Chapter 19

Ashley hummed happily and buttered a slice of toast. He’d ended up in Ben’s bed again last night, the third in a row and it was a habit he could get used to. Not just amazing sex—he’d had good sex in past—but somehow they were in tune with each other in a way he’d never experienced before. They could talk, interesting conversations that rambled all over the place, and had a similar dark sense of humour that often got Ashley in trouble when he’d pushed it too far with the wrong person.

Jack dropped into a chair at the breakfast table and rubbed his shoulder under his shirt. “How are you so chirpy? You couldn’t have got that much sleep with the shagging you’re doing, and you’re a right sod when you’re tired.”

“I’m sure it’ll catch up with me. If I keep on seeing him, I’ll have to get used to a different sleep schedule.” He knew he sounded smug, but he was feeling pretty awesome.

Jack snorted. “Boo-hoo, must be awful to have a nocturnal partner who’ll shag you senseless.”

“You okay? You’re being rather prickly this morning.” Ashley asked, Jack looked more washed-out than usual and he didn’t usually bitch at him for no reason.

“Sorry. Can you have a look at my shoulder? I’ve got another breakout and they feel… odd… or odder than usual.”

“Perhaps you should consult a healer?” he said, coming to stand behind Jack. “You’re usually over these by now.”

“Oh, yes, and they’ll be so sympathetic. One look at my scales and it’ll be ‘Who have you been singing to? Who have you been having unprotected sex with’?”

He pulled at the material of Jack’s shirt to see a patch of scales, but unlike their usual teal green, they were black and he felt a nastiness around them. “Oh, Jack, we need to get these looked at.”

Karl arrived carrying a carafe of coffee. “Is there something I can help with, gentleman?”

Jack readjusted his shirt. “No.”

“Look, Jack, this has to be related to the hall, Karl might be able to help, and if you won’t go to a healer, then they’re going to get worse.”

Jack hesitated for a moment but acquiesced. “You may have already picked up my siren ancestry, I sometimes get a reaction to the water in a new place I’m staying but it passes within a few days. But not here.”

“Let me see.” Karl wrinkled his nose as he examined Jack. “I haven’t seen anything quite like this, but it has a malevolence about it that needs to be dealt with.”

“I can sense it’s not right,” Jack said. “But I can’t do anything about it. My magic has no effect on it, and I can’t heal the area.”

“Let me call Alex.”

As if the mention of his name made him appear, Alex stepped out of a portal. “You summoned me?”

Karl pointed at Jack’s shoulder. “I need a second opinion, there’s something at the hall giving Mr Webb trouble.”

Alex gave a sharp intake of breath when he saw Jack’s skin. “Do I have permission to touch?”

Jack didn’t look happy at the idea. “If you must.”

“I’ll be gentle.”

Jack hissed as Alex’s fingers brushed the patch of scales and the ripple of magic made Ashley gag, a sickening sensation that, if it had felt so bad for him, he hated to think what Jack was suffering.

Jack slid off his chair onto his knees and threw up. Ashley raced to his side. “What did you do?” demanded Ashley, banishing away the vomit.

“Nothing, it reacted to me. I’ll be right back, I need to check something in Mr Webb’s room.”

Before Ashley could stop him, Alex disappeared. Karl helped him get Jack back onto his chair. “The scales, they hurt. They’ve never hurt before.”

“I’m going to administer a pain-numbing spell,” Ashley said.

“Please.”

He daren’t do too much as he had no idea how the scales would react, but a low-level anaesthetic should be harmless enough. His magic resisted as he tried to cast. “I’m not sure I should, my magic doesn’t want to.”

Jack curled into a ball and whimpered.

Alex reappeared and threw a pouch onto the table. “There’s a new patch of lingering dark in Mr Webb’s room, and that pouch is a hex bag, it’s been created to draw the negative energy and is keeping it there.”

Karl picked it up. “I’ll dispose of this. Nasty thing.”

Ashley had come across hex bags, they weren’t something warlocks used, but he knew they could be either positive or negative depending on the construction. “Check the contents before you destroy it—it might help figure out who put it there.”

Karl cradled the little bag in his hands. It began to smoulder. “There’s some of Mr Webb’s hair tied in a black ribbon, a vial of sindoor mixed with lemon and rat’s bones. Basic but effective—wouldn’t have taken much skill to put together but someone must have applied a curse to keep it hidden from his magic.”

Alex crouched down next to Jack. “Once the hex bag is destroyed then you’ll get some relief. We’ll move you to a new room, but I’m a little concerned that your scales are infected.”

Jack looked up at him, his eyes wet from tears. “With lingering dark?”

“Yes. I don’t know much about siren physiology, but I know we can’t remove your scales.”

“No, they’ll fade, but if they’re removed, they release a toxin that might kill me.”

“Do you know how to clear the infection?” Ashley asked. He’d not heard of lingering dark acting on living things.

“Not specifically, there are a number of ointments and potions that I could try. But they were designed to work on elves and general dark enchantments. They might do more harm than good.”

“What about the potion in the new book?” Karl asked. “Ben has perfected a formulation for removing lingering dark.”

“From furniture,” Alex said, sounding dubious. “But I suppose it could be tweaked. I’ll go wake him.”

Alex disappeared.

“I think for now the best thing is to make Mr Webb comfortable.” Karl shooed Ashley out of the way and picked up Jack. “We’ll put him in a guest room nearer you.”

“I was thinking a poultice might help draw out some of the poison,” Ashley said following Karl. “The warmth might give some relief.”

“Mrs Weather has a lovely lavender one that would be suitable.”

Mrs Weather’s lack of magic was unlikely to be an issue, and could even work to their advantage as anything she made shouldn’t interact with Jack’s scales. “Hopefully the potion won’t take too long to brew.”

Karl had no issue carrying Jack, who whimpered a little but didn’t protest. Jack’s new room was a couple of doors down from Ashley’s and Karl laid him on the bed. “Let’s get you stripped to your underwear and probably best to stay off your back,” Karl instructed.

Jack obeyed but the pain was making him sluggish and Ashley had to help him get undressed. He was arranging him to lie face down across his pillows with his bedclothes pulled up as far as his scales when Ben and Alex arrived.

Ben was dressed in black silk pyjamas, his hair in disarray and his eyes slightly bloodshot. “Alex said there was an issue. Wants me to brew the anti-lingering dark potion.”

He didn’t sound convinced and Ashley didn’t blame him. “Jack’s scales are infected. They can’t be removed and I don’t know another option. I’ve never heard of it happening before.”

Ben approached Jack, who looked miserable. A crop of dull black scales covered his right shoulder surrounded by patches of shiny teal-green ones, which Ashley suspected would be infected if they didn’t do something about it.

“The potion isn’t a topical medicine, it’s a pest control.”

“I know, but I was thinking we could adjust it,” Ashley said. “Or add it to a batch of the potion you gave him before. That gave him some relief initially.”

Ben peered at Jack’s shoulder, but didn’t touch him. “Can we get trimmings of both the healthy and black scales? I’ve an idea.”

Ashley’s stroked Jack’s hair. “Would you let me take some? Might sting a bit.”

“It can’t hurt more than it already does,” Jack muttered.

Ashley conjured up a pair of nail scissors and two handkerchiefs. As carefully as he could, he trimmed a few of the teal scales first, Jack whimpered but remained still. Then he did the same for the black ones, Jack screamed and bit down on his pillow and Ashley felt sick at the thought of the pain he’d inflicted. “All done now. Try to rest.”

“Let me get dressed and I’ll meet you in the last potion shed. It’s fully contained,” Ben said to Ashley. “I’ll need your help.”

“I can sit with him,” Alex offered. “I’ll put up some extra wards as well.”

“I’ll get Mrs Weather to make a poultice,” said Karl.

Ashley raced back to his room, changed into clothes more suitable for playing with unknown potions and headed outside. All he could hope was that the potion would work then he would turn his attention to who had done this to Jack and he’d make them suffer.