by S.E. Akers
As fate would have it, the Amethyst Talisman and I both arrived in front of Beatrix’s house at precisely the same time. My prediction proved to be correct — no “warm welcome” was awaiting me at the foot of her walk. Nope. All of those blissful effects were being blocked…on purpose, I was guessing.
Straightaway, Tanner snatched my arm and jerked me along the winding path that led to Bea’s front door, only to abruptly stop halfway up it. “Well, that message you sent was the perfect ending to my day!” he barked.
I could tell Tanner had only released me from his grasp so he could make full use of his arms throughout his theatrical hissy fit.
“My intentions when I left this morning was to locate the whereabouts of the hilt, while trying to keep an eye on Lazarus and Ferrol, to protect you . . . who by the way, was supposed to be safe and sound — BACK IN THE CAVE! Instead, I spent the entire day UNDER ATTACK! Every time I turned around, there was another one of Lazarus’ guys bombarding me with carnelians or trying to mow me down with iron bullets. I went by the guesthouse about an hour ago. I thought I might catch them there. Do you know what I found instead?”
I pursed my lips and directed my gaze to the cobblestone path under my feet. Oh, I knew full well what he’d asked wasn’t a question.
Tanner let out a laugh. “Of course you do. It was Karl. DEAD ON THE LAWN and traces of YOUR BLOOD, which by the way, leaves a diamond residue when it dries out.”
I whipped my wide-eyed stare back to Tanner. THAT I didn’t know.
Obviously frustrated, Tanner raked his fingers through his brown tresses aggressively. “Then,” he continued, “I get this vague image of you SHOT, bleeding, and extremely weak. You didn’t tell me WHERE YOU WERE. I didn’t know what the hell to think or do BECAUSE YOU NEVER RETURNED MY MESSAGES!” Tanner let out a sharp laugh. “Oh, ‘I promise’ . . . ‘I won’t leave the cave’ . . . ‘Only if it’s an EMERGENCY’!” he mocked and then tugged me towards the front door.
I knew I would be treading on thin ice, but I had to defend my actions. I didn’t want him thinking I was some irresponsible, untrustworthy brat who couldn’t care less about following his orders. My own father had never chewed me out like this before. Nobody had!
I planted my feet firmly on Bea’s front stoop. “It was an EMERGENCY! I wouldn’t have left if it weren’t!” I could tell by the dubious expression on his face that my simple answer wasn’t going to scratch my name off his shit-list anytime soon.
I grunted back at him. “You aren’t the only one who’s had a CRAPPY DAY! A blast rocked the whole mountain not long after you had left the cave, and then I found out there had been several explosions at the mine. I had to check on Samuel. He was trapped in one of the tunnels. That’s the only reason I left the daggone cave in the first place!”
Tanner’s purple eyes darkened as a scowl set on his face like stone. He threw open the front door and pushed me inside.
“I went to the hospital, to make sure he was okay, where —just so you know— I was arrested by a steroid-pumping cop! Apparently he was pissed because I took out our team’s star quarterback right after he’d placed a huge bet on Welch to win next week’s game. Then, after I waylaid him —AGAIN— I headed over to the Riversides’ guesthouse to find the hilt. All I found was its empty chest. Well that, and a pistol-packing son-of-bitch who ‘SHOT ME’ with a freaking diamond-dusted iron bullet! He had Daddy’s diamond pendant around his neck protecting him from my compulsion. I finally managed to escape after I realized the copper roof wouldn’t let any of my lightning bolts pass through the house. I was too weak to make it back to the cave, but luckily I ran into Katie. She removed the bullet from my shoulder and patched me up. I passed out right after I sent you that first message. I’m sorry I couldn’t answer you. I was unconscious . . . MY BAD!”
“Wait a second,” Tanner replied with a suspicious glare, “You mean your friend, Katie, knows what you are?”
My mouth may have been cracked open about a half-foot, itching to mount a defense, but I didn’t dare say a word. One, because I wasn’t that crazy… And two, my balls simply weren’t brassy enough.
Tanner smacked his hands together. “I take it back. THAT’S the perfect ending to my day!” He grabbed my arms and insisted, “I told you how dangerous it is to reveal your identity to anyone . . . especially people you care about!”
I jerked out of his grasp and turned away from his glare. I looked around at the now practically empty house. The room felt just as cold as the emotionally charged words flying between us. I couldn’t stand him looking at me like I was a child in need of reprimanding. I directed my gaze to a spot on the wall where a small nail hole remained and attempted to tune him out, even if it only proved temporarily.
Beatrix entered the room. “You two need to control yourselves,” she scolded.
“Oh, I’m going to take control all right,” he declared to Beatrix.
Well, that’s awfully presumptuous, I thought as I threw him a blistering scowl.
I couldn’t help noticing that Tanner, whose attitude now seemed arrogantly calm, was now unfastening his woven silvery belt. Stunned by his strange behavior, my brow furrowed with apprehension. Why is he doing THAT?
“I should’ve done this before I left her this morning,” Tanner announced as he used one of his hands to whip off his belt. A harsh “crack” jarred my senses as it rang throughout the room.
Beatrix shushed him. “Tanner, put that thing away,” she ordered.
Now, I was alarmed. OH, NO HE’S NOT, my eyes screamed with disbelief.
Tanner’s gaze may have been directed towards Beatrix, but his finger was pointing dead at me. “This little girl is going to have to realize that disobeying orders could get herself killed, not to mention, endanger others. She’ll control those impulses one way or another.”
I flinched as soon as Tanner hurled his woven metal belt my way. I threw my hands up to block it when suddenly, the belt magically wrapped around my left arm and locked itself securely in place.
“What is THIS?” I demanded as I tried my damnedest to loosen the silvery strap that wouldn’t budge.
Tanner appeared more relaxed. “It’s a belt. A tin belt,” he stated casually.
My eyes narrowed as I looked suspiciously at the pliable, woven metal belt. “And what exactly does ‘tin’ do?” I probed angrily.
Tanner grinned. “It’s a physical restraint really. It doesn’t work on your mind, but let’s just say that it will make you more compliant. You’ll have to do everything I say, or it’ll immobilize you.”
I’m eighteen, not a damn three-year-old, I raged to myself.
“Get it off me — NOW!” I protested.
Tanner approached with a bold swagger, eyeing my tin-clad arm like a trophy. He raised his hand, only to give the woven band of metal a brash “flick” with his fingers. Then he leaned into my face, sporting the most brazen smile I’d seen from him yet. “Not even if you said pretty please.”
I glared back at him. “Tell him to take it off me, Bea!” I could feel my emotions seething and sensed the white-hot streaks swirling in my eyes as my temper flared.
“I think both of you need to stop,” Beatrix advised curtly.
Tanner leaned closer. “I can make her stop,” he assured Beatrix with a smug twinkle in his eye.
My glare intensified. “Do it,” I taunted.
“For the last time, you two need to SHUT UP!” Beatrix yelled.
The tension between us must have been more than what Beatrix could stand. Though both our eyes were fiercely locked on each other’s, we couldn’t help noticing the rattled tone coming from the little old lady who never lost her cool.
Simultaneously, we shifted our stares and asked, “Why’s that?”
Beatrix looked perturbed to say the least. She uncrossed her arms and pointed to the front door. “Because we’ve had company for the past minute,” she sighed.
“FANTASTIC!” Tanner scoffed. “You know we still have time to gather up the rest of your friends so you can reveal yourself to them all at the same time.” His stare bounced back and forth between us, most likely reading our emotions. He shook his head peevishly. “I would make you compel him,” Tanner whispered as he glanced down at the tin belt still locked around my arm, “but something tells me it wouldn’t work, even if you tried.”
Beatrix took hold of the irate Amethyst Talisman’s arm. “Let’s step outside, Tanner. I think they need a moment, and the fresh air will do you some good.”
Though Tanner’s eyes were frying Ty with the heat of a laser as he walked past him, the handsome high school jock’s remained solely focused on me.
The silence in the cleared-out room was nerve-racking, and the tension I sensed between us was only making it worse. I didn’t know exactly how long he’d been standing there, but I felt pretty confident that I was about to find out.
“I, um . . . I’ve been trying to find you all day,” Ty began. “Someone locked me inside the locker room last night, and when I finally broke out, the stadium was wrecked, someone had beaten up Coach Hayes, and you were gone.” He held up my purse. “I found this under the bleachers, so I went by your house last night to give it to you and to see if you were okay . . . but you never showed up. I waited outside your house all night. I didn’t even go to school today. I’ve been too worried, but I see you’re fine . . . Apparently . . . Well, with the exception of your eyes lighting up like you were trying to signal a lost ship when you were arguing with that guy from Ms. Fitz’s class.”
This was the most inhibited I’d ever seen the confident Tyler Smith in my entire life. Ty stepped merely close enough to hand me my purse. Before he could walk away, I grabbed his arm and held on to it tightly. Supernatural force wasn’t needed. He didn’t seem to want to move.
Tanner and Bea stepped back into the room. “You need to wrap this up,” the Amethyst Talisman ordered bluntly. “We have to get you out of here. You’re leaving with Bea, remember?”
Ty looked even more confused.
I turned to Tanner. “Can we go back to the cave? Let me try one more time, before I have to go. Please?” I begged.
Tanner shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous. You couldn’t pull it out this morning. What makes you think you’ll be able to do it now?”
“When I was unconscious, Adamas appeared to me in a dream,” I insisted. Tanner and Beatrix looked at each other curiously. “He spoke to me . . . about my bond with the wand. It couldn’t have been just a memory. Adamas actually spoke to me. He called me by my name.”
Tanner shook his head and started to speak, but Beatrix cut him off. “If she says Adamas spoke to her, then he did,” she affirmed with a stern nod.
Tanner looked mindful at Beatrix for a moment. “All right,” he eventually breathed. “We’ll stop by the cave, but if it doesn’t work, you’re out of here — TONIGHT! Do you understand?”
My head started nodding uncontrollably before I could even get a chance to verbally agree. I felt like a possessed bobble-head doll, courtesy of one tin belt that was still locked around my arm.
Tanner lowered his head to conceal his amusement. I extended my arm towards him and purposely cleared my throat.
He got the message. Willingly, Tanner removed the tin belt and wove it back through the loops of his weathered jeans. “Let’s go,” he ordered.
I couldn’t just run off from Ty…not again. He’d already stumbled into the middle of something utterly bizarre, and I owed him some kind of explanation. Tanner wasn’t going to like it, but I had to give Ty one — regardless of whatever objections he may have (especially now, since he’d removed that hunk of tin from my arm).
“One hour,” I requested. “Just give me one hour, and I’ll meet you there. Please, Tanner? I need to talk to Ty.” I could see the flap of Tanner’s nostrils already picking up steam. “And anyway, I have to stop by my house to get a few things I’ll need.”
“NO! We’ll buy you whatever you’ll need. Absolutely not!” Tanner refused sharply.
“You can’t buy what I have to get, Tanner,” I replied somberly. “It’s something of my father’s.”
Tanner looked over at Beatrix, who seemed to be on my side. Then with a reluctant shake of his head he ordered, “Be at the cave in one hour. I’ll do a quick sweep of the area. I don’t like the idea of Lazarus running around out there not knowing where he is or what he’s planning.” Tanner reached inside his pocket and pulled out two small carnelians, which he handed straight to me. “I think you know how these work. You can use them if you run into Lazarus before I do, but they won’t work on Ferrol — so be careful.” Tanner pointed to Beatrix as he walked out of the room. “Keep your eye on her,” he ordered and then slammed the front door.
“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Bea insisted softly.
Ty jumped unexpectedly. He was thrown for a loop when she blatantly revealed her third-eye and winked it at him as she was heading off to the kitchen. He was still in shock as I led him over to the only chair left in the room and sat him down.
I knelt beside him. “I think I need to fill in some things I may have left blank last night,” I confessed without a single reservation.
Ty, who was still focused on the doorway that Bea had left through, redirected his stare back to me. “You think?” he replied candidly.
Since I only had a limited amount of time, I pretty much hit the highlights of the past week. But unlike Katie and Samuel, he had a ton of questions. Each one I answered honestly and as quickly as I could.
“And that’s why I have to go away for a while. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone,” I replied, my tone reeking with uncertainty.
“Shi, isn’t there anything I can do?” Ty asked eagerly. “I could go with you and help protect you.”
How sweet… It’s a naïve and unrealistic thought, but still sweet.
“Ty,” I began, “if I hadn’t had that blue chalcedony to use on the Onyx last night, I’m afraid you would have been the next victim he possessed. I know it. I can’t let that happen. You can’t protect me.”
Beatrix came in with two cups of cider and placed them on a folding tray beside us. I started thinking about what Adamas had revealed in my vision in regards to my heart. That was weighing heavily upon me. I couldn’t have anyone I cared about around me. They would only sway the hard decisions I knew I would be forced to make.
I gave Ty’s hands a lingering squeeze as I rose to my feet. “I can’t afford to have you around. You mean too much to me. You can’t go with me.”
I looked over at Beatrix. “I’ll see you in a bit, Bea.”
She quietly nodded back. I looked down at Ty, who remained seated uncomfortably in his chair.
“Bye, Ty,” I said and then headed for the front door.
Before I could get the door halfway open, a hand pushed the hardwood slab to a steady close. Ty turned me around to face him and then stared deeply into my eyes in a way that was only reserved for star-crossed lovers who may never see each other again. He leaned closer and caressed the side of my face, guiding his fingertips gently along my cheek and then brushed them over my lips. I knew what was coming, and as much as I wanted it — I couldn’t let it happen. Not like this. I had to stay focused. Once our lips touched, I would be driven crazy by the fact that we were separated, and thoughts of Ty would haunt me every hour of every day I was away from him. I’d never felt like this about anyone before—but I knew myself—and that’s precisely how it would be.
As he pressed me against the door and began his approach, I lifted my hand up to halt his eager mouth. He ended up kissing the tips of my fingers instead. The warm touch of his soft lips made every nerve in my body
tingle all at once. Confused by my gesture, he gazed back at me curiously. I could see uncertainty quivering within his heavenly blue eyes.
I leaned closer to whisper in his ear, gently rubbing my cheek against his purposely. “No, Ty . . . Not like this. Not now,” I murmured.
Ty stared back at me for a moment. No matter how controlled he tried to appear, his mind had already given him away. His only want in the world was to kiss me, and that made my heart feel like it was about to soar right out of my chest. But, he wasn’t sure I would ever return, which sent it straight into a tailspin. So, I, along with my heart, came crashing back down to reality. To ease his restless emotions (and mine), I raised his hands to my lips and gently kissed them.
As I stepped outside, I turned to him and swore, “I want something to look forward to.” With that said, I shut the door, took a deep breath, and was off like the wind.
Since my countdown clock was ticking, I blazed a straight and guided path through the woods, headed for my house. I didn’t know which was racing faster — me or my heart. I had about ten minutes left to pick up a few things (namely Daddy’s shirt) and get my butt to the cave. I was bound and determined to do at least one of two things tonight, pull the diamond wand from its rocky cradle or not be late for Tanner Grey.
I slowed to a jog when I reached the start of our gravel drive. Ace Barlow’s Lincoln was parked right out front. Oh, great! I didn’t want any drama, especially now, so I decided to climb up the side of the house and sneak into my bedroom. There wasn’t any need for a formal good-bye, not when it came to Charlotte. A simple note would suffice. That way, when she found it on my bed once she realized I’d been gone for a month (or two), she could start throwing my things out of the house guilt-free.
As soon as I’d crawled into my bedroom through the unlocked window, I grabbed a duffle bag lying beside my vanity and threw it on the bed. It landed right beside a wicker basket full of freshly folded laundry. There was a note lying on top. I snatched it up and read,