“Naw, just right here. Most of the people will get off at Market Street,” I replied quietly.
We hit a bump and Nualla nearly toppled over. I reached out an arm and caught her. It wouldn’t do to have her get banged up her first time on public transit; she would never ride it again.
I held onto the pole and cradled her close to me; a protective hand around her waist. Nualla looked up at my scowl and burst into laughter; I couldn’t help but join her. It felt good to laugh; for all this stress to finally be over. I hadn’t realized how much it had been weighing on me until it was no longer there.
We passed the shop windows with their Valentine’s Day displays and she looked out at them like a child on an amusement park ride. Something about it all whizzing by just made it exciting—exhilarating.
We were nearing Market, so I tightened my hold on her waist. “Now don’t freak out, but when the bus makes this next S-curve it tends to lean—a lot. It looks like it will fall over but it never does, okay?”
“Okay,” she said as she smiled up at me but then her face fell; panic seizing hold of her.
“What? It’s not really that—” But I never got a chance to finish my sentence.
There was a concussion as something slammed into the side of the bus—something heavy. Glass rained over us like snow, blowing Nualla’s hair back into a swirling torrent of black. And then the bus started to fall over. Things and people and broken glass flew through the air as if there was no longer gravity to hold it down. I strained to hold onto Nualla with every ounce of my strength as the world tilted crazily, but my grip on her slipped. I could only watch helplessly as she fell; fell through a sea of shattered glass. The bus slammed to the ground violently, and I finally lost purchase on the pole.
This isn’t supposed to happen. Not today; not ever, was the last thing that went through my mind before I hit the side of the bus.
NUALLA
I became aware of sound first; screaming, crunching, sirens. And then I opened my eyes.
Rain?
I turned my head to the side and saw objects and people and glass strewn about as if a bomb had gone off. It didn’t make sense. Where was I? Where had I been before the bomb went off? And then I realized I was inside. The bus! We had been on a bus.
Patrick!
I sat up and looked around frantically. About five feet away Patrick lay on the ground. No wait, it was the side of the bus and he was slumped against one of the seats.
I inched closer to him. “Patrick!” My heart pounded in my chest violently; I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
Oh gods, please be okay.
After a few nerve-racking moments, his eyes fluttered open, and I let out the breath I didn’t know I had been holding. Patrick looked around confused until his eyes fixed on me. “Nualla?”
I reached out a hand to touch him, and then I saw it—blood. I looked down at my hands, they were covered in blood—my blood.
Oh gods! Not blood, not my blood.
Patrick reached out a hand to touch me. His arms were covered in blood, and it looked like his right arm was broken.
“No! Don’t touch me!” I shouted as I backed away from him in panic. “Even the smallest amount of blood could affect you.”
Patrick looked confused for a moment, but then nodded.
After a few seconds, his eyes flickered shut, and I called out, “Patrick!”
His eyes shot open again, and he looked at me, but his eyes were vacant—unfocused.
I inched as close as I dared. “Patrick, don’t close your eyes; you probably have a concussion.” Patrick said nothing, but nodded slowly. Thankfully, his eyes stayed open, but they had a glassy faraway-look that was unsettling.
I didn’t take my eyes off him as I pulled my bag around. I was really glad in that moment, that I had had my shoulder bag slung across my chest. I fished around until I found my cell; it was cracked but still turned on. I dialed the Daemon Emergency Number, and someone picked up on the second ring.
“Kalo Emergency Response, please state your emergency,” a female voice said less than enthused.
“This is Nualla Galathea. There’s been an accident; I’m bleeding.”
I heard something on the other side of the line clatter to the floor. “We have traced your location, an EMT will be sent to your location immediately!” The voice on the other line now seemed much more alert.
I put the phone back in my bag. The Embassy was not too far away, so they would be here soon. I looked over at Patrick, and he stared back at me blankly, breathing more visibly now. I wanted desperately to hold him in my arms. But I was afraid—so very afraid. Afraid of my blood; afraid of what it could do. I wanted so badly to close my eyes, but I forced myself to keep looking at Patrick. It was utter chaos around us, but nothing mattered as long as he was still awake, still breathing.
Moments passed by slowly until I heard someone behind me. “Nualla Galathea?”
“Huh?” I looked over in the direction of the voice.
A Kalo EMT bent down next to me. “Are you Nualla Galathea?”
“Yes,” I answered in a weak voice. Without another word, he lifted me up and began to carry me out of the bus. “Wait!”
“Arius Nualla, we have to get you to the emergency room immediately.”
“No, not without him, not without Patrick,” I said, frantically trying to look at Patrick.
The EMT stopped and looked around before he lowered his face and spoke quietly into my ear. “Arius, I don’t see anyone else of our kind here.”
“He’s not—not yet, but soon.” I was fighting hard to stay conscious, but it was getting harder. I looked down and saw Patrick at the EMT’s feet. “Him.”
“Arius, we can’t take him with us.” His voice sounded so unbelievably sorry.
“No you don’t understand, he already knows, he’s already been there.”
“But—”
I gripped his arm with the last of my strength. “Please.” He looked at my hand, my left hand and saw it there; the ring. And then he finally understood.
“Frank!” the EMT called out over his shoulder.
“What?” replied another Kalo EMT coming through the wreckage.
“We’re taking this one here with us too,” the EMT carrying me stated, gesturing to Patrick with his head.
Frank looked at Patrick in confusion. “But he’s—”
“Just take him.”
“Whatever you say, Zeke.” Frank reached down to grab hold of Patrick.
“Thank you,” I whispered into Zeke’s shirt. I didn’t know if he heard me or not because the darkness clouded out the rest of my thought and left me drifting in its dark embrace.
30
Doing Right by You
Tuesday, February 14th
PATRICK
I opened my eyes and then almost wished I hadn’t. Everything hurt. There wasn’t a part of me, it seemed, that didn’t hurt.
I turned my head to look around. Where was I? Then I saw Nualla lying nearby. Her eyes closed, her arms covered in bandages.
“Nualla.” I reached my hand out to touch her and stopped, something white was covering it. I looked down at the white form covering my right forearm.
A cast?
Then I remembered the bus crash; the screaming, the broken glass, Nualla falling away from me. In a panic I tried to sit up, but it felt like I had been hit by a truck. Then I remembered we basically were.
I reached out my arm again as far as I could reach and was just able to brush her shoulder with the tips of my fingers. “Nualla! Nualla please wake up.”
Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she looked out at me. “Patrick?”
“You’re not supposed to close your eyes remember? You may have a concussion.”
&n
bsp; She opened her mouth to say something, but she didn’t get her chance. I heard a commotion outside, and a second later Nualla’s parents burst into the room. They both had every right to be frantic, but this was the first time I had seen Alex angry.
“Nualla!” Loraly rushed to her daughter’s side blocking my view of her.
“Mom?” Nualla said in a startled voice.
“Honey, are you okay?” Loraly asked in a barely contained voice.
“I’m fine Mom, really. I’m just a little banged up,” Nualla answered, sounding a little exasperated.
Loraly finally noticed me, her expression looking even more horrified. “Oh gods, Patrick!”
Just how bad do I look?
“Nualla what were you thinking riding public transit!” Alex shouted. The three of us looked over at him; he didn’t look concerned, he looked furious.
“Dad I—”
“Your blood could have mixed with theirs,” he said angrily, gesturing to the outside. And then, with a sickening reality, I finally understood. They didn’t ride in town cars and taxis because they were too proud to take the bus. They did it to protect the humans.
“It was my fault,” I admitted in the clearest voice I could manage. It really was my fault, and I couldn’t stand the thought of Nualla being blamed for this.
Alex turned. “What?”
“I—I made her take the bus. Nualla said she had never been—I just wanted to show her—” I took a deep breath; an extremely painful breath. “I’m sorry I—I didn’t think. Was anyone—” I was about to say infected, but that sounded way too much like an insult—even in my current groggy state. So I said the next word that came to mind. “—changed?”
Alex’s expression softened, and he put his head in his hand. “Thankfully no, but a lot of them didn’t make it.” He looked back up at me. “You are really lucky to be alive, Patrick.”
“What about Nualla?” I asked, looking over her bandaged form.
Alex looked over at his daughter. “She’ll be completely healed in a few days, but will have to continue to wear those for much longer to keep up appearances.”
“You’re joking, right?” I asked in disbelief. That was just too unbelievable to be true.
“Our bodies heal incredibly fast; the pain I have heard is less as well,” Alex answered, looking back in my direction.
“Oh, I am so looking forward to that,” I said, closing my eyes in pain.
“Patrick, you shouldn’t close your eyes—” Nualla said anxiously.
“I know, I know; I might have a concussion,” I said, forcing my eyes open again.
Loraly moved closer to me and asked in a motherly voice “Patrick, should I—should I call your parents, they might be worried?”
I shook my head. Hell, I would probably have this cast off by the time I had a decent conversation with them. “No, they’re out of town on business.”
She looked really concerned now. “So there will be no one at your home?”
“There never is. It’s usually just me there, alone for weeks.” I was in too much pain at the moment to not be self-deprecatingly honest.
“Then it’s settled, you’re coming home with us tonight,” Loraly said in a voice that allowed no arguments. I don’t know if it was sad or comforting that someone else’s parents cared more about my well being than my own did.
The door opened again, and an older-looking guy walked in wearing a medical coat and carrying a tablet. He was short with dark short hair. He looked up from his tablet at us. “Ah, you’re both awake, excellent.” Then he seemed to notice Alex and Loraly. “Chancellarius Galathea, Cellarius Loraly.”
After recovering from the shock of finding the chancellarius and his wife in his medical room, Dr. LaCosta had given us a final medical examination. However, I got the distinct impression he was only doing it for show.
“Well, everything seems to be in order,” Dr. LaCosta said, looking at the tablet in his hands. He pointed a stylus at Nualla without looking up. “Arius Nualla, stay out of public bodies of water for a few days to prevent accidental contamination.” Nualla nodded and then Dr. LaCosta looked over at me. “That—” he said pointing at my cast, “should stay on for—” he looked at his tablet again, “—about six weeks. Then you can come back and I will remove it.”
I looked at him dubiously, somehow I got the feeling he wasn’t used to treating human patients.
“Thank you, doctor,” Alex said as they all started moving toward the door.
I swung my legs slowly around to stand, but just that small movement was so painful, I nearly passed out from the pain. “Wait!” I called out and they all turned to look at me. “Um…I know you guys are super strong and stuff, but I’m kinda still a mere mortal. So could I please, please get some stronger painkillers?”
Nualla and her parents turned to look at Dr. LaCosta, who looked at his tablet. “Oh yes, painkillers, humans typically need a lot of those, don’t they. I’ll get right on that, you just sit tight,” he stated before turning on his heel and quickly walking out the door. He wasn’t exactly inspiring confidence with his lack of knowledge about humans.
“Patrick, are you really in a lot of pain?” Nualla asked, looking like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine. I just currently feel as though I lost a fight with a Buick,” I answered with a smile that came out more like a grimace.
“Oh my gods!” We all turned to see Nikki and Shawn standing in the doorway with Skye right behind them dressed in one of her sultry clubbing dresses. Valentine’s Day had to be one of her biggest nights at the club and yet, even she was here.
“Are you okay?” Skye asked, putting a hand on my arm.
I couldn’t help wincing as I answered, “Never been better.”
Shawn strolled closer, his hands in his pockets as usual. “Dude, you have had one shitty birthday haven’t you?” he said with a snort.
“Well, it wasn’t all bad,” I answered as I smiled over at Nualla. Her ring was no longer caked in blood and sparkled in the harsh lights. I looked back up and caught sight of Alex’s expression. He was glaring at me; he looked pissed. And that’s when I realized that he had just done the math. But being the gentleman he was he hadn’t said anything about it.
Yet.
“Wait today’s your birthday? On Valentine’s Day?” Skye asked, looking at me.
“Yeah,” I replied with a grimace.
“Oh that’s so cute!”
“Yeah, cute like a brick to the head,” I mumbled. Alex was apparently done waiting, because he opened his mouth to speak. I quickly jumped in. “Um…I have something I need to tell you all.” There is really no good way to say this and you will probably all hate me now. “I’ve been deceiving you all, and I’m sorry.” From the looks they were all giving me, my choice of words were apparently the worst possible thing that could have come out of my mouth. “Uh…”
Nualla sighed and looked at her family. “We’re not actually married.”
“What?!” came the collective response.
“Patrick was only seventeen when we got married in Vegas; so yeah, not exactly legal.”
“Oooh, so that’s why you were so mad earlier,” Nikki said, turning to look at Nualla.
“Hell, I’d be mad too,” Shawn said, folding his arms. He now looked about as pissed as Alex had.
I looked quickly over at Alex, he was still staring daggers at me, arms folded across his chest. He looked more than pissed now. And that’s when something occurred to me. I jumped up and waved my hand frantically. “Wait, wait, I am going to marry her, I promise! See.” I held up Nualla’s hand showing off the ring. “So please don’t kill me, okay?”
“Why didn’t you say something before, I almost just decked you
myself,” Shawn said as he punched me good-naturedly in the arm.
I dropped to the floor like a rock. “Ow!”
“Shawn, would you please refrain from injuring my fiancé any more than he already is,” Nualla said, crouching down next to me.
“Oh right, bus accident—sorry,” Shawn said as he leaned down too. He gripped me as gently as he could and pulled me back up onto my feet.
“So you see we, could get married right now, no problem,” Nualla stated, looking at her dad.
“No,” I said, wincing.
“Wait, what is it now?” Nualla snapped, rounding on me like a viper.
She looked about to throttle me so I put up my hands. “Wait, just hear me out okay!” I took another painful breath and continued. “Since I have the option now, I want to do this right.”
“Patrick…” Nualla looked as tame as a kitten again. I hoped to hell these were just some of those daemon hormones they had been telling me about and that I wouldn’t get myself killed out of stupidity sometime soon.
I took her hand and smiled through the pain. “You deserve a big beautiful wedding in a—wait, what exactly do you guys do for weddings anyways?”
At that they all bust up laughing, even Alex.
“We have a ceremony similar to the ones you humans have, but in one of our temples. For example, the one here at The Embassy,” Alex answered with a slight smile. Apparently, he no longer felt like killing me.
I turned back to Nualla. “And besides, you said the daemonification process takes a week or so, right?”
“Yeah…”
“So wouldn’t people notice if I was gone for a while?”
“Good point,” Nualla replied, running her teeth over her bottom lip. “So…Spring Break?”
“How about we wait until after graduation?” I asked, pulling her a little closer.
“What?” Nualla asked, glaring at me slightly.
Daemons in the Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book One) Page 19
