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12 - Party Pooper
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 10:56:28 +0000 UTCMonty Ward was the only telepathic spell-caster in all of Orinia and maybe the entire ninth district. As such he typically got a lot of questions at parties like these.
Questions like:
What's a telepathic spell caster? Does it mean you can recite spells with your mind? Can you see the future?
Can you control what I’m thinking?
Can you read my mind?
The answers to those questions were typically no, 'no', 'hell no', and 'it’s complicated'. But he usually didn’t elaborate much beyond that, keeping them guessing, partially so he could laugh at the funniest answers. It was amazing the lengths the human imagination could get to when faced with a mystery.
There were no true telepaths left on Earth and he was the closest thing to one that most had ever met. Hence their fascination.
But another reason why he didn't speak much about his skill was that the true strength of telepathic spell-casting lay in its mystery. If people didn’t know exactly how it worked, then it was much harder for them to guard against it. And it made him a particularly useful hero for [Villain] capture and hostage negotiation work.
Still, contrary to popular belief, Monty Ward could not read minds nor could he predict the future.
So when the tall slender girl in a black boots and cut-off jeans strutted to the middle of the grass, he didn't know what she was going to do. Not until it was too late and she was already screaming.
The scream pierced through the din, shocking several people into spinning around and brandishing weapons. Some even immediately had their hands out ready to act and the girl may never know how close she came to being sliced to pieces or blasted into the stratosphere.
“Listen up everyone!” she said each word clearly and efficiently, not screeching at all.
“While you guys are over here having fun in your stupid outfits, a child in Hovelton is on his deathbed, dying from loiter disease. And if we don’t get a healer, he’s going to legit die in the next few hours and it will be your fault!”
“Who the hell is that?” he heard someone say but the girl kept going.
“Hovelton has been asking for a healer for three weeks now! No one has come or even bothered to give us a timeline of when they'll be there. A little boy will die within a few hours. And then a mundane doctor will probably die in the next three days because she's one of the few people who actually tried to help him. And not just him, she tries to help everyone. So many other people are hurt or sick in that town and none of you gives a damn. The Head Nurse has put in like fifty requests for a healer and it's been three weeks of nothing!"
Monty’s heart, now that it had gotten over its initial alarm, clenched in sympathy for the girl. Damn, that had to suck. He’d never actually met a loiter-diseased patient but he’d heard stories about the illness and it was truly a tragic way to go. And the worst thing was that no one here could do anything about it. There was no healer at this party, and probably only one other heroic healer in Arcadia. The healer shortage had been something the Hero Association had been trying to tackle for months now and there was no easy solution.
At the same time, his eyes immediately travelled to the biggest threat in the room. Luther Firebringer. Monty didn’t like Luther. He didn’t hate Luther, but he didn't like him. The guy was a trigger-happy elitist snob and right now he was looking at the girl like she was a bug.
Monty had to act. Fast.
He put down his wine glass and began approaching her. But when she saw him coming she took a step back and she shouted louder, repeating everything she’d just said. “A little boy in Hovelton will die within hours if we don't get a healer. Another person, a mundane nurse, will die in probably three days. No one here cares about that? Seriously? Is it because we’re lowly mundane people?”|
“It’s not that simple,” Monty said calmly.
Her only response was to glare at him.
He tried to explain.“Between Arcadia, Hovelton and about five surrounding cities there are only twenty healers. Most of them have been sent to Turnwall to deal with an outbreak. And the rest are busy in their own towns.”
“So it screws us then?” she said without missing a beat, like she’d heard this explanation before. “It’s fine if we die right? Because Hovelton doesn’t have any superheroes or celebrities living there, so we’re not a priority.”
“That’s not it.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
“For system’s sake, Monty, get that kid out of here.” Another voice cut in.
Monty shot a look at Orbiter, aka Wesley Hunter, who glanced pointedly at the PHORBS above them. The whole thing was being televised live. A techmage was probably scrubbing and adjusting in real time but still. Clips might make it through to the Undernet and might surface again in the future.
He needed to end this.
He could see some heroes approaching in his peripheral vision, probably having their own ideas on how to de-escalate the issue, but Monty held his hand up to stop them.
Then he squatted. “What’s your name, friend?”
“Nunya.”
“Your name is Nunya?” Unusual name.
“Nunya business.”
Someone snorted in the background and even Monty had to smile. He’d walked right into that one. “Very funny. Listen, Nunya. Tell you what. How about I’ll come with you right now and you can tell me all about the problems in Hovelton?"
“Are you a Healer?”
“No. But I can take you home and try to help you fill in the priority form. That would push you to the top of the list of people who want a healer.”
She bit her lips doubtfully. “We’ve done that already.”
“Well, maybe you filled it out wrong. Is there a Healing House in your town?"
“Yes. My mom runs it. Well, not my real mom, but she pretends she is.”
Monty grins. “Of course. Your mother must be a very strong and brave woman, like you.”
“She’s a mundane. She got bit by a loiter-diseased patient. His disease has a mutation so it advances quickly. She'll die if no one comes." Her voice was now more pleading than hostile. Once more, Monty felt a sadness sweep through him. But he held it back. He couldn’t let his emotions distract him now.
“And someone will come,” he told her gently. “I assure you of that. But it’s getting late and your parents might be worried.”
“I don’t have parents.” She said it but an emotion passed across her expression. Hope.
That should be enough.
He put his hand on her shoulder, and mentally felt for her pathways while pushing a gentle soothing spell.
***
Lexie watched it all play out from behind a well-pruned broom shrub that was next to the forcefield. She was keeping an eye out for the server's return, but also trying to watch what Xena was doing. It was hard to see properly from her angle, with the cathedral mostly in the way, but she managed to have a full view of Xena's back. And she saw the man in a Hawaiian shirt approach her and put his hand on Xena’s shoulder. She noticed Xena grow unusually still.
Lexie could almost sense a change in the atmosphere and it set her teeth on edge.
Maybe this was a colossally bad idea after all.
The more she watched, the more nervous she got. Hawaiian-shirt man was doing something to Xena. Lexie was sure of it.
She was scared that Xena was in trouble, mostly because the heroes looked poised, getting ready to pulse into action. Even the servers had stopped to watch the commotion.
No one was coming out, but she needed to get in.
What could she do?
Lexie opened up her inventory watching the timer at the corner of her vision.
The active time for the <Out of Sight> card had elapsed for Xena, and the card reappeared in Lexie’s inventory, just like Aiden told her would happen once he signed over the card to her. He said even if she gave it to someone, once they used it, it would return to her. That was the beauty of being assigned as the new deck owner.
It had now entered its twenty-second cool-down with fifteen seconds on the clock.
That wasn’t that bad. Fifteen seconds of waiting was nothing in the grand scheme of things. But for some reason, Lexie felt so anxious. So much could happen in fifteen seconds while everyone stood around staring at Xena like a zoo animal.
Fourteen, thirteen…
Seeing Xena surrounded by all those heroes made the reality of what they were doing finally hit her.
Xena’s a helpless mundane little girl surrounded by all these superpowered people. Just because they say they're [Heroes] doesn't mean they're decent people.
This could get lethal very quickly.
Eleven, ten…
To be honest, Lexie didn't think that this mission would be particularly dangerous. Potentially embarrassing maybe but not dangerous. She half-way didn’t even think they would get in. And if they managed to, she thought the worst the heroes could do was kick them out.
And she also hoped there would be a small chance the heroes would actually send them home with a healer if only because they were shamed into compliance. That was the ideal scenario for Lexie, the one that would have brought her joy and peace.
It would have saved Emma and Evan.
It would have cleared Aiden’s name too. She didn’t admit it to herself at first, but that was a big part of why she was doing what she was doing.
But the [Heroes] didn't look like they wanted to help Xena.
They all stared at her with varying levels of distaste, confusion, worry and pity. But no healer was popping out saying, “Sure let me help!”
And no one was stopping Hawaiian-shirt man from whatever he was doing to her.
Lexie checked again. Eight seconds. God, this was taking forever.
He still had his hand on her shoulder. He was still talking to her.
And Xena was almost…smiling. That was odd, considering how furious she was coming here. And Xena didn’t seem like the type who was easily amused.
He was doing something to her.
She needed to get him away from Xena. He may be virtually drugging her. Or even mind-controlling her.
Lexie opened up her inventory and pulled out the <Getting Out of Hand> card again. Maybe if she got him to trip, he'd let Xena go. Lexie hastily and clumsily activated the card, her heart racing as she tried to go through the steps quickly. As quickly as they could anyway. God, mana moved slowly.
She could see why people hated these things. Wasting over a minute trying to do something simple was irritating.
But when she got to the final step, when she pointed at Monty, nothing happened.
She frowned. She followed the steps. The card shattered. Everything was done right.
But it didn't work.
Did she miss something?
Was it because of the forcefield?
She glanced at the card again and saw that it was going through a 20-second cooldown. While it did, she opened up information on the card, reading through the instructions again.
The only condition given for the card not to work was to target pathways in defensive mode. Was he in defensive mode? Why?
No time to think. The man was still talking to Xena and the rest of the heroes seemed like they were turning back to their normal conversations, bored of the spectacle.
Lexie had to try again.
She glanced beside Hawaiian-shirt man at one of the servers holding a tray of champagne glasses. He was still watching the show, probably storing up on gossip for later.
Lexie activated the card again, this time targeting the waiter.
Once she pointed at him, it acted almost instantly.
The waiter suddenly fumbled and sent the glasses flying, including one that flew to Hawaiian-shirt's face. The [Hero] spun around and caught it and Lexie took that chance to flash her <Out of Sight Card> card and badge to the forcefield and run in.
She sprinted as fast as her little legs could carry her and caught Xena’s hand in hers.
“Run!” she said as she pulled and thankfully Xena complied, the two of them darting back through where they came. People shouted and called out but no one stopped them. Not even the forcefield. Either someone had let them through, or it was designed to keep people out, not in.
The two of them dropped the server’s badge on the floor as they ran and squeezed themselves through the first fence. And then they heaved themselves over the second.
Even as Lexie's lungs burned she didn't stop going, following Xena's jog back to the train station.
The adrenaline must have done its job, because Lexie had never been a runner. And she doubted Lexie Sparrowfoot was either. But they managed to cover the 2-mile distance relatively quickly and were back at the train station on their return platform.
Only there did they stop to catch their breath.
Lexie collapsed onto the floor to heave in breaths. Xena bent over with hands on their knees unable to do much but gasp in air.
“Are you okay?” Lexie finally asked when her chest was no longer burning.
Xena nodded and looked behind her. “I don’t think they’re coming after us.”
“I don’t think so either.” The [Heroes] probably had bigger things to worry about probably. Like damage control. “But the sooner we get home the better I think.”
“Yeah,” Xena swallowed. Lexie analyzed her trying to see if she looked different but she looked fine.
“What did that guy do to you?”
“What guy?”
The one holding your shoulder.”
“Oh. I don’t know. He was just trying to convince me to go home saying he would help me fill the priority form. Probably just giving lip service to the orbs.”
“Oh,” Lexie glanced at the approaching train. “So he wasn’t doing anything magical or something?” If not then why was she smiling?
Xena thought about it. “I don’t know. At a point, I started to calm down a little, but I thought that was maybe because I already yelled and got it out of my system. And the whole thing seemed kind of funny in retrospect.” She frowned. “Although not so much now.”
Oh.” Lexie could have sworn that guy was up to no good. Was she mistaken? Should they have stayed? Maybe he wanted to help them?
“Anyway,” Xena said. “Maybe they might send someone now. If the footage was live at least some of it made it into the stream. They can’t scrub everything in time and someone from outside crowd may have recorded it as it was happening."
“Mhmm,” Lexie really hoped it worked but she wasn’t too optimistic. In her experience, high-powered people with influence could be very good at covering things up if need be.
Xena watched her out of the corner of her eyes. She sensed there was something the girl wanted to say, just from the struggle in her features.
She probably wants to say thank you but doesn't know how to.
And then Xena said, “You talk weird.”
Lexie frowned. That wasn’t a thank you.
But Xena wasn't done. "You sound different from how you were before too. Like, older. And also like a robot.” She sighed. "But you’re pretty smart and it was cool of you to help me, so I guess it’s fine."
Lexie considered the words. That also wasn't a 'thank you' but she guessed it was as good as she was going to get.
They waited about ten minutes for their return train and in that time, Lexie fought exhaustion that weighed her down.
She would probably sleep on the ride home. She felt like she needed a nice long lap.
After they boarded, Lexie sat and Xena distractedly sat next to her, glancing at her pad where footage from the livestream played.
“They cut the sound.” She sighed. “But the video is still there. Maybe someone got the uncut version. Hopefully, they reshare it and someone reposts it. Or maybe the Undernet people have it.”
But that might take a long time and we need a healer today. But Lexie didn’t want to discourage her, so she simply said, “Great.”
Xena nodded and then slid the video out. Underneath that, in the recommendations was a video titled Conrad Grace Vs Buzzshot preliminaries.
“Which one of them is Conrad?” Lexie asked tiredly.
“The brown-haired one. I already watched that fight. He wiped the floor with Buzzshot. Buzzshot is a weaponist that uses fake lightning-infused arrows, but Conrad is a berserker which means he’s really good at taking damage and he’s also really good at using an opponent's weapons against them. The more you have the better. So each arrow he shot became a weapon for Conrad.”
“Uh-huh.” Lexie was only half listening. Her eyes were drooping closed, and her head sunk onto Xena’s shoulder.
Xena jerked away. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sleepy,” Lexie said.
“So? Do I look like a pillow?”
“Oh, come on, I did you a favor. Just let me sleep on your shoulder.”
“In your wildest dreams.” Xena lightly shoved Lexie but the latter simply rebounded and her head landed on Xena’s lap. She snuggled in.
“Get off me, you pervert.”
Lexie didn’t respond. She was so tired.
Suddenly, Xena stopped trying to push her off, as though suddenly realizing that something was seriously wrong here.
“Hey Lexie,” Xena said, shaking her shoulder. “You good?”
“Shh. Stop talking pillow.”
“Hey, wake up. Don't fall asleep.” Xena shook her again. “I don’t think you should fall asleep. Something‘s wrong. Shit, I’ll have to call Emma.”
But before she could finish her sentence, Lexie was already conked out.
***
When Lexie woke up, she was staring at the white ceiling. Sunset blasted in through the windows bathing the entire room with an orange glow. She saw in clear detail the tube that ran from her arm up into a IV bag.
She was in the hospital.
And it was so easy to believe that this was a hospital back in the real world, in New York and she was waking up from the fever dream she was having after being shot.
But then one of the nurses who held Evan down opened the door and dashed those hopes.
“Hey, kiddo.” She smiled, one curly blonde strand escaping from its low bun. She tucked it behind her ear. “You're awake. Good. Your father will be happy to know.”
“Where is he?” Lexie asked.
“He’s still in the infirmary helping Emma. They’re developing more potions for Evan. Trying to see if they can somehow reverse engineer a mutation and maybe get a cure.”
“I thought there was no cure.”
“That’s what we said but…well, your dad is a pretty stubborn guy.”
“Can I go see him?” Lexie asked.
The nurse hesitated. “I’m not sure. I think it’s better if you rest.“
“I’m fine now,” she said. She no longer felt sleepy or tired. She wanted to see Aiden. He was her anchor in this world and she….she just needed to see him. “Can I go see him? Please?”
The nurse sighed. "Alright. I’ll take you to him.” She came over and dislodged the empty bag from the hook, taking out the syringe from Lexie’s hand. She cleaned the insertion site and then held out her hand. Lexie gripped the woman’s palm as she stood and though she felt a little nauseous from the sudden movement, she didn’t feel weak. At the very least, she didn’t feel nearly as weak as she did back on the train.
Speaking of which, how long ago was that?
How did she get to the hospital? And where was Xena?
“What happened?” she asked the nurse as they walked down the hallway toward the front of the hospital. She could see the waiting room through the glass panel and once again, the seats were packed with anxious patients waiting. There was an air of anxiety amongst the staff too. Lexie could tell from their strained faces, the way they muttered on themselves that something was wrong. One nurse snapped on another when asked for a pen, and practically flung it at her like a projectile.
Everyone seemed on the edge.
The nurse that was escorting Lexie caught the commotion, grimaced, and then shook her head at Lexie. “Well, my dear, you had what they call a TMB. Total mana burnout. You’d completely used up all your mana so your body essentially went into shutdown to recover.
“Oh.” That made sense. That was why she felt so tired. But she’d only used a handful of cards, and one of them didn't need her mana. By her calculations, she hadn't used up to her allotted 400 mana points.
So what gave? Why did she burn out?
Did Lexie Sparrowfoot have a weakness she didn't know about?
“How long ago was that?” she asked.
“You’ve only been out for about forty-five minutes. Luckily, Xena called the second it happened and so we met you right at the train station and got you on recuperative fluids immediately.”
“What would have happened if you didn't?”
“Probably death.”
Lexie’s eyes widened. “Really?” She could have died from that? How did no one warn her?
But then an irreverent smile split the nurse’s lips and she said, “Nah, I’m just messing with you. You would have had a terrible headache and maybe felt like death for a few days, but you wouldn’t have died.” She suddenly got serious. “But seriously don’t do that again. You may not be able to kill yourself but you can cause irreparable damage to your pathways if you keep wiping out.”
That sounded dire. “I won’t,” she said. Maybe I should have read the card terms of use after all.
They turned the corner and the nurse gave her considering look. “So. You’ve pre-awakened huh? That’s pretty impressive.”
“Oh.” Now that she knew what it meant, she felt a little bashful under the scrutiny. “Yeah.”
“Well, it’s to be expected given who your dad is but still. Only about 10% of rankers are pre-awakened, you know?”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“Do you know what you want to be yet?” She asked. “Because I gotta tell you, we could really use a healer around here.”
“A healer would be nice.” And she was seriously considering it after the fiasco today. “But I haven’t made any decision yet.”
“Well, let me know when you do decide. I’m Ashley by the way.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lexie.”
“I know.” Ashley grinned.
They turned left in the hallway and approached a door. Ashley knocked and opened to reveal a lab of nurses and Aiden standing at the head of the table. A wave of relief filled Lexie when she saw him and she wasn’t sure why. It’s not like she thought he was dead or something. Yet she had an urgency that she couldn’t explain, and it only calmed after she saw that Aiden was indeed there.
This is what it feels like to be a kid again, and lose your parents at the mall.
Or maybe it because he was the first person she’d met in this world, her supposed dad. Whatever the case might be, she felt more stable around him.
Emma was next to him. Her wound was completely bandaged and her index finger was poised over what looked to be a petri dish.
She smiled when she saw Lexie. “Well if it isn't my deviant daughter’s, deviant friend.”
Max was there too, next to Emma, and he also grinned. “I heard you broke into a cape party, rascal. Bad ass. Glad to see some of your mother in you after all.”
“It wasn’t badass,” Lexie told them. “We basically just broke in to ask for a healer and then ran away.”
“Smart. If you’d stayed any longer the cowards might have tried to get you arrested or something similarly ridiculous.”
Aiden wasn’t smiling though. Lexie realized it was the first time she’d seen him look this unhappy and it was all directed at her. It made her want to duck her head, which she did.
“You’re supposed to be resting,” he said sternly as he lowered his test tubes, took off his medical gloves, and walked to her.
“I’m fine.”
Aiden muttered something under his breath and then Max said, “Don’t be too hard on her. She was just trying to help.”
“Stay out of this,” Aiden shot back, and then to Lexie he added tersely, “You’re going back to bed.”
“I’m fine,” Lexie said but Aiden didn’t ask again. He simply swept her up into his arms and she had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck as he carried out of the room. .
He walked with a stiff silence, his eyes directed straight ahead.
After they walked a little away Lexie had to ask. “Are you mad at me?”
He shot her an incredulous look.
“Lexie, of course I’m mad at you! Do you have any idea how dangerous what you did was? I told you to go home and yes, I expected maybe a few detours due to your infernal curiosity. What I didn’t expect was for you to hitch a ride with Xena–who I’m realizing now is a terrible influence–to go to another city, and break into a cape party. For system’s sake, what if they thought the two of you were some undercover spies sent by a [Villain]? They could have vaporized you before they asked questions.”
“Undercover spies? We’re ten.”
“The Spy academy starts training young,” he said. “An eight-year-old nearly took out a prime minister in District 8 last year.”
“Really?” Now that sounded like an interesting story.
But the answer she got was a brief glare from her father.
Lexie sighed. Aiden was right. She did realize how braindead what she did was. Old Lexie, who was sixteen and cautious, probably would have thought twice about it.
But this new Lexie, stuck in a ten-year-old body, seemed to have gotten some of its childish tendencies too, including impulsivity and that young naive fearlessness kids often had because they thought nothing bad could ever happen to them.
“Ok, I’m sorry,” she said finally, hoping it would end there but Aiden shook his head.
“Oh, I’m not done.” Each stride bounced with his agitation and he pushed his glasses up to secure them. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, you, my completely untrained, only-pre-awakened-yesterday daughter used enough cards for her to completely burn herself out in a transportation system that all types of creeps and reprobates use. And you might say I’m overreacting because, ‘normal people also use the train too’ but my ten-year-old daughter and her friend won’t know who’s normal and who is vermin from the very valleys of hell. Do you know I almost had a heart attack when Emma told me? I thought it was a bad joke for a second but no she was serious. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn't believe you activated a bunch of cards and burned out on the train! I know I told you that cards are safe to practice with but only when you don't do deliberately stupid things with them!”
“Three cards.”
“What?”
“You said I activated a bunch of cards but it was only three cards. And one of them was the <Out of Sight> card which you already said doesn’t use mana.” She pointed out. “I checked my pre-awakened mana capacity and it said it was 400 and by my calculation, I only used about 140 mana points. So I thought I would be okay. I don’t know how I burned out from just that.” She bit her lip, hating to admit the next part. “I think there might be something wrong with me. Maybe I’m weak? Or maybe you were wrong and I really suck at this.”
He met her gaze as though shocked by her gall. “That’s what you're worried about? That's the only thing you retained from my whole rant?”
“I already said I was sorry. I’m not sure what else to say.”
“You’re supposed to tell me you won’t do it again!”
“I probably won’t do it again. Passing out in Xena’s lap was kind of embarrassing.”
He sighed and threw open the door for the hospital room and put her down finally on the bed, gently despite his anger. Then he drew the covers over her and said. “You didn’t pass out because you were weak. You passed out because you were untrained, and your pre-awakened mana is only a fraction of your full awakened capacity. You don’t have enough practice with pathways to not waste mana.”
“But I did it exactly as the instructions said.”
“It doesn't matter. Each time you activate a card, you waste mana. Even if you do everything right, you probably still waste at least half the minimum mana indicated by the card. It’s the nature of it, that when using any power or skill some mana will be wasted.”
Ah. Just like force. When kicking a ball, not all of the force is transferred to enact on the object, some of it is wasted as friction.
Damn. She really should have read the terms of use.
“Oh.”
“With training, you’ll learn how to activate mana pathways with as little waste as possible.”
“You’ll teach me?” She sounded hopeful.
Aiden’s face was conflicted. “Later. If you promise never to do anything like this again.”
“I promise.”
His eyes remained uncertain and then he sighed. “I don’t want you to grow up too fast. You’ve barely had a childhood. I want you to enjoy it a little more. Your mother would have wanted the same thing too.”’
Lexie was quiet for a little bit. “You said she was a fighter?”
A pained look entered his eyes. “Yes. She was also brave. Sometimes stupidly so. And stubborn. Like you. At least I never had to worry about her suffering magical burnout.”
“Because she didn't have magic.”
He swallowed. “No, she didn't. I’ll have to get back and help Emma with the potion. Can I trust you to stay put?”
Lexie nodded. She knew that Aiden had intentionally changed the subject to avoid talking about her mother because it hurt him to do so. Even though he was the one who brought it up in the first place.
He straightened to leave and then hesitated. Then he turned back and brushed his lips over her hairline.
“I appreciate what you were trying to do,” he said in a much gentler tone. “And I’m sure Emma appreciates it too. But it would be a sad day indeed when kids started doing the work for the adults. Don’t worry, we’re doing the best we can for Emma. We’re handling it.”
“What about Evan?” Lexie didn't want to think about it, but since the nurse had mentioned that Lexie had been unconscious for forty-five, she thought maybe he was already…
She swallowed. “Is he dead?”
Aiden's face was grave. “Not yet. We’re working on a potion that will place him in a medically induced coma. That way his body and mind will be stuck in limbo until a healer arrives. It will prevent further damage. In the meantime, I’m also trying to see if there is a way to heal him with a potion.”
“How? You said it wasn’t possible without magic. And Evan doesn't have a lot of time. And what if the first potion doesn't work? What if he takes it and the medicine makes him worse? They’ll call you a murderer again.”
Lexie had whispered the ‘m’ not wanting to hurt Aiden’s feelings.
But Aiden merely smiled. “I know you’re worried honey bee, but you should have a little more faith in me. Though I don’t like to toot my own horn, you should remember that father wasn’t just an Archmage. He also happened to be a generational genius.”
