Enchanter (22 page)

“And how would you know that? Maybe, just maybe, I would’ve
given you the benefit of the doubt.”

“Like you did last night?”

“Last night was different.”

“How?”

“I was in shock after the attack. My brain wasn’t really
cooperating with me.”

“Leah,” his hand reached out for mine, “calm down. I
wouldn’t have placed you in any danger.”

“I was alone with Dmitri and Mia. They could’ve—”

“Dmitri is very old and he hasn’t hurt anyone in years,
because he knows how to control himself.”

I’m pretty sure I was as pale as sheet by then. “That
doesn’t make me feel any better.”

He sighed and tried again, “Dmitri was a warlock before he
was turned. Vampirism made him incredibly powerful, so he’s been helping me
search for the Giver of Life.”

“But I saw him eating last night.”

“No, you didn’t.”

I was afraid to ask, but I had to. “Then how come I saw him
stuffing pasta into his mouth?”

“He made it look that way, but he never actually touched any
of the food.”

“He cast a spell on me?”

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“He created an illusion so you wouldn’t see the truth.”

“Oh, Jesus!”

Stunned, I remained silent for a few seconds while I figured
out what to say next. I had enjoyed being around Dmitri and found him to be a
very interesting person, but knowing that he was a vampire unnerved me.

“Does he know that I know about you?”

“He does now.”

“Why would you rely on a vampire to help you?”

“Like I said, Dmitri is not your average vampire. He has
powers normal vampires do not possess.”

“Like what? He can turn into a bat?”

Brandon actually smiled. “Technically, no vampire can shift
forms, only shifters can do that.”

Oh, for Pete’s sake! Shifters? If he tells me mermaids,
fairies, and leprechauns are real too, I’m so out of here!

“I don’t really want to know what else is out there. Every
time you say something about another mythological creature being real, my head
starts to pound.”

“Sorry, but if you’re going to get involved, you might as
well know the truth.”

Change the subject before he tells you that
extraterrestrial beings aren’t a myth!

“If you have Dmitri helping in this search, there’s really
no point in me getting involved. I mean, I have no powers at all, unless you
count my big mouth.”

He laughed. “That mouth has a way to catch people’s
attention.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing much, just that when you get angry and open your
mouth to say something,
everyone
notices.”

I arched my eyebrows. “You seemed to have had a hard time
listening.”

“Not really.” He turned his attention to me before saying,
“I just enjoyed listening to you rant. You’re beautiful when you’re pissed.”

I could feel the workings of a heated blush starting up at
the back of my neck. “You annoyed me on purpose?”

“It was the only way to get you to follow me around.” He
grinned.

“That was childish.”

“But it worked.”

It did. Because of that, I could not seem to get enough of
him.

****

Moments later, we arrived at my apartment building and
Brandon parked his Honda near the back entrance. After helping me out of the
car, he walked with me inside the building, where we paused in front of the
elevators. He turned to face me then, his gaze easily roaming up and down my
face, appreciatively taking in my less-than-appealing state. I had no idea how
he could look at me with even a spark of interest, especially when I looked
like I had just walked out of a homeless shelter. Feeling the beginnings of
another blush, I averted my gaze to the empty hallway on our right and waited
in silence for either the elevator to arrive or for him to say something.

Once he scanned the area to make sure we were not being
watched, he reached to take something out of his pants’ pocket. Intrigued by
what he was about to reveal, I watched as he grabbed a hold of my wrist, lifted
my arm, rotated my hand, placed something hard right in the middle of my palm,
and forced my fingers to make a fist. Before I could unravel the mystery lying
comfortably below my fingers, Brandon placed both his hands over mine and
brought his gaze up to meet mine.

“This will keep you safe from the soul devourers when I’m
not around.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a charm. It’s meant to protect an individual – in this
case you – so please wear it when you go out at night.” His voice was so full
of concern that I could not refuse.

“Okay.” I nodded. “Can I see what it looks like now?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” He removed his hands and stepped back.

Curious, I opened my hand and gasped at the beauty of the
intricate piece resting on my palm. The ebony was round in shape and its
circumference was of about two inches. But its width could not have measured
more than a quarter of an inch if that. The top half was covered in strange
blue symbols the likes of which I had never seen. The beautiful pendant was
attached to a long, black leather thong.

“It’s beautiful,” I murmured as I ran my index finger over
the top. “Did you make this?”

“I only painted the symbols on top, attached it to the thong,
and recited the spell destined to protect you.” He smiled as he caught my eyes
widening. “The charm in itself has been in my family for a while.”

“It’s reusable?”

“Yes. All you have to do is remove the previous spell and
whatever symbols were painted before, and it’s ready for use again.”

“Won’t other magical beings try to remove the protection
spell?” I asked.

Brandon shook his head. “No. Only the person who cast the
spell can remove it. Don’t worry, the spell is very strong.”

Those words made me feel a lot better.

“Thank you, Brandon.” I wasted no time draping the cord over
my head so that the charm rested safely just above my breasts. After a quick assessment,
I decided to hide it by slipping it inside my shirt. “There, snug and safely
tucked away.”

He tried his best not to stare at my chest, but failed. After
becoming aware that I had noticed, he shied away, smiling.

“I have to go,” he started. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you for saving my life, by the way.”

He grinned. “It was no sacrifice at all.”

“That’s good to know.” Had it been the day before, I would
have loved nothing more than to kiss him goodbye. But if I was going to keep
him sentimentally detached from me, I could no longer indulge in the fine act
of tongue wrestling, no matter how much I wanted to.

A quick glance at his face and I could see that he wanted to
reach out and touch me too, but before he could do so, the elevator doors
opened. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Brandon.”

I hurried into the elevator and waved at him before the
doors shut. Once I was alone, I could finally release the breath I had been
holding in since Brandon had confessed that he was meant for someone else.

Now that we were no longer face-to–face, I could finally give
up the pretense and allow myself to feel like the weight of the world had come crashing
down over me. Knowing that he was an Enchanter brought a sense of deep
satisfaction to me, mainly because deep down I always suspected he was special,
and now that had been confirmed. Unfortunately, his unique abilities came with
a price. One neither of us wanted.

Sighing heavily as I fought off the tears that were
threatening to spill out at any moment, I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on
the soft noises of the elevator as it ascended to the first floor. When it came
to a stop, I opened my eyes and directed my attention to the doors just as they
opened and revealed the disturbing form of the old woman from 2B.

The nameless woman who occupied the apartment on the second
floor where Mrs. Wells had lost her life not too long ago was of average build.
Not too small, not too tall. She had short, white hair, a pale complexion, and
eyes that were as dark as Brandon’s long black hair. Like most seniors, she
wore clothing that was a little loose and comfortable to move in. Unlike most
seniors, however, she gave me the creeps.

During the month or so since she had moved into the
apartment building, I had seen her only a few times. And although there was
nothing extraordinary about her, the way she stared back at me every time we
happened to cross paths was enough to make me cringe.

“Hello, dear.” She smiled as soon as the doors opened and
she spotted me standing all alone in the suddenly too-small elevator.

“Going up?” I asked, because I had no idea what else to say.

“Yes, 2B,” she murmured, taking two steps toward the
elevator but pausing before coming in. With eyes that seemed rather young for a
woman who appeared to be in her eighties, she directed her gaze around the
cabin as if looking for something. After a few seconds, she frowned and stepped
back. “Perhaps I should take the stairs. I could use the exercise anyway.” She
smiled, revealing perfectly straight and white teeth.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“It’s only one floor up,” I insisted, thinking that she
would probably have a stroke while traveling up the stairs and, since most
residents used the elevators, it would be a while before she was even found.

“That’s okay, I can manage.” And with that, she hurried down
the hall and out of sight.

“That was weird,” I murmured before pushing the button that
commanded the doors to close.

****

The following Monday morning shadowed the usual routine for
a normal weekday. Vanessa came to pick me up at the appointed time and drove me
to campus. Unfortunately, once she parked behind the building she would not let
me out of the car.

“What is the deal with you, Leah?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, already regretting not bolting
out of the car when I had the chance. I mean, I could outrun the girl. She was
six months pregnant, for God’s sake. So why didn’t I run off as soon as she
parked the car? The truth? I needed to talk to someone, but I had no idea how
to even start digging into the subject I so desperately wanted to discuss.

After Brandon had dropped me off the day before, I spent a
few hours sulking in bed. I had no interest in getting up and going to work, even
though I knew I had to. As I waited for the time to come up, I laid in bed
thinking about the events of Saturday night.

I had made the mistake of assuming that once I was alone and
had time to go over the events of the prior evening, I could be absolutely sure
that I had made the right choice by deciding not to get involved with Brandon. Drilling
a hole from my brain to my heart did not exactly work to my advantage, because
I was becoming more and more confused over my feelings for Brandon. And, yes, I
refused to accept that perhaps I had felt something for him all along and had just
chosen to ignore it.

However, that was not far from the truth. It was safe to say
that perhaps I had known all along how he felt about me. After all, I was not a
complete idiot. I had caught him staring at me a few times in the past, but I
just turned my head the other way and pretended I saw nothing. And when my
friends acted as if he was the biggest loser in school, I stupidly followed
along when all I really wanted to do was go to him and strike up a conversation,
much like I had when I was a five-year-old kindergartner.

I had finally decided to follow my heart, only to find that fate
had other plans. I had but a second to make a decision, which I instantly
regretted. I was not in complete denial, of course. This Enchanter and Giver of
Life thing was a deadly serious matter, and involved something greater than a
selfish brat of a girl and the sweet guy who was in love with her.

I knew I had made the right choice, but what had me brooding
was the fact that the second he found this mysterious girl, there would be no
chance for us to have a relationship.

Unfortunately, all that deep thinking did not fix anything,
and by the early evening hours I had decided to call the girls so that I had
something else to do besides moping over my loss. Once I had picked up the
phone and dialed, I thought it was a great idea to have someone to talk to, but
Sonya had to start digging for information and that caused me to shut down and
hang up the phone within seconds.

Sonya was one of my best friends and we got along well, but
when I wanted to have a deep, heartfelt conversation, I turned to Vanessa
because she was a few years older and wiser than us.

“Well, aren’t you going to answer me?”

“I told you yesterday that the date went on without a hitch
and we had a great time.”

“Then why do you look like the world’s about to end?”

“Bad night?”

“Try again.”

“Okay, fine.”
Here goes nothing.
“Everything went
well up until Brandon confessed that he’s been in love with me since
kindergarten.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

Without pausing to think things through, I blurted, “Well,
he’s practically… engaged!”

“What?”

“It’s a family thing,” I said in order to avoid giving out
too many details. “And let’s just say that he can’t break off the engagement—”

“And you’re upset because of it, aren’t you?”

“Upset?” I was about to deny it, but thought better of it. I
wanted her honest opinion and I could not get that if I lied about how I felt.
“Yes. I’m upset. More than upset actually, I’m…”

“Devastated?”

“Let’s not go that far.”

“Fine. You’re disappointed, confused, thwarted, feeling as
if you’ve been cheated out of something?”

“That about covers it,” I said with a frown.