“Pick up the phone,” I yelled at my cell phone screen. “Stupid wizard.”

I hung up and immediately called his home phone again. After the tenth ring his wife picked up.

“Hey, this is Sean. Is Nehemiah there?”

“Just the young man I wanted to talk to,” said his wife, as if she expected me to call. “I actually need to talk to you, Sean.”

I was taken aback. I didn’t know what to say. What could his wife possibly want to talk about? Was it because I’d tried to kill her husband? I wasn’t sure how much Nehemiah told his wife about any of our interactions, and especially our recent altercation, but from the brief conversations in which he brought up his wife, it seemed like he kept things vague for her.

Still, my gut sank. Up until this point, I’d been thinking of Nehemiah as the guy who was my friend but then betrayed me because he backstabbed my dad. But I’d forgotten he had a family. A wife and kids. And his family was the reason he fought. While I wasn’t going to take back what I tried to do to him in the Between, part of me felt bad for his wife and kids.

No! Nehemiah deserved what happened. He’s the one that betrayed my dad. He should have known that choice would impact him and his family. But the more I argued with myself the more I realized I could not take my vengeance on him, if only for his family. I mean, wasn’t that the reason I was fighting monsters? To protect people in my city, to keep families together. To protect my own family and the ones I cared about. If I exacted vengeance on Nehemiah, it would mean that I was a lot more like the monsters I fought than I would like to admit.

“Hello. You still there Sean?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. I’m here. You wanna talk? Go ahead.”

“I want to speak in person.”

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I could fight monsters all night long, but having to speak to Nehemiah’s wife and having no idea what she wanted to talk about made me nervous.

“Okay. When?”

“As soon as you can.”

“Uh. Okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

---

I took Rob with me to give him a break. Gavin wanted to spend time with Dad anyways. I went over what Nehemiah’s wife had said over the phone to get my hobgoblin’s two cents.

“Sounds like you’re in for a scolding,” said Rob.

I gulped. In my head my behavior was completely justified at the time. Heck, Nehemiah hadn’t just let me beat him up. He’d gone all in too, trying to sandwich me in between two vehicles after launching me into a bus.

“He’s no saint. His wife has got to understand that.”

“I’m sure she does,” said Rob. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you two tried to kill each other. Maybe she’s going to scold both of you and force you to make up for what happened.”

“I’m not apologizing to that guy.”

“I’m not saying you need to. But maybe you need to accept an apology from him.”

“He’s never offered me one. He doesn’t even remember what he did.”

“True. But now he knows from the Dearg Due. And from you cruising through his memory lane.”

“I hope she’s not trying to play Dr. Phil and make us hug and crap. I’ll walk out. Straight up.”

“I’m not saying you have to like the guy,” said Rob, putting his stubby hands up. “I’m not even saying you have to trust the guy. I’m just saying that you both want the same thing. You both want to protect the ones you love and care about. The least you can do is work together to stop Donn on somewhat good terms.”

“We are doing that. Right now.”

“But what about after you heal your dad?”

“What about it?”

“What are you going to do about Nehemiah then?”

I had been thinking about it but had not been able to come to a conclusion. I guess when It came down to it, now that I was removed from the revelation in the blood basin, the emotions had died down. My dad was still alive, I was pretty sure I was not going to kill the wizard anymore. I didn’t need to avenge my dad.

What would I say to his wife if she started asking me the hard questions? What if Nehemiah was there? What if he wanted to apologize? Was I ready for that? I don’t think I’d ever be ready for that. Time would tell. If I could not heal Dad, if he stayed stuck as Tain forever, I’d never forgive the wizard.

“The best I can do is ignore him, I guess.”

Rob tsked. “Sean, you of all people should know that ignoring a problem only makes it worse. Didn’t you learn anything from Asen Scáth?”

The cat got my tongue. I hated when Rob was right.

Sooner than I wanted, we were pulling into the driveway of Nehemiah’s lovely two story house. Again I was struck with the fact that a full on wizard lived here. It looked like any other house on the block. It just happened to house the guy I disliked the most in the world right now.

I cut the engine and we walked up to the door. I gave a light knock and Nehemiah’s wife answered right away.

“Hi Sean.” She offered her hand and I shook it. “I’m Tamera Lewis. And you must be the leprechaun.”

Rob just nodded. I stared at him for a moment. Rob didn’t let anyone get away with confusing hobgoblins and leprechauns. He must have been more nervous of this meetup than I was.

“Come on in,” she said. “Do either of you want anything to drink?”

“I’ll take a glass of chocolate milk,” said Rob.

I elbowed him. “He’s joking. We’re both fine.”

Rob scowled, but I quieted him with a glare. I didn’t know why were here but it wasn’t to chat.

I took in Tamera’s appearance in a moment. For the wife of a wizard and the guy I hated most in the world right now, she looked...normal. Young too. Younger than him anyways. In my head I put Nehemiah somewhere in his early forties. Tamera seemed like she just had her thirtieth birthday. The stress wrinkles that lined Nehemiah’s face were nowhere to be found on hers. In fact, you could say that Nehemiah married up. Seemed like most guys did.

“Nehemiah at work?” I asked.

“No.”

If he wasn’t at work, why didn’t he answer the phone, and where was he now?

“Well, don’t just stand there, make yourself at home and come upstairs.”

I kicked off my shoes before going upstairs at her request. I don’t know why, but it made me feel more exposed. Some of my defenses dropped.

Before I knew it, we hovered bedside next to a sleeping Nehemiah. His eyes were sealed shut. His eyebrows and mouth contorted, withering his face. His skin was paler than normal, not its normal chocolate tint. Believe me. I have zero pigmentation. I know when someone looks paler than usual. Beads of sweat covered his face. He looked terrible.

“He’s been in bed since he got home last night. Barely made it to the front door. He parked his truck on the lawn and I caught him before he collapsed on the porch.”

“What’s eatin’ him?” I asked.

Tamera folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow at me. “I was hoping you could tell me.”

Resisting the urge to gulp, I reminded myself to play it cool. “Has this ever happened to him before?”

“Second time in the last few weeks. A few nights back he came home looking like he got in a fight with Rocky and Dwayne The Rock, at the same time. I have some sense about what he’s up to each night, but it seems things have been getting worse. I want to know he’s been going up against.”

My throat got real itchy right about then. “Over the last few months we’ve fought everything from shrieking Banshees to phantom spirits.”

“I don’t care about the last few months. I’m talking about the last few weeks.”

Rob bit his lower lip and rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes. He eyed the ground harder than a rowdy kid called into the principal’s office.

Trying my best to ignore him, my mind raced for ways to skirt around the elephant in the room. The one that had a physical altercation with the man in the bed.

“Well...we recently invaded the vampire lair.”

Tamera blinked and her mouth hung open. “A vampire lair. Like a castle with coffins and old white men in suits and capes?”

“No. More like a warehouse fight club where the winners get recruited into a vampiric version of the Bloods...but with more actual blood.”

“And one of these vampires did this to my husband?”

I opened my mouth, but didn’t know how to answer. I stammered over my response. “We don’t know what this reaction is. But I’m positive it isn’t from vampires.”

“Why not?”

“He’s got no bite marks right?”

She thought about it. “No. Just scrapes and bruises. Scabs too.”

I nodded. “Vampire bites turn the victim pretty fast. He’d have...fed by now.”

Tamera stepped back from the bed, but realized what she did. She applied a wet cloth to Nehemiah’s head. He groaned. Could he hear us speaking about him? What was wrong with him?

Last night had been the single biggest monster attack in terms of sheer numbers since we stood up the lord of the dead in his island fortress, Tech Duinn. We’d slaughtered hundreds of Sluagh. Between that night and now, Nehemiah had recently begun to absorb more and more Chaos magic, funneling it through his body and wand, turning it into Bad Luck. Not having a staff or wand for the longest time forced him to come into direct contact with the stuff. It could not be good for the wizard.

My mind drifted back to that night we’d try to kill each other. Nehemiah and I had thrown down in a junkyard, which basically acted as a never ending power source for Nehemiah’s Bad Luck magic. As long as I’d known the guy, he’d had a persistent cough, especially after expending large amounts of magic. Was this what the wizard dealt with after using too much Bad Luck? Perhaps this was what it looked like when inverted magic took a toll on his body.

Would this happen to Charice? I’d been worried about this for some time. Charice worried about it herself. When the Celtic god of death lays a mysterious curse on you and a pair of wings sprout from your back, doubts fill your mind. I’d tried to convince Charice that the worst of it was over. The transformations had stopped with the wings.

I thought back to what the wizard said, over and over. Chaos magic warped people and creatures. It made them monsters. And once they were monsters, there was no going back. Sure Nehemiah hadn’t changed visibly on the outside like Charice, but that did not mean the dark magic had no impact on him. And now he was paying the price.

“My husband has been playing with fire for too long. I’ve been telling him to care for himself, but the magic he uses...I think it’s killing him.”

“I agree,” I said.

On the same night of our fight, I’d asked Nehemiah to try to remove Charice’s wings. He had, but as soon as he was done funneling all that Chaos through his body, he’d collapsed and spit up a ton of blood. I could only imagine what happened to him after our fight later that same night in the junkyard.

As if on cue, the wizard went into a convulsive fit. His limbs flailed, whipping in every direction.

Tamera yelled at us in a commanding tone. “Help me hold him down.”

Foam crept out of the corners of his mouth. His eyes squinted shut so tight, his eyebrows almost touched his cheekbones. The wizard arched his back until every bone in his spine cracked, then contorted in on himself in the fetal position. Groans loud enough to vibrate the walls struck me to the core.

Sure I’d wanted to hurt the guy, even kill him. But now, witnessing it first hand, I couldn’t stand to see him tortured.

As quick as it came, it subsided.

I let out a long breath.

“I’ve never seen Nemmy this bad. He’s been getting worse every hour. He’s not responding when I talk to him. And these uncontrollable fits keep me up all night. But I can’t bring him to the hospital. They won’t be able to do anything for him. What can you do?”

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Me? I can’t do anything. My magic doesn’t heal. Well, it heals me, but I’ve never used it on...I don’t think it will work.”

“My husband is dying. There must be something you can do.”

There was something we could have done. But that was before Diarmuid destroyed the Slane Well. I came here because I needed Nehemiah’s help. He owed me for backstabbing my dad. But now it looked like I’d be down one less team member, and I’d have to find a way to heal him too.

If Dagda could heal my dad, he could heal the wizard.

“How much has your husband told you of the Otherside?”

“The place where all the monsters come from? Not much.”

I pointed to Rob. “We’re on our way there already, to heal...someone else. When I reach Dagda, the healer, I’ll ask him how to fix your husband.”

“And this Dagda can prevent Nemmy from dying?”

I bit my lip. “I don’t know.”

She raised her voice. “You’re going to risk my husband’s life on a maybe?”

“I’m already risking my own life just to get to Dagda. And I’m trying to get someone else healed too. It isn’t my fault Nehemiah uses magic that’s killing him. I can’t make any promises. But I’ll do what I can.”

Tears filled her eyes.

Gone was the commanding hard exterior. The truth had just slapped her in the face. I was her only hope and I didn’t know what I was doing. I’d hate to be in her shoes trusting my husband’s life with some twenty year old kid, but I also hated being in my shoes just as much. Here I was agreeing to heal the guy that turned coat on my dad and tried to kill me. And I was going to save him. I guess I had a heart after all.

And I had to do it all immediately with one less team member before Donn burst through the Between and onto my turf.