Headache
"Wow." Claire looked around the two-story room whose walls were literally lined with books. "I feel like I'm back in Blinky's place in Trollmarket."
Douxie paused in the act of reaching for a volume. "Blinky likes books?"
"Blinky loves books," she told him with a laugh. "He's worse than a librarian."
"Heh." Douxie grinned at her and went back to reaching.
"No, not that one," Archie told him, poking Douxie's shoulder.
"Oh, you think-"
"Yes."
"All right." Douxie turned and beckoned. Another book, limned with blue light, pulled itself off the shelf across the room and up near the eaves of the second story, and sailed down to him. "Come on, let's get comfortable." He led Claire up to the dais that was practically a second room, with gorgeous sun-moon-star stained glass windows letting in the thin morning light. There, Douxie folded himself down to sit by the fireplace. She followed suit. From the warmth still emanating from the stones, Claire thought there must have been a fire burning recently.
"Why does Merlin want you to teach me?" she asked. "Can you do shadowmancy?"
"No." Douxie shook his head. "I've never had the gift for it."
"Neither has Merlin," Archie put in.
"And neither has Merlin," Douxie agreed with his familiar. "I think he's afraid that it was a flaw in his teachings that led his last apprentice, Morgana Le Fay, who was also gifted in shadow magic, astray..."
"Oh, I've met Morgana," Claire said darkly.
"You have? Oh. Oh!" Douxie's eyes flared wide. "That is not good, that is not good at all-"
She had to laugh at his obvious low level of panic. "It's okay, Douxie. We took care of her. She won't be coming back."
"Oh. Okay, that's good. That's good." He was clearly turning it over in his mind. "I am going to have so many questions for you... later," he promised. "Right now, we need to focus on getting Jim back. And this," he said, lifting the volume, "will help us figure out how."
"Okay. Let me at it." She made grabby hands and Douxie handed the book over.
A few pages in, though, Claire knew she was going to need help. "Um, Douxie? I don't speak Wizard-ese."
"Okay." He shifted over to sit by her side. "Now, magic is emotion, that's the most basic thing there is to learn." He turned a page, revealing an illustration of a woman, drawn in black, with a horrible fierce scowl on her hand and clawed, reaching fingers. "And shadowmancy is one of the darker types of magic. It can be dangerous," he warned. "You could lose yourself to it, as Morgana did. But!" He held up fingers against her alarm. "You are not her. As long as you remain true to yourself, the magic is yours to master. Remember that, Claire. Promise me."
She nodded, but his words had planted seeds of doubt in her mind. "How will I know?" she asked. "What if I do lose myself?"
"Well, you've got friends to help pull you back, don't you?" he asked. "Besides, a dark thing is not always dark. You can live wreathed in shadows and still refuse to submit yourself to them." He looked away and breathed out a sigh. "You can live with a lot of things, for rather a long time, and not give in," he said softly.
"Hey." She touched her hand to his arm. "You sound like you know a lot about that."
He looked surprised. "Wait, are you telling me you're the one person on this castle who doesn't know?"
"Doesn't know what?"
The wizard and his familiar exchanged a glance. Then, "Claire," Douxie said very softly, "I'm a vampire."
She blinked. Then she jerked away from him.
He winced. "Well, I guess you definitely didn't know."
"I thought Merlin was joking about that!" Claire said. Several things were falling into place in her mind.
Douxie shook his head. "Merlin, I'm afraid, never jokes."
"So far as I've ever been able to tell, Merlin doesn't have a sense of humor," Archie muttered.
"Wait, what about Zoe?" Claire demanded. "Is that why she had that big umbrella when we were looking for you?"
"I'm afraid so, yes," Archie said, nodding. "She's never been particularly fond of the sunlight resistance spell Douxie invented."
"Invented?" Claire asked. "How long have you been a vampire?"
Douxie sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, about five hundred fifty years or so...?" he asked.
"Give or take a few decades," Archie added.
Douxie shook his head, rolled his eyes. "Zoe got turned first. Bastard pretty much drained her of... well, everything. I was out looking for her, found her just in time." He gave a small smile. "I wasn't about to let the love of my life die on me, now was I? So I let her drink from me."
"You insisted on it, you mean," Archie said.
"Yes, yes." Douxie waved a dismissive hand at his familiar. "I'd already kissed her, so both types of the virus were circulating in my system, so, poof! Two wizards turned vampires. We've been skirting the edges of both societies ever since. Then, about fourteen years ago, I was the vanguard defending our coven's retreat when Area 49-B caught me, and turned me into their own personal experiment slash vampire making factory." A grimace crossed his face. "Never get caught by government authorities," he advised Claire. "They don't like anything they can't control. Such as magic."
"Do you drink blood?" she asked warily.
"When I have to. Which is a few times a week," he answered. "I haven't killed anyone in... decades."
"And rest assured, those few individuals he and Zoe kill do indeed richly deserve it," Archie said. "Serial killers, mostly."
Claire blinked again, staring. "Seriously?"
Douxie laughed. "Seriously. So, you see, when I say it's possible to live with dark powers and not let them subsume you... well, I'm possibly your best teacher for that. Which I think is also part of why Merlin wanted me to help you." He paused, then continued quietly, "They call us monsters, Claire. Me and Zoe. You. Even Jim. But the thing is, even if we are monsters, we don't have to be monsters."
"Oh." Claire looked down at the book, at the dark, frightening figure there. She thought about it for a moment, then looked back up at Douxie. "Okay, Teach," she said, hefting the book. "I've been to the Shadow Realm before, but I don't know how to get there. Walk me through this."
It was cool. It was quiet. Nothing hurt.
It was cool. It was quiet. Nothing hurt.
It was cool. It was quiet. Nothing-
"Jim!"
He winced at the sound, curling his head further into his arms.
"Jim!"
A thud, a vibration. Someone landing on his refuge. His arms tightened around his horns, trying to block the sound out.
"Jim Lake Junior, I know you can hear me!"
He whimpered.
A hand touched his arm. "Jim," someone whispered, her voice breaking with worry.
He uncurled, just the slightest bit. He knew that voice. He had to respond. "Claire...?"
Her beautiful smile, relieved. "There you are."
"Claire?" He uncurled, just to hold her.
She sighed happily and melted into his embrace. After a moment, she looked up at him. "We've gotta stop meeting like this."
He chuckled. "Like what?"
"Jim." She knelt up, cupped his face between her hands. "Don't you see where we are?"
He looked around, at nothingness. "No? Uh. Where are we?"
"We're in the Shadow Realm."
He blinked surprised, and looked back at her. "The Shadow Realm?"
Claire nodded. "You ran away, after the operation. Your soul, I mean. You're here, and not in the real world. We need you to come back."
Looking into her big brown eyes, Jim suddenly flinched. Flashes of pain, endless pain, assaulted him. Centered on his amulet. Something wound throughout his body, being yanked out. A small green woman, a weight on his chest. Fire. Being burned from within. Screaming until he had no voice left to scream with.
"No," he said, shaking his head, trying to crawl back, away from the pain. "I can't. Claire, I can't." I can't do that any more. I can't be that any more.
"You can." She was still in his lap, her hand touched to his cheek. "If you don't come back, Jim, you'll die. And then where will we be?" Her eyes were swimming with tears. "I love you, Jim. We all do. Please..."
His heart hurt.
Jim swallowed.
"Come back with me," Claire pleaded. "Jim, come home."
He drew a breath.
He nodded.
He placed his hand, monstrous, in hers.
For her, he would do anything.