The Second Heart (34 page)

Meredith giggled. “Let’s not talk about it. I
have a feeling I’m about to win it big.” She pulled the lever on
the slot machine and watched the screen intently. One by one the
wheels stopped spinning: seven, a bar, and a dollar sign. “Ugh,
forget it. I’m already down, like, five bucks. That’s five dollars
I will never get back, Vi!”

“Yeah, I’m bored anyway. What time is
it?”

Meredith giggled again, whispering loudly,
“This is a casino. We’re not allowed to know.”

Vi still had Rob’s cell phone in her pocket,
and she dug it out, looking at the time. “Holy shit. We’ve been
here for like three hours. And we’ve got six missed calls from your
mom.” She looked up at Meredith with wide eyes, adding in a
sing-song voice, “They’re gonna be so
maaaad
.”

“Oh my God, give me that,” Meredith said
urgently, grabbing the phone from Vi’s hands. She quickly dialed
Amelia’s number, but there was no answer. She scrubbed a hand over
her face, attempting to sober herself. “We need to go back. What if
something’s wrong?”

“Dude, neither of us can drive anywhere.”

“I know, but they’re not answering.” She
opened the phone contact list and started scrolling through,
looking for someone that they might be able to call for a ride. She
whizzed right past James’s name, not wanting for him or Ivy to get
pulled into her mess. It was bad enough that she was putting Amelia
and Rob in danger. “I am so stupid. Why did I let you talk me into
getting drunk?”

“As I recall it didn’t take much convincing,”
Vi reminded her.

“I wanted to go hiking!” Meredith’s head was
spinning, and she feared she wouldn’t be able to leave her post in
front of the slot machine for some time.

“Just call someone,” Vi urged.

Meredith kept scrolling through the contacts
looking for options. Davidson, Dickering, Diggs, Dowering…
Dowering! Meredith stopped on Nate’s name. She was still mad at him
for lying to her parents, but she couldn’t think of a better
choice. He already knew about magic and the protégé, so it didn’t
really count as dragging another person into their troubles. He had
sought out their troubles, after all. Now he would just have to
live with the consequences. She hit the send button and listened
for his voice.

Nate answered almost immediately.

“Nate, we are in a bit of a pickle,” Meredith
said, stumbling over the word
pickle
.

“Meredith? Where are you?”

“Um, the casino?” Meredith felt foolish and
guilty for her current state, and she wanted more than anything to
be able to blame it all on Mrs. Alvarez’s harsh words. If things
had gone better with that meeting, maybe she wouldn’t have felt the
need to blow off some steam. She shook her head to try to clear the
tears from her eyes but only succeeded in making herself feel
nauseated. “Can you come get us?” she asked pathetically.

“Are you drunk?” Nate asked
incredulously.

“Yes, and it was stupid, and I’m sorry. But
now I think my parents are in trouble and we need to go back to
Eleanor’s house right away.”

“All right,” Nate conceded. “Tell me exactly
where you are.”

Forty minutes later, they caught sight of
Nate striding through the casino purposefully. Still at the same
slot machines, they called him over. Meredith had switched to water
and was feeling a little more like herself, but she still didn’t
trust her feet to stay under her.

Nate stopped in front of them and looked
around. “Where’s Miguel?”

Meredith had expected the question and was
able to answer it with almost perfect composure. “The protégé
killed him two nights ago,” she said matter-of-factly. She stood up
slowly, teetering to one side before grabbing Nate’s arm for
support.

“Okay, the drunkenness makes a little more
sense now,” Nate said carefully, looking them both over for signs
of damage. He was burning with curiosity about what had happened to
Miguel, but he managed to swallow it for the time being, saying
instead, “Let’s get you ladies out to the car and then you can
catch me up, okay?”

Even in her drunken state, Meredith was
impressed with Nate’s restraint. She nodded her assent, and then
Nate lifted her arm over his shoulders and wrapped his arm around
her waist. With his free hand he helped Vi out of her seat,
supporting her in much the same way on his other side. They walked
slowly across the casino floor toward the exit.

As they left the building, the security guard
winked at Nate. “Good job, man!”

“He’s not picking us up, you idiot,” Vi
scolded the guard loudly.

The guard laughed and ignored her, saying to
Nate, “Watch out for that one!”

Vi scoffed and rolled her eyes while Nate
gave the guard a tight smile. Meredith was too focused on staying
upright to give the exchange much thought.

The sunlight outside was blinding, but the
cool October breeze felt good on Meredith’s face. Soon they were
safely packed into Nate’s car and on their way. Nate had dumped a
pot of coffee into a thermos for them, and Meredith took a long
swig. She offered the thermos to Vi, who declined it with a sharp
shake of her head. Meredith gladly chugged down the rest of the
coffee, grateful for Nate’s thoughtfulness. She hoped the shot of
caffeine would help her sober up quickly, feeling a strong sense of
foreboding as they raced toward Eleanor’s house.

* * *

Eleanor opened the front door slowly,
mustering up a look of surprise for her visitor’s benefit. “Hello,
Dr. Sparling.”

“Good afternoon, Eleanor. May I come in?”

“Of course,” Eleanor smiled coolly and opened
the door wider to admit the doctor. She wasn’t sure why Dr.
Sparling was at her house, and hoped that she would be able to get
rid of her relatively quickly.

Dr. Sparling came into the room and glanced
around casually. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you
outside the hospital,” she said with a smile. “You have a nice
home.”

Eleanor suppressed the urge to roll her eyes,
impatient with the inane niceties. “Please, have a seat.” She
didn’t offer the doctor anything to drink, not wishing to prolong
the visit.

Dr. Sparling sat down gingerly on the sofa,
smiling wryly. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here.”

“Yes,” Eleanor agreed bluntly, remaining
standing.

A phone began ringing in the bedroom, and
Eleanor prayed that Amelia and Rob knew better than to answer
it.

"Do you need to get that?" Dr. Sparling asked
politely.

"No, it's fine." They waited in awkward
silence for the phone to stop ringing, and then Eleanor shifted her
weight impatiently. "What can I do for you?"

“I know that you were part of the team that
took care of a patient the other day. Meredith Carpenter?”

“Yes, I was in the E.R. that night.” Eleanor
felt the muscles between her shoulders tighten nervously. What did
Dr. Sparling know?

“The hospital has asked me to investigate her
case, since she decided to leave against medical advice. We’re
trying to see if there is anything we could have done differently
to improve her care. We want patients to trust us and have
confidence in our hospital, after all.”

“Oh.” Eleanor relaxed. “What do you want to
know?”

Dr. Sparling shifted in her seat, crossing
her left ankle over her right knee. “Well, first off, I know you’ve
been an impeccable employee for a long time. I don’t want you to
feel like you’re on trial here. We all know that you are a gifted
nurse.”

“Thank you. I do it all for your approval,
after all.” Eleanor knew she was taking a chance being rude, but
she hoped it would make Dr. Sparling uncomfortable enough to cut
the interview short.

Dr. Sparling frowned and her blue eyes
trained in on Eleanor’s face. “Meredith Carpenter’s records were
deleted from our system, and a threatening note was found on her
food tray. Now is most certainly not the time to give me an
attitude. Why don’t you have a seat?”

Damn.
Eleanor grudgingly did as she
was asked. “I gave her pain meds in the E.R. and then came up to
her room once to check on her. Otherwise I didn’t have any
interaction with her.”

Dr. Sparling looked at Eleanor’s face
carefully. After a long moment, she asked, “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am,” Eleanor snapped.

“Are you aware that there was another patient
at Phoenix Mercy with Meredith’s same condition? Meredith went to
the other hospital and convinced him not to have surgery either,
and he has since died. The hospital has a huge liability here, and
we need to find out what the hell happened.” Dr. Sparling uncrossed
her legs and leaned forward earnestly. “I am worried sick about
Meredith Carpenter. She
needs
to come back and have the
surgery, but since her records were deleted, it could be days
before we can find her. By then it could be too late… if it isn’t
already.”

Eleanor shook her head sadly. “I wish I could
help you, Dr. Sparling. I really do. But I’ve told you all I
know.”

Dr. Sparling leaned back and relaxed into the
couch cushions. “I don’t think that’s entirely true, Eleanor. You
see, I was at Phoenix Mercy to help with the other patient--the one
who died. While I was there, I saw Meredith’s friend, Vi. I almost
didn’t put two and two together, but as she was leaving, I noticed
that she had your coat.”

“My coat?”

“Yes. That ugly green monstrosity that you
wear every single day between October and February. There can’t be
two like it in the world. Or at least, let’s hope not.”

Eleanor swallowed hard. The damned coat. She
had noticed that Meredith and Vi had taken it, but she didn’t
realize that the small theft would come to bite them in the ass so
soundly. She wracked her brain to come up with an excuse as the
seconds ticked by. Dr. Sparling’s eyes never left her face, and
Eleanor knew she was in trouble.

* * *

As Nate turned the car onto Eleanor’s street,
Meredith could feel the protégé's presence. It was like moving
toward a loud party; the closer they got to Eleanor’s house, the
more Meredith could feel the malicious power.

“Damn it,” Meredith said quietly.

“What?” Vi demanded, instantly on the
alert.

“The protégé is at Eleanor’s house.” She
glanced at Nate and commanded, “Pull over. We need a plan.”

Nate did as he was told, stopping the car a
few houses down from Eleanor’s. He shifted into park and faced
Meredith, leaving the engine running. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Meredith said, clasping a
hand around her
thaelis
nervously. “The protégé won’t know
I’m here. We gotta work that to our advantage somehow.”

“Why don’t we just keep driving? For all you
know, the protégé has already killed everyone in the house,” Nate
said earnestly.

Meredith shook her head. “No, I can feel
Eleanor, too.” She opened the door and stepped out of the car,
looking critically at Eleanor’s house.

Vi came and stood beside her. “That’s Dr.
Sparling’s car,” she said quietly, pointing to the shiny sports car
parked on the street.

“Come on,” Meredith said, acting on instinct.
She jogged toward the house in a low crouch, sneaking up to the
front window and peeking inside. Meredith could see Dr. Sparling
and Eleanor sitting on the sofas in the living room. The negative
energy emanated from Dr. Sparling like a foul stench. “Dr. Sparling
is the protégé,” she said to Vi in a low whisper.

The color drained from Vi’s face. “Oh my God,
she gave us a ride.”

“Shh.” Meredith strained to hear their
conversation.

Dr. Sparling was speaking. “Eleanor, let me
help you. I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into here, but
I’m on your side. Tell me everything, and we’ll work it out
together.”

Eleanor shifted in her seat, remaining silent
for a moment. Then she said, “Fine. I did help the girls leave the
hospital, but I haven’t seen them since.”

Meredith’s eyebrows knit together
thoughtfully. Eleanor didn’t know that Dr. Sparling was the
protégé. And if she didn’t know… that meant that she wouldn’t be
prepared if Dr. Sparling attacked.

“You know, Eleanor,” Dr. Sparling said with a
small chuckle. “I just don’t believe you.”

Meredith continued thinking furiously to
herself. Eleanor had said that being able to sense other magicians
was virtually unheard of, so chances were good that the protégé
didn’t know that Eleanor was a magician. Eleanor, who had waited
thousands of years to take Aleric down, was now in harm’s way
because she was trying to protect Meredith.

Meredith turned to Vi. “I have to protect
Eleanor, Vi. Not the other way around.”

“What?” Vi asked, not following her line of
thinking.

“My parents are still inside. Please get them
out and run like hell, okay?”

“No way, Mere. I’m not leaving you here to
do… whatever it is you think you need to do.” Vi set her mouth into
a thin line and shook her head. Behind her, Nate’s face expressed
similar sentiments.

If Meredith could convince Dr. Sparling to
leave without learning the truth about Eleanor, she had to do it.
Meredith reached up and pulled the
thaelis
over her head.
“It’s too late.”

Inside, a broad grin spread out onto Dr.
Sparling’s face. “Well, well,” she murmured contentedly.

Meredith pressed the
thaelis
into Vi’s
hand. “Use this to hide. I don’t want the protégé to hurt you guys
because of me. Go.”

Tears sprang into Vi’s eyes as she and Nate
scrambled off the porch and ran around the side of the house. Once
they were out of sight, Meredith rang the doorbell.

The door
opened slowly to reveal Eleanor’s ashen face. “Come in, Meredith,”
she said with a sigh.