Coral and Bone

Seven

Daspar sat on the couch with his head resting in his hands. Tage was careful not to startle him. Only last week he accidentally threw a water sphere at her, missing her by inches. She wasn't sure what surprised her more: that he had cast a spell by mistake, or that he had missed. He was off his game.

She sat beside him, tucking one leg under her side. "Hi."

He raised his head. "You're awake. I was beginning to worry."

"Why? How long have I been out?"

"Too long. Your fever wouldn't break. Damn mermaids." His eyes creased, the rims dark from lack of sleep.

"Hey, I'm okay." She smiled. "They just caught me off guard."

He grabbed her arms, his fingers digging in. "You can never be off guard. The mermaids will return now they've seen the bracelet."

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes, but I didn't plan for that to happen." He nodded toward her legs.

Bruises blotched her calf up to her knee, the veins along her thigh black with mermaid venom. Tage shrugged. A few days until the poison ran its course, maybe a night of puking, but nothing more than surface wounds. Mermaids could penetrate the soul, inflict wounds so deep one begged for death. "That fish barely touched me."

"And they won't be touching you again." Daspar stood. Shuffling through the papers on his desk, he found a yellow manila envelope and set it aside. He slid on his leather jacket.

"Where are we going? Did you find Halen?" She sprang to her feet. Though her head spun, she grabbed the car keys.

"Toss me those." He held out his hand. "You're not dressed."

Realizing she was still in her pajamas, she threw him the keys.

He caught them midair. "I've tried every spell. I haven't found her. And I'm not about to lose track of you. You're going to stay put."

"The hell I am. You need me. I'll get changed."

"The mermaids saw you. That's good enough. I've sealed the drains and dumped all the still water." He nodded to her birthday flowers, now wilting in the vase. "You'll be safe until I get back."

He grasped the timer from his desk, a long glass flute with bulbs on either end, one side filled with sparkling black sand. He had recently added this timer to his antiquities collection, better described by her as freaky weird old junk. The piece she hated the most lay in his top drawer; a magnifying glass, its handle the claw of some bird with dark talons. The thing creeped her out.

Clutching the sand timer in his fist, he tucked a wisp of her loose hair behind her ear. "You've done enough for now. Your parents would be proud." He smashed the end of the glass against the marble coffee table.

"What are you doing?" She stepped back.

Reaching around her, he scattered the black sand at her feet and whispered, "Lusmanus, Creponium, Tinumula..."

"No!" She butted his shoulder with her palm, but he shoved her back.

As he poured the sand, his whispered incantation grew louder until her ears rang with his voice, blocking her thoughts from summoning a spell of her own. Within seconds, she found herself standing dead center in a black sand circle.

"You can't do this. You need me!" She shook her fist.

He shouted now, and the sand burned with a bright flame.

"Let me go!" She thrust toward him, but the heat repelled her.

Daspar pressed his hand down and the fire extinguished. The sand spun to blood red.

When Tage stepped forward, her toes burned. She retreated, clutching her foot. "I'm sure this isn't what my parents had in mind of 'protection' when they made you my legal guardian. Let me out!"

Ignoring her shouting, Daspar grabbed the envelope, and from the drawer, he pulled out a dagger. She had seen this weapon once before when he cut his finger in a blood pact. A wood carved mermaid formed the handle. The steel-ridged teeth of the blade reflected Tage's stricken expression.

"What are you going to do?" Her voice rose shrilly, but he wouldn't look her way. She stomped her foot, and the table shook, yet the sand did not budge. His hand was on the door, and she shouted once more, "Where are you going? There are Hunters out there. What if they come for me?"

"Nothing will penetrate the circle." He stepped into the hall.

"Please don't go!"

Without a glance her way, Daspar shut the door, leaving her trapped in the crimson circle.