Blood Witch Curse

A deadly ghost is attacking patients and threatening to bring the overworked hospital to its knees.

The protective enchantments in the old Curse Ward are breaking down, leading to unusual events and supernatural sightings across the hospital. Lilith de Meath's problems only get worse as her eldest sister—and a royal pain in the ass—arrives to supervise her attempts to fix their patron Medb.

Between the ghost and her overbearing sister, Lily finds her life in the City of Sorcery at a dangerous crossroads. If she can't figure out why the wards are breaking down, or a cure for her family's sickness, then being forced to return to Ireland won't be the worst thing that happens.

Blood Witch Curse
Chapter One

The lights flickered above the patient, bringing Lily's head up as she examined the fixture. The scent of wires burning followed by rich, loamy soil had her confused. The patient, a burly electrician with an arm that looked like a gorilla's, followed her gaze.
"Electrical problems? You'd think a big fancy place like this would be up to snuff on their wiring," said the man in a thick Boston accent. "Or is that why they have a bunch of children as doctors? I swear you're younger than my daughter, but twice as pretty."
Lily inhaled through her nose. The only thing she smelled was the man's body odor and the antiseptic wipes she'd just used on the bite wound on his shoulder. The other scents were no longer present. She looked him straight in the eye and he flinched away.
"Your shoulder should be fine in a few hours. Try not to move and let the ointment work its magic. I'll be back later to check on it."
"A few hours? I got to get back to the job site, or the boss will dock my pay. Do we need to get a second opinion? No offense, but you look like one of those weirdos in the entertainment ward that make their arms grow long, not a doctor."
Lily clucked her tongue. "I'm not a doctor. I'm a healer. It's your choice, but unless you'd like your arm to rot off by the end of the week, I suggest you stay here. Necromites are serious business."
"I've had worse," said the big man, puffing up his chest. "You kids in your fancy coats don't know how good you got it. Last year I nearly had my leg taken off by a speckled locanath in the sewers."
Lily seriously doubted it was a speckled locanath but she wasn't about to get into a pointless argument with a self-important blowhard.
Boon stuck his head through the door, saving her from further interaction. His silver earrings jangled.
"Meeting in the blue room with Dr. Fairlight in five."
Lily pulled the plastic gloves off her hands and tossed them in the bin.
"Fairlight? What's it about?"
Boon shrugged. "Maybe we're getting an award for best Aura Healer class ever."
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Doc," said the patient.
The earlier confidence seemed watery thin in his eyes.
"I said I'll be back later to check on you."
"I'm gonna be alright, aren't I?"
Lily frowned.
"Make sure you don't touch yourself with that arm. Either arm to be safe. Don't want it to make any other appendages fall off."
Lily marched out of the room as the patient called after. She caught up to Boon. He raised an eyebrow towards the open door.
"A real winner?"
She shook her head. "They found a nest of necromites and he told his co-workers he wasn't afraid of a few measly insects."
Boon whistled. "He's lucky to be alive."
The rest of the third years were waiting when they arrived. Technically, it was still their second year, but the new semester was only a few weeks away. Dr. Decker was standing in back with his arms crossed, looking like someone had pissed in his cereal.
"What's bloody wrong with him?" whispered Lily.
Boon shrugged. "He's been like that all day. I asked him a simple question on rounds earlier and he stared at the wall and never answered. Then he walked out of the patient's room. I had to finish the wound enchantment on my own even though it was my first time using the spell."
The whiteboard had a numbered list scrawled in Dr. Decker's handwriting, but he was making no move to explain it. Lily read the new rules in her head: seven, you can't save everyone, eight, sometimes the best medicine is doing nothing, and nine, magic can do a lot of things but it can't heal the soul. She didn't understand the rules like she had in the previous years.
They seemed more like excuses than rules.
Lily checked back to Dr. Decker, seeing the darkness in his eyes. She couldn't understand the reason for his pain, or the cynicism of his new rules—even more than past years.
The Chief of Staff, Dr. Fairlight, came in a minute later. Her dirty blonde hair had touches of gray around the crown. She gave Dr. Decker a long look before checking her watch twice. The lines around her mouth deepened.
"Thank you for coming on short notice. I'll get started since we're all extremely busy."
She looked over the room as if she expected questions.
"The first order of business is that you'll be starting your rotation in the Curses and Supernatural Virology Ward tonight rather than your normally scheduled time in a few weeks."
The class murmured amongst themselves as Damon raised his hand.
"But I have patients, and the next class won't be replacing us until then."
Dr. Fairlight sighed heavily. "We'll be rearranging the shifts to cover. I'm afraid we have no choice."
"Is there an emergency?" asked Sasha in her posh London accent.
"You could call it that, though it's been going on for some time. The Curses Ward happens to be the oldest part of the hospital complex. Most of it was built in the '60s and half the equipment's probably not much newer. So I'm sure you've heard about the state of the facilities. The good news is that we've found a wealthy donor to upgrade the ward. He's making his first visit later this week and since you'll be the class interacting with him, we pulled your schedule ahead."
Lily checked back to Dr. Decker, who looked like he either hadn't heard or didn't care. He was staring at the floor in a daze while her classmates seemed excited by the news, which was more than unusual. By this time, she would have expected at least one quip from their instructor.
"I bet Dr. Nansoon will be pleased," said Damon, cheerfully nodding.
The head of the Curses Ward was well liked in the hospital and Lily had heard Damon talk more than once during the summer about how excited he was to be working under the head of the department.
Dr. Fairlight's lips flattened. "About Dr. Nansoon. In exchange for a considerable amount of money for the hospital, our donor requested a change in leadership of the department. He wanted the top minds in the discipline to have the best equipment in the world."
A fervor grew like the flapping of wings. Dr. Fairlight held out her hands to quell the rebellion.
"Don't worry. This was agreed upon by all parties. Dr. Nansoon was nearing retirement and looking for less responsibility anyway, and his replacement is the top doctor, probably in the world, when it comes to curses. She spent the last four years in Paris at the head of the Hopital Malediction improving outcomes for the Seine Seven when no one thought they'd live past a month, and before that, she was a member of this very hospital, so I’m pleased to offer her a warm return."
Dr. Fairlight cleared her throat as she looked to the back as if she expected Dr. Decker to say something, but he looked completely unaware of his surroundings.
"With no further ado, I present to you Dr. Christina Martinez!"
A round of tepid applause preceded the entrance of an attractive woman with wavy brown hair, a white coat, and a clipboard under her arm.
Lily caught a whiff of burning wires again, but this time with a hint of rot. She checked the lighting fixtures but there was no flicker. She was about to ask Boon if he smelled it when Dr. Decker marched out of the back of the room, slamming the door behind him.
The entire class went silent. Dr. Fairlight and Dr. Martinez stared after his unusual exit with trepidation.
"Thank you for your warm welcome," said Dr. Martinez, opening her arms and continuing with a clearly prepared speech about how excited she was to be back and how much she would need their support in working with the donor to improve the ward. Lily only barely heard because she was reviewing what had happened with Dr. Decker, trying to figure out why he'd acted like a petulant child.
When Dr. Martinez's speech was finished, the rest of the class surged forward to introduce themselves. Everyone had collectively decided to ignore their eccentric instructor's actions, and the uncomfortable mood washed away as they chatted with the new head of the ward, offering congratulations and their help.
Lily waited until everyone had finished talking to Dr. Martinez before approaching. She offered her hand.
"You must be Lilith de Meath," said Dr. Martinez with a pleasant smile and brown eyes twinkling with intelligence. "I've heard so much about you."
"I prefer Lily, and I ain't heard of you before today, which makes me curious why Decker would be so rude on your first day. Clearly you knew each other from before he went on his walkabout. I hope this won't affect our instruction, as this was the year I was most looking forward to."
Dr. Fairlight held out her hand. "Lily..."
"No," said Dr. Martinez. "I appreciate her directness. It's a fine quality in a doctor as long as they know when to use it. Yes, Oren and I know each other from before. Very well, in fact."
Her gaze flickered towards the door where Dr. Decker had stormed out.
"We were married for ten years."