Bound to Remember, a Paranormal Romance (Book 1 of the Spellbound Series) (8 page)

“
Nothing,” I said in a high-pitched tone.

“
You’re lying, T.” She stomped away from me toward Ben. “Since she doesn’t want to tell me, you can. It’s obvious that something happened,” she insisted as I ran over to her side.

“
Fine, I’ll tell you. We never made it to my place until this evening.” I smiled a deceitful smile as Dawn’s eyes sparkled and her hand covered her mouth.

“
I knew it!” she whispered.

“
You were right; Ben and I have something special, all right.” I looked at Ben just as Kevin appeared on the other side of him.

“
So it’s okay for you to tell everyone that you’re sleeping with this nurse here, but it’s not okay for me to tell anyone about you and me, Toni?” Kevin was visibly angry, so much so his usual perfectly tanned skin was the color of a beet. Ben on the other hand looked like he was about to flip into full vampire mode. I moved in between the two of them, hoping Ben would not hurt me to get to Kevin.

“
No, Kevin, I never said I slept with Ben — or you — but thanks for broadcasting my personal business for me.” I looked up at Kevin’s usually piercing green eyes, which now had an amber ring around them. Ben also noticed the change, and put his hand on my shoulder. I put my hand over his, sending Kevin off the deep end as he stormed out of the locker room without another word.

“
Can we just not talk about my personal life at work anymore?” I sighed.

“
You have my word,” Dawn said, putting her index and middle fingers over her heart. She winked at me before she walked out of the locker room, leaving Ben and me standing there.

“
You calmed me down; I was afraid of what Kevin might do, but you calmed me down,” I admitted as I looked up at him. He nodded and removed his hand from my shoulder.

“
But how?” I turned to him, hoping for an answer.

He smiled. “There is a lot for you to learn about me.”

“
Thanks, it really wasn’t a bad thing but you’re right I did have a lot to learn.” I walked back over to my locker.

“
You are welcome, Antonia.” He left me alone to think. Which I did for a few minutes, and then it hit me: I needed to get in contact with Annie. She was my roommate and best friend in college, and always insisted that she was a witch. We’d kept in touch since college, talking on holidays — especially her favorite, Halloween. I knew she might be able to tell me something about all of this, but she would never talk about it over the phone.

I checked the locker room to see if anyone else was there, then grabbed my cell phone, found her name, and hit “send.” I bit my lip as the phone rang, worried about her reaction.

“
Hello?” a sleepy voice answered.

“
Annie? It’s Toni; did I wake you?”

“
Toni? Yeah, no, it’s all right, how are you?”

“
I’m great, but I wanted to ask you a question.” I tried to figure out how to phrase it without sounding like a crazy person.

“
Shoot,” she prodded, sounding wide-awake now.

“
Do you still …” I started, fidgeting with my fingers as I spoke.

“
Yes?” she said, trying to get it out of me.

“
Are you still a witch?” I finally blurted out.

“
Are you still a doctor? Of course, silly, you don’t just stop being a witch!” She laughed.

Annie had taken being a witch to the extreme in college. She always dressed in all black and carried a book of spells she claimed her mom left her. I thought it was weird then, but now I believed her. Of course, it took Ben the vampire to help me realize it. She was the only person that could help me and prevent Ben from undertaking his role of Superman.

“
Oh, good,” I sighed.

“
Why? You never seemed interested in my magic before, except to sleep.”

“
I would rather talk in person; where are you now?” I thought she might still be local since we spoke less than a month ago.

“
I’m in Utah now, just outside of Salt Lake City with my mentor.”

Dammit; that meant I needed to go to Utah
,
and Ben would have to go along to explain all this. He would have to tell Annie.

“
I’m off on Tuesday night; do you mind if I come see you and your mentor?”

“
Are you sure everything is okay, Toni? You’ve never believed in magic, let alone wanted to talk about it.”

“
Yeah, yeah, I know, but you’re the only person I trust. And I need to bring my friend with me, if it’s all right.”

“
Okay, Toni, if you’re sure; just tell me your flight information and I’ll pick you and your friend up from the airport.” I couldn’t blame her for sounding skeptical.

“
Great — and Annie trust me; I just need your help understanding something.”

“
I trust you, Toni. I’ll see you Tuesday night,” she replied before we said goodbye.

I put my phone back in my locker and took my credit card out to purchase the tickets for Ben and me. But before I could head to the break room to order them, a seizure patient came in on a stretcher, and I hopped into action with Ben by my side.

***

It was finally time for a break, and by the look on exceptionally pale Ben’s face, he needed some blood stat.

“
Take a break; I need to check my emails,” I patted him on the back.

“
You look like you could use one too,” he smiled.

“
Well, go get us both something to drink,” I winked as he walked out of the break room. I looked up Southwest Airlines on the laptop and was able to find tickets leaving Tuesday night at nine and returning Wednesday night at ten. I was about to click “purchase” when Dawn walked in.

“
What are you doing?” she asked.

“
It’s a surprise,” I said as I covered the screen with my arms.

“
I can still see the screen, T. Where are you going on Southwest Airlines?”

“
I said it was a surprise!”

“
I can keep a secret.” Dawn looked guilty as she said those words. I just turned around and looked at her. “Okay maybe I can’t, but I want to know.” She used her alluring Southern drawl that she knew I couldn’t refuse.

“
Okay; give me a minute and I’ll tell you,” I grumbled as she walked over to the vending machine. I completed my transaction just as Ben walked into the break room with a large coffee cup for him and a smoothie for me.

“
I swear, you two were made for each other; I never see either of you eat,” Dawn said as she bit into a candy bar. Ben and I looked at each other and laughed.

“
So, out with it.” Dawn stood with arms folded as she tapped her foot.

“
Okay, I’m taking Ben on a getaway to San Diego.” I touched Ben’s shoulder, hoping he could calm me down as I lied to my friend.

“
Wow! I’m shocked, but happy,” Dawn said as she walked over to hug me.

“
Not as shocked as I am,” Ben interjected as he stared into my eyes. I quickly looked away so that I wouldn’t be scrutinized.

“
Well, I’ll let you two lovebirds talk.” She released me and walked out of the break room.

“
Why did you say San Diego instead of Utah?” Ben asked.

“
How did you—? Never mind. I didn’t want her to know the truth. I’ll explain everything when we get off.” I left the break room.

We had a hard six hours of constant patients with some of the worst injuries I had ever seen. By the time six a.m. arrived, I was ready to run out of the hospital. Ben was waiting for me when I finally made it out of the locker room. We walked from the hospital together, turning the heads of all of the nurses. We didn’t say anything on the car ride to his house but when we got there, he hit me with the expected questions.

“
So why Utah?” He leaned against the island in the kitchen as I sat on the barstool.

“
Someone who can help lives there.” I stood up to avoid eye contact, looking toward the refrigerator to find some food.

“
Help how, Antonia?”

I tried to change the subject. “You like my name; you’re the only person that calls me that.”

“
I do, but answer the question.” Before I had a chance to respond, my cell phone rang, which was rare, so I answered it with a smile as I sat back down on one of the stools.

“
Hello?”

“
Toni, it’s Annie. I’m glad I caught you before you went to sleep.” Annie sounded like she had been running.

“
Oh, I have that information for you.” I reached in my bag to pull out our flight schedule.

“
Great, that’s what I called for.” I heard a rustling of some paper on her end.

“
Okay, we’ll be arriving at 10:55 pm on Tuesday night and we return Wednesday night. I haven’t booked a hotel yet.” I thought about a hotel and how we would sleep, because we weren’t actually together. I just happened to like him. A lot.

“
Don’t bother, but you will need to bring something. Zelma is awaiting your arrival. She said you must bring this for her to help your friend,” Annie explained.

“
But wait; how does she know that I don’t need the help?” I was confused by how the mentor had already dismissed my problem and me.

“
She knows; she won’t tell me, but she knows. Now, you need to bring the dust collected from the sun.”

I was lost.
The dust from the sun.
I shook my head, wondering what that might do.

“
Okay, Annie, you’re the witch.” I looked at Ben as his mouth fell open.

“
It’s not for me, it’s for Zelma.” Annie sounded confused too.

“
Well, tell Zelma thank you, and I look forward to meeting her.”

“
Will do; see you tomorrow night.” Annie hung up before I said goodbye. I looked at Ben; he was making me pancakes, but froze as I ended the call.

“
Did I hear you say the name Zelma?” Ben asked as he put the pancake batter down.

“
Yes. You know, it’s not polite to eavesdrop,” I teased.

“
Is this Zelma you speak of a witch also?” He looked confused by his own question.

“
Yes, I think so, if she’s Annie’s mentor.” I shrugged.

“
Hey, pancakes.” I smiled at the thought.

“
What did your friend ask you to bring?” I knew he had eavesdropped on my whole conversation.

“
Dust from the sun, whatever that means,” I yawned.

“
Sun dust is the particles that you see when the sun is beaming into a room. That is the only way the human eye can see the sun without looking directly into it.” Ben’s eyes never left the skillet with the pancakes.

“
And I’m supposed to bring that how?” I inquired as I tapped my index finger on my chin.

Ben chuckled and produced his dimples in the process, “Just take a cup, and place it in the windowsill.”

“
Really that’s it?” He nodded as I made my way to the cabinet that housed the sea of mugs grab one to collect sunlight dust on the windowsill. I walked in the living room and found a remote that opened the electric blinds. I placed the cup in a window in the living room at the perfect angle to absorb the sun. As I closed the curtains, I saw a shadow in the dawn of the morning. For a moment, I was frightened but I shook it off as my mind playing into Ben’s Hades story. I didn’t bother to tell Ben I just went back into the kitchen to find my breakfast fully prepared. I sat on the bar stool beside Ben as he drank his cup of blood.

“
I am glad you are comfortable around me.”

“
As long as you drink whatever kind of blood that is and you don’t want mine, we’re good.” I took a bite of the pancakes.

“
You do not have to worry; I will not bite you.” He went to the sink and rinsed out his cup.

“
But you do bite people, don’t you?” I asked as he turned to walk out of the room.