Enchant Me (27 page)

That’s when it registered…Christian must have
released my visions so I could find him. He was still alive--for
the moment. Then the image shoved into place. The first vision
I saw was of Christian walking out of his house to his car. He was
smiling, at least until he saw me. No, not me-- I had to be seeing
through Nicolas’s eyes. I felt sick at the thought. We started to
approach Christian, then the vision shifted. We were in his car
staring out the window from the passenger side, it seemed, being
driven somewhere. I felt dizzy as the image changed again. We
pulled to a stop in front of the sign for Farrell’s Marsh. As
the vision faded, relief swept through me, he was ok. I just had to
get to them before Nicolas did anything. Not trusting Nicolas’s
parents, I said nothing to them and tried to come up with a
plan.

Stealth definitely had to be a part of it so
I pulled out my phone and turned it off as I got on my bike; I
didn’t want to risk someone calling me as I approached. I wanted a
chance to assess the situation before Nicolas saw me. I couldn’t
risk him panicking and hurting Christian.

Leaving a second set of skid marks alongside
the first, I drove off the steps, down their driveway and into the
street towards Farrell’s Marsh. The wildlife preserve was only
about five minutes away which didn’t give me much time to come up
with a strategy. I couldn’t call anyone. Except maybe my
grandmother, who was too far away to help at this point. I didn’t
have any weapons, and quite honestly I hoped I wouldn’t need
any. 

Even though it was already pretty dark, I
turned off my lights and slowed down as I drove down Chambers
street that dead ended at Farrell’s Marsh. I killed the motor just
before I pulled up at the trailhead and parked. Spotting
Christian’s black RX-8 about twenty feet down the street, I ran
over and peeked in the windows. They weren’t there and there wasn’t
anything that gave a clue as to what was happening. Why would they
come here? For a moment I just stared down the path, noticing the
point where the street lamp’s light dissipated.

I tucked my keys deep into my jeans pocket so
they wouldn’t jingle as I approached, and started to creep down the
dirt path towards the marsh. There was no moonlight to see by
and it only got darker as the trees started to crowd around me. The
fact that I couldn’t see far ahead made me imagine all the other
dangers that could be in the marsh, two-legged and four-legged. The
moisture from the wetlands made the air feel oppressive, and it
reeked of some moldy mossy smell. I had to bite my lip from loudly
yelping every time I felt a moth brush against my cheek, or I
walked through a spider web. I slowed as I started to descend
the small hill that led to the pond, straining to hear beyond the
rustle of the trees for any sound that would indicate where they
were.

I still didn’t have a plan yet, and I had a
feeling I probably still wouldn’t when I came across them. I was
more a girl of action anyways. Just then I heard a man’s
voice. I stopped and hid behind a tree, listening intently. It
seemed like minutes instead of the seconds it actually was until I
heard the voice again. It was coming from the right side of the
forest. I crept to the other side of the trail and tried to peek
through the bushes but it was too dark to see anything. Taking a
deep breath, I tiptoed through the underbrush.

Instantaneously alarm swept me as I realized
I could sense Nicolas, and more terrifying, he could sense
me. “You can come out, Alexis!” Nicolas challenged in a dark
voice. 

“No!” yelled Christian, his voice sounding
hoarse to my ears.

 For a second I couldn’t move. It was
like, if I didn’t move-- then this nightmare wouldn’t be real. But
the sound of Christian’s voice drew me forward; I needed to see if
he was ok. So I took the last couple steps into the small clearing
surrounded by towering fir trees. There should have been very
little light here, but instead an eerie glow filled the space. I
gasped when I realized where it was coming from. Christian lay
on the ground, his golden skin leaching to a pale almost bluish
color. Like all the oxygen was being drawn from him. He was
surrounded by some sort of energy field that crackled and hissed,
constantly in motion around him. Even as I watched, it got smaller
and tighter around him. His usually vibrant dark brown eyes were
dull with approaching unconsciousness. I watched terrified as he
struggled for breath and tried to speak to me.

“Al…Alexis-get out of here.”

With horrified fury I finally turned to
Nicolas. He watched me coldly and calmly, his hand stretched out
towards Christian, slowly killing him.

“Let him go,” I screamed at Nicolas.

His ice blue eyes narrowed but he only
tightened the field around Christian. “No. I want you to feel the
same pain I feel,” his deadly calm as he spoke scared me. 

“Then let me take his place, this has nothing
to do with him,” I pleaded. “I didn’t even know him when we had
broke up.”

Finally I saw a flash of anger in his eyes.
“Like I am supposed to believe that.”

“Yes, because it is the truth.”

I watched him as we argued. His black long
sleeve t-shirt and black jeans stuck to him, obviously damp from
the rain. Where Christian seemed to be completely dry, like the
shield had been protecting him from the elements but conversely
limited his oxygen. By the way Nicolas was shaking I had to assume
he had been doing this to Christian since he took him. Nicolas was
getting tired and he knew it.

 “That’s not what Jenny and Tanya told
me,” he sneered back at me.

“I would think you would be too smart to
believe those bobble head Barbies.”

“I know who my friends are,” he replied, that
deadly calm returning.

“Obviously you don’t.”

I had to admit to myself that logic wasn’t
going to work. He had been poisoned with his own self-absorption in
what he considered his personal tragedy. I started to discretely
look around for something I could use to knock him out long enough
to get him to drop the field and get Christian out of here.

“Nicolas,” I said, now as calm as him, “you
have to know you won’t make it out of here if you harm him.”

“I guess we’ll have to see,” he warned as he
turned back to Christian. 

“Lex…get out,” Christian gasped.

 My heart squeezed at how close
Christian was to passing out. Time was out; I had to make a choice.
Without warning or any of the usual fanfare that accompanied one of
my visions, an image thrust in front of my eyes and unthinkingly I
acted on it. 

“No!” howled Nicolas. I ran towards
Christian leaping into the field that surrounded him. It dropped
from him just as I fell through. Unfortunately for Christian, I
landed on him pretty heavily, but the oxygen he so desperately
needed…was able to get into his lungs. I gently eased off of him
but kept my eyes on Nicolas, who was enraged now. 

“Move away from him Alexis,” he demanded,
lifting his hand out to Christian again.

I came up to a crouch next to Christian; his
hand came up to mine, squeezing it reassuringly. Glancing quickly
down, I noticed his color already returning, along with a healthy
dose of fury. I squeezed back, silently asking him not to go
ballistic. 

“Nicolas, leave here and let this go… While
you still can,” I softly urged.

Christian stood up pulling me with him,
although still a little unsteady, he stood tall and straight facing
Nicolas. He tried to nudge me behind him but I wasn’t budging from
his side. Nicolas’s outrage at the obvious bond between Christian
and I seemed to push him over the edge. By the look on his face, he
was going to finish us off now. Due to his exhaustion Nicolas had
to concentrate to summon his powers which gave us precious little
time. 

I turned to Christian, “accelerate his
powers,” I whispered. Christian looked down at me like I was crazy.
All of the sudden a blast of light hurtled towards us. “Do it!” I
screeched.

Abruptly I heard Nicolas howl in pain and the
light disappeared. Detached, I watched as he crumpled to the ground
holding his head. For a time I just held Christian’s hand and let
him take his revenge. It may not have been noble but it did feel
justified. I had no doubt Nicolas had intended to murder Christian.
Our only hope was to literally burn out his powers. If we didn’t,
he would always be a threat to us and others. Eventually he
had stopped howling and was shaking, sprawled out across the
ground. Christian released my hand, walked over, and crouched next
to him. I followed at a safe distance behind.

“Alexis and I better never see your face
again, or you will regret it,” he warned.

Nicolas didn’t respond. He actually looked
like he was slipping into unconsciousness. I looked at Christian,
willing him to release Nicolas without me having to ask him to.
Perhaps because of our bond, I knew the second he released him.
Without another glance at Nicolas, he turned towards me, wrapped
his arms around my waist, and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back
so hard he actually grunted in discomfort. I smiled and gave him a
quick kiss.

“Are you ok?” I asked.

“Yeah, you?” he queried softly.

 I nodded my head in answer, released
him and bent down towards Nicolas. His chest moved up and down, he
was still alive, which was good, but he was definitely unconscious.
Unfortunately as I scrutinized him, I could still sense his powers
about him. 

“He still has his powers,” I murmured and
stood back up, leaning against Christian’s warm body.

“I know. I tried to exhaust every last
reserve of power he had, but I would have ended up killing him,
which would probably be more trouble than it’s worth.”

Sighing, I pulled out my phone, turned it
back on, and dialed Nicolas’s parents.

“Who are you calling?”

“Nicolas’s parents.”

Renee picked up on the first ring. “Renee,
you need to come pick up Nicolas. We’re at Farrell’s Marsh, just
down the path.”

I hung up the phone. “They’re on the
way.”

Christian wrapped his arm tighter around my
waist. “Is there going to be a problem?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my
head as I thought about it. “To expose us would expose their son,
and now that they know he was here without their knowledge, they
will probably realize I might be telling the truth about everything
else. Their reputation and image is very important to them; they
will slip away quietly.” 

“Good,” he muttered.

Turning in his arms, I stared up into his
face. “Why did you come with him?”

Pushing my hair over my shoulders, he looked
down at me. In the dark it was hard to see the expression on his
face. “He told me that he had taken you somewhere and if I wanted
you to live I had to come with him.”

I shivered and held Christian tighter to me.
“And you believed him?”

“I couldn’t take the chance could I?”

“No, I suppose not,” I murmured.

Grabbing my shoulders he pushed me back a
step so he could look into my face. “What did you think you were
doing coming here by yourself?” he demanded.

“Didn’t you release my powers so I could come
help you?” I asked while studying him from head to toe, ensuring he
really was ok. 

“No, I didn’t. You were supposed to send help
or at worst, bring help with you.”

“Oh yes,” I said sarcastically, “because the
Steilacoom PD gets regular training on how to deal with Druid
lunatics.”

“What about your grove?” he asked, pulling me
back into his arms.

“It would have taken too long,” I mumbled,
more soothed than I wanted to admit by the familiar scent of his
cologne and the feel of his body around me. I felt him shrug,
apparently giving up on the argument. We turned as we heard
footsteps on the path; grabbing his hand, I walked us toward the
trail and away from Nicolas. Meeting up with Renee and Frederick on
their way in, they glared at me, then Christian, but said nothing,
obviously still blaming me for everything.

I pointed back into the clearing. “He’s
alive but unconscious… Remember what I said earlier,” I warned and
we walked away. While we walked up the trail, Christian kept
glancing back like he expected them to come charging after us any
minute now. “They won’t bother us; deep down they know Nicolas was
at fault.”

He turned back and nodded, nuzzling my head
with his as we reached my motorcycle. Now that we were under a
street light I could really scrutinize him. After all he had been
through, he still looked absolutely perfect. Unlike me, he was
completely clean and dry. He smelled good and looked good. It was
kind of ridiculous. I put my arms around his neck and pulled him
down for a short kiss. 

“Would you stay with me tonight?” I asked,
not really wanting to be alone after all that we had gone
through. 

“That was my plan,” he whispered in my
ear. 

“You always seem to have one.”

Smiling, I gave him another hug and released
him so he could get into his car. I followed him to his house to
drop it off and then we rode my bike the short distance home. My
mom wasn’t home yet, so it was easy enough to get cleaned up, grab
Cody and lock ourselves in my room. Christian could sneak out my
window the next morning. Once we were finally lying in my bed,
Christian on his back, an arm around my waist, with me throwing a
leg and arm over him, Cody wedged himself between us purring away
like mad. Finally we could truly relax--and reflect.

 “Christian…do you think Nicolas is
going to be ok?”

His chest rose and fell in a deep sigh,
taking my hand in his he placed them palm to palm as if measuring
the difference while he thought. “I don’t know. You’re the psychic,
you tell me.”

I snorted. “It doesn’t seem to work that
way--on command.” I interlaced our fingers and rested our linked
hands across his taut stomach. “I hope for his sake and his
family’s that he will be ok.”