“Great. I’m going to go pick up some food. Then we’re going to talk about some things.”
The way she said “things” didn’t inspire me with hope that it would be a happy conversation. “Be careful out there.”
“Unlike you, I’m not going to invite a shadow into my body.” She shook her head. “Leave you to your own devices and you lose you frickin’ mind.”
With her departing statement, she shut the door to the hotel behind. I hadn’t asked her what she’d be getting. I really wanted pizza and beer, but this was Victoria—it would be something crunchy, granola-like.
“Not your smartest move.”
I jumped as Malcolm appeared before me. I covered my mouth to keep back my scream, lest I bring someone around to find out why I’d screamed. There he was. I took my first deep breath in who knew how long.
“You’re here.”
He sunk down onto the bed where he floated right over it. “Of course I’m here. I’ve been around. You just couldn’t see me for some reason.”
“I’ve been a little overwrought. Although I had no idea it stopped me from seeing ghosts.” I couldn’t believe I was referring to seeing ghosts and meaning Malcolm.
“You should know. What did we always learn? Our emotions help dictate our abilities. I can’t say I’m upset that ending me threw you into a loop where you made bad choices. I hate to think of you getting hurt, but I like that you cared so much.”
I got up on my knees. “Was my love for you in doubt?”
“No. But it’s nice to see evidence just the same.” His grin made me sigh. I wanted to touch him, but I knew I’d only get air. “Are you okay? You took that thing inside of you. I wanted to throw something. The whole ‘ghost thing’ made that a problem.”
I wiped my eyes. “So you’re, ah, one of those ghosts who can travel around?”
He pointed at me. “I’m attached to you.”
“I’m not sure how to feel about that. Are you attached to me because I’m your murderer?”
Malcolm snorted. “I’m attached to you because you’re my life, my soul, my love, my reason for existence.”
“I like that better.” I put my hands in my lap. “You want to come back?”
He nodded. “You have to ask?”
“You’ve more than earned the right to say you’re done.” Of course the powers that be had sent Chase back. Maybe they wouldn’t let Malcolm go either. I didn’t know how any of this worked.
“I’m not done till you’re done, and we have a daughter. I’d like to raise her. With you.”
I wanted that so much I couldn’t even bring myself to think about her or a life after this. “I’m never going to die, Malcolm. This is a real problem.”
“One we can deal with later.” He raised his arms. “Bring me back, Kendall.”
He didn’t have to ask me twice. I let the power move through my fingertips. My body buzzed. I could feel his skin forming under my fingers. He glowed, like he carried the light of the sun inside his soul, before he popped back into existence.
Malcolm hit the floor, and I rushed over to him. This being-the-phoenix thing was becoming a full time job. He was out cold, nude as the day he was born, and his heart beat under my fingertips. There wasn’t much I was going to be able to do for him. He’d sleep for a long time before he became conscious again. I kissed him on his lips. God, I loved him. The door swung open, and Victoria came back in, took one look at Malcolm on the floor, and dropped her grocery bags.
Something shattered into what sounded like a thousand pieces. She closed her eyes. “Sorry. I’m not seeing him naked. I swear it. Glad he’s back and all that.”
I closed my eyes. He needed to rest and heal in the same safe spot as the others, much as I would have preferred to keep him with me. Maybe I could go back, too. I pictured the safety of the Other Space and sent him there.
“It’s okay.” I spoke to Victoria from where I knelt on the floor. “I sent him to the Other Space.”
She opened her lids. “I got a good dose of Chase naked when he appeared over there. I don’t want to see my friends in the nude.”
“I don’t blame you. I’ve seen them all naked. It’s part of the phoenix thing, I guess.”
She bent over to pick up the bag with the broken something inside of it. “We can go back. But not until we do something rather unpleasant.”
I cleared my throat. “More unpleasant than, say, the other things we’ve been doing?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” She set the grocery bag aside. “We have to go get Troy.”
Our former friend who had kept Malcolm and Chase hostage in a magical sleep and nearly destroyed me from the worry? Using the then-phoenix idol, I had taken his powers. “Why do we need to do that?”
“You said The Master is a bad Mage—I know he said ‘wizard’ but it’s so passé. We are going to call him a Mage, yes?”
We’d discussed a lot of my encounter with him on our way back to the car. “Correct.”
“I’m a witch, and I can counteract a lot of magic, but as the old saying goes, it takes a Mage to beat a Mage.”
“What old saying is that?” I’d certainly never heard it.
“It’s a witch thing.”
Okay.
I hadn’t been back to Fredericksburg since I’d taken Troy’s powers, saving Malcolm’s life. I’d hoped to never have to return. Fredericksburg didn’t seem to have fared well in the new shadow world. What had been quaint and beautiful looked worn and abandoned. I wondered how much of the town was taken.
“We might not even find him. He could be gone.” I looked out the window. We’d returned to Victoria’s home and taken one of her cars.
“People like Troy are never gone. They’re like cockroaches. They survive.”
She was probably right.
We drove up to his house. Troy’s home had never seemed quaint or beautiful. The outside always matched the inside, and it looked exactly the same to me. We walked toward it, and Victoria turned the handle, letting herself into the house uninvited. I almost objected, and then I remembered that he’d kept Malcolm strung up in the basement unconscious and if Victoria hadn’t figured out what was going on, I’d never have seen him again for the rest of my life.
I didn’t care if we were invading his privacy or not.
He sat in the living room, shirtless with a long beard and bleak-looking eyes. His soul still shined just fine. Troy hadn’t been taken over by a shadow. Victoria had been right about the cockroach theory.
He looked at us. “I should have known you two would be back to gloat. Come to see me in all my glory?” He lifted the vodka bottle he seemed to be drinking straight out of. “I’m too pathetic for even the shadows to take me.”
Victoria marched over to him. I was glad she seemed so in control. Being back in this spot where I’d found Malcolm bespelled silenced me. I couldn’t think. I’d had enough darkness to last several lifetimes.
“Where is your wife?”
He shook his head. “Weeks ago. Why do you care?”
“Weeks ago what?” My voice decided to work.
Victoria looked at me. “The shadows took her. Keep up, Kendall.”
I pointed at the window. “I’m going to wait over there.”
I turned my back on them. Either Troy was going to want to help, or he wasn’t. Victoria could deal with him. I looked out at the world. How could the sun be up? How could the day look so … normal when everything had gone to hell?
I remembered my first day in the shadow world. I’d been so utterly terrified and hopeful beyond reason that Malcolm would come and get me. He hadn’t. That wasn’t his fault. Time moved differently there. I’d have done anything to have seen the sun when I’d been living there.
I placed my hand on the glass. I wondered how Top Hat had done in his assault on The Master. Shit. When had I started to feel okay about Top Hat? He’d almost killed Levi. Enemy of my enemy …
“Kendall,” Victoria called for my att
ention, and I turned around. “Troy is interested in helping us. He’s going to need his powers back.”
“Absolutely.” I stepped toward him. “But not until we get to the Other Space. He’s not getting them back here where he can screw us. Let’s let him face everyone else. Troy needs to be properly motivated.”
He paled as I spoke. If he was afraid of me, then that suited me just fine.
Block leaned against a tree as though he somehow knew Victoria, Troy, and I were about to appear in the Other’s dimension. He raised his eyebrows at Troy but didn’t otherwise comment about his presence.
I stopped moving. I’d not been sure when I left if I’d ever see any of them again. Block looked … tired.
“Something wrong?”
He stormed toward me. “Something wrong? Yes, there’s something wrong. It’s wrong you’re out there doing this without us. We’re supposed to be a team. Phoenix or no phoenix, if you were meant to take down the Shadows alone, they wouldn’t have made us a team. Ross saw you coming. That’s how I knew you were here.”
He hugged me tightly, and I let him. Victoria crossed by us and patted Block on the arm. “I’m sorry. I do things alone. It’s always my go-to way. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt.”
“I know. That doesn’t mean I’m not irritated as all hell at you.” He had the funniest way of saying things. “Malcolm’s out cold. Chase and Ross are both up, obviously on Ross I guess, since I just told you that he had the vision.”
I stepped back. “Levi and the kids?”
“They’re well. They’ll be glad you’re back. Why did you guys bring Troy?”
I laughed. “You need a Mage to beat a Mage. Everyone knows that, right?”
He grinned before he shook his head. “I’ve never heard that before.”
“It’s a witch thing.”
I checked on Malcolm and found him asleep, one arm over his eyes like he’d shut out the world from getting through even the tops of his lids. I kissed his cheek and let him rest. It wasn’t easy to come back to life; I knew from personal experience.
My children were reading on the porch of the cabin where we’d stayed before I’d left. Dex saw me first, darting to his feet and running to me with a loud shriek. Soon all three of them had their arms around my waist, talking all at once.
I grinned. It was so good to see them, hear them, scent them … I kissed the tops of all their heads. Levi came out and soon joined us, my daughter in his arms. I took her from him and held her tight, all four of my kids bringing my heart back to life.
I smiled at Levi. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Back for good?”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen.” I had to be honest. “Back for now.”
Levi smiled. “Good enough. Should we show Mom how good we’ve gotten at cooking with the odd ingredients here?”
I thought of the nearly inedible food we’d been served when I’d lived here before. “Is that so?”
Levi winked at me. “Well, we’ve gotten good at cooking it. I didn’t say it tasted wonderful.”
Well, that made lots more sense.
“Heya, Kendall.” Chase came around the corner. “Heard you were here.”
“Well, if it isn’t my I want to be dead, no I changed my mind friend, Chase.” I smiled at him. “You look pretty good for a dead man.”
“I had a good healer.” His eyes watered, and he blinked rapidly. “Kendall, I owe you such an apology. I was being selfish and not thinking about this clearly enough.”
I stepped toward him, Dex still attached to my leg. “Who told you that you had to come back?”
“I’ll explain that. Later. I mean way later. I mean when all of this is behind us. Okay?”
I wanted to argue, but considering the numbers of secrets I felt the need to keep all the time, I couldn’t deny Chase his own. “That was your one clearing. I’m not sending you on again.”
“Understandable.” He nodded. “We waiting for Malcolm before we give the asshole who kept me prisoner his powers back?”
I nodded. “I want as much help after his powers are returned as possible. I’m not going to trust Troy as far as I can throw him. Actually, I take that back. I could throw him pretty far. I’m not going to trust him at all. I hear that we have some good chefs in our presence. Want to eat with us, Chase?”
He grinned. “I’d love that.”
Hours later, I sat on the edge of Malcolm’s bed stroking his dark hair. “Waking up?”
He groaned and pushed my hand away. Yep, Malcolm was cranky when he didn’t feel well. I smiled. “Hurt?”
“To say the least.” Malcolm cleared his throat. “Hard to come back after one’s wife stops one’s heart.”
English wasn’t his first language. Whenever he sounded foreign, I knew he was really not one hundred percent. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t leave you in there with the crazy shadow any more. Sometimes a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.”
He opened his lids. “Why are you so chipper?”
“Because you’re here and you’re solid.” I stroked his arm. “I can touch you. And we have to go give Troy his powers back, so I need you to get up.”
That got his attention. He leaned onto the backs of his arms, lifting his neck like his head was heavy. “We’re doing what?”
I leaned over and kissed him hard on the mouth. “Catch up, buddy boy. You’ve been sleeping through some kind of interesting day.”
He threw the covers off and stumbled onto his feet. “Troy is here? Why the hell would you bring him here?”
“Because Victoria says we need him to bring down The Master.” I took his hand and kissed his knuckles. “You really are here.”
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against him. I let him envelop me in love. “I’m sorry that happened. I’m sorry I let them get the jump on me. I should have done better.”
“Malcolm, what am I going to do without you?” I closed my eyes after I vocalized the words. “I’m going to live forever. Eventually, everyone I know will die a natural death. I can’t bring people back from old age.” Or at least I didn’t think I could. “I can’t cure disease or stop aging. You’re going to be gone, and I’m going to be here. Just. Like. This.”
He sucked in a long breath. “This has really been weighing on you. I’ll never leave you, Kendall. That I can promise you. If I can’t live forever with you, then we’ll figure out how to get the phoenix out of you. If it can be put in, it can be taken out.”
“Do you know that, or are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
He shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Not then.
Troy stood in the center of all of us. With the exception of Chelsea, whom I’d never brought back to life, we were all together again. Unlike on Earth, I didn’t ask our non-talented friends to leave the circle. If we were going to do this, we were all going to do it together.
I looked around at my friends and family. The baby slept on my chest. Whatever else happened, I was never leaving my children again. I couldn’t bear it. There were only so many times I could choose the greater good over my own people.
Victoria was right. I needed a break. A very, very, very, long one.
“All right.” I kissed my baby’s head but didn’t put her down. “Troy. We need a Mage. You’re, unfortunately, the only one we know. That means I have to give you back your powers.”
Chase stood next to Levi, across the circle from me. “Can’t say I’m exactly thrilled with the prospect. Both Malcolm and I have been on the receiving end of Troy’s powers. I’d rather think of him as never, ever having them again.”
“I don’t blame you,” Ross added from where he stood holding Erin’s hand. “But I have to think maybe Troy has a role to play in this mess. Otherwise, why is he still here? Why did the Others get it so wrong to begin with? Why did they pick him at all?”
Malcolm shook his head. “Are you suggesting they put him in here with us? Made us put
up with years of his bullshit—sorry kids—so we could get to this moment? Where we need his powers so desperately we let all good sense go to the wind and give him back what Kendall very smartly took away?”
“Why him?” Victoria called out, her own son on her chest. “Why did we have to get him? A million Mages and they give us Troy?”
“Let’s find out.” All eyes turned to me as I spoke. “Chase, get in his head.”
“Hey.” Troy put his hands up. “I didn’t sign up for this. I came to help. You came to me. I’m not going to let Chase in my head.”
I don’t know what Chase would have said, but Troy challenging him couldn’t have helped his mood. “You think you can keep me out?”
“Troy, no one will violate your mind without permission.” We had to have some standards. “Victoria and I came to get you. We made that choice. But I won’t return your powers without their permission either. So ask yourself: How much do you want them back?”
He was silent as he stared at me. Troy shook a little bit. I couldn’t blame him. He’d thought us all bullies, and maybe he’d been right. We weren’t going to fix that right now. When Troy almost took Malcolm and Chase from me, he’d negated his right to think I’d give a shit about his feelings.
“I don’t just want them. I need them. It feels like you cut out my liver.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear that. “Then you’re going to let Chase in your head.”
“Blackmail was never your thing. Malcolm maybe, but not you.” He stared at the two of us, but I didn’t budge. Again, Troy wasn’t incorrect. But things had changed in a major way.
Finally he nodded. “Do it. I don’t know anything anyway. I don’t know why they chose me.”
Chase walked up to him and in two seconds had touched the side of Troy’s face. Troy shook violently for a moment like he had a seizure and then stopped. The two men stared at each other, neither speaking nor moving.
Malcolm raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen him do it more gently.”
Ross snickered. “I don’t think being easy was his main concern.”
Henry finally entered the conversation. He’d been quiet the whole time. “If he turns on us after you give him back his powers, I’ll crush his head in.”