Three days later...
She was growing better by increments. She was still dizzy, but less than before and the pain had abated—some. She blessed Doc Crower for prescribing the Demerol.
The extent of the bruises shocked when she saw them the first time. The clear handprints on her buttocks, other oddly shaped blotches here and there, a few fingertip prints. He had bitten her breasts, his teeth leaving marks but he had intentionally avoided her nipples and not broken the skin. It was merely meant to cause pain and perhaps humiliation.
What hurt worse were the bruising that was not visible to the eye. He'd had her, brutally, and she hurt, which was what he intended, but had not caused permanent damage. For a while, at least, she hoped he would avoid her bed, and wait until she had recovered. He would be back, she was sure of it.
How could I have been so careless? She had asked herself this a hundred times. She had taken a dangerous gamble to help Gail and paid for it. Why had her magic failed, why hadn't the blocking spell worked?
Well, it had, she told herself, just not in the way she had expected. Gail's memory of their meeting was blurry, but a hint of the memory remained. Why had Lucas been able to discern traces of her spell which meant she badly underestimated the powers of Lucas Buck.
She should have waited, but she wanted to warn Gail Emory. Maybe it had not been necessary, maybe Gail sensed what he was, but if so, why had she yielded herself to him?
For the same reason you did, she told herself, temptation. The Buck men were handsome, the women beautiful. They did not interbreed, but tended to marry out of their coven or distant cousins. Lucas was a good example, tall, well-built, strong, intelligent, and visually appealing. She had known what he was the minute she saw him but had succumbed to the charm that was as deadly as cobra venom.
"Someone's at the door." Had she heard the words or merely the sound made of someone knocking. She wrapped her robe tightly around her and went to answer it, even though she knew who it was.
"Lucas." He was standing in her living room, using a tactic that might frighten others. "Make yourself at home," she said sarcastically.
"I have. I usually do this when I want to frighten, or intimidate, someone, but you can do the same trick yourself, can't you?"
"Yes, I've learned it's not always wise, but you and I are different, aren't we?"
"Yes, we are," he agreed, and handed her the bouquet of roses he had hidden behind his back.
"Red roses," she mused, "The color of true love. I've never cared for red roses, they're also the color of blood."
She took them anyway, and trimmed the stems and put them in water. She set the vase on the mantle, admiring the splash of color they provided against the pale walls.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"I just wanted the pleasure of your company and to see how you're doing." He smiled and she half expected to see wolf teeth, but he was his most charming self. "You are better, aren't you?"
"You didn't need to come here to know that. And you must know I can't do anything," she sat on the couch, "I'd offer you coffee but I haven't made any."
"Oh, I want you healthy and healed," he said, "And you need to have your birth control removed."
"No, I don't, and even if I did, I don't know how long it would be before my fertility returned. You must love Gail if you've decided to have me bear a child to save her. I hear it was a hard pregnancy, like Judith Temple's. Why do you need another heir, anyway? I don't think Caleb Temple would take it well if you replace him with another heir."
"You're stronger than Gail is, your body can handle my genes. You wouldn't be the first Salem witch to carry a Buck child."
"Yes, you always did favor us but we generally would have nothing to do with you. A few witches fell in love with Buck warlocks and carried successful pregnancies, love being blind, I guess. Like you, we're not quite human; but I'm not interested, Lucas, you'll have to find another broodmare."
"Hmmm." He made that low sound in his throat, a sound full of menace. "We'll have to see how things go, but I read that those implants can become infected. You might need to have a doctor look at that."
"Oh, really." He had pushed her too far. She dropped her robe so she stood, sky-clad, in the middle of the room and began to chant:
"Powers of the witches rise, float unseen across the skies, come to us who call you near, come to us and gather here."
It started with a small breeze that gathered in the corners of the room, then began to circulate and grow stronger. The breeze grew stronger, like a whirlwind and began to make large whistling sounds.
The vase of roses fell to the floor, miraculously unharmed, and the room began to fill with shadows, at first unformed then the outlines of women. The shadows began to take shape, and he saw women in the severe garb of the Pilgrims, the lace and satin of the Restoration, the farthingales and powdered wigs of the Revolution, up to the era that preceded their own.
Their eyes glowed like burning coals, and he could hear them talking softly amongst themselves though he could not discern their words. He could feel their venom, though, directed at him, warning him lest they inflict harm upon their beloved daughter and granddaughter.
He felt them press against his chest, seeking out his heart. "All right, all right," he cried out, "Call them off. I'll leave." When he uttered those words, they vanished.
She slammed the door after him as he left her house, her energy causing violent vibrations before it settled down. Her breathing was heaving, her heart pounding against her chest until at last she willed it to stop.
The arm that contained the implant began to hurt, it had never hurt before. At first she ignored it, then she iced it, but it started to swell and began to hurt.
"I should remove the implant," Dr. Crower told him, his kind brown eyes full of concern, I can give you an IUD or put you on the pill or you could use condoms for a while until you decide what you want to do."
"Is it necessary? What caused it to get infected?" she asked, feeling, with good reason, that Lucas Buck had something to do with this.
"It just happens, implants work well but they're not without risk. Let me take it out now before it gets worse."
She nodded and he had the nurse bring an anesthetic to numb her arm. He cut carefully with a scalpel and used forceps to pull it out, meeting with resistance. He gave her more of the local and cut deeper, trying to free the implant from her arm.
"It's not coming out, Elizabeth, maybe we should use a general instead of a local, that would be easier on you."
"No, doctor, please," she begged, "Just use more of the local, I'm sure it will come out. I don't want to go under."
"Okay, we'll try, but if it doesn't work, I'm going to admit you," he warned and injected some more of the local.
Come out, please, she thought, you just now started giving me trouble. We can't let Lucas Buck win.
Slowly, patiently, Dr. Crower coaxed the implant out. "Good thing we did this, you have an infection, that's why it was so hard to remove. I'm going to give you an injection of penicillin, then send you home with some antibiotics. Do you want to see?"
She nodded, and he showed it to her. She could see the yellow streaks where it had started to get infected. If she needed any further proof, her arm was starting to hurt now that the anesthetic was wearing off.
The nurse bandaged her arm and put it in a sling. "Don't get the dressing wet. Change it daily until the wound is clothes. In seven days I'll remove the stitches. I'll have to give you a ride home, you shouldn't be driving."
"What will I do with my car, can't I drive myself home, I'll be careful."
"I'll take her home, Harvard, Ben can drive her car so she won't have to leave it here." Lucas Buck strolled into the room, "How are you doing, sweetheart?"
"I was doing just fine, thank you very much. I can drive home if I'm careful." She looked at him defiantly, this is your fault, her look said.
"Well, for once I agree with Sheriff Buck, you need to have someone drive you home. Let me get your prescription and I'll sign you out." He left the room, then returned with her prescription and the papers. "Rest up, take your antibiotics, and come back in a week to have your stitches removed."
"Come on, give Ben your car keys, I'll drive you myself." Lucas held out his hand and she dropped the keys into it. He had the wisdom not to touch her as they exited the hospital and got into his car. Ben followed behind in her Jeep.
"I blame you for this, Lucas. I didn't think you'd cause that infection to get my implant out—I suppose I should have known better."
"What are you talking about?" Lucas objected, "I didn't have anything to do with this. Implants get infected all the time."
"I'm not Gail Emory, Lucas, I know what you're capable of. You've got your wish, my fertility will return once the hormones are out of my system. I know you'll try to get back into my bed, but I'm not so sure you'll be welcome. I'm craving sweetness and kindness, someone who's tender and caring—that's not you. Besides, Gail Emory has a claim on your affections, she's welcome to you."
"Now, you're hurting my feelings. Just think of the child we could create, a mixture of the Buck and Salem genes. It would be worthy of my legacy."
"And I'd bind its powers while it was still in the womb and not release them until it's old enough to understand what it is. I wouldn't let you raise my child, Lucas. I'm not Judith Temple. It takes a witch to deal with someone like you. I got careless, what makes you think I'm going to make the same mistake twice?"
He was silent as he pulled up in front of her house, Ben behind him in her car.
"You'll need something to eat," he said stiffly, "I'll have something sent to you. And Elizabeth," he turned in his seat and looked at her, "We were meant to have this baby, there hasn't been a union of the Salem witches and Bucks in centuries. It's no accident that we met. I'll give up Gail, I'll acknowledge your child. I'd rather have you willling than not."
"Lucas, give it up. I'm going inside and lie down. I'm tired, I hurt, and I had to deal with you, not the best way to spend my day. I don't even want to think of a child. All I want to do is return to Salem as soon as I can." The car door opened and she climbed out, letting it shut itself. Her front door opened then shut behind her, shutting him out, for the moment.