Drawing back, ready to scold him for being too eager, I caught sight of his expression. It wasn’t disappointed, it was leery.
Eran’s voice was strained when he asked, “I felt your radar go off.”
Campion’s lips briefly tightened in anger. “I believe Maggie’s life was in danger just now.”
“By whom?” Eran asked, alarmed.
“I couldn’t be sure. They were obscured by the fog.” While Campion explained, Eran turned to face the balcony searching for any sign of danger. “There were twelve of them.”
“That rules out Marco,” said Eran contemplative and quietly furious at the same time.
“They were positioning for assault when the regiment stepped in.”
Even with Eran’s back to me, I was able to sense a smile from him, pride in his combat unit.
“Twelve…” Eran muttered, again deep in thought. “Could they have been Elsics?”
Campion didn’t respond immediately so I instinctually turned my head towards him. He was deeply apprehensive. “I-I couldn’t be certain.” He stepped forward, hesitantly. “Sir…has the prison been compromised?”
“We’ll have the answer to that shortly. Magnus made the decision to investigate the prison on his own…A courageous but irresponsible judgment for an older Alterum.” He released a heavy sigh, clearly concerned for Magnus’s well being. I, however greedy, was comforted by the fact it was not Eran who would be doing the investigation.
Eran pulled away from me then, his attention on Campion. “I’ll need to check in with the regiment before classes start,” he announced. “Will you watch over Magdalene?”
I rolled my eyes at that request. Despite the odds of the situation, I certainly felt capable of defending myself – especially after the training I’d been through.
“Magdalene,” Eran cautioned, having seen the roll of my eyes. “I can focus better if I know you are safe.”
I sighed. “Fine.”
Eran, whose wings were still out, leaned forward and cupped my cheek with his hand. “Thank you,” he whispered. He then stopped to stare intently in to my eyes before brushing his lips lightly against mine.
Then, in one fluid motion, he turned, crouched, sprang into the air, and flew into the grey fog.
“Magdalene,” Campion shouted.
“What?” I spun around, aggravated and wondering why he was shouting. “What?”
“Sorry but you didn’t answer me the first three times I said your name so I had to do something to get your attention.”
He called my name three times? “I didn’t hear you,” I replied.
“I figured,” he said, trying to keep from grinning at my fascination with Eran. “You should get ready for school.”
“Right…” I said, peeking back over my shoulder. Already, I missed Eran.
Campion waited on the balcony as I changed, keeping an eye on the fog and any potential returning threats.
By the time I was strapping on my boots, I heard Eran’s voice beyond the French doors.
“They couldn’t be sure either. They moved like Elsics but…they couldn’t get close enough.”
Campion muttered something unintelligible to which Eran replied, “No, we’ll wait to hear back from Magnus. In the meantime, the regiment is on alert.”
I was standing by the time Eran pushed the French doors open and stepped into my bedroom. Although I knew he was waiting for me to ask about his plans, I didn’t bother. They were already clear to me.
He would await news from Magnus before determining his next steps.
This was just what he did. For the next several days, we encountered no further attempted assaults. In the evenings, I practiced with Ms. Beedinwigg on earth and with Gershom in the afterlife while Eran left for Germany and any word from Magnus.
Each night passed without any sign from Magnus and Eran grew more worried with each hour.
The weekend came and I decided against taking messages in The Square. There was no time for them. I was too busy preparing for a battle that - now clear to all of us - would be arriving shortly.
Then came Monday morning.
I had spent the night being chased through my jungle training grounds by fabricated Fallen Ones and woke up feeling nearly as exhausted as when I’d gone to sleep. But it was nothing compared to Eran.
His polished image was gone, wrecked havoc during the nights he’d spent awake and the days staying alert in order to protect me. Now, he was hunched over the wingback chair, his hair disheveled, his clothes rumpled, and bags beneath his eyes.
My chest tightened when I saw him.
Slipping out of bed, I kept my eyes on him. He was breathing slowly, his eyes were closed, his lips slackened. I slid silently across the floor towards him to kneel at his feet.
Despite being unkempt, he smelled fresh and earthy. His face was still so handsome my breath caught in my throat and his body, firm even when at ease, still sent pleasure humming through me.
Usually it was him watching me sleep. This, I knew, was a rare treat.
We stayed this way for several minutes, each one I adored more than the next, and then his lips moved.
“Do you think you’ll be finished staring any time soon?”
My mouth fell open in embarrassment…and annoyance. “How long were you aware I was here?”
“Since you woke up.”
His eyes opened, glossy with fatigue, but lightening a little when they landed on me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded, still embarrassed.
“Because you needed it…and I needed the rest.” He explained it with such blunt logic I didn’t bother trying to dispute it.
Then he made an announcement I couldn’t reject disagreeing.
“I needed the rest, Magdalene, because I’m going to the prison.”
He then watched me for a reaction.
I felt my lips pinch closed, but this was very brief. My mind swirled with thoughts, gathering points to use in arguments against his decision but only one stuck out loud enough to be heard clearly. I said the words aloud without even realizing it.
“But you’ll be exposing yourself to imminent danger.”
He nodded. “That’s possible.”
“No,” I whispered and then repeated it with far more force. “No.” I stood up. “I forbid you.”
His eyebrows immediately rose up but I didn’t care if he was insulted.
“As my guardian, I demand that you stay.”
“That’s not how this works, Magdalene,” he said in warning. “You know that.”
“Your singular goal in existence is to protect me,” I retorted. I realized, but quickly pushed it aside, that in any other situation I would have delivered those words with great affection. There was not a hint of it in my voice now. “I will not allow you to leave me without your protection.”
His brow creased in confusion at me but he remained silent.
“Do you understand me?” I said, emphatic and absolutely unwavering even while deep inside I knew two things with equal clarity. One, I had never pulled this kind of authoritarian command before, and, two, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to listen anyways. His response confirmed it.
“I won’t leave you without protection. You know this.” He held up his hand just as I was about to cut him off. “You know this and so I’m reasoning that you are making this demand of me simply out of fear…fear for me and for what I might encounter. I respect and understand that but I cannot allow it to direct my actions.”
“You don’t have a choice,” I retorted.
He was silent for only a brief moment and then he stood, his hands lifting from his sides to gently place them on both of my cheeks. “What would you have me do?” he asked quietly, filled with remorse I didn’t understand until he went on. “I haven’t heard from Magnus since he left for the prison…a mission I was meant to go on. He’s clearly in trouble now. What would you have me do, Magdalene?”
I was torn and without a response. Stay, I wanted to tell him, beg him. There was only one problem with that request. It would mean that he would never forgive himself if Magnus was in danger, and without having to say so I knew we both believed that was the reality.
I stepped back, moving out and away from his hands. “Go…I mean it.”
Eran nodded, not at all basking in the glory of winning this particular argument.
We stared at each other in silence then, neither one knowing what to say to comfort each other. There were too many words and not enough time.
Unable to condense all the emotions – dread, sadness, longing – in to a single sentence I settled on verbalizing something else entirely…something that had planted itself inside me long ago and had kept me full of life and hope throughout the centuries. It had given me inspiration to move forward during my bleakest moments and made me fight harder than I ever thought possible during battle.
It had given me purpose.
Despite it all, it was far more challenging to articulate than I ever thought it would be. Not because I had any inhibition in the meaning behind them but because the deepest part of my soul feared that it would be the last time I could ever tell him in person.
Because of that fear, every emotion I felt for him came through as I spoke the words.
“Eran…I’m in love with you.”
His breathing stopped, he closed his eyes, and then he swallowed. “Say them again,” he whispered.
“Eran, I am in love with you,” I repeated with the same intensity.
He drew in a shaky breath.
Now it was me who placed my hands on his cheeks. They were firm and I could feel his jaw tightening as he struggled to hold back his emotions.
Leaning forward, I felt our lips meet. The touch was delicate at first but grew stronger, deeper. When we held each other, it was not like the times before. There was comfort in our embrace now and it told me that no matter what happened from this point forward we would be able to accept what came our way because the love that had grown from us had made us each stronger.
When we pulled apart, when our kiss had satiated us, we remained only inches apart.
“Those words from you…they always give me strength,” he admitted.
I smiled gently. “They do the same for me…And that is why I am going with you.”
Pulling away from him, I began collecting my clothes, selecting ones that were tight enough to allow ease of movement and loose enough to conceal weapons.
“Did I…I’m sorry…Did I hear you correctly?” he asked, thoroughly confused.
“Yes, I’m going with you.”
“Magdalene,” he began to oppose but I didn’t let him finish.
“I’m not letting you go there alone. You need someone to watch your back.”
“Magdalene,” he stated again, grabbing my shoulders so that I couldn’t finish collecting my clothes. “I appreciate your offer but-“
“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and I just might be of some use to you too,” I nearly shouted.
“I realize that,” said Eran calmly. “What I was going to say is that I can slip into the prison undetected. With you there, it would make it harder to do so.”
“Then I’ll wait at the entrance,” I declared. “In case you do need my help.”
He began to oppose me so I spoke more forcefully. “Let’s calculate this…Magnus left for the prison alone and no one has heard from him. Now you’re going to the prison alone. What happens when we don’t hear from you?”
“That’s not going to-”
“I’m going with you,” I said, returning to my packing.
Eran’s face settled in to a firm expression. “I won’t let that happen.”
“What?” I said, now furious. “Are you going to ask Campion to put me to sleep now? So that you can slip away? Is that your plan?”
He shook his head slowly. “I won’t need to.” He then turned towards the door and called out, “Campion.”
Entering my room a moment later, he stood hands clasped behind him, feet apart, in a defiant stance.
“Campion, I’m leaving now. You will need to guard Maggie today. Keep her home. School is out of the question. And under no circumstances should you inform Magdalene of the prison location. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” he responded.
I sucked in a deep breath, never having been more offended. “You…You…” I couldn’t finish my words, too embroiled in anger.
“That’s right,” Eran admitted. “Without knowing where to find the prison you won’t be able to find me.”
His wings snapped out from behind him then, both glorious and antagonizing. They would be the ones to carry him off, away from me, towards his impending peril.
He turned to race across the room and through the French doors, springing gracefully from the balcony and into the morning fog.
For the very first time, I didn’t wait for him to disappear. There was no time to waste if my plan was going to work.
Spinning back around, I glared at Campion.
He slowly shook his head. “I will not tell you, Maggie. Do not ask it of me.”
I already knew this to be true. My glare was simply to play along with the part I had been handed. It was imperative that he thought I was helpless.
“I’m going to get dressed now,” I informed him, closing the French doors but not locking them.
Campion nodded and then stepped out into the hallway, leaving the door slightly ajar as a protective measure.
My clothes were on in seconds but I didn’t bother to step into my boots. They would become a hindrance in just a moment. Instead, I tied the laces together and swung them over my shoulder.
After slipping out the French doors and quietly closing them behind me, I shimmied down the pillar between the balcony and the porch until I was on solid ground.
The fog was still thick but I saw no movement in it.
Only then did I realize what I was doing. As of now, I was completely exposed to any of the Fallen Ones interested in taking my life; including whomever it was that appeared off my balcony this morning. None of that mattered now. The only thing that did was getting to the one person who could tell me where to find the prison, the person who had trained me for this very mission, the one who had no concern sending me into danger:
Ms. Bronte Beedinwigg
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: HELP
I left my bike at the house and cut through the streets towards school. The motor, especially a Harley Davidson, would definitely alert Campion that I was sneaking out again. That, I could not afford.