Yield (21 page)

And that
’s what did it.  What I needed.  He would do it for me.  I selfishly worried he wouldn’t want me after, but it was me being selfish.   Worried I’d lose him.  He was worried he would lose me.

“You will still love me when I
’m...plain me?”

His eyes gave off something like pain and astonishment all rolled into one.  “You seriously think I wouldn
’t love you anymore?  Emma. I—you can’t imagine what you have done to me.  If you’d known me before, you’d know how much you’ve changed me.  You said yourself, I’m a better man because of you.”  His eyes blinked and then his voice changed, “I will not go on without you.  If something happens to you, I’ve already made up my mind.”

“What Ames?  You
’ll what?”  Alarm rang in my voice.

“I texted Wicker a half hour ago with my intentions.  Caydon is aware of what we are doing.  If anything should happen to you...and/or me...then Caydon knows what to do.”

“That can’t happen,” Mrs. Clark said from the corner of the room.   Ames didn’t fully trust her either.  I was so confused.

“Not your business granny,”
Ames gripped.

I don’
t like the sound of this at all.  “Then it’s no.  I won’t do it.”

We went back and forth and I heard his grandmother say something about how neither of us would ever intentionally harm ourselves because nothing would go that wrong.  I heard his grandmother sigh rather heavily a few times to get our attention back in focus.  Eavesdroppers never like what they hear. 

“I’m not going through with it if it means you will just act like a jackass and slit your wrists because I tried to do the right thing for once in my life.”

“Well, then let
’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“NO!”  I took his face in my hands.  “It
’s no!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.  Anyone can survive without the other.  I did.
  I told you it is only a slim chance something could go wrong of that extreme.  Worst case scenario, she ends up electrocuting herself and growing extra hair on her body.”

My face contorted and worse when he said, “Guess we better buy a good razor.”

Eww! 

“Promise me first you will go on if something happens.  That you will see to the realms and not focus on me.”

“I promise if you do the same.”  I just promised I
’d see to the realm, for which I have.  Wicker and Caydon know what to do.

It was all ridiculous anyway.  My mind just lives by precautionary measures.

Granny wolf seemed a little pissed at my announcements like she didn’t believe me or would try to stop me, but I didn’t care one ounce of what she thought.

Emma
’s shoulders fell a little, but her fears were still there.  I just needed her to calm enough to get this processed ordeal over and done.  Grandma Clark said it was painful, but safer than walking into the eye of a hurricane.  I pray she’s right and Emma’s fears are needless.

I just promised to run a group of people, possibly alone, without him.  The pain of that thought was too much, so I pushed it out of my head.

All of this whole week was too much.

I met his grandma, whom never told Mrs. Ryman, my own grandmother, that she knew Ames was a warlock until she was ready to get what
she
wanted.  That it skipped a generation, which would not break the curse.   And then she changed her tume saying she did this so her grandson could choose for himself, not a dang goblin anything.  Great goblins of gold, this was insane.  None of it made sense.

Grandma Clark, the noble one, asked us both to sit down on the little brown stools.  I forget we
’d been standing for a while now and never thought to sit out the wait of her making this concoction.

Whatever this gruroot was, it was intense with its scent alone.  I think it smelled like rotten eggs mixed with a combination of bad breath and moldy cheese.  Needless to say, it wasn
’t pleasant.

“I never said it was.”

Err!  “Just get on with it.”

Grandma Clark handed each of us a coffee mug of dark liquid that didn
’t move much in the way most drinks do.  To the blind eye, one would think it was coffee a little thicker than usual, but the smell would give it away. 

“What next?” I asked.

“Drink.”

Ames and I exchanged puzzled looks.

“That’s it?"

She nodded at both of us.

“No magic circles of candles and chanting of weird phrases.”

“Movies.  In real life, if one is of the coven, they have magic entwined within their essence.  You can
’t make it or take it, you are magic.  To take that away, gruroot will reverse your magical essence and overpower it.  Simple as that.”

Yeah, simple as a
lemon pie recipe.  Way too simple if you ask me.  Makes me worry how many laymen’s ignorant creations were made into science 101 experiments gone awry, but were really affecting someone or something magically.  Oops!  Sorry about the warts all over your face, ma’am.  Oops.  Didn’t mean to blow up your home, sir.

“Bottoms up,” I said just before I swallowed one gulp and nearly choked it back up.  Puking might not be optional if I had to drink the whole thing.

Ames stared fearfully at me, and then took in about the same amount.  How gallant of him, I thought.

“The whole thing?” I asked her.

She nodded.

I needed a distraction.  “What else is in it?”  Besides a magic herb that witches grow.

“The gruroot, for which you know, is rare but most often found with a coven leader.  Various tea leaves.  Ground up of course.  And your mother’s essence.”

That surely made me choke.  “Wh-at?”

“Your grandmother told me of your mother’s curse so I searched every book and genealogy tree I could find to know of it to no avail.  The only solution I can think of is deleting part of the equation. The gruroot makes a reversal, but it needs the property to be reversed.  Without her knowing, I took a hairbrush of your mother’s from her previous room before leaving on a visit.  Your grandmother left it the way it was when she left and it was the only item I could find that would do the job.” 

She added this las
t bit because of my cringed look that had nothing to do with the taste of the drink in front of my face. 

“Anyway, her essence is wound into every part of her, including her hair.”

“So you’re saying my mother’s hair is in here?” I pointed to my
non
-frappe.

She nodded.

Enough with the nodding.  I gave up on the ache inside my belly and head and tossed back the entire drink.

Once again, I found myself doubting the whole curse business.  The more I listened to both our relatives, the more I felt like something was off.  Losing her magic wouldn
’t worry me as much as other things.  I got the hint from Granny Wolf’s hidden message that magic doesn’t really ever leave us.  I just had to hope it would work for what we needed at the moment.

Trusting that I wasn't making us both poisoned was the bigger worry. I think both of our relatives have some mean genes in them, but killing us didn't sound right.

I followed suit and downed the whole nasty thing.  I watched Emma during the entire tipping back of my cup wishing like anything this thing tasted like a bad beer.  Not much is worse.

She choked on the last gulp staving off her gag reflex.  I patted her back hoping to stop any vomit thinking I wouldn
’t be able to keep it down myself if she upchucked first.

She smiled, but it came out all crooked from the cringing.

“Now we wait.  It shouldn’t be long before you feel the arc of reversal.”

Arc of nose diving vomit. 

After a full minute, nothing happened.  Just when I was starting to doubt the witch doctor grandma, Emma doubled over in pain.  I still felt nothing.

He rubbed my back from my near throw-up experience.  His sweetness factor was growing. 

Just when I was going to thank him, a pain shot from my head to my legs and back up.  It was like a pinball machine was loose in my body and the bumpers were slapping my insides over and over.

I bent over forward to lessen the pain, but it came on so quick.  I wanted to scream, jump up and stretch out the cramps, and shout to just make it go away.  It was unbearable.

Someone was yelling something in my ear as I held on to my head with both hands.  I came up for air and found Ames screaming in my face.  Why was he mad and why wasn’t he having a conniption fit like my own?

Not able to hear him, I shook my head side to side and hid my face again.  If I kept them closed, the pain hurt less.

“Emma.”

I heard him say my name. 

“EMMA.” 

I looked up again at his red faced scream of my name.  I asked him to stop yelling, but I didn
’t hear my own words come out.  I’m not even sure they did.

I turned remembering another person was there with me because they just moved over into my frame of view with two nurse-like clogs with purple veined legs staring at me. 

“Be nice my dear.  I am the one who will make this all better when you’re at the worst part.”

Worst part.  This wasn
’t the worst?

A sharper pain than the rest settled around my chest and pierced everything within me.  I couldn
’t remember why I had this sudden pain, but I wanted it to stop.  This time I know I screamed out loud and didn’t stop for what felt like a day’s worth of lung action.

And then it stopped.

All I could see was black and more black.  Darkness.  Quiet. 

The coldest hand jerked me back when it laced around my wrist.  I heard yelling and knew it was Ames. 

I said his name, but I don’t think he heard me.  I said it again and he didn’t answer still.  With my eyes still in the dark, I realized they were still closed.  Maybe I was imagining the whole thing.  I remember being hurt, screaming for Ames to make it stop, and closing my eyes. 

The cold hand left my arm.

“She is okay.  Her pulse is rising meaning she is awake and aware we are here.”

“You make it sound like she might forget who we are.”

“She should remember, but with these things, anything is possible.  Remember the story of the last one I told you.”

“She died.  If Emma so much as has a headache I will—

“Do nothing.  You promised her.”

“Just because my friggin
’ body didn’t react to whatever this motion potion is doesn’t mean I’m changing my mind.  I already have it taken care of.  I won’t live without her.”

“I was afraid you
’d say that.  Move over, son.”

I heard Ames growl at her, “I
’m not your son.”

“Maybe you
’ll appreciate it more when she wakes up all shiny and new.  She has a rightful place and so do you.”

“I want her to wake up just the way she was.”  His words were slow and precise.

“Just hush up.”

Ames huffed again and I imagined him pacing and running his hands through his hair like he does when he
’s anxious.  I felt sure I’d hear a wall shake soon from his anger.  I could tell it was there loud and clear.

“
Take her hand.”

I felt a warmer hand take mine.  A cold as ice one grabbed onto the other, but not in a gentle way the other had.

“Now hold on to her hand while I hold the other.  Push her legs together and make her comfortable.”

It sounded like I was sprawled-eagle on the floor.  What happened to me?

I tried to remember, but all I could come up with was the pain that was subsiding faster and faster. 

They mumbled something together and squeezed my hands.
  It sure sounded like chanting.

For the second time, I tried to open my eyes.  This time, they did.  Cracking them just a little was excruciating.  The left eye burned as I slid it apart.  The other followed.

Just as his face came into focus, I heard a sharp intake of breath and two of the most gorgeous blue eyes staring back at me.  Ames.

Her eyes.  They weren
’t green anymore.  Gray?  Steel gray. 

“What
’s wrong with her eyes?”  Emma tried to lift up.  “Stay lying down.  You need to rest.”

“If her eyes are vacant, then the magic is gone from her surface.  She is completely human at the moment with a side of goblin.”

She tried to lift up again.  “Emma.  Be still.”

“No.  I want to see my eyes.”

Her hard-headedness didn’t dry up with the changes. 

Grandma Clark giggled like a school girl.  “Guess that makes you two a match made in heaven.”

“Stop with the eaves, grandma.”

She shut up and stared blankly at me.  What did I do wrong now?

“You called me grandma.”

I squirmed, “
Well, don’t get used to it.  If she’s the least bit unhappy, I’ll make sure you are too.”

Crap.  I shouldn
’t have said that.  Back to Emma.  Granny Wolf could wait.

“Are you okay?” I asked Emma cradling her head and lifting her up by her back.

“You sure have to ask me that a lot?”  Her voice was raspy and sounded like it was painful for her to talk, but at least she was coherent and answering me.

“Say my name.”  I asked.

Emma rubbed her eyelids.  “What, you think I forgot your name already.  Man tells me right before we drink a mad scientist potion he wants to have a wedding one day and include me in it and next he’s forgotten who he is.  Guess I’m the one out of luck here.”

She was loopy or something.  She was talking like a crazy person. 

“Hey you,” she waved in my face, “know any gorgeous sexy men who might want to make me their queen and go on the best honeymoon this world has ever seen?  Cuz’ I am so ready to go on one after this little funhouse adventure.  How about you?”

I have no idea where she gets her bold and dirty minded attitude but I wanted to shut it up with my grandmother watching.

“At least I know you’re okay.  You are okay, right?”

Emma laughed. 
“Yes, Ames.  I feel fine.  NOW!”

“What do you remember?”