Beneath the thin veil of moonlight, Marcus led the pack of glimmerfangs through the private airfield to the single open hangar. Light shone from within, revealing his father's SUV backed into the entrance and a number of silhouettes walking back and forth from it.
Kane crept up to his side, getting low and growling as they approached the light. "It's alright, boy," Marcus whispered, scratching his head. "They're friends." The six of them turned into the florescent lighting of the hangar, beholding the old junker plane that had gotten them across the Atlantic just a few weeks ago.
"Marcus!" Hank threw his hands up and started toward him, but the snarl from his loyal companion stopped him in his tracks. "Ooooh, easy boy."
"He's good, Kane." He patted the tightly wound pooch on the side of his head before looking up at Hank and Bridgette. "It's good to see ya'll again. We have everything?"
"Just finishing loading up now." James called out, walking down the ramp with Victoria on his tail.
A flash of bouncing blond waves rounded the SUV to his left, causing him to jump. Kane barked at the sudden movement before nearly knocking him over to get to Ophelia. He nuzzled against her, happily panting.
"Such a sweet boy." She said in full baby talk before glancing up at him with a wide smile.
"You're coming with us?" Marcus asked, returning her smile.
"No..." She looked down and sunk her face into the dense black fur on Kane's head for a second as James and Victoria snagged the last of the coolers from the back of the SUV. "Just wanted to see you off, and someone needed to drive your dad's car back."
"Why isn't my dad driving my dad's car back?"
"Because your dad is coming with you." Michael Tenneson emerged from the plane with the easy confidence of someone who had already made peace with drawing the ire of his wife. Kane abandoned Ophelia as the older man walked up to Marcus, taking a position between the two of them and sniffing at him.
The glimmerfang cocked his head, pushing past his father's outstretched hand to sniff at his chest, before looking up at him, giving a quick yap, and licking his face. Michael protested to no avail as the overgrown dog loved on him, before finally gaining his personal space back and moving to wrap Marcus in a tight hug.
"Can't let my boy have all the fun, can I?"
Marcus gripped his father to him, holding the man to his chest. "Mama know you're coming?"
"Upon my survival, I've been sequestered to the couch for the foreseeable future." He pulled back, thick fingers still gripping Marcus' arms as he looked at him. "Well worth the price." He squeezed, then let go of him to hand the keys off to Ophelia.
"Wheels up in ten, ladies and gentlemen." Hank called out.
James guided the glimmerfangs into the plane, followed by Victoria, who cast him a quick glance over her shoulder as she boarded. It could have been a figment of his imagination, but he swore her eyes flicked to Ophelia for a split second before she smirked at him and disappeared into the plane.
Just like that, they were left alone.
"If you want to come, I'm sure we can make space for you." Marcus rubbed the back of his neck, finding it increasingly hard to make eye contact with her.
"No...no, It's best if I stay, I think." Her voice was small, but she gave him a hesitant smile as she fidgeted with the ends of her blouse like she was unsure what to do with her hands. "I've been helping your sister and the doctor make batches of the antidote. It's probably a better use of my time. I'd just slow you down."
"I doubt that." Marcus chuckled, finally meeting her gaze. "I seem to recall you throwing several tons of metal through the air with a spell and jumping out of what...a fifth-story window with no fear?"
Ophelia blushed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Still, my skills are of more use here."
Marcus nodded, swallowing hard as he pursed his lips. A long moment of silence passed before he asked, "Are you okay?"
Ophelia opened her mouth, looking up at him again, bright blue eyes flicking back and forth between his and giving him a flashback of moments before he'd met her father for the first time. "I'm just ready for this to be over. To know you're going to be safe."
Marcus reached out, his fingertips finding the soft skin of her forearm. "I know. I've gotta do this, though. I can't let Arcanex just get away with everything they've done."
"Everything my dad has done." Ophelia's eyes met the asphalt just outside the hangar again.
"Well...yeah." Marcus bit his lip. "If everything goes to plan, I'll be back before you know it."
She nodded and took a deep breath, looking up to study his face as if it might be the last time she saw it. "Just be careful, okay?" she whispered.
"I will be." Marcus stared down at her, watching her shift awkwardly on her feet. The urge in his gut told him to give her something more. Something concrete she could hold onto. The questions in the air formed what seemed to be a physical barrier to stop that from happening.
She finally smiled up at him and nodded before turning to walk away from him. Hand still in the air from where he'd held her forearm, Ophelia started the car and pulled away. Marcus watched the taillights fade before turning and boarding the plane.
A couple hours later, the plane touched down in beautiful Miami. Marcus had been once before, when he was a kid. They'd taken a family vacation here before Nicky was born. He remembered sneaking out with Calliope and walking the streets at night while they smoked illicit substances. The memory of the whooping he got when they got caught sneaking back in was pretty vivid as well.
Tailed by the pack of glimmerfangs, Michael, Victoria, James, and Marcus stalked through the empty streets. This was nothing like the memory he'd had of the place. Neon signs lit the streets above buildings that had once been nightclubs and convenient stores, but now sat vacant. They moved through the streets at pace. Without the help of a map like Victoria had in London, finding the contaminated zone would be difficult in a city of this size.
Marcus finally signaled for them to stop, pulling off his bag as he knelt down beside Kane. "Alright buddy. You know what to do. Find those little rats."
Kane let out a little yip, and the other glimmerfangs gathered around him as he pulled out the sandwich bag with the blightshrew scented rag in it. His stomach lurched as he opened it and held it out for them to all sniff at.
He'd had just enough time to close the bag and stow it, before the big female of the back, he'd dubbed Blue, sniffed at the air. She barked, then she and Kane took off quickly followed by the other four.
Chasing a pack of teleporting dogs was difficult in a wide open area. The streets of one of the most densely populated cities in America was basically impossible. At some point they were simply following the chaos that they left in their wake, from knocked over garbage cans to people yelling and screaming because the enormous dogs teleported in and out of their houses.
Marcus turned a corner, bright green runes of the jumpsuit beneath his clothes shining, and skidded to a stop as the pack of dogs had stopped in the center of an otherwise uninspired street in what seemed to be a relatively low income neighborhood. Victoria was right behind him, but James and his father, even with the assistance of the jumpsuits, were lagging a bit. Kane suddenly threw his head back, letting out a loud howl, the others joining him almost immediately after.
The group split up with the dogs, Marcus going with Kane and the others divided between Victoria, James, and his father. Kane sniffed at the ground like a hunting dog, following his nose rather than his eyes and bumping into several cars and a mailbox for his trouble. The action would have been adorable were they in almost any other situation.
The nose led them up to a cute little house surrounded by a chain link fence that both he and Kane easily hopped. Marcus stroked Kane's head, giving him a "Good boy," before hurrying past him to the door and banging on it. It was late, but if someone was in there with a blightshrew they needed help and fast.
"Hello! Is anyone home?!" Marcus called out against the wood.
A few moments later, the mail slot startled him as it pushed out and a little voice emerged from it.
"W-who is it?" a young girl answered him.
Marcus knelt down, dark brown eyes meeting his from within the house which he met with the friendliest smile he could muster. "Hey, my name's Marcus. This is my friend Kane." He reached over and scratched the back of Kane's neck.
"A doggy?!"
"Yeah, he's a big, brave, magic dog," Marcus glanced back to make sure the others weren't coming this way. The last thing he needed was to spook the little girl more than he was probably already doing. "I trained him to sniff out trouble. Is everybody inside okay?"
"Ummm..." The little girl turned her head to look back in the house. She'd probably been lectured about this sort of thing until her parents were blue in the face, and here he was, some weird guy talking to her through a mail slot. "My daddy is sick..." She finally turned her head back to look out the gap again. "He's been asleep for a long time."
Marcus' heart sank to his stomach. "Okay, me and Kane might be able to help with that. Can you tell me if you've seen any weird rats around? They probably smell really bad?"
"Yeah, Daddy killed one yesterday." Her voice quivered. "Can you help him?"
Marcus nodded. "I think we can. I know it's scary, but if you can let me in, I can check on your daddy and Kane here can make sure there are no more rats, alright?"
She didn't answer him for a second, then the mail slot closed and he heard the click of the unlocking door. The girl that opened the door could not have been more than seven or eight, and the worry that lined her expression immediately broke his heart. That was until her eyes got huge when Kane moved in to nudge her with his massive snout and an enormous grin spread across her lips.
"Oh my god, you're so cute!" She squeed, jumping to wrap her arms around Kane's neck.
Marcus gave her a second with the dog before nodding. "He is a cutie, isn't he? Can you tell me your name?" Marcus asked as he lowered himself to her level again.
"Jessica."
"Jessica, can you take me to your daddy?" He asked, patting Kane's head.
The girl let go of Kane and led them into the house, the dog sniffing at the floor wildly and disappearing deeper into the house. Marcus followed her into the livingroom of the small house where a short man lay across the couch, shivering violently. He swallowed hard, pulling off his bag and setting it between his legs as he sat on the coffee table beside the sofa.
"He killed the rat this morning? Do you remember how long ago, Jessica?" Marcus pulled out a vacuum sealed syringe and one of the stone sigils.
"I'm not sure. Daddy works at night, so it was after he got home. Abuela just left."
His watch read just after three am. It was coming straight from the blightshrews so it probably wasn't the high potency stuff he'd gotten, but time was not on his side. "Alright, honey, I'm gonna examine your daddy and I may need to give him a little cut, okay? If I do, I'm gonna have you close your eyes so you don't have to see it."
Marcus set the scalpel aside and leaned forward, opening the eyelids of the man to reveal the deep black veins that had already set in. His gums had faded to a deep purple, and rotting stench filled the air when he opened his mouth, burning his eyes to the point of tears.
"You said your abuela watches you at night? My Spanish is pretty rusty, that's grandma, right?" Marcus asked, trying to distract the girl as he pulled the blankets down and ripped open the man's shirt.
"Yes, but he didn't work tonight."
Opening the packaged scalpel and setting it on the man's chest, Marcus turned to look at Jessica. "Alright, sweetheart, it's time to close your eyes. I'm gonna give your daddy some medicine, but we've gotta stick this stone in his chest too. It's a magic stone that will help with his sickness."
She nodded, kneeling on the floor at her dad's legs and grabbing his hand in both of her before hiding her face between her arms.
Dr. Monroe had given them the rundown on how to do this. Even brought in some CPR dummies for them to practice on. The practice still left him wholly unprepared for the viscous black blood that oozed from the wound as the blade split skin in the center of his chest.
"What's your abuela's name?" Marcus asked, unsure if he was trying to distract himself or the girl. A thud sounded beside him, where Kane dropped a dead blightshrew at his feet.
"Abuela?" her voice was muffled against her dad's legs. "Sometimes I call her Abuelita."
"Good boy." Marcus whispered to Kane before jerking his head toward the girl. The glimmerfang walked around, squeezing himself between the coffee table and couch to nuzzle against the girl as Marcus slowly slid the stone into the wound. It never failed to amaze him how intuitive the dog was. If he didn't know any better, he'd think the dog could read his mind. The gentle hum started immediately, allowing him to let out a breath he'd not registered he was holding.
"Do you know how to call your abuela?"
"Yeah, I can use the iPad to call her." She said, shifting as if to get up.
"Not yet," Marcus said, pulling the top off the needle with the antidote. "I'm almost done. I think your daddy is going to be okay, but it might take him a while to recover." Marcus winced, gnawing on his lip as he stuck the needle into the man's neck right where Doc Monroe showed him and pressed down on the plunger.
He took a few minutes to sterilize the wound again and then cover it in gauze before pulling the blanket over his chest again. "Alright, you can open your eyes again. You did such a good job." He held his hand out to high-five her. "Let's call your abuela. See if she can't come look after you for a while."
After a short and awkward conversation with Jessica's grandmother, Marcus and Kane searched the rest of the house to make sure there weren't any more blightshrews lying in wait. Abuela showed up a few minutes later, all nightgown and slippers and worried looks.
"It was close, but he's going to be okay." Marcus explained, lifting the gauze on his chest to show the pulsing stone in his chest. "When he wakes up, you'll want to get him to a hospital. Don't take him to the Arcanex facility."
"What happened?!" she croaked out. Sinking down to her knees, she took her son's face in her hands.
Marcus contemplated how much he should tell the woman. It probably wasn't safe for her to have all the information. Then again, the more informed people were, the less likely they were to fall victim to whatever Arcanex's next scheme was.
Marcus pulled the dead blightshrew from where he'd stashed it in his bag and held it out for her to see.
"This thing bit him. It's called a blightshrew. They're like rats, but they carry a toxin that is deadly if it's not treated."
"But the news said it's something in the water. That company is supposed to be helping."
Marcus shoved the rodent back into his bag and nodded. "Sort of. Blightshrew toxin contaminates water supplies. Just tell everyone you know to keep an eye out for them." Marcus paused on his way out the door, looking back at the woman and Jessica. "Just don't trust anything Arcanex says, okay? And make sure you get him to a doctor as soon as he's awake."
Jessica sprinted to him and wrapped her little arms around his legs. "Thank you for helping daddy."
Marcus ruffled her hair with a smile. "No worries, little one. You just make sure you..." He paused. The sleeve of her shirt had pulled back enough to show a bandage wrapped around her arm. "What happened here?"
Jessica looked to where he pointed. "Oh..." Her voice filled with shame. "I got in the way when daddy was shooing out the rat."
"It bit you first?"
She nodded, and his guts roiled.
"Daddy told me to get out of the way, but I was playing..." she shook as tears welled in her eyes.
"Hey, hey..." Marcus squatted on his heels in front of her. "It's okay, can I see it?" If the blightshrew bit her first, there was no way she should have been standing. That made no sense. Jessica held her arm out to him, and Marcus swallowed hard as he peeled back the bandage.
Red.
A little swollen.
Otherwise, the bite...was just a bite. His face must have given away his confusion because Abuela snapped him back to reality with a sharp, accented word.
"Well?"
Marcus shook his head. "She's fine..."
"You don't make it sound like a good thing." She stepped around the table and to judge the wound herself before wrapping her in a big hug.
"No, no...it is I just..." Marcus flashed back to Arcanex tent and the girl they had on the table. They'd said she was too old. Wasn't likely to make it. "I understand if this is personal, but is she a witch...uhhh bruja?"
Abuela narrowed her eyes on him but nodded. "Her mother was too. Oh, shoo, you big mutt." Abuela elbowed Kane away, who was sniffing at the wound, and started rebandaging the arm.
"She's gonna be alright." Marcus nodded. "I don't know why, I'll have to talk to Doc about it, but for some reason young magical kids aren't affected by the toxin." He turned to address Jessica's grandma directly. "Arcanex is not your friend. Don't listen to anything they tell you and get him to a hospital as soon as he wakes up."
It didn't take long for him and Kane to catch up to the others. There were no shortage of families like Jessica and her father. Not all of them were so lucky. When there were no answers at those doors, one of the other three would apply a quick unlocking spell. More often than not, the rodents overran the denizens.
The four of them and their glimmerfang companions cleared the homes and streets for the next few hours before daybreak. The dogs had killed so many blightshrews they'd resorted to piling their corpses into garbage cans and lugging them from site to site.
"Marcus!" James called out from the corner of the street they'd just cleared.
The sun was cresting over the horizon, providing just enough light for him to see the school and the banner that covered the original signage.
Arcanex Emergency Help Center
Your Safety Is Our Top Priority
Marcus dropped the cans on the spot, several shrew corpses spilling over the sides. Logically, he knew there was no real difference between the tents they'd set up in London and them using a building that was already there and, in theory, empty for the summer break. That did not stop his blood from boiling over the sudden roar of rage in his gut. Marcus went from dead still to all-out sprint in an instant, Kane hot on his heels.
"Marcus!" Victoria yelled for him, but he didn't turn.
Arrows on the doors ahead of him pointed to another entrance, but that wasn't going to stop him. He burst through the doors. The smell of antiseptic failed to cover rancid, rotting flesh. Then row after row of beds. Each of them occupied with the dying or dead. No curtains. No grieving families. Just victims.
"Hey! You can't be back here. Use the other entrance." A young man in full protective equipment yelled at him.
Marcus was already closing the distance. Boots slamming into the gym floor as his vision tunneled. He thought he heard him call for security, but blood was pumping so fast through his body he could barely hear anything else. Muscles tensed. Fists clenched. A hand seized his arm. Firm and familiar.
"Marcus," she turned him around, his momentum almost sending them both toppling were it not for Victoria's sheer strength. Stern, driven eyes stared into his. "Now is not the time. If they catch us, we're fucked." Victoria's voice was low, but forceful. "Let's go." She laced her fingers with his and tugged.