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

by Gaudet, Christina G.

  I stare at her blankly for a little too long. I’d forgotten how much and how fast she can talk. Hearing her now makes my tired mind spin.

  She snaps her fingers in front of my face several times and then cocks her hand back as though she’s going to slap me again. I grab her wrist to stop her.

  “Did you hear anything I said?” she asks. “We need to get moving. Your friend’s in danger.”

  “It’s fine,” I say. “She’s with Rose. They’re safely hidden.”

  “With Rose?” Loraine gives me a look only a sister could manage. One that tells me I’m the stupidest, most gullible person in the world and she’s ashamed to be related to me, topped with a bit of pity and just a hint of obligatory love. “Oh, I’m sure they are tucked away safe and sound. They are probably currently asleep and dreaming of puppies and rainbows. Do you know nothing about Rose? I’d bet not five minutes after you left, they were out the door of whatever shack you left them in and were racing off to find some way to help.”

  When I try to think back to them agreeing to stay put, all I can see are the signs telling me Loraine is right. They were never planning on remaining hidden. Of course they weren’t. It was stupid of me to think they would.

  “No,” I say. “I can’t believe Lou would do anything so reckless. She’s not her sister.”

  And yet she said it herself, she wants to be. She’s been trying to let loose more and work on instinct rather than over think things. If she thought she had any chance of stopping Victor, she’d have gone for it.

  “Bugger.”

  “And you’ve finally caught on,” Loraine says. “Now let’s go before Victor and Rilla find them first and we’re all in trouble.”

  I follow Loraine through the building and out one of the front doors. The uniformed defenders of The Sword are waiting for us, but with a wave of Loraine’s hand, they all fall to the ground and start snoring loudly.

  “We’ll need a car,” she says. “I’ll drive.”

  “You?” The idea of my little sister in control of anything as big and dangerous as one of those vehicles is terrifying. “No, I think I’d better drive. I have a bit more experience than you.” I don’t add my experience is limited to driving the one vehicle into the side of the building.

  She strolls up to a car and the door opens with a snap of her fingers. “And I have more magic than you,” she says. “Now get in.”

  “Where do you plan on going?” I ask. “If they aren’t where I left them, they could be anywhere.”

  “How is it possible I have both the brains and beauty in our family?” She waits until I have all of my limbs inside the vehicle before using her magic to slam both doors at once. At least she didn’t take off my leg with her impatience. “There are only two places close enough for them to go where they would have any chance of stopping Victor from combining the worlds. Since they aren’t here, then they must have gone to the other portal. They think they’re helping, but all they’re doing is falling directly into Victor’s hands. Now hold on. I’m going to test how fast this thing can really go.”

  Lou

  Chapter Twenty Four

  There are no lights on inside Gran’s house as the taxi pulls into a driveway a few buildings down.

  “This is great,” I say, interrupting the driver.

  He hasn’t stopped talking since we flagged him down. On and on about the fall of civilization. How when he was young, the bars weren’t open on Sunday, and if they were, two young girls would never have gone to them alone.

  I’m just grateful he didn’t notice how dirty my dress is or how messy my hair has become. I can’t imagine what my makeup looks like at this point. It feels like it’s been weeks since I partied with Sin, not days.

  It is better the driver assumes I’m a pathetic drunk than takes a real look at the two of us and insists on taking us to the hospital rather than home.

  Good thing Sin insisted I take enough money for a cab and keep it in my bra. My purse is somewhere inside Gran’s house, left there when we were chased out by Victor.

  I pay him, and wave away the change. There’s not much anyway, and it’s much less comfortable trying to tuck coins into clothes as opposed to bills.

  Rose and I climb out and make our way to the front door of the stranger’s house. Only when the taxi drives away do we start picking our way through people’s yards toward Gran’s place instead. I wanted to avoid driving directly up to Gran’s in case The Sword has people watching for our return.

  I take a moment once we reach the property to feel for any signs of wizards inside and am relieved to find none.

  “I was right,” I say with a mix of pride and shock in my voice. “They must have been the only ones to come through the portal. And they’re still out chasing Sin. There’s no one here.”

  “Should we set up some sort of watch?” Rose asks. “Make sure no one shows up?”

  I eye the windows to make sure there’s no sign of movement I might have missed with my magic.

  “We should go in,” I say. “Make sure there isn’t anything going on inside we’re not seeing by staying out here. Plus, there are some things inside that could come in useful. Gran’s box for one. Who know what it could give us to help in this situation.”

  Rose hesitates and I start forward.

  “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” she says. “There is a reason Aldric was trying to keep you away from the portals.”

  “It’s fine,” I say with much more confidence than I feel. Is this what Sin has to deal with all of the time? Is she constantly doubting herself and terrified of what might happen if she’s wrong? No, I think she must not spend the time thinking about the consequences at all, and that’s what I need to do right now. If I don’t, I’ll become paralyzed with fear. “Victor’s not here and neither are any other wizards. It will be safer for us to be inside. The house is easier to defend than the yard if they do show up.”

  She doesn’t look convinced, but then again, I don’t feel convinced either. But she follows me anyway. I’m not sure if it makes her brave or stupid. And either way, what does it make me?

  The front door is unlocked. I expected as much. Victor wasn’t likely to stop, search for a key and then make sure the house was locked up before rushing out to hunt us down. And we hadn’t taken the time when we were chased out either.

  There’s also no magic left to keep unwanted visitors, such as Rose and I, out. That’s much more surprising.

  I stop in the doorway and spend another moment using my power to check every corner of the house. Lots of magic, but all of it feels familiar. Spells Gran and Sin have placed to protect objects from being destroyed by rodents and chimeras alike. Areas like the kitchen have been layered with many levels of magic to keep it fireproof, even if some forgetful person neglects to turn off the oven or lets their phoenix burst into flames for no apparent reason whatsoever while sitting on the kitchen table.

  Otherwise the place is clear.

  Even so, I’d feel a lot safer if I had my sword.

  Rose reaches down to her boots and draws two thin blades from hiding spots within the leather.

  I look at them with envy. She appears way more prepared than I do now.

  “I’m guessing you know how to use those?” I ask.

  She spins them simultaneously between her fingers and against the palm of her hands. “I’m not quite as useless as you and Aldric might think.”

  “Okay then,” I say. “The box and anything else useful are upstairs. We should go get them.”

  She lets me lead the way up the stairs toward my room. After a few minutes of silence where I can feel her eyes boring into my back, I decide it’s time to at least try to make things less uncomfortable between us.

  “I don’t think you’re useless, you know,” I say. “And I know Al doesn’t either.”

  “Right.” She sounds more bitter than I hoped. “Because you and Aldric have a special connection. You automatically know everything he’s thinking.�
��

  This might be harder than I thought. “No. I know it because of the way he acts when he’s around you. He trusts you. Even when he wasn’t himself, he trusted you enough to let you get close when no one else could.”

  “Thank you,” she says in a way that makes me think she means the opposite. “I’m so glad you told me what you think about our relationship. Your opinion means so much to me.”

  “What is your problem?” I’ve become angrier with her tone than I’d meant to. I’d been trying to make things right between us. But instead I seem to be making things worse. “I haven’t done anything to you.”

  “No, nothing,” she says. “Just stole Aldric from me.”

  “Excuse me?” Maybe arguing with a girl who has two knives pointed vaguely in my direction isn’t the best idea, but there’s no way I’m letting her talk to me like that. “I didn’t steal anyone. He was never yours to begin with. He’s never thought of you as anything more than a sister. He told me himself.”

  She looks about ready to explode, hands shaking, face turned the same shade of red as her hair. Her mouth opens and then snaps shut. She takes a long breath through her nose and slowly her skin returns to a normal color. Not completely, but at least better than before.

  “Look,” she says. “As much as I would love nothing better than for a herd of rabid ogres to trample you right now, I promised Aldric I would keep you safe. I don’t break promises. So let’s just accept we aren’t friends and never will be and move on.”

  “Fine.”

  “Great.”

  “Awesome.”

  I spin away from her to start rummaging through the bag of stuff I brought with me from home. I know the box is in here somewhere. I made a point to bring it with me. But between the tangle of clothes I haven’t had a chance to put away yet and the fact I’m still shaking with anger over Rose, I can’t find it anywhere.

  A creak from downstairs has me turned toward the door in an instant. The fear in Rose’s eyes tells me she’s heard it too.

  But when I reach out with my magic, I don’t feel anything unusual. So either Victor has found a way to hide his magic, or it isn’t a wizard sneaking around inside the house.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  I tap Rose on the shoulder and point her toward Sin’s room. If she can get around to there, she should be able to get a decent view of the area beneath the staircase. Plus, it will put her closer to the portal, so she might have a chance of stopping anyone from trying to use it.

  She nods her understanding and silently makes her way around the top of the stairs. She pauses for a moment as her attention is caught on something below and then she books it the rest of the space until most of her body’s positioned behind the door. She mimes to me what she saw.

  Two. Hand gun.

  Cops. She must have seen two cops. No one else would be using guns. At least no one interested in the portal or me. Victor must have had them watch the place after all. They must have seen us come through the front door. I’d been looking for wizards, not normal people. They could easily have been staking the place out and I was too eager to be right about Victor to notice them.

  They’ve probably already called Victor to let him know we’re here. If not him, then Fitzroy for sure. After all, he was the one working directly with the cops before.

  Why didn’t I think of them?

  The one good thing about the fact it’s police and not wizards is at least they don’t have magic. Unfortunately, they do have guns. And I don’t have enough magic to be throwing up protection for us every few seconds to block their bullets.

  Some Kevlar would be great right about now.

  I need to be able to see their guns in order to be able to focus my magic on them. Otherwise I’m throwing my magic around wild, hoping to reach the guns, and wasting all of my power in the process.

  Another creak tells me at least one of them has started to climb the stairs. I can wait in here for them to come in and shoot me, or I can go out there and stop them.

  I know being put in jail should be the least of my worries right now, but I can’t help it. I’ve been told all my life what I’m about to do is very wrong.

  If only Sin were here. She’d love to see me attack a police officer.

  I gather my courage and dash forward. The moment I start to move, Rose reacts as well by slamming her door shut, drawing the attention of both the officers.

  Time to work fast. I grab my magic and toss it at the guns. Every moving part within the weapons clogs with my power. There’s no way they’ll be able to shoot.

  One of the officers notices me and pulls the trigger. I flinch, afraid my magic might fail. And then nervous laughter bubbles out of me. It worked. His gun is useless.

  But my joy doesn’t last. I may have got one of their weapons, but apparently they’re carrying back-ups. He draws the small gun from his boot with lightning speed. I don’t have enough time to gather my magic and throw it again. He’s going to kill me and all I can do is watch.

  As his finger pulls back on the trigger, silver flashes by his head and he turns at the last second, missing my head by inches. I take enough time to spot the dagger embedded in the wall beside the cop’s head and Rose ducking back behind the door before I run back down the hall to find some kind of shelter.

  More gun shots, though this time they seem to be aimed at Rose. Her wicked aim and awesome timing must make her more of a threat to the cop than me.

  The two officers split up. One for each of us. Another bullet misses me as I skid into the bathroom at the last second. Panting, I wait for him to come. He’s going to spin into the room, his finger ready on the trigger. I’m going to have seconds to react. If I don’t move fast enough, I’m dead.

  If I had the magic, I’d protect myself with a bulletproof wall. But by the time I got it up and held it long enough for him to come at me, my already low magic would be almost empty. I can’t afford the extra protection. I’ll have to trust I’m faster than him.

  He sees me the moment he spins into the room, and in less than a heartbeat, he has the gun at my head. I’m faster. By the time he pulls back, I already have the gun clogged and under control.

  When he pulls the trigger and nothing happens, he doesn’t hesitate to spin the gun in his hand to use the butt as a bludgeon.

  My taekwondo training kicks in and I kick his wrist. Hard. The resulting spasm forces the weapon to the ground, but he keeps coming. I grab the closest towel and toss it in his face first so he can’t see me coming, then a boot to his shin followed by a punch to the side of his head and finally a foot to his stomach hard enough to make him stumble.

  And yet he still stands.

  I grab the top of the doorframe for balance, and just as he’s shifting his weight for a punch of his own, I thrust my foot up as hard as I can into his jaw.

  I’d never be able to get enough weight behind an upper cut punch to knock him out, but I can do wonders with my legs.

  He drops. The old wooden floor below him trembles from his weight.

  Another two blasts from a gun remind me the big guy isn’t alone.

  I don’t hear any screaming, so I can only hope Rose hasn’t been shot yet. But there are only so many places to hide in Sin’s room.

  I can’t see the cop from down the hall and around the corner, so I need to get closer. I inch along with my back pressed against the wall in order to keep my cover for as long as I can. Just as I’m about to poke my head out to see where they are, the cop shouts out in pain.

  When I duck around to see what’s happened, I notice one of Rose’s daggers lodged in the officer’s thigh. She must have thrown it just as he kicked in the door to Sin’s room.

  He raises his gun to shoot wildly in the direction the dagger was thrown, so I do the only thing I can think of. I shout.

  “Hey,” I say. “Aren’t you supposed to find the sorceress? Well that’s me. Come and get me.”

  His attention is instantly drawn to me and I dive back into
the cover of the dark hallway.

  Bullet holes form in the wall not far from where my head recently was. I swallow and try not to think about how close to dying I came. Again.

  The cop seems no longer to give a crap about trying to stay quiet. He hobbles toward me, every other step causing the entire top floor to groan as he stomps down all of his weight.

  I try to watch over my shoulder so I’ll know when he gets close enough to see me, but in doing so, I forget all about the dropped body blocking the hall. I trip, smacking the ground hard and injuring my wrist as I land on it wrong. As I turn back to check where the cop is, I see a loaded barrel pointed directly at my head.

  No time to recreate the spell I used on the first gun. And not enough magic even with the time.

  I gulp in a final breath and wait for death to come.

  The cop’s finger jerks and he pulls the trigger, but nothing happens. My first reaction is to think he must be out of bullets, but he looks as confused as I am. And I’m sure those guns can hold more than the four or so shots he’s fired. And then I notice the sparkle of magic covering the weapon, making it impossible to physically pull the trigger. I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. In fact, I know I didn’t. Something so precise requires way more magic than I have right now.

  “I thought I told you no guns,” a woman says from behind the officer.

  When the cop turns to see who’s talking, I get a glimpse of a tall brunette I’d seen only once before.

  Rilla.

  “Hello, Lou,” she says. “So nice to see you again.”

  Her magic flashes as bright as the sun.

  And then nothing.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  My eyes flutter open before I fully understand I’ve regained consciousness. Panic rips through me as I try to rub my eyes, but I can’t get my hands to move to my face. I twist, hoping my arms have simply gone to sleep, though I have no idea how both of them could have gone numb at the same time like this. Sharp pain courses from my shoulders and up through my arms.