“You, of course. Morik was clever to find a way into this world. I deserve the same chance.”
“Hardly,” Morik said from beside me in a deriding tone. Brian’s muttering increased in volume and intensity.
I kept my gaze locked on Ahgred remembering the close race down the driveway. What would have happened if he’d caught me then?
Ahgred turned toward Morik saying nothing for a moment. His flaming tongue snaked out of his mouth in agitation. “You can’t save both of them,” Ahgred stated confusing me. When had this turned into a question of saving either of us? Brian whimpered behind me hearing that he wasn’t as safe as he’d thought.
Morik continued to speak calmly as if Ahgred’s threat was of no importance. “I don’t need to. I’ll save her. If you want any chance… ever… you’ll leave the boy. She doesn’t like them being damaged.”
Ahgred whipped his head back and forth angrily.
Morik, using his ability, disappeared and reappeared right behind me wrapping his arms around my torso. Ahgred had no time to react before we were gone.
One minute we stood in the snow under the skeletal oak, the next we stood in my living room. I barely had time to recognize the room as Morik shouted for my family to chant me to sleep. Gran and Aunt Grace sat on the couch staring at us with round eyes the movie they’d been watching forgotten.
He disappeared as abruptly as we’d appeared.
Before I could protest, Aunt Danielle flew from her chair starting the chant, her voice howling through the house. There was no time for me to say anything, to beg them to stop. My eyes immediately grew heavy as Gran and Aunt Grace quickly joined in.
I had enough time to think two things: What the hell just happened and would Morik be able to save Brain? Then, all thought stopped.
Like turning on a switch, I woke immediately, sitting up in bed panicked. Eyes wide, my gaze flew around the room trying to find the source of my emotion. Warm hands gently tugged me back down to the chest I’d been resting on. Morik. My hammering heart started to slow as I willingly lay back down. I’d never before woken so disoriented from a chanted sleep.
“Shh. It’s okay. You’re safe,” Morik assured me running his hand gently over my back.
The panic felt so real and it took me a moment to remember why. The trees. The dark. Ahgred… “Brian. Is he okay?”
Morik hesitated for a moment. “Yes and no.” I lifted my head to look at him. He’d set aside the hat and sunglasses. His eyes met mine. “Ahgred didn’t do anything to him after we left, but he did plenty before that. He’d been using him to watch you. And Brian remembers everything. He needed help. I brought him to the same hospital Clavin’s at.”
Poor Brian. No wonder he’d freaked out when he saw me. The times that I thought I saw him in a crowd, like at the mall, weren’t just my imagination then. Ahgred must have been using him for a while.
“And Ahgred?”
“Gone for now.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. He continued to stroke my back gradually relaxing me as I thought everything over. So Ahgred like Morik was tied to me through the deals made by Belinda and her father. Ahgred had found me first, but I’d narrowly escaped him. Then Morik came into the picture and for whatever reason, Ahgred had played it cool just watching and waiting. Why did he make his move last night though? If Morik hadn’t whisked me away I might have more answers. I didn’t doubt that Morik could protect me. So why pop me home like he did? And why bark out orders and leave again? He’d left Ahgred behind after all.
“Why did you have them chant me to sleep?”
“Ahgred is only free at night. He can’t touch you when you’re protected by their chant. Mine isn’t as strong.”
It made our first meeting, the mad race to the house, make more sense. I wasn’t out after dark. Ever. Except now because of the deal with Morik… this explained why Ahgred made his move. He was running out of time because my deal with Morik was almost up. Then I wondered how my family was even able to chant me to sleep. The deal should have prevented it. Not that it really mattered since tonight was the last night of freedom anyway.
“Doesn’t that break our deal?” I wondered idly.
His hand stilled on my back and I lifted my head to look at him again. The warm brown that had been swirling in his eyes abruptly receded making me wish I could have seen his eyes last night. Glancing down at his lips, I wondered what he’d do if I kissed him again.
He held himself still as he spoke softly. “I’m asking you to release me from our deal.”
The way he said it, so formally, focused my attention back on what he was saying. Before I started to worry, I asked for clarification. “What does that mean exactly?”