As the phone rang, I shoved a finger into my mouth and chewed my nail down to a stump. “Come on. Come on,” I whispered under my breath. “Come on. Please pick up.”
Suddenly, the call went through. “Max, what are you doing calling me?” Bridgette began defensively. She didn’t like Max, after all.
“Bridgette, it’s me. Shit, you’ve got to help me. You need to help me,” I stuttered over my words so badly they sounded like nothing more than a jumbled mix of syllables and breaths.
“Chi?” Her tone instantly switched from one of defensiveness to outright worry. “What’s wrong? Where are you? The last I heard from Jim, the Lonely King had you.”
“He doesn’t have me anymore. He’s dead. None of that matters. None of that matters,” I kept repeating as if I couldn’t think of anything more pertinent to say like that Max was broken at my feet.
“Whoa, slow down. Chi, slowdown,” Bridgette said calmly. “Start from the beginning. Where are you, and why are you on Max’s phone?”
“That’s the point. He’s… he is….” I took a shuddering breath. “Something happened to him. He fainted or something. His eyes – his eyes.”
“Just slow down. Slowdown,” Bridgette said calmly. “What are you talking about? What do you mean he collapsed? Did he use too much magic?”
“No. Yes. Possibly. But it wasn’t like that. He was walking to the car, and then, and then his eyes started to flicker as if a shadow crossed them.” As I said the word shadow, a truly cold feeling welled in my gut. I pushed backward, almost lost my balance and fell against Max.
“Hey, are you still there?” Bridgette asked, voice quick.
“Yeah. Still here. But you’ve gotta come and help me. I don’t know what’s happened to Max. He’s out cold, and I simply can’t wake him. He did use his magic, but it doesn’t seem like that caused this. Something happened to him, Bridgette. Something happened to him.”
“Okay, stay where you are. I’ll come get you.”
It sounded like a reasonable demand. I was hardly in any state to drive considering my injuries. So why did I suddenly frown? Why did I suddenly shake my head? “No,” I said in a strong tone that was miles away from the fear pounding through my gut. “I don’t want to stay here. I’ll drive the car to you.”
“You sure?” Bridgette questioned in a tight tone.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I made my point by locking one hand over the door and heaving myself to my feet. I even managed to stop myself from crying out in pain. “I’ll come to you. Get the witches ready – Max needs help.”
“It sounds like you need help, too, Chi. How did you get away from the Lonely King, anyway?”
“Look, that doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you when I get there. Just have some kind of healing magic ready or something to save Max,” I begged one last time. Then I turned the phone off and concentrated on hauling Max and myself into the car.
It wasn’t as hard as I originally thought it would be. Call it a mix of my frantic desperation and leftover adrenaline from my fight. I managed to open the door to the passenger seat, drag Max over, then haul him up in a single move. It was quite a feat considering my small frame.
As soon as Max was in the back, I made his comatose, crumpled form as comfortable as I could. I lingered as I stared at his face, gazed into his soulless, open eyes. The description I’d given Bridgette had been no mistake. As I stared into Max’s dead gaze, it honestly looked as if shadows had permanently filled his irises, like squid ink engulfing an ocean. “Oh god,” I mumbled to myself. It better not be him.
McCain.
I thought of the incident that had transpired in Mary’s house, how I’d broken free of the spell and the warning McCain had given me.
I winced, a few tears falling from my eyes as I shifted hard on my foot, planted a hand against the smooth metal of the car, and used it as purchase to shift around to the driver’s seat. I hauled myself in, groaning as my body felt like nothing more than a collection of broken bones and bruised flesh.
I did my seatbelt up, gunned the engine, and pulled out onto the street. Just as I did, I shifted my head to the side. I saw… I saw a figure off toward the factory doors, marching with some purpose in the opposite direction. But just at that moment, a car passed me, and I had to turn my attention to the road. By the time I shifted my gaze back to the figure, he was gone.
An unsettled feeling plunged through my gut as if I’d swallowed ice. I shook my head and concentrated on getting Max to help.
“Just hold on. Just hold on. Max, please. Just hold on.” I kept begging, even though it was patently clear he couldn’t hear me.
If I’d had the time to pause and reflect, I’d realize how much I’d changed in such little time. From the day Max had plonked himself on my doorstep and attacked me, my soul had told me he was my destiny. I hadn’t believed it until a few minutes ago. Until the kiss. But now I couldn’t hide from that conclusion. It was all I had.
By the time I finally made it through town and reached Bridgette, I was a complete shuddering, jittering mess. It wasn’t just the after-effects of the adrenaline. It was something else. This building, niggling, ominous sensation climbing
