by Renee Jordan
“Lexie is.” I looked over my shoulder. She stood inside, a shadow through the tinted glass. “She's waiting for me. She needs me, Thomas.”
“I need you.” Raw pain twisted his face.
I smiled. His words made this so difficult. “I know. But she needs me more. I have to save her, Thomas. There has to be a way. She's not a terrible person.”
His jaw clenched.
“She's just broken. I need to put her back together. Please, Thomas.”
I stared into his eyes. He took in a deep breath. He took two more steps, fighting against the life spirits working on his thoughts. His stubborn werebear will carried him to me. His arms swept me up. I shuddered against him.
“Please, let me go and help my friend, Thomas.”
“You love her?”
“She's like my sister. And I hurt her. I betrayed her. I need to make it right.” I shivered. “Please let me make it right.”
He pressed his face into my hair and inhaled. His arms tightened, crushing me against his solid chest. “Come back to me.”
“Is there a place for me in your life? I'm...wanted.”
“There is always a place for you.”
“Thank you.” A sob shook me. “Why did you imprint me? You could have found a better woman.”
“I didn't want a better woman. I wanted my woman.”
Damn, what a man. I sniffed and pulled away from him. I stared into his eyes. “I'll come back.” I hope. “I love you.”
And then he kissed me. My resolve bent and wavered. Excuses poured through my mind followed by rationales. Why should I help Lexie? She tried to ruin my life. Put me in jail. I should stay with Thomas. Let her rot. Let her pay for her actions. She was beyond my help. She was broken. I couldn't fix her.
But I had to try. I owed her.
I broke the kiss with Thomas and pulled away from his embrace. I turned and marched forward to the doors. I grabbed the handle and yanked it open. Lexie stood waiting for me, her arms folded before her.
A vicious smile crossed her lips. “So you're running again.”
Chapter Eighteen
“No,” I answered, my voice echoing through the small room. I faced Lexie, trying to hide the fact my heart beat faster than a woodpecker digging out a grub from a hard oak tree. “I'm done running.”
Lexie studied me, her face inscrutable. She stood in the center of the empty depot, her clothing frayed, worn. She had not taken good care of herself. Bags pouched black beneath her eyes. Skin clung tight about the points of her skull. What had once been soft was now gouged by hunger.
My heart broke.
“Then why are you here?”
“That's a difficult question to answer.” I wanted to wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans. “A lot of reasons.”
“Guilt?” Her lips twisted in a sneer. Her eyes grew dangerous.
“Yes.” I nodded my head and took a step forward. “I messed up. I messed up bad. I...I should have been ready to use my magic. I could have saved Axel's life.”
“You killed him!”
I flinched. “I...I guess I did. In a way. And...and...I broke, Lexie.” Tears burned in my eyes. The memory of the panic seized me. I had experienced true terror that day. It drove away my thoughts. “I didn't remember a thing about my flight until I reached the bus stop.”
“And then you bought a ticket and flitted off to safety? Huh? You left me holding his head in my lap. I tried to heal him, but I'm not a love witch. I wasn't strong enough. Not to undo the damage you caused!”
The guilt twisted inside me. “I was scared, frightened. I...I didn't know what to do. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. Axel's plan—”
“If you followed his plan, he would still be alive!” Spittle flew from her lips. Her fingers pointed at me like bony twigs of a tree, reaching for me. “But you didn't come around the truck fast enough. You weren't ready to use your magic. Why?”
“I...I was in position. I just...I just was scared. I froze for a second. I...” I shook my head. “The guard inside...he shot...right away.” I frowned. What could I have done? I was in position. The shot fired the moment after the door opened. I wouldn't have had time to even speak the spell if I burst around the corner right away. “I...I couldn't do anything.”
“Liar!”
Fury transformed her face. Lexie stopped being a human and became a beast, a monster wearing her skin. Her eyes bulged. Her mouth snarled wide open. Her words tumbled out so fast they were an unintelligible roar.
“You killed him! You killed him!”
“I didn't.” I stepped forward. How could I get through to my friend? How could I break through the anger? “The guard killed him.” Another step forward. She was only a few feet away, almost in reach. If I could touch her, hug her, let her pour out her anger. “I shouldn't have run. I should have been there for you, but I didn't kill him.”
I didn't. The thought stiffened my back. All this time flagellating myself, blaming myself. I followed the plan. Axel blew the doors. They opened. I moved around the side of armored car and...
The shot. The puff of red.
“I should have stayed with you. Went to jail with you.”
“Helped me heal him!”
Her words slapped across me. I took another step. Almost there. “Yes.” Tears fell down my cheeks. “I'm so sorry, Lexie. I was a cunt. I let you down. Five years...five selfish years.” I took a deep breath. “That's why I'm not running. That's why I'm here. You don't have to run anymore. I'm here for you now. I can help you make a better life for yourself. I can help you start over. Here. In Moonrise. It's a place for people like us.”
“Murderers?”
“Broken. It's a place that heals.” I took the final step. “It healed me. It can heal you. Let me help you, Lexie.” I reached out my arms to embrace her. “Let me repair the damage I caused.”
“NEVER!” She batted my hands away. “Spirits of illumination, blind my enemy!”
The tattoo, her totem, on her belly glowed, bleeding through her ragged shirt in the shape of a star. The spirits of light rushed at me. I gasped as they soared for my eyes. I snarled out a protective spell as I leaped back. Life spirits rushed to my aid, green motes striking into brilliant dots. I stumbled back as Lexie summoned more light spirits.
“Spirits of Radiance, shine bright!”
The world grew bright. A sun birthed before me. The radiance washed over me. I stumbled back, tripping over my feet, and fell heavily on my backside. I held up my arm against the glare. The pure brilliance dazzled me.
It faded, but blue blobs smeared across my vision. Everything was blown out, fuzzy. My eyes burned. The light had injured me. She found another way to blind me. I glanced around, struggling to see her through the mess of my vision.
Lexie laughed.
I scuttled back on my backside, my feet pushing on the tiled floors. “Spirits of Healing, mend my wounds,” I called out, the most basic healing spell I knew. I hoped I was strong enough to fix my vision. I wasn't a love witch like Kotie.
There were limits.
Golden heart spirits danced about my face. My vision cleared. Lexie stood before me, something black held in her hand. My heart almost stopped beating. She had a gun.
“Lexie?” I asked.
“He's dead!” She shook the gun at me. “He's dead. Why should you get to live? Huh? Why? He was better than you, Penny. He never would have left me. He loved me.”
“I loved you.” I stared at her. “You were like my sister.”
“AND YOU LEFT ME!”
The gun barked. Hot air rushed past my face. Tiles splintered. My right arm burned, a chip of porcelain embedded in my wrist. The bullet landed inches from my face. A chill ran through my body as her hand shook.
“YOU LEFT ME!”
I flinched as the next bullet brushed my hair. The heat of its passage burned my cheek. It cracked tile and ricocheted. Smoke curled from the end of the barrel. I couldn't help staring at the barrel. At my death.
“Lexie.” Tears fell from my eyes.
Outside, a bear roared.
“Will killing me bring him back?”
“No!” Her face mottled red. “But you deserve to die.”
The gun fired again. The bullet missed me. My skin crawled. Lexie stood so close. She would hit me eventually. She moved closer. I trembled, my heart racing. What spell could I cast to save myself? I wasn't strong enough to deflect a bullet with a shield spell.
I had to get the gun out of her hand.
“Spirits of the wind, gust—”
The gun barked. I screeched and jumped as another bullet missed me. How did she keep missing me? She stood right over me. Unless... I stared into her face. Past the rage to the conflict in her heart. She warred with herself. Her anger demanded my death. Her love demanded my life.
I had broken my friend.
The doors to the bus depot burst open. A huge, shaggy bear roared through it. Life spirits clung to the fur, struggling to push him back. But Thomas's fear for me, and his love, was too great to be stopped by Lexie's spell. My friend looked up and gaped. Her jaw dropped.
“Thomas, no!” I shouted as his paw swiped.
Lexie screamed. Thomas's blow catapulted her across the floor. She hit the ground, rolling, her gun skidding with her. She crashed into the side of the wall with a painful grunt. Horror seized me. I gained my feet, rushing past my snarling bear.
“Lexie!”
I fell to my knees beside her. Thomas's claws had ripped open her shirt and mauled her stomach. Four deep scratches oozed blood. Her head lolled, her eyes stared at me unfocused. I placed my hand over her cuts.
“Lexie! No!”
“You have...a bear?” she groaned.
“I do.” Tears fell from my face. “Relax. You'll be fine. Thomas, call for an ambulance.”
“Let me cuff her first,” Thomas snarled, his voice barely recognizable through his muzzle.
“Just get the ambulance! She wasn't trying to hurt me.”
“I wanted to.” A shudder racked Lexie. “So badly. But...I couldn't...”
“Spirits of healing,” I chanted, “mend her wounds.”
My magic reached through my totem, focusing it and commanding the love spirits. They raced to me, streaks of gold, and dove into Lexie's wounds. The hearts danced across the cuts, mending her. The energy poured out of me. My vision fuzzed black for a second. I swayed.
“You're gonna be okay,” I groaned.
“Why?” A shudder racked her body. “Why?”
“Why, what?” I threw a look over my shoulder. Thomas stood naked, his change gone. He rushed outside to his car to fetch his radio. “Hurry. My magic can't heal all her wounds. I think she has a cracked skull.”
“Why heal me?”
“Why wouldn't I?” I turned back to my friend. I stroked her head. My magic ran out. The heart spirits danced away. The scratches remained, but not so deep. The bleeding had stopped. Thomas hit her hard. She might have internal bleeding.
“Because...I tried to kill you. I tried to destroy your life.”
“I forgave you when you kissed Johnny Tyson when you knew I had a crush on him.”
A pain-filled laugh escaped her lips. “I only kissed him because I was mad at you.”
“Why?”
“I don't remember.” She laughed again and then winced, clutching her stomach. “Darn, that bear hit hard.”
“He's strong,” I nodded.
“What's gonna happen?”
“We'll figure it out. We're witches, and Thomas understands. Moonrise is a place for people like us. Different. Not normals. We look out for each other here.”
“The bear...he's a shifter. Your cop?”
I nodded. “You might have to spend some time in jail. You did rob those stores.”
“As you.”
I swallowed. “Yeah, well, it'll get straightened out. Don't worry.”
Her face twisted. “I want to hate you. I want to hold onto it. Stop being nice to me.”
“Nope.” I stroked a lock of auburn hair from her forehead then kissed it. “I'm not running away this time. You can be as much of a bitch as you want, but you're stuck with me.”
Her body shook. “Darn it. You're making this so hard. I've been thinking about this for years. Plotting what I would do. How I would make you pay. I wanted to make you so angry with me. I wanted you to hate me as much as I hate...myself.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I...I should have listened to you.” Tears fell down her face. “I knew you were right. I was scared of his plan, but I loved him. He just wanted us to have the good life. To be happy. I couldn't take his dream away, so I lied to myself. I convinced myself it would work. I ignored what you said. And...and...”
“Oh, Lexie.” I hugged her gingerly, not wanting to press on her injuries. “It wasn't your fault either. It wasn't anyone's fault. It just happened.”
“It was my fault.” She clung to me. Her fingers dug into my back. “I got him killed. I worked so hard to hate you, to blame you, but it was always there, gnawing away at me. And the anger...”
“The anger kept the guilt away,” I finished.
She nodded her head. “I'm sorry, Penny. I ruined your life.”
“Doesn't matter. We get to start over. That's what makes Moonrise so great. It's a place for new beginnings.”
I felt Thomas looming over us. I turned my head and smiled at my bear. He wore pants now and held a police radio in his hand. It squawked as he stared down at us. I smiled at him. He smiled back.
“You'll make a wonderful life here, Lexie. You'll see. And I'll be here to help you out. I'm done running.”
Epilogue
The door buzzed open. I lifted my head from the stainless steel table in the visitor room of the Moonrise Sheriff Department. My gaze went to the gray-green steel security door. Through the small window, plexiglass set with chicken wire, I glimpsed Veronica's golden curls. The door opened a moment later and the wolf-shifter deputy led in Lexie.
I beamed at my friend. She winced as she crossed the room. It had been three days since Thomas swiped her. Beneath her orange jumpsuit a swath of white bandages wrapped her stomach. She had laparoscopic surgery to repair her spleen. But thanks to a combination of our healing magic, she was on a swift mend. Today, she was released from the hospital and sent to the county jail in Moonrise.
“Hi, Lexie,” I said, tapping the bundle of papers before me. “I have good news.”
“Yeah?” she asked as Veronica brought her to the chair. The werewolf released Lexie's handcuffs and backed off to the corner. She rubbed her wrists as she sat down across the stainless steel table from me. “I'm not considered a threat?”
I shook my head. “I vouched for you.”
“You have pull with the cops?”
I giggled. “Well, my good friend Kotie is married to the Sheriff. She's a witch, too.”
“And Penny helps out when we need magic,” Veronica nodded. “She almost got killed dealing with the Traveler.”
Lexie arched an eyebrow.
“That's a long story.”
My friend's eyes slid to the pile of papers. “So, what's that?”
“Legal mumbo jumbo.”
Lexie's face tightened. “I can escape.”
“I know. And then you would have to run again. Do you want that?”
“What about Nevada? I escaped from their prison system. I'm a fugitive.”
“Magic took care of that,” I grinned. “A little imbuement spell and your fingerprints were changed enough on the print card to not match Lexie Myers. Good thing you're Lexie Miller.”
“Good thing,” she nodded.
“Thomas negotiated with the two stores. We returned their property you stole, and they agreed to support a light sentence. Six months in jail plus three years probation. The prosecutor signed off on it. You'll appear in court in a few days and plead guilty.”
“Six months?” Lexie asked.
“And then you're free.” I reached across the table and grasped her hand. “I'll visit every day. And if you're good, you'll get out early.”
Lexie stared at my hand on hers. Her shoulders sagged. Tears appeared in her eyes. “I tried to kill you, Penny. Why are you doing this?”
“Because we're like sisters,” I told her. “And sisters sometimes fight. Big deal.”
She shook her head. Her tears fell on my hand, warm at first then cooling. She twisted her hand and gripped mine. “Thank you.”
I stood up and moved around the table. Veronica watched us with her sharp eyes, but she didn't stop us from hugging. I held my friend and rocked her. She clung to me with desperation, her arms iron about me.
“I'm not going anywhere,” I told her.
“But...but what about you? I planted your f-fingerprint. I...” She hiccuped. “I...”
“Taken care of. I had to do a lot of magic.” I paused for effect. “But luckily I'm the best witch in the world.”
Lexie laughed. It was such a beautiful sound. I kept hugging her, holding her. I would be there for her every day. I would make sure she healed and started a new life.
~ ~ ~
I wiped at my eyes as I waited for Veronica to return from escorting Lexie to her cell. My eyes were red and puffy. The back of my throat ached. Lexie and I had laughed and cried, alternating between our emotions. We talked and talked. We slipped back into the ease of our almost destroyed friendship. It was a brittle thing. Our words were careful, avoiding painful subjects. Our relationship was still...fragile.
But it was a start.
Veronica stepped back in, the werewolf grinning.
I frowned at her. “What?”
“You know how to pick your friends,” she laughed. “She tried to frame you and kill you.”
“Of course I know how to pick my friends.” I gave her a pointed look. “I chose you.”
Veronica howled with laughter, throwing back her head, her mane of auburn hair swaying about her shoulders. A wolfish cast lurked around the profile of her nose and lips. Her teeth flashed, almost fangs. “Yes, you did.”
