by Jade Alters
Shea perks up at that. “Well, the mark is gone! That’s good.” I can’t help but feel a little hopeful at that, though I don’t know what good it will do. “Let’s see if the curse has lifted. Command somebody to do something.”
Victoria heaves a sigh and points at Brendan. “Brendan, I command you to… cluck like a chicken.”
I watch Brendan’s jaw twitch and his mouth tightens, but then he blurts out, “Bawk! Be-gawk!” He turns red, and I almost want to laugh, but I just can’t. There’s nothing funny about it at all.
Victoria looks like she’s been hit over the head, and I realize that as much as we knew none of this would help, she did have the tiniest flicker of hope that it would. She points to Ian and commands him to dance and he does. She makes me howl like a wolf. She makes Mitch hop on one foot. It should all be embarrassing or funny, but it only makes us all depressed.
“This is bullshit!” Shea explodes, throwing an empty herb bottle across the room. She stalks off to the living room and we follow. She sits on the couch leaning forward, rubbing her face with her palms. Victoria sits next to her and gives her a nudge of support. Shea sounds teary when she speaks again. “It- it just doesn’t make sense though! The Saddle is a highly powerful and very dark curse! All forbidden curses are! You can’t just do it accidentally!”
“That’s what I said,” Victoria says, sighing.
“Did they search your place for the ingredients of the spell?” Shea says. “Because if they didn’t find anything-”
“I don’t know,” Victoria says, sounding very tired.. “But they already saw that mark even if it’s gone now. And that douchebag, Sidjus, already saw me make Ian bark so…”
“So there’s a witness,” Shea whispers. “In the magical world, witnesses matter more than evidence. There’s- there’s nothing we can do.” She turns her head to look at Victoria and all at once she bursts into tears and throws her arms around her friend.
The rest of us feel like interlopers, so we disappear into the kitchen where we stand around sadly, sipping coffee, and feeling absolutely useless. We hear quiet murmuring in the front, but none of us want to eavesdrop. I get the sense that Shea has finally given up the ghost and is bidding Victoria goodbye. I can’t imagine the kind of pain they must both be in, and a lump forms in my throat. I lean against Brendan and he wraps an arm around my shoulders. We tease each other a lot, but we don’t doubt our love for each other. All of us have to stick together to get through this.
It’s another hour before Shea leaves, and when she’s gone, Victoria skulks back into the kitchen, tear tracks still wet on her face. She wipes her cheek and gives us a watery smile, chuckling sadly. “Had to practically kick her out the door.”
“Come here, sweetheart,” Mitch says, wrapping her in a hug. And then all of us are hugging her, as much as we can. It’s a group embrace that only makes that connective thread between us hum and shiver.
Victoria
I’ve never been one to think about death very much. I always figured that life was too short to think about the end of it all the time. But now that it’s staring me in the face, I wonder if I should have prepared myself a little more. Maybe nobody can properly prepare themselves for death, but I just… never thought it would come so soon, and I certainly never thought it would be this meaningless. From what I can tell, it’s the equivalent of being executed for making a typo. The injustice of it all is insane. I can’t even really think about how unfair it is or I’ll lose my mind, and as awful as it’s going to be, I want to be clear-headed when I die.
“They’ll be here soon,” I say softly, checking my phone. We’re all sitting in the living room, and I’m snuggled up between Mitch and Brendan. I’ve sort of been taking turns attaching myself to each of the Loves. I want to get as much of them in my arms as I can before I have to say goodbye.
“I love you,” Mitch whispers in my ear. It makes me want to cry again, but I think I’m all cried out.
“I love you too,” Brendan says.
“I love you,” Ian says, kneeling in front of me and leaning forward to cup my cheek, kissing me softly.
“I love you, Victoria,” Darren says. He seems barely able to get the words out as he stands in front of me, and I reach up to squeeze his hand.
“I love you too.” I look each of them in the eye and it feels like I’m owed a life that is being stolen from me; a life of waking up every morning to the Loves and everything we have to give each other.
Ian says, “Maybe-”
But his sentence is cut off by a pounding on the door, and I jump, immediately tense.
“DMA!” It’s Sidjus shouting through the door, I can tell. “Open up!”
“Christ,” Mitch murmurs. “I didn’t even smell them coming.”
“I guess it’s time,” I say softly. I still feel numb. I thought at some point it would all hit me, but it still hasn’t quite sunken in that I’m really going to die. On the other hand, maybe that’s better. Maybe this is something I don’t need to feel quite so keenly. I start to stand up and Brendan pulls me down again into his lap.
“No,” he says fiercely. I remember that he was the one who said we should fight to the death on this and my heart swells with love for him. I turn my head, feeling so helpless with love for them all, as I look into his eyes.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I mutter, stroking his cheek with my thumb. “I’m so sorry.” I kiss him deeply and I taste tears on his lips. My heart breaks just a little bit more.
Mitch tugs on my arm and I turn around to kiss him one last time too. He’s still stroking my hair when I turn my head to kiss Ian, and then Darren. All of us are crying, and it’s so painful that I almost wish I was dead already. I feel like I will die of heartbreak before they even kill me.
“OPEN UP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!”
“Shit,” I mutter and I step away from Darren only to peck him on the lips one last time. My beautiful, beautiful Loves. “Okay.”
The door thumps and sparks appear in the foyer as I walk toward it. They must be trying to break in and the circle of protection is giving them a little trouble. No doubt they would break through it, but it’s no good trying to keep them out. It will only make everything more painful. Anyway, if I’m going to die, I would like to maintain some dignity on my way out.
I open the door and there is Sidjus, the Inquisitor, and a few other DMA people in baby blue suits, plus a few guards all in black. They’re all just standing out there in front of the house, and as a neighbor pushes a stroller down the well-lit sidewalk without looking twice, I realize they’ve cast some kind of shield so the regular folk can’t see what’s happening. It will probably keep anyone from bothering them too.
“No need to get rowdy,” I say sardonically to Sidjus. He’s not smirking, but he does look just as haughty as he did the night before. This guy really loves his job. What a dick. “I’ll come willingly.”
I walk out front, followed by the Loves. The DMA people have crowded all around. I stand in front of them, my heart thudding in my chest.
The Inquisitor pulls out a tablet from her suit jacket and clears her throat before reading the charges. “Victoria Pruitt,” she says crisply. “You are hereby charged and convicted with violation of Code two seven zero nine nine, the casting of the forbidden curse known as The Saddle. Your original accuser, Derek Hardhum-”
“What!” I blurt out. “He’s my stalker! He’s the one who turned me in!” I’m hysterical now. My head is spinning. “That’s who tipped you off! Can’t you see he made this happen! He was following me! He was-”
“Quiet, Ms. Pruitt!” Sidjus bellows.
“This is a travesty!” Brendan shouts behind me.
“I won’t warn you again!” Sidjus says before a guard steps forward, waving a wand and looking threateningly at Brendan. I can feel the tension of the Loves behind me. They’re about ready to bust out fighting no matter the consequences.
I can hardly think straight at all. My stalker turned me
into the DMA. Suddenly, I’m starting to think none of this had anything to do with the flubbed spell at all.
The Inquisitor continues to read out: “As Regional Inquisitor of the Department of Magical Authority, Precinct One Seventeen, California Division, I hereby sentence you to death by the mortus spell, which will be cast by myself-”
“No!” That’s Ian, and he shouts so loudly that I realize the shield around us must be strong. Otherwise, the whole neighborhood would have heard it. He walks around me to stand protectively between me and the DMA people. The other Loves follow his lead. “No. Go through us. Go ahead. You’ll have to kill all of us first.”
In the blink of an eye, Mitch and Brendan shift and suddenly there are two large and angry foxes rearing up in front of me. They don’t have a chance, I think to myself. But it’s still brave and sweet of them.
“Listen, please!” Ian says, raising his hands in defense in the face of a bunch of witches and warlocks in baby blue suits with their wands raised. “We’re the ones who Victoria is supposedly controlling right? Well, we think she’s not responsible for this at all, and we don’t want her charged with this! As the supposed victims, have we no right to contest this?”
“No, you don’t,” Sidjus says flatly, his wand pointed at Ian’s face. “It’s out of your hands, I’m afraid.”
“She could be making you say that right now,” the Inquisitor says.
“She’s not!” Ian insists. He steps away from me so everyone can clearly see what I’m doing, and the others follow his lead again. “Look! She’s not doing anything! I am telling you I am in love with her, as are my friends here. We don’t want her harmed, and we believe this is all the doing of the man who’s been stalking her! To execute her without investigating further is absurd, and you will have to kill me if you kill her!”
I’m openly crying now as they step forward, and one at a time, declare their love, devotion, and willingness to die with me.
“I don’t want you all to die,” I say, gritting my teeth. “But I love you too.”
“If we have to go through you all, so be it,” Sidjus says, sighing as if dealing with a troublesome housefly instead of four men.
The Inquisitor clucks her tongue and says, “No need for all that drama, Sidjus. I see no reason why four innocent men should die for this person. They can’t help themselves. It’s all quite silly.”
She murmurs a spell and with a wave of her wand, Mitch and Brendan are human again. Then, all the Loves freeze in place. I don’t even notice it until I realize I can’t hear them breathing anymore. When I turn my head, I see Ian standing there beside me. His mouth is slightly parted, and his eyes are wide with surprise. All of them are the same. Frozen like statues.
Victoria
I can’t stop staring at the guys, equally horror-stricken and fascinated by how still they are. It’s as if they’ve turned to ice.
“Come here, Ms. Pruitt,” the Inquisitor says, as coldly and business-like as ever. “You will receive your sentence now.”
All at once, it feels real. No more numbness. I feel as if all the blood in my body has gone cold, and I start shaking uncontrollably. I’m freaking out so badly that the guards have to take me by the arms and half carry me away from the guys to where the Inquisitor can get a clear shot at me because I’m so helplessly immobile.
“Please,” I whisper, sniffling. “Please don’t…”
So much for dignity.
The Inquisitor points her wand at me and says, “It is with some regret that I now enact this execution by order of the Department of Magical Authority.” She begins to mutter the spell. I don’t know wand spells, so I have no idea what she’s saying. All I can do is shut my eyes and hope it doesn’t hurt when suddenly-
“WAIT!” It’s Mitch’s voice, and my eyes pop open. The Inquisitor’s spell is cut short as her wand throws sparks. I gasp in surprise as Mitch runs forward to stand in front of me, having broken his hold.
Sidjus is gasping too. “How in the hell did he break that hold?!”
I hear grunts and groans behind me. The shifters are breaking free of their forced paralysis and running forward to once again to stand between me and death.
“They broke the hold!” Everyone is shouting now, seemingly in shock as all of the foxes have broken free.
“Yeah!” Ian says. “We broke the hold! So how could she have been controlling us all this time?”
The Inquisitor looks as if she’s trying to contain herself, but she’s clearly rattled. “This… this is unprecedented…” She clears her throat and taps at her tablet as if searching for answers. I see the other DMA people conferring, huddled together. I can’t make out what they’re saying, but they all look both astonished and concerned. Then they get the Inquisitor and Sidjus in on the conversation. I get the feeling that I’m not getting executed right this second, and Ian squeezes my hand in support.
“We’re going to conduct some tests,” the Inquisitor says. She leans into her huddle with the others again, and I see them muttering and nodding before she straightens her glasses and says, “We’re going to be testing the limits of the curse. Perhaps we have overlooked something…”
I began, perhaps foolishly, to hope that I might have a reprieve. My heart is pounding now as they ask me to step away from the others. They ask me to give each of the Loves some kind of command, the silly sort of ones I’ve done before.
“Ian, um, hop one foot.”
Ian looks like he’s obviously trying to resist it. I see sweat break out on his forehead before his expression crumbles, and he lifts his leg and hops until I tell him to stop. The same happens with each of them, and I feel worse and worse as if each command is only another nail in my coffin. Mitch barks like a dog. Darren turns around in a circle, though he’s obviously expending a lot of effort trying not to, and he looks pissed as hell when he does it. Brendan raises his arms and I see him resist so hard he looks like he’s in pain when he finally relents. If anything, I’ve just made it worse. I’ve shown not only that the spell is apparently in place, but that I’ve somehow cast it extraordinarily well.
It’s Hardhum, I think to myself. It must be. I can think of no other explanation.
“We have no other recourse then,” the Inquisitor says with a sigh. “The Saddle is obviously in place, and according to all our evidence and findings, you have cast it.”
“The man who reported me has been after me,” I say tearfully. “He threatened me and now he’s making good on his threats-”
“Silence,” Sidjus snaps.
The Inquisitor starts to go through her whole little pre-execution spiel again, but now, the Loves throw themselves in front of me once more. They’re all a bit teary even as they glare at Sidjus and the Inquisitor and refuse to move. Somehow it only makes it more painful for me to see how much they love me. I truly believe they would allow themselves to die with me just to prove their love, but I don’t want that. It’s the last thing I want.
“Guys, move,” I say, throwing up their arms. I see the Inquisitor getting impatient, raising her wand again. But the guys don’t budge. “Ian, move! Darren, get out of the way! Just go! Move!”
They don’t. They’re not even trying to resist what I tell them to do, it’s as if there’s no spell on them at all, which makes no sense since I truly want them to move. If they should be following any command, it’s this one. I look at the Inquisitor and see that she’s coming to the same conclusion. She looks confused and she squints as I attempt to get Brendan and Mitch to move out of the way. They stay stock still, their arms crossed as they glare at the Inquisitor.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Mitch says.
“Yeah… why is that?” I point out. I see his expression shift, and they all seem to realize what’s happening.
My stupid inner optimist springs up once again.
“She’s doing something!” Sidjus says. “She’s tricking us!”
“No,” the Inquisitor says. “That doesn’t make any sense
…”
One of the other DMA wizards throws up his hands and just shouts, “What is going on!”
“I don’t know,” I say, wiping my eyes. “But I am telling you, it has something to do with Derek Hardhum.”
“We’re gonna make it,” Ian says in a low voice, speaking for my benefit. “Just hang tough, Victoria. We got this. We’re gonna make it.”
And when he looks at me this time, I almost believe him.
Mitch
So much for resisting self-sacrifice.
We might have agreed that it would only upset Victoria more if we attempted to get between her and her execution, and while that may be true, we don’t seem able to stop ourselves. We just love her too much. It seems incomprehensible once we’re right there, and the DMA is pointing the killing spell at her, that we should just allow her to die, even in the face of certain death ourselves. They can keep freezing us all they want to. Apparently, we can break out of it anyway. And the DMA is unlikely to kill us in cold blood, especially if they think we’re innocent victims. Whatever is going on with this spell, it’s on them to figure it out. And it’s on us to make it as difficult as possible for them to hurt our beloved.
They’re talking again. They look even more confused now as they huddle up. It’s one of the strangest sights I’ve ever seen. Our pretty front yard with all the lavender, sagebrush, and long grass, littered with a whole bunch of wizards in baby blue and guards in black standing around arguing. If nothing else, at least they do seem concerned with whether this execution is just or not. I guess that’s something. But if the Department of Magical Authority had any sense of justice at all, they’d investigate Hardhum’s place in all of this. It makes me so mad, I keep growling under my breath and foxes aren’t even big growlers.
“We’re running the tests of their obedience,” the Inquisitor says, sighing heavily. She even checks her watch, and that really pisses me off. Victoria’s life hangs in the balance and this woman is worried she’s running late for tea or whatever.