Heart of The Trident

Six ~ Cade

For a lingering moment, I can’t move, my fingers clamped around my keys like a clam shell, the metal edges digging into my palm. My heart stands still.

It’s as if every bone in my body has turned into stone at the sight of my hooded guest, my skin to hardened clay.

Guest? No.

Guests are invited, welcome.

This man is more of an intruder, one I’ve hoped never to see. Frankly, I thought he was dead.

I let out a deep breath. “What are you doing here, Eustus?”

The door to the apartment closes from an unseen wind and he takes off his gray hood, revealing a head of hair which is a darker shade of gold than his chin strap.

“Is that the way to greet your…?”

I narrow my eyes at him in warning.

Eustus grins, leaning to the side as he looks beyond me.

“I see you’ve got company. Well, that wasn’t in the report.” He strokes his beard. “And she’s a beauty, too. Is she your girlfriend?”

My eyes grow wide, heat simmering in my cheeks.

Eustus steps forward, whispering in my ear. “Or maybe just someone you brought home to play with?”

I glare at him, pushing him back with one hand. “I’m not like you.”

“Maybe not in some ways,” he mutters in reply.

I turn to Nia, who’s still standing behind me like a statue, her eyes wide, placid pools.

“Eustus, this is Nia,” I introduce. “Nia, Eustus.”

Nia just blinks, reminding me that she’s not used to introductions.

“How do you do, Nia?” Eustus walks past me in long, swift strides, pulling off his glove.

Before I can stop him, he grabs Nia’s hand, about to press it to his lips. Suddenly, though, he stops, staring at it.

I pull Nia’s hand away from his, throwing him a reprimanding glance before giving Nia one of concern.

“Why don’t you go to your room?” I suggest, patting her shoulders.

She nods, leaving.

As soon as the door falls shut, Eustus speaks. “What are you? Her father?”

I glare at him. “You shouldn’t have done that. She’s not used to men touching her.”

“Really?” Eustus raises an eyebrows as he looks at his hand, then makes a disapproving noise with his tongue. “I don’t know if I should envy you or feel sorry for you.”

I ignore his remark, fists clenching at my sides. “What do you want, Eustus?”

He sits on the couch. “Believe it or not, I’m not here because I want to be.”

I can believe that. “Who sent you?”

“The Wands,” he tells me.

I toss my keys on the counter. “I thought as much. What do they want with me?”

“You know what they want.”

I don’t answer, pouring myself a glass of water.

“They want you to accept who you are and pursue your destiny.”

“I am who I decide to be,” I tell him, taking a sip from my glass. “I make my own destiny.”

“Really?” He taps his fingers on the arm of the couch. “What are you again? A doctor?”

I say nothing, gulping down the remaining contents of the glass.

“And tell me, what exactly do you do?”

“Treat people,” I answer, setting down my empty glass in the sink and leaning on it.

“No. Other doctors, all those other men and women in white – they treat people. You…you heal people.”

“Of course, some of them get better.”

“You know what I mean.” He gets off the couch, leaning on the counter. “You may fool everyone else but not me. I know exactly why you’re one of the best doctors in this damned place.”

I turn to him with a frown. “What? Is it a crime to use my skills to help others?”

“Of course, not. That is exactly what we do.”

“Yeah, right. You only help yourselves.”

“Like you, we help others without them knowing. The only reason is that in your case, they ask for your help because they know they need it. In ours, no one asks because to them, this world is fine just as it is, not knowing it’s us who make it so. And no one gives us a cent’s worth of credit for it.”

“Spare me your self-pity.” I go around the counter.

“Fine. Help these people as much as you want. Heal them. But do yourself a favor and think about all the other things you can do.” He places a firm hand on my shoulder. “You owe it to yourself to at least try them.”

I look at him. “And I suppose they want you to teach me how.”

“Naturally.”

I shrug his hand off.

“You don’t have to forgive me, Cade, or understand me. You just have to listen, watch and learn from me.”

“See, that’s the thing.” I turn to face him. “I don’t want to be an asshole like you.”

“Then don’t be. But be yourself, the best self you can be.”

I sigh, running my hands through my hair as I sit on the edge of the couch.

He tosses something that looks like a beaded bird’s feather at me, the item landing between my feet.

“What is it?” I ask without picking it up.

“If you want to see me, whisper my name to the feather and place it between your lips,” he says. “It will take you where I am.”

He walks to the door. “Oh, and one more thing. That woman, Nia – Where did you find her?”

“I met her at the hospital,” I answer.

“Careful who you play with,” he warns, glancing back. “This one is not who she says she is. I can sense magic within her. Ancient. It’s faint now but something tells me it’s being restrained. If you were trained, you’d easily sense it. I can only hope you can protect yourself from it when it is unleashed, though I doubt even the Wands can.”

With those unsettling words, he disappears through the door.

Through the closed door.

I stare at it with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what Eustus meant. Sure, I know Nia is strange. She doesn’t know how to use a can opener for goodness’ sake. She’s like a child trapped in a woman’s body. Also, I can’t disregard the effect of the scream she let out back at the hospital. But to suggest that she possesses an ancient magic? That would mean she’s a witch or a vampire. Or something else. I haven’t studied enough to know what the other possibilities are.

A magical being, huh?

“Meow.” Maggie’s head pops behind a vase.

“Not scared anymore, are you?” I ask her.

She walks toward me, stopping as she sees the feather, her tail swaying as she studied it with unbridled curiosity.

I pick it up before she can pounce on it. “Not a toy.”

She gives another meow, this time in disappointment.

I put the feather in a drawer before going to Nia’s bedroom.

“Nia?” I knock on the door.

No answer.

I knock again and when there’s still no answer, I open the door, puzzled when she’s not in the room. Her shoes are on the floor, though.

I glance at the slightly open bathroom door.

“Nia?”

Pushing it open, I find Nia’s dress on the floor, Nia in the tub, asleep.

“Nia!” I shake her shoulders, worried.

Her eyelids flutter open. “Cade?”

I touch her cheek. “Thank goodness you’re alright. For a moment, I thought…”

I stop talking as my gaze follows the chain of her necklace which leads straight down the valley between a pair of firm, perfectly round breasts that seem just a tad too large for her slender figure, beads of water glistening on her porcelain skin. I noticed she had an impressive pair earlier when she was wearing that blue dress but I didn’t quite realize how impressive they were.

A lump forms in my throat, a blush coating my cheeks.

“Cade?” she asks, concern in her voice.

I tear my eyes away. I’ve seen breasts before but they’ve never affected me quite like this, the effect going all the way to my groin.

I turn my back to her, grabbing the towel off the rack and handing it to her. “If you’re done, get out of the tub. Don’t fall asleep there.”

“Sorry.”

I head to the door.

“Where are you going?” she asks innocently.

“I’m taking a shower myself,” I answer.

A long, cold one.

--

When I’m done, I find Nia in the living room, sitting on the couch with Maggie beside her, her eyes on the TV screen, which is currently showing a woman in labor.

“What are they doing to her?” Nia asks, horrified.

I sit beside her and grab the remote, changing the channel. “Nothing. She’s having a baby.”

“A baby?” Her eyes narrow.

She doesn’t know what a baby is?

“You know, a little human being,” I explain.

“Oh, those little people we saw earlier?”

“Yes, those.”

“And where do the babies come from?”

I should have known that would be the next question.

I scratch my head. “You know what? We’ll save that topic for some other time, probably after you know how to use a can opener and a microwave.” I hold a bunch of tendrils of her hair, which are already surprisingly dry. “And maybe use a comb.”

“What’s a comb?” Nia asks me curiously.

I let her hair go and laugh, unable to stop myself.

This from a being that possesses strong, ancient magic?

That geezer must have been either playing a prank on me or out of what remains of his mind.

“Who was that man?” she asks suddenly.

“Eustus,” I answer as I continue drying my hair with my towel.

She says nothing, waiting for me to say more.

I take a deep breath. “My father.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “But I thought you said you were an orphan.”

“The blood of that man may run in my veins,” I say. “But I’ve never thought of him as my father. When I said my father died, I meant my stepfather, the man my mother married.”

“Why? What did he do?”

“That’s the thing. He did nothing. During the accident, Steve died instantly but my mother was still alive. She was in the hospital, fighting for her life. The doctors could do nothing but at least, they tried. My father wasn’t even there.”

I lean forward, clasping my hands tightly together at the memory.

“The worst part is he could have done something,” I add under my breath.

Strange. That’s something I’ve never told anyone before.

Nia places her hand over mine. “Is that why you decided to become a doctor?”

I nod.

She takes my hand in hers, letting our fingers entwine. “Then what happened isn’t so bad because something so wonderful came out of it. You turned a tragedy into a miracle.”

I gaze into her eyes. She may act like a child but she has the wisdom of an adult, at least when it comes to matters like this.

I squeeze her hand. “Thank you.”

“I know your father failed you but at least, you know him,” Nia adds. “I don’t even know who my father is.”

“But you know he’s dead?” I ask.

She shrugs.

“So, we’re both not really orphans, huh? We just feel like one.”

“Yeah, but I don’t feel that lonely anymore.”

Her confession takes me by surprise, stealing my breath, though maybe, what’s even more surprising is that I realize I feel the same way.

I’ve never really admitted being to lonely but now, I wonder if maybe I was. Otherwise, why does Nia’s company thrill me so much even though I barely know her? Somehow, in such a short time, Nia’s filled a void I never even knew was there.

I smile as I place my other hand over hers. “Maybe on my day off, we can go out again and have fun.”

She returns the smile, her eyes sparkling as her face glows. “I’d like that.”