and feed it to Raymond quickly or you may lose consciousness, and you are needed to operate,” Meixiu continued but saw the doubt on Eleanor’s face. “I will do it.”
Henry lifted his wrist, and Meixiu took only a small amount and licked the wounds. She quickly bent down and fed most of the blood into Raymond’s mouth. Then she seized the back of Eleanor’s neck and fed the last drops into the squeaking woman’s mouth.
The three Vampires trembled as the magic-infused blood sent energy through their bodies. Meixiu recovered first. She felt her cell phone vibrate and stepped away to find a safe place to check it.
Shaking off the buzz, Eleanor looked to Henry hungrily then controlled her expression. “Thank you.”
He just nodded and looked to Minkah. “When I light this place up, can you defend us?”
Minkah nodded. “They are very occupied at the moment but do it quickly.”
“We’ll help!” Sam said, and the other three nodded.
Henry looked at Eleanor. “I’m going to pull the healing magic down, and I’ll give it to you. You need to use your willpower to create the tools you need. Okay?”
She nodded with wide eyes.
Henry reached for his daughter and felt resistance for the first time. Was someone blocking him? It had to be Baba as she was the only one close to his daughter. He couldn’t fight her, but he didn’t need to. He pushed his love through his connection, and Baba pulled away until he felt the child respond. Her love returned, as did his link to her. He could no longer detect Baba, so he reached for the Fae’s healing magic.
He felt another presence. Someone was trying to manipulate the healing spell! The moment he felt her poisonous intent, he knew it was Mab and knew she was aware of him. He had to stop her from using the spell as a weapon. He needed to defend it!
The first thing that came to mind was his firewall code. He immediately pulled up the code in his mind, shaping it into a package, authorized to his biosignature alone, powered by the Wild Magic, and driven by his will. He bound this to the Fae’s spell to make it tamper-proof. He didn’t know what damaged she’d already done. The Wild Magic picked up his changes, and he felt them sink inside. He could only hope for the best.