The Second Heart (29 page)

“Okay!” Meredith huffed, frustrated. It felt
like Miguel was commanding her to speak a foreign language that
she’d never studied before.

Miguel dragged the coffee table closer to the
couch and then positioned the cell phone between them. “Okay, now
let’s concentrate.” Miguel drew his eyebrows together in
determination and stared down at the phone.

Meredith followed suit, searching within
herself for the repository of magic. She kept her eyes on the
phone, willing it to move, raking her thoughts through her body for
any trace of her own power. She felt stupid, as if she and Miguel
were just playing make-believe. Meredith pictured the phone rising
up off the table and into her waiting hands, just as Eleanor’s
purse had. Just when she thought it was all useless, the phone
sprang to life with a loud buzzing, making them jump.

“Holy shit!” Miguel exclaimed.

Getting over her surprise, Meredith said in a
disappointed voice, “It’s just vibrating. A call’s coming in.” She
picked up the phone and looked at the caller I.D.; it was James.
She answered, greeting her brother in a subdued tone.

“Hey, Mere. Mom told me you had Dad’s phone,
and I wanted to call and hear for myself that you’re okay,” James
said.

“Yep, I’m okay,” she confirmed. “Mom said you
were out looking for me. Thanks.”

“She said you had a good reason for going
M.I.A., but she wouldn’t tell me what it was,” James continued,
hoping that Meredith would fill him in.

“It’s a long story,” Meredith hedged.

“They were really worried,” James added, a
subtle rebuke.

“I know,” Meredith sighed. Her eyes met
Miguel’s. “I have a feeling everything is going to be explained
soon, bro.”

“What is it?” James asked outright. Their
family was usually very forthright with each other, and he wasn’t
used to things being kept from him. He didn’t like it.

Meredith considered how to respond. Finally,
she settled on changing the subject. “Tell Ivy that her Auntie Mere
loves her, okay? I gotta go.”

“Don’t disappear again,” James grumbled.

After she hung up the phone, Meredith
returned her attention to their efforts to use magic. “I don’t
think the phone thing is working,” she said. Before Miguel could
argue, she continued, “Eleanor told me that you have to know about
your subject. Like, you have to understand how it works--the thing
you want to work magic on.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“I’m suggesting we try something else.
Something we know about.”

Miguel looked at her dumbly, not following
her line of thought.

Meredith gave him a small smile. “We’re both
in vet school, Miguel. We know about biology.”

“Oh, right.” Miguel grinned. “So we try to…
make something biological happen?”

“Ew, when you say it like that it sounds so
gross!” Meredith wrinkled her nose and swatted at him
playfully.

“Then please, explain what you mean,” Miguel
said more seriously.

“Well, what if we start small? Like blushing.
Blushing happens when your blood vessels dilate, right?”

Miguel nodded.

“So… make me blush,” Meredith told him,
adding hastily, “but with magic, not dirty talk!” She straightened
up her posture, facing Miguel expectantly.

Miguel stared hard at her face for a few
moments, his expression scrunching up into one of intense
concentration and determination. Slowly, Meredith felt heat creep
into her face, and Miguel’s mouth cracked into an ear-splitting
grin. His skin was emitting the same warm glow that Meredith had
experienced before.

“Oh my God, it worked!” he cried
triumphantly.

“Yes!” Meredith beamed at him proudly,
watching in fascination as the glow faded from his skin. It was
beautiful. After a moment, she exclaimed, “Okay, okay. My turn!”
Now that she had seen Miguel’s success, she was anxious to try it
out for herself.

Miguel schooled his face into an impassive
expression, though it was hard for him to tone down his excitement.
“Okay, go,” he commanded.

Meredith closed her eyes, picturing Miguel’s
heart pumping blood through his body. In her mind’s eye, she
followed the blood coursing through his veins, imagining the entire
journey from start to finish. She was so focused on him, that she
could hear Miguel’s heart beating from where she sat. Once she felt
like she was in tune with him, she turned her attention to the
capillaries in his face, picturing them dilating and swelling as
they filled with blood. As she did so, she reached out with her
energy, willing the blood vessels to cooperate.

Meredith opened her eyes and watched as
Miguel’s cheeks reddened noticeably. Smiling, she confirmed her
success by glancing down at her own glowing skin. “I did it!” she
said, laughing joyously. She looked back at Miguel, frowning as she
saw the angry red splotches on his cheeks. “Oh no,” she said
softly.

“What is it?” Miguel’s hands flew
instinctively to his cheeks.

“I think some of the capillaries in your
cheeks burst,” Meredith confessed. Tears stung in her eyes as she
realized just how stupid their magical tinkering had been. What if
she had accidentally stopped his heart?

Miguel caught her gaze and smiled
reassuringly, laying a hand on her upper arm and giving it a small
squeeze. “It’s okay, Mere. It was an accident. Let’s just restrict
future experimenting to plants.”

Meredith nodded, and Miguel tugged gently on
her arm, pulling her closer to him and into his embrace. His lips
were soft and warm, and Meredith returned his kiss with a small
sigh of contentment. Miguel deepened the kiss gently, and Meredith
parted her lips in welcome. Her hands slid up his neck and buried
themselves in his thick hair while he slid his arm around her back,
hiking her up and onto his lap.

Meredith didn’t want the kiss to end. Why had
she been so afraid to open up to Miguel? He was wonderful, and
smart, and he cared about her. She smiled against his mouth,
kissing him with gusto and not minding as his hands found their way
beneath her shirt, rubbing up and down her back. Her skin tingled
in every place where he touched her, and she found herself getting
lost in the sensations.

Miguel pulled away from the kiss and caressed
her face. “Do you want to…?” His voice was husky with lust.

The brief pause was enough to clear
Meredith’s head a little. She and Miguel hadn’t taken their
relationship to that level yet, and she wasn’t sure she was ready
for that next step. “Miguel, I really want to,” she began.

“But,” he finished for her. He brushed his
lips across hers again before righting her shirt and then resting
his arms around her waist.

“I’m sorry, Miguel. I just don’t think we’re…
there yet.”

Miguel grabbed the bottom of her chin and
turned her face toward his, looking deep into her eyes. “We have
plenty of time, Mere. There’s no hurry. I really care about you,
and I want us to do everything right, okay?”

Meredith gave him a small smile and nodded.
“Thank you,” she said, relieved that he understood.

He cupped the side of her face in his hand.
“When it is time to go…
there
, it will be perfect.” He
smiled reassuringly.

They sat in silence for a few seconds,
enjoying the warmth of each other’s embrace. Finally Meredith
grinned and said, “That doesn’t mean we can’t make out, you
know.”

Miguel laughed and lowered her gently down on
the sofa and then stretched out beside her. “Now that is excellent
news,” he said.

Meredith’s eyes fluttered closed as he
brought his lips to hers.

* * *

Several hours later, Meredith woke with a
start. She and Miguel had chosen one of the bedrooms that had
south-facing windows, and light from the moon bathed the room in
pale light. Miguel snored softly beside her, and he had one arm
draped heavily over her belly. Meredith wriggled out from under
Miguel’s arm, her feet hitting the thick, warm carpet on the
floor.

The bedroom had its own bathroom, and
Meredith went in to get some water, leaving the light off so as not
to disturb Miguel. There was a little stack of paper cups on a
shelf above the toilet, and Meredith filled one of these from the
tap. The bathroom was gorgeous, with a large jetted tub and a pair
of French doors that opened to the backyard. The lights were still
on back there, making the yard seem like it was straight out of a
five-star resort. Meredith stood in her bare feet, enjoying the
view while she sipped her water.

Suddenly, she felt a tugging sensation from
her other sense, the same way it had felt when she was using it to
find Miguel in the hospital. Meredith’s eyes widened and she
dropped the little cup onto the floor with a small
splat
.
The water puddled around her feet, and she was briefly reminded of
the flooded vet’s office.

Meredith fell into a low crouch, not knowing
where the sensation was coming from. It wasn’t Miguel, she was
certain of that. This energy had a cold malevolence to it that
Meredith had never felt before. It was so strong that Meredith felt
overwhelmed, her thoughts muddled. She froze in place, listening as
hard as she could. The energy was getting stronger, closer.

Meredith scrambled across the floor toward
the bed. She reached up over the edge of the mattress and shook
Miguel’s foot vigorously, until he sat up sleepily.

“Huh?” he croaked, looking down at her in
confusion. “What are you doing?”

“Get on the floor,” Meredith hissed.

More alert, Miguel didn’t question her,
rolling off the bed in one fluid motion. Meredith pulled him
between the bed and the wall, so they couldn’t be seen from the
doorway or the windows.

“Someone’s coming,” Meredith breathed.

“How do you know?” Miguel whispered back.

“I can feel it.”

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Meredith said
quickly, mind reeling. “I can’t tell where they are.” Her heart was
pounding, and the blood roared in her ears. It felt like the energy
was everywhere.

Miguel grabbed Meredith’s hand and squeezed
it hard, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Just focus, Mere. Look at
me, stay calm, and
focus
.”

Meredith struggled to slow her breathing,
closing her eyes and concentrating. “Coming down the hallway,” she
mouthed. “We have to get out of here. The bathroom.”

Miguel sprang to his feet without a word,
pulling her up after him. They darted back into the bathroom as
quietly as they could, and Meredith fumbled with the French doors
that led out to the yard. Her hands were trembling so hard that she
could barely turn the lever.

Miguel gently lifted her hands out of the way
and unlocked the door smoothly, swinging it silently open on
well-oiled hinges. Then, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her
into the backyard. Their bare feet made slapping sounds on the pool
decking as they ran past the outdoor kitchen.

“Down here,” Meredith pulled Miguel into a
crouch behind the built in barbeque.

“We gotta get out of here, Mere,” Miguel
protested.

“Vi and Josh are still inside. We can’t just
leave them.”

“Vi and Josh aren’t magicians. They aren’t
after them,” Miguel reasoned.

Meredith gave him a scathing look. “And what
happens if the protégé thinks they know where we are?”

Suddenly, the
thaelis
that Meredith
wore burned red hot against her chest. Meredith looked down at the
glowing stone, realizing that it was keeping her from being
discovered. Horrified, she realized that Miguel wasn’t protected.
She opened her mouth to warn Miguel, but it was too late.

A cold voice rang out into the backyard,
calling menacingly, “Miguel.” Meredith recognized the female voice,
but couldn’t quite place it.

Miguel’s eyes widened in alarm, his body
shaking in fear.

“Time to come out,” the woman said. As she
spoke the words, Miguel’s body was jerked into the air by an
invisible string, his hand ripping out of Meredith’s grasp.

Helpless, Meredith looked up at him. From her
crouched position, she could almost touch his feet where they
dangled above her head. Miguel didn’t betray her presence by
looking down, instead glaring across the yard at their
attacker.

Seemingly of its own accord, Miguel’s body
launched over the barbeque, landing in a heap on the pool deck at
the protégé's feet. Meredith rocked forward onto her hands and
knees and peeked around the barbeque. Miguel lay face up on the
cold concrete, stunned. The woman stood above him, silhouetted by
moonlight, making it impossible for Meredith to make out her face.
A sharp knife glinted in her right hand.

Meredith felt defenseless against such power.
She looked around wildly in search of some sort of weapon. A
serrated metal grilling spatula hung along the side of the
barbeque, and Meredith snaked her hand up to grab it. Her only
chance of saving Miguel was to take their attacker by surprise.

“You?” Miguel’s voice sounded betrayed as he
started to sit up.

Before Meredith knew what was happening, the
protégé dropped to her knees beside Miguel and plunged the knife
deep into his belly. Miguel let out a strangled whimper of pain as
the knife twisted upward, and he slumped back down onto the pool
deck. Meredith felt a surge of power, bright and good, that
dwindled down into nothing. Then, the woman let out a low,
satisfied groan.

Panicked, Meredith ducked her head back
behind the barbeque and stuffed her fist into her mouth, praying it
would stem the tide of her own disgust and horror. She didn’t dare
move, or think, or breathe, or she would be next.

“Are you out here, too, Meredith?” The
protégé's voice sounded thick with bloodlust.

The
thaelis
flared against Meredith’s
skin again. If Meredith was lucky, the protégé would be so
confident in her own abilities that she wouldn’t physically search
the yard. Otherwise, Meredith was in big trouble. She gripped the
barbeque spatula tighter, waiting.