The Doctor Witch (The Ward Witches) (2 page)

He laughed. “I’m sorry, but that’s not true. My own mother thought that magic was the sign of the devil in us, but she’s not right either. It’s not evil. Besides, it’s actually more dangerous when you don’t use it because it can seep out and cause problems if you can’t control it. How old are you?”

“
Twenty six.”

“
Then you’re very lucky that you haven’t hurt something or someone. I can feel your magic, and you’re a strong witch.”

“
Really?” She was pleased. Perhaps she could do justice to her father’s legacy after all. “So then what is the difference between the Coven and the Order?”

“
There are many. But the biggest difference is that the Dark Order believes that witches are superior to humans and therefore, human life is somehow less than witch life. Think of black people in the Antebellum South, where they only counted as three fifths of a person. They also use blood magic, which can result in the death of the blood donor.”

“
Oh.” She was startled and horrified.

“
The Coven, on the other hand, believes that witches are like humans with extraordinary powers.  Witches have a responsibility to help humanity at large and to protect them from becoming slaves to the Order.”

“
I assume you’re in the Coven.”

“
I’m actually the leader, or the Duke, of the Coven. Now look, I know that people will all think a little differently, and I won’t force you to choose the Coven. I am going to say that you need to choose one or the other so that you can get some training. Even if you decide not to use your magic, the longer you let it go untrained, the more likely it is that there will be an accidental use of your powers and that people will get hurt.”

“
I can understand that.”

“
So, while I’d love to have you in the Coven, the choice is ultimately yours. All I ask is that you come by the Coven House as soon as you are able and let us show you who we are and what we do.”

“
I’ll do that. Thank you, Mr. Ward, for talking to me. And especially thank you for saving my brother.”

“
I couldn’t have done it without my air magic. That is the only way I was able to protect myself so I could get through the flames to your brother and to protect him from any further damage on the way out of the flames.”

She closed her eyes. “Then thank you even more. I certainly owe you a visit to the Coven House.”

“
Here’s the address. And here’s my phone number.”

She didn’t recognize the address, but she could easily plug it into her GPS later.

Leo let himself back into the room.

“
She’s agreed to come see the Coven House as soon as she can.”

“
Excellent. And by the way, good work on that save, brother. He would have died if you hadn’t gotten there as fast as you did and shielded him from the worst of it.”

“
So he’s going to be alright?” Skylar asked, hopeful.

“
He’s expected to make it. They just gone done with the skin grafts, so we’ll have to monitor them to make sure everything goes alright. He has severe burns, though, and he’ll have to stay at the hospital and possibly undergo some other procedures.”

“
Oh thank you!” She ran and wrapped her arms tightly around him. And it felt good. Just hugging him made all of her worries dissipate a little more. He was strong, but gentle enough with her. She knew she couldn’t just stay there though, so she moved away with a little sigh. Besides, she shouldn’t start thinking about kissing him at a time like this. Though he did have marvelous lips.

The two brothers exchanged a series of inscrutable looks. Skylar thought they were probably communicating telepathically, if Leo was to be believed. Finally, Seb lost, based on his long-suffering sigh.

“
Go ahead, Leo, but for the record, I think it’s unfair if not downright cruel. She should have a choice.”

“
She does.”

“
Yeah, sure.”

“
Excuse me?” Skylar ventured. “What kind of choice am I making?”

“
I hate for it to be like this. I really do, Seb, so you know,” Leo began, looking grim.

“
Just spit it out.”

“
Your brother survived, but he’s going to be marked from the burns. We’re not sure just how badly, but his face and chest in particular suffered a lot of damage. The skin grafts will help, but to regain his looks, he’ll likely need plastic surgery.”

“
Oh god! How will I find a plastic surgeon? Plus, we don’t have much money to pay for one.” She started to panic a little more. Selby was always so proud of being a handsome man.

“
Here comes the choice,” Leo still looked grim. “The Coven happens to have a plastic surgeon on staff who can treat your brother.”

She narrowed her eyes, afraid of what was coming next. “Go on.”

“
As Seb here said, we’re not going to force you to choose between the Coven and the Order. But here’s the thing. In payment for the plastic surgeon’s skills, you have to agree to Coven membership for six months along with all training needed to manage your skills. If after that time you wish to join the Order, we will not stand in your way. If you choose to renounce your magic you’ll at least be able to do so safely.”

“
Seb’s right; it’s not a choice. I’ll join the Coven for at least six months.”

“
Then it’s settled.”

Leo nodded. “I’d best get scrubbed in.”

“
What?”

As Leo left, Seb informed her glumly, “He’s the surgeon.”

While the nurse went to get Ms. Kincaid to fill out all of the requisite permissions for Leo to operate on her brother, he went to go scrub in. He felt absolutely terrible about putting the choice to her like that. He wasn’t an unfeeling person, he just needed... something.  What would the other doctors say to that: the great Dr. Pantaleon Ward, baffled by a woman?

He even went so far as to admit to himself that a great bit of his offer was because he was strongly attracted to the woman, and could commiserate with her situation. Her mother’s attitude on magic was very similar to his own mother’s attitude.

Then again, there was that magnetism. He wanted to run his fingers through her long tresses as he pulled her towards him.... He had to snap out of this. He was going into the operating room to treat her brother for god’s sake.

The nurse gave him a copy of her brother’s picture. Luckily for all of them, Ms. Kincaid (as he had to think of her in his mind so he didn’t think of how lusciously curvaceous she was) had been carrying a recent picture of her brother in her wallet. That made Leo’s job easier.

A professional above all else, he set everything aside and got to work.

But, hours later as he scrubbed his face in the bathroom after the procedure, she came back to his mind. What was he doing? The woman was far too tempting to be around her for the next six months. He should have just done the surgery and set up some kind of payment plan with her insurance. If she had insurance.

He’d just have to spend more time at Ward Manor, his home near the Coven House mansion outside of Boston. Hopefully, he could go into seclusion there and not venture to the Coven House much at all for the next six months. This was going to be tough.

Why did he enter into this kind of Devil’s Bargain with such an attractive woman?

Leo decided to do the irresponsible thing and duck out of the hospital before his brother or Ms. Kincaid could see him. They were lucky, or unlucky as the case may be, that he was there at all. He had just finished another surgery when Seb called to let him know that he had rescued a person with severe burns and to ask if there was something he could do.

He’d tell himself that he would stay away from reconstructive surgery, but that was his favorite part of the job.  He loved taking a person with some kind of disfiguration with not enough money to pay for most surgeons and make them look like they wanted to. Charity cases made for even more fulfilling work.

But in any case, he was there, and he did help the burn victim. He may never be perfect again, but he’d be dramatically better off than before Leo showed up. He’d probably need a few other times under the knife to look his best though.

So Leo crept out of the hospital. It was bright daylight, which didn’t work at all with his mood. By that reasoning, indeed, it should be overcast and raining. He got to his car and halfway back to Ward Manor before his cell phone started ringing in earnest. He looked at the caller ID and decided not to answer his brother. He left some kind of presumably angry voicemail, and after that beep, the phone went silent.

A few miles later, and his phone was ringing again. This time it was his twin sister who shared Ward Manor with him.  He couldn’t resist her call, even knowing that it had something to do with the debacle earlier.

“
Dymphna, my dearest other half, how are you?”

“
Cut the charm, brother. The Duke called,” meaning that Seb had gone full-on Coven leader, “and he’s pissed at you, which is spilling out into being pissed at me. You know I hate it when he starts yelling. What’s going on out there?”

“
You at home?”

“
Yeah.”

“
I’ll be there in fifteen. Can my explanation wait til then?”

“
Yeah.”

“
If it’s Seb, don’t answer and don’t let him in. As you noticed, he’s in a rare mood.”

“
I haven’t seen him this emotional in years. I love it.”

“
Well, gotta drive now. See you soon.”

Man, if Seb was reaching out to Dymphna to get to Leo, something was going on that even Leo didn’t comprehend.  Maybe she could shed some light on the situation.

His daydreams of the beautiful Ms. Kincaid were again banished by the ringing of his cell phone. It was Seb again, so Leo just ignored it. With another voicemail alert ding, he got to the door of the Manor.

It was one of those big stately houses that just weren’t made anymore. Sure, it creaked like nothing else and the house seemed to have a mind of its own about rejecting modernization like central air and heat, but it was beautiful. The biggest flaw in the house was that he and his sister were both workaholics, and they had really just never gotten around to decorating the place. The entryway had a single ratty old rug that someone had abandoned there before the twins moved in.

When they had paid someone to do all the wiring, modernization, plumbing, and whatnot, the contractor had gotten them a nice kitchen appliance set.  But next to the shiny new refrigerator was a folding table and chairs, which was where Leo found Dymphna.

“
Has the Duke called again?” He asked, sitting down in the brown metal chair and pulling his sister’s carton of ice cream towards him.

“
Nah. But he will again, and soon. Tell me everything before he does.”

“
It started with a car accident,” and he told her all of it, including his price for Selby’s reconstructive surgeries.

“
Really now? What’s she like?”

“
Ms. Kincaid? She’s... oh I don’t know, D.”

“
It’s like that then? All calling her by her last name and you can’t even think of a single adjective that would describe her. You’ve been around other witch couples before, you know how two people’s magic can call to each other. They say it can happen quickly and unexpectedly. Are you sure you’re not experiencing something like that?”

“
You’re awfully quick to jump to conclusions. You’re being fanciful, which is altogether unlike you. Where’s my battle hardened cynic when I need her? Or did Seb say something?”

Dymphna grinned. “I’m still there. And yeah, Seb did comment that it may be something like that. In fact, my next point was going to be that you should be extra careful around her. Remember, even if your magic makes you think that you love her or some such stupid notion, you’d better be awfully sure before you do something even more stupid.”

“
I know. I’m not in any shape to be falling in love.  In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a wreck, and I’m hardly fit for loving somebody else..”

“
You and me both. Mommy dearest sure did screw us both over pretty hard, didn’t she?”

“
That’s for sure.”

“
So look, I know you need to figure out what kind of magical bond, if any, exists between you and Ms. Kincaid. Go for it.  You haven’t had a bed-mate in a while anyway.”

“
Dymphna!”

“
You and I both know it.” She grinned unrepentantly. “Get yourself some condoms and go have a good time. But before you come to me with some kind of romantic malarkey, you’d better take a good look at the situation and have a good long think about what happened to our parents.”