Part XLIV

Part XLIV

I had to move fast. I was pretty sure that The Tall Man had set some sort of signal on the Hex so he'd know when Destiny was dead. So, I had to let her die, but not make it permanent. I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but Grandfather Lee seemed sure. I knew the spell, but he knew an older more powerful version, assuming my Mandarin was up to snuff. With Grandfather Lee whispering in my ear, I stepped into the circle.

The nullification symbol would undo anything I tried, so I wrapped my arms around Destiny and lifted her up off the floor as I mumbled Mandarin under my breath and planted a kiss on her lips. I then inhaled and drew her life force into me. It'd combine with mine if I held onto it too long. I dropped her back to the floor, and I felt the signal run through the circle and fly away to The Tall Man. The field kept her upright and I counted to ten while I got slammed in the brain with her entire life. I counted down to ten using the old Stephen King “My Pretty Pony” routine.

I got to eight and broke the circle with my foot, by scraping away some of the marks. I pulled her out, and dropped her to the sofa. I took a deep breath, and then exhaled her life force back into her. I didn't know whether it would work or not, because the energy it required drained me and I passed out.

I woke to the smell of bacon, but that was a memory ghost. It soon transformed into something burning, and as I drug my eyes open, I realized it was the nullification mark still smoldering. That was never coming out of the floor. Destiny wasn't awake, but I could see that she was breathing. Watching her chest rise and fall took a great burden off of me. I got up, and felt severely dehydrated.

I went to the sofa and put my hand on her forehead just to make sure she was warm. She was. I went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of water. I kicked more of the circle out of the way as I walked back through the living room, and dumped a bit of my glass on the floor where is hissed and cooled the mark. Grandfather Lee was excited that it had worked, and I had to yell at him in my head to get him to shut up. He was giving me a headache, and me yelling didn't help. I put a glass on the side table next to Destiny and sat in a chair across from the sofa, drank my water and watched her chest rise and fall.

I stepped out while she was sleeping and returned the bowling ball to the van just so it didn't attract too many Death Runners. There were probably more in Venice than in all of Tennessee. You'd think the ocean would be a deterrent, but it was pretty fixed. You could walk right out and see the tides coming at you. Few people ever slipped on the beach and got dragged into the ocean. Slipping on the bank of a river was another thing entirely.

The Old Man was asleep and simply rolled on his back exposing his stomach as I put the bowling ball back in the drawer at the foot of the bed. I reached out and petted him. He purred, and then bit me. I knocked out a can of tuna and some potion before I shut him back in. I wanted to be there when destiny woke up.

Climbing the stairs back to her place I smelled burning wood, and when I looked down I saw shoe prints burned into the steps. I ran the rest of the way up and found the door open. Two prints, smoldered at the stoop. I burst in, Destiny was still on the sofa, but she wasn't breathing. I was pissed, but didn't have time to think. I dropped her to the floor and started CPR. The painter's shirt was wet from where she'd lost bladder control. I lifted her head back, swept my fingers through her mouth to get her tongue out of the way, blew four times, dialed 911, and put the phone on speaker and started the four Hundred compressions. CPR had changed over the years, but I tried to make sure I was up to specs. You never know with magic, she's a fickle mistress.

The Emergency team arrived and took over. They had a heart beat five minutes later with a few shocks from a portable defibrillator, and a couple of ccs of epi. They rolled her out and drove off, leaving me behind. I wasn't a friend or family. I closed the door to her apartment on the way out and mumbled under my breath, sealing the door, so I'd know if anyone came calling. I went back to the van, curled up on the bed. The Old Man jumped up and curled up next to me. I could feel his purrs vibrating through me, and it lulled me into sleep.

I woke four hours later, rested enough to go to the Hospital and see what had happened. I could have gone with her, but I would have just gotten in the way. They'd taken her to Santa Monica Hospital. The receptionist was nice, and I found out she was on support but unresponsive. They had good brain waves, but she, was for all intents and purposes, in a coma.

I mumbled under my breath and shrouded myself in a little spell that made me appear so non-threatening to people that I was invisible. I went to Destiny's room and sat holding her hand until a nurse walked in.

You can't be here.

Sure I can.

Family only.

I looked her directly in the eyes and lied. It was a bit of a glamour, and she let me stay. It only worked on her, but she'd just come on shift, so I had a few more hours I could hang out. Grandfather Lee whispered healing spell into my brain and I mumbled them out and transferred them physically through the connection we now had while holding hands. I wasn't going to let her die. Even if it was the last thing I did.