The Emerald Talisman (31 page)

“Nicho–” I screamed, but Justin lunged
towards me. I threw up my arms to protect myself, closing my eyes
hoping it would be quick. But instead he brushed up against my neck
and recoiled, howling in pain.

I opened my eyes and gasped. Justin writhed
in front of me, screaming out obscenities.

“You witch,” he shrieked, holding his
arm.

I sat there, dumbfounded when he attacked
again. I winced, but he withdrew with smoke coming off his hand.
Perplexed, I tried to figure out what happened.

“How are you doing that?” he demanded,
overwrought with frustration.

“What?”

“Burning me like that?”

“I’m not doing anything,” I said
honestly.

“You’re doing something.”

He sat across from me with fretful eyes. I
returned his dirty look just the same, but his frustration suddenly
turned to fear and he started to get up.

“Where are you going?”

“No where,” he said in a lie.

Courage surged through my veins as I sat up
realizing he couldn’t hurt me. He was actually terrified of me, me
of all people. A feeble human. And as if fate intervened, there was
a stake magically placed right at my feet. I grabbed it with
confidence, held it firmly in my hand and stood up. It felt very
heavy in my palm, heavier than the one I had made.

Justin took one look at me and his eyes grew
big as saucers.

“You should have been nicer to me,” I said,
now feeling invincible.

“What are you going to do?”

Terror spread across his face.

“I’m going to make some wrongs right,” I
said, but as I spoke, he disappeared in an instant.

Without thinking, I blindly flung the stake
forward in his general direction. I held my breath and watched,
knowing it was a million to one shot. And as if the stake was a
heart-seeking missile, it hit him squarely in the chest. Justin
turned with a look of surprise then pain and melted in a puff of
smoke.

I watched the stake drop to the floor with
that familiar clink and the reality of what I’d done hit hard.
Justin was the second personal tragedy fulfilling the psychic’s
prediction that I would
rid the world of them
. Even though
this was the only way to stop them, I hated the final outcome.
Vampires or not, Phil’s and Justin’s mothers would hopelessly wait
for their sons to come home. And just like my mother it would never
happen.

Suddenly, something rocked the ceiling. The
crater-sized hole in the side of the building told me everything. I
couldn’t believe I didn’t notice they’d crashed through, but I was
a little bit busy with Justin threatening my life.

I picked up the stake out of Justin’s ashes
and ran over to the hole to peer out. They were close, but I
couldn’t see them. I carefully crawled over the broken cement
pieces and stepped outside.

My success with Justin proved the talisman
was more than just a beautiful piece of jewelry, but I didn’t know
the extent of its power. My hand grew sweaty under the stake as I
gripped it tighter. Something told me Nicholas needed my help and
even if it meant my life, I had to try.

My feet miraculously didn’t make a sound when
I walked around the building and hid behind a garbage dumpster. I
was positive they’d hear me when I accidentally pulled the air into
my lungs a little too sharply after I saw Nicholas trapped by the
whips just a few feet in front of me. But they didn’t.

The twins stood on either side of Nicholas,
pulling the glowing silvery strands of rope taunt, a pile of ash at
their feet. The two were all the only ones left. Nicholas struggled
against the restraints while spewing threats.

“Call her,” I heard Bettina say in elation to
Angelia.

I was pretty sure when Bettina mentioned
her
, she meant Alora. I’d suspected Alora had sent her
lackeys to fetch Nicolas after she discovered Phil was
unsuccessful. But if Alora came, it would be all over for us. With
Nicholas pinned against these unearthly weapons, adding her
wickedness to the mix would be all they needed to kill him.

This was my only chance to stop them.

“No!” I screamed.

Startled, Angelia flipped closed her phone
and turned towards me.

“Where did you come from?”

With full force, I chucked my stake right at
Angelia’s heart, hoping to hit her like I did Justin, freeing at
least one of Nicholas’ wrists. But she caught it in midair and
laughed.

“Nice try,” she said with a smirk and looked
at me like I were a bothersome buzzing gnat. “Get over here.”

Before I knew it, she’d run over, grabbed my
wrist and pulled me to her side, still holding Nicholas in place
with her whip. The strand magically grew with her movements. In a
late response, I tried to jerk away, but found I was trapped in her
iron grasp.

“You again,” Bettina said with hard,
calculating eyes. “I should have killed you earlier.”

I shirked under her deadly stare to catch
Nicholas’ confusion and then horror. He didn’t know we’d met
already. But then he became calm, like he’d discovered a solution
to our problem.

“I’ll go with you willingly if you let Julia
go,” Nicholas interrupted quickly.

Both the girls’ focuses went off me to
Nicholas’ face. I squirmed. The plan could not include him turning
himself in and ultimately his demise.

“No,” I said firmly. “Nicholas, don’t do
this.”

Everyone ignored me. Bettina’s face remained
icy, but her emotions told me she was mulling it over.

“What’s my guarantee you’ll cooperate,” she
said after a second.

“My word,” he said very calmly. I sensed to
my horror his intention to keep it.

“No!” I said a little louder.

“Your word?” Bettina said in a sneer. Her lip
turned up at the corner and she shot Angelia a look. They both
laughed profusely.

“A vampire’s word is worthless you fool,” she
retorted. “I want to know your weakness and then we’ll
negotiate.”

Fear overtook me because I knew without the
talisman, everything was his weakness. He was still partly human
after all. My blood began to pound behind my ears in anticipation
of what he’d say even though he still exuded a calm confidence.

“Julia
is
my weakness,” Nicholas
replied plainly.

I gasped. Why did he tell them that? My mind
reeled at the admission and then discovered it to be true. I was.
He’d warned me the vampires would use me to get to him. I didn’t
listen. And my stubborn actions removed the anonymity he used to
attack his enemies and it forced him to give me the necklace. Now
the only thing he could do was sacrifice himself through a trade. I
would be responsible for his death as predicted.

“Interesting,” Bettina said through squinted
eyes, “You’ll come peaceably if we let her go?”

“Yes,” he said.

Panic welled up and constricted my chest. I
struggled to pull the air into my lungs, but pushed it back out
with the force of a freight train.

“She lies. She won’t let me go,” I exclaimed
louder than I’d ever yelled in my life.

Bettina’s nostrils flared as she yanked down
hard on my arm with tremendous force. I yelped out instinctively
expecting my shoulder to be pulled from its socket. Nothing
happened.

“Shut up, you little urchin,” she spewed.

Her steel grip tightened around my arm and I
thought the bones would break under the pressure, but something
stayed her hand. I glared back watching the muscles in her face
tense up, her wrist tightening as if she tried to clamp harder but
the pressure didn’t change. The medallion warmed against my skin
and I realized it kept her from harming me. I smirked when her
frustration began to swell. I went to taunt her, but found I’d lost
the ability to speak.

Angelia gave up trying to crush my arm and
spoke to Bettina in a Gaelic tongue. The musical flow of their
speech was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Then I remembered
Nicholas telling me vampires had special powers like speaking in
foreign languages, but the speed and enchanting sounds they made
were musical, completely mesmerizing.

I felt Nicholas stir. I turned to face him.
With a grim expression he mouthed to me ‘remember what I told
you’.

I looked wide-eyed into his beautiful face,
shook my head
yes
. He told me to call his dad. But I didn’t
want to come to the reality he might not survive this. I could
never live with myself if he died protecting me and it was my
fault.

I started to object, but the only thing that
came out of my mouth was air – not even a whisper. I clutched my
throat in concern, but his attention was no longer on me. He still
remained perfectly calm.

“You have a deal,” Bettina finally said. “I’m
taking you in and Angelia will stay here with Julia. You cooperate
fully, we’ll let her go. If not, she dies.”

“Fine, but I want to give Julia the keys to
my car first so she can leave.”

Nicholas turned and gave me a knowing look
with imploring eyes. I didn’t understand. I didn’t need his keys
because I drove.

“Take the keys out of my
back pocket,
Julia,” he said while edging a little closer to me, as far as the
whips would allow.

With my free hand, I reached up under his
coat and searched for his keys, but didn’t find them. All I felt
was a wooden stake within the folds of his coat.

‘
He wants you to stake Angelia’
I
heard a familiar voice say in my mind.

I froze. When I discovered the stake, the
thought crossed my mind. But I was too afraid Angelia would stop
me, lose her patience for sure this time and we’d both die.

What?... I can’t… How?... I already tried
once. Are you sure?

The chaos in my brain moved a mile a minute
unable to focus on one complete thought to ask what I needed to
know.

‘
Take a deep breath.’

I inhaled as instructed.

‘
You can do this. Our lives depend on
it.’

Her words miraculously centered me as I
focused on channeling her confidence. My heart started to pound as
I visualized my task, the stake firmly in my hand. Then I closed my
eyes and in one fluid motion, I swung my arm forward aiming
directly for Angelia’s chest.

Her sudden surprise caused me to open my eyes
and I watched her beautiful snowy face and inky-colored eyes change
to an ashy black within seconds. Nicholas was ready once Angelia’s
whip vanished. He had a stake in his hand, yanking Bettina towards
him with her whip. She let out a screech, and morphed into a white
cat, darting into the bushes. Nicholas cried out in frustration
when the stake bounced on the pavement behind her paws.

Suddenly the sound of a freight train rushed
in my ears and the world went topsy-turvy. My body felt weak as my
eyes were being pulled into long shadowy tunnels of cold darkness
and something hard whacked my face.

“Julia!”

In the distance, deadly cat screams echoed
against the mountains. Then strong, warm hands scooped underneath
my body lifting me upright. My head flopped around on my neck like
a puppet, finally finding support in the crook of his arm. The
close contact made me feel safe and whole again as he rocked me
gently. I felt my trembling subside.

“Is it over?” I whispered, realizing I had my
voice back.

My eyes met his tender gaze as he smiled down
on me, face full of concern.

“Yes, for now,” he said. “Are you sure you’re
okay?”

I mentally assessed my condition. My cheek
felt a little raw from catching my fall, but other than that
nothing physically hurt – not even where Angelia tried to crush my
arm. For a second I contemplated exaggerating my pains so he’d hold
me longer.

“I think so,” I said with a sigh, trying to
get up.

“I just don’t think you should stand yet,” he
said “You’ve taken a nasty fall.”

Relief abounded from his body as he drew me
into a tighter embrace. I felt him lean over and kiss the top of my
head. My joy swelled at the gesture.

I looked up into his wonderful face as he
pushed a lock of my hair away from my eyes. He lowered his lips to
my forehead – soft and warm. Then he kissed the tip of my nose and
my heart quickened. His fingertips wove gently around my chin,
tilted my face toward his and he kissed me, deeply.

A small moan escaped my lips as I surrendered
to his warm mouth gently caressing mine, his sweet breath filling
my nostrils. My hand found its way behind his neck, our lips moving
in perfect harmony.

We parted and I felt light headed again.
Afraid I’d faint, I slowly opened my eyes to meet his –
crystalline, sparkling like a green sea, clear, happy.

“I’ve wanted to do that since our fight on
Sunday.”

“Really?” I said, surprised, trying to catch
my breath.

“Please, we can’t fight like that again.”

I nodded my head and snuggled into his arms
afraid my voice might break the heavenly bliss we shared.

. . .

22 – MISSING PIECES

It was at that moment, I knew Nicholas was
the only one for me. The pull he had on me was stronger than any
force I’d known – stronger than hunger, stronger than survival,
maybe even stronger than love. And the more time we spent together,
the more the intensity of that bond increased. I wondered if it was
healthy to be that drawn to someone. I did know one thing for
certain; I’d fight heaven and hell to be with him. No crazy
prediction would control our happiness. I’d change fate.

I relaxed in his arms and felt his heart
beat, steady in his chest as his hand gently caressed my hair, his
mood content and peaceful.

“How did you know?” he asked gently.

“What?”

“To come here?”

“Oh—I realized my cell phone was missing so I
checked my calls online. That’s when I saw the text message Phil
sent you. I knew you’d come to the address thinking it was from
me.”