by N M Thorn
Tessa returned to the kitchen and noticed that Mishka didn’t manage to devour all the pancakes in her absence. He was still working on the first one, chasing it down with his coffee. She quickly set up the table for two and put another k-cup in the coffeemaker. By the time Zane walked into the kitchen, everything was ready. He halted at the door, giving her that shy lopsided smile that she liked so much.
“Sit down,” she told him, waving at the empty chair. She put a small stack of pancakes on his plate and offered him a cup of coffee. “Your breakfast is served.”
He sat down, taking the cup from her hands and threw a quick glance at her. And again, she caught a touch of surprise in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said. “You did all this cooking for me?”
“No, silly, she did it for me,” purred Mishka. “You can leave any time you wish, Mr. Third Wheel.”
Tessa laughed and petted the kitten, but Zane frowned, throwing a scorching gaze in his direction and mouthed something that Tessa read as “You’re talking”.
“What?” huffed Mishka innocently, catching a pancake with his tiny claw and pulling it down from the stack on Zane’s plate. “She loves the talking kitty. My kind of girl.”
Zane just sighed and started to eat. After he was done, he got up and quickly cleaned the table. He didn’t let Tessa do any work, and washed all the dishes, cups and the frying pan, stacking everything neatly in the dish rack that was sitting next to the sink. Once he was done, he turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter, gazing at her.
“Tessa,” he said after a quick pause, “do you need to be anywhere today? Work? Home?”
“No,” she replied and held her breath. She was hoping that he didn’t need to go anywhere either. She liked it here, with this shy, slightly awkward man and his cheeky talking cat. She felt safe and comfortable, and for the last few hours she allowed herself to forget about all her problems and unanswered questions. Zane glanced at his watch and her heart skipped a beat, as she thought that he was late somewhere.
“Perfect,” he replied, and Tessa exhaled, realizing that she was holding her breath all this time. “If you remember, I promised to help you figure out what you are. So, if you’re up for it, we can visit my friend today and hopefully, she’ll be able to tell us what’s going on with you. What do you say?”
“Of course!” Tessa’s heart lit up with hope. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay.” He glanced at his watch again. “Give me thirty minutes. I need to get my car. My mechanic left me a message, saying that I can pick it up at any time today.”
An hour later, Zane parked his SUV in front of one of the high-rises on Ocean Drive. Tessa watched him walking around the car and rolled her eyes—he was seriously going to open the door for her. Oh no, you don’t, she thought, watching his progress, you open this door and I’ll kick your ass.
Zane opened the door and offered her his hand, a boyish grin on his face accompanied by a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Tessa looked around and since a few people were standing right next to them, she gritted her teeth and silently accepted his hand, stepping out of the car.
“You see? It didn’t hurt at all.” He winked at her.
“It’ll hurt you,” growled Tessa, squeezing his fingers in her hand. “Never again.”
“Ouch, ouch…” He groaned mockingly. “Never again… my lady.”
Tessa stared at him for a moment and then started to laugh. “Promise me that one day you will to tell me where you acquired all your medieval manners.”
“I promise, my lady.” And there it was again—that bow which she saw only in the movies about the Middle Ages. This archaic, courtly bow that seemed to come so natural to him.
They walked into the building and took the elevator to the 3rd floor. Zane stopped in front of the door with the number 313 on it and knocked. A young woman in a business suit opened the door. In her high heels, she stood a little taller than Zane. She threw a curious gaze at Tessa, her eyes going up and down like she was sizing her up. Then her gaze moved to Zane, and she smiled. Her smile was sweet and a little shy, and her fingers fidgeted with her long ponytail as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
“Please, come in,” she said, stepping to the side to let them walk in. She turned to Tessa and held out her hand. “My name is Angelique.” Tessa shook her hand, introducing herself.
“Angie,” said Zane, “Tessa is the girl I told you about.”
“Yes, of course,” said Angelique, gesturing toward the couch. “Please sit down. I’ll be right back.”
She walked out of the room and came back a minute later with a small box in her hand. The box had a tiny antenna and five lightbulbs at the top. She waved at Zane impatiently.
“Zane, come on. You know how this works—stand behind me. Your presence will drive this machine crazy. I want to check Tessa only.”
Angelique turned on the device, pointing it at Tessa, and peered at the gage. At the beginning, the arrow on the gage remained still, but a few seconds later, the device buzzed angrily. The arrow zoomed all the way to the right and all five lightbulbs went up with a bright red light.
“Wow!” exclaimed Angelique, shutting down the device and staring at Tessa in awe. “You’re so… Wait, what are you?” She turned to Zane. “You were right. She’s not a medium.”
Another dead-end, thought Tessa, rising. She glanced at Zane but quickly averted her eyes, a heavy weight of disappointment settling in her heart.
“Tessa, hold on, don’t give up hope so easily.” Zane walked up to her and bent down slightly to find her eyes. “We’re not done yet. That was just a magic detector. So now we know that you have magic and your magic is powerful. But we still need to find out what you are.”
“That’s right.” Angelique came to the rescue immediately. “Sit down, Tessa. Let’s do the reading now. I’m sure, between the three of us, we’ll figure it out.”
Tessa threw a gaze at Zane and he nodded encouraging her to do what Angelique was asking. She sat down on the couch and spread her hands.
“Okay, I’m sitting,” she said, “now what?”
“Now, put your hands palms up on the table and relax,” said Angelique. She pulled a small stool and sat down across the table from Tessa.
Tessa put her hands on the table and Angelique lowered her hands, holding them just an inch above hers. Tessa felt a soft stream of heat exiting Angelique’s hands and traveling down into her palms and then higher up her arms and shoulders. The warmth was pleasant and calming and Tessa wanted to close her eyes and relax.
As if reading her thoughts, Angelique smiled and said, “Close your eyes, if you want. I need you to relax and completely let go.”
Tessa closed her eyes. The warmth was slowly traveling through her body, accumulating somewhere in her chest and it felt so good and so comforting, she never wanted it to end.
“Relax… relax… let it go… let it all go…”
Tessa heard Angelique’s soft voice and smiled. It sounded like a lullaby. Memories of her mom flashed in her mind. She saw herself, a five-year-old girl, her mom tucking her into bed, singing that song… What was that song? Tessa wanted to remember the song her mom used to sing, but her mind was traveling too fast down memory lane and she knew that she wasn’t the one who was behind the steering wheel… Now she was a teenager and she was talking with her mom about her future, college, and dental school. How much she wanted to come back to this time… Her life was perfect. She was living a dream, and she didn’t even realize that.
The heat wave rushed through her body and Tessa exhaled, the feeling was so intense that her breath came out almost like a gasp. The heat accumulated in her chest, expending wider, circling somewhere around her heart. Her hands were getting warmer and warmer, almost burning hot. She remembered Zane waking up this morning, his body surrounded by smoldering heat and smiled. What she felt right now was almost like as if she touched him…
The change came unexpectedly, brutally ripping Tessa out of her swee
t oblivion and tossing her back into the paranormal nightmare of her current life. She felt Angelique’s hands tremble, now touching her open palms. Tessa opened her eyes, just in time to see a bright lightning bolt originating in her hands and striking Angelique on her chest. Angelique was thrown off her stool. She flew back a few feet, hitting the wall. Zane rushed to her side, quickly checking her pulse.
Tessa gasped and ran to Angelique, who was unconscious on the floor. “Zane, I don’t know what happened!” she panted, having a hard time speaking as anxiety clawed its way into her throat. “I swear… I didn’t do anything.”
Zane raised his eyes to her, and she didn’t find anything there except understanding and concern. “Calm down, Tessa,” he said, his voice soft and composed. “I know you didn’t’ do anything wrong. Angelique is going to be fine… look… she’s coming back.”
Tessa’s knees shook, and she had to sit down on the floor next to him. Angelique opened her eyes, her hands traveled to her chest, and she moaned. Zane carefully lifted her off the floor and put her down on the couch, placing a pillow behind her back for extra comfort.
“Angie, are you okay?” he asked, squatting in front of her, taking her trembling hands into his.
Tessa watched him taking care of Angelique, holding her hands in his and she caught herself thinking that she wanted him to care about her just as much. She wanted to know how it felt to have someone worry about her, hold her hand when she was hurt or comfort her when she was crying.
Angelique sat up and gently stroked his cheek with her delicate fingers, her eyes caressing his face with a lot more affection than her fingers. “Zane, I’m fine, don’t worry,” she said, her voice raspy and still a little constrained. She glanced at Tessa and her brows drew together. “Tessa, I couldn’t finish the reading. I’m sorry, but you and your powers are guarded.”
“Guarded?” echoed Tessa.
“You have a Guardian who is shadowing your power and protecting you,” explained Angelique.
“She had a Guardian,” corrected Zane quietly, rising. “I think Tessa’s mom was a Guardian Witch. Do you know anything about them?”
“Was?” asked Angelique, her expression surprised and troubled at the same time.
“My mom passed away a couple of years ago,” explained Tessa.
“I’m sorry,” said Angelique, sympathy in her gaze. “I don’t know much about the Guardians. It’s an ancient secret order of highly gifted and powerful witches. They act upon orders of the Destiny Council, and the only person they communicate directly with is the Destiny Keeper. They don’t accept into their circle just anyone with magic. One has to be an extremely powerful and talented witch to be considered. But one thing I know for sure. If a Guardian can no longer perform their duty, a second Guardian is sent.
“So, after your mom passed away, I’m sure that the Guardians sent another witch to shadow your powers. Maybe she’s not doing the same work as your mom used to do, but I still couldn’t read you. As soon as I got closer to the source of your magic, I got zapped. Someone is definitely guarding you. The questions still remain—what are you and why do the Guardians think it’s important that no one, including yourself, can find the answer to the first question.”
“How can we find this other Guardian?” asked Zane.
“I don’t know,” said Angelique, shaking her head. “It would be someone who either lives or works close to Tessa’s home. But other than that, there is nothing that can help you to single out this person in a crowd. The Guardians are the masters of disguise and even a powerful magical being like you are, Zane, won’t be able to sense the Guardian’s magical energy. After all—making things invisible is their core skill, right?”
“Right,” said Zane, his expression closed up. He turned to Tessa. “I guess, we should start looking for your Guardian, Tessa. This is the only way to find out anything about what you are.”
Tessa turned her face away. She didn’t want Zane to see how she felt at this moment. For the first time since she found out that her mom was a Guardian, she asked herself this question. What kind of scary magic did she have in her that an ancient secret organization of witches had to hide her power not only from the world but even from herself. Was her power evil? Was she evil?
“Zane,” she croaked, “am I evil?”
“What?” he muttered, frowning. “Come on, Tessa. I already told you that I can’t sense any dark energy in you.”
“What if the Guardians are shadowing the evil in me? You wouldn’t be able to sense anything, would you!” she yelled, her voice breaking on a high-pitched note.
“Tessa…” Zane moved his hand to touch her, but she staggered back, away from his touch. If she was evil, she shouldn’t be anywhere next to him or next to any people she loved and cared about. She was putting all of them in danger. Tessa could barely breathe as she stared at Zane, her eyes wide with fear.
“Tessa, stop,” said Angelique, seizing her arm. “You’re not evil. I’m a hundred percent positive. The Guardians would never send their people to guard any evil being. That I know for a fact. They guard people whose powers are highly coveted in the world of magic. These people’s powers could be dangerous, but never evil. Do you understand me?”
Tessa wasn’t sure that she understood everything that Angelique had just said to her. But the part where the Guardians do not guard evil people was enough to get her to start thinking clearly.
“Thank you, Angelique, for everything,” she said, smiling weakly at her. Angelique just nodded at her, warmth of sympathy gleaming in her eyes.
Tessa turned to Zane and took his hand in hers. She didn’t know why she expected that he would pull away from her touch, but he didn’t, and a small spark of happiness ignited in her heart.
“Zane, can we go now?”
He nodded.
“Just not my home, okay?”
He gave her a half-smile and nodded again.
Chapter 20
~ Zane Burns, a.k.a. Gunz ~
Gunz took the 595, driving back toward Coral Springs. Tessa wasn’t asking where they were going, and he decided to take her to Missi’s Kitchen for a quick lunch. The atmosphere of the restaurant was always relaxing, and he thought Tessa could use a few minutes of peace after everything that just happened.
Angelique’s magic wasn’t enough to break through the Guardian’s spells. The only other person who he could ask for help was Kal. Gunz sighed, biting his lip, thinking about summoning the Great Salamander tonight after he took Tessa back home.
He parked his Mercedes in a small parking lot on the back of the restaurant and walked around the car to open the door for Tessa. Before he got around, she opened the door, jumped out of the car, and stuck out her tongue at him. He just smiled and shook his head. She was so young, just a child. Why at such a young age she was already up to her ears in this supernatural chaos? Why her?
“I thought we could do with a quick lunch,” he said, pointing at the restaurant. “I like this place. Food is nothing special, but it’s quiet and relaxing.”
“I’m starving,” said Tessa. “I’ll eat just about anything right now.”
They walked through the parking lot and entered the semi-dark room. After the blistering heat of the midday sun in combination with the sticky South Florida humidity, the coolness of the air-conditioned space felt like a blessing. The restaurant was almost empty. A few people were sitting at the back table, but the rest of the tables were unoccupied.
Gunz made his way to the bar and stopped there, waiting for Missi to come out from the kitchen. He could hear her voice behind a half-open door, giving some instructions to her chef.
“Do you usually sit here?” asked Tessa, sitting down on one of the bar stools.
“Yes,” replied Gunz, “but if you prefer to take a table or go outside, we can do it.”
“The bar is fine. I can see why you like it here,” said Tessa, turning her barstool around and leaning her back against the counter. “The place has this v
ibe of calmness and silent acceptance. You know what I mean? It’s like you can just be yourself and no one ever would ask a question or judge.”
Gunz smirked, throwing a quick glance at her. “You got all that from being here for a whole two minutes, oh wise one?”
Missi walked out of the kitchen, tucking a fresh white towel behind her black apron. She stopped in front of Gunz and nodded to him. Then her gaze shifted to Tessa and her eyes widened for a split-second. The change in her expression was so momentary that normally no one would notice it, but Gunz caught this small transformation and a warning flag went up in his mind. Why was Missi so shocked? Is it because he was here with Tessa? Or was there something else? With the kind of lifestyle he lived, it could never be a normal explanation. There was always a supernatural catch.
This is my supernatural-free place, thought Gunz, forcefully folding down all the red flags, the place where I can live a semblance of a normal life. For once, there should be a normal explanation.
Like an answer to this thought, Missi smiled and wiped the bar counter, placing the menu in front of Tessa and him.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Burns,” she said with her usual cheerfulness, “I was a little shocked to see you accompanied by a woman. You’re always alone. That’s a welcome change.” She winked at Tessa. “Who is this beautiful young lady that finally tamed the beast?”
Gunz chuckled. Here is my normal explanation, he thought with relief.
“Hi, Missi. This is Tessa,” he made an introduction. “Just don’t call her lady, if you want to live to see another day.”
Tessa smiled uncomfortably, throwing a killer look at Gunz. He caught her gaze and raised his hands up, grinning. “Hey, I just said the truth. No need to get violent.”
“I guess it would be too early to order your usual, Mr. Burns?” asked Missi checking the wall clock. “What can I get for you?”
“It’ll be awhile before I can order the usual again,” said Gunz, throwing a wistful look at the bottle with Russian vodka. “Just get me a hamburger and French fries, please.”
