Repossessed (19 page)

Suddenly, she twitched, a subtle burning her chest blossoming as her lungs burned for air. Her weary body strained against instinct. To float to the top to freedom. Whatever reserves she had were depleted. She mentally prepared herself for what needed to happen next. Focus. Center. Harness the sea. She could do this to save them.

Rob’s free hand rose, prepared to cover her mouth. Tessa grasped his hand as her magic built in her belly, swirling until the water around them folded under her command. With an audible pop, an air bubble materialized around them.

They released their breaths, collapsing against the confines of the barrier.

“Oh, damn,” he panted, smoothing back his hair. He glanced at her. “Are you all right?”

“I’ll be fine as long as you don’t break my concentration.”

Changing clothes was a snap. Converting a cup of soda from warm to cold could be done in a blink, but converting matter, then continuing to convert it for the purpose of providing oxygen was a
tall
order for a witch at Tessa’s level of spellcasting.

“How long can you hold it?”

She squeezed her eyes shut. The strain deepened like someone adding another set of heavy books to a straining pile in her hands. The pile grew taller and taller. The pressure building each second.

Rob murmured a spell to offer light within their tiny space. Then he pulled his soaked satchel open. “Whatcha got, Harabeuji? We’re in pretty bad shape here.”

“Bad shape?” She coughed, causing the barrier to leak for a moment. “Ask him for a stick to hold the ceiling up!”

His eyebrow went up. “You still got that wand?”

Now that was a good idea. She called the wand to her hand and it poked out of her palm, perhaps aware of her dire circumstances. She touched the end of the wand to the surface of their protective bubble and the seal hardened considerably. With a boost from the water witch wand, they managed to hold out for an hour before heading back to shore. Thank goodness the beach was demon-free by the time they limped out of the water.

Exhausted, she plopped down in the sand, not caring about the wretched state she was in. Rob gently brushed a strand of her hair from one side to the other.

“You look beat.”

Hair spray with a gob of mousse couldn’t stand the force of a warlock on the warpath. Her hair and clothes were a mess, but she didn’t give a damn. Rob gave her a few more minutes of peace as he snuck back into the house to see if he could snag the painting.

“Never head back into a house with the knife-wielding murderer!” she called out to him.

No
money
was worth what they just experienced.

“Even if the painting was a trap, I can’t return to the office without it,” he growled. “If there are issues related to the validity of the repo’ed property, then the Supernatural Municipal Government will have to deal with the mess.” Rob took his job way too seriously.

After a bit of time, Rob left the house with the painting in hand. The girl and her dog had been restored to the front like before. She shivered thinking of the altered picture from not long ago. A breeze from the ocean made her damp clothes uncomfortable so she wrapped her arms around herself.

Rob opened the portal and tossed the painting inside.

“Do you want to pass this time?”

Standing was difficult, but she managed to reach the opening and peek inside. She had the wand now and an opportunity. Time to make use of it before she left the valuable tool inside.

Tessa whipped out the wand and let it pull her toward the scroll. She made squishy noises as she waded through the piles of magical items.

Rob laughed from the edge of the open gateway. “You ever thought of trying to teleport using the wand?”

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” she bit back.

Rob sauntered to her side after checking his watch. “We got extra time today—about eight minutes.”

“Ok, so within eight minutes I need to learn how to teleport using a wand I’ve yet to master.”

“Do you want to find your scroll or not?”

Briefly, she remembered that his deceit had sparked her anger. “Yes, I do.”

“If a wand attaches itself to an owner, then you have a bit more leeway with spells.” He tested her grip on the wand. “Now hold onto to it tightly and imagine we are standing next to your car.”

She closed her eyes.

“Imagine
your
car,” he cautioned. “See it in your mind so you don’t teleport yourself to the wrong car.”

Before she casted the spell he interrupted her again. “Stop.”

“What is it now?” She followed his eyes to the portal entrance a few feet away. To her horror, she saw Dagger standing at the entrance with a triumphant smile on his face.

Rob’s mouth formed a hard line and he cursed under his breath.

Dagger took a step closer to the portal. “It appears you put yourself in a precarious position.”

“Look you piece of sh—”

“Save it. You know what’s about to happen. If you would’ve stayed out of my affairs this wouldn’t have been a problem. Perhaps a few years in Limbo will be a valuable lesson. Don’t interfere again in my affairs or I will end you.”

Tessa gasped and stepped back from the rapid rise in temperature of Rob’s skin. His face turned ruby red. He clenched his fists to the point where veins pulsed under his skin.

“Have fun with your little pet.” His face turned to Tessa. “That is, unless you would like to come with me? You can always keep me company.”

At the moment, the prospect of eternity with Rob fared better than fifteen minutes with this crazed lunatic. She’d even choose the leprechaun pimp. “Not interested.”

He shrugged. “So be it.”

With a whoosh, their means of escaping closed, leaving them trapped in the never-ending hills of Limbo.

After twenty minutes of cursing and muttering, Rob plopped down beside Tessa and stewed.

“If I get out of here...” he grunted.

As she stared the mounds and mounds of magical objects, she tried not to think about the obvious: she was trapped without food or water. Even with all these things scattered about to the far horizon, rescue wasn’t eminent. Rob couldn’t get them out.

A numbness gripped her hands, and she shook them, trying to calm her breathing. Everything would be all right. She wasn’t alone. Hell, she was with a Navy SEAL. A Navy SEAL who cursed and gestured wildly like he’d beat up anybody who said the first word to him. She turned away from him, continuing her breathing exercise.

In such a barren space she closed her eyes and tried to “reach” for water. If there were any bodies of water within a few miles of her position they were miniscule and difficult to detect. The powerful magnet of the Atlantic Ocean was gone.

Nothing left to be done now but sit and rest. She found a discarded black cloak and laid it on top of the “ground” to create a marginally comfortable place to sit.

“I wouldn’t use that,” Rob said nonchalantly. From a spot a few feet away from her, he tossed a book at the cape. The book fell through the garment into nothingness.

“Hmmm. That isn’t good.”

“Yeah, there’s too much dangerous stuff around here. Ask me before you pick up anything.”

She needed to rest and that required something to lie on instead of piles of lumpy books, shoes, and wooden chests.

“How about that purple and pink striped cape over there?” she asked.

“Will transform you into a horse without the matching medallion.”

She pointed to her left. “And the golden cape?”

“Turn you into stone.”

She groaned. “Ok, then what can I use?”

“Weren’t you educated in magic?”

“I had a standard education which apparently didn’t include hours of instruction on freaky magically imbued stuff.”

Rob sighed. With a frown he searched through the closest piles. He shifted through the mess, tossing a garden hose, a rusty old saw, and the head of a Barbie doll. From the bottom of the hole he created, he pulled out a vermillion blanket with tasseled edges.

“Now this would make a perfect blanket.”

She approached and fingered the silky material. “What is it?”

“It’s the reading blanket of a sorceress whose name is too difficult to pronounce.”

He laid the blanket across the piles, leaving a bumpy, pointy surface. With three delicate taps, the blanket stiffened to create a comfortable surface free from lumps.

Tessa kneeled on the blanket and stroked the smooth surface. “Now that’s nifty.”

Now that she’d found a place to relax, she set about taking off her soggy shoes and socks. Limbo was neither hot, nor cold so she left her shirt and pants on.

She laid her head down and tried to rest.

Rob was close by, alert, and silent. Did he fear something here in Limbo? Were there others lurking among the junk?

“Could another repo man open a portal nearby for us to escape?” she asked.

“Possibly, but usually the amulet’s magic prevents us from colliding on top of one another.”

“You mean the amulet you have right now would prevent others from opening a portal close by?”

He grunted. “That would be a real problem if I hadn’t left the amulet on the beach.”

“Oh, sorry.” She knew the trinket had value. It must’ve pained him to know he left it behind.

“Couldn’t you have brought it in with you?”

“No, I had to leave it behind to hold the door open. The magic doesn’t work that way.”

“One way service, huh?”

“Precisely.” He picked up an old ale mug and threw it like a football. The sounds of glass shattering as it impacted something echoed back.

A tiny toy five feet nearby caught her eye. A tin solder, with his musket, appeared dented with chipped paint. It was so hypnotizing. As drowsiness hit, her eyes slowly closed to the tin soldier raising his musket to the pink sky.

Rob watched her sleep. She had a slight snore he hadn’t heard before. He chuckled when she turned over and started up again. She probably only did it when she was really tired.

The urge to lie down and wrap his arms around her was strong. Almost instinctual. He wanted to be with her, but doing such would just push her farther away.

Let her stew for a while. She was pretty mad the other night. Maybe she’d forgive him before he had to go back. He sighed.

Would it be so bad if he scooted closer?

Then she woke up, so he looked away. Without a word, she rose and stretched.

This place was quiet. Too quiet for him. He preferred some kind of sound to keep his mind from thinking the worse: they were trapped here without means of escape. All alone.

He sat less than a foot away, shirtless. He’d long given up on the spell masking his injury. Might as well conserve what energy he had. She looked at the tight white bandages wrapped around his torso, holding his middle tightly. A few of the bandages on his right side were stained from the ocean.

“Why haven’t you redressed your bandages?” she asked him.

“I’m resting.”

She took in the view. “How long have I been sleeping?”

“For about three hours. Are you hungry?”

“I’m peckish, but I’ll be ok.” She sat down Indian-style and stared at her hands.

She’d looked up again and he hid a smile.
Liar.
That woman really needed to work on her body language.

“According to Harabeuji, we have a sixty-four ounce water bottle, a sandwich, and an energy bar. We’ll have to stretch them until I find something that makes food.”

Most people would think casting a spell to create food would be simple and easy. Hell, he opened portals into Limbo, but the rules governing their spellcasting threw food into a higher level of ability. It was based on the theory of creating something from nothing. Or in this case, creating something edible from thin air.

“I guess that means you know every unlock spell, but your food spellcasting skills aren’t too hot,” she said.

He chuckled, unable to hold in the wince as he held his side. “You wouldn’t want to eat what I would create. Casting food spells is a lot like cooking.”

Silence prevailed again between them. What was there to discuss? The weather, or lack of it. The tension between them was palpable. Every time he took in her face, he was forced to think about his mistakes. He asked the first question that came to mind.

“How do you choose the right woman for a man?”

She turned slowly. “What kind of question is that?”

“You have something better to do?” He gestured around him.

“Well, that’s a difficult question to answer.”

“Precisely why I asked it.”

“Most oftentimes the right person isn’t what the client expects. They have this pre-built conception of what’s right for them. They either want some educated chick with big boobs, or a brainless amoeba with big boobs.”

He offered her a sly smile and tried to not to peek at the shirt stretching over her breasts. She said the “boob” keyword too many times.

She continued to speak. “I’ve had so many conversations with men who have unrealistic expectations. They say they want a powerful woman with a great personality, but in the end they’re thinking with their lower hemisphere brain.”

“So all men are like that, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know that’s not true. I’m saying most of my clients are like that. The ones with millions of dollars who are surrounded by women who want to be a trophy wife. They’re dying to stand on the sidelines holding his wallet.”

“Magic-magnets. Is that what you want to be, a trophy wife?”

She flashed him a wry expression. “That’s not funny. You know I’m not like that. And no, I wouldn’t be truly happy.”

Based on the thoughtful look on her face, he wondered if she had wanted that before. She was a classy lady, but she didn’t flaunt it. It was more like she exuded it. She had connections and money and all, but could he be a part of her world?

“Did Dagger set a trap for us the whole time?” she asked.

He sighed, none too happy about the obvious. “Pretty much. I have a feeling I was repossessing exactly what he needed.”

“Like the tainted wand stuff Harry talked about?”

He flicked a gaze in her direction. Until he saw the fire witch’s painting he didn’t have any evidence to back up what Harry babbled about, but it was all there: the cursed water witch’s snow, the fire witch’s painting, and the earth witch’s damned piano. That left one element though he had yet to see: wind.