Guardian of My Soul (16 page)

“Kyle, no—” Sally began but he pushed her harder toward the
wetlands outside.

“Sal, I’m serious, get out of here,
now
,” Kyle
insisted roughly. Without letting her get a further word out Kyle extended his
hand outright and gathered everything he had left in him. He was tired,
bleeding, winded and wrung dry, but if he was going to die here and now he
needed to know that ritual would never see the light of day.

It would be his parting gift to Sally, the love of his life,
in the hopes she could live in comfort knowing she had not brought something so
evil into the wrong hands.

Kyle whispered a small word of ignition, a tool children
learned to help focus their magic and attention at a young age when their
control over their magic was minimal at best. Kyle had been in grade school the
last time he had needed such an assistance to cast a simple fire energy blast.
So badly was he depleted of his magic and all other energy it took a moment for
his power to gain enough momentum for a small but hungry burst of magic to sear
out of his hands and concentrate upon the paper notebook.

“No!” shrieked Bonita as she patted her hands furiously over
the notebook. The barely sentient will of the evil spell, however, was no match
for what Kyle assumed would be his dying piece of magic. The flames engulfed
the ritual and began to destroy it in a heartbeat.

Enraged, Bonita howled and attempted to open the book to
read the ritual so it would not be lost, but Kyle’s magic beat her. The pages
disintegrated before her very eyes and the wind picked up, carrying and
scattering the ashes as from one moment to the next the notebook was destroyed
completely.

The scream that erupted from Bonita’s mouth was a terrifying
sound ripped from what little broken pieces of soul she had remaining. The
sound was raw and naked, scary in a way few other things could be. With
venomous hatred in her eyes Bonita turned to face him, her full fury unleashed.

“Well then,” she spat out. “If I can’t take it for myself
then I will have to get it from the source, won’t I?”

Kyle frowned and turned his head, not comprehending what she
meant. Bonita rushed at him and Kyle sucked in a painful, shallow breath and
raised his hands defensively. At the last possible second he realized Bonita
wasn’t rushing to tackle
him,
but Sally.

“No!” he choked out, not even with enough energy or breath
remaining left to shout his fear out. Sally, still a few paces past Kyle toward
the door stood frozen in place, her eyes resigned, sad and somehow almost
expecting this turn of events.

Kyle struggled, willing strength into his legs to stand and
defend his love, but he was all tapped out. He had burned himself to the brink
magically as well as physically. Despite his ardent need to do something his
body just flat out could not obey the commands his brain screamed.

Sally and Kyle locked gazes and a moment of silent
understanding passed between them. Kyle had no idea why Sally seemed to feel
this needed to occur, but the light in her pale blue eyes shone as she simply
stood there. Kyle knew Sally as well as he knew himself, they had no secrets.

In that split second he knew two things. One was that Sally
appeared to think this would lead to where her destiny needed her to go. The
other was had she chosen to move or fight back, she could have. Kyle knew Sally’s
talents possibly even better than she did. Even though this happened from one
second to the next, he knew for a fact she could have done something to defend
herself.

Their gazes heavy upon each other, his love
chose
this
course of inaction.

A heartbeat later it was all over. Bonita clashed with Sally
and even though the hit was not that hard, both witches instantly fell to the
ground unconscious.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Kyle panted as he tried to claw his
way across the few feet separating himself from his love. It took an
excruciating minute before he could reach Sally’s body. He was shaken, sweating
and in unendurable pain. Panting, slick blood staining everything as his
earlier wound dripped down his arm and leaked off his hand and fingers. Kyle
struggled to find a pulse.

When he felt the faint flutter of Sally’s heart beating
something just snapped inside Kyle. Weeping in mingled frustration and relief
he tried to grab his breath and move her to safety. Lightheaded, dizzy and at
the end of his run Kyle could do nothing for the moment as his hands shook too
much. Every muscle in his body twitched as if he were in the middle of a
seizure.

Finally, burned out to the maximum, Kyle passed out cold.
Dead to the world.

For the third time in almost twenty-four
hours Sally found herself sinking in the darkness. It took her a moment to
understand the stillness around her. She almost felt as if she were in a part
of a movie where the complete silence was used for dramatic effect. She looked
around her, waiting for the music of life to begin around her. There was no
wind, no birds, no music and no background noises that always surrounded life
in general.

Had she not been breathing, the sound of
oxygen entering and leaving her lungs, her heart beating steadily in her chest
the silence would have been absolute. It was creepy in an utterly still way.
Sally turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees in a circle upon the spot.
Slowly her eyes adjusted to the darkness and a barren landscape slowly came
into focus. Nothing except the never ending expanse of dead land met her gaze
within the darkness of night.

”Don’t look so surprised,” came a harsh
voice from behind her. Sally whirled around, positive Bonita had not been there
just mere seconds ago. She raised her hands defensively and Bonita easily
brushed them down.

”Don’t be ridiculous,” she hissed. “We’re
the same, you and I. Filled with darkness, powerful from the true rituals of
real magic. You alone should understand every decision I’ve made.”

”We are nothing alike,” Sally insisted. The
small twinges of doubt that rose was pushed firmly into the background.

”Here is the one place you can’t hide,
sunshine,” Bonita spat out angrily. “This isn’t just my darkness I dragged us
within. This is yours too. Go ahead, take a good look around. You’ll be
surprised by just what you recognize when you open your eyes.”

Disbelieving, Sally took another look
around, twisting her head from side to side. Deep instinct refused to let her
turn her back on her nemesis, but she did gaze more deeply into the darkness.
Astoundingly, she
did
start to recognise things upon a second viewing.
The small treehouse she and her next door neighbor, a sweet boy called Liam,
had made from sticks and old pieces of a wooden fence one summer’s evening. The
log cabin she and Kyle had escaped to also stood off in the distance. Sally
twitched, craved the freedom to run to it, to search for her love.

Despite the impulsive urge stronger than
any other desire she had felt, she quashed it. She knew enough to understand
that was not the true cabin. For starters she didn’t need to think to recall in
the real world the cabin barely stood upright, burning, smouldering and with
two walls basically destroyed. Kyle was there, though. Sally’s breath caught.

Her last memory was clear, vivid and
shocking with its intensity. Kyle had used every ounce of his energy, magic and
spirit to protect her, to try to keep her from harm. As Bonita carried her
here, kidnapping her effectively, Kyle had burned himself out, possibly causing
himself irreparable damage in the attempt to protect her. Sally’s heart beat
furiously against her rib cage. She wiped the moisture of tears from her eyes
and glared at Bonita, anger, passion and a desperate love more powerful than
any magic known to wizard kind burned within her, giving her a potent vibrancy
she had never known existed.

“No, Bonita, we are nothing alike,” Sally
repeated far more firmly and confidently. “I have love. What I share with Kyle,
what filled my heart and soul right now is something so pure, so light you
could never stand to have it within you. It would burn you and have you
screaming in agony. No. We are
nothing
alike at all.”

“Stupid girl,” Bonita chided her with a
shake of her head. “You think you’re so noble? So high and mighty? Do you
really think I have never known love? That my heart has never been given to a
magnificent wizard or shared with another person? How little you know. I’ve
shared love, I’ve lost everything for it. It’s you who are blind. An idiot. Of
course I have shared passion, but you know what? It was what led me down this
track. Love does not make you stronger, it weakens you, breaks you down into
small pieces.”

Sally shook her head, certain Bonita had to
be lying, but the truth was there etched upon her pale face. Either she was
completely and utterly deluded, or she spoke the Circe-given, completely honest
truth.

”Think about it,” Bonita continued with a
vicious slash of her hand through the air. “What weakens us? Love. We give
ourselves to it. We compromise what we otherwise would never give in to for it.
We make sacrifices no sane person ever would even consider. We bend, we give,
we do all matter of insane things all in the name of love and making those whom
we give our love to happy. We restrict ourselves for it. We restrain our
impulses, we make our words pretty and our objectives obsolete all for the sake
of this thing we’re told is the be all and end all. For love. Who do you think
you’re fooling? I have been there, done this and only when I crawled out of
that pit of a hole did I finally find the
real
me.”

Sally shook her head, and for the first
time since she had left the last time, she suddenly heard the whispers of the
demons in the background. They tempted her once again, clever words and sweet
crooning noises set to entice her. She shook, pulled and confused, lost and
lonely. Sally turned around and covered her ears with her hands, desperately struggling
to find her inner balance as she became bombarded with too many thoughts.

Her eyes pressed tightly shut she tried to
stem the tears that ran down her face. She didn’t understand anything in that
moment. She heard the whispered promises Kyle had shared with her just hours
earlier as their bodies lay warm and pliant, entwined in his large bed in the
cabin. They had made promises to each other, soul-binding promises of a future
steeped in love.

With deep, calming breaths she slowly
blocked out the sounds of the demon’s taunts and the enticing, bittersweet
promises the darkness made as it called out to her. Finally, she re-created the
beloved image of Kyle’s face in front of her eyes. She built it slowly. His
spiky blonde hair, his beautifully scarred body, strong muscles and lightly
tanned skin. Last but best of all she found his eyes. Dark blue. Filled with
love, hunger and passion. The way he looked at her never failed to make her
tremble with desire, lust and an overpowering love that took her breath away
every time.

She would never get rid of her darkness.
Deep in her soul Sally knew that. Angels could not come and cleanse her pure,
the darkness of her poor choices were a part of who she was. Sally knew in this
moment she would not be herself without those stains, horrid as they were. But
at the same time she also knew now that while bad, and a part of her, they also
helped make her.

Sally turned back to Bonita.

”Love might be painful, harsh and an
unforgiving mess with the wrong person,” she replied calmly. “But it can also
be the wings that free us. What I share with Kyle has never been easy, but it
has always been right. Always felt good. I don’t need to listen to the demons,
I don’t need the potency of power the darkness gives me. So no, Bonita. I am
nothing like you. I embrace what I share with Kyle and I accept that I have my
stains.”

Bonita’s dark eyes burned a hole into
Sally, but she continued firmly.

”Unlike you I don’t need my darkness,” she
finished. “I have spent more than ten years ignoring the call of black magic, I
have turned my life around and been fighting for those who are innocent and
pure. I don’t need anything you have to offer me. I don’t need to heed the call
of those demons any more than I need to cast rituals of evil to expand my
horizons or give me more magical power.”

”And what, exactly, has saving innocents
done for you?” Bonita replied sarcastically, her repulsion evident. “You have
no commendations, no medals, no honor or glory. No. Instead they whisper about
you and your partner behind your backs. They point the finger and are just
waiting for either or both of you to fuck up and make a mistake. Then they will
bury you. You think a few good deeds will make them think you’ve turned over a
new leaf? Wake up, little girl. They know full well what you have done and the
stains you have lain upon your soul. The first time you or your lover step out
of line they’ll throw you to the jackals and to hell with your good deeds or
saving of innocents.”

Sally nodded sadly, a small part of her
acknowledging the possible truth of Bonita’s words.

”That may be,” she replied softly. “But you
know what? I don’t care. I plan to live every day with my partner, doing what
we do best. One day, sooner or later, all of our time ends. I would much rather
have a few stains and a bunch of memories I can be proud of, rather than just
throw my hands up into the air and say it’s all too difficult. Maybe I’m far
more stubborn than I ever realized, but again, unlike you I chose not to wallow
in my mistakes and make bad matters worse.”

”You’re a fool,” hissed Bonita.

Sally smiled, the faintest edge of a proud,
sarcastic sense of humor twitching the corners of her mouth.

”Maybe,” she agreed. “But I am a free fool.
I am a witch who can push the demons aside, who can look into her darkness and
still see the light. I’ve been resisting my darker impulses for this long and I’m
too damn stubborn to give in now. I have love, I have my partner and I have
everything to live for. I don’t need you or your games to get what I want. I
already have it.”

”Wrong again, girl,” Bonita stepped forward
and reached out to grasp Sally’s hair. The witch ducked out of the way, light
upon her feet and danced out of range. “Your wizard is dead. He collapsed and
his heart slows down even now. If you recreate the ritual you found for me then
I will assist you back and maybe, just maybe, you can resuscitate him if it’s
not too late.”

Sally shook her head as she searched wildly
around her for a weapon.

”Kyle is stronger than you think he is,”
she insisted, not letting even a particle of doubt enter her mind about the
status of her partner. “He’s come through worse things, he just burned a lot of
magic. He’ll bounce back and kick your ass.”

”That’s a chance I am willing to risk,” Bonita
insisted. “But only after I have pulled the ritual out of your useless mind.”

Sally dodged backward again, keeping
herself out of range of the witch. A small shadow whispered to her, promises of
darkness and power, the ability to smite Bonita right where she stood. Despite
herself Sally listened for a few heartbeats but then once again closed the
temptation out of her mind.

She had survived years upon her own skills,
just because darker and more potent powers were right here on hand didn’t mean
she needed to give in and use them. Sally turned and drew all her love for Kyle
deeply into her heart. With a few silent words she focused all that love, fear
and worry into a hard ball of energy and with no warning she released it
directly into Bonita’s chest.

Taken by surprise the powerful energy hit
her hard and Bonita fell. Stunned but clearly not for long, Sally dived down
beside the fallen witch. Wishing she had a gun, a knife, any form of weapon she
looked wildly about for just a second. The small demon jumped out of the
shadows, holding out a sharp athame. Sally began to reach for it before Kyle’s
face once more flashed in front of her face.

”Don’t!” he screamed at her. Sally withdrew
her hand as if burned. Shaking her head, she cast a silent prayer of thanks toward
her partner. Even while unconscious, despite the fact he was not even on this
plane with her, still he followed her just as he always swore he would and
protected her. Love, deep and abiding welled within her. For a moment she
wondered what her lover would do, and then she had the answer right in her
hands.

Bonita reached out to strangle her.
Powerful energy burned in the rogue’s hands and Sally struggled to reach out to
cup the witch’s head. With a sharp snap she jerked Bonita’s head around and broke
her neck in a swift, quick motion. Surprise and outrage flooded the dark brown
eyes and as she fell back her mouth opened and black bile spewed forth.

Sally jumped out of the way. Mostly the
vile liquid missed her but she felt unclean by the few sprays that touched her.
Sobbing she realised that despite the fact she had resisted the offering from
the demon, the taking of a life still cost her dearly. One more stain had been
added to her soul. Gasping for breath Sally tried hard to get herself under control.

Moments passed and time grew hazy. Sally
remained where she stood and watched Bonita, needing to check the witch did not
get back up again. Once she was certain beyond a doubt the witch was dead,
Sally caught her breath and focused every ounce of her attention on Kyle.

Damaged, hurt and possibly dead or dying,
she needed to return to her wizard.

”You’ve saved me so many times, Kyle my
love,” she spoke softly. “This time, no matter the cost, I will be the one who
saves you. This I swear to you.”

Sally gathered her willpower and her magic
and forced herself back out of the limbo. Bonita had brought her somewhere
between her own darkness and Sally’s own personal tempting hell. Only the
fierce and overwhelming desire to reach Kyle’s side, to check on him, heal him
and save him if necessary gave her the drive and will to return to his side.

Her eyes opened once more, her breath
filled her lungs as she regained consciousness and Sally sat up and rushed over
to Kyle’s prone body.

”Kyle!” she screamed, her hands turning his
face tenderly from side to side. “Kyle, can you hear me? Oh Circe be merciful.
Please Kyle, come back to me!”

Tears overwhelmed her and Sally sobbed as
she ripped the shoulder of Kyle’s t-shirt to gaze at his wound. The flesh had
been severely torn and for a moment Sally felt sick knowing skin she had licked
and caressed not a few hours ago now bled and was so seriously wounded.