Chapter 6
EXPLOSIVE CONTACT
Cesar
Leading the way, I took Artur through my house and led him to the back room where I focused on my work. I’d had a contractor come in and rebuild this section of my home to take full advantage of the moon cycles.
Essentially, we were walking into an atrium—a glass sunroom that was attached to the back of the building, but a few floors up. I could grow some important herbs here too, but it was the amount of exposure to the outside elements that I truly required.
The bottom third was made from thick concrete, providing a solid base, but the roof and the three walls were all constructed of tempered glass. I could use a louver system to pull open sections, allowing full moonlight to illuminate my workspace, or, of course, sunlight.
I didn’t work much with sun energy, though.
A myriad of low-level lights was strung across the metal frames that held the glass panels. The additional light from those bulbs gave me enough brightness to work without impeding the silvery, mysterious light from the various phases of the lunar waxing and waning.
“This is incredible!” Artur gawked at my setup. “You have so many tools and…” He stretched his neck to get a better look at my stashes of bones, crystals, and herbs. Then, he turned to look at me. “Thank you for showing me. This is exactly what I have fantasized about owning. One day. Maybe.”
Artur shrank into himself.
“No. None of that in here.” I took a step toward him, put one finger under his chin, and lifted it up so I could stare into his beautiful eyes.
They were the most unusual shade of grey-green I’d ever seen.
Light enough that you could see right into his soul, but the outer edge of his iris was kohl black, giving him a fierce look if he’d ever chosen to use it.
But I suppose living on the outskirts, outcast by everyone, and thrown aside meant Artur didn’t have much attitude to use his good looks or piercing eyes. “You’re so damn handsome.”
I couldn’t help myself.
I leaned in and kissed him.
Tiny electrical sparks graced both our lips, adding to the tender sensation of supple flesh. Artur’s knees buckled as he trembled with excitement.
I deepened the kiss as Artur parted his lips to allow me to explore his mouth. His tongue met mine in an intricate if not frenzied dance that screamed for more.
I slid my hand around his waist and pulled him close.
His tight white tunic, once sweat-soaked and see-through, didn’t hide his excitement.
I pulled away.
“Artur—” My mouth twitched up one side as I gave him a mischievous smile. I glanced down to see the tenting in his clothes. “Well, that’s a nice sight.”
“Oh my god, I’m so embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“I’m nobody. You’re Cesar Aguilar! I’m standing in your workroom with a raging boner. Like, every fantasy I’ve ever had is coming true right now.”
“You’ve fantasized about me?”
“Dude, who hasn’t? You do know you’re the talk of the town, right?”
“Shhh. That’s crazy.” I was smitten with this man, and I desperately wanted to see him lying naked and exposed on my bed, but we did have work to do. Still, I didn’t want him to get the idea I was brushing him off.
I reached out toward his erection and gripped it, gently squeezing the steel hardness as I gazed into his eyes.
“Artur, I’ll make you a promise. This old man hasn’t had anyone in his bed in a long damn time.
And let me assure you, I would love to share it with you, stripped, fulfilling every fantasy you can come up with.
I may have a few of my own.” I gave him a wink.
“Fuck me,” Artur whispered.
“Oh, definitely. And I’ll be riding that monster as well. But until we figure out this wight business, let’s put this on hold. Okay? I give you my word though. You, me, exposed, and as many hours as we need to explore everything we want to do. Sound like a plan?”
“I’m not going to be able to focus on the work,” Artur admitted, smiling. “May I just…”
He reached for my robes.
I smiled, held my hands out to my side, and allowed him access to whatever he wanted to do.
Artur’s deft hands made quick work of the sash, undoing it and parting my robes. I stood there—bare, exposed, and excited.
Artur stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest as a slow smile spread across his cheeks. I might have said I saw mischief in his smile, but it looked more like a wanton devil grin.
He continued to study me.
“You like?” I asked.
“Very much.” He licked his lips. Then, as quickly as he had exposed me, he cinched my robes back up. “Just wanted a very good idea of what I’m going to be working with later.”
“Cheeky.”
“Always. Now, show me what you were going to do.”
I tilted my head to one side. “I’m impressed, Artur.”
“With what?”
“Most men wouldn’t have been able to refocus back on the work. And, admittedly, if you had taken that any further, I would have followed your lead.”
“Okay, but isn’t a roaming wight bent on getting his toy back a little more pressing than fooling around?”
“Definitely more pressing. But you’re certainly more tempting.”
“Well then, let’s get to work. I’ll hold you to your promise.”
I liked him. A lot. He definitely had been given a bad rap in the community, and for all the wrong reasons.
We spent the better part of the afternoon performing a myriad of tests on the black tourmaline crystal. Despite the fact that both of us could feel the hum of magical energy pulsating off the stone, I couldn’t get a read on what it was for or why it would have been so important.
“This is frustrating,” I whispered as I peered through the microscope’s ocular lens.
“I just don’t think we’re doing the right things.”
“I’m doing all the things I know how to do,” I said, giving Artur some side eye.
“But it doesn’t feel right.”
“What do you mean?” Furrowing my brows together, I questioned Artur further. “There are standard ways of sussing out the magical properties of a given object. They are time-honoured practices that have proven to work.”
“Okay, but I never got any of that training, right? I’m telling you, my gut tells me we’re going about this all wrong.”
“Interesting.” I leaned back in my chair. “Tell me more.”
“Everything I’ve ever done in my life, be it right or wrong – mostly wrong – has been based on my intuition. And right now, this feels off.”
“That doesn’t help us, though. What would you do differently?”
“I don’t know!” The frustration on Artur’s face quickly became evident.
“Okay, let’s put a cap on the emotions. I’m not judging you; I’m trying to dig into your thought process.
Most of the time, the answers we need are sitting right in here.
” I tapped the side of my head. “Sit with yourself for a couple of moments. Stare at the stone. Ruminate over how it makes you feel, and then let your mind wander. The brain is a fascinating—”
Before I could finish speaking, Artur stood rapidly, grabbed the crystal from its holders, and then threw it toward the floor.
The rock jerked to a sudden stop, and then the room filled with a blinding light.
Artur threw his hands out.
Ripples of distortion surrounded Artur and slowly expanded outward. They pushed the white light from the stone away from him, concentrating the blast on me.
My feet left the floor as I was violently propelled backward.
My head smacked into the exposed stone of the far wall.
Stars ruptured across my vision like dazzling fireworks, and intense heat radiated out from the back of my skull.
Then the world went dark.
Artur
Again.
I hate my life.
WHY?
After following Cesar’s guidance, I found myself in yet another situation where my magic was completely out of control; it’s like the world slowed down and everything before me played out in half-speed.
The minute my abilities touched the white light emanating from the crystal, I saw it: the possibilities, the scenarios that might happen.
And none of them good. Disturbing would be a better word.
My reality, my vision became murky, as if milk had been poured over my eyes, and instead of seeing Cesar and his work room, I was plunged into the world of what might be.
The Cinco de Diciembre Cemetery graves erupt in a flurry of mortar, stone, and dirt as hundreds of undead crawl out from their resting places.
A beautiful woman, dressed in a black wedding dress, her face covered by a veil, dances in an elegantly decorated plaza in front of the Lady of Guadalupe church.
Her partner arrives and matches her step for step.
The swirling and dancing is in time to a dark melodious tune, until the veil pulls to one side, revealing a rotted face.
Her partner shifts into view, exposing the wight I had encountered earlier.
Cesar is in the middle of a panicked mob.
The frightened faces of celebration participants rush past. Faces terrified.
Blood splattered. Eyes wide. Families scurry in every direction as the catrinos of Dia de Muertos rip away from their platforms attacking people.
Blood is everywhere. Suddenly, Cesar plunges his hand into the chest cavity of one reanimated dead, ripping the memory anchor out.
The Catrina instantly collapses, but not before another corpse comes up behind Cesar and snaps his neck by twisting his head around.
The white light dissipates as my reality seeps back into focus. The first thing I see is Cesar, unconscious, laying in a heap on the floor in an awkward position.
Blood is pooling out from his head.
“Cesar!” I rush over to him, tightness in my chest constricting my breathing.
As I propped him up, the amount of blood flowing from the wound on the back of his head sent alarm bells ringing. He needed immediate medical attention.
“Shit!” As I glanced around the workroom, I didn’t see anything I could use to wrap his head. I ripped off my shirt, using the sleeves as a bandage. The garment would be ruined, but I didn’t even think twice about it.
Cesar’s eyelids fluttered as they slowly peeled apart.
“Cesar, are you okay?”
He looked at me, confused. There was no recognition of me.
“Allan?” he asked.
“No, Cesar, it’s Artur. You hit your head—bad. I need to get you to a doctor.”
“What happened?” Cesar gripped my arm, trying to sit upright. Instead, he turned a shade of green and vomited. “Oh gods, I feel awful.”
“Just stay put. I’ll get a pack of ice for your head.”
“Aaron, thank you.”
I ignored his inability to recall my name, but it struck fear into my heart. As I raced toward Cesar’s kitchen, I managed to dump ice from the freezer into a tea towel and grab the phone.
Going back into the workroom, Cesar now stood at the desk where we had been working, his knuckles white as they gripped the edge like extracted talons.
“Artur,” Cesar muttered, reaching for me. “Help me.”
Then, he collapsed into my arms.
Thankfully, I managed to capture him. With minimal struggling, I was able to find a comfortable position. Holding the tea towel packed with ice against his head, I fished out my cell phone and dialed for assistance.
“Can you state the nature of your emergency?” a woman’s voice said in my ear.
“I need an ambulance to the home of Cesar Aguilar, please. There’s been an accident.”
“The Bone Witch?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Please hold.”
I waited a minute—a long fucking minute—until a male voice came over the signal.
“Hello, who am I speaking to?”
“This is Artur Beaulieu. I’m currently at the home of Cesar Aguilar. There’s been an accident, and Cesar needs assistance.”
“Was this the result of wayward magic?”
“Yes.”
“Very well. I’m sending the appropriate health care team to your location. Is Cesar okay?”
“I… I think so?”
“Is he breathing?” the man asked.
“Yes.”
“Is he conscious?”
“No.”
“Alright. Please stay with him. Someone is one the way.”