The Second Heart (35 page)

Meredith stepped over the threshold
nervously, her eyes darting to where Dr. Sparling sat on the couch.
For some reason, the power wafting off of the doctor seemed to have
receded to the point where Meredith wouldn’t have known Dr.
Sparling was a magician. Was Dr. Sparling able to mask herself
somehow? Did she know that Meredith could sense her? Meredith’s
reeling thoughts combined with the lingering effects of the alcohol
made her almost senseless. She took a deep breath through her nose
and forced herself to speak coherently.

“Hi, Dr. Sparling. I came to see Eleanor
because of Miguel,” she lied. Before Dr. Sparling could respond,
Meredith asked, “Is it true that Miguel died because of his
growth?”

Dr. Sparling nodded solemnly.

Meredith forced tears into her eyes,
mustering up what she hoped was a convincing performance. “I am so
sorry. I really thought we’d be okay. Am I going to die, too?”

“Well--” Dr. Sparling began.

“I’ll come with you right now to the
hospital. You can do the surgery right away.” The sooner Meredith
could convince Dr. Sparling to leave, the sooner Eleanor would be
safe. Dr. Sparling already knew that Meredith was a magician--that
was a lost cause. But Eleanor… Eleanor had to stay hidden.
“Please,” she pleaded.

“Meredith,” Eleanor said in a low,
discouraging voice.

“No, Eleanor. Miguel is dead! I don’t want to
die, too. I need to go back to the hospital.” Meredith searched
Eleanor’s eyes, willing the older woman to understand what she was
doing.

Eleanor frowned and shook her head. “I can’t
let you do that, Meredith.”

“That’s all right, we can take care of it
right here,” Dr. Sparling interjected with a menacing tone.

Meredith’s gaze flew to the young doctor, who
had risen from the couch and was now clasping a small, gleaming
dagger in her right hand. Meredith recognized it as the one that
had killed Miguel. “What are you doing?” Meredith gasped, looking
back at Eleanor in alarm.

“Don’t worry about Eleanor,” Dr. Sparling
said in a smooth, confident voice. “She won’t remember a
thing.”

Eleanor’s expression hardened as she realized
who Dr. Sparling was. “You knew,” she said to Meredith.

Meredith nodded, fixing her gaze on the knife
at Dr. Sparling’s side.

“Knew what? Oh, you sly devil. Were you
hiding in the bushes the other night?” Dr. Sparling smiled
maliciously. “I
was
surprised to find Miguel alone. I
thought for sure you two would be shacking up together. I guess I
was right, after all. However did you manage to elude me?” Her eyes
went to Eleanor appraisingly. “You must have had help.”

Eleanor didn’t flinch as she returned Dr.
Sparling’s gaze.

After a moment, Dr. Sparling let out a
throaty laugh. “Aleric always thought that he didn’t get everyone.
I can’t wait to tell him that he was right.”

Meredith’s eyes widened incredulously, her
mind racing. Aleric was still alive? Then why had all the magic
been released back into the earth?

Some of her thoughts must have played across
her face, because Dr. Sparling said, “You thought he was dead
already? Ha! Hardly.” She took a large step to close the distance
between them.

“Well, if he is still alive, he can’t have
transferred much power to you, can he?” Eleanor asked with a flick
of her wrist. The knife flew out of Dr. Sparling’s hand and
clattered against the wall.

Meredith, who had felt Dr. Sparling’s power
and knew better, didn’t have a chance to correct Eleanor before Dr.
Sparling attacked.

Long, white-hot streaks of lightning shot out
of Dr. Sparling’s fingertips, aimed straight for Eleanor’s heart.
The energy lit up the room and almost blinded Meredith. She watched
in fear and fascination as Eleanor blocked the streaks of lightning
with magic of her own, causing a shower of sparks to rain down into
the room.

“Get out of here,” Eleanor cried to Meredith.
The words sounded like they were torn harshly from her throat as
she focused on fending off Dr. Sparling’s attack.

Meredith ducked down behind the couch and out
of sight, thinking furiously. She had to help Eleanor somehow. Dr.
Sparling was too strong. She peeked around the armrest and saw that
the corner of Dr. Sparling’s coat was on fire, but the doctor
didn’t notice as she focused on her own magic.

The flames quickly spread, and Dr. Sparling
cut off her attack as the fire licked at her skin. She staggered
backwards and cried out in pain, bumping against the wall and
lighting the lace curtains on fire. Suddenly, a blue light flooded
over the doctor and smothered the flames. Once the flames were
nothing more than a smoldering memory, Dr. Sparling glared at
Eleanor with renewed vigor.

A piece of the burning curtains behind Dr.
Sparling dropped to the floor, flickering as the carpet caught
fire. Smoke filled the room as the fire grew and continued to
spread. Meredith heard a choking sound and looked up at Eleanor in
horror as the nurse clutched at her throat, unable to breathe.

Dr. Sparling chuckled maliciously. “Is that
really the best you can do? I am so pleased that I will be the one
of Aleric’s children to eradicate you, not that you would have ever
been much of a problem.”

Children? Shit.
Meredith cursed
inwardly. If there was more than one protégé, then they were in
more trouble than they thought. But she’d have to worry about that
later--right now, Dr. Sparling was winning.

Meredith looked around the room frantically,
desperate for something to do. The opposite half of the room was
completely engulfed in flames. Several feet away, Meredith spotted
the knife that had dropped to the floor. She crawled toward it as
fast as she could, her eyes stinging and throat burning from the
smoke.

As her fingers closed around the knife,
Meredith looked up again at the battle between Eleanor and Dr.
Sparling. Meredith was slightly behind the doctor and could see
Eleanor’s face. The color had drained away from Eleanor’s features
and her eyes were quickly losing focus.

Meredith turned and crawled toward Dr.
Sparling, careful not to catch her attention. Flames licked at the
bottom of her feet, and Meredith did her best to ignore the heat.
Once she was within reach, Meredith came up onto her knees behind
Dr. Sparling and thrust the dagger toward the doctor’s back as hard
as she could, aiming for the second heart.

At the last second, Dr. Sparling twisted
away, having seen the movement out of the corner of her eye. Now
the doctor’s attention was focused completely on Meredith, her cold
gaze settling over her like a shroud. The icy blue eyes flashed,
and Meredith felt explosions of pain from all over her body. She
crumpled to the floor, unable to think of anything besides the
agony that seemed to come from everywhere.

Meredith tasted blood in her mouth as she
tried to gain control of her own senses. She looked up at Dr.
Sparling, who stood over her with a grim expression. Behind the
doctor, Eleanor had dropped to the floor, passed out from lack of
oxygen. Meredith was at Dr. Sparling’s mercy.

Dr. Sparling crouched down and leaned so
close to Meredith’s face that their noses almost touched. “I could
have made it painless for you, you know, but I don’t take it kindly
when people try to stab me in the back.” She reached down and
removed the knife that was still clutched in Meredith’s hand,
looking at it contemplatively. “With my own knife, even. Tsk,
tsk.”

The pain intensified, and Meredith squeezed
her eyes shut to try to block out the sensations. It felt as though
every nerve in her body was being electrocuted. She prayed for
relief, any kind of relief, even if that meant death. At least she
couldn’t feel anything if she were dead.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pain
receded, just enough so Meredith could think straight. Her cheek
was pressed against the floor, and she cracked an eye open to try
to figure out why the pain was going away. She could see under the
couch to where Eleanor lay on the other side. The nurse’s eyes were
open. Eleanor pressed a finger to her lips, and Meredith realized
that Eleanor must have been diverting some of the pain.

Dr. Sparling lifted up Meredith’s shirt,
pressing down with her fingertips to find the right place to sink
in the knife. Meredith panicked and, acting on instinct, lashed out
as hard as she could at the hand that held the knife. She heard the
snap of bone as the knife fell with a dull thud onto the carpet a
few feet away.

Dr. Sparling cradled her broken wrist and
looked at Meredith murderously. “You think I need a knife to do you
harm?” she asked with a cruel laugh. Her eyes flicked to Meredith’s
exposed stomach, and a deep slash appeared in the skin, welling up
hot blood that flooded over Meredith’s skin and onto the floor.

Meredith stared at her wound in shock,
vaguely realizing that losing so much blood would kill her in a
matter of minutes. The irony wasn’t lost on her; though she had
been wishing for death moments before, now that it was a real
possibility, she wanted desperately to live. She pressed a hand
over the gaping hole, trying futilely to stem the flow and buy
herself some time.

In a taunting voice, Dr. Sparling began, “You
really--”, but she was cut off by Eleanor’s wiry arm wrapping
around her throat and pulling her to the floor.

Meredith could feel the heat of the flames at
her back as she watched the struggle between Eleanor and Dr.
Sparling. From the looks of it, they were both fighting with magic,
but whatever they were doing must have been internal, because
Meredith couldn’t really see much. Eleanor and the doctor seemed to
be pretty well matched, and Meredith realized she needed to
help.

The knife was on the floor under the loveseat
at Meredith’s feet. She couldn’t sit up, as the muscles in her
abdomen were deeply lacerated and still bleeding profusely.
Meredith used her arms instead to drag herself toward the knife,
grunting softly with the pain of movement. She inched toward the
knife, tears stinging her eyes. The pool of blood around her was
growing too large. No one can lose that much blood and survive.

Meredith glanced over at Eleanor and Dr.
Sparling. Eleanor was on her back on the floor, Dr. Sparling above
her. Meredith needed to move faster. Her fingers closed around the
knife for the second time, and she found the cool weight of the
weapon soothing. She took a deep breath and steeled herself against
the pain, launching herself across the short distance to the
doctor, sinking the knife into her back.

The steel slid in remarkably easily, and Dr.
Sparling’s warm blood poured out over Meredith’s hand, mingling
with her own. The doctor gasped and looked down at the tip of the
knife, which protruded from her belly. Underneath her, Eleanor
shoved her off of her with both hands.

Meredith released the knife and fell
backwards, resting against the front of the loveseat and panting
softly.

Dr. Sparling splayed out on the floor,
watching incredulously as the shirt around the small glint of steel
was quickly being darkened by blood. Eleanor sat on her knees over
Dr. Sparling and rolled her over roughly, yanking the blade out of
her back. Fierce determination sparked in her eyes.

Meredith’s eyes drooped closed. She was going
to lose consciousness any second. She had lost too much blood; she
was dying. Meredith barely noticed as something hot and wet was
thrust into her hands. Someone was saying her name, but it sounded
like they were at the far end of a long tunnel. Meredith forced her
eyes to open a crack. Eleanor’s face was inches from hers. “Take
this,” she commanded. “You’ll know what to do.”

Dr. Sparling must have stopped masking her
power, because Meredith could once again feel it buzzing at her
consciousness. She felt the power start to waver, and Meredith was
drawn to it uncontrollably, like a ravenous animal to a piece of
mouthwatering meat. Without even understanding what she was doing,
Meredith began to greedily pull the magic toward herself, into
herself. The more magic she consumed, the more she wanted. As it
seeped into her being, the pain in her abdomen faded away and was
replaced by power. Strength. Euphoria.

More alert now, Meredith looked down at her
hands. She held a small, bloody organ that was pulsating in time
with her heartbeat. The throbbing was slowing as Meredith continued
taking the magic into herself. She was holding Dr. Sparling’s
second heart. The doctor herself was lying lifeless on the floor a
foot away.

Meredith could feel the moment that Dr.
Sparling’s second heart died, and she embraced the last of the
magic as it became part of her. She couldn’t have resisted the
power if she had wanted to. She was acting on basic instinct alone.
The second heart gave one last shudder, and Meredith watched in
amazement as the organ hardened and turned into a heavy,
translucent stone. It was a
thaelis
.

Meredith looked down at her midsection, which
Eleanor had been frantically healing while Meredith had absorbed
the power from Dr. Sparling’s second heart. The cut had been
reduced to a fresh scar, dark pink and slightly raised.

“I can’t replace your blood, so you better
hope you still have enough,” Eleanor said gruffly.

Meredith nodded. Around them, the flames
crackled and roared out of control, flaring up with renewed vigor
as someone kicked the front door open. Meredith heard someone call
out her name, the sound almost lost over the fire.

“Can you put the flames out?” she asked
Eleanor.

“Not in time.” Eleanor grabbed Meredith’s arm
and hauled her to her feet. Meredith wobbled unsteadily, dizzy from
the loss of blood along with the influx of new power. She took a
step, and the floor tilted up from underneath her. She staggered,
trying to maintain her footing, but fell to the ground. The smoke
was thick and hot, stinging her face and eyes. Her head was
spinning, and she felt sick. Her senses were completely
muddled.