Bloodthorn

by Tamara Grantham

  I was at a loss for words. I tried to struggle free of his grasp but had no luck. Anger boiled inside as he forced me toward my booth. What did he think he was doing? I could have handled the woman. Had he been waiting outside the tent, listening to our conversation, waiting for his chance to strike at the woman—to protect me?

  He wouldn’t have done such a thing for Heidel, so why did he think he needed to do it for me? Did he think I was some weak flower that needed protecting? The thought drove me mad. I had been so close to getting Madame Glitter to confess who was selling drugs to her. So close! What did he think he was doing?

  * * *

  When we finally reached my booth and entered, he released my arm. As I faced him, his icy blue eyes calm, my own anger consumed me. All the emotions I’d ever felt for him burst through the fragile dam I’d created.

  I shoved him backward, hoping to make him fall into the table. He didn’t budge. Of course. His inability to move when I touched him seemed like a metaphor of our entire relationship. He could break my heart and not feel guilty, while I had to suffer.

  It would stop. It would end now. Never again would I let him hurt me.

  I felt as if all my rational thoughts drained away as I flexed my fists, letting magic flow freely around my arms and into my hands. The energy licked between the joints of my fingers, warm and pulsing. I’d been waiting so long to do this. It seemed so glaringly obvious now. All I had to do was kill him, and my troubles would go away.

  I shoved him again, this time letting my magic help me. As my fists connected with his chest, he stumbled back, so I hit him again and again. Magic buzzed in my ears, so loud it made all other sounds fade. He did nothing to stop me, so I punched his face, hitting him so hard he fell down. I stood over him, Faythander magic flaring bright blue, casting the room in an intense electric glow.

  When I focused on the man lying on the ground, I paused. Dark blood trickled from his nose. Had I done that? I breathed heavily, my chest rising and falling.

  “Olive,” he said softly, “you need to calm down.”

  “No!” I yelled, tears mingling with the ash on my face. “You can’t control me anymore, Kull. You have no idea who I am or what I’m capable of. You’ve never understood me. You think I can raise the dead—I can’t. I can’t! Before your father died, he accepted me. He knew he would have to die in order to save our world, and he knew I would be the one to save it. He understood me—and he accepted me. But you never knew it. You never let me tell you because you left me. You took my heart, and then you left me! I’ve suffered since that day. Every morning I wake up and wish I were dead. I hate you. I hate you so much!”

  Power pulsed around me in flames of white and blue. It swelled inside my chest, a tight, painful feeling that demanded to be released.

  “Olive.” He said my name again, quietly, calmly. “Your magic is not letting you think clearly.”

  “No! You shouldn’t have come back. You knew I was here on Earth. If I kill you, it’s your own fault, because you came back when you shouldn’t have. You made me this way.”

  I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but I didn’t care. I wanted to hurt him again and make him feel the way he’d made me feel. He needed to suffer.

  “Hurting me will solve nothing.”

  “I can’t!” I screamed. “I’ve tried for too long to forget you, and I can’t. There’s only one way out—only one way to make the pain stop.”

  “You’re angry because I removed you from the tent. I apologize, but what you failed to see was that the woman had concealed an Earth weapon—a pistol—inside the vase. She would have shot you.”

  I paused. “What?”

  “She smashed the vase so she could get to the weapon.”

  “You’re sure? She had a gun? You saw it?”

  “Yes. I’m also certain it was her intention to kill you. She fears for her own life, and so she’s desperate.”

  I mulled over his words. My breathing evened out a tiny bit. I still wanted to kill him, but maybe not right at this moment.

  Would Madame Glitter really have shot me? I’d been blinded by the ash, so I hadn’t seen the gun. Maybe Kull was lying about the gun to save his skin—but that didn’t make any sense.

  My head spun. I couldn’t seem to see straight anymore, so I sat on the floor, placing my head in my hands. Gritty ash coated my tongue. I tried brushing the ash out of my hair and off my face, but when it mingled with my tears, it smeared and made the mess even worse. What was I doing? Why was I even trying? I’d almost been shot and hadn’t even noticed the gun. Kull was right. I was reckless.

  As my magic receded, my energy seemed to fade with it, leaving me feeling like an empty shell. We sat together in the quiet of the booth, neither of us speaking. I’d become accustomed to his silence. It seemed nowadays he only spoke when he was angry. I glanced at him and found him looking at me with concern in his eyes. It was hard to ignore the blood drying on his face or how pale he’d become.

  I’d almost killed him. Heaven help me, I’d almost killed him!

  I didn’t know what to say. I supposed I could apologize, but most of what I’d said was true. I also felt mortified that I’d just told Kull how I felt about him after trying to hide it for so long. What was wrong with me?

  “I almost killed you. Why didn’t you defend yourself?” I said finally.

  “It would have only angered you more.”

  My heart turned to lead in my chest, and I felt a little like puking. Sitting so close to him made it hard for me to keep my thoughts straight. Everything was wrong. We weren’t supposed to be this way—I wasn’t supposed to be trying to kill him! But there was nothing I could do to make it right. I felt completely hopeless.

  I crossed my arms over my chest, resolving not to let my feelings for him distract me any longer. I needed to think methodically and logically. There were evil forces at work in this world and in Faythander, and if I kept letting my emotions get in the way, I’d never stop the monster responsible for stealing the starstones. Kull was also here to find the starstone, so logically, killing him would not help in my goal of finding the monster.

  He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned the blood from his face, laughing as he wiped it away.

  I shot him a questioning glance. “You’re laughing?”

  “Yes. I have faced many foes in my lifetime, but never have I felt as much fear as the moment you unleashed your power on me. I’m fairly certain it is only by a miracle that I’m alive right now.”

  I had to agree with him. “But you didn’t try to stop me?”

  He squared his shoulders, his gaze distant as he spoke. “I was prepared for death.”

  “It almost sounds as if you wanted me to kill you.”

  He looked at me, and in that moment, I saw the man I knew. His gaze caught me by surprise. Time seemed to stop. It was him—the man I knew. The man I’d loved.

  I wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

  “There were things I’ve wished to say to you as well, but…” He fidgeted with the handkerchief. “I understand why you hate me now. You have every reason in the world to be angry with me, and I am sure you still harbor much anger toward me. It was not my intention for my father to die such an untimely death, for I am certain things would not be as they are now. We would… I would have… ” He blew out a breath of air. “But there is no point in opening old wounds. I have come to this planet to assist the fairies in their search for the stone, and that is my only purpose. It’s important that you help in this quest, and so we must do our best to work together. I’m sorry for the pain I have caused you, but I think it would be best to focus on what is most important.”

  Ice ran through my veins. It hit me then that he was never coming back.

  “I agree,” I finally answered, “and I understand.” I stood and walked to the door, unable to bring myself to make eye contact with him. “I should probably get cleaned up,” I said, then left the room wit
hout another word.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The hot shower helped.

  I stood in my trailer’s tiny cubbyhole of a shower, watching the water turn gray as it washed away the ash from my hair and skin.

  Did the ash really belong to someone departed? Perhaps some lover Madame Glitter had murdered in a jealous rage? Or a deceased loved one she’d promised to watch over? It could have been a dead pet, a shih tzu or—knowing Madame Glitter—a black mamba for all I knew. But whoever’s ashes I washed down the drain, I couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy and poetic.

  Death, washed in soap and tears. Ashes, like the remnants of our love, drained away, past soil and roots, past the living. Sitting. Silent. Never to be touched by sunlight again. Never to return again.

  Even with my souped-up RV water heater, the water bordered on freezing after thirty-five minutes, so I finally stepped out and huddled under a towel. I dressed quickly, hoping to make it to bed and fall asleep fast. I couldn’t be awake and left to my own demons any longer—I was growing poetic, for goodness’ sake.

  Sleep wouldn’t come, of course. My worries kept me awake. Would I really have killed Kull? Sure, I hated the man—but would I really have gone through with it and killed him? A country would have lost a king. Heidel would have lost a brother. Ket would have lost her fiancé. He had a mother, other siblings, and nieces and nephews I knew he adored.

  Why hadn’t my magic fried him? I’d been so angry he should have been a pile of cinders by the time I’d finished with him.

  Obviously, I’d never meant to kill him. My magic knew I hadn’t really meant to kill him, no matter how angry I’d been. Once again, my magic seemed to be acting of its own accord.

  As I drifted to sleep with Han Solo piled up and purring on my feet, the sound of knocking startled me, and I stared apprehensively at the door. The howling wind echoed the insistent knocking. My heart rate sped up. Who could it be at this hour?

  I quietly crawled out of my bed and to the window, parting the slats just enough to see outside. A man stood on my doorstep, but his features were barely discernible under the distant street lamp.

  He turned his head, giving me a better look at his profile, and I exhaled as I recognized Brent. I stood straight and opened the door. He gave me a hesitant smile.

  “Hi, Olive. May I come in?”

  “Right now?”

  “Yes. It’s rather urgent.”

  “Oh.”

  He’d caught me off guard. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to react—I wore my flannel pajamas, and a sleep fog had muddled my brain.

  “Fine, come in,” I muttered.

  He entered my trailer, and I shut the door behind him, but he reached past me and secured the dead bolt. I eyed him, but he gave no explanation as he began pacing the room.

  “Would you like a seat?” I said, pointing to the only sitting space available, which happened to be the foot of my bed.

  He waved me off. “No, no.”

  I took a seat on the edge of my bed, longing to crawl back under the covers, but Brent worried me. What was he doing here?

  “I thought you’d be back in Houston,” I said.

  He shook his head. “No. I had to come back—there was a… development in the case.”

  “What sort of development?”

  “Another murder.”

  “What?” I sat up straight, my sleep fog disappearing.

  “I got a call an hour ago and came right over. We found her dead in her tent. She was recently deceased. Probably only been dead a couple hours.” He stopped his pacing to look at me. “Olive,” he said, “it’s not good. It was the psychic, Madame Glitter. I spoke with a few witnesses. Were you in her tent recently?”

  I swallowed my panic. How could this have happened? I’d seen her only a few hours ago. “Yes, I went there this afternoon.”

  “And you had an argument with her?”

  “Yes.”

  He nervously ran his hands through his hair. “The big guy was there, too?”

  I nodded. Great. Now I’d gotten Kull involved in this mess.

  “You must realize how this looks. Witnesses say they saw him and you exit the tent. They said he was carrying a weapon. Is it true?”

  I nodded.

  He cursed under his breath. “There’s only so much I can do to protect you. You’re already a suspect as it is—you know how bad this looks, right?”

  “I know. But Brent, please believe me when I tell you that I had nothing to do with her murder. She confessed she’d been buying Possess, first from Mr. Kaufman, and then from someone else. She was speaking to the dealer on the phone when I entered the tent, and she made plans to meet him tonight in her tent. It must have been him who killed her. We have to find who sold her the drugs.”

  “We? Olive, don’t you understand? There’s no we anymore. Officer Gardener is on his way here now to arrest you.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes!”

  “What can I do?”

  “First—and listen to me very carefully—tell them nothing. You are under no obligation to say anything. Admit to nothing, and ask for a lawyer as soon as you get the chance. That should buy you some time, at least.”

  My heart thudded in my chest. I’d never been arrested in my life. I wasn’t prepared for this. Worse, once they arrested me, I could be of no help finding the missing starstone—and the real murderer would continue to walk around, free to do as he pleased. This really wasn’t going how I wanted.

  “Isn’t there anything else I can do?” I asked. “If I explained what happened… ”

  “No! You’re not listening to me. Don’t try to explain anything right now. You’ll only make it worse.”

  I rested my head in my hands. Was this what the killer had intended all along? Had he purposely been trying to frame me so I would go to jail? If so, for what reason? Why did he need me in jail? Why didn’t he just kill me if that’s what he wanted?

  Nothing made sense, and now I felt hopeless to find any answers. If only I could contact someone to help me.

  “What about Kull?” I asked. “What will they do with him?”

  “Detain him for questioning, most likely.”

  Great. I could just imagine someone trying to detain him. Like fighting an angry elephant with squirt guns. I hoped he would be smart and not fight, but with his vacillating temper, I couldn’t be sure what he would do. If he fought, it would only make us both look guilty.

  “I can’t believe this is happening. We were so close to finding who was responsible. This ruins everything. Isn’t there any way to stall them?”

  “I’ve done everything I can.”

  Red and blue lights flashed outside the window. A moment later, someone pounded on the door. Before I answered, I turned to Brent, knowing I only had a few seconds of freedom left.

  “Brent,” I said, “the killer wants me—for what reason, I’m not sure. I know you’ve never believed in Faythander, but if you don’t believe me, you’ll never be able to stop the murderer. Years ago, he stole a magical stone from the unicorns in Faythander. Now, he’s trying to do the same thing with the fairy stone, except this time, he got trapped in our world. He’s using it to create a portal back to a place called the undiscovered land.”

  “Olive—”

  “Brent, listen to me!” I cut him off as the pounding on the door started again. “He has to be stopped. The stone absorbs negative energy. That may be why he has been committing the murders—he needs dark energy to power the stone to create a portal. He may have also engineered Possess as another way of creating dark energy. You have to find the source. Find who is making the drug, and you’ll find the killer.

  “Also, please take care of my cat while I’m gone. That’s it. I’m finished.”

  I reached for the doorknob, but he grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

  Brent leaned close, whispering, “It’s not true that I’ve never believed in Fairy World. I’m more aware of it than you think. J
ail may be the safest place for you right now.”

  I stared at him, confused, when he unbolted the door and it was flung open from the outside. Officer Gardener stomped into the trailer without being invited. I was pretty sure he was breaking protocol by doing such a thing, but I kept my mouth shut.

  “Has Officer Sanchez informed you of the reason we’re here?”

  “Yes,” I answered.

  He nodded, then instructed me to put my hands behind my back, cuffed me, read me my rights, and led me outside and into the backseat of his car. Brent looked on helplessly as Officer Gardener sat in the driver’s seat and drove away.

  My throat constricted as we left the fairgrounds. Not that I’d ever been safe in my trailer, but it had felt like a place where I could take refuge. Now, would I really be safer in jail as Brent had suggested?

  Brent must have known more than what he was telling me. For him to admit his belief in Fairy World meant he must’ve seen something he couldn’t explain. But what?

  Officer Gardener didn’t speak as he drove me to the county jail. The whir of the tires on the asphalt road was occasionally broken up by a beep and then the sound of a female dispatcher’s voice over the radio.

  “You like music?” he finally asked me.

  “Music?” I asked, confused.

  “Sure.” He switched on the radio to a country and western station.

  Ugh. This was going to be a very long night.

  Fidgeting, I realized I still wore Princess Esmelda’s ring, so I whispered a quiet spell to hide it. Thankfully, my magic decided to work without a hitch. The ring disappeared, blending into my skin until it was no longer visible. It was a simple masking spell, but as long as my magic held, the ring would stay hidden.

  “I’m glad you came willingly,” Officer Gardener said. “Sometimes folks like you want to talk their way out of getting arrested—almost thought you’d be one of them when you wouldn’t open your door.”

  “I’m a law-abiding citizen, so it was in my best interest not to put up a fight. I have nothing to hide.”