Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
T wo hours went by with nothing happening. Then an ear-piercing alarm startled me into standing up. I went to the bars at the same time my jailer swore and took off somewhere.
Seconds later, a swirling portal opened near my cage. A flamboyantly dressed man in a hot pink beret and plaid jacket stepped out ahead of Jessing. Seconds later, he led her out by the hand.
“Thank you, Hart.” Jessing smiled at him.
The man leaned toward her and kissed her sweetly. When he let her lips go, Jessing was giggling. I was so caught up in watching the loving couple interacting with each other—a rare sight I didn’t get to see often—that I nearly missed Tony also exiting the portal.
He stepped out and sighed at me locked in my cell. “Hi,” he said tiredly. But it was his guilty stare that told me the most.
I reached through my bars and waved my hand. “I’m fine. You need to take care of those burns on your wrist.”
Tony held up his hands to inspect his wounds. “They’ll heal in a few days. Dragon chains aren’t fatal but they hurt enough for me to feel them.”
It was news to me that an angel could be hurt at all. Tony never said he couldn’t be, but I had assumed he was the closest thing to omnipotent that existed. Apparently, I needed to let go of those assumptions to embrace the four-inch red marks of reality encircling Tony’s wrists.
My angel walked to the bars of the cage and tested their strength. If he intended to break them, Tony might need to heal first.
We can heal him , a reluctant voice stated.
I grunted and stared at the ring. “Why would you do that?”
We would heal your trainer to make amends for making you question your faith. It is not our wish to do that, regardless of which deities you choose to worship.
“Fine, but you better not make things worse. I want out of this cell,” I said in warning.
Clasp his damaged wrists in your hands.
I chased Tony to the bars he was pulling on. “Hold still,” I commanded.
Tony laughed at me. “Your time in prison has made you more aggressive. It works the opposite on most people.”
“You have no idea how much I’ve changed,” I said. “Put your hands on the bars and grip them.”
He grinned at my command but stilled to let me do what I wanted. I reached through the bars and wrapped my hands around his wrists. He wasn’t much taller than me but he was larger and more heavily muscled.
I closed my eyes. Now what?
The ring buzzed on my finger. I felt both of my palms heat.
Let the energy from your body flow into your hands and pass into him. Envision his wrists being totally healed. See them as strong and unburned. The metal from the dragon chains weakens bones with its constraint. Do not let go of him until we say to do so.
Will it hurt him?
We have never healed his kind. It would hurt most beings. There was a long pause that felt like several minutes went by. Since this is the first time you have healed another, it may hurt you as well.
I opened my eyes and stared into Tony’s. “The ring and I can heal you. It may hurt. Please don’t move until I tell you to.”
Jessing walked to the jailer’s desk, lifted one end of it, and slid it in front of the door. Hart pulled a wand from his jacket. The two of them stood on either side of Tony peering at my grip on him.
“Are you ready?” I asked.
Tony lifted one eyebrow, saw I was serious, and then he nodded. Meeting his gaze was like staring at the clearest blue sky I’d ever seen.
Let’s do this , I sent to the ring.
My palms heated around his and we both winced. I did my best to push the buzzing energy I’d felt in my palms into Tony’s skin. I became acutely aware of my firm grip on him.
The image of sitting astride the man and pinning his wrists to the ground flashed through my mind and made me groan a bit. My face heated with embarrassment. I squeezed my eyes tighter shut to avoid seeing his shocked gaze. Though after the kiss we shared, he wouldn’t be surprised that I desired him.
But... damn it all .
Was it too much to ask for my libido to behave in the middle of this crisis? It was impossible for me not to be upset. It was hard to focus on what I was supposed to be doing.
Sexual energy is very much the same as healing energy. They go hand-in-hand, which is why magickals cannot abstain while in their human forms. You will learn to master your emotions, your desires, and your needs. Release all shame and accept that part of yourself. Controlling it will be necessary when you do this work.
I nodded without responding to the ring and hoped it knew how much I appreciated the support and the advice. It was hard for me to concentrate on healing Tony while listening to them. Every time a sexual fantasy about Tony came, I promised my body to indulge it later. It was the best I could do to handle my wayward urges.
Done , the ring finally said.
I slowly eased my grip on Tony and let my fingers drop.
He lifted his hands-free of the bars and inspected his now unmarked wrists. His questioning gaze landed on me but he said nothing. Without saying a word about his surprise, Tony walked to the door of the cell, gripped the metal edges of it, and yanked it free. He set the destroyed metal to one side and waved me out of the cell.
I smiled to see his strength had returned. Thank you , I sent to the ring. You’re welcome , the voice said back.
“I found my magick... or at least some of it,” I said.
“So it would seem,” Tony said, smiling back. “Thank you for healing me.”
“It was mostly the ring.”
Tony snorted. “Doubtful. Let’s get out of here.”
We heard panicked yelling and then some banging at the door. The desk was all that was keeping them from breaking into the room. Fortunately, those on the other side of it lacked Jessing’s strength... and that woman was strong .
I took one step toward freedom before my head exploded with a vision of Mom. She was in a cave and fighting a giant snake. Then an angry fairy was chasing her. My legs gave out and my knees hit concrete. “Mom’s in trouble. I have to help her.”
“No, Fiona. We need to help ourselves,” Tony said. He entered the cell and easily lifted me from the floor. “Your energy is depleted after the healing work you just did. Let’s get to safety and decide what to do then.”
“No,” I said, pushing on his chest with one hand as he carried me. “I saw it happening, Tony. Mom is going to die without our help. Ezra is chasing her with an energy sword and all she has is a freaking dagger. He wants her dead because of the stone she carries. He plans to cut it from her dead body.”
Hart looked at Jessing and shook his head. “I can create a portal for our escape, but not for theirs. I only have enough to create one more. If we stay, they will know we aided their escape. Our advantage would be lost.”
Jessing nodded as she looked at him. “I prefer me helping them create their own portal, and you can create one to save us.”
“Darling woman, I will always save you,” Hart promised. He lifted his wand and sent a blast of magick toward the door. It sparked around the outer edges and welded it tightly shut. “But that will slow them for a bit.”
Jessing put a wand from the bodice of her shirt and sighed. “I’m not the greatest at this sort of magick but it might work with yours. My intentions are pure.”
Tony stood me on my feet against the outside cell bars. “Stay upright,” he ordered.
I grunted. What else did he expect to do? Keeping my body upright was common sense.
I watched as Tony popped out his wings and gripped Jessing’s wand. A stream of magick shot out of him and combined with hers. It created a pin dot in the air.
The banging got louder. The door crumpled as the frame separated from the edges.
“I’m not the young owl I once was. After birthing my brood, that’s all the magick I have to spare,” Jessing said.
“So you’re an owl,” I said, nodding at how much sense that made. “That’s why you can rotate your head so far.”
“Tell your mother I said to hang in there,” Jessing ordered. “I’m sure it will relieve her to see you unharmed.”
Tony pushed what magick he had into the fledgling dot floating in the air. When it sparked to life, he smiled at Jessing. “Thank you for freeing me and for the spell assist, Jessing the Greatest of Owls. Your magickal kindness will not be forgotten.”
The struggling portal the two of them created sputtered and finally stretched into reluctant existence. It was a line that seemed to be slowly expanding into an oval. It was growing at a snail’s pace but it was still growing.
“Okay, Your Highness. It’s time for us to follow your orders. Prepare yourself,” Tony said.
I glared at him. It might have been a weak glare, but I gave it my best. “Don’t call me that. And I don’t trust going through that thing you and Jessing created. Who knows where it might spit us out? We can take one of those fast-speed jets back to Mom.”
“If the fairy is after your mother, she might be dead before the portal spits us out.” Tony pointed to the sketchy portal. “I’m not in any condition to fly you there myself so there’s no other way. It was your vision so that makes this your call.”
“Fine,” I said, pointing to it. It sputtered and sparked irregularly. “You go first.”
“You’re the one insisting we go help her. I’m perfectly fine staying right here and hiding.”
“You go first because you owe me,” I said, crossing my arms. “You left me alone and I was abducted.”
“They were converting cows into Minotaurs. Do you know how hard it was to change their DNA back to normal cows? You would have gone to do that as well.”
“Maybe, but I would have taken me with you.”
Tony glared at me. “Well, that makes no sense.”
I threw up my hands. “It makes sense to me.”
Tony mumbled to himself as Jessing’s magick ended. He looked at the portal and sighed. “This will have to do,” he said.
Then the bastard snatched me up and tossed me through the spinning portal while I screamed obscenities at him.