by M. R. Polish
I nodded.
“We weren’t always so in sync. We fumbled many times and argued over keeping each other’s feeling to ourselves. In the beginning it is hard. You feel emotions that you don’t understand and have no way of pushing them aside. But, after a while, you will pick up on those feelings and use them as your own. You can feel what your partner needs, and what you can do to help them. Then, one day it will feel like a perfect union. Somewhere in between the beginning and the perfect union you will feel the spark. The warmth fills your soul and you will know that you are eternally bonded and his soul is a part of yours.
“It isn’t until then that you can try to gift Ian anything. You will have to use what you know to help him until then, because until that moment, his soul is still separate and he’s not immortal.”
I choked back the dry lump that formed in my throat. “So Nicholas can still kill him, and I can’t do anything about it. I can’t help him. I can’t even give him a gift.”
She squeezed my hands. “Sweetheart, Nicholas can kill you too. Don’t forget that. Just because you are immortal, doesn’t mean death can’t find you. It just makes it harder. There are poisons, spells, and dark magic that can accomplish this. Please be careful.”
I nodded again. “Okay. So when I feel this so called spark, how do I give the gift?”
“Well, after that happens, you push your magic toward him and his soul will take the power he can handle the best. So, while you give the gift, you don’t get to chose.”
“Not what I thought, but I understand. It makes sense. Now I just have to wait.”
She let go of my hands. “Es, trust me, when you have forever, this will be just a small moment. Giving a gift is such a strong passionate moment; there is no need to rush it.”
I heaved a long sigh. “Yeah, unless our forever is cut short. You said so yourself; Nicholas can kill us.”
“Don’t think about that. You need to keep your mind clear so you can focus.”
A click sounded as someone unlocked the door. My dad poked his head through. “Is it safe to come back? Ian’s and I are ready.”
“Yeah, we’re ready.” I let out a long breath.
Ian came in and grabbed my hand to help me up. He didn’t let go of it all the way to the rental car, and I was grateful he never mentioned anything about my talk with my mom.
He hesitated before opening my door, then he shut it again. Gently, he pushed me back up against the car and ran the back of his hand down my face, bracing himself with his other arm on the car. Leaning in, he kissed me. His lips feathered mine softly, the tip of his tongue teasing mine before deepening the kiss, crushing my mouth to his. He leaned back just enough to break the kiss. I was breathless and I knew he wasn’t far from it either. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I’m glad it wasn’t you that the Death Keeper took. I can’t live without you now.”
I gulped, still trying to catch my breath. “I know.”
My dad parked their car along the road ahead of us and Ian followed suit. I opened the door before the car was completely stopped and jumped out, gripping the vial in my hands tightly as I marched toward the house hidden behind the trees. Nicholas must have had at least ten acres of just trees surrounding his villa.
“Es, wait up,” Ian called out to me.
“Yes, Es, wait for us,” my dad repeated.
Waiting was not what I wanted to do. Each day I had to delay the inevitable made me cranky. I was so tired of the whole thing: the crossbreeds, the wondering if I would die today, the no sleeping, all of it. Still, I slowed down a bit so they could catch up.
My dad spoke first. “We need a plan. We can’t just go marching in there. Remember, there are others in there besides Nicholas. Ailaina said there was a Demon, along with Julie and whoever else. We need to be prepared.”
“What about Jarak? Do you think he’s in there? We haven’t even found or heard from Maztic in so long…” I couldn’t think about that now. I needed to stay positive.
Ian grabbed my free hand. “Whatever or whoever is in there, is going down.”
I nodded. We crept up to the edge of the three-story house and listened. A woman’s laugh came from inside. “You’re a poor pathetic excuse for a man.”
A thump and then a grunt sounded before the slam of a door. I jumped. I couldn’t help it. My nerves were so on edge, I probably would’ve jumped at a fly.
I had so many mixed emotions coursing through me that my stomach churned worse than the sea in a hurricane. I swallowed, trying to keep the burning acid down as I glared at Ian. “Would you please keep your feelings to yourself right now,” I hissed under my breath.
He told me to shush with his finger to his mouth and shook his head.
I rolled my eyes. It’s not like I was shouting or anything.
Luna brushed against my leg. “He’s just worried about you. We all are.”
Hela was next to my dad and Dregan materialized next to Ian at the same time. “He’s sorry, you know. He’s not trying to make anything harder on you. He has the same problem right now, all of your emotions are mixed with his. One day you will learn how to separate and decipher them, but until then you need to concentrate.”
I usually loved how the wolves were always so wise and insightful, but right now it just irritated the heck out of me. Another door inside the house slammed, bringing me back to the task at hand. My dad poked his head up just enough to see through the window. He held one finger up before squatting back down to creep along to the next window. We followed his lead, my mom right behind me and Ian in front. I didn’t want to be out here, I wanted to be in the house ending this before any of them got hurt.
Again, my dad poked his head up to look through the window. Quickly, he squat back down. He looked at each of us with wide eyes and held up his whole hand. I wasn’t sure what startled him so much, but five was nothing. I just took on seven at the park with Luna.
We crept along the house until we got to the corner by the front. My dad held out his hand, stopping us. He looked at my mom and raised two fingers. She dashed to the front of our little line and peeked around the corner.
“Es,” Luna said. “Hela says your dad saw Jarak in the first room.”
Hope flared inside me. She didn’t say he was alive, but she didn’t say dead either. “Thanks.” My mind whirred with so many plans to save him.
Ian gave me a hard stare. I forgot for a moment that he could feel what I felt. I knew Ian was just as excited about saving his brother.
My mom raised her hands. A soft white fog rolled away from her and out of my sight. I heard a gagging sound then my dad ran around the house. Ian and I followed.
My dad grabbed one of the crossbreeds standing guard by the front door, who my mom caught with her magic, and Ian caught the other. In seconds they were gone. I gave my mom a smile before dashing past my dad and Ian, opening the front door without any of them. I was done waiting.
“Es!” Dregan called out. “Wait for Ian.”
“No.” I ran through the first hallway, down to the room where my dad had five fingers up. I stopped to listen.
“She’ll come. She can’t refuse a chance to kill me.” Nicholas voice was loud and clear.
“And if she doesn’t?” a voice I didn’t recognize asked. It was a woman’s, at least I think it was. It was raspy and borderline scratchy.
“She will.” Nicholas sounded too sure of himself.
I tiptoed away from that room. As much as I wanted to hear what else they were talking about, I wanted to save Jarak. I found the other room and tried the door. It swung open easily. A hand found its way to my back, making me freeze. I looked over my shoulder at Ian. How did I not feel him get closer? I let out a quiet sigh of relief, then looked back at the open door.
Why wasn’t it locked? If it wasn’t locked, then maybe Jarak wasn’t held hostage, but that would mean he traded sides. Then a different thought flew through my mind. What if that meant he was already dead. I pushed the door
open farther and looked around. At first I didn’t see him, but then a small, if barely visible, movement came from the corner. Slumped down in an awkward position that would be uncomfortable even for the dead, was Jarak.
“Luna, tell Hela that we found Jarak.”
Nothing.
“Luna,” I said again. My heart raced. I felt out but couldn’t feel her. It felt like a part of my soul was ripped from my chest. I looked at Ian. His jaw was clenched and he grabbed my hand, squeezing tight. He must have felt my detachment. “Dregan?” I dared to whisper. Again, like with Luna, there was nothing.
Our wolves were gone. I wasn’t sure how, but they were. Then I raced over to Jarak. He was barely breathing, just a slow ragged rise to his chest giving a sign of life. Dark circles were under his eyes; he tried to open them but failed.
Ian dropped to his knees. I gave him a questioning stare. “We need to help him,” he whispered.
“Maz,” Jarak tried to talk.
Instantly I understood. Without our wolves we’d die. I needed to find Maztic. Looking at the window, I began formulating a plan. I darted over to it and opened it, letting in a swift draft of warm air. I looked at Ian and he nodded at me, almost giving me the permission to leave without him. Quickly, I jumped outside, my feet hitting the thick grass. Thankfully Jarak’s room was on the first floor. Luna was beside me instantly.
“Es, it’s bad. I couldn’t help you. Just like your dreams when I couldn’t reach you.” Luna’s voice was panicked. “We found Maztic, but he’s not good.”
I nodded my head. “I know, Jarak isn’t good either. Get my dad, I need some help.”
She disappeared, leaving me to sit under the window where Ian and Jarak were dying. My dad and mom came around the corner of the house where they waited for us, watching as lookouts.
“What’s going on? What do you need?” My dad was so quiet I had to strain to hear him.
I relayed what I needed to Luna, who could talk to Hela and then in turn to my dad. It was a game of telephone, but I couldn’t chance Nicholas overhearing me and ruining our chance to save Jarak—especially with Ian inside with him.
A hand grasped the windowsill, making me jump. Ian was crawling outside. My dad showed up just in time to help him get the rest of the way out. Dregan was next to Ian before I could blink. Ian slumped down in the grass with his back against the siding.
“I could feel my energy draining so I left.” Ian took a deep breath. Dregan pushed his muzzle under Ian’s hand.
I glanced at Dad. I still hadn’t gotten a response to my plan. He held his breath for a moment then nodded. My heart rejoiced that he wasn’t going to argue with me about it. He was going to go with Ian to get Maztic, and my mom and I would crawl back through the window to get Jarak. We were the ones who wouldn’t get weak inside the house. At least, I hoped I wouldn’t considering I was only half guardian, or maybe it would take me longer to feel the effects.
The guys took off and I crawled back through the window quietly. I turned to help my mom, but she was already through. We both raced over to Jarak. Mom glanced at me with wide eyes and I knew what she thought. I wasn’t sure how he was still alive either.
I picked up his legs and she took his upper half, grabbing underneath his shoulders. He was heavy, but it was his floppy body that made it hard to carry him to the window. I heard a voice in the hall and froze. I didn’t start breathing again until I heard footsteps leaving the direction of Jarak’s room. We made it to the window where my dad and Ian were ready and waiting to help.
Carefully and as quietly as we could, we got Jarak outside. My mom jumped out first. I placed my foot in the windowsill when Jarak’s door slammed wide open. I pushed myself forward, not wanting to see who was behind me, but they grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back in the room.
I spun out of their grasp and shot a stream of electricity at whoever it was. Ian jumped back through the window at the same time, barreling into the woman I just shocked. I ran over to them; Ian pinned her down. My mouth hung open. It was Meadow.
While she was far from dead, she was still having a hard time breathing. “You won’t make it out of here alive.” She let out a raspy chuckle.
“Neither will you,” Ian said as he pulled out a small zippered pouch from his back pocket. He never ceased to amaze me, always prepared for everything. I really needed to learn all his little tricks. “This will be more fun that just stabbing you. Although, we’ll still have to take your head, just in case. I don’t want you coming back from the dead. I’ve been saving these for a raining day, and after seeing my brother like that, I’d say it’s pouring.”
He unzipped the pouch and I was surprised at what I saw. Five tiny vials filled with sparkling red fluid were carefully held in rows by elastic straps. There was another zipped area with mesh netting that held syringes.
“Where did you get those?”
He bobbed his head as he pulled out a vial and needle. “I, uh, I dated a girl who worked at the B.O.M.B. a long time ago and I kinda, you know, took some.”
I smirked at him. “Well, that explains why you have a bag of illegal potions.”
Meadow’s head lifted to see what Ian had, her eyes widening. “You’re just bluffing. Things like that are impossible to steal; otherwise I’d have killed you all by now.”
Ian tapped the syringe after filling it with the liquid. “You sure? Cause, that’s what these are. You know, I’ve never used these, but I’ve heard they just get more potent over time, kinda like wine.”
She opened her mouth to scream but I was quicker and placed my hand over her mouth. “Hurry, Ian, before she lets everyone else in the house know we’re here.”
“I know,” he said as he stuck her arm with the needle.
My heart thumped wildly in my chest, caused by a mixture of adrenaline and watching Meadow’s body slowing become limp. A part of me wanted to stop Ian, but I knew it had to be done. My stomach flipped as I watched her take her last breath.
Life definitely hasn’t been the way I thought it would be growing up. Even though we had our differences, Meadow and I loved each other at one time. Maybe a part of me still did; at least, I loved the memory of who she was before my life flipped upside down. A tear slipped down my face. I closed my eyes and thought back to her funeral. The one she had when I thought she was dead and this life was nothing more than a fairytale.
I remembered how the pink roses draped over the casket. How I wished more than anything that I could hear her voice, feel her arms wrap around me and embrace me, or that she was still alive. I swallowed hard. That day changed my life.
I opened my eyes and watched Ian removed the needle. It was hard to understand the irony of the situation. It wasn’t too long ago that I wished she was alive, only to find out she was, but she’d die unless I turned her into a crossbreed, and now I had to kill her. I had to remind myself that she wasn’t the same. She was darker, inhuman, and she wanted me dead.
I sucked in a deep breath and stood up. “We better go before someone else finds us. Without Luna and Dregan we won’t be able to keep our strength.”
He nodded and stood also, zipping his pouch and returning it to his back pocket just as Nicholas barged in the room. He sent Ian flying with a single force of magic. The window shut before my mom or dad could get in. Nicholas kept his hand out, holding Ian down to the ground. I raised my hand and sent a ball of fire at Nicholas. It bounced off him and died out before hitting the floor. I ran to him, jumped on his back, and tried to take him down.
Nicholas laughed. “You poor thing, I’m too strong for you. You can’t kill me, that was part of my deal with the Death Keeper. I wanted your magic to be useless on me.”
Nicholas lowered his hand, so I let him go and dropped down by Ian. He was breathing but not moving. “What did you do to him?”
“Oh, that? Another part of my deal. I think you’ve heard of it, Wolfing. Not that I have to use that on him in this house. Without your wolves, you all are just
like the rest of us.”
For crying out loud, how deep did that deal go? “You only have one soul to sell, Nicholas, how did you get so much out of the deal?”
He laughed louder. “I didn’t just sell mine.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t sell someone else’s soul!”
I hated how I felt. My whole body ached and was heavy—not to mention hollow from not being connected to Luna.
“That’s the beauty, I didn’t have to. I just had to lead someone, anyone, to the Death Keeper. It appears that he was lonely and wanted a companion. I didn’t know it would be so easy to get your friend to be that person, but hey, I’m not complaining.”
I jumped up and pushed him. “You’re such an asshole! I hate you!”
“We both knew your days were numbered, at least now you’ll be able to see your friend when you die.”
He was so sick. Everything about him was evil. He grasped my arm roughly and pulled me from the room. The last thing I saw was Ian struggling to get up. The door slammed shut and my heart sank with the sound.
My powers had no effect on Nicholas, but I still had the vial Davin gave me. I wanted to laugh. So that was why he gave it to me. He knew I wouldn’t be able to kill Nicholas alone. He must really want Nicholas dead, but then again, he said his deal with Ailaina was off if I died.
I had to almost jog to keep up with Nicholas as he continued to pull me along. He opened a door to a room on the other side of the house and pushed me inside. I landed on my knees on the red carpet. A raspy cackle sounded and I looked up to see the most hideous woman watching me. Her eyes were solid black, but I swore she could see into my soul. Her skin rolled and her body shifted instead of having fluid motions. She must be the demon.
“I’d like you to meet Maluse. She’s helping me learn some new magic.”
I stood up slowly. “You mean dark magic.”
Nicholas shrugged. “Magic is magic. It makes no difference to me whether it’s light or dark, black, or white.”
Okay, I had to think. I had enough in my vial to kill Nicholas, but what about the demon lady? How could I defend myself against her? My heart raced so fast my fingers tingled. I didn’t have enough energy to fight against dark magic. Heck I didn’t even know if I’d ever be able to fight against it.