by Mia Fox
Phineas took in her smile, the shining dark hair that looked so soft against her smooth complexion. Her black eyes that danced and beguiled him. He had his work cut out for him for whether it was their connection, the realms, or the influence she forced onto him earlier, there was no doubt that he did want her. He took her in his arms, welcoming her into his embrace and when their mouths met, the black birds rustled their wings as if clapping their approval at the union.
Raven’s body formed perfectly against Phineas’ chest. Instinctively, he reached his hand up her back and then cradled her neck as his kiss grew deeper, more passionate. He struggled to stay focused on Charlotte, and although he knew it wasn’t right, pretending that he was kissing Charlotte was in actuality the only way to not become completely aligned with Raven again.
With Raven in his arms and Charlotte in his mind, he made a secret plan to rescue me along with the girls. But it would be risky because he knew that in order to not erupt suspicion within Raven, I would also have to be unaware of his changing allegiances.
* * *
My throat burned from dryness and my head was dizzy from the heat. I was back on the ground in the midst of a wide expanse of utter nothingness. No snake, no trees, no black birds. It was as if nothing terrifying had happened, and yet, it had all seemed so real.
“Damn this place,” I croaked. I lay on my side, my head still planted on the ground and my eyes searching the horizon for any indication of something that would let me in on the cruel joke that insisted on messing with my mind.
I thought I could hear James’ voice, a mere whisper in my head, but I was afraid to let myself believe again that it was truly my love. I had fallen for that trick earlier and I wouldn’t allow myself another moment of happiness at the sound of his voice only to become victim to the changing scenery. The Romani Realms were both a thing of beauty and a horrific scene of destruction. Strangling snakes and tarry pits gave way to grassy fields with dancing butterflies only to disappear again and in their place, trees as bare as the dead of winter held threatening black birds on their limbs. What if the words I heard were a figment as well?
I welcomed the cool wind that started to blow through the trees until I saw that the source of the breeze was the maniacal fluttering of hundreds of black bird wings. Their eyes looked down at me strangely as if willing me to stay lying face down and defeated.
“You can’t win,” I said looking at them through eyes that still threatened to glaze over. “I only have my resolve in this horrible place.”
And with that I pulled myself up, only to have first one and then another dive bomb me, their talons scratching my arms and the back of my neck as I made my way to a lake that oddly, I didn’t remember being there just moments earlier.
“Nam myoho renge kyo,” I chanted the buddhist phrase to awaken my own connection to nature, the butterflies that flew with me, in order to be one with nature rather than against it.
“That’s right, sweetheart.”
It sounded so much like James. I so wanted to believe. Maybe just for one minute...just one gift of the memory of him would give me the strength to carry on.
* * *
Chapter Seven
“Mr. James, you’s not concentratin’,” Maebeline’s syrupy voice poured over him.
James took a deep breath and clasped hands with Maebeline again. “I’m trying.”
“Then try not to be so distracted.”
With his hand in hers, Maebeline once again attempted to channel the powers of the Otherworld, the realm that traps lost souls of which the Romani Realms is but one.
“Child, I’ve known you for your entire life and while you have proven to be an excellent business man and somewhat reliable Shade partner, you are not living up to my standards at the moment.”
James smiled in spite of the gravity of the situation. Maebeline was the only person he had met that like him, had the ability to travel forward and backward in time and therefore, could heal and protect. As formidable a force that this made both of them, it was nothing compared to the scolding she could wield.
“Okay truth. I’m coming up with nothing. Are you seeing her?”
Maebeline’s round face and chocolate eyes met his as she sadly shook her head.
“It doesn’t make sense,” James said running a hand through his wavy brown hair, his blue eyes cast downward. “Suki should be able to hear me. We...”
“Uhh, uhh, I don’t need to know what you two did outside the establishment of marriage. It obviously didn’t bind you to her in the way that a marriage would in the eyes of God and the other spirits we’re dealing with.”
“If I get her through this, I’ll make sure and do something about that,” he said and closed his eyes, trying once again to extend his reach into the Romani Realms. “In the meantime, we need to find why my voice is blocked to her.”
Maebeline shifted and lit another candle that sat among many others that were lit in a semi-circle in front of them. She extended her hands to the flames, letting them hover dangerously close to the heat. “Let me try something else...an incantation of nature. It will help to bring her and the elements closer together.”
Maebeline remained in a trance for only moments before the reality of the situation presented itself. “Raven’s influence is very strong in the Realms. Did you see...”
“She’s altered Suki’s reality. I saw it.”
“It’s the curse of the Romani Realms. They all do it and then the changes become all the stronger. Every soul that resides there has a bit of mischief in them.”
“Not every soul,” James reminded.
But Maebeline was quick to correct him. “Not every soul who has yet to succumb to the powers and influence of that dreaded place. Eventually, they all go mad. I saw her James...I saw Raven and her thoughts.”
“It’s strange. I saw Suki and the others, but my vision of Raven materialized as only darkness -- like a television screen gone black.”
“That was Raven. She’s planning on trapping all of them within the Realms -- Suki, Charlotte, Samantha. The only ones who are getting out of there are herself and Phineas, and I can’t tell where his allegiance lies.”
“We need to get a message to Phineas.”
“How do you know you can trust him?”
“I don’t,” James said before falling silent, not daring to speak the polarized thoughts that ran through his head. On the one hand, he was indebted to Maebeline. Each protected the other during time travel, ensuring that there was always someone securely planted in the present to retrieve the other. Yet, if he simply remained here, rooted in the presence, the entire mission may be sacrificed.
“She can’t hear me,” he said finally.
“And without your voice, she’ll eventually succumb to the forces of that crazy messed up realm.”
“But she’s so strong, Maebeline. She survived centuries without having actually met me.”
“Yes, but what made your appearance in her life necessary?”
“Raven?”
“Precisely.”
Maebeline took his hand. Although technically she had worked for James as his maid for years, she was also a comfort to him. “James, go to her. You know you want to.”
James nodded his head. “You know what this means?”
“We’ve had a good run.”
“Give me a little credit. I’ll get her and be back in time for your jambalaya and peach pie.”
“Unless you get yourself killed, then I’m eating the whole pie myself.”
“Ah, you can wish that all you want, but that doesn’t make it true,” he said smiling his mischievous glint.
An uncomfortable silence grew between them. Their bond had grown over the years to be more than employer and employee, more than mammy and the school boy she had raised. They relied on each other as only Shades could; they were each responsible for bringing the other back when the portals of time travel closed unexpectedly. If James were to travel into the Romani Realms
, there was a distinct possibility that he wouldn’t return. Therefore, to go there and ensure my safety put his own life as well as Maebeline’s in permanent jeopardy.
“Chin up,” Maebeline said. “You won’t have to pretend to listen to me or take my advice any more.”
“First of all, I never pretend about something as important as your advice. Got any now?”
“Yes. Don’t die.”
Maebeline smiled at James as he reached and pulled her into a gigantic bear hug with each one competing for the tightest squeeze.
“Well, shall we go inside and give me a proper send off?”
* * *
James’ voice was still persistently trying to get through to me, even while he crossed through the realms of the present into the hidden and perilous Romani Realms. Although I wanted to hear him, trying to listen intently meant that I also heard the pleas of every lost soul in this god forsaken place. They would cry out for forgiveness, scream with promises to repent, and as if that weren’t bad enough, then one had to also hear the cries of the souls who were truly lost -- the ones who had no idea what they had done to deserve such a fate of living among the bizarre and shifting universe that was the Romani Realms.
There were innocents here that were being tempted into going bad and innocents that were being preyed upon for their purity. Charlotte and Samantha’s reality and minds could be fed upon, literally eaten alive. Their goodness and dreams captured like television shows for the lost souls’ enjoyment or as penance paid to the demonized creatures who used the Romani Realms as their own training ground to create formidable forces used within the present realms.
The grinding of gears sounded in my ears, reminding me of how easy it was to come here in the first place.
“Sure, easy to get here, but impossible to leave. This place is a one-way street,” I said aloud to a few butterflies that finally answered my prayers and materialized, gliding just overhead. They flew in a circular formation around me, moving in formation as a protective element while I rested from Raven’s latest attack.
“Suki, I’m here,” James’ voice sounded.
This time, I dared to answer the voice, annoyed at whoever was trying this cruel trick. “Stop it. You think I’m going to cry over the sound of his voice? Honestly, he’s not that hot.”
“That’s not what you said in your living room.”
“Still not James,” I answered back defiantly. “Anyone can have sex in their living room. We’re not in Victorian times anymore. That was just a lucky guess on your part...whoever you are, you perverted little demon.”
James’ low chuckle sounded in his throat before he spoke into my mind once again, “That’s a nice pet name. I think I’ll keep it.”
There was something different this time. Unlike when I heard his voice before being attacked, this James was clearer. Of course it could mean that whatever threatened me was simply closer, or could it be true? It was too much to hope for, but I had to try...and hope. “What shape is the birthmark on my thigh?”
“Butterfly.”
“What color dress was I wearing when I first met Maebeline?”
“You weren’t wearing a dress.”
“James!” I spun around in a circle, watching for him, hoping that he really would appear. The butterflies, originally all blue, now doubled in numbers and included varieties of green, pink, and yellow. They fluttered with excitement and created a curtain effect that when they finally parted revealed James looking fit and strong, alert and happy, not in the least bit affected by the long and arduous journey into the Romani Realms.
I threw my arms around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist. “You’re here.”
“Thinking about you getting dressed from behind the partition in my Atlanta home helped give me the last boost to get here.”
“So glad I could help jumpstart you.”
James bent his head down to mine for a kiss, which I gladly returned. My hand reached for his face, relishing in the familiar tickle that his bit of scruff felt against my palm. He twirled a lock of my long, brown waves around his fingers and then pressed his hand against the back of my head, taking my mouth for his hungry kiss, and with our tongues now intwined we continued to kiss, until I unexplainably stiffened.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, just that my back is a bit sore. But I feel much better in your arms,” I said wiggling closer again, hating that my involuntary movement caused our kiss to cease.
“Let me see. Just lift up the back of your top.”
When I did as he requested, James’ breath caught and a low whistle escaped him. “That’s quite a bruise. How’d you manage that?”
“Raven, a large branch, and me. Not my favorite combination.”
“Hmm, so much for my hand-to-hand combat lessons. What happened to all of that Krav Maga training?”
“Basically, I fight like a girl.”
“And did you think that using your power over the elements wasn’t a good idea?” James pressed.
“They’ve been on the blink ever since I got here.”
“Want me to...you know?” James smiled.
“Here?”
“You’re here; I’m here. And your back is a mess.”
“Yes, but if you do that magic Shade treatment to me, then I’m going to want something more.”
“First of all, that’s a good thing, but since we’re here to get Charlotte and Samantha back, we better table that. You’ll have to resist me...as impossible as that sounds.”
“I think I can manage.”
James turned me around, lightly placing his hands on my shoulders. “You ready?”
“Hit me,” I answered back.
“Cute. Now just relax. Feel the energy from me into you.”
James hands felt warm on my back. As he moved them up and down the bruised area, a tingling sensation spread not only across my back, but also down my arms and up each leg, leaving me feeling almost dizzy. But James was quick to place one hand behind my head as I started to reel backwards. He gently placed me on the ground face-down and then knelt behind me, slowly pulling up my top to inspect the bruise.
“It’s not black and blue anymore, just a hideous shade of yellow.”
“Then it’s healing. Let’s go.”
“I can do more; just lie still.”
With just one finger James traced a circle around the bruise, and I inhaled sharply.
“You like that, don’t you?”
“It’s no big deal. I’m not going to be affected by this.”
“Sure you won’t,” he said continuing. “Then you won’t mind if I finish.”
“What color am I?” My voice suddenly sounded less confident about my abilities to fight the attraction to James.
James lightly ran one finger down the length of my spine. Even that small action was magical. When he gently pressed his entire palm onto my back, the feeling sent a pulsating jump all the way through me. A low rumble sounded from my stomach, indicating that his touch was starting a reaction of sheer pleasure. He continued to let his palm explore the delicate bruised skin while he bent his head to press his lips to the top of my shoulder blades.
“James?”
“Mmm hmm?” he said, still keeping his mouth on my back, but this time he let it trail light kisses down the center of my spine.
“Is this part of the treatment?”
“No, this is extra. You should go with it.”
His mouth went lower and was now at mid-back.
“Okay, I’ll just...” I closed my eyes, not even able to utter another thought.
James placed a knee on either side of my body and let his mouth move down each vertebrae. His tongue now went to work, weaving delicate circles along my hip. His hands gently caressed each hip as his tongue continued to work magic over the very base of my spine, moving dangerously close to the area that could no longer be classified as my back.
“And you’re finished,” he said popping himself up to
a seated position.
“This is what you call finished?” I asked, feeling frustrated.
“Well, your back is its normal shade, although I must note,” he said furrowing his brows and pretending to examine my face more closely, “that your cheeks have taken on a very flushed tone indeed. I wonder what caused that?”
“Indeed. I wonder.”
James offered his hand, which I accepted as he pulled me up to standing. “So, there are a few things you should know,” he said sounding business like again. His tone was intoxicating and commanding. It made me wish I could have seen him in action during the Industrial Revolution when his factory manufactured an early version of the steam engine and later constructed nearly 500 engines.
“Just like the scenery changes, so do people.”
“Charlotte and Samantha?” I couldn’t imagine either girl changing, their pure nature was undeniable. “Have you seen them?”
James shook his head. “Not directly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I couldn’t see them, but I felt the presence of innocent souls when I crossed through. What about your connection to them?”
I paused, not really believing my own insight unto them. “Right now, I don’t feel like either is in distress, but then it shifts, and I do. I can’t trust my own instincts.”
“You have to. That’s what will save you down here. If you’re seeing them happy and yet you know in your heart that they’re in danger, then the risk is greater than you realize.”
“I’m not following.”
James continued, “The souls that feed on the innocent can befriend someone here. They can convince them to stay.”
“Charlotte and Samantha might not recognize who is good or bad?”
James nodded.
“But Samantha’s gift? Surely that will help her?”
“It’s true that Samantha can spot whether someone is of pure heart -- back in the present -- but she had barely discovered her gift when she was thrown into this place. She would have to channel her gift, focus on it. Only then would she be able to further develop and use it here.”
