More than Magic: Semester Aboard (39 page)

"You don't think you have a collapsed lung,
do you?" Thomas asked, looking at TS in concern.

"Might've last night," TS said. "I think it's
just a couple cracked ribs giving me trouble right now. That and my
leg." He shrugged. "But the worst heals first, right? I'll be fine
after the sun sets again."

"Good. Just take it easy today. So, we're
going on our trips?" Thomas said.

"If we stay put he's absolutely going to be
coming for us," TS said. "That means everyone else on the ship
could be in danger. Whether we cower in here or go looking for him,
it's the same problem. If we all leave I think there's less chance
of him lurking about the ship. And...well he can't follow all of
us."

"If he decides to come after us it'll either
be you two, or me and Char," Dani said.

"What if we go and he turns people?" I asked
softly.

Thomas sighed and shook his head. "If we stay
he
will
."

"For all we know," Dani cut in, "if we stay
and try to find him, he'll get off the ship and turn people in port
while we waste our time here."

TS scratched his head. "I think there are
just too many variables. He's going to be feeding, he's probably
going to be turning people. But we don't know if he'll stay here or
go into port. Hell, he's got the entire country to hide in. We
could blow the next five days looking for him in the wrong
place."

"And be just as screwed when we get back,"
Dani said.

Thomas nodded. "I have to agree. The only
sure thing is that if we aren't here he'll have less of a reason to
stick around."

"We're going then?" TS asked.

"I can't think of any other options," Thomas
said.

"We've been going around in circles for
hours," Charlie said. "We can't think of anything better
either."

Half an hour later we had split up and I was
on the bus. I looked out of the window all of the way to the
airport. I couldn't deny that I was excited to be going on the
trip; I'd been sure we wouldn't. But even as I watched the streets
of Callao go by, I was terrified that I'd see Nathaniel. I tried to
forget about him and just enjoy the trip, but as soon as we reached
the airport I caught sight of TS, still limping. He was obviously
having trouble breathing too. I hoped it was just broken ribs and
not a collapsed lung. I was also a little worried about how he'd
explain his injuries. It turned out that I didn't have to worry. By
the time our plane landed everyone was laughing and warning TS not
to trip or fall. It didn't take long to figure out that he had been
telling people he'd fallen down the stairs on the ship. Despite the
teasing, he didn't have to carry a thing into our hotel and was
escorted to his room by half of the girls on the trip.

We arrived shortly before dinner and had just
enough time to settle in before meeting in the hotel restaurant. TS
wasn't there, but Thomas sat down at the table with me. It was
weird seeing him talking with other people, acting for all the
world like he was a regular, human college student. He and a couple
of other people at the table were in the same classes and they
talked about homework and their professors. It was all very normal
conversation. If I didn't know I would never have guessed that
there was anything different about him. He ordered a huge dinner
and I wasn't surprised at all when he got most of it in a to-go
box. When we were done eating I caught up to him on the way to his
room.

"Is TS ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's sleeping it off," Thomas said. He
held up his boxed dinner. "He'll be happy though."

"I bet."

I studied him as we walked, tempted to ask
how he was doing. He still looked paler than normal and I was sure
from the way he was walking that he was in pain. As we neared their
room I heard someone call my name. It was my roommate for the trip,
Kaitlyn.

"We're going to go explore, you wanna come?"
she asked.

I looked at Thomas, who looked uncertain. "I
doubt he followed us," he said softly. "But..."

"I'm going to stay here. Thanks though,
Kaitlyn," I replied.

"See you then!"

I turned back to Thomas and shrugged. "Might
as well be safe." I did want to see the city, but I would have been
nervous exploring a strange city at night even without the threat
of Nathaniel looming.

"I agree."

We went into his room. TS was transformed and
sprawled on his back on one of the beds. I thought he was asleep
but he opened his eyes as soon we entered and started wagging his
tail.

"Am I getting room service? Brilliant."

Thomas opened the box and set it down on the
bed. TS rolled over and started chowing down. I couldn't tell if
his leg looked better or not.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

"Better," TS said between bites. "I heal
faster at night and even faster like this. I'll be fine by
morning."

That was good. We were hiking Machu Picchu in
the morning. I'd been worried that TS wouldn't be able to
manage.

"I think the altitude is bothering you,"
Thomas said. "Want some of that coca tea before I go? I saw some
downstairs."

"Please."

I turned to Thomas. "Go?"

He looked uncomfortable and shrugged. "I have
to get my own dinner."

Of course. I was sure he'd needed a lot more
blood than he'd gotten from me. I had a feeling that he'd need even
more blood to help him heal. "Do you need blood from me?"

"Not while we're on land. I've got some
arrangements made. I'll be...nice and full. I'm going to grab that
tea, you want some too, Jen?"

"Oh, sure. Thanks."

"Be right back."

A moment after he left his words sank in.
He'd called me Jen. I was pretty sure it was the first time he had.
I smiled like an idiot for a moment, then went and sat with TS. It
was still sort of odd to sit down next to a giant wolf. When he was
done eating he yawned. His mouth looked big enough to swallow my
entire head and his teeth were longer and more menacing than any
I'd seen on a dog. Then he flopped over with his head across my
lap. I froze in surprise. He acted like a dog a lot, but I'd never
had a guy I wasn't dating suddenly rest his head on my thighs.

He cleared his throat after a few moments.
"This is wolf-speak for pet me, you know."

"
Pet
you?"

"Right."

"But..."

"But?"

"You're...you're a guy," I said lamely.

He lifted his head and studied me. "Sorry, I
forgot you aren't that used to hanging around werewolves yet. I'm
afraid we've got more than our share of canine instincts. And just
as little respect for personal space."

"Oh. That's ok." I was going to add that I
thought it was sort of weird to pet somebody I considered a person,
not to mention a friend. Before I could his head was back in
place.

"Good."

I was about to protest, when I remembered
Mariana petting him when he'd been hurt. If he did have canine
instincts it was probably comforting and I could tell from the
strain in his voice that he was still in pain. It hadn't really
seemed that awkward for Mariana either. In fact, I'd seen Thomas
pet TS without thinking twice. I hesitantly reached down and
started scratching behind his ears. When his tail started thumping
against the bed it was so dog-like that I couldn't resist
scratching harder. Thomas was back a minute later.

"You've made a friend," he chuckled. He
didn't seem at all surprised to see me petting TS. I felt a little
disappointed to see that he wasn't jealous. Maybe there really was
nothing special about somebody petting a werewolf. Thomas set two
cups of tea down on the table along with a couple of packets of
sugar. "Here we go. It's actually pretty good stuff. I'll be
back."

"Keep an eye out for trouble," TS said.

"I will. Stay in here, will you?" he said to
me. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Yeah."

"I'll be back soon." With that, Thomas was
gone.

The minutes ticked by as TS and I sat in
silence. I got into a rhythm scratching his ears and soon hardly
realized that I was doing it.

"Do you think he's ok?" I asked finally. I
couldn't help but worry about Thomas.

"He's fine." TS sounded so confident I didn't
argue. A moment later he lifted his head and looked at me. I wasn't
sure how I could tell, but he looked serious. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Letting him feed. Not a lot of people
would."

"Oh. It's really...no big deal."

TS shook his head. "It
is
a big deal.
That's why it means so much to him that you let him."

"Really?" I felt a silly stab of joy.

"Really."

A phone started to ring. TS heaved himself
off the bed, limped over to the desk, and then smoothly turned into
a human. His shirt was off and I had to bite back a laugh. He was
absurdly hairy. I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised. Then I
noticed that his side was bruised and swollen. Now that I knew just
how strong vampires could be I couldn't how painful it must have
been to be kicked in the ribs by one. TS grabbed the phone and then
sat on the edge of the desk, taking the weight off of his leg.

"Agent Conall....right,
hello...uh-huh...brilliant, thanks so much. Cheers then." He hung
up the phone, then picked up a cup of coca tea and sniffed it, then
took a sip. "It
is
good." He limped back over to me with my
cup and then sat down on the bed with a sigh. "Sitting around
waiting to heal is a pain in the arse."

"You'll be better in the morning though?"

"Should be."

"Who was that on the phone?"

"It was...I forget what they're called here.
Whatever MES equivalent Peru has. They were calling to let me know
that Mark's all settled in." TS sighed again. "Poor bloke. Wish he
hadn't killed that dhampir."

"I don't see why it's a big deal," I said. I
immediately felt stupid. "I mean, yeah, he killed someone and
that's awful. But Dani was telling Mariana that she didn't have a
choice when she killed the other one. I don't understand why it's
different. If Mark hadn't staked him we could all be dead,
right?"

"That's not the problem. Mark's still
turning."

He started drinking his tea and I got the
impression that he thought he'd given a complete answer. "So?" I
said when it became obvious that he really wasn't going to
elaborate.

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry."

I groaned. "Common knowledge?"

"Sort of." He hunched his shoulders. If he'd
been a wolf I was sure his ears would have been laid back too.

I took a few sips of my own tea. "Well? Are
you going to explain?"

"I am. I've..." He shrugged apologetically.
"I don't recall ever explaining it before. I'm trying to figure out
where to start."

"Well, it's painfully obvious that I don't
know anything." I couldn't help but sound a bit frustrated. "So,
just start with the basics."

"Sorry." He leaned over and licked my cheek.
Then he settled back against the headboard and propped up his
injured leg. "Well...I guess it starts with a war."

"A war?"

"Between magics. There hasn't been one in
centuries, not a big one. But from what I understand they used to
be more common. And...well, magics can't fight a war with brute
strength. Plus, there aren't enough magics anyway. Especially way
back when. Even now I don't think there are more than a couple
hundred enlisted in the Legion. You'll have to ask-"

"The Legion?" I interrupted.

"Magic branch of the military."

"I didn't know there was one," I said in
surprise.

He shrugged. "Well, if non-magics start
fighting and the magics on the other side want to get involved,
there has to be someone to stop them, right?"

"I guess so." It made sense, at least in
general. But I had no idea where he was going with this or what it
had to do with Mark.

"But that's to do with mainly non-magic wars
that we get dragged into. I'm talking
all
magic right now. A
long, long time ago, even by our standards."

"Ok..." I said, still confused.

"If you can't use force, you have use
strategy and...well, in some cases you have to be a bit
underhanded. This war, so they say, was bad. We're talking well
over a century of fighting. And finally one side was losing. They
got desperate. They figured that the only way to win was to
increase their numbers. Populations were so sparse and spread out
back then that after a century anyone remotely nearby who wanted to
get involved in this war already had. There were some neutral
magics here and there and plenty of non-magics about who had no
idea what was going on."

"So, they couldn't increase their numbers?" I
guessed.

"Exactly. But then, they figured out a way."
TS was quiet for a moment. "There were non-magics everywhere. Even
among their enemies. Maids, servants, local farmers. People their
enemies knew and trusted. More importantly, people who had no
knowledge of the war. What if those people could be taken and
turned into magics?"

I figured it out before he was even done.
"Find a vampire and make dhampirs."

He smiled sadly. "Easier said than done."

"How so?"

"Where do you get a vampire?"

"You make one," I said. "Dani told me that
vampires aren't...born..." As soon as the words were out of my
mouth I gasped. If vampires were made, then where did the first one
come from? I swallowed nervously. "They...they created
vampires?"

He nodded.

"How?"

"Nobody knows. And nobody knows if the
witches and wizards involved turned themselves into the first
vampires or if they turned others. But now they had a way to take
ordinary humans and turn them into magics. Imagine an innocent
servant, human one day and a dhampir the next. You'd have no idea.
Before that the idea that a non-magic could become a magic was
absurd. And you've seen what damage a dhampir can do. If you didn't
know how to kill one, you'd be helpless. Then they had access to an
army. Limited only by the number of humans they could find. I mean,
God, they could even turn an enemy wizard into a vampire!"