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Chapter 127: 'Cyrano' McDougal

Geoff sat at Nathanial's dining room table rocking the distraught pup and waited for Liam and Mrs. Marks to check his heart. It shocked him when Dirk's already high energy level spiked higher to barely controlled levels; the patchy signs of manifestation in the Bone Spirit showed how emotionally unstable the normally professional young adult was at the moment. Any Spirit in that condition warranted careful handling, but one of Dirk's power -- like Mom -- needed to be dealt with cautiously. Something the Demon Mage was unlikely to do if she recognized the symptoms.

Dirk's voice overflowed with the loathing all Spirits held for the combination of their people's two worst enemies. "Geoff, put Nathanial down and step away before she casts her...magic. Don't let her taint you, too." Shit. From what little Geoff knew of Mrs. Marks, he figured she wouldn't let something like that slide.

Geoff stood up -- still holding Nathanial -- manifested, and snapped at Dirk in his most commanding voice, "Dirk! Stand down!" He'd never been challenged when he pulled rank like this before, so hopefully it'd work now. Of course, he'd never tried to do it with his parents or Faelen's da. Mrs. Marks looked pissed and opened her mouth to say something that'd probably make things worse, so Geoff turned to her. "Be quiet." She looked like she'd just sucked on a lemon, but she closed her mouth. A quick glance at Da showed that he didn't disapprove of Geoff's actions, but he wasn't sure if Da liked them, either. Geoff cocked his head toward the door, and Conor nodded.

The Water Elemental stood. "Dirk, with me." He dipped his head to the angry Demon Mage. "Ma'am." She didn't respond, and Da left the room with a murderous-looking O'Conall following him.

The immediate threat dealt with, Geoff felt a shiver start deep inside him. 'Shit. A Demon Mage is going to cast a spell. A fucking, true-to-life, steeped-in-evil, tainted Demon Mage.' He wanted to drop Nathanial and run screaming for the woods. 'The taint. It corrupts. Destroys._Turns _people into demonic monsters, like it did to Lara May.' The shaking threatened to overwhelm him. 'And I'm already halfway there. The Prince of Darkness for real, if she does. Oh, gods.'

Nathanial looked up at him with the terror still raw on his face. "G-G-Ge..."

The fear in the Dark Elemental's heart drained away when confronted with his Akita's need, crushed by Nathanial's own shivers -- and by the way his love suddenly latched onto him seeking comfort. _'He can't even say my name.'_Geoff created a pair of dragon wings on his back and wrapped them around the quivering pup in his arms. "I'll always be here to swoop in when you need me, Myo, with my wings spread wide."

Nathanial's grip loosened a hair, and while the fear still remained, Geoff saw that love and trust completely eclipsed it. "My prince." The pup snuggled in as best he could. "My prince of darkness."

Geoff nodded to Liam and Mrs. Marks. The latter still seemed pissed, but the Elemental could see she approved of what he'd said. She actually looked kind of amused about something -- the prince of darkness bit, probably. Liam stepped in and placed his paw over Nathanial's heart, but Geoff pointedly tried to not look at -- or listen to -- the Demon Mage as she waved her paws and...um...

Faelen rose from his chair and gazed over Liam's shoulder at the quivering Akita; he looked like he felt like a complete cad. "I'm sorry, Nathanial. I didn't mean to attack you or upset you. I... It's just that... Well..." Faelen scratched the back of his neck as he struggled for words. He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry."

Nathanial met Faelen's eyes, and the Mist Spirit flinched. Damn, Faelen must feel rotten. "I-It's a-alr-right. I kn-know. I'm s-sorry I didn't r-remember."

Liam moved his paw from Nathanial's heart to his cheek. "Shh. As I said, Nathanial, none of us did. You are no more to blame than Faelen is, perhaps less so. It is not your job to remember all things that may be a bane or boon to Geoff." Faelen winced at that. Geoff felt like wincing too, but for different reasons. "Now, I have things to discuss with your grandmother and work to resume." Liam took his paw away and addressed Geoff. "Take him upstairs, to Garret's room perhaps, and let him soak in a hot bath. Brush his fur or rub his back. Do whatever you think will help relax him." Like fuck his ass. "Faelen can fetch my tisane and bring it up for you; I believe each room has a tea service."

Micah began gathering the plates, obviously trying to be helpful. He sounded really worried when he asked, "He's alright, though?"

Both healers paused before answering. Mrs. Marks responded first. "Yes, of course, dear. He's just had a fright and is a little worked up. A hot bath, a cup of tea, and a good snuggle with his handsome boyfriend will fix him right up."

Liam's answer was, well, not really an answer. "I shall check on him later on, after he has a chance to relax."

Micah frowned. "That didn't answer my question, Sensei."

Liam shrugged and waved Geoff off as he replied, "Your grandmother answered, yes? She knows what she is doing, so why should I repeat what she says?" Micah didn't appear satisfied but left it at that.

Geoff left the room and carried his quivering boyfriend down the hall toward the stairs heading up. He heard his da talking to Dirk in the music room off to his right, so he made a tendril of shadow to tap on the door. Da cut off what he was saying and called out, "Enter."

The manifested Spirit used the tendril to open the door and poked his head in. The adults stood in the back-left corner next to the piano; Dirk was closer to the wall and keyboard, while Da leant on the piano top with one paw. Their postures said Da wasn't dressing Dirk down, but merely engaged in a rather heavy conversation. "Sorry to interrupt, Da, but I just wanted to let you know what's going on. Liam and Mrs. Marks are discussing what they found -- she says he's all right -- and then they're getting back to work. Liam wants me to take Nathanial upstairs to soak in a bath for a bit, and, you know, help him relax."

Conor shook his head, amused. "Why are you still manifested? Will you be using my room?"

Geoff didn't want to say the entire reason (that he planned on wrapping the pup up a bit more so he couldn't see as much of the second floor), so he just shrugged. "Nathanial finds the feeling of my shadows very soothing, like a more encompassing hug. It makes it easier to open doors, too." Conor walked over while Geoff answered the second question. "We were planning on using Mr. Marks's room in case you wanted to take a nap or something." And Lily had no part in decorating that room.

The Water Elemental stopped in front of them and rubbed his paw over Nathanial's ear. "Just remember, Son, that Faelen was upset, _not_angry. Letting Geoff out of his sight is very stressful, especially when it's to somewhere Faelen can't go and is dangerous. Finding out that he _could_have gone with Geoff shocked him and hurt a lot."

Nathanial leant in to Conor's paw, but his eyes were wide and fearful again. "H-He s-s-sounded angry. M-More than a-angry."

Dirk stepped closer. "There's a big difference with Faelen, Nathanial. When he's upset, it's pretty short-lived, and he's almost always angry at himself. When he's truly angry, it can be harder to tell. He usually doesn't show it the same way and keeps tighter control."

Geoff had experience with both. He'd take the upset Faelen any day. "They're right, Pup. When Faelen gets very angry, he starts to internalize everything and shows very little on the outside. He also takes a lot longer to calm down. When he's upset, he snaps at you for a minute or two and then it blows over." He bent his head down and rubbed his nose over Nathanial's. "And Dirk was right about the reason. He was mad at himself, mostly, not you." The Mage nodded, but he didn't look convinced; he'd get it eventually. Geoff straightened up. "Well, let's strip you naked and throw you into the tub, Pup." Nathanial nodded and snuggled back in; he seemed more than content to stay in Geoff's arms.

The Dark Elemental brought his pup upstairs with no new crises. Nathanial stared up at Geoff's face with his ears pinned back once the Wolf began climbing, but he didn't shake or make any other sign of distress. Inside Garret's room, he found the tub half-full and still filling. Nathanial must've turned it on at some point on the way. Geoff lowered Nathanial's legs to the ground gratefully. Daily exercise or not, manifesting or not, carrying Nathanial around like that got tiring eventually.

His pup hugged him tightly, whispering, "Thanks. I-I needed to be held like that."

Geoff's heart swelled with love and pride. He wrapped his wings around them again, and gently kissed Nathanial. "You're welcome. I'm glad I could help." The next kiss lasted a lot longer.

Geoff enjoyed soaking in the two-person tub with Nathanial sitting between his legs and held against his chest. The sight, smell, and feel of his naked pup meant that Geoff had a semi the entire time. He was certain Nathanial knew it, too. Hells, it'd be hard not to notice. Rather than sitting in the complete dark, Nathanial had lit a few candles and scattered them around the bathroom to create very dim mood lighting; it'd be too dim for most people, but it was perfect for them.

Faelen wandered in from Garret's pub-like room down the hall. The non-demonic adults had all gathered there once things were tidied up downstairs, and Faelen joined them rather than Liam so he could keep checking in on Geoff and Nathanial. The Mist Spirit smiled. "Come on, guys, the water has to be getting cold by now."

Nathanial's ears flipped back, and Geoff bet he grinned shyly, too. "N-No, the, um, jets add hot water so it's still nice and toasty." He sighed regretfully. "But, yeah, they're almost done downstairs. I should make sure Nick's on his way home." Geoff's pup put his paws on the edge of the tub and slowly hoisted himself up. The water cascaded down his back, showing the developing muscles through the adorable fluff that still covered the Akita. At the base of his back, the water split into three streams momentarily: one over each round cheek, and the last ran down the tail before the curly appendage sprang up, splashing drops of water into Geoff's face.

The Elemental didn't mind at all because at that point the rump of his dreams was free of the concealing water. The orange fluff of the back changed to a thicker adult fur at the top of the tail and ran down the outside of a pair of perfectly delectable muscles. Each one felt firm and pliable, too large to be completely eclipsed by his kneading paws and pressed together like loaves of bread stuffed into a basket. Fuck, they looked just as tasty as fresh-baked bread, too. The inner halves shone orangish-white in the candlelight, and the treasure they contained hid in the tight crevice dividing them...until Nathanial bent over to pull his hindpaws out of the tub. Then, there amidst the reunified streams of water cascading down the revealed ravine, lurked Geoff's favourite place in the whole world.

Geoff didn't even realize when he grabbed Nathanial's waist and buried his muzzle between those cheeks until Faelen's laugh chased the pup's startled squeak to his ears. He didn't care who saw what at the moment; he had his paws and muzzle on what he wanted. The ring of squeaky-clean -- and squeak-inducing -- flesh felt silky soft under his tongue, and despite all the water, it still smelt of his pup.

Faelen shook his head, still grinning. "Don't be too long. Frankly, I thought you'd be tied together already." He wandered back out of the room, adjusting himself.

Nathanial moaned and pushed back. "Oh, gods..." He paused. "Um, Faelen's right." Geoff slipped his tongue through the relenting ring and ravaged the rump with roving paws. Nathanial whimpered with need. "The bed, please? I-I want it slower." The jets flicked off, and the tub began to empty.

The Wolf let the Dog go reluctantly, still staring at what he wanted more than anything right then. That ass. "Fuck." Nathanial straightened up, grinning sheepishly over his shoulder. If Geoff hadn't been hard and leaking before now that sight would've done it. Deep shadows cast around the room pierced by flickering lights. His pup standing naked, wet, and timid within easy paw reach, looking vulnerable yet full of desire. That rump -- that blessed and fantastic rump -- sitting right there in front of him with the tail arched up, just inviting his tongue or dick to go exploring. "Oh, damn..."

Nathanial stepped out of the tub and onto the tiles surrounding it, magically drying himself as he did. "Come on, Cyrano; your poetry has won my heart and earned you my ass, but only if you can get yourself to bed."

Geoff leapt from the tub, spraying water everywhere and extinguishing two of the candles. He scooped his pup up once more with a hungry growl, and his pup answered by a laughing shriek. The door in the main room clicked shut, cutting off Faelen's loud guffaw. The Elemental practically ran to Nathanial's da's bed -- a fucking weird place to have sex, not that he cared where they were right now -- and only just stopped himself from throwing the Mage onto it.'Slowly, he said. Show him he's loved for him, not just the sex.'

A large bath towel floated over and spread itself onto the bed. Geoff stared into his pup's sky blue eyes. "I love you, Myo." He slowly lowered the startled and more-than-pleased Dog onto the towel. Nathanial opened his mouth to answer, but Geoff covered it with his own in a slow, romantic kiss. Without breaking the kiss, the Wolf climbed onto the bed and between his lover's legs. Nathanial spread them for him and hooked his ankles around Geoff's waist.

Needing no more invitation, Geoff reached between them to grab his leaking dick and slowly rubbed it over Nathanial's pucker, making them both moan into the kiss. His natural lube made that small spot of skin feel even softer and silkier than it did under his tongue. So warm. So... Fuck, so_awesome._

Nathanial turned his head aside just enough to break the kiss and pushed Geoff's head down to the crook of his neck. Geoff playfully growled and began nipping at the sensitive spot. The pup gasped and arched his back to press their chests together more tightly.

His target sufficiently lubed, Geoff pushed the tapered tip of his turgid cock forward a touch, just enough to penetrate. The feel of the tight muscle giving way, squeezing firmly around his sensitive penis as it did, sent his glands into overdrive, and the ensuing stream of pre ensured every following inch would slide in smoothly. A tiny bit more pressure, and he slowly pierced his lover's most private place. The tightness of the sphincter travelled up the full length of his cock only to be followed by the gentle softness beyond. The moist heat enflamed Geoff's already high passions, and the rippling muscles seemed to demand action, but his pup had said, 'Slow.' Thus, once the ring sat by his knot, Geoff stopped.

The Wolf reached up with a paw to cup one of Nathanial's ears. He lifted his head from his pup's neck and looked into those hungry, trusting eyes. "Hey."

Laughter danced in those beautiful depths. "Hey, yourself. You're very poetic today."

Geoff grinned and rocked his hips forward to grind his knot against Nathanial and prod deep inside him. The pup's eyes nearly rolled back in his head, and a long moan escaped him. The Wolf nipped at the orange and white muzzle below him. "This is all the poetry I need, Pup."

Nathanial wrapped his arms around Geoff's shoulders and laughed. "I stand corrected."

"No, you lay corrected. Are you ready to get laid, though?"

His pup rolled his eyes. "Gods." The mock-disgust vanished. "But, yes. Always. I-I never feel so...whole as when you're inside me. Like you hold some part of my soul, and it fits back into place when you make love to me."

Geoff knew what Nathanial meant, but the question still had to be asked. "So... my dick is part of your soul? I knew you liked it, but--"

The Mage cut him off. "Smart ass."

Geoff squeezed the left butt-cheek. "Perfect ass." He began rocking his hips in a slow rolling motion. He was rewarded with another soft, pleasured sigh. "Joking aside, I interrupted you earlier, so let's try again." He rubbed his nose over Nathanial's and whispered, "I love you."

The blue eyes staring into his own suddenly glistened with happy tears. "I-I love you, too." Any further words were stilled when their tongues coiled around each other in a sensuous kiss. Geoff lost himself in the kiss, the steady rocking motion of his hips, and the mounting pleasure caused by the massaging muscles surrounding his dick.

It must've been ten, or, more likely, fifteen minutes of slow love-making before Nathanial pleaded, "Faster. Please, Geoff, tie with me. I want you."

He was more than happy to oblige. He pulled almost all the way out and drove back in quickly. He made sure it wasn't forceful enough to tie, not yet. He wanted to build up to that. Geoff began thrusting harder, just short ones for now, but the increased stimulation felt exquisite. He moved his muzzle back down to Nathanial's neck and began nibbling at the crook of it. The fur was too thick for kisses to excite the nerves, but his teeth were more than up to the challenge.

Nathanial's fingers dug into the Wolf's back as his grip tightened in delight. "Ah! Oh, gods! Geoff!" The Akita shivered, and his insides clenched tightly around Geoff. The Wolf involuntarily growled and picked up his pace. It seemed those growls aroused his lover further, and soon they spiralled out of control.

Geoff almost snarled as he moved from nipping at his pup's neck to holding him in a mating bite as he finally drove his knot home. The tight muscular ring slid around the knob of hypersensitive flesh before snapping firmly behind it, sealing it in a heavenly prison. The indescribable pleasure of the tie sent the Wolf over the edge, and he howled around a mouthful of fur and skin as his body spasmed in release. Jet after jet of cum coated the inside of his pup's belly, and soon Nathanial coated the outside, too.

After a minute, Geoff released his mating bite and rolled backwards, pulling his pup on top of him. "Oh, fuck, that was good."

Nathanial lounged on him, looking extremely content. "Yeah. Your mom was right, you know. 'If it has a hole stick a dick in it, and it'll fix everything.' It fixed me right up, that's for sure."

---

Several hours later, Nathanial sat in the basement storeroom close to the huge ward Liam and Nanny had drawn on the floor. It was crazy-complicated! Seven rings, crossed by seven lines, painted with seven compounds, and the sheer number of glyphs in it was worse. Liam said there were four thousand nine hundred glyphs in it. Seventy times seventy, how appropriate.

Liam stood on the far side of the circle next to the counter running along part of the wall. It was where Nathanial and Naomi potted the roses, but it had, of course, been cleaned since then. Now, it lay buried under an alchemy lab of vials, vases, and vessels. The Rottie waited with apparent patience for Nanny to draw the blood samples from the two older Marks pups.

Nick had his sleeve rolled up next to Nathanial and barely winced when his grandmother slid the needle into a vein in his elbow. Nick had drily remarked that he'd be forced to wear long-sleeved shirts until the shaved patch grew out lest people think he'd started taking drugs. The vial attached to it filled almost immediately, and the elderly Akita swiftly replaced it with another vial, and then another. The fourth one took a bit longer to fill, but it, too, joined the rest. She labelled them with his name and the date -- which was completely unnecessary, because Nathanial would be damned before she got the opportunity to need a date on them. It was probably just habit.

Rosemary took two and walked over to Liam, wordlessly passing them to him. He nodded, also in complete silence, and placed one on the counter before unsealing the other. A momentary look of utter disdain crossed her features as she watched him pour the blood into a wooden bowl and peer at it, but she ignored him again and carried her two vials to the northern line.

Nanny knelt on a pillow and looked up at her grandsons. "You can go, if you want." Both of them shook their heads.

Nick answered verbally, too. "Nah. " He looked away in surprise as a puff of smoke, a flash of light, and a faint shrieking noise came from the counter by Liam. "I, uh, what the fuck was _that,_Sensei?"

Nathanial cut in before the Ancient One could answer. "Language, Nick." He wanted to know too, though. "But yes, Liam, what happened?"

Liam looked utterly unperturbed as he continued to peer at the bowl, facing away from them. He held a small bamboo stick in one paw, the end of which smouldered. "There is no taint within him, but I was able to isolate some demonic influence in his blood. It reacted as all things demonic do to my energy. It is quite interesting; his blood, once the remaining traces of his innate life force are removed, should burn when exposed to my chi if it contains any such energy, but it does not until I remove some yet unknown component within it."

Nanny seemed a little...discomfited with his pronouncement. "Do you mean to tell me that just being near you can make _anything_with Demon influence burst into flame?"

Liam glanced over his shoulder at her. "If you ask as to whether I could cause you to combust at will, no. You, like all living beings, have innate resistances to magic and magic-like effects. This reaction, the one between an Ancient One and Demon, is one that can only work between my active chi and latent Demon energy -- one that is not under direct control of a Demon...or Demon Mage." He set aside the stick, and took an eyedropper full of blood to move it to another bowl.

The elderly Demon Mage watched him for a few seconds, lost in thought, before asking, "So, do you know, or are you hypothesizing_that it's unusual? Do all Demons you kill burst into flame when you're near them? Would _my blood do that if you took a sample?"

Liam's face stayed expressionless, mostly, but Nathanial could see very minute changes in the set of the Rottie's features. If he had to guess, Nathanial bet Lowell influenced Liam a lot right now and found the experiments fascinating, while Liam, one of his past lives, or multiple lives, found talking to a Demon Mage utterly repugnant. "It is a hypothesis based on prior experience, but not tested for veracity. No, not unless the Demons have been dead for a time and I channel energy into them. I imagine your blood _would_react once the innate defences associated with life had faded." The Rottie's jaw tightened as if he was about to continue, but instead he turned back to continue his research.

Nathanial tipped his head curiously. "But what about grimoires? You held the Succubus Grimoire, and it didn't blow up. It's been dead for a long time."

Liam shook his head, still facing away. "No, the Succubus Grimoire did not combust, but it did get my warning. Granted, like all Society-approved grimoires, it had been cleansed. Even so, my energy proved most..._uncomfortable_for it." He glanced back over his shoulder. "Now, please, allow me to work before the blood dries too much."

Nathanial sighed quietly, bothered once more by the inference that grimoires weren't as dead as they were made out to be. How could it feel pain if it was 'just an echo'? It had to have some form of memory, too, because after that warning Nathanial could flip through the book freely, where before only a few pages showed spells. Hells, it had to be aware in some sense to decide it didn't want him learning certain spells in the first place.

Nanny bared her teeth at Liam momentarily before pointedly ignoring him, too. She took one of the vials and inserted it in a clamp-thingy on the end of a metal pole. She used that to move it to the centre of the ward and cautiously set the blood sample down. The glass clinked and rolled a little, but she very carefully steadied it before it touched the ring. The elderly Demon Mage exhaled in relief when it stayed put and withdrew her pole.

Nick rubbed the cotton ball covering the spot she drew the blood. He looked really nervous, like he waited for the pronouncement of some incurable disease. Well, in some ways this kind of was just like that.

Nanny put the stick aside and pulled out her grimoire from its bag. Liam's back twitched and his hackles rose even though he couldn't see what had happened. Nathanial didn't blame him, either. That grimoire made the room feel hostile somehow. She laid it open in front of her pillow, between her and the wards. Looking up, Nanny saw her eldest grandson's expression. "It's Wallace's. It's a Balor Grimoire; it's one of three registered in the Society and worth a bloody fortune."

That drew Liam's attention, again. "Balor." He glared at the book. "So named for their father, the king of the Fomoiri, Balor of the Evil Eye. I say 'father,' though it is as a leader is the father of his followers. The worst of the Fomoiri took on his name after Balor fell in a war against the Fey, and they fled to one of the hells to become some of the most fearsome Demons. It is impressive one has been killed, but foolish in the extreme to keep any of it around."

That pronouncement was met by a derisive snort. "Superstitious nonsense. A grimoire is a tool, nothing more. And what stupidity is this 'Fomoiri' business? Balor are Demons and always have been; they're not some cursed children of a mythical king."

Liam shrugged. "Fomoiri are and were the near-immortal children of either Uranus and Gaia -- making them the brothers of the Cyclopes and titans -- or the Cyclopes themselves. When the titans fell to the gods, the Fomoiri fled to the British Isles, notably Ireland. I have seen remnants of their cities and heard the Fey speak of them. As for foolishness and tools, it is not a tool when it can decide to turn on you. I have seen -- in this life -- evidence of a grimoire working against a Mage. The Succubus Grimoire did so against Nathanial. That," The Rottie jabbed his finger at the book, "is far worse than a Succubus."

Nanny snorted again. "A tool is anything or any_one_ that is to be used to serve a purpose. There's power in this grimoire, yes, but that's what makes it so useful to anyone capable of controlling it. Anyone who's weak and so stupid as to try isn't worth worrying about. It's why Garret was never given the opportunity to try studying from it and why Wallace kept it rather than passing it on like the Succubus Grimoire."

The Ancient One's lips curled up in a snarl. "And that mindset is why Demon Mages are so loathsome." He returned to his work with his back held rigidly. Nick whined very quietly before cutting it off.

Nathanial held his paw up to his grandmother. "No more, please." She momentarily glared at him before settling in to cast her spells.

Nick stared at the grimoire. "It's trying to influence us. I can feel it." He cast a Mind Ward and Nathanial instantly felt the oppressive hostility in the room fade. "It wants to provoke something. There's something here--" He glanced at Liam. "--that it hates, that it wants to destroy. Or capture."

Nanny muttered, "I don't blame it." Liam flattened his ears angrily and he growled.

Nathanial snapped, "I said, 'enough!'" She glared witheringly but said nothing further. She set a pen and her notebook nearby.

A quick glance upstairs, to make sure Faelen didn't react so much that the Spirits made a fuss, showed Faelen was staring down at the floor toward them, but he soon turned back to the billiard table. The Mist Spirit explained himself to everyone else in the room. "Liam's getting angry, but I think Nathanial's keeping everything more or less in paw."

Geoff shook his head. "I should be there for him, but I'm fucking glad I'm not stuck between Liam and that witch." Nathanial brought his full attention back downstairs. He appreciated the sentiment, but there was no way Conor -- let alone Dirk -- would let Geoff and Faelen go anywhere near_Nanny when she was going to cast this much magic. _Faelen probably wouldn't let Geoff come here.

Nanny took a few deep breaths, placed her left paw on the grimoire, and began the first spell. She drew runes in the air as she chanted, and every tenth one or so caused a sigil in the north-aligned line of the ward to glow, starting with the one closest to her. Three minutes later all of the sigils shone, and Nathanial could see an incredibly complex weave of magic travel down the line and into the central circle. The patterns had so many different key points and moved so fast that it just overwhelmed him when he tried to follow it.

His grandmother grabbed her pen and paper and began scribbling furiously. Apparently the spell worked and gave her an incredible amount of information. In due course she flipped back to a tabbed page, a photocopy of what appeared to be a much older, paw-written set of notes. He could tell they were still her writing. These notes mentioned Dad, and based on the little he could decipher amidst all the technical jargon and shorthand, must be the notes she had on his blood work.

Liam glanced over but shifted his gaze back to studiously mix some compounds when she raised her head. Nanny sighed, rubbed the bridge of her muzzle, and shook her head. "A cursory comparison to Garret's records show you have an unexpectedly high number of the same markers in your blood. I'll need to do the rest of the spells, of course, but what jumped out at me was the same antibody that I've never seen in anyone else, not even Wallace. The three of you -- Wallace, Garret, and you, Nick -- have the same unique macrophage we've associated with your heightened resistance to Demon taint. You also show some markers common to Vampires, too, though they aren't as strong as those in Garret."

The Rottie turned around. "What of the T-cells? If both the antibodies and macrophages are unusual, it stands to reason other portions of the immune system show signs of alteration. Would this also mean that it may be possible to create a drug or spell permitting one's immune system to attack the taint, if indeed that is what this macrophage does?"

Nanny slowly shook her head. "I'm not sure. A lot of this is merely an untested hypothesis since these spells are very new. We tried some experiments with the macrophages, but they didn't end well. Anyway, Nicholas is only the third Marks to have this refined of a blood analysis spell cast on them."

Nathanial frowned; he felt a little confused by that. "Um, didn't Aunt...Martina, I think her name--"

The elderly Akita cut him off with a dismissive wave of her paw. "She was a Marks in name only, and she's not even that any more. Yes, we did for a comparison, but I don't think that's relevant, no more so than when we cast it on my blood."

Small wonder Aunt Martina didn't want anything to do with her family, if this was the way she got treated when she lived with her parents. Nanny looked at her notes again before placing them aside in preparation for her next spell. Nathanial was pretty certain Liam would be delighted to see those notes, so he telekinetically pulled out some paper in his bedroom and began remotely copying everything. It'd take a while to finish, but he figured these spells would, too.

By the time the six remaining spells were cast, Nathanial had copied half of the notebook out. He could tell that a lot of the notes were taken from other books, and were selected for relevance for today. He had a heck of a time trying to copy out a few of the diagrams; they were the parts that actually took most of the time, but might prove the most interesting to Liam. Very little made any sense to Nathanial at all.

Speaking of his friend, the Rottie had finished his analysis just as Nanny drew the second-last sigil and sat frowning in deep concentration as she wrapped up her own work. Nick looked spooked by Liam's expression and obviously imagined the worst possible outcome.

Nanny scribbled furiously in her book for another minute before sitting back with her own contemplative frown. She glanced up at the Ancient One, and obviously took pains to smooth out her expression so she could say, "I'm guessing your archaic witches' brews didn't help, judging by your expression."

Liam roused himself with a shake and met her eyes with a hooded gaze. His partially closed eyes and set expression really portrayed his disdain. He stayed silent for a few seconds before he calmly answered her, though Faelen's reaction upstairs -- once more staring down through the floor -- said he felt anything but calm. "On the contrary, oh emo one, I found much of interest." Nick snorted as he tried not to laugh.

'"Emo one?" Where did that come from? I wouldn't call Nanny "emo."' The way the elderly Akita bristled seemed to indicate there was a bit of context or history behind that. Nathanial straightened up and hoped he could head off a fight. "All right, why don't you guys take a short break? When you're done, will you be working on my blood or discussing what you found?"

Nanny rubbed her face. "I'm hoping your blood is less..._interesting,_Nathanial. I don't know what the fuck that bitch did to Nick, or what Garret passed on to him, but his blood is a mess."

Nicholas dug his claws into the wood of the seat between his legs and leant forward in anxious fear. "What? What do you mean?"

She obviously regretted her words. "I'm not sure what it means, yet. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything until I've had a chance to think about what I've found. It's just..." She sighed and dropped her head.

Liam continued what she might have said. "Your blood is highly modified. I was able to use Garret's blood instead of a Vampire's to create the cleansing potion for him, and I have found you inherited many markers -- such as abnormal red blood cells -- that are common to those Nightwalkers. The Succubus has added even more abnormalities. Going by blood alone, I would not have guessed you were a Mage. The plus side is that you are immune to almost every infectious disease that plagues Fur and Mage."

Nick didn't look any calmer, not that Nathanial could blame him. The middle Marks asked a question that Nathanial had asked about himself many times over the last two months. "What am I, then!? If... If I'm not a Mage, what am I? Am I a...Demon? What?!"

Nathanial reached over and wrapped his arm around his brother. "You're Nicholas Arthur Marks, my brother. Just like Micah is, and remains, even after we found out he's a Changeling. Just like I hope I'll be to you..." He trailed off. He hadn't meant to voice that much of his own worries, not with Nick being this upset.

The other three stared at him with various levels of incredulity. Nanny was the worst and spoke first. "You hope? What do you think we'll find in your blood? We're just studying yours as a comparison, Dear. I expect it to be as unremarkable as Martina's." A metaphorical light bulb flashed on. "You insisted on keeping the tests -- and blood -- here because of your_blood, not _Nick's, didn't you? That Ancient One is here to guard me because of what I might find in your blood, not because I might try to replicate Verdru's experiments or something with Nick's. Why? What do you suspect?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah, the Hunters want you, but you have to think something more than that is going on to say something so weird."

Liam interjected, "Irrelevant. We will get our answers once the tests are done, we hope."

Nanny crossed her arms. "I'm not doing a damned thing until I get an explanation."

Nick moved out from under Nathanial's arms and turned him so they stared into each other's eyes. "Come on, Nats. Talk to me, you shithead."

Nathanial drooped. "I-I've mentioned this before. It's partly about the sacrifice thing, but it's also how Snow and Zhaohui didn't recognise me as a Mage." Nicholas let him go and listened. "They thought I was something else. It's how oddly everything is going around me; how everything and every_one_ seems to have absolutely bizarre stuff happen. Look at your magic, Nick, as just one example. Before September you could barely do a thing, and a month later you duelled Geoff using only Mage magic. Dad's been a Demon Mage for decades without his Mage magic improving, so that can't be the cause of your sudden prowess. Even Poppy's Mage magic is still supposed to be weak."

Nanny tapped her muzzle. "It is. Wallace can't cast anything above a basic spell, other than one or two basic to intermediate divination spells. Garret can't even do that. He struggled to find enough cantrips he could cast reliably to pass the first stage of the tests, and even they weren't cast perfectly. If Nick can actually cast intermediate or higher spells, he's flying in the face of centuries of Marks heritage." She lowered her arm to rest with the other across her chest and stared at her eldest grandson. "But how could you be the reason behind that?"

Liam again cut in. "We do not know. It should be impossible, but we have already seen him do the impossible. I do not think examining his blood will be at all useful for helping Nicholas, but I am unwilling to discard any potential avenue. We may, against all odds, find precisely what we need in Nathanial's test."

The elderly Demon Mage snorted. "Then let's retest Garret and test Micah, then. If we're grasping at straws, let's go for the whole bale. The ward was the restricting factor for these tests, so now that it's drawn we may as well take advantage of it."

Liam reluctantly agreed, but Nathanial bristled at the thought of Micah being subjected to the test. Nick lightly punched his brother's shoulder. "Let Mikey decide, or at the very least talk to him about it. He has the right to be involved in the decision."

Nathanial nodded very reluctantly. "I'll do that. First, was there anything else that jumped out at you?"

His grandmother shook her head. "I just don't know. There is a lot of information I need to go through. The key things we've already covered: Vampire- or Nosferatu-related markers he inherited, altered blood cells, and the sheer quantity of changes that I don't yet understand -- enough changes that his blood would mark him as a new species of Nightwalker, or at least part-Vampire and not a Mage. Nothing yet to point to a treatment."

Liam shrugged in agreement. "Indeed. Perhaps I could say more after comparing notes or testing the rest of the family, but I have nothing to remark upon further. The most notable discovery would be of no use to Nicholas, and that would be the possibility of creating a less painful cure for Demon taint, perhaps even a vaccine."

Nathanial raised his paws and stood. "All right. Take a break. I'll talk to Micah and..." He pulled out his phone to check the time. It was a little after six. "Dad might be asleep, it's only six in the morning in Taipei, so I'll send him an e-mail." He waved at the other three. "Shoo." Everyone dispersed.