The Beckoning of Beautiful Things (The Beckoning Series) (20 page)

Marissa’s hand intertwined with Daniel’s, resting on the center console, as they sped to Carnation to see Tom. Their after breakfast lovemaking session had been quieter than last night, but still extremely fulfilling. No more spells had been cast, as far as she could ascertain – unless you counted falling deeper in love with someone you did not understand in the least a spell. “I wish this rain would stop.”

Daniel glanced at her. “It’s the Pacific Northwest, dulzura. That’s what feeds the green up here.”

“I know, but it’s so beautiful here when the sun is shining.” She gazed disconsolately out the side window at the gray, dripping landscape.

“I can think of lots of things far more beautiful.”

A delicious heat struck the back of her, like he had thrown warm honey at her neck and upper back. Her head whipped around. “What did you just do?”

“Nothing. Just testing the connection.”

“What’s your assessment?”

“That we are without a doubt soul bound.” He thrummed the steering wheel with his hands. “You’re one of those beautiful things, you know, cariño.”

“Just one?”

“Not just any old one – you are the most beautiful thing that has ever beckoned to me.”

“I’m not a thing.”

He smiled. “No, you are not a thing – but you did beckon to me in a most enchanting manner.”

“If I did it, I was completely unconscious, you know. I can’t be held accountable for my actions.” She smiled.

He took his hand from her embrace and flipped on the turn signal.

“Daniel…”

“Yes, dulzura.”

“When I, um,” she began.

“Came around my deliciously hard cock buried inside of you?” he finished.

She swallowed and her face flushed as the coils in her belly sought union. She ran her palms up and down her thighs. “When that happened…each time…my mind got kind of psychedelic – I saw all these images whirling around, like I was looking through a prism at all these fractured, colorful images. Some of it was beautiful
, but some of it was rather disturbing.”

A trace of a frown crossed his face. “What did you see?” He made a sharp right turn onto the road that led to Tom’s.

“Well, I saw your Josephina. I saw El Demonio or what I imagine he looks like.” A shiver flew up her spine. “I saw vistas and landscapes. And I saw myself standing in the wind holding men’s skulls dripping blood onto the Earth.” She shook her hands like she was trying to flick the blood off her fingers. “It freaked me out.”

Daniel veered off the road and slammed on the brakes, skidding in the mud. “What did you say?”

“I said I saw myself standing in the wind holding the heads of two men.”

“Could you see their faces?”

Daniel’s face grew pasty white making her wonder if it had been a mistake to say anything. “Not really. Well, sort of. I don’t really know what El Demonio looks like, but the other head looked like…” She cast her gaze out the window.

“Tell me, dulzura,” Daniel said softly.

She turned to face him, tears in her eyes. “Well, it looked like your face. I’m not a killer, really! I’m the kind of girl who likes to save spiders from the bathtub drain. And I don’t know why I would want your…your…your head! I love you!” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “It’s like when I was kissing you in the yard that night we did the protection spell. My body became infused with electricity, and I wanted to devour you. I wanted to
eat you alive.
” Her face contorted into a horrible grimace before her head fell back on the headrest. “I don’t know what’s happening to me!”

“Don’t worry, cariño.” He powered up the road, skidding and sliding as he pulled onto the asphalt.
“We’ll get to the bottom of this. This makes no sense. But I believe your powers are far, far greater than any of us even imagined.”

“I’m nobody. I’m someone who needs to be soul bound without consultation,” she muttered. “For my own protection.”

“No, cariño, that’s not true. You’re most definitely somebody. Wait until we get to Tom’s. I’ll let him deal with it.”

They arrived at Tom’s a few seconds later. The car came to a skidding stop in the dirt driveway. The rain had stopped and dark gloomy clouds enfolded the sopping landscape, shrouding the hills and trees like a smothering blanket. Daniel leapt out of the car and raced to the other side to open Marissa’s door.

As she stepped out, the clear voice of Tom pierced the air.

“Yip, yip, yip! Get down here
, you big beastie.”

“Go!” Daniel stabbed the air with his finger.

“What about you?”

“He’s just going to send me away on the pretense of errands. Just go!”

“Woo, woo, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip. Come on now, come on.”

Marissa shuffled around the corner to see Tom, wearing the same red and gray coat and goofy hunter’s hat, twirling the lure. Buster raced around in circles, darting and zipping through the field.

“About time you arrived. Old Beelzebub up there is getting impatient.”

“Didn’t Daniel tell you about…?”

Ignoring her, Tom kept calling the bird. “Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip! She’s here, Beelzebub. Now get to work.”

A large eagle soared through the sky. “Wow, he’s huge!” Marissa exclaimed.

“He’s a Golden. Wing span of seven feet, Ms. Marissa. He’s a real beauty. Now run over there and pull that lever.” He pointed to a metal pole poking out of the grass.

“What’s that going to do?”

“Do it, and you’ll find out.”

She stood for a moment, and stared at Tom.

“Do it!” Tom snapped.

She hurried over to the lever, noting the dead, soggy grasses all around it.

“Grab it and pull! Beelzebub’s about to take down Buster, he’s so hungry. Go!”

Marissa seized the cold, wet metal and froze.

“Pull!” Tom yelled. “Just do it! Pull hard!”

She yanked on the pole and a rabbit hurtled out of the ground through the grasses, propelled by a small wooden stand attached to a hinge.
A trap door!
Marissa’s stomach sank as the frightened hare bounded through the field.

The eagle, alert, spied his supper. He turned and swooped through the air, tracking the small bunny.

“Yeah, Beelzebub! Do your thing! Ms. Marissa, get over here and take notes.”

Marissa trudged next to him, her feet wooden. “I don’t have any paper.”

Tom flashed a steely-eyed gaze in her direction. “You have a mind, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Use it.” He folded his arms loosely over his chest and watched the hunt. “Now look at that rabbit. “He’s using his mind to try and outfox Beelzebub.”

“Will he win?” Marissa asked hopefully.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Don’t forget what I told you about the prey and the predator making agreements.” He tapped his head. “Old Beelzebub up there, he can’t afford an injury in the wild. Here, I can take care of him, but he doesn’t know that. He acts just like he would in the wild. Ooh!” Tom excitedly pointed at the rabbit. “Little sucker just stopped. Beelzebub can’t make a sudden turn or he might hurt himself. Score one for Bugs. Remember that.” He tap, tap, tapped the side of his head again. “If you’re prey, use your head and freeze if the situation warrants it.”

If I’m prey.
Marissa shuddered and hugged her chest.

Tom looked askance at her. “This is a fair fight, Ms. Marissa. It’s anybody’s game. That bunny’s got tricks up his sleeve. Wait and see.” He pulled one of the tall grasses loose from the
ground and stuck it in his mouth. “Eagles hunt for hours. They soar and scan, soar and scan. See him up there just watching?”

Marissa nodded.

“I didn’t hear your answer.”

“Yes.” Marissa sounded like a small girl.

Tom chuckled. “Pull up your big girl britches, Ms. Marissa. This is just a slice of life.” He folded his arms again, chewing on the stem of grass.

Buster ran through the grass, head down, trying to catch the scent of the rabbit and flush it out.

“There he goes. Bugs has just made a run for it. He’s running downhill which is good for Beelzebub. He can snatch him right up.”

The eagle swooped lower, tracking the rabbit’s progress. Buster raced behind him, trying to keep up.

Turn, bunny, turn,
Marissa silently urged the small hare.

Tom let out a whoop. “See that!” He swung his arm in the rabbit’s direction. “Mr. Bugs has veered uphill, running at up to
40 miles an hour. Score two for Mr. Bugs. See, Beelzebub’s worried about air turbulence catching his wings. The air tumbling down the hill could snag him and cause him to hurt himself. He don’t want that, no sir.” He shook his head, grinning. “What did I tell you, Ms. Marissa? Fair fight!” He put his hand over his eyes, scanning the field. “I think the bunny has frozen again. Beelzebub just made a turn, and I don’t see Bugs. Now Beelzebub, his eyesight is eight times better than ours. He can spot his supper from two miles away. He’ll keep an eye out for old Bugs, there, casting his sharp eyes over the field for signs of movement. Buster will do his part, too.”

Buster zipped through the grass, head down, tongue lolling.

Marissa clutched her tummy.
Please don’t make me watch your death, bunny. You can do it. You can outfox Beelzebub.
Her breath came in shallow spurts.

Buster’s pace increased, having sniffed out the hare. The rabbit shot out from hiding.

Tom began shouting. “That’s what I’m talking about. Symbiosis in action! Here it comes, Ms. Marissa, I think Beelzebub’s about to snag him a protein-packed fur bag of dinner. Boom!”

Marissa jerked. “Boom,” she said weakly.

The dog sped after the rabbit and the eagle plummeted from the sky, making a swift, last minute turn. In minutes, the chase ended, the eagle voicing his victory, spreading his wings across the limp bunny.

“That’s
150 miles per hour of speed and an experienced bird’s maneuver. See how he just flipped around and caught that poor bunny? Remember that.” He tapped his temple. “When you’re the predator, use your smarts. Don’t make a beginner’s move like moving toward the prey in a straight line.” Tom reached down to retrieve the lure.

When I’m the predator?
Marissa tugged on one of her tresses, twirling it around and around her finger.

Tom took off at a trot toward the grisly scene. “Come on, girl, let’s go fetch us some supper.”

Marissa followed along, tears pricking her eyes. “I don’t like this, don’t like this, don’t like this,” she lamented, blinking to see through the stinging tears blinding impairing her vision.

Tom approached the bird and the dog, clucking and cooing. The eagle pulled downy tufts of fur from the rabbit pelt. “That’s it. Easy, Buster. Get away. Here now,
Beelzebub. I got you some food. Here now.” He extended his leather bound wrist, and the eagle released his prey and climbed aboard. Tom grabbed the rabbit’s ears with the other hand and hefted it in the air.

It reminded her of her vision of dangling heads in her hands. She regarded the big bird thoughtfully as he pulled and shredded the bloody treat in Tom’s fist. She shuffled up next to him, tears trickling down her cheeks. “Shouldn’t we pray for the rabbit’s soul or something? Send him to the light?”

Tom regarded her with something like tenderness, making her leaky eyes leak even more. “Ms. Marissa…” He shook his head side to side. “You can’t be a wimp and learn to be a sorceress or Light Rebel at the same time, girl. It don’t work that way. You’ve got to be strong. You’ve got to be fearless. You got it in you, I know you do. Daniel told me about your visions.”

“When he and I were…?” Her face flamed brilliant red and the flush spread to her neck and chest.

“Were what?” Tom said, his eyes twinkling. “Fornicating? No, he didn’t mention that.” He chuckled. “Good for Daniel. Good for you, too, I hope.”

Marissa wanted to go run and hide in the field, like the rabbit. “Ether meeting?” she asked, staring at her feet.

“Nope, he just communicated with me mind to mind, the way we do.”

The way you trained sorcerers do,
Marissa grumbled silently. “Well, he raced over here after I told him like we were going to put out a burning building. You seem rather nonchalant.”

“Not in the least. This is serious business. I just wanted you to see this. It’s all part of the training. We’re going to consume this rabbit for supper
, and you and me – we’re going to have a little chat.”

“We have to eat the bunny?” Marissa’s lip curled back.

“You bet we do. You don’t think I do this for play, do you? We kill, we eat. No waste.”

“Yeah, but…”

“No buts about it. We live the life of the hunter, lest we become the hunted.”

A weird shiver rolled through her gut.

“Now old Beelzebub here, he’s an efficient killer.”

There’s that efficient word again.
Marissa clamped her arms around her torso. “Efficient. Uh huh.”