Love Charms (134 page)

“Don’t touch her,” my zombie boyfriend
growled.

Taking advantage of Mark’s interference,
I aimed for Kristoff’s neck again. I was so focused on the necromancer that I
didn’t see Mark swing the bucket at me.

Steel clanged into my skull and I
struggled to keep my feet under me. “What did you do that for?” I screamed at
Mark. The world went gray around the edges and I fought to keep it from going
black. “I’m not the enemy, he is.” I pointed at Kristoff who had recovered and
was preparing to launch another psychic attack against me. I didn’t have a lot
of time.

“I can’t let you kill him until you know
how to bring me back,” Mark said, frowning at me.

“So, you’ll kill me to protect him?”  I
parried a stream of energy from Kristoff, reciprocating with one of my own,
which Kristoff easily blocked. Julia was right, we were both similar in
strength, something that could be a problem. I could see this ending in a
potential stalemate, and then what?

“No, of course not.”

I spared a moment to glare at him before
returning my focus to Kristoff who had armed himself with two scalpels. “You’ll
just beat me into submission then. I get it.”  

“Look, Sofia. I just want to be with you.
You know that.” Mark stepped in front of me, blocking my line of vision. “Just
stop fighting, both of you. You’re going to get hurt.” He spoke to both of us,
but it was me he threatened with the bucket. This was love? I didn’t think so.

Kristoff and I each stepped around Mark
and reached for each other. Kristoff hooked a leg behind mine, applying
pressure to the back of my knee. I went down with him on top of me and we ended
up in the same place as before, Kristoff straddling me, a cruel gleam in his
eye, and arm raised, ready to strike home.

Two things happened then. Mark went to
punch Kristoff, who deflected his blow with a raised forearm, and a sudden
white light beamed into the room, blinding us all. When it faded, Malcolm
stretched tall over us, white wand in one hand and a sword in the other. With a
primal yell, he swung his sword and decapitated Kristoff in one stroke.

“And so the circle is complete,” he said
as the head flew backwards, still moaning as it went. Hot blood rained down on
me, and Kristoff’s limp body drove the scalpel into my chest. In the
background, I heard Mark screaming ‘no’, but whether it was out of concern for
me or concern for himself, I couldn’t tell. The black depths of unconsciousness
claimed me, wrapping me in a smothering cocoon of nothing.

* * *

I don’t know how long I was out as I no
longer even knew who I was. I drifted in a black world of emptiness, a place of
'unbeing', unable to even reach the astral plane and not caring if I ever did
again. Gradually, though, I became aware of sounds; high-pitched beeps, soft
voices, the scuff of shoes on the floor. More time passed, and I began to feel
sensation: something tight around my arm, something sharp under the skin of my
hand, heavy covers pressing down on my legs, keeping them too warm.

At some point, I opened my eyes. Slowly
at first, cautious. A bright light overhead seared my pupils and I snapped my
eyes shut fast as a turtle retreating into its shell. The dark harbored me for
a bit longer, but the light had been enough to make me aware I wasn’t dead. I
needed to wake up.

The next time I tried to open my eyes, I
was even more cautious. I started with slits and then blinked one eye open
followed by the other, and, with perseverance, the fuzzy blurs of color came
into gradual focus.

I saw white ceiling tiles first. Then
mint green walls. A dull ache on the side of my head throbbed. When I moved to
touch it, I noticed an IV in my forearm. I jumped when something hissed and
tightened on my arm, relieved to see it was only a blood pressure cuff. I was
in a hospital, a fact I confirmed by a quick check under the covers which
proved my underwear was gone and that the gown wouldn’t even cover a pixie’s
butt. Definitely a hospital.

I frowned. How had I gotten here?

A faint memory came to me of fighting
Kristoff. I closed my eyes and Kristoff’s face flashed on the back of my
eyelids followed by the moment Malcolm's sword came down on his neck. Ick. Not
something I wanted to see again.

I must’ve survived the fight then.

Amazing.

Exhausted by my foray into the conscious
world, I let myself drift away again. This time though, it was a normal,
healthy sleep.

When I woke up, Vera was there, sitting
in an old plastic bucket chair at the foot of the bed, reading a magazine.
White bandages wound around both hands, leaving just a few fingers free for her
to turn the pages. She looked up when I stirred.

“You’re awake.” She smiled.

I nodded and said something that was
supposed to be ‘yes’ but it came out sounding more like a frog with laryngitis.
I tried again. “Your hands.” I reached for her.

Vera set her magazine aside and came to
stand beside me. “It was necessary.”

I lightly touched the bandages. “Was it?”

She gave a decisive nod. “It wasn’t a
future I could escape.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, tears pricking my
eyes.

“Don’t be. We won and we’re alive. We
have more to celebrate than mourn.” She gingerly patted my arm. “Let me get you
something to drink. You sound like a frog in a desert.” She left and returned a
moment later with a can of orange juice and a small plastic pitcher filled with
water.

Wheeling the tray table over and
arranging it so I could reach my drinks, she said, “You’ve been out a couple
days.” Noticing my eyes widening in alarm, she laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s
nothing serious, at least as far as any of these doctors can tell. You just got
hit pretty hard and stabbed in the chest. You lost a lot of blood which is why
you're so woozy.”

I gulped the orange juice, wincing as the
acid burned my dry throat. Clearing my throat, I said, “Stabbed?”

“You don’t remember?”

I shook my head.

“Kristoff got you in a couple places. You
have stitches on your arms and on your collar bone.” She gently touched my
breastbone. “And he got you here pretty bad.”

I looked as she spoke. Sure enough, there
were bandages on the fleshy parts of both my forearms. Slipping a hand under my
gown I ran a finger along the bandage there. I’d missed it in my previous
inspection.

Vera continued. “He was aiming for your
throat, but the druid stopped him.”

Right. The druid, also known as Malcolm
my neighbor. “Have you seen him?”

Vera shook her head. “Not since he killed
Kristoff. I would like to ask him a few questions, but he’s not around to
answer and no one else is talking either. My guess? They shuttle druids back
and forth from the future to the past to deal with people like Kristoff.”

“Why? Who made them time travel cops?” It
wasn’t that I was ungrateful for their help, I was breathing now only because
of their intervention. But the idea of druids as time traveling crime fighters
was a little hard to swallow. They weren’t very good at it either, considering
the failed rescue of Jason and the fact that Kristoff had gotten so far in his
plans.

 “I don’t know. Some Sidhe believe the
balance between magic and humans has been upset since the Great Coming Out.
They would say what we just went through was a prime example. When the human
and Sidhe worlds were separate, there were no Kristoffs or renegades or
dragons. So, since the druids are all about balance and Kristoff was definitely
unbalanced…” She shrugged. “But it’s all a theory. The only people who know for
sure aren’t talking.”

“What about Athena and the renegades?”

“Athena is dead. The police have arrested
dozens of renegades. It’s the biggest sting in the history of magic
trafficking. It’s been all over the news.”

“And the dragons?”

“Still in Fairy, but that’s not my story
to tell.” She smiled. “In fact, let me go get the person who should be telling
you about that part. He should be here by now. Hang on.” She left the room, and
since, I was attached to several large pieces of beeping equipment, I had no
choice but to wait.

The cold air prickling up and down my
neck told me I wouldn’t wait alone. Sure enough, a second after I felt the
first cold draft, Mark flickered into sight next to my bed.

“I was wondering when I would see you.” I
hid my anxiety at his appearance behind a cheerful smile. I had no intention of
living up to our agreement and wasn’t looking forward to telling Mark so.

“I’ve been popping in and out, waiting
for you to wake up.” He returned my smile, but I noticed it didn’t quite reach
his eyes. His aura seemed brighter since the last time I saw him, but flickered
in and out of focus as if it wasn’t quite all there. “How are you feeling?”

“I haven’t decided. I’m awake and that’s
about all I know.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He paused,
shifting his non-existent weight from phantom foot to phantom foot obviously
uneasy. I tensed, waiting for him to demand I find him a body to inhabit. To my
surprise, he said, “I don’t have much time.”

I raised my eyebrows.“Oh?”

“They didn’t even want to let me come
back to say goodbye, but I told them it wasn’t fair to you.”

“They?” I frowned. “Mark, what are you
talking about?”

He sighed. “Look, I was wrong to do what
I did. To try and live again. I crossed a line, if they hadn’t intervened, I
don’t know if I would’ve stopped. I just wanted to be with you.”

I stared at him, befuddled at his sudden
remorse. Was this the same guy who had crammed his soul into someone else’s
body and then forced his dead tongue down my throat? “You hit me with a
bucket,” was the only thing I could think to say.

“I know. I’m sorry. I wasn’t ready to
die, but I didn’t have any right to do what I did to you or to...to that guy
whose body I used.” He looked up at the ceiling and swallowed hard. “I know now
that death isn’t the end and that we’ll be together again, when the time is
right. It’s just that I love you, so much.” He glanced at me and I saw ghostly
tears rimming his eyes.

“I know, but I’m glad you understand our
time is over for now.” I held up a hand and he pressed his freezing palm
against mine, careful to not go through me. “I’m sorry Mark. About the
accident. About everything. I wish...,” I had to pause and take a deep breath,
“I wish things had turned out differently.”

“Me too.” He gently reached out with his
other hand and traced a finger down my cheek. “But they told me it’s time to
move on. Time to accept the past can’t be changed.”

Tell that to the druids, I thought. Out
loud I said, “Who is this they you keep mentioning?”

“I’m not sure. God or the powers that be,
a higher power of some kind. All I know is, they’ve helped me these last few
days to accept what happened.”

“Good.” I smiled at him, happy to hear
Mark had someone helping him adjust to the lousy hand of cards he had been
dealt. God --or whoever-- knew hanging around me wasn’t the answer. “So this is
it, then? Our final goodbye?” I couldn’t stop my voice from trembling. To think
I would never see Mark again hurt more than I expected it to.

He nodded. Above his head swirled a soft
white light shot through with pale blue. “That’s them. I have to go.”

“Until later, then.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I guess so. Keep an eye
out for my sister will you? I don’t want her to be like my mom."

I nodded. I would try. Maybe I could
arrange play dates with Grace and Mark’s sister. That should be interesting.

"Until later.” With that, he drifted
up into the light and was gone.

I bawled like a baby. I couldn’t help it.
It was like Mark had died a second time. To know I would never see him or talk
to him again hurt. Granted, I was relieved he was no longer hell bent on
becoming my zombie lover and couldn’t interfere with my life anymore, but still
there was a empty place in my heart, one that wouldn’t soon be filled.

And that was when Jacob walked in the
door. At the sight of his crooked smile and the black bruise on his cheek, I
cried even harder. Was it possible for a heart to break and heal at the same
time?

He came and took my hand in his. I pulled
him to me for a hug, and head on his shoulder said, “I never thought I’d see
you again.”

Jacob squeezed me close. “I know. It was
a near thing.”

“How did you get out of the Wastelands?”
I tightened my arms around Jacob, thinking of him all alone in the Wastelands.

Jacob rubbed a comforting hand across my
back. “Did you know the Goblin King is not only a militant vegetarian, but he
also works with the FIB a lot? He put me in touch with them when I explained
what was going on.”

“You got the dragons to change their
minds.”

“Sort of. I pulled every string I had and
it still wasn’t enough. I couldn’t compete with the Sidhe crown and their oath
to Athena. Magic oaths are literally binding, did you know that?”