The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) (41 page)

No matter how much detail I go into as to why Lou is unconscious, Sin refuses to trust me. When I offer to move Lou out of the circle to allow more space for Sin to do her meditation, she flat out refuses, telling me to ‘go away,’ though she uses much more flowery words than those.

I guess this means our combined meditation is not going to happen. We’ll have to think of another way to destroy the spell trapping the sorceresses. Hopefully there is one not requiring me to pierce my sword through their stomachs.

Rose declares she’s fine, but she refuses to sit anywhere near me within the room, leaving me to a corner by myself. I’d feel lonely if I wasn’t so happy. Rose is safe, the darkness is gone, and Lou is going to be all right. I can feel her magic growing every hour she sleeps. Things are finally starting to look up.

“Stop it,” Sin says.

I lift my gaze from Lou and realize Sin has been staring directly at me for I’m not sure how long.

“What?” I try
to look innocent, but as Ma has told me many times, I’m not a good player. She can probably easily see through my act. “I’m just sitting here.”

“You’re smiling while watching her sleep,” she says. “It’s creepy. So stop it.”

I can’t stop smiling. Things feel too good for the first time in too long. But I can stop staring. Lou would probably be just as uncomfortable as Sin if she woke up to find me watching her. However, it’s harder to avoid looking at her than I would ever have imagined. My eyes keep sliding in her direction no matter where else in the room I try to focus them. She seems so peaceful with her arm tucked under her head and her lips parted to allow the slightest of snores to escape every few breaths.

Touching her might be off limits right now, but it doesn’t stop me from remembering the soft silky feeling of her skin or the moist pressure of her lips
against mine.

“If you don’t stop,” Sin says. “I will make you see Farah’s butt every time you look at her.”

“Very mature,” I say. “Aren’t you supposed to be concentrating on finding your creatures? What does it matter where I’m looking?”

“You’re distracting me,” she says. “Why don’t you make yourself useful by taking a walk around the building? Make sure none of your
Sword friends have found us yet.”

“We would both know if they were
near.” I’m not entirely sure what I’m saying is true, but I have no interest in letting Lou out of my sight. “Part of the package of becoming a wizard. We always know when one of our kind is around.”

Although we can
sense each other, there is a limit in distance. With this building being as large as it is, I’m not sure we would be able to feel someone before they got inside.

“Maybe so,” she says. “But we still won’t have any idea if one of their minions, such as the cops from earlier
, shows up. We don’t want any more surprises, do we?”

Another valid point. As much as I would rather stay, I need to go. Keeping Lou safe is much more important than watching her sleep.

“Make sure you let me know if anything changes,” I say.

Sin growls. “Just go.”

I stand and brush away the dirt clinging to me from the floor. I hate to imagine the state of Lou’s dress after all of this. Shame. I like it. Though that might have something to do with the fact it doesn’t make it past her knees. Not something I’d ever imagine a woman in my world would wear.

Before I leave
, I take a last look around the room to make sure there are no dangers I might have missed. I meet Rose’s gaze for just long enough to see her turn bright red and shift her head away.

Perhaps leaving is a good thing after all. It gives me a little longer to think about how I’m going to deal with
her.

I don’t make it three steps out the door before I hear Sin exclaim in excitement. When I barge back into the room, she’s still sitting cross legged with h
er eyes closed. Her back seems to be a little straighter and a smile spreads across her face, revealing every one of her teeth.

“I did it,” she says. “I found them. They’re safe.”

As quick as her smile came, it fades away again.

“Wait, that can’t be right.” Her head tilts to the side as though she’s trying to examine something from another angle. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“What?” Rose asks. “What doesn’t make sense?”

I don’t need Sin to answer. Her frown tells me enough. I race to Lou, lifting her into my arms before Sin has a chance to explain. Lou doesn’t wake, though she shifts her weight, snuggling into my chest.

“They’re close,” Sin says. “Farah and Nyx are almost here.”

“You know what that means,” I say. “Victor would never have let them
go. Not unless there was a very good reason to. He’s using them to track us. We need to leave.”

Sin and Rose
stand at the same time, but Rose is much slower to straighten. She hasn’t quite recovered from the damage I dealt her earlier, and it’s taking its toll, slowing her down. Sin notices the same thing and gives me a look.

I recognize
her expression. And I don’t like it.

“We aren’t going to make it far,” she says. “Between Rose’s injuries and you having to carry Lou, they’ll catch up in seconds. Farah’s very fast.”

“You’re not going alone,” I say. “You’ve no magic to protect you. They’ll kill you the second they realize what’s happening.”

She begins kicking out the circle to keep it from being used by someone else.

“Farah and Nyx will be looking for me,” she says. “They won’t have any reason to search for you. So long as I keep out of sight, I can lead Rilla and Victor on a wild goose chase for a while.”

“How long’s a while?” Rose asks.

“A few hours,” Sin says. She notices I’m about to protest and interjects. “Possibly days. I have ways to put them off my trail. And you know this is our only chance. You would do the same thing if they were tracking you.”

I clench my jaw closed. She’s righ
t. I would. I’d do anything to save Lou, and right now Sin’s plan is the only one we have.

“Which direction are they coming from?” I ask.

“East,” Sin says. “I think they must have tracked me to my car and were only able to pick me up again when I started to do the meditation.”

I nod. “They’ll expect us to continue travelling west, so we’ll head north.” She starts to head out the door
, but I stop her. “Sin.” She gives me an expectant look. “Stay out of sight, and stay alive. Lou’s going to be mad enough when she wakes up. You don’t want to make it worse.”

Sin wiggles her eyebrows once and grins before turning and taking off full speed down the corridor.

I’m conscious of Rose tiring quickly as we move through the shadows of the ever darkening city. There are few people out, making it easier than usual to move about without being seen. The first bit of luck in a while.

Although I know Rose won’t say a word about needing
a break. I’m also sure she must do so soon or else she will collapse. Without the dark magic spurring me forward and with the added weight of Lou, I’m about ready to drop as well.

“We’ll
stop soon.” Rose doesn’t reply. She keeps her eyes forward and continues moving. “The storage rooms we used before aren’t far from here. We should be safe there for now.”

“Until Sin’s
caught you mean,” she says.

I wish there was some magical word I could say in order to make things okay for her, but I can think of nothing. So I stay qui
et. It’s safer that way.

We make it to the
warehouse full of locked storage rooms of various sizes. We discovered the place during the last few months of chasing wizards and living wherever is most convenient at the time. Last time we were here I’d noticed each space is filled with anything from a couple of pieces of furniture to an overwhelming heap of what can only be described as stuff.

I wish I could remember which ones we’d tested last time. But the locks have all been long since replaced and the darkness was in control most of the time we were here. All I can remember are brief images of dark rooms and piles of objects.

Rose takes over and chooses a room, seemingly at random. Without a word, she draws my sword and easily cuts through the metal lock on the door. She shoves the door up enough for us to duck under and then closes it behind us.

Once the door is closed, the lights from the corridor outside are completely shut out and we’re left in darkness.
Rose taps a button on the wall next to the door and a single source of light on the ceiling illuminates the room. Amazing what these people have come up with in the absence of magic.

The room is
decent sized. Bigger than mine at home. Mostly empty, though there’s some covered furniture neatly piled in a corner. They must be trying to save space so they can add more items later. It’s the only reason I can think they’ve kept all of their items tucked into one area.

When I notice a thick mattress leaning against the boxes, I use my foot to
shove out the bottom and let it drop to the floor. Once it’s down, I gently set Lou on top.

“Well,” Rose says, “At least Lou will be comfortable.”

I take my time to rub some of the stress out of my face before facing her.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I know this isn’t what you imagined things would be like when you followed me.”

“What I imagined?” Rose’s face, particularly around her eyes, reddens as she fights to hold back tears. “You’re right. I can’t say when I imagined us running for our lives, hiding in dark, dingy spaces with only one bed you’d be bringing along another girl. And she would be the one you’d fall in love with.”

Dealing with the nervousness of being chased by The Sword is nothing to what I’m feeling now. I close my eyes
with the hope when I open them this conversation will be over and everything will have gone back to being normal between Rose and me. Somehow I’m not surprised when I open them and find things worse than before. Rose has lost control of the tears and they’ve started streaming down her cheeks. I have no idea how to deal with crying. Leaving is the only solution I can think of, but I know doing so will only cause more trouble later.

“I love you.” She stops
, and a half-laugh tumbles from her lips. “I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to tell you. Aldric, I am in love with you.”

“I know.” I press my hand against my eyes once more. Her dismayed expression tells me I’ve said exactly the wrong thing. “I mean, I didn’t know. I had no idea until Lou told me.”

“Lou,” she says.

And I’ve just made things much worse.

“I’m so sorry.” It’s the safest thing I can think to say.

Neither of us speaks for a long time. I force myself to look at her. As hard as it is to see her cry, I need some indication of what she’s thinking.

I expect anger, sorrow, frustration, many things. I don’t expect her to look exhausted. Her tears have stopped, and for the first time when I look at her, I see her as the seventeen-year-old woman she is, not the girl I remember from our childhood. She has a quiet maturity to her I never noticed before. And her eyes hold intelligence beyond anything I’ll ever know.

She seems as reluctant to look at me as I am to look at her.

“There’s no chance of you changing your mind?” she asks. “I could be good for you.”

This is it. Whatever I say now will forever change Rose
’s and my relationship. I was foolish to think things could go back to how they were. Things will never be the same.

“I will always love you,” I say. “You are as much my sister as Loraine.” Tears burst out of her, but she doesn’t run. She needs to hear the rest as much as I need to say it. “But
I’m sorry, Rose. I will never feel that way about you.”

Her sniffs are long and
ragged as she takes the time to control her tears once more.

“I’ve known all along,” she says. “But I thought maybe things would change. Maybe enough time away from her would make you forget.” She quickly rubs her running nose on her sleeve and nods once. “Thank you for telling me the truth. I’m sorry, I need...”

She turns and leaves, unable to finish telling me what exactly it is she needs. I’d warn her not to go far, there are still people following us, but I keep my mouth shut. If anyone knows how to keep out of sight of The Sword after all of this time, it’s her. She’s been doing it for months with little to no help from me.

I feel drained. I can only hope Sin is in better shape than we are right now, or else she might already be caught.

A thought keeps tugging at the edge of my mind, and no matter how much I try to ignore it, I can’t make it go away. After what happened between Rose and me, I can’t believe I’m thinking it at all. I really should be worrying more about sparing her feelings than encouraging mine.

But then it’s hard to ignore a beautiful woman lying in the most comfortable looking bed I’ve seen in months.

I don’t have to lie down for long. Just a few minutes will be plenty, and I’ll be up long before Rose gets back. I edge the few inches over to the bed.

After a final check to make sure I don’t hear Rose returning, I slowly slide into a spot next to Lou. Lying on my side so I can see her, I tuck my arm under my head and
allow myself to relax.

Her eyes flutter open and she smiles.

“Hey,” she says.

I grin back. “Hello.”

And then I clue into the fact I’m lying down next to her, uninvited, in a strange place, alone, and watching her sleep. Moving as quickly as I can manage, I sit and stare anywhere else in the room but at her. This has not been the best day for me where girls are concerned. All I can hope is I haven’t completely scared her off.

She sits up at a much slower pace than me and takes her time to look around. Her hand runs through her hair, flipping a few locks to the wrong side of her natural part. I clench my fist to remind myself not to reach over and fix it. And then I realize
I’m gawking again.

“I take it you no longer feel like killing me?” she asks.

I feel the color drain from my face as scenes of her running to avoid blast after blast of magic flashes through my mind. No matter how much I try to convince myself I didn’t have control, it wasn’t my fault, I can’t get over the fact it was me attacking her. There was no one else. By all rights, she should hate me.

“It w
asn’t you,” she says as though reading my mind. “I know that.”

I stand and walk over to the door. There are more important things to worry about th
an whether I should or shouldn’t be forgiven. Putting some space between myself and Lou helps me think about them.

“We can’t stay here long,” I say. “If you’re up to moving, we’ll need to leave when Rose gets back.”

“Rose?” She takes in our surroundings and looks appropriately confused. “Where are we? What about Sin?”

I wish I didn’t have to be the one to tell her what’s happening. She has enough reasons to hate me already without adding more. Eventually something is going to be the last straw and she’s going to
decide I’m not worth the trouble I cause. Maybe she already thinks as much.

“Victor is using Sin’s creatures to track us down,” I say. “She believed, and I agreed, our only chance to keep you safe was
to split up. They will continue following her, giving us the time we need to...” To what? Escape? No, there’s no chance of that. Once a wizard decides to go after someone, they will hunt them until they either find them or die. “...run,” I finish.

“Sin’s on her own?” When Lou attempts to stand, she wobbles for a minute before collapsing onto the bed once again. “We have to help her. Wh
o knows what they’ll do to her when they catch her.”

I don’t have any doubt what Victor will do. It’s the same thing he’ll do to me if and when he catches me. There is only one punishment for wizards who turn against their own kind. Death.

“She’s doing what she has to in order to give you a chance,” I say. “I would do the same if I thought there was any chance to save you. I saw what they did to the sorceress at the portal. I won’t let that happen to you.”

“Then what?” she asks. “Run away? I remember what you told me before, wizards don’t stop chasing. Am I supposed to run the rest of my life?”

I cringe and focus on the door to avoid her glare. “Only for the rest of his life, which I promise will be cut short as soon as I have an opportunity to do anything about it.”

Although she’s still shaky, when she attempts to stand again, she succeeds. She manages to walk to me and place her hands on my crossed arms.

“Running isn’t a solution,” she says. “You know it isn’t. And you also know I can look after myself, or at least you should by now.”

I do not like where she’s headed with this. “What other options do we have?”

“We need to bring the fight to them.” Exactly what I didn’t want to hear her say. “Listen to me, you know I’m right. If what you said is true and they’re going to try and combine our two worlds, then we need to stop them. We can’t run away from a problem this big. Whether they catch me or not, they will find a way to complete what they’ve started and it will be all over.”

Trying to convince her going after Victor is suicide would be pointless. She won’t listen to me. I can tell by the stubborn set of her jaw she’s already made up her mind
and she’s not going to give in.

“Your sister is risking her life to keep you
safe,” I say. “You should respect her and stay hidden.”

She starts to argue, so I place my hand over her mouth.

“However, you’re right. We do need to stop them.”

The corners of her eyes crinkle in a smile and her lips tickle as she says, “Thank you,” through my fingers.

“Don’t thank me yet,” I say. Her eyes narrow with suspicion. “You’re in no condition to fight anyone right now, let alone the most powerful wizard alive. I’ll go and figure out a way to stop what Fitzroy has already started. And you are going to continue to follow your sister’s plan and keep running.”