When she offers Stewart the box, my hand goes straight into my purse where I dig around for a second. My fingers tap the smooth wood, and I have to force myself not to give anything away.
I pull my hand out and stare at the object Cindy holds. It looks identical. I almost want to check my purse again to be sure.
“No!” Al shouts from next to the stairs. “You can’t give it to him.”
She ignores him and continues to offer the fake box to Stewart. “This is my only offer. Take it and go.”
Stewart considers her for a moment before his gaze shifts to me. I recognize the challenge as he smiles, baring all of his teeth, but I have no way of responding. Although I can see magic, using it is still impossible. Opening the bag changed nothing.
He raises his hand and magic flows from it to wrap around Cindy’s throat. I watch helplessly as it lifts her off her feet. She gasps and coughs, struggling to breathe while Stewart’s attention never leaves me as though he barely registers she exists. He’s killing her, and he’s acting like she might as well be a fly.
I barely notice when Borin blocks Al as he lunges at Stewart, other than for it to register he’s not going to be able to help. My blood pumps too hard to properly think about anything other than attacking the grinning bastard.
I rush over and swing at Stewart. He blocks, but it breaks his concentration on his magic. Cindy drops to the floor where she stays, coughing and gulping air. Not exactly ready to help fight, but at least she’s still alive.
As fast as I can, I swing again, but again he blocks me, this time with enough force to make me take a step back. It isn’t simply flesh and bone I’m up against; he’s coated himself with a layer of magic like a brick wall. A kick lands on his shin and as though in slow motion, a sharp pain spreads from my foot up my leg. When I step back to regain my balance, the entire left side of my body goes numb and I sink to the floor in pain and shock.
Stewart smashes my hand against the wall behind me and I instantly drop my makeshift weapons, the keys jangling to the floor.
Cindy struggles with her pockets, managing to pull out some powder and blow it at Stewart, but her breath comes out as a wheeze and he easily bats away the dust.
With a flick of his hand, he lifts Cindy again and throws her against the wall. Her head hits hard and she crumples to the ground.
Seeing her body go limp knocks the adrenaline out of me and leaves me with a spinning head and weak muscles. She can’t be... There’s no way he... She’s still alive. She has to be still alive.
“Lou!” Al shouts from too far away.
The one brief second where his eyes meet mine is all the distraction Borin needs. A punch to Al’s ribs and a kick to the back of his knees and I hear the sickening thud as Al tumbles down the stairs.
Stewart forces me up with a hand to my throat. I suppose I should feel privileged he’s willing to touch me directly rather than through his magic. I have no strength to stand as he pulls me to my feet, the pain too much, only growing worse at Stewart’s touch. This time the pain moves up my body from my feet more rapidly, as though he learned his lesson last time about working too slowly.
My entire body is being crushed, like every nerve is pinched starting at my toes and working its way up to my throat where he holds me at eye level. I feel like I’m a tube of toothpaste, my contents squeezed up from the bottom to come spilling out the lid, or in my case, my mouth.
It hurts. It hurts so much I want to scream. Or maybe I’m already screaming.
All I can feel is pain and all I can see is the bright shine of magic as Stewart’s face fills my vision. I can’t think, can’t fight, can’t do anything but watch as he lowers his head and presses his lips over my mouth.
And then...nothing.
Aldric
Chapter Twelve
“She didn’t have her full power.” The words filter through my fuzzy brain, though at first they don’t make any sense and I don’t know who’s saying them. “You should have waited to take her.”
“Waited for what? For her to learn how to use her magic and become strong enough to defend against us?”
The voices grow louder and gradually, too gradually, I realize they’re actually getting closer.
And then I remember. Cindy. Lou. I need to get up and help them before they take Lou’s magic. I need to move. I need to do something. Yet when I try, I can’t find my legs and the floor seems to be not at all where it should be.
Even if I could fight, it’s too late. I know this as well as if I was the one who took her magic. Her body is empty. There’s nothing there, not even the glimmer of magic her grandmother left her with. She’s an empty shell.
“Is he alive?” One of the wizards asks as the other bends over me to get a better look.
“Yes. I’ll deal with it.”
“Leave him,” Stewart says. I can sense Lou’s magic on him now. “He’s one of us after all.”
“He tried to stop us,” Borin says.
Stewart’s laugh is a single sharp, dangerous bark. “Of course he did. What’s the first thing potential wizards are trained to do? Make the sorceress believe you’re on their side.” Stewart leans over me, the stench of his breath and sour magic causing my stomach to turn. “Better luck next time, boy.”
I’d like nothing better than to break every one of the fingers he uses to pat my cheek, but I still haven’t quite remembered how to use my arms.
It takes a minute after he walks away for Borin to do the same. But he doesn’t leave before kicking my side. The pain is good. It means I’m alive. Better yet, it helps me find my limbs again. Though I’m not too steady on my feet, at least I’m able to stand. My sight’s still blurred and my head’s pounding, but nothing’s broken. I shake the stars out of my eyes and force myself back up the stairs Borin shoved me down.
Cindy lies limp against the wall at the top. When I put my hand over her mouth and nose she swats it away.
“What are you doing?” she says.
“Calm down, I’m checking to see if you’re breathing.”
She tries to get up, but isn’t quite able to make it to her feet. “Where’s Lou?”
Neither of us wants to look, but we’ve got no choice. She’s a heap on the floor, as I knew she would be. Her eyes are still open and staring at the ceiling, but there’s nothing behind them. Her chest rises and falls, the only sign she’s alive.
Cindy crawls over to her sister, pulls her against her chest and starts rocking back and forth. Tears roll down her cheeks though she’s obviously fighting them. “You stupid moron. What the hell did you have to open the bag for?”
There’s nothing I can say to make this better, so I head back down the stairs. Before anything else, I check the front door to make sure Stewart and Borin are gone. No sign of them. It’s almost like they were never here. Almost.
The study is next. When she broke the spell keeping me small, she must have broken the same spell on my sword. My mouth curls into a weak smile when I first sense the magic and then see the blade on the floor behind the desk. I scoop it up and sigh my relief at the extra bit of weight in my hand. I might as well have been naked without it.
“This is your fault, you know.”
Cindy stands at the top of the stairs, her arms wrapped around her chest and her shoulders slouched, all confidence gone. Darkness lines her eyes, the result of crying mixed with the layer of makeup she has slathered over her face. She looks about how I felt after I lost my sister. No, she’s handling it much better.
I take the stairs two at a time, now my head and legs are starting to feel a little stronger. She doesn’t bother moving out of the way when I reach the top, forcing me to angle myself to slide past her.
“You gave them the box,” I say. “They got everything because of you.”
I make my way over to Lou and kneel down next to her. It’s hard not to picture Loraine in the same position, though she was smaller at the time, and of course her hair’s straight and blonde as str
aw compared to Lou’s black waves. I catch myself about to run my fingers through it and instead reach for the keys next to her.
“You think I’m stupid?” Cindy says. “The real box is in Lou’s purse. All they got was an empty jewelry box and a heap of illusion dust. Now give me those keys.”
“Sorry,” I whisper to Lou, as though there’s some chance she can hear me. And then I boost her up and over my shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Cindy dips her hand into her pocket to pull out some dust, but her face pales the second her hand is inside. Although she tries to play off the reaction, it’s too late. I already know the truth. She’s out of magic. “Put her down and give me the keys.”
I do neither. “If what you say is true, then they’ll be back. Soon. An illusion won’t trick them for long. We have to get out of here.”
After a frightened look at the stairs as though they might already be on their way up, she frowns at me. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“Are you going to carry her?” I can tell she’s already thought about this and is frustrated by her need to trust me, at least a little.
She crosses her arms and scowls. “Fine. Where are you going to take her? You don’t know how to get home.”
There’s something about the way she says the words. It’s as though she knows something I don’t and she won’t give up the information unless I beg. I finger the keys in my hand and think back to the minutes before Lou was taken. She’d been ready to fight, but then something changed. She started to walk away as though her life wasn’t threatened.
“Why don’t you give me the keys and then we’ll get her to a hospital or something,” Cindy says.
The keys. Lou had been holding one out toward the wall. And now Cindy’s determined to get them back. She might as well have told me outright they are important. What magic had Lou seen?
“It’s the portal, isn’t it?” Lou figured it out after all. Good girl.
Her silence answers any doubt lingering in my mind.
I reach for the section of the wall Lou focused on.
“You can’t take her with you,” she says.
My hand touches something hard and invisible. When I trace it with a finger, I realize I’ve found a door handle, which would mean underneath should be the lock.
“She needs to go to a hospital,” she continues. “She needs help.”
“I’ll give it to her.” I manage to sound more confident than I feel.
“Like you helped your sister?”
I close my eyes to shut out her words, but it’s too late. My guilt takes a hold and starts piling on the thoughts haunting me since that day. It’s my fault and there’s nothing I can do to make it better.
I turn the key and push the door open.
Sun suddenly hits my face and warms my skin. I open my eyes to see the best sight in my entire life. Home. I breathe in the grass, animals and magic. So unlike the smoke, metal and staleness of Lou’s world.
I’m about to take a step forward when my instincts kick in. I stop mid-step and look down. Nothing. There’s nowhere to put my foot. I’m so focused on getting back I didn’t think about where I am; the second floor of a house, stepping out of a door to nowhere. There’s no landing in front of the door, and nothing I can easily use to climb down, especially with Lou draped over my shoulder.
I shift her weight a bit and to get a better look at the side of the building. There has to be some way to get down not involving falling and breaking something, specifically Lou.
“What? What is it?” Cindy tries to get around me.
Luckily I’m able to keep her from toppling out the door while allowing her a good look over my shoulder. She goes completely still and I assume she’s noticed the lack of a way out of the house, but when I glance at her, I see she isn’t looking down at all but up and out.
“Ho...ly...shit.”
I follow her gaze and notice nothing unusual so I return my attention to the problem at hand.
“That’s...” she swallows. “That’s not a bird is it?”
I glance up again and see the gold feathered creature she’s staring at. It’s too far away to see his large horse-like body or silver curved beak, but I’ve seen enough of the animals to recognize one in the distance. “Nope. Griffin.”
There has to be a way down. If I had some rope, I might be able to lower Lou and then maybe Cindy as well. It wouldn’t be too hard to climb without my burden.
Wait.
My head snaps back up toward the griffin and I squint into the bright sky.
“See,” Cindy says as though she’s won some sort of argument. “Not normal.”
“You’re right,” I say. “Griffin’s don’t usually wear armor. Not unless someone’s put it on them. We need to find a way down, now.”
In an instant, her amazement over the creature shifts to fear. “Why? What’s going on?”
I reach around the side of the house in hopes of finding a drain or something else I might be able use to shimmy to the ground. “The only people who can put armor on a griffin are sorceresses and wizards.”
She immediately reacts as she should, eyes widening as she sucks in some air.
“Right.” Her voice remains completely calm. Impressive. “Then we need to get out of here.”
“There’s nothing to stand on,” I tell her. “Nothing to use to climb down.”
She leans around me and scans the ground, walls and then up toward the roof. “No prob. Be easier with Lou’s tree, sure, but still, doable. Move.”
I step back into the house so she has the full doorway to herself. I half watch what she’s doing and half watch the griffin. It’s still quite a ways away, and it doesn’t seem to be headed directly toward us, yet. It’s also far enough I can’t quite tell if it has a rider.
Cindy’s legs dangle in view for a second before disappearing along with the rest of her, but in the wrong direction. I lean out the door and look up to find her.
“We need to get down, not up.”
She appears all too pleased to have figured out a way down before me. “There’s a lower roofline over the front door. It shouldn’t be hard to drop to it and from there to the ground.”
It’s a good plan, and it might work, but... “You seem to be forgetting my climbing and dropping abilities are limited right now.”
I shift Lou’s weight a little on my already exhausted shoulder in order to draw her to Cindy’s attention. She notices and her eyes narrow as she tries to think of how to make her plan work.
“Maybe you could lift her up.”
“She’s dead weight, there’s no way...”
I realize what I said and stop before I make it worse. Immediately the calculating look in Cindy’s eyes turns to darkness at the foolish choice of words.
“Would a ladder help?”
Both of us look down and a smile lifts the corners of my mouth before I remember everything from the past day. But still, the sight of long curly red hair and big green eyes are enough to make me feel a little glad. Of all the people living in the village, there are only three I had any hope of helping me in a situation like this; my parents and the girl standing below us.
Rose flashes me a shy smile before lifting an old wooden ladder almost entirely buried by the long grass surrounding the house. She positions it under the doorway so it touches the side of the building under the threshold. The perfect length. It must have been made for situations like this.
“Who’s she?” Cindy asks.
“A friend,” I say.
Rose makes a gesture for us to hurry up. “They’ve been doing sweeps all day. If they see you climbing all over the house, they’ll be here in seconds.”
I don’t have to ask who ‘they’ are; it’s in her voice. The griffin has a rider. A wizard. Without any more hesitation, I climb onto the ladder, shut and lock the door, and shuffle my way to the ground. The extra weight of Lou makes me awkward and forces me to take an embarrassing amount of time getting down
. When I’m at the bottom, I look expectantly at Cindy. She glares at me, clearly not impressed by the fact we aren’t following her plan. But another glance at the griffin and she’s down the ladder in a fraction of the time I’d taken. She doesn’t bother with the last few steps, choosing to drop the rest of the way.
“We should get undercover,” Rose suggests while eyeing Lou. “They’ll be circling this area soon.”
As usual, she doesn’t ask any questions or demand I explain what’s going on. She simply does what needs to be done to keep us all safe. Her trust in me is appreciated and completely undeserved.
She’s trying not to show it, but I know exactly what she’s thinking. It’s too similar to last time. But she’s not looking at me with the fear I know she’d have if she thought the worst. Of course she doesn’t. She was the only one who never blamed me for what happened to Loraine. Why would she start blaming me now?
“Come on,” Rose says with another quick look at the griffin. “They aren’t checking the trees very closely. We can wait there until they pass over.”
I nod my agreement and then think to check with Cindy. She still seems annoyed, and I can tell she doesn’t want to follow, but she also doesn’t have a better plan, so she nods too.
The trees around the house have been left to thrive, creating perfect shelter for us. We find an area where the branches are thick above, leaving little light to reach the ground. I settle Lou as carefully as I can against a tree and hope I haven’t bumped her any more than necessary.
At some point between lifting her off my shoulder and setting her down, a lock of her hair falls out of place and across her face, over her eye. I reach to brush it away, but Cindy’s faster. She gives my hand, half outstretched toward her sister, a scathing look before focusing entirely on Lou. I drop it to my side and turn my attention to Rose so as to hide some of my embarrassment and anger. Carrying her is one thing, showing affection with other types of touching is another altogether. I can’t make a mistake like that again.
The Man in the Box Page 9
