Pucker Up

by R. A. Gates

  became nearly impossible. Her eyes

  darted around, mindful of any other

  surprises in the dark. She grabbed

  Thane’s hand out of instinct and pulled

  him behind her.

  “What do you want, Kyle?” Was

  it a coincidence or did he follow her?

  Was Garren right? The thought that she

  inadvertently put her friends at risk

  turned her stomach. The man next to

  Kyle seemed familiar but she couldn’t

  place what little of his face she saw with

  a name.

  “I want to help you. Come with

  me and I’ll go with you to visit

  Rousseau. We’ll get this whole mess

  straightened out.” Kyle held his hand out

  in invitation.

  She laughed. “You don’t get it.

  There’s nothing to straighten out. I’m a

  witch and nothing’s going to change

  that.”

  Kyle’s proffered hand fell to his

  side.

  The brute beside him chuckled,

  absent any trace of humor. “I always

  knew you were a weed, Ivy. I just never

  knew you were a Weed. How ironic.”

  Now she recognized him. There

  was no mistaking that deep, obnoxious

  voice. “If it isn’t Dougie Douchebag. I

  see you grew into your big head.”

  “Do you think it’s wise to

  antagonize him?” Thane whispered in

  her ear, nervous energy rolling off him.

  “ I t ’ s Durlag, Weed,” Dougie

  said as he pulled a gun from behind his

  back. The light glinted off the silver

  metal when he pointed it at the ground in

  front of him.

  She shut up. Her heart rate

  doubled as she stepped into Thane and

  pushed him back. The dagger hidden in

  her boot wouldn’t do anything against a

  speeding bullet, but she pulled it out

  anyway.

  Kyle stood with his arms crossed

  over his chest, his feet firmly planted

  shoulder width apart. He didn’t seem

  concerned that his friend pulled a gun on

  her. “I don't want to hurt you or your

  friends.”

  He

  sneered

  at

  Thane.

  “Rousseau only wants you. Come with

  us, and they can go.”

  Neither Garren nor Athena could

  be spotted. With any luck, they’d gotten

  away. Her nerves were already shot and

  couldn’t handle any more surprises.

  “Don’t believe him,” Zoo said,

  suddenly appearing next to her.

  She flinched. Is everyone trying

  to kill me? “I’m not stupid,” she said to

  the vampire. To Kyle she said “I’m not

  going anywhere with you. If you ever

  loved me, let us go and we’ll never

  bother you again.” Playing the love card

  was low, but desperate times called for

  desperate measures.

  It also didn’t work. Kyle

  lowered his arms to his side. His hands

  clenched and opened repeatedly. He was

  pissed.

  “I never stopped loving you, Ivy.

  Apparently these Weeds have poisoned

  your mind. Come with me now and I

  won’t let anything happen to you. I

  promise.”

  Dougie raised his gun, aiming at

  Thane.

  She swallowed hard in an effort

  to tamp down the rising panic. Dougie

  stood too far away to attack before he

  could pull the trigger. She needed to

  disarm him. At that moment, magic

  hummed in her belly. Using her magic

  was their only chance of survival.

  Man, we’re screwed.

  “Zoo, promise me you'll get

  Thane out of here.” Worrying about her

  cousin would be a distraction she

  couldn’t afford.

  The vampire said nothing for

  what seemed like hours, staring at her

  with a blank expression before nodding.

  Sure, take all the time you need.

  It’s not like we’re in a crisis or

  anything.

  “Ivy, what are you doing?”

  Thane asked. He grabbed her arm to pull

  her back.

  “Enough!” Dougie yelled.

  She snapped her head towards

  him and concentrated on pulling the gun

  out of his hand. He was dangerous. She

  tugged on his weapon with her magic but

  only managed to jerk his hand sideways.

  Time seemed to slow down. Her world

  zoned in on the barrel of the gun now

  pointed at her. Before she could push it

  away, a light flashed. A loud bang

  blasted her ears at the same time a

  burning pain ripped through her right

  shoulder. Her useless dagger slipped

  through her fingers. She stumbled back

  but stayed on her feet.

  “No!” Kyle screamed, lunging

  toward her.

  Another shot rent the air. The

  force of the bullet knocked her over as it

  tore through her right thigh. She cried

  out, landing on the hard pavement.

  Kyle dropped down beside her.

  “Oh, gawd. This wasn’t supposed to

  happen.” His trembling hands fumbled

  over her, causing more pain.

  She tried to smack his hands

  away but her arm wouldn’t move.

  “Stop,” she said between quick, shallow

  breaths. The clack of metal hitting the

  ground got her attention. Dougie dropped

  his gun before his lifeless body slumped

  to the ground. An angry, Asian vampire

  loomed over him.

  Good riddance.

  “Ivy.” Thane knelt next to her.

  “Stay awake. We need to get you back to

  the hotel. I still have some healing

  potion left.”

  She wanted to tell him there was

  no way she could sleep through all this

  pain but as soon as he mentioned it,

  fatigue settled over her like a warm

  blanket. As if she didn’t have enough to

  worry about, now she had to struggle to

  stay awake, too.

  Thane pressed a cloth to her

  thigh causing her to wince as pain bolted

  through her leg. Kyle squeezed her left

  hand and held it to his chest while

  talking to her. For a fleeting second, she

  thought it was Garren but Kyle’s voice

  brought her back to reality. His words

  were nonsense to her as she focused

  instead on the melodic murmur as he

  spoke. Occasionally he brushed his cool

  fingers over her brow. A welcome

  gesture but she wished for another’s

  hands to comfort her.

  Where is Garren... and Athena?

  Are they all right?

  “Ivy, we need to move you. It

  may hurt,” Thane explained. She tried to

  laugh at his miserable attempt to play

  down the excruciating pain she was

  about to experience, but she only

  managed to grunt.

  “Can you lift her?” Thane asked

  Kyle.

  Zoo stepped forward. “I will

 
take her. I don’t trust him.”

  “No, we need you to take out any

  other Eradicators who might get in the

  way.”

  Zoo nodded and went on alert,

  scanning the area. Kyle placed his hands

  gently under her body. But Thane put his

  hand on Kyle’s arm to stop him before

  he picked her up.

  “You pull any funny stuff and

  you’ll be choked by Weeds.” Thane

  glared at the Eradicator. Pride swelled

  inside her at her cousin’s growing

  backbone that she almost managed to

  smile.

  “You ready?” Kyle whispered.

  She licked her dry lips and

  croaked out “Yes.” He hoisted her up

  and she screamed through gritted teeth.

  More warm blood flowed down her leg

  and into her boot. Resting her head

  against Kyle’s chest, she counted each

  beat of his heart to distract her from the

  agony.

  “You have a car?” Kyle asked

  through strained breath.

  “Over there,” Thane answered,

  blurring in and out of focus. Blackness

  narrowed down on him. Her eyelids

  were too heavy to keep open anymore.

  Kyle jostled her body. “Don’t go

  to sleep, Ivy. You die on me and I’ll kill

  you.”

  “What the hell happened to

  him?” Thane practically shouted. She

  pried her eyes open to find Garren on the

  ground, slumped against Athena’s chest

  as she leaned against the car.

  Oh my gawd, he’s dead. Then

  the darkness of the night swallowed her

  up.

  Chapter 17

  Where am I? The scent of blood

  and dust filled Ivy’s nose. She was

  laying on something soft and warm. A

  light shone on the other side of her

  closed eyelids. Her nose itched but

  when she attempted to raise her hand to

  scratch, pain pulsed through her arm.

  I can’t believe that bastard shot

  me, twice.

  An image of Garren lying still on

  the ground settled in her brain and took

  root. Her throat constricted with

  remorse. Who else died because of her?

  Pushing down the guilt before it

  consumed her, she opened her eyes. A

  dirty ceiling fan spun lazily around.

  Beyond the foot of her bed sat an old TV

  and an ugly painting of a bowl of fruit.

  She was back at the hotel.

  Garren slouched in a chair next

  to her. Garren! He’s alive! But his dark

  hair was too short and his skin too tan.

  When did he get his nose pierced?

  Her heart sank. It was Kyle. Did

  he bring me here? His hands rested on

  his stomach, rising and falling with each

  even breath. Although his presence was

  comforting, she wished the person sitting

  beside her had slightly longer hair and

  bright blue eyes.

  Unable to stop it, a tear trickled

  down her cheek as exhaustion claimed

  her once again.

  *****

  Cool liquid filled her mouth,

  choking her. Instinct urged her to spit it

  out but a soothing, familiar voice at her

  ear told her to swallow. She gulped the

  substance down. It tasted like cinnamon

  gummy bears. Immediately, her blood

  grew hot, like molten lava flowing

  through her veins. Her skin burned from

  the inside out. She scratched and clawed

  at her arms, belly, legs, face, anywhere

  she could reach in an attempt to find

  relief from the scorching pain.

  Get it out! Make it stop! Her

  throat ached from her screams as she

  thrashed about.

  Hands grabbed her wrists and

  held them down. A weight across her

  body kept her still. The worst of the pain

  radiated from her leg and shoulder.

  “What did you do to her?” Kyle

  shouted right by her head. His body

  pressed down on her side.

  “The potion is repairing all the

  damage. I know it hurts, but it won’t last

  long,” Thane said.

  Her muscles seized up and she

  arched her back off the bed. How was

  she not already dead from the pain?

  The same soothing voice spoke

  to her again. “It’s okay, Ivy. It’s almost

  over,” he said over and over. She clung

  to his words. The pain was almost

  bearable when she focused on the low

  timber of his voice. Soon the blaze

  cooled to a warm burn. Her energy

  drained away with the heat. The weights

  holding her down lifted.

  But the voice didn’t stop. “That’s

  good. Take nice, deep breaths. Good.”

  Cool air filled her lungs with each deep

  inhale. If she didn’t know any better,

  she’d swear it was Garren whispering

  words of encouragement to her, perhaps

  his ghost. She blinked her eyes open

  enough to catch a glimpse of black hair

  hanging over blue eyes.

  “Go to sleep now,” Garren

  whispered. She did.

  *****

  Loud voices pulled her from

  unconsciousness, though her eyelids

  refused to open.

  “He’s not leaving this room.”

  Athena demanded. “How do we know he

  won’t go straight to his buddies and lead

  them right back to us? No, he stays.”

  Tension saturated the air, prickling her

  skin.

  “While

  I

  understand

  your

  reasoning,” Thane said in a placating

  tone. “He’s the only one who knows

  where to find the ingredients I need. I

  really believe he wants Ivy to recover as

  much as we do. Now, if it will make you

  feel better, Garren can come with us.”

  Garren? He’s alive?

  The bed shifted next to her. “No,

  I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her heart practically thudded out

  of her chest. He’s alive! The heavy

  chains of shame she wrapped herself

  with shattered and fell away. They were

  all alive. Relief bubbled to the surface

  and escaped as a sigh. A warm hand

  tightened around her fingers. Garren’s

  hand?

  “Ivy, are you awake?” His warm

  breath brushed across her cheek.

  She opened her eyes. Kyle,

  Thane and Athena stood around her bed,

  staring at her. Garren sat next to her. She

  tried to speak, but her dry, raw vocal

  chords wouldn’t respond. She did a

  great impression of a fish out of water,

  though.

  “Here.” Kyle brought a glass of

  water with a straw to her mouth. Her dry

  membranes soaked up the liquid like a

  sponge. He pulled the water away

  sooner than she wanted, but the small

  sips were enough to find her voice

  again.

  “Hey.” She sounded like sand

  coated her throat. “What’s going
on?”

  She cast a glance toward Garren and

  squeezed his hand.

  He yanked it away. “Uh, we’re

  going out to find some ingredients Thane

  needs to make some more strengthening

  potion.” He barely looked her in the eye.

  So much for Garren not going

  anywhere. “Great. I’ll take a nap while

  you’re gone.” She tried to smile to hide

  her disappointment, but her dry lips split

  in the middle and bled.

  Now I could use that lip balm

  Garren teased me about.

  “Wait,” Kyle said. “What if she

  does that… thing… she did last time.

  You were the only one who could stop

  it.” Everyone’s focus shifted to Garren.

  Oh gawd, what did I do now?

  “She’ll be fine,” Garren said. He

  stepped away from the bed, found his

  shoes and slipped them on. “We won’t

  be gone that long. I’m sure Athena can

  handle it.”

  Handle what? She looked to the

  werewolf, hoping to get some answers

  from her. Athena raised her hands and

  swirled them over her head .

  Not again. She didn’t want

  Garren to leave. She didn’t want to

  spend any quality time with him, but for

  some reason his presence calmed her

  down. Who’d of thunk? But by the way

  he practically sprinted for the door she’d

  rather face a hundred magical tornadoes

  than admit her feelings to him.

  “Sure, sure,” she said. “Just be

  careful.”

  Kyle knelt down next to her and

  brushed a stray curl off her forehead.

  “Are you going to be okay with the

  werewolf?” he whispered.

  She smiled gingerly, trying not to

  damage her lips further. “Yeah, don’t

  worry. She’s more bark than bite. Keep

  them safe, okay.” She wasn’t sure if the

  Eradicators would go after him after

  botching up the raid or if they thought he

  was captured and held against his will.

  Hopefully, they’d avoid being seen by

  anyone he knew.

  “Can we go already? Your

  girlfriend will still be here when we get

  back,” Garren said, one hand on the

  doorknob.

  She tensed. Did everyone think

  that she and Kyle were a couple again

  because he was there? Did Kyle? Did

  Garren? She peeked over at Kyle to gage

  his reaction. He glared at Garren while

  stroking her hand.

  Talk

  about

  your

  mixed

  messages.

  Kyle leaned in and whispered,

  “Your friend’s a real jackass. You sure

  you want me to bring him back?” He

  smiled and winked at her before

  standing up to leave. Why did she break