Corrigan Magic (Corrigan: Blood Destiny Book 2) (12 page)

I deliberately stayed away from the main hall.  I didn’t trust myself to watch Mack leave.  The temptation to call her back and demand she stay was niggling at me and I was afraid I’d do something rash if I had to watch her walk out of the Brethren doors for good.  Instead, I holed up in my study, rifling through the various reports on my desk.  The red fever had reached as far as Birmingham.  We really were doomed. 

Despite my self-imposed isolation, I was still very aware of the pall hanging over everyone.  I didn’t need to consciously reach out with my Voice to sense it.  It was there in the slumped shoulders of every shifter who walked past.  It clung to every corner and every mind.  I could compel everyone to brighten up or send out waves of reassurance but it seemed unfair.  There was no point denying the inevitable.  I merely put out orders to go into shutdown.  Maybe by forcing everyone to stay inside, some could hold out against the ravages of the disease for long enough.  It had mutated once.  It could do the same again.

I stared down at the minutes from the last meeting of the Way Directives Editing group.  They’d been making progress in cutting down the unwieldy list of rules.  Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be known across the Otherworld as the Lord Alpha who brought modernity and common sense to the shapeshifters.  I’d simply become the cautionary tale.  The last leader of an extinct race.  I put them to one side and flipped open the folder containing the blood test results.  There was no denying the situation any longer.

Corrigan?  Are you there?

I scowled.  Now that I was giving Mack the independence and freedom that she so apparently craved, she didn’t appear to want to let go.  I was tempted to refrain from answering.  Unfortunately I couldn’t help myself.
What is it, Mackenzie?

Staines told me.  That you’ve got it. 

I gritted my teeth.  I guessed every damn shifter in the country knew by now. 
And?  Are you going to gloat now?

I’m sorry, Corrigan.
She sounded genuinely upset.
There must be something you can do.  Julia knows a lot of stuff about a lot of herbs.

I sighed. 
She hasn’t been able to do anything more so far than ease the pain of those suffering.

Do you know where it came from?

I was about to explain what I’d discovered of the Cwnn Annwn before I decided it would be unfair.  Mack’s surrogate family were all shifters.  She would be better off disappearing and living her own life, whether it was with the mages or otherwise.  If she knew there was the very distinct likelihood that every shifter in Britain was going to sicken and die then she’d hang around to watch it happen.  I knew enough about her to know it would destroy her.  I took a deep breath and skirted my way round the truth. 
Only that it originated in Somerset as far as we can tell.  The first victim was an older shifter.  Nobody realised how serious it was until the others around him also started to get ill.

What’s going to happen to thePack? 
Her Voice was small and troubled.

I was finding it difficult to continue to muster up energy. 
Why do you care?
I responded flatly.
  You left, remember? 

Are you sure it just affects shifters? 

What – are you worried about yourself now?
I snapped, wishing she would take the hint and leave me alone. 
Besides, I thought you were in a rush to go off and play student with the mages.

It might be dangerous letting me out on the street, Corrigan, I could be a carrier.  Maybe I should stay with you.  Uh, I mean, with the Brethren.

I ignored the leap of sudden delight that flashed through me and stuck to the script. 
We know that humans aren’t affected.  In fact, no species other than some animal ones and shifters are affected by the red fever.  We’re not entirely stupid, kitten, we did check.

She was silent for a moment.  I hoped she was about to give up and cut off the discussion but of course I was never lucky where Mack was concerned.
What did you call it?
she asked, with a strange note in her Voice.

Mackenzie, I’ve got things to do,
I said tiredly.
  There are plans that need to be put into place in case the disease spreads further.

Corrigan, this is important.  What did you call it?

I gave in.  Anything to get her to finally go away.
The red fever. The symptoms start off with just a temperature and headache.  A bit like the flu, I suppose.  But a day or two in, the afflicted shifter’s skin starts to flush red.  If they shift, then their eyeballs turn red also.  It’s really all down-hill from there. One of our doctors has come up with some kind of blood test that detects whether someone has it or not.  We were all tested this morning, before you were brought in.  Nine of us are already infected. It’s expected that the first symptoms will start appearing in the next few hours.
  I refrained from mentioning that those symptoms were already raging through my system. When Mack didn’t immediately respond, I prodded her.
Mackenzie?

Uh, Corrigan, I’ve got to go.

Thank goodness. 
I’d expect nothing less.  Look after yourself, kitten. 
I tried to inject an air of flippancy into my words but I failed miserably.  Fortunately, she had taken the hint at least.  Without another comment – or even another curse – she was gone.

I stood up and walked to the window, gazing out at the garden beyond.  A tiny movement caught the corner of my eye and I glanced over to see a bluebird pecking at something on the ground.  As if sensing my gaze, it paused, cocking its head in my direction and blinking at me with dark, intelligent eyes.  I smiled slightly.  Then, out of nowhere, a bird of prey swooped down.  The bluebird didn’t have a chance.  Before I could so much as slam my fist against the window to try to scare the predator off, there was nothing left to see other than a few forlorn feathers floating through the air.  The pain in my chest increased.  With a heavy heart and no other course of action left to me, I returned to my desk.  It was time to pen some necessary letters to the Summer Queen and the Arch-Mage while I still had the strength to hold a pen.

*

It was a few hours later when Tom helped me to my room.  His eyes were heavy and anxious although whether it was over his guilt regarding the secrets he’d been keeping or his worry about the red fever, I wasn’t entirely sure.  I laid a hand on his arm and squeezed it for reassurance.  The effect was somewhat ruined when my knees buckled and I collapsed.

“My Lord!”  He rushed to help me up but I pushed him away.

“I’m fine,” I grunted, using the bedpost to help pull myself back to my feet.  My vision swam.

“I should go and get Julia,” Tom began.

“No.”  My tone was adamant.  “Tell no-one of this.”  I wasn’t going to let every damn soul in the Brethren focus their efforts on me when they should be worrying about themselves.  “Leave me.”

It was obvious that he didn’t want to go. 
Leave me,
I repeated, using the Voice to force him.  I knew without him having to say it, however, that my compulsion was weak.  It wouldn’t take much for him to break through it.  From the faint flicker in his eyes, he was very much aware of it too.

“If you do it,” I said aloud, “you’ll be Lord Alpha.”

His face paled.  “I’m not strong enough.”

I lifted up my arms but the effort was too much so I dropped them back by my sides.  “None of us are, Tom,” I said.  “Not any more.”

“I will do as you have compelled,” he said in a clear voice, turning round to go.

“Tom?” I croaked.

“My Lord?”

“You may not have been with us for long but, for what it’s worth, you’ve done the Brethren proud.”

He swallowed and left.  I sank down onto the bed.  Tingles of pain were shooting through my arteries.  I could get Julia to give me a tisane laced with enough painkillers to make my passing smooth.  I had the feeling she was going to need her supplies for others very soon however.

Just as my eyelids were starting to droop, I heard a commotion from downstairs.  My stomach twisted.  Were more people sick?  I strained my ears.  It actually sounded like a fight.  My first thought was that the vampires had grown impatient and were keen to hasten our demise.  I wasn’t going to stand for that – regardless of how weak I was feeling.  I heaved myself back up to my feet.  It might be my last act as Lord Alpha but I would see off this challenge, regardless of who it came from.  Anger that someone was taking advantage of our situation surged through me, providing all the adrenaline I needed to propel myself out the door and down towards the hall.

The scene that met my eyes took a few moments to process.  Several shifters had transformed, which was damned stupid considering it only hastened the progression of the red fever.  Staines himself had done the same and appeared to be holding someone on the floor.  Both Lucy and Logan, however, were naked, indicating that they had shifted back into human form.  They’d only do that if the threat had been extinguished or if they wanted to talk.  When Staines moved slightly to his left and I saw who their adversary was, my heart sank.

“Goddamnit, Mack,” I muttered under my breath.  “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

Logan growled and snapped, spitting words in Mack’s direction that I had trouble deciphering.  Fortunately, Lucy was apparently being more diplomatic.

“Logan,” she said heavily, “just leave it for now.  She helped us, alright?  In Cornwall.  I would have died if it wasn’t for her.”

“From what the evidence suggests,” he said venomously, “you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place if it wasn’t for her.”

Mack spoke up, although her voice was somewhat muffled by Staines’s large body.  “Look, I’m sorry, okay.  Just take the plants.”

I frowned and craned my neck to the side.  She did indeed appear to be holding what looked like a bunch of weeds in her hand.

  “If you decide not to use them,” Mack continued, “then that’s up to you.  But I’m telling you they’ll help you.  They’ll help Corrigan.”

She spoke so fervently that I had no choice but to speak up. Plus it would help me not to fixate on the slight catch in her voice when she had said my name.  “Well then,” I said, as loudly as I could, “I suppose I’ll have to try them, won’t I?” 

Registering my appearance, Staines moved, allowing Mack to stand up.  She stared up at me, a myriad of emotions flickering across her face.  Most disconcertingly, she actually seemed relieved to see me.

She waved the weeds in the air.  “It’s called blisterwort.  Someone once told me that it was good for something called blushing disease or red fever.  It sounds like what you’ve got.  I really do think that this will help.” 

I couldn’t detect any hint of a lie.  Without wondering too much about what Mack’s reasons were for doing this, I turned to Philippa. “Fetch the Cornish woman,” I told her.  Then, before someone else did something stupid and tried to rush Mack, I gestured to the others to back down and move away to the next room.

Staines grunted.  I focused on him. 
I’m sure you have something to say.

My Lord, we already know we can’t trust a damn thing that woman says or does!  She’s come here to gloat over what’s happening.  She’s using those bloody plants to give us hope and then she’s going to snatch it away again when they don’t work.  It’ll destroy us.

Except without a cure, Staines, we’re already destroyed anyway. 
I met his eyes and communicated simply,
I trust her.

He rose up on his hind legs as if about to disagree further.  Then the fight went out of him and he fell back down, moving away to join the others who were now out of sight and earshot.  I turned my attention back to Mack.  Even now, less than a stone’s throw away from dozens of shapeshifters who would rip out her throat at my slightest command, she appeared more strong, more confident and more powerful than the rest of us put together.

“Uh, thanks,” she said, awkwardly, somewhat spoiling her commanding stance.

Willing myself not to collapse, I raised my eyebrows at her. “I spend months searching for you and then once I find you and let you go, you don’t seem to want to leave, kitten.”

“I’ll leave, my Lord,” she said nervously, “but, please, first take this.” She gestured at the weeds again.  “I really do think it’ll work.”

Curiosity got the better of me.  “Why?”

“Why?” Mack blinked.  “Because Mrs Alcoon, the woman that I need to go back to the mages for, told me about it.  Honestly, it sounds like it cures exactly what you’ve got.” 

“No,” I shook my head as I watched her and tried to understand.  Tom, Betsy, Julia and the others down in Cornwall were one thing.  The Brethren were something else entirely, and Mack had never hidden her feelings regarding us.  She said the plant would help me but she hated everything I stood for. “Why did you come back with that?  Why are you helping us?”

She seemed startled by the question. “The Pack is my family.  Of course I’d do whatever I could.”

I looked into her eyes.  “I’m not your family,” I said softly.