Wolf Spell

by M. R. Polish

  Victor leaned over to me and grasped my hand. “Just think about it and it will all make sense.”

  “Are you going to kill me?”

  He laughed. “No.”

  I looked out the window. The soft glow of the evening sun setting fell on my skin. Lights flashed in the distance, lighting up a runway. “Where are we going?” I panicked as I realized we were stopping at the airport.

  “I told you, to see your mom.”

  “We need an airplane for that? I assumed she was across town.”

  “Yes, I had her flown out to Madrid. Ree is taking extremely good care of her.”

  My eyes flew open. “Madrid, as in Spain?”

  “Yes. I have an old friend who has agreed to change her and take care of her after the turning process. She lives there, and it would be less noticeable since Meadow supposedly died.”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “No, but I assure you that your mom is waiting for you.”

  My mind told me to run as far away as I could get, but my heart ached for my mom, and a little part of me wanted what Victor said to be true.

  Another thought came to mind. I was not prepared to leave the country. “What’s your plan to sneak me into another country?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have no ID with me. No passport means no entrance. You kidnapped me… Remember?”

  “About that… I have a bag of your belongings from your apartment. I took the liberty of packing for you since you didn’t know about this little trip.”

  “You were in my apartment!” I interjected.

  “It’s not like you locked it. It was easy enough to enter. Besides, you’ll thank me later.”

  Ugh! I folded my arms. My skin crawled. It’s not like being stalked and kidnapped weren’t enough; I was now a victim of a burglary. As soon as I got out of this predicament, I was so talking to Ailaina about locking the door from now on.

  The car stopped on the tarmac. I tried the door and to my surprise, it opened. I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. Why hadn’t I tried sooner? The cold night air caressed my flushed skin. My hair whipped in the breeze around my face and stuck to my lip glossed lips, irritating me.

  The roar of the jet’s engines screamed. Red, green and white lights flashed on the plane. Despite my sweater wrapped around my body, the chilled air found its way in.

  Victor came around behind me, holding out his arm for me to take. “Ready?”

  I hesitated before linking my arm with his. I could see why my mom would’ve liked him. He acted like such a gentleman—except for the kidnapping thing—but if my mom were alive, I would forgive him of that. Not that I supported her actions to cheat against my dad.

  The metal steps leading up to the door of the plane looked overwhelming as if they were the stairs that led to the beginning of my future, and one false move would make them crumble. I could feel my body shake as I stepped up. Letting go of his arm, I steadied myself against the railing.

  He brushed past me into the plane, leaving me to stand in the doorway. He left me alone? It couldn’t be that easy, could it? I decided to test the waters and turn around. I could not move. It was as if some invisible glass wall stood in my way. I pushed and pushed against it, then kicked out at it in vain. I slammed my fist onto it again but still nothing happened. Crying out one last time, I gave up. Victor was good. I’m not sure how he did it, but he was good at it.

  I could hear a soft murmur of hushed voices from deeper inside, but over the roar of the engines warming up for flight they weren’t perceptible. I peeked around the corner, hoping to see who Victor talked to.

  My shoulders drooped; there was no one in the cabin. On my left, the door slid shut to the cockpit. That must’ve been where he went.

  There were four ivory colored captain’s chairs with two tables in the main area of the cabin. I’d never flown before, but all the movies I’d watched were with commercial planes and nothing ever looked this stylish.

  The plane was warm, even with the door still wide open, so I shrugged off my sweater and draped it over the back of one of the chairs. With Victor still nowhere in sight and some unexplainable shield preventing me from leaving, my weary body slumped down into a seat close to a window.

  I reclined back in the chair, wishing I had my phone. I’d give anything to talk to Ailaina. And what about my dad? Was he looking for me? Did he call the police yet? My heart ached as if it broke in a thousand pieces. I sighed. I didn’t want to think about Ailaina, my mom, or even my dad for that matter.

  I spun the chair so I could see out of the small oval window. The green lights on the wingtips blinked in rhythm with the beat of my heart. I couldn't see the airport building, but looking beyond the wing of the plane, I saw the out lining hills in silhouettes that made an eerie backdrop with the Nevada sunset. Closing my tired eyes, I tried to let myself drift off into sleep.

  The sound of someone clearing their throat startled me. My eyes flew open, and I twisted the chair back around. A man stood near the entrance of the plane, and my heart skipped a beat. He was by far the cutest guy I’d ever seen.

  Dark sunglasses covered his eyes even though it was dusk. He wore a half buttoned, black pinstripe shirt that showed a white t-shirt underneath and blue jeans. I looked down at my own attire. I was still in my funeral dress, looking like a librarian covered in black. Oh well. It’s not as if I chose to be here. I reached my hand up and ran my fingers through my hair, trying to smooth out my long red tresses. I wished I could pull it back with something.

  I gave myself permission to let my eyes travel over the god of a body he had. A Five O’clock shadow gave him a mysterious look that went well with his dark tussled hair. If I had to guess, I would say he was in his early twenties.

  A grin spread out on his face as he noticed me undressing him with my eyes. I averted my gaze as quick as I could, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. I’m sure they turned a bright cherry red.

  “You must be Esmerelda,” he queried with a deep drawl. It gave me goosebumps and a shiver coursed through my spine.

  I bit my lip and shook my head. It shouldn’t have, but it disappointed me that he thought I was someone else. Of course he would have a girlfriend. Someone that sexy wouldn’t be without one.

  He cocked his head. “You’re sure?”

  “I think I know who I am.” I grimaced and nodded toward the cockpit. “Are you a—um—a…”

  His chuckle interrupted me, but I was grateful I didn’t need to finish my uncomfortable question. No reason to let him think I was delusional.

  “No, I’m a Guardian.” He took off his sunglasses, revealing perfect aqua blue eyes. “Have you seen Victor?”

  No words came. All I could do was shake my head once again.

  He grinned, showing a small dimple. Lord help me. He is gorgeous.

  “I’ll go check the cockpit.” He turned, moving to the front of the plane. “…Victor likes to think he can fly.”

  If it were any other day, that might have been funny. I tipped my head back against the chair. A couple seconds passed before he returned from the front of the plane, shutting the door behind him.

  “Did you find Victor?”

  “Yeah, he’s in there.” He pointed with his thumb behind him, to the closed door. “He’ll be out in a minute.”

  “So, I take it that you talked him out of flying?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, I told him my life was at stake, and I’d haunt him first if anything happened.” I grinned back at him, somewhat relieved.

  I chewed on my bottom lip as I thought over the situation. My kidnapper wasn't releasing me, but at least he wouldn't be practicing his flying lessons tonight. I watched as Mr. Hot-n-Sexy strode to the chair next to mine, sitting down as if he owned the plane, which as far as I knew, he could have.

  “You really don’t know, do you?” He leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs.

  “Know what?” His question gave me goosebumps. After today, I would
n’t be surprised if he told me that he was a werewolf.

  He shook his head. “I thought you would know, that’s all.” He winked at me. “It shouldn’t be long till we’re up in the air now.”

  I gulped—he would be going with us. Maybe he would help me escape. My hopes soared.

  Victor emerged from the cockpit, closing the door behind him. “I see you met Jarak.”

  “I see you’ve decided you can’t fly a plane… Actually, we haven’t formally been introduced.” I admitted, trying to engrave Jarak’s name into my memory. Mmmm, I liked it. It fit him well and I played with it, rolling it around in my head. If I lived through this, Ailaina would shoot me if I forgot the name of the hot guy I would be telling her about.

  “Well, in that case, Ara this is Jarak. Jarak this is Ara.” I glanced over at the handsome stranger as Victor introduced us.

  He gave me a quick glimpse then back at Victor. “Ara?”

  Victor stepped closer, taking the seat across from us. “Yes, it is short for Arabeth. Correct?” He unwound the black scarf from around his neck, draping it over the arm of his seat and unbuttoned his suit jacket as he crossed his leg over his knee.

  “Yeah.” My whole body quivered. I wasn’t cold, so I knew it was my nerves.

  Jarak leaned over and ran his hands through his hair. “I thought she’s Esmerelda—how does she not know this? When I heard the name Ara, I presumed it was a nickname or something.”

  Victor held up his hand to interrupt. “It’s a long flight to Madrid. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

  The plane’s door slammed shut, sealing us inside. I jumped from the sound. Okay, so now plane doors closed and locked by themselves. That wasn’t weird. Right?

  The roar of the engines became louder, sounding as if they were winding up tight, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I became nauseous, and my stomach flopped in protest. I’d never flown before. Heck, I never thought I'd be kidnapped either, but here I was, on a plane, with a deranged magical lunatic, and some hot tag-a-long. I bent over in my seat and tried not to hyperventilate. The plane moved backwards and I shrieked, clutching the arms of the chair.

  “All is well my dear.” Victor leaned over and patted my knee.

  I swatted his hand away from me. All is well? No, all was not well. Thousands of butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. I was on my way to Spain, in a plane with a kidnapper, to see my dead mom and flying, itself, was never on my to-do list. I shook my head.

  “No… It’s not okay. I don’t want to fly.” I could feel my anxiety climax as the jet crawled forward toward the start of the runway.

  “It’s okay, just breathe.” Jarak reassured.

  “What do you think I’m doing? Sucking up all the stupid in this plane? Cause let me tell you, it would take a long time!” What did he think I was doing?

  The plane slowed almost to a complete stop, and then it raced forward, sucking me back into my seat. Tipping back, I realized we were in the air, climbing above the ground, and defying gravity and all the security it offered.

  I squeezed my eyes shut as the small plane banked to the right. Oh dear Lord, we are gonna fall out of the sky!

  “Ara, open your eyes and look at the lights before we get too high.”

  I peeked one eye open, straining to see outside the tiny window. The lights of Elko grew smaller and smaller. We banked again, turning to fly over my hometown. My eyes closed tight, and my face was in an unattractive squished contortion. I sucked in a deep breath and held it to calm myself down. I tried to focus on anything other than the fact that we were still climbing thousands of feet in the air.

  I squinted at both guys, not wanting to open my eyes wide yet. Crap eating grins spread out over their faces at their apparent fascinations with my fear of flying.

  A bump in the so far smooth climb made me jump, and I realized the only way I would get through an entire flight was to talk. With my cell phone gone—not that I could use it to text thirty thousand feet in the air—I couldn’t talk to Ailaina, so my next option was Victor and Jarak. It should prove to be an exciting trip.

  I tried to loosen the grip I had on the armrest, but each jump in turbulence the plane went through, made me tense back up. “So why Spain? I mean why not Florida or Hawaii, somewhere tropical?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  Victor leaned forward. “Because of what your mom is, there aren’t many vampires willing to turn her. They said it was too dangerous. In Spain, I was able to convince Trevor, an old vampire to do it. He has more restraint than most vampires in the world.”

  “You’re serious about blood sucking beings who hunt at night, aren’t you?” I shuddered.

  Victor’s eyes clouded over. “I’m afraid so. They are real. Just like you and many of us, hold magic.”

  “This is crazy.”

  “Let me show you.” Victor held his hands out before I could protest. A blue haze of energy formed and hovered above his palms. It reminded me of the glowing I observed with my hands earlier. He drew his arm back and hurled the mist-like-energy at the other chair, turning it to ice before I could blink.

  I jumped from the unexpected action. My eyes widened. “Holy cow!” I reached over and touched the chair. It was hard and cold, undeniably ice.

  Both men smiled at me in a knowing satisfaction. Okay, so magic might be real. I used to play pretend with Ailaina when we were kids all the time. Our storybooks would become spell books, and we’d cook up potions in our play kitchens and teapots. Maybe innocence has more of a connection than I ever thought.

  I gulped, still staring at the chair. It was so weird to look at.

  “Does that help you?” Victor settled back into his seat.

  That was crazy. I pressed my lips together and swallowed. “Yeah.”

  He chortled. “Good.”

  I averted my eyes from the ice and caught Jarak staring at me. “So why are you here? I mean, do you kidnap people too?”

  Jarak raised one brow. “Kidnap people?”

  “Well it’s a perfectly good question since Victor kidnapped me.”

  He laughed. “He kidnapped you?”

  I didn’t laugh. In fact, I found nothing about this funny.

  His face became ashen. “You’re serious.” He gawked at Victor. “She’s serious isn’t she?”

  Clearing his throat, Victor rubbed his chin. “Yes.”

  Jarak stood up and paced, throwing his arms in the air. “Why did you do that? How am I supposed to do my job if you pull that kind of stuff? You said you had it taken care of.”

  “There was no other way. She admitted it herself. She wouldn’t have come with me willingly.”

  I gulped and studied my hands that shook from my nerves.

  “You should’ve had me do it. I’m the one who’s supposed to protect her. I could’ve gotten her.” The more Jarak paced, the more his voice rose. “You hired me to make sure she is safe. How am I supposed to do that if she feels threatened because you kidnapped her?”

  “She’s here, that’s all that matters.”

  “As long as you get what you need, you don’t care how you get it. Am I right?” Jarak stopped pacing and ran his hands through his hair. He stared at Victor, waiting for his answer. “All you warlocks are the same… greedy and uncaring.”

  Victor rubbed the back of his neck. “I told you, I need her, and she needs her mom. It’s that simple.”

  “What do you mean, you need me?” Why am I so important?

  Victor waved his hand. “Nothing…I just meant that I need you to be there for your mom.”

  Jarak exhaled a deep breath and settled back down in his seat. “I’m sorry Esmerelda.”

  I scowled at him. “My name is Arabeth. I think you guys kidnapped the wrong girl. My mom is dead, and I’m not Esmerelda. Please, just let me go back home.”

  Victor leaned forward again. “Ara, your real name is Esmerelda. I know it must sound weird to hear, coming from someone that you don’t know, b
ut it’s true. Your mom is alive and waiting to see you.”

  I wanted to cry. “Please stop. I can’t take anymore.” I peeked over at Jarak. He was bent over with his head tipped down, but his eyes still looked up at me. Maybe he might be my chance to escape. I pleaded with my eyes.

  He turned and glared at Victor. “We need to talk.” Hope flared inside of me with his words.

  Victor nodded and then opened his hands, palms facing me with his fingers splayed open. At that same moment, my eyelids grew heavy, and I strained to keep them open. The room moved, making me dizzy. It was so severe that I couldn’t keep them open. My body slumped as I fell into a deep asleep.

  Airport Hostage

  – Jarak –

  I closed the sliding door to the jet’s kitchenette as I entered behind Victor. Not that Esmeralda would wake from a sleeping spell too easily, but it was best not to push the boundaries.

  “You have a lot to explain.” I demanded in a hushed voice.

  “You can talk louder. She won’t wake up for a while. A sleep spell takes at least an hour to wear off.”

  “I know that, but she’s different. Isn’t that why you need her? What is going on, Victor? You told me that you found her and hired me to protect her. I assumed that she knew she’s a witch. I mean, she’s the witch. Right?” My insides burned, and my pulse pounded in my ears. Clenching my jaw, I glared at him.

  “Jarak, listen… I hired you to help keep her safe from Nicholas, not from me. I don’t want to hurt her. I need her.”

  “I still don’t understand. Why do you need her?”

  “We all know Nicholas wants her to help create his cross-breeds. He needs all five elements in one form to do that, something she has.” He paused, giving a half-shrug. “I, on the other hand, need her to help destroy Nicholas’s spell.”

  “What do you get out of it?”

  He gave a sly smile. “I have my reasons, but that’s my secret.”

  “Will she be hurt?”

  “Why do you care?” His voice boomed through the kitchen.

  “As a Guardian I take my job seriously.” His secret put me on edge. Something didn’t feel right.