“You saw the future when that pixie attackedyou. It’s the only reason you’re alive.”
“I thought you said you’d step in…”I said as I took a rattlingbreath, as the situation began to mount and mount and crushme.
“I would have,” he said, voice achieving that same shaking note ofcertainty that could convince even the most dedicated of doubters.“But the point remains. You saw the future and saved yourself. Andyou will do the same again. You will use your abilities to findthat murderer.”
I crammed a hand on my chest, tried topush my fingers right through my torso so I couldclutch my heart and still it. “Or?”
He didn’t answer at once. And goddamn, itwas one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.
“Or?” I pushed again, voice still rattling like the chain of thatpixie.
“There is only so much I can do for you. Ifyou turn away from your responsibility and go against the curse,you will….” He didn’tfinish.
“What?” My voice was far-off, strangely calm. It wasn’t because Iwas calm – it was because I was starting to disassociate. My brainhad finally had enough. Too much stress, too much pain, too muchcrazy.
“If the curse activates in full, yourability will not be able to save you. You will die. It will bepainful. It will be excruciating. And you won’t deserve it,”he added.
And I won’t deserve it…. Those little words were like a hook. A hook that snaggedunder my chin,pulled it up, and made me stare right into Max’s gaze.
Though my first knee-jerk reaction was tolabel the guy a brute or a monster, I couldn’t do that now. Notwhen I was staring into his eyes. For afraction of a second, I swore we aligned. I swore I reached rightin and touched—
He suddenly unhooked his arms from aroundhis middle and took a rather dramatic step back. “You’re injured,”he commented, breath kind of short as he turned hard on his footand headed towards the kitchen. “I will retrieve medicine. You willremain on the couch. It is not suggested that you use thisopportunity to run. Because there’s nowhere left to go, ChiMcLane.” With that, he walked out of the room.
And me? Though maybe I should have ignored his ominous warningand run, I just lay there. In fact, I repositioned myself, pluckedone of the cushions off the floor,and closed my eyes.
It didn’t help with the spinning. Mythoughts continued to twist around as if they’d been plunged into avortex.
I was a witch. I could tell the future.And if I didn’t solve this murder? Apparently, I’d be next.
Chapter 7
It took Max a while to rustle up themedication, as he put it. I expected him to lug back some kindof first-aidkit. You know, with bandages,ointments – sensible kinds of things.
It’s not what I got. He came in, trailing mud over the carpet, a bunch of randomplants in hisarms.
I frowned so hard, my lips could havedropped off my face. “Ah, what is that stuff? Where’s the first-aidkit?”
“Here,” he said, lips curling into a shadow of a grin.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at himcautiously. “Have you been mucking about in the garden? Do you knowhow much pain I’m in? Plus, now I pause to think about it,shouldn’t I go to the hospital? These are definitely third-degreeburns.”
Max arched an eyebrow. “They are relatively superficial, andonce I’ve finished, you will heal quickly.”
“Once you’re finished?” My stomach gave a kick. It wasn’t thepromise – it was the fact that he slowly walked towards me, gotdown onone knee, and arranged themuddy herbs at the base of a couch.
“Ah, what are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Unless you’re taking this opportunity tolearn flower arrangement, then no, it isn’t obvious.”
He shot me that look – that one that toldme he wasn’t amused. It brought entirely too much attention to thatperfect, chiseled jaw. “Perhaps you should lie back,” hesuggested.
My stomach kicked again. This time, it wasa surprise it didn’t kick all the way out of my torso. “Why?” Igulped.
“The magic works easier when you’rehorizontal,” he said,tone neutral, expression giving nothing away.
The magic works better when I’m horizontal?Oh boy.
Before my imagination could become tooactive, Max began chanting something. It was low, it was rumbling,and I couldn’t catch a word. His voice dipped in and out, almost asif he were in a car driving away from me only to turn and speedback.
He arranged the plants neatly all the wayaround the couch. Then, using the mud that was still trapped in thetracks of his boots, he dug two fingers into the tread, liberated some dirt, and started tracking it in a greatbig dirty circle around the couch.
“Hey, that’s going to be a nightmare toclean—” Ibegan.
“Relax,” he commanded.
“What? This carpet is cream, and that mud—”
“Is less important than your hand. Now, forthe first time in yourlife, Chi McLane, shut it.”
A surge of indignation climbed my throat,and yet, for some reason, I pressed my lips closed.
That’s when I started to hear it. Theweirdest noise. It was kind of like a radio that had been switchedto the wrong channel. Static, but static that half sounded like itwas a crackling fire, too.
Once Max was done dirtying the carpet, hestopped, right in front of me.
“Close your eyes,” he commanded.
I complied. For like half a second. Then Iblinked one of my eyes a fraction of the way open.
“Close your eyes,” he demanded once more.
“All right, all right.” I closed my eyes.
Suddenly, I could hear it louder. Thatstatic. I started to be able to discern voices amongst it, too. Itwas honestly like a radio station, now. One we were tuninginto until we got a better signal.
Though Max was still chanting, I becameless and less aware of it as I concentrated on those indistinctvoices.
I started to smell things, too. Incense, burning candles,melting wax, roaring fires, a clean hearth, chopped grass, drivingrain.
It was such an assault on my senses, Iwanted to spring from the couch.
Max didn’t exactly give me that opportunity. He weighed a handgently on my shoulder. “Keep your eyes closed,” hewarned.
I didn’t bother to snap at him this time.Because I sworeI couldn’t
