Bell, Book, and Sandals

by Melissa L. Webb

  Van raced through L.A. like we had a devil on our back. And maybe we did, only it was on my shoulder. I cried out with every bump. The pain reached out, making me feel like my whole body was one exposed nerve. Thank God the traffic was light, but it was still the longest 35 minutes of my life. When we got to Long Beach, I was barely conscious. The pain was so bad I would have paid someone to kill me right then.

  Van found Jensen’s store with ease,(Of course, she had probably been there a million times.) pulling up against the curb right outside the front door. “Wait right here,” she said as she jumped out of the car, her door slamming shut behind her.

  Yeah, like I was going anywhere. All I wanted to do was curl up in the fetal position and die. I raised my head and looked at the building. It was a rundown, tiny hole-in-the-wall place, but at least it was across the street from the beach. He must get a lot of the tourists. No wonder he opened it so far away from the Cove.

  Dropping my head, I started breathing through a particularly bad wave of pain. My door was suddenly yanked opened. “Oh God, Maxie,” I heard Jensen mutter. With a sudden click of my seatbelt, strong arms wrapped around me. I cried out in pain as I was lifted out of the car.

  “I’m sorry. I’m being as gentle as I can,” Jensen whispered against my hair. I knew he was, but every inch we went felt like miles of hot blades against my skin, stabbing and cutting, until I had no skin left. I didn’t know whether to scream or cry. To tell the truth, I was probably doing both. It would explain the soft comforting words Jensen whispered against my ear.

  We got inside, Jensen laying me down on a black leather couch. I gasped at the pain in my back as I made contact with it. What? Did he have his couch stuffed with barbed wire or something?

  Jensen turned and looked at Van. “Come with me,” he said quietly.

  It was quiet as I laid there, suddenly realizing they had left me all alone. Was this Van’s great plan? Frantically rush me here so I could die on Jensen’s couch? Alone? Here I thought she wanted to save me, when in reality she just didn’t want me to die in her apartment.

  I let my eyes flutter closed as I fought another tidal wave of pain. I was dying. I was sure of it, and suddenly I didn’t care so much. Not as long as it meant the pain would stop.

  “Here you go,” Van’s soothing voice washed over me like a balm, bringing me back from the pain. I felt something cool and wet pressed against my forehead as Van hovered over me. “It’s okay, Maxie. Just hold on.”

  “Okay, let me see this,” Jensen’s voice joined Van’s as he no doubt hovered over me, too. Gentle fingers fluttered over my skin as my tee-shirt was tugged aside once again. “I’m sorry about this,” he murmured softly as fire bit down into my shoulder. I wondered how much skin came off with this bandage.

  Silence filled the room as I tried to focus on my breathing. Pain washed over me in a thick, red haze, but I fought against it, refusing to be dragged down into an unconscious abyss.

  Someone shifted nervously above me. “Have you ever seen anything like this, Jensen?”

  “No. I haven’t.”

  Fingers drifted against my cheek, pulling me back to the people next to me. My eyes fluttered opened and I stared into Jensen’s concerned face. “What did this to you, Maxie?” he asked softly.

  I focused on him, on the glint the florescent lights reflected off his glasses, and swallowed, forcing the pain away. “I don’t know,” I said thickly, my tongue much too big for my mouth. Why was it so hard to talk? “Some dumb red bird.”

  Jensen looked at me a moment longer, slowly taking his fingers away from my cheek and then turned, reaching for a very large, very old leather book behind him. I was dying and he wanted to play librarian. Excellent. He flipped through the ancient pages, sending dust into the air around us. Okay, so if the bite didn’t kill me, allergies would.

  He silently studied the pages in front of him. Suddenly, he looked up at me, a strange look on his face. “This bird didn’t happen to talk, did it?”

  I nodded weakly, which turned the volume up on the pain. “Yes,” I grunted through gritted teeth. I felt a hand slip into mine, silent support in the face of adversity. I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t care. I focused on their energy and continued, “They called themselves Bang Gories, or something ridiculous like that.”

  “Byangorma?”

  “Yeah. That’s it.’

  Jensen let out the breath he had been holding. “This isn’t good.” His eyes locked onto mine, a sadness deep within them. “It bit you?”

  “Yes,” I breathed, feeling weaker by the moment. I tightened my fingers around the hand in mine, never letting go of Jensen’s gaze. I was a witch, darn it. I wouldn’t let this be the way I went out.

  “Maxie,” he said my name softly. “It says Byangorma saliva causes death within four hours.”

  “That can’t be right,” Van said excitedly next to us. “It’s already been 24 hours since the attack.”

  He looked at her, shocked. “You’re kidding.” He turned and looked at me, frustration in his eyes. “Why didn’t you come see me right away?” he demanded.

  “What can I say? I’m stubborn,” I told him, the last of my strength leaving with that admission. I was going to die and it would be my own fault. If only I wasn’t so adamant about doing things my own way.

  Jensen leaned close, his fingers once again on my flushed cheek. “You’re also a whole lot stronger than anyone gives you credit for.” Closing his eyes, he hummed softly. It was a tuneless melody that seemed to reverberate through my bones. The fingers of his other hand traveled to my shoulder, probing softly at first, then clamping down, opening a conduit between us.

  I cried out in pain and the hand in mine tightened, obviously Van’s, unless Jensen had a third I didn’t know about, sending me warmth that reminded me of a summer’s day.

  Jensen’s humming grew louder until it turned into words. Words I didn’t understand. But I guess that didn’t matter, because with each word, the pain diminished, until, after what seemed like an eternity, it disappeared all together. His fingers were soft on my skin as he ran them over my shoulder. “There. Done. But I can’t do anything about these.”

  I sat up gently, glancing down at my shoulder. The black swirls were still there. They looked like some kind of tribal tattoo. I wondered just how much of my body now looked liked that. My mother was so going to kill me. “But…I’m not dying?” I asked, fixing my tee-shirt. It still surprised me what magic could do.

  “No,” Jensen said, shaking his head. “You’re not dying.”

  “Thank the Gods,” Van said, pushing Jensen out of the way and hugging me in relief.

  Jensen laughed as he picked up the book and sat it on a desk across the room. “She wouldn’t even have come that close, if she had come to me sooner,” he said, looking at me. “I could have probably even stopped the black marks.”

  I sighed as Van let go of me. That would have been nice, but how was I supposed to know I was becoming the tattooed lady? Still…this was my own fault and I owed Jensen big time. “Thanks,” I told him. “I won’t wait so long next time.”

  “You better not,” he said in mock anger, but I could tell I had scared him. Both of them. A lot.

  Looking around the room, I realized we were in some kind of office. Must be Jensen’s office, except…this room was as big at the building I saw outside. Had they taken me in someplace else? This couldn’t possibly be the office to the bookstore.

  They both watched me, a knowing smile spreading over Jensen’s lips. He stepped away from the desk, coming closer to me. “You’re probably wondering where you are, aren’t you?”

  I nodded as I continued to look around the room. “We can’t possibly be in the bookstore.”

  His smile deepened. “Oh, you’d be surprised. Come on,” he said, holding a hand out for me.

  I slipped my hand into his,
letting him pull me to my feet, grateful for the help. I wasn’t sure if I could stand on my own yet.

  He didn’t let go as he led me into a cavernous area filled with bookshelves as far as the eye could see. “Welcome to Curiouser and Curiouser. My pride and joy,” he said, motioning to the stacks around us.

  I blinked in shock. Something wasn’t right. This place was huge, and we’re not talking bookstore huge. It was more like two-story mall huge. This had to be a joke. They had snuck me into some warehouse while I was out of it. I turned around, glancing behind us. A check-out counter stood there, next to some window displays and the front door. Van’s car sat parked at the curb, silently waiting our return. I turned back and stared at them. Jensen and Van both had amused looks on their faces.

  “When are you going to stop being so shocked when you encounter something unknown, Maxie?” Jensen asked, squeezing my hand slightly. “You need to get used to it. It’s your world now.”

  I let my hand slip from his, taking a step forward. The shack outside had been roughly the size of a pre-school classroom. There was no way this could fit in it and I was just supposed to accept that? I turned quickly, looking at them. “But it’s bigger on the inside,” I exclaimed.

  Van giggled. “They always say that.”

  Jensen shrugged. “It’s a simple expansion enchantment. Nothing too fancy.”

  Nothing too fancy? This man could heal the dying and take space that didn’t even exist, and he thinks it’s not a big deal? What could he do if he really tried?

  “Okay, time to get down to business,” Jensen said suddenly, all the humor gone from his face. “What’s going on, Maxie? The attack in the elevator, and now this? They aren’t just random, are they?”

  “I have no idea,” I told him and meant it. How was I supposed to know anything? Two months ago, I was only a spoiled rich girl, and now reality kept shifting on me. Tomorrow I’d probably wake up to find my shoes talking to me. And let me tell you, the price I pay for shoes, they’d have one heck of an attitude.

  “Ryan told Maxie he’s a vampire this morning.”

  “It’s about damn time,” Jensen muttered, glancing over at me. I turned away quickly, hoping to hide the betrayal in my eyes.

  “I told her about Richard Everheart,” Van continued, “I’m beginning to think he might be the one behind these attacks.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised. He wouldn’t want anything to pull his heir even farther from the empire.”

  Vampire Empire? I couldn’t help but giggle at that one. Was that something they really called it? How could you be evil and still call your domain that?

  “Maxie, this is serious,” Van said, frustration in her voice.

  “You have no idea what Richard Everheart is capable of,” Jensen added, trying to make me see reason.

  “Okay, I get it. This is bad,” I told them, a little frustrated myself. Of course, I knew this was bad. I had been the one attacked. “What do you want me to do about it? If you haven’t noticed, there’s not much I can do right now.”

  Jensen nodded. “I know. We need to fix that. There’s some books on the back wall which might help,” he told me, sympathy clouding his eyes. “Most witches know what they are from an early age. They spend their childhood developing their powers, learning to control them. Unfortunately, you’ll have to play catch-up. We just don’t have time to do it the usual way. I’m sorry.”

  It was my turn to nod. It wasn’t his fault I didn’t know who I was. Yet, I knew he’d help me in every way he could, even if I wasn’t his responsibility. “Thank you. I know I have to get control of them. I’d feel safer if I did.”

  “We all feel that way, Max,” Van said, sincerity making her words mean even more.

  “Why don’t you head back there?” Jensen said. “You can’t miss it. The whole back wall is covered in the books we need. There’s a table and chairs back there as well.” He glanced over at Van. “We’ll meet you back there, Maxie.”

  “Okay,” I said, before turning around and heading into the stacks, praying I wouldn’t get lost. Jensen should offer a map to his customers. Even malls had that “you are here” thing.

  I glanced over my shoulder, suddenly feeling very alone. I couldn’t even see the front anymore. I couldn’t make out Van and Jensen’s voices. It probably was for the best. I knew they were talking about me. Probably pitying the poor little witch who didn’t even have enough sense not to get involved with vampires.

  Well, it wasn’t like I knew, was it? Not one of them had come out and said, “Run, Maxie. Ryan’s a vampire.” That would have been nice. An honest warning. Though, truthfully, it probably wouldn’t have mattered much. Like I would have believed them at the time.

  I walked forever it seemed. Finally when it felt like I was in another zip code, I reached the back wall. There was a table, chairs, a few couches, and several of those strange egg shaped chairs I could never remember the name of. Sun light spilled in through the windows scattered around. I glanced down the wall. It went on for miles in both directions. I sure hoped the books we wanted were in this section, because I wasn’t walking anymore.

  I moved to a shelf, running my fingers along the spines of the books as I read the titles. These were the ones. It seemed everything on this shelf had something to do with witchcraft and magic. I started pulling books off the shelf, placing them on the large, round wooden table nearby. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I was sure Jensen could find something useful in one of the books.

  I started to relax, a calming sensation flowing over me as I pulled a chair out and sat down. This place was amazing. I loved old bookstores and this one was the most magnificent one I had ever seen. It had a “welcome home” vibe as if the store itself had been waiting for me. I smiled at that thought. I think I had found my new favorite hangout.

  Grabbing a book off the top, I started flipping through it as I waited. Maybe I’d get lucky and find one called Witchcraft for Dummies, cause that’s what I felt like. A dummy that would die before she got her powers under control.

  I wasn’t that lucky. Not one dummy book among the pile. Just a lot of old books with archaic words I didn’t understand. Huffing in frustration, I pushed the books aside. Except for passages like “no doubt in your heart,” “pure of mind,” and my personal favorite “know you can do it,” it was all nonsense to me. There was no way I was going to figure it out on my own. I had a better chance of winning the Nobel Prize for my achievements in Quantum Physics. AKA, never going to happen.

  Tapping my nails in frustration, I looked around, waiting for my friends. What was taking them so long? Was it possible that Jensen could get lost in his own store?

  A tap echoing mine sounded on the window behind me. I turned, wondering if they had walked down here from outside. It certainly would have been a faster trip. The window was empty. Nothing but buildings lay beyond it.

  With a shrug, I went back to tapping my nails. Must have been a trick of sound, nothing more than my own taps bouncing back at me. Besides, I didn’t know why I had thought it would be Jensen or Van, it wasn’t even like there was a door in this part of the building.

  More tapping followed mine. I listened to it, then tapped again. The tapping copied mine perfectly. That wasn’t an echo. There was someone behind me. I spun quickly, hoping to catch whoever was toying with me. And this time I wasn’t disappointed.

  A small blonde girl stood there, peeking in the window. She smiled at me, her pig tails blowing slightly in the breeze.

  “Elizabeth?” I said, startled. I rose, going to the window as fast as I could and stared down at the girl. “What are you doing here?”

  Her eyes darted nervously around her. “Help me, Maxie. I’m scared.”

  “Why?” I asked her, but I knew she needed help if she was here, it really didn’t matter why. “How did you get here?” Elizabeth was my ne
xt door neighbor’s daughter. I mean next door to my house in New Haven, Maine. The Freemont’s weren’t careless with their nine-year-old daughter. Especially not careless enough to lose her all the way cross country. There was absolutely no reason for her to be in L.A.. Not unless someone was using her to get to me.

  “Elizabeth, sweetheart, what’s wrong?

  She looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening in terror. “They’re here, Maxie. They want to hurt me. You have to stop them.”

  I pressed closer to the window, desperately trying to see her attackers. “Who is, honey? Who’s out there?” I asked as calmly as I could, even though calm was the last thing I was at the moment.

  “Please,” she begged, panic in her voice. “You have to stop them.” Tears clung to her lashes as she stared up at me, hopeless in her fear.

  “Okay. It’s okay,” I said and looked around me. How could I help her? There wasn’t any way to get to her. Wait. I couldn’t, but maybe my friends could. I turned around, peering down one of the aisles. Where were they anyway? “Guys!” I screamed. “There’s a little girl outside who needs help. You need to go to her. Please!”

  I waited a moment. No one shouted back to me. No running. No commotion. Nothing. They weren’t coming to help me. I was alone.

  Reaching down to pat my jean’s pocket, I turned around. Great. I hadn’t even grabbed my phone on the way out of the apartment when we left. I had been too busy dying to even think of it. Frustration grew as I stared out the window. It was empty once again. “Elizabeth,” I called frantically. “Where are you?”

  The alleyway stayed empty. The child was no longer out there. Panic gripped my heart. What had they done to her? Pressing my face closer to the glass, I tried to peer along the side of the building. She had to be somewhere close by.

  A scream erupted from the end of the alley. I pressed closer to the window, my breath forgotten as I willed her to be okay. A shadow slunk through the edge of my vision and Elizabeth screamed again.

  “No!” I yelled, anger dripping from every pore. Why would they do this? Why would they take some poor little girl from Maine, just to have her scream? It didn’t make sense.

  A slam against the window startled me. I peeled myself away from it, staring at the figure outside. Disbelief flooded through me. This couldn’t be happening. “Mom?”

  My mother stood on the other side of the glass, looking even more scared than Elizabeth had. “Maxie,” she spoke in a whisper, as if she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself. “Maxie, something is after Elizabeth. We have to do something.”

  A tear leaked from the corner of my eye. I had never seen my mother so scared before in my entire life. Whatever was out there was bad, and I couldn’t help them. “I don’t know what to do, Mom.”

  My mother looked at me so forlornly, I thought my heart might break. “We can’t let that little girl die,” she told me, determination in her eyes. She darted away from the window and disappeared, following Elizabeth where I couldn’t see.

  “No,” I whispered, fighting back the tears. This was all wrong. None of this was my mother’s fault, or Elizabeth’s. It was mine and I had put them in danger. Was this the kind of person I was destined to be? Someone who constantly kept the people she loved in danger?

  My mother’s scream rose from the side of the building as well. My mother was out there paying for my sins.

  “Mom,” I screamed, pounding my fist against the glass. “Leave her alone! It’s me you want.”

  The screaming continued, drilling a hole right through my soul. I couldn’t just stand there and listen to this. I had to do something. I turned around, planning to run back to the front of the store. I stopped mid-stride. That wouldn’t work. By the time I got there, it would be too late. I was sure of it. If I wanted to save them, I had to get to them now.

  I had only one choice. I had to get through that window.

  Grabbing the wooden chair I had been sitting in, I spun around, flinging it into the window with all my might. Jensen would just have to forgive me. The chair left my hand, crashing into the window, where it bounced harmlessly and landed on the floor.

  I cursed under my breath as I stared at that window, adrenaline spiking the anger I was feeling. How pathetic was that? I couldn’t even break a window. Grabbing the chair again, I threw it several more times. I let all the rage I was feeling fly with the chair, still…the window did not break.

  Shoving the chair aside, I collapsed against the window, my chest heaving as the tears came hot and fast. I was going to lose her. I was going to lose them both because I couldn’t manage to do anything right.

  “No,” I shouted to the universe as I started pounding on the window again. “Why would you do this to me? Why would you bring me all the way out here and tell me I was a witch, if I can’t do anything to save them?”

  Wait…I was a witch.

  A thin piece of glass shouldn’t stop me. Maybe I couldn’t control my powers, but they were there. And they hadn’t let me down yet. I focused on the window, willing it gone. I felt the sheer force of my desire to reach them wash over me. I was like a mother lion protecting her young. Nothing was going to stop me.

  I gave a primal yell as my will ripped into the window. Closing my eyes, I prayed for the glass to shatter. Instead, the roar of traffic greeted my ears as a warm breeze fluttered through my hair. I opened my eyes, shocked at the sight in front of me. The window had completely disappeared. So had the wall around it. In its place was a door, standing wide open. I had done it. I had bent the will of the world around me. I created an opening where there had been none. I did it. I used my powers to obtain what I wanted. I was awesome!

  I stepped closer to the door, silence greeting my ears as I did. What was going on out there? Why had the screaming stopped? I would never forgive myself if I was too late.

  A shadow moved in the doorway, causing me to take a step back. The figure stepped into the doorway and looked at me, a huge grin on his movie star face. “Maxie, you did it,” he told me proudly. “You destroyed the creature and freed your mom and Elizabeth.”

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Ryan?” What was he doing here?

  “Yes, my love,” he said, stepping closer, eyes burning bright. “I knew you needed me. I wanted desperately to be where you were and suddenly I was. Your powers brought me here.”

  I shook my head. Could I really do that? Did that one little act of adding a door really save everyone and bring Ryan to me? I didn’t know what to think. None of it was making any sense. I was still too strung out on adrenaline to try to force it to.

  Ryan saw the look of confusion on my face and stepped in through the doorway, coming closer to me. “You did it, Maxie. You allowed me in.”

  I looked up at him, worry rolling through me. That didn’t sound good. Maybe they were right. Maybe you couldn’t trust a vampire. “What?”

  Throwing his head back, he laughed, the sound echoing through me in waves of pure malice. His face suddenly rippled, like water in a pond and Ryan was no longer standing there. Jensen was.

  “Thank you for giving me entrance,” he spoke, a smile lingering on his lips. “It will be so much easier to kill you if I’m on the inside.”

  I backed up, bumping into the large table behind me. What the heck was going on? How did Ryan change into Jensen, and why did he want to kill me? I didn’t know, and it really didn’t matter. I just had to keep him from succeeding.

  I raised my hands, trying to throw some kind of energy at him. I had seen it done in countless movies, but nothing happened and Jensen kept coming.

  “Give it up, Max,” he hissed, coming nearer. “You aren’t strong enough to stop me.”

  “No,” I whispered. Why was he doing this? I know I chose Ryan over him, but…come on. Was this anyway to win a girl back?

  “Yes,” he said as his featur
es changed again. This time it was Van standing there in front of me. Her blue eyes sparkling with glee. “It will be my honor to take your life, witch,” she said and sprang.

  She hit me hard. Every inch of her curvy figure dragging me down beneath her. I screamed as she clawed into me. This was crazy. Was this some kind of conspiracy? All my friends were out to kill me.

  “Hold still,” Van said, pinning me down harder. “This will only take a moment.” Her finger clawing again against my skin. This time the pain went deeper than just a flesh wound. Whatever she was really doing to me went much deeper than that. It was like she had dropped hot coals into the very core of me. Somehow, some way, she was ripping at my soul.

  I screamed again as my body convulsed, too engulfed in the pain to even function properly. “No…Van,” I gasped, panting around the words. She really was going to kill me.

  “I’m not Van, sweetheart,” she whispered in my ear, voice deeper than I had ever heard before.

  I opened my eyes, trying to focus past the pain. I looked up, meeting eyes I had thought would love me forever. Eyes that had betrayed me more than anyone had before. My ex-fiancé stared down at me, amusement written all over his once handsome face. Now it only reminded me of the hate people were capable of. “Stephen?”

  He chuckled, sinking his fingers deeper into my chest. He tugged hard, ripping something deep inside of me. “Goodbye, my love,” he said as he shredded all that I was.

  The pain was suddenly gone. I was no longer tied down by the agony he was subjecting me to. I was floating, falling, and something was pulling me away. I knew it meant he succeeded. They all had succeeded. I was getting whisked away from the world I loved, and I didn’t care.

  I heard footsteps coming up one of the aisles. The sound dragged me back, cementing me in reality. As the floating sensation left, the pain came back. Three-times what it was when it had left me. I screamed, convulsing once again.

  “What the…Fetch?” I heard someone shout from behind me. “Get off of her.” A blinding white light tore passed me in a shock wave, knocking Stephen from me, launching him into the bookshelves on the wall. He landed with a thud, books showering down around him, burying his limp form.

  I gasped, breathing a little easier. Something was still broken inside of me, but at least I was alive. I didn’t know how long it would last though. I felt warm hands on me, causing me to look up. Van and Jensen stared down at me, terror on their faces. “No,” I whispered. Were they here to finish what they started?

  “Easy,” Jensen said softly. “It’s really us.”

  “Are you okay?” Van asked me, tears in her eyes.

  I closed my eyes, weariness settling over me. “I don’t know,” I whispered, too tired to manage much more. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes again. “What’s going on?”

  Jensen’s gaze left me, locking on to the door in the wall. “Where did that come from?” He closed his eyes, listening to something I couldn’t hear. He jerked suddenly, his eyes flying open and glanced over at Van. “My wards. They’re all gone. Someone has destroyed them all. How could someone do that?” He shook his head, disbelief in his eyes. “We’re sitting ducks without them. If there are others outside…” he let his sentence die out, not wanting to finish it. Obviously, having no wards was a bad thing. “Who’s strong enough to do that?”

  Van placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” And just like that, she was gone, disappearing right before our eyes. I was never going to get used to any of these things.

  Jensen looked back down at me. “Here,” he said, his arms coming around me as he helped me into a sitting position. “Better?”

  I nodded weakly. I didn’t know how much better it actually was, but at least I wasn’t lying on my back anymore. “What was that? It looked like you and Van.”

  He glanced over at the mound of books. “That was a Fetch. They take the form of others to hurt and confuse people,” he said, looking down at me. “We’re lucky we got to you in time. That thing could have killed you.”

  “I still will,” a voice rang out as the pile of books shifted, and a dark shape rose from it. Its rotten body stood there, dead eyes glaring in our direction.

  Oh, great. Zombies? Was there anything in this world that wasn’t real?

  Before either one of us could move, the zombie lurched forward, moving faster than I ever thought one could.

  Jensen reached out and pulled me to him, his arms wrapping around me like a shield. It was all he had time for. The zombie was almost on top of us.

  A scream of rage tore through the book store, shaking the walls around us. I glanced up, looking for the source and found it, swooping down at the zombie.

  The black shadow with the red eyes flew through the air colliding with the zombie, attaching itself to its body. The zombie howled in pain as its decomposing flesh dissolved from the shadow's touch. The shadow held on, wrapping around the zombie until there was nothing left of it but black smoke. The shadow slowly drew the smoke into itself, merging it with its own form.

  We stared at it in shock. All of this had happened in no more than a few seconds. He had saved us that quickly. The shadow turned towards us, taking on a more human form. He let his gaze travel to me.

  “Thank you,” I said, voice shaking.

  He bowed to me, a deep, sweeping gesture, then disappeared as if he’d never even been there.

  Jensen turned and looked at me. “You weren’t kidding when you said you summoned a shadow.”

  “I don’t know how it happens. It didn’t show up last time.”

  He stared down at me, still in his arms. “Are you okay?”

  I looked up at him. I was hurt, scared, confused, but I also felt good. Like I was where I belonged. I realized as I sat there, pressed to Jensen’s chest, even though horrible things had happened, I was at ease. It happened the moment he wrapped me in his arms. There was a connection between Jensen and I that I couldn’t deny. It wasn’t the electric burning I felt whenever Ryan and I touched. This was soothing, like a salve covering everything that was wrong. It wrapped me in a protective coating and left me with peace. And I liked it. A lot.

  Jensen was staring at me, worry seeping into his eyes as he waited for my answer.

  I opened my mouth to tell him I was fine, but exhaustion hit me like a brick wall, rolling me out of the peace he provided. I felt myself go slack in his arms as I weakened. The damage I had suffered was finally catching up to me. “I…don’t know,” I said, my head lolling to one side.

  He moved my gaze back to him, placing his hands on the sides of my face gently. He took a deep breath, staring into my eyes. I held my breath, lost in the bright green pools of his eyes. He seemed to be searching for something, but it didn’t matter, I could stay lost in those orbs forever.

  Jensen pulled his gaze back, looking at me instead of through me. “The Fetch damaged your soul,” he told me. “It’s ripped to shreds.”

  My heart hammered at that. It was what I was afraid of. There was no way this was going to end well. “What does that mean?”

  “It means you will die if we don’t do something.”

  “Die,” I squeaked. Again? Why was it I was always dying anymore? I see how it is. L.A. really will kill you. “Is there anything you can do?”

  He nodded. “There’s one thing, but it’s kind of extreme.”

  Extreme? When a person is dying, is anything really too extreme?

  He pulled me close, looking me square in the eye. “I’m willing to do it. Honestly, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he whispered to me. Before I could respond, he pulled me to him, his lips finding mine. They moved slowly, gently giving into what was there between us.

  I sighed as I tried to wrap my arms around his neck. I couldn’t believe the sensations coursing through me. It was like the first day of summer, Christmases,
and birthdays all wrapped into one. It was finding a new sacred spot and coming home at the same time. I felt his energy touch my soul. It cradled it, gently caressing it, and slowly my soul started to mend. It was growing, bigger and brighter than it had ever been before. My soul was still mending, but at the moment, it was whole. I was whole.

  Jensen’s arms loosened around me as he pulled back slightly. His lips caressed mine one last time, reluctant to stop.

  I looked up at him, slowly sitting up on my own. I felt great. Even better than before. “What did you do?”

  A smile formed on his lips as he continued to hold me. “The only thing I could think of, Max. I gave you part of my soul.”

  Thirty