Southern Witch - Would-Be Witch Part 30

"Good for you. Maybe you won't go to h.e.l.l after all."

"Too late." He took a few short gasping breaths and pointed at the gun. "Take it. They're coming. Get out."

He tipped his head back to rest.

"This isn't the time to pa.s.s out," I said, taking the gun into my right hand with the locket and tugging on him with the left. "Get up."

Blood seeped through his wet shirt. "C'mon, have a dip in the smelly water and then we'll go. Edie will be showing up in a little while, and we'll ask her if she knows a cure for werewolf bites."

"That's not the question to ask her," he said. Sweat sprang up on his forehead, and he slumped over.

"Dang it," I mumbled, trying to get him upright.

Mercutio darted in, meowing wildly, and I knew wolves were chasing him. I ran to the door, pushed it shut and bolted it.

"C'mon, let's get you in the water," I said to Lennox. I grabbed him and the locket fell to the floor. Mercutio s.n.a.t.c.hed it, playing with the chain.

Lennox swayed, but pulled himself upright, leaning heavily on the bench. Something crashed into the door.

"Too late." He sagged, but I grabbed him and squeezed his arms.

"Zach and Bryn will come rescue us. And we've got to be ready to walk out of here, maybe even to run. Now we're getting in the tank. Show some grit."

He didn't say anything, but he let me lead him to the ladder.

He shook his head at the rungs. Mercutio scaled it easily and sat looking down at us, the locket hanging from his neck like he was some king cat on a throne.

"Gee, thanks for the help," I said, shoving at Lennox, who climbed wearily.

The doors groaned under the blows, and Mercutio swiped at the air and then bent and grabbed Lennox's shirt with his teeth and pulled.

A couple moments later, Lennox lay on the platform, panting. "Hurry," I said, trying to roll him into the tank.

"Wait. You've got to raise the inner bars." He coughed and there was a little bright blood at the corner of his mouth.

I scrambled down the ladder just as the bolt snapped and the doors flung open. Three snarling wolves rushed in. Merc roared, and I screamed.

Two ran, leaping in the air toward the platform. I fired at them. Lennox, who looked dead, moved a leg at the last moment and kicked one, causing him to vault into the tank, while Mercutio fought with the other. They rolled, snarling into the tank, too.

"No, Merc! Get out of there," I yelled.

The last wolf changed into Samuel, and his yellow eyes narrowed. "My wolves have your friends surrounded. When their ammunition runs out, they'll be ripped to shreds."

My gaze darted to the open door and in an instant Samuel was on me, knocking me back, the gun flying from my hand. He ripped my clothes, and I screamed, struggling.

Water splashed over the edge of the tank as the animals in the tank battled. Suddenly a wolf broke the surface, howling in rage and fear. Samuel looked up at the sound.

We heard another wolven howl of pain along with the merman's shriek.

"Ahh!" came the growling scream from the tank. Samuel leapt up, running to the tank. He jumped, clearing the wall, and plunged in.

I stood up on shaky legs, biting my lip. There was more splashing and screams, and the water turned a murky maroon.

"Mercutio," I cried, racing to retrieve the gun. I s.n.a.t.c.hed it up and ran to the ladder. I climbed up with the gun in my teeth, like a deranged pirate.

I glanced at Lennox. His eyes were closed. I couldn't tell if he was still breathing. I gripped the gun with both hands, trying to make out the wolves and the merman.

Suddenly the waves died down. The gun shook in my hands. Samuel, in half-wolf form, broke the surface of the water and sailed up onto the platform, his jaws open wide, giant teeth ready to snap my neck.

I yelped and pulled the trigger over and over. The bullets tore into him and knocked him back into the water. Then everything was still, the b.l.o.o.d.y water settling, calm as death.

"No," I whispered.

Then there was a tiny swish, like a snake moving. And I saw the tail sweeping away from us. And Mercutio's head broke the surface as he clawed his way up the inner ladder.

"Mercutio!" I cried, throwing my arms around his neck when he got to the platform. He shook and spit out a mouthful of dog hair and green scales, coughing a bit before he settled down to lick his fur.

The bodies rose to the surface. The merman had sliced them up. I shuddered, looking away.

"Tamara!" Bryn shouted, running into the barn.

"Here." I said, bending down to check Lennox. "Where's Zach?" I asked, feeling a faint pulse.

"He's okay. Bleeding some, and it slowed him down. Are you all right?"

I nodded. "Lennox isn't doing very good though."

Bryn's pace slowed, and his face creased with sorrow. "I know." He came up the ladder with an expression that made my chest hurt.

"Tammy Jo?" Zach called.

I looked up to see Zach shuffle to the doorway and lean heavily on it. I could see the blood soaking his shirt even from twenty feet away.

"I'm here," I said, hurrying down the ladder. I was almost to him when he crumpled to the ground.

"Oh!" I dropped to my knees next to him. He had a second wound now, a slash to his side, and both wounds streamed blood. I shoved my hand over the chest wound and pressed down as hard as I could.

He winced a little and opened his eyes. His tongue touched his dry lips as if to wet them, but there wasn't enough moisture.

"Hey there," I whispered.

"Hey, darlin', you all right?"

I nodded.

"Good. A couple got past us. I thought . . ." His eyes were unnaturally bright. "h.e.l.l, you're still the prettiest thing I ever saw." He paused, his lids drifting down before he forced them back up. "I wasn't all I should have been to you, but I loved you. You'll always remember that for me, won't you?"

Tears spilled from my eyes. I leaned down and kissed his lips. "Don't go," I whispered against his mouth, crying harder.

"No help for it." I felt his hand rub my back and then fall away.

I sobbed over him.

"Don't cry, darlin'." His voice was so weak.

"What have you all been up to?"

I looked up through blurry eyes and found Edie bending to examine Mercutio.

"Zach's been bitten by a werewolf. He needs help!"

"Oh," she said grimly. She drifted toward us and curled down to have a closer look. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"He's dying. Do you know anything? Any spell?"

She shook her head sadly. "My poor darling," she said, brushing a phantom finger along my cheek. "Don't worry. He's very capable. He'll find his way to the other side straight away. And maybe I'll walk with him partway. I've wanted to have a chat with him for such a long time."

Zach was staring directly at the spot near my shoulder where Edie's face was.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, closing his eyes.

"You had her locket all this time?" Bryn asked, his voice a combination of surprise and anger. I looked over my shoulder and found that he'd carried Lennox down from the platform and set him on the nearby bench.

"She can dance on my grave when I'm dead, and you can watch if you wish," Lennox said, putting the focus right back on his own trouble, which I couldn't blame him for.

Bryn sighed, frowning, then spoke a few words in their foreign language. Lennox answered, and Bryn looked over to me.

"My father says there's a legend of healing water, Leon's Spring. He thought your family ghost might know the location. Another ghost told him she did."

I looked expectantly at Edie.

"It's not p.r.o.nounced lee-on. It's p.r.o.nounced lay-own. And I do know where it is. It's along the second northeast ley line. About seven miles outside the town."

I told Bryn what Edie had said.

"I'll get the car," Bryn said, hurrying out.

A few minutes later, Steve from security was helping Bryn load Lennox and Zach onto the bench seats in the back of the limo. I sat on the floor between them, applying pressure to their wounds. Edie sat on the floor, too, with Mercutio curled up near her.

Bryn jerked the car out of the driveway and sped out of town. I gave him directions via Edie through the open part.i.tion.

"Hurry," I whispered as Zach's breathing got more uneven, and I could hardly feel a pulsation from Lennox's wound anymore.

After about ten minutes, Edie announced, "We're here."

"Stop the car!" I said.

She floated out through the roof. Bryn and Steve yanked the doors open. Steve pulled Zach out and hauled him over his shoulder in the same fireman's carry Bryn used.

"Which way?" Bryn asked. The light from the headlights petered out a few feet into the blackness, and I couldn't see anything farther ahead.

"Follow me," Edie said.

"This way," I said to the men. "Follow my voice." I stumbled forward over the rough ground and then after a few feet, tripped and pitched forward. I put my arms out, but didn't hit the ground. I plunged underwater, thrashing from the shock. When I surfaced, I could hear the others. They'd all fallen in. We were up to our necks in water.

"Steve, dunk him all the way under a few times and pull him back out," Bryn said.

We all took a bath in the cool, fresh water. I swam a few feet, then crawled out on a bank that Edie led me to.

"I'll meet you at the car," Edie said.

"I can't see where I'm going."

"Follow your ears," she said, but the only sound I could hear was the noise the men were making, dragging Lennox and Zach out.

A few seconds later, I heard the car stereo. Some a.m. station was playing old jazz. I was amazed we could pick up the signal.

When I got to the car, I found Edie lying on the roof, looking at the night sky. Merc was sitting next to her, licking his paws.

"How did you turn on the radio?"

"Mercutio turned it on for me."

"Mercutio?"

"Our cat."

"I know he's our cat. How did you know his name?"

"It's on his collar."

"Oh," I said.

"Don't sound so disappointed. Just because he can't talk doesn't mean we don't understand each other."

I heard the men over my shoulder. I turned. "How are they?"

"Let's see," Bryn said, lowering Lennox to the hood of the car and yanking his shirt open. He laughed that gorgeous laugh. I turned from them and hurried over to where Steve was lowering Zach into the back of the limo. I pulled his shirt up and stared down at the skin, perfectly sealed with small white scars.

"Ha!" I shouted, bending to squeeze his cool chest in a make-shift hug.

"Am I dead?" he mumbled.

"No," I said.

"Sure feels like Heaven."