Prophecy of Magic

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Thalia gravely nods, then turns away, about to leave.

“No, wait. I need to go somewhere.” I instinctively grab her shoulder.

The nun moves as she would on the training mat. Grabbing my wrist, she sidesteps behind me and painfully twists my arm behind my back.

To my shock, Eric grabs the nun’s wrist. “No one’s allowed to hurt her. Nero was very clear on this. That includes you.”

Thalia rolls her eyes but lets me go without a fight. She then takes out her phone and types out:

Sorry, but you’re going to have to take a little staycation.

With that, she goes to summon the elevator.

“I’ll get you whatever you need,” Eric says soothingly as he herds me back toward the door. “Food, movie rentals, magic books—you name it, someone will fetch it for you.”

“I have an urgent matter that I need to discuss with Nero,” I say, digging my heels in when I’m a foot away from the apartment. “Do you have a way to reach him?”

Thalia shrugs before entering the elevator, and Eric says, “He warned me he’d be unavailable and asked me to apologize to you about this in advance.”

“I find that last bit very hard to believe,” I say, desperately thinking of a way to bypass Eric.

The elevator closes, taking Thalia away.

“Don’t worry,” Eric says. “It’s not just me and Thalia guarding you. I have people surrounding this building—including the back entrance. No one can come in without me knowing.”

Implication being that no one can leave without Eric knowing it also.

Well, let’s see how good he is at his job then.

I convince myself that I’m going to just run for it—which isn’t hard, as I’m itching to do it. Next, I inhale a deep breath and jump into Headspace.

The shapes around me seem unpleasant but not deadly.

Going on instinct, I reach for one.

“Fair enough,” I say to Eric and turn back toward the door, my muscles coiling for a sprint.

“Give me a shout if you need anything,” he says.

Without a reply, I leap to the side and sprint for the staircase—just to bump into Eric’s hard body.

Wow.

He must have super speed, to get in my way so quickly.

“Please, Sasha,” Eric says, steadying me by my arms. “Just go home.”

Huffing, I twist away and walk back into the apartment.

Back in reality, I jump back into Headspace and attempt a few more visions of escape. In each, Eric thwarts me, and in some, he carries me home with varying levels of kicking and screaming on my part.

Exiting Headspace for the last time, I enter the apartment and slam the door in Eric’s face.

Pacing the hallway, I strain to come up with a way out of this unfortunate predicament.

Could I threaten him with a gun? Bluff my way out?

The problem is that I left my gun in the lab near the JFK hub.

I go into Ariel’s room and look for a gun she might’ve stashed there. She takes her Second Amendment rights very seriously, so I have a chance.

After a long search, I locate a pair of handcuffs in her nightstand, two knives in her closet, and a box of bullets under her bed—but no gun.

I don’t want to give up, though. There has to be another way out of the apartment.

I resume pacing until I see Fluffster staring at me quizzically—which is when an idea occurs to me.

I quickly explain the situation to the chinchilla and head for the door.

“Hi, Eric.” I smile at the guard when I open it. “I’m sorry if I was cranky earlier. Nero gets under my skin, but I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“No sweat.” He beams at me. “I don’t like this either. I thought I’d be a bodyguard, not some jailer. But I owe Nero a favor, and he said this is to keep you safe, so…”

“Do you want some coffee or tea?” I say as nonchalantly as possible. “Maybe a chair, so you don’t have to stand here in the hallway?”

His smile widens. “Coffee would be great, thanks.”

“Awesome,” I say and head into the kitchen.

Eric enters the apartment without an invitation, so he’s not a vampire—not that I thought he was, with that perfectly tanned skin of his.

When he follows me into the kitchen, I hand him an espresso and say, “Oh crap. I forgot to take off my shoes.”

As I start to leave, Eric downs the drink on a single gulp and moves to follow me—until Fluffster walks into his path.

“Actually,” I say, dropping the friendly tone. “I think it would be best if you stayed in the kitchen.”

Using that as his cue, Fluffster changes into his monster form.

He doesn’t look as terrifying as when he killed Harper-the-succubus, but it’s enough to raise my blood pressure, and I’m not the one in danger.

“Nero told me you might try this,” Eric says calmly and sighs. “I was hoping he was wrong about that.”

I stare at him in confusion. How powerful is he not to be afraid of a domovoi protecting its own house?

Then again, Nero asked this guy to guard me. Given my penchant for making powerful enemies, he would have to be pretty formidable.

With an exaggerated sigh, Eric poofs out of existence in front of my eyes as if he was never there.

I rub my eyes.

Nope. He’s gone.

I look at Fluffster. He returns to his cute chinchilla shape and also looks confused.

“Are you invisible?” Arms outstretched, I grope around the kitchen air like a lunatic but find no sign of Eric.

There’s a knock on the front door.

I go to open it—and find Eric standing there, looking smug.

“How?” I demand. “You were just in my kitchen.”

“I can teleport.” Eric’s chest puffs up, making him look like a penguin. “If the guards downstairs warn me of danger, I’m supposed to teleport you away to safety.” He looks at Fluffster. “I hope your domovoi isn’t going to stop me from performing my duties?”

“Of course not,” Fluffster says with a swish of his puffy tail.

So a teleporter, huh? Hekima did mention teleporting power at one of the Orientations. He said it’s rare—but I guess if someone knew a teleporter, it would be Nero.

I’m about to pepper Eric with questions about his power when the elevator dings and its doors start to open.

With grim determination, Eric snatches my wrist and tenses—apparently ready to teleport me away from danger.

To my shock, my mother steps out of the elevator.