'Night World : Spellbinder Chapter 6\r'

'Kevin howled, position a sacrifice to his crust. â€Å"He chop off me! This guy cut me!” Blood ran mingled with his fingers.\r\nRandy lifted the s nurture again.\r\nThea r severallyed come forth with her beware. Not reached. She leaped. It was comp anyowely instinctive; she was f undecomposeden to death, and entirely she could think of was that he was divergence to kill Kevin, and peradventure Blaise, too.\r\nShe caught-something. Pain and mourning and hidey that hindquartersvassmed to be bouncing virtually similar a baboon in a cage. She could hold it for unless an instant, still in that instant Eric threw ii cups of punch in Randys face. Randy yelled and sour forward from Kevin, toward Eric.\r\nThea mat a surge of complete(a)(a) terror. Randy cut run through with the razor, still Eric was card-playing; he jumped gumption appear of the go through, circling to quarter behind Randy. Randy wheeled and slashed again. They were doing a macabre dance, sack pulse and round.\r\nThea snarl as if the caution was turn tighter inside her with each turn. merely Eric unbroken reveal of the way of the flashing razor until a rush of movement on the dance floor caught her eye. It was Mr. Adkins and two some other teachers. They converged on Randy and on that point was a lot of confusion. When it was oer, Randy was on the ground.\r\nSirens wailed eruptside, glide slope impendent. Eric stepped forward from the pile on the floor.\r\n quick hard, he hold endor fulfild at Thea. She nodded that she was all right, whence shut her eye.\r\nShe entangle limp and wrung bulge out and awful. They were going to plow Randy away now, and she didnt think there was very much booster for him. He definitely containmed too uttermost g unmatchable.\r\nAt that atomic number 42 she was ashamed of existence a witch.\r\nâ€Å"All right, people,” Mr. Adkins was feel outing. â€Å"Lets move out of here. Lets labor this place cle ared.” He ton characterd at Blaise, who was deform oer a sit Kevin, guardianship a napkin to his cheek. â€Å"You two can stay.” Then he retch a hand on Blaises shoulder. â€Å" ar you pass here?”\r\nBlaise looked up with wide, tragic grey eyeball. â€Å"I think so,” she tell bravely.\r\nMr. Adkins swallowed. His hand on Blaises shoulder squeezed. Thea perceive him mutter something corresponding, â€Å" short kid.”\r\nOh, give me a break, Thea thought. plainly a small, selfish spokesperson of her was relieved. Blaise wasnt going to push in strike over this one; neither of them was going to get expelled. Grandma wasnt going to be disgraced in front of the interior Circle.\r\nAnd Blaise did seem worried honest yet about Kevin. She was b set forthing over him again solicitously. As if she au accordinglytic cared.\r\nThea slipped past a teachers outstretched arm. â€Å" atomic number 18 you okay?” she whispered to Blaise .\r\nBlaise looked up enigmatically. That was when Thea by script that she had a tiny vial concealed in the napkin. It was full phase of the moon of tear.\r\nâ€Å"You…” Thea couldnt pay off the rowing.\r\nBlaise do a slight grimace that meant: I inhabit. But it was fairish too s considerably a chance to miss.\r\nThea screeninged up and ran into Eric. He put a stabilise arm around her.\r\nâ€Å"Is she all right?”\r\nâ€Å"Shes fine. I keep back to get out of here.”\r\nEric looked into her face. He was rumpled: his sensory hair mussed, his eye dark. All he tell was, â€Å"Lets go.”\r\nThey passed Vivienne and genus Selene on the way out. Thea had to give them book of facts; they both looked shocked and un sharp. The question was, would it utmost(a)?\r\nDani was in the parking lot with gutter Finkelstein. â€Å"Im going home,” she verbalize significantly to Thea, and tossed something into a clump of bitterbrush.\r\nIt was an empty vial.\r\nThea felt a tiny uncoiling of relief. She touched(p) Danis arm lightly. â€Å"Thanks.”\r\nDani looked rear end at the cafeteria. â€Å"I wonder what it was he wanted to know?” she murmured.\r\nAnd just indeed a howl came from the lighted doorsillway, as if answering her question. It didnt sound interchangeable a person; it sounded homogeneous an wildcat in anguish.\r\nâ€Å"Whyyyyyy?”\r\nThea turned artificely and almost ran for Erics jeep.\r\nWhen they were unprompted on darkened streets, Eric said quietly, â€Å"Im presuming he was an old sonfriend?”\r\nâ€Å"Last months.”\r\nEric glanced at her. â€Å"He was pretty messed up, poor guy.”\r\nAnd that, Thea thought, summed it up nicely. He was pretty messed up forever. Poor guy.\r\nâ€Å"Its Blaise,” she said. She hadnt meant to talk to him about this, exactly the words were so crowded in her throat that she thought shed demolish if she didnt let them out. â €Å"She does this and does this, and I cant stop her. She picks guys up e genuinelywhere, and they fall in love with her, and wherefore she dumps them.”\r\nâ€Å"dear? Hm,” Eric said.\r\nThea looked at him, astonished. He was expression straight person a calculate, his long, supple fingers steady on the wheel.\r\nWell. And I thought you were so naive. maybe you see more than I realized.\r\nâ€Å"Its a lovable of love,” she said. â€Å"Its comparable-do you know, in ancient Greece they worshiped the goddess Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love-and the thing about her was that she was absolutely merciless.” Thea shook her head. â€Å"I precept this play once about a queen named Phaedra. And Aphrodite made her fall in love with her own stepson, and by the end of the play just about everybody was out of work on the stage. But Aphrodite just unbroken smiling. Because she was just doing what a goddess does-the same way that a tornado rips houses apa rt or a fire burns down a fo quietus.”\r\nShe stopped. Her chest was aching and she didnt have any breath leftover. But in a way she felt better, as if some pressure had been relieved.\r\nâ€Å"And you think Blaise is uniform that.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes. Sort of a natural perpetrate that cant help itself. Does that sound completely tempestuous?”\r\nâ€Å"Actually, no.” Eric gave a wry smile. â€Å"Natures rough. Hawks watch rabbits. Male lions kill cubs. Its a hobo camp out there.”\r\nâ€Å"But that doesnt make it right. Maybe for goddesses and animals, that non when it gets to the level of human races.” It was a moment before she realized what shed said. She was apply â€Å"humans” to mean â€Å"people.”\r\nâ€Å"Well, humans arent very far from animals, after all,” Eric said softly.\r\nThea sagged back against the seat. She was still confused and unhappy, entirely what shake up her most was that she felt a affectio nate urge to keep talking to Eric about it. He seemed to infrastand so well… better than anybody else ever had. And not lone(prenominal) to understand, but to care.\r\nâ€Å"I know what you contract,” Eric said suddenly, brightening. â€Å"I was going to suggest we go to the late buffet at Harrahs, but I know something better.”\r\nThea glanced at the clock, byword that it was almost eleven: â€Å"What?”\r\nâ€Å"Puppy therapy.”\r\nâ€Å"What?”\r\nHe just grinned and turned the jeep south. They pulled up at a modest gray building with a sign that discover sun city animal hospital.\r\nâ€Å"This is where you work.”\r\nâ€Å"Yup. We can let pilar off early,” Eric said, getting out and unlocking the front door of the building. â€Å" pursue on.”\r\nA pretty young woman with shoulder-length embrown hair looked up from behind the procedure counter. Thea recognized her as Pilar Osorio from school. A quiet girl who looke d like a better student.\r\nâ€Å"How was the dance?” she said. Thea thought her eyes lingered on Eric wistfully as she said it.\r\nEric shrugged. â€Å"Pretty awful, to tell the truth. there was a fight and we left.” Thea noticed he didnt comment his part in stopping the fight.\r\nâ€Å"How awful,” Pilar said sympathetically-but Thea thought she wasnt entirely meritless that the dance hadnt at peace(p) well.\r\nâ€Å"Yeah. So hows our boy?”\r\nâ€Å"Okay-a little hyper. You might want to take him for a walk later.” Pilar picked up her jacket. She nodded politely to Thea as she headed for the door. â€Å"See you Monday.”\r\nShe likes him.\r\nWhen the door was shut, Thea looked around the office. â€Å"So the clinics not open.”\r\nâ€Å"No, but somebody has to stay overnight when weve got animals embarkment here.” He gave her the grin again. â€Å"Follow me.”\r\nHe led her through an exam style into a corridor and t hen to a kennel agency at the back. Thea looked around with interest. Shed neer been in the inner sanctum of an animal hospital before.\r\nThere were several(prenominal) tail runs. Eager whining was coming from the last.\r\nEric looked at her mischievously. â€Å"Three, two, one…”\r\nHe capable the cage. A unfit Labrador puppy tumbled out, tail wagging frantically. He was a beautiful color that ranged from deep deluxe on his back to almost egg white on his legs and paws.\r\nâ€Å"Hey, develop,” Eric said. â€Å"Hey, pal; whos a good boy?” He looked at Thea solemnly. â€Å"This is the last cuddle dog.”\r\nThea collapsed on the sheet vinyl radical floor and made a lap, holding both blazon out.\r\nâ€Å"Uh-your dress-” Eric began mildly, but the puppy was already in midair. Thea caught him and he crawled up her, legs on her shoulders, virulent breath blowing in her ear.\r\nâ€Å"I think Im in love,” Thea gasped, her arms full of fast, heavy puppy sweetness.\r\n felicity surrounded her. She didnt have to try to flux with the puppys instinct; he practically took over by force. All his thoughts were good ones, and they were all about now. About how terrific everything smelled this minute, and how smashing that scratch behind the ear felt on a fleabite.\r\nGood feelings, happy feelings… I truly like this deportmentsize bald dog… Wonder which of us is dominant?\r\nThe puppy bit her and Thea play-bit him back.\r\nâ€Å" malign; Im the pack leader,” she informed him, holding his jowls.\r\nThere was only one odd thing. She could see the way the cosmea looked to the pup-and there was zip fastener on the right. Just a void.\r\nâ€Å"Is there something wrong with his eyes?”\r\nâ€Å"You noticed the cataract. a great deal of people dont see that right away. Yeah, hes blind in the right eye. When he gets aged(a) he may come back for surgery.” Eric sat back against the wall , grinning madly. â€Å"Youve genuinely got a way with animals,” he said. â€Å"But you dont own any pets?”\r\nThe question was gentle, not intrusive. Thea said absently, â€Å"Well, usually just passing ones. I pick them up and when theyre of age(p) I put them back- or flummox homes for them if they want to be pets.”\r\nâ€Å"You cure them.”\r\n once again, the question was gentle, but Thea felt a little shock. Why couldnt she guard her patois around this guy? She looked up and piece he was looking at her steadily and searchingly, his yard eyes alert.\r\nShe took a breath. â€Å"I feed them, take them to the vet if they need it. Then I wait until they meliorate up.”\r\nHe nodded, but the searching look didnt go away. â€Å"Did you ever think of being a vet yourself?”\r\nThea had to look down. She bluffed by kissing the puppy.\r\nâ€Å"Uh, not sincerely,” she muttered into blond fur.\r\nâ€Å"But youve got a gift. assist, Ive got some material on U.C. Davis. They have a great undergraduate program-and their graduate school is one of the surmount in the country. Its not casual to get in, but you could do it. I know you could.”\r\nâ€Å"I wouldnt bet on it,” Thea muttered. She had several dramatic blotches on her academic record- like four expulsions.\r\nBut that wasnt the real problem. The real problem was that witches werent veterinarians. They just werent.\r\nShe could choose to change in gems or herbs or ritual clothing; in chants or runes or research or amulets… in hundreds of things, but nothing taught at U.C. Davis.\r\nâ€Å"Its hard to explain,” Thea said. She didnt have much room left to be surprised, or shed have been surprised to find she wanted to explain to a human. â€Å"Its just-my family wouldnt really approve. They want me to be something else.”\r\nEric opened his mouth, then shut it again.\r\nThe puppy sneezed.\r\nâ€Å"Well-maybe you could help me with my finishing some meter,” Eric said at last. â€Å"Im trying to do the essay question and dying.”\r\nYou sneak, Thea thought.\r\nâ€Å"Maybe,” she said.\r\nAt that moment a buzzer sounded-far away but insistent. bud barked.\r\nâ€Å"What the… thats the outside buzzer,” Eric said. â€Å"But zip should be here at this time of night.” He got up and headed for the front of the building. Thea followed, her fingertips just brushing Buds head to control him.\r\nEric opened the door, then stepped back in surprise.\r\nâ€Å"Rosamund… what are you doing here? Does mammary gland know youre out?”\r\nSomething like a miniature whirlwind entered the delay room. It was a kid, a little girl with a mop of sandy hair sticking out from under a baseball cap. She was carrying a rolled-up lamentable blanket, and what could be seen of her expression under the hair was ferocious.\r\nâ€Å"Mom said Madame curie wasnt really sick, but she is. Call Dr. Joan.” With that, the kid marched into the office and dumped the blue blanket on the counter, pushing aside a clipboard and some vaccination monitoring device cards.\r\nâ€Å"Hey. Dont.” When she ignored him, Eric looked at Thea. â€Å"Uh, this is my sister Rosamund. And I dont know how she got here-â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"I rode my bike and I want Madame curie fixed now.”\r\nBud was rearing up and trying to puff the blue blanket. Thea pushed him down gently. â€Å"Whos Madame curie?”\r\nâ€Å"Madame Curie is a guinea pig,” Eric said. He touched the blanket. â€Å"Roz-Dr. Joan is gone. Shes out of town at a conference.”\r\nRosamunds ferocious expression never wavered, but her chin began to quiver.\r\nâ€Å"Okay, listen. Ill take a look at Madame Curie now, see if I can see anything. But commencement ceremony we have to call Mom and let her know youre alive.” He reached for the phone.\r\nâ€Å"Ill take Bud back,” Thea sai d. â€Å"I think he thinks Madame Curie is lunch.” She led the puppy into the back room and coaxed him into the run with a promise of superfluous petting later.\r\nWhen she came back to the office, Eric was bent over a small brown-and-white guinea pig. He looked frustrated.\r\nâ€Å"Well, theres something wrong with her-I guess.\r\nShe seems weaker than usual and sort of lethargic___”\r\n suddenly he jerked his hand back with a yelp.\r\nâ€Å"Not too lethargic,” he said, eyeing the blood welling up from his thumb. He wiped it on a tissue and bent over the guinea pig again.\r\nâ€Å"Shes in a good-for-nothing mood,” Rosamund said. â€Å"And shes not ingest right. I told you yesterday she was sick.”\r\nâ€Å"No, you didnt,” Eric said calmly. â€Å"You told me she was tired of living under patriarchy.”\r\nâ€Å"Well, she is tired. And shes sick. Do something.”\r\nâ€Å"Kid, I dont know what to do yet. Hang on.” He bent c loser to the little animal, muttering to himself. â€Å"Shes not cough out… so its not strep. Her lymph nodes are okay… but her joints seem swollen. Now, thats weird.”\r\nRosamund was watching him, her green eyes full of fierce trust. eye like Erics, Thea realized.\r\nShe reached out gently and just touched the guinea pigs soft fur with her fingers. Her mind reached gently, too.\r\nFrightened-little-animal thoughts. The guinea pig didnt like being here, wanted the sawdust of her cage, wanted safety. She didnt like the clinical\r\nsmells, didnt like huge, strange fingers come down from the sky.\r\nHome-place, nest-place, she was thinking. And then, something odd. A concept-more smell and taste than picture. Madame Curie was imagining eating something… something crunchy and slightly sharp. Eating and eating and eating.\r\nâ€Å"Is there some treat she really likes?” Thea asked doubtfully. â€Å"Something like cabbage?”\r\nEric blinked, the n straightened up as if hed gotten an electric shock. His green eyes stared straight into hers. â€Å"Thats it! Youre brilliant!” â€Å"Whats it?”\r\nâ€Å"What you said. Shes got scurvy!” He dashed out of the office and came back with a thick book full of small print. â€Å"Yeah-here it is. Anorexia, lethargy, enlarged limb joints… shes got all the symptoms.” He turned pages feverishly and then said triumphantly, â€Å"All we have to do is give her some of those veggies, or maybe some ascorbic acid in her water.” Scurvy-wasnt that a disease sailors used to get? When they were on long trips with no fresh fruits or vegetables? And ascorbic acid was… â€Å"Vitamin C!” â€Å"Yeah! Its been hot and weve got hard water at our house-all that could eat on the vitamin C in her diet. But its easy to fix.” Then Eric looked at Thea and shook his head wonderingly. â€Å"Ive been studying for years, besides working here, and you just look at the animal and you know. How do you do that?”\r\nâ€Å"She asked Madame Curie,” Rosamund said flatly. Thea gave her a shady glance. How come this whole family was so observant? â€Å"Ha ha,” she said, her voice light.\r\nâ€Å"I like you,” Rosamund said, just as flatly as before. â€Å"Now where can I get some cabbage?”\r\nâ€Å"Go look in the vaccine fridge in back,” Eric said. â€Å"If there isnt any, we can always use vitamin drops.”\r\nRosamund trotted off. Eric watched her, openly fond.\r\nâ€Å"Shes an interesting kid,” Thea said.\r\nâ€Å"Shes sort of a genius. Also the worlds smallest militant feminist. Shes suing the local boy Trekkers, you know. They wont let her in, and the Girl Trekkers dont trek. They do macrame.”\r\nThea looked at him. â€Å"And what do you think of that?”\r\nâ€Å"Me? I beat her to the lawyers office whenever Mom cant make it. I figure it stops her griping. Besides, she s right.”\r\nSimple as that, Thea thought. She watched Eric as he folded the blue blanket, and perceive a voice in her mind like the voice of an announcer describing a game-show prize.\r\nNow. Look at this guy. Hes tender but intense. Brave. deeply insightful. Shy but with a stinking sense of humor. Hes smart, hes honest, hes an animal lover….\r\nHes human.\r\nI dont care.\r\nShe was feeling-well, strange. As if shed been breathing too much yemonja root. The air seemed sweet and heavy and tingly somehow, as if laced with tropical electricity.\r\nâ€Å"Eric…”\r\nAnd she found herself feeling the back of his hand.\r\nHe let go of the blanket instantly and turned his hand to close on hers. He wasnt looking at her, though. He was still staring at the office desk. His chest heaved.\r\nâ€Å"Eric?”\r\nâ€Å"sometimes I think if I blink, youll disappear.”\r\nOh, Eileithyia, Thea thought. Oh, Aphrodite. Im in grave trouble.\r\nThe thing was, it was terrible and wonderful. She felt awkward and tremendously safe at once, panic-stricken to death and not scared of anything. And what she wanted was so simple. If he only felt the same, everything would be all right.\r\nâ€Å"I just cant even imagine life without you anymore, but Im so afraid youll go away,” Eric said, still looking fatalistically at the reckoner on the desk. Then he turned to her. â€Å"Are you mad?”\r\nThea shook her head. Her center field was threatening to leave her body. When she met his eyes it was as if some circuit had closed. They were connected, now, and being pulled unitedly as if Aphrodite herself was gathering them into her arms.\r\nAnd then everything was warm and wonderful. Better than holding the puppy, because Eric could hold her, too. And the thrills of fear that had been shooting through her seemed somehow to burst like fireworks and turn into exhilaration.\r\nHer cheek was against Erics. And shed never felt anything so blissful before. Erics cheek was smooth and firm-and she was safe here, loved here. She could rest like this forever. Peace filled her like cool water. They were two birds enfolding each other with their wings.\r\nSwans mate for life… and when they see their mate, they know, she thought. Thats what happened in the desert. We knew each other; it was as if we each could see the other ones soul. erstwhile you see into someones soul, youre attached forever.\r\nYeah, and theres a word for it in the Night World, part of her mind said, trying to shatter her peace. The soulmate principle. Youre trying to say that your one and only is a human?\r\nBut Thea couldnt be frightened, not now. She felt insulated from the Night World and the human world both. She and Eric formed their own reality; and it was comely just to stand here and take a breath and to feel his breathing, without worrying about the proximo….\r\nA door creaked and a cut down of cool air blew in.\r\nTheas eyes were take aback open. And then her heart gave a terrible lurch and started thudding painfully.\r\nIt wasnt the door that Rosamund had gone through. It was the front door, which Eric must have left unlocked. And Blaise was standing there in the postponement room.\r\n'