Embers & Spells

26 – Gotcha

Fourth of January, 2017.

“Have you been in love before?” I asked, resting my back on the blanket, feeling in the massive circle of the world. The grass was well trimmed, soft against the skin, the clear sky made me feel so small. Looking up, I reached out my hand to the sky, remembering my mother.

Erin sighed, her floral scent lingering around us. “Yes. I easily fall in love, you know.”

I chuckled, turning to her. She was sitting crossed-legs, her hair on a high bun. She looked younger than her age and I wondered how she maintained her endless beauty. Spells? I wouldn’t be surprised, though.

“I thought Henry’s the one.” I watched her expression changed.

“Yeah, he is for me.” She clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “Apparently, I’m not for him. And I’m too old for tolerating men’s cheating. So I just walk away.”

I nodded, considering her answer. “But they said that if you love someone, you’ll fight for them, right?”

Erin smirked, raising an eyebrow. “My love, rule number one. Know your worth first. If the man’s not giving you peace and makes you feel you have to compete with someone else, leave his ass. I don’t even know why I fell for that stupid human. Werewolves are far more loyal than that bastard.”

I glanced at my mother’s tomb. Fresh Lilies and Lavenders and Daffodils were laid prettily on her grave. “Does she easily fall in love?” I asked, referring to my mother.

Erin put out a soft smile. “She’s like you. Both of you are too guarded, building walls everytime someone tried to come near.”

“She must have liked my father too much to go against the tribe, huh?” I bit my lips, getting anxious that her face became blurry in my memory, like I could barely imagine her. “She even risked her life bewitching a dragon lord.”

My godmother stared at me. I had to look away, not really wanting to see her pity stare.

“Well, sometimes, we just fall in love. And people become stupid when they’re in love.” She sighed. “So, when it’s your turn to fall in love, don’t be like me, don’t be like your mother as well.”

My brows furrowed. “What should I be like, then?”

Erin shrugged her shoulder. “Be yourself, silly. You’re way smarter than us, so you’ll figure it out.”

I nodded, breathing in the fresh air, drinking in the moment.

The memory clung to my chest too tight. It was as clear as it only happened yesterday, playing like a movie inside my head as I waited for Inigo getting the cinema tickets.

He wore a black hoodie, fitting nicely to his body. I tapped my boots, seeing the long line on the register, as if everyone decided to watch a movie today. Or maybe, it was always this way, only I wasn’t aware since this would be my first time.

Erin’s words rushed through me, as if reminding myself the top rule in falling in love. Know your worth, first. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I deserve to feel this tickling sensation knowing my godmother’s suffering down the pit.

When Inigo finally came holding our tickets, he led me to one of the waiting tables. “So, I’m thinking,” he said, leaning forward to me. “Shouldn’t you introduce me to your godmother? I don’t want her thinking why I am going to your house more often than I should.”

I blinked, not expecting to hear that. “Uh, she’s somewhere vacationing. Besides, I don’t think she would mind you coming over.”

He narrowed his eyes, his dimpled smile showing. “Does that mean we can be alone in your place?”

I felt my stomach sunk, hearing the hidden thoughts behind his phrase. “Or we can just meet outside.”

Inigo laughed, shaking his head. “You suddenly look nervous, why is that?”

I could also hear the playfulness on his tone. “Are you messing with me?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not at all, Tana.” He grinned, smoothing the top of my head. “You’re just cute when your uncertain or nervous. I ain’t gonna do anything you don’t want to do.”

“I know,” I replied, watching him intently. He didn’t appear as someone who would take advantage. Maybe, that was one of the reasons why I felt at ease when I was with him.

Inigo held my hand, his fingers laced with mine.

The movie was a cliché one. Two people who seemed to be in different end of spectrum fell in love with each other and defied the odds just to be together. It was a classic romance-comedy, with a touch of drama in the ending. It had been while since I watched a film like that and I enjoyed it more than I though I would. Maybe because I could relate to the protagonist, who seemed at crossroads as she realized she liked the guy she wasn’t supposed to like.

It was nearing midnight when we exited the cinema. Heading toward the empty parking area, Inigo tightened his hold on me, his footsteps slowing down. Looking over his shoulder, I could tell he was nervous.

“You okay, Inigo?”

He brought his index finger to his mouth, gesturing for me to listen carefully. A low growl bloomed at the far end of the area, paranoia hitting me hard.

“We’re not alone,” I whispered, my hand seemed to automatically reaching my bag, to where my dragon glass was secured.

“I know,” he murmured.

The hair at the back of my neck stood up, my hands suddenly getting cold. Déjà vu crawled inside my head, remembering the same feeling that washed over me the first time I crossed path with a hooded beat- the fallens, as what Arawn called them.

Inigo started to walk again, his posture alarmed, his shoulder composed, eyes focused ahead. I could tell he was assessing the surrounding.

“Head over my car first,” he said, giving me the keys.

“And hide inside?” I muttered, not liking what I thought he would do.

“We are not alone, Tana,” he replied, voice came out rough, lacing with authority.

“You think I don’t know that?” I asked, letting go of his hand. “I can fight, Inigo. I know how to.”

A shadow strode passed us, so fast it was gone in a blink of an eye. A moment after, as we neared Inigo’s car, a bang echoed throughout, snatching our attention.

Inigo reached out for me, hiding me behind his massive back. And there it was, the fallen. The hooded beast looked different from the first one I encountered. It had the same red eyes and literally a blank face. No nose, no mouth. It had four arms, each had sharp claws, its stance ready to pounce, to attack us.

“What the hell?” Inigo murmured.

Yeah, what the hell, indeed. Why they always turned up in parking lots, in awkward spaces to fight. Before any of us could move, a shadow run past us again, taunting us, growling maniacally.

“I think there’s two of them, Inigo,” I said, my heartbeat drumming wildly. I couldn’t allow them to kill me. A couldn’t let them harm my physical body or I would lose my soul to the devil forever. Damn.

The four-armed hooded beast run toward us like a dog, its tall body and filthy skin apparent under the lamp posts. Inigo shielded me with his body, keeping me at his back as he faced the evil minion. He stepped forward and met the beast, grunting as he swung his arm and hit it with so much force. It only stumbled a few inches, but the punch didn’t do much damage.

Stepping up, I pulled out my dragon glass, holding it to my other hand. I whispered then, casting a spell to the beast, lighting it on fire, just like how Arawn did before.

The beast bent down, its bones crackling, and in beat, a fire started in its chest. The other beast showed itself, realizing what was happening. It started our way, attacking, throwing off arrows that I almost couldn’t dodge, thanks to Inigo who pushed me aside.

“Oh s**t!” he said, glaring at the other hooded beast.

But then, the fallen I set on fire was not dying, making me confused. It only built its rage and started toward us as well, glinting eyes glued to us, as if locking in its target.

“Zalisma!” I yelled, gathering the force of nature into my hand and pushed it directly to the fallen, to knock it off. I held my hand up, keeping the spell as the hooded beast stopped from running, suspended in midair. The wind blew wildly around me, my eyes never leaving the target. “Burn,” I whispered, flinging my hand, setting the second beast on fire.

It shrieked, legs flailed, as if getting drowned. But I kept my hand, holding it in place, not letting it near us. While the other was being handled by Inigo, the flame in its chest already extinguished.

“Tana, the dagger!” Inigo yelled out, trying to pin the beast on the cold ground, his claws hitting him on his arms and side. “Toss it!”

A whistle rang out, so soft like a wind. Just then, another shadow appeared, but this one was not a fallen. A black butterfly flew swiftly to the beast I was trying to burn in midair, and in a snap a hand shot through the beast’s chest. The butterfly just morphed into a man, the veins in his arms visible as he pulled an organ from the fallen, the same move he did back then when he killed it.

The moment the beast fell to the ground, he jumped off toward Inigo, who was wrestling with the beast, and eventually snapped its head off, breaking whatever bone it had.

Inigo looked baffled at Arawn’s sudden appearance, his posture still ready to attack. “What the hell?” His eyes sought mine. When he saw me already safe, he run to me, catching his own breath.

“It’s okay, they’re gone,” I whispered, consoling both of us.

My flesh trembled at the thought, realizing it was the third time I was being attacked by the hooded beasts. Something was not right, though.

Arawn pulled out a matchbox from his pocket, lighting it up and flicked it to the beast, doing the same to the one that he destroyed.

“What are you doing?” Inigo asked him.

“I’m doing what you failed to do, Inigo,” Arawn answered, matching the alpha’s stance and posture. “Snapping heads would only make them sleep. You gotta pull their source of life. Then burn them.”

Inigo glanced sideways at me, a big question mark reflecting in his eyes. “What the f**k are you talking about? Who are you- “

In a blink, Arawn was before him, closing the gap between them. Inigo flinched, wincing as his body hunched over, his arms unmoving. Just then, I realized, Arawn had his arm inside Inigo’s chest, creating a hole.

“Arawn, stop that!” I yelled, eyes wide with utter shock.

“Who the f**k I am?” he repeated, c*****g his head to the side. “I’m someone who can destroy you and your whole pack, thirio.”

“Arawn Rhys!” I screamed, unable to move, as if doing so would make him pull out his heart too. “Please, stop it now.”

He retracted his arm, blood on his skin, letting go of Inigo.

I ran toward him, laying him to the ground and placed my hand over his chest. Closing my eyes, I whispered, using my power to heal the hole in his chest. I knew werewolves heal faster, but it wasn’t full moon, and surely Inigo didn’t have the same strength he would have had it been the case.

“What are you doing?” Arawn asked, eyeing me, his arms dripping with blood.

I threw him a glare and kept quiet, completing my spell.

Inigo was half-passed out on the ground, and I had no idea how I would carry him in his car.

“You could have let him there to die, hybrid,” Arawn said, tone cold. “It would have answered your problem.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, getting anxious at the situation.

“The devil wanted his soul,” he said. “I already did half of the job, all you have to do is nothing. Leave him there to die. And viola, you have your soul back.”

Hearing him say those words angered me. I felt my cheeks warmed, my eyes burning with tears. I turned to him, hitting him in the chest with all the force I could manage. He swayed a bit, but didn’t budge at all from where he stood.

“Is this your way of helping me?” I looked at his grey eyes, trying to seek some compassion. I knew he had them, I saw it reflected in his eyes once in a while. But I saw nothing but my own messed up reflection. “Is killing that easy for you?”

Arawn stared me down and smirked. “Killing is easier than keeping you alive. These attacks won’t end until you make your end of the deal. Set only wanted that alpha’s death.”

“I can’t believe you!” I paced out, glancing at Inigo who was now unconscious. “Who are you to take lives, huh?”

He kept his silence. My eyes raked down his body, the blood starting to dry in his toned arm. Looking at it now, how could he use only his hand to pull out hearts from beings? How could he penetrate a body so easily, as if he had been doing it his entire life?

My chest heaved, the ground seemed to move as I remembered what it felt when the Hunter snatched my soul from me. Coldness run down my body, my shoulder heavy with fright and frustration and fear, as realization dawned on me.

I met Arawn’s clear grey eyes, unwavering from mine. His jaw tightened, keeping his stand.

Gotcha.

“You’re a Hunter,” I whispered, the world spinning in my eyes, my knees wobbled as exhaustion took over.

Then everything went black.