The Man in the Box (The Box book 1) Read online

  Chapter Eleven

  “What? How? What?” Cindy very cleverly asks.

  I can’t blame her, especially since my vocabulary is reduced to a single nervous laugh when Al spins to look at me for a moment before turning to Cindy. With him actually human-sized, I can see so many more details such as the fact his nose and mouth are little too wide for such a slim face. And he’s in need of a shave. Not in a ‘is he growing out a beard?’ kind of way, but in a ‘he probably hasn’t shaved for days and that’s all he can grow’ way.

  He has a fighter’s body. Lean and entirely made of muscle which his light shirt and tunic show off very nicely. I catch myself staring at the part of his shoulder connected to the back of his neck while nibbling on my bottom lip and I take another step back.

  “Lou! What did you do?” Cindy’s demanding question gushes out when she’s able to gather her thoughts.

  “It’s not her fault.” Al positions himself as though he’s protecting me from Cindy. “She was trying to help.”

  “Don’t you even start,” she says. “I’m not...I can’t...I’ll deal with you later.”

  Al turns and gives me an apologetic look that offers a perfect view of his chest, since it’s more or less at eye level for me. His shirt and tunic are both ripped, all the way down to his belt, and the skin under is red and spotted with blood.

  “Oh,” I manage to force out. I touch his skin for a fraction of a second before pulling my hand back. Although the contact was brief, I’m hit with an embarrassing rush of heat leaving me flustered. “How did...”

  He makes a face and guilt smashes into me, knocking away all other emotions.

  “Me? I did this?” My voice is at least an octave higher than normal.

  “The blade’s sharper than it seems,” he says to excuse the fact I nearly killed him.

  My eyes lock onto the cut and follow it down his chest, where the material of his clothes has shifted enough to show a good portion of skin, down to his belt line. I don’t realize I’ve been staring until one of Al’s hands grips my shoulder as the other forces me to look up at his face. I can feel the blush spread all the way down my neck, while the tingling where we touch has me trembling.

  “I’m fine.” His voice is as smooth and warm as his touch, and I can’t help leaning toward the sound. “It’s just a scratch.”

  “Oh this is awesome,” Cindy groans. She grips the arm he’s using to lift my face and digs her nails into his flesh. “Hey, you. Not-so-little Al. If you’re not dying, then how about you make yourself useful by checking the doors? I thought I heard something when I was upstairs. I’d rather not get a surprise visit from a couple of wizards.”

  He doesn’t move for a minute and instead checks on me. “Thank you,” he says.

  “Move!” Cindy forces him around her out of the room.

  When he’s gone, Cindy cautiously approaches me. The way she moves is almost as though I’m a stranger, not her annoying little sister.

  “What have you done?” she asks again, but this time a lot of the bitterness is gone, replaced with sadness. “Are you this stupid or did he trick you into it?”

  The idea of her blaming Al hits harder than her insult to me. “He didn’t do anything. I opened the bag on my own. He told me not to. And why are your pockets glowing.”

  Her hand goes to her head and she rubs her palm into her eye.

  “Are you kidding me?” She shakes her head until she notices the bag on the floor. She picks it up and shoves it into my face. “Do you have any concept of what you’ve done?”

  “I’ve taken back the magic you said I was born with.” I take a step away from her and turn so she can’t see the worry on my face. Have I done the right thing? “And now we have a chance against those wizards when they do catch up to us.”

  She doesn’t back down as she follows me wherever I try to hide. “You don’t have all of your magic. It wasn’t all kept in one bag, you stupid moron.”

  “Unlike those smart morons, huh?” Not the best retort, but it will have to do.

  “What do you expect to do when they come? Do you know anything about magic?” Her hand goes to her hip while the other waves the now empty bag in the air. “Have you ever done a spell?”

  I try to sound confidence when I say, “I made Al big again.”

  “By using his own knife and almost killing him, something you could have done without opening the bag.”

  “What’s the big deal?” I throw my hands up in defeat. I hate getting yelled at, especially when I haven’t done anything wrong. “Maybe you’re worried now I’ll be better than you at magic?”

  Her expression is somewhere between pity and a glare. “All you’ve done is given them an easy target.”

  “They’re here!” Al shouts from the hallway.

  Neither Cindy nor I move. We’re too busy scowling at each other. When Al bursts into the room, he takes one look at us and slams the book closed on the table, surprising us out of our stare-down.

  “We have to go.” His tone leaves no room for argument. “Now.”

  “Go where?” Cindy asks. “I didn’t find anything helpful in the books, and if we run, they’ll simply track little-miss-perfect here’s new power.”

  Yeah, alright, maybe it was a mistake. “Well, maybe if you explained any of this before leaving me in a room with mystical powers in the first place then I wouldn’t have opened the damn bag.”

  “None of it matters right now,” Al says. “We know this building is connected to my world somehow. If we can figure out how to get there, they might not be able to follow.”

  “But we have no idea how,” Cindy says. “The best we have is a box, and even Al won’t be able to fit inside now.” She crosses her arms while staring directly at me. “Thanks to someone.”

  I get it, Cindy. I was wrong. Time to move on.

  “There has to be another way.” I rush over to the shelves and pulling out book after book without actually opening any. It’s like I hope to simply know if I’ve found what I’m looking for. “If Gran was travelling back and forth regularly, there has to be something bigger. Maybe an object?”

  I switch from the shelves to her desk and pull items out by the handful.

  “It’s too late,” Al says.

  From his tone I know exactly what I’m going to find when I raise my head from the desk. Stewart’s smile is bigger than ever, though the rest of him is disheveled and singed. Borin stands behind him, watching us and carefully cracking each of his knuckles. Around both of them is an eerie glow, similar to the net and Cindy’s pockets. Except where the net had been neatly constructed of beautiful, terrifying bits of energy, the light around the two wizards is blotchy and fraying around the edges. I can’t keep my eyes directly on them for more than a few seconds without feeling nauseated.

  “Hello, Lou,” Stewart says in his fake sweet voice. “My, how you’ve changed.”

  Al’s hand slowly reaches for the weapon no longer strapped to his belt. I follow his lead and go for my own weapon, fingers slipping around the keys in my pocket so when I make a fist, the sharp metal edges point out between each finger.

  “And look at the stray you’ve picked up,” Stewart’s amusement increases as he notices Al for the first time. “You’re a long way from home, boy. I suppose we have you to thank for releasing her magic. But I’m afraid you aren’t going to get to enjoy your first taste today. Her magic is mine.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Cindy says. “I knew it. I knew there was something off about you.”

  “It’s not...” Al starts to say, but stops. Instead he keeps his focus on Stewart. “You’re not going to touch her.”

  “Oh, I think I will.” His amusement grows as he examines Al a little closer. “Do you truly believe you and the witch have a chance against two full wizards?”

  While Stewart and Al talk, my focus goes to Borin. At first I thought the sun must have been hitting him at an odd angle to cause him to shine. But as I watch, the glow intensifie
s as layer after layer of light gathers around his body until he glows as bright as Cindy’s pockets. Whatever he’s doing, I know I need to stop him before he finishes.

  I lunge forward, determined to stop him however I can. With my attention completely on Borin, I don’t notice Stewart’s the only one not surprised by my attack until it’s too late. My body stops mid-stride as the air leaves my lungs. He doesn’t touch me, but the magic slammed into my stomach is worse than any kick I’ve ever received.

  Worse, I can’t double up in pain or clutch the hurt area. I can’t move at all. Stewart’s light engulfs my entire body in an instant, paralyzing me. And then the pain begins.

  It starts at my toes and is so excruciating I don’t know how I’m able to continue standing, but his magic won’t let me fall any more than it will let me attack him.

  I notice movement out of the corner of my eye, hear Borin call out a warning. It’s too late. Al’s fist lands hard on Stewart’s jaw, followed by his other fist against his temple. An impressive hit. It looks practiced. And it sends Stewart to the ground.

  As soon as the first strike lands, the pain stops and my muscles loosen enough I’m able to move once again. I want to drop to the ground in relief, but Al’s hand on my arm forces me forward.

  “Come on!”

  He starts toward the front door, but Borin is ready for us. At the last second I’m able to drag Al out of the way of a blast of a patchwork of magic I’m sure was meant to knock us out, if not do something worse. I pull him toward the stairs and am relieved to see Cindy’s right behind us.

  At the top we separate. Cindy rushes to Gran’s room and Al searches one of the two spare rooms. I spin and face the stairs, my keys ready in my fist.

  Stewart leisurely climbs to his feet and wipes the corner of his grinning mouth with his thumb, his eyes never leaving me. Borin doesn’t move from his spot between the front door and us, though I can see he’s building up another spell much like the last.

  As important as the danger is, and as much as I know I need to keep my eyes on Stewart as he calmly walks up the stairs, I can’t keep my attention from drifting down to my own hand. Since Gran’s keys were left outside under the rotten well roof, they are dull and dirty. But one is so dark it blends with the shadows of my hand. It’s unlike anything else I’ve seen today, and yet, I’m positive it’s shrouded in magic.

  Cindy bursts from Gran’s room shouting, “The window’s stuck. We need another way.”

  My attention finally torn from the keys, I look over at Cindy, but it’s not her I see. Right behind her is a shadow completely at odds with the rest of the hallway. The edges blur and shift, making the shape hard to figure out at first, but as my eyes adjust to the strange cloak of magic, I’m sure she’s standing in front of a door.

  But we’re on the second floor. And that’s an outer wall. A door there would lead to...nowhere.

  I start walking toward the dark area, determined to figure out what I’m seeing.

  “What are you doing?” Cindy demands.

  Her voice snaps me out of the trance I’ve fallen into and back to reality.

  I stare down at my hand in confusion and realize I’m reaching toward the space in the wall with the strange shadow key between my fingers, as though I’m going to use it to unlock the door.

  “Lou, my dear, I don’t believe we were done talking.” Stewart is calm as he walks up the stairs, as though he knows exactly how all of this is going to end.

  I shake out the creepy feeling Stewart’s fake kindness leaves me with, but otherwise ignore him.

  “Behind you,” I whisper to Cindy. “A door. I think...” and I hope I’m right or else we’re in even more trouble. “It’s the portal.”

  “On it,” Cindy says without a glance at the wall or any other motion to tip Stewart off to what I’ve found. She steps forward to put herself between Stewart and me. “It’s the box you want? Well, you can have it. Just leave my sister alone.”

  When she offers Stewart the box, my hand goes straight into my purse where I dig around for a second. My fingers tap the smooth wood, and I have to force myself not to give anything away.

  I pull my hand out and stare at the object Cindy holds. It looks identical. I almost want to check my purse again to be sure.

  “No!” Al shouts from next to the stairs. “You can’t give it to him.”

  She ignores him and continues to offer the fake box to Stewart. “This is my only offer. Take it and go.”

  Stewart considers her for a moment before his gaze shifts to me. I recognize the challenge as he smiles, baring all of his teeth, but I have no way of responding. Although I can see magic, using it is still impossible. Opening the bag changed nothing.

  He raises his hand and magic flows from it to wrap around Cindy’s throat. I watch helplessly as it lifts her off her feet. She gasps and coughs, struggling to breathe while Stewart’s attention never leaves me as though he barely registers she exists. He’s killing her, and he’s acting like she might as well be a fly.

  I barely notice when Borin blocks Al as he lunges at Stewart, other than for it to register he’s not going to be able to help. My blood pumps too hard to properly think about anything other than attacking the grinning bastard.

  I rush over and swing at Stewart. He blocks, but it breaks his concentration on his magic. Cindy drops to the floor where she stays, coughing and gulping air. Not exactly ready to help fight, but at least she’s still alive.

  As fast as I can, I swing again, but again he blocks me, this time with enough force to make me take a step back. It isn’t simply flesh and bone I’m up against; he’s coated himself with a layer of magic like a brick wall. A kick lands on his shin and as though in slow motion, a sharp pain spreads from my foot up my leg. When I step back to regain my balance, the entire left side of my body goes numb and I sink to the floor in pain and shock.

  Stewart smashes my hand against the wall behind me and I instantly drop my makeshift weapons, the keys jangling to the floor.

  Cindy struggles with her pockets, managing to pull out some powder and blow it at Stewart, but her breath comes out as a wheeze and he easily bats away the dust.

  With a flick of his hand, he lifts Cindy again and throws her against the wall. Her head hits hard and she crumples to the ground.

  Seeing her body go limp knocks the adrenaline out of me and leaves me with a spinning head and weak muscles. She can’t be... There’s no way he... She’s still alive. She has to be still alive.

  “Lou!” Al shouts from too far away.

  The one brief second where his eyes meet mine is all the distraction Borin needs. A punch to Al’s ribs and a kick to the back of his knees and I hear the sickening thud as Al tumbles down the stairs.

  Stewart forces me up with a hand to my throat. I suppose I should feel privileged he’s willing to touch me directly rather than through his magic. I have no strength to stand as he pulls me to my feet, the pain too much, only growing worse at Stewart’s touch. This time the pain moves up my body from my feet more rapidly, as though he learned his lesson last time about working too slowly.

  My entire body is being crushed, like every nerve is pinched starting at my toes and working its way up to my throat where he holds me at eye level. I feel like I’m a tube of toothpaste, my contents squeezed up from the bottom to come spilling out the lid, or in my case, my mouth.

  It hurts. It hurts so much I want to scream. Or maybe I’m already screaming.

  All I can feel is pain and all I can see is the bright shine of magic as Stewart’s face fills my vision. I can’t think, can’t fight, can’t do anything but watch as he lowers his head and presses his lips over my mouth.

  And then...nothing.

  Aldric