JohnHKnight

Hey guys! I've gained a few new readers yesterday, so I thought as a form of thanking you I will post one more chapter today. This one also marks the end of the first book, so tomorrow we gonna start the second one. Enjoy!

The room was dark and filled with small noises. The ventilator hissed as it blew air into the man's lungs. The EKG machine beeped slowly and steadily. A pair of shoes screeched on the plastic floor outside the door as someone hurried along the corridor. The late-night traffic quietly murmured on the street. Jenna shivered in the big armchair at the corner as a siren cried: an ambulance car started its race to beat death.

She wasn't sleeping, just sat there, eyes open, staring into the dark room, hugging her legs. She wore blue scrubs: her tank top and jacket were ruined in the battle, and her pants were red because of her own and Robert's blood. As she refused to stay in bed after they fixed her injuries, a nurse gave her some clothes. 

Now the door cracked open, letting a narrow line of light into the room. 

'Jenna? You up?' asked Marcus whispering.

'Yes.'

He stepped in and closed the door, then stopped and stared at Robert's body in the bed for a few seconds. 

'Any change?' he asked.

'No. He is still… asleep.'

Robert wasn't asleep. He was in a coma, but Jenna just couldn't say that out loud. It was a devastating word. After the surgeons and medical sorcerers spent hours to fix as much of his brain as they could, they said that coma was the best they can hope for now. Jenna asked them when Robert's gonna wake up, but they didn't know. A week. A year. Never. Jenna wasn't brave enough to ask if he will be the same. 

Marcus walked across the room, leaned his back against the wall next to Jenna's chair and slowly slipped down the floor. 

'You should get some sleep, Jenna,' he said.

'No. How are the others?'

Marcus let out a long, shaky sigh.

'Martin and Benjamin are okay, Benjamin's arm is already healed. Ayana caught some pretty nasty spells but she is gonna be alright by tomorrow. Vittorio… He is in one piece, physically, but still in shock and the doctors said he is likely to have PTSD in the future.'

Jenna blew out some air on her nose.

'Who doesn't?' she asked. 'What about Rose?'

Marcus did not answer immediately and Jenna didn't like that. When the man finally started to speak, his voice cracked like he was on the edge of crying.

'Teodore saved her life. She will live. But the zombies did a lot of damage. She will need some plastic surgery to cover up the worst scars… And they couldn't save her… She probably won't be able to have a child, ever.'

Silence. Jenna didn't know what to say. She never thought about having children, wasn't the mother-material by any means, but she was sure that she would be still shocked if she would lose the chance. Something under the tiredness and the shock slowly awakened: anger. Someone will pay for all of this.

'How did he find another descendant? Did Kovach lie to us?' asked Jenna.

'I don't think so,' shook his head Marcus. 'It was a tourist, from the States. He arrived yesterday. He was only 17.'

'Fuck,' said Jenna in a tired voice.

'Yeah,' agreed Marcus. 'Where is Teodore anyway?' he asked.

'Passed out in the staff room.' The hospital was the very same where Teodore spent his internship as a junior doctor. 'And you? You okay?' asked Jenna.

'I'm having… Professional problems. I fucked up, Jenna. This whole shitshow was my idea, and now look around.'

Jenna frowned.

'What do you mean, your idea?' 

'My uncle wanted to throw all of you to jail. I convinced him and my bosses at MAGE that you guys can work together. And now my best friend is in a fucking coma, a sweet, kind woman never gets to be a mother and a guy's mind all messed up. Plus a lot of people died and both the Priest and the Goddess got away. I don’t know how familiar you are with my field, but in the peace-keeping, crime-chasing business we call that a complete and total failure.'

Jenna wanted to be angry at Marcus, wanted to blame him but found herself unable to do so. 

'You were right. We can work together, and we never would have known if it wasn't for you,' she said. 'It's just… The thing we faced just way too fucking strong. That's not your fault.'

Marcus looked up to her and even though Jenna couldn't see his face in the shadows, she assumed it was surprised. The man's next words proved her right: 'Robert told me about how you are actually a nice and amazing girl, but I thought he was being a horny idiot again. I guess I was wrong.'

Jenna scoffed. She wanted to ask what else Robert said about her, but then she decided that they weren't in high school anymore.

'So… What now?' she asked instead. 'The Goddess escaped.' 

'She will possess another body, I suppose,' said Marcus. 'Robert only scared her away, but she must be alive. They are likely to be together with The Priest. On the plus side, we've got the statue. So we only need to find her and put her back.' 

'You sound very optimistic,' noted Jenna 'We just got our asses handed to us.'

'Yeah, we are gonna need some backup,' agreed Marcus. 'Strong sorcerers, talented demon hunters and such. Know someone?'

Jenna shrugged.

'I'm not sure if I want to involve more people in this. But we have no chance the way we are now, even if Robert… Even when Robert wakes up.'

'That goddamn bloody idiot…' said Marcus with a voice full of sourness all of a sudden. 'Always has to be the hero. Always. Even when we were kids, he was like that.'

Jenna just realised that she knew nothing about Robert's childhood. She assumed it was bad, knowing how his father was, but that was all.

'Please, do tell,' she said and her voice lit up a bit. 'I would pay serious money to hear about the great Robert Montgomery's awkward adventures as a kid.'

Marcus laughed weakly.  

'That's the most annoying thing about him: he wasn't awkward. He never actually grew up, you know? He just got bigger and older. He started as a very small grown-up and just got bigger.'

Jenna had no problem imagining that. In a way it was typical. 

'So you two were classmates or something?' Jenna asked. 

'Yeah. I had a hard time finding my place, it was a very, very posh school for rich kids.'

'Your family has more money than God, don't tell me that wasn't enough,' shook her head Jenna.

'No, it's just… I don't exactly look like the people usually go there.'

'What do you mean you… Oh. Shit. Sorry.'

As a bi woman, Jenna had her fair share of discrimination and random abuse along the years, but she was also a sorceress and turned out bullies didn't like to have a go with girls that can kick their asses. And she had an easy pass, easier anyway, thanks to her name. Never occurred to her that the handsome, charming guy next to him might have had the same problems.

'Yeah, I was the only brown boy in a school full of rich white little monsters. Being gay didn't help either, although that came later.'

'I didn't know that you were…' 

'I'm bisexual, actually, but back then, twenty years ago it didn't matter how did you call yourself, you were a "nancy" or "poof" or a "faggot",' he showed the quotation marks with his fingers. 'What you were never called, was a human being. Now it's better but things didn't change that much.'

'I know,' said Jenna quietly and there was something in her tone that gave her immediately away.

'Are you…?'

Jenna nodded.

'Oh. Okay. So you know what I am talking about. It's kinda weird though, I feel like we should fist bump or something…'

Jenna couldn't help it, let out a little laugh. It sounded odd in the semi-dark room. But they fist-bumped, nevertheless. 

'By the way, you just got like ten times sexier,' added Marcus and Jenna giggled a little again.

'So, let me guess,' she said, putting her feet on the ground, 'you were bullied by your classmates, when the hero of the day, mini Robert Montgomery showed up and… And what? Talked sense into them?' 

'Nah, he beat the shit out of them. No, really. He was an angry little kid. I think on some level he was looking for a fight that day. I figured I'm better off with him around and somehow we became friends.'

Jenna nodded and looked at the grown-up Robert, laying under a blanket, a turban-like bandage on his head, breathing with the help of a machine. You had to be the hero again, haven't you, she thought. Fucking idiot. 

'He… After the Goddess knocked you out, she was going to kill me. I was spent, my last shield spell was about to break, then he came, with all that heroic bullshit, and he saved my life. He saved my life and now he is there, in a fucking coma, and you know what the funny thing is? We are not together. We aren't dating, we didn't even have sex once, we barely know each other, and that bloody idiot might just killed himself for me. I mean… What the fuck?' 

Marcus sighed and stood up. 

'That's about right, yeah. But don't blame yourself, okay? You didn't hear it from me but he is kinda into you. That being said, he would have done the same for a random stranger, too. He is just that stupid.'

'But he did do it for me,' she pointed out quietly. 

'Then when he wakes up you can thank him. Until then, don't give yourself a guilt trip, don't you have a family for that, or what?' Marcus stretched himself and stifled a yawn. 'I'm gonna call my bosses and ask for new orders. They will probably fire me on the spot, though.'

'Any chance they would send some more agents over?' asked Jenna, finally looking away from Robert.

Marcus shook his head.

'Not likely. We are more like spies and detectives, you see, not a military group. MAGE won't send more than two agents somewhere unless the world is about to end. And even then, they will ask for receipts of expenses.'

Jenna wasn't exactly sure that they were in a much more promising situation than the end of the word, but only said a goodbye when Marcus left. The room got silent again, except for the small noises. Jenna grew to like them very quickly: they meant that Robert was still alive.  

She felt tired. She hasn't slept in almost a day, and last time she did was only a short nap in the Shield, curled up in a chair. Plus she used a lot of magic during the fight, and she knew that she needed to refill that energy. She had had to eat and sleep, preferably a lot. And yet she stayed where she was, listened to the reassuring slow beeping and couldn't order herself to move. Couldn't leave him alone, not yet. 

Even though she didn't think she could sleep, she dozed off and was woken by a nurse who was checking on Robert later. The room was full of light and the noise of the traffic hardened. According to the clock on the wall, it was a little after seven in the morning.

Jenna stood up and her back cracked painfully. She had a wound, just under her rib cage, and even if it was rapid-healed by magic, the spot was still sensitive. She pulled up the scrub top and checked it: there was only a red line and some pinkish skin around it, nothing else. She was lucky.

Jenna had a dilemma. She wanted to stay, but she needed to shower and change, get her phone and maybe something to eat. Of course, she knew that she couldn't stay there forever, so she sighed and walked up to the bed. 

'I'm gonna head home, okay? But I will be back soon, I promise. When I get back, you are going to be here, understood? Don't try to piss me off. I'm not finished with you just yet.'

There was no answer, but she didn't think that there will be. Just in case Robert could hear her, she added: 'And if you wanna surprise me, wake up, okay? That would be nice.'

She stayed for one more minute, then forced herself to leave the room. She wanted to check on Rose on her way out, but the girl was sleeping, and so was Benjamin, next to her bed on a chair. 

Jenna didn't have any money on her, because she left her wallet in the Broken Shield. But she was dressed as a nurse, so the cab driver assumed she was one and was more than ready to help her out. She wanted to go to the Shield first but then changed her mind: she didn't know how much of what happened made it into the news and in what form. Luther might still have his defending spells on, and in that case, she will never find the pub. No, better go home first. She had a spare credit card hidden in her kitchen drawer, under the cutleries, especially for occasions like this. 

'Have you got a lot of trouble yesterday, sweetheart?' asked the cabby. 'I hear there was another clash between them…'

'Between who?' she asked.

'Goddamn Caranos and Montgomerys again, who else? They were fighting at Trafalgar Square, wore down the neighbourhood.'

'Oh, that,' nodded Jenna. 'I think they were trying to help the police this time. At least that's what I heard.'

They left the parking lot of the hospital and went into the early morning traffic. 

'Is that so?' asked the driver. 'Well, it's about damn time then.'

Jenna really didn't want to think about that right now. They probably appeared as selfish jerks to all the other Londoners, and frankly, they deserved it. She pretended to be asleep for the rest of the journey so she didn't have to talk. 

When they arrived Jenna asked the cabby to wait, and up she went. She didn't have her keys of course, but that was never a problem for a sorceress. Even less now, because the lock of the front door leading into the building was broken. It happened from time to time, London being London. 

Jenna stopped in front of the door of her flat and looked at the folded piece of paper for a few seconds. It was left between the door itself and its frame, just above the lock. At least that one looked untouched. Jenna couldn't think of a single way in which a mysterious message could mean anything good. She cast a quick spell just to look for traps and curses but didn't find anything. So she took out the paper and opened it. It was a handwritten note with beautifully drawn letters, almost like calligraphy.

You didn't answer your phone, then I see you on the TV. You was helping police they say, so don't worry, I'm not angry at you. Please call me when you can. Love, Magda.

Jenna stared at the paper for a few long seconds.

'Oh, fuck,' she said then. She didn't see Magda since the night they spent together and didn't answer her text messages after she told her she didn't want anything from her. That apparently didn't bother Magda, who sent at least one text in every couple of days, but Jenna figured that she will stop eventually. Now that seemed overly optimistic, especially considering that Jenna never mentioned where she lived. The Polish girl found her nevertheless and that was concerning at best.

Jenna opened the door, ready to fight, but the flat was empty. She walked around, opening wardrobes and looking behind drapes, but everything was as she left, almost two weeks ago. She closed the front door and put some extra spells on it, just to be on the safe side. Then took off all of her clothes (but not the silver bracelets with the Runes, just in case) and spent a good fifteen minutes under the burning hot shower. She wanted to stay longer, but her cab was waiting. 

Jenna put on a pair of black jeans and a hoodie because her leather jacket was in the cabinet of Robert's hospital room, torn and bloodstained. Then she packed a backpack with all the clothes she could find, took her phone off the charger and fished out the spare credit card from the kitchen drawer. She found some cash too, which was a nice surprise as she had no recollection whatsoever to put it there. There was a half bottle of whiskey next to the sink. Jenna took a huge sip, shivered and took a smaller one. She waited a few seconds but the usual salvation didn't come. Well, worth a shot, she thought.  

When Jenna was finally back in the big black cab, she gave a significant amount of that cash to the driver, as a form of thank you. Then she took out her phone, ready for the worst.

Sure enough, she had a lot of texts, unanswered calls and voicemails from "Mahda". Jenna wanted to delete them but knew it wouldn't be wise. So she decided to read and listen to all of them, but not there and then. Instead, she opened another text: 

Remy: Saw u on the news, WTF? U okay? Call me! She told Remy in a nutshell about where she was going before she left, sparing the details that could have caused trouble to the boy. He must have been worrying nonetheless because besides the text he called Jenna three times since yesterday. 

There was another message from Kahn, who desperately tried to keep it casual, but he couldn't fool Jenna. She felt her throat scratching as she read the old man's text, and put his mind at ease with a reply immediately. Then she wrote to Remy as well.

The only thing left for now was to call his father. He requested it repeatedly in the last few hours, and his text messages appeared to be genuinely concerned. 

'Dad? It's me.'

'Dio mio… are you okay?' Don Carano sounded worried all right, maybe more so than Jenna ever heard him. 

'Yeah, I… I'm alive,' she said, found herself unable to say something more optimistic. 

Silence, a long sigh of relief.

'Good… Where are you?'

'On my way back to the hospital.' 

'Oh, yes,' the Don said, 'I heard that some of your companions are injured… Are they going to be all right? Is there anything I can do?'

What he meant, Jenna knew that very well, was "is there anything I can pay for so my conscience is clear?" That was the way Don Carano expressed his concern, or even his love: when he asked Jenna if she needed any money, that was the equivalent of other fathers saying "I love you". Don Carano was the kind of man who refused the idea that money cannot buy everything. 

'I don't think so, Dad,' she answered. 'There is that girl, she is going to need plastic surgery but for now, she has to heal… Vittorio's gonna need a good therapist, though. And the older Montgomery boy is in a coma. They don't know if he's ever gonna wake up.'

Saying that felt unreal, like a cheap plot twist from a bad movie. 

'I see… So it is over now, right? You are off the hook. No more playing police for you.'

Jenna shrugged even though she knew her father cannot see that.

'I haven't heard from the Commissioner yet, but to be honest I don't really care what that old fucker says. It's kinda personal now.'

There was another pause broken up by a long, tired sigh.

'I was afraid that you might say that' the Don said. 'I will tell the press that you continue to work with the police, for the safety of our great city, with my full support, of course.'

Jenna blew out some air on her nose, like an angry bull.

'Thank you, Dad. I appreciate that you can at least pretend, in front of the press, that you are proud of me. It means a lot.'

'Jenna, I…'

'Gotta go, Dad. See you.'

She dropped the call. The cab driver was looking at her in the mirror, his eyes were full of questions. But he already got a fifty pounds tip, and he was smart enough to know that there might be more if he was playing well.

They stuck in a traffic jam. It was shortly before nine, and everyone tried to get to work. Well, everyone who didn't have to start at six in the morning and could afford a car. Jenna could kill for a coffee and started to get hungry, too. She also wanted to run and scream and curse someone, anyone really, for no particular reason apart from being fucking angry at her father, at the Goddess, at Robert, but mostly of course at herself. 

To divert her thoughts, she checked the news on her phone. She found way too many mobile-made videos about how they fought at Trafalgar Square, which made her think. Why would anyone, in the middle of a bloody zombie attack stop and make a video with their phones? It was nonsense. Just entirely stupid. Jenna and the others risked their lives to protect the civilians, and they stayed to make a video for YouTube or TikTok or whatever hellhole they used nowadays. Fucking idiots. 

Jenna found a video about Robert taking out the Priest. It was devastating to watch, especially because it started with Robert getting a really bad hit. But she absolutely admired the effective brutality Montgomery used. She always thought of him as a worthy opponent, but never saw him this scary. Jenna just realised how much was Robert holding back when the two of them used to fight. 

Everyone seemed to recognise her in another video. She fought back a couple of zombies while a woman and her daughter managed to go down to the Underground station. The comments called her a hero, and she was sure that her father was very happy with that. Especially because the reporter who wrote the article mentioned her as "Jenna Carano, daughter of the mayor-candidate Sebastiano Carano." She wondered if her father paid for that.

The hospital was calm and quiet when they got back. Jenna was expecting shouting doctors, people running besides wheeled ambulance beds and everything else she had seen on TV. But there was just polite stillness everywhere and the smell of disinfectant. 

First, she went to the shop. She wanted to buy a copy of the book she borrowed from Robert, but the gift shop didn't have it. So she bought three other books instead, the ones she remembered to see at Robert's place. Jenna had no plans to leave until the man woke up, so she decided to catch up on some reading. It was long overdue anyway. 

And of course, she bought grapes too: that was the rule. You had to have grapes if you were about to visit someone in the hospital. The shop had some very bad looking sandwiches, but Jenna wasn't hungry anymore after Magda's letter and the conversation with her father. She bought some chocolate though, just in case. 

Everything was the same in Robert's room. The EKG still beeped, the ventilator was still blowing the air into Robert's lungs. He was still alive. Jenna put down the box of grapes on the nightstand next to the bed and looked at him. Reddish stubble started to grow on his face, but it suited him. 

Jenna put her backpack into the wardrobe, then went into the small bathroom. Teodore didn't have too big of a name in the hospital just yet, but he was able to get the best room for Robert. 

Jenna looked at her reflection in the mirror, leaning on the edge of the porcelain sink under it. She took a long, shaky breath. She seemed very tired, with the dark circles under her eyes. They felt weird so Jenna blinked. Something ran down on her pale skin, and she was surprised to see that it was a teardrop. She wiped it off with the tip of her finger and stared at it.

Jenna hasn't cried since her mother passed away a long time ago. Now it was very strange, but somehow felt freeing, and she was alone anyway. So she just let it happen, stood in front of the mirror and cried quietly for the first time in her grown-up life.