Canes of Divergence (16 page)

“What medicine?” she whispered.

“The rabies medicine,” Owen answered, frowning as he looked over to where the cooler was.

Or had been, anyway.

“Where did it go?” Owen asked. Sometime in the last couple of minutes, the cooler and the backpack had disappeared. The duffel bag was still there, though.

“Was it a backpack?” Thomas asked. Zander had forgott
en he was still standing there.

“It was a cooler,” Owen answered.

“Oh, William said something about needing to get something put in the refrigerator right away. He grabbed all that stuff and left.”

“I’m going to go find him,” Quinn said.

“What about…” Thomas tilted his head toward Zander.

“Right…” Quinn rubbed at her temples with her fingers. She was obviously distressed, but Zander couldn’t figure out why. Was this her reaction to his coming here?
She looked at him.

“Look, Zander … I don’t know how you got here, and I don’t know why or … I can’t think straight right now. Thomas, Stephen, can I impose on you…
?”

“Of course, Quinn,” Thomas said. “Just go.”

“Can I come?” Owen asked, already following her to the door.

“No, buddy.” Thomas reached for Owen’s arm. “W
hy don’t you hang out with me for a little while, and let your sister deal with William, okay?” He picked Owen up and whispered something to him, to which the little boy nodded.

The fact that Owen was so comfortable with these people – allowing them to touch him and hold him – spoke volumes to Zander. He wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he didn’t think he liked it much.
Could Megan Robbins possibly know about all of this?

He also noticed that Ben and Marcus didn’t follow Quinn – solidifying his growing belief that the two guards weren’t
restraining her at all. In some bizarre way, they were serving her.

The mood in the room had changed completely, in a way Zander didn’t quite understand. Quinn’s reaction had been the most extreme, but everyone had responded when Owen had told them he’d brought the medicine. Ben and Marcus were exchanging odd looks with each other, and Thomas seemed edgy now, too.

Until that moment, Zander hadn’t known that what they’d brought was rabies medicine – that was serious stuff.

Stephen cleared his throat, bringing Zander’s attention back to him.
Even his demeanor had changed.

“You’ll have to forgive us,” he said. “It’s been a very challenging few days for everyone around here. Ordinarily we wouldn’t welcome a guest in such an awkward fashion. Although, I must admit, your arrival here is a very unexpected event. We were under the impression that the gate was sealed shut.”

“It was,” Owen said, rather solemnly, still perched in Thomas’ arms.

“So I gathered from what you told Quinn. But you were able to open it again?”

He nodded.

“How did you know how to do it? Was it you who closed it in the first place?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Owen closed his eyes for several seconds. “I had a dream … a man with a beard was coming through the gate.”

“Yes, his name was Hector.”

“I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know why it was bad; I just knew – after the dream – why Alvin had told me where to find the magnet.”

“It could have been very bad indeed, Owen. You did exactly the right thing. We were all searching, here on this side, for a way to close it, but we couldn’t find one.”

“You can’t do it from this side, I don’t think. Only on my side.”

“Can you close it again once you go home?”

“Yes. I have to, don’t I?”

“We’re afraid it’s still really dangerous, Owen. For us, here, and if the wrong people use the gate, it could be dangerous for you on your side, too.”

Owen nodded, looking extremely serious for an eight-year-old boy.

“Look, this is all very interesting,” and it was – or at least i
t would have been, if Zander had the first clue as to what they were talking about, “but all I really want to know is how you get the gate open
now
so we can go home.”

“
That
I have no control over. If the gate is operating normally right now, it will be open again in ten days, and you’ll be able to go home again then.”

It was suddenly very difficult to breathe. “Are you telling me I can’t go home for ten days?”

Stephen’s eyes were sympathetic as he nodded, but his expression also told Zander that this was far from his biggest concern right now. “Yes. The gate is closed, and it won’t open for ten days.”

While Zander was still standing there open-mouthed, Stephen looked back at Owen. “Did you say you brought the rabies medicine here with you?”

“Yes. I brought everything that was in the refrigerator at Nathaniel’s house. Most of it came in a shipment a couple of weeks ago.”

Zander cringed at the confession that they’d broken into Doctor Rose’s house, but Stephen didn’t seem bothered – quite the opposite, actually. He leaned against the massive wooden desk in what looked like relief.

“You and your mother have been taking care of things there?”

“Yes.”

Stephen nodded. “She doesn’t know you’re here, though, does she?”

“No. She was out of town when I had the dream. That’s why I asked Zander to help me.”

Stephen’s eyes flicked to Zander’s and then back to Owen. “But you didn’t tell him what he was getting into, did you?”

“I kind of tried. I warned him that he might regret it.”

Zander supposed that was true. Owen had offered him several warnings, and he’d ignored all of them. Still – how could he have anticipated something like
this
?

“Was he right, Zander? Are you regretting this yet?”

“So far, I haven’t actually managed to convince myself that this is real.”

Stephen chuckled and so did Thomas. The guards somehow managed to remain stoic.

“You know Quinn well, I take it?”

“You could say that.”

“If Zander is who I think he is,” Thomas interrupted, “then he and Quinn were courting before she came here the first time.”

“Ah,” Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Is that true, Zander?”

“I don’t know what you mean by courting, but she was my girlfriend.”

Stephen smiled at him. “Well that complicates things, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know. Does it?”

“I have seven sons, Zander – four of whom have entered the treacherous world of girls. It’s always complicated.”

Seven sons? Was he kidding?

“Are you hungry?”
Stephen asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You and Owen must have had a long walk and I’d imagine discovering all of this would be a little taxing. You’re probably hungry.”

“Food isn’t the biggest thing on my mind right now.”

Stephen didn’t even seem to acknowledge him. “What about you, Owen?”

“I’m hungry.”

Stephen smiled. “We’ve got plenty of time to sort out some of this other stuff, Zander. If you’ll excuse me, though, I have a lot of other business I need to attend to this evening. Thomas, would you please take these two upstairs and find some help in getting them settled?”

“So you’re just going to keep me here, like a prisoner.”

Stephen met his gaze levelly. “I’m sorry if it looks that way to you, Zander. The truth is that there is nowhere else for you to go, and while it is not usually my policy to detain anyone against their will when they haven’t committed a crime, the fact remains that if I allowed you out of the castle, you would pose a very serious security risk to my kingdom. Aside from which, I do feel a duty of care for you, given that you are a friend of Quinn’s and Owen’s. I’m not going to allow you to starve in the forest for ten days.”

“Is that why Quinn is being kept here, too? Because she’s a
security risk
to your kingdom?”

Stephen sighed. “No. Quinn is not being
held here in any way. While I think we’ll all be better off to leave some discussions between you and her, I will tell you that she and I are on equal footing here, and – outside of what I believe to be reciprocal love and concern between us – I have no authority over her.”

“Aren’t you the king or something?”

“You’re very astute, Zander. It’s a quality that will serve you well, I should think. Yes. I am King Stephen of the kingdom of Eirentheos. Welcome to my home. I hope your stay is more pleasant than you’re worried it will be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really do have some things I need to attend to. Please allow my son Thomas to escort you upstairs.

“Thomas,” he continued, “you should discuss this with your mother and the staff, but I’m thinking Owen might enjoy Quinn’s old room – and that Zander would be comfortable in one of the empty suites close to Ben’s and Marcus’.”

He wasn’t a prisoner – they were just going to keep him in between the guards. Fantastic.

“I’ll take care of it, Father.”

“Thank you.”

Stephen stopped near the door to speak quietly to all three guards, and then they followed him out of the room, leaving Zander with Thomas and Owen.

“Hi,” Thomas said, grinning. “I don’t think we’ve had a chance to be properly introduced. I’m Thomas.” He extended his hand.

Rosewood Castle, Eirentheos

Q
UINN WASN’T ENTIRELY
sure where William had gone, but Thomas had said he was going to put the medicine in the refrigerator, so she headed first to the clinic, relieved when she could see the lights on inside the little building once she was halfway up the path.

The fact that Owen and Zander –
Zander!
– were here was both astounding and overwhelming, but right now, her only thoughts were of William and the medicine.

“Will?”
she called as she opened the door of the clinic.

“I’m back here,” he answered, and she followed the sound of his voice to the lab where they kept the refrigerator. He was in the very back, behind everything. She could just see the back of his head as he stood at one of the long counters.

“Is it true? Did they really bring the rabies medicine?” She hadn’t allowed herself to believe it yet.

“Yeah.” He didn’t even turn around as he spoke. “All of it – a whole huge shipment that Nathaniel ordered a while ago. Both kinds even, the vaccine and the immune globulin.”

“Oh, wow.”

“I know.”

When she finally reached him, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him to the side, pulling him into her arms. He shuddered and then reciprocated, holding her tight, running his fingers through her hair, the relief pouring off both of them.

“
This is in time, isn’t it? It’s only been three days.”

“This is in time
.” He nodded. “I know I was overreacting – I do know that. But it just…”

“I know. I’m sorry, too. I know I need to be patient with you sometimes, Will. I know that’s what you do when you get scared, and I know you didn’t mean it the way I took it … but …”

“But we both freaked out at the same time.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s a reason we have a rule against that, you know.” He ran his fingers down the side of her cheek.

“Yeah, well, rules kind of fly out the window when you try to contract a deadly disease on me two weeks after I have a baby.”

“I’ll try to time it better the next time.”

“There better never
be
a next time … what are you doing?” she asked, looking for the first time at the counter where he’d been working. He had several syringes and vials laid out on a metal tray, along with a stack of cotton squares and a little brown bottle with its lid off; the smell of the antiseptic inside it made her nose twitch.

“Nathaniel’s in Cloud Valley. Even if we send him a message tonight, he wouldn’t be able to get here until
at least tomorrow afternoon. A message tonight would get there late enough to disturb him anyway. I don’t want to do that, and I can’t wait for him to get back. I need to do this as soon as possible.”

“Were you planning on doing this to
yourself
?” she asked, aghast.

He shrugged
, his eyes not meeting hers all the way.

“
William! We could get Jacob, you know.”

“Not until tomorrow, either.
It’s late. They have a baby, too. I’m not going to haul him on an almost four-hour round trip to do this at night, but every second I wait scares me to death, Quinn. Doesn’t it scare you?”

It scared her more than she could bring herself to talk about, but still …
“Someone closer, then? There are healers right here in the city.”

“Every last one of whom knows we’re out of the medicine and we’re waiting on that batch in Mist
le Village. They don’t even know where we were getting it in the first place. They think we’ve already been making it somehow. Whenever they get a case of water disease, they call me or Nathaniel or Jacob for the treatment. How in the world would I explain where this came from?”

“I didn’t even think about that.”

“Yeah. So … it’s me. I want to do Ben tonight, too, and Emma. And give the immune globulin to Alice – she’s still in the window where I can do that, and then I’ll know she’s safe.”

“You really think you’re going to be able to give this stuff to yourself?”

He glanced over at the needles and grimaced. “Yeah, I can. I’ve done it before.”

“You’ve done it before?”

He nodded. “How do you think I got good at it?”

“Um, I didn’t think you practiced on yourself.”

“Well, I did. Just with saline, though, not with medicine. Saline doesn’t hurt – and once I knew what I was doing, the needle didn’t hurt, either.”

She knew she was staring at him like he’d grown another head. He shrugged and smiled at her sheepishly.

“Well, those don’t have just saline in them, Will. I’ve had that immune stuff…”

“No, they have something that’s going to save my life. I can get over it.”

“Can you even reach everywhere you need to in order to do it right?”

He shrugged again.

“Good grief.” She glanced at the counter again. “I’ll do it.”

“You’re ju
st as scared of needles as I am,” he said skeptically.

She shook her head. “I was. That was before the tattoo and the whole natural childbirth thing. B
esides, you being scared of needles never stopped you from sticking them in me. It has to be my turn sometime, doesn’t it?”

“No. It
doesn’t actually.”

“J
ust tell me what to do, William.”

“Okay, you see this one
?” He tapped one of the larger syringes.

“Yeah.”

“You have to get as much of that stuff into the bite as possible.”

She stared at him.
“That’s not how Nathaniel did it when I had them.”

“You didn’t actually have a bite he could identify.
When you get bitten, it’s different.”

“You’re serious.”

“Be grateful you’ll never have to have this part again. If I’d have thought there was a real chance I’d be bitten by a rabid animal, I’d have let Nathaniel give me rabies shots while we were in Bristlecone.”

“I thought you said they don’t last long enough to make it worth it.”

“They don’t last long enough to keep you protected from rabies – but they do protect you from needing the immune globulin shots. If you were exposed to rabies now – or ten cycles from now, you’d still need to be treated, but you’d only need two shots of vaccine – not this stuff.” His voice was steady, but a little bit of green seeped around the edges of his face.

“Stupid fox,” she said.

“It wasn’t his fault.”

“I don’t care. I’m still pissed at him.”

“Such language, my queen.”

“Oh, you haven’t heard what’s been going through my head for the last three days.” Although she’d nearly
said
some of it, a couple of the times he’d been in the room with her. Maybe it would have been better if she had.

He was chuckling. “Mine, too.” he admitted. “And I think there’s going to be a lot more of it in the next few minutes.”

She laughed, too, although it was only partly funny. “Yeah. All right, show me what I’m doing. Let’s get it over with.”

“So … Zander Cunningham
…” William said, as they carried the trays out to one of the cots in the main room. “How did
that
happen?”

“I wish I knew.” A
lthough at the moment she was still more freaked out by it than she was curious. She had a feeling that it wasn’t going to go well – she’d seen the way Zander had looked at her when William took her hand. What was he going to think when he found out they were married – and had a baby?

“Do you care what he thinks?” William asked, with the uncanny ability he sometimes had of knowing what she was thinking.

Looking up, she considered that for a moment, but then she stepped over to him and tapped him on the shoulder until he turned to face her. “Are you jealous of him?”

He took half a step back – until he was all the way up against
the cot. “What?”

“Are you jealous of Zander?”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “I don’t know. I never even – I didn’t think I was ever going to see him again.”

“Well, I’m married to you, William,” she said, reaching up for that hand and pulling it down to her. “You don’t have to be jealous of him. I chose you. But yes, I do kind of care what he thinks.
We used to be friends. I don’t like the idea of hurting him more than I already did.”

He sat down on the cot, holding her hand in his and
playing with her fingers, twisting her wedding band around in a circle. “I was jealous of him before, you know. When we were still in Bristlecone, even before everything happened.”

“You never told me that.”

“I didn’t realize it at the time – that jealousy felt that way. It wasn’t until you were here, and we were courting, that I looked back at it and understood.”

“I feel bad. I should have broken up with him sooner – as soon as I started lying to him … for sure after I kissed you.”

“I thought
I
kissed you.”

She giggled and leaned down closer to him, bringing her lips to his … but he held up his hand. “Not yet. Once I’ve had the medicine in me for twenty-four hours.”

Deflated, she took a step back. “You are being ridiculous. Nathaniel told me the only documented cases of rabies transmission from human to human were from
organ transplants.
”

“There were a couple of questionable ones where t
here might have been kissing or biting.”

“In third world countries.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, love, we live in a third world country.”

“I talked to Nathaniel, William. I really did. He said those
exposures were never confirmed, and that, in any case, you would have to be contagious first. After only three days, there is no way you’re contagious.”

“If it was the other way around, Quinn
, and you had that animal’s saliva all over you – inside you – and I asked you to touch me or Samuel…”

She took a deep breath through her nose and let it out through her teeth. “Give me the needle.”