Black Magick

by J. E. Taylor

  Austin stared at the shimmer and glanced up at Tom. The tension in his face had relaxed, and he offered a nod.

  “That should do the trick,” Raven said over the speaker phone.

  “Ov oo,” Tom said aloud.

  “I love you, too. Detective Connelly is on the way. I trust you can keep that maniac in line until the police arrive?”

  “Ya,” he answered and took the phone, ending the call.

  The men standing in the center of the room blinked a few times before they looked down at the weapons in their hands. Metal clanked on the floor, and the horror of their misdeeds passed over their features. Hands slowly rose to cover their mouths, and their gazes transferred to Paige’s. Remorse lived in their irises. Their muttered apologies were muffled by their hands.

  Paige gave them a nod accepting it for what it was, but Austin glared at them.

  “You have the audacity to stand there and apologize for beating her and god knows what else? Where the fuck was your restraint?” he snarled at them.

  “They had no control,” Paige said.

  Anger overrode logic and he peeled her off and stood, taking a step towards the two men with his fists so tight they throbbed. Tom’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, stopping him from doing anything he would regret.

  He glared over his shoulder anyway, and his eyes widened. Without thought, he threw himself in front of Paige. Pain ripped through his upper right chest as the blade sank into his flesh.

  The blade meant to kill Paige.

  Before Hunter could launch another knife, the room shook and the floor actually rippled at the power rolling from Tom. All metal in the vicinity between where Tom stood and the concentrated area around Hunter shattered into dust.

  The men in the center of the room turned and ran like they had seen the faces of a thousand ghosts.

  Austin’s gaze turned to Paige, and he offered her what he hoped was a smile. He couldn’t hear a thing above the high pitched ringing in his ears and both his chest and back felt like an angry bear attacked him.

  “I guess this just isn’t my week,” he whispered.

  Her hysterical laugh, along with the far away shouts of officers filling the room, followed him into the black.

  Black Magick Chapter 13

  He tried to swallow, but his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. His eyelids fluttered against the heavy pull to close, leaving him with the soothing sounds of a steady beeping. The sharp smell of antiseptic made his nose crinkle, and he tried to turn his head. The motion woke the pain and he inhaled, opening his eyes to the sterile hospital room.

  “Paige?” he asked in nothing more than a croak.

  A chair to his right scraped on the floor, and an unfamiliar face stepped into view. It took him a moment to place the man. With recognition came the flood of memories.

  “Your girlfriend is just down the hall,” he said, but his lips didn’t move at all.

  Austin tried to speak but his tongue kept scraping across the roof of his mouth like he had inhaled a handful of granite dust. Without having to ask, Tom handed him a cup of water with a straw.

  The cool liquid felt like the richest chocolate sauce as it moistened his mouth and throat. He licked his lips and handed the cup back.

  “How is she?”

  Tom pulled the chair closer. “She’s got a few broken ribs, some contusions, and a slew of bruises. She developed a mild case of pneumonia from the way she was bound, but the doctor’s feel she will fully recover from her physical injuries. There’s nothing that is permanent. But her mental state... well, she’s a mess,” he signed.

  Austin was thankful that he also projected the words, because in his drugged state, he was having difficulty following the conversation via sign language.

  “Can I see her?”

  “You haven’t been given the go ahead to get up yet.”

  Austin stared at him for a moment and then pushed himself into a sitting position. The room spun and he gripped the edge of the bed, closing his eyes while he counted breaths. When the spinning stopped, he blinked his eyes, focusing on the floor tiles.

  “Can you get me a wheelchair?” he asked, still staring at the floor.

  Tom passed through the door.

  Austin glanced up at the I.V. and muttered under his breath. It was on the bed frame, not a mobile device.

  I got it covered. Tom’s thought invaded his mind, and a moment later, he appeared with a wheelchair that had a t-bar for the intravenous bag. He helped Austin into the chair and got the bag all set before he wheeled him out of the room.

  Just down the hall must be a local expression because it seemed like a network of mazes and even included an elevator ride to a higher floor.

  As they approached the door, Austin said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  The clearly marked No Admittance sign graced the doors. Austin had seen that sign so many times in the past, but this time it made no sense.

  Tom stopped and stepped into view. “She killed Hunter,” he signed slowly, opting not to follow up with the audible in his mind.

  Austin stared up at Tom, blinking as the words sunk in. “How?”

  Tom blew out a stream of air. “When you passed out, she freaked. I don’t know where she found the strength, but as the police were escorting him out, she took the knife he had thrown at you and launched it before anyone could stop her.”

  Austin’s head lowered and he took a deep breath. “I want to see her,” he said.

  Tom knocked on the door, and it took a moment before an orderly opened it.

  Austin looked up as Tom positioned himself behind the chair. “I need to see Paige Turner,” he said.

  The orderly looked from Austin to Tom and back before swinging the door wide so they could enter. “This way,” the orderly said.

  Entry to a psych ward was never that easy. Austin glanced over his shoulder at Tom. He actually winked and smirked at Austin before refocusing on the orderly.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” a nurse stepped into view, blocking their path.

  “I need to see Paige,” Austin said, staring her down, hoping Tom could work his silent magic again.

  Her eyes moved beyond him, and just by the way she was studying the space, he knew Tom was signing. Her eyebrows arched and her gaze traveled back to Austin’s. “Mr. Shelton?” she asked.

  Austin nodded.

  The nurse sighed and glanced over her shoulder before returning her gaze to his. “I usually don’t bend the rules, but in this case, I think seeing you will help Miss. Turner.” She turned toward a bank of rooms beyond her.

  Tom began to push the chair, following the nurse.

  She unlocked a door, and Tom rolled him into the dimly lit room. Paige stared out the small window, and Austin’s gaze landed on the restraints holding her in place. An intravenous line ran from her arm, and the heart monitor kept the steady beat.

  “Paige?” he said and reached for her hand. It wasn’t until his skin touched hers that her glazed eyes turned in his direction. He glanced at the nurse. “What the fuck did you give her?”

  “Clozapine,” the nurse answered.

  “An antipsychotic?”

  “She wouldn’t calm down.”

  Austin glared at her and turned back to Paige. She stared right through him.

  “Paige?” he asked again and squeezed her hand. This time her eyes seemed to focus, and she blinked like she was just waking from a nightmare.

  “Austin?” she said in the slow drawl of a heavily medicated person.

  “Yeah, baby, it’s me.”

  She glanced at the wheelchair and his poorly fitted hospital johnny, her gaze traveling from the I.V. in his arm to the bag hanging from the bar and then to Tom standing behind him. When she finally found his face again, he smiled.

  “I hear you’re a hell of a shot with a knife,” Austin said.

  She huffed a laugh and started coughing. Despite the drugs, pain traveled over her features, and she whimpe
red and fell back into the pillow. “I hurt.”

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you,” Austin said, and when she turned back to him, she became a blur behind the building tears. He hung his head, resting his forehead on her hand as all the fear and pain he felt the last few days purged.

  “Call me when you’re ready to go back to your room,” Tom’s voice echoed, and the click of the door left Auston alone with Paige.

  “I killed him,” she said with no emotion at all.

  “Good,” Austin whispered and sniffled as he met her gaze.

  Tears filled her eyes and slowly tracked down her face. “I couldn’t...” She stopped and took a breath. “I thought...” Again, she trailed off, and the bed vibrated with her silent sobs.

  Austin untied her wrist and forced himself to his feet before he took a seat on the edge of her bed, holding her hand to his chest. Her gaze dropped and her fingers moved across the medallion that lay against his skin before returning to his.

  He placed his hand against her chest, lightly enough so he didn’t hurt her, and smiled at the shape of the same insignia below her shirt. Tom had made sure they were both safe. Even if it was against hospital policy, he wasn’t taking any chances after what had occurred.

  Her hand followed to his and she pulled the necklace out from under her shirt, studying it before she tucked it away again.

  “I don’t know when they’re going to let me out.”

  “You won’t be in here long, I promise.” He leaned over and untied her other wrist, wincing at the movement.

  She sat up slowly with a wince of her own, and gently circled her arms around his neck.

  They held each other in a loose hug for what seemed like forever until the door opened. Both of them slowly dropped their arms and looked at the doorway. The nurse stood in the entry with her hands on her hips and her lips pressed so tight, they were non-existent.

  “You unbuckled her?” The question was delivered in an angry screech.

  Austin stared her down. “Yes. She isn’t a threat. Don’t treat her like one, and the next time you decide to give out an antipsychotic to someone, make damned sure you have all the medical facts. She’s got pneumonia. Didn’t you read the chart?”

  “She was just doing her job,” Paige whispered, wincing as she lay back on the bed.

  “No. She wasn’t. If she had read your file, she would never have given you that medicine. It could affect your breathing, especially with pneumonia.” He shot a glare in the nurse’s direction to find her frantically swiping the screen of her electronic chart. When her face paled, she looked up with saucer-like eyes.

  “I’ve worked in a psych ward for the last five years. I was in New York interviewing at Cornell and Columbia for their medical programs,” Austin said. “I know my way around sedatives, and I also know what a mistake costs.”

  The nurse opened her mouth to speak, and he cocked his head, waiting for the pending argument. Instead, the nurse muttered a soft apology and turned, taking her leave.

  Austin waited until the door closed before he turned back to Paige. “I doubt they’ll be giving you sedatives like this again. What the hell were you thinking?” he asked as his mind started filtering the questions that had piled up in his stupor.

  “I thought you were dead.”

  Her answer shot the irritation from every limb, and the result was a dizzying exhaustion.

  “You won’t get rid of me that easily,” he said with a smile. “I probably should go back to my room so they can give me a little something for the pain.”

  “Don’t go,” she whispered, and her gaze bounced around the room before returning to him.

  “Why not?” he asked, but the fear in her eyes gave him pause.

  She stared at him. “He’s here. I can feel the evil seeping into the air.”

  His smile faded. “He can’t touch you. Not with that necklace.”

  “But he can taunt me and make it so I can’t sleep,” she said, her eyes begging him to stay.

  Tom stepped into the room, sweeping his gaze from one side to the other, and he offered a shake of his head. Austin’s conversation about ghosts popped into the forefront of his mind.

  “He isn’t here now,” Austin said and turned his gaze back to Paige.

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  “He can see ghosts.”

  The answer seemed simple enough, and she narrowed her gaze in Tom’s direction. He tapped his watch and Austin gave him a nod.

  “I have to go, but I’ll be back in the morning, and then we’ll get you out of here, okay?”

  “They aren’t going to let me go.”

  “Yes, they are. You weren’t in the right mind...”

  “Exactly,” she said. “I wasn’t and now I’m here again.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” he said and shifted to his feet, sliding back into the wheelchair. He sent a smile in her direction.

  Tom crossed the room, signing.

  “He said he already called his lawyer for us,” Austin translated.

  “Why?” Paige asked.

  Tom’s hands continued.

  “Because he says should have roasted that fucker when he had the chance,” Austin said.

  Silence settled between them, and Paige gave him a nod of thanks before her eyelids slowly closed.

  “Love you, Austin,” she whispered.

  “Love you, too, Paige,” he said and squeezed her hand.

  Tom rolled him out, and before he rolled off the floor, he made Tom stop at the nurse’s station.

  “I’m downstairs. If something happens with Paige, please come get me.”

  “I’m sure she will be just fine. We will keep a close eye on her until the medicine wears off.”

  “Thank you,” he said, and they headed back towards his room.

  Black Magick Chapter 14

  Paige stared at the ceiling, aware that the crawl on her skin was more from the medication than any precognition. She didn’t want to close her eyes. When she closed her eyes, she was no longer safe, and just the thought of it sent her heart rate into a thumping beat.

  The dark room did nothing to soothe her fears. If anything, the shadows drilled it farther into her bones. Hunter’s presence hung in the air, and just as her eyelids finally slid closed, his low malignant chuckle filled her ears.

  Her eyes flew open to the darkness, and the monitor registered her high-speed heart beat.

  “They won’t help you this time.” His voice caressed her skin like a dozen finely sharpened knives.

  “You can’t touch me,” she whispered. She prayed both the talisman around her neck and the salt line around the bed that Tom had made before he rolled Austin out of the room would prevent Hunter from hurting her.

  The temperature in the room dropped into the frigid zone, and she shivered.

  “I brought a friend this time,” he said.

  Her heart squeezed as the chair slid across the room and jammed under the doorknob, locking her in with the crazed ghost and locking out any chance for help.

  “Why won’t you just go rot in hell,” Paige said through chattering teeth.

  “Because I’m here to drag you there with me.” His form materialized in the room, solid enough to see his green eyes glaring in her direction before he shimmered and faded.

  The air inside the room began to swirl like a building tornado, and the light from the hallway faded for a moment. The door handle jiggled but wouldn’t open with the way the chair was wedged. The nurse’s eyes appeared in the small window and they widened before she stepped away.

  Paige tried to scream over the howling wind, but her voice was drowned by the screeching of equipment sliding across the floor. She glanced down at the salt line, and her heart thundered louder than the wind. Salt grains moved, thinning the line, and once it was breached, she knew Hunter and whomever he brought with him would do unspeakable things.

  With each grain that trailed away, her level of fear increased until she
found it difficult to draw a breath. The pounding on the door pulled her attention from the dwindling line of protection, and her gaze met Austin’s through the glass.

  “Help me!”

  Even though she knew he couldn’t hear over the storm in her room, he nodded and brought a phone to his ear.

  Paige’s gaze blurred and she blinked the hot tears from her eyes. The last kernel of salt blew to the side, leaving a breach in her protection. The wind in the room silenced. Only her ragged breathing remained as she stared at Austin’s panicked gaze.

  A hand wrapped around her throat, pulling her forwards. In the darkness, Hunter’s green eyes shimmered.

  “I thought about letting them fuck you to death while lover boy watched, but I think it would tear him up more to see you bleed,” Hunter’s voice whispered in her ear. “And while I promised Max and the boys a good fucking if they came along, they will have to wait until I’m done with you.”

  Paige didn’t have a chance to speak before Hunter hurled her across the room. The I.V. in her forearm tore out, leaving a painful gash, and the impact with the wall dazed her. Blood flowed from the cut and the pain from her previous beatings flared, drawing her breath in and locking the air in her chest.

  Her gaze darted around the dark as she got to her hands and knees. Austin’s yell from the other side of the door sounded distant among the buzzing in her ears. Icy hands gripped her arms and lifted her off her feet, slamming her against the wall with such force, she let out a yelp.

  “I want you in agony.” His voice pierced her, and then she was flying through the air again.

  She hit the side of the bed and sent it crashing into the wall. The snap in her arm was as audible as the scream that came out of her lips. Cradling her broken and bleeding appendage, she tried to crawl into the corner, but cold hands dragged her back to the center of the floor before grasping her hair and pulling her to her knees facing the door.

  Paige’s arm throbbed and tears blurred her vision, but she saw enough horror in Austin’s eyes to shatter her soul. The pain hadn’t reached the blackout level, but she knew Hunter wouldn’t let her get to that land of bliss.