Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The silence is so strange, ominous.
It is a silence that will stretch through time and be a clear memory for the rest of their lives as it implants itself into their soul with a vicious crack.
They stare at me, shell-shocked, and I do not know how to comfort them.
Diane is the first to react. She sinks to the floor as if her legs have given out, like she is a puppet with her strings cut.
She pulls her knees to her chest and rocks.
“No. This can’t be happening. It’s a nightmare. It’s not real.”
Mum freezes. Her violet eyes narrow, and then a look of horror and pity flashes across her face. “No. Please, no.”
I bet you are glad it’s me and not them.
Jodie goes into nurse mode. She is suddenly there in front of me, holding my cold wrist between her warmer hands.
She gently palpitates the skin around the bite.
It is numb to the touch. I am glad the wound doesn’t hurt.
Though not hurting is probably a terrible sign.
She then pulls the sleeve of my jumper up to my elbow, and there is a hitch in her breathing, and she visibly swallows.
I glance down. The only reason I do not swear up a storm is ’cause of my respect for Diane.
I don’t want to upset her any more than necessary. I hold in my horrified gasp.
A spider web of red spreads from the bite.
It wraps around the silver swirls on my wrist. It looks horrendous against my pale skin.
And where the red web touches the silver swirls, they blacken.
That isn’t good. Jodie’s compassionate brown eyes meet mine, her gaze holds such heart-wrenching sorrow that for a split second, it feels like I am already dead.
Diane wails behind us.
“Help her,” I whisper underneath my breath.
“Okay,” Jodie whispers back. We both know there is nothing she can do. I’m sure she has seen different versions of this scenario dozens of times before. I shake my arm until the jumper slips back over my wrist.
Jodie crouches next to Diane. She pulls out a familiar black bag and I can’t help my small smile. It is the pocket dimension I made for her. She quickly pulls out various potions. “I am going to give you something to help you cope.”
“Why are you not helping Tuesday?” Mum whispers.
Jodie shakes her head and pops the top off a pale lilac vial. Diane, between sobs, obediently sips.
I move toward her to help and—
It is then I recognise his heat. Before I can spin around, a solid arm wraps around me and gently grips my right arm.
“Did you think you could hide that from me?” he says against the shell of my ear as he rubs the skin above the bite.
“That I wouldn’t see the overwhelming pain and fear in your eyes?
That I wouldn’t notice the woman I love is distraught? ”
“Owen.” My voice cracks, and I turn and bury my face into his abdomen. He didn’t leave me. The indifferent, stupidly brave mask I’m hiding behind shatters. I thought I could only remain brave if I held on to pain and sorrow. I was wrong.
He holds me as I cry. His massive hand threads through my hair and the other rubs my back as he makes soft comforting sounds in the back of his throat. When I’ve thoroughly dampened his shirt and I don’t think I can cry anymore, I lift my eyes.
“Y-you love me?” I whisper.
His eyes crinkle at the corners. “Since you shuffled to the bathroom with your trousers around your ankles.” I laugh, and I don’t care that, even to my ears, it is a retched horrid sound.
“I love you too. So, so much,” I gush. And then I remember that isn’t going to be enough. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“Do you think I will let you die without a fight?” His thumbs wipe away the remaining tears from my face, and he crouches so we are eye level.
“Listen to me, Tuesday Larson, I’ve seen you do things that are solely confined to the history books.
I’ve seen you do things—impossible things.
You learned in days magic that would take anyone else a lifetime to master.
So let me be clear, so you understand, and there’s no mistaking my words.
“This. Is. Your. Realm. With your rules. The rules of Earth don’t apply here. That is why you can create the things that you do, why you can pull things out of thin air. Why you can heal creatures when all hope is lost. You will not die.”
“I won’t?”
“No. I have so much faith in you. I know in my heart you have the power to heal yourself. This is not the end.” He rests his forehead on mine. “I want our happily ever after,” he growls.
Bloody tears. I swallow the enormous lump in my throat. What he says makes a strange kind of sense, but… the bite is a hundred percent fatality rate.
How can I beat that?
“That is an amazing idea,” Jodie says, suddenly becoming animated and standing.
A subdued Diane flops almost casually against Jodie’s legs.
“You use the shifter magic, absorb it and mix it with your own. Owen is right. No one has ever seen anyone like you before. I bet you differ from the other hosts, too.”
“I do differ,” I mumble. “They resemble our elves. While I’m all witch.”
“Exactly.”
“You are way too stubborn to die,” Mum snaps. I take in her red eyes from her silent crying and puffy face. Her hair is listing to one side. I have never seen her so not put together. Softer, she pleads, “Tell us what you need. We will help.”
“Mum, what’s happening?” Heather whispers. “I don’t understand.”
Aw heck.
I wince. I missed their return to reception, and the realisation wraps me with guilt.
I didn’t want Heather to find out like this.
I did not want her to know until I was gone.
She deserves to know from her aunt; she deserves to see, even in the face of such fear, I have dignity.
“I’m so sorry, Heather. I have been bitten by Andy in his animal form.
As you know from school, the bite is deadly to women. ”
Again, everyone is quiet while Heather absorbs this information.
“You are going to fight, right? You will not let the shifter magic win.”
I shake my head as determination fills me. I need a little faith, belief. “No. I will not let the shifter magic win. I am a Larson.”
Heather nods. “Okay.”
“Forgive me. Forgive me for not being fast enough.” I spin on my toes and look up at my hellhound.
“Forgive you for not having a crystal ball, you mean? Owen, bad things happen. This”—I wave my wrist underneath his nose—“was not your fault. It wasn’t Diane’s fault either.
It was dickhead Andy who attacked me. He went for my throat and ended up chomping on my hand.
Stop blaming yourself and put the blame firmly on him.
The jumped-up little prick. Right…” I clap my hands.
“Coven bedtime. Come on, everybody. Let’s get some sleep.
I know I’m exhausted and I cannot think clearly with all the snivelling. ”
Diane huffs out a laugh. “You are unbelievable. Do you ever take anything seriously?”
“Never. I will need your super smart brain and your witchy talents. You need to be at your best in the morning, so go and relax. I will see you soon.” I unlock the portal so Dad can get back after dropping Andy off. I also check to confirm that Jeff has gone.
“You won’t do anything stupid, will you?”
“No, Mum.” I ignore the magic ping. “I am sorry about the crayons, Mum.”
“I’m not. I find colouring relaxing. Perhaps the swear word colouring book was a tad much. But you made your point.”
“It was a swear word colouring book? Wow, is that a thing?” I grin. “Well, I am glad you will enjoy it.” Mum nods as she helps a swaying Diane to her feet.
“I’m sorry. I am so sorry my horrible boyfriend hurt you. Killed you. I love you, little sister,” Diane says as her head flops oddly from side to side.
“Stop that. I am not dead yet, so you can stop looking at me like that. Otherwise, I am going to moan the word brains and do the zombie shuffle.” Heather opens her mouth.
I hold up a hand. “No, I am not turning into a zombie. It was a joke. Sheesh. Diane can’t control another person and what he did was on him.
It was my fault for getting my hand in the way.
” I’m so glad that they are all safe, as it could have worked out so much worse.
“I got some bad luck, that’s all. Now please, go get some sleep. ”
“I’m going to kill him,” Diane viciously whispers as she is sandwiched between Mum and Jodie as they wobble away.
“No, you are not. Think about how miserable he is going to be locked up. He doesn’t deserve a quick death,” Jodie tells her.
“I would not make it quick,” Diane huffs back.
“Not tonight. You’re going to get some sleep and then you are going to help our sister.”
“Of course, I’m gonna help Tuesday. I’m going to fix this, but there’s no way I am going to be able to sleep.”
“Naturally, no, but I’ve got another wonderful spell you can chug.”
“See you in the morning, Auntie Tuesday.”
“Night, Heather.”
The hallway door swings closed. “Now you’ve got rid of your coven. What are we really going to do?” Owen says once we are alone. “I know you will not have a nap. You have that expression on your face.”
“What expression?”
“Mischief. Trouble.”
“Oh.” I shrug. What can I say to that? Although I’m less mischief and more shitting myself, what with dying and all. But my hellhound’s attempt to lighten the mood is sweet.
“What are we doing, Flash?”
All the way through this rollercoaster journey, I have always felt as if the magic was guiding me. And I’ve concluded that the realm needs me just as much as I need it. So why not ask the realm what I need to do? The answer comes to me.
“I’m going to the heart of the realm and you’re going to help me.”
“Together?”
“Yes, together.”
He gently kisses my cheek. “You haven’t had a normal few days, have you?”
“No.” If I survive this, I don't think I will have normal ever again.
“I can feel the foreign magic, Owen. It is eating me up inside.” I rub my shoulder and puff out a breath.
I roll my sleeves up and the red spider web has already spread further up my arm.
It is itching along my shoulder, pulsing as it threatens its way towards my heart.
“There is a war going on inside of me. I think I have less than an hour.”
“An hour?” Owen rubs his forehead and then presses his palm over his mouth. “How can I help?”
“Can you go get Daisy?” My voice breaks as soon as I say her name. I swallow a few times and cough to clear my throat. “Then can we go to the lake?”
I worry that Stepping will only exasperate the poison.
So, after Owen comes back with Daisy, he carries us both outside.