by Cheree Alsop
I watched his hand fall away from the knife. In a split second, she pulled the blade out of her throat and threw it at me with the force of a bullet.
But I had been waiting for that moment since her first words. I had felt what the Wiccan Enforcer’s power could do to a person’s willpower. I saw Vicken’s face change at her words. She worked them into his mind even as she said them. She would twist him against me so they could both attack me before the mythics finished their chant. She needed to finish searching my mind, and she could do so as I died. It was her last attempt to complete Chutka’s orders to find the heart and bring it back to him whole so that he could regain his power. With Vicken at her side, she would fight against the mythics until she found Lark, then all would be lost.
I had two choices. I could try to avoid the knife and dart into the crowd in the hopes that they could handle her, or I could accept my fate and attack, bringing her down before she ruined Vicken entirely and had a chance to turn on the crowd.
My path had been chosen the moment my feet touched the bottom of an icy river and I phased into a wolf for the first time. I chose life, but not for myself. I lived to protect those who looked to me for safety.
Chapter Fifteen
I leaped at the Wiccan Enforcer. The force of the blade sinking deep into my chest barely slowed the power of my attack. I grabbed the Wiccan Enforcer by the throat and let my momentum barrel us to the floor. With a growl that swore revenge for my friends and for all of the mythics who had been hurt because of her need to appease her master, I jerked my head and tore out Dr. Fagrin’s throat.
The human who had done her bidding was dead, but the shadow of the Wiccan Enforcer remained. Her glare warred with Dr. Fagrin’s still face. She tried to move, but it was clear her strength had been hampered by Dr. Fagrin’s death.
“Louder,” the man instructed.
The chanting rose to a peak, uniting and vying in its varying tones until the humming sound of the notes became something tangible.
“Back away, werewolf,” the man said.
I took one step and then another. When my front paw gave out, Vicken was there at my side. As he carried me to the edge of the crowd and away from the Wiccan Enforcer, I looked up at his face and saw that the confusion and anger were gone, leaving only concern in his stark yellow gaze.
A strange orange mist settled over the Wiccan Enforcer’s body. A shriek tore from Dr. Fagrin’s ruined throat as the mist solidified. Vicken and I watched the shadow rise from Dr. Fagrin’s body as if pulled by the mist. The shadow struggled, but the orange substance deepened, swarming the shadow and pulling it inside. The Wiccan Enforcer’s form fought to break free, but the mist was too strong. The shadow was sucked into the middle where it lingered for a moment as if caught between two words.
“Louder!” the man commanded.
Mythics shouted the words and Vicken joined them until it felt as though the roof would fall in at the force of the chant. The shadow became smaller and smaller until a pop sounded above the roar, then it was gone. As I watched, the mist lost its shape and became a simple orange haze once more. The chanting eased and then stopped. Under our expectant gazes, the mist faded into a slightly-hued cloud, then vanished altogether.
I sank to my stomach on the ground.
“We need a doctor over here!” Vicken shouted.
“I’m a doctor,” someone called out.
“You’re a veterinarian,” another said.
“That’ll work,” Vicken told them. There was no humor in his eyes as his face faded from my view. He would have loved that joke if we were back at Haunted High. He wouldn’t let me live it down that a veterinarian worked to save my life.
“Get him on a table. Find me clean instruments.”
“Stay with me, Finn,” Vicken said. “Stay awake.”
I tried, but the sound of the voices around me eventually faded from my ears. It became too hard to keep my eyes open, and though I wanted to see Dr. Fagrin’s final resting place one last time to reassure myself that the Wiccan Enforcer was truly gone, my body had other plans. I just hoped, as the darkness took over, that survival was one of them.
It felt like only minutes had passed before consciousness swept over me once more.
“I can’t believe you drank his blood again,” I heard Dara say. “How’s he supposed to survive if you keep using him like your own personal water bottle?”
“He’s not my personal water bottle!” Vicken shot back. “How dare you say such a thing?”
I opened my eyes. The white curtains told me that we were still at the Labs. I was back in my human form and someone had been kind enough to provide a medical gown to cover my nakedness. My left arm throbbed. I glanced down to see that it was wrapped in a splint. I took a testing breath. I could breathe, so apparently the knife had been removed. I definitely didn’t miss the suffocating agony it had caused.
Movement made me look down at my right hand. Sparrow slept there, her tiny black and purple body wrapped snuggly around my wrist. As I watched, she gave a little sigh of contentment.
“Where’s Briggs?” My voice came out in a croak as if I had spent a hundred years in a desert.
Vicken and Dara practically leaped out of the seats where they had been waiting and arguing not so quietly in the corner of the curtained room.
“Finn, are you alright?” Vicken demanded.
“I’m…I’m fine,” I made myself say past my dry throat. “Did you find your mom?”
Vicken shook his head.
“We will,” I promised, my voice scratchy.
Vicken nodded. “I know we will.”
Dara hurried over with a cup of water.
Before I could ask, Vicken used his vampire speed to grab the cup from Dara and prop me up. He put the container to my lips.
“Drink,” he commanded.
“Not fair, using your vampire powers like that,” Dara said, glaring at him.
“You said ‘powers’,” Vicken teased. He was apparently feeling much better. “I’m going to tell Professor Tripe to give you his lecture on saying affinities instead of powers,” he said as he lowered the empty cup.
The thought of the monotone Mythical Creature Anatomy professor lecturing the empath about the proper use of magical terms made me chuckle. I winced at the pain that stabbed through my chest and put my hand to the wound to make it stop hurting.
“Finn, take it easy,” Dara said. She put her hand on top of mine and pulled.
The pain immediately eased to the point that it was bearable. Normally I would have shrugged her help away, but I had missed just being close to her; for once, I allowed her aid.
Surprise showed in her eyes. Instead of pulling back when my pain was reduced, she bent down and kissed me.
“Oh, right. So this is how you’re supposed to treat patients?” Vicken said dryly. “Very unprofessional, Dara Jade.”
When she finally lifted her head, she smiled down at me. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you,” I replied. My heart hammered in my chest hard enough that the wound started to hurt again, but I didn’t tell her that. Instead, when she took a step away from the bed, I tried to think of excuses to bring her back that didn’t involve admitting my pain.
“Gross,” Vicken said. “Isn’t that like kissing a dog?”
Dara slapped his chest hard enough to leave a mark beneath his tee-shirt.
“Touchy subject?” he asked without showing any sign of pain. “Is it the fleas? I’ll bet you’re worried about fleas. And dog breath.”
Dara stuck her tongue out at him.
“Where’s Briggs?” I asked again when my thoughts had faded enough from the fog Dara’s kiss had put me in.
Vicken and Dara exchanged a glance.
“What?” I asked.
Dara sighed and admitted, “He’s out looking for Lark. She ran away.”
I sat up before they could stop me.
“Why?” I demanded.
Dara shook her hea
d. “She said something about not being able to handle the voices in her mind any longer. Professor Briggs went after her, but he lost her in the rain. He said he can’t smell where she went.”
I pushed to my feet.
Vicken was immediately at my side trying to get me to lay back down. “What are you doing?” he asked when I refused to be helped.
“I know where she went. Who has a car?”
Vicken and Dara stared at me as if I was crazy.
“Neither of us,” Dara said. “We came on the bus, remember?”
“Find a car,” I told her. I realized my tone was demanding and softened it with, “Please? We don’t have much time.”
“I’ll find one,” she replied.
Vicken helped me to the stairs. I wished for my clothes instead of the drafty hospital gown, but the thought of waiting until someone could make it all the way across the Labs and back pushed me forward. I held my hand to my chest and willed my lungs to keep working. Vicken was practically carrying me by the time we made it down the tiled hallway and to the hidden door beneath the footbridge. When he pushed it open and I stumbled out, I was surprised to see dawn peeking at the gray edge of the park. Rain fell in sheets that moved from east to west and smelled of earth, grass, and pavement.
Footsteps caught up to us. I turned to see Professor Briggs looking nearly as wobbly as I felt. He was already soaked to the bone from his search for Lark. Dara walked at his side, her hand on his arm no doubt giving him the strength to push on regardless of the electrocution he had barely survived.
“I’ve got a car,” he said when he reached us. “Where are we going?”
“To the bridge,” I said.
“Which one?” he asked.
“I know which one,” Vicken replied in a level voice.
I watched the dark buildings rush by as the professor followed Vicken’s instructions to the bridge. When we reached it, relief filled me at the sight of the lone form standing on the barrier. She gripped one of the cables and stared at the water below. I wanted the car to move quicker, but the traffic prevented us from going any faster than a slow creep.
Lark’s foot moved forward. I shoved the door open and stumbled out before anyone could stop me. With one hand on my chest and the other bound in a sling, I wobbled between the cars and trucks that filled the bridge even at the early hour. Someone honked at me. Vicken yelled at whoever would do such a thing to someone obvious hurt and in a hospital gown. I heard the woman apologize before the vampire moved on.
I knew not to touch Lark. The look on her face was determined as she stared into the swirling mass below. A sinking feeling came with the understanding that there might be nothing I could do to stop her, and I wouldn’t blame her.
“I can’t follow you this time.”
Lark didn’t look at me. She merely spoke with her eyes on the water, “The voices will stop if I jump, I just know it. I need to make them stop. They’re not me. They make me do bad things.”
“I know how to make them stop,” I told her. Rain dripped down my hair into my eyes. I blinked to clear it.
“I do, too,” Lark said. She inched closer to the edge.
“Chutka is the one who made you do the bad things,” I told her. “He’s evil, but he’s not you.”
“Then why is he in my head?” she asked with a note of desperation in her voice.
I heard Vicken and Dara come up behind me. The vampire reached for the girl, but at my motion, he stayed his hand.
“He’s in your head because you have a piece of Chutka’s heart inside you.”
This time, Lark turned her head to look at me. The forlorn, lost darkness in her hazel eyes ate at my heart. “But who put it there?”
I didn’t know what to tell her.
“I did.”
I started at Professor Brigg’s voice. Everyone stared at him.
“But why?” Lark asked. The pitiful note to her voice made me want to cry with her. “What did I do to you?”
“Nothing,” the professor admitted. “And I’m sorry. You helped me escape from my cage after Stith tortured me the first time, but I knew I couldn’t get past the demons. So I asked you if you would help me and you agreed.”
Horror filled me. “You put the piece of Chutka’s heart inside Lark yourself, knowing what it is?”
“What they are,” the professor replied. “I had two pieces of the heart. One was from the box your mother kept, and the other I took from the Wiccan Enforcer when I battled her in her true form. She had the piece of his heart in her hand, so I took her hand and she left her form.”
“That’s why you said they took Professor Briggs’ hand and he was upset about it,” Vicken said to Lark. “You were telling the truth!”
“I always tell the truth, unless the voices lie to me and then I don’t know which is the truth and I just get so confused.” She looked back at the water. “If I jump, I won’t be confused anymore.” She bent her knees.
“Chutka wants you to jump.”
My mouth fell open at the professor’s declaration. I was about to argue when he held up a hand. I had learned long ago that I could trust Briggs. I closed my mouth with the hope that my trust wasn’t poorly placed.
“Listen to me, Lark,” the professor continued. “Chutka wants you to jump. He knows if you die down there, he can send his minions to gather up the pieces of his heart. He doesn’t care what happens to you. He just wants his heart back so that he can be powerful again and attack this world. You can’t let him win.”
Lark shook her head. “I can’t stop him. He’s too strong.”
“You’re stronger,” Briggs said.
At his look, all of us agreed. “You are stronger,” I told her. “I’ve seen how strong you are. You’re amazing!”
“You are,” Dara said. I could feel her pushing confidence toward the girl as we spoke to her. “You’re so strong, Lark, stronger than Chutka’s heart.”
Even Vicken spoke up. “Show him you’re stronger than him, Lark. Show him he doesn’t get to win this time. He can’t use people and throw them away. You are your own person, and you’re going to beat him.”
Lark kept her gaze on Vicken’s face as if trying to convince herself that what the vampire said was true. To my surprise, Vicken held out a hand. He could have pulled her down with his lightning quick speed and force her to come with us, but instead, he gave her the chance to make the decision on her own. I had the feeling that if she chose to jump, he would let her. My heart clenched at the thought of watching her plunge into the dark water again.
“Come on, Lark. Let me help you,” Vicken said. “You can trust me. You know you can. I won’t lead you wrong. I promise.”
Lark was quiet for a few minutes as if she fought an inner battle. I was aware that the cars behind us had stopped and people had gotten out. Everyone waited with bated breaths for what the girl would do. We weren’t alone in wanting to save her. Strangers, tourists from other states and even countries, some mythics and most of them humans, wanted the girl on the edge of the bridge to step down, to choose to live, to be helped by those who cared about her.
“You really promise?” she finally asked.
A hint of a smile touched the vampire’s wet face when he nodded. “I really promise.”
The tension slipped away from my shoulders when Lark put her hand in Vicken’s. He helped her step carefully down from the ledge. The moment her feet touched the ground, cheering erupted from the crowd that had gathered behind us.
***
I couldn’t stop smiling at the amazement on Lark’s face. We sat in Professor Mellon’s Creature Languages class watching as the professor held a conversation with an actual fairy. The little fairy’s wings shimmered in iridescent rainbows as she fluttered in place near the professor’s podium.
“Fairies are real,” I heard Lark whisper. “My mom told the truth!”
The sight of her smile after all that had happened filled me with peace. Five days ago, Dr. Six, with Mercer’s
grumbling assistance, had removed the two pieces of Chutka’s heart from inside Lark’s chest. Fortunately, the first piece was still contained in Professor Brigg’s small box. According to Dr. Six, if both pieces had been given access to her body, Lark’s mind would have been lost completely.
Dr. Six said it had been touch and go for a while, but a healthy dose of moonlight and blood definitely helped speed her recovery. I had offered to donate, but Dr. Six refused, saying I was lucky my heart still had something left to pump. To everyone’s surprise, Brack had insisted that she use his blood instead. The doctor pushed their beds together and Lark had held Brack’s hand during the donation process. I had never seen the huge warlock happier. Her healing affinity had worked faster than Dr. Six had ever seen, driving out the reaching marks of the demon heart and allowing her to recover both her mind and body. Even though the doctor still visited with her each day, Headmistress Wrengold had announced her fit for school earlier that morning, an announcement Lark was more than willing to take advantage of.
Two other classes had been crammed in with ours for this rare event. According to Professor Tripe who had come with his class, fairies lived in a different time zone than we did. When Aerlis raised his hand and asked if that meant Mountain Time, the professor had stated that their time zone was faster than ours. They saw the world at a much higher speed and survived in quicker bursts than we did. Though the fairy had been kind enough to visit, she couldn’t stay long or else she risked using up the entire time she had been allotted. If she missed her opening to return, she would be trapped in our world completely, which was a death sentence for anyone of the fairy race.
Professor Briggs leaned against the wall near my desk. It was good to see that the color had returned to his cheeks and his eyes had regained their usual spark of disapproval that would send any student he turned it on racing to complete their homework or avoid whatever hall he walked down.
The sight of him reminded me of all we had been through. Only a week had passed since the events at the Labs. My chest still throbbed if I pushed myself too hard, and Dr. Six had made me promise to keep my cast on at least one more night to ensure that my arm healed completely. My arm itched and it took all of my willpower not to pull the cast off right there.