The Sapphire Talisman

by Brenda Pandos

  “Never forget I love you,” I breathed before surrendering limply to his body.

  “Hold up, Nick,” a male voice called from behind us.

  Suddenly, I was free and Nicholas’ body haphazardly sailed away from me towards the opened door. The talisman fell perfectly into my hands. My fingers gripped the stone in thankfulness before a blurred figure grabbed me as well, our bodies moving in the same direction.

  Outside, we zinged upwards, hovering twenty feet in the air while Nicholas rolled over from his sprawled position on the ground.

  “What the heck?” Nicholas cried, looking up at us. I also turned to discover the identity of my rescuer.

  “Phil?” My voice teetered up an octave.

  “At your service, Ma’am,” he said with a smile, fanged teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “Uh, hold on.”

  Our bodies lurched up higher into the sky as Nicholas lunged to grab Phil’s ankle. I couldn’t help the déjà vu from flooding my senses. The last time I saw Phil, he was just about to sire me into a vampire and Nicholas impaled him with a stake just in time, turning him into dust. I had no idea vampires were capable of coming back from the dead.

  “But you . . . he . . . that night . . .” I choked out.

  “I’m supposed to be dead?”

  “Uh, yeah?”

  “I was—I mean technically I still am, but I’m back. Long story,” Phil said with a snort. “Good thing, isn’t it?”

  We jerked higher into the air each time Nicholas found something new to catapult his body off of.

  “Hang tight, Nick,” Phil said, throwing him a bag with red liquid inside. “Drink this.”

  Nicholas grabbed the bag and sank his teeth in. I took a deep breath and clung to Phil, feeling another rush overwhelm me.

  “What’s up with you?” Phil said, suddenly concerned. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “Um, sorta,” I breathlessly squeaked out, relaxing into Phil’s embrace, reveling in Nicholas’ ecstasy.

  “Whoa, girl. You need to hang onto me.” He let out an ear piercing whistle as if to call in the cavalry and held me tighter. “I need to get you home.”

  From the corner of my eye, I drunkenly caught a flash of black bolting across the sand towards Nicholas. I squinted to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. The object morphed into a woman with jet black hair and fair skin, dressed in all black.

  “Enigma?” I asked in a whisper, not wanting to recover from Nicholas’ drunken blood-engorged stupor.

  “Enigma? That’s a new one.” Phil laughed. “That’s Scarlett, though she is quite the enigma, that’s for sure.”

  “Her name’s Scarlett?” My head finally started to clear as Nicholas finished drinking the contents in the bag.

  “Yeah. We just met. She’s totally rocking.” Phil’s aura brimmed with confidence, like the first day I met him in the cafeteria at school.

  “I’m so confused,” I mulled out loud.

  In slow motion, I watched as Scarlett tackled Nicholas to the ground, the sensation feeling like a punch to my own gut. I groaned.

  “Yeah, I think we need to go,” Phil said quickly, smoothing back my hair like it was fur. “You got it, Scar?” Phil yelled down to the beach.

  Scarlett looked up and nodded. Nicholas struggled, but remained pinned beneath her.

  “Scarlett,” I mumbled, curling up in Phil’s arms.

  He launched into the air and I welcomed the cool wind, rushing against my face. At that moment, I didn’t have a care in the world.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “We have to go back,” I demanded and pounded my arms against Phil’s chest as he landed on the lawn in front of my house.

  “Shhh.” He put his finger against my lips. “Someone will hear you.”

  I looked over his shoulder. The lights in the front room were still on and my dad happened to be awake, worried something fierce.

  “Crap.” I gritted my teeth.

  “What?” Phil turned to find the source of my discomfort, grimaced and came forward, about to grab me. “Do you need me to sneak you to your room or something?”

  “Whoa. Hang on.” I placed my hands against his advancing body and felt the pectoral muscles beneath his shirt tighten. For a moment I struggled not to get distracted. “You’ve got a ton of explaining to do first.”

  “Parker, you’ve got to smooth things over with your dad and then we can talk.”

  I bit my lip, invisibly feeling him out. Phil had no bad intentions for once, which was surprising. “Um, I guess I could use a lift to my second story.”

  He didn’t allow me to finish my statement before he sprang up like a gazelle to my window and set me down softly on the ledge of the roof.

  He turned his ear awkwardly towards the house. “He’s downstairs in the kitchen. Go get a drink of water and act surprised when he questions your whereabouts. Tell him you’ve been asleep this whole time.”

  “Uh, okay.” I wrinkled up my forehead. “But what about my car?”

  “Where is it?” Phil reached out his hand and flicked his fingertips forward, obviously wanting the keys.

  “Downtown, by Mr. Pickles.” I fished for them in my pocket, pausing before dropping them into his hand. He shot me his adorable half-smile which melted me.

  “I’ll take care of it.” He disappeared and only the rustle of the leaves on the nearby trees gave away his exit.

  I steadied my arm against the house siding for a minute, stunned. How the heck could Phil possibly be alive?

  The memories of him burning up into a pile of ash flashed vividly in my mind followed by his funeral shortly after. I was grateful to see he was back, but totally confused and wondered if what I saw was real or not—or some horrific trick played by a very believable actor.

  Wake up, Julia.

  I bit my knuckle almost drawing blood when another burst of my dad’s angst hit me. Rushing inside, my stomach did a somersault when I realized the hour—one-fifteen in the morning. I didn’t waste any time changing into my jammies and mustering up a believable sleepy-face. The sack over my head and windy ride had done wonders to give the perfect bed-head effect.

  Taking a deep breath, I stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen in my bunny slippers and robe.

  “Young lady,” my dad barked, suddenly confused after giving me a once over. “Where have you been?”

  “Upstairs, asleep. Why?”

  He scowled. “Since when?”

  “Since earlier this evening?” I crinkled up my lip feigning confusion while rubbing my eyes to add to my act.

  “Your phone is off.”

  “Oh, that . . .” I put my head down and moved towards the cabinet for a glass. “I actually dropped and broke it. Sorry.”

  “Another one?” he groaned, scrubbing his hand against his forehead. “But where’s your car?”

  “It’s not out front?” I rushed to the kitchen window, prepared to freak if Phil hadn’t returned yet. Sure enough, my car was parked on the side of the house where I normally left it. My dad walked up behind me flowing more confusion than ever.

  “It’s there, Dad.” I put my hand on his forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “It wasn’t there earlier,” he said with a grimace and pushed my arm away.

  I yawned to cover my smile, feeling Phil’s enjoyment waft down from upstairs, evidently listening in.

  “I’m really tired, Dad,” I said while filling a glass up with water, relieved I’d avoided getting caught. “Big day tomorrow: math test, history report due. I’m going back to bed.”

  With a shrug, I headed for the stairs.

  “Next time, check in,” he said, his voice gruff but his interior bewildered.

  I grunted a yes and purposefully meandered slowly upstairs. Once I closed my bedroom door, I ran to the window.

  I threw open the blinds and opened my window. “That was so close.”

  “You did amazingly well,” Phil said with a twinkle in his eye. “A little too good, per
haps.”

  “Not really,” I said with a guffaw. “You told me what to say. How did you know?”

  Phil chuckled, leaking a twinge of nostalgia. “Years of practice with my own parents.” He raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

  “Yeah, well.” I sighed, and slumped onto my window seat. “I’ve had to lie a little too much lately. I feel horrible about it.”

  Phil stood at the window, his jet-black eyes were filled with compassion. In awe, I gave him a once over. He looked the same as before: blonde hair, pale skin, surfer build, breathtakingly beautiful. But his aura no longer excreted consuming selfish desires for blood or my conversion to the vamp side. He’d returned to his former human self: compassionate, fun, carefree, brave, though a tiny hint of bloodlust gave away what he really was.

  But once the adrenaline of averting lifetime grounding dissipated, the world stopped as reality resurfaced. Nicholas, the love of my life was evil now; the switch caused by my immortal enemy—his mother. The thought had me seething. Alora never intended to capture Nicholas and Scarlett knew this all along and didn’t tell us, for fear of what he’d do. And now that he was solely fueled by his vampire side, his new goal was to take the talisman from me and give it to her. I burst into tears and sobbed into my hands.

  “Oh, geez, Parker,” Phil said in a panic, “If you are going to cry, at least invite me in.”

  “I . . . I don’t know what to do,” I sniveled. “This whole thing is insane. He’s lost . . . gone . . . one of them now. It’s hopeless and over.”

  “Jiminy Christmas,” Phil said with a grunt I couldn’t ignore.

  I looked up to see his hands pressed against the space between us, like a mime does against the air. He pushed the invisible force field with all his might to no avail.

  “Don’t you think I’d have bitten you by now if that was my intention?” he complained, repeatedly jabbing the corner of his shoulder against the barrier. “Please, just let me in. This is killing me.”

  “Fine, you can come in.”

  Phil fell forward, but landed gingerly onto my floor like a cat. His tender arms scooped me into a hug, encouraging me to lean up against his body. I curled up and closed my eyes while he placed his chin upon the top of my head and stroked the side of my cheek with his thumb.

  “It’s like a bad dream,” I whimpered. “I just need to wake up.”

  “If it is, I don’t want you to,” Phil said softly.

  Any other girl would have swooned and thought she was in utter bliss being held delicately in his arms. But the fear he put out gave me the chills, squelching the unintended insulting comment.

  “What do you mean?” I sniffled and tightened my eyes.

  “It’s nothing. Never mind.”

  “What? What happened?” I pressed off his chest, just to be corralled back in again by his arms.

  “We’ll talk about it later. Just hush,” Phil said and shoved the fear back down.

  “No,” I said, pushing away to study his face. “You didn’t die? You went somewhere else, didn’t you? Where?”

  Phil’s eyes flashed in terror. “Where do you think?”

  I blinked and tried to figure out what he meant.

  “Well, I didn’t go to heaven,” Phil said darkly.

  “Not . . .?” I asked in a gasp, unable to say the word “Hell”.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” he said and his anxiety erupted like a geyser.

  I back peddled internally, fighting all the questions bubbling to the surface. “How did you get back?” I finally blubbered out.

  “Alora did it somehow. One minute I was there, the next I was lying on the ground on a bunch of burnt two-by-fours, naked.”

  I imagined the scene and blushed. “I . . . I didn’t know that was possible.”

  “Me either, but thank God it was,” Phil said and pulled out a very small book from his pocket. He kissed the black leather cover. “We don’t have to tonight, but sometime soon, we need to compare notes.”

  My mouth fell open. “Is that . . . a Bible?”

  “Yeah, so?” An impish grin spread across his lips. “Look, I’ve got to get in good with The Man—and fast. I’m totally running on fumes right now, it’s not even funny.”

  I stared in bewilderment at his cute, yet very serious expression.

  “Come on,” he said, palms open. “I’m a changed man. Reborn, but not in the way I think I’m supposed to be.”

  I rubbed my hand across my forehead. This couldn’t be real.

  “I’m . . . ” I couldn’t finish.

  “Yeah, speechless, I know. Scar did the same thing. But we need to get to work. Alora has got to be stopped. I need to know everything about Nick and why she’s so keen on him anyway.”

  All I could do was look at Phil with wide-eyes.

  “I know you miss the old sexy wanna-bite-you Phil, but he’s long gone now. Sorry.”

  I suppressed a chuckle. How could he be making jokes at a time like this? “Who’s Scar?” I finally squeaked out.

  “Scarlett. Were you not there a few minutes ago? She’s the one who’s with your boy Nick. She’ll get him off the stuff, no doubt. She’s got skills.”

  I didn’t like his tone inflection when he said she had “skills.”

  “Really?” My eyes narrowed. “How?”

  “Mind trick him basically, like she did me. I came out of Hades with a hang-over the size of Texas, itching for a fix something fierce. She just talked me through things and after a few days, sure enough, I felt better. I’m four days sober so far.”

  I let out a gust of air, unsure what to think.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Phil said and lifted my chin, demanding eye contact. “Just tell me what happened before I showed up.”

  I glanced away, then zoned out. The memories hurt, making a lump form in my throat. The moisture brimmed in my eyes. “Alora is Nicholas’ birth mother apparently.”

  “Really?” Phil said confounded, before growing somber. “Whoa, didn’t see that coming.” He became guarded, like he knew things he didn’t want to tell me.

  His change worried me.

  “What’s she going to do to him?” And me? I looked into his eyes for support.

  “Um, wow. Does that make us . . . half brothers?” Phil’s eyes darted away from mine, effusing an inkling of disgust.

  “Focus, Phil,” I said and put my palms on his cheeks to bring his awareness back to the severity of the situation.

  He blinked once he looked into my eyes and fondness radiated outwards. I let go.

  Phil cleared his throat. “She’s just assembling her group of followers, preferably ones she doesn’t have to sire. All to play into her power trip I think. She barely gave me permission to change you, but I told her I wouldn’t stay if she didn’t.”

  My cheeks flushed as my heart warmed at the gesture. I still liked, in some weird way, that he chose me out of all the girls at school until the word change registered in my thoughts. The sound of a record player needle ripping across an album zipped through my head.

  “Did you just say change me?” My voice was harder than I’d anticipated.

  “Calm down. I lied to her. Believe me. I have no intention of doing that.” Phil said emphatically.

  “How can you lie to a mind reader?”

  “She wasn’t touching me then, so . . .” He grinned, showing all his teeth including his sharp canines. “I’m convincing.”

  “So, if you’re supposed to change me . . .” I studied his vampire teeth. “And Nicholas is too . . .” And take the talisman. “I don’t get why? She doesn’t even seem to like me.”

  “I don’t think it’s you in particular, though it is strange she’s authorized both of us to change you. We really can’t share you . . .”

  “N-no.” I shook my head.

  “I think you know too much, so you’re collateral damage. And she’s fine either way if you’re changed or not, but . . .”

  “Do you even think she sus
pects we’d all defect?”

  “Probably not. I’ve already accepted I’m going to have to run because I can’t kill her.” He made a slicing motion across his own throat in jest to hide his concern.

  I’d forgotten the rule that if Alora was killed, all her sired kin died too (along with Phil) because their lifelines would be severed. This made me worry. Even if we got Nicholas back from the dark side, we couldn’t just kill her and be together. He’d never agree to that in the first place but I’d never want to be responsible for sending Phil back to Hell. We—including Phil and possibly Scarlett—would have to always be on the lookout for her. Forever.

  “Why does she want faithful followers anyway?”

  “Why do evil people want what they want?” Phil rhetorically asked with a snort. “World domination, ultimate power, I don’t know. She keeps to herself a lot but says she wants to be in charge and do things her way. She’s actually pretty brilliant, but . . . I don’t trust her.”

  If she had the talisman, would she be invincible?

  Everything started to fit together. Not only did she want the talisman, she wanted her sons, Nicholas and Phil, to be part of her elite little group and me too, apparently. With the necklace, she’d be able to do whatever and no one could kill her, and quite possibly be unaffected by the sunlight.

  “This is totally insane.” I pressed my head into my hands.

  And I’m the key to stopping it.

  I let out a cackle of hysteria, louder than I should have and gaped at Phil with huge eyes. He listened while I telepathically sniffed out any emotional disturbances from my family. When they continued to sleep soundly, we both relaxed at the same time.

  Phil teasingly punched me in the shoulder. “Shush already.”

  “Ouch,” I whispered, while rubbing my arm, realizing the talisman should have prevented him from bruising me. Then I remembered I’d forgotten to put it back on after Phil’s rescue.

  Pulling the necklace from my pocket, I glanced at the stone and panicked. The gem had turned black and lifeless in my hand.