The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword)

by Gaudet, Christina G.

  A door slams somewhere behind us, but I don’t pay any attention to it. I’m too focused on Al’s suddenly pained expression.

  “Sorry,” he says in a strained voice. “Forgot about my shoulder for a minute there.”

  He chuckles and brings our clasped hands up to his mouth. The light touch of his lips to my knuckles is enough to make my already tired mind spin. No longer strong enough to continue sitting, I sink to the floor next to Al with a sigh.

  I can feel sleep taking me, but before it does, I manage to take a lazy look around the room. No wizards. Good. Not like I’d be able to do anything if there were. No Rose either. Not as good. I hope something hasn’t happened to her.

  When I see Sin frown at me before leaving the room through a door that slams shut behind her, I realize Rose must have left as well. She saw Al and me together and it was too much for her. I know I wouldn’t have been able to deal with it if our roles were reversed.

  As nice a feeling as lying with Al pressed against my side is, I can’t help but frown. I wish I knew what to do so no one got hurt.

  Sleep takes me before I can worry about it anymore.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Al is still asleep when I wake and no one else is in sight. I sneak out the door as quietly as I can in search of Sin and, if possible, some food and water.

  I check a few dust and rubble filled rooms before I find one with Sin and Rose. When I go inside, Rose walks out without a word to either of us. I suppose it could have been more awkward. She could have stayed.

  Sin sits in a circle she must have made with the debris from a nearby crumbled wall. Bits of magic sparkle throughout the rubble making me think she must have laced the entire thing with her dust.

  Oh, hey, I can see magic again. I take a moment to look inside myself and check for my power. It’s a relief to feel and see it again, though there isn’t much to be found. I’m not running on empty any more, but I wouldn’t want to have to face even a single wizard with the power I’ve got right now.

  I return my focus to Sin and notice she’s deep in meditation. I take a seat a little way back from her circle so I won’t inadvertently bother her, and wait for her to open her eyes. I don’t have to wait long.

  “Have a nice nap with Al?”

  She winks. I blush.

  “What are you doing?” I ask in an attempt to change the subject. “The circle’s a bit much for regular meditation, isn’t it?”

  She stands and spends a few seconds rotating her shoulders and stretching her neck. Her feet stay firmly inside at all times.

  “I’m trying to find Farah and Nyx,” she says. “I’m worried about them. I wouldn’t trust Rilla or Victor not to hurt them on their own. Those two working together is scary enough. Them against my babies is chilling. The circle is to help amplify my power. I can’t reach them though. I’m not sure if they’re too far away or if they’re…”

  She stops, her face droops into a frown, making her look tired and old. As usual, she manages to erase her expression in seconds and goes back to stretching her arms and back as though nothing happened.

  “Most likely Rilla’s got them trapped,” Sin says. “They’re creatures too valuable to destroy for no reason.”

  “Rilla?” Watching Sin stretch makes me feel tight and uncomfortable. Remaining seated, I do a few of my regular leg and back stretches. “Wouldn’t it be Victor making the decisions?”

  Sin drops to the floor again and sits cross-legged, despite her skirt. At least she could try to be a bit modest. I know I’m having a hard time with my skirt as well, but I’m trying. I wish I’d had time to change out of the dress I went clubbing in before all of this happened. Now I’ve thought about it, I’ll be spending all of my time worrying about how short it is and how much I’m showing. There are more important things to think about.

  “There’s something strange about the whole thing,” Sin says. “I don’t trust Rilla’s as much of a victim in all of this as she’d like us to think.”

  The door opens and Al pokes his head in. “Am I interrupting anything?”

  “Come in,” Sin says.

  She remains cross-legged and completely unfazed by the fact Al and Rose can now both see her underwear. On the other hand, the minute I realize Al is coming into the room, I shift to a much more modest position. Getting up is still going to be difficult. I’ll have to time it right so he’s not looking when I stand.

  Rose follows close behind Al. When he sits next to me, she finds a seat as far from the both of us as she can get while still being in the same room.

  “Good,” Sin says. “Now we’re all awake we can figure out what we’re going to do next. Specifically what are we going to eat?”

  At the mention of food, my stomach growls loud enough to echo in the mostly empty space.

  “Exactly.” Sin nods at me. “Now the problem we have to deal with is the cops have our faces. And there have been a lot of people dying from extensive sword wounds within the city lately. Since they haven’t found a killer yet, it’s likely they’re going to put our identities out there as suspects. True, we were sort of involved. Some of us more than others. But what this means is there are going to be a lot of people out looking for us. Cops, wizards, as well as the general public if our pictures are given to the media.”

  “What do you suggest?” Al asks.

  “Time travel?” Sin says completely straight-faced. “Go back and keep you from scattering bodies across the city. Or at least go back to before the cops caught up to us and convinced Lou to jump out of the safety of my car.”

  “I said I’m sorry,” I say. “What more do you want?”

  “I want to be enjoying some delicious greasy drive-thru, which I would be doing right about now if you hadn’t gotten out of the car.”

  “I’ll go,” Rose says.

  We all turn to stare at her in unison.

  “The Sword doesn’t have any interest in me since I’m not a wizard or a sorceress,” she says. “I doubt they’re looking for me at all. I’m fairly forgettable, after all.” She looks directly at Al for the last part.

  “No,” Al says. “Absolutely not. You aren’t going out there alone. You shouldn’t be involved in this at all. You should be home with your family. Oh.” His eyes expand from fear. “Your family. They’re going to kill me.”

  The hard expression Rose has been wearing slips away and she shakes her head. “None of this is your fault,” she says. “I followed you. I thought I could help, but I should have stayed home.”

  “You did help.” Al leans toward her, though she’s way too far for him to reach. “Having you with me reminded me every day of who I was. You were my anchor. Without you, the darkness would have completely taken over long ago.”

  Jealously drags its claws through me with a mix of anger, hate and sadness. How could she be his anchor? I thought after this morning there was a connection between us. After all, she might have been with him all along, but I was the one who saved him.

  And then I notice the tear sliding down her cheek.

  “Don’t,” she says. “Don’t say those things to me. You have no idea…”

  She jumps to her feet and spins around to hide her face. Al starts to move as though to go toward her, but I grab his hand and squeeze. His perplexed look makes me feel all the worse for Rose. I shake my head to tell him going to her now will only make things worse.

  “I can do this,” Rose says once she’s regained control over her voice to keep it from shuddering. “I’ll go out, find us some food and be back before sunset. No one will catch me because no one will be looking for me. It’s the best plan.”

  As Al opens his mouth to protest, Sin interrupts. “I agree,” she says. “Rose is the best person. And I’m going to go with her.”

  “Are you insane?” I say. “You can’t go out there. They’ll track you down and kill you. Did you not notice they shot Al?”

  “Like Rose said,” Sin says. “It’s not us they’re after. They’re a
fter the two of you. I can disguise us so we don’t look like any pictures they might have. You two, on the other hand, aren’t as easy to disguise since it’s your magic they’ll be looking for, not just your faces.”

  Al shifts his weight until he’s leaning away from me. “You plan on leaving us? Alone? Do you think that’s safe?”

  “I trust you’re enough of a gentleman not to do anything without permission.” Sin winks as I feel my entire head, neck and chest heat up.

  ‘Not what I meant,” Al says in a slightly huskier tone than his usual voice. “In control of my magic or not, I’m still a wizard. It might be better to have someone around to make sure I don’t slip.”

  Sin walks over to pat Al on his good shoulder. “I trust you to be able to control yourself for an hour or so.” She nods at Rose and the two of them head toward the door. “Besides,” she says, “If anything happens, I’ll just hunt you down and kill you. No biggy.”

  Al and I sit in silence as we listen to the two sets of footsteps fade away. I'm not entirely sure how they plan to leave the building since it’s supposed to be completely locked up, but then again, it's Sin. She'll find a way.

  "So," I say. But I can't think of anything to follow with other than silence.

  He's gone entirely rigid, as though he's using all of his concentration not to move a single muscle in his body.

  I need something safe to talk about. Something to help him relax.

  "You know she's in love with you, right?" That was not what I meant to say.

  Al chokes back a laugh.

  "Sin?" He says. "I think you're mistaken."

  "Not my sister," I say. Why I can't shut up, I'm not sure. "Rose."

  His amusement doesn't fade as he waves a dismissive hand at the idea. He truly doesn't know. Now I’m starting to worry he might not have any idea how I feel either.

  "Rose and I grew up together," he says. "She's practically my sister."

  "Well, she doesn't think of you as her brother." From the way he's reacting, maybe it's a good thing I keep blurting things out. He needs to know. Doesn't make me feel any less uncomfortable, however. "I don't think she ever thought of you as a relative."

  His smile slips away. I can tell from the way his focus shifts past me he must be thinking through what I’ve told him. I give him a minute.

  “Bugger,” he says.

  “Yup.”

  “Son of a chimera.”

  “Is that really a saying in your world?”

  He stands up and begins to pace as I strain my neck to watch. I shouldn’t feel so pleased. I really shouldn’t. But for my own sake, I’m incredibly happy. I don’t know what I would have done if he’d jumped up with a huge smile and run after her. Even thinking about it makes me feel sick.

  “How could I not have noticed?” He absently rubs his injured shoulder. “She must think I’m an idiot. You all must.”

  I shrug and mutter, “I think it’s kind of adorable.”

  He glances sidelong at me, the corner of his lips turning up. But after a quick head shake he frowns and points at me. “You are not helping. Now tell me how I’m supposed to deal with this.”

  “How am I supposed to know?” I put my hands up in a defensive position. “I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.”

  “Of course you have. Look at you. You must have broken hundreds of hearts.” He closes his mouth and makes the perfect ‘I just said that, didn’t I?’ face.

  “What about you?” My face is burning, but I don’t stop. It’s too much fun to see him look so flustered. “Haven’t you dealt with all sorts of unwanted attention?”

  “I went to a school for guys,” he says. “Some of the others would sneak into town to meet girls, but I never did. And then I was home and the only person who would talk to me was Rose. And then I was crazy. I haven’t exactly spent a lot of time around girls. I don’t have a clue how to deal with them.

  I stand up, careful to pull my skirt down, and slowly saunter over to him. “You have no idea?” Without thinking, and without giving myself time to question what I’m doing, I reach out and stroke his uninjured shoulder with two fingers. “Not a clue what to do with a girl?”

  A flash in his eyes tells me he’s not as oblivious as he claims.

  “Most girls aren’t obvious with their feelings,” he says.

  He touches my bare arm with the slightest amount of pressure, tickling my skin and causing a shiver to run down my spine.

  “And is obvious bad?”

  I lift my hand to stroke along his chin line from his ear all of the way down to his throat. His skin is rough with stubble, causing the most wonderful sensation on my fingertips.

  “Definitely not.” His voice has gone husky and the lust in his eyes causes parts of my body to turn to liquid heat. “I like obvious.”

  He leans toward me, his hand barely touching my chin to lift it toward him. I close my eyes and hold my breath, letting the excitement pulse through me in agonizing and delightful waves.

  Then nothing.

  His breath brushes my face and I know he’s still there, but he makes no move to close the gap between us. Not willing to wait, I move to meet him and I’m rewarded with a low moan, but no kiss.

  “Your magic has grown back quite a bit already.” His voice is ragged with emotion and heavy breathing. I once again try to close the gap between us and this time I’m met by his fingers over my mouth. “Lou,” he says with such feeling I find my stomach tingling with desire. “Don’t. Please.”

  “But I want to,” I say, his fingers tickling my lips with each word.

  Another groan, this time it turns into a laugh. “You’re not making this easy for me.”

  “I wasn’t trying to.”

  I slip my fingers against his collarbone and under his shirt.

  “I don’t want to take your magic,” he says.

  “Then don’t.”

  I give up trying to kiss his mouth and settle for his neck, starting at his Adams-apple and moving down. His fingers push through my hair and for a moment he grips the back of my head as though to hold me closer.

  And then in an instant, he’s broken away. He takes several steps back, stumbling over some rubble while keeping his arm up as though to block me from coming any closer. His eyes are alight with amusement and something else much more primal.

  “Enough,” he says. “This is not going to end well.”

  “Really?” I try to appear as innocent as I can while thoughts about how tight his clothes seem to have become run through my mind. “I thought things were starting to get fun.”

  “Fun is bad.” He takes another step back to keep the gap between us as I move toward him. “Fun ends with me stealing your power and you in a state between life and death.”

  “You won’t take my magic,” I say. “You didn’t before.”

  He backs into the wall as I move forward. He keeps his hand up so I won’t be able to move any closer than arms reach to him. I press my body into his hand and watch his resolve melt away.

  “I…” His eyes shift to my chest and his hand moves from trying to stop me to tracing the curves of my skin above the low neckline of my dress. “You are so beautiful.”

  I freeze and our eyes meet once again. This time all playfulness is gone, replaced by a burning I’ve never seen in any movie or television show and definitely not in real life before. When I try to respond, my voice catches.

  He cups my chin with his hand for a moment and then drops his arm to his side.

  “I’m going to take a walk,” he says. “To make sure the building is still safe. I’ll be back.”

  I watch him go without a word. I feel more deprived, lonely, and happy than I have ever felt before. And all of my emotions are hitting me at once.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sin and Rose arrive back at the same time Al returns to the room. I wonder if he didn’t time it like this on purpose.

  The smell of food from the grocery bag she’s brought back w
ith her causes my mouth to water. Without a word, she starts handing out subs and water. As she passes one of each to Al, her attention is drawn to her circle in the middle of the floor.

  I follow her gaze and cringe. As some point Al and I must have stepped through it, scraping the dust away to break the circle in several places. Our footprints are pretty good indications it was us and not some freak breeze inside the building blowing the dust around.

  “What the hell were you two doing?” she says while walking the circle to examine every inch of the damage. “Do you know how long it took me to do this? The spell is completely ruined now. I’ll have to start from scratch.”

  I refuse to look at Al, knowing I won’t be able to hold back a blush if I do.

  “Sorry,” I say. “It was my fault. I’ll help you fix it.”

  “Yes, you will,” she says. “And you’re going to help me make it stronger. I need to know what’s happened to my Farah and Nyx.”

  “I said I’ll help.” Her obsession with the creatures is more annoying to me right now than usual. Then again, I might just be easily annoyed after what happened, or didn’t happen, with Al earlier. “But I’m going to eat first, if you don’t mind. And we need to figure out how we’re going to take back the portal and Gran’s house.”

  “And help Loraine,” Rose says.

  “I hate to say it,” Al says, “But right now the portals are more important than my sister.”

  Rose’s look of disbelief and horror causes Al to look away from her.

  “I’m sorry, Rose.” He adds in a quieter tone, “I am so sorry.” He continues by looking at the wall behind us, I suspect because he doesn’t want to deal with meeting any of our gazes. “Loraine is alive and she’s not in any pain or immediate danger. Fitzroy’s warped belief he cares for her is actually keeping her safe for now. The same can’t be said for the other sorceresses they have trapped.”

  “Other sorceress?” Sin asks. “You mean Rilla?”

  “Who?” Al asks.

  “The sorceress working with Victor,” Sin says.