Page 90 of The Guardian's Curse

“Whoa, honey, take a breath,” Ruby said. There was a thump, then a muffled curse. “Gotta find my glasses and get dressed, then I’m coming to you. What do you need me to bring? Should I get Auntie K to come? My cousin Lucy is out of town but if I tell her it’s family, she’ll be here in a couple hours.”

Her heart swelled. “Thank you. Just you, but if Auntie K can help, then I’ll take it. Maybe we can go to your place to stay.”

“Okay,” Ruby said. “Are you safe at his place right now?”

“Yeah, he’s asleep,” Shoshanna said. Ruby started to protest. “He’s not going to hurt me. We had a fight, but this isn’t about him.” Well, it was actually entirely about him. But that wasn’t what Ruby needed to know.

Five minutes later, Ruby hung up with a promise to be here in an hour. Shoshanna hesitated, then released the sunlight sigil on her bedroom door. She peeked outside and found the hallway empty. A folded piece of paper fluttered to the floor, silently landing on the carpet in front of her. She knelt on the plush carpet and unfolded it, hands shaking.

Dear Shoshanna-

I understand your anger with me. It is what I deserve. But I hope that you understand I only wish to protect you from a terrible fate. I cannot stand by while you destroy yourself for my sake or Lucia’s. She would not want that for you. It goes without saying that I do not want that for you. Your perseverance is admirable, and your skills formidable. This world is far better with you to brighten it. Please do not mistake my insistence for an insult to your competence. It is my affection for you that forces me to interfere.

Please do not give up on me. On us. I will fight this with you, if you only let me.

Love-

Alistair

Her heard thumped as she traced the letters in love.

One hundred years of being a self-imposed hermit had left him with a strange notion of love. His fear of suffering had condemned her to Lucia’s fate.

She quickly packed a bag with her notebook, which thankfully hadn’t been with all her diagrams, and the few reagents that hadn’t been with her workspace near Lucia. Using an open can of cat food, she coaxed Magneto out from under the bed and wrestled him into his carrier. She stuffed a change of clothes into her oversized purse and left everything else.

One hand slid along the textured wallpaper as she crept down the hall. She headed to the kitchen to wait for Ruby. Magneto let out a mournful meow from his perch on the counter, while she crept to Lucia’s alcove.

The stone was still cool and hard as ever, but she could feel the lingering heat of magic flowing through Lucia like an electric current. Alistair didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. She’d managed to do something here.

“Yeah, and it’s not enough,” she said to herself. Creating a magical circuit was first year tisserand work. It was hardly groundbreaking. But she’d been so sure she’d done something, directing magic into the red thread and prying apart the curse. Every bit of it had been structurally sound. She didn’t understand what had gone wrong.

She closed her eyes and felt for Lucia’s essence. Compared to the dim blur of her normal vision, her arcane sight was remarkably sharp and clear. The dark blue of the curse remained, but the red thread seemed to be brighter. Tendrils branched from it, wrapping around Lucia like roots. When she brushed her mind over the red thread, a woman’s scream filled her ears. She wrenched away.

What if her work had hurt Lucia? Had she awakened the poor woman to some terrible pain that she couldn’t escape, because her body was immobile stone? She shook her head. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I will fix this. I promise.”

The doorbell rang, prompting a metallic clatter as Magneto jolted inside his carrier. She hurried past him and opened the front door to find Ruby waiting. Dark glasses covered her eyes, a sure sign that she was hung over. She held out a cup of coffee. A smudged ink stamp was still on the back of her hand. “You sounded like crap on the phone,” she said, her voice rough.

Shoshanna just threw her arms around her friend, inhaling the clean herbal smell that always clung to Ruby. There was also the lingering hint of stale cigarette smoke, like she’d been at a bar. A red silk scarf was looped around her neck, an odd choice of accessories. “Thank you so much for coming. Okay, so—”

“Listen, honey, I want to hear everything,” Ruby said. “But let’s do it somewhere else that doesn’t have bloodsuckers, okay?” She glanced around. “He’s asleep?”

“Yeah, he’s basically comatose during the day,” Shoshanna said. She took a long drag of the coffee and winced at the bitter aftertaste. “Yikes.”

“Not good? Geez, I told them to go easy on the cinnamon,” Ruby said. “They use the artificial stuff and those sweeteners have such a funky aftertaste. I know you use all the real stuff at the shop.”

She shook her head, not wanting to appear ungrateful. “It’s fine. Thank you.” She took another big drink and headed back to the kitchen to retrieve her bag. As she stepped across the threshold, a strange, dizzy sensation washed over her. She gripped the counter as her legs buckled.

“Uh oh,” Ruby said calmly. She grabbed Shoshanna’s arm and pulled her up. A heavy, dull sensation weighed Shoshanna down. “That was fast.”

“Huh?” Shoshanna murmured. Her head felt thick and foggy. Then Ruby, all of five foot two and a hundred and ten pounds, swept her up like they’d just gotten married and carried her out the front door. Her limbs felt far away as she reached for the open doorway, but Ruby kicked it closed behind her. “What are you doing?”

“I’m really sorry,” Ruby said. The trunk of her car was open and cleared of its usual clutter. Shoshanna’s instincts finally tore through the fog, and she kicked wildly as Ruby deposited her in the trunk. She grabbed the scarf, but it slipped from Ruby’s neck and into her hands. Two bruised punctures marked the side of her throat.

“Did someone bite you?” Shoshanna asked.

Ignoring her question, Ruby took a vial from her pocket and flipped off the cap. Her fingers dug into Shoshanna’s jaw, forcing her mouth open, and a few drops of foul-tasting liquid trickled onto her tongue. “Bottoms up. Pretend it’s a birthday tequila shot.”

She gagged at the taste and tried to spit it out, but it was already working. Her tongue went numb, and the odd sensation quickly spread down her throat.

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