Bait

by Kasi Blake

She searched the school for the alleged killer.

  The upper levels were usually off limits when classes weren’t in session, but the elevator took her to every floor she requested without hesitation. Relieved, she didn’t think to question it. She looked in Maxx’s office first and found it empty. Next, she roamed the hallways on that level in case he was on his way to or from his office. Nothing. Thirdly, she went to his classroom... and that was where she found him.

  Maxx was waiting for her.

  The man posed on top of the table at the bottom of the stairs, looking pleased with himself. He seemed to be trying to look like a conqueror of worlds, formidable. Hand on hip, back ramrod straight, and foot on a short stack of books as if he was standing on the dead body of his greatest enemy, he stared off into space, giving her an unobstructed view of his stoic profile. Sweeping his cape back on one side, he declared, “I’ve been expecting you, my child.”

  “You have?” Bay-Lee hesitated at the top of the stairs. Maybe Nick was right and she should have gone to Van with her suspicions instead of confronting the alleged killer.

  “I left enough hints for you,” Maxx said. He picked invisible lent from his cape. “Sooner or later you were bound to put it together.”

  “You aren’t going to deny it?”

  “Why should I?” Maxx laughed. “I have wanted to have a frank conversation with you since the day you started to school, and the time has finally arrived. Beauty before brains.” He gestured to her. “Do you have questions for me?”

  She had a million of them, but she only got one word out. “Why?”

  “Why what?” He scowled at her, obviously displeased by her lack of imagination. “Why did I create the wraiths? Because I’m the bad guy and a dead hunter is the best sort of hunter. Why did I frame Gavin? Because he was snooping around the school and needed to be dealt with, the interfering brat. Van gave him an extra assignment, asked him to keep an eye on me. I only wish I knew what I did to tip the old man off. Gavin was keeping an eye on you, but he spent most of his time spying on me. He was this close to figuring it out.” The man put his fingers together with only a breath of air between them. “Why did I want you with Nick Gallos? You were supposed to turn him into a monster so he’d open the doorway and you couldn’t even do that right.”

  Bay-Lee waved his irritating question-and-answer session away. “If you wanted me with Nick, why kill him? Why try to kill me?” Fists clenched, she shouted, “I know you sent the wraith after us!”

  Behind her back she reached for her dagger. It was tucked into the waistband of her jeans, held tight by a homemade sheath. She slid it free while silently praying for an opportunity to use it without getting too close to the monster. He would continue to talk, and she would wait for an opening.

  Maxx threw his hands in the air. Tiny fireworks shot straight up. They exploded overhead in a multitude of colors before disappearing. “I’m not telling you that part. You’ll have to wait and see the show with everyone else.”

  “What show?”

  “I am going to rule this world someday and wipe out every single living, breathing human.”

  “Not if I kill you first.” Bay-Lee pulled the dagger from behind her back and threw it.

  Maxx flicked a hand out. The dagger dropped out of the air halfway to its intended target. Bay-Lee was already on her way down the stairs. She jumped off a step and landed on the table next to him. She punched him in the face, hard. Blood trickled from his nose. She tried to hit him again, but he blocked it with a raised arm. They traded blows. Maxx didn’t hold back. He wanted to kill her as much as she wanted to kill him.

  She leaped off the desk and grabbed a sword from the top of the display case on the left wall.

  Maxx jumped off as she came at him with the blade.

  She swung the sword in a wide sweeping arc. He grabbed a long ruler that was leaning against the wall near the whiteboard and turned it sideways while holding it up. The sword sliced through it. Now he had two sticks instead of one. He used them both like a master, poking and striking at her with them.

  One stick hit her across the cheek, stinging pain. He’d sliced her face open. Blood dripped onto her shirt. Maxx lifted a foot high off the ground and kicked her in the stomach. She flew backwards. Her body smacked into the wall. She was going to lose this fight. Maxx smiled in triumph, reading her mind. He was going to enjoy killing her.

  Nick appeared at her side. “You need to get out of here. Start running. I’ll do something to distract him.”

  She shook her head, feeling suicidal. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Maxx thought she was talking to him. “That’s right. I’m not done with you yet.”

  “Bring it.”

  He tossed one stick and lifted the other in a Statue of Liberty pose. Before her eyes the stick changed. It glowed softly and grew, inch by inch until it was as long as the original ruler, only this time it wasn’t made of wood. Metal formed. It turned into a sword. Maxx shrugged at her look of astonishment. “I am a magician, child.”

  “No. You are a monster.” The condescending endearment brought back a foreign memory. “Wait a second. Alec called me child after I saw him in the woods with the vampire.”

  “That was me. I didn’t want to be caught talking to a vampire so I took on Alec’s form.”

  He lunged forward, attacking her, and metal banged against metal. Each blow made her arm feel like it was being ripped from the socket. Her strength ebbed in mere seconds. She wasn’t going to last long at this rate. She grabbed the hilt of her sword with both hands and used everything she had to strike hard.

  Maxx danced around on quick feet, unaffected. “I could do this all night,” he boasted.

  Desperate, Bay-Lee thrust the sword at his chest. He didn’t seem to be paying attention, but he deflected it easily while stepping to the side. She lost her balance. Instead of running her through with the sword, he looped an arm around her waist from behind and jerked her backwards. Her sword fell from aching fingers.

  She dug her elbow into his ribs, hoping to hurt him.

  He grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her behind him to the other side of the room. She kicked hard and clawed at his hands. Hauling her to her feet, his fingers dug into her shoulders. He was strong, stronger than ten mortal men. Her brain worked overtime, trying to find a way out of this mess. If Maxx wanted to kill her, she was probably going to die.

  Vice-like fingers gripped her throat as he lifted her off the floor. He slammed her against the wall again and again. Pain shot through her head from back to front. Her teeth rattled. One more hit and they would probably fall out. She clawed at his hands while gasping for air. If she didn’t get oxygen soon, she was going to be joining Nick on the other side.

  Nick yelled at Maxx to let her go, but the teacher couldn’t hear him.

  Maxx turned and threw her onto the table in a bone cracking wrestling move. The taste of blood filled her mouth. Stunned, she couldn’t find the strength to get up as Maxx went for the sword. He was going to run her through with it. There wasn’t anything she could do to stop him. She was going to die.

  Did she care?

  “I am sorry it has to end this way,” Maxx said. “I had such grand plans for you, but you let me down. You only have yourself to blame.”

  Maybe she could stall him, keep him talking until she was able to come up with a winning plan. “What are you? Are you a shifter?”

  “You don’t recognize me?” Maxx laughed again and did a bit of a dance, showing off. “Maybe this will refresh your memory.” With a broad stroke of his hand he said, “I tried to warn you, s-sweetheart, but you wouldn’t listen. You should have worked harder to find out their s-secrets. Now you must die.”

  “You’re the reaper who came to my room?”

  Maxx bowed. “At your s-service.”

  She struggled to sit up. “But
reapers don’t care about our world or the Realm or anything else. They live to do their jobs.”

  “I’m not an ordinary reaper, s-sweetheart. If I was, I wouldn’t be able to s-stand before you in the flesh.”

  Reapers couldn’t be killed.

  Hope deflated as she realized there wasn’t anything she could do, no way to fight back.

  Maxx lifted the sword high over his head with both hands. A manic expression took possession of his face. The psycho magician was going to cut her in half as if she was his lovely assistant, only it wasn’t going to be a trick she could walk away from. The sword began its downward descent.

  Nick yelled a warning and rushed at her.

  The strangest thing happened. A powerful sense of love filled her to bursting. It was as if someone else was stepping into a small sleeping bag with her already in it, pushing her aside. Head reeling, she realized what was happening even as the logical side of her brain told her it wasn’t possible. Nick forced his way into her body, possessing her, becoming her. A bolt of pain shot through her entire frame.

  She took a mental step backwards, giving Nick control, and the pain lessened. Although it was her body, she became a passenger as Maxx brought the sword down. She (Nick) rolled off the table. The blade missed by mere inches. Angry now, Maxx hurried around the table to get her. She went to the whiteboard, and he charged her. She stepped to the side, hitting him as he flew by her, and his head crashed into the board.

  Nick took a moment to assess the situation. Being in physical form again was both disconcerting and wonderful. He lifted delicate hands to his new face, Bay-Lee’s face, and he stroked her cheeks. His (her) fingers caressed her soft flesh. “Wow,” he breathed. The sound of her voice momentarily startled him. “This is incredible.”

  “You won’t be saying that after I disembowel you.”

  Nick grinned, using Bay-Lee’s beautiful face. He wished there was a reflective surface in the room, glass, so he could look at her. In his mind he pictured her, the bite-me expression she effortlessly wielded like a weapon. “Good luck with that,” he said, using her melodic voice once again.

  Maxx did a double-take as if seeing something odd in Bay-Lee’s eyes. He blinked. “Something is different about you.” Maxx asked, “What is it?”

  “I just got my hair done,” Nick said with a smirk. “Thanks for noticing.”

  Without warning Nick went on the attack. He plucked a sword off the floor and tried to cut Maxx in half, but the teacher slash magician slash monster produced his own sword out of thin air. Metal struck metal. They banged their swords together in fierce and imaginative ways. Even though Nick was inside of Bay-Lee’s smaller body he still possessed his powerful strength. Sword against sword, Nick drove Maxx backwards.

  Wide-eyed, Maxx snarled. “Impossible! You’re stronger than you were five minutes ago.”

  “Nah.” Nick curved Bay-Lee’s pretty mouth. “I was just playing with you before. Now I’m serious... seriously going to kick your ass.”

  Maxx grinned. “You can try.”

  Nick struck him, several blows to the face and chest, driving him back until he hit the wall and a plan blossomed in Nick’s mind. Hoping Bay-Lee didn’t have access to all of his thoughts, he knew what he had to do. Smug smile on his face, he spoke in a loud voice. “Be gone, Maxx. Return to the other side where you are needed.”

  Maxx choked on surprise.

  He disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

  Get out! Bay-Lee’s voice rippled through her slender body, and it shivered through his being. Since the danger was over he stepped out and back, returning her body to its rightful owner. Once he was standing in front of her, she gaped at him. “How did you do that?”

  “I don’t know... but it was cool.” A wide smile stretched his lips.

  “Maybe from where you were sitting.”

  “I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” When she burst into tears, his insides crumbled. He’d give anything to be able to wrap his arms around her. Feeling helpless, he burned with ambition. He wanted to put his fist through a wall. “Baby, are you okay? Talk to me.”

  “Look!” She held her arms straight out, palms up. “I’m shaking. I can’t stop shaking.”

  “Adrenaline rush.” He relaxed. “You were almost killed.”

  “I don’t think Maxx has anything to do with this. It’s like I’m coming off an amazing high. You, inside of me, I never felt closer to anyone. It was like I’d never be alone again. I could feel your thoughts. I could feel your soul.”

  “Same here.” He started to nod and ended in a shrug. “It was nice.”

  “Nice?” She gaped at him. “It was horrible and freaking amazing!” She pushed hair off her face. “Part of me never wants to do it again, but another part feels like I’ll die if we don’t.”

  “Guess things aren’t as bad as we thought, huh? I may not be able to touch you, but I can be you.”

  “Maybe we can share my body indefinitely.” Desperation tinged her voice.

  “What are you saying?”

  “I want you to be with me, in me, forever. But I want to be in control next time. Can we do it that way?”

  His smile evaporated. “No, we can’t do that. It could cause some sort of damage to you, too risky.”

  Her smile faded. “But… I don’t care. It was incredible.”

  “I know.”

  “You don’t know anything.” She took a deep breath and patted her chest. “For the first time in my life I didn’t feel empty or alone. You can’t give me that and then take it away forever. We have to do it again.”

  “And we will.” For the millionth time he wished he could touch her. “Someday.”

  She gestured to the spot where Maxx was standing when he disappeared. “What happened to him?”

  “He must have returned to the Realm.”

  “What do we do? Should we go after him?”

  “No point. If he returned home, you can bet he’s got a great hiding place and friends looking out for him. Maybe you should go tell Van about this now.”

  “Yeah.” She raced up the stairs, but her feet slowed near the top. She stopped and turned around in the doorway. “Will you be around later?”

  He nodded.

  “How will I find you?” she asked.

  “I’ll find you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  SAYING GOODBYE