Finding Valor

by Charlotte Abel

  Gold light burst out of his chest, but this time it felt good as the flashback washed over him…

  An angel appears on the path into the park. Moonlight sparkles in her waist-length hair. It floats behind her like a pale cloud. She walks closer.

  His mouth goes dry.

  Eric makes fun of her charming, back-woods accent. The need to defend her overcomes Josh’s natural shyness around girls.

  Eric storms off, complaining about getting zapped.

  An overwhelming urge to kiss the girl obscures every rational thought. He takes her in his arms and crashes his lips to hers.

  She freezes. But only for a second.

  He traces the seam between her lips with his tongue as he presses her body into his.

  She gasps, opening her mouth.

  A jolt of pain blasts through him. He jerks away from her.

  Tears stream down her cheeks.

  Eric claimed something had shocked him before he stomped off to his car. Was it the girl? Had she used a taser on him? He wouldn’t blame her if she had. He didn’t even ask her name before he pounced on her.

  “Valor?” Vince shook Josh’s shoulder. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”

  “I think…I’m supposed to trust you.”

  Vince's mouth contorted into what Josh now recognized as a smile. He waved a hand towards the picnic table. “Come. Have a seat and tell me everything.”

  “I should probably start at the beginning, but I have to tell you something first.”

  Vince sat on the bench, but Josh took his usual spot, on top of the picnic table. He was still freaked out. They were too young. Channie was in danger. The timing couldn’t be worse. But he couldn’t keep from smiling. “You’re going to be a grandfather.”

  Vince pressed his hand against his chest. “Seriously?”

  Josh nodded. “I just found out.”

  “Will you let me meet her?”

  “I wish it were that simple.” Josh exhaled, expelling all the joy he’d been feeling along with his breath. “She’s been kidnapped.”

  “You better start at the beginning.”

  Vince sat and listened without a word as Josh told him all he knew. He showed him the pictures on his phone of the different spells from the Book of the Dead. But when he showed him his wedding photo, his throat closed up, making it hard to speak.

  Vince lifted his hand and settled it on Josh’s shoulder. “I can cast a spell to ease your pain. It’s temporary, but it will help.”

  Josh blinked then nodded.

  Blue light poured out of Vince's chest. It settled over Josh like a warm blanket, calming his fears, dissolving the worst of his pain. But a dull ache still throbbed in the center of his chest.

  Wave after wave of pure compassion poured out of Vince as Josh repeated the story of Channie’s abduction.

  “I’m so sorry.” A tear leaked out of the corner of Vince's eye. It traced a crooked path between the scars on his cheeks then splashed onto his black shirt. “There’s nothing more painful than learning that the person who gave you life wants to kill you.”

  “I’m sorry, too. About your mother.”

  Vince nodded. “My mother’s curse scarred me for life, but it’s the scars you can’t see that still burn.”

  “With Vengeance as a power-name, I’m surprised you haven’t already killed her.”

  “A power-name is like a narcotic. The more you use it, the harder it is to resist. I fight against mine every minute of every day. I refuse to let mine control me. Instead, I focus on my desire to free our people. Although, I admit, it’s a little harder to differentiate noble intentions from vengeance when the only way to free our people and rid the world of Mother’s tyranny is to kill her.”

  “And you’re okay with that? Killing your own mother?”

  “She’s never been a mother to me. But no, I’m not okay with killing her. I want to, more than anything, but that’s exactly why I can’t. Someone else will have to do it.”

  A chill shivered up Josh’s spine. “According to the Book of the Dead, that someone is me.”

  Vince shook his head. “You don’t need to fight. I only want you to lead. Reveal yourself to the clans. That’s enough. Once our people realize there is a legitimate heir to the throne, they’ll take care of the impostor.”

  “Wasn’t the king her father?”

  “She lost the right to rule the night she murdered him.”

  “But the book said for me to ‘grasp the hilt and join the fight.’ I’m supposed to battle it out with Dominance during the total eclipse of the moon.”

  “The book also said, ‘heed not the call, nor summon to war.’ And it clearly states that you must claim your place among your kin. Our kin.”

  “I’m not even a full-blood mage. I’m half Empty.”

  “That will be a problem for some, but you were born during a partial eclipse of the moon on solstice night. That’s more than enough to make up for your lack of magical purity.”

  “I’m not doing anything until I know Channie’s safe.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to.”

  “Will you help me find her?”

  Instead of answering, Vince stood up and offered Josh his hand. “We need to think of something to tell your mother.”

  Josh’s heart sank as he remembered Elijah’s face, begging him to stay. He took Vince's hand, careful not to squeeze it, as he hopped off the table. “I need to go see my dad at the hospital before we leave.”

  “What’s wrong with Ezra?”

  “Nothing. It’s his wife, Liz. Someone attacked her.”

  “She was attacked?”

  “Right now, they’re calling it a random act of violence. She’s in the burn unit at some hospital in Aurora.”

  “What kind of burns?”

  “They think someone threw acid on her.”

  Vince's eyes widened, stretching the scars on the sides of his face. He tightened his grip on Josh’s hand and tugged. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Wait.” Josh tugged his hand free. “What’s wrong?”

  “That was no random act and it wasn’t acid that burned your stepmother. It was magic.”

  “Magic? Why would you say that?”

  “Look at me. I know what a sustained attack of pure energy does to a person.”

  Josh closed his eyes and saw Liz’s beautiful face reduced to a mass of scars. “Why would a mage attack Liz?”

  “I think it’s a trap. They attacked your stepmother, hoping to draw you out.”

  Mom, Dad…Elijah. Josh’s stomach smacked the ground as guilt consumed him. This was his fault. “Is the rest of my family in danger?”

  “Not yet. They’re obviously trying to be stealthy. They won’t risk another attack so soon and risk scaring you off. But we should warn your mother and your stepfather.”

  “Ezra adopted me. He’s not my stepfather. He’s my father. Nothing is going to change that.”

  Vince closed his eyes and sighed. “Go to your mother’s and tell her everything. You’ll probably have to give her a demonstration to convince her magic is real. Be sure you warn her not to tell anyone. Don’t tell your brother. He’s too young to be trusted with such a dangerous secret.”

  Josh nodded. He wasn’t about to confess that Elijah already knew about magic. “Do you have a phone? I have no idea how long it’s going to take to convince Mom. And it’ll take me at least an hour just to drive to Aurora—”

  “You aren’t going to Aurora. It’s too dangerous.”

  “I have to warn Dad!”

  “I’ll warn Ezra. I’m better prepared to fend off an attack. And you’re too valuable.”

  “You really think someone’s trying to kill me?”

  “I don’t know who is trying to find you, or what they want with you, but if they wanted to kill you, you’d be dead.”

  “I’ll drop you off at your mother’s.”

  “My bike won’t fit in your car.” The only vehicle in the lot was a Honda
Civic.

  Vince pointed at Josh’s bike. “That is not a safe mode of transportation.”

  “I outran a horse on a bike just like that. It’s not that far to Mom’s condo.”

  “Can you outrun a car?”

  He had a point. “I don’t want to leave my bike unprotected.”

  “Then hide it in the bushes and cast a protection spell around it.”

  Josh was in too much of a hurry to get to Mom’s house. He stared at his bike and focused on the energy building inside his body. I don’t want anyone to touch my bike but me.

  A golden bolt of light flew out of his chest. The bike glowed for a second before it sucked the light into its titanium frame.

  “Wh…what was that?” Vince's mouth hung open.

  “A protection spell?” Had he done it wrong?

  “But…” Vince shook his head quickly as if he had water in his ears. “That’s not possible.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention, apparently my magic works on non-living matter.”

  Vince's eyes lit up. “You can manipulate non-living matter?”

  “It’s no big deal.” Josh shrugged. “I can clean my clothes with magic, too. But unless our clan has a lot of dry-cleaning, I doubt that’s going to impress anyone.”

  Vince laughed out loud. Josh saw past the scars and smiled back at him.

  “Actually it’s a very big deal.” Vince gripped Josh’s upper arms and squeezed. “You’re an elemental mage, Valor. The first in over three hundred years.”

  ~***~

  When Josh got home, Mom was waiting for him. She sat on the couch in the living room, red-eyed and surrounded by a mountain of soggy tissues. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Liz.” Mom stretched her arm out, reaching for Josh.

  He stepped back, not wanting to hear whatever horrible news she had to deliver.

  “They don’t expect her to make it. If you want to say good-bye, you need to do it tonight.”

  “But, Dad said she was stable.” Josh sank to his knees in front of the couch. “I don’t understand.”

  “She got an infection.”

  “How?” They’d made Dad scrub up like a surgeon before they let him in her room for a lousy fifteen minutes. “Hospital’s are supposed to be sterile.”

  “It’s impossible for any place to be completely sterile. It’s likely that the contamination came from Liz herself.”

  “What about antibiotics?”

  Mom leaned forward and brushed the hair off Josh’s forehead then pressed a kiss to his brow. “I’m sure they’re doing everything they can.”

  “Where’s Elijah? I’m sure he’ll want to say good-bye.”

  “He’s too young. Her funeral will be traumatic enough.” Mom sighed as she stroked Josh’s cheekbone with her thumb. “You don’t have to go, either. I’m sure your father will understand.”

  Josh scrambled to his feet. “I don’t suppose you’d consider asking Mrs. Guffy to babysit so you could come with me?”

  Mom shook her head. “It’s nearly two a.m. I don’t want to impose on her.”

  “Whatever, Mom.” Josh trudged to the front door then paused as he remembered his urgent mission. He didn’t have time to tell her about magic. But he still needed to warn her. “Listen, Channie’s parents got in over their heads gambling. There’re some really scary criminals looking for them. If they find out that Channie and I are married, they might come after you and Elijah. Be careful.”

  “I knew it!” Mom stood up and strode across the room. She shoved Josh aside and relocked the front door then pulled her cell phone out of the side pocket of her robe.

  Josh grabbed it. “You can’t call the police.”

  “The hell I can’t!”

  He could take every phone in the house and Mom would just borrow one from a neighbor. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

  Josh rubbed his temples then froze as he realized he had the power to make her forget. He grabbed Mom’s shoulders and studied her face. “I want you to forget everything I told you about Channie’s parents. But I want the fear you feel right now to remain. I want you to be suspicious of strangers. Don’t trust anyone you don’t know. It’s okay to be paranoid.”

  Mom’s eyes glazed over then rolled into the back of her head. Josh caught her then laid her back on the couch. “Mom? Are you okay?”

  Nothing. She was as limp as a rag doll.

  Shit! Josh cocked his head to the side and held his ear over her mouth. She was still breathing. He pressed his middle two fingers against her neck. Her pulse was rapid, but strong. He patted her cheek. “Mom. Wake up.”

  Her eyelids fluttered open. “Josh?”

  He sat back on his heels, weak with relief. “Hey, how do you feel?”

  “What happened?” Mom groaned and shielded her eyes with her hand.

  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “I…Oh!” Mom’s face paled. “Your father called. It’s Liz.”

  “I know. I was just leaving for the hospital when you passed out. I wanted to be sure you were okay first.”

  “What’s going on? I feel…frightened.”

  “It’s okay to be scared. We don’t know why Liz was attacked. You mentioned taking Elijah to Aunt Mary’s for a few days. Until the police catch the guy that threw acid on her.”

  “I said that?” She arched her eyebrows.

  “Yeah. Right before you passed out. When was the last time you ate?”

  “We went to the Lucky Pie after your race, right?”

  “Yeah. Let me get you a glass of orange juice. You need to monitor your blood sugar a little more closely.” Mom was borderline diabetic, so the blood sugar excuse was believable.

  “You’re right.” She put a hand over her chest. “I can’t believe I’m feeling so paranoid. I know I’m being ridiculous but I want to wake up Elijah and take him to Mary’s right now.”

  “I think that’s a good idea.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. You need to listen to your instincts.”

  “My instincts are telling me to take you with us.”

  “Sorry. That’s not going to happen. Get dressed, pack a bag for you and Elijah. I’ll go wake him up.”

  Josh explained everything to Elijah while Mom was packing. “I’m sorry to dump this on you, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “Don’t worry about me and Mom. We’ll be okay. You just go get Channie and keep her safe.”

  Josh reached out to muss Elijah’s hair, but decided he needed to stop treating him like a baby since he was giving him a man’s responsibility. “Don’t tell Mom anything about magic or trackers or that I left to go find Channie.”

  “What am I supposed to tell her?”

  “If she asks any questions, just tell her you don’t know. ‘No one ever tells you anything,’ right?”

  Elijah closed his eyes for a moment then locked his gaze on Josh’s. “This time, I wish you hadn’t told me.”

  “I’m going to tell Dad everything, but he’s not going to be himself for the next few days or maybe even weeks.”

  “Is Liz going to die?”

  He considered lying, but that wouldn’t help Elijah deal with Liz’s death when it happened. It would only make it easier for Josh. “It’s not looking good.”

  Elijah’s eyes filled with tears. He wrapped his arms around Josh’s waist and trembled. “Maybe you can help her…you know…with magic?”

  “If someone really did pour acid on her, then yeah…I might be able to help. But Vince's pretty sure someone cursed her. And magic doesn’t work against a curse.”

  ~***~

  When Josh got to the hospital, Vince was already there, pacing in front of the nurses’ station. He whirled around and grabbed Josh’s arm then tugged him down the hall. “We need to talk.”

  “I know you told me to stay away, but I need to see Liz before…before it’s too late.”

  “I’ve already done a sweep of the hospital. We’re the only
mages here. I think you can save Liz.”

  “Her burns weren’t caused by magic?”

  “Oh, they’re definitely the result of a curse. You won’t be able to heal her burns, but it’s the secondary infection that’s killing her.” Vince slipped his hands inside his shirt collar and pulled a silver chain over his head, revealing a blue gemstone about the size of the tip of his thumb.

  “Is that a sapphire?” It was polished but not faceted. Josh was no jewelry expert but he guessed it was at least fifty carats.

  “It’s a star sapphire. Elemental mages use gemstones to focus and magnify their powers. If you use it, you’ll be able to heal her without killing yourself.”

  “What do you mean ‘without killing myself?’”

  “The amount of energy required to heal someone that close to death would most likely kill any mage that tried.”

  “I don’t understand. I was completely drained of energy when I zapped an oak tree and it didn’t kill me.”

  “I’m sure you felt as if you were completely drained, but trust me, you weren’t. It’s like running to the point of exhaustion. Your body forces you to quit before your heart gives out. It takes an extreme amount of willpower to sacrifice all of one’s magical energy to the point of death, but it’s possible. I watched a father sacrifice himself to save his child’s life.” Vince shifted his gaze to the ceiling, obviously reliving the incident.

  “If the stone can heal Liz, why haven’t you already done it?”

  “Did you listen to anything I said? I’m not an elemental mage. I can’t use the sapphire. Healing her would kill me. But even if it wouldn’t, I’d need someone to distract the medical staff so I could get into her room.”

  “If she’s dying, why do they care?”

  “They won’t give up as long as there’s brain activity.” Vince placed the chain over Josh’s neck. “I wish I could give you some advice on how to use this, but it didn’t come with an instruction manual.”

  “Where did you get it?”

  “I stole it.”

  “What?” Josh grabbed the chain to remove it. He didn’t want to get thrown into jail on top of everything else.

  Vince put his hand over the sapphire and pressed it against Josh’s chest. “It’s a family heirloom, handed down from the founder of the Cumberland mages. It is always given to the oldest child. It would have been mine, eventually. I took it from the safe and hid it the night I decided to warn Grandfather of Mother’s plan to kill him.”