The Witch's Spark

by Melania Tolan

My speechlessness seemed to be a source of amusement, for I heard a low chuckle rumble from the depths of his chest. This only caused the blood to rush to my cheeks. He seemed to enjoy my body’s reaction to him, because he stroked my cheek with the back of his free hand.

  I felt mini sparks ignite where his skin contacted mine. My heart skipped several beats, my eyelashes fluttered uncontrollably, my breath caught, and my head spun. Never in my life had I felt these sensations in my body when touched by a man. Not even when Lathan and I were intimate had I felt this.

  Lathan! My fiancé.

  “Um, I’m engaged.”

  Oh? He raised an eyebrow. Is he here now?

  I shook my head slightly.

  So what is the problem?

  What could I say?

  I should have said, “This is a fantastic dream and everything, but I love my man and I will do nothing disrespectful toward him.” Yet my heart didn’t want me to say anything. In fact, I suddenly really wished I wasn’t betrothed. All I wanted was the man before me. Thoughts of Lathan disappeared into the night’s shadows.

  Then he let go of my hand and cupped my face. My breath came in short spurts as he bent down and slowly kissed my forehead, and then proceeded to kiss my left cheek, and then my right. I knew my lips would be next.

  I closed my eyes in anticipation…

  Nothing. Yes, that’s right—nothing. What kind of man leaves a girl hanging?

  My eyes opened, and he was gone. A beeping noise sounded in the distance, getting louder and louder. The clearing in the woods disappeared and suddenly, I was in a semi-dark room where the beeping continued.

  “Breathe, Everly!” The nurse stood over me. “Hi, honey. You need to breathe. Your oxygen levels have dropped.”

  I felt like someone had jerked me back into my body after stepping into someone else’s. What the hell is going on? Who’s Lathan? Did the man call me ‘Eva’? My mind raced back to the cemetery to Eva Constantine’s grave.

  Why did he call me ‘Eva’?

  Chapter 6

  Padrick listened to Gloria Greene chatter away about her daughter, but his mind was back in the hospital room where Everly lay. He should not have come to the hospital, but he had to make sure she was okay. At least the elf’s intended rudeness during class and lab time had been taken at face value. He could tell the girl disliked his human disguise—Professor Rick Perry.

  That’s good. The less she liked him, the safer she was.

  He massaged the point in his palm where his magic had touched Everly. The jolt of energy coming from her body was all the confirmation he needed to know the process had started.

  So it begins, four years too soon. Ah, Eva, how could you have messed up?

  If he could feel the girl’s energy, so could those that would prey upon her. Everly was still too fragile.

  “I must be boring you,” Gloria said sheepishly.

  Padrick peered into her eyes. The poor woman. If she only knew who the girl she claimed as her daughter really was.

  “No, my apologies. Midterms are next week, and I have several projects at the hospital research center. I’ve got many things on my mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” He stood up. “Your daughter is in good hands. She’ll heal soon.” He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze—because humans were so fragile—then walked away.

  “Thank you, Professor Perry,” she called after him.

  Much work had to be done. Everly was safe for now, but he needed to cross his ‘t’s’ and dot his ‘i’s’ if they would survive the storm headed their way.

  Outside the hospital, Padrick caught a hint of a scent he hadn’t smelled in over a decade. He scanned the parking garage and the roofs of the nearby buildings. The aroma of the undead had a distinct tone, but this particular scent belonged to only one person, who he’d known for most of his time in the human world.

  Of course, he’s here, Padrick’s mind muttered.

  It would only be a matter of time before the fiend found her. However, the scent was faint enough he could have been just passing through. The certain beast in question had a propensity for hospitals and terminally ill humans.

  Padrick adjusted the badge clipped to his suit and got into his Mercedes GT Roadster, then took a deep breath. First things first, visit the grave. Again.

  He’d erased the symbol from the stone the night before, after he’d seen doodles of the design on Everly’s notebook, in an attempt to slow down her curiosity. He knew she had touched the stone because the nineteen-year-old trapped spell had been released. If Everly had freed the magic, she would figure out who she was sooner than later. Once Everly noticed the magic in her world, there would be no stopping the shit storm to come.

  It’s too soon. Eva had orchestrated every event that had happened in Everly’s life thus far, except for this. The process wasn’t supposed to start for another four years.

  Padrick turned the engine on with a thought, as he did most things, and pulled out of the parking spot. Then he turned to the left and headed up toward Lake View Cemetery. Darkness had fallen on the city. The cemetery would be closed at this hour, but curfew and hours of business hadn’t stopped him from entering before, and neither did it now.

  This was the second time he’d come in one week—more than he had in the last ten years.

  The whole point of his human disguise and the plan to lie low meant he needed to stay away from the grave of one of the craftiest gypsy witches in history. Many would have wanted to steal her power, but her people had burned her body and her remains had been scattered in the middle of the Pacific nearly twenty years ago. By him. He knew coming to her grave twice within two days would draw the attention of those watching it closely.

  Padrick knew Octavian’s cronies still lingered about, even though he hadn’t seen them in a few years. Enemy spies loitered everywhere in the most unexpected places. No one was ever truly safe from that monster of a dictator. He could only hope that his human act had been good enough to fool whatever preternatural creatures might be watching.

  He parked the car on the west side, outside the grounds, and leapt over the eight-foot fence as if it were a knee-high hedge. He scanned the cemetery for any unwelcomed presences. Besides a few nocturnal animals and a handful of ghosts, he was alone. Again, he caught the faint undead scent. This didn’t surprise him. Many fiends had been interested in Eva, which had ultimately led to her death.

  Padrick focused on his glimmer and mentally whispered the spell to blend in with his surroundings. The next moment, the elf disappeared as he took on the appearance of the nearby bushes.

  With great caution, he moved up the gentle hill to where Grace Greene’s grave stood. Everly’s scent hung heavily here. Her strong connection to Grace didn’t surprise Padrick… Eva had told him this would happen.

  He slowly crept up to Eva’s grave next. He caught traces of the girl’s scent here, too, but it was lighter than when he’d first come to the site. A stronger scent filled his nostrils, similar to the one he’d sensed at the hospital. Padrick scanned the grass below and caught the smallest trace of undead blood that hadn’t totally been washed away by the rain.

  Of course, you’re here, too, weeping over your beloved.

  Time was running out. Even though Eva had told him Traian would find the girl, Padrick still didn’t like the fiend being anywhere close to the fragile human he’d vowed to protect.

  Bowing his head, he touched the stone and closed his eyes. Using the remembrance spell, he called up the energy signatures of the last week. Images of all the living creatures who had been in the area scrolled across the screen of his mind’s eye. Everly appeared and touched the tombstone. Arcs of light encased her hand and traveled over her entire body. Her eyes rolled back in their sockets, and then she fell back on the grass. He watched her struggle to catch her breath and pull out the inhaler from her pocket. Moments later, Everly scrambled up and glanced around her, eyes wild with fright. Then she ran down the hill and a shadow followed.

&nb
sp; Padrick rewound the image and focused on the shadow. He couldn’t tell if it was human or preternatural, but something had tailed Everly out of the cemetery.

  You idiot.

  He should have done this spell two nights ago when he’d first checked on the grave. Who had followed her out? Was it one of Octavian’s minions, or had it been one of the spirits that lived in this graveyard?

  Padrick looked down at the grave. The same six-rose arrangement still lay at the base of the stone, as if someone had just placed it there. Sure, it had rained generously the last few days, but cut flowers never lasted this long in the open air. He opened his third eye and scanned the blossoms. White energy radiated from the buds.

  Of course… When Everly touched the stone, part of the spell went into the flowers.

  They were proof of the magic here. He knew what he had to do.

  Padrick grabbed the roses and headed back to his car. He drove across the bridge, back to the University of Washington. He parked outside of the Hancock building and used his security access to get in, but this time he didn’t go into the day lab upstairs.

  Not one soul on campus knew about the tunnel behind the supply shelf in the custodial basement closet. Even if someone were to move the metal fixture, the wall appeared to be made of normal concrete. He pushed aside the heavy rack as easily as rolling an empty cart and then placed both hands on the wall. Where his hands lay, a green light appeared and scanned his palms. A second line of light appeared—the outline of a doorway. The concrete slipped down and to the side. Padrick stepped through, and the door slid back in. On the custodial closet side, the shelf rolled back to its place in front of the secret door.

  Being in the age of technology, Padrick relied less on his magic, which was a good thing. The less magic he used, the better he stayed hidden. Octavian’s minions had walked right through his classroom and not once sensed the elf. It took little magic to maintain the disguise, but not enough to arouse their suspicions.

  The long tunnel led deep into the earth to his lair. He passed through several security doors before reaching the lab where he spent most of his time when not guarding Everly. Here, he allowed himself to experiment with new human advancements and the ancient magic of his race. The large cave contained three multi-terabyte servers, and screens, microscopes, experiment chambers lined with crystal quartz to contain any tests gone amok, and rows of shelves filled with books and ancient manuscripts. He'd divided the space into three areas: the experiment room, the computer room, and his private quarters. Two hundred meters of steel, crystal, and concrete surrounded this fortress. He’d spent the good part of ten years building his stronghold.

  The first thing Padrick did when he’d sealed the main door behind him was drop the flowers into one of the experiment chambers. Usually he ran tests on chemicals and their reactions, but tonight, spells were in the works.

  Science. Magic. The lines blurred these days. Humans had taken leaps and bounds in the last hundred years, quickly catching up to the magic world.

  From the glass cabinet on the opposite side of the room, Padrick took out a vial of violet, viscous fluid. With a slender pipet, he pulled two drops and then released them into a beaker. He added a pinch of Wallachian mushroom powder and the tiny hair he’d pulled off Everly’s hand when he held it at the hospital. He had many samples of her DNA stored in his underground lab, but for this spell, specimen freshness played an important role.

  Standing outside the experiment chamber, he whispered the ancient words that stirred the mixture. As the potion swirled in the glass bottle, he tipped the contents onto the flowers and then closed the transparent door.

  The petals and leaves of the roses fluttered as the force of the magic picked up the arrangement. The six stems separated and floated to the center of the chamber for half a second before exploding into millions of tiny bits. The fragments rearranged themselves to form a picture—the inside of Capitol Hill Floral. The image moved as Everly came into focus, and Padrick watched her dutifully arrange each colored rose in the bouquet.

  How did she know?

  For over a dozen years, that same arrangement had, on Traian’s orders, been recreated and placed on Eva’s grave, but this was the first time Everly had attempted the task—having only been working at the shop for two months—and she’d nailed it.

  The particles shifted, showing the Hispanic girl, Everly’s friend, driving the arrangement to the cemetery. The girl placed the flowers on the grave and walked away. The next image shifted to evening time, and Everly approached the grave.

  “Somebody must not like you. Sorry,” the pixilated image of Everly said.

  The specks shifted as her body became encased in arcs of light. She fell on the grass, took two puffs from her inhaler, waited for the medicine to kick in, and then ran. Just like Padrick had seen earlier at the grave, a shadow followed.

  “Stop,” he commanded the spell. He examined the shadow particles from different angles. “Magnify.”

  The entire chamber filled with the image of the shadow. He could see the outline of a person, but it didn’t tell him whether the shadow belonged to a human or a fiend.

  Padrick punched the inside of his left palm with his right fist, terminating the spell. All the specks fell to the bottom of the chamber. He went to the study area at the other end of the room and sat down at his desk.

  It’s too soon.

  He rested his forehead on his pointer fingers. Eva had orchestrated everything, down to Everly moving into the old apartment and getting her job at the flower shop. Had she known the girl would make that arrangement and touch the tombstone? If she had, the little gypsy witch hadn’t bothered to share that small point with him. How was he supposed to protect this fragile girl if Eva had deviated from the original plan? Everly had been touched by magic, and that exponentially increased her chances of being discovered by the wrong people. It also increased the girl’s chances of dying sooner, given her medical history.

  Padrick lifted his head and looked at the secret safe hidden in the rock wall. Over the last decade, he’d become complacent with his place in the human world and he’d stopped carrying his blade. He kept such a low profile that Octavian’s spies walked right past him, never once questioning his human glimmer.

  But that time had ended when Everly touched Eva’s grave. He’d need to keep a closer eye on the girl and watch for hints of magic, as well as protect her, as he had promised Eva with his blood. Microbiology class wasn’t enough. He needed to get closer to the girl.

  Once the first domino fell, the rest would follow.

  Chapter 7

  The tick-tock of the clock on the wall above Mr. Perry’s desk sounded unnaturally loud in my ears. My hand shook a little as I tightened my grip on the pencil. I focused on the paper in front of me and reread the question.

  1. Which of the following comprises genes for antibiotic and enzymes resistance?

  A. Capsule

  B. Plasmid

  C. Plasma Membrane

  D. Plasmoid

  It had only been three days since they had discharged me from the hospital, which was the last day of midterms week. I’d spent the first two days at my mother’s place against my will, but yesterday, I’d come home and phoned my professor. Mr. Perry had been kind enough to offer to be my midterms proctor for all my classes the coming Saturday. Everyone would be out having fun except me—I’d chosen to take all five exams in one day.

  Carol, my boss, had given me the week off to recover and rest. Mr. Perry had advised me to space the exams over the course of the week, but I’d refused. I wanted to get them done and start school on Monday with everyone else.

  Now I’d finished the last test, I wondered about the wisdom of my decision.

  My attention span had shortened to seconds, my body felt heavy and weak, and I could barely sit up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I found Mr. Perry staring at me from his desk.

  “Are you alright?”

 
I nodded. “On the last question.”

  “Ah.” He glanced up at the wall behind him. “You still have thirty minutes. No need to rush.”

  “I know.”

  I focused on the answer choices and circled B. Then I stood up and carried my exam paper to Mr. Perry’s desk.

  He shook his head. “Why do you push yourself so? Are you trying to kill yourself?”

  I was too weak to argue, but couldn’t help it. “What’s it to you?”

  Mr. Perry removed his glasses and set them down on the desk, meeting my gaze. “I want you to succeed. Not just in my classroom, but in life.” He waved toward the window. “I admire your drive, but if you burn yourself out, what good will you be out there?”

  I didn’t know what to say to that. Professor Rick Perry had always been a mystery, I couldn’t quite figure him out. He had been rude to me from day one, but he’d suddenly become heavily involved in my life.

  Why does he now care about my well-being and future?

  Since that first visit, he’d come every day to the hospital and brought my mother coffee, much to her pleasure. But he hadn’t been overly friendly and kept his visits short.

  None of this matters as long as I can keep up and finish the quarter.

  I lifted my chin. “I’m just playing catch-up. Thank you for the opportunity to take my exams.” I whirled around and headed back to my desk where my purse lay.

  “Can I give you a ride home?”

  “What?” I turned around to face him.

  “It’s getting late. I can give you a ride home.”

  “Thank you, I’ll be fine.” I grabbed my purse and raincoat from the back of the chair. “See you next week,” I called over my shoulder as I hurried out the door.

  Oh. My. God. Did my professor just offer me a ride home? Was that even ethical?

  Once I got outside, I went to the library and chill out for a bit. I crossed the street to the main campus and made my way up the hill to the Red Square. Inside Henry Suzzallo Library, I stepped into the coffee shop just past the main entrance and ordered a scone and a cup of peppermint tea.