Words Not Necessary

Her blond hair hung lank around her fine features and clearly needed a wash, but he imagined she was wearing everything she owned in an effort to stay warm. The temperatures in the small outpost town on the border between Poland and Germany had plummeted to under zero degrees overnight and hadn’t increased much in the cold light of day. The abandoned warehouse Rocky had found, trying to mitigate any possible magically induced damage, was akin to being in a freezer. He had a thick heavy coat on, boots and woolen socks. The poor girl had nothing like that and was probably freezing cold.

“I have to read this message,” Rocky said, making an effort to keep his voice soft despite his growing frustration. He was a big man who could be intimidating even when he was on his best behavior. He had no wish to cause any distress for the young local.

“It’s a magical message, see.” He held up his phone that just showed glowing stars on it. “My boss back in Canada thinks he’s being funny. I called him first thing this morning and told him my anchor had run off with their new mate, and to hell with the fact we’re in the middle of a case.

“You know what he said to me? Work it out, my boss said. Work. It. Out. And in the meantime, he sends me messages I can’t access. Under these fru-fru stars,” he shook his phone angrily, “Could be a lead I really need, but I can’t see the damn thing because I can’t use my magic without setting things on fire.”

The girl scratched her ear, and Rocky wondered how much she’d understood. I really shouldn’t be taking my frustrations out on a young girl who probably doesn’t even know what an anchor is.

“You could set fire to some papers,” she offered. “I could find some old newspapers for you. Then you could read your message and create warmth at the same time.”

The waif would probably appreciate the heat from a fire, and on any other day ending in Y, Rocky would start one for her. “Magical outbursts don’t work like that, kiddo. I wish it did. If I knew definitely what would happen if I used my magic without an anchor, then I could limit the damage, put safeguards in place so no one would get hurt. But I could try lighting a heap of paper for you on the ground, and end up setting fire to the roof, killing us both. Magic is fickle like that. What I need is an anchor. I don’t suppose you’ve got one of them in your pocket I could borrow.”

The young girl actually patted her threadbare jacket pockets, making Rocky smile, despite his upset at how the day had started. He and his now ex-anchor, Milly, had been tracking down a demented vampire with a compulsion to feast on magic user blood. It wouldn’t be so bad if the vampire had confined his feeding to snacks. Rocky had heard that in some cases, the bites could be very pleasurable for the human being supped on. But the vampire was a glutton, bodies were piling up, and Rocky and Milly had been called in to track and stop the vampire with his bad case of the munchies.

Rocky hadn’t thought anything of it when Milly had spent the evening before chatting with a group of traders that were passing through on their way to Berlin. The Amazon-sized woman had a friendly smile and a ready laugh, always happy to make new friends.

She also knew a dozen ways to kill someone with her bare hands. Her past life included a long stint in the military, working as an anchor in some harrowing war zones before she decided she wanted a quieter life and applied for work as an anchor at the Wielders of the Magic Sword offices run by the Magical Council. Once they’d established that neither one of them was sexually interested in the other, she had agreed to anchor for Rocky, traveling all over the world with him as a fun, but very necessary and competent companion.

Knowing she was capable of looking after herself, Rocky had left her with her new friends in the bar and headed up to bed. Getting a text at four in the morning from Milly, letting him know she’d found her mate and was en route to Berlin with her new High Magic User, was not the start of the day Rocky expected. The sorry, not sorry, was not the joke she clearly thought it was.

Now, stuck with no anchor, and no way of accessing his messages, Rocky figured the only thing he could do was head for the airport. Time wasting travel he didn’t need, not to mention more vampire victims would probably be found in his absence. But without an anchor grounding him, Rocky was a danger to anyone the moment his magic sparked – something it did instinctively any time he was in danger.

“You could have Neo, but I know you’ll be like everyone else and probably won’t want him.”

Pulled from his thoughts, Rocky looked at the girl in shock. He’d almost forgotten she was there.

“Who is this Neo to you? Is he an anchor?” Things could be looking up.

“Neo’s my brother.” The girl lifted her chin proudly. “He’s the bestest anchor in the whole wide world, and the people who don’t see that are idiots.”

“Okay,” Rocky said slowly, quietly charmed by the girl’s defense of her brother. “Is he working as an anchor right now, or is he looking for work?”

“I told you, no one wants him, but they’re just stupid.”

Rocky was intrigued. “Why wouldn’t anyone want him? If he’s old enough to anchor, I’m sure there’re plenty of high magic users who could give him a position.” Taking in the girl’s clothing a second time, Rocky narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, “Do you have parents?”

The girl shook her head quickly. “Just Neo. My grandma said I could live with her, and that would be awesome.” The girl turned her head gazing at a concrete wall. “But then Neo would be all alone. We can’t get anywhere to live together, and Grandma won’t take him because she doesn’t want to get into trouble with the magical police.

“He’s trying.” The young girl seemed determined Rocky understood how amazing her brother was, someone she clearly loved dearly. “Neo applied for a job stacking shelves at the local store just the other day, but they won’t take him because he's an anchor, and when he goes to the anchor job place, they send him away, yelling at him.”

The girl turned her face back, her look fierce. “He doesn’t cry. I don’t cry either.” The look crumpled. “But it’s getting so cold, and I know Neo hasn’t eaten in two days. He gives everything he can scrape together to me. I came out… looking for something we could both eat, but…” She shrugged, every inch of that movement indicating a helpless situation that tugged at Rocky’s heart.

“We should go and find Neo for you then, sweetie, and we can find some breakfast along the way. You never told me. Why doesn’t anyone want Neo to work with them as an anchor? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.” Rocky could feed the pair, if nothing else before he went home.

“He doesn’t speak.”

“Huh?” Rocky wasn’t sure he heard correctly.

“He can’t speak.” The girl ran her finger around one side of her throat. “He got attacked by some bullies in the playground when he was little. They cut him up, and now he doesn’t speak. He can’t.”

“And that’s the only reason people won’t hire him as an anchor? Because he can’t speak?”

“People are stupid,” the girl’s tone firmed. “Magic doesn’t need words.”

“No, you’re quite right,” Rocky agreed, the gem of an idea forming in his mind. “Magic doesn’t need words. So how about we go and find this brother of yours and take him some breakfast? I’ll buy it. I’d like to meet your Neo. I assume he does eat.”

“He’ll eat anything, and he makes the most amazing faces when he drinks coffee.” The girl giggled, and Rocky marveled at how just the idea of a hot breakfast could make the day seem brighter.

“And what is your name, young lady?” he asked as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket and offered his arm to the waif.

“I’m Jemima.” She had a bright skip in her steps as she took his arm. “Who are you?”

“You can call me Rocky. Now, what do you and Neo like to eat?”