7
[C]
I sat with Regina and Sam at the rehearsal dinner, a stranger in a strange land. Sally was my first friend to get married, and this was my first time being involved in such festivities. Because I lived so far away, one of her other friends had stepped in to perform surrogate maid of honor duties like holding the shower. And best of all, Sally was giving Sam and I carte blanche to create my dress. What I had in mind was crazy, mystical, and beautiful, and guaranteed to catch the eye, but not enough to outshine the bride. We planned on adding glamours to one of my Mom's old party dresses, as well as my hair, shoes, and makeup.
I watched the happy couple (Jim was the groom to be), but I couldn't focus on their positive energy because something else was dragging me down. It nagged at a low level, but I felt sure someone or something was here to fuck with me. Over the years, I'd learned to never ignore these feelings. When I stood up and said a few appropriate words, I felt eyes on my back. Whirling around, I only saw a group of Jim's friends laughing over their beer.
Regina touched my arm. "What's troubling you, child?"
I opened my palm and let her see the dark energy symbol. "There's another Balcoin in this town."
She didn't ask if I was sure, because she knew me well. "And I can't sense them because they're blocking my energy."
"But why not mine?"
"Because you're tuned into the same dark magic frequency."
I sighed, willing away my magic forever, but feeling it festering in my traitorous body. Dark magic would not be denied, for I'd need to call it down to help Ethan. My healing power was not enough to repair a human, so it would take every ounce of my dark magic to pull this off. Then a thought occurred to me, and I excused myself to make a call.
Surprisingly, he answered on the first ring, and his exhaustion was evident. "Hey, I need your help."
"Nice to hear from you too," Jake replied, and I could almost hear his smirk coming out to play.
"I heard you're a healer."
He laughed. "Sort of. What do you need?"
I outlined my plan to him and said, "Can you help?" Against my better judgment, I gave him a mental push that he'd never detect.
There was a long pause before Jake said, "Tonight? I'm on shift for 6 more hours."
"Say it's a family emergency." I was fairly sure that Faye had lobbed more than a few of those at Jake over the years.
"OK, sure. Can I meet you in an hour?"
"That works."
"And Cassie? Don't tell Faye about this, or she'll have my head on a platter."
"No problem." I wasn't a kiss and tell kind of person, and since Faye topped my Least Favorite People list, this would stay a secret.
As I returned to the party, I knew this was something I had to do, if only for Adam's sake. Because even after all this time, my feelings for him were as strong as ever.
[A]
As we approached closing time, I grew increasingly anxious. My Dad was feeling less than stellar, and had taken up residence in his favorite easy chair. The sound of the Mariners game floated out to the bar, where I nursed a glass of bourbon. It helped steady my nerves, which were jangling louder by the second.
Then the front door opened, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when she entered, looking exactly the same as the girl I remembered from before.
Before the skull.
Before my life turned to crap.
Our gazes met across the room, and we stopped as if caught in a frozen tableau. Her eyes widened as if sensing something, and I instantly sensed she was troubled. "Adam," she said after a long beat, shrugging off her leather jacket and padding silently over to me. She'd grown a few inches since we parted, and her legs were encased in flat suede boots. Her hair fell in shining sheets to her waist and her blue eyes shone at me like stars. My throat grew dry as memory overtook my good sense and nearly flattened me with desire.
"Hey," was all I could manage. "Thanks for coming."
"Don't thank me yet," Cassie said, looking at her watch with a frown. "Just so you know, Jake is lending a hand."
From long habit, I opened my mouth to protest and squashed it when Jake came running through the door and said, "I can give you an hour, then I have to get back to work."
"Good, let's do this."
I had to ask, "Do we need any special preparations?"
Cassie pulled out a knife. "Only my blood."
"And your dark magic?"
She kicked at a chair in frustration. "There's no other way."
"How can you be certain?" I had to ask since we were playing Russian roulette with my Dad's heart.
Cassie tossed me a withering look before saying, "Take me to Ethan."
Jake offered no comment, but I sensed his amusement at my expense. "Don't you start," I warned as he passed.
His only response was a quiet snicker as he followed Cassie back to the office.
[C]
Adam looked exactly the same, except he had better hair. I'd never say that to his face, but the heavily gelled look had gone the way of the dinosaurs. His hair fell more naturally over his brow, and I liked the way it curled at the ends. His hazel eyes were as I remembered them, changing colors with the swift passing of his moods. Right now, they were reflecting the eerie neon of a beer sign, and I looked away to get my bearings.
And seeing Jake was no shocker either, for he was just as irreverent as always. But behind that smirk, I knew he was serious and prepared to give me his all to help Ethan. "Thanks for doing this," I murmured as we went down the stairs.
Not only could I feel how sick Ethan was, I could see his aura. It was purplish-black, and stained with red at its core. He smiled at me as I took his hand, instantly picking up on his flagging energy. "It's been a long time," he said, his breath catching even over those few words.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak without sobbing. Long ago, I'd almost killed Ethan, and for what, to save my murderous liar of a father? I should have let him do the deed, and walk away the better for it. Instead, here we were all this time later, still damaged by Blackwell's actions. I felt no remorse for what I'd done, even to this day. As I let his essence join mine, I probed deeper and suddenly hit a wall. It was impenetrable, and I couldn't proceed. A moment later, I realized what had happened, and I dropped my hand.
With a shudder, I hugged myself and nodded at Adam and Jake to join me in the corner. When we were far enough away, I said, "Someone hexed your father."
"How?" Adam asked, anguish painting every word with despair.
I hated what I was about to say. "It was Blackwell. That night when he had it out with your Dad, he also cursed him."
Jake raised his brows slightly but let Adam have the floor. "For real?"
"Yes. And I'm not sure...I might need another Balcoin to pull this off."
As soon as I dropped the Balcoin bomb, they both started talking at once and I staved them off with a downward slice of my hand. "One of them is in town."
"What? How?" Jake asked.
"At the rehearsal dinner. I could feel them."
Adam countered with, "Even if that's true, we can't trust that they'll help us."
"I'll tell you what. Jake and I will try this, but if we fail, then I'm afraid that we'll have to hunt the other Balcoin down."
Adam's breath hissed out in annoyance. "Find another way, Cassie."
Deep down, he already knew I was right, but I wouldn't push my agenda. I looked over at Jake and said, "We do this now, and see what happens."
I'd studied Druidic and other ancient magic over the years, and there were a handful of incantations I'd try to see if I could break through Blackwell's magical blockade. I pulled a small bowl out of my purse, and swiftly cut the palm of my hand, only letting a small amount of blood drip down before I handed the knife to Jake and he repeated my actions. Then I poured some water into Ethan's glass and added a digitalis tincture to it. "Drink this," I said, nodding as he drank it down without question.
I threw in some herbs that I kept for healing and dropped in a match. It burned white hot, and I placed it on the floor at Ethan's feet. "Take my hand," I told both of them, and was astounded at Jake's power when he connected with me.
It was so much stronger than years ago when we'd done simple spells together, and I knew I'd done the right thing by calling him. Ethan's eyes closed and I started chanting under my breath, pulling up all my antique spells from long memory and feeling our collective healing energy coursing through Ethan. When I sensed the black well of my father's spell, I took a deep breath and switched over to the harsh, coarse words I reserved for only the darkest magic. It was a mix of German, Latin, and Gaelic, and I knew Adam was silently freaking out on the fringes.
Jake held on for dear life and we started to punch holes through my father's spell, and then we got through in a burning rush of power. The damage to Ethan's heart was extensive, and I almost let fear overcome me. But thinking of what this man meant to Adam, I persevered and slowly started to reverse years of damage to valves and arteries. I pulled his sickness into me and like a ball gathering momentum as it rolled down a hill, the healing sped up as I sucked it out of him. It grew at my core like a malevolent black hole, and then I fell back gasping for air, my fingers ripping away from Jake's as I sank to my knees.
I labored to pull air into my lungs, and started to see black spots as I realized what I'd done. 911 was the last thing I heard before passing out at Ethan's feet.
