Spellbound (Otherworld 12)

two

I retrieved the flashlight, but it didn't help. The girl was gone.

"Lot of ground to cover," Adam said after he'd climbed off the roof. "It's all farm fields behind the motel. My guess is she parked on a nearby road. We'll split up. You've got your light ball and I have the flashlight."

I let him get a few paces away before I said, "I don't have my light ball."

"Hmm?"

"My spells," I said. "They're . . . gone."

"Shit." He paused. "That damned poison." I'd been having spell problems for a few days, after being poisoned. "Okay, come on."

We'd barely set out when the whine of a car engine sounded to the west. It stopped, then started again.

Adam smiled. "Someone doesn't have a four-by-four. Got herself stuck in the mud."

We broke into a jog, but before we got close the engine roared as the car broke free. A flash of brake lights. Then darkness as the car tore away, headlights off.

"She'll be back," Adam said.

"I don't want to wait. We need to go after her."

"And we will, after you've paid another visit to Dr. Lee to find out why the hell that poison isn't out of your system yet."

I stopped walking. "It's not the poison. My spells were working fine earlier."

"And you've lost them again because you should still be in the hospital, recuperating." He put his arm around my shoulders, propelling me forward. "You're going back to--"

"My spells aren't weak. They're gone. I . . . I gave them up."

"What?"

"Last night, I said I'd give my powers to undo what happened with Kayla. The Fates must have taken me up on it."

"How? You can't just make a wish and have it come true." He squeezed my shoulder. "Let's go inside and get some rest, then head over to Dr. Lee--"

I pulled from his grip. "Don't patronize me, Adam."

Hints of amber sparked in his brown eyes. He got his temper under control before opening his mouth, and when he did, his tone was low, words measured.

"I'm not patronizing you, Savannah. I'm trying to calm you down and get you inside so you can think rationally."

"Rationally?"

"Yes, rationally. You had spell blackouts because you were poisoned. Now your spells are gone again, and you insist it's not the poison, but a wish you made because you're feeling shitty about what happened in C

olumbus?"

"I know it sounds crazy--"

"You've got an assassin on your trail, Savannah, and if your spells are on the fritz--"

"They aren't on the fritz. They're gone. I can feel it. My powers--" My voice cracked. "They're gone."

He reached out, as if he wanted to hug me, but only gripped my upper arms, thumbs rubbing, comforting me at arm's length. The back of my throat ached. I wanted that hug. Needed that hug. Any other time, I'd have gotten it, one friend comforting another. But it was as if something had changed after Columbus, and this was all he could offer.

I stepped back and his hands fell to his sides. Spots of color touched his cheeks as he awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets.