Anna's Hope Episode One (16 page)

As she walked down the stairs to the first
floor, the house was silent. The butler was nowhere to be seen.
Either he was outside chasing Luminaria away from the birdbath, or
he was doing whatever butlers did when they didn’t butler. Butler
wasn’t usually a verb, but considering Anna had already reinvented
herself with a brand-new set of clothes, she wasn’t above making up
a word or two.

She lightly pressed her lips together,
patting her hands up and down her sleek and sexy jeans. Her wedge
high heels made every step echo, punching out like a drum beat.
Maybe Luminaria was right, and Anna wouldn’t have the balls to wear
this outfit outside, but for now, she was determined to enjoy
it.

With curiosity still skipping and tumbling
in her belly, she explored the first floor of the house.
Disappointingly, more doors were locked than opened. She’d try the
ornate brass handles only to hear them click and resist her
grip.

Maybe Aaron had changed his mind, and had
realized that it wasn’t a good idea to have a witch with magical
allergies exploring your very magical house. He probably didn’t
want to come home to Anna sneezing all over his rare magical tomes
and hideously expensive set of sacred knives.

Once she was done with the first floor, she
explored the second and third. By the time she made it to the
fifth, she was tired and bored. She shouldn’t be – this was wizard
Arana’s own house, and he was practically a celebrity in the
magical world. But the fact was, there was nothing here of note.
Or, rather, all the note was firmly tucked behind magically locked
doors.

Rather than return to her bedroom and wait
out the rest of the day twiddling her thumbs, she decided to go
outside. Aaron had said she could explore the house and grounds, as
long as she didn’t open the front gate and head out onto the
street.

She had no intention of wandering onto the
road and offering herself up to the dark wizard. Just the thought
of it made her chest hurt.

She headed down to the front door, and
opened it cautiously. When the world didn’t end and the scrap of
dark soul within her wasn’t ripped from her chest, she let out a
trapped breath and walked outside.

She sneezed. A light breeze was blowing
through the trees, collecting along the protective symbols carved
into the wood and sending their magic tumbling through the
garden.

Reaching into her pocket for a hanky, but
realizing her jeans were too tight to hold anything but air, she
patted her nose instead. Then she walked down the garden path. With
her hands clasped behind her, and her heels clicking along the
cobble, she enjoyed the mid-morning sun. Despite the magic wafting
around the place, messing with her allergies, it was quite a
pleasant way to spend the day. There were birds tweeting in the
trees (a comforting sign which meant Luminaria hadn’t managed to
kill them all off yet). There were bumblebees and dragonflies
buzzing about, too, bursts of color against the luscious green of
the lawn.

Just before
Anna could find a nice oak tree
to settle under for a nap, she heard somebody clear their throat.
She snapped her head around to see a man waiting by the front gate.
There was a sturdy, low sandstone wall that ran around the
property, a secure wrought iron gate leading onto the
street.

Before Anna could freak out at the
prospect the wizard was back, she caught sight of the man.
“Scott?”

“That’s right, doll face. Now where the
hell did you get to last night? You had me worried, you know
that?”

“Oh my God,” she trotted down the main
path and reached the gate, “I am so sorry. I … a lot happened last
night,” she swallowed uncomfortably, “I’m so sorry.”

Scott, wearing the same heavy pants,
sturdy boots, and grey top, locked one hand on his side and shook
his head. Then he levelled his eyes at her and grinned. For the
briefest moment, his eyes flicked down her outfit, and he raised
his eyebrow appreciatively.

Though Anna was busy blushing, if she’d
been observant, she would have noticed his eyes linger on her
injured wrist.

“So, are you going to come out here, or
what? If you’re going to apologize to me, do me the dignity of
facing me in full, hon.”

She went to open the gate, but stopped,
just in time. “Sorry, sorry,” she stuttered quickly, “but I can’t.
I can’t leave this house. Or at least not until Aaron sorts this
whole mess out.”

Scott didn’t react to hearing Aaron’s name.
Even as she said it, she gulped. She expected him to go ballistic,
to explode like an emotional bomb. One that had the added advantage
of knowing magic.

He didn’t. He raised an eyebrow as his
gaze flicked over her again. “Well then, if you can’t come out, let
me in.”

“Of course.” Anna reached for the gate
latch. It didn’t look particularly sturdy. It wasn’t some
megalithic lock attached to a chain thick enough to tug a container
ship. It was just a latch. And yet, it would be able to keep out an
army. She felt its magic crackle under her fingers as she clasped
it.

Scott smiled at her encouragingly, reaching
one hand into his pocket as he rested it casually by his side.

Something about the move caught her
attention. It kindled a memory.

“I don’t have all day, doll face.” Scott
latched a hand on the opposite side of the gate, clearly getting
ready to push it open. He’d only be able to do that once she undid
the latch. He could be one of the strongest wizards in the world,
but unless he was stronger than Aaron and this magical house, Scott
wouldn’t be able to force his way in.

“What happened to you last night, anyway?”
Anna asked curiously.

He shrugged his shoulders, one hand still
perched in his pocket. “Like I said, you disappeared, I didn’t hear
anything from you, and I kind of got worried. I haven’t known you
for long, Anna, but you’ve made an impression on me.” He looked
right into her eyes as he spoke.

She could kid herself and say his sudden
attention for her was due to her clothes, but that would be missing
something. In fact, it would be missing everything. Scott let his
eyes slide down her outfit once or twice, it was true, but every
time his gaze lingered on her wrist before returning to her
eyes.

She started to feel cold. She swallowed
uncomfortably. Maybe this was all in her head, or maybe—

“You stupid witch, get away from that gate
now.” Luminaria von Tippit roared up the garden path, her paws
scattering over the stones as she raced madly towards
Anna.

Anna
squeaked in surprise, and jerked out
of the cat’s way.

“You’re about to let in our friend from
last night,” Luminaria snapped as she skidded to a halt, the
hackles along her back rising as she flared her tail from side to
side. Revealing her teeth, she hissed at the man.

Though Anna had already realized something
wasn’t right, Luminaria’s revelation made her shudder. She twisted
her head to stare at Scott.

He started to smile. It was the kind of
slow move that spread across his face like oil from a spill. It
poisoned his once handsome features, contorting them with a
familiar expression of cold rage. “Why don’t you open the latch,
Anna Hope Summersville? Why don’t you make this easy for yourself?”
he suggested, his voice low and calm.

She shivered, backing away from the gate and
almost falling into a rose bush.

“Why don’t you stay out there and slowly
disappear while she holds onto a part of your soul, wizard?”
Luminaria suggested instead. “You must be in a mighty amount of
pain, hey? As your soul desperately searches for its missing half,
you must be enduring agony.” Luminaria took a lot of pleasure in
what she was saying, her golden green eyes sparkling as if she were
reciting poetry and not a death threat.

Scott’
s lip kinked. “Pain brings power,
witch,” he snarled. “Now open the gate, Anna,” he said in an almost
singsong tone.

A cold drenching sweat travelled down her
shoulders and forehead. Though the sun was full and shining above,
she felt as if she were floating in the dead vasts of
space.

Scott smiled at her, his once handsome
features contorting with hatred and greed. He patted his hand on
the gate, the move slow and deliberate, the sound echoing around
her like a clock ticking down. “Open the gate, doll
face.”

Luminaria hissed aggressively. “Why don’t
you go and hand yourself in to the Magical Enforcement Council,
wizard? They will be much nicer to you than I will be.”

“You want to fight me again, witch?” He
turned his attention on Luminaria. “Then open the gate.”

“Listen here, we are not men and we are
not wizards,” Luminaria pointed out as she tipped back her head
haughtily, “and we will not accept such a ridiculous challenge. Now
stand there and disappear, boy, while I watch.”

Scott snarled, his lips crinkling and
kinking until they tucked under his nose. “You have no idea who you
are messing with. I am the most powerful wizard this age has ever
seen. And once I’m done with you,” his eyes darted towards Anna,
“I’ll have more power than this world has ever seen.”

“You have a mighty big head, I’ll grant
you that,” Luminaria chuckled at her own joke, “but you are not the
most powerful wizard in the world. My little witch here bested you
twice, and she has magical allergies.”

Though Anna was frightened out of her
wits, she was cognizant enough to realize Luminaria had just
complimented her. Well, kind of.

Scott let his eyes slide towards Anna. He
looked her up and down, his gaze attentive and thoroughly
creepy.

She shivered again, backing even further
into the rose bush, the thorns snagging against her bare
arms.

“She’s nothing. But I will make her into
something. With her soul, I’ll complete my spell. And
then—”

“Come on, Anna.” Luminaria suddenly turned
her tail and started trotting down the path.

“What?” Anna twisted her head to watch her
go.

“We’re not going to stand there and listen
to that silly man aggrandize himself. Nobody cares what he’s going
to do once he’s the most powerful wizard in the world, because he
is never going to be the most powerful wizard in the world. At
midnight, he’s not even going to be a wizard, as he’s going to be
dead. Good riddance, I say. Now come on.”

Anna
made the mistake of turning around to
look at Scott once more.

His head was tilted to the side, his gaze
locked on hers, his eyes glittering with a keen interest that made
her want to throw up.

“Make this easy on yourself,” he
whispered, his lips moving sharply around each word, his
clean-shaven chin crinkling and slackening. He leaned forward and
placed both hands on the gate. While he could rest them on the
metal, he wouldn’t be able to reach over and grab her. Still, the
move sent electric shots of fear convulsing through her back and
arms. “Give into me, Anna. You know you want to.”

She turned sharply from him, her boot
snagging on the grass and sending her tumbling towards the gate.
She managed to grab the metal bars before she fell face first into
them. Then she pushed herself up.

The wizard darted his head down, until he
stared right into her eyes.

“You might not want to let me in, but you
fail to realize I’m already inside,” he said quietly, as if to
himself.

She let go of the metal bars, her fingers
trembling as she stared at him. “What?”

He brought a hand up and tapped the center
of his chest. “I’m already inside you, Anna. Do you honestly think
a weak little witch like you will be able to fight me off
forever?”

She staggered backwards. “You ... you’re
wrong,” she stuttered desperately, hoping she was right. For even
as she said the words, a pressure built up in the center of her
chest. She crumpled her fingers over it, digging into the fabric of
her top as she tried to release the tension.

Scott tipped his head to the side, until
it was almost horizontal. Half a lip kinked into a grin and he
chuckled. “Did you sleep well last night? I’m in your head, Anna.
And by midnight, I promise you, I’ll rip my way out.” With that,
Scott took a sudden look over his shoulder, then disappeared in the
same cloud of writhing black symbols she’d seen from last
night.

Though the gate and fence did a sterling
job of blocking out the wizard’s dark magic, enough of it leaked
through that Anna began to itch. A rash rose up her back, burning
her stomach and arms.

“Just try to keep me out, Miss
Summersville, just try.” The wizard’s voice was cut short as he
disappeared completely.

Anna
fell over. She couldn’t stand. Her
heart was a trembling, wild, beating mess. It felt as if her legs
had turned to jelly, and her arms wouldn’t stop shaking.

Tears streaked down her cheeks.

“Stop crying in the rose bushes,”
Luminaria scolded from the front door, “and come inside at once.
Wizard Arana will be home shortly, and though I detest the man, it
is impolite to hide in his rose bushes.”

“Aaron?” She said his name, and just the
mention of it gave her hope. “But he’s at work.”