by CC Solomon
Arwa looked to Lisa, a note of concern behind her wise eyes. “I hope so. And with the power of Six, I believe they can. They must…for all our sakes.”
Chapter 11
The Return
Lisa sat in the cold, dark cell replaying the last hour. Everything went by so quickly. She’d sent her best friend away without explanation. She had to. Phillip’s people were already descending on her as soon as the banishing magic began. She cringed at the memory of Amina’s face going from shock, happiness and then confusion before she disappeared. Then there was shouting and chaos in the gymnasium.
Erik and Charles got to her first. Charles grabbed her and hugged her tightly but Erik pushed him away from her. He wanted answers. Not about where she’d been but where she’d sent Amina. He wasn’t the only one asking. She saw Seth and his people crowd around her. They thought this was revenge for what happened at the bar and trial. Curiously, the witches did not move towards her. One would think that if the leader of their group was banished, they’d be the most upset but they stood around the peripheral with neutral looks. Arwa stated that she had witch allies, where these the ones? Had they known this would happen?
Lisa remembered Mae appearing at her side protectively. She remembered Mae whispering to her that everything would be okay and this was supposed to happen. Soon after the banishing, Arwa, Bella and a few others in the queen’s court emerged and more chaos erupted. They’d made it past the wards and into the city without any permission but now Lisa was beginning to understand the witches were behind their access.
They all tried to explain about Amina and Phillip’s connection. Arwa discussed Phillip’s tainted mind. Her friends were aware of the soulmates, but they weren’t interested in talking about anything else. They only wanted to know where Lisa had sent them. However, Lisa would not say. She also would not bring them back or bring her friends to Amina. She begged them to give it time. At least a month.
Erik would have none of that. Charles’ eyes were so hurt Lisa began to cry. She looked to Felix and Faith. Felix turned his eyes away in disappointment and Faith actually slapped her. When were pack police took Lisa away to jail, she hadn’t fought, still in shock. Arwa began to intercede but Mae stopped her with promises that they would work it out.
And now, Lisa sat alone in the cell with nothing but her thoughts as she waited for Mae and the Fae to fully explain why she’d had to send the new soulmates away. She wasn’t so sure Erik or Charles would understand. She was sure she’d lost her friends for good. They would never trust her again.
A few more hours passed before she heard a door open and footsteps. Soon Erik, Charles and Mae stood in front of her cell. Only Mae held kind eyes. Lisa had never seen such anger towards her from the two men. It was soul killing.
“I’m sorry,” she croaked out, her eyes watering again.
“We can forgive you, if you just bring Amina back, Lisa. Leave Phillip, we don’t care, but bring her back,” Charles said, his eyes softening. He walked up to the bars and gripped them. “You didn’t know I was going to survive. And we know now that you didn’t know so much time had passed. Felix couldn’t remember where you were going even though you told him. Look, I know you think you’re doing right, but… There’s got to be another way. That’s my sister, Lisa. I don’t even know where she is.” His voiced cracked at the end and he gave her pleading eyes.
Lisa clasped her hands together and looked down. She couldn’t see that face. The face she’d been struggling to remember all this time was something she now couldn’t look at. It hurt too much. That look of disappointment.
“She can’t do that, Charles,” Mae said in an even voice.
“I want to hear it from her,” Charles spat, an edge to his tone now. “I want to hear Lisa tell me she sent my sister to God-knows-where with a monster. Look at me!” He raised his voice and Lisa flinched before looking up.
“I can’t bring her back. At least not know,” she said in a tiny voice. “But she’s safe.”
“How do you know that, Lisa?” Charles cried in frustration.
“Where is she?” Erik asked in a low voice. His New Zealand accent barely audible. His hazel eyes were hard, boring into her.
Lisa turned away. “I can’t say.”
“Because you don’t know?” Charles asked.
“Not anymore.”
This was true. Before leaving, Lisa had Arwa agree to wipe her mind of the location out of fear she would back out of the plan and change her mind. As soon as Arwa arrived at Silver Spring, it was the first thing she’d done, unbeknownst to the group.
“So, you don’t even know if she’s safe.”
“No—I mean yes. I knew where I was sending her but had Queen Arwa make me forget. But I thought very carefully about where I would send her and we made sure it was a good place.”
“Nowhere is totally safe. Even before the magic,” Erik said. He crossed his arms. “So, if you can’t remember, how will you get her back in a month? And what if a month isn’t enough time? How will you know when the right time is?”
“Queen Arwa said she would have someone watch over them. He would report back when he thinks it is time. Word will come to us,” Mae explained. “Arwa will then give Lisa her memories back and she can recall them.”
“Of course, you would know all about this,” Erik stated with a shake of his head. “You just keep having these secrets at the expense of us all. Well, tell me this. What if Amina and Phillip leave where you left them? Can they just come back on their own?”
Lisa shook her head, still not looking Erik in the eyes. “They can’t leave the country they were sent to. They are stuck there until I recall them.”
“So, if someone decides to magically nuke the whole damn country, they’d be stuck there. They’d die.”
Lisa frowned. She hadn’t thought of that. Sure, there was magical fighting in the world. Currently in Russia, there was a winter’s war that had even changed the climate to a never-ending snow but no one had done so much damage to destroy a whole country. Even when they tried to bomb the blood-lust vampires out of Iceland, there had still been unharmed places.
“I’ll take that to mean they would die.”
“She saved your life, Lisa,” Charles muttered. “This is how you repay her?”
“I’m sorry,” Lisa said again. She’d known they would be mad but she hadn’t prepared for how hard it would be to handle their anger.
“Yeah, you said that already,” Erik mumbled.
“This is the only way we can stop what’s to come,” Mae stated.
Erik cut his eyes at her. “You said that already, too. Here’s an idea, why don’t we lock up Phillip and Amina can work her magic on him then?”
“Her magic won’t work unless they bond,” the older woman replied giving Erik a sympathetic smile. “As harsh as this may sound, that won’t happen with you there.”
Charles, still gripping the bars, turned partially to Mae. “You want my sister to be with Phillip.”
Mae sighed and shrugged. “I want her to help him so that they can get to the work of preparing for what’s to come. I realize it’s hurtful, Erik, but it has to be—”
“Can you give us a minute?” Erik asked, turning to Mae. His eyes were still hard.
Mae opened her mouth to say something but then closed it. She looked to Lisa but still didn’t say anything before turning to leave.
Lisa sighed, feeling more fearful now. Why had Erik wanted Mae to leave? Did her words hurt too much to hear? Was it something else? For the first time, Lisa wondered if Erik would actually hurt her.
“You too, Charles,” Erik stated.
Charles turned to him. “What? Why?” he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Erik didn’t look to him, only kept his eyes on Lisa, who again turned away from him. “I just need to speak to Lisa without you or Mae here. But bring Carter in.”
“Wait, why am I bringing Carter in but I can’t stay?”
“Becaus
e I might say some things you wouldn’t want to hear.”
Charles looked at him for a long moment, then he looked to Lisa. “Lisa, just bring her back. We can work this out another way.”
“When you tell me what that way is, then I can. Erik’s way isn’t going to work. If I thought it would, I wouldn’t have done this,” Lisa replied, shaking her head in frustration. “You haven’t seen the things I’ve seen. We can’t take this threat lightly. We have to do things that are going to make us uncomfortable.”
“I can’t be in love with a woman who would betray me like this, Lisa. You understand what I’m saying?” Charles said, a coldness in his eyes.
Lisa looked down and nodded slowly. “I figured. I knew I would let you down. I just hope that one day you will understand and forgive me. I care about you, Charles. I’m so sor-”
“Sorry, yep.” He slapped the bars, causing Lisa to jump again before he left the holding area.
Now it was only Erik and Lisa. She dared a look up at the were-jackal, who stood glaring at her, arms still crossed. He was like a brother to her and now she just wanted to run and hide from him.
“Why do you want Carter to come?” she dared to ask.
“So that I don’t hurt you,” Erik replied.
Lisa’s eyes grew wide. “You would do that to me?”
He didn’t reply and soon Carter appeared. The second in command of the Silver Spring were pack walked towards them from the left, eyes cautious.
“You needed me here?” he asked in a neutral voice.
Erik nodded. “Yep. Lisa, if you don’t bring her back, you will stay in here until you do. The only thing you will eat is bread and water. You will have no visitors.”
Lisa wrapped her arms around herself. She was sure Erik would do that. He loved Amina and she’d learned that they were now mates. This meant Amina was practically his magical wife. Lisa had sent his wife away. He’d do what he needed to get her back. “I expected as much and I understand,” she whispered.
“Do you? If you try to escape, I will come for you personally and you won’t like what happens after. Charles won’t protect you and Mae isn’t strong enough.”
“I understand.”
“And if you don’t bring her back soon, I will find someone else who can and then I will kill you.”
Lisa sucked in a breath giving him wide eyes.
“Erik,” Carter said in a low voice.
Erik raised his hand to cut him off. “You were like my sister, Lisa. But you aren’t the woman of two months ago. Maybe I’ve lost that Lisa for good. I hope not, but I’ll do what I have to do.”
He dropped his arms and walked closer to the bars. Lisa took a step back. “I will visit you every day. And every day, I will ask you to bring her back. And when I stop asking, you should worry.”
“Erik, please don’t do this.” Lisa cried. “I’m the same person. You have to understand this is the only way. I met one of the bad guys. She was—”
“Will you bring Amina back?”
Lisa shook her head. “I can’t.”
“That’s the only thing we need to talk about from now on.” He turned and walked away, Carter following. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I hope you have a better answer.”
Lisa leaned against the cold cement wall. She wouldn’t.
Chapter 12
A week passed with Erik being true to his word. He asked Lisa every day to bring Amina back. She would say no and he would walk away. He said nothing else to her. His visits began to scare her because she had no idea when he would get tired of asking and make good on his promise.
No one came to visit, not even Mae. She saw only members of the pack who were in control of the town policing. She ate just bread. Sometimes peanut butter and jelly, sometimes solely peanut butter. She got promises of better food if she brought Amina back but she held strong. Didn’t they realize that she couldn’t bring Amina back, even if she tried? Until Arwa told her it was okay and returned her memories, she couldn’t. She would have to be here for a while.
Lisa wasn’t sure she was cut out for such a thing. She just wasn’t as strong as the others. In fact, she was quite sure she was the weakest link in the group. Now, she was alone and no one seemed to even try to see her. Perhaps she shouldn’t be surprised they had abandoned her. She’d only known the others for a couple of months before disappearing. That wasn’t enough time to expect understanding and patience. She really was alone.
Lisa wiped a tear away from her face but more came down and soon she let out a host of self-pitying sobs. She could choke on dry sandwiches or Erik would kill her. And no one, not even Charles, would care. She’d die with them all hating her.
“Butterfly, why are you crying?” came a familiar voice.
Lisa looked up and gasped in surprise to see Joo-won leaning with this back against the bars inside her cell.
“How’d you get in here?” she asked, wiping her face again.
Joo-won gave her a soft smile and, darn, if it wasn’t like the sun parting the clouds. She would never tell him that of course. “Magic. And I have some friends in high places,” he replied.
Lisa gave him a confused look. “What friends?” He was still a follower of the bad guys. Was it a good thing that he’d gotten in the town so easily?
“The witches, with approval from Queen Arwa. Seems she approves of our…friendship. She’s the one who asked me to visit.”
“So, they just let you in here to roam free?”
“Of course not. I only have access to this room. These wards are surprisingly good. And there are two Fae standing at the door area. You can’t see them in the dark. So, this is more like a prison visitation.”
He gave her a flirtatious wink that she wanted to hate. Damn, she hated that he looked so good. It would be so much easier to be annoyed with him if he wasn’t tall and built like an Olympic swimmer with mesmerizing eyes. However, she couldn’t help but feel excited to see him. He was the only friendly face she’d seen all week.
Lisa nodded. “Yeah, until Erik finds out you’re here and throws you out. If he doesn’t kill you.”
“It would be fun to see him try. Butterfly, I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was away on…business.” He moved away from the bars and walked over to her, sitting down on the cold bench beside her.
Lisa had a clue what business he was doing. Probably up to no good with the evil soulmates.
“How are they treating you?” he asked. He looked genuinely concerned.
“The cuisine isn’t the best but neither is my cooking, so what do I know?” Lisa replied shrugging. “The thread count on these sheets is a little low, too.”
Joo-won leaned towards her slowly and for a moment, she thought he might try to kiss her. Instead he veered slightly to her left and whispered in her ear. “I can get you better accommodations at my hotel.”
“I can’t go,” Lisa replied back in a low voice.
“Why stay? What is this? Some type of repentance for sending your friend away? Why’d you do it anyway?”
Lisa looked down at her lap. She wanted to tell him but she knew she couldn’t trust him. As kind as he was to her, he wasn’t on the good side and she could not forget that. “I just had to.”
“You aren’t going to tell me?” He grabbed one of her hands and intertwined his fingers in hers.
Lisa shook her head quickly, struggling to ignore the tingling in the pit of her stomach at his touch. “Of course not.”
“So, you’re just going to suffer here until they decide to release you? If they release you.”
She gave a wordless shrug.
“I can’t have them do that to my Butterfly.” He brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her palm. The contact sent a jolt to her center. He seemed to know the affect he had on her because he smiled.
She pulled her hand away from him and put it in her armpit. Joo-won chuckled. “You don’t trust me,” he said.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“And w
here is this boyfriend? Did he turn his back on you when you were arrested?”
“I sent his sister away. What did I expect?”
“He doesn’t understand?”
Lisa leaned in toward Joo-won, her hand still in her armpit. “Would you understand if I sent Senna away? Probably not. I have my reasons for doing what I did. I told him and he didn’t agree. And so, I lost him. I understand but it hurts like hell.”
“I can make you forget that pain. I can make you part of my tribe. Maybe even one day my queen. You’d be safe forever. You’d travel the world with me. Improving it. Living in the best accommodations. Eating the most delicious foods and wearing the most beautiful clothes. You’re powerful, Lisa. Maybe one day you’d be as strong as Arwa. I can help get you there. Forget about these people, they don’t deserve you.”
He touched her cheek and for a moment she hesitated. He did make a life with him sound enticing. She wasn’t cut out for battle. She’d just wanted to make people beautiful. However, she didn’t have that option. She was chosen, by someone who she’d have to find and thank with a high kick to the privates, to become a part of a magical six who would help save the world against evil, old-magic people.
She leaned her face in his hand and allowed herself, against her better judgement, to enjoy his touch for a brief moment. He reached with his other hand and stroked her hair. His touch was magic and her tense muscles relaxed.
“Come with me, Lisa,” he whispered.
She sighed in frustration. “I can’t. I have to do the right thing and endure.” She sat up straight and moved away from him to the other end of the bench, dismayed that her body hated losing his touch. “You should go, Joo-won. I’m a lost cause to you.”
Joo-won dropped his hands. “I’m not giving up on you.”
She smiled and turned to him. “And I won’t give up on you. So where does that leave us?”
He frowned, a confused look on his face. “I don’t know.”
“When I get out of here, I am going to show you that there is a better way. You don’t have to align yourself with bad people.”
