“Sometimes I feel darkness in me Nick. It worries me.” “You did what you had to. She was attacking you, no?”
he said.
“Yeah, but still, I could’ve just defended myself.” I sat
down on the bed.
“And then what? She would’ve kept attacking you. You
had to do something.” He sat down next to me and took my
hand. “And there is no darkness in you. You are filled with
light. You won’t even let me kill Ky.”
I laughed at the way he said the last part. “Does it smell
in here to you?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed the scent the night
before.
“Like what?” he wondered as he smelled the air. His
sense of smell was much stronger than mine. “Ew, yes.
What is that?” he said before I could answer.
“I think it’s jasmine,” I sniffed. “And a little rose and
vanilla.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Oh my gosh, that stupid hooker,” I yelled.
“What is it?”
“She must’ve covered herself in love oil!”
“Oh, wow. How do we get it out of here? I don’t want
to smell it.”
“Hang on a sec.” I went into the closet and dug through
a small tote where I kept some of my spell supplies. I came
back out with a gray candle.
“Do you need me to go get a lighter?” Nick asked,
trying to be helpful.
“No, check it out,” I grinned. I blew on the candle wick
and it lit.
“Crap, Sof. When did you start doing that?” Nick asked
in surprise.
“Just a little somethin’ I’ve been working on,” I
wiggled my eyebrows at him. “Okay, be quiet for just a
sec.”
“What’s the gray one mean?” he interrupted.
“Neutralizing. Now shush,” I chastised him. I said a
little spell as I waved the smoke from the candle around the
room,
Mother earth, take away this awful stench
Brought to my home by that evil wench
Nick couldn’t help himself and laughed out loud.
“There’s no way that’s a real spell.”
“It doesn’t always have to come from a book. And it
sounded good,” I gave him a goofy grin as I blew out the
candle. “Can you still smell it? Your sniffer is better than
mine.”
“My sniffer? That’s kind of offensive,” he gave me a
fake frown.
“How so? It’s true, you sniff the air all the time when
you’re a wolf.”
“Yeah, but—”
I interrupted him, “Sheesh. Do you still smell it or not?” “No, it’s gone. This magic stuff really comes in handy.
Especially since you can do it without having to call Nat
over all the time. I lucked out,” he grinned.
“Let’s go watch a movie, goofball,” I smiled. Already, I
felt so much better. I felt the negativity leave our room with
Gia’s smell. I was going to try my hardest not think of her
for the rest of the day.
We ordered Chinese take-out for lunch and watched
movies for the rest of the day. Nick didn’t complain once
about the chick flick marathon I made him sit through. He
just let me lay my head in his lap with my feet up on the
arm of the couch.
He couldn’t resist commenting on things he thought
were ‘lame’ though. “That’s so unrealistic. I mean, if we
seriously had to carry clothes with us everywhere when we
shifted? We’re shifters. When we shift, everything shifts with us. That’s just lame,” he commented during one of the
movies with werewolves in it.
“I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t have clothes on when
you changed,” I grinned wickedly. He leaned down and
kissed me.
During the next movie, he said, “Really? They fall in
love over a weekend? Come on now.”
“You did not seriously just ask that. Really, Mr. I-Fellin-Love-With-You-After-Our-First-Kiss?”
“Oh. Okay. I see your point,” he shrugged.
When the last movie ended, he asked, “So, not to bring
it up, but do you have any idea where they were?” I knew what he was talking about and answered, “All
we could tell was that it was some kind of apartment. But it
didn’t look like any of the ones we went in when we were
looking in April.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find her,” he assured me. “Um, I
kind of need to go out tonight. I haven’t been out with the
pack the last two nights.”
“Call Rene then. Make sure he stays with you the entire
time. I mean it, Nick. He can’t leave your side. Ky knows
where you guys run at night.”
“Of course,” he said as he pulled his phone out of his
pocket to call Rene. He left about twenty minutes later to
meet Rene behind our apartment complex. “What about
you? Will you be okay?” he asked before he left. He
answered his own question before I could say anything,
“Never mind. Clearly you can handle yourself.”
“Hey, in case I’m asleep when you get in, tomorrow
I’m going to have Luca and Nat come over to help me put some wards up to keep psycho out of here.” He nodded,
kissed me, and left for the woods.
I took a shower and decided to listen to some music to
help me relax and fall asleep. Surprisingly, techno also
calmed me. I turned my favorite CD on at a low volume
and quickly drifted off.
I started to dream almost immediately. I was lying in
bed and I heard the front door open. I assumed Nick was
back and felt him climb in bed next to me. But it wasn’t
Nick, it was Ky.
~Chapter Fifteen~
I didn’t realize it until he rolled me over and pulled me underneath him. Before I could scream, he put his hand over my mouth. “Sofia, you are my love. Why can’t you see how much I need you? I won’t live without you in my life. That dog is not one of us. You need to be with me. He will be with Gia soon enough and she will have his child. Come to me, Sofia,” he whispered.
I couldn’t move. It was as if he had me immobilized. He took his hand away from my mouth, but no sound came out when I tried to scream. I was able to get out a small whisper, “Ky, this is not love. Why can’t you understand that? Love is not something that you can force on someone, it’s something that happens on its own.”
He started to kiss my neck and whispered against my skin, “You told me you loved me once. Nick will leave you and I will be waiting. Always waiting.” I continued to try and struggle against him as his mouth moved down to my shoulder, but his spell was strong. Gia must have been there helping him. He slid his hand up the inside of my leg and I gasped. I couldn’t handle this a second longer; I focused as hard as I could to get away from him.
I was finally able to scream and bolted straight up in bed. It was a nightmare. There was no Ky there. Only me, soaked with sweat and the sheet twisted around my waist.
The front door crashed open just then and Nick ran in to our room panting. “Mannaggia, Sofia! What happened? What’s going on?”
I just stared at him for a second before saying, “How did you know something was wrong?”
“I heard your scream. Are you okay? Was someone here?” He rushed to my side and ran his hands over my face, checking me for injuries.
“Did I really scream that l
oud? I hope I didn’t wake any neighbors.”
“My hearing is more sensitive than a human, remember? And I know your voice. I can hear you over a distance. But tell me, what happened? You’re covered in sweat.”
I didn’t want to tell him. I knew he would be angry if I described the dream. I hesitated. “I had a nightmare. I’m fine.”
“Are you going to tell me what it was about?”
“I would prefer not to. You’ll just get mad,” I shrugged.
“Just tell me. You know we don’t keep anything from each other,” he reminded me.
“I know. It’s just that… well, it was Ky.” His chest rumbled at the sound of Ky’s name like usual. “He was here in the apartment. I thought it was you when he crawled into bed with me.” Nick growled as I said it. “See, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”
“Continue. I’m fine,” he lied.
“I was frozen and couldn’t scream. He told me that he loves me and won’t live without me. He still thinks that I should be with him because he’s a witch. He said you and Gia would be together and she was going to have your baby. And then…” I couldn’t finish.
“And then what?” he growled again.
“Then he started kissing my neck, down my shoulder, his hand—”
He couldn’t listen to anymore and yelled, “Stop!”
“Nothing more happened. That’s when I was finally able to scream, and I woke up.” He looked relieved. “But Nick.”
“What now?” he growled.
“I think it was real-ish,” I said.
“What does ‘real-ish’ mean? Sofia, tell me what’s going on,” he sounded angry.
Now he knows how I felt last night, I thought to myself. Out loud I said, “Well, it’s possible for witches to invade dreams. It’s called astral projection.”
“Which means what exactly?” he was confused.
“It means that Ky really came to visit me in my sleep— through a dream.”
“What the hell?” he yelled.
“Everything okay in there?” I heard from the front door.
“Yeah, Rene, we’re good,” I shouted so he could hear me. Not that I needed to shout.
“Okay, the front door was open and Nick took off so fast. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.”
“Thanks, everything is fine,” I assured him.
“K. Night then.” I heard the door close.
“Everything is not fine,” Nick said through gritted teeth. “Explain more about this dreaming thing.”
“Well, when someone is relaxed enough, sleeping deeply, a witch has the ability to visit them. I don’t know how to explain it right.”
“Well try,” he said.
“Okay, so when you’re asleep, your mind is open. It’s when you’re most vulnerable. As a witch, I could put myself into deep meditation and visit you. My body wouldn’t actually be there, but I would still be there with you. It’s like it’s really happening. All the physical sensation is real. It would feel like I was there with you, touching you. Does that make any sense?”
“Sὶ. So, you’re saying that tool was here with you? With his hands on you?” he looked ready to kill Ky again.
“Yes and no. In his mind and mine, he was really touching me. His physical body wasn’t in our room, but he was really touching me,” I tried again.
He started swearing in Italian and got up to pace the room. “I’m not leaving you again. I don’t care if we have to tie our wrists together, we are not going to be apart until we find them and finish this once and for all.”
“But you need to go out at night. I know how hard it is for you when you can’t shift for a long time. Remember Mexico?”
“I went for a week. I can do it again. Hopefully by then we’ll have them,” he stopped pacing and stared at me.
“But, Nick, even if you’re here next to me, he can still visit my dreams,” I argued.
“Stop this!” he yelled. He had never yelled at me before and I was completely stunned. I didn’t know what to say. He realized that he hurt me and rushed to sit with me on the bed. “Oh my Sofia. I’m so sorry. Forgive me,” he mumbled into my hair as he squeezed me against him. I was silent and he pulled back to look in my eyes. “I just can’t hear any more. I don’t want to think about it. It hurts. It makes me angry.”
“And you don’t think it hurt me to see Gia on top of you last night? She was in her underwear, Nick! You were undressed. And I had to see it! That was real! You are only hearing about it. Don’t talk to me about anger. And mine was a freakin’ nightmare. Not real life. So, don’t you shout at me and tell me you can’t take any more,” I yelled. He was stunned and his eyes went wide. “And you know what? Go ahead and kill stupid Ky. I’m done with him. He has officially ruined my life. But only if I’m allowed to kill Gia,” I finished.
“Well, then. Remind me never to make you mad. You’re kinda scary,” he smiled. I didn’t want to smile back, but I couldn’t help it. “Did you notice the lights flicker?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“When you yelled at me. The lights flickered on a little. Like they were on a dimmer. You honestly didn’t see it?”
“You’re crazy. They did not,” I argued.
“‘For reals’, as you would say. Stuff happens when you’re mad.”
“I guess I need to have Luca help me learn to control it. Nat mentioned that I did stuff at school without realizing and I meant to ask him then, but I guess I forgot,” I said.
“It’s not like you had anything else on your mind to make you forget.” He kissed me on the forehead and said, “Let’s go to bed. You need to rest.” I didn’t argue. The dream had completely freaked me out. Nick changed, climbed in beside me, and wrapped his warm arms around me tightly. I slept without any more disturbing visions.
The next morning, I texted Luca and Nat, “need ur help w/wards. noon?” Nat was at the store working and Luca didn’t answer. “He must be having a nap,” I told Nick. “But, Nat said she could come over around two when she gets off work. I guess I’ll text Luca again and tell him. Hopefully, by then he’ll be up.”
“Don’t you need to go in today?”
“No, Mamma told me to take a few days off. She’s worried that I’m overdoing it. Do you have to work?”
“Babbo said he needs me for a few hours. He wants me to at least come in for food prep. But I won’t be there alone, so do you think I’m okay to go in?”
“You should be fine. I’ll go to the pool. My tan is fading. I haven’t been out in over a week,” I complained. Nick showered, got dressed, and left for the restaurant. It was only 10 a.m., so I took my time eating breakfast and turned the TV on to some reality show for a while.
I went out to the pool around 11:30 and finally got a text back from Luca. “2 is good. c u then.”
Mamma called while I was at the pool. “How are you today, Piccola?” she asked sweetly. “Did you rest?”
I really didn’t want to tell her about the dream with Ky, so I just said, “I’m okay. I’ve been better, but I’ll survive.”
“Yes you will. You are very stubborn, like your father. You will make it through this.”
“Did you talk to Babbo about everything last night?” I asked.
“Sὶ, he wants to talk with Renata and Enzo right away. He is sure that they don’t know what Kajetan is doing. There is no way they would allow it. He wants them to con… con… What’s the word?” Every so often, she still struggled with an English word.
“Confront?” I asked.
“Sὶ. He wants them to confront him and find out where he is hiding Gia.”
“I’m not so sure he’s going to give her up that easily,” I said. After my dream, I got the feeling that Ky was not going to give in just because his parents told him to. I didn’t know if his parents would go as far as spelling him for the information.
“Do not worry, Tesoro. This will be over soon,” she comforted. I didn’t want to argue ab
out it, so I let it go and we said our goodbyes.
Nat and Luca both showed up a little before two. I had a purple candle for general protection and a blue candle for protection during sleep out on the coffee table ready to go.
“What’s the blue one for?” Nat asked.
“Well, it’s sort of a scary, crappy story,” I answered.
She sat on the couch next to me while Luca plopped in one of the white chairs by the window. “Crap, what happened now, Sof?” Luca asked, concerned.
“I had a dream/vision, whatever you wanna call it. Ky invaded my dream last night,” I frowned.
“Oh, snap!” Nat exclaimed.
“Yeah, it scared the hell out of me. He basically told me I shouldn’t be with Nick, how much he loved me, and that Gia would have Nick soon. Then he started to kiss me.”
“Bastardo,” Luca said as he sat up straight.
“Hence, the blue candle,” I finished.
“How did you get away from him?” Nat asked.
“Well, I couldn’t move at first. I couldn’t even scream. But when his mouth started to go lower than my neck, I screamed my bloody head off and woke up.”
Nat had her hand over her mouth in shock. “What did Nick do?”
“He was out with Rene, but he actually heard my scream. He flew in here ready to fight someone.”
“Did you tell him about it? I mean, like explain that it wasn’t just a dream?” Nat asked.
“Oh yeah I did. Big mistake. He completely flipped out. He wants to kill Ky,” I finished.
“I want to kill Ky,” Luca fumed. “No one messes with my baby sister.”
“So, we should probably start,” I said, getting up. I felt like showing off my new trick, so I lit both the candles by blowing on them.
“Whoa, when did you figure that one out, Sof?” Luca asked.
“That is so not fair,” Nat complained.
“It’s a recent trick,” I answered. “Okay, you guys ready?” They both nodded and we started. We went in the bedroom first and chanted a protection spell together. We continued into the living room. After we finished, Luca went to the front door and placed a ward around it to keep Gia and Ky out.
“There, that should keep the monsters away,” he smiled when he finished.
“Thanks guys, I owe you one,” I smiled.
“You owe me like fifty,” Luca grinned. “But no worries. Hey, I gotta take off for work. Keep me posted. And let me know when we’re going to kill Ky.”
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