Matt Archer: Blade's Edge (8 page)

We trotted downstairs, following the scent of warm oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. The kitchen, Millicent’s kingdom, was enormous. Pots hung from the ceiling rack over a granite-topped island with barstools already pulled up for us. The rest of the room was crowded with all kinds of gourmet equipment, like a six-burner range and a walk-in fridge always full of everything imaginable. Even caviar. Not that we’d eat that stuff.

Millicent beamed when we arrived, hurrying to pour milk for us. “Good to see you, Mr. Matthew.”

No matter how many times I asked, she wouldn’t drop the “mister” bit. So I played along. “You, too, Miss Millicent. Cookies smell great.”

After a half-dozen cookies and two glasses of milk apiece, she seemed satisfied that we wouldn’t starve in the next hour and let us go back upstairs. As he restarted our game, Will asked, “So, you seeing Ella tonight?”

“Yeah, she’s coming over at five to pick me up.” My heart raced at the thought of seeing her. “She has a ‘surprise’ for me.”

“What’s that mean, do you think?” Will asked casually, but I could tell he really wanted to know.

“No idea.” I tried to concentrate on the game, but ended up getting killed twice as wild thoughts ran through my head.

Will waggled his eyebrows. “You know, I can’t be the only one who’s seen some action. Maybe this is it.”

“Hey, I already told you this wasn’t a race, stupid. Just because you hooked up with two girls in less than four months doesn’t mean the rest of us have,” I said. First Murphy, and now Will. Would they ever shut up?

“But you’re still in play. I’m between girlfriends; gotta start from scratch.” Will heaved a pathetic sigh. “You, on the other hand, need to get busy.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I muttered.

Chapter Eight

F
reshly showered, shaved, and dressed
in jeans and a long-sleeved polo, I waited by the front door. At exactly five, Ella pulled into my driveway in a brand-new, silver Mazda.

Ah, so that was the surprise—a car. Not quite as much fun as I had in mind, but still pretty cool. And what was it with everyone getting cars for Christmas while I was gone? Well, now that Mom knew, maybe I
should
use my Army money to buy one.

Ella hopped out with an excited grin on her face. Even bundled up in her ski jacket, she still looked amazing: fair skin with a smattering of freckles I liked to count, green eyes that could hold me hypnotized, and strong, long legs in a pair of skinny jeans that fit in all the right places. All that and she could kick Will’s butt at air hockey, too. My pulse sped up some. How’d I get so lucky?

“What do you think of the car?” she called, hurrying up the sidewalk. “Mom and Dad gave it to me while you were gone.”

“It’s great.” I wrapped my arms around her and buried my nose in her auburn hair. That’s how I knew for sure I was home—the scent of vanilla shampoo.

She pulled away and touched my cheek. “Your poor face. Looks like you had a rough trip.”

I stood still, heart pounding like crazy, while she kissed all my bruises to make them better. She wasn’t making a fuss about the injuries. Good. If I could keep the stitches under wraps, I’d be golden. If she found those, though, I’d have to spend half an hour convincing her I wasn’t taking too many risks and that’s not how I hoped to spend the evening.

When she was done kissing my face, she led me to her car, saying, “C’mon. I have something to show you.”

“What?” I asked.

She grinned and didn’t answer.

“O-kay...tell me about your week, then,” I said, wondering what this was all about. “Did you have fun skiing?”

“Yeah, we had fun. Tasha and Marin and I…”

While Ella filled me in about a ski trip with her girlfriends, I watched her talk. I could hear the words she said, digested them even, but just being close to her occupied most of my attention. Yep, I was totally wrapped around her pinkie. She might as well take me shopping and make me hold her purse while she tried on clothes. I’d do it, too. Gladly—no shame.

Well, maybe a little shame.

“What?” she asked, giving me an amused glance at a stoplight. “You’re staring again.”

“Uh, sorry,” I said. Dang it—no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up acting like a dork around her.

“I don’t mind. It’s kinda cute.” Ella leaned over and kissed my cheek; I felt it in my knees. “So what about you? How was India? I’m glad you came home without any big injuries.”

I tugged at my right sleeve. “Uh, yeah.”

Ella wasn’t fooled. “You’ve got stitches or a bone bruise somewhere, don’t you?”

She sounded a little panicked and I sighed. “Just a scratch, Ella. Nothing much.”

“This time. What about next time?” Ella’s hands tightened on the steering wheel so much we veered and bumped a curb. I’d upset her for sure.

“Nothing’s gonna happen, okay?” I said, hoping she’d believe me.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “So what was India like?”

Grateful for the subject change, I told her all about the mountains, how the Kalis looked, what Kadena was like. She asked lots of questions, and we were laughing about Schmitz’s new nickname of Teddy Bear by the end of the conversation.

“I’ve got to meet some of these guys sometime,” Ella said.

I snorted. “I’m not sure I want you to. They’re liable to tell you stories about me.” Or worse—ask her when she was going to change my status from boy to man. “Definitely not a good idea.”

She laughed. “They must have something pretty good on you, then.”

My happy mood evaporated. If you counted keeping me from bleeding out after being kidnapped by monsters, or holding me back while a couple of guys got killed right in front of me, or keeping their distance after the knife hijacked my psyche, then yeah, they had something good on me.

Ella noticed I’d gotten quiet and said, “You know what? You’re right; let’s just forget it all. Besides, we’re here.”

“Here” turned out to be a greenbelt near her house, some little park made up of a pond bordered by trees. Ella pulled off the road onto a little gravel drive and parked behind a copse of snow-covered pines. “This is where Alyssa and I used to catch frogs.” She giggled. “That sounded really stupid.”

“Nothing you say sounds stupid.” Now
that
sounded stupid, but I’d gone into flattery mode—desperation takes many forms.

“Nice try, but I know what you’re after.”

Duh. “No…I love every word that comes out of your mouth.” We stared at each other until we both cracked up. “Okay, you caught me, but I’m fifteen and sitting in a parked car with a goddess. There’d be something wrong if I
didn’t
try.”

“Did you just call me a goddess?” she asked, sounding amused.

Oops. “Um, yeah.”

“Wow, you’re laying it on thick tonight.” Ella shook her head and unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Well, not exactly,” I said, feeling like an idiot. “That’s, uh, been my nickname for you since…seventh grade.”

Here was the part where I crawled into a hole and shriveled up. The silence grew thick around us. Only the sound of the heater gushing warm air made any noise. Great, I’d finally declared myself a complete moron in her presence. It was just a matter time; demon-hunting only gave a guy so much cred before his geek-factor beat it out. I waited for the teasing to begin, but Ella sat staring straight ahead, her expression unreadable in the shaded twilight.

Then she tackled me.

I could hardly believe my luck. She’d flung herself over the gearshift and I hit my head against the window trying to catch her. Once we found a semi-comfortable position, her half in my lap, she kissed me harder than ever before, her tongue flitting into my mouth. I tangled one hand in her hair and pressed the other against her back to keep her close. The scent of her vanilla shampoo blended in with the new car smell of her Mazda. It was a heady mixture.

We kissed for a long time, with me debating whether or not I should push my luck. I decided to test things a little, sliding my hand under her shirt, to rest on her stomach. Ella didn’t push me away. Feeling bold, I slowly slid my hand higher, to her ribs. Her skin was so soft…just a few more inches….

Out of nowhere, something like a rubber band snapped me right between the eyes.

My lips popped off Ella’s with a smack and I banged into the window again, rubbing my forehead. “Ow.”

“Are you okay?” Ella asked, looking concerned.

“I don’t know.” What was it with these headaches? It was almost like the ones I got post-fight when the knife-spirit…

Oh, no.

Seriously? Now? How’d it maintain a connection with me from this far away? And what the heck was its problem?

Pissed with the spirit for intruding, I pulled Ella close and started kissing her again. She giggled, like my make-out schizophrenia amused her. I’d just gotten warmed up and had my hand at the hem of her t-shirt when the knife popped me again. I jerked back, ready to tell the knife to shove it, only to have the spirit toss me into the deep end of crazy.

We are one, Matt. There’s not room for anyone else. I must have your sole dedication.

With that proclamation, I gasped and let Ella go. For the first time, I noticed something weird about the spirit’s voice. While it was alien and eerie, like it had been washed through a synthesizer, there was something else distinct about it. The timbre was on the high end—a soprano.

Was the knife spirit… “A girl?”

A coy little sound, like a pleased cat would make, floated through the back of my mind, even as Ella asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, my God,” I whispered. The knife-spirit was female? What the heck did that mean? And was it snapping me in the forehead because it was…jealous? Of Ella? Did being saddled with this entity in my head mean I wouldn’t be allowed a girlfriend? Ever?

Panic started to set in. I thought about reaching for Ella again, just to see what the knife would do, but found I couldn’t. Something held me in check and kept me from moving.

Now don’t fret,
the knife whispered.
You may spend time with her, but you have boundaries. I can’t have you distracted from our purpose. We’re in this together, until the end.

Holy crap…I had a stalker in my head. I sat there, hardly daring to breathe, wondering if the spirit watched me all the time. Did I carry it—
her
—everywhere even when the knife was at home, safely locked in the box in my closet? Could she hear my thoughts?

Worse—did she watch me in the shower?

A strangled groan choked from my throat and Ella stared at me like I’d lost every last marble I had and then some. “Matt? What’s going on?”

Man, I’d gotten myself in trouble. How could I explain this situation wasn’t my fault without sounding like I needed a shrink or an exorcist? “Nothing. It’s…nothing.”

But Ella was already shaking her head. “You’re staring into space with this freaked out look on your face, and you’re talking to yourself. It’s not nothing. Was it something I did?”

“No…God, no.”

“Then what is it? Something’s bothering you.” She reached for my hand. “I can handle whatever it is. Really.”

Great, that was code for “tell me what I did wrong and hurry up about it.” Ella still thought this was her fault. I didn’t have any way out but to tell her the truth.

I took a deep breath. No telling what she’d think of me now. “The knife…it’s kind of mad at me or something. It doesn’t like me messing around with you.”

That earned me a really weird look. “What?”

“I don’t know exactly.” I struggled to find the right words. “The knife is telling me that I belong to…that we’re in this together…that I can’t let myself be distracted by you….” How did someone explain they were possessed by a jealous girlfriend? “Look, I know I sound like a freak, which frustrates the crap out of me. I don’t want to scare you off, and I sure don’t want you to think I’m crazy. Because…”

And it just came out: “Because I love you.”

Ella’s jaw dropped a little. “You do?”

“Well, yeah.” I played with the knobs on the car stereo, wishing I didn’t sound so sappy. “You’re pretty awesome.”

I groaned and covered my mouth.
You’re pretty awesome?
This was why I should never be allowed to talk to women. Never, ever again. Maybe the knife-spirit was onto something.

Ella didn’t seem to mind the dumb stuff I said, though. Her wary expression melted into a shy smile. “I love you, too, Matt.”

Maybe being a complete dork was finally paying off. I tried to keep the proud-as-hell smirk off my face, but it was a losing battle, so I put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. I didn’t dare do more than that—for now. But the knife and I were going to have a really long discussion about this later, especially since I could feel a tiny bit of indignation in the back of my head after I told Ella I loved her. The spirit’s reaction to all this reminded me of Tinkerbell glaring at Peter Pan when he flirted with Wendy. Luckily, though, Tink withdrew and gave me a little bit of space.

I wondered how long that would last.

A while after sunset, Ella and I watched the stars shine through the trees, talking about nothing much. I could tell she was trying to keep the conversation to lighter topics, like videos she’d seen of dogs snowboarding, or her older sister’s new boyfriend, or how her chem teacher had messed up the ingredients for an experiment, only to cause a reaction that singed off his eyebrows and cracked his desktop down the middle. I listened without feeling like I had to say anything. I was still tired after India and it was nice to let her words wash over me, until the conversation quieted for a moment.

Then Ella whispered, “Matt, I have something for you. For your next mission.”

She pulled a flat metal disk out of her pocket. I flipped on the dome light to get a better look; the silver disk was engraved with the picture of a man carrying a child across a river on his shoulders. “St. Christopher Protect Us” was engraved around the outside edge.

“It’s a St. Christopher medal,” she said. “My grandpa gave it to me before I went to camp when I was eight. He said St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers.”

“It’s cool,” I said.

She pressed it into my hand. “I want you to have it. I think it can keep you safe.”

“Oh, hey, no. I can’t take this.” I tried to give it back to her. “If your grandpa gave it to you—”

She closed my fingers around the medal. It rested, cool, against my palm. “You’re a traveler and you need the grace more than I do.” Ella brushed a kiss against my hand. “Besides, he’s also the patron saint of archers.”

Of archers…. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, now you do,” Ella said. “If you’re ever in a tight spot, maybe the medal will help you find a way to safety. Because I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

I pulled her close. “I’ll keep it with me. I promise.”