Sophie watched in horror, in slow motion, as the table struck Layla. Her head snapped to the side, and her body fell to the floor.
Cara’s scream was louder than anything else, and both she and Sophie rushed to where Layla lay, blood seeping from her nose and head. Sophie was about to dial 911, but then she saw police flooding into the area, around the still-growing mob of fighters.
“No,” Sophie whispered, picturing what would happen if the officers became afflicted with the same insanity the rest of the crowd was. She looked around, taking in the chaos, Cara talking and crying over Layla.
There, just past the nearest mob, stood Marshall, casually leaning against a column. His gaze met Sophie’s, and he smirked.
“Let this be a lesson, kitten,” he said, and though he was nowhere near her, she could hear his voice as clearly as if he was right beside her. “I’m not a man you want as an enemy, and now you’re going to suffer for your disobedience.” With that, and another sickening grin, he disappeared.
Within moments of Marshall leaving, the chaos began dying down. The police got control of the crowd, and paramedics started running in with gurneys and stretchers to transport the injured. Sophie watched and listened in numb terror as Layla was secured onto a board, her head and neck secured so they didn’t move anymore, her body strapped down to keep her completely still. She held Cara’s hand as Cara tried to hold it together and listen to the paramedics. Cars trembled uncontrollably, her teeth chattering.
“She’s going into shock,” one of the paramedics working on Layla called. Another came and wrapped a gray blanket around Cara. They followed the gurney to a waiting ambulance, and Cara and Sophie climbed in the back. Once Layla was secured, the paramedic riding in back with them fitted an oxygen mask over Cara’s nose and mouth and instructed her to take slow, deep breaths. She still shook, and Sophie could hear her teeth chattering.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” the paramedic said. She was young, maybe just out of school, Sophie guessed.
All Sophie could do was nod, and keep her arms tightly around Cara’s shaking body, trying to give her some sense of comfort, but she knew it didn’t do anything, really. Cara’s twin, her best friend, lay still and pale in front of them. Nothing Sophie did would change that, and she had only herself to blame. Because she’d angered Marshall, and then been stupid enough to try to pretend she could have a normal life.
She flashed back to days, weeks, months on end spent hiding alone in the house her father had left her, shades pulled, only the television and its tinny voices for company. Eating stockpiled frozen dinners and scurrying to and from her crappy job a quickly as possible to avoid Marshall, even though she’d known better.
He was always there. Watching, waiting. Testing the wards she’d managed to set around her home and car to keep her safe. Now, even those were not possible.
She could too easily see being there again, alone in the dark, hoping and praying that he would’t do anything else to hurt her by hurting those she loved. She knew now what she didn’t know then: he’d never hurt her personally. He wouldn’t kill her. What fun would there be in that? What point, when his entire goal in life was to mold her into the second coming of Micaela?
Everyone around her would suffer. Everyone. He would toy with her, like a cat with a mouse, pouncing and causing mayhem and pain when she least expected it.
Unless she gave him what he wanted. That was what he said, anyway.
But she knew Marshall. It would’t end. Even once he had what he wanted, he would use those she cared for as leverage. He would hurt them anytime she irritated him, or anytime he thought she was drawing away from him. It would never, ever end. Not until she was dead and buried, or he was. Shadow ensured she had a long existence ahead of her, unless something killed her.
She shook her head a little. Her thoughts were becoming fuzzy, frenzied, her mind scrambled by her terror over what had happened, her fear for Layla, and the effects of the curse plus Shadow. She’d tried escape via ending her life once. It hadn’t worked out. She’d lived, and she’d lost a good portion her already-minimal Light magic as well. It had ended up making it that much easier to succumb to Shadow, likely via the same curse that Luc had been infected with to ensnare Migisi. From what she could guess, Calder’s line had continued to carry that curse as well, except that that one didn’t matter unless they began spending time with one of Migisi’s descendants.
Once again, Sophie cursed the day Luc and Migisi laid eyes on one another.
The ambulance pulled into a driveway at the large hospital not too far from where they’d been shopping, and other medical staff was there waiting, likely expecting the influx of new patients due to the riots. They wheeled Layla out. Cara pulled off the oxygen mask and blanket, and she and Sophie follow the gurney as far as the hospital staff would let them.
“Wait here, please,” an orderly said. “You’ll be updated as soon as we can assess her condition.”
Another attendant got Cara’s attention, asking for Layla’s information.
“I’ll call your parents and Calder and Bryce,” Sophie told her, and she nodded then went to the counter to get her sister registered.
Sophie went to the waiting room, finding a quiet corner. The waiting room was likely to get rather full in the next few minutes, she realized, as more ambulances with victims from the fights started showing up. She dialed the number at the diner the twins’ family owned, and explained what had happened to their mother, feeling like a complete waste of space as the woman started crying, thanking her and telling her they were on their way.
Sophie dialed Calder next. Thankfully, he answered on the first ring.
“Hey,” he said cheerfully. “Are you guys coming back soon? Bryce and Jon are here and Bryce is getting antsy,” he said, and she heard Bryce say something in the background. Tears sprung to her eyes.
“Layla’s hurt. She’s in the hospital here. Mayton General.”
“What?” Calder asked, and she heard Bryce again, alerted by Calder’s tone.
“There was this big riot, thing, at the mall and Layla got hurt. We’re in the emergency room.”
“Okay. Okay. We’re on our way. Does her mom know?”
“Yeah. I just called her.”
She could hear Bryce in the background again, his concern evident. “We’re on our way now,” Calder said. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” Sophie said, tears springing to her eyes.
He hung up, and she was left clutching her phone, wishing they could rewind the day to that morning, to her and Calder lying in bed feeding each other slices of apple and cheese. She should have stayed home. Everyone would be safe right now, if she’d just stayed home and away from people. He hadn’t gone after Calder yet, believing as she did that they were connected via the curse. She didn’t know how much longer that would hold, though.
Sophie leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. “Light protect everyone from the chaos that surrounds me,” she whispered. “Don’t let them suffer for my mistakes,” she prayed. She could only hope that Light was able to hear prayers from Shadow.
Cara came and sat beside her, and they sat, hands clasped. Within an hour, their family and friends were there: the twins’ parents and grandma Faye, Bryce, Calder, and Jon. They sat, filling an entire row of chairs in the waiting room. Doctors and nurses came and went.
“She has some severe swelling of her brain. We need to operate to relieve the pressure.”
“She won’t be conscious for quite a while. We won’t know just how severe her injuries are.”
“It is likely she may have some permanent damage.”
“We can’t tell you how long her coma will last. We just don’t know.”
Bryce paced, and the twins’ parents sat, staring helplessly into space. Cara sat with Jon, who occasionally talked to her in a quiet, calm voice. Sophie sat with Calder, her hand held tightly in his. It was well into the next day before the twins’ parents st
arted urging them to go home and rest. As much as Sophie wanted to stay to hear about Layla, and to be there for Cara, she also welcomed the idea of getting away from people who could be hurt if Marshall decided to strike at her again. Bryce and Cara stayed at the hospital, and, after many hugs and promises to call and murmured empty phrases meant to comfort, Sophie, Calder, and Jon left. They climbed into Calder’s truck, Sophie sitting between Calder and Jon in the cab.
They drove much of the way in silence. It was early afternoon, Sophie realized when she looked at the clock. They’d been in the hospital for nearly twenty-four hours.
“What happened, Sophie?” Jon asked finally.
“A brawl broke out. Some jerk threw a table, and it hit Layla when she was trying to help a girl who’d been hurt,” she said. She didn’t want to share the part about Marshall causing it all, because of her. She could confide in Calder later, and she would, but she wasn’t ready to have that conversation with Jon.
“That’s it? A brawl just broke out out of nowhere?” Jon pressed.
“Drop it. She’s tired,” Calder said in a voice that made it clear he wasn’t in the mood to argue. Jon clamped his mouth shut and stared out his window for the rest of the long drive home. They drove in silence, and Sophie kept going over the whole thing in her mind. No matter how she let her mind wander, it kept coming back to one thing: the people she cared about were the ones who suffered when Marshall wanted to teach her a lesson. Who would be next? Cara? Bryce?
Calder?
Her friend Thea, who had helped her discover the truth of the curse? All of them innocents, in danger because of their relationship with her.
The truth settled over her like icy death. A truth she’d known for most of her life but had tried to ignore since foolishly believing herself free of Marshall once she’d made her way to Copper Falls.
No one she cared for would ever be safe as long as Marshall was around. Even her death wouldn’t end his insanity; he’d hurt them in rage if he lost her to death. Of course, she had no idea how to get rid of Marshall. All she could do was try to make herself strong enough to protect them all.
Which left her with one solution.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Sophie and Calder got back to her house, she let them in the front door in silence. Calder closed and locked the front door behind them, then came to her and held her.
She breathed him in, determined to memorize his scent. She gently pushed him away, and it was the last thing she wanted.
She looked up at him, into those eyes that had made her tongue-tied since she was a little girl, and she tried to steel her heart against everything she was feeling.
“I think I need a little space,” she said.
Calder’s brow crinkled, and he recovered. “I… I’m sure you’re tired. I’ll go home and shower and stuff and you can rest.”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, I need a break.”
“From what?”
Her heart felt ripped to shreds, but she said the words anyway. “From us.”
He shook his head. “Come on, kitten. I know you’re upset over what happened back there, but that has nothing to do with us.” He moved to hold her again, and she stepped back.
“It has everything to do with us. Marshall did that, Calder. Do you know why he did that? To punish me,” she said, and when he reached for her a third time, she strode to the door.
“So we stick together. We fight, and we’re ready for him the next time he comes at you.”
“Don’t you get it? Are you really that dumb?” Light, she hated herself. “No one in my life is safe from him. And I care about you, but I don’t care enough to give myself to him to keep you safe.”
His expression hardened. “And I’d never want you to do that. I don’t need you to save me.”
“You kind of do.”
“No. I never needed you to save me, Sophie. Not when you took my curse without asking, and not now. Do you really think shutting me out will protect me from him? That dude is fucking nuts. He doesn’t care if we’re actually together or not. He knows you’ll hate yourself if anyone who knows you gets hurt in the crossfire. You know this.”
“I know that I can’t focus on warding off Marshall, trying to function with this curse, and being with you all the time. I just can’t. do. it. Okay?”
“Well, that’s great,” Calder said. “You know the curse is coming back, don’t you?”
Her stomach twisted. He’d come to the same realization she had about his night with the bear.
“Which is another thing. You lied to me about that night, didn’t you? You sounded insane, and I know damn well what that means. I can’t trust you to be straight with me. You keep hiding things from me, like I’m some helpless little girl who can’t deal with reality. What else are you keeping from me, Calder?” she asked, aware that now she was shouting. Shadow rose in her, and the curse only added to the insanity. For once, she welcomed all of it. Maybe he would see that he was better off without her.
Instead, he shook his head, a wry smile on his lips. “You’re right. I keep trying to protect you. I’m new at this relationship thing.” He studied her. “You need a break, I’ll keep my distance for a while But don’t try to pretend this is over, Sophie, because it’s not. You love me, and every word you just said verifies it. You want space because you think it’ll save me from Marshall. At least be honest about why you’re doing this.”
She didn’t answer, and after several tense moments, he shook his head again and walked toward her. “Have your space, kitten. I’m done sitting around and waiting for him to come after us.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” she asked.
He met her eyes as he opened the door. “It means I hope I meet the bastard skulking around in your woods. He always takes off before I get to him. I’m going to have to be faster.”
“Calder!”
He left, closing the door firmly behind him.
“Shit,” she muttered. Now she had a pissed off Calder. Which was better for her heart than a sad Calder, but it put him in so much more danger when he was hot-headed. Calder confronting Marshall was the last thing she wanted.
She tried to think her way through it, but she kept zoning out, blanking out, getting distracted by her hunger and that ever–present buzzing of rage just beneath the surface.
“Getting rid of this goddamn curse would be a really good start,” she muttered. She glanced at the clock. There was only one person she knew who knew curses at all.
Minutes later, she was getting into the rental car she’d borrowed while they were figuring out what to do about her crashed-up car. She drove quickly down the highway, noting that Calder was in his driveway, bent over the engine of the Barracuda. He didn’t make a show of looking up, and she tried not to look directly at him, either. She made her way to the forest, to the gravel road that took her to Esme’s creepy Victorian and the stone wall that surrounded it. She got out and clomped up the front steps, then pounded loudly on the front door.
The door opened, and Esme looked at her icily. “You are not scheduled to be here until Saturday,” she said, and she started closing the door.
“I need to learn more. Now,” Sophie said, wedging her foot into the door before Esme could close it. Before she could even ready herself for it, Esme tossed a blast of power at her that had her flying backward, off the porch. She landed on the sidewalk near the front steps, and Esme advanced on her, coming out of the house.
“Who in the hell do you think you are to demand anything of me?” Esme asked, and her voice was full of malice. “The descendent of a worthless whore, a powerless mongrel. You are nothing.”
“Marshall caused a riot. My friend is in a coma. He’s going to hurt someone else next, and I can’t let him do that.”
Esme was about to say something, but she stopped. Then she shook her head. “I’ve tried teaching you. You’re hopeless. You manage to shield yourself, but that’s it, and it’s likely all you�
�ll be able to do. You have the focus of a gnat.”
“I know. That’s part of why I’m here. Please. Unless you maybe want to kick Marshall’s ass for me?” Sophie asked as she stood.
“Marshall and I stay out of one another’s way. He can’t touch me, and I can’t touch him.”
Sophie tilted her head. “How did that end up happening?”
“It was a deal. One that is none of your business.”
Sophie watched her, and Esme sighed.
“Do you really think this is the first time Marshall has posed a threat to Migisi’s loved ones? Oh, but I forget: you’re of Migisi’s line. Everything about you is special,” she added with a sneer.
“Are you going to explain it to me, or not?”
“Fuck off, princess,” Esme said, and Sophie looked away. She knew saying much more would just ensure that Esme wouldn’t help her at all.
“Fine. The curse, though. Do you know how to break curses?”
“Curses can only be broken by those who set them. Or their descendants.”
“So I can break the curse,” Sophie said, dread sinking into her stomach. Migisi’s scrawled words hadn’t been a lie.
“You think you’d look a little happier about it,” Esme said.
“Can I just run this past you? Please? And then I’ll leave if you want me to. I need to do something here, but I can’t do the thing Migisi said I have to. There has to be another way,” Sophie said.
“This is not my problem,” Esme said, heading toward the front porch again.
Sophie dug her phone out of her pocket and scrolled to a photo of Calder, smiling at the camera as he stood in front of the falls. If her hunch about Esme was right, maybe it would help.
She shoved the phone in front of Esme’s face. “This is Calder. This is him, and he doesn’t deserve any of the crap that’s happened to him because of Migisi. You think you hate her? I hate her even more. I love him, and everything I am spells his doom. If I do anything in this life, I need to save him and his family from what Migisi did to them. Okay? The curse is coming back to him, somehow, and I don’t know how to stop it.”
Shadow Sworn (Copper Falls Book 2) Page 21