“Sorry, do I know you? I ask, leaning back against the car.
“Hi, you must not remember me. I’m Bobby, a friend of the family,” he smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his dark eyes.
“No, I’m sorry I don’t,” I reply. He’s closed the distance and offers his hand. Frowning, I take it and a wave of malice hits me. My knees go weak and I stumble forward. His arm wraps around my waist and my limbs feel heavy. What the hell. Frowning, I shake my head, trying to clear the fog creeping over me.
“Here let me help you,” he says, maneuvering me away from the car, and towards the street.
“Hey! Hey there!” I hear someone call out behind us, but this guy keeps propelling us forward. A dark sedan appears, pulling up at the curb, and he steers us towards it. No, no, no, no, NO! I try yelling for help but no sound comes out. What the hell is happening??? Is this a spell or something?
“Hey, Miss! You can’t leave your car parked at the pump!”
IF it is magic, maybe I can block it the same way I do emotions. With that idea in mind, I switch my focus on strengthening my shield. The fog seems to clear a little and I manage a small scream. I try twisting out of his grip, but his arm tightens painfully around me. He reaches the car door and yanks it open.
“Hey what are you doing?!?!” The voice seems distant but urgent.
“Hurry! Get the Catalyst in the car!” commands a muffled voice from inside, and the guy tries to shove me in. I pull away harder, slamming into the side of the car. Someone please help me. I focus on pushing as much energy as I can into my shield.
“NO! Let me GO!” I yell, but my voice sounds weak even to me. Thinking back to all those police dramas I’d seen, I let myself go limp. Forcing him to support my full weight. He doesn’t expect that and I hit the ground hard.
“Hey, she doesn’t want to go with you Mister! I’ve called the cops!” The voice is getting closer. The man grabs my arm and tries to pull me upright, but I roll away
“Fuck!” comes the voice from the car. “Forget it! Just get in! We need to get out of here! Now!” Suddenly, I’m free as the guy releases my arm and leaps into the vehicle. The door slams shut and the car peels out.
I sit crumpled at the curb as the fog in my head dissipates. After a bit, I look up to see an older woman in a gas station uniform kneeling next to me.
“Are you ok Honey?” She asks, glancing at the street and then back at the gas station. “Let’s get you into the store and we can call the cops.” I let her help me to my feet, feeling stronger by the moment.
“I thought you’d already called them?” I manage to say, my throat feeling rough and ragged.
“I didn’t have a chance, just said that to scare them,” she grins. “It worked too.” With a quick gesture to follow, she turns and heads towards the Quickie Stop mini mart. I trail after her, running my hands over my pockets. I need to let the guys know what happened. Shit. My phone! Where is my phone? Why isn’t it in my pocket? I know I had it when I got in the car… I texted Mom to let her know I was headed home for my appointment… And then… Then… I plugged it in! Please let it be in the car, Please, Please, Please!
“Hang on a minute,” I call, veering off towards my car. “I need my phone.” I can hear her say something, but I’m close to freaking out again and I can’t understand what she said. Moving a little faster, I reach my car and throw open the door. Relief floods me as I see my phone in the console, still plugged in to the charger. Oh thank God. Grabbing it and my purse, I close and lock the door. The clerk must have followed me, because she’s standing by the pump now.
“Sorry, I was on my way to an appointment. I need to let them know I won’t make it.” I tell her as I text the guys.
Me: SOS!!!
Me: Someone please come get me from the Quickie Stop. Someone just tried to grab me.
Tank Clayton: WTF?!?!?!??
Angel Sebastian: OTW Sprite!
Nerd Ian: OMG Emmy!!!! are you ok?????
Me: As ok as I can be.
Vampire Jared: You’re not alone are you?
Me: no, I’m with the gas station lady
Vampire Jared: I’m calling you now.
My phone rings almost immediately and I fumble to answer it.
“Pixie?” Jared demands before I even get the phone to my ear.
“Ya, I’m here,” I manage. Jared exhales sharply and I give my rescuer an embarrassed smile.
“Pass your phone to the gas station employee; I need to talk to her.” I frown but hold out my phone.
“Umm, he wants to talk to you,” I tell her with a shrug. She takes the phone puts it to her ear. After a minute, she starts moving towards the store again, and I follow along behind her. Jared must be doing all the talking, because all I hear from her is an occasional yes or no. Following her inside, I wander through the aisles of junk food. She moves around the counter to the register, still holding my phone to her ear. I stare out the window, wondering how long it will take Sebastian to get here.
“Here you go,” she says finally, setting my phone on the counter. “I didn’t know you knew the Stewart boys. They’re going to take care of notifying the police and filing out the report for you.” I give her a small smile and take my phone. Oops, I didn’t even notice she was wearing a badge proclaiming her name was Sarah.
“That’s great, thank you so much for your help, Sarah.”
I hear the door open and spin around. Sebastian rushes in, relief flooding his face as he catches sight of me.
“Sprite!” Sebastian calls, crossing the distance and sweeping me into a hug. I let myself sink into his embrace, enjoying the heat of his energy rushing over me. “Thank god you’re ok.” He murmurs in my hair. I smile and tilt my head to give him a kiss on the cheek. He finally steps away and looks me over.
“Hey Sarah,” Samil says, coming up next to us. “We appreciate you taking care of Emily.” I turn and throw my arms around Samil, catching him by surprise. Emotion flickers in his eyes before his mask slips back into place. After a moment he returns my embrace, his calm energy surrounding me.
“Thanks for coming,” I whisper, kissing his cheek before releasing him.
“Of course,” he whispers back, gently squeezing my arm before moving away.
“Come on Sprite,” Sebastian says, slipping his hand in mine.
“Thanks again Sarah.”
“Of course,” she replies. “Go on now, you’ve got a lot to take care of.” I give her a smile and a small wave.
Sebastian leads me outside and around to the passenger side of his SUV. Popping the door open, he suddenly lifts me up and deposits me on the seat. With a quick kiss on my forehead, he steps back and lets Samil take his place.
“Where are your keys, Em?” Samil asks and I dig them out of my pocket. Taking them, he squeezes my hand. “I’ll drop your car back at your house.”
“Ok,” I nod, buckling myself in. Samil scans my face, before stepping back and closing the door.
Sebastian climbs in and turns towards me. “The twins want us to meet them over at their place. You ok with that Sprite?” I nod, a wave of exhaustion hitting me. Leaning back in the seat, I close my eyes and let the darkness take me.
∞
The warmth of Sebastian’s energy wakes me as he slides his arms under my legs.
“There you are,” he smiles. “Hang on tight Sprite.” I gasp and throw my arms around his neck as he lifts me from the car. He carries me into the cottage, not bothering to put me down before sinking down on the couch. I bury my face against his shoulder, shaking uncontrollably. Tears roll down my face as the reality of what happened hits me, stealing the breath from my lungs. Someone tried to kidnap me. I could have lost everything.
“Hey, I’m here,” Sebastian whispers reassuringly, “You’re safe now, Sprite.”
The couch shifts as weight settles on both sides and two sets of arms circle around us. Another body presses against my back, and a hand runs over my arm and shoulder. The tremors star
t to recede as their energy wraps around me like a blanket. I keep my eyes closed, content to hold onto Sebastian and reassure myself that I am ok.
“Shh, it’s alright now, Trouble. You’re ok.”
Tilting my head back, I see that it’s Clayton behind me, smiling. Samil is sitting nearby on the back of the couch. He's got that deep thought look again, his head tilted to the side as he watches me. Snuggling into Sebastian, I realize Jared and Ian are flanking us on the couch. Jared’s expression is masked by his hair, while Ian’s head rests on Sebastian’s other shoulder. Part of me thinks this should be weird; all of us piled up. But it feels right, like this is how it’s supposed to be.
“We should talk about what happened.” Samil says, stepping around to his usual arm chair. Clayton follows his lead, taking the other.
I move to get up but Sebastian tightens his grip, keeping me pressed against him.
“I’ve got the camera footage loaded up for us,” Ian says, sitting up. He grabs the keyboard from the coffee table and the big screen comes to life with four images of the Quickie Mart from different angles. I look away, resting my head on Sebastian’s shoulder. They may want to watch what happened, but I lived it. I don’t need to see it again. The silence in the room is broken by the occasional harsh breath and curse.
“Can you zoom in and get the license plate number?” Samil asks. I glance over at Ian, who’s nodding.
“Already got it,” he answers. “As soon as we’re done here, I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Perfect. Now Em, I know you probably don’t want to talk about this…”
“You’re right, I don’t. You pretty much saw everything…” I say, not looking over at Samil.
“Just tell us what you remember, Sprite.” Sebastian encourages, pressing his cheek to mine.
I sigh and take a deep breath. “I’d just finished pumping gas. Someone called my name.”
“Emily?” Clayton asks.
“No, Emilienne. I look around and see this guy in a suit walking towards me. He gave me his first name and said he was a family friend.”
“What was his name?” Samil interrupts.
“Umm…” Oh shit, only Sebastian knows about the problem I have with names.
“Sorry, I’m really bad at names.” I finally admit, a blush heating my cheeks.
“Em, it could be important.”
“No, you don’t understand,” I snap. “When I say I’m really bad with names, I mean it. I don’t remember them, ever. I have to hear or see them over and over before they stick.”
“It’s ok Sprite, it probably wasn’t even his real name. What happened next?”
“I shook his hand, and… And it was like a wave of pure hatred hit me. I don’t know how to describe it. My head felt foggy and my body was heavy, I couldn’t seem to speak. I had to focus on strengthening my energy shield to yell for help.”
Samil frowns, “It sounds like he used a spell on you.”
“That was my guess. Anyways, he dragged me over to the car. Someone else was driving. The driver said something about the Catalyst.”
“The Catalyst?” Sebastian repeats, I shrug and keep going.
“The guy tried to shove me in the car, so I went limp hoping he’d drop me, which he did. The lady from store was yelling that she’d called the cops. The driver told him to forget it, so he jumped in the back seat and they took off. The store lady came and helped me. I texted you guys and waited till you got there. That’s it.”
“Damn,” Samil curses. “I didn’t think the Magi would find you so fast or be bold enough to try something in the middle of the day. Clearly these people are crazy or desperate, maybe both. We need to finish figuring out a counter spell and fast.”
My heart clinches. I knew that’s who it had to be, but I’d still hoped to hear something else. Anything else really. If I was a character in a book. I’d probably be trying to convince them to give me up to the Magi. Or secretly plotting to turn myself over to keep them out of danger. But this is my life and no. Just No. I’m not going to give up and sacrifice myself to some faceless assholes out of misguided nobility or some other bullshit. I’d been given a second chance. I could have died during “the incident”. I was not throwing it away.
“So what do we do now?” I ask, shifting around so I can see Samil better.
“Now that they’ve made the first move, they’ve given themselves away. We just need to step up things on our side.” Samil continues. “First step is to upgrade the security at your house.”
“How are you planning on talking my Mom into that?” I ask. “I don’t know how she’d react if she thought someone was after me. I don’t want to have to move again.”
“Hey our parents are smooth; they can talk anyone into anything. And they provide the best security on the island.” Jared assures me. “Your Mom talked to them once already, so it really won’t be a hard sell.”
This is news to me. Mom never mentioned wanting a security system. But then again she rarely talked to me, so what do I know.
“If you give your phone to Ian, he’ll make some improvements to it right now.” Samil says. I unlock my phone, and pass it over to Ian. He immediately starts working on it.
“The main thing is that we need to stick together.” Samil tells everyone. “No going out alone. If you need to go out, stay in pairs. Clayton, can you camp out at Sebastian’s?” Clayton nods in agreement. “I’ll stay here with the twins.”
“Sounds good,” Ian and Jared answer in twin stereo.
“How are you going to get your parents to agree to that? Shouldn’t you ask them first?” I ask, and the guys burst into laughter.
“We’ve been practically living at each other’s houses for our whole lives. They won't care, and they trust us to watch out for each other.” Jared responds.
“My family has a full house already. One less person is a blessing for them,” Samil’s response is casual, but I can’t help wondering what his home life is like. That’s a question for another day, though.
“Now until we can get Em’s security system up and running, someone should stay over with her.”
“Clayton and I will cover that,” Sebastian volunteers quickly. “Since we’re right next door, it will be easiest for us to sneak back and forth.
“And we’ve got a couple early birthday presents for you Em.” Jared appears in front of me and I start in surprise. I’d been so distracted; I hadn’t even noticed him leave. He offers me a large shopping bag. Sebastian releases his hold and slides me off his lap, and onto the couch next to him. Jared shakes the bag and raises an eyebrow.
“Well? Are you going to take it?” He smirks.
I roll my eyes and grab the bag, looking around at the guys. They’re watching me with a combination of amusement and anticipation. I open it and pull out a new leather motorcycle jacket. Similar to the faux one I have, but so much nicer.
“Guys this is too much.” I say, but Jared just waves away my protest.
“It’s for your protection, in case you need to catch a ride with Samil on his bike. It’s much safer than that imitation one you’ve got. It’s better to be prepared. Plus, we had it modified with a few tricks, but we can tell you more about those later.”
“You’re also going to need this,” Samil says, stepping forward with a helmet bag. I peek inside to see a purple motorcycle helmet decorated with white skulls wearing pink bows. It’s the girliest looking helmet I’ve ever seen. Where did they even find something like this? “Ian’s reconfiguring enough GPS trackers that we’ll each one, once he’s done reprograming them, they’re easy to carry and recharge wirelessly.” I smile over at Ian. He clears his throat, looking embarrassed.
“Wait a minute,” I say thinking it through. “You were already working on GPS trackers? Please tell me you weren’t going to sneak a tracker on me without saying anything?” I glare at them, but none of them deny it. Ian and Clayton at least have the decency to look embarrassed. Sebastian just grins. While Jar
ed looks smug and Samil raises a brow and stares back at me.
“Seriously, WTF!?!”
“We’d been considering it. You’re point?” Samil finally says.
“Arg!” I throw my hands up in disbelief. Are all men this clueless?
“Your birthday is only a couple weeks away. “ Clayton’s normal rumble is soft, like he’s trying to calm a wild animal. I narrow my eyes at him. “We just wanted a backup to help us find you, in case something happened when we weren’t around...” He doesn’t add ‘like today’ but I know they are all thinking it. For a minute I almost let it go… Almost. But if I let them get away with it now, it will just encourage them to do shit behind my back in the future, and that just won’t fly.
“That’s not the point,” I tell them firmly. “The point is you were thinking about doing it without telling me. And that makes it creepy!”
“But we did tell you,” Jared argues. “No harm, no foul.” I give Jared a death glare.
“And we’d already pick out your birthday presents. We were just making some modifications before wrapping them up for you.” Samil chimes in.
“Still not happy! I’m not a delicate flower to be protected. This is my life; when you start planning things that concern me, I need to be included.” I give them a warning look, folding my arms across my chest. “From this point on, no more secret plans. Is that clear?” I make sure each of them meets my eyes as they all mumble affirmatives.
“Good. I’m letting you off easy this time because of what happened today. If you plan ANYTHING sneaky like this again, I’ll kick your asses. Now, are there any other confessions you need to make while I’m in a forgiving mood?” I ask suspiciously.
“It’s getting late,” Samil jumps in. “Don’t you need to be home soon?”
I frown at his obvious diversion, but a glance at the clock on the cable box proves he’s right.
“Yes,” I sigh, “but don’t think this means you get to keep holding out on me. I expect to be filled in on any other secrets ASAP.” I glare at them to make sure they get the point.
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