*Quin*

I took hold of the bottom of her shirt and gently moved it over the leathery burns. Heather was kneeling on the bed, helping to hold Hecate's head up.

To my amazement, she wasn't really making any noise. And she was conscious.

I carefully maneuvered it over the beginning of the burn.

I saw a patch of black on her skin.

Burnt? I wondered. No, it looks more like a tattoo. Ugh, no time to be curious.

I kept going. Up her back, I had to peel and pick it out and off of her skin.

"Jacin," I said, as I kept working. "See if you can get her to take the pain killers. Hatchet, see if you can find anything to cut the sleeve off. Getting it off her arm might not be possible."

Halfway up her back and I was sighing in relief. It only reached about halfway to her spine; a fourth of the way to the right side. The burn, however, made a strange pattern. It looked like it traveled up her arm and then down her back before...vanishing.

"Magic," Jacin said, peering over. He somehow managed to get the half conscious queen to take the medicine. At least she wasn't fighting us. "That's the only way."

"I got scissors from the desk guy," Hatchet said, closing the door behind him.

He handed them over to me.

I got to cutting. Up the back and then over the sleeve, what wasn't burned off of it at least. I didn't want to take the time to get the sports bra over her head, so I went right to cutting it.

"Sorry," I mumbled to her. "But we don't really have many options right now."

She gave a low grumble of ackgnowlegement.

"Here," I said, handing Jacin the scissors. "Cut off the other side. Heather, you can lay her down. It doesn't look like the front got burned."

She crawled off the bed, gently setting Hecate down.

"Hatchet, get me the antibiotics."

He rushed over, handing me two bottles. One, pills, that I passed on to Heather. The other, an aloe vera cream to help with the burn. There wasn't much else I could do.

"Sorry, Majesty, but this is going to hurt. Try to bite down on the pillow so you don't yell."

I rubbed some on my hands before pressing it down on her back.

She jerked, but kept quiet.

"Sorry," I said again. "I'm sorry."

---

"She's sleeping," I said, kneeling down to look at her.

Originally, I went over to change the wet towel that I'd laid on her back. When I noticed that her eyes weren't open, I was a little worried. When I noticed that she was breathing, I still wanted to check her heart to make sure she didn't go into shock. The chances of things getting that bad at this point were slim to none.

"Yeah," Jacin said from where he was sitting on the other side of the bed, holding onto her hand. "I tried to put her to sleep while relieving some of the pain."

"I thought you couldn't heal her," Heather grumbled from the second bed.

I knew she didn't hate her as much as she let on. More than that, I think she felt partially responsible. From the story she told, it sounded like Hecate was protecting her. My question was, why not with magic?

"I can't heal fast," Jacin explained. "Not as fast as first aid can save a life. I have a small limiter and almost no magic. It takes time for me to do anything like...this." He motioned to the sleeping queen. "I can't even do this for much longer. I'm running out."

"Can I do anything?" Hatchet asked from one of the two chairs at the small tables.

"No. This is entirely pure magic. It's dangerous for beginners, especially if you're working on someone else."

"You think she'll be okay?" Heather asked.

"From what I can tell," I said, "yeah. We just have to be careful. Not too much moving, if we can help it. Keep her eating protein and make sure to clean out the towels before we change them out." I turned to Jacin. "Do you know why she couldn't heal herself?"

He shrugged. "Everyone's magic is different. Sometimes we can't do things because it just doesn't work and sometimes it doesn't work because we don't want them too. It really could be anything." He let go of her hand. "I'm gonna use some of the money to buy some food. You said proteins, right?"

I nodded. "And calories. And...grab her a coke."

He nodded.

"I'll come too," Heather said. "I need to get out for a while, this is depressing."

Both of them left, closing the door behind him.

"What did he mean by 'can't'?" Hatchet asked.

I sighed, sitting in the second bed and leaning against the head board. "I don't know. I don't know anything about magic."

"Is there anything I can do to help. I don't like being useless."

"Yeah, actually. See if you can find any laundromats around here and get the used towels washed. It'll help avoid infection. Maybe pick up a new shirt for her while you're at it, or have Heather do it."

He nodded, standing up and taking the pile of used towels out of the room, along with a small wad of cash.

I waited until the door closed before speaking up. "You don't have to pretend to be asleep."

"How could you tell?" Hecate replied, her voice hoarse. But nothing could stop the sing song pattern she spoke with.

"You're awful at lying."

She let out a small chuckle. "I wasn't lying. I was comfortable."

"Hmm. How long have you been awake?"

"Since Jacin and Heather left. The door closed. I woke up."

"You should sleep"

"Can't. It hurts."

"I thought Jacin helped numb you."

"Yeah, pure magic doesn't work too well on me."

"Is that why you can't heal yourself."

She glanced at me. "Lot's of hard questions, huh? So mean. I just work up, you know."

"Sorry."

"Nah. I don't mind talking. It distracts me."

"I'll get you some more pain killers."

"Yeah, ignore the labels. Give me more."

I rolled my eyes. "That's dangerous."

She let out a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Anyways, magic. Confusing. Um, magic is completely controlled by your mind. Sometime a movement like a finger snap of a twirl can help you think. I've been using magic for so long and I've gotten so used to it that I don't even need it. But, no matter how good you are, you can't do anything against your morals.

"For example, I can't make cages out of pure magic. I don't like trapping humans, or anything. I can, however, trick myself and make them by making four stone walls and a roof. Doesn't do much for another magicians though."

I looked at her, honestly a bit shocked. "You don't think you should live?"

She snorted. "Not quite that drastic. I...I don't think I should be allowed to heal myself."

"Can I ask why?"

"I've killed a lot of people, you know. A lot of innocent people died because of me."

"Most of them were Black Hands, right?"

She nodded as best she could with her face pressed against a pillow. "But a life is a life."

"You're not a bad person," I said, almost like it was an argument. Like I wanted her to know that I knew. Like I wanted her to know that it was true.

"Not everyone agrees with you. In fact, most of the people who think that are considered to be criminals."

We were silent for a minute.

So she can feel guilt. No, that was a stupid thing to say. Of course she could feel guilt. Behind all those names and legends, she was still just a girl.

"Esclave a la magie," I said, watching for her reation.

"You read my tattoo."

"Took some time, but yeah. I figured it out."

"Did you google the meaning?"

"No."

"I guess you wanted me to tell you what it meant, huh?"

"I was hoping."

"It's French."

"What's up with all the French lately?"

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Today, while we were out, we ran into a wizard."

"I hate that word," she admitted. "Sounds so fantasy rpg."

"He got stopped by this girl who got scared when he accidentally shocked him. We intervened. He said he was new from France. He had pictures of Heather, Hatchet, and I."

Her eyes widened, the eye I could see anyways. "Shit! We gotta go. Now."

She pushed herself up and let out a chocked cry of pain. Probably the first notion she's made towards being in pain.

"Wait, no," I said, walking over to her and purposely avoiding looking at her. "You're still hurt, you gotta lay down."

"No, no, no. We-we gotta leave now." She must've glanced at me, because she said. "I don't care if you see. It's not like you'd be the first. Now pack up while I use the bathroom. And let me borrow your shirt, I can't go out in public like this."

I heard her feet thumping in the direction of the small motel bathroom.

"Hecate!" I called, trying to keep my voice down, just in case we had neighbors. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Listen to me," she said from behind the bathroom door. "France is dangerous. Magic is legal there as long as it's under the control of the government. If you refuse to work under the government, they take you and experiment on you. That French dude, did he say who he was working for? Anything that might give him away?"

"American government, Black Hands. He showed off his paperwork."

"Merde!" She yelled. "Pass me that shirt."

The door cracked open and I handed her my shirt.

She stepped out, wearing my shirt, which was at least two sizes too big for her. I still looked away, you know, no...bra....and all.

"Get the keys. You're gonna have to drive."

She went to the table and picked up all the medicine.

"What're you waiting for? We gotta go pick up the others before Frenchie guy finds you."

"What happens if he finds us?"

Her face contorted into something dark. Something filled with fear and hate. "You ever seen a fight between magicians?"

I shook my head.

"It's a hellhole of death a fire. If we don't get moving, that Frenchie might just turn this town into a battle ground."

-Authors Note-

I'm so sorry guys. I said I'd update a lot before Sweden, but I got distracted by this new Star Wars game I got on my laptop. This might be the last or second to last update before I go on Hiatus.

Love you all,

~Q