by T. A. Foster
“I…know…shit, never mind. Let’s do the spell.”
Before I could prod him further, he grabbed both of my hands, locked his fingers in mine, and shed each of our Fade Spells. The glitter layer that had sparkled around us and kept our presence hidden fell to our feet and disintegrated on the floor. I didn’t know he could do that. Finn was propelling us forward at lightning speed and checking off the list Madame Chantilly had given us.
The Cover Spell required intense concentration, and we couldn’t hold our Fade Spells while simultaneously channeling each other’s magic through the Cover Spell. One major spell at a time. We had to be united to form the spell, but it felt like he was completely in charge, especially how he stripped my Fade Spell away so easily.
With our palms locked, he pulled me toward him so the rest of my body was pressed against him. However, something didn’t feel right. This wasn’t how we practiced the spell in his room. My eyes were closed, and I tried to let my thoughts settle on giving him my cover, but it wasn’t working. I continued to project my likeness over him like an enveloping bubble, but each time I tried to extend it past my body, I felt it disintegrate. It broke into tiny pieces, and I had to start over again. With each try, I could feel his cover encasing my thoughts and my body. What in the hell was he doing? I pushed harder.
I stepped back and untangled my body and hands from him. The spell still didn’t feel right. I opened my eyes. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Finn was standing in front of me. Finn. He wasn’t in my cover at all. I looked down at my arms and hands, and realized what he had done. Before I could slap him with one of his look-alike muscular hands, the door concealing Emmy from the rest of the world flew open, and Consulate Henri was hurling clothes and suitcases into the empty hallway.
“You ungrateful, bitch! I’ve given you everything! And you can’t even tell your papa you’re sorry for what you’ve put me through?” he yelled.
A hairdryer flew through the air and smashed into bits on the concrete floor. His face was a bright pinkish red, and he stormed through the doorway to wreak more havoc on Emmy’s belongings. He grabbed her clothes, started tearing them in half, and kicked her suitcase.
Finn looked at me. “Let’s go. I think this is it. When it’s done, you go—get out of here. I’ll get Emmy. You get…him.”
Overwhelmed by anger for the stunt Finn pulled and by the despicable behavior of the consul, I marched toward the contemptible man. He was screaming in French, and barely noticed I was standing in front of him. Although, I wasn’t me. I looked like Finn. I was wearing his cover, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I felt a little stronger in his skin.
I wasn’t prepared for the consul to lunge at me. He looked so old and haggard, I expected him to be weaker, but he was strong and quick. Madame Chantilly’s shrill warnings echoed in my ears. She said he would be ruthless. I dodged his first pounce, but he landed on his feet and sprung at me a second time. The force of his full body knocked me flat on my back. I gasped for breath as his hands clutched at my throat. He banged my head against the floor and constricted my throat with his thumbs.
I panicked and flailed my arms and legs wildly, trying to escape the death grip he had on my neck. I grasped at the wet floor, searching for something to grab, but the only thing nearby was Emmy’s tattered clothes.
The voodoo queen’s words blazed like an apparition hovering over me. “Because of her. I’ve been waiting for her.” The cloud spun over me, and now I could see Helen, crumpled in a crying heap, while I used every bit of strength I had to smother her Proxyness. The vision kept spinning, and there were my parents. “Ivy, you’re a special girl.” It formed and dissipated in less time than it takes a grain of sand to hit the bottom of an hourglass, but the images worked their way into my deepest layers of witchy strength. I couldn’t let the consul strangle me here on this dirty warehouse floor, and I couldn’t let him continue to kidnap and torture any more Josettes.
I struggled under his small frame for only a second, realizing I could manipulate him onto the floor with a swift punch to the jaw. Only one of my hands was pinned underneath me, and if I relaxed enough, I could work the other one completely free. Equipped with bigger, stronger hands, I threw the punch and watched as he reeled back, then shook off the blow to his face. This evildoer was not going down easily. Madame Chantilly was more than right; he was strong, insanely strong. I had to find a way to put enough space between us to try the Extinguish Spell. I couldn’t do it in a fistfight like this. Plus, I had never been in a fistfight. Disadvantage, Ivy. If my mother could see me now, she would be appalled. I had a feeling he could fight all night and wouldn’t have the slightest scratch or bruise appear. I would never win. There had to be a way to untangle from this brawl.
The concrete under me was sticky and hard. My back was already sore, and my neck and head were throbbing. I looked around for Finn, but saw him wrestling with another one of the consul’s guards near Emmy. I was going to have to figure this out myself. I tried my newly acquired Stun Spell. The charging flashes darted from my palms, but fell lamely around the immortal evildoer. They didn’t even touch him. I was starting to panic. He had some sort of impenetrable field around him, and I certainly wasn’t skilled enough in hand-to-hand combat to defeat him. However, I did have something that could stop him in his tracks.
“Wait! Wait!” I held up a hand as I pushed myself up off the floor, wincing with each tinge of newfound pain. “I know where Josette is.”
The angry man dropped the chair he was getting ready to smash over my head. “You? You know where my Josette is?” He was quieter.
“Yes, yes. I saw her.” That’s it, Ivy. Just keep calming him down.
“Impossible! I’ve been looking for her. How would you find her and not me? Do you know who I am? I have more resources and power than you could imagine.” He was starting to ramp up his level of intensity again. His fists balled up tightly.
I raised one palm, ignoring how strange it was to look at the back of Finn’s hand and not my own. “She ran away, right? With that sailor you don’t like. Luke?” Keep him steady, Ivy.
“Oui. Oui. She did. He stole her from me. She never would have left if he didn’t fill her head with all of those ideas. Where is he? I will kill him for what he’s done.”
This was good. If I could keep him talking and keep adding distance between us, I could start the Extinguish Spell.
“That must have been really hard on you. I’m sorry to hear she left.” Did I sound sympathetic enough? I felt off balance hearing Finn’s voice coming from my mouth.
I pulled my other hand up and started to bring it equal distance from the floor as the one already in place. I took a step back.
“She was all I had left. Her mother died when she was young. It was my job to keep her safe and protect her.”
I thought I heard him choke back a sob. I didn’t feel sorry for him or even considered doling one ounce of pity.
My hands in place, I closed my eyes and forced all the strength I had left into smothering his power.
“Extinguish! Extinguish! Extinguish!” I called out the spell and focused on destroying the evil charge surging through his body. I visualized the curse separating from his essence. Dissolving from his bones, his muscles, his skin.
He lunged at with me with an animalistic rage, when he realized my intent was to suppress his power. I dodged the desperate scrape of his fingers as he fell to his knees only inches away from where I stood. I steadied my palms over his head and pictured the dark magic evaporating in his blood, leaving his body like a puddle drying in the sun.
Madame Chantilly didn’t tell us what would happen when I did extinguish his power. I wasn’t prepared; nothing could have prepared me. I shielded my eyes as the being before me started to shrivel and melt into a feint resemblance of what used to be a man. His terror-stricken face oozed over his shoulders and puddled at his feet.
After a few seconds, the man who had terrorized New Orleans, his d
aughter, and Emmy Harper was gone. Nothing remained but his designer suit piled on the floor, mixed in with Emmy’s scattered clothes and broken hairdryer.
Relieved and in disbelief, I turned to find Finn, but he was busy untying Emmy from the ropes that held her to the chair. She didn’t appear to be completely conscious, and Finn scooped her up and brought her close to his chest. She looked at him, and then closed her eyes again. Bits of jealousy tinged my thoughts to see him holding her so delicately.
“Ivy, go! This cover isn’t going to last much longer, and she might wake up again. We can’t take that chance. Get out of here. I’ll take care of this. I have to call this in. Go!” Finn was urgent and firm.
I wanted to stay and argue with him about why he switched the spell on me. This was definitely not what I had agreed to do. I was going to be the one to reveal the magic. I was going to be the one who had to recover my strength and power. Not Finn. Why did he decide to change it? Ugh! What if he was too weak to defend himself? What if he was hurt? He seemed so wrapped up in cradling Emmy, I couldn’t tell if he cared if I was hurt.
I didn’t want to leave.
“Go!” he yelled again from the room.
Retreating from the rescue scene, I ran down the dark hallway and searched for a way out of the side of the warehouse.
“This way! I heard it coming from the back office,” a man’s voice yelled through the building. Two men were running straight for me. They must have heard the scuffle. I couldn’t let them pass me and find Finn and Emmy. He wouldn’t be ready for another attack.
Cloaked in the darkness of the warehouse, I charged at them, and with both hands palm out, shot forceful stun strikes directly at their faces. They fell to the ground, and I heard the metal impact as their guns scattered on the floor. Deep breaths, Ivy.
My body was trembling, and I had to force my feet to keep moving. I needed to get out of this building. I ran. I shoved the door open with a frenzied push, desperately seeking an escape from the structure that felt more and more like a tomb.
Alone and free, I leaned against the outer wall, forbidding any tears to dare well in my eyes. I had never killed anyone. I sank to the ground. Nothing went the way it was supposed to. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened if I didn’t stop the gun-toting assailants who had just shown up. Did Madame Chantilly know all along that by extinguishing his power, I was going to reduce the consul to a gooey pile of mush? I was angered by the lack of information I received in our mini prep class. However, there was no other way; it was the only option to free Emmy and stop him from kidnapping more girls.
I took a few deep breaths to steady my senses. The night was clear, and I could easily make out the constellations in the sky. That was something I could focus on. I looked for Cassiopeia. Slowly, I felt the effects of the Cover Spell shedding from my body. I reached my hand above my face, toward the sky, and recognized my pink nails and the bluish glimmer of my grandmother’s ring. I smiled. My hands were back; I was back. We did it.
I felt the back of my head. I winced at the crimson layer of blood coating my fingers. Ouch, I definitely needed something for this headache.
Fighting evil hurt like a bitch.
I KNEW Finn wouldn’t be back right away from depositing Emmy with the authorities at the police station. I kept checking the clock in my hotel room. 8 a.m. The heavy blackout curtains were pulled together. I didn’t want to see the mob of reporters gathered outside of the hotel. The TV was on mute. The big news of the morning was the rescue of Emmy Harper. It was on every station. Kelly Saint-James rallied the movie troops for a celebratory press conference at 10 a.m. I didn’t have plans to attend; I had done my part. I was sure whatever she had planned would be on the epic end of the public relations scale.
It had been hours since I walked through the doors of Hotel François. The journey from the warehouse was a lonely one. I wanted to talk to Finn. I wanted to make sure he was ok. I wasn’t sure how he would handle having less power. It wouldn’t last forever, but still losing it wasn’t a great feeling. I could talk him through it—that is, if he would let me. How did he deliver Emmy to the police without arousing more suspicion? Was she ok? It didn’t look like the consul had hurt her beyond holding her captive to that chair, but I wanted to know for sure.
I thought about trying to find Meyers, but logic told me that was probably useless. He was bound to the consul, and once I had extinguished the consul’s power, he no longer was bound by the immortality curse. Meyers almost certainly shriveled up in the same kind of gooey, disintegrating pile that formed when I squashed the evil force within Josette’s father. I wished I had been able to tell him Emmy was safe. She had no idea Meyers was to thank for her rescue, and sadly, she never would know.
My entire body ached from the rumble with the consul. I rubbed my neck and winced at the tender spots on my head. The bleeding had stopped from the gash on the back of my neck. A hot shower and fluffy hotel robe didn’t ease the dull throbbing coming from somewhere in my back. Finn had to be worn out too. Why wasn’t he here yet? I flipped through the channels, looking for a movie that didn’t involve a fight scene, terrorists, or kidnapping. I snuggled into the cushiony bed and pulled the sheets up to my chest.
“Babe, babe, wake up.” Finn nudged me, and I felt a warm kiss on my forehead.
I rubbed my eyes to see him standing next to the bed. Man, he was gorgeous, even beaten and ragged. He looked tired and had a black eye from where one of the guards hit him. I reached out to touch the edge of his eye. Wasn’t there a healing spell I could think of to help him with that? Maybe I should call Mama and get some advice.
“Are you ok? What time is it?” I tried to break through the mental fog surrounding my nap. “Sorry, I guess I fell asleep. I was worried about you.”
My phone was out of reach, and the clock was facing the wall so I couldn’t tell what time it was. I had wanted to be awake when he got back. Sleeping during the Say Yes to the Dress marathon happened by accident. I found my balance and tried to sit up. His hands rested on the tops of my shoulders, and eased me back down on the bed.
“No talking,” he whispered.
Little sparks singed under my skin as my body sank into the bed. He freed the loose knot of my robe, and in one long, controlled motion, pushed away the fabric separating my body from his. I gasped as I felt the cool air hit my skin.
I searched his eyes for the words he didn’t want to say. We had survived together. Together we had battled and won. I had faced darkness and death and it was cold, black, and empty. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to feel alive. Finn could do that. He could make me laugh and cry, love and hurt, and want. He could make me want all the things that happened when I breathed the air he breathed. He could erase the hollow feeling that had gripped me.
As his mouth traced the line from my jaw to my neck, I reached for the hem of his shirt. I worked it over his shoulders. I moaned as my body responded to his fiery tongue. It twirled over my breast and he took me in his mouth, making me quiver deep inside. I was completely exhausted, all the way to the core of my body, but he awoke every nerve ending I had. His touch erased the searing tinges of pain numbing my limbs. All I felt was raging need that only Finn could heal. I felt completely alive with him and I loved it.
Nothing else mattered in that moment, but being completely and utterly connected to him. I tugged until his belt was free, and I could strip his pants and anything else he was wearing from his body.
My palms lingered over the letters on his stomach. I arched toward him, sliding my stomach against his.
“What do they mean?” I whispered, running my fingers down his back. He had never told me. It was always something too personal for him to share, but after tonight, I couldn’t imagine keeping secrets from each other.
His lips drifted across my mouth. “I’ve never told anyone.”
I rocked toward him. “I know.” My desire for him was building.
He threaded his fingers throu
gh mine and raised my hands above my head. I felt like I belonged to him this way. His knee shifted my legs so I was parting for him. My breath caught in the back of my throat. He was making me wait for everything.
He kissed the side of my neck, then my throat. “It’s a Guardian thing.”
I bowed toward him, ready to feel him inside me. Feeling his skin gliding against mine distracted me from the letters. His mouth trailed between my breasts and landed above my navel, the same place his letters were marked on his skin.
Hot breath singed over my bare stomach. “The top one reminds me my job is to protect.” He kissed an inch lower, his mouth pressing firmly. “The middle one reminds me to honor those gone from my life.” I tried to stay still as his lips planted a third electric kiss. He flicked his tongue against my stomach. “And the last one is to remind me to trust.”
I gripped his shoulders as he hovered over me. I had never heard anything so powerful. Finn’s life was wrapped up in those three letters—the quest, his parents, his job to protect. Before I could tell him all the things surging in my heart—like how I loved that he was a Guardian, or that he could always trust me or the fact that I was falling in love with him all over again—his lips crashed into mine, and I felt the rush of heat spread to my core as our bodies fused together.
“I love making you glow,” he growled and surged deeper, bringing us closer than ever before.
He pulled the sheet over our heads, and I arched toward him, ready to get lost with him.
“Are you hungry?” Finn traced circles on my stomach.
I reached for the clock and turned it so I could finally see what time it was. What! It was 8 p.m. We had gotten so lost in each other that we had lost the entire day. I knew Finn needed the sleep, but it was almost dark again outside.
“Hold on a second.”
I pulled the sheet off him and wrapped it around my torso, just under my arms, and padded over to the dresser. My phone was buried somewhere in the bottom of my leather bag, and I fished around for it under my wallet and keys.