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I flap a hand toward Herbish and whisper, “No, her skin is see-through in the light. Look at her chest, woman!”
Blaire glances over my shoulder, but glances back immediately with a small shake of her head. “No, Case. I don’t see anything except green skin with freckles.” Her eyes widen. “Dude, I think you’re having a discovering-your-magic moment.”
“Oh great.” I fight to swallow past the stress lump rising in my throat. “I have the power to see through skin. What luck.”
“You can’t see through my skin, can you?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. “If my organs look weird, I don’t want to know. I want to live in happy ignorance until I die suddenly and mysteriously in my sleep. I don’t want to know about my inoperable brain tumor until like…two minutes before my head explodes. Just long enough for me to tell you all how much I love you and where I hid the treasure map.”
I drag a hand through my hair. “No, I can’t see through your skin. Or anyone else’s. Maybe I can only see hers because she’s in trouble and needs help?”
Blaire nods slowly, the bobbing of her head gaining momentum as she mulls that over. “Yes, that’s probably it. We can ask Celeste if that’s a thing, but in the meantime, we should get Herbish to a doctor.” She starts toward the goblin only to turn back a second later, adding in a softer voice, “You don’t have any idea how to heal her, right? Your palms aren’t itching, or anything are they? Sometime itchy palms mean there’s magic trying to get to the surface.”
“No, I don’t have itchy palms,” I say, my voice rising. “And even if I did, I’m not going to experiment on that poor woman, Blaire. She needs real help. From a medical professional, not a bartender.”
“Okay, okay, I hear you,” Blaire says. “But you’re not just a bartender, Case. And this new gift could be a good thing. A great thing, even. Think of all the lives you could save.”
“Let’s start with one life first,” I mumble, hurrying over to Herbish. I debate how best to broach the subject for a beat, but soon the irregular clutching of her heart has me too worried to waste time being delicate. “I don’t want to scare you, Herbish, but we need to go to the clinic. There’s something wrong with your heart. I can see it. It’s swollen and dark green and…not in great shape. We should go. Now. Right now.”
Herbish’s eyes widen, but she doesn’t resist when Blaire takes her arm and starts toward the clinic a few doors down from the library. “I have been feeling poorly in my chest this morning,” she mutters. “But I thought it was the fright I got from seeing that boat.”
“It could be,” I say, even as something deep inside me assures me it has nothing to do with fright. “But better safe than sorry. And best you try to relax as much as possible,” I add, trying not to freak out when her heart swells even larger and dark veins stand out along the straining walls. “Blaire and I can carry you to the clinic.”
Blaire arches a brow and hisses, “We can?”
I nod, shooting her a “this isn’t negotiable” look as I crouch down beside the goblin’s thick, squat body. “Just take long deep breaths, Herbish. We’ve got you.”
“Of course, we do.” Blaire squats on her other side and grips my forearms, forming a basket for Herbish to sit in. “We used to carry our little sisters like this all the time. Whenever they were too lazy to hike back to the cabin from the swimming hole.” Her words end in a soft grunt as we lift the goblin and start across the cobblestones again.
Herbish is a lot heavier than Everly and Felicity were when we were kids, but we set a decent pace and as soon as she’s off her feet, the goblin’s heart deflates a bit. Five minutes later, we arrive at the clinic, panting and sweating despite the cool morning, to find the waiting room empty aside from a teenaged shifter girl clutching her arm to her chest.
“We need to see the doctor,” I call out to the receptionist. “Right now. Herbish is having a cardiac event of some kind.”
“Can you see through that girl’s skin?” Blaire hisses as the receptionist dashes to open the door and motions us into an exam room.
“No,” I snap. “And now isn’t the time to try to solve this mystery.”
“I’m just trying to help,” Blaire says. “And now is always the time to solve magical mysteries. Not knowing how your power works can be dangerous.”
Before I can tell her I’m well aware of that, the doctor swoops in. It’s the young guy who checked Amy out right after her horns came in, Dr. Balmoral. He’s a wolf shifter who grew up in Nightfall, but who lived in the human world for nearly a decade while getting his degree and doing his residency. As a result, he seems more normal to me than a lot of the Nightfall natives.
And he has a great bedside manner, a fact he proves as he rests a gentle hand on Herbish’s back, causing her heart to slow almost instantly. “What seems to be the problem, Ms. Glowful?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” she says, fear in her eyes as she motions my way. “Ask her. She’s the one seeing through me poor skin.”
Dr. Balmoral takes this revelation in stride, bless him, and turns to me with an expectant look. “Okay, what are you seeing, Casey? Can you describe it for me?”
I do and he launches into action without missing a beat. “Sounds like hard metal poisoning. Copper is especially dangerous for goblins. Have you changed any of your eating or drinking habits recently, Herbish?”
She shakes her head, “No, but I…” She trails off, her clawed hand coming to press against her chest as she adds, “But we did move deeper into the old mine. By the waterfalls. Thought it might be nice to sleep behind them since my little ones like the noise.”
Dr. Balmoral nods. “I’m betting that’s it.” He motions to the nurse who’s just swept into the room. “Get Ms. Glowful set up with a zinc IV. That should clear the toxin from her system, and goblins heal quickly once their blood is balanced.” He turns back to Herbish. “I’ll send a messenger over to the caves to tell the rest of your clan to come in for a check-up. We’ll get you all fixed up in time for the Halloween party tonight.”
He turns back to us with a smile. “I assume you two will be there? Since it’s at the Blackmore estate?”
“It is?” I ask.
“It is,” Blaire confirms, clearly more up-to-date with the Nightfall social calendar than yours truly. “Colin canceled trick-or-treating on Main Street. He’s worried it would be too easy for bad actors to sneak around unnoticed while everyone is dressed up for the holiday. But as long as we stay in the Blackmore backyard, guarded by extra wards, he gave us the go-ahead to hold a little party for the kids in town.” She smiles at the doctor. “And the young at heart, too. Everyone’s welcome. I’m just glad Herbish is going to be all right.”
“Same here,” the goblin says, casting a wary, but respectful, look my way. “Thank you, dearie. My people will thank you, too, when they arrive. You’ll have a standing invite for dinner at ours, that’s sure enough.”
