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He nodded faintly, smiling wryly at their hands despite his soft, wheezing whimpers. “Tell my father I’m so sorry and that I love him. He was the best and he’s all I think about now. He didn’t deserve any of this.”
Nox nodded quickly. “I will.”
“And tell Heidi I’m sorry and I wish I had never heard of the Tuath Dé or believed him when he said that we could be priests and kings. I’d do anything to bring Elsa back.”
Nelson smothered a furious howl, halting when he reached to shake Julian. “Fuck hindsight. You need to tell us his name and everything you can about him while you still can.”
“No.” Julian shook his head and swung his legs around so he could stand. He panted and grabbed the table, looking dizzy. “He’ll leave Dad alone if he knows I didn’t turn on him.”
“We can protect him,” Nelson argued.
“It’s alright. I’ll find the Badb and I’ll protect your father,” Nox promised as he stood and went around to help Julian. The doors behind them buzzed as they opened and orderlies in blue and white scrubs hurried in pushing a wheelchair. “I hope you find peace, Julian.”
“I’m sorry,” Julian said to Nox and Nelson, lowering into the seat. “I’m sorry for everything.”
They watched them wheel him out, both too stunned to do anything but stare for several moments. Eventually, Nelson closed his notepad and slid it into the pocket under his coat’s lapel. “There’s no antidote or treatment?”
“I’ve never heard of anything working. And the taxines have been in his system for hours. There’s already been significant tissue damage to his heart and it will become paralyzed and he’ll slowly suffocate.”
“Jesus,” Nelson said as he buttoned his coat.
“No, it’s the Dag—”
Nelson threw him a hard look, cutting him off. “Don’t.”
“You’re right,” Nox said, sighing as he joined Nelson and they headed for the front office and fresh air. “That god would not want any part of this.”
“And what about this battle crow?” Nelson asked calmly. He was already pushing his luck talking about mythological deities as suspects in a mental health facility. Nelson didn’t need to give the staff another wild tale to share by strangling his partner after fighting with him about crows. “Does this other guy sound familiar?” Nelson asked and Nox shook his head.
“Seems like someone who’d stand out. Merlin would have heard of a powerful druid who worships the Badb and uses the crow as his symbol if such a person existed. But I’m sure he’s already running that angle to the ground.”
That went without saying. Nelson had questions for Merlin as well. “What did Julian mean, that he studies the things you won’t?” he asked, watching Nox closely.
A sly smile pulled at the corner of Nox’s lips and the stubborn glint had returned to his eyes. “He’s talking about dark magick and they’re both wrong.”
“Oh?” Nelson didn’t appreciate Nox’s vacant pause or the way he bit back an amused snort.
“Jokes on them because I have studied dark magick. I just don’t use it because it makes you sick and I don’t need to. I’m strong enough without it,” he said with a cocky shrug and left Nelson to charm the security guards and receptionists on their way out.
“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?” Nelson muttered under his breath, then took out his phone when it vibrated in his pocket. There was an urgent message from Merlin warning that Tony, Nox’s TA, had fallen ill rather suddenly and that the symptoms were extremely curious.
“We need to go, Nelson,” Nox called urgently as he read something on his phone and Nelson assumed he’d received a similar message. “I’ll kill this Badb with my bare hands if anything happens to my TA.”
Nelson swore as he took out his antacids and peeled the paper. “Just do me a favor and don’t say things like that out loud in a federal mental health facility, alright?” he said, then popped a lozenge into his mouth.
1 Badb (Bive or Beev): A crow, and associated with the battle goddess Badb Catha (Bive Caha) the battle crow and one of the trio of war goddesses known as the Morrígan/Mór-Ríoghain (Mo Ree-an).
Eight
Nox talked to Tony four times during the hour-and-a-half drive to Silver Spring. They had already ruled out yew and Tony swore he was experiencing nothing more than nausea, extreme dizziness, and some mild hallucinations. But Nox was still shaken and furious when they rang his mother’s front doorbell and she let them in.
“They called me from the school!” she told them, wringing her hands in utter dismay. Celia Costa had always doted on Tony, as far as Nox could tell, and Tony doted on his mother whenever he wasn’t covering Nox’s ass. “He didn’t come home last night and they found him in the bathroom this morning! They said he was singing and they asked me to come and get him. He was sick all the way home!”
“I’m okay now, Ma!” Tony complained from the sofa. He also lived with Celia because Georgetown was impossible to afford unless you earned a six-figure salary. Or, had inherited a house and a fortune to maintain it.
Tony didn’t look okay as Nox stepped around the coffee table and lowered onto it for a closer look. “You’re a little green, T.” Nox rubbed his hands together so they weren’t cold, then waited until Tony nodded to check the glands under his jaw and tug on his lower eyelids. “You’re dehydrated and have petechiae around the eyes. You say you were hallucinating?”
Tony nodded faintly. “Last night. I was preparing this morning's lecture on ritual pilgrimages and I started seeing colors and hearing birds. Then, it was a tornado of colors and birds.”
