by V. M. Marsh
“Lars wants to spring a surprise assault on Bradley to take him down.”
Mom’s jaw fell, but Dad rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “What’s the plan?” Dad asked.
“That’s what we’re here for-to come up with one. Charlie has access to a magic neutralizer gun, but we have nothing beyond that.”
“Who is going?” Mom gave me the look. Uh, oh. She suspected I was going too, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“So far me and Lars. Maybe Charlie and you guys if you want to come.” Lars elbowed me.
“Lars doesn’t want you to come because-“I cut myself off before I offended my parents.
“Because it might be too much for you.” Lars stuck his foot in his mouth.
“Just for that, we’re in.” Mom’s chin rose haughtily.
“Now, Paisley-“ Dad began before Mom cut him off.
“No, Stone. Regardless of how rude and barbaric this one might be, our daughter will be there with him. That means we’re going too.”
“Good point. Now let’s plan. Have either of you talked to Charlie about this yet?”
We shook our heads. “Alright. Lars and I will take today off resort work to instead have a strategy session with you ladies. Let’s call him in.”
I was impressed. Dad had always seemed like the steady, comforting, take care of everyone rock, but this was the first time I saw him as a leader. The General of our family. Mom was usually in charge, but I realized now that Dad usually had the final say if he wanted it.
Charlie came in his workout clothes, sweaty but wearing a shirt. He must have put it back on on his way here. More’s the pity.
“Here I am as called. What’s up?”
“We want to go after Bradley. However, while waiting for you, we’ve come to realize we don’t have any leads on his whereabouts, and we need you to get the gun. Can you help us out?” I asked knowing perfectly well he could.
He frowned. “Let me make some calls. How soon are you wanting to make this happen?”
“As soon as we can. He’s a thorn in our sides we need taken out.” Lars answered.
Charlie moved away from us to make his calls, and Lars turned to me. “How much do we trust this guy?”
“With my life. I can’t tell you more than that.”
“More secrets. You are quite the enigma.” I scowled, especially since Lars sounded excited and intrigued. However, it was refreshing to have someone happy instead of upset about it.
“It’s not mine to tell. You’ll have to ask him about it.”
We watched Charlie talk on the phone and then hang up and stare at the orchard before returning to us. “I can get you the gun, but it looks like you’ll have additional helping hands if you want it.”
I cringed as Lars glared. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Charlie sighed and then looked Lars dead in the face. “It means I’m with the Magical Enforcement Agency. I’m blowing my cover a bit here to help you out, so do me a favor, and don’t screw with me.”
Lars’s mouth dropped. “What the hell! You’re M.E.A?”
Noticing our unaffected expressions while he sat there in shock, Lars accused, “And you all knew this. Everyone did except me, right?”
“Actually, it’s just us three that knows. The M.E.A. is undercover at our resort, so of course, we needed to know.”
Lars leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Does he know about the Circle?”
My lips tightened as I fiercely shook my head and whispered back, “No. No one except the members and now you knows about it. You need to keep it that way for all our sakes.”
Lars nodded. “So, the M.E.A. wants to participate in our raid if we want to borrow their gun.”
“Actually, they want to take it over, and only M.E.A. officers would wield the guns. You could come along as backup.” Charlie replied.
“Do they know about my vision?” I asked.
“They do, but they still want this to be a M.E.A. operation. The only reason they are allowing you to come at all is due to that vision.”
“I take it they already have something planned. When is it?” Dad deduced.
“Three days. They found him yesterday prowling around Lark Street and followed him to a closed down restaurant, which is where we suspect he’s hiding out.”
I was fairly certain Charlie was giving us Intel while making it seem like he wasn’t, so he could maintain his innocence when we went in first. I whistled. “That’s a bad area with a lot of closed down shops and restaurants. Which one is he hiding in, again?”
“The Veg Bowl. It used to be vegetarian fast food, but they were run out of the area pretty quickly. They reopened a more upscale version by the mall called, The White Truffle.”
“We’ll have to try it out sometime. Thanks for the recommendation. I suppose our planning session is over, then. Thanks for coming by and please let us know where and when to show up for the raid.” I said.
He waved to us on his way out.
“Well, looks like it’ll be just the four of us with no gun.” I remarked.
We were just climbing into the black Ford Explorer Dad had rented when a silver jaguar drove up. I moaned, “Who invited Jace? I thought we were all agreed that Jace and I shouldn’t be together.”
Mom patted my arm before strolling to the car. “We are, dear. He’s coming to help with healing. I want this to go as safely as possible.”
Well, that made sense and was actually quite insightful. It would be incredibly helpful to have two healers on hand if this went bad or Mom was the one that got hurt. I cringed. I’m glad we were as prepared for the worst as we could be, but I would be focusing on the best outcome: Bradley out of commission, whether that was from incarceration or death.
“Come on, then. Let’s get going.” I yelled before sliding into the center of the backseat. Mom took the front with Dad while the two men squeezed in the back with me.
We were all pretty quiet and somber on the drive through both the magical and non-magical sides of Wildwood. We were almost to The Veg Bowl when I realized I should make sure Jace knew what we were doing. “Did Mom go over the plan with you?”
“Yes. I’ll be on standby with your mom since I’m not much of a fighter.”
I nodded. It made sense to have the healers as much out of harm’s way as possible. Plus, they would be useful lookouts and could watch each other’s backs. I felt better not leaving Mom alone out here. Even without the Power Thief, this was a scary neighborhood and the thugs here had magic.
Sure our tinted windows would help shield us, we drove by the restaurant before parking the Explorer a few blocks away. “I didn’t see anything useful during the drive-by, did anyone else?” I asked.
“I noticed some light at the back of the building, so I’m fairly certain it’s occupied.” Lars said.
“That’s better than nothing, I suppose.” I remarked as we all climbed out.
We were only a block away when Lars stopped us. “This will be a good place to leave you two behind.”
Mom hugged me and Lars before giving Dad a long kiss. “Please be careful and protect our daughter.” She told him.
“I love you all. Now get a move on, so we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.” Mom commanded.
Sauntering down the street, we did our best to blend in even though our all black clothes were probably suspicious as hell. Only Lars looked natural and in his element. I frowned at that thought. He was better than this place.
He led us down an alley a couple of buildings from the restaurant so we could approach from the back. I had to keep reminding myself not to hold my breath as we sneaked along the back of them. When we reached the edge of the building next door to The Veg Bowl, Lars held up his hand to stop us.
My stomach gurgled from nerves so loudly I was sure everyone could hear that I was close to vomiting. My heart thundered against my chest turning my veins into rapid streams.
“Stay close and only whisper if absolutely necessary. We’ll only
succeed if we can surprise him.” Lars whispered.
I gave him thumbs up and Dad copied me. Then we were on our way to break into an abandoned restaurant and defeat the bad guy. That was my mantra, anyway, to keep from turning tail and fleeing in fear.
Lars gently jiggled the handle to find it locked. Removing a lock pick set from his back pocket, he made short work of it. The click of the lock disengaging sounded to me like a loud clap of thunder echoing in the quiet night. I held my breath waiting for someone to attack, but no one did.
After listening at the door for a moment, Lars slowly pulled it ajar enough for us to squeeze through. Dad closed it behind us, and we plastered ourselves to the wall.
Staying close to the wall without touching so as not to make noise, we sneaked through the old kitchen and into the dining room. No was around, but we could hear the faint sounds of a radio or TV.
Near the kitchen, Lars cracked open the cellar door. Light and sounds spilled into the hall. There was someone down there.
Turning, Lars pulled me to him and pressed his lips against mine in a passionate last kiss. “I love you.” He whispered in my ear before sneaking down the stairs.
Dad squeezed my shoulder and whispered, “Me too.” Then he disappeared behind the door and down into the cellar.
I hated standing beside the door as a lookout while I had no idea what was happening downstairs. My heart hammered, and I struggled not to run down when I heard shouting and thumps.
The door was thrown wide, and all I saw was an orange shirt. He wasn’t one of us. I kicked out, my foot connecting with his chest to send him flying into the wall next to the door.
He grabbed at my foot, but I had already pulled it away. Jumping, I aimed a kick at his family jewels as my other foot landed on the floor.
Batting it away, he threw me off balance so I fell. He reached down for me, but I swept my foot out and knocked him off his feet. As he careened towards the floor, I jumped to my feet and stomped at his leg. He didn’t have time to block that one, and I both cringed and felt elated at the crunching sound that surely meant a broken leg.
He cried out while I reached into my pocket for zip ties. “You bitch!” He screamed just before pebbles rained down on me from above. I kicked him in the head to knock him out before he used magic to bury me or something. I was securing his hands behind his back with the zip ties when Dad and Lars came barreling up the stairs.
“He’s not here. Let’s go.” Lars yelled, snagging my hand to pull me up as he ran by.
We raced out the back door and retraced our steps behind the buildings. When we reached the street, I could see well enough in the dim moonlight and few unbroken street lamps that both Dad and Lars were covered in blood.
Noticing the panic on my face, Dad reassured me, “It’s not ours. There was a tweaker down there with relatively weak powers who decided to blow his own brains out rather than talk to us.”
We reached the spot where we’d left Mom and Jace, but it was empty.
“Maybe they ran into some trouble and are waiting for us at the SUV.” Lars suggested.
Concern filled my chest, and I was on the verge of hyperventilating by the time we reached the Explorer. It turned out my panic was justified.
Jace had the back open and his hands on my mother, who was lying in the cargo area. Bleeding out from her chest.
Dad ran to Jace’s side. “What the hell happened?”
“We were ambushed by three men. I offered them money as we fought them off, but they laughed. I think they were high on Pixie Dust. They said something about taking Paisley with them for fun, and they tried to drag her off. We hit and kicked at them until Paisley got free. Then we ran.”
He pushed to increase pressure, and I assumed, his magic. “One pulled out a gun. I’m fairly certain he was aiming for me, but he missed and hit Paisley. They laughed and left us saying she was no good to them dead. Then I carried her here to access my medical bag.”
“What can I do?” Dad asked helplessly.
“The bullet went straight through, and I am applying pressure and magic. The only other thing we can do is try to get her to a hospital.” He climbed in the back with mom. There wasn’t enough room, so Dad and I got in the backseat facing the cargo area while Lars prepared to drive
The engine roared to life and we careened down the street. My stomach clenched with fear, and I was close to vomiting.
“What else can we do? There has to be something.” I cried.
“You can help with pressure, but I’ve done all I can.” He paused and stared at Mom with tears in his eyes. “I hate to say this, but I think we might lose her. I don’t think my magic is strong enough. Hers has always been more powerful.”
“No! You have to save her!” I shrieked.
“I’m afraid she’s lost too much blood, and I don’t have a way to replace it. I think they nicked an artery, and she’s bleeding from both her front and back. There is nothing more I can do here. Her only chance is getting to a hospital in time.”
I watched in horror as street lights flickered across my mother’s face to light up the blood splatters across it. Noticing blood seep from between Jace’s fingers, I pulled off my shirt and wadded it into a ball. I pushed it onto Jace’s hands and he quickly moved his hands over it. Together, we pushed my shirt and the gauze beneath it against my mom’s gaping wound.
I could feel her breathing grow shallow, and her face paled.
“Hang on, Mom. We’re almost there.” I cried.
Turning my head, I screamed, “Drive faster! We’re losing her.”
Kneeling beside me, Dad grabbed Mom’s hand and held onto it for dear life.
“You can make it, Paisley.” He encouraged before begging, “Don’t leave us. Don’t leave me.”
Tears filled my eyes as I struggled to breathe. My heart seemed to race faster the more Mom’s slowed and grew sluggish beneath my hands. “I love you, Mom. Please. Please, fight. You do it. We’re almost there.”
I had no idea if that was true or not, but I needed to offer her some kind of hope to fight death for. But it was no use.
Her chest stopped moving.
Jace pulled his hands out from under mine. “Begin compressions!” He ordered. “Damn it. I should have brought an Ambu bag.”
Tears fell as I obeyed, and he removed syringes from his bag. He stabbed her chest and depressed the plunger of one and then another and another.
Still, her chest only rose and fell due to my compressions. Jace thumped her chest and gave her mouth-to-mouth while I pressed on her chest.
“How much further?” I screamed.
“We’re not even halfway there.” Lars replied somberly.
“We can do compressions and mouth-to-mouth until we reach the hospital, but she has lost too much blood and will have been without oxygen for too long by then.” Jace said quietly. “I’m sorry. We’ve lost her.”
“No! No!” I screamed as I continued pushing on my mother’s lifeless body. Grief welled in my chest so there was hardly room for me to breathe.
Dad pulled me away. “Stop. Just stop. She’s gone, Emma. There’s nothing more we can do. Let her go.”
“I can’t. We have to keep trying.” I sobbed. “We have to try.”
Dad pulled me into his arms to hold me tightly as tears streaked down his face. “It’s over, baby. You did everything you could. Let her go.”
I went limp in his strong embrace and poured my sorrow onto his shoulder. I couldn’t help my howls of pain as pieces of my heart and soul were torn from me.
My mother was dead.
My hair grew damp as Dad hid his face on the top of my head, and his body shuddered from his own cries of loss. Beside me, Jace’s weeping tugged at me. I threw an arm wide until my hand made contact with him to pull him into our hug.
“Do you still want me to drive to the hospital, or would you rather I take you home?” Lars asked softly.
Dad choked on the words as he struggled to speak through
his weeping. “Home, please. Let’s take her home.”
Chapter Fifteen
I hardly had the energy to shower and tug a black dress over my head. Truth be told, Lars did most of it. He took care of me just as he had for the past three days I had been unable to leave my bed.
Jace had made some calls as we’d driven up the mountain, but I don’t remember most of it. When we arrived home at the Sanctuary, most of the Circle was waiting for us. A Circle that was now incomplete.
Kissing my mother’s forehead good-bye, I had let them take her away to who knows where. I wasn’t in any condition to ask. Lars carried me to bed where I stayed until today.
I could only manage a cursory glance in the floor length mirror from my bloodshot eyes down to the hem of my flowing ankle length dress. I couldn’t absorb the details, but I’m sure I looked fine.
“Here are shoes.” He said placing black flats before me. “Let me brush your hair.”
I hadn’t even noticed it was probably a frightful mess. I didn’t really care. “It’s fine.”
“Trust me, it’s not. It hasn’t been brushed in three days.”
“I don’t care. No one else will, either. Not at a time like this.”
“Your Dad will worry about you. The Brownies have been taking care of him, and rumor is he’s struggling just as much as you are. Let me do this for him.”
Well, if it was for Dad, I could bother. I nodded and stared at my face in the mirror, the spitting image of my mother, as he brushed out snarls. Tears leaked from my hazel eyes, the same as Mom’s, but I couldn’t be bothered to wipe them away anymore. There was no point when they were constant.
“There you go.” Lars kissed my head and turned me to wipe my tears.
Taking my hand, he gently pulled me from the room, into the hall, and down the stairs. I barely noticed as he tugged me out the door and down a path through the forest until we reached my parents’ garden overlooking the waterfall. It was her one of her favorite places.
When I saw the funeral pyre erected in the center of the garden, I tried to pull free and flee. Lars only drew me closer and into his embrace. It felt warm and safe here as more of my heart and soul was torn away at the sight of my mother lying dead on that pile of wood.