The Delacours: Part Deux

twenty-two.

"No!" the four of us yelled out. The protective barrier spell had fallen around the clearing. We rushed over to him, terrified of the decision he'd made. Ella noticed us rush over and had taken a second to come over. She pushed my legs and I turned around.

"Ella, no!" She pushed past me, baring her fangs, her eyes glowing golden yellow.

"Odie! You idiot!" She dropped to her knees. "You told me you wouldn't do this! You said of every choice you'd make this wouldn't be one of them!" She punched the ground hard and cried. "Odie..." She'd begun to sob. Val kneeled next to her and put her arms across her shoulders. I felt myself feel angry and confused. Zane's heart was beating very weakly and I knew he needed blood.

"Zane, here..." I said, biting into my wrist. "It helped Val. A sip or so should be enough." He reluctantly grabbed my hand and sucked down a mouthful. The twins came up behind us and pushed us aside.

"Odie..." Noah said.

"Hey, hey," Chris said, quietly, trying to pull them away. They grabbed each other's hands and knelt down on either side of his body.

"Noah, Ava... what are you –" Val said.

"Mommy... Odie needs our help," Ava said, looking at us as if we were missing some obvious answer. "Come on, Noah." She and Noah joined both hands over Odie and their hands glowed intensely over his body. Zane moved to the other side of Odie and knelt down to Ava, grabbing her hand as Val grabbed Noah's. The light grew brighter. I wasn't sure if I could do anything to help, but I reached and grabbed Val's and Zane's free hands with mine while I knelt at Odie's feet.

"Come on, Daddy... you too," Noah said.

"I don't have magic," he said.

"This is different magic, Daddy... not like the stuff we do. All things have this kind of magic," Ava said. "Ella... you too! Come on! Grab my hand!" Ava reached for Ella's hand and knelt down between her and Val. Chris grabbed Noah's and Ava's hands at Odie's head. The magic within our circle around Odie glowed so brightly we could hardly keep our eyes open. What little I could see, Odie's face was scrunching up and his entire body was starting to shake.

"Ava... Noah..." Val said. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to have the mind of a child again..." she smiled wide. Odie's legs were shaking violently.

"Val... is this supposed to happen?"

"He's fighting it and we're helping him... just you and Chris keep an ear on his heart rate. As long as that's going, we're fine..." Odie started to groan. We broke the circle of our magic as Chris and Zane grabbed Noah and Ava from either side of him. Ella went with them as Val and I watched Odie. His heart rate was speeding up.

"Val... I don't like this," I said. "It's been too long."

"I don't like it either, but there's not much we can do..." she said, grabbing my hand. She sat down next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder. It had been nearly four hours since the darkness had escaped and this whole thing started. I know they were all tired – I could feel it myself and I didn't even have to sleep. We were all quiet. The twins had fallen asleep in Chris' arms; Ella was propped against a tree struggling to stay awake. I could hear Zane's footsteps pacing behind us before he walked over to us. He had rolled his pant legs up and taken his shoes off. His feet were dirty, as were his hands.

"Val," he said, squatting behind us. "You should reconnect before this continues... We don't have to go too far. This clearing has a lot of magical energy in it thanks to our fun weekend," he smirked.