Chapter Thirty Three
(Neville goes on a trip, Posy throws a tantrum, and Pansy is well… dead but still incredibly sassy)
Lou should have died. It wasn't often Neville let out the full brunt of his strength, usually only with Pansy, but when he did people got hurt. People usually died, if this night had taught him anything. It sickened him how easily he was capable of ending someone's life, and earlier he'd done a lot of that.
But Lou…
He knew there was something off about her. She so resembled Bobbi, like Spencer did. Shining blonde hair that streaked in the light, bright blue eyes all in the same round shape. A straight nose and English pale skin. A black hummingbird tattooed on her neck in the same style Bobbi had the ravens on her arms.
Barbara O'Donnell was his friend though. And Spencer hadn't been anything but pleasant to him and Posy. Why the hell had this sister taken the diamond from him? How had she known?
When he slammed Lou into the wall, one hand wrapped around her tiny little neck, it should have killed her in an instant. She should have shattered. Like the wood did on impact. It cracked outwards as the wall dented in, dust puffing out and wood groaning from the force.
In the background he heard Posy and Susan shout out, Harry and Connor jumping to action. But Bobbi screamed. She screamed in despair, "No! Not my sister! Please not my sister!"
He even felt Bobbi's usually competent hands pulling at him desperately, along with Connor's, and he held them off as easily as ever, enough to know he hadn't lost any of his strength despite his fatigue and hellish night spent running for life. He was still powered. It meant Lou was just as strong… if not stronger.
"Ouch," she faked a frown, baby blues wide with amusement. One slender hand rose up and wrapped around his thick wrist and Neville watched as she pushed him back despite the fact he held her with all his might.
Completely unaffected by his hit.
"Are you angry with me, Mr. Longbottom?" she asked in a different tone of voice than she previously used, sounding formal instead of personal.
He pressed in, pinning her to the wall with his body as he attempted to retake his hold on her neck. A slow power struggle he wasn't sure he could win as it seemed Lou barely expended any energy to keep him off her. Always, he dreamed of strangling Pansy until her head popped off, thinking he hated her. Thinking he wanted her dead for all the years of run-around she put him through.
He'd been wrong. What he felt towards Lou was true hatred. He could have gotten to Pansy hours earlier if he'd kept his wits about him, if he hadn't let Lou get the diamond from him. It wasn't his in the first place, he should have kept it safe better.
He had every intention of strangling her with his own hands, he wanted to see her face blue and as unmoving as Pansy's. He wanted to feel her take one last breath as he crushed her throat in, wanted to hear bones cracking as he took her life-no matter it made him sick to his stomach to feel such a way.
But Lou…
She smiled once, tsk-tsk-tsking as if he'd been naughty and revealing her true colors. "I don't care much for being touched without permission, and that's twice now you've put your hands on me, Mr. Longbottom."
"You stole from me," he coughed out, voice raspy from exhaustion and suddenly struggling to keep his hold.
Lou stepped forward. It didn't seem fast, not in the way Pansy and Posy moved. Like a blur of speed no one could possibly keep up with. Lou moved with a preternatural grace that had him kneeling before her between one moment and the next, gasping in pain as she bent his already broken wrist into a tight hold. The tension kept him down.
"Louise?" Bobbi stepped forward, tears running down her face. She looked confused and scared, something he hadn't seen from Bobbi before.
"I'm afraid not, Mrs. O'Donnell."
Somehow, Neville couldn't move. He knelt on one knee, his arm held numbly in Lou's seemingly easy hold, but he couldn't move. There were several ways to escape such a position yet something else kept him down. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't think it was something wrong with him. It was Lou. Who was not Lou.
Panting, he looked over and spotted Posy slipping from Susan's hold and grabbing Pansy's dagger with sure fingers, immediately shaking his head at her. He hoped his eyes said stay the hell back, how many times had he told her to always pick your battles? This was not a fight she would win and he needed her to stand down. No way he could lose her and Pansy, he was already tumbling dangerously towards lethal tendencies.
"Listen to him, little girl," Lou continued in a stately voice.
Yeah right.
Posy stood on Pansy's bed to give herself height and held out the blade quick and steady, looking Lou right in the eye without an ounce of fear. "Let him go. Now," she demanded, cranky from the Full Moon.
Lou looked between Posy and Neville, to Connor and Bobbi on the other side of the room, to Susan who moved to put herself between Posy and the rest of the room despite looking downright mortified. And Neville couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
"Very well," she conceded, releasing him.
He rolled onto his feet, little prickles traveling up and down his body as if it had been asleep. But nothing could keep him from putting himself directly in front of Posy, taking the dagger away before she got herself into trouble. "What do you want?"
Because Lou already had the diamond. He didn't have anything else even a tenth of what the diamond was worth, what else could she want from him?
"And where's Lou?" Bobbi demanded. "You are not my sister."
"No, not at all, Mrs. O'Donnell," Lou-who-wasn't-Lou looked over and smiled. "To my knowledge Louisa Fernard is still in Egypt, cut off from any satellite or cell phone reception and a touch too far for any Owl to reach."
"And what did you do to her?" Connor snapped, his fingers curling at the thought of his family being hurt.
She laughed, a deep throaty laugh that sounded nothing like Lou's real voice. And held hints of an accent Neville couldn't quite place. "Lousia is untouched. Harming her would not have benefited me in the slightest."
But it was Posy who figured it out. Her fingers curled into his jacket on his back, whispering quietly, "Donna Regina."
Donna meant woman in Italian, and regina meant lady he thought? He could be wrong. He only learned the language because Pansy spent the majority of her time in Italy and he didn't want to be caught out by a language barrier.
Blinking as he tried to understand the words and what Posy meant by them, Lou curtsied without bowing her head, her eyes glued to Neville. "Smart child," she smiled sweetly and walked over to stand before Neville, peeking around to Posy curiously. "Do you know how much I've heard about you Sorellina?"
"Damn it, someone tell me what is going on here!" Bobbi shouted.
"No clue what you've heard about me," Posy continued bravely, attempting to climb over Neville to get into Lou's face. "Would you like to know what I've heard about you? How you lied and betrayed my sister?"
Palm up, The Dolce Mela appeared in Lou's hand with a small glow of gentle power. Old power. "Unfortunately for Mr. Longbottom, this item does not belong to him. Nor would it have helped him in the way he needed. It cannot undo the damage already done."
"I'm not talking about that," Posy snapped, practically climbing on Neville's back to get a better height advantage.
"Po, you have to chill out," Neville tried to keep his tone soft but fear had him sounding meaner than intended.
As usual, she ignored him. "I'm referring to how you left Pansy out to hang and she had to leave Rome!" she shouted at the scary lady that literally brought him to his knees without a sweat.
Fucking hell.
"Posy!" Neville snapped, even as he realized who it was that impersonated Lou. Regina didn't mean 'lady', it meant Queen. And Italian meant…
No wonder she came for the diamond. It bloody belonged to her.
"You love her," she observed with awe, reaching out a hand that Neville caught quickly, heart in his throat. She easily brought him down, what could she do to Posy who was so much smaller?
"Would you die for her?" Lou asked though her lips hadn't moved.
For Posy?
"In a fucking heartbeat," he squeezed her wrist as hard as he could, just barely keeping her from Posy.
"A good thing then that I did not come here to harm anyone. Sorellina, there are some things in life no one can control. In these situations you can only control how you respond. If I had not done what I did, your big sister would have been executed."
An unreadable expression crossed her face as she spoke but Lou quickly recovered, and before his eyes her pale and petite form seemed to shimmer away as her arm retracted. An illusion fading to reveal a taller woman, one with rich brown hair and skin from the Mediterranean, but most of all... hypnotic green eyes that gave him the creeps. He didn't find her beautiful, but because Neville could only see the refined well of magical force beneath the surface. She was old with it, the age not appearing on her face but making itself known with that aura of power.
Before him stood Queen Seraphina Aurelia Iohanna di'Siena, ruler of all wizard kind from Italy to Greece and the founder of the Academy of Immortals, an institution that had been around for centuries. Owner of the god damn diamond!
She continued on, her voice finally matching her appearance and dripping with a thick Italian accent. "If I happen to run into your sister, I would be obligated by my honor and my people to strike down the thief who stole from my family, no matter my own personal feelings. Thankfully, I do not see the lively ladra anywhere."
She kept her eyes firmly on Neville, the diamond in her palm blinding bright. Though Pansy laid right behind him, her Highness made a point of ignoring her and the beeping monitors that tracked her heartbeat. It had to be on purpose.
"And as you see, I have what I came for. I thought perhaps the little sister would have come into possession of my family heirloom," she paused for effect, looking around Neville's shoulder to where Posy stood, pouting unhappily. "I found you at The Conservatory, sleeping so peacefully."
Neville remembered it clearly. Remembered fearing it was Pearl who had found Posy and instead met Lou.
"Knowing my Pansy as I do, I thought she would find it funny to leave such a precious item in the hands of her old lover, despite their bitter differences, however we all know how that turned out."
"She's not," Neville growled, knowing he was being led. He felt like a mouse caught in a trap. No good options. But bringing up Theo when Posy was already in a bad place? He tried to draw the attention back to him. "She's not yours."
His words couldn't bring Pansy back to him, but he needed to say it out loud for Posy. Her fingers dug into his back and he heard her sniffle, but it had been the right move. Because Seraphina's eyes flashed with the first sign of true emotion. Anger. Instantly he felt the danger levels ramped up even though she didn't move an inch, not even to breathe.
"I can tell I've caused you quite a bit of discomfort, Mr. Longbottom," she tilted her head, staring straight into his eyes.
"Doesn't matter," he told her bluntly, too tired to care for etiquette. As she pointed out before, even if he had gotten to Pansy earlier, the damage was done. Damage nothing could reverse. "Even you couldn't help."
Her head tilted the opposite way, finger coming out to poke him rudely in the shoulder. She parted the top of his shirt to do so. Strangely, though she made more physical contact, he barely felt it unlike before when she forced him to kneel. And her voice filled his head though it disappeared so quickly Neville wasn't sure it actually happened. "Don't forget about that bit of magic there." ...
"No, I cannot help you. Perhaps," she added in a stony voice. "You just need a bit of clarity."
In a flash the diamond disappeared from view and the Lou facade reappeared as if it never left. She flicked her wrist and a small business card appeared between her petite fingers, held out for Posy. "Your sister saved my life, Sorellina, a debt I ungraciously could not repay. If you ever find yourself in trouble don't hesitate to call for help."
Face still turned down in a pout, Posy reached out and plucked the card from Lou's hand before Neville could figure out if it was a bad idea or not. Then, true to form, sharply told Lou in bitten out Italian, "Don't count on it."
Lou's head tilted back as she laughed. "You'll do, child. You'll do. When you see your sister again, inform her there's no animosity between us, The Dolce Mela is returned to its proper place."
Neville's stomach sank at the blunt taunt callously thrown in their faces, but he heard Posy suck in sharp breath and it was just enough warning for him to grab her when she threw herself over his shoulder in an emotional rage. Trying to get at Seraphina.
The Queen tweaked her face, wiggled her nose, and suddenly the Lou impersonation was back full force. She even sounded like Lou again. "I'm just going to," she gestured towards the door. "Yeah," she left without another word, walking by Bobbi and Connor who both looked repulsed and horrified by the whole spectacle. And he wrapped his arms around Posy in a hug, more to keep her from chasing after Seraphina than anything. He felt the first hiccups before she started crying and he wanted to curse everything from Pansy to the Moon to Seraphina and back again.
"I don't like her," Posy buried her face into Neville's chest and continued to cry, which was becoming a habit he wasn't fond of in the least.
Connor and Bobbi whispered fervently for exactly 5 seconds before he left without another word, Bobbi coming over to Neville.
Sitting on the end of Pansy's bed, he held his little wolf while Susan sat in the space next to him. Wrapping her arms gently around him and putting a comforting touch on Posy didn't ease the pain he felt, but he loved her anyways. He decided to let Posy cry it out. The morning after the Full Moon on top of all the bad news, nah he wouldn't tell her not to cry.
Instead he prepared himself for the sure fire onslaught.
"She…" Bobbi tried to explain, coming up short. "She knew things only Lou would know."
"It's my bad, Bobs," Neville felt defeated in every way. "I knew the Italians were after the diamond."
"You had it the whole time?" she seemed shocked and off balanced, a weird look for Bobbi. But then she threw an angry gesture towards Pansy and she seemed much more herself. "You kept it for her?"
Nodding, teeth clenching, he held on to Posy. "I'm sorry."
"Any other surprises you got for me tonight?" she bit out, folding her arms.
"Barbara," Susan admonished in a low voice. "Lou's, or whoever that was, her actions are not Neville's fault. Back off."
"Charlie is dead, or you've forgotten already?" Bobbi snapped, turning on her cousin. "I have no way to reach Lou to make sure she isn't as well!"
"Charlie? One of your sisters?"
But his question went unnoticed as Susan stood up and pointed at the door, her face nearly as red as her hair. "Outside, Bobs."
Who leaned in towards Neville and said, "Take some time off then."
Fuck.
Then they both had the decency to leave the room before they started yelling at each other. Neville heard it all the way down the hallway until their shrill shouting faded as they took the staircase. Tensions couldn't get any higher and Posy still cried in his arms, but he was finally alone. Just him, brain dead Pansy, and a crying Posy. He wanted to cry right along with her.
Because he realized his greatest fear. Being called on to protect his family and being in a position where he was unable to. If Seraphina had been here to take Posy away, or kill them all, there was nothing he could do about it. He would have failed.
As it was, it seemed a small amount of loyalty kept her willfully blind to Pansy's presence and now with her acquisition of the diamond, she had no other reason to be around. Neville hoped he never saw that woman again in his life.
Eventually Posy fell silent and hopped to her feet, wiping at her face wildly. Red, tired eyes landed on Pansy. When she spoke, her voice cracked and broke. "No one," she swallowed and tried again. "No one ever loved her for her, they just wanted things from her."
"You did," he reminded her, eyes feeling heavier and heavier. "And she loved you more than anyone else."
His voice broke too. But then he spotted the gem hanging from her neck. Reaching out he pulled the Mind Shard away from her shirt, seeing she attached the milky white stone to a string of twine. "You kept this?"
"Ugh!" Posy quickly jerked the makeshift necklace from her neck, the string getting tangled in her hair for a moment, before she threw it on the bed by Pansy. "I kept it because you gave it to me, but now I can't even look at it. I hate that woman!"
"And later we'll have to have a talk about who and who not to pick fights with," he warned, silently reminding himself not to take out his frustration on her.
"I… I know. I'm sorry," she frowned with her whole face. "I just got scared."
Rubbing his face tiredly, he forced a laugh to make Posy feel better. "She would have done the same thing," he nodded toward Pansy. When afraid, her instinct was to fight not back down.
"Fighting isn't just a physical skill, Po. Choose your battles, be smart."
"I know, I know!" she put her hands over her face, upset.
He took her hands in his and leaned in until their foreheads were almost touching. "It's okay, take it in and remember for next time. Do you think you could sleep?"
A heavy nod, her face weighed down by the day, she squeezed his hands once before she crawled back into bed beside Pansy, lying down on top of the blanket. He felt like he barely blinked before she fell asleep. Another blink, and he leaned forward, grabbing the discarded necklace with every intention of throwing it away.
But the instant his skin touched the stone his body decided it was time for him to sleep too.
oOo
When he slept, which happened rarely these days, he often dreamed of Pearl Parkinson. She always stood above him, a tower of fright and dread. Always she held a small piece of colorful Glimmer and a look on her face that said he wouldn't be escaping this time.
This time he dreamed of Seraphina.
They stood in a pitch black room but he had no trouble seeing her where she stood just in front of him, in true form, arms crossed and a sly smile on her face. Seraphina wore blue and silver dress robes, elegant metal chains attached at the shoulder and dripped down to her elbows while a similar pattern of silver circled her waist. It opened in the front to reveal a corset laced up in black and blue. Expensive leather and silk all mixed into one regal outfit, one Neville could have never imagined.
That was his first clue.
She spoke in Italian but he didn't have any trouble following along. "I'm impressed with you Mr. Longbottom."
He wondered what kind of torture she was prepared to unleash on him and how she managed to trap him in his dream. Why the hell couldn't she just leave him alone? His night was bad enough.
She circled around him, the tail of her gown dragging behind her. Her jeweled eyes dipped and traveled over his body as if she were studying a bug. Despite being taller and bigger, she made him feel very little and totally powerless. "You are never what I expect, and I enjoy that in a man. I assume that's what my flower sees in you."
Neville cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck, exhaustion stamped into every inch of his body. He readied himself for a fight. "I told you before, she isn't yours."
He wanted this over with and that was his second clue. That awareness of time was not usually present in his nightmares. But more annoying was that Pansy had spent several months captive with a fucking collar around her neck. She didn't belong to anyone and she wasn't around to fight for herself-so he would.
"I learned that about you, Mr. Longbottom. Something you and I have in common," she finished her examination and stopped in front of him, stepping right up against his front. Long elegant fingers came out to brush over his chest. He could feel the power coming off her, far more than anything Neville had experienced in his life. Magic might have gone from the world but it hadn't abandoned this woman in the slightest. And suddenly, she seemed very interested in him.
"Our kind died out centuries ago, but one pops up every now and again."
"Our?"
"Veritastra."
Blinking, he tried to place the word and wondered if he had stopped understanding her. "What is that?"
"We can hear truth in words and discern lies without effort," she whispered, leaning uncomfortably close. "Even from those who believe in their lies. A true gift of magic, and rare. I only know of one other in my life."
He forced a laugh. "It's not just a belief I have, your Highness. Pansy doesn't belong to you, or anyone else but herself. If I have to fight you on that I will, though I'll most definitely lose."
If she was like him, Veritastra or whatever, then she would hear the truth plain as day in his words. "You would challenge for her?" Seraphina asked so quietly the words sent shivers down his aching spine.
"There isn't much I wouldn't do for her," he admitted, but he had to take his own advice. Choose your battles. That's what he told Posy and fact was, Pansy was dead soon. Brain dead and breathing on her own, but that wouldn't last. "But I won't put Posy in danger, and I won't leave her to fend for herself."
"It's admirable to love a child that isn't your own," Seraphina bit down on her lip in an action that seemed genuine and more human. "I too have a soft spot for the young wolf. Pansy always spoke such wonderful things of the girl, a lively ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark world."
"Soft spot?" Neville couldn't help but question. "You taunted her earlier with Pansy's death. You think she'll forget that easily?"
"Did I?" A graceful arch in her eyebrow as she ignored his question. "Have you written my flower off already?"
And she lifted a finger to his face, wiping away at a tear. "I guess so," she continued. "I told you once before, all you needed was a bit of Clarity."
She lifted his hand up and Neville was surprised to see the Mind Shard necklace still clutched in his hand. "It's very important you understand the reality of this choice, Mr. Longbottom."
"Choice?" he shook his head, feeling as if he missed a huge chunk of conversation. Wherever they were, his dream or hers, brought his feelings to the front where he couldn't ignore them. It was why Seraphina had to continuously wipe the tears from his cheeks.
"You have the pair, correct? You wouldn't have come here otherwise."
Patting his pockets Neville dug out the second Mind Shard, the one she left in place of the diamond. It seemed all the items he had while he was out running in the woods last night had been returned to his person even though someone had changed his clothes earlier. He'd have to thank Susan, only she would have taken care with his things.
"I have some experience with Faery Collars," she continued, placing both hands over his. "And I must warn you, using the stones this way can feel quite… intimate."
Palms together, the Mind Shards between them. It seemed to make everything clearer. Suddenly the room was no longer black but an expansive forest full of English Rowans and Birchsap that towered over his head, sunlight filtering through the tops of the trees and a gentle breeze making the leaves sway. The scent hit his nose properly and filled him with a sense of whimsy.
"How peaceful," she continued while a smile. "Almost romantic, wouldn't you say?"
"Where did you bring me?" he asked, heart thumping. He kind of loved it. He kind of wanted to cry. He couldn't associate the scent of Birchsap water with anything other than Pansy after she wore it specifically for him. And wherever they were, the usually stubby trees were massive giants far over their heads. The scent incredible and sweet and woody.
"You mean where did you bring me?" she asked. "We're in your mind, Mr. Longbottom."
"How?" he asked, breathless.
"You need the pair," she squeezed their hands together to mean the Mind Shards. "And a bit of magic."
"Magic…?" he pulled his hands away and the forest disappeared, fading to black. Still holding onto the shards, he parted the top of his shirt and revealed the scar on his shoulder. Which pulsed gently with icy blue power.
"She may not belong to anyone, but you certainly belong to her," Seraphina grinned, her otherworldly green eyes twinkling with delight, her fingers caressing his scar intimately. "It could only be put there in a moment of love, there's nothing in this world that can take such a thing away."
Shaking, Neville found he couldn't move again, barely able to take breath. "What does it mean?"
"It means, if you're willing and able, you might have a chance to bring her back," she leaned in and pressed her nose against the scar. "Ahh, it smells of her magic. That will help the most."
"How? Seraphina!" he demanded, trying not to succumb to her sudden manic excitement. He knew it wasn't for him.
She leaned back, with a dramatic gasp. "No man has dared address me so informally in centuries."
"I'll do it again if you don't start talking. What choice do you mean?"
Perfectly straight teeth bit into red, red lips and Neville realized how utterly in danger he was. "The price for this information will be steep, Mr. Longbottom."
Then she was on him, tongue in his mouth and hand on the back of his neck. Every move she made was designed to drive a man crazy, except there was only one woman he could stand to be touched by. One with calloused fingers from working with weapons for years and a kiss that was sharper than any blade she handled.
In comparison, the Silken Queen felt too soft in his arms, despite knowing how much power she possessed. Too gentle. He thought this would be a physical fight.
He gripped the back of her head, pulling at her hair. "No. No I won't."
"You taste of her," she panted, fighting against him. And winning. The struggle pushed their fronts together and when he lost the fight they went horizontal, her straddling him and pinning his shoulders. But then she stilled, taking a long breath through her nose.
"If it's her you want," he grabbed at her gown while she was distracted. They rolled and he slammed her into the floor. "Why the hell don't you save her then?"
"I can't," she gasped, hands above her head and an unsatisfied pout on her face. "It would seem a betrayal to my people to save her life after she stole my heirloom. Oh my you're strong…"
He punched the floor, pain radiating up his arm before he rolled away and up to his feet. "None of it matters if she's dead."
"Don't let her go then," she rolled onto her side and continued her pout, looking put out.
The way she spoke, it seemed like it was all on him. But what could he do? He was no Healer. "Reality, what's reality then? What's the price?"
"No one can know of my involvement, letting that secret loose would result in a rather unfortunate chain of events for you, Mr. Longbottom." Still lying on her side, she pushed at her gown, mindlessly straightening the fabric and acting as if she were bored. Not as if she'd just attacked and kissed him. "As you said previously, you don't want to leave that little girl to fend for herself…"
A threat, plain and simple. "I can keep my mouth shut, you keep Posy's name out your mouth."
"She won't remember," Seraphina continued and blinked up at him. "Time will move differently there, a year might pass and you'll have only missed a second or two."
"Where? What do you…"
She threw the Shards at him, which he caught from the air with one hand. "Her mind is broken, you'll have to go inside to repair it. It's unlikely either of you will make it out, but there is a chance. If you do, she won't know it. And remember-"
"I can't tell anyone you were involved."
"So intelligent," she cooed pleasantly. "Are you up for the task, Mr. Longbottom?"
To save Pansy? But he didn't miss the warning Serpahina tried to slide past him, "It's unlikely either of us will make it out?"
"You can't expect to go into the dazzling complexity of the human mind with any guarantee of safety, do you? It's a choice, the stones will be consumed in the magic it takes to get you there. It will be up to you to convince my flower to wake up. After you've repaired the damage done to her, of course. If you can't, then you'll be lost inside her mind forever. I'm sure you see the problem."
She smiled and sprawled out on her back, stretching out her arms. "You'll never know intimacy like it again," she said, with a sly grin. Oh the sex, she meant. Seraphina had barely been able to resist him in this weird dream they shared, all because he had a small dab of Pansy's magic. She didn't think he would be able to resist the woman he loved.
But that wasn't Neville's problem in the slightest. Who cared about the damn sex? He wanted her back in his life, kicking ass, keeping him on his toes, and giving him lip. Surprising him every day.
He could do as Seraphina wished of him, use the stones and go into Pansy's mind. It was her only chance. And if he succeeded, she would wake up and go on to infuriate him just like she used to. If he failed, he would die with her.
And leave Posy all alone.
Rock, this is hard place. Hard place, meet rock.
Seraphina appeared before him once again, hands wiping his cheeks. "I won't leave Posy alone," he said, his tears flowing freely now.
"You'd rather have her all to yourself? Deprive her of her only remaining family?" she petted his cheeks, attempting to convince him otherwise. She didn't care about Posy, Neville reminded himself sternly. She only wanted Pansy back. "Do you think you'll be enough for that little girl? That some day down the line you'll be able to look her in the eye and say you did everything you could to save her big sister? Can you imagine how disappointed she'll be when she realizes you didn't?"
Knowing he was being led didn't stop it from hurting. Or stop him from shouting out. Full on panic choked him up as Seraphina's words echoed through the black room and he shook, a cold sweat making him feel ill, until he realized he sat on the end of Pansy's bed with Posy right beside him.
oOo
"Stop, stop," she pushed at his shoulder. "She's dead! Pearl is dead, she can't hurt you!"
Terror had him dashing across the room and raising his fists, ready to fight and Posy couldn't figure out why! He'd just started screaming and it woke her up suddenly. He shouted, "Where is she? Did she come back?"
"What?" Posy jumped down after him, confused. He couldn't mean her Mother, because Pearl was dead. And while she wanted to cry for the mama that once loved her so, Posy thought Neville's nightmares would pass now that she was gone. She'd hoped they would pass.
But then again, there'd been an equally, if not more, scary woman here recently. "Who? Fake Lou?"
"Yeah—Where is she?" he panted, grabbing onto his chest. Was he having a heart attack? A night terror? She wasn't qualified for this line of work!
"Not here, Nev. You were screaming again, are you alright?" she made herself ask softly. If she was calm then she could possibly get him to calm down too.
"I… I have to ask you a question."
Oh Boy…
But the door began to open, Susan's voice just on the other side. He slammed his body into it with force and grabbed the doorknob. "Hey!"
"Posy I have to ask you a question and you have to answer honestly," he said, keeping the door shut. Guess whatever he had to say was important. Too important for anyone else.
"Well, wouldn't you know if I was lying anyways?" she asked, head tilting and a duh look on her face.
Behind him, Susan began knocking heavily on the door. "You better let me in, Neville!" she called.
"If there was a chance for me to save Pansy-"
"Do it," she said, all seriousness.
"There's a chance-"
"Do it," she repeated, more firmly.
"I might not make it, Posy."
Oh… no then… but maybe… oh but Pansy…
Looking up at his worn and tired face, Posy realized that he would choose her. If she said stay, Neville would do just that. Put her first above everyone else. Including the woman he loved. She knew it because when Fake Lou reached out towards her earlier, Neville had intervened, despite knowing he might get his butt kicked. When Fake Lou had reached out for him, he hadn't bothered trying to stop her.
Neville would put her even above himself. The feeling filled her with awe, because no one had ever put her first before. Not her parents, not Theo, not even Pansy. Only Neville.
"Does it have to be you? I could go in your place," she wondered out loud. She hadn't a clue how she could go about it. But she could try, if it meant Neville would be okay.
"No," he shook his head as more continued to bang on the door behind him. "What the hell kind of guardian would I be if I let you go into danger and stayed behind, Po?"
"A pretty bad one, I guess," she sighed and kicked her feet. "You've done so much already…"
"There's no enough in life," he said slowly. "You just keep trying and you keep going and..."
"Keep fighting?" she offered and he nodded. Such a Neville thing to say. And thinking about it, Posy thought it was the least they could do. Pansy got stuck with Vistain because she decided to save her and Neville from Pearl. She had to be brave. "Do it."
"Yeah?"
"What do you need me to do?" she wondered.
"Can you distract them for 10 minutes?" he asked, meaning the horde outside the door trying to get it.
"Psh, have you ever met a wolf the morning after the Full Moon throwing a temper tantrum?"
"Come here," he said pulling her into a hug. A big one. He didn't pull back his strength and her wolf wanted to roll around in it, happy with the contact and happier that he didn't forget his promise to bring Pansy home safe. When he released her, she knew she would keep this feeling forever close to her heart, no matter what happened next. He said, "Do your worst."
"With pleasure," she saluted and pinched her cheeks to make them red. "I'm coming out!"
She shouted the words at the door and waited until the knocking and rustling calmed down before she stomped out into the hallway and conjured the shrillest voice she could. Then she started screaming.
Neville listened to Posy's full on hysterics as he barricaded the door with the hospital bed, pulling away the medical tape and IV's attached to Pansy.
The monitor's began beeping loudly so he rushed over and turned them off, having seen Susan do it enough times to know where the power button was. Then he gathered Pansy's frail form in his arms and went to the window. Beyond the door he heard Posy shouting, "You have never cared about Pansy before and you don't care about her now either!"
Poor Susan. He'd make it up to her later. Just as they tried the door again, he jumped from the window and held onto Pansy tightly, landing in the damp alley below. Then he made his way to her home. No one, not even Posy, knew the location of Pansy's secret house hidden away in the city.
That way, if he failed... no one would have to find them. But if he succeeded, Pansy would wake up in familiar surroundings and not a sterile hospital. He made it there quickly, the rich stone looking lively in the daylight compared to the last time he saw it under the cover of night. He didn't loiter around this time, going straight to where he knew the door was hidden, passed the waterfalls of ivy, and straight into the house.
Dusty and dark, just as it had been last time, yet there seemed to be something missing from his last visit. A stillness that hadn't been there before. And up in Pansy's room he found it just as he once left it. Canopy bed unmade, furniture shoved around, and the mirror still broken.
He laid her on the bed and then, out of sheer paranoia, checked the rest of the house to make sure there were no ugly surprises waiting for them. He wanted to be totally alone. He rushed back to Pansy after finding the house properly empty and checked for a pulse, finding it trudging on slowly and coming out uneven.
Now was the time.
Right outside this house was where she stabbed him with her dagger. Their first real fight. Before he became strong and before she spent years and years at the Academy. Pansy had been in a mood that night, angry. Always angry. He'd been sure he was dead though, because her skill had far outmatched his own even then. On his knees, he saw the blade coming in, the downward swing aiming straight for his heart.
Last second, she shifted upward and the piercing sharp blade slid into his shoulder, beneath his collarbone and several inches above his heart turning the fatal blow into a wound he could recover from. One that left an icy chill he never got rid of. According to Seraphina, Pansy left a bit of her own magic there when she did. And it could only happen in a moment of love.
Apt that a moment of love from Pansy felt sharp and cold and everlasting.
There was nothing else for him to do but hope Seraphina truly wanted Pansy alive. He took both milky white Mind Shards, one in each hand, and interlaced his fingers with Pansy's so the stone pressed fully into their palms. Standing felt awkward, so he crawled into bed with her and watched her face carefully and found his eyes drooping, suddenly tired. It wasn't like before, when he barely blinked and found himself face to face with Seraphina.
The magic needed time to work. Icy cool and dark, like a snowstorm in the night. He took a deep breath in and when he exhaled, it fogged in front of his face.
He fell asleep holding hands with Pansy and slipped peacefully into a hazy dream. Not a black room like before, though it was certainly dark. The horizon glowed with colors of twilight, deep blues and purples he associated with Pansy intrinsically. A soft summer's breeze blew through his hair and as he looked around he spotted her in a grassy area by a small fire pit.
Sitting in a folding lawn chair, ankle on her knee, wearing her boots, black jeans, and a black shirt that said 'Get Fucked. I'll help.' and a lit cigarette between her fingers. She took a puff and looked right up at him, a wicked gleam in her eyes that danced with firelight.
"Well look what the fucking cat dragged in."