“Have you ever given blood?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Remember how they tell you not to drink alcohol for at least twenty-four hours afterwards?”
“Yeah,” he replied. A second later when he spoke up, the spark of realization was instantly apparent in his voice. “Crap. I didn’t even think about that.”
“Obviously, he didn’t either,” she said then gave my leg a none too gentle nudge beneath the table with the toe of her shoe.
“I had other things on my mind,” I grumbled.
“I had a friend in college who would sell plasma, then take the money and go to the bar,” Felicity continued for Ben’s edification. “Cheaper, quicker drunk. But she would get so dehydrated that she’d have these massive hangovers. In this case, I’m sure the aspirin didn’t help much either.” Just to punctuate the statement she kicked me under the table again.
“You can stop that anytime you want,” I told her as I shuffled my legs back.
“I’ll let you know when I’m finished,” she quipped.
“And, for your information,” I added, “The aspirin helped my headache.”
“Really? I didn’t notice. I mean, since you’re sitting there holding your head and all.”
“It helped then. Not now.”
“That was only about an hour and a half ago, Rowan.”
“Okay, so they didn’t last.”
“Apparently,” she snipped, the sardonic bite still sharp in her voice. “I wonder if the bourbon had anything to do with that?”
“Give me a break, will you?” I appealed.
“You think I’m not?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, I did notice that you’re being pretty calm about all this. You haven’t screamed any Gaelic at me yet.”
“Don’t worry,” she replied. “I’ll gladly do that while I’m beating you later. I’m just waiting until you can feel it, so I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time.”
“Yeah, that sounds more like you. Thanks for the reality check.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Okay, if you two are through with the pissin’ match, or foreplay, or whatever the hell,” Ben interjected, “I got a question.”
“What’s that?” Felicity asked.
“I understand about the hangover, but what about the whole bleedin’ thing? Shouldn’t we take ‘im to the hospital for that?”
“No,” I said. “It wouldn’t do any good.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“There’s nothing they can do about it,” I told him. “In case you’ve forgotten, it doesn’t exactly have an earthly explanation.”
“Yeah, so?”
“As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right,” Felicity said. “That’s exactly how I felt yesterday, but then I had to face the facts… What would he tell them? He can’t exactly walk in and say he’s running low on blood. If he tells them he’s been bleeding, they’ll want to know from where, and he doesn’t have a wound to show for it. Give them the real reason and he’ll end up in a psych ward. Make something up and at best they would run a bunch of tests that won’t give them any real answers but would surely raise a few questions, which would just mean more tests with no answers.”
“Yeah, okay, I see what you’re sayin’. So then what do we do?” he asked.
“Not we, me,” I answered. “The bleeding is nothing more than a knock at the door. It’s a way for the spirits to get my attention. I just have to stop ignoring them and it will be all good.”
“I thought you already had.”
“After the second incident, yes, I did,” I explained. “And I haven’t bled since.”
“Yeah, well you’ll pardon me if I don’t take that as hard evidence that you won’t again.”
“I’ll be fine, Ben.”
“Jeezus, are ya’ listenin’ to yourself? It ain’t like we haven’t heard that one before, and look at ya’ now.”
“You know, I could do without this whole tag team beat up Rowan thing you two have going on.”
“Yeah, well get used to it. It’s for your own good.”
“You do realize there’s nothing I can do to stop all this, don’t you? I think it’s pretty obvious that I’ve tried and it didn’t work, so why are you taking it out on me?”
“We’re just concerned,” Felicity offered, her voice actually taking on a bit of softness for a change.
“What Firehair said,” Ben agreed. “I’ve been tellin’ ya’ that all along.” He let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “Okay, so let me ask ya’ this. What if goin’ ahead and listenin’ to ‘em doesn’t work?”
“Then I guess I keep bleeding until you stop whoever is doing this.”
He sighed. “Not exactly what I wanted ta’ hear.”
“Trust me, Ben, I’m not very excited about it myself.”
“Okay…” He harrumphed. “So the way I see it, right now we’re pretty much on the same page. So far you aren’t tellin’ me anything we don’t already know.”
“Sorry… Sometimes that’s how it happens, you know that.”
“I ain’t complainin’,” he countered quickly. “I’m just thinkin’ out loud. Besides, it goes both ways. I also got nothin’ for ya’ to look at, so it’s kinda mutual. Anyway, unless I missed my guess, as far as the hocus-pocus goes, we’re at a dead end unless ya’ go all Twilight Zone again. Right?”
“Yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up. Why?”
“It’s been a very long and very weird afternoon, white man. I’m just gettin’ it straight in my head. So, Firehair, you got my cell number, right?”
“Aye, of course I do,” Felicity answered. “Why?”
“In case Beefy the Vampire Snack over there starts bleedin’ again. Because, if we ain’t takin’ ‘im to the hospital or somethin’, then I’m gonna get outta here. I promised Constance I’d take ‘er ta’ dinner and I’m already forty-five minutes late.”
“Just blame it on me,” I said.
“Oh, I plan to, Kemosabe,” he returned. “I definitely plan to.”
When the phone started ringing this time, I was awake. In fact, I had been out of bed for almost two hours, already showered, and was working on a fresh cup of coffee when the obnoxious peal of the bell rattled through the house.
Fortunately, this time I didn’t feel the need to plug my ears or hide under a pillow. A good eight hours of uninterrupted sleep had turned out to be far better medicine than the aspirin with a bourbon chaser. While pain free wasn’t an accurate description by any means, I was once again dealing only with the familiar dull thud hanging out in the back of my head. As annoying as that could be, it was at least bearable-and even something I could ignore if need be.
On the flip side of that coin, however, just prior to the initial ring of the phone, I had felt an icy chill run the length of my spine. While I certainly wasn’t one for believing that anything and everything was some type of sign, I had definitely learned to recognize when something was truly meant to get my attention. The way the hair stood up on the back of my neck following the sensation, I was certain this was one of those times.
I stepped over to the kitchen phone and glanced at the caller ID box. Under the circumstances I fully expected to see Ben’s name and cell number displayed, but instead the digits were completely unfamiliar. I furrowed my brow as I scanned the LCD and saw that the call appeared to be coming from the federal government. With a hard frown I snatched up the handset, cutting it off mid-peal, and then placed it against my ear.
“Hello?” I said.
The voice of a slightly cheerful but still businesslike woman answered. “Good morning… Is Miz Felicity O’Brien
