Time to Your Elf, page 22
Gradually, he started to push forward, gaining ground on Reg a fraction of an inch at a time. He smiled. A tight, frozen smile filled with effort.
Reg could feel Corvin behind her. His hand was no longer on her arm, but she could feel his presence there and could feel his power. She turned her head slightly. Not far enough to look at him, just to acknowledge his presence. She felt for him in her mind.
Give me some power.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
She would not ask most people for such a favor, though she had skimmed from others’ power before, but Corvin was different. He had helped her on several occasions, both by feeding her power when she was too weak and still needed to perform, and when she couldn’t control the power she had and needed a relief valve before she ended up blowing everyone up.
He had chastised her before for not asking before accessing his power, so this time she did, though she fully intended to take it even if he did not agree. She knew that the two of them together could defeat Kareem, even with part of the Witch Doctor to help him. Corvin had drunk most of the Witch Doctor’s power and it was only the dregs that had been able to go into the kattakyns.
She could feel warmth radiating from behind her and an immediate boost in her strength. She pushed back against Kareem, and like in a tug-of-war where one side suddenly overbalanced and was dragged through the mud, she forced him back several rapid steps without any apparent resistance.
“No!” Kareem howled. “You cannot!”
He drew back and to the side. Reg thought he was trying to figure out another avenue of attack, some attack that she was not expecting, but she was ready for him. He was not as strong as he thought he was. She had thought that someone from Egypt would have been trained in many ancient arts that she had no idea about. He would have kinds of magic that she knew nothing of. He might put her into a trance or put a mummy’s curse on her. Something she had never seen before.
But instead of attacking her, he went suddenly after someone behind her. Reg was too slow to turn around. Her first thought was that he had gone after Starlight. He had talked, after all, of her cat and how he was not strong enough to defend them. Reg had seen Starlight fight before, in several different forms, and she knew that he was a formidable foe. But still vulnerable to certain attacks. She didn’t want him to end up sick or cursed again, as he had been at Yule.
At death’s door.
She hadn’t known from one day to another whether she would find him still alive when she next went to the vet’s office. Reg’s heart squeezed a little just thinking of it. So she turned as quickly as she could, prepared to protect Starlight against magical attack.
Orri stood there, his eyes wide, hands held up to protect himself. But it was too late, the warlock had clearly already struck. There was no blood or gore, nothing gruesome, but Orri’s round, dark eyes showed his shock. His pale skin was paper white, as if all the blood had been sucked from him.
“Orri?”
He didn’t respond to her, but slowly started to crumple on the spot. Reg hurried to him, trying to keep her eyes on Kareem at the same time. He would attack again given half a chance, Reg was sure.
“Leave the elf,” Corvin advised. “You’ve got Kareem on the run. You have to finish him before he has a chance to retreat and gain in strength.”
“Will you help him?” Reg obediently turned back toward Kareem, leaving Orri where he fell.
“I will aid you.”
“No—Orri—” Reg wanted to turn back toward him, but she didn’t have the time. Corvin was right, of course; she had to take care of Kareem before he had a chance to recover. There was nothing she could do for Orri until Kareem was out of the way. But she still felt like a traitor for turning her back on him when he had returned to her, over and over again, to try to warn her against danger.
“Give me back…” Reg didn’t even know what to ask for. The piece of the Witch Doctor? Was it a soul? Powers? Essence? Was it something that could be trafficked between two people? Francesca had bound it to the kattakyn and Kareem had loosed it. Did that mean that it was now part of him? Could it be removed like a piece of clothing? Excised like a tumor? “It is not yours,” she told him. “If you want to get out of here safely, you have to return that which is not yours.”
“I give you nothing. I give no quarter. You cannot defeat me. You are weak and there are too many others I can hurt.”
Reg’s heart pounded hard. That was the one thing he could do. He could keep harming people that she cared about. Or even people she didn’t care about. She would keep trying to fight him, but if he wouldn’t face her and kept attacking others…
She closed in on him, her racing heart powering movements that were too quick for her body and had to be supernatural. She grabbed him and yanked him around, then clamped both hands over his arms to hold him still and prevent him from causing any more harm.
“No. You cannot,” she insisted.
He squirmed not just in her hands but also inside her mind. He was not going to go easily.
“You are evil,” Reg snapped, staring into his eyes. “You attack the weak and defenseless.”
“Defenseless? You’re not defenseless.”
“I wasn’t talking about myself.”
Reg felt scattered, trying to keep her senses on everything at the same time. On Kareem and the Witch Doctor. On Corvin behind her, supplying her with strength, whispering prompts in her brain. She was aware of Orri, on the ground behind her somewhere, injured by whatever Kareem had done to him. Was he mortally wounded? Reg couldn’t forgive herself if the elf died because of her, because he had kept coming back to warn her and she hadn’t heeded him.
There was a movement in the trees beside her. Reg’s mind snapped to Starlight. He was out there with her too. He also needed to be protected. And Horace? Where was he? If Starlight had left the cottage, then Horace could too. He might have followed Starlight or have gone off in his own direction. He might try to go to Kareem, his owner, not understanding that the man hadn’t wanted anything to do with the cat, but had stolen something from him. Something that had given him power, and now he had none.
Reg glanced to the side to see if it was one of the cats. Instead of one of her four-legged friends, it was a child.
Where had a child come from in her yard? Reg tried to process the new information, while holding on to Kareem and trying to keep him pinned down both physically and psychically. Another glance to the side. The child was dressed in brown and green. He had slightly pointed ears and was creeping toward Orri. An elf child. Had Orri brought the child with him, or had one followed where he wasn’t supposed to? Either way, there was yet another life in the balance. How could Reg protect all of them at once?
Finish him off, Corvin told her, directing her attention back to Kareem. It is within our power.
Reg didn’t know what that meant. She felt there was enough on her conscience already with the death of the wizard in the graveyard. And then there was Vivian’s disappearance when a sinkhole had opened up in the middle of the street. Reg knew that wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t tried to help Vivian. And Jacky Lane.
She didn’t feel bad about the Witch Doctor. Maybe if they had been able to do something other than bind him when they had bested him at the warehouse, none of the rest would have happened. But they hadn’t been able to finish him off then, and that meant that he came back, and could keep coming back, in the shape of the kattakyns. And if they managed to band together? Or Harrison released each of them?
Reg renewed her attack, holding tightly to Kareem, squeezing his arms and drawing power from him. If she couldn’t overpower him easily, then maybe she could de-power him, pulling strength from him until he couldn’t fight her any longer. Until he had no strength to fight back or to hold on to the piece of the Witch Doctor.
Kareem tried to strike out at the elf child, laughing in Reg’s face, knowing that she would protect him. That she cared more for the welfare of a child she had never seen before and who was of a completely different species than she did for herself.
“No!” Reg insisted. “You can’t!”
He tried harder to break free of her and attack the child, and Reg fought harder to pull his strength from him.
Kareem’s knees buckled. Corvin moved in. He raised his hands and tried to get in close to Kareem, pushing past Reg. Reg remembered his taking the essence of the dying wizard. And previously, of his sucking the massive power surge from the Witch Doctor, doing the best he could to destroy the entity completely. Reg put her arm out.
“No. He’s weakened. Leave him alone.”
“You can’t stop there,” Corvin insisted. “It’s not safe. He needs to be neutralized.”
Reg turned, looking for the elf child, who was still creeping towards his father’s body, ignoring everything that was going on around him. Normally, the elves didn’t travel in their bodily form, and Reg wasn’t sure what had made him materialize when he was still so far away from his parent. Maybe it was inexperience. Or he might have been hiding there all along, left alone by Orri to blend in with his surroundings like a baby rabbit or deer.
“Corvin…”
Corvin looked in the direction that Reg was looking, but shook his head. “What?”
“The elf. We need to protect the little one.”
Corvin blinked at her. “I only see one elf.”
“But the little one…”
“No. I only see Orri. And when we have taken care of Kareem, we can make sure he’s okay.”
“But—”
Reg looked back at Orri and the young elf. Where was Harrison when she needed him? Why had he left her alone, grounded like a disobedient child, leaving her to handle everything all by herself? He should have been there to help fight the Egyptian warlock. Even if there were rules about the immortals not being able to hurt each other, she didn’t need him to cause any harm to the Witch Doctor, only to help with Kareem.
“Reg.”
Reg looked in the direction of the voice. Now he showed up? Now, right when they were in the middle of a heated battle?
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
“Uncle Harrison!”
“What are you doing?” Harrison looked at Reg, then turned and looked at the guest cottage, where she was supposed to be locked in. He made a huffing sound and shook his head.
“I am trying to fight.”
“This is not your battle.”
“Well, Kareem made it my battle. What am I supposed to do, walk away?”
“Stay in the house.” Harrison looked back at the house again. “Why are you no longer in the house?”
“I got out. So that I could do what I had to. We needed to overcome Kareem, the warlock who owned Horace. Because he—”
“He holds what was bound,” Harrison acknowledged testily. “Why are you out here?”
Reg looked at Corvin, kneeling over Kareem, still sucking the life force out of him.
“You have to stop him. He’s going to go too far!”
“When are you going to train this warlock?” Harrison said it as if Corvin were a puppy who should be trained but had just pooped in the house.
Reg snorted. “I’m not sure this one can be trained.”
Harrison flicked his hand and Corvin went tumbling away from Kareem. “Hey!” he growled, baring his teeth at Harrison, more than just irritated at being stopped. He looked like a wild animal; a wolf-man stopped mid-feed. There was no blood, but that was the image that sprang to Reg’s mind. An animal, fangs dripping with blood, snapping at the hand that got too close to his food.
Reg left Harrison to deal with Corvin and hurried over to Orri and the elf child. The child drew back immediately, frightened by the woman moving toward him. They were not used to being seen. They normally kept out of sight and, from what Corvin had said, even he hadn’t been able to see the elf child as Reg did.
“It’s okay,” Reg murmured. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to see how Orri is.” She hovered over Orri’s long, slender body, holding her hands out over him, pushing the heat of her fire into him. She wasn’t a great healer, but she knew the basics, and she hoped that all Orri needed was a little strength to get back on his feet again. Kareem hadn’t had any chance to think of a strategy, so she had to assume that he had just struck out swiftly and reflexively, without really thinking about it. A quick blow and then retreating from Reg.
The smaller elf leaned forward, staring at Reg’s hands and then looking up into her face, curious and questioning.
Reg couldn’t feel anything wrong. The elf’s heart and lungs were still operating, blood was still flowing through his veins, he was probably just stunned and low on energy. Reg fed more into him. She reached out to Corvin, supplementing her energy with his, so that she wouldn’t collapse with the loss of her own strength. Corvin was an endless reservoir of strength, always getting more from somewhere.
After a few minutes, she could tell that Orri’s face was getting pinker, regaining some of its ruddy coloring.
“See?” She smiled at the younger elf. “He will be okay.”
The little one crept forward to his father’s side and took his hand. He looked at Reg, waiting for her to pronounce his father healed. Reg rested her hand directly on Orri’s chest for a moment, then went over to Corvin and Harrison who were having a heated discussion.
“Where is it?” Harrison demanded of Corvin.
“What?” Reg asked.
“The unbound essence. Where? It must be retrieved.”
“No idea,” Corvin said, raising his brows. “I’m sorry, things have been kind of crazy here.”
“He had it.”
Corvin folded his arms across his chest. “You left Reg alone and undefended. I helped her.”
Harrison waved this away as if none of it mattered. “What happened to Destine?”
Corvin looked at Reg, shrugging. “Do you know? There was so much going on… I didn’t feel any of the Witch Doctor passing through me. Maybe you? Or just into the universe…” Corvin made a gesture indicating the air around him, fingers graceful.
Reg looked back at Harrison with concern. “What does that mean? You didn’t find him? That piece that was bound to Horace?”
Harrison nodded his agreement. “It is gone.”
Reg looked over at Kareem, lying on the ground, still moving slightly. Not dead, as she had feared. Harrison had been able to stop Corvin before he had consumed all the man’s life force. No more lives on Reg’s conscience.
“Maybe he still has it?”
“No.”
Reg shrugged widely. “Then it must be like Corvin said. It just… went out into the world.”
Harrison looked at Reg, his mouth a straight, angry slash across his face. “Why did you not stay? How got you out?”
Reg ducked her head. “Well… the elf. He is a time traveler.”
Harrison turned to look at Orri on the ground, beginning to waken. “A time traveler?”
“Yeah. So he kind of… moved me in time to where I wasn’t in the house anymore.”
“Where?” Harrison repeated
“When,” Reg amended. “And then… for his troubles, Kareem attacked him too, to try to distract me.”
“They should return to their time.”
“They?” Corvin repeated.
“There is a young one too,” Reg informed him. “His son, maybe.”
“There are more of them,” Harrison said.
Reg began to see other twinkles and movements around Orri and the child elf. The trees were alive with lights and the faint tinkling of bells. She hadn’t noticed before. Reg looked around, but the others did not become visible to her. She returned to Orri’s side.
“Wake up,” she murmured, shaking Orri’s shoulder gently. “Time to get up now.”
Orri’s eyelids fluttered and he opened his eyes, looking around him in confusion. He lifted his head, struggling to get up.
“It’s okay,” Reg said. “Just take a minute. Everyone is safe now.”
“Jon? Where is Jon?”
Reg leaned back so that he could see the young elf beside him. “Is this your son?”
Orri relaxed, resting his head back down again. “Jon. You are safe.”
“He’s fine,” Reg assured him. “You’re the only one who took any damage.”
“You protected him.”
“Well… I did my best. I’m sorry that you got hurt, though.”
“That does not matter.” Orri closed his eyes for a moment and squeezed Jon’s hand. “As long as my son is okay.”
Reg smiled. They looked a lot alike; she could see Orri’s features in Jon’s face. “He’s a very handsome boy.”
Orri looked at him. “You should not have appeared,” he chastised. “Elves must remain hidden to stay safe.”
“You did not remain hidden,” Jon pointed out.
“I had a debt.”
“A debt?” Reg repeated. “To who?”
“To Reg Rawlins. Because you kept my son safe.”
Reg tried to wrap her mind around this one. “You came to warn me, and to help me, because you knew I was going to help protect Jon?”
Orri nodded.
“But he wouldn’t have been in danger if it wasn’t for me. And for you appearing to me.”
Orri smiled. He scratched his beard, fireflies twinkling in its strands. “Yes. It is hard for humans to understand,” he admitted.
“Uh… yeah. It is. So does that mean this is the last time I’ll see you? You won’t be coming back anymore?”
“No more.” Orri pushed himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed his temples, looking around. “It is a beautiful garden.”
“Yes, it is,” Reg agreed. “Forst has made it very beautiful and inviting.”
“You must continue to protect it.”
Reg hadn’t thought about how the wards and protections they had placed might help other species who lived in the yard and garden as well. She and Sarah had only been thinking of themselves and their own safety.
“Yes. Of course. I’ll make sure that we protect it.”
