Indebted

by Amy A. Bartol

  I grin, “I know, right!” I agree. “It makes you feel like a complete tool to say it, doesn’t it!”

  “Yeah, I swear, I was in that fight with all those freaks and they’re all like, ‘I will destroy yer soul!’” Russell says, emulating the deep voice of a Kevev as he hunches his back and shakes his fist like an ogre. “And I’m like, ‘do all y’all know what total goofs all y’all sound like?’” he says, shaking his head.

  I can’t contain the laughter that bursts from me. I have to cover my face with my hands as it keeps coming so that I can’t see his face because it just makes me laugh harder to look at him.

  Finally getting myself under control, I wipe away the tears of laughter with the back of my hand, “Yeah, it’s a trip sometimes.”

  “It’s definitively that, Red,” he agrees with a small smile. “So you’ll teach me…yer magic?” he asks, looking up at the ceiling and then down at me.

  “Of course. I want you to be stronger than anything out there,” I reply.

  “I’ll work with ya on yer clones. Have ya practiced them at all while you were gone?” he asks.

  “No,” I admit, looking down. “They didn’t work…I couldn’t send them to you guys and…it was…they’re very sort of intimate when I send them, so I didn’t send them to the Gancanagh. I used some to get away from Brennus when he first took me, but after the contract I…” I trail off, feeling awkward again.

  “Yeah,” Russell says, and I realize that he is the only person that can completely relate to what I’m saying. He and I are the same. The only.

  I fidget, not knowing what to say because there is so much we haven’t said to each other and it’s just sitting like a wall between us.

  “Ahh, Red, ya can’t do that,” Russell groans.

  “What?” I ask, looking at his face.

  “Ya look so lost—so fragile,” he says, looking confused himself.

  “I’m okay,” I say with a nervous smile. “It’s just that I’m used to living in a minefield. I don’t know how to be around someone who knows exactly how weird this all is. It’s hard to fake anything with you.”

  “Impossible for ya,” he replies. “Ya never have to fake anythin’ with me.”

  “Shoot the moon?” I ask him softly.

  “And if ya miss completely, I’ll still love ya,” he says, before walking towards the door.

  My throat gets really tight. “Thank you, Russell,” I say before he can make it to the door.

  Pausing, he asks, “For what?” not turning around.

  “For finding me,” I answer.

  “I think I was a little late,” he replies.

  “You weren’t,” I say, not sure that we’re talking about the same thing.

  “I hope not,” he says in a strained voice before he leaves the bungalow.

  I pick up the overturned chair from the floor and put it back by the crushed table. Then, I clear a path to the shower and close the door. Turning on the water and unwrapping the sheet from me, I step in, letting the water flow over my hair. I wash and rinse it quickly before stepping out of the shower.

  Drying myself off, a cold current of icy air drifts around me. Goose bumps rise on my arms as I sniff the air, trying to recognize the scent, but there isn’t anything unusual about it.

  I wrap a towel around me and follow the current of air, feeling it like an icy path. It leads me to the closet. My hand trembles a little as I open the door, expecting to see some scary creature inside. There is nothing in there but my clothes.

  I search for something to wear and choose a red swimsuit with matching sarong. As I select sandals to match the outfit, my hand touches the boots that I wore here. One boot feels colder than the other. After I pick it up, I reach inside the boot and pull out the knife that Brennus gave me when we were escaping at the estate. The eerie metal begins to lose its frigid chill the minute I touch it, warming in my hand like it’s happy to be with me again.

  I take the knife with me to the bathroom and place it near the sink before I put my clothes on. Then, I search through the black duffle bag that Reed keeps under the sink. It has weapons of various kinds in it. I find a black, thigh sheath and secure it to my leg, slipping the knife into it. I had promised myself that I would carry a weapon with me if I ever made it out of the caves in Houghton. It’s only fitting that it be Brennus’ weapon that I carry, since he was the one that made me need a weapon in the first place.

  Walking out of the bathroom, I gasp when arms materialize on either side of me, caging me against the wall of the bedroom. A shiver of excitement runs the length of me as Reed presses his body to mine, inhaling the scent of my hair spilling over my shoulders.

  “You scared me,” I say, my heartbeat increasing even faster as his cheek brushes mine.

  “I shouldn’t be able to sneak up on you,” Reed says in a serious tone. “If I can do it, with our attraction, then that means you are not paying attention to your environment.”

  “My environment is a bit of a mess right now,” I reply, smiling as I lean against his bare torso.

  “I will take care of this mess, then we are going to work on improving all of your skills,” he says, his mouth inches from mine.

  “Are you saying that you’re going to start training me?” I ask, trailing my hands over his shoulders.

  “Yes,” he smiles.

  “But, you rarely did that before…” I trail off as his lips meet mine.

  “You are tougher now,” he says, his mouth teasing mine.

  “When do you want to start?” I ask, letting my hands explore his broad back.

  “After breakfast?” he asks.

  I groan, pulling back and looking into his eyes. “Can’t. I promised Russell I’d work with him. He needs to learn how to do what I can do—magic,” I explain. “How about after lunch?”

  “Is he planning to work with you on your clones?” he asks, his hand pressing to my lower back, causing heat to ripple through me.

  “Uh, I think that was the plan,” I breathe, feeling a little distracted from the conversation.

  “Good,” he replies, lifting me up and carrying me to the bed behind us.

  “Isn’t there a strategy meeting?” I ask, staring up at his dark green eyes and watching his dark brown hair fall over his perfect brow.

  “They’ll wait for us,” he replies, following me down onto the bed.

  After finishing breakfast, my eyes keep drifting to Reed’s profile as he sits next to me, listening to Zephyr outline all of the security measures that they have in place. There are several islands within miles of this one. Humans inhabit many of them and among those humans are scores of Reaper angels. Buns and Brownie have been cultivating contacts among these angels, setting up networks that will alert them to any suspicious activity from Fallen or any other evil creature that may stumble around in our vicinity.

  “Reapers are helping?” I inquire, looking from Reed to Zephyr.

  “They are a previously untapped resource, Evie,” Zephyr grins. “Reapers are literally everywhere and the Divine ones have expressed vehemence in their wish to aid us.”

  “Sweetie, now that the word is out about you, you’re kinda like a rockstar,” Buns says, her cornflower blue eyes shining with amusement. “I just had to mention you and the enthusiasm to help was overwhelming.”

  “Buns handles that end,” Zephyr says with a small smile. “I do not have her patience.”

  “C’mon, Zee, most of them are very sweet,” Buns says cajolingly.

  Zephyr grimaces. “Too sweet and too happy. It is disturbing,” Zephyr replies in a serious tone.

  “But they can spot evil a mile away,” she counters, not trying to deny anything he just said.

  “Next to them, a kitten can be seen as evil,” Zephyr replies. “We also have trusted Powers around as sentries on this island and the outlying islands. These are proven Powers that Reed and I know personally. You will not see them. If you do, there is a problem,” he says, watching my reaction.


  I try to keep my features blank so that he doesn’t know that his words just sent ice through me. It reminds me that I’m still being hunted. I’ve been having trouble accepting any of this as reality. It’s all been a sort of fantastic dream from which I don’t want to awaken.

  “So, we’re staying here?” I ask.

  “It is as good a place as any, for now,” Zephyr says. “Only trusted angels know our exact location…even the Reapers only know our general vicinity.

  “I want you to wear this, Evie,” Reed says, pulling an oval, black onyx necklace from his pocket. It is a pendant attached to a platinum chain. The onyx pendant has an opal crescent moon in the center of it.

  “It’s beautiful,” I murmur, lifting it up. It is very much like a cameo and it opens like a locket.

  “Don’t open it, Evie” Reed says, covering my hands with his so I won’t release the latch. “It’s a portal, love.” Reed gives me a reassuring smile.

  I turn white, letting the pendant rest against my chest, as I look back at his face. “Where does it lead?” I ask him.

  “Somewhere safe,” he replies. “I would rather not say where it goes. Then, no one here, but me, can be tortured into telling where you went. You are finally strong enough to withstand a portal. I couldn’t let you have one before because you would never have survived it.”

  “What about you?” I ask, panicking a little that he expects me to jet when trouble comes, leaving him behind.

  He holds up his wrist, showing me his wristwatch. “It is hard for me to wear this portal,” he admits with a grin. “But, if it gets me to you, then I will have to deal with it.”

  I understand him. He never wants to run from a fight, but he will use the portal on his wrist for me. “Does yours go to the same place as mine?” I ask, examining his watch that looks exactly like a Blancpain.

  “Yes. Ours are together—just as Zee’s and Buns’s are together and Brownie and Russell are together,” Reed explains.

  I glance at Buns who has a pendant much like mine, except hers is a golden sun. Brownie has a copper star, while Russell and Zephyr have watches similar to Reed’s. Looking at Russell, I ask, “Where do their portals lead?”

  “They’re not supposed to tell you. If we need to use them, we will have to find each other,” Reed says.

  “How?” I ask.

  “We are all very resourceful. There is always Facebook,” Reed says with a smile.

  My eyes shoot to Russell’s. He winks at me, letting me know he still has his profile going under Leander Duncan. He can post something for me to follow so that I can find him if we ever get separated from each other again.

  “Training,” Zephyr says, looking at me with an evil grin. “Are you ready?” he asks.

  “Uh…” I hesitate, looking around at all their grinning faces. “Sure.”

  Zephyr nods, “Good. Russell and you will train together in the mornings, then, you will both train with Reed and me in the afternoon.”

  “Flying lessons with Brownie and me after dinner,” Buns says. “It will be just like field hockey, only no sticks.”

  “And no Kappas,” Brownie chimes in.

  “That sounds like a full day,” I say, glancing at Reed to get his take on it.

  “Yes,” Reed says, looking a little sour, seeing that our time alone together will be curtailed.

  “We have to try to catch her up to Russell,” Zephyr says, hearing the reluctance in Reed’s tone.

  I glance at Russell and see him kiss each of his biceps for my benefit then grin at me, mouthing, “I’m the man,” under his breath. I wrinkle my nose at him before smiling.

  “Well, no time like the present. Ya ready to pull a rabbit outta a hat, Red?” Russell asks me, while rising from his seat at the ornate dining table.

  “Yes. We should do this on the beach or at least away from the house,” I say, rising from my seat at the table and looking around at all the beautiful furniture in Zephyr’s house. “I nearly burned down Brennus’ estate the first time I did a spell.”

  “Nice.” Russell replies, nodding his head and looking amused.

  As Reed rises from his seat, he catches my hand. “When you’re finished, find me,” he says, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

  “Okay,” I agree, leaning over and giving him a quick kiss. I follow Russell out of the enormous house and ask him, “Do you know your way around here?”

  “Yeah,” he smiles, gesturing to our right, “this path leads to my beach.”

  “You have your own beach?” I ask, looking amazed as we begin to take a sandy path through lush foliage.

  “Zee lets me stay in one of the villas on the north end of the island. I have a suite of rooms in the big house when I want to hang with them, but sometimes I have to be alone,” Russell says, losing his smile.

  “Why do you need to be alone?” I ask, hearing something in his tone.

  “’Cuz sometimes it completely blows bein’ part angel,” he replies stiffly.

  “Yeah,” I nod, “especially when you start thinking about where this is all leading—wondering what is just waiting for you around the next curve in the road.”

  Russell glances at me and a reluctant smile touches his lips. “Or when ya flash back to where you’ve been,” he adds.

  “Do you go there often…to the church?” I ask, feeling the color drain a little from my face.

  “Yeah, it seems like my mind likes to revisit it a lot,” he admits, looking ill.

  “Me, too,” I say, reaching out and grasping his hand. His warm fingers curve around mine. “What happened after I left?” I ask.

  “Reed and Zee showed up with Phaedrus by mornin’. I don’t know how they got there that fast. They took care of Brownie and me for a while, but I was done. I couldn’t handle anythin’ anymore…so I went home,” he mumbles, looking away from me.

  “To North Carolina?” I ask, knowing that he considers that home, even though his parents had to be moved away when Alfred was trying to kill us.

  “Yep and I started drinkin’ the minute I got there, too. I don’t remember much ‘bout bein’ there,” he says with a wry smile. “Reed came and found me a couple of weeks later. He said…he said ya needed me…they couldn’t find ya and if I could work on my clones, maybe we could locate ya.”

  Russell leads me to a long dock that is connected to a bungalow built right in the water on stilts.

  “Wow,” I say, checking out his bachelor pad that is similar to the one I share with Reed. Russell’s has a huge flat screen, a state of the art sound system in it, and furniture that has not been abused.

  “Here,” Russell says, handing me a surfboard.

  “What’s this for?” I ask, holding the board in my hand as he chooses another one for himself.

  “Nothin’ to burn down out on the water,” he says.

  “Handy,” I reply, carrying the board to the beach.

  “Do you want to work on clones or magic first?” Russell asks, and then groans because saying that out loud is so bizarre.

  “Uh…I don’t…what do you think?” I ask, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

  “Oh, definitely magic,” he says with a broad grin.

  Russell peels off his shirt and throws it in the sand. He grabs his surfboard and runs into the water. Lying on the board, he paddles out into the surf.

  “This isn’t normal,” I mumble, taking off my wrap skirt and exposing my red swimsuit before picking up my board. I paddle out into the clear blue swells while Russell waits for me in the water. I pull my board up next to his and sit up on it with my feet drifting on either side of the board.

  “All right, so…how does this work?” he asks, running his hands through his wet hair as water drips onto his enormous chest.

  “Can you get closer?” I ask him, blushing a little as the tide gently moves beneath me, bumping our boards together on a gentle swell.

  “I can hop on yer board with ya,” he replies. Shifting, he manages to sit behind me
on my board, leaving his to float beside us. As he holds on to my waist, he says in my ear, “How’s this?”

  “Okay,” I reply, thinking that it should feel awkward to have him holding me like this, but it doesn’t…it feels natural. “I’m going to start pulling energy that is all around us to me. I don’t really know how to explain exactly how to do it. I’m hoping that you will be able to feel it passing through you to me.”

  He nods silently, as a signal for me to start. I begin pulling energy to me like a magnet. I can feel it collecting within me, tingling and oscillating like the current of water beneath us.

  “I can feel it,” Russell breathes in my ear. “Shoot, that burns a little.”

  I smile, “Good. Try to hold on to some of it—try to block some of it from getting to me. Brennus said that you should try to picture what it is that you want to do—like creating fire. Then he said to say the words to make it so. It can be anything, but I found that something lyrical makes it stronger. When you know what you want, say the words and then try to release the energy and let it flow from you.”

  I flip the switch on the energy I had gathered and reverse it. I control the flow of it, while singing softly, “I am caged by your desire, Surrounded by it’s fire. Love burns as you conspire, It burns like fire…” Guiding the fire with my outstretched hand, I direct the comet of fire to circle around us in a spiraling display of pyrotechnics as we float on the surfboard.

  “Wicked!” Russell breathes.

  “Yeah,” I half-smile. I direct the flame around us, making it dance before finally plunging it into the ocean, seeing the water steam and sizzle as it extinguishes the fireball within its depths. “Do you want to try something?” I ask, trying to see his face as he sits behind me.

  His arms wrap tighter around my waist, pulling me back against his chest. “Yeah…shoot, I have to make up a poem?” he asks, peeking at me with one eye, the other closed in a grimace.

  “You mean you weren’t a poet in one of your past lives?” I ask as I nudge him softly with my elbow.