“Hey, babe, I wanna celebrate. Do you feel like take-out?” Nederland was a small mountain town, but it had a couple of great restaurants.
Channie’s eyes lit up as she licked her lips. “Can you get something from Wild Mountain Smokehouse?”
“Sure. But would you mind whipping up a batch of cornbread while I’m gone? Yours is so much better than theirs.”
She rolled her eyes, but Josh could tell she was pleased by the way her mouth quirked up at the corners. “You are so spoiled.”
“True. But it’s your fault. You never should have let me taste it.” He kissed her eyes, both cheeks and the tip of her nose. “When I get back, remind me to recharge the protection spells. I should have done it last night, but I got a little distracted.”
Golden light pulsed out of both their chests. Channie walked her fingers up Josh’s belly then pressed her palm over his glowing heart. “I wouldn’t mind being distracted again.”
“You’re making it hard for me to leave.”
“I like making it hard for you.”
Josh choked on his own spit.
Channie laughed as she thumped his back. “Sorry, but you walked right into that one. Besides, you deserved it for all the times you teased me.”
“I teased you about sex?”
“Constantly.”
“Huh.” Josh found that hard to believe.
“You were shy when we first met, but you knew a lot more about sex than I did.”
“Believe me, it was all theoretical knowledge. I had no field experience at all.”
Channie stretched up on her toes and tugged Josh’s head closer. Her breath tickled his ear. “I’m glad I’m the only one you’ve ever experienced.”
Two hours later, Josh placed an order of prime rib “to go” then swung by the Kwik Mart on Highway 119 to pick up a couple liters of pop; Dr. Pepper for Channie and Cherry Pepsi for himself.
Josh frowned when he turned the corner and noticed the gate swinging on its hinges. Where were the guards? He stopped the car but left it running and opened his door. The stench of burned hair and flesh assaulted his nose. All that remained of the guards were two piles of blackened, smoldering bones.
Josh screamed Channie’s name then ran back to his car. He pounded the steering wheel with his left hand and drove with his right. He prayed for her safety as he raced up the dirt road to the cabin.
Channie hummed and sang as she stirred up a batch of cornbread, making the high altitude adjustments so it wouldn’t fall. She slid the pan into the oven then closed the door and set the timer for twenty minutes. The fact that she no longer needed Josh’s help with the fancy appliances made her smile every time she used them.
When the buzzer on the timer went off, she grabbed a couple of pot holders and pulled the cornbread out of the oven.
“Well, well, well. If you aren’t a regular little suzy homemaker.”
Channie spun around and dropped the pan to the floor. Hot shards of glass and clumps of cornbread skittered across the tile floor.
Momma! Channie barely recognized her. Every inch of visible skin was burned. She was completely bald. Her face and scalp were bright red and blistered. Even her eyebrows and eyelashes were gone. Her hands and arms were spotted with charred black patches.
She must have forced her way past the protection spells. Something she wouldn’t have been able to do if Josh had recharged them on schedule. But Channie didn’t blame him. She was the one that had seduced him last night. They’d both thought the threat was over.
“Summer solstice was five days ago. Why are you here?”
“The Book of the Dead said, ‘The blood of the daughter cannot repay the debt of the mother ’til solstice day.’ It didn’t say it wouldn’t work after solstice, just not before.”
Channie backed up, one step, two. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”
“Shut up!” Momma cast a paralyzing spell on Channie that froze her body. She remained fully alert—and consumed with terror—as she tipped sideways. Her brain fired instructions to her non-functioning muscles in an effort to regain her balance, but they didn’t respond. She picked up speed as the room tilted. Pain blossomed in her right hip, followed by her elbow and shoulder when they slammed into the floor.
Channie teetered for a moment, balanced on her hip bone and upper arm, then fell onto her back. Her skull smacked the tile with a sickening crack. Her vision tunneled as her entire head exploded in agony.
If the side of her body hadn’t broken her fall, it would have killed her…or at least knocked her out. Channie wished it had. The pain was so intense, she was afraid she’d throw up. Never a good sign, but especially dangerous while she was flat on her back and paralyzed.
Why hadn’t Momma knocked her out with a be-calm spell instead of this turn-to-stone paralysis magic? Was it a display of her dark magic, a show of power, or did she hate her so much that she wanted her to suffer? Was she enjoying this?
Momma cleared a patch of the floor with her foot then knelt beside Channie. She plucked a shard of broken glass out of Channie’s arm then healed the cut.
Channie still had a hard time believing that Momma would really cut her heart out, but this simple act of kindness puzzled her.
Momma smiled and brushed the hair off Channie’s forehead. “I can’t offer a damaged sacrifice to the Book of the Dead. You stay put while I go get it.”
Tears leaked out of the corners of Channie’s eyes. They knew that the Book of the Dead worked like a homing beacon for Momma. That’s one of the reasons Josh kept it with him at all times. Momma needed to get the book first, before she could sacrifice Channie. It was a last line of defense sort of thing, but he’d left it in his backpack under the bed.
A scream of rage erupted from the master bedroom. Momma stomped back into the kitchen, smoke curling off her clawed hands. “That evil boy has my book in a cursed box. I can’t touch it.”
She released Channie from the paralytic spell. “Go get it.”
“Josh is the only one that can touch that box or the Book of the Dead. You know that.”
“If you don’t get off your lazy ass and go get my book, your death pledge will kill you.” Momma kicked Channie in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her.
When she was finally able to suck in a shallow gasp of air, Channie wanted to cry out in pain, but she used her last breath to defy Momma instead. “Better it than you.”
Channie’s heart clenched in agony—then stopped.
Momma screamed as she pounded on Channie’s chest. She grabbed her left wrist with a charred hand and placed the other over her heart. “I release you from your death pledge.”
A weak beam of red light flickered out of Channie’s chest. It was nothing like the original spell that had bound her. Channie hadn’t put her hand on Momma’s heart or clasped her wrist, but apparently, that wasn’t necessary.
Channie whimpered in defeat when her heart thundered back to life.
Momma disappeared into the kitchen then returned with a wooden spoon. At first Channie thought that Momma was going to beat her with it, but she disappeared into the master bedroom without so much as a backward glance.
The gritty sound of something being dragged across the floor revealed Momma’s plan. She was using the spoon to get to the Book of the Dead.
Channie crawled to the kitchen table and used it to pull herself to her feet. She fought through the rolling waves of nausea, the blinding pain, double vision and dizziness. She knew her search for a weapon was futile—Vince had cleaned the place of everything sharp, including forks and butter knives—but she had to try.
A glint of light caught Channie’s eye. The shattered pan.
She yanked her shirt off over her head then wrapped it around the biggest shard of broken glass she could find. She shuffled across the kitchen as quietly and quickly as her damaged body would allow then pressed herself against the wall, next to the master bedroom door.
When Momma backed out, dragging Josh’s
backpack with the wooden spoon, Channie didn’t hesitate. She wasn’t just fighting for her life. She was fighting for Josh’s. She used both hands to drive the piece of glass into Momma’s back.
Momma screamed as blood bloomed around the shard. She whirled around and struck the side of Channie’s head with her fist.
This time, Channie’s vision didn’t tunnel. She didn’t feel any pain as her body crumpled. She was unconscious before she hit the floor.
When she came to, Momma was prodding the Book of the Dead with the wooden spoon. The shard of glass was still poking out of her back. Blood ran down her side and dripped onto the floor, but she didn’t seem to notice it. She muttered and swore about the blasphemy of Valor Veyjivik’s name on the cover of her precious book.
Channie tried to sit up, but Momma had paralyzed her again.
Momma turned towards Channie. First her shoulders, then her head, obviously reluctant to take her eyes off the book. Her mouth split in an evil smile. “So, you decided to wake up in time for the sacrifice.”
Momma crossed the room to retrieve her handbag and pulled a hunting knife with a nine-inch blade out of it. She tilted her head from side to side as she turned the knife in her hand.
Channie couldn’t even close her eyes. Just get it over with! Then get the hell out of here before Josh comes home.
Momma leaned over Channie and kissed her forehead—then ran the thin edge of the blade from the base of her throat to her naval.
The bullet-riddled, black Lexus parked in the yard stopped Josh’s heart.
The cabin’s front door was ajar. Josh bolted out of his car and cleared all six porch steps with a single bound. His chest exploded in a flash of light and pain. But the pain wasn’t coming from him. It was coming from Channie.
With no plan and no thought for his own safety, Josh crashed through the front door.
A hairless, red and black monster darted out of the kitchen and screamed at him. The primitive part of his brain whispered ‘demon’ before he recognized Prudence—or what was left of her.
She cast a bolt of raw energy at him, but his shield popped into place before it hit him. His only thought was to get to Channie, so instead of retaliating with a killing curse, he shoved Prudence out of his way, knocking her back into the kitchen. She slammed into the refrigerator. Her eyes widened in shock as she slid down the stainless steel door, leaving behind a thick smear of blood.
Josh ran to Channie. A piece of broken glass sliced his palm as he knelt beside her, but he barely noticed. It was nothing compared to the pain that tore through him at the sight of her ravaged body. She looked like the victim of a chainsaw murder. He could see her beating heart inside her chest cavity. It’s beating. She’s alive.
He placed his hands on either side of the gaping wound and pressed it together, willing her to be healed.
He fought the urge to sob and focused on how much he loved her. How much he wanted her to be whole and strong and alive.
Magic poured out of Josh as blood poured out of Channie. Why wasn’t it working? Something was interfering, but what?
A prickle of evil energy stung his palms. Prudence must have cast a spell on Channie. Something told Josh he needed to get rid of it before he could heal her.
Mages weren’t supposed to be able to undo anyone’s magic but their own. “I’m not an ordinary mage. I can do this.”
Josh’s sapphire glowed so bright and hot, it burned his skin. He didn’t care. “Come on! Break the spell.”
Words have power. Especially words that rhyme.
“Then give me some!” If the Book of the Dead could give him advice, why couldn’t it just give him the damn spell to heal Channie? Josh blurted out the first thing that came into his mind.
“Magic ugly and dark; leave Channie without a mark.”
Prudence’s spell dissolved in a shower of sparks.
Channie’s eyes flew open then rolled into the back of her head. Her face contorted into a mask of agony as her previously immobile body convulsed.
Josh closed his eyes and replaced the horrifying image of Channie’s broken and bleeding body with the memory of how she’d looked that morning, lying naked and perfect beneath him. Her creamy skin glistening and flushed with a pink glow. He thought of how steady and strong her heartbeat had sounded against his ear as she held his head against her breast.
A swell of love and magic, white-hot and pure, rushed out of his chest and into Channie. Her convulsions slowed then stopped.
Josh’s body trembled with exhaustion. He used up all the magic behind his navel then dug into the space behind his heart and exhausted that as well. He sensed Channie’s body striving to heal itself, but it was too badly damaged. She was too close to death.
Josh refused to give up. He found a thimble-sized kernel of magic in the center of his own heart and reached for it.
This is the magic that sustains your life. If you use it, you will die.
Josh would gladly give his life to save hers.
An external wave of healing power washed over and into Josh before he had the chance to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Prudence? The energy was definitely coming from her. And it was definitely good energy. Healing, life-giving energy.
Josh didn’t question her motives. He just took her magic and poured it into Channie. He whispered, “Nobody loves you like I do. Heal this body, good as new.”
Josh closed his eyes again and saw within his mind what was happening inside Channie.
Severed arteries, veins and nerves reached for each other and reconnected. Muscle, bone, and flesh knit together. The edges of her wound closed like a zipper. The frantic thrumming of her heart settled into a weak, but steady lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.
Josh opened his eyes and gazed at her chalk-white, blood-spattered and beautiful face. She placed a trembling hand over his and smiled then passed out.
Exhaustion overwhelmed Josh. He wanted nothing more than to lie down beside Channie and close his eyes. He’d saved her. No, they’d saved her. He couldn’t have done it without Prudence. At least not without killing himself in the process.
Prudence moaned and uttered something unintelligible.
Too weak to stand, Josh crawled towards her on his hands and knees. He didn’t trust her, or her motives for helping him heal Channie, so he stopped just out of reach.
Not surprisingly, she was a bloody mess. But not all of it was Channie’s blood. A widening circle of crimson stained the floor under her back.
Josh rolled her onto her side and found the wound, but not the source of the injury. “What happened?’
“Channie stabbed me with a piece of broken glass.”
Good for her. Josh kept the thought to himself. “It’s bleeding pretty bad.”
“It would have been okay, but when I fell, I jammed the shard deeper. I think it hit one of my kidneys.”
“You need a doctor.” Josh pulled his phone out of his pocket, but before he could dial 911, Prudence grabbed his wrist.
“They’ll never get here in time. I’m dying.”
“Maybe I can heal you.”
“You don’t have enough energy and by the time you power up again, I’ll be dead.”
“I’m sorry.” Josh spoke the words automatically, but when he realized it was true, it shocked him.
Prudence motioned for Josh to come closer. He raised his shield then pried the knife out of her hand, just in case it was a trick.
Pink foam gathered in the corners of her mouth. “Complete the sacrifice.”
Josh’s hands shook as he pressed the knife to Prudence’s throat. “You sick, twisted bitch.”
“Not Channie. Me.”
Josh lifted the knife away from her neck and sat back on his heels. “No.”
“You must.” Prudence’s voice was weak.
Josh enhanced his hearing and leaned closer.
“I brought this curse upon myself and my posterity. If you don’t cut out my heart before it stops beating and p
lace the Book of the Dead in my chest; all of my line, including Abby’s boys, will lose the ability to use magic.”
“There’re worse things than living without magic.”
“Not for a mage.” Prudence coughed, spraying Josh’s face and chest with blood. “Hurry. There’s not much time. If you won’t do it for my children, do it for yours.”
Josh wouldn’t mind one bit if his kids didn’t have super-powers, but what would Channie want? Even if there was no chance of healing Prudence, and he knew in his heart that there wasn’t, would Channie want him to perform this gruesome sacrifice? Even if he only shortened her life by a few minutes, would it still be murder?
Prudence inched her hand across the floor then wrapped her fingers around his. “Please. Let my death atone for my sins.”
The most recent instructions from the Book of the Dead rushed into Josh’s mind:
Forgive and set free the one burdened with guilt.
There’s mercy in death, when righteously dealt.
He bowed his head and sighed. “How do I do it?”
A single tear leaked out of the corner of Prudence’s right eye. “Go get the book.”
Josh found his backpack next to Channie. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. She smiled and sighed. He briefly considered waking her up and asking her whether or not he should perform the sacrifice, but decided against putting that burden on her.
He opened the lid of the little cedar box and groaned when the book filled the room with light.
Prudence’s eyes flew open. “Show me.”
She spoke with reverence instead of madness so Josh picked up the book and held it front of her face.
She lifted a trembling hand and traced the “V” of his power-name. “It doesn’t burn me when I touch it. You really are Valor, aren’t you?”
Josh sighed and said, “Yes.”
Prudence laughed, but it was cut off by a spasm of coughing that should have killed her. “Open it. Please.”
Josh moved from his knees to his butt, crossed his ankles and opened the book. Sparks danced across the blank page and inscribed another cryptic message. He read it out loud.
Believe: The Complete Channie Series Page 94