“Aren’t you a pretty one, what’s your name?” a woman asked me, glazed focus eyeing my curves.
“HEY! Let go of him,” Pilar yelled ahead of me. Her voice was too far away. Fuck. I was going to lose them.
“Get away,” I said, and barreled by the woman, and the two others next to her. Their matching sports bras and yoga pants suggested at fitness instructors. So did their exposed abs.
I wouldn’t be able to outrun them if it came down to it. I zinged a thread of energy at the three of them to keep them from following and tried to find Brody and Pilar.
They were nowhere. I’d cleared the mass of nons and made it to the spoke that led to my condo, but I didn’t see the pair anywhere.
Shit.
I didn’t look at my knee. I didn’t have to, I could feel the wound reopening. I ran, full out toward my place, hoping I could get there before my knee refused to hold me. When I made it to the top of my block, I found myself wishing Lucy were waiting for me in front of the building.
No such luck. I dragged myself up the cement steps, pulling my leg up each one, and crawled to the elevator.
I hoped once more to see Lucy as the elevator doors opened, but the floor was empty, and I again crawled-pulled myself to my door.
11
My knee had exploded into napalm again. I tried to call out. Hell, I tried screaming for Brody, he had to be close, but the pain stole all my breath. I shook on the ground where I’d collapsed, mouth open and trying to gasp, but my throat and lungs were unable to comply. I watched as my knee tore itself open again, exposing fascia and bone.
The tiniest part of my brain was fascinated by the lack of blood. I didn't see a single drop as the wound fully re-manifested.
Finally, my throat opened and cool air rushed into my abused lungs. It dragged passed my vocal cords, giving sound to my effort, and I sucked it down until my lungs hurt. I exhaled and sucked down some more.
If I could breathe, I could scream. "BRODY!" I yelled until my voice broke. Nothing. I heard no shouted reply, no running footsteps, nothing. I craned my neck, trying to see out the window behind me.
Shit! I couldn’t see them anywhere.
Where were they?!
I searched the room for something, anything that could help. I didn't know what I was looking for until I spotted my bag, propped against the ottoman. I braced myself against the burning protest in my knee and fumbled for my phone in the bag. I didn't have Brody's number, but Amari had given him my address, so maybe he did.
"The Laughing C—"
"Amari, now." I cut Jade off, voice jagged and thick.
A moment later, Amari was on the line. "Z, what's wrong?" He snapped his fingers and all the background noises at the bar fell silent.
"Pain-need-Brody," was all I could manage to eek out.
"I—I don't know where he is."
"Number?"
"I'm sorry; I gave him yours but Brody didn't give me his. Tell me what I can do."
"Make-it-stop."
"Uh—OK, gimme a minute."
"Amari," I whimpered.
"Shhhh, go inside, Zora." Amari's voice seemed deeper and somehow more. "Go inside yourself away from whatever is hurting you."
Going to my damn happy place was not going to cut it. "I can't! Please do something." And then he was here. Not physically; Amari was still in his bar, but his energy, his presence was all around me.
Amari flowed bits of energy across my skin, raising gooseflesh in its wake. "Focus on this," he said, his voice coming from the phone and the air around me. I tried, but the fire in my knee didn't care about a few tingles across my arms.
"More," I groaned into the phone. Amari gave me more. The soft tingles turned to stomach-flipping chills. Amari poured his sexual energy into me, tightening things, bringing heat to my face and neck.
Amari's heat couldn't compete with the fire of my knee and it didn't try. It didn't try to be as intense or as demanding, but the steady waves of pleasure were a much easier focal point.
I closed my eyes and sank into Amari's presence. I felt cocooned by him. His smothering, all-encompassing energy blocked out everything. It was uncomfortable and tight like there wasn't enough room or air for me, but it was better than napalm knee.
"Better?" he whispered, his voice still in the phone and air. I nodded; it was all I could manage, but I knew he could sense me as much as I could sense him. "Good," Amari said. Slowly, his energy retreated, skimming across my skin as it did. He didn't reclaim it all; Amari left a bit of himself behind. "To keep me distracted,” he said.
"Want to tell my why you're in so much pain?
I told him the bones of the bonding-makes-me-less-able-to-heal story. Amari thought a moment. "I had no idea that was a side effect," he said.
"Probably because you and I were inseparable after our own bonding," I offered.
"True, but you'd think it would be common knowledge."
"You would, but I'm finding out this is a process meant for both the initiate and initiator. We're both supposed to grow and learn. Brody's teaching me things, I'm teaching him, and it looks like you get the benefit of my growth as well." Again I felt Amari nod in agreement. His lingering piece of energy connected us, giving me the smallest of insights into his thought process. “Speaking of, I’m very curious to know what you learned when I initiated.”
“That’s a tale for another time, Z,” Amari said softly. "Are you feeling better?" he asked.
My knee still looked terrible, but Amari’s distraction helped dial it back to an annoying burn. "Good enough to work," I said, only slightly disappointed that I didn’t get to know what new abilities Amari had acquired during our bonding process. I carefully reached for the laptop I'd abandoned, one eye on my mangled knee the whole time.
Amari caught me up on his meeting with the microbrewery while I searched for my manuscript files.
"And did you know that microbrew actually means a very limited-release beer. Most people say microbrew when they really mean craft beer, even me."
"Um, Amari," I interrupted. "I can't find my book."
"Which one? Maybe it's here."
"Not a physical book - I can't find my new manuscript file. I know I saved it."
"OK. Could it be someplace you haven't looked?" he offered.
"Why would it? I always save in the same place under the working title."
"Why don't you look to be sure?"
"Because I don't need to, and don't be condescending. I've already looked. I've already performed a search on the whole machine. It's not here."
"Shit," he said, finally getting up to speed. "Did you save a copy on a flash drive?"
"Do you think if I had, I'd be this upset?" I growled, knee twinging a warning. Did he think I was stupid? Before I could follow up with something more snarky, Amari's energy descended on me. It wasn't the same sexual energy - this was the calming, centering energy he'd used the day before. "NO!" I yelled into the phone. I hadn't realized how much it bugged me the first time until he tried it a second time. "You don't get to tell me how I should feel. I didn't ask you to calm me down because I don't want to calm down! My manuscript is missing! There's no reason to be calm."
"I was just..."
"I don't care! That's the second time you've pushed energy on me without asking because you thought I needed it. Who are you to tell me how I should feel?"
"Z, that's not what I was trying to do."
"I know. You think you're doing what's best for me. But I get to decide that, not you."
"And how does your knee feel?" he asked coldly.
"It fucking hurts!"
"That's all I was trying to avoid, Z," he said quietly and ended our call.
Shit.
I probably could have handled that better. I'd hurt him and I'd done it intentionally. Now my knee was angry again and I didn't even have my work to distract me. At least Amari had left the tiny piece of energy. It wasn't much to focus on, but it was something.
What seemed like hours later, the scrap of energy wasn't nearly enough to block out the feeling of burning flesh and melting bone. The wound was getting worse without Brody near.
WHERE THE FUCK WAS HE?
I was so stupid sometimes. Lose the only person who can help you, and alienate the one who tried, because that's a good idea, right? And how long does it fucking take to lose a bunch of nons?!
I'd tried calling Amari back, but it was the middle of his happy hour special. He was probably knee-deep in drink orders and couldn't help me even if he wanted to.
I screamed into a throw pillow. It didn't do anything for my knee. The physical act of screaming made it worse, but it did help calm my emotions.
Sort of.
12
"Zora? Zora, are you OK? Why are you on the floor?" said a disembodied voice from I-don't-know-where.
Then the shaking started. One shoulder, both shoulders, then my whole body was shaking. "Zora wake UP!" I heard rather than felt the slap on my cheek, but the sound got me to open my eyes.
"Hey, Lucy. Wassamatter?" I slurred.
"I told you I'd be back to check on you," she said with a tone I didn't understand.
"That's right, you did. Why do you sound so funny?"
"Because you're on the floor unconscious with your knee completely flayed open."
The mention of the angry joint cleared my foggy thoughts. My brain had knocked me out because it couldn't process the agony, and before I could ward my condo against Lucy.
Shit. I didn’t want her here, but like before, I needed her help.
I was given that single moment of clear thinking, then all my pain receptors jolted back on.
There was no buildup. The pain turned itself on at exactly the same intensity as before. Back arched and stomach tight, I grabbed fistfuls of carpet and tried to keep myself from screaming.
"I've never seen anything like this," she said, hovering over me, fascinated by the strange gore. "I can see your kneecap, but there's not a trace of blood. This is just not possible," Lucy said and looked at me as if I could explain it. "Zora, I've got to get you to a hospital."
I thrashed my head back and forth.
"No? Zora, you're in so much pain you can't speak. Morphine will help, and once your pain is adequately managed, they can figure out what the hell is causing it." Lucy gathered my things as she explained.
I peeled my top half off the floor one vertebrae at a time and stared Lucy down. I put every ounce of determination I had into my gaze. "No," I breathed and pushed a few strands of coercive energy at her.
Lucy's jaw dropped but she recovered quickly. I couldn't afford to push much; most of my energy was focused on not losing my mind. "What do you mean no? You're not making sense, Zora."
"It's not real," I said and jerked my knee with the effort.
The wail that left my lips made the color leave Lucy's face.
"Are you done trying to prove you don't need medical attention? The neighbors will probably call the cops after that scream."
"It's not real," I repeated and wiped my sweaty lip with a sweaty forearm.
"What do you mean it's not real? I'm staring at the gory real-ness of it!"
I shrugged or tried to. "They can't help me," I said simply. Lucy opened her mouth, rebuttal cocked and ready. I stopped it with a look. I couldn't push any more energy to her, but I gathered all I could and put power in my eyes. I'd never done that before. I didn't know what it looked like, but Lucy's mouth snapped shut and she marched into my kitchen.
"Fine," she said when she returned. "I don't care if you don't want to go to the hospital, but I can't see you in so much pain. Here." Lucy shoved my bottle of Scandinavian vodka at me. "Drink until it doesn't hurt anymore."
That was probably the best idea she'd ever had.
I usually mixed my vodka with something but the occasion called for chugging directly from the bottle.
When I brought the bottle away from my mouth, Lucy asked with her expression if it was better. The intensity only dropped fractionally, but even a small decrease was better than the slow climb to insanity.
I took a few more sips and waited for my buzz. I didn't have to wait long; I hadn't eaten anything all day. The alcohol felt heavy in my stomach, but every other part of me floated. My knee still hurt, a lot - I just didn't give a shit.
Lucy sat on the ottoman in front of me. "You can tell me what's going on." All traces of the babbling enthralled Lucy were gone. I was eye-to-drunken-eye with the real Lucy.
"I really can't,” I sighed and drank some more.
"We'd better get some food in you before you turn into a sloppy drunk."
"I don't have anything. I don't like to shop. Or cook. Or clean, either," I said and gave Lucy a goofy grin. She pursed her lips in return. "Don't worry," I said with a dismissive wave. "Brody and what's-her-name will be back soon. What is her name?" I thought for a moment. "Pilar! Brody and Pilar will be back. We can send Pilar out for food."
"Who are Brody and Pilar?"
"Friends?" I hiccupped.
13
And as if I'd summoned them, Brody's voice called through the door. "Zora, it's Brody. Your key isn't out here."
"Oh," Lucy said and patted her pants. "I must have pocketed it. Force of habit," she said and threw me a guilty smile as she opened the front door.
Before I could think too long about how she’d even gotten my key from my pants pocket, savory takeout smells reached me. "Food!" I said, stretching both arms toward Brody. He grinned at me and put the Styrofoam takeout container and a plastic fork in my hands. He didn't seem to notice Lucy. I sighed the moment he stepped in my space; my knee was finally silenced.
"Oh Gods, Zora, I'm so sorry!" he said when he caught sight of my now mending knee. "I didn't think - I thought it would have healed by now. I’m so sorry we took so long!" he said, and helped me off the floor to the couch.
He sat so close to me our thighs touched.
"It's OK," I mumbled between bites of some kind of Asian noodle dish. "I mean, it wasn't OK when it was happening, but Lucy got me drunk enough to take the edge off, and now you're here so it doesn't matter." I shoveled another fork load of noodles in my mouth. "Just don't forget again, and put your number in my phone," I said into my meal.
It was Pilar's turn to apologize. "I'm sorry, too. I don't know why I ever suggested getting food," she said, taking Lucy's previous spot on the ottoman. "Are you OK?"
Lucy, still standing by the front door, watched all of us with a strange carefulness. "I am now," I said around a mouthful of noodles and patted Pilar’s hand. Lucy cleared her throat.
I sighed. "Brody, Pilar, this is my neighbor Lucy Steig. Lucy, this is Brody Alexander and Pilar Romero." I gave Lucy a "Happy now?" face and continued to eat.
"Zora, I don't care who these people are. Why the hell is your knee suddenly healed?"
My buzz was wearing off.
"I told you. It wasn't real."
"I see that, but it doesn't make any sense. Explain this to me."
"I already told you I can't do that."
"I think you'd better."
"You can't threaten me, Lucy. You have no leverage." The idea was laughable.
Lucy stepped toward me. "Until this happens," she said, gesturing to her still flat belly hiding under bright owl scrubs, "I'm a medical professional before anything else. It trumps every other thought process I have, so you need to explain this to me before it drives me crazy."
"I feel for you Lucy, I really do. But I just can't."
Lucy looked from me to Brody to my knee and back again. She was smart. I knew she could figure it out if she had all the pieces. Unfortunately for her, she was missing the biggest one.
I stuffed the last of the noodles in my face and shrugged at her. Brody and Pilar stared at their laps.
I crossed the living room, Brody in tow, and stepped into Lucy's space. It was the closest I'd ever been to her and the disbelief on her face said she knew it. Brody filling i
n my temporarily gapped energy helped keep her from rubbing me raw. It still wasn't comfortable, but it was manageable.
"Lucy, you've helped me so much, and I'm very grateful. I don't know how I would have managed if you hadn't been here. But as you can see—" I showed her my knee and let the sentence trail.
Lucy nodded but didn't budge.
She wasn't getting what I wasn't saying. I'd have to try a different approach. "Honestly Lucy, we don't know exactly what's going on with this. We need some time to work it out. By ourselves." I hit that last word extra hard and nodded toward the front door.
She pursed her lips at me, as she was so fond of doing. Finally, after looking at all three of us at least a dozen times, Lucy inched toward the door. "Alright, I'll go. But I want to know the moment you've figured it out. Really, Zora, do you have any idea the effect this could have on wound care? If what happened with your knee could be duplicated in a lab - goodness, the possibilities are endless." She was nurse-babbling again. I nudged her to the door before she got herself worked up.
"Yes, imagine the possibilities - just don't tell anyone until we've figured it out."
"Of course!" she said, surprised I'd think she would. "Make sure you keep me in the loop, I'm only two floors away," Lucy said as she walked to the elevator.
"I will," I lied and closed the door.q
14
I needed to ward my condo. Lucy was becoming insistent, and I wasn't taking any chances. Not this time.
I caught myself before touching the white scar on my ribs.
Pilar said, "I can't quite place where, but I know her."
"Do you think she did it?" asked Brody as I waved a wobbly-edged ward at the outer walls of my condo. "Lucy, that is. She could have put some kind of coercion on us to make us leave Zora alone for so long so she could get her alone."
Pilar dismissed the idea. "It's possible but unlikely. She's clearly enthralled by Zora, but she's still just doe-eyed for her, which means she has two more stages before she starts plotting and controlling. Besides, why would she? She lives in the same building. Lucy could stalk Zora without even trying. If she wanted to, that is," Pilar amended after catching my tense expression.
Enthralled Magic (The Circle Series Book 1) Page 5