Love Charms (132 page)

She resumed her pacing. “You’re going to
fight Kristoff. I know this. Even he knows it, but the difference between him
and me is, I think you might have a chance at winning. You’re at least as
strong as he is or else he wouldn’t have wanted you.  If you succeed, there’s
one thing I want you to do for me in exchange for helping you now.”

She didn’t have to say it, I already
knew. “Grace.”

Julia nodded. “Yes. You have to promise
to watch out for Grace once we’re gone. Make sure she doesn’t turn out like her
father.”

“I’ll try.” The promises were piling up.
First Mark, now Julia.

Julia came to me and gripped my arm. “You
have to do better than try. You will be the only one who will understand her,
know what she’s been through. You must promise to watch out for her or I’ll
call Kristoff right now and tell him your collar isn’t working.”

“I promise to do my best for her,” I said
putting as much sincerity as I could in my voice. I even meant it up to a
point. I certainly didn’t want Grace to end up like her father. With my luck
she’d come after me too. I would do what I could just as basic self-defense.

Julia released me. “So we are agreed
then.”

“Yes.”

“Good. I hope you’re successful,” she
said over her shoulder as she started to walk out the door.

“Wait,” I called after her. “I can’t do
this by myself. You’ve got to help me.”

She paused and turned back. “I can’t. His
will binds me. To do just this much, to talk freely and hide it from him takes
everything I have. You are the only one that is not bound by his power…yet.”

“Wait a second,” Mark said. “You and I
both have our souls. I’m my own man. Kristoff doesn’t own me.”

Julia laughed, a short, harsh bark. “You
are a fool. He lets you believe you are free, but it’s a lie.”

Mark frowned. “I don’t believe you.
You’re the one lying.”

I myself was more inclined to believe
Julia, but kept my opinion to myself.

Julia just shrugged. “You’ll see. Someday
he will force his will on you and you won’t be able to say no.” She walked out
then, heels tapping delicately on the linoleum floor.

Mark looked at me, his expression a mix
of confusion and worry. She’d thrown him. Hell she’d thrown
me.

“Great,” I said under my breath. All
Julia had to do was keep one lousy secret while I got to babysit her zombie
raising daughter the rest of my life. Plus, I had to wrangle Mark, my
ex-boyfriend come back to life. It didn’t seem fair.

“Just don’t forget about our deal.” Mark
said.

Speaking of unfair.

“If what she said is true, the sooner you
learn what Kristoff knows, the better.” His voice was full of anxiety.

“Yeah. I know,” I said, my voice short. I
didn’t have it in me to say anything more without revealing my true feelings.

* * *

Back on the top floor, I began the search
for a weapon of some kind. Something heavy like Zrayus had recommended. But I
found nothing except a barbecue fork. There were no knives, no bottles of wine.
Italian salad dressing in plastic squeeze bottles, yes, but not wine. I took
the fork with me, deciding it would have to do, and returned to my room to
wait.

For whatever reason, Mark hadn’t followed
me back upstairs. Maybe he’d sensed my bad mood. Maybe he was telling Kristoff
everything he knew, hedging his bets. Who knew the mind of a zombie? Not me and
I was psychic. There was nothing I could do, but wait for the right moment to
present itself. I didn’t have to be Vera to know that moment was coming soon.

Julia came for me at dusk. She leaned
against the doorjamb, crossing her arms and regarded me with steady eyes. Her
gray suit traced her sparse curves and her blond hair was pulled up and back,
accentuating the lines of her face.

“Sofia.” She nodded at me. Reaching
behind her back she pulled out a unsheathed dagger and extended it toward me..

I took it with a grateful smile. The
sharp blade of the dagger scrapped across my thigh as I tucked it into my pants
next to the fork without a word. I’d tied the drawstring on my pants extra
tight, to the point of discomfort to be sure it would hold my weapons. I would
have to move carefully to keep from cutting myself. It was odd to think that
I’d long ago left behind the point where shoving a naked blade down my pants
was a bad idea. Even if I nicked my thigh a dozen times over, it was worth it.

“Thanks,” I said.

She waved a hand, dismissing my
gratitude. “Kristoff would like to see you. Are you ready?”

I didn’t respond because my answer
would’ve been no. Instead, I grabbed the bag of crystals off the small
nightstand and stood, letting my actions speak for me. Taking my cue, Julia
turned and began to walk toward Kristoff’s office.

I made a final adjustment to the fork and
knife, making sure they were secure. The fork lent an air of slapstick to my
plans, but I knew when the time came, there would be nothing funny about what I
had to do.

Hearing Julia’s footsteps slow and
hesitate, I ran to catch up. “I’m coming.” I jogged down the hall, trying to
casually drape my hand to hide the protrusion of the fork. I hadn’t counted on
the prongs shifting as I walked and poking out of the fabric of my pants like
little devil’s horns.

Kristoff, as usual, sat behind his desk
and regarded me with a speculative gaze. I moved to sit in the chair opposite
him and shifted my hips at an angle to hide the fork, causing the prongs to
twist and jab me in the thigh. I bit the inside of my cheek at the sensation
and managed not to jump in surprise. At least the knife hadn’t moved.

“The crystals please.” Kristoff held out
a hand.

I tossed the bag on his desk. He frowned
at me as he took the bag and peered inside.

“They seem to be all charged.”

“Yep,” I said. “It didn’t take as long
this time.”

“Good. You’re progressing nicely. It’s
time for the next step in your training.” He waved at someone behind me. “Tie
her up please.”

A guard grabbed me with thick, strong
hands and yanked me out of the chair, pinning my arms behind my back.

I gave a shriek of protest and glared at
Kristoff. “What are you doing?”

“You are to observe tonight, nothing
more. I don’t want you to be tempted to interfere. Although the collar is
effective, it’s not fast enough to stop sudden movements. The work we will do
tonight is delicate. The wrong move at the wrong time could be disastrous.”
Looking to whoever held me, he said, “Make sure the ropes are tight, I don’t
want her to have any chance of getting loose.”

A grunt acknowledged Kristoff’s request
followed by a coarse rope wound tight around my wrists.

“Ow. That hurts,” I complained trying to
twist out of the guard’s grasp only to be grabbed by the nape of my neck and
shaken like a disobedient puppy until I thought my spine would snap.

“Be still,” growled a deep voice in my
ear.

I went still, gritting my jaw. Around me
the room spun, and my head hurt from the rough shaking. I swear my brain had
boinged off the inside of my skull, a sensation I could’ve done without.

“Bring her.” Kristoff stood and walked to
the wood paneling behind his desk. With a deft touch, he depressed a spot on
the wall and it silently slide to the side, revealing a cavernous room.

My escort dragged me after Kristoff,
moving so fast that I couldn’t keep my feet under me. All my weapons shifted in
my pants too, but, thankfully, no one was really paying much attention.
Although the fork did keep poking me as if checking to see if my goose was
cooked.

The room hidden behind the wooden panels
of Kristoff’s office was dark with a cool draft, the only light coming from the
open door behind us. The guard shoved me up against the wall and left me there
while he went to stand just outside the entrance.

Kristoff hit another button and the door
shut, leaving us in total darkness. Was it my imagination or could I hear
someone breathing out there? Goosebumps shivered across my skin as I realized
it wasn’t my imagination, but Kristoff. I shifted, nervous. If I had to defend
myself, all I had were my legs.

A faint light flickered, illuminating
Kristoff’s face just inches from mine. He had a small flashlight, which he
pointed at me. I tried to shrink back further into the wall.

“What’s going on?” I asked trying to
sound brave.

Another light flickered, and, looking
closely, I realized it was coming from the crystals, which had been set on the
floor. Somehow he was able to use the power within to provide light. “We’re
going to raise a zombie.” He laughed, the sound straight out of a horror movie.

My eyes went wide and my pulse quickened.
There was no one else in the room, but him and me, so what exactly did he mean?

Sensing my alarm, Kristoff smiled, the
dim light creating eerie shadows on his face. “No, not you. I need you alive,
for now.”

I deflated in relief and then frowned
with fresh worry at the ‘for now’.

“No, I have someone else to raise
tonight. I think you’ll find the experience rather interesting.” He walked the
perimeter of the room, setting up crystals as he went. “You’ll be afraid at
first, then horrified. All very normal reactions, but what you will learn is
that death is an obstacle we can overcome. No one is ever lost to us.”

“So long as you don’t mind the smell,” I
said.

Kristoff frowned. “My zombies don’t rot.”

“No they don’t,” I agreed.

He rolled up his sleeves. “It’s an
innovation of mine.” He paused and fiddled with a crystal that refused to stay
upright. “I can raise a zombie that will stay whole for decades, almost as long
their life would’ve been. Only they don’t grow old or get sick. Nor do they
rot.”

“But they do smell,” I persisted. “The
ones in the basement smelled. So did the detective you sent to kill me.” In
fact, I’d noticed the smell first each time.

“I didn’t send the detective to kill you,
that was a mistake on his part. One he has paid for.” A grim look flashed
across Kristoff’s face. “And my zombies don’t smell. They aren’t rotting
corpses.”

I gave him a doubtful look wondering if
our senses of smell were different. Maybe raising the dead was like smoking,
your nose just got used to the smell after awhile. Even Mark had carried the
scent of death on his skin. True, it had been faint, but I could still smell
it. The zombies in the basement had positively reeked.

Kristoff placed the last crystal on the
floor beside me completing his circle of soft, yellow light. The room was large
enough, though, that the light didn’t penetrate very far. I could see Kristoff,
but not the far side of the room.

“So why don’t they rot?” I asked, hoping
to stall him. I was in no hurry to raise the dead and I needed to figure a way
out of the ropes around my wrists so I could attack him.

Kristoff just shrugged. “Trade secret.”
He tapped his head with a finger. “It’s all up here. When the time is right,
I’ll share the secret with you,
if
you prove to be worthy of it.”

Oh great. I had to be
worthy.
I
tried to yank my wrists apart and got nowhere. How the hell was I going to free
myself? Too bad I wasn’t a medium. I could’ve channeled Houdini.

“We’re ready to begin,” he said with a
wide smile. It was the happiest I’d seen him look since we met and it made my
blood run cold. “Mark, we’re ready,” Kristoff called looking to the other side
of the room.

There was a soft click and another door
slid open. The light from behind backlit a tall man with a small form draped
over his shoulder. I took Kristoff’s word that the man was Mark. It was far too
dark to confirm it with my own eyes.

Kristoff looked at me expectantly. “Do
you recognize your friend?”

Oh, right. Kristoff didn’t know we’d met.
Mark was supposed to be a shock. I gasped and widened my eyes, playing along
even though I’d need sonar to see anything.

“You mean he’s
my
Mark?” Turning
to Kristoff I said, “You didn’t.”  I didn’t have to fake the disapproval in my
voice.

“But I did. Remember, Sofia, no one is
ever lost to us. I thought you might appreciate the art better if you were
reunited with your lover. Think of it as an incentive.” When I didn’t respond,
he gave an impatient shake of his head. “You’ll see, in time.” To Mark he said,
“Put her on the table and leave us. Sofia clearly isn’t ready to appreciate the
gift of your presence.” There was a soft thump followed by the click of the
door shutting once Mark did as Kristoff asked.

It was just me, Kristoff, and whoever was
on the table. I squinted, straining to see in the dim light, but couldn’t make
out anything beyond faint outlines of people and things I didn’t recognize.
Although, I had a sinking feeling I knew who the other person in the room was,
even without visual confirmation.