lightning witch 02 - lightning legacy (8 page)

"Take it easy, go slow or you'll make yourself sick," he scolded. I tried to get up, but Mark put a hand on my shoulder and pressed me back down to the bed. "Stop. Look, you’re healing, but with the injection he gave you, it will take you a few more hours. You have a few more ribs that need to heal." His tone was pointed.

Did he feel sympathy? Did it matter? I wasn't getting out of here. I squeezed my eyes tight, trying to keep my wild emotions in check, but I felt my heated tears roll down my cheeks. Then I felt Mark's warm touch brush them away. I cracked my eyes and tried to read his face. He still had the pained expression in his eyes. Or, at least, I thought he did. It was hard to tell through the tears flooding my vision.

“Why are you here, Mark?” Really, what I wanted to ask was, “Why do you care?”

"No one has ever protected me or my wife like you did. I have given you no reason to, but you did it anyway." He looked away as he spoke, as though it pained him further to look at me.

"Please, help me sit up." I wanted to not feel so helpless. Through much grumbling, he did as I asked. God, why did I feel so drained?

“How long was I out?” I questioned.

“A few days. It’s the new moon tonight.”
Shit.
I let out a breath. Why did I care? I knew I would never get out of here. Eventually I knew Mitch would get what he wanted, despite how much I fought him. My will was broken. Everything was broken. My heart hurt as though it would never beat again. Mark must have seen the defeat in my eyes.

"Look," he said, scooting closer to me and glancing back at the door. In a lower tone he whispered, "I'm going to do what I can to help get you out of here."

My eyes widened, but then fell. What could he do? Short of killing Mitch, there was nothing we could do. He would come after me.
God, how I want to kill him.
But I couldn't. He was the one who turned me; I was physically unable to do it, as was Mark.

“How do you say we do that? Because the way I see it, Mitch is going to beat the living shit out of me until I give up and go to his bed. Or he’s going to force himself on me. Either way I'm not getting out of here.”

God, even my words made my stomach turn in disgust with myself. I felt irrevocably broken.

"Rest. I have a plan. You'll have to trust me though. I'll come back when I bring your dinner and I’ll let you in on the plan. For now, you need to heal the rest of the way," he said, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

Could I trust him? I don’t see how I have any other choice.

“I’m taking a shower, then I’ll get back in bed.”

He nodded and stood up to leave.

"Mark?"

He turned to face me.

"If whatever you have planned fails, thank you."

He nodded and without a word, he left and locked the locks on the door.

I thought getting out of the warm bed would be the hard part. Oh no, walking was the hard part. Apparently, the bastard truck driver ran me over more times than I thought. After about an hour of shambling, I made it to the small bathroom. I swear zombies were faster than me. I turned the shower on and waited for the water to heat.

I undressed and stepped in. The heated water on my skin felt like needles at first, but soon it eased some of the built-up tension. My thoughts slid to Mitch. The things he had done to me, not just the beating, the other things. I wanted him to suffer in the same ways. I pictured slowly cutting off his head.
Oh God, Delaney, what are you letting him turn you into?
This was not me. I was happy. I was goofy. I felt like Mitch was slowly killing me from the inside out. Maybe I was becoming a cold, unfeeling monster just like him.

I stood under the shower until the water ran cold. I dressed and then got into bed. At least this time I could stand a fighting chance against the undead. Maybe if I were up against zombies, I would die second, not first.

I could feel myself healing. If whatever Mark had planned did work, I would have to find out where they were keeping Reid and get him. I closed my eyes, hoping to slip into a dreamless healing sleep. For some reason I had a strange feeling it wouldn't be that easy.

OUCH. OUCH. SHIT.
I swatted at my face. I rolled over to my side. Ouch. Damn it.

Was someone pinching my nose? I cracked open my eyes. I saw a small beaked face with two beady little black eyes tracking my every motion. My eyes flew all the way open and I rushed more fully awake. I clambered to my feet, nearly rolling over my own limbs. Holy shit! Oh for crap’s sake how had a bird gotten - I looked around and I was no longer in my cell. I was out at the campsite that I’d been to so many years ago.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto," I said, glancing at my little birdy friend. When I glanced at it, I had to do a double-take. He had a fat, little, white belly and wings that bled from blue to black. When he launched himself into flight, I realized the middle of his wings were white. His tail gleaned from an iridescent blue to black in the sun. His little beak was black to match the rest of him. He was a funny-looking bird. He dipped and swooped just above my head.

"If you shit, I'm going to roast you over a spit," I called after it. Okay, maybe I wouldn't, but still. This crazy bird was dive bombing me! Just as I thought I was about to be pecked to death, he landed on my shoulder.

"Man, you’re a weird little bird. I think we need to find you some little birdy Xanax," I quipped. His pointed gaze was fixed at my feet. I followed his line of sight and sitting at my feet was another damned bird. I bent down and offered the little thing my finger. As I got closer I realized he stood on an envelope. The bird hopped on my finger as though it had no fear of people at all. At the same time, I picked up the envelope.

"Man, I don't know where y'all are coming from, but I'm running out of room," I said as I placed him on my other shoulder. I flipped the envelope or what I assumed to be a letter over. There was a small red wax seal. It was that of the Coven. I flipped it to the front and saw my name scribed in Mil's handwriting. It was the letter. I tore into it in a hurry. Clearly, my flighty friends did not approve of the sudden movement due to their sudden squawking. When I opened the letter, there was an old nursery rhyme written on it. It was about the Magpie.
Oh, that's what these birds are.
The number of them had a meaning. I scanned the nursery rhyme: Two for joy. The two birds leapt into the air and flitted about me. Just before one darted away, he dropped something on my head. Fearing the worst, my hands flew to my hair. I didn't find something wet, but something hard. I pulled it off my head to inspect what the little bird had dropped. It was a small gold coin. One side had a spoked wheel and the other had the face of a bear. The coin melted into my skin, disappearing.

My eyes flew open and I was panting. I raised a hand to my head, but there was nothing there. Then I pulled my hands down to view them. No coin, nothing.
What the crap kind of dream was that?
I pressed my hand to my heart in reflex. My heart was racing as though I’d just run a marathon. I looked over at the small clock at my bedside table. It read 11 p.m. I frowned at the time. Had Mark been by and I just slept through it? No. I tried to brush off the sense of unease I was feeling.

I would say I was getting so sick of these weird-ass dreams, but it was a welcome distraction. I’d not had a single dream like I used to have since I was turned. It weirded me out to think that the strange man who had been present in nearly all of my dreams since I was a child was suddenly gone. Hell, when I woke up from my so-called death, I didn’t know if I still had my power. This felt like a dream from him, the strange man. Next time I see him, I’ll have to ask for his name.

Delaney, you do realize how insane that sounds right? Great, now I’m talking to myself
.

A brisk knock sounded at the door. I heard the clicks and slides for the locks. Then without waiting for a response, Mark rushed into the room. He only carried a wrapped sandwich. He looked wild-eyed and frantic.

“Geez, Mark. What if I’d been naked? And you're late,” I chided in a flippant tone. I was trying to lighten the mood he had just dragged about ten feet down. The truth was, he looked uneasy and it was making me worry.

“Listen, I don't have much time. I slipped something in Mitch's food. It was tasteless and odorless. It had some silver in it so he won’t heal, just as you didn't. I’ll help you as much as I can, but you have to incapacitate him. You can't kill him, neither can I, but you can knock him down for a time and then you'll ..." His words were coming in rapid succession, yet with the last word he trailed off trying to stifle a wince.

“What, Mark?” My words were just as hurried and frantic as his were.

"You're going to have to nearly kill me. Or he won't believe I didn't help you."

I sucked in a breath. Shit, I did not want to hurt him. Not now, anyway. If I’d been asked about a month ago, I would have said I would have used him as a human lightning rod. In that moment, I wasn't so sure I could.

He placed his hands on my shoulders and squeezed them.

“Look, you need to get close to him. Like really close.”

His gaze was flickering from brown to green and back again. How close did I need to get?

My eyes narrowed, then widened, “Fuck.”

“He’s going to be on guard if you come on too strong, but yes, Delaney, you need to catch him with his guard down.”

I was going to have to get really cozy with a man whom I despised. And I had to do so without vomiting all over him.
Though now that I think about it, the idea does sound somewhat appealing.
I tried to harden myself to the idea. Somewhere deep down inside myself, I knew that if I did this, a little part of me would die; a piece of my soul would wither and decay and I would never be the same for it. He would make me less of a person and I would allow it, all for the end game. I had to suck it up and swallow down the self-hatred I was feeling.

Mark must have seen the weary look in my eyes because his tone seemed to soften. “I wish I could take back the pain I did not prevent. But, Delaney, I can’t.” He took in a deep breath and then let it out. “I’ll live with the guilt of this for the rest of my life. Mitch could give two shits about the weres as a whole, or even this pack. He is all about power and amassing a ton of it through you.”

Just as I was about to ask him what that meant, he stood up and gave me a pointed look. Then he crossed to the door and walked out. I flopped back on the bed. My head was reeling from the knowledge of what I needed to do and my heart was aching for Reid. God, I did not want to do this. Even the new beast that wars inside me agreed that this would be the best way to get out of here and get as far as I could before he came after me. Not a minute later, another knock sounded at the door.

“Sorry, the party was canceled and the hookers have all gone home,” I called to the door. I knew who it was. There was only one male who smelled of leather and menace. Mitch. Well, it’s now or never. Ready to hate yourself forever? God, when did I become so cynical?

Oh yeah, when I was killed by the bastard I’m about to grind on.

I took a deep breath and sighed, “You don’t need me to invite you in, you’re not a damn vampire. And even if I did say no, you would …” I trailed off at the sound of the locks clicking and the door opening.
Gods, help me
.

I WASN’T SURE
what I expected to see when he entered the room, but the look on his face was slightly crazed and crestfallen. What could he be so tortured about? He had beaten me once before and he certainly did not seem to feel anything other than smugness about it. Granted, it was tenfold worse this time. My guard shot up. Could he be feeling bad about what happened? I dismissed that thought as soon as it entered my mind. There was no way. He was incapable of feeling anything other than something that served him.

He walked over to me and knelt at the side of the bed where I sat. He reached up to run a finger along my face. I had to stifle a shudder of disgust. I couldn’t help but wince. His hand dropped next to me and he clenched it into a fist and then relaxed. He did this several times before I tore my attention away and looked at him. He was mixed with emotions. I couldn’t for the life of me read any of them.