Talisman 2 - The Sapphire Talisman (16 page)

Immediately, I dropped Phil’s hand, almost expecting to find Nicholas inside. It stung that he’d never taken me to his place before.

Nicholas’ living area was simple and immaculate, yet sterile; almost like a hotel room except boxes lined the walls. On one end of the room, in a nook, stood a queen sized bed with an end table and a lamp. Next to it was his dresser, bare except for a solitary framed photo. I walked over and picked it up. Alora—human and very lovely—stared back at me with green eyes. She stood in a kitchen, wearing a white sundress and laughing, holding wild flowers out to the person behind the camera. The talisman caught my eye—bright crimson—catching the light of the flash.

I grimaced while setting the picture down, instinctively cradling the talisman with my fingertips. The stone still remained dead beneath my touch.

I continued to look around, noticing the surf boards propped in the corner. The guitar though—abandoned on the couch—did me in. I walked towards the instrument and traced the frets with my fingers, hoping to draw closer to Nicholas somehow. He’d been there, recently playing. Pieces of paper with handwritten lyrics sat on the coffee table. The title read “
My Pretty Little Flower
.” It took all my concentration to keep from bursting into tears.

Phil coughed from the doorway. I glanced over and realized he couldn’t come in.

“You’re invited,” I whispered.

Phil nonchalantly moved forward and put his hand on
Scarlett
’s shoulder.

“He’s gone,”
Scarlett
said breathlessly, without looking up.

“Is he doing okay?”

She shook her head. “I tried. The evil is strong. He’s been suppressing that side for too long. It’s now raging out of control. He’s not slept or eaten anything since the change. He
. . .
he got away.”

“What’s that on your arm?” Phil said, turning over her wrist. Two purple curved scars lined the inside of her delicate forearm. “Did he
. . .
?”

“It
. . .
was an accident.”
Scarlett
looked away, pulling back her hand, ashamed. “I
. . .
it’s tied us together.”

“What?” I exclaimed, coming out of my fog, feeling very disturbed they shared that type of euphoria together and were connected somehow because of it. “What do you mean you’re tied together now?”

“I sense what he senses and I think he senses me too.”

Anger washed over me, leaving nothing but jealousy in its wake. “I can’t believe you let this happen. You—” I pointed my finger
at her
, “—this is all
your
fault!”

I rushed her, climbing over the coffee table with fists drawn. Phil stepped between us, holding me back. “Whoa there, Parker, calm down.”

“Let me at her!” I barked, wishing he’d give me just one second to land a much deserved punch. Phil firmly sat me back down on the couch. I struggled, frustrated I was still weakened from my flu, withholding the horrible
name
s I wanted to call her.

“Do you think, by telling Nicholas about Alora, things would have been different?”

“Yes,” I said indignantly. “We could have been better prepared. I could have told him what he’d be up against. Warned him. Been truthful and upfront.”

“He would have gone after her,” she said darkly. “You know he would have. The coincidence that she had the same name as his mother would have been too ironic.”

My eyes burned into hers. I didn’t want to agree. I wanted to hate her, blame her, scratch her face off, call her ugly names, but I couldn’t. From within her heart flowed sincerity, grief and exhaustion.

“It’s in the past now,” Phil said, loosening his grip on me. “We need to figure out a new game plan so we can stop her.”

Ignoring Phil, I gritted my teeth.
“Where’d he go?”
J
ealous
y
ravaged my bones
, disgusted
they shared a
special blood
-
bond, almost like
he
’d cheated on me.

Scarlett
looked off to the side. “He’s alone for now, wrestling with himself.”

“Where? I should be with him.”

Her eyes darted back to mine, concern glittering out. “No, it’s not safe yet.”

“Of course you’d say that. You’re always calling the shots whether or not it’s the best thing
!
” I bellowed.

“Parker, she’s right.” Phil squeezed my hand. His calm melted into me from his body to mine, relaxing me though I fought it. I scowled and pulled my hand away, wanting to stay mad.

We were all suddenly quiet—but only on the outside. When I felt both Phil and
Scarlett
’s agitation rise at the same time, I knew they were telepathically talking to each other.

“Quit it you two
!
I
f you have something to say, say it out loud,” I growled.

“We—”
Phil radiated nervousness, his eyes dancing between the two of us,
“—think he needs more time, that’s all.
What he’s going through right now is
very
complicated
.”

“I love that I’m the one now being kept in the dark.” I let out a sarcastic howl. “He needs help, he needs someone who can understand him, he needs—”
me
.

Suddenly, I thought of Harry, his hero and father figure. Then I pictured him dead, unaware of Nicholas’ change. A horrific hiccupping noise followed after I sucked the air into my lungs too sharply. Katie had specifically asked about the weapons when she kidnapped me, making everything painfully clear. Alora not only want
ed
the necklace, she planned to get her hands on the weapons too–Harry’s weapons. Maybe even Harry himself. “Oh no.”

Scar
lett
’s curiosity followed a shiver that ran along my hairline, radiating across my scalp. I instantly remembered, without the talisman’s power, nothing stopped her from canvassing my mind. Internally, I bolted and fastened myself under Phil’s feelings, hoping to confuse her, which it did.

“Knock it off,” I said with a glare, getting up off the couch and moving to the other side of the room. “You have no business in my head.”

I wanted to throw the talisman on the ground and smash it into tiny pieces for all the help it was doing.

“I—meant no harm,” she said apologetically, laying her head down upon her knees again. For a moment, she looked vulnerable, like an abandoned child, lost and broken. I felt sorry for her for a second
.
A
very
brief
second.

“I’m not helping anyone.”
Scarlett
said and let out a long sigh.

I snorted in agreement. Phil’s frustration erupted.

“Look,” Phil’s eyes burned into mine, “I need the
both
of you to knock this off and get along. This is huge and, believe it or not, we must work together as a team in order to survive.”

“I’m not thrilled with the arrangement,” I interrupted, glaring at
Scarlett
who’d turned her head away from us.

“Well, you don’t have much of a choice,” Phil said coolly, pulling me off to the side.

“She’s a freaking mind reader,” I whispered.

“And she’s on our side, so I say suck it up, because it’s the best weapon we’ve got to defeat her Highness and
M
inions
I
ncorporated. Don’t you think?”

I folded my arms and pouted.

Phil put his arm around my shoulder and
percolat
ed com
-
passion, “Come on, Parker. Scar’s cool. She’s always had your back since the beginning.”

“Yeah, but she told me not to tell Nicholas about Alora and look what’s happened?”

“No one is to blame except Alora about how that all went down. Scar’s right. If you’d have told him earlier, he’d have gone after her and ended up in the same place. The reunion was bound to happen. At least now, you have an opportunity to help.”

I grunted, refusing to agree.

“Even still, Jules. Why’d you just freak out a second ago?”

Phil was more concerned than he le
t himself feel. This time, the “
Jules
”
told me more than my gift did.

“I—” I wanted to tell him enough but not everything just in case. “Nicholas has someone he’s fond of in
L.A.
, like a Father figure. He could help and is super knowledgeable about vampire stuff, but he’s unprotected now. I need to warn him.”

“Okay
.
” Phil
nodded
. “Where in L.A.?”

“Somewhere in Orange County.”

Phil groaned. “Really?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Um—nothing. I can take you,” Phil said apprehensively. “If I have to.”

“I’ll take her,”
Scarlett
interjected, obviously eavesdropping, her voice suddenly soothing.

“You’ll need to rest up first,” Phil said over my shoulder, shooting her a look of concern.

Scarlett
exhaled in exasperation. “I’ll be better by tomorrow.”

“I don’t need either of you,” I said quickly, turning around to face her. “I’ll go alone.”

Invisible warnings rung like sirens from the both of them.

“No,” Phil said, while shaking his head. “That’s not an option.”

The tension escalated in the room while the three of us squared off, all wanting to do something different. Phil had already made up his mind and enforced domination over our motley crew even if it killed him.

“This is the deal,” Phil finally said in determination, “
Scarlett
, you need to rest up and get your strength back. Julia, you’ll stay home tomorrow and when Scar’s better, she’ll escort you during the day.”

“Escort?” I let out a loud guffaw. “Not likely.”

“Don’t give me grief, Parker,” Phil said, eyeing me firmly. “She’ll be able to protect you when I can’t.”

“Protect me from Nicholas? Oh, brother,” I said with an eye roll. “He isn’t going to hurt me.”

“We don’t know that,”
Scarlett
said in my mind.

“Shut-up,”
I spewed back. “You both seem to think you know how to handle this situation—how to handle Nicholas—but so far, you’ve majorly failed. I’m all for this
—
” I waved my hands in the air
,
trying to come up with a likely word to describe our group “
—t
eam
thing
, but I want to handle what happens with Nicholas. I can bring him to our side.”

“No,” they said simultaneously.

But before I could argue, darkness descended on Nicholas’ house the moment someone crashed through the door, framed by
Scarlett
’s scream. Her cry initially sounded
more
human th
a
n cat-like and echoed inside my head.

Chapter Nineteen

P
hil’s sudden movements were a whir. The rough grasp of his arms took my breath away as we catapulted upward. The sound of shattering glass followed a bellow from the
living room
. I craned my neck to see but, like a bullet, Phil climbed through the overshadowing redwoods into the moonlit sky, me in one arm and
Scarlett
, in cat form, in the other. I shook tiny broken pieces of glass and redwood twigs from my hair, watching them tumble out of sight with a shimmer. Phil had draped his arm over my head and pressed my face into his shoulder to protect me from injury when he’d broken through the ceiling.

“What happened?” I whispered in his ear.

“Nicholas returned,”
Scarlett
said.

I looked down as my heart agonized to be with him
and caught a blur of
movement beneath us
,
too quick for my eyes to focus on.

“He’s following,”
she said as if to confirm my suspicion, though I didn’t let her back within my mind. I’d remembered to stick close to Phil’s aura.
“We need to get back to your place before he does.”

The increasing g-force pulled on my cheeks, sucking the moisture from my eyes. I leaned into Phil’s chest and snapped my eyelids shut, wanting the ride to be over.
“What does Nicholas want?”
I asked
Scarlett
.

She remained quiet, terribly quiet.

“I know you know. Tell me!”
I internally yelled.

“The necklace, your blood, your life, what else?”

G
rief surrounded me, pulling me under the suffocating water of agony as the air ripped at my hair. He wasn’t there to steal me away because he cared for me like I hoped. All he wanted was the talisman for his God-forsaken vampire mother.

If only I could press rewind and go back to the time when Nicholas was sane, so we could run far away from the nightmare of the future. But the lies that created this chaos had taken over, leaving nothing but destruction in its path. The insanity made me chuckle like a mad woman. Here I was, being flown
through
the cold of night at four in the morning with a fever while my blood-crazed boyfriend chased us, all over a piece of jewelry. I should have been in bed recovering.

Our bodies descended and I opened my eyes just enough to see we were back. Phil headed for the open window but when we entered, he stopped with a jerk, and I tumbled out of his arms onto the floor. With a loud crash, I plowed headfirst into the nightstand and knocked the lamp off the table.

My hand went to my brow, expecting blood to start trickling down my forehead while flashes of white lights skittered across my ceiling. Phil remained half-inside and out of the window, trying to bring
Scarlett
inside.

“I invite you,” he whispered in determination.

When it didn’t work, he cussed; still trapped at the frame with his body inside and
Scarlett
’s out.

“Invite her
!
” he bellowed, his face stern.

I swiveled around, stead
ied
myself with my hand,
and
flooded with a new sense of satisfaction. An evil smile crept on my lips.

“No,” I said plainly. “She can finish what she was supposed to do earlier.”

Phil wouldn’t let go or stop trying to bring her inside. “Julia, don’t do this. She has no strength to get away and Nicholas is almost here.”

Scarlett
leapt out of Phil’s hands onto the ledge, her legs wobbling beneath her.

“No, you can’t
,
Scarlett
,” Phil said, looking directly at her, as if she told him to leave her be.

I gritted my teeth and remained silent.

“I’m invincible but she’s not,” Phil implored. “For me,
please
.”

I stared at both of them, feeling the anxiety grow to unbearable heights, amused their frustration didn’t bother me. But when Phil’s bravery burst open like a dam and he stepped outside and retrieved
Scarlett
, ready to confront Nicholas, I crumbled. Besides a debacle of that magnitude would surely get me grounded for the rest of my life.

“Fine, come in.”

Phil darted through the window with
Scarlett
in his hands right after I felt Nicholas’ loathing outrage.

“You better be potty trained,” I mumbled, giving her a glare.

Scarlett
hissed.

No one seemed to care I was injured on my bedroom floor. For a brief second, I contemplated escaping out the window myself. Phil brooded, watching out the window.
Scarlett
stayed perched next to him, still in cat form. When nothing happened, I finally got up and went to the bathroom to inspect the damage, noticing a large goose-egg forming just below my hairline.

Within minutes, on the other side of the bathroom door,
Scarlett
’s concern swirled about, signaling she’d returned to human form.
Their
fretful emotions ebbed and flowed like a school of fish, echoing each other in a colorful rainbow of variety—telepathically discussing things, privy to Nicholas’ mind now. Instead, I chose to canvass the exterior of my house and found Nicholas close by, acrimoniously plotting as well.

I wanted to reach out and remind him I loved him. When I projected my feelings earlier, the evil hold on his heart weakened. But with Flotsam and Jetsam guarding me, I didn’t know how I could sneak away.

Unless
. . . .

I pulled out my cell phone and quickly texted Nicholas.

- <

As I waited, my heart began to beat faster with each passing second, hoping the change hadn’t erased his memories.

Please respond.

- 3

The buzz of the phone sent shivers of joy through my body. At the same time, a disturbance happened in my room. I reached over and quickly locked the door.

“Parker, what do you think you
’
re doing?” Phil demanded quietly as his hand tried the knob.

“Fixing my head,” I snipped. “Remember the gash I got because you threw me into the table earlier?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

I chuckled caustically. “Why do I need to tell you? Ask Ms. Nosey. She’ll fill you in.”

“Julia, you’re playing with fire. Open the door and give me the phone.”

- I’d like to see you.

My heart continued to pound at the words of his return text.

- Me too.

- Is it too early for coffee?

My lips crinkled into a knowing grin. Coffee cryptically meant he wanted to meet at our secret beach.

- I can’t. I’m sick.

- You are? What’s wrong?

I melted into a puddle, his concern slathering salve on my wounded soul.

- The flu, I think.

“Julia, don’t make me break down the door,” Phil said in a controlled voice.

“If you break down the door, I’ll un-invite you,” I seethed.

- I wish I was there to be able to take care of you.

I swooned in glee. Nicholas
was
back. My actions earlier gave strength to his good side and overcame the evil, bringing this whole nightmare to an end. I could kick
Scarlett
and Phil out forever and replace them with the man who I wanted to be with, the one who loved me unconditionally.

“He’s trying to trick you into inviting him in,” Phil said softly, brimming with distress. “Be careful what you say.”

My hand froze over the keypad of my return text. I’d planned to say,
“I wish you were here too.”
Indirectly, it was an invitation to come inside. A bead of sweat rolled down my temple when I realized Phil was right. I’d been ignoring how he really felt, so desperate to have him back in my life.

“I un-invite you Nicholas,” I breathed just in case, my throat thick with heartache. Then I turned off my phone.

My lower lip quivered as I reached out to find him in my front yard. The sinister workings of his evil side gave me the chills. Phil and
Scarlett
had been right all along. There was no way I could be alone with him and not become his victim. He was solely fueled by manipulation and lies, aimed at taking back the necklace no matter the cost. I curled up on the floor, wishing I could pass out and escape.

“Julia,” Phil said kindly, his hand rocking the door knob again. “Come out.”

I pressed my eyes shut, keeping the tears inside. “No,” I choked out. “Not when
she’s
out there.”

“
Scarlett
doesn’t want to see you suffering either,” he said calmly.

“Yeah right.” I balled up the corner of the rug and squeezed as hard as I could. “She just wants to ransack my mind and use my secrets against me.”

“Not at all,” Phil said sweetly. “She’s a good and decent person. We all misjudge situations. It’s normal. We’re both very sorry about all of this. Really.”

I rested my head on my arm. The cold tiles pressed against my aching body, sending a chill across my skin. I didn’t know how long my stubbornness would outlast my humanity and glanced at the cupboard for any extra towels. There were none.

“Please?” Phil begged. “I feel really rotten out here.”

The last thing I wanted to do was walk out and admit defeat, but I started to shiver. A hot shower seemed like a better idea, but I’d forgotten to grab the clean towels out of the dryer. If Dad heard the water running at this time of night, he’d know I was awake—my actions adding to his already massive arsenal of suspicion. Resigned, I stood up and pulled up my sweatshirt hood.

Phil got out of the way when I unlocked the door. With my eyes down, I brushed past him, and headed straight for my bed. Even though I knew my behavior was juvenile, I pulled the covers up over my head anyway.

Phil sat next to me and rubbed my shoulder. Normally, I would have pushed him away but the massage felt soothing.

“Just rest,” he said. “Nick’s gone for now and
Scarlett
’s sleeping.”

I peeked out just enough to see her curled in a ball in the corner—the cat version again.

“She’s really exhausted and I don’t expect her to wake for a while, so close your eyes too.”

I looked up at Phil through my bangs, knowing I’d never be able to sleep with his affection floating about.

“Do you want another sleeping pill?”

“No,” I mumbled. I wanted to be lucid just in case something else happened.

“How about if I read to you some more?”

Jurassic Park
would be a sufficient distraction. I nodded. He’d think about something else long enough for me to be lulled to sleep by his soothing voice and I could shut my brain off long enough to hopefully fall asleep.

“Great.” He retrieved the book and flipped to where we’d left off. “Can’t get enough of the veloci“crap”tors
;
can you?”

With a roll of my eyes, I laughed. “Guess not.”
Among other things.

If he wasn’t so darn adorable, they’d both be tossed outside on their heads.