Bone Magic (Winter Wayne Book 3)

by D. N. Hoxa

  “Julian,” I called, my voice breaking. “Julian, wake up.”

  But he wouldn’t move. Putting my ear to his chest, I searched for his heartbeat. Since he had a pulse, he was obviously alive, but it still was a relief to hear the steady beating.

  “Wake up!” I called, a little louder this time, and when that didn’t work, I slapped him. It was impulse and the great need to see him blink, just once, so I could see that he was okay. So I slapped him again. And again…

  His eyes moved. “Julian, wake up.” I drew close to his face until our noses touched. “Please, wake up. Come on, Julian. Open your eyes.”

  And he did.

  Another cry tore from my throat. He was alive and he was okay. Hurt, but okay.

  “Winter,” he breathed, and it felt like a lifetime had passed since the last time I heard my name leave his lips. I’d missed it. I’d missed him so much more than I thought I had. I didn’t realize tears were slipping from my eyes when I pulled him to me and hugged him to my chest with all my strength.

  I thought I’d never see him again. I thought I’d never get to touch him like this. I thought I’d lost him forever.

  Now, here he was.

  “Winter, he’s coming,” Julian whispered. Only then did the situation hit me.

  Julian was in my office. On Earth. Covered in blood. Unconscious until just a minute ago.

  Something was wrong.

  I pulled back and put his head on my legs. Blood was still dripping from his nose. The left side of his face was almost completely blue and his lower lip was torn. He had been in a fight, all right.

  “What happened to you, Julian?” I asked, my voice still breaking, but he shook his head.

  “He’s coming,” he said. “We need to…” His voice trailed off.

  “We need to what? Who’s coming?” Sweat covered his forehead though he was cold as ice to the touch. He blinked extremely slowly and his violet eyes were almost faded when they met mine.

  “Julian, please talk to me,” I begged, but when he opened his mouth and no sound came out, I realized that he couldn’t. The next second, he closed his eyes again.

  “Goddamn it,” I hissed at myself. What the hell was I doing? I should have already conjured a healing spell for him!

  But I was in my office, where passersby could see us. I couldn’t stay there with him for a second longer. Putting Julian’s head back on the floor, I ran to the door and turned the lights off. I also locked the office and left the key in, in case Ms. Riley wanted to pay me a visit at midnight like she sometimes did.

  Grabbing Julian by the arms, I pulled him up with all my strength. He was much taller than me so the only way I could move him was to drag him back. That’s what I did. The space was small, but in a few minutes, I managed to drag him all the way to my room, then throw him on my couch. I didn’t stop to take a breath until his head was on my pillow and his body looked comfortable.

  Then, I closed my eyes and called to my magic. It was hard to focus because my mind and chest were full of fear and excitement, each emotion stronger than the other. It took me longer than I would have liked to speak the words of the most powerful healing spell that Bone magic had to offer and to lace my magic around each letter. When I finally felt the energy leaving my hands that were on Julian’s chest, I was relieved.

  When the spell ended, I opened my eyes again, afraid that I’d just imagined the whole thing and that he wasn’t really there, on Earth and in my office, lying on my couch.

  But he was. He was still there and he seemed to be breathing a tiny bit easier. My spell would take a while to do its job, but it had already begun. Now, all I had to do was wait for him to wake up and tell me why he was there and who was coming.

  When I ran to the bathroom to get a towel and some warm water to clean the blood off Julian’s face, I actually thought to look at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, and I’d worn no makeup that day. Thank God I got ahold of my thoughts before I started putting some on.

  Kneeling by Julian’s side, I began to slowly wipe the blood off his skin. My heart hammered inside my chest as it had never done before. Memories of our time together rushed back to me, making me want to both cry and laugh at the same time. Making me almost regret not having stayed with him in the fairy realm.

  But it didn’t matter now. When his face was clean, I could see the bruises and the cuts clearer. They were bad, but nothing that couldn’t be healed. He was there and I was going to take care of him until he came around, and when he did, I was going to kiss him like he’d go back to the fairy realm any second, and I’d never get to see him again for real.

  When I began to search his body for wounds, I found seven. My excitement wore thin and left more room for fear with each new wound I found. Three on his chest, two on his back, and another two on his legs. I couldn’t even tell what had caused them, since they were both cuts and burns and they also looked like something had ripped his skin right off, but I undressed him until he was left only in his underwear. Conjuring another healing spell for him would be too much. At least six hours needed to pass, so for now, I just cleaned him with warm towels and put bandages on every wound. The bruises he had on almost every inch of his skin were not a pretty sight. They made my stomach roll and I did my best to ignore them.

  He’s here. He’s breathing, I told myself. That was all that mattered.

  I covered him with a blanket and allowed myself some time in the bathroom to hand-wash his clothes—it was the best I could do in such a short time. In the morning, we could go buy everything he needed. In the morning, he’d be with me, and I was going to make sure of that by lying down next to him on the couch and looking at him all night long.

  My eyes couldn’t get enough of his face. I’d begun to forget the lines of it, which made me sad. But I hadn’t forgotten the kiss we’d shared in Finger Lakes. I hadn’t forgotten how it had made me feel, and I never would. Now, his lips were dry and the bottom one torn. My spell wasn’t working as fast as I expected it to, but panic had no place in my mind just yet. I’d wait a year if I had to for him to get back on his feet.

  For now, I rested my head on his shoulder and breathed in deeply, more comfortable than I had been in a long time. My soul finally felt like it belonged in my body, and my body like it belonged to Julian’s.

  Six

  I knew I was in a dream from the moment it started.

  It was strange at first, because everything looked so real and so fake at the same time. As if everything in my office was made out of liquid: my desk, my chair, the door—even the asphalt outside. If I poked anything with my finger hard enough, things would begin to explode and drown me—that’s how it felt.

  Even as I walked towards the door, barely able to see because of the sunlight on my face, it felt more like I was floating. There was a smile on my face—I could feel my skin stretching—but there was no feeling inside my chest; I had no mood, almost as if I wasn’t really there.

  Time worked differently in my dream. It felt like I floated for hours before I reached the door, and it also seemed like my hand was on the knob in a blink of an eye. Something waited for me outside, and when I pulled the door open, a spark of excitement ignited in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait to see.

  When I stepped outside, the sunlight began to fade. The buildings across the street came into view, so slowly that at first, I didn’t realize how different they looked.

  No, not different. Ruined.

  My smile turned into a frown as my head moved from side to side, my hair floating around like I was underwater.

  Where is everybody? Not a single soul walked the streets. My beads began to vibrate. I wanted to look at the ruined buildings right across from me, but I couldn’t make my eyes move, or if I did, something else would catch my attention and I’d forget what I was thinking. My cheeks burned and my hands shook as I took another step forward. The smell of sulfur filled my nostrils, burned my throat and made me cough. I didn’t p
ay too much attention to it, though, because I still couldn’t figure out why Geraldine Street was so deserted. I’d never seen it like that before, not any time of the day.

  I began to float down the street, looking but not seeing, begging to find someone somewhere. Someone who would speak to me. Someone who would explain.

  “Winter,” someone whispered. Shivers washed down my back. The voice was strange, almost like it was coming through a tunnel in an echo, and it was behind me. For the life of me, I couldn’t turn fast enough. My body just wouldn’t obey my brain’s commands, but when I did manage to look back, at first I saw nothing.

  Grey smoke filled the street not five feet away from me. In the smoke, I could barely make out two small lights. I wanted to walk to them, but my body refused to move. Even my eyes would no longer blink.

  Panic and fear rushed through my veins and tried to make me collapse, but since I no longer had control over my body, I was still standing. I was still standing when the two lights in the smoke became eyes of violet, and the smile underneath them sick.

  That’s when I could finally see. I saw it all, though my eyes never left the violet ones. I saw the buildings to my sides, broken, burnt, dead. I saw the sky full of black clouds, and I saw the bodies. So many bodies.

  A scream tore from my throat. The beating of my heart was so raw, it shook me. The eyes and the smile in the smoke grew closer and closer until I could make out all of him. Julian Walker was standing in front of me, fire in his hands, smiling like there would be no tomorrow.

  ***

  It was the worst nightmare I’d ever had. When my eyes opened, I found myself soaking wet. My whole body shook as the image of Julian and that sick smile on his face stayed in front of me, blink after blink.

  But in reality, Julian’s face was right next to mine. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t smiling. On the contrary. Pale as a ghost, he breathed evenly. He was still unconscious.

  With a rush, I jumped to my feet and held on to the wall behind me as I waited for the room to stop spinning. The night before came back to my mind. Dena Waldorf. Her ex-boyfriend, found dead in the middle of the street. Julian in my office.

  My stomach turned as I ran out to the office. The sunlight fell on my face, as strong as every other morning. But this morning, it made me want to start screaming already because it felt just like it had in the dream. With shaking legs, I made it to the door and out.

  Geraldine Street lived.

  The buildings across from me looked the same as they always had. People walked up and down the street like usual. No smell of sulfur. No fire. No smoke.

  With a sigh, I shook my head at myself. Just a nightmare, nothing more.

  Locking the door again, I hurried back to my room, and to Julian. As if I’d expected him to be gone, I was surprised to see him there even more than the night before.

  “Julian, wake up,” I said, afraid that he’d wake up and afraid that he wouldn’t. I had no idea what to expect. Just the day before, I’d thought I would never see him again. It looked like never meant much sooner than I’d realized.

  Even unconscious, Julian looked in pain. He was still pale, but his lower lip had all but healed and the nasty bruise on the side of his face was now more yellow and green than blue. He was healing, but not as fast as was normal.

  With a deep breath, I kneeled in front of the couch and put both my hands on his chest. Tapping into my magic to conjure the healing spell was hard when I couldn’t bring myself to stop looking at Julian’s face for even a second. Spells I’d learned and rehearsed a thousand times had become second nature to me now, so that definitely helped. Unfortunately, the only spells I’d rehearsed were my shield and the healing spell that I’d conjured on my aunt and myself a lot of times through the months. If you were in great health already, all the spell did was tickle your toes a bit, so I could conjure it as many times as I needed to.

  That’s why, when I felt the magic leave the palms of my hands and melt into Julian’s chest, I felt confident that it was going to work. He was going to open his eyes any second now. He was going to look at me with his fairy eyes. Butterflies in my stomach. I was a teenager all over again as I waited for him to respond to my hand on his cheek.

  Minutes passed. Julian wouldn’t wake up. I called his name, again and again, and I asked him to wake up, but he didn’t. Maybe he needed to rest. He needed to heal. And while he did, I could dress him with the clothes I’d washed by hand the night before. The black shirt and dark green pants looked strange, but not strange enough to raise eyebrows. They were dry, too, so I put them on Julian as gently as I could. The wounds on his body were still there, but the cuts weren’t bleeding anymore and the bruises had faded, just like the one on his face. Yes, he definitely needed more time to heal.

  And in the meantime, I could try to figure out what the hell to say to him when he did wake up.

  The knock on the door made me jump to my feet. Lynn’s face rushed to my mind. Shit. I kept forgetting about her so often, I was sure it wasn’t normal.

  Closing the door to my room, I rushed to the office. Lynn’s grumpy face greeted me, and behind her was Bender.

  As I let them in, I felt like a naughty little kid who’d stolen the whole cookie jar and was just waiting to get caught. Bender was all smiles, as per usual, and I couldn’t bring myself to even look in his eyes.

  “Did you sleep in those clothes?” he asked when he took a look at me, and I realized that I hadn’t changed at all. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.

  “Fell asleep watching a movie,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to lie, but what other choice did I have? I couldn’t tell them that I had a fairy Prince in my room, who’d come right from the fairy realm, not to mention he was the guy I’d told the whole world I’d killed just to get the ECU off my back.

  “Right,” Bender said and went to lean against my desk. He could tell something was off, but the look on his face said he was still not alarmed—just trying to figure it out. “Evie told me about last night and the dead guy they found in the middle of the street.”

  Oh. So that’s why Bender was here.

  “Yep. It was a shock,” I said and dragged my feet to the kitchen. I needed a coffee before I could think straight and figure out how to get Lynn to leave with her uncle.

  “Evie also told me about Dena Waldorf,” Bender said.

  I looked at Lynn. “Is that why you’re here? To spy on me?” The next thing I knew, she’d tell Bender how long I stayed in the bathroom.

  “I’m obligated to report.”

  Lynn threw a mean look Bender’s way. I sighed. The girl wasn’t to blame. Bender was making her talk.

  “Look, I need the day off. I’m not feeling very well, and I want to go back to bed and lie down. Let’s just call it a day for today.”

  “So why are you making coffee?” Bender asked, raising a brow.

  “To drink it,” I said. “In bed.”

  “What’s wrong, Wayne?” he said and slowly approached me. Since I definitely didn’t want an incident like the one from the day before, I turned to the sink and pretended to drink a glass of water.

  “I’m coming down with the flu. I can feel it. You guys should leave as soon as you can.”

  “I can’t go anywhere,” Bender said. “I’m here on official business.”

  That got my attention, so I slipped from the kitchen and went behind my desk. “What kind of official business?” I was trying not to think that Julian was just a few feet away from me. It was hard, but for both our sakes, I had to do my best.

  “Don’t know yet, but the ECU requested a meeting with coven officials today.”

  Pretending I wasn’t interested was impossible. My whole being wanted to know what the heck was going on, and Bender could see it.

  “Before you jump to conclusions, a meeting does not mean something’s wrong.”

  Was he kidding? Of course it did! “Oh, right. Yeah, of course. The ECU asks for help from the covens on a regular
basis. Totally.” Sarcasm dripped from my words. Lynn grinned and with her arms crossed in front of her, she slowly turned towards Bender as if to see what he’d say next. I was very much interested on that, too.

  “Look, I’m not saying this isn’t odd, but there could be a good reason behind it,” he mumbled, but even he didn’t sound sure.

  “The only reason they’d request a meeting with coven officials—not leaders—is because they need your help for something. Something they can’t do themselves.” Which was hard to imagine because this was the ECU we were talking about.

  “I’ll know for sure in half an hour.” Bender cleared his throat and straightened his shirt. “How about I come back here after I’m done, cook you something decent to eat?”

  What? “I can cook for myself,” I mumbled, my cheeks on fire. With his hands in his pockets, he walked closer to me.

  “I thought you said you were sick.”

  Shit. I did say that.

  “I’m too sick to work, not cook. But do give me a call and tell me about the ECU.” I really wanted to know what they wanted from the coven officials.

  Bender raised a brow and searched my face for a second. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. The flu, remember?” I tried to cough, but it sounded so fake, I wanted to claw my own eyes out from embarrassment. “Just go, and take Lynn with you.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Where is she going to stay?” Bender said, but the excitement had drained from his voice.

  “Bender, I can’t work today. I want to go back to bed—”

  “Then she’ll stay here, at your desk, and watch movies.”

  He was still looking at me like he could tell I was hiding something. I really needed to work on my acting. I was practically an open book.

  “I’ll be back soon, and when I do, you’ll tell me what you’re hiding.”

  “Bender, I can’t…” I started to say, but he was already out the door.

  Panic set in as Lynn looked at me the same way her uncle did. Could she tell I was hiding something, too? Was I that pathetic? I looked back at the door to my room. Julian was right behind it, and I was wasting precious time staying there, trying to kick everybody out so I could be with him.