by Ivy Sinclair
I softened my voice. I needed Riley to calm down. My goal was to get all of us out of this mess alive and in one piece, and he needed to work with me. “The end result is the same. Stand down. Let me help Klein.”
By the set of his jaw, I knew that the conversation was far from over, but he moved slightly so that I could step around him. Without looking at either of the men, I made my way toward the small copse of trees. Before I reached them, I could hear the low moans of pain coming from the one closest to me. I saw the twisted lump of clothing sitting at the base of the tree, and then Klein’s face popped into view. I wrinkled my nose and tried to empty my mind as I realized that he had just gotten sick.
“You definitely look like you got the better end of the stick in all of this,” he said as he saw me approaching. His skin was pale, and as I settled down next to him, I could see that his skin was waxy and his eyes bloodshot. He looked like shit. “Where’s Riley?”
“I’m right here,” Riley said. I did a quick check over my shoulder. Riley stood there looking slightly uncertain. “I wasn’t sure if you needed me or not.”
I knew what he was asking. For some reason, the symbol on Riley’s back seemed to be the key that I needed for now to open up the door to Eva’s magic. That was why I was able to disentangle myself from Bruno’s energy. Riley helped me bridge the way to Eva’s magic. It didn’t surprise me that Riley had felt it too. What I had pulled to heal him had been greater than anything that I had attempted before though.
I was glad to see that he was focused on someone other than Bruno. The more I could keep him occupied on other tasks, the less risk there was that he was going to do something stupid that could get him killed. I had no doubt that Bruno would love to do it. I had realized too late that the new blood pact no longer held the caveat that I had required the first time around when I insisted that he couldn’t hurt anyone I cared about. I wanted to kick myself for letting my emotions cloud my judgment, but what was done was done.
“Yes, come closer,” I said.
“What are you going to do?” Klein asked. I saw him trying to shift away from me then.
“Look at Riley,” I said. “He’s healed now, and I want to do the same for you.”
“This doesn’t like bind me to you or some shit, right?” Klein asked with a look of open panic on his face.
I wanted to laugh. “I’m not some kind of vampire, Klein. It’s magic, and you’re going to feel a hell of a lot better once I’m done.”
“I thought you couldn’t access your magic?” he asked suspiciously.
“I’m helping her,” Riley said. “You know that I have some rudimentary skills that Alice taught me. Paige can draw on that, and it opens it up for her.”
I had a feeling it was a bit more complex than that, but I wasn’t going to argue. Klein looked back and forth between the two of us, and then gave a tired nod. “Fine. But if I wind up dead instead, I’m coming back to haunt both of you.”
“I’m pretty sure I included an alive or dead clause in your employment contract,” Riley said in a deadpan voice. “You should have checked the small print.”
Klein groaned at the joke, and I gave him a small smile. Since Riley was a necromancer, that kind of clause could actually exist and be utilized. I reached out and took Riley’s hand. Immediately, I felt the welcoming hum of energy. I was starting to get the hang of this magic thing. Then I let my other hand hover over Klein’s tense form.
I closed my eyes and let all of my senses open up. Unlike when I healed Riley, Klein didn’t scream or writhe as the energy moved over his body. I heard a sharp inhale and then a long exhale, but that was all. Now that I was becoming familiar with the magic, I realized that I could almost see the swirls of energy as they found their destinations across Klein’s torso and arm. In the glowing image in my mind, I could see that these were the troubled areas. I had no idea how much time passed until I knew that there was no more work for me to do.
I dropped my hands to my sides even as I opened my eyes. Klein stared at me with wide eyes. His skin coloring was rosy now. I peeked at Riley, and he looked relieved but he said nothing.
Putting my hands primly on my knees, I glanced at both of them again. “Okay, well that’s that. Better get back to business then.” I stood up and started dusting the dirt off my jeans. Riley stood up and helped Klein get to his feet. Other than a slight wobble, the younger man seemed to be as good as new.
“Do you have something to say to Paige, Klein?” Riley’s voice held a slightly paternal tone.
“That was fucking unreal. I have the worst luck during field work. That’s why I told Riley I don’t want to do it anymore,” Klein said to me, completely missing Riley’s hint.
Riley lightly smacked the younger man on the back side of his head. “Anything else?”
“Oh, um, thanks?” Klein looked abashed. “Sorry. I haven’t ever had that kind of thing happen to me before. I guess I got a little ahead of myself.”
I chuckled. “It’s okay, I’m glad you’re feeling better and that I was able to help with that.”
“Ms. Matthews? We still have matters to discuss, and I am running late as it is.” Bruno appeared behind Riley and started tapping his wristwatch.
“Shit,” Klein said as he backed up into the tree.
“It’s okay,” I said, putting my arm up to block him from Bruno’s view. I wished that I actually felt as confident as I sounded. I stepped forward and wasn’t surprised when Riley stepped in lockstep unison with me. “So, discuss.”
Bruno sniffed. “As I said, there is something that I require you to retrieve for me. It is an object of great value and sentiment.”
“Let me guess. An ancient relic in the form of a compass,” Riley said crossing his arms. “We’ve been through this one before.”
Bruno’s eyes shifted toward Riley. “Indeed, we have. That didn’t work out so well for you though, did it?”
Riley took a step forward, and I put a hand on his arm. “This would be a lot easier to discuss if the two of you would stop taking pot shots at each other. Just tell me why you think I can get this relic for you.”
“Because your friend Benjamin has it and demonstrated his obvious affections for you, you are uniquely positioned to get it away from him and give it to me,” Bruno said. “It’s a simple task really, and once it’s done, I’ll be out of your hair forever.”
“This is the same relic that I could use to turn away Eva’s possession,” I said flatly. “So you’re asking the person who needs it the most to just hand it over to you even if I can get ahold of it?”
“There are multiple ways to skin a cat,” Bruno said with a hollow smile. “If you get me the relic, I’ll tell you another way.”
“Shitty deal, if you ask me,” Riley said.
“Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t ask you, isn’t it?” Bruno said. “Speaking of you, Mr. Stone, this is your lucky day. I’m feeling a bit generous, especially after watching Ms. Matthew’s moving performance in saving your life. I’m willing to offer you a deal as well.”
“No deal ever again,” Riley said. His expressionless face gave away nothing of the turmoil that I knew had to be sitting just below the surface. He thought that he lost his family the last time he ended up on the wrong side of a deal with Bruno.
“I think I can change your mind,” Bruno said. His voice had the grating tone of a carnival caller. “Unfortunately, it appears that I am not the only one who is aware of Ms. Matthews and her particular circumstance. And since that hit the radar, every angel and demon in this realm seems to have focused on Calamata Island to find her. That means that, at any minute, any one of my bastard kin, or some self-serving goody-two-shoes archangel could sweep in and lift that relic right out of Benjamin’s hands. You, my dear, are the one person that I know who can get close to him and that he will trust.”
“If that’s true, Paige is not going anywhere near that madness,” Riley said.
“She is, and you will go with he
r, of course. That’s why I am willing to offer you both some additional incentive. It seems fitting given the dangerous nature of the mission.”
“No deal,” Riley said. “And if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to find a way to kill you before we hand it over so that she is free of your pact forever.”
“Riley,” my voice carried a note of warning. I had a sudden flash of insight. Riley hadn’t wanted to believe me, but Bruno held leverage that would ensure that he would do whatever Bruno wanted. That was the card that Bruno had left to play, and it was a deal that I knew Riley would make.
“You won’t hurt Paige, so stop pretending that’s your leverage,” Riley said. “I’ll help her to the extent that I can until I find a way to stop you in the process. That is a guarantee that I make you.”
“I’m surprised at you, Mr. Stone. I was sure that Ms. Matthews told you that I actually do have something else in my possession that I am fairly certain you would be willing to bargain for.”
I tightened my grip on Riley’s shoulder.
“My mother and sister are dead,” Riley said. His voice was barely louder than a whisper. “You have nothing to hold over on my head.”
“Are you truly willing to risk their lives to find that out?” Bruno asked. His voice was a hiss. “You will help Ms. Matthews acquire the relic, and then you will hand it over to me. In return, you both get to live. Ms. Matthews gets her little antidote to her possession problem, and you get your family back. Really, this all seems like a win-win to me. More than fair.”
“Go to Hell,” Riley growled.
Bruno sighed. “Very well. We’ll play it your way” Then he vanished in a puff of smoke.
CHAPTER THREE – RILEY
I was more surprised than anything when Proctor disappeared. For one brief moment, I thought that maybe we were rid of him for good. Then I realized that I couldn’t move.
“Shit!” I said as I tried to struggle against the invisible bonds that held me tight.
“Am I paralyzed? Did something go wrong with the healing?” Klein’s panicked voice hit my ears and caused me to roll my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Paige edged closer looking me up and down aware that I was struggling against something that neither one of us could see.
“I’m stuck,” I said. “I have a feeling that this is just ensuring that we don’t go anywhere until that asshole gets back from whatever merry adventure he’s decided to go on.”
“Is that what this is? More magic?” Klein was getting on my nerves. Maybe he was right. The field wasn’t the place for him.
“I can try to break it,” Paige said. Her face scrunched up in concentration. I held my breath. I knew that Paige’s control on her magic was sporadic at best. I just hoped that whatever she did wouldn’t result in me ending up as some kind of liquid pool of human entrails. Great, Klein’s mania was rubbing off on me, I thought.
“Be careful,” I said. “Take your time.”
“In case anyone cares, my toes are starting to go numb, so sooner rather than later would actually be appreciated,” Klein said.
“Shut up, Klein,” I said. “Let Paige concentrate.”
There were several long pauses of silence as Paige breathed in and out deeply. Then her eyes opened, and she grimaced. “It’s like you aren’t even there.” She reached out, but her hand stopped at least a good foot away from my body. Her eyes widened. “He’s got you completely blocked off from me.”
“Probably because he was well-aware of what you could do if you could touch me,” I said with a sigh.
“So does somebody want to fill the rest of us in on that?” Klein asked. “Maybe it would work on me.”
Paige looked at me. I would have shrugged except I couldn’t move. “It doesn’t hurt to try,” I said.
She walked out of my peripheral vision. I resumed struggling against the magical barrier holding me in place. I knew it was essentially pointless, but I wasn’t about to give up so easily.
“The magic that I have access to isn’t mine,” I heard Paige start to explain to Klein. “It’s Eva’s. It’s like it is sitting there somewhere else, and I have to figure out how to open a door to it in order to use it. There are certain times when that door seems to open automatically.”
“That’s what you were talking about before? When your life was in danger?” Klein asked. I almost smiled. Eventually, the kid’s curiosity would always win out over being scared shitless. That’s just how his brain worked.
“Exactly.” Paige sounded as patient as an elementary school teacher. “I wasn’t even conscious of that, but it was what saved me when Bruno’s thugs beat me up and threw me in the bay by Calamata Island three years ago. Since I’ve met Riley, it’s been something that I’ve been able to consciously access at times. That control is growing, and it’s there when Riley bridges the gap for me. It’s like he builds the road that leads right to the door because I keep losing it.”
“That has to do with the symbol on his back?”
“I think so,” Paige said. “Riley, I can’t do anything to break the magic around Klein either.”
“It was a long-shot,” I said. “You shouldn’t have agreed to a new deal with him, Paige. You know what’s going to happen if you don’t get the relic for him now, right?”
“I had no choice, Riley. You were going to die.”
“But you just said that at times of peril you can access your magic more easily. You didn’t even give yourself a chance to try before you latched onto the idea of using his magic.”
“I wasn’t going to let you die in front of me when there was another way,” Paige said quietly. She came back into my view. I could tell by the way that her lips pursed that I was the on the cusp of royally pissing her off.
“Your buddy Benjamin isn’t going to just hand the relic over because he’s in love with you,” I said tersely. “Archangels aren’t exactly known for their agreeableness either.”
“Seriously?”
“Shut up, Klein,” Paige and I said the words at the same time, and I offered up a small smile when the air behind me went silent.
“One thing at a time, Riley,” Paige said. “Besides, we have to figure out how to get it from him. Not only because I’m now tied to Bruno until he releases me from our agreement, but because he has your family.”
It was infuriating how all of my conversations recently came back to this topic. “If that were true, he wouldn’t have flitted off like a foot-stomping teenager having a fit just now. He’s lying.”
“Am I?” The question hung in the air as Proctor’s form materialized in front of me. “You’re exceedingly lucky that I’m in a relatively good mood today, although I think that you don’t need your tongue to accomplish what I need you to do.”
Paige stepped in front of me. “Stop it. This isn’t getting us anywhere.” I had to admire her guts. She was in a full-on stare down with a demon official. Plus, she looked damn sexy doing it.
Not the appropriate time for that, my internal voice chided me.
“I was going to bring back a trinket as the proof that Mr. Stone appears to require regarding the truth of the matter about his family. I thought a finger or an ear perhaps. But I knew he would still refuse to believe it until he saw with his own two eyes. So voila.” Proctor waved his hand, and two petite figures appeared beside him.
My stomach dropped as their features materialized. My mother had her arms around my sister. They were both visibly shaking, but what turned the pit of my stomach was that neither one of them looked as if they had aged a day since I last saw them five years ago.
“Riley? Is that you?” I hadn’t heard my mother’s voice in five years. It was a sound I thought I’d never hear again.
“Mom?”
My sister’s face turned upward. What I saw then brought a flash of anger vibrating through my body. Her eyes were beaming red. She winked at me. Then she closed her eyes and opened them again. This time, they were the same jade green color that matched my
own. “Rie?” Her nickname for me bit deep.
“They have demons in them.” It wasn’t a question. “This is some kind of sick joke, isn’t it? You’ve dressed up some latchkeys to look like them. It won’t work.” I refused to believe. I couldn’t believe it, because to do so would mean that my world would come apart at the seams. I throttled the emotions that I felt welling in my chest. I wasn’t about to give Proctor the satisfaction of knowing that he had rattled me.
“Of course, I’ve outfitted them with some of my most loyal subjects. Plus, I can’t just have random luggage lying about Hell,” Proctor said. “It amuses me that you keep thinking that I’d go through the effort of wasting energy to create an illusion of the truth. Fine, if you don’t believe me still, I’ll prove it. Joanna?”
I couldn’t help the stiffening of my body as I watched the woman who looked achingly like my mother soften her shoulders as if she were beaten. I barely heard the low murmur that told me she said something to the other woman, but I couldn’t hear exactly what was said.
“The clock is ticking,” Proctor said impatiently. “Get on with it already.”
The woman took something out of the younger woman’s hands. I couldn’t quite see what it was other than it had a rectangular shape. There was nothing that he could do to convince me they were my family, but I still wanted to back away even as the woman approached me. It just hurt too much to look at her. I turned my head away.
“You demanded proof. You aren’t even going to be man enough to accept it?”
I twisted to glare at Proctor when I heard Paige’s gasp. She was looking at the woman in front of me who now held up the rectangular item so that I could see it. It was the irony of it all that hit me first. Paige had asked me just hours ago to tell her something about me that no one else would know. I felt confident in my answer then because the one person who knew I thought was dead.
My mother held my battered, well-worn copy of Gone with the Wind in her hands. I’d recognize it anywhere.
“You got your romantic side from your father,” she said. Her eyes were filled with a deep sorrow. “My rough and tumble boy never wanted to admit that all he ever wanted in life was to be a part of his own epic love story.”