The First Evil Ch. 09

His face was indescribable with all the roughhewn beauty of majestic snowcapped mountains and it was still mostly transparent. He leaned in to brush his lips over mine and it felt like he poured napalm down my throat. Still I pressed closer willing him to consume me if only he wouldn't stop. Of course just that quickly he broke away and stepped back, kneeling to unwind the inches thick coil of hair that had somehow slithered up my thigh unnoticed. When he looked up at me from that position it was all I could do not to weep at the sad resignation I saw in his eyes. He pressed his lips against my knuckles and this time I couldn't quite suppress the whimper that snuck past my lips at the unbearable pain. His other hand smoothed the hurt away then he looked at me and I knew what he would do.

"Please," it was all I could force my overburdened mind to say.

"Soon," the words were spoken in the tiniest whisper and still the entire room shook. Every piece of glass shattered into sparkling sand and a giant crack appeared in the middle of the floor. Huddled in the furthest corner the witch screamed as blood poured from her ears. But it was the sweetest word I'd ever heard.

He stood again and reached out to cup my cheek. I leaned into the touch and then I closed my eyes letting my spirit find my body. The last thing I heard before I was out of the house was the witch's broken voice still screaming.

There wasn't any acclimation delay this time. One moment incorporeal the next I was blinking open my eyes to see dust motes sparkling in the sunlight pouring through the giant hole in my wall. The continuous sound of concussive impacts filled the house. The devastating sound of wood splintering and broken glass being stepped on made me hesitate to move my eyes from the still intact vestibule area. A pained grunt sounded very close to me and I felt something warm fall on my hand. I didn't have to look to know it would be blood.

I got a flash of memory of Nice joining the fight and how both twins had positioned themselves to protect my body as it lay vulnerable on the floor. I sat up slowly still somewhat disoriented. It felt as if I'd gotten another power boost, which I really didn't want. I'd like to have, I don't know, an hour to get used to the status quo before it changed. I looked around and felt my heart wrench.

The paintings were relatively untouched, only askew here or there but the house itself was trashed. The hole where my beautiful art nouveau stained glass window had been had now grown to include the window seat and some of the inlaid floor. All the walls that I could see were either dented and broken or splashed with blood. Deep scratches crosshatched the entire first floor, most filled with the blood of the bodies of the wolves that still lay where they'd fallen. I felt exhaustion weigh my limbs down even as the power flowing through my body lifted me to my feet.

Another wolf launched itself from the landing at Nice who already had a man with a cleaver in some kind of a choke hold aiming all the sharp bits away from himself. My hand felt like it raised of its own volition and blasted the wolf away with a lightning bolt before he could do more damage to the already cut and bruised man using his own body to protect my home. I didn't need him to whisper in my ear to try something impossible with the overwhelming power moving through me right now. I didn't know if it would last but I had something that I needed big power for right now. Maybe I'd get lucky and use up a chunk so that when I went to practice I was using a .38 instead of an Uzi.

I closed my eyes and pictured my house the way it had been. Pristine historical condition, priceless possessions intact and any living thing with ill intention forcibly ejected. I didn't try to get them all the way back to New York but I tried to imagine them where they wouldn't cause me any problems for at least fifteen minutes. I pictured the twins whole and unharmed and dressed. I imagined there was a force around my house that would keep anything out while I had to leave it, similar to the fields of lightning that I'd protected us with.

A demanding knock on the door shocked my eyes open. The house was back exactly as I'd pictured, the twins were both dressed in dark jeans and loose grey sweaters and black boots. Nice in a dove grey and Naughty in a deeper charcoal so I could tell them apart. Thank god. It worked. I smiled at them tiredly and turned to answer the door but my legs crumpled beneath me. The fact that I actually hit the floor told me just how shocked the twins were.

Naughty got to me first barely and after a second of tense hesitation, Nice went to let in Jules and Rachel though he returned right after opening the door. I reached a hand that weighed a thousand pounds into my pocket to grab the envelope with the keys and address to my other place. I tried to hand it to Naughty who had dragged me into his lap and had wrapped me up like I was his favorite stuffed animal.

There's a knife perched over my masters throat and I'm too far away. Kind, funny, brilliant, gorgeous and powerful and she's about to die because we were too much the warriors to learn magic when we could. So close. I have to get there. I just HAVE to. Remus can do it he's closer, but does he see. Oh thank the Gods. Blessed be the sacred moon that protects us.

I shook myself from the vision of how close I'd come to death. Naughty just kept reliving what for him was one of the worst moments of his life. My heart was speeding just as his had been and I hugged his arm tighter to me, just as relieved as he that Ni- Remus had been able to get there in time. I rubbed his arm as I realized that his trembling hadn't subsided. Remus wrapped us both in his arms from the other side, burying his nose in my hair.

"Ummm I guess I don't have to ask if we missed anything, are we ready to go or has the plan changed?" Boots stood there hand on hip looking like she wanted to immolate the twins except that I might get singed. I'd almost forgotten that Jules hadn't seen the twins even in there wolf form before now. Rachel interrupted me with a cat call as she surveyed the twins in all their human glory.

"Well golly, can I send you to the pound for me if all the strays you find look like this. God did you know this," she waved her hand in our direction, "when you told them to follow you home?" comments like that always made me question just how gay Rachel really was, not that I had any reason to find out other than curiosity. I did appreciate her trying to lighten the mood, except I had maybe thirty more seconds of consciousness before exhaustion pulled me under.

I held my hand out in the general direction of the new arrivals. Boots huffed like an angry bunny and stomped over snatching the envelope out of my hand.

"There's an address in there, just GPS it and get us there. One of you will have to drive my truck," before Juliette could give voice to the excitement sparkling in her eyes, "I should have just said Rachel, you know you're not driving my truck," Rachel laughed which made me think she was overestimating the time they'd be separated. I yawned so wide my jaw cracked, and my eyes felt like they'd been blowtorched. I was fast approaching the point of feeling sick I was so tired.

Just get us there and we can all talk. It actually took one of the twins translating for me to realize I wasn't speaking out loud. I snuggled my head down and grabbed a twin with each hand and let myself pass out. I wanted to make sure that when I woke up they would both still be there.

Don't worry.

We will be. Kisses touched my head.