The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) (45 page)

Al takes one look at the chains wrapped around me and lurches toward me as though he plans to break them off with his bare hands.

“Stop Aldric.” Loraine steps in front of him and he’s forced to stop while still several feet away from me. “What have you learned about running into the middle of big evil spells?” she says. “That’s right. Don’t do it.”

“Lou.” He leans around her to speak to me as though she’s not there. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

A screeching whine comes from somewhere below, followed by a bird’s call. Sin. A few seconds later she makes her way up the stairs two at a time.

“I locked them up like you said,” Sin says. “Now where is she?” She stops the moment she can see me through the railing. “Well, shit.”

“Nobody panic quite yet,” Loraine says. “There may still be time to fix this.”

I can feel the chains begin to shu
dder only seconds before the entire house shakes. The others have to scramble to catch their footing as I rely on the chains to keep me from toppling through the doorway. A glance over my shoulder causes my stomach to sink to a new low.

On the edge of the property, the ground has cracked in a rugged circle as far as I can see. I'm sure the crack runs all of the way around the house, separating us from the rest of the world. From both worlds.
 

“Okay,” Loraine says when the ground stops moving. “You can panic now.”

"Cut the chains." I yank them down as hard as I can manage but they don't do anything more than jangle together. An ominous sound.

Al looks at them, but doesn't come any closer and doesn't draw his sword.

"What are you waiting for?" Sin puts a hand on Al as though to push him toward me, but doesn't seem to put any force behind the touch. She's just as reluctant to get any closer to me as Al. At least they both recognize the danger of getting caught in the spell. "The sword can cut through magic, right? Then start slicing."

"
Aldric?" Fear causes Rose's voice to catch. "What is it?"

There's sadness behind his gaze
, deeper than anything I've witnessed before. He can't help me.

"For
christsake, Al," Sin says. "Cut the bloody chain before we all die."

"I can't."

It takes the space of another earthquake for everyone to register what he's said.

Everyone but Loraine. She doesn’t seem surprised at all.

Although Sin doesn’t speak loudly, there’s more threat in her voice than I’ve ever heard from her shouts. "What?"

“The sword no longer has the power.” He draws the blade and demonstrates against the wall, which would normally have Sin up in arms. But when the blade barely digs into the plaster before getting stuck, she doesn’t say a word. “It happened when I cut Loraine free. I guess the magic in it
was absorbed back into Loraine. Much like what happened to you, Lou, when I killed Stewart.”

The largest earthquake yet. The walls behind the stairs begin to crack and large chunks of plaster drop
from the ceiling to shatter across the floor.

My feet slip, and for a moment I'm suspended over empty air. When I manage to
get my footing once again and look around at the others, I discover all but Loraine have fallen.

Loraine stands with her legs spread for balance and her arms above her head. Magic flows from every inch of her like a blanket of light. Every place it touches the house, it spreads out, flowing through e
ach board and nail until her magic weaves through every inch of the house.

“Sorry.” Her voice is strained as she attempts to speak without breaking her concentration. “Looks like you guys will have to figure this out on your own. I’m going to be busy for a little bit. Saving the house. Nothing big.”

Sin runs to her bedroom and starts tossing stuff around. "There has to be something in Gran's books," she says from the other room. "She has information on everything. There must be a way to stop this.”

"If we can’t break the chains, maybe we can destroy the symbols instead?" Rose
’s eyes dart back and forth between Al and me. "That's how magic works, isn't it? Destroy the source."

The problem is the symbols are no longer the source of the
spell. I am.

There's only one way to stop this. Al's going to have to kill me.

I close my eyes and feel the tears squeeze through my lids and slide down my face. There's no other option. To save the worlds, I must die. It’s what Al was afraid of happening all along.

"Do it," I whisper. He doesn't answer. I gather every ounce of courage I have, which is less th
an I'd like, and force myself to look him in the eye. "Do it."

He won’t stop shaking his head. Even though he knows what's at stake, he won't take the next step. The only solution.

"Do it!" I shouldn't have shouted. What little energy I still have is exhausted in those two words. I slump, the pain in my arms barely registering. "Please Al. You know it's the only way."

"What is?" Sin asks from the doorway. I can feel her gaze pierce through me as though she's able to see in my mind. "No. No
way." She rushes over to Al and attempts to shove him away from me, but doesn't succeed at even forcing him to take a step back. "That's not an option."

"
Aldric?" Rose says in a tiny voice. She might not understand exactly what we're arguing about, but she must feel the tension of the room shift to a whole new level.

"It's the only way." Al looks as though he's begging for forgiveness from first
Sin, then Rose, and finally me.

I don't want to die. I've barely started to live. I
finally just graduated from high school. I've only been able to kiss the guy I love once, and it was while surrounded by enemies and having the power drained out of me. I need more time.

But what more can a person want? My death will save everyone else.

Nope. Even thinking about it in those terms sucks.

I don't want to die.

The ground shifts again, though this time the house barely shudders. Outside is a different story. The cracks surrounding the house have split off, creating deep chasms in the earth. I can actually see the sections of ground move as the gorges widen and engulf everything they touch.

A giant tree, planted however many decades ago, succumbs to
the gap with a loud crack. It pulls from its roots to fall out of sight.

We're out of time.

"Al," I say. "Please. You have to."

"Could you?" he asks, not just
to me, but to Sin and Rose too. "To save the world, could you kill the person you love?"

How could he? How could he say it now, when everything around us is fal
ling apart? Why couldn't it be during a time when I could actually savor the word and everything it means?

"One life," I say. "To save the world. To save both worlds. It's an easy choice."

"Yes." His lips lift in an almost smile. "It truly is."

Sin backs off Al and
leans against the cracked wall beside me. "So." She says. "This is it, huh? Well. It was fun while it lasted."

It isn't
right. I can't let them do this. They’re making the wrong choice.

And then Rose grabs Al's sword. She points the blade at me as Al steps between us.

"You can't do this." Her eyes are bright with a mix of tears and insanity. "You can't choose her over everything else. Over everyone else."

"Oh
, Rose." The pain in Al's voice hits the girl like a punch to the gut. "I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry. But I do."

Her arms droop as his words wou
nd her in ways I can only imagine. But as the ground shakes again, her strength returns to her.

"Move,
Aldric," she says. "You might not be able to kill her, but I can."

Instead of fighting for the weapon, Al turns his back on her and breaks the gap between us. As soon as
he steps into the circle of the symbols I can feel his magic as easily as my own. For the first time since he killed Stewart, there is no trace of corruption in him. He's clean. And it feels so right having him next to me.

His hand touches my
cheek and the tension leaves his face for a moment as he gives me a true smile, the kind I've been yearning for since the first time I met him. When he presses his lips to mine, everything fades away. All that matters is the two of us and every inch of our bodies touch.

I can feel a trickle of my magic pass to him,
 but there's no pain. I'm glad to give it. I'd give him anything he wants. And when his own strange but interesting power trickles into me in response, I know he'd do the same.

Without breaking contact with any part of me besides his lips, Al ends the kiss to say, "I'm part of the spell now." His head moves just enough to look over his shoulder at Rose. "The only way to stop it is to kill us both. Can you do it?"

I feel like I should ready myself. Tense my body for the attack. But I can't. I'm too comfortable wrapped in Al's arms to fear death.

A moment later, the sword clatters to the floor.

A moment after that, the worlds end.

I press my head into Al’s chest and breathe in his scent. Everything could be okay if I coul
d spend the rest of my life like this.

But everything’s not all right. And no matter how much I try to pretend otherwise, it will never be all right.

Rilla and Victor’s spell is complete and the worlds will never be the same because of it. The spell capturing me and bleeding me of my magic has faded along with the earthquakes. Thunder and lightning still crash somewhere in the distance and rain pours into the house through the open doorway, but otherwise, the worst seems to be over. At least, directly around us it is.

With the spell gone,
the chains were easily pulled out of the crumbling doorframe to release me.

My source of magic is
completely empty as far as I can tell, and I’d guess Al’s is the same. Though I have a feeling mine will come back. He doesn’t have the same luxury. Then again, I wouldn’t mind sharing if it’s with Al.

While Al and I sit against
a wall, drained of all energy to do anything more than hold each other, the others move around trying to assess the damage.

Sin’s first thought is for her animals of course. Once she’s sure they’re okay, though a little
shaken up, she begins to walk around the house, checking every room.

“Damn it,” she shouts. “I think the earthquakes took out every single one of Gran’s plates. I guess we’re eating out of bowls for a while.”

“Do you think everyone at home is okay?” Rose asks.

No one says anything. We have no way of knowing and won’t find out until we go check. I’ve already tried to phone Mom, but
all phones in our house are down, both cell and Gran’s old landline.

“I’m fine by the way,” Loraine says after a bit of silence. “Only used up
a month’s worth of magic to save the house, but it’s not a big deal. I’m perfectly okay.”

I can feel Al’s head shake though I refuse to move in order to get a proper look at him.

“You did great, Loraine,” he says. “You saved us all.”

“Thank you,” she says. “Now was that so hard?”

“Aww!” Sin’s voice carries easily from somewhere at the back of the house. “The picture of us with Gran at Fairyland got ripped. Damn it. I looked so cute in it.”

Part of me wants to laugh, but I know if I start, I won’t be able to stop. Either that, or it will quickly turn to tears and I’ll start sobbing
uncontrollably into Al’s shirt.

A knock on the door startles all of us, though none of us have the strength or energy to stand
to do anything about it. Farah starts growling in the way she usually reserves for wizards, and all of us tense more. If it is a wizard, none of us, except maybe Sin, will be able to do a thing about it.

“Yep, this is it,” an unfamiliar voice barks as they walk through the door uninvited. There’s a strange quality to the voice
, as though the person is trying to force themselves to speak in a deeper octave than is natural for them. “I can sense the magic.”

“Who the hell are you
?” Sin says, followed quickly by, “Hey. Stop. You can’t go up there.”

A woman with brown hair cut short in a boy’s hairstyle gets to the top of the stairs and takes a long look around.
I would have guessed she was a guy at first, except her shirt is tight enough to show the curves of her chest. Her gaze pauses as she takes in each of us and then the opening where the portal once was.

She points to the doorway. “Portal?” she asks in her false deep voice.

No one moves or gives any indication she’s guessed right. Assuming it is a guess.

Her finger moves to point between Rose, Loraine and me. “And
two...three...two sorceresses?”

Again we don’t react. This time it’s more difficult not to be impressed. What would make her think we’re sorceresses? Unless she’s a sorceress herself, or a wizard, there’s no way she should be able to tell.

“And no dead,” she says. “Impressive.”

“Get out of my house,” Sin says
as she follows several others up the stairs. “All of you. Or my chimera will kill each and every one of you on my command.”

As though trained to act with perfect comedic timing, Farah makes the most pathetic of yips and then rushes up the stairs to hide in
the room at the farthest end of the hallway.

“Farah.” Sin races up the stairs after her pet
. “What is wrong—?”

I have never seen Sin become completely lost for words
for longer than a few seconds before. But when a tall, incredibly handsome young man with floppy green hair and emerald eyes that practically glow in the dark pushes past the other unwelcome guests and comes up behind her, lazily slings his arm around her shoulder, she goes utterly silent. She stares up at him, her jaw hanging open just like a cartoon character’s might. And she says nothing long after I expected her to be able to find her voice again.

“Hello
, little shaman,” the man says. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Sin
continues to stare.

“Guess you and your sister won’t have to rescue me after all,” he says. “I’ve already found myself a knight
in shining...” He indicates the short haired girl. “What are you wearing? Leather? Cotton? Anyway, he graciously figured out a way to free me. For a price, of course.”

“I’ve told you,” the girl says patiently. “I’m female. That makes me a
‘she.’”

“Of course.” The green haired guy waves his hand dismissively. “It really is impossible to tell
the difference with you humans.” His gaze falls on Al and his eyes narrow with concentration. I tense, not liking the way the stranger is looking at my Al. “You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Dray?” Sin finally manages to say.

His eyes widen with amusement and he grins at Sin. “Right. I have a name. Dray.” He nods while taking the time to think about it. “Not bad. Though I think it should have a bit more oomph like ‘Dray the Human Slayer’ or “Dray the Destroy.’ What do you think?”

Sin doesn’t respond.

“No, you’re right,” he says. “It’s too much. Fine, I’ll stick with Dray. For now.”

Since no one else seems to be able to ask the most obvious question, I say, “Who are you people?”

“My name is Tristan,” the brown haired girl says with a polite nod of her head. “And we are representatives of the Shadow Coven. We’re here to help.”