Heart and Soul

I side stepped her energy blast. My body, as far as I knew, couldn’t handle that much energy at once. Her eyes bore into me. She took another deep breath and prepared herself for another attack. Before she could blink I buried myself in the darkness of the damaged bar, continuously moving between the disorienting shadows of the mess. There wasn’t time for me to mourn the loss of another piece of something dear to me.

“Come out, you coward!” She shouted while her eyes darted back and forth but never landed on me. Her magic may have been back, but her senses still weren’t as sharp as they should be. I glanced to the floor behind her, trying to get a sense of what set her off. The bartender, Darcy, lay lifelessly behind her. Annika didn’t understand, I realized, that I didn’t do this.

I stopped moving to gather my own strength. Her eyes focused a little too far left to be directed at me. “I know what you think,” I spoke. All emotion evaded my voice even though I should’ve been ripping everything in sight to shreds for clues, but something in me knew this tormentor. He’d been careful not to leave his normal cigar smoke and metallic blood scent. Faint scents of herbs and a touch of vanilla filtered through the chaos.

“You don’t know anything.” Her voice became eerily calm. She seemed to mimic his emotions. If he panicked now, she would have the advantage.

“Darcy was your friend too.” I watched her features contort into the face I made every time Boss spoke of my witch. “She made promises. Always made promises to people who needed them. I remember her.”

“She didn’t allow your kind here,” she hissed as sparks flew to the spot where her glare was trained. “She told me I was welcome to come here anytime I wanted because I saved her father’s life when he was a child. Did you know that?” Confusion crossed her features. Sparks flew closer to me. I stepped out into the dimly lit area, standing over the man who came here every day just to read his paper and have a drink of whatever he wanted. “Boss sent Micah after her father when Madon was younger. She was just a girl. I still had a heart. That day, that moment, is what caused our number one rule.”

Sparks flicked between her fingertips while she grit her teeth. “I don’t care about your rules.”

“You should!” I hissed. “Because of me people aren’t in pain and have time to say goodbye; because of my rules there are no unnecessary deaths involved in his process.” I matched her glare. She tried to cast another line of energy at me, but this time I did something I knew I’d regret. I pulled rank; using the link of her soul that bound us together, I forced her arms to her sides.

“You killed these people,” she hissed. I shook my head. She repeated her words louder until she screamed them over and over again.

I stormed toward her until I was centimeters from her face. My fist clinched, teeth ground together, before I whispered, “I never touched anyone in this bar in a harmful manner.” I took two steps away from her and a few deep breaths. “If you’re going to kill me, it damn well better be for a crime I committed.”

I released the link before I turned and walked away from her. Stepping through the broken window, I met the crowd that must’ve gathered to help her when she screamed. Accusations rang loud; very few in this crowd knew me. I made sure over the years that I remained anonymous, and blame is what I got for my efforts.

There was no place to turn, no comfort. I turned back toward Annika to see her leaning over her friend, probably her last hope of escaping this place. She’d never know how much I wanted to be wrong about her survival chances if she disobeyed, but we both would soon find out what leaving the compound without permission would be like.

“Nicholai!” A familiar hiss drowned out the whispering crowd. I turned to see the guard who stepped aside earlier, bruises covering his face, cowering behind Micah. A long gash seemed to be slowly healing on his arm; whatever gave him that gash must’ve ripped his shirt to shreds too. “I told you,” he growled. “Your time is up.”

I called over my shoulder to Annika. She barely drew her attention away from Darcy to pay attention to me. “This is Micah, the guy who killed her father.”

His slicked black hair fell slightly out of place along with his halfcocked grin. He gave a nod and a wave before laughing. “I’m glad to know my reputation precedes me.” I felt her power surge through me as she stood. I shook my head before willing my strength into the link I shared with her.

“Now’s the time for revenge,” I said calmly as she found her way to my side. Micah laughed, taunting her with his usual stupidity. The crowd backed away as the sparks flicked between her fingertips. He wasn’t laughing anymore.