Justin twisted around towards me. “What if that thing decides to make an appearance when Seth wakes up?”
“If he wakes up,” Alyx said grimly. “That soul is pissed off because Seth isn’t doing what he’s supposed to be doing. He’ll rip him up from the inside out.”
“Oh, God, no,” I moaned. I gripped Seth tighter.
Justin looked at me and then at Alyx. “Do you have to say shit like that?” he hissed at Alyx.
She shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
With shaking hands, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed my mom’s number. She answered on the first ring.
“Mom? Mom, Seth is really sick. We’re driving him to the hospital right now. Yes, I’m okay.” I choked up. “But I’m really worried about Seth. He’s unconscious. We’re taking him to the ER. Yeah, Justin is calling his dad now. Okay. Thanks.”
I closed my cell phone and stared out the window. We didn’t think this out too well. What would happen when—not if—Seth woke up? All hell could break loose, that’s what. We could be putting other people in danger. Maybe if the doctor would sedate Seth…
I looked down at Seth, lying still, except for his arms twitching a little.
“Stay asleep for just a little longer, Seth,” I whispered. “Keep that thing away long enough so we can help you.”
Justin snapped his phone shut and turned in his seat. “His dad is taking the next flight home tonight. He’ll meet us at the hospital.”
I nodded and tucked my hand around Seth’s waist, hanging on to him as if my life depended on it.
Because maybe it did.
~ ~ ~
Maksim stared sightlessly at the ocean far below him.
It had happened again.
Silura’s curse had consumed him, as it always did, at the moment he was most vulnerable, when his heart was most exposed. When he was in love.
Leila. His strong, beautiful Leila. She had seen the shadows that moved within him, had felt the tremors that moved under his skin, yet she caressed his body with a touch that soothed the shadows away. He thought she would be the one to free him at long last, but her devotion was rewarded with death by his hands around her lovely neck.
Her light—his light—had drained from her eyes along with her breath. Her eyes had been fixated on his face, but saw him no more.
His fists clenched. The people of the town suspected him, though he’d covered his tracks well. He almost wished they would discover his secret and do what they had to do to make him stop. It would be far easier to suffer their torture than to suffer his own.
But now he grew weary. This vicious pattern would never stop. After he took a lover and his heart led him into hopeless love, he’d always killed her.
He wanted to be free of the madness. He wanted never again to feel life slipping away under his hands.
So he had traveled far and now stood at the edge of the world. The ocean breeze swept up and over the cliffs on which Maksim stood, cooling a path up his body, carrying with it a promise of eternal peace.
He looked down, over the tips of his sandals that perched over the rocky cliff’s edge. He would jump and end the curse. For once his body lay draped across the rocks far below, he could never again fall in love; and never again kill.
Never, ever again.
~ ~ ~
I wasn’t alone. The boy lay in a pool of agony. Beaten down by his own resistance, battling a force far more experienced and far more adept at rendering control, more powerful than he had imagined. He simply wore out as he searched for the end.
But the end never comes because forever stretches beyond the edges of the stars.
I have learned.
There will never be an end.
Chapter 33
Beep. Beep. The lines on the heart monitor pulsed rhythmically, though faster than normal. Not even massive amounts of sedatives were slowing down Seth’s heart. Tubes snaked out from beneath the surgical tape, which stretched across his wrists and hands and reached up to the plastic IV bags full of fluid.
I heard the nurses say something about how erratic his heart was, almost as if there were two heartbeats. That made me sick. I wanted to beat on Seth’s chest, to pound on it until that soul was forced out.
The doctor kept asking me if he had taken any drugs, anything “cardiotoxic.” I could tell she didn’t believe me when I said Seth was clean. She went down a list of anything and everything that could have put him in a comatose state—steroids, amphetamines, barbiturates, meth, cocaine, heroin, over-the-counter medications—and I had emphatically said no to each one. When the tests all came back negative, the doctor’s disbelief turned to head-scratching bewilderment. In the doctors’—now there were four physicians on the case—determination to solve Seth’s “mysterious illness,” more tests were ordered: MRIs, EKGs, CT scans, blood cultures. Nothing shed a sliver of light or gave the slightest glimmer of hope for treatment. All they could do, they said, was wait and see and keep him comfortable. For that, at least, I was grateful.
Seth’s hair felt coarse under my hand as I smoothed it off his face. I shifted uncomfortably under my own bandages. Before we went into the emergency room, Alyx had thrown a heavy coat over me to cover the blood all over my shirt from my cuts and scrapes. Once we’d had a free moment, she’d whisked me away to her house and patched me up. She’d told me, in her normal half-irritated tone, that I’d been damn lucky the smashed glass from the trophy case hadn’t severed an artery.
Looking down at Seth now, I didn’t feel very lucky. He laid deathly still, his face pale, his dark lashes flat against his cheeks, but he looked at peace, finally. After trying to fight the soul on his own, he had no choice now but to let someone else try to help him.
The soft squeak of rubber against the polished floor registered somewhere in the back of my mind. I watched numbly as the nurse checked the IVs and pulled out a thermometer to recheck Seth’s temperature.
“Is it still up?” Justin’s voice broke the oppressive silence in the room. He’d been keeping vigil from a chair in the corner of the hospital room.
The nurse nodded. “A bit, but it’s stable.”
It was an effort to focus on the nurse’s words. “Thank you,” I managed to say. “For everything.”
The nurse left the room, and Justin followed, closing the door behind them, leaving me alone with Seth.
“I love you so much, Seth,” I whispered. “You can’t die.”
Who knew? Who knew that simply loving each other would come to this? I removed my earrings, my beautiful, sparkling birthday earrings, placed them carefully in his limp hand, and closed his fingers around them. There was nothing more I could do.
# # #
Alyx and Justin were waiting for me in the hospital lobby.
“Any news on Dirk?” I asked.
The police had no idea who had trashed the high school because the security camera tapes were mysteriously blank during the time we had been there.
“No one has seen him,” Justin said tonelessly.
I knew it was wrong of me, but I simply didn’t have the energy to worry about Dirk. The last few days, it had taken everything I’d had to hold onto Seth, to try to keep him here, with me.
I slumped down into a white plastic chair beside them. “I can’t believe this is happening,” I told them. “If only Seth had told me what was really happening. Maybe I could have stopped all of this.”
Alyx was leaning against the wall next to Justin, her arms folded across her chest. “He probably didn’t know—” she started.
“But I should have known,” I said. “I mean, I knew something was up. Right before my birthday, weird things were happening even before you noticed.” I stared at Alyx.
“Right before your birthday?” Justin ran his hands through his hair and his eyes flitted around as if he was trying to remember something. “eSouled! He bought it off of eSouled. Shit!” He slammed his hand into the wall. “And I was there!”
“Wha
t do you mean you were there?” Alyx glared at him.
He glanced at Alyx. “He was stressing big time on what to get Dani for her birthday, so he was looking online. I don’t know how he ran across it, but he found an ad that said ‘Soul for Sale.’ It said something like it would ‘give you power and control.’ He was thinking that might be pretty cool to have, even though he knew it was a joke.” Justin looked at me. “He’d laughed and said that maybe it would help him give you anything you wanted.”
“Did you actually see him buy it?” Alyx asked, her voice tense.
Justin shook his head. “No, I left. I didn’t even think about it. I mean, come on. It was a dollar and there were no bids. We both thought it was a joke.”
“So,” I said, slowly, “if he did buy this thing online…”
“Then we can get rid of it by selling it online!” Alyx finished my sentence.
Hope surged through me. “Alyx, would you stay here and keep my mom and Mr. Thompson from asking too many questions? I’m going over to Seth’s to get on his computer.”
Could this possibly work? I felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of someone else buying the damned soul. But this was Seth’s life and honestly, at this moment, I didn’t care about anyone else.
“Sure, no problem,” Alyx said.
“I’ll come with you.” Justin grabbed his jacket.
# # #
I pulled my coat closer against the drizzle. “Do you think this will work?” I asked Justin.
“I sure hope so. I just wish I’d figured this out sooner.” He shook his head.
“How could you know? You thought it was a joke. Anyone would’ve.” I glanced at Justin. “What do we say on our ad? ‘Do you want unlimited power? Buyer beware? This soul will kill you and anyone you love’?”
“I don’t know,” he said, “but we’ll think of something. Let’s hurry.”
I looked behind me at the hospital, up at the patient room windows, scared that we were running out of time.
We started to break into a run across the parking lot, but stopped when Dirk suddenly lurched out from behind a car, clutching his ribs.
“Wait! What’s wrong with Seth? Why is he here?”
Dirk blocked my way, but I side-stepped him. “Get out of our way, Dirk.”
Justin was right behind me. “Move it, Dirk,” Justin said.
Dirk grabbed my arm and pulled me back. “Tell me.” His voice was hard and threatening.
I turned and rammed my fist into his ribs. A perfect shot. “There. I told you.”
Dirk winced. He let me go and wrapped his arms around his ribs. “You’re going to pay for that, bitch!”
Justin stood between us and shoved Dirk away.
“Come on, Justin! We don’t have time for this!” I urged.
Dirk made the mistake of going around Justin to grab me again. He didn’t get very far because Justin had him on the ground in an instant.
“Go, Dani! Just go! I’ll handle him.” Justin grinned wickedly. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” he said, leaning over Dirk.
We were running out of time. I turned and ran.
# # #
I threw open the front door of Seth’s house, pocketed my keys, and ran down the hall to Seth’s room. Sliding into his chair, I jiggled the mouse to wake up the computer. I went straight to eSouled and Seth’s account popped up.
“Okay,” I said to the screen. “Let’s get this over with.” I started typing. Power, strength. I added a few key words of my own. Control over others. Learn the secret of ancient sorcerers. There had to be a few fanatics out there who would bite. God, this felt so cold, but what was I supposed to do? Watch Seth be beaten down by this thing? One way or another, it was going to be set free to do this all over again. So why not fight it? Why not beat him at his own game? Annihilate him before he annihilates us. I just wanted this to be over. I wanted things to be back to how they were.
The front door opened and closed. Panic pricked at my skin. Crap! I hadn’t locked the door behind me. If it was Dirk…
I looked around frantically for some type of weapon. Great. All I had was a pencil. But even a pencil, if aimed correctly, could maim. I stood and faced the door, my pathetic weapon behind my back, my heart thudding to the urgent pace of the footsteps down the hall.
My breath rushed out at the sight of Justin. His cheek was swelling and starting to bruise, and his lip was oozing blood.
“Oh, Justin,” I cried, dropping the pencil. “Are you okay?”
He waved me off. “Did you do it yet?”
I sat back down. “Almost finished. I’m going to give it two days and a ‘Buy it Now.’” I finished putting in all the info I could think of, skipped the image, and sat back. I pulled my sleeves over my hands and pressed them to my eyes. I didn’t want to cry. I needed to stay strong. I took in a deep breath.
“How are we going to get anyone to look at this stupid ad?” I asked Justin. “Someone has to buy it right now!”
It was quiet in the room except for the steady hum of the computer.
Justin knelt down in front of me and tugged at my wrists, exposing my face.
“It’s okay. Seth means a lot to me, too. You both do. I’d do anything for you guys.”
“I know. Oh, Justin, what if we’re too late? What if this thing doesn’t let him go?” I let Justin hug me against his chest.
“It has to. One way or another, it has to,” he said.
The seconds ticked by. I was comforted a little by the steady beat of Justin’s heart against my ear, but at the same time, it reminded me of Seth, and that hurt.
I pushed myself away and looked at the screen, then refreshed the page.
Nothing.
“I can’t stay here,” I said. “I need to be with Seth. Justin, will you please stay and watch this and call me right away if anything happens?”
“You don’t even need to ask. Go. Let me know if there is any change in Seth, okay?”
I hugged him tight. “Justin, you’re the best friend anyone could have.” I pulled back and touched his cheek. “Thank you.”
He gave me a crooked smile, but it didn’t hide the shade of sadness in his eyes. “No problem, Dani. Go. Go take care of Seth.”
# # #
“Mom!”
My mom stood outside Seth’s room, talking with Alyx.
“How is he?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No change, Sweetie.” Her touch was comforting as she pushed my damp hair back off my face. “Seth’s dad is in there with him now.”
Alyx raised her eyebrows at me and I gave her a small nod.
“I’m going in,” I said.
I opened the door to see Marty sitting next to Seth with his forehead resting on the edge of the bed, his shoulders shaking with sobs. He loved Seth with all his heart and soul. Ever since his wife died, Marty had done whatever he could to make up for the loss. I knew he hated not being at home more. And now this. Coming back home only to find he might lose the only person he lived for.
I gently placed my hand on his shoulder. “Hey.”
Marty looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, his cheeks stained with tears. He wiped his face with the back of his hand, then stood and encircled me within his arms. We held each other tight for a long time.
“When Seth wakes up, I think I’m going to have to ground him for scaring me like this.” Marty’s voice was a little shaky. He pulled back, his eyes full of concern. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay,” I told him, doing my best to put on a smile, “but I think I’ll have a talk with him, too.”
He smoothed my hair back and kissed my forehead. “The doctors don’t understand why he’s so sick.” He turned and faced Seth, adjusting the tubes and straightening the sheets. “You’d think with all their fancy tests, they’d know,” he muttered.
They’re never going to figure this one out, I thought. Even if I could explain to him what happened, it wouldn’t make any difference. There wasn’t anyt
hing this hospital had to offer Seth. They were doing the best they could, keeping Seth nourished with IVs, but that’s all they could do. Somewhere in there, I hoped, Seth was fighting… and fighting hard. We needed more time to get rid of Maksim.
The door swung open and my mom poked her head inside. Alyx peered over her shoulder.
“Come on, you two. Let’s go get some coffee,” Mom said. “The nurses will let us know if there’s any change.”
Marty hesitated, then seemed to accept the fact there was nothing he could do. He squeezed my arm before brushing past me toward the door.
“Dani?”
“I’ll be right there, Mom.”
When the door closed, I turned back to the bed and held Seth’s hand. I took in all the tubes going in and out of his arms and listened to the beeps and whirs of the machines. My eyes rested on his hand, still holding my earrings.
Leaning down, I placed my ear against his heart, counting the beats as they pulsed against his chest, finding some solace in the rhythm. I lifted my head and whispered against his lips, “Fight for me, Seth. Fight for us.” Then I moved his hair back off his forehead and softly kissed him. I walked out of the room to join the others.
# # #
My phone rang, jolting me back from wherever my mind had been. I had turned the volume way up so I wouldn’t miss Justin’s call. And there it was. I think my heart stopped. I know my breathing did. I looked at Alyx and then over at my mom. She and Marty had finished eating and were talking quietly together.
“Justin?” I whispered into my phone.
“It sold,” he said.
I pressed one hand against my chest to slow my heart. Something was wrong. I could hear it in his voice.
“Justin?” I said again. “What happened? Why don’t you sound happy?”
“Are you with Seth right now?” he asked.
“No, I’m down in the hospital cafeteria.”
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