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  I listened carefully for any sound of life as I stooped as close to the concrete floor as I could get. My eyes wouldn’t open. They hurt so badly. I reached out in front of me and felt nothing. There were no more crates in front of me. I must have made it to the front of the warehouse, close to where Logan might be.

  I got back on my hands and knees, crawling to my left to see if I could somehow stumble over him, anything to find him. My knees were rubbed raw and bruised from each clumsy step, but I found nothing in this area so I moved to the other side. But I hit a wall.

  A faint sound of a motor piqued my interest. I let my hands run up the wall and found metal tubing. A water fountain! I reached up and grabbed hold as I pulled myself up. Pressing my body against the lever, I let the water drain over my eyes. If I could just get a good couple of minutes I might be able to find him. Blinking quickly to let the water glide around, I went under for another quick splash of liquid. I quickly turned around inside the warehouse where smoke was still the biggest obstacle. I dropped to my knees again and circled around the space.

  “Logan.”

  Still nothing. As I crawled around, my heart fell with the realization that I might not find him. A loud crack sounded above me and as I attempted to move out of the way, timber came crashing down. It happened in a flash, but it felt like slow motion as the burning timber came tumbling down onto my ankle.

  The sizzle of the burning wood against my flesh made its mark as I attempted to shake it off my ankle. I wanted to cry out in agony but couldn’t even muster the strength. The smell of burning flesh reached me as I writhed in pain, finally freeing my leg. Crawling over to the closest corner, I leaned up against the wall, trying to catch my breath. But then I saw it. His shoe was about two feet from me. Shaking the pain away, I crawled quickly toward this find and noticed a short stack of packing material wrapped in cellophane.

  I looked up at the stacked material and saw some sort of lump with a faint glow through the smoke. Staring harder I realized it was the shape of our nectunt. It was Logan’s nectunt, and it was lighting the way. I saw a bare leg dangling over the pile. He had been wearing jeans, but this was only flesh.

  The impact from the explosion must have thrown him on top of this pile or maybe he climbed up to it first. My heart was beating so fast and the adrenaline was pumping through me so much that the smoke in the air no longer seemed to do anything to me. I ran my fingers up the plastic and began to stand as my eyes followed up the limb to find Logan.

  He was face up on the pile of shipping materials and I was afraid to even touch him since most of his clothes were obliterated, revealing only flesh underneath.

  I removed my handmade mask and hoisted myself up to where he was perched.

  “Baby…baby. I’m here,” I whispered, climbing closer to him. “You’re gonna be okay.”

  I was so afraid to touch him. His wounds looked so painful.

  “Sanare Caro et Ossa,” I whispered, hovering over his head. “Sanare Caro et Ossa.”

  I had only used the healing spell of flesh and bones a few times on simple rug burns and sprains growing up. I had no idea if it would do a bit of good in this type of situation, but I had to try. I needed to get him out of here.

  I watched some of the redness begin to diminish and reached over to gently touch his hair. The fury and sadness were mixing deep inside of me. Rather than tears beginning to form, I felt drips of sweat pour from my flesh.

  With every second that went by I felt more and more waterlogged. Tiny droplets were surfacing all over my skin. A change was happening inside and out, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Instead my emotions felt like they would burst at the seams.

  I watched as more fiery boards fell from the ceiling, and I took a deep breath in without thinking. Instead of a coughing fit erupting, my mouth began to release steam. I closed my mouth abruptly, but steam began rolling out of my nose instead. My skin was becoming completely dewy. Unsure of what was happening, I looked above and saw the metal pipes begin to pop and leak, spraying water in every direction.

  The water fountain burst and water was gushing everywhere. I had no idea if the water pipes bursting had anything to do with me, but I was relieved for the momentary help.

  “I gotta get you outta here. It’s gonna hurt,” I said, holding in my emotions. What I was doing and saying were far different from what I was feeling. I wanted to scream and cry as I saw him motionless. I wanted to curse my father and the entire world for letting this evil exist, but I couldn’t. I had to be strong for him. And myself.

  I looked down at my fingertips and they had turned completely blue. I glanced quickly around me and watched as the drywall began cracking with the force of the water coming through. I had no idea who or what was controlling anything, but something inside of me told me that the blue on the tips of my fingers was no coincidence.

  The space still smelled of smoke, but the water was doing an incredible job of slowing down the flames coming in our direction. It might —whatever it might be— prove to be our saving grace.

  His one knee was tucked underneath his other leg, and I straightened it out next to the one that was dangling over the edge. I slithered off the pile and grabbed each ankle, slowly sliding his body from the cellophane. His body began falling quickly over the side, and I did my best at catching him, but he weighed a ton and the floor was pretty slippery. I fell to the concrete with his body slumping onto mine, but at least he was off the shipping material.

  Wriggling my way from underneath him, I grabbed his wrists and began pulling him to the front entrance. I was only feet from the door when the adrenaline started to decrease because the eye burning and tickling in my lungs came back with a vengeance. I glanced at my fingertips, which were no longer blue, and I noticed the water wasn’t gushing with the original force I had seen.

  I let my body crash through the door and gave Logan a final pull as we both fell onto the pavement outside.

  Chapter 6

  “Sanare Caro et Ossa,” I whispered one last time for good measure as his body rested on top of mine. I felt his breathing become less and less shallow the longer we were in the fresh air, and I felt my lungs begin to maintain control as well.

  Logan started coughing uncontrollably, and I suddenly wanted to hug him all over. I never knew how beautiful a cough could sound. He rolled off of me and continued coughing until finally he couldn’t muster any more strength.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

  “Welcome to the new age of Witchcraft,” he groaned, turning over on his back. His shirt was tattered and raw flesh shined everywhere my eyes scanned. My spell might have helped a little, but he was in far worse shape than I thought. We had to get to the house before infection set in.

  “Triss, don’t be sorry. This isn’t your fault.”

  “You’re in pretty rough shape. You think you can get to the car?”

  “Yeah. No sweat.” He attempted a smile, but I could tell that every movement hurt.

  My expression must have been as horrified looking as my thoughts because he immediately caught on to my worst fears.

  “I’m not checking out yet.” He coughed, rolling toward me, leaving a red residue on my sock.

  I quickly flashed my gaze at him so he wouldn’t see the blood. This was bad.

  “That’s an understatement,” I replied, getting up and reaching over to help him up.

  He shook his head and pushed himself up slowly but rested for a few moments before standing up completely.

  Sirens blared in the distance, and I knew we didn’t want to be around when they arrived. I could only imagine how that conversation would go. Yes officer. I think my grandpa and aunt were trying to kill my boyfriend and possibly me. I’d be hauled off to an institution pronto. Our two worlds hadn’t found a way to coexist yet…maybe someday.

  “I think at this point I’d welcome the Golem back into my life in a heartbeat,” I replied, wrapping my arm around Logan’s waist. He didn’t moan
or utter another word all the way to the car. The pain was too severe to even bother.

  I knew Logan was going to be all right physically. Healing was my strength and I had everything back at the house to help him through the pain. Mental healing, however, was a different story. I didn’t know how long his recovery might take, but I wasn’t going to abandon him. I could always hunt down the ones who did this. They were only an arm’s reach away, after all.

  I pulled the car onto the main road to our home, thankfully missing all of the fire engines and police cars that were coming from the opposite direction. They had dumped us off in the industrial section of town, near the port. Something told me this wasn’t the only warehouse they had here.

  Logan’s breathing quickened, and I watched him attempt to get comfortable in the front seat, but it was impossible.

  “I’ve already started the healing process on you. See how your arms are pink instead of red now?”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” He nodded and gripped the console.

  “I’ve got stuff for the pain at the house. It’ll be like it never happened,” I told Logan when suddenly the emotions from the last thirty minutes of my life began to drown me. Staring straight ahead, I did everything I could to maintain composure. He was the one who needed to be taken care of, not the other way around.

  “It’s not that bad, really. I crawled away before the explosions,” he replied, glancing over at me. “I think that’s the only reason I’m alive.”

  His words lodged in a place deep in my soul. He almost died because of me… again. He was leaning his head back against the seat, his eyes closed. It wasn’t fair to drag him into this, whatever this might be. He’s risked so much for me — given up so much for me — that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to repay him, and it was probably only going to get worse. He left a world of darkness for me, and all I seemed to do was bring him right back into it. It wasn’t right.

  “Your lip looks horrible,” he whispered, shaking me out of my spiraling world of guilt.

  My tongue glided along my top lip, and I looked quickly in the rearview mirror to check it out.

  “Geez. It didn’t feel that bad.” Not only was my lip swollen to the point that it looked like it would explode, my left eye was bloodshot and the left cheek was a glossy red. “So my own aunt beat us up while we were unconscious?”

  “Pretty cold. I doubt she did it though. She probably just snapped her fingers,” Logan spoke softly, his voice hoarse.

  “Does that make it better?” I laughed. “You know she seems to have gone rogue. My grandfather’s interest in me sparked this whole mess with her.”

  “You don’t think Eben knows about this?”

  “It didn’t sound like it. He’s been talking to her about me joining him, and I think she thought that was her job in life. She implied that covens around the world were coming to get me, but she was going to take care of me first. It sounds pretty ridiculous.”

  “Whoa. That’s not ridiculous. It’s —”

  “What?”

  “If they’ve summoned the Diabolus covens, it’s nothing to be messed with.”

  “Wait, Diabolus coven? Lara mentioned something to me about demoniker spells like it was a disservice that my mom didn’t teach them to me. Is that connected?”

  “Yeah. It’s connected,” his words were edged with anger.

  We pulled into the driveway, and he hopped out of the car as if he had never been trapped in a burning building. My aunt’s car was parked on the road so I wasn’t surprised when she swung the front door open to greet us.

  “My god! What happened to you?” Aunt Vieta cried out.

  “Lara happened to us,” I replied, looking over at Logan.

  He gently touched my back as he moved by me to get to the family room. I scurried to the kitchen pantry to begin creating the remedies for his burns and everything else.

  “She left us in a burning building or should I say she trapped us in a building that she set on fire.”

  My aunt gasped. “I can’t even imagine someone…” she broke off.

  “Well, believe it.” I grabbed the jars of marigold and calendula tinctures, balancing them as I pinned the St. John’s Wort to my side with my elbow.

  I slid the jars on the counter and began creating the skin-calming ointments that would prevent infection. A flash of light caught my attention out the kitchen window and a fluttering set of wings dove toward the glass.

  “Dace is here,” I shouted to Logan.

  “I’ll let him in.” My aunt rushed to the door and opened it wide only to have Dace, Bakula and a couple other fairies come right inside.

  “How are you?” Bakula flew right over to me, and Dace shot toward the family room to see Logan.

  “I’m a lot better than Logan. He got burned pretty badly,” I replied, my voice trembling.

  My aunt placed her hand on my shoulder. “You’ve done an incredible job with him. Whatever spells you threw at him before you got here have really begun the healing process.”

  “Yeah, but none of this would’ve happened to him if he hadn’t come back to…” I couldn’t finish my sentence because of the lump that had formed in my throat, so I continued pounding the gel out of the aloe leaf.

  Bakula circled over to me, tapping her foot against the air. She was completely exasperated with me. “There isn’t time for you to start with the guilt trip thing. I know what happened in that warehouse. None of this was your fault. You saved him.”

  “He wouldn’t have needed saving if he hadn’t come back out here to help.” I stared at her letting the reality of my words sink into them.

  “Is that what you would’ve wanted? Logan never coming back for you?” My aunt stared at me with a peculiar expression.

  “God no. I…” Forcing back the tears, I began again, “If it weren’t for him I never would’ve gotten through all this. He’s my everything, but I think because he is, I’m afraid to lose him. Like really lose him.”

  My aunt shook her head. “Don’t start playing these games, Triss. Sometimes it’s too hard to separate yourself from them. They can take on a life of their own, and you wind up losing the one you love the most.”

  “My mother’s conversation didn’t help either,” I confessed.

  “She’s not thinking straight. She’s having a hard time separating your life from her life,” my aunt said.

  “I miss her so badly, and I feel awful for what happened at your house.”

  “Don’t,” my aunt whispered. “Truthfully, I’d be surprised if she remembers it.”

  “What she does know is how much you love her. I tell her so every moment when she seems cognizant.”

  “Now onto some business,” Bakula interrupted. “The pipes that burst in the warehouse.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, wondering how Bakula knew I did that.

  “You know you did that right?” Bakula questioned, glancing at my aunt.

  “I figured it was a possibility after the whole flame tossing ordeal.”

  “Well, between harnessing fire and water I’d say you’ve got some pretty special talents.” Bakula sat on the bowl that was infusing the marigold and Calendula mixture.

  “This is a pretty big deal.” My aunt leaned against the counter. “I didn’t know witches could have more than one power. I mean I’ve heard about it, but I thought it was a myth.”

  I love how everyone knew about these myths but me. I really had been kept in the dark.

  “No myth — just unusual…very unusual.”

  “Should we tell my mom?” I asked.

  Aunt Vieta looked down to the floor. “You know, I don’t think so. Not yet. She saw what happened to you at the house and could barely wrap her head around the idea that you have the same ability as your father…”

  “With the fire?” I interjected.

  She nodded but still wouldn’t look up at me.

  “I think once I learn what these skills can do for our side, it will put us at a gre
at advantage.”

  “Sides,” my aunt whispered, shaking her head. “I can’t believe this is what our world has come to.”

  “I’m going to take Lara down.” I stared directly at Aunt Vieta, waiting for her to look at me.

  “I…I don’t know that it’s a good idea to —”

  “Every member that we can eliminate is one less to worry about down the road. And if she’s going to continually target Logan then we won’t be able to focus on what we need to be doing anyway. We’ll constantly be looking over our shoulder,” I interrupted.

  “You’ll be doing that anyway,” she whispered, finally acknowledging my stare.

  “What’s your aversion to stopping her?” I argued, crossing my arms.

  “I’m not adverse to stopping her but taking her out is quite another thing.”

  “It might be the only way,” Bakula said quietly. She slid off the bowl and walked along the edge of the counter toward my aunt.

  I was silent for a few moments and looked outside to the night sky, which had a brightness hovering right below the clouds. I heard Dace and Logan’s voices raise and then fall back down to an almost whisper. I couldn’t fathom how he was able to maintain such composure with everything he just went through. The tincture was almost ready. Turning my attention back to my aunt I began again.

  “I’d say that is pretty much our only option with her or any of the high ranking members of the Praedivinus order. It’s not like they’ll all of a sudden redeem themselves. They’re in too deep. Besides, Lara told me they were coming for me. I’d like to be prepared. I’d like to get to them first.”

  “They’ll stop at nothing to ensure our demise so I’d say it’d be foolish not to reciprocate the gesture,” Logan belted out from the family room.

  I grabbed the poultice that had been soaking in the burn tincture and snapped off an aloe leaf from the plant on the counter.

  “And by the way, you weren’t the one kidnapped and almost burned to death.” I leaned over and whispered to my aunt. “It puts things in perspective a little more being trapped in a fiery warehouse.”