Chapter 10

Later That Same Day…

The dark sky glittered with thousands of tiny stars. Every now and then, Suzette could make a constellation or two in the sky. But her favorite constellation had to be Monoceros; the unicorn. It was the constellation Asher was born under, and the constellation that protected him when in danger. Right now he was lying in a hospital bed with doctors monitoring his health.

Suzette sneaked away from her duties to make Asher something to eat; the best way to win a man over is through his stomach. A Filet Mignon a la Bordelaise was the perfect meal, nothing too extravagant. She made sure her bangs looked perfect, and her uniform clean and immaculate.

When the Filet Mignon a la Bordelaise was done, she placed it inside a basket and made her way to the infirmary, asking the receptionist to visit Asher. A nurse pointed Suzette to the room Asher was in. Suzette opened the door just a crack, so she wouldn't disturb him. She hoped he was asleep and she could prepare the dinner in secret. Then when he woke up, the two could have a romantic dinner, alone together. Instead, she found the most horrible thing. Another girl was in there already feeding Asher soup and bread while a laundry girl was arranging his fresh clothes.

The girl feeding him was no other than Tlanextli, the little debauchee. As she fed Asher, he ate greedily, complimenting her soup the entire time.

"You're such an amazing cook, Tally." Asher swallowed a piece of his dinner roll. "It's like I taste my mother's cooking again."

Tlanextli giggled, using a napkin to clean the crumbs around his mouth. "Oh Asher, you flatter me too much!"

Tlanextli glanced away from Asher and at Suzette. She met her shocked stare with a small smug smile and leaned towards Asher, pressing her buxom chest into his sights. She slowly ran a finger to a huge stain on his shirt.

"Look at that, you got your shirt dirty! Here, let me help you take it off…"

Asher raised his arms up and Tlanextli grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off of him with such expertise that Suzette wondered how many times Tlanextli had come in and helped Asher undress.

Her gold eyes devouring Asher's sun-kissed toned chest like an animal watched her prey from afar.

"Thank you so much for helping me, Tally." Asher whispered to her as she put on a new clean shirt.

"No problem," She placed a hand on his chest, staring deeply into his eyes. "What are friends for?"

There was a loud smash outside and the sound of footsteps echoing away from the room. Tlanextli got up from her seat and went outside to check what was going on. She looked down and saw a basket. She opened it and saw what was once a Filet Mignon a la Bordelaise, candles, matches and silverware, enough for a dinner for two.

Suzette didn't know how fast she ran away from the infirmary. She had bumped into a nurse, spilling all of the medication she was talking to other patients and then into a laundry cart. Both times, she tried to distract herself from bursting into tears. It wasn't until she left the infirmary that she did. She sank to her knees and let large dark spots litter her apron. She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, her heart breaking into a million pieces.

Suzette wasn't naive. She knew what was going on between them; they were in love and in a passionate affair. Asher didn't love her; he never had eyes for the petite, mousey Suzette. His eyes were drawn to the ardent, buxom Tlanextli and her fierce, demanding body language. Tlanextli, the glamorous, enchanting dancer who traveled to different magical worlds and attended ritzy parties and who had established magicians, wealthy heirs, old-money lords and influential time agents asking for her hand in marriage.

Suzette wasn't stupid; she knew she couldn't compete with Tlanextli.

But there was one way… magic; a shade darker than the one Tlanextli used. Magic that could bring her deepest wishes to life. Her body took control. It lead Suzette back to where Sacnite lived and she broke open the door lock which stored all of her priceless jewelry. She searched around until she found a mannequin wearing a diamond necklace that wrapped around her neck. Suzette took it off the mannequin and slipped it inside her pocket.

She sat in front of Sacnite's vanity, taking out a talisman. It was made of black onyx, in the shape of a twisting serpent. Its eyes were made of red rubies. As she swung it back and forth, she mumbled some words under her breath staring directly into the mirror.

"Criador da poção, Criador da poção, ouve minha súplica," She chanted. "Criador da poção, Criador da poção, eu estou aqui para pagar meu cota…"

Red sparks of electricity sprouted from the corners of the mirror. The faint outline of a hooded figure appeared in the mirror.

"Quem se atreve a convocar me?" The figure called.

"I'm… I'm…" Suzette stuttered.

"Desembucha! Não tenho todo dia!"

"I have the deposit money now!" she said. "Can you come over to get it?"

"Alright." said the figure, finally done with speaking in Portuguese. "But don't summon me like that again. You know I start ranting in Portuguese when I get disturbed from my leisure time."

"Nice, see you in an hour!"

"Bom a tomada negócio com você." The image disappeared in a ripple of air.

Suzette paced back and forth in the hallway. In less than an hour, she was going to pay the Elixir-Maker the deposit and have her philter ready in less than week. At the end of the hall she heard noises. Suzette was quick to hide behind the wall. She peeked out, and saw a bespectacled boy with wild black hair and another boy with pointy brown hair and freckles enter Prophetess Necahual's magic library; an area off-limits to ordinary people. After a few minutes, they walked out running with a blue book with silver squiggles. They were struggling to grab a hold of it, as it kept hitting them on the face and shooting out blasts to magic at them.

A beam of magic shot out and blew a hole into the wall where she was hiding. Green cinders flew everywhere. Suzette let a shriek escape from her mouth.

"Thieves, thieves!" She cried pointing to the two of them.

A pair of guards making their rounds heard her screams and came to her rescue. They tackled Joe and Sam to the ground and pinned their hand behind their backs. The Book kept on jumping everywhere and blasting magic.

"Look out!" Suzette saw her mistress Sacnite drop her fencing sword and run towards her.

Suzette felt a blast of magic hit her and as she fell to the ground, her surroundings grew darker and slowed down. Then, everything went black.

When Suzette woke up, she found Sacnite standing before her. Her light blonde hair was in a loose bun and her face clean of makeup.

"What happened?" Suzette slurred.

"I had to blast you out of the way," Sacnite replied. "The Book was far too powerful for me to subdue myself. Prophetess Necahual had to interfere."

"And the boys?"

"In prison." said Sacnite. "And since you saw what was going on, we need you to play witness."

"When?"

"In thirty minutes."

"But I have some personal business to attend to!" Suzette tried to stand up, but she was still light-headed from the blast.

"Don't worry; I'll be over within an hour." Sacnite grabbed a hold of Suzette and gently laid her back on the ground.

"Do I have a choice?"

"No." Sacnite curtly replied. "Anyone who steals from Prophetess Necahual has only one option. Death. Death for taking advantage of her hospitality and steal from their host."

Suzette said nothing. She had no choice but to do her mistress's bidding. After all, Sacnite still didn't know she took one of her most expensive necklaces and planned to give it away. She might as well… go with the flow.

A/N: So that scene with Suzette seeing Tally come onto Asher... yeah, that's half-true, half-imagination. ;D