Soul Mates Bewitched (15 page)

I
awoke a few hours later, laying long ways across the bar. My head hurt, but other than that I felt fine. I could hear the others murmuring in low voices, trying not to disturb me.

“How much longer do you think, before it reaches us?”

“A few hours, maybe. It’s hard to tell over the ocean. We’ve lost contact with all of Europe and I haven’t flashed over to Ireland to check on the Mound. Auberon forbid it. He says I’m needed here.”

“Me parents, did ye get them ta the Mound?”

“The Oracle is safe, Sorceress. Do not fear. She would not leave her orb, and so we had to make adjustments for its voyage, but we managed. And none–too-soon. The Darkness consumed Ireland forty minutes after they entered the Mound. No one is taking chances traveling through the Never Never, so we can’t be sure what is going on over there right now.”

I continued to lay where I was, staring up at the bar ceiling, barely moving, but Jillian must have noticed that I was awake, because she came to smile over me and take my hand. I smiled back at her. “What’d I miss?”

“Yer better,” Jillian said with a sigh of relief. “Ye had me feckin’ worried! Don’t ye ever feckin’ do that again, ye hear me?”

I grinned. “I hear you,” I said, raising her fingers to my lips and brushing a kiss across them. “Anyone bother to turn on the news?”

“We’ve been listenin’ off and on whilst ye were passed out. Tisn’t good.”

I sat up on the bar and then jumped down. I crossed the room and picked up the remote from the table and clicked on the flat screen that hung behind the bar. Every channel was covering the same thing, so it didn’t matter which one I turned it to.

“All contact with Europe, Russia, China, Africa and the UK has been disrupted. Contact with Iceland was lost just an hour ago, and most of Greenland is now gone as well. The spread of the darkness, if it continues at this pace will reach our shores within the hour. Taking Maine and the Eastern coast first. If you have a shelter with food and supplies we recommend you get there now. Do not leave your homes. The police have issued a curfew in an attempt to keep people off of the streets while this phenomenon occurs. We can only hope that the Scientists are correct and it is some crazy kind of planetary eclipse that happens once every four thousand years.”

I muted the TV. “That’s what they’ve come up with? An
eclipse
? What kind of eclipse leaves the world shrouded in Darkness and cuts off all communication?” I asked shaking my head.

“They’re scared. They don’t know what to believe. It has been utter chaos out there. Looting is becoming a big problem. The Queen has a lot to answer for. When this is over there is going to be a great deal of recovery in store for us,” Max said rising to join me in front of the TV.

I nodded and then asked the question that had been nagging me since I woke. “Did we lose anyone?”

Nobody said anything and I turned to look at the room. My eyes roved over the people standing around. I caught a glimpse of Nicu and Kimberly coming out of the back room. My eyes lit on several of the Guardians, their heads down, their lips silent. “Max?”

I saw Max nod as he stood next to me, his face solemn. “A few.”

I sighed. “Who…do I even want to know?”

Max put his hand on my shoulder. “We shall see them in Summerland. Their lives were not lived in vain. We shall see them again.”

“Is Auberon coming?” I half whispered.

“Not yet. Not unless something…”

“Goes wrong?” I finished, but then watched his face and it was as though a light bulb went off in my head. “Not unless something happens to you.”

Max shook his head. “No, Tony. Not unless something happens to
you.”

“To me?” I asked in surprise. “Why would he come if something happens to me?”

“I had to stop him from coming once already! He would have been here if Shaylin hadn’t been able to cure you. You are the Light Bearer. If something happens to you, this fight is going to get a whole lot worse. Auberon will have to fight just to save what little he can of our worlds.”

I nodded and swallowed hard. I heard Anca’s words echoing in my head.
Save them…
The fate of the world was literally in my hands. I suddenly felt light headed. “I need food.”

Jillian brought me a soda and a sandwich, turkey club, and sat down next to me at the bar. “Ye ken do this, Antony. Tis yer destiny,” she said softly.

I ate my sandwich in silence as I watched the TV screen. There was no point listening to the broadcasters anymore. They’d said everything they could think of and then some. We all watched as the Darkness consumed Maine, and then Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We were still watching as it took New Hampshire, and then thirty minutes later Vermont.

I stopped watching after that. Instead I watched Jillian and she watched me. It was as though we were trying to say everything we needed to say with just those few looks. I leaned my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. I felt her shift and lean more into me, pressing her sweet lips to mine. I stroked her curls, caressed her cheek and held her close until the lights began to flicker, and then we were taken over by the Darkness. I swallowed hard, kissed Jillian one last time and stood up.

“Let’s do this,” I said.

We all bumped our way out of Dorinta’s, heading toward Central Park. It was eerie seeing the Big Apple completely dark, not a light in sight. It was so dark, I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. We all knew where we were headed. Back to where it all started. Jillian’s territory, near the Faerie Mound entrance.

The first wave, a large group of Reapers, attacked quickly. Their scythes slashing at us from every side. It almost seemed like a never ending tide of the death bringers, but soon they gave way to a much worse enemy, the Chimera. Dozens and dozens of the fierce fire-breathing beasts came for us, but we fought our way through them one at a time.

I twirled my blades, slicing off Chimera tails left and right, stabbing creatures and avoiding flames. I caught a glimpse for half a second of Jillian fighting off her own beasts a few feet from me and I moved to help her, but was struck by the tail of a dying Chimera as it lashed out, trying to take one of us with it as it died. It knocked me off balance, but I steadied myself and prepared for the next wave of attack.

“You’ll never win, heir to Light and Illusion! I am the Queen of all Darkness, I am the very air you breathe. I will crush you!” And with her words the air was suddenly thinner and harder to breath. She couldn’t deprive us of all air; she needed it herself to breathe as well as her creatures. But she could make it difficult.

I didn’t let it panic me. I just worked harder to beat her. It was then that the ground began to shake again, quivering earthquakes as the next wave moved in to attack us. Minotaur and Cyclops with large clubs joined us in the field. The Unseelie bodies were piling up and then quickly flaking away. I didn’t know how many of our own we’d lost, but it didn’t look as though we’d lost too many. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the utter Darkness and I could see more and more.

I found myself back to back with Cole as we fought off a couple of Minotaur. Cole took my hand and hefted me into the air. I flipped and landed on the shoulders of the Minotaur and quickly decapitated it before it could reach up and toss me off. I rode its body down to the ground and we repeated the process with the second Minotaur.

“The Light Bearer will be mine! I will end him and take the Chalice of Light, then this world will be my playground!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” I shouted.

“Ah, the Light Bearer, at last. I’d hoped to draw you out. You have been plaguing me for far too long!” the Queen said coming into the field with a troupe of winged Gargoyles surrounding her.

The Gargoyles began to beat their wings kicking up a huge dust storm, attempting to blind us, but we’d prepared for that and Jillian tossed a destabilizer potion in their direction, causing them to lose their rhythm and their wings to shatter and fall apart. Their stone bodies crumbling to the ground, as Jillian tossed another potion in their direction.

“You’ll have to do better than that,” I said. I almost wished I hadn’t said anything as a group of Grendals stepped up to take the Gargoyles place. The Grendals were fiends with wicked claws and sharp teeth, not to mention, extremely strong.

Jillian and I worked together to take out a couple of them, her going for their throats with her dagger while I cut them off at the knees. “I’m almost oot o’ potions, Antony!” she shouted.

Around me everyone was doing their best to keep the creatures at bay, but they just kept coming. There didn’t appear to be an end in sight and they were squeezing the circle of us tighter and tighter.

“You have nowhere to run to, Light Bearer!” the Queen cackled.

“The Light, Antony… Use the Light… Remember who you are! Save them!”
Anca’s voice rose up through the Earth, but only I could hear her.

“You’ll be the one running, Your Majesty!” I shouted as I began to feel the energy build in me. I closed my eyes, concentrating on Anca’s voice.

“Use the Light… Use the Love… it is the only way… Save them!”

“Jillian!” I called out to her. I took her hand as she stepped in front of me and I pulled her close, her back to my chest. “Max, Cole! Hold on to Jillian!”

I pushed Jillian’s arms up and out, and then held on to her waist. The creatures were pushing closer as the Guardians and Light Fae linked hands while Max and Cole held Jillian’s.

“What are ye doin’, Antony? We can’t defend ourselves! Their coming! Hurry!”

“I love you,” I whispered into her ear, and then I pushed every ounce of Light and love and magic I had in me, into her, and through her, into the others. Jillian began to glow and then the glow spread to the Guardians and the Light Fae, and then it began to get brighter and brighter, first lighting up all of Central Park and then New York. Driving the Unseelie to run screaming back into the portal they’d used to get here, or to disintegrate the moment the Light touched their skin.

“No!” the Queen shouted. “No! You cannot!” She ran for the portal, her skin flaking off as she ran for her life. She disappeared into her portal along with what few Unseelie were fast enough to fall in behind her, before it closed. Those that weren’t fast enough did not make it out of the park before our Light spread.

“W
hat the hell was that?” James asked shifting back into human form.

Max grinned sardonically as he snapped his fingers and clothed James. “That was Tones and his new light show.”

“That was totally savage!” Jillian turned in my arms and kissed me, her tongue dancing with mine. I slid my hands down her back and pulled her legs up to straddle my waist and held her as close as I possibly could.

“I hope you don’t expect all of us to thank you like that, Dude,” James said, laughing at his own joke.

Jillian and I broke apart, wearing matching grins on our faces. “Of course not, Dude. Why the heck would I want a kiss from you, when I’ve got Jillian in my arms?”

We made our way back to the bar, hiding our weapons as we emerged from the park to find that traffic had picked up, and people were coming out into the street to make sure that the world was still there. I could see the TV flashing pictures from around the world and I grabbed the remote to turn up the sound again.

“
The light seems to have originated in New York. Eyewitnesses, who have now been discredited, were saying the light was coming from a group of alien like creatures having a war in Central Park. There is no evidence that any such war took place. Scientists are now claiming what we witnessed were the results of solar flares along with the planet Jupiter temporarily slipping out of orbit.”

I shut the TV off and turned to Max. “So, now what? Do you think the Queen is done trying to take over the world?”

“No, she’ll try again. Somehow I doubt that she will attempt to take you on again personally though,” Max replied with a grin. “You dealt her some pretty serious blows. It’s going to take her a bit to recover. Doesn’t mean she’s going to stop sending her warriors to our world to create chaos, but at least the imminent threat is gone.”

I nodded, suddenly exhausted. “Good to know.”

“Me parents?” Jillian asked.

“They are well, and asking to see you.”

Jillian looked into my eyes, and I knew what she was going to ask. “Yeah, I’ll go with you.”

Jillian smiled and leaned in and kissed me on the corner of my mouth. “I love you too.”

“Would you like to change, or do you want me to do my…”

“Nay!” Jillian practically shrieked. “Nay, I’ll get me self changed, thank ye very much.”

I laughed at Max‘s expression. “We’ll be back in half an hour. Why don’t you go see Anna and the kids? I know she must have been worried about you.”

“You have no idea. She is going to kick my ass for doing all of this without her. You know how she is.”

I chuckled. “I’ll call you when we’re ready,” I said, taking Jillian’s hand and following her out of Dorinta’s.

We walked the few blocks to her place, shaking our heads at the broken store windows as we passed them. People act like lunatics when they think the world is ending. I was just thankful that Dorinta’s was warded against such things. I’d have hated coming back and seeing it completely destroyed like some of these stores.

As we passed the shop where I’d seen the mortar and pestle, I stopped. The windows were smashed again, but it didn’t look as though anything had been taken. I smiled and pulled Jillian through the door.

“Tony, I thought we were feckin’ goin’ ta me place.”

“Just a minute, I have to check on something,” I said. “Just wait here a minute, okay?”

Jillian nodded and I went to talk to the owner. “Er… Hello?” I called into the back room.

“What are you doing here?” the woman asked suspiciously.

“Are you Mirabella?”

“Yes,” she said, still suspicious.

“A few days ago, I mean…damn. I forgot. A while back, you had a jade mortar and pestle in the window… do you still have it?”

Mirabella’s eyes narrowed. “You mean the jade mortar and pestle that were in the window the first time my windows exploded?”

I frowned. “Er… About that…”

“Know something about that do you?” she said with a frown. “You were fighting the Dark Ones at the time, if I recall correctly.”

“What do you know about the Dark Ones?”

“You saw what else was in the window? The spell books and other things…how do you think I know about the Dark Ones? I’m a witch. And I know who you are, too, Tony Gunari. Your Uncle’s place is quite popular you know. I warded his bar against looting,” she said with a smile, and then frowned as she looked to the front of her shop. “I knew I should have put an unbreakable spell on the glass, but I did ward the contents of the shop and the glass is repairable. Now, about that mortar and pestle. Yes, they’re still available. I had a feeling about them, so I pulled them from the window and I‘ve kept it in the back room.”

I smiled. “I’d like to buy the set.”

“A gift for the Sorceress that waits up front?” Mirabella asked with a smile.

I nodded. “Yes, it just…seemed perfect.”

Mirabella rang up the purchase and wrapped it for me. “Tell your uncle I said hello, and not to be a stranger.”

“I will,” I said with a smile. I made my way back to the front of the shop, and to Jillian. “Ready to go?” I asked, holding the bag behind my back.

Jillian cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. “What’s in the bag?”

I grinned. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

“Tony,” Jillian laughed. “Come on, what tis it?”

I just shook my head, took her hand and we continued our walk to her place on Sixty-ninth street. We arrived a few minutes later and were greeted by Harry, the doorman.

“Miss Jillian! I’m so glad to see you alive and well,” Harry said opening the door for us.

Jillian smiled. “Tis good ta be home, Harry.”

“Your mother informed us that you were away for a while, doing some field work for her.”

Jillian blinked and her smile froze on her face. “Yes, Mum is very efficient like that.”

Harry smiled. “Everything is just as you left it. David made sure the maids got in and dusted everything and he took care of your mail as well.”

“Great. Thanks Harry,” she said pulling me farther into the building and up the stairs to her rooms.

She shut the door behind us and leaned back against the door. “Feck.”

“What is it?” I asked setting her present on the table and taking her in my arms.

Jillian laid her forehead on my shoulder and sighed. “Jest me feckin’ mum. Every feckin’ person ‘round me knows what the feck is goin’ on, except fer me. Tis always been that way and I’m feckin’ sick of it.”

I stroked her hair and tilted her chin up to kiss her lips. “Well, should I discover anything; you’ll be the first one to know it.”

Jillian grinned. “Ye better,” she said with a chuckle. “Come on then, let me get changed, so we ken go see me mum.”

I grabbed the bag with her gift and waited in the den, flipping through TV channels while I waited for her to reappear. I heard the shower and settled back into the sofa, prepared for a long wait. She surprised me, though, and was back out and looking hotter than ever within fifteen minutes. Her curly hair was damp, but beautiful as ever. She wore a gray, pinstriped skirt and a pretty, sunshine yellow blouse with capped sleeves. She’d dusted some powder over her freckles in an attempt to hide them, but they still showed through. I thought they were pretty cute, and one day soon I planned to count every one of them.

I stood up as she entered the room and grinned. “So, you wanna know what’s in the bag?”

Jillian smiled and nodded, holding out her hands for the present. “Yes.”

I took her hand and led her over to the sofa and after she settled herself, I handed her the bag. “I saw it a few days ago and thought of you.”

Jillian opened the bag, and removed a box. She pulled the ribbons and opened the box. “Oh! Tony, tis lovely!” she exclaimed as she gently caressed the jade. “And tis perfect fer mixing potions. Thank ye,” she said setting the mortar and pestle on the coffee table and wrapping her arms around me, and kissing me.

“Marry me, Jillian. I know I should have bought you a ring, but…” I began when we’d finally caught our breath. “I… I just don’t think I can imagine my life without you. I want to be with you always. I want to love and protect you. I’ll get you a ring, I swear, just…marry me.”

Jillian grinned. “I don’t need a feckin’ ring, it’d jest get in the way when we’re fightin’ Unseelie. The mortar and pestle are more than enough, and mean so much more. Yes, yes I’ll marry ye,” she said before kissing me again.

I pulled her tightly into my arms and kissed her back, my tongue tangling with hers in a passionate kiss that went on for several minutes. “I’ll have to find a job, and a place for us to stay,” I said when we finally broke apart.

Jillian laughed. “Ye o’ready have a job, keepin’ the world safe, and at Dorinta’s with Nicu. Didn’t he tell ye? The bar is gonna be yers, ye know. Fer now, ye’re the manager. An’ this place is mine, it ken be ours. Plenty o’ room. Ye know I own the whole building. I own it, not me mum and da. Tis me money. Granted tis inherited, but still, tis mine.”

I kissed her again, messing up her elegant looking clothes enough that she had to go back to the bathroom and straighten up before we could leave. She grinned when I attempted to pull her back into my arms and kiss her.

“Tony!” she said shaking her head with a grin. “Come on, mo ghrá.” She took my hand and pulled me out of the apartment, closing the door behind her.

“Mo ghrá. You said you’d tell me what that means,” I said following her down the stairs.

Jillian turned on the step below me, wrapped her arms around my waist and looked up into my eyes with a smile. “Me love.”

“Mo ghrá. I like that,” I said stroking her cheek and pulling on her curls. “You are
mo
ghrá.”

Jillian turned her cheek into my palm and kissed it before turning back around, taking my hand and pulling me the rest of the way down the stairs. Outside we hailed a cab so that she wouldn’t have to walk the several blocks back to Dorinta’s in her four inch heels.