Boneyard (The Thaumaturge Series Book 2) (25 page)

“You have to hurry,” came Diana’s fading voice.

“Danielle,” I said again and opened my eyes to the darkness. Warm pressure surrounded me, drew me in and up. The scattered lights dazzled, but few of them. So few now. I thought of those lights, falling down and melting into the wounds of the girl I’d brought back last night, the boy I’d fixed. Carl Fogerty. Cody. Jim. Shaina. Aubrey. Marcus.

It had to be worth it. 

Whatever Leo thought, it had to be worth any risk.

I moved deeper into the empty black, where once the lights had filled the space like a spray of stars. The darkness shaped itself around me, firm against my skin, a pressure that remained comforting despite its absoluteness.

What’s that old saying? When you stare into the void, the void stares back at you?

I had to go higher, as unappealing as that prospect was. The memory of the night before flared up, a fresh reminder of the pain I would be in if I ascended.

My pain was temporary though. She would be permanently dead if I didn’t. Dahlia’s laughing face floating into my mind. I couldn’t bear to face her if I didn’t save her daughter. What good was I if I couldn’t help the ones I loved?

The tightening of my chest began immediately, as I climbed upwards into the blackness. Ignoring it as best I could, I peered into the dark, searching for any sign of Danielle’s bright soul. Higher still, just a little more, where the darkness felt thinner somehow, like opaque glass. I turned my astral body in a graceless spin, half expecting to see Corvin’s shriveled soul bobbing in empty space. But there was only fragile dark, a scattering of lights and a faint glowing—

I snapped to attention, staring hard into the distance. But yes, it was unmistakable. Danielle’s soul, floating not far away, radiant and bright.

I could have cried in relief. Something in my chest, my physical chest, closed up, and it pulled me down a bit. I opened my eyes, seeing that strange double vision I always saw when I was way up. Faces peered back at me, Scott, Cody and Diana and—

—and just coming into view, Dahlia, pale as a ghost with red-rimmed eyes. For one long moment, our eyes locked and her pinched face relaxed into a relieved kind of hope.

I saw her and yet I didn’t.

I saw Danielle’s soul and yet I didn’t. Lights twinkled above the hospital bed. Machines beeped in the strange vacuum of the void.

I closed my eyes and concentrated and everything snapped back into place, that curious overlap correcting itself. I moved towards Danielle’s soul, reaching out, my heart aching to bring her into my arms.

I swear her soul brightened when my fingers brushed it. Like it knew I could guide her home.

 A blinding, shocking, tearing pain burst in the front of my skull.

I startled, gasping in both pain and surprise and Danielle’s soul slid through my fingers like mist. I fumbled for the soul, extending my fingers. The soul hovered patiently but my hand passed through it. My throat seized, closing tight as a fist. A strangled cry worked out of me and I dropped out of the astral plane like a brick.

“No—” I gasped, my hands at my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to go back
up
, but pressure swelled in my head, behind my eyes, so intense that I thought my eyeballs would burst. I fell back down with only a glimpse of the familiar darkness.

“No!” I croaked again. I clawed at my own neck, at my ears. “I can do it, I can do it, let me—”

Something clattered, very close, and voices erupted all around me. Hands fell upon me, and I struggled, my eyes clenched shut against the burning light. The pressure built, God, the pain ratcheting up until my brain must have boiled, my eyes bleeding.

Help me! God, help me!

I steeled myself, gathering every bit of strength I could muster, and flung myself back up without a care for the pain rumbling through me like a collapsing building.  I was being torn apart, stripped down to my foundation. Lights streaked by me and I moved and I spun and twirled clumsily, searching, searching for the soft glow of the soul. When I saw it I let out a cry of sheer desperation.

I grappled for it. My head rung like it had been struck with a hammer. The pressure in my ears increased and some horrible noise burst out of me. Wild instincts kicked into gear, an animal’s panic to flee the pain. I grabbed and groped and when finally Danielle’s soul was in the cage of my fingers, I simply let go.

I fell.

Voices tumbled over each other.  I understood nothing, only that I was sobbing as I shoved the soul towards the body. I lost my hold, the tendrils of light pouring from my fingers like champagne from a glass. I watched, tears blurred my vision, as the soul drifted down and settled upon Danielle’s chest. Was that enough? I couldn’t... I swayed and cried and then, quite suddenly, soft plastic covered my mouth and nose, cold and strange-smelling.

 I instinctively pulled back, shoving at the weight on me. I flailed, bucking upwards and kicking out a foot. I threw an elbow and heard a gratifying yelp.

“Ebron!”

I inhaled sharply, and my mind cleared a little. Something tugged my hair, hands pulled me forward. I breathed again and then again. The pain receded, just enough to think.

I opened my eyes.  Faces surrounded me, hands held me down. My chest rose and fell rapidly. The oxygen mask over my face slipped and one of the nurses reached out to fix it.

“You with us?” she demanded, her other hand clawing into my upper arm.

I nodded. Tears leaked down my cheeks and gathered against the mask, pooling on my skin.

“Let him up! Please, just—” Dahlia shoved her way between the nurses, dropping to her knees beside him. At the sight of her hollowed face, I gulped, a little cry working out of me.

“Dahl,” I whimpered.

We reached for each other. Her long fingers dug into my arms and her forehead pressed into my shoulder. Awkwardly, very aware of our audience, I slid my arms around her back.

“My baby girl,” Dahlia whispered into the damp skin of my throat. “Is she? Did you?”

“I did my best,” I whispered back. “I think it worked.”

I hoped it worked.

“Ebron,” she cried and the sound of my name sounded like a plea.

Over the rounded bow of her shaking shoulder, I saw the nurses exchanging glances, flicking uneasy eyes to Diana, Scott and Cody, still congregated at the door. Someone had tracked mud over the cold tile floor and moisture spread through my jeans and made my butt cold. I rubbed my hands up and down Dahlia’s thin arms.

“Where’s Christina?” I asked softly. “Your husband?”

“Chris is with my mom,” she said, leaning back on her heels and swiping at her tear-streaked face. “Brian’s on his way from Boise. He should be here any minute.”

“I have to get home,” I said and she just looked at me, her eyes troubled and helpless.

Shakily, I scrambled to my feet and then helped Dahlia to hers. One nurse busied herself inspecting each of Danielle’s IV’s and tubes. Two others waited before me, clearly waiting to see if I was going to freak out again. Diana stood staring in the doorway, her eyes huge. Scott and Cody were visible through the glass wall, standing shoulder to shoulder in the hallway.

“I’m sorry,” I said to the room at large. “I just...”

Dahlia let out a gasp.

My eyes flew to her.

The nurses sprang into action and before I was hustled non-too-gently out of the room, I managed to twist and look over my shoulder. Danielle blinked at the ceiling, her limbs moving sluggishly.

Dahlia grabbed my arm and pulled me close.

“Thank you,” she whispered feverishly. “Thank you.”

Then she rushed away, hurrying to her daughter’s side. The door closed with a muted click and I was left standing in the quiet hallway with Cody, Scott, and Diana staring at me.

“You okay now, Ebron?” Diana asked.

 “Fine,” I said. My body felt shattered, jagged shards held loosely under my thin skin.

“We should go,” Diana said and gave me a hard look that allowed no argument.

“Yeah.” I swallowed hard. I peered through the window. Danielle twitched and stretched on the bed, the machines beeping with terrible intensity. Dahlia smoothed hair back from Danielle’s forehead and then leaned down to kiss her.

 “Let’s go.” Diana tugged at me, pulling me into the hall with Scott and Cody flanking me like a police escort.

Diana hurried me through the halls, toward the elevator. She jabbed one finger into the ‘down’ button and we waited. Scott kept his hand on my shoulder. I swayed, my head throbbing.

The elevator door dinged and clattered opened. I started forward and then stopped. Dahlia’s husband, Brian, stared at me from within the elevator. His weary face went from distressed to surprised to angry all in about two seconds.

“You,” he spat. “I should have figured.”

“Brian?” I asked. We’d met before, obviously, but passed nothing but polite greetings whenever we saw each other.

“Stay away from my wife,” he said and shoved passed me, stalking down the hall. I stared after him, trying to pick any sense of his words.

“Don’t worry, Ebron,” Cody said from beside me. “He probably just doesn’t know you’re gay.”

“Thanks, Cody,” I said and sighed.

“What the fuck was that?” Diana demanded of me. She’d kept an iron grip on me all through the foyer of the hospital, Scott and Cody trailing behind in her furious wake. Now, in the parking lot, she released me with a little shove, hard enough that I stumbled.

Horror and embarrassment tumbled over each other, fusing into anger. “You want your money back?” I scrambled in my pocket, pulling out the little roll and flinging it at her. “Here! Fucking take it!”

The bills struck her chest and tumbled to the ground. Cody made an abortive move forward, but Scott grabbed him and yanked him still.

“I didn’t know you were going to put on such a show!” Diana cried. “What happened?”

“It hurts me!” I shouted back. “It’s not a fucking game, Diana!”

I spun around before the sob escaped me. Hot tears fell from my burning eyes.

“Ebron.”

I didn’t turn. I couldn’t look at her.

“I’m sorry,” Diana said quietly and it was the quiet that made me look. Her eyes brimmed with tears too, her face lined with exhaustion and grief. “I thought that you would be, like, the magic solution. All the senseless reasons people die. You could just fix it.”

“There’s limits,” I whispered. “I can’t...”

“I didn’t know that,” she said defensively. “Chad didn’t tell me that.”

I shrugged and wiped at the tears on my cheeks. My skin felt raw and hot. The cold afternoon wind made the sore hollows under my eyes burn.

“He didn’t know either,” I said. “And I don’t have the answers. I don’t know how I do it, or why. I barely know my own limits. I don’t know what it’s doing to me.”

“This was a mistake,” Diana said. She bit her lip, her eyes welling.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

She didn’t reply. She just turned and walked stiffly through the parking lot, disappearing into the rows of cars. We watched her go. Cody bent and plucked the little roll of bills from the cold pavement. He held it out to me wordlessly and wordlessly I took it back.

“Come on, son,” Scott said quietly, putting his arm around me and leading me away. “Let’s go home.”

“I’m gonna run inside,” Cody told me as he finished gassing up his truck. “You want anything?”

“No,” I said without looking at him, my eyes fixed on the snow-blown hills outside.

He paused and sucked in a loud breath, but decided against saying anything else. He slammed the truck door closed and left me alone.

The clock on the dash read 3:03. We wouldn’t make it home before dark. Even now, the dreary day had darkened with storm clouds, blustery wind whipping up the snow on the streets into little hurricanes. I wanted to be home, to crawl into my bed and shut out the world.

Loneliness ached inside me, spreading like a sickness. Cody’s truck—newer than mine, more expensive than mine—blasted out warm air and I held my palms up to the vent. They trembled and I twisted them around each other, buried them in my lap and willed them to stop shaking.

I looked at the clock again and then out at the darkening sky. There was a chance, however slim, that Leo might have already woken. I slid my phone out of my coat pocket and powered it up. It flashed an angry red bar at me, reminding me of the low battery, but there had to be enough for one call.

I thumbed to my recent calls and found Leo’s new number. The ringing filled me with relief, at even the prospect of reaching him, of even leaving a message telling him I was on my way home.

The phone clicked and my heart leaped.

 “Who is this?”

I froze, my voice snagging in my throat and my stomach falling out.

“Hello?” I said. “Leo?”

“Leo can’t come to the phone right now,” The voice slid out, emotionless and slow, dripping ice.

“Who is this?” I whispered.

A slow, huffing chuckle that sent terror shooting up my spine.

“No,” the voice intoned. “Who is
this
?”

I dropped my phone. Cody wrenched open the door and slid some licorice on my lap.

“Here you go, dude,” he said softly. “I know how you like that shit. George Strait okay for you?”

He dialed up his speakers and sang along as we got on the highway.

I shook the whole way home.

Chapter 17

All night I tossed and turned in my empty bed while the wind shook the trailer and wailed through the trees. Johnny curled beside me and occasionally he would sigh and nudge his wiry face close to me, as though to assure himself I slept beside him. The rest of the trailer sat empty, nothing but shadows in dark corners. My whole life was split into either being with Leo or waiting for Leo. There was nothing in between.

I checked my phone over and over, but he never called.

The sound of that voice, scratchy and brittle, like crumbled leaves, wouldn’t leave my head. It echoed in my ears, a hollow drumbeat that repeated. I clenched my fists into the cold sheets. The room around me felt too small, the silhouettes of menacing trees looming outside the window. Every noise made me jump. I thought of Danielle. I thought of Misty. I thought of how my life seemed like an endless parade of mistakes. Finally, I threw back the covers and padded out into the living room.