Page 10 of Resurrection

“Creepy,” Sei said. “You’re my brother.”

“And a doctor,” he reminded.

“Nurse Practitioner,” Sei clarified, as though that meant anything less. “I’ve already been checked by medical.”

Jamie walked around Sei to open the door to the room. “Then you won’t mind if I double check their work.”

Sei sighed, too tired to care. “Forest, obey Kelly until I return,” he gave the golem a firm command. The creature’s gaze fastened on Kelly, watching and waiting. It looked ordinary, though the clothes it wore were a little big as we’d taken things from the lost & found to clothe it. Itwaseerie how lifelike it looked. Not normally Kelly’s expertise, since golems were a mix of earth magic and death magic. But he’d be fine. Water could take apart clay easily enough.

Sei didn’t bother waiting in his bedroom, instead he made his way to the large bathroom, turned on the water in the shower, and began to strip. Jamie watched with a clinical gaze, assessing. Sei saw him flinch at the bruises, as they began to be revealed in the large section of mirror above the far sink. Sei looked like a big bruise. At least he hadn’t lost any teeth, though half his face was mottled with purple and blue.

“Did they do a full scan, check for hairline fractures? A possible concussion?” Jamie wanted to know. Sei stood before him, nude, but uncaring. Jamie didn’t look at Sei as anything other than his little brother. Well, maybe as a patient, too. Jamie was a bit obsessed with Sei’s health. But Sei had been doing a good job of taking care of himself. Mostly.

“Cracked ribs,” Sei said. “Nothing else broken.” It wouldn’t kill him. Nothing really could.

Jamie was not happy with the discoloration in Sei’s left arm. Part landing, part being twisted up in the net, that arm ached. But Sei had broken bones before, and had many a sprain or strain. This felt like bruising, nothing more. The scan of it hadn’t shown anything broken, even if it throbbed with a dull ache.

“It’s not broken or anything, just bruised. I know the difference,” Sei said.

“A golem? Should have sent someone else to take care of it.”

“Yeah? Like who? My best people are running around the world saving lives. Should I call them back? A new researcher? A first-year field agent? How many witches do you know who can handle a golem? Have ever seen or met one before?”

“Had you?” Jamie wanted to know as his fingers drifted over Sei’s ribs, gently probing for issues.

“No,” Sei admitted. “Read about them. It’s more Sam’s area than mine.” The vampires took care of a lot of the darkest bits of magic, and not all of those stories got back to Sei or the Dominion. He was beginning to wonder if that was something he needed to fix sooner rather than later, even if his plate was already full.

“Yet you decided to take it on alone.”

“I’m the Pillar of Earth,” Sei reminded him.

“And not invincible. I’d also like you to not be the Pillar of Earth.”

Sei sighed, the humid warmth of the shower spray, a siren song of desire right that minute. “Still here. And I don’t have a death wish. Though I’d like to beat the shit out of the bastard who cast those wards. Can I shower now?”

“Yes. But keep me updated. You feel dizzy, or anything, let me know.”

“Sure, sure,” Sei said. “Now get out.” He headed into the shower, too tired to care about being nice. If he hadn’t been so damn hungry, he’d have skipped dinner and gone right to bed. “Thanks for dinner.”

“I’ll warm it up for you.” Jamie left the bathroom. Sei put his face under the spray. It hurt a little, but the warmth also soothed something cold in his gut. Worry?

The shower was a sprawl of stone, wide enough to fit several people, while drowning anyone not paying attention to the multiple showerheads. He preferred to start with the rainfall overhead. And since his body hurt like he’d taken a beating, the gentle fall of heat didn’t make him scream in agony. Sei stood under the water, eyes closed, swaying slightly. He could almost hear a song. Not a voice per se, but a humming. Familiar, but still a long distance away. If he let himself drift far enough, linger on the edge of sleep, it almost became real. Sometimes if he let himself dream, he wasn’t alone. The memories had faded a lot. More bitter ones kept him from diving too deep.

Life was full of memories. Good, bad, and ugly. He tried to teach his kids that, though they’d had a much easier life than he had. He had never let his mother treat them like she’d treated him. He’d provided for them, while still showing them how to be independent. Which meant the snarky teens would likely only get worse with age. He groaned and tried to turn off his brain a little. He let the wards of the house all connect to him, a flow of earth energy awakening nerves that ached. Healing, though not instant, crawled through him, calming the inner fire and soothing it like a gentle roll of dirt. It wasn’t as fast and painless as the garden would have been, but it helped.

He let out a long sigh as the pain in his ribs vanished. One of the few perks of being the Pillar was how well he could heal. He didn’t need to roll in the dirt for it to happen, though he found that very enjoyable. In fact, he thought that perhaps after dinner he’d shift into his lynx form, and play for a bit. It was unlikely he’d get to do it alone, as the fae watched him and Kaine would likely join him. But that was okay. Sometimes it was easier for his cat self to let go of all the human trouble rather than let himself stew in it. And he could see the release helping him sleep.

Sei turned the water off, dried himself slowly, examining the remaining bruising in the mirror. His face only held a hint of discoloration, and his chest still had the yellow edges of it, though when he poked at the area he knew had been cracked ribs, it felt fine. He could also breathe again and not cringe. That was a plus. Now he just needed some food and sleep.

He tugged on a pair of sleep pants and T-shirt, making his way downstairs, following the scent of food. In the kitchen, Kelly sat at the table with Forest, though Kelly was browsing his phone and Forest seemed to be staring at Kelly.

“It’s creepy,” Kelly said without looking up. “But you told him I was in charge so that’s his only focus.”

“Maybe we can put him on housework,” Jamie said as he held out a plate full of amazing food.

Sei took the plate, breathing in the amazing smell of it. He grabbed a fork from the drawer and didn’t bother to sit down before shoving a giant slice of chicken in his mouth. He couldn’t help it. He’d sort of learned the shovel effect from his kids. They didn’t eat with delicate grace. Food went in their pie holes as fast as they could get it there. And he was so hungry, he just didn’t care.

He swallowed. “We’d have to be really careful with how the command is worded. Once I know who created him, I’ll have to unravel the spells.” He didn’t mention that he suspected there were mortal souls tied to those spells. The debate over souls versus energy was an ever ongoing one. Religion versus the Dominion. Sei had no real stance, only that he knew there was something there. Was it aware? Or just some energy? He’d seen his father’s ghost on many occasions, sometimes in memory like replays, and often it felt intelligent and reactive.