The pain was everywhere. It pulsed through Jake's body over and over like waves crashing against the shore, except these waves never receded. They just became stronger, sweeping over him in endless cycles that tore away at his composure. He bit his cheek so hard it bled, but it did nothing to distract him from the rest of the agony.

"Don't worry," Kai said again. Or maybe she only said it once—it was hard to remember. "I think we've got the bleeding under control."

He drew in as deep a breath he could manage and forced out, "It's okay."

"That's right," she said. "I'm calling an ambulance. They'll be here—"

"No, it's—it's okay."

She ignored him, pulling out her phone and swiping at the screen. "No," he repeated. He reached out to stop her, but the movement sent another flood of pain stabbing through him.

The strangled noise that broke free of his lips made her stop. "I have to call," she said firmly. "You have to go to a hospital."

He chanced a quick shake of his head, thinking it might be easier than speaking. It wasn't. "No, I'm okay."

"Jake, you were shot in the stomach. You are not okay."

"Just—" He hissed as she shifted her hand on the wadded-up shirt pressed to his stomach. "My necklace. Look."

When he attempted to pull it out from under his shirt, Kai gently moved his hand away and did it herself—and gasped. The metal of the necklace was hot, almost too hot to stand, though at that moment it was a welcome distraction from the clawing pain in his gut.

"Magic," he grunted.

"What is... I mean, I know it's a necklace, but... what is it?"

"Just a necklace," Jake said. "Charmed and dipped in... Bathsheba's Oil... of Healing... and water from the Fount—the Fountain of Youth."

"That's..." Kai blinked at him as if unsure of how to finish the thought.

Jake summoned another burst of energy. "It's... healing me."

And he'd argued against wearing it. It was Cassandra's idea, after a particularly nasty run-in with a basilisk that almost took Baird's arm. Cassie had disappeared for a few days and emerged with charms for each of them, saying she'd enchanted them herself to heal them in case they were injured on the job. Jake said they'd gone this far without needing the help of magic, and he wasn't about start just because of one close call. But after they almost lost Jones to an Incan mummy, he agreed to wear a charm as long as she could enchant something he already owned.

Now he'd have to apologize for doubting her and admit that he was wrong to argue. Dammit.

"Wait," Kai said, turning the necklace in her hand. "Alex has one of these."

"Yeah, we all do. It was... it was from our mom. When we split up."

It took more effort to force out that sentence than he wanted to admit. Talking both hurt and helped, giving him something else to focus on while contracting muscles that all felt connected to his wound. But it was better than just lying there waiting to either bleed to death or heal, so he gathered his strength and forced himself to continue. "She taught us to play guitar when we were kids. She was a genius with music. More than any of us. The things she could..." He had to pause to control his breathing, which was starting to turn shallow. "She could play anything after hearing it. Anything."

"Alex has a guitar," Kai said. "I've never heard him play it though."

"He never liked to play for anyone," Jake said. "Eliot though... for a while we thought he might be a singer. Pop never liked that idea."

There was a shuffling sound to his right, and he turned his head to see Ernesto kneeling at his side. "Flores is still unconscious," he said. "How far away is the ambulance?"

"Uh... no ambulance," Kai said. She held up Jake's necklace, which was still pulsing heat, and then dropped it back to his chest.

"It's working," Jake said, letting a small sigh slip free.

Kai carefully lifted the edge of the shirt-bandage and peeked at the wound. "Actually, you're right. I think the bleeding's stopped."

"Won't be much longer," Jake said.

He felt Ernesto's eyes on him, but he was too tired to look. Healing or not, he'd lost a lot of blood, and now that the pain was starting to ebb he could feel weakness crawling into the spots it left behind.

"Keep talking," Kai said softly. "You should stay awake."

"What was that harp Flores had?" Ernesto asked.

Jake swallowed and forced his eyes open; he hadn't even realized they'd closed. "Orpheus's Lyre," he said. "When the right song is played, the musician can control anyone who hears it."

"That's why Eliot took off his ring," Ernesto said.

"We got lucky," Jake said. "Hearing it through the earbuds didn't have any effect, since we couldn't hear the whole song."

"Where did Flores get something like that?" Kai asked.

"He has a... a whole storage unit," Jake said. The skin on his stomach was starting to feel pinched and itchy—he hoped it was an effect of the healing charm. "That's the errand we ran. He wanted to help find buyers for all of the artifacts, including the Lyre. He was bringing it back to the hotel so we could set up transportation for it."

"Wait," Kai said, frowning. "There's more?"

Jake gave a small nod. "A lot more. More than I've seen in one place in a long time."

"I'm guessing that's bad?" Ernesto said.

"It's not good."

"But this is what you do, right?" Kai said. "You collect these types of things?"

"Yeah. And I should be able to get them all when this is over. The problem is where he got them from." A burst of heat radiated from the wound, soothing rather than burning. Jake felt for his stomach and let out a relieved breath when the movement didn't make him want to scream.

Kai frowned and glanced at Ernesto. "Flores mentioned a her, didn't he? Maybe that's who he got the artifacts from."

Right... Jake remembered hearing that too. He'd have to do some digging into Flores when this was over, back in the safety and comfort of the Library. He'd had his fill of vacations for a while.

Someone groaned—Jake was surprised to find that it wasn't him—and Ernesto leaned back and looked over his shoulder. "Looks like Flores is waking up. I'll go arrest him officially."

He padded off, talking to Flores in the same, unhurried way he seemed to address every problem, and Jake huffed out a weak laugh. "Not much gets to him, huh?"

"No," Kai smiled.

"I like him."

Her smile wavered. "Jake..." She hesitated, and Jake took slow, calming breaths to keep from interrupting. "You didn't have to do what you did."

"What I did?" he repeated blankly.

She gestured to his stomach.

"Oh. I mean, I wasn't trying to get in the way," he admitted. "I woulda rather disarmed him. But I have a magic healing necklace. Do you have a magic healing necklace?"

"No," she said, and Jake was relieved to hear a laugh in her voice. He was worried that she'd get too serious, try to turn this into something that it wasn't. He didn't take a bullet for her. He just... took a bullet instead of her. Besides, he'd always wondered what it would feel like to be shot. Most of the games he and his siblings played as children centered on shooting—cowboys, hunters, cops and robbers.

Pointing a stick and yelling "bang, you're dead" just didn't hold the authenticity it used to.

"Regardless," Kai said, shifting her bloody hand to take his. "Thank you."

Warmth that had nothing to do with the healing charm flooded through him. He so rarely heard those words, even after all the lives he'd saved. Most of the time, people didn't even know they'd been saved, let alone that he was the one who'd saved them. The Librarians and Baird saved each other so often that they didn't bother thanking each other, and that had never bothered him. But this was different. He wasn't sure how to face Kai's gratitude.

He gave an awkward cough and cautiously pulled the shirt away from his wound, lifting himself onto one elbow to examine it. Bending hurt, but it was nowhere near as painful as it had been a few minutes ago. "The wound is closing," he reported.

Kai set the shirt aside. "Alex will have a fit when he sees that two shirts were ruined. I bet he was hoping to return them to his inventory."

"Only one was my fault," Jake said. There was still a tear in his skin, but it only felt surface deep. Everything beneath just felt like a massive bruise.

Which was a vast improvement from the bullet hole. He'd have to get Cassie a new book on mathematical theory or principles of magic as a thank-you. Maybe he'd even wear the Christmas sweater she made him before Christmas.

"I'll pay for it," Kai laughed. When Jake tried to sit up she put a hand on his back to help, and he was tired enough to be grateful for the support. He closed his eyes, feeling the worst of the pain ease away as the charm finished its work. When all that was left were a few aching echoes, he touched his hand to the pavement and rolled to get his feet under him.

Kai set her hand on his arm. "Take it easy. You're still pretty pale."

"I don't want to be on the ground when Eliot and Alex come back." If the roles were reversed—if one of his brothers had been shot... he didn't want to think about it. No, he'd rather greet them on his feet. He wanted to ease their minds as soon as possible.

He stood shakily, with Kai supporting him until he managed to hold his balance. "They can't have gone far," she said. "Alex followed his Flores right away, and Eliot wasn't far behind."

"Let's just hope they bring them back," Ernesto commented. He was kneeling beside Flores, who was now awake and sitting cross-legged with his hands cuffed behind his back. Later, when things had settled down a bit, Jake would have to talk with him. He wanted to know exactly where he got his storage unit of artifacts.

"Look," Kai said softly.

Jake turned to follow her line of sight. Eliot had returned with his Flores, who was still able to walk under his own power. A knot of tension relaxed in Jake's shoulders. It wasn't exactly that he thought Eliot would hurt Flores, but he was relieved to see he hadn't. Now he just had Alex to worry about.

Eliot's eyes hadn't left Jake. He didn't say anything as he approached, even after Kai came forward to cuff his Flores. A smear of blood had dried on his hand. Jake blinked at it while Eliot stared at his stomach, until at last they raised their eyes to look at each other.

"You look like hell," Eliot said.

Jake snorted, touching the chain at his neck. "Healing charm. The wound's gone, but I still lost blood."

Eliot's gaze fell to the necklace. "You still wear it?"

Something in him bristled—it was the last thing their mother had given them, and he shouldn't have to defend wearing it. But then Eliot reached beneath the neck of his tank top and pulled out an identical necklace, holding it out as if Jake didn't know exactly what it looked like.

The rest of his tension drained away. Jake chuckled, though even that seemed to take monstrous effort. "Kai says Alex wears his too," he said.

A light smile touched a corner of Eliot's mouth, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm glad," he said, clapping Jake on the shoulder.

His grip was almost firm enough to hurt. Jake opened his mouth to ask if he was okay, but Eliot turned away and nodded to the two handcuffed Floreses. "I'm guessing Alex has the one with the ring?"

"Looks like it," Ernesto said.

"He should be back soon," Kai said.

Eliot nodded and tucked his necklace back into his shirt. "Bet this isn't how you pictured this case going," he said.

Kai snorted. "Not exactly. But I can say one thing for sure now."

"What's that?"

"I definitely believe in magic."