Opening the door, I let out a growl at the sight in front of me. Martha and Birdie are standing firm, their palms facing a gigantic cloud of dark magic, possibly even a demon. They are fighting it off, but I’m not sure they’re going to win.
Glancing around, I look for Florence, wondering why she isn’t helping in this situation. She’s on the floor, in a heap of flesh and fabric, she’s not moving. I shout to Birdie, but she ignores me. Martha does the same and I continue to watch as they hold their palms up toward it and sparks fly from their hands.
The dark magic or spirit, I’m not sure which, starts to move toward Birdie and my heart races inside of my chest. It threatens to spill out onto the floor. Shaking off the feeling of fear and worry, I take a step forward, trying to keep from grabbing Birdie and flinging her to the side.
“Enough,” I shout.
The dark mass doesn’t move, but I can’t take my eyes off of it. I keep waiting to see what it will do. Birdie is still holding her hands out and there are sparks flying from both her and Martha’s hands as they attempt to hold back this… thing.
“Be gone,” I roar.
I don’t know why I say it, and I don’t know why the mass listens to me, but it does. It starts to fly toward me, then turns and heads out of the window. Martha lets out a heavy breath at the same time Birdie collapses and falls down to her knees.
Immediately, I reach for her, scooping her up into my arms and carry her limp body over to the bed. Laying her down, I look her over, trying to take account of her injuries. I don’t see anything on the surface, but I’m not sure how she feels on the inside. I don’t know if that black magic did anything to her or affected her in any way.
There’s a noise behind me and I see Martha walking slowly toward me. I make a move to stand up and gather her, to help her, but she holds her hands up to stop me. I watch as she wobbles and shuffles toward a chair before she sinks down and lets out a long exhale.
“What happened?” I ask.
Martha doesn’t speak right away. Instead, she lets out a sigh and I stay silent for a long moment. I hear her moan before she speaks.
“I didn’t want you to know, or anyone,” she says softly.
“That you have powers,” I say, finishing her sentence.
Martha nods her head. “I wasn’t sure about Florence. Her magic seemed good when she arrived, everything was okay, then I started to question certain things. Like her trying to take Birdie’s powers from her. That was off. It’s not normal. Transferring powers is dangerous and leaves a witch vulnerable. The moment she did it, I knew something was not right.”
“Is she okay?” I ask.
Martha doesn’t say anything immediately, she looks to Birdie lying on the bed, lifeless, then shifts her gaze back to meet mine. “She may be, I’m not sure how long that entity had been inside of her, and I don’t know where it went.”
I don’t speak right away, but I look between her and Birdie, then back to Martha. “What happens with that mass?” I ask.
She looks down to the floor, then lifts her gaze to meet my own. “It’s going to find another host.”
“And what happens then?”
She presses her lips together. “It will probably find its way back here again. It is on a mission and that mission is to destroy Birdie.”
“Why?”
Martha opens her mouth to speak, Birdie moans causing both of us to shift our attention over to her for a brief moment. I hold my breath, waiting for her to open her eyes or speak, but she doesn’t. She goes completely quiet and still again.
“Why, Martha? Whoever this is, why are they targeting Birdie?”
Martha arches a brow, then leans forward. “They want to stop or change the prophecy, Colt. They want to alter the outcome and destroy the world, destroy you, destroy your babe.”
“To what end? To destroy our world, for what?”
Martha shrugs a shoulder. “Why does evil seek to destroy anything?” she asks. “They just do, Colt.”
I shake my head, my eyes finding Birdie’s sweet face, I reach out and slide my knuckles across her cheek. My wife, a woman that I have taken for granted, been angry at her for merely existing and the way that I feel toward her. My wife. Mine. The mother to my unborn child.
“What do we do now?”
Martha grunts, my gaze shifts to her, and I arch a brow. Her lips curve up into a grin and she shakes her head once. “She is already bound to you, to this world. Now we’re going to place an enchantment around the two of you to ward off evil and dark magic.”
“Will it work?”
There is a long moment of silence and I wait for her to tell me the truth, to give me a final answer, but instead she shrugs a shoulder and dips her chin. “There is no way to know, Colt. I have a feeling that this magic is strong, it could be stronger than my enchantments, but I will try and hopefully it will be enough to keep the evil at bay until we figure out more, until Birdie’s magic strengthens even more.”
“How does that happen?” I demand. “How does she get stronger?”
Martha’s lips turn up into a smile. “Let her in. Let her love fill you and give that same love in return. It is the only way to not only strengthen your bond, but to also strengthen her magic.”
Love.
I don’t know if I can do this, if I can give her the
