Halfway Hexed (38 page)

It’s her! She came home!

“Aunt Melanie!”

Chapter 36

She hurried to me, her boots slipping a couple of times in the slick mud. She didn’t fall, but had to slow to keep her footing.

“Tammy,” she said, hugging me tight. Then she flashed a small Maglite on my face and gasped. “What happened?” she demanded, her gaze darting to Bryn.

He scowled. “Of course not.”

“A Conclave bad guy punched me in the lip, but I kicked his butt in the end. Well, the trees helped,” I babbled with chattering teeth. I knew I looked like a refugee, bedraggled and bruised, while she was all shiny and pretty under the stylish straw cowboy hat that kept the rain off her face. How in the world did she do it? And why hadn’t I inherited that ability? She was almost forty, but, come hell or flooding-the-town high water, she looked like a twenty-nine-year-old supermodel.

“What are you doing here? Edie said there was a curse,” I stammered.

“There is. I was supposed to stay in the UK and earn its removal, but I didn’t, so no powers for me for seven years. But I had to come, didn’t I?” She clasped my cheeks gently in her hands. “You were in trouble. Of course, I had to come.” She gave me another tight hug that squeezed all my aching body parts. I winced, but didn’t complain. It was so nice to have that hug. She rubbed her hands over my arms. “Wow, that’s a great partial protection spell. Very elegantly cast.”

“Protection spell?”

She cocked her head. “It’s subtle. Really nicely done.”

I looked at Bryn. “Did you—”

“It’s not his magic,” Melanie said quickly, barely giving him a glance. “God, your skin’s cold. Come under the trees,” she said.

“Tamara.”

We both turned our heads. Bryn looked tired, but resolute with his arms folded across his chest, his jaw set.

“What?” Aunt Mel demanded. “She’s exhausted and freezing and injured. What can you possibly want?”

I almost smiled. Aunt Mel was a wild party girl and bohemian witch most of the time, but, when it came to me, she couldn’t have been more responsible if she’d been my own momma. When I was growing up, they’d both taken care of me. I could hear the echo of a thousand things she’d said over the years. “Mar, what did our baby girl do this weekend ?. . . What did our little girl learn in school today? . . . What did our little Tammy think of . . . ?” She’d loved me something fierce. And I still loved her, too, whether she’d lied to me or not.

“We’re involved in something,” Bryn told her. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, it’s not as if I have something more pressing to do,” she said, tugging me toward the trees.

“Hang on, Aunt Mel. There’s something—well, we’ve got to climb this hill and stop a lunatic wizard from washing all the people away so he can take over the town.”

“You can’t get up there,” Aunt Mel said. “The water’s pouring down the side. It’s a constant mudslide. Don’t you think we’ve tried to get to higher ground? The trucks are all stuck in the mud. The road’s unreachable. We’ll have to wait out the storm. If it’s powered by magic, it can’t last much longer.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. Barrett seems to have a power store that’s unprecedented,” Bryn said.

“Well, you do whatever you want, but she’s staying here.” Aunt Mel nodded at me while tucking loose strands of hair behind my ears and pulling the blanket forward so the lip shielded my face better.

“I’d love to stay here. I really would, but I promised and I need to—” I began.

“No,” she said, clasping my hands. “It’s not your responsibility.”

I bit my lip, which made my breath catch at the pain. “It is. I decided it is, but you don’t have to worry. We’ll be back before you know it.” I gave her a hug and a quick kiss, which left a dirty smudge on her glistening cheek. I rubbed the mark.

“If you’re going, so am I.”

“But you don’t have any magic!” I said.

“I have knowledge and experience, and, most importantly,
I
have your best interests at heart.”

I didn’t want to look at Bryn because I just knew he would look furious, but he cleared his throat, and I couldn’t help but glance over.

He ran a hand through his hair and studied my face. “It’s not a good idea for your aunt to come. The power I generated the other night is nearly gone. It’ll be hard enough for me to protect the two of us without also having to keep her safe. And we can’t afford her interfering with whatever we need to do to generate magic. Think about it,” he said. “Take a minute while I assess things.” He swiveled the flashlight and walked away.

“If you’re going, I’m going,” she said. “Now that he’s gone, I can ask: What in the world are you doing with him? And what are you wearing under that blanket? It looks like shrink-wrap.”

“Yeah, it’s been kind of a rough . . . well . . . Aunt Mel, I sure love you. That’s why you can’t come with us, but I don’t want you to worry. After Bryn and I take care of this, I won’t be seeing him anymore. In fact, I might be leaving town. Maybe you and I can take a trip somewhere. You always like to travel.”

“What about your job and Zach?”

“No job, and no Zach, at least not in Duvall right now. So you and I could go anywhere, except not somewhere that cats aren’t allowed. I have an ocelot. We’re friends,” I said pointing to Merc. “And we can’t go until we’re sure the town’s safe.”

Bryn came back with rope and a shovel. “Listen,” he said. “There are plenty of dark places among the trees. We can get out of sight, generate magic, and I can draw power from you. Then I can go alone.”

“No way. You’ve got a gun for me, right? You’ll cast spells. I’ll shoot. You know that’s our best chance. It’s just logical,” I said, knowing he couldn’t deny it.

“The side of the mountain is too wet and slippery, the incline too steep in places, for us to walk or climb without equipment. One of the guys has gardening tools in the back of his flatbed. We could use the small spades to climb with, but it would be a hell of a lot of work.”

“We’re both already so tired,” I said.

Bryn nodded. “Going up the road would work better.”

“But you can’t get to the road,” Melanie said impatiently.

Bryn didn’t respond to her. “I have an idea about how to reach the road.” His eyes were fixed on my face. “It’ll be dangerous.”

As usual.
“Then let’s get it over with before I get too nervous.”

The ground between us and the road had sunk into a channel of gushing water. Beyond that, there were three fallen trees with branches sticking out everywhere that would prevent anyone from getting to the road by boat. This didn’t look good.

“Bryn, what do you have in mind? Us growing some wings?” I asked.

Bryn stabbed the shovel into the ground until the whole metal piece was buried and part of the pole along with it. He tied an end of the rope to it.

Blood dripped off his arm. “Bryn, your wound.”

“I know,” he said, testing the knot’s tightness.

“What do you think you’ll—” Aunt Mel began.

“Melanie, can you hold this? To be sure the shovel doesn’t come loose?” he asked.

She pursed her lips, but grasped the wooden handle. “What does he think he’s going to do?”

He tied the rope around his belt. “I’m going to swim to the trees and secure the rope. I’ll come back for you, Tamara, and we’ll use the rope to keep the current from washing us away.”

“You really think you can swim it?” Melanie demanded.

“I can. She can’t,” he said, then looked at me. “I don’t think I could swim it with you holding on to me, but hand-over-hand with the rope for leverage, I can get you across to the trees. Then we’ll climb through the limbs to the road. After that, getting up the hill should be straightfor ward.”

I didn’t need to tell him it was a crazy plan. He already knew.

“The water’s so cold,” I mumbled. “When this is all over, I’m going to soak in a hot bath for two weeks. Maybe a month.”

He caught my face in his hands and kissed me. I didn’t move, self-conscious at first from Aunt Mel’s sputtered protest, but I felt Bryn twisting swirls of our magic together and coaxing it out of me. He needed a power boost, and that’s the only reason I let him kiss me. Really.

When he let go, he turned away immediately, licking his lips before he dove into the icy water. He disappeared instantly into its darkness.

I clenched my fists nervously, straining my eyes, hoping to see him surface. I bit the corner of my lip where it wasn’t hurt and chewed until that spot started to ache, too.

“There are other handsome wizards, you know. If you’re really finally over Zach and want to meet some new guys, we’ll find some for you. Ones who don’t have the last name Lyons.”

“Aunt Mel, can you be quiet, please?” My stomach knotted. Bryn was tired and bleeding. My fingers were so stiff that I could hardly move them, and I wasn’t even in that frigid water. How could he make it?

I moved the light back and forth in a slow arc until it caught the gleam of his wet head. I exhaled, tears prickling my eyes. I might be planning on never seeing him again, but I still couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to him.

It took a long time for him to secure the rope. I shouted for him to stay there, but he followed the rope across the water.

He was breathless and shaking when he got to the makeshift bank. I put a hand out to help him from the water, but he shook his head.

“If I got out, I’d never get back in. Just come,” he said.

“Okay. Merc, there’s no way for us to carry you, so you stay here with Aunt Mel.” I shrugged off the blanket and coat, knowing they’d be too heavy once they got completely soaked.

Merc gave a soft yowl, then hopped onto the rope and ran across it like some feline tightrope walker. Merc went all the way to the trees, where he hopped on the branches. He almost fell through them, but didn’t. He was on the road in a few moments.

“Sometimes I hate that cat,” Bryn mumbled.

I grabbed the rope and slid into the water. I couldn’t help myself. I screamed. The water was like icicles, like needles. Like knives.

“I can’t,” I said about twenty times in a row.

Bryn grimaced, his dusky blue lips pursed tight. “Come on, sweetheart. Get close to me. You’ll be warmer.”

I moved to him, my legs numb. They dangled from my hips like dead weight. My fingers clamped around the rope and wouldn’t move.

“I really can’t,” I sobbed.

“Give me your hand,” Melanie yelled. “Come on, Tammy, come back.”

“Put your arms around my neck,” Bryn said, moving so that our chests were touching. He whispered a spell, and his body warmed. He moved his head next to mine, our cheeks touching. “Drop your arms around my neck, sweetheart.”

My heart banged in my chest. “You won’t be able to hold us both up. We’ll fall in the water.”

“For God’s sake!” Melanie screamed. “Bring her back.”

“We have to go. One way or the other, Tamara, we have to move,” he said.

“I don’t want to drag you down with me. Please. Back up.”

“No.” He moved his hands over mine, warming them. They stung like they were waking from being asleep. He pulled my fingers, and they lost their grip. I sank.

Bryn grabbed my waist with one arm and held the rope with the other.

“Get your arms up. I can’t hold on like this,” he shouted.

“Let me go.”

He shook his head, and I knew he was about to let go of the rope. With a groan of pure pain, I forced my arms up and around his neck. I clasped my hands tight, dragging his neck forward. His face dipped in the water for a moment before he managed to lift his head and got his second arm back onto the rope.

He gasped for breath, his face a mask of concentration. His muscles corded tight as he walked us backward with his hands, straining against the force of the current. It probably only took about ten minutes, but it felt like ten hours, ten excruciating hours.

At the other end of the rope, we had to climb through branches. My muscles moved, but I didn’t even feel like I was controlling them anymore. By the time Bryn dragged us out of the water onto the road, we were both covered in bloody scratches and oozing from our other wounds.

“I can’t go back in that water. Not ever. I’d rather die,” I said.