Chapter 6

This time when a centaur came through the door, I am pleased to say I handled it much better. I even managed to give Dr Collias a small smile and received one in return.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon. Are you experiencing any more symptoms?"

I must have given him a confused look.

"With your head. Any nausea, or is the headache worsening?"

You'd better believe the headache was worsening. Unfortunately, it was for a completely different reason than what the doctor was expecting.

Maude stepped forward. "You're not here to check on Sadie, Ambrose."

The centaur was called Ambrose. Not what I would have guessed.

"On the last full moon, Flora drank a large bottle of sleeping potion and we haven't been able to wake her up. We believe her issue is magical, but it has been brought to our attention that we should have a medical opinion before tackling the magical side of the problem."

Dr Collias opened his mouth, closed it and swallowed, before trying again. "Who suggested getting me to check her out?"

Maude gestured in my direction. "As part of the healing spell we require a magical match, preferably a family member to take part in the spell. As you are aware, Flora is estranged from her family and none of them were willing to help. We grabbed Sadie because we think she may be Flora's niece. She has agreed to help us."

"Grabbed?" queried Dr Collias.

"Fine, if you want to be pedantic, we kidnapped her. I threw a spell ball in her face to knock her out and we loaded her in the trunk. That's how she got hurt."

The horrified look on Dr Collias's face was something to behold. "So, let me get this straight. Not only did you not come to me the second you discovered that one of my oldest and dearest friends is in a coma, you went out and abducted one of her family members, and then made me an unwitting accomplice to a federal crime."

Yes, what they'd done was as bad as I thought.

"She's fine with it now," Tilda said, hurriedly.

"I don't know if fine is the term I'd use," I muttered. "More like, I can see the bigger picture."

Dr Collias rubbed a hand over his face and glanced at me. "Do you want me to report this to law enforcement?"

A part of me really wanted to do that. I kept thinking that this was not the way that a kidnapping victim should be acting. I should be doing everything I could to get away from these people and, despite my surprise when introduced to Dr Collias, my instincts told me that he was a good man...centaur...whatever. I could tell that if I said the word he would get me out of here and somewhere safe. But, like I said before, I was beginning to see the bigger picture in all this. "No, I want you to examine Flora and let us know what is happening with her. My situation is not going to change in the near future. I'm concerned that hers might."

"Very well, but we are going to have a serious talk about this when I am finished."

I was pretty sure that was aimed more at my kidnappers than me. From the way Tilda paled, I could see they weren't looking forward to that talk.

"I need some privacy while I do the examination."

"I'm staying." Isobel stepped forward and there was no way I was going to argue with her.

"No, if anyone stays, it is going to be Sadie." Collias glared at Isobel. He was obviously used to the way the coven worked, although from the way he was looking at them, his world view of these women had taken a serious battering in the past few minutes. "If she is the next of kin, as you say, she has the most right to be here."

Isobel opened her mouth to argue, but Maude stepped forward and placed a hand on her arm. "That's acceptable. We trust you to take care of Flora, regardless of your feelings regarding our actions."

The women moved out of the house with Isobel muttering. "I didn't kidnap anyone. Why am I being punished?"

"You okay?" Collias asked as I followed him into Flora's bedroom.

"I'm fine. A little out of my depth, but fine."

He proceeded to examine Flora and I stood next to her, holding her hand lightly. Collias paused his work and watched as the ribbons of blue light which enveloped Flora danced around me.

"Definitely looks like she knows you," he commented.

"This is so weird. I can't believe that I lived my life and never knew magic existed. It's amazing."

Collias stopped his examination. "Are you telling me that not only were you kidnapped, but you didn't know about paranormals?"

I couldn't believe I'd screwed up like that. "You can't tell anyone."

"For the love of..." The doctor shook his head. "I can't believe how many laws those women have broken. If anyone finds out, there will be hell to pay."

"They told me. I just...I've had a really rough day and I don't think I'm coping very well. I almost fainted when I saw you."

"So, I was the first centaur you'd seen?"

"You were the first anything I've seen. I'd only been told about witches a few minutes before you walked through the door."

"Huh."

"Huh, what?"

"You held it together really well. If someone had told me I would have taken on my human form."

"You have a human form?"

Collias laughed. "Of course, I have. How did you think I became a doctor? I can't think of any medical school that has started accepting centaurs, no matter how progressive they may be."

"So, you can change what you are, like a werewolf?" I paused a moment. "Do werewolves exist? I haven't asked that question yet."

"Yes, werewolves exist, and no, centaurs are nothing like them. A werewolf is either a human or a wolf. My natural form is what you see now, half human, half horse. When necessary, I can take either of those forms fully, for a short period of time. When I'm outside a paranormal community I take the human form."

"Is it painful?"

"It isn't me." The doctor gave a thoughtful look. "It's like wearing shoes that are a couple of sizes too small. You can do it, but it isn't that comfortable."

"I have a lot to learn, don't I?"

Dr Collias nodded. "If you're planning on staying here for any length of time, you better do it quick. If anyone outside of this house learns that you were brought here against your will, and without prior knowledge of paranormal communities, the consequences for those women out there could be dire."

"How bad?" I wouldn't say I was growing fond of them, but I didn't necessarily want to see them punished. I could see that their hearts had been in the right place. They had made a bad impulse decision for a good reason. It was just my unfortunate luck to be the victim of that impulse.

"Really bad. They could even have their magic bound."

"What is that?"

"For a witch, having their magic bound means being subject to a spell that stops any magic you try to perform from working. Any born abilities are muted as well, although they can't be taken away entirely."

I swallowed nervously. "That sounds bad."

Collias nodded. "You have no idea."

He continued his examination. "I can't see anything to warrant the fact she's unconscious. She does have some response to external stimuli, so that is a hopeful sign, and the fact that her aura is responding to you is also positive." He sighed. "I'd really prefer to get her down to the clinic so I can have a proper look at her brain activity."

"I don't think they're going to be too fond of that idea," I said.

"It'll cause a lot of questions to be asked and politically it could by dynamite. Also, this is not a natural coma. It has every indication of being a spell or a potion, which means either she did it to herself or, more likely, somebody did it to her. Either way, we take her down to the clinic and she becomes vulnerable. We can't control that."

"So, that means we leave her here."

"She'll be safer with the coven protecting her."

"Do you really think she's in that much danger?"

Collias snapped shut his medical bag and looked over at me. By this time the ribbons of Flora's aura were moving all over my body. "Witchcraft is generally a force for good. To actually harm someone magically is a path most witches won't go down. To go after the leader of a coven is uncharted territory in Walker Bay. Something is happening here, and I have a feeling that it's going to affect all of us."

We walked out of the house to find the four women talking between themselves, the tension obvious.

"How is she?" asked Isobel, the impatience pouring off her.

"From what I can tell, physically she is fine," replied Collias. "I think you're right. It is magic based, but it doesn't seem to have damaged her heart or lungs, so we don't need medical intervention immediately." He paused for a moment. "You said you were going to try a healing spell to bring her out of it."

The women nodded.

Collias sighed and crossed his arms. "I don't think it will work."

"And when did you start studying witchcraft?" asked Margot, barely containing her sarcasm.

"A healing spell is for the sick. Flora isn't sick, she's trapped."

"What are you talking about?"

"Her condition isn't because of a sleeping potion. It's because of a spell. From what I could tell, all her responses are in line with a conscious person. From a medical point of view, she should be out here screaming at you lot for doing something so stupid as kidnapping her niece. Her brain is fine, but somebody has locked down her body as effectively as if she was in chains. A healing spell is not going to fix that. You need to find whoever did this and get them to reverse the spell, or find a way to break it."

He turned to me and passed me a card with his details on it. "You need anything, for Flora or yourself, do not hesitate to contact me."

I nodded mutely and watched as he walked away.