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Nick winced at the sound of the saw cutting the plaster from his arms and torso. He knew that logically it was no harm to him, the doctor knew what he was doing, but it still made him uneasy. When the saw stopped its' whining grinding the fox cautiously turned to look at the skin underneath his cast as it was peeled away. At the first sight of the jagged pink flesh running up his arm he instinctively turned away, only to mentally chastise himself a second later, he'd have to face it sooner or later.

The scar led all the way down from the palm of his right hand to his shoulder, then veered off towards his stomach. Just off-center of his belly the scar formed a ring-shape, from his improvised ward. It then ran up his left arm to the tip of his index finger, fractal branches coming off as it ran across.

He'd been marked, marked by his element, marked by power, marked by grasping too far too quickly. Nick was reminded of the old stories of the witch's mark. One of the books he'd fumbled through once had speculated that they were inspired by tattoos worn by some secret society of old pagans. But now, he suspected they were scars.

The fox barely paid attention to the doctor giving him instructions on how to take care of his injuries out of the hospital, he was too caught up in his own thoughts. He was thinking of what he had done, what he had become, what he would need to do next. Now that he knew for sure that there were sorcerers out there who could kill without much trace he would need to establish some sort of protective measures for himself and Judy, if not the entire precinct, somehow.

Once they had finished wrapping the bandages around Nick and he had thrown on a shirt for the first time in days his partner came in. She was in one of her civilian outfits, a purple striped shirt and tights ensemble that he had seen her wear a hundred times before, but there was something different about her this time.

Usually, Judy was warm and inviting towards the fox she worked with. Sure, they'd had that initial set of misunderstandings but now they were thick as the thieves they caught together. Now, however, she was on constant alert, her eyes darting around the room, returning to Nick every few microseconds. And then there was her new choice in jewelry.

Nick decided that the best course of action might be to distract her and defuse the situation a bit. He opened with a joke, "Hey Fluff! Surprised to see you here already, did Chief Buffalo Butt fire you yet?"

Judy scowled at her partner's comment. "Don't joke about things like that. You remember what he was like before the Night Howler case." She stole a glance at the marking running down his palm. "Does that still hurt?"

Nick shrugged, the scarring still throbbed dully, but nowhere near the degree it had before his pain meds had been prescribed. "Not much," he claimed. "Besides, vixens dig scars, is that true for does too?"

The bunny didn't care to dignify that with a response. But, she couldn't help herself from staring at the scars crossing the fox's body again as he stood and moved to put on a shirt. Her eyes caught on the circular scar and her hand unconsciously grasped at her new pendant. "Do those scars mean, anything... you know?" She waved a hand idly.

The fox scanned the vicinity discretely for any sign of eavesdroppers before considering how to respond. "I honestly don't know. Most of the literature I've seen suggests that this kind of dramatic exposure should amplify my ability to work air magic, but I have no idea how. Maybe these scars will channel lightning more efficiently next time or act as an insulator to give me more control. Or maybe the circle on my chest will provide superior protection from hostile magic, in any case I'd expect it to be a better protector than that piece of jewelry."

"Is there something wrong with this?" Judy asked, holding up the Celtic cross she was wearing around her neck. It was made of pewter with a braiding pattern engraved into its surface and an amethyst the shade of her eyes set in the center of the circle.

Nick shrugged, "it depends. The ring might provide better protection than that improvised thing I made out of wire. But, if we were to meet with any of my contacts in the Neopagan community and you were wearing that openly they might take offense."

The bunny cocked her head in contemplation. "Why, just because Christians burned witches a few hundred years ago?"

"Yes," Nick replied flatly. "Even though most of the mammals burned at the stake were actually Protestants or Catholics, depending on who was lighting the fire. Or simply their accuser's political rivals like in Salem."

"But, a lot of modern witches feel uncomfortable around Christians regardless." Judy fingered the cross in her paw for a minute. "I suppose I understand that. My parents would ask odd questions if they saw me wearing a star necklace, it's why I bought this one, to be honest."

"Well," Nick conceded. "There's some debate over whether the Celtic cross is actually of Christian origin or if they co-opted it from Pagans. And talismans work best if they're in contact with the fur. You could just wear it under your shirt."

Judy tugged open the neck of her shirt and slipped the pendant into the singlet she wore beneath. "Okay, if that's all taken care of now, maybe you should test your new abilities or something?"

The vulpine got up from the bed and strode towards the door. "We can do that tonight, for now I need to go back to my place and dust off some old books of mine. Then make some calls."

---

Judy drove Nick to his "apartment", as it were. She stared in astonishment as the fox had them stop outside a dilapidated building with boards nailed over half the windows. "You really live in there?"

Nick shrugged as he drew a small key from one of his pockets and tried the lock. "Like you have any right to comment, I've seen where you live." The doorknob turned, but it seemed to be stuck in place. "Besides, the rent's cheap and the neighbors are quiet."

"Are you sure it's rent and not a bribe to the building inspector? Pangolin Arms at least replaces their windows." Though, as Nick forced the sticky door open with his shoulder and nobody said a thing about the noise, she supposed he had a point about the neighbors.

They descended a flight of stairs to the basement, a damp place with too few windows or lightbulbs. Though Judy supposed that with his vulpine night vision the darkness wouldn't bother her partner that much. By the light of a single bulb hanging from the ceiling with a pull string Nick found his way to a door set into a small alcove and pried it open. "Here we are," he announced. "Welcome to Casa de Wilde."

To say Judy was not impressed would be an understatement. Bare concrete floor with only a couple rugs to cover it, dirty coffee maker next to a microwave and a hot plate in similar states of uncleanliness, disheveled bed in the corner... The only part of the room that seemed to have been cleaned lately was the closet with its rows of pressed shirts and pants. It wasn't the kind of place she'd expect a wizard to live in, though it made perfect sense for a two-bit con artist. She found that conclusion oddly comforting.

Nick lifted one of the rugs and revealed a small mat maybe 2 feet square, imprinted with a five-pointed star in a circle. He took a second to realign the star so that it faced a certain direction. "Magnetic north," he explained, tapping his forehead with one finger. "We foxes have our own internal compasses." The vulpine then lifted the covers draping over the side of the bed and reached underneath, leaving only his legs and tail exposed.

Despite the view Judy found herself oddly drawn towards the pentagram on the floor. It smelled strongly of her partner, as if he'd spent many an hour sitting on it, possibly before showering. And then there was this odd sensation she felt as she stepped near it, as if the air above it hung more heavily than normal.

"Oof," Judy turned back to see Nick dragging out a couple stacks of large books. "Okay, I think that's all of the least kooky ones I got my hands on back then. Think you could look up the sellers? There should still be receipts or tags in some of them still."

The bunny picked up the closest book, it was titled "Unlocking the Power Within" and showed an outline of a generic mammal with a rainbow of colors coming off of them on the cover. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the cover and the interior illustrations of chakras and chi lines as she flipped through looking for some indication of where it had been purchased. While she was searching she noticed Nick sitting down in the middle of the pentagram rug in a lotus position. "What are you doing?" She found herself asking.

"Meditating," the fox responded. "I haven't had the opportunity to properly focus my energy since I got struck by lightning." With that he closed his eyes, swept his ears back, and started heavily and rhythmically breathing.

Judy rolled her eyes again and started flipping through the book, eventually finding a small price tag that read "Ortega's New Age and Spiritual Store." She made a note of it in her notebook and moved on to the next book, a study of traditional practices of snow leopard tribes which turned out to be from a Half-Price Books in Tundratown. She scanned a dozen more books, self-improvement guides and spellbooks, even a book on "pick-up artists" that evoked a momentary cringe, but only half of them had any indication of where they had been acquired and most of them were just used book stores.

She was just about to set down a book on the history of telepathy, not having found any information on the seller, when a small breeze lifted a page. As she watched a small slip of paper fell out from between the yellowed pages and into her hand. It listed the price of the book and the sales tax that had been paid under the less-than-indicative name of the book store, "13th Street Books." As Judy copied down the name she started to notice that more loose pieces of paper were fluttering in the breeze, odd considering their subterranean location. Her ears perked up to try and determine the origin of the airflow and found it didn't come from the room's one vent, rather it appeared to be circling around... "Nick!"

The wind momentarily accelerated, picking up several loose leaves of paper and even a couple small paperbacks as the fox's eyes shot open. He looked around at the chaos gathered around him as the breeze slowed back down to a stop. "Huh," he noted. "That's never happened before."

Judy steadied herself and started to slick back her frazzled fur. "I don't suppose that thing about the elemental connection has anything to do with it?" She asked.

Nick stood back up, brushing his shirt off. "Probably does. We should probably look up somebody who can help us figure out the ramifications of that whole thing."

---

"Ortega's" turned out to have been sold to a smoothie shop years ago, the used book stores probably weren't worth checking so they were left off for later. 13th Street Books on the other hand was still around though, if barely.

"I don't remember it having quite this much mildew last time I was here." Nick commented as he swung open the creaking door. The teetering shelves were stacked with piles of unsorted books, a quick glance showed that only the barest pretense of organization by subject or genre had been applied. Nobody was visible from the front door, it seemed deserted.

Judy looked around for a shelf tag that read "occult" or "paranormal" or something but there was nothing to be seen. Just endless rows of shelves, too high for either of the small mammals to look over and too rickety to risk climbing. "How did you find anything in this mess?"

The fox seemed to think about it for a minute, wandering between the stacks as he considered. "Let's see... I think I walked around for an hour or so, then I did something, what was it oh!" He dug in his pockets and drew out a short chain with a conical crystal on one end.

"Magic?" Judy inquired, looking over the chain and crystal.

"It's a pendulum," Nick explained. "A pretty common divinatory tool. Kind of like divining rods but more portable." He picked up the other end of the chain with his right hand and slowly drew it up, letting it dangle over his left palm. The crystal swung gently towards the back of the store at a slight angle and the fox started to follow it.

The two of them followed the pendulum's swings as best they could, given the lack of direct paths. More than once they were forced to stop and turn in order to go around a shelf and take directions again. After what seemed like half an hour they almost stumbled into a middle-aged goat woman. "Can I help you?" She asked, adjusting her glasses.

"Oh, no thanks." Nick said quickly. "We're just browsing." He made a show of looking over the nearby shelves, diligently examining every volume.

"Oh well, if you need me I'll be nearby." The goat walked past them, keeping her eyes firmly on Nick until she passed out of sight. Nick took the opportunity to take another reading on his pendulum but Judy thought the goat had seemed a bit suspicious and decided to follow her.

She found the goat lurking on the other side of the shelf, ear cocked in Nick's direction. Judy cleared her throat loudly for attention. "Excuse me," she said. "Do you have a problem with my partner?"

The goat stared down at her. "Child, have you seen his aura?"

Judy's ears perked up at that comment. "Is that some kind of magic thing? Do you know anything about it?"

"We each have a field around us, an aura that helps protect us from the energies of others." The goat explained. "I'm not sure if I'd call it magic per se, but I can see them if I concentrate enough. Your aura is strong, dense with your willpower, but your boyfriend's..." She paused.

"I meant we work together," Judy interjected. "We're not really..." she found herself trailing off.

"Your partner's aura is cracked." The goat said. "I've seen mammals intentionally thin their auras to let their extra senses through but there's a long gash straight through the middle of his field."

"Well, he was struck by lightning recently." Judy mentioned. "Would that do it?"

The goat considered. "Maybe. I've never seen a mammal who survived that sort of event."

"Given that this thing seems to be directing me towards you," Judy peered around the goat as she heard Nick speak up on the other side. He was holding up the pendulum again as it clearly swung towards them. "I think that perhaps we should have a chat."

"Yes, perhaps." The goat conceded. "Why don't you come over later, after the store closes. Bring whatever you need for your rites and ask for Susan Clovis." She waved a hand idly in the vague direction of the door.