“Nnnooo!” Both Arun and James yelled at the same time.
With the height difference, the wound wasn’t a kill shot, but neither of them knew that. It didn’t mean the impact didn’t knock me down.
As soon as my knees hit the ground, the room around me was like watching a slow motion movie. James was reaching for me, but he didn’t quite make it. Arun was suspended a few inches above the ground as he was running toward me.
Both of them were still. I could even see dust frozen in midflight.
“You weren’t supposed to do that.” I didn’t quite have it in me to stand up. Instead, I turned my head to Odin.
“He didn’t kill me.”
Odin walked over to me and pulled out the knife. It hurt way more being pulled out than when it went in. The small blade felt more like a sword.
He wrapped his hand around my shoulder. I felt warmth through my veins as my wound healed. “Why are you here now, when you didn’t come earlier today? We were purposely trying to summon you for help.”
He held out his hand for me and helped me stand up. “You should know the answer to this. It is not as simple as sharing blood to pull through the layers. It has to be your blood with emotions.”
Fully on my feet, I kicked the knife under the kitchen table. “My blood does really call you.”
He nodded his head up and down. “Just like Ethel’s blood can break all walls between the layers. You just have to know how to use it. You still have the coin?”
I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to him. My blood was on one of this hands from the knife and he rubbed my cheek with his other hand—wiping off James’ blood.
I watched as he mixed both of our blood on the coin. The runes on the coin lit up. “All you need now is Ethel’s blood. Remember...with death is life.”
Just as fast as he slowed everything down, he disappeared. When James’ body hit me, his hands felt around my shoulder, looking for the wound. Arun fell down when his feet hit the ground.
“He was here, wasn’t he?” Arun said once he stood back up.
I didn’t get a chance to answer, but I was slammed in a hug from behind by Ethel.
“I get what I have to do now,” she whispered in my ear so low I was sure I was the only one who could hear it.
She released me and willingly walked back to Sigyn who had a kitchen butcher knife in her hand. Ethel stood there and willingly let Sigyn kill her. I knew first-hand how badly that hurt. I knew what it felt like when the blade slowly gets pulled out. Sigyn stood there with a smile on her face as her daughter fell to the ground.
This time I screamed “No” as I ran to Ethel. I took the coin and placed it directly on the wound. I didn’t care if my hands were dirty and could cause Ethel even more damage. We were beyond that now.
Sigyn and Loki turned to walk away. I couldn’t allow that. “Death Flames extend!” I wrapped one chain from each wrist to them.
They were stronger than James. They could fight the flames. Even if it kills me, I wasn’t letting them go.
I heard James shout behind me, but I couldn’t lose my concentration on Sigyn and Loki.
“I bind you to the Dry Lakes from whence you came.” I smiled. James said it right.
At least he was getting out of this alive.
With my wrist still attached to the flames, the two of them were pulling me toward the cellar doors. I fought them every step of the way; they even dragged me down the stairs.
In the cellar were key members of the coven, including Weston and his mom. Weston took a step toward me, but stopped when his mom grabbed his wrist.
On the center of the cellar floor were the same rune markings as on the coin. Sigyn dropped the knife that killed Ethel in the center. She was right. Ethel’s blood did create an opening.
“Death Flames, shorten.” I stood my ground as Sigyn and Loki we pulled toward me.
“Let them go.” I jumped when Ethel walked past me.
“No!”
“Violet, let them go,” she said just as calmly the second time.
“Death Flames, release.” Loki and Sigyn stumbled when the flames suddenly released them.
Ethel reached out and held both of their hands. She looked over her shoulder at me and winked. In a bright flash of light, she disappeared with both Loki and Sigyn.
ONE HOUR, FIFTEEN MINUTES, and thirty seconds of me pacing. That is exactly what I did. Other members of the coven tried consoling me. I even tried drawing my blood to summon Odin. Nothing worked. Finally, I resorted to sitting and staring at the edge of the runes.
All of the other members went back to the house, leaving me all alone in the cellar. The only thing to keep me company were my thoughts. What was I going to do without Ethel? I was already missing James too. I hoped he found his happy place.
I jumped up when a crash knocked over a wine bottle. When I turned around, there was a small white kitten lying next to broken glass. “Ethel!”
I ran toward Ethel and carefully picked up her small body—removing her from the broken glass. As soon as I made it back to the rune, I sat us both down on the floor.
Her little eyes looked up at me innocently. She meowed and purred like how a kitten would. Not at all like how Ethel would. But, she had Ethel’s eyes. I felt tears pour down my cheeks as I watched Ethel play with no recollection of what just happened.
I felt a warm body envelope me from behind. I knew that smell. I looked down at his hands. I knew those hands. I smiled and cried at the same time. James found his way back to me. I was his happy place.
“What did I miss?” I laughed when he asked that.
I wrapped my hands around his. “Nothing, Honey. We won.”
He kissed one of my cheeks from behind me. “Then who is that?” He nudged me toward the kitten.
“Somehow that is Ethel. I guess she figured out there really is more than one way to skin a cat and saved the day. I am sure she will tell us what happened when she is a little bigger.”
James laughed in my ear. “Skin a cat? Who does that? That doesn’t even make sense.”
I leaned back against him. “It’s a phrase...you know, meaning there was more than one option.”
I wrapped his arms around me just a little bit tighter. “Well, I was thinking she really does have nine lives.”
He could tell me Ethel had thirteen lives and it wouldn’t matter. The rest of the details we could work out later. All that truly mattered was all three of us were alive now. Our futures were a blank slate.
The Hollow-Eyed Girl
John Watson
Chapter One
The sound of ringing phones echoed around the sprawling office space like a flock of birds singing the dawn chorus. The employees answering the calls wedged themselves into tiny cubicles that held little more than a desk and a chair. The only light in the office came from the overhead fluorescent lights, their bright glow casting an unnaturally brilliant sheen over an otherwise drab environment.
Kayleigh Barnes sat in her cubicle, the cord of her telephone wrapped around the wrist that held the receiver. With her free hand, she drummed her nails on the desk, listening to the tale of woe with zero empathy. Kayleigh had been doing her job long enough to know when someone was bullshitting her, which her caller was trying to do rather poorly.