Hexed

we’re feeling.
    I’d better set him straight. “Stephen, I—”
    It happens again. Stephen and I are back in “court.” I never get the chance to tell him that even if Samual isn’t manipulating us, it’s hopeless to think we might have a future.
    No matter how I might want it.

FIFTEEN
     

     
    SAMUAL DOESN’T LOOK TOO GOOD. HIS FACE is drawn, his shoulders slumped. Whatever happened during that recess, it doesn’t appear to have been to his advantage or liking.
    As much as I’m tempted to gloat, I know I’d better reserve that reaction until I hear what my fate is to be. However it turns out, I’m going to make sure Stephen gets out of here safely.
    Even if I have to take out Samual and one of those bone bags to do it.
    The Elder rises, he appears to float in space, but there’s nothing ethereal in his expression. Even without facial features, his dark anger comes through. He points a finger at Samual.
    “Our servant has betrayed us. He has been dealt with.” The finger sweeps in my direction. “You will be returned to Earth, vampire. Along with the man. Do not suppose you have won a victory here. If the circumstances of your actions had been different, you would have suffered the consequences. As it is, if your presence is detected here again, you will be executed without benefit of trial.”
    And he is gone. Along with his skeletal sidekicks. Vanished into air without so much as a clatter of bone to mark their departure.
    Stephen and I look at each other. And wait. Will we be transported back the way we’ve been moved from one place to the other? Should I ask Scotty to beam us up?
    Suddenly we both become aware of another presence. Samual is still here, too. The look he skewers us with is no longer the cowed, unsettled expression he wore for the tribunal, but is instead malevolent and calculating. “Well, shall we get on with it?” he asks smugly.
    “You’ve got to be kidding. You aren’t the one who’s supposed to take us back. You can’t be.”
    He raises his eyebrows in mock surprise. “Why not? It seems my punishment is banishment. To Earth. And if along the way, we should have an accident, if one or both of you should slip from my grasp, what can anyone do about it?”
    He looks downright giddy. “I should have thought of it sooner. When I brought you meat puppets up here. I could have snatched you both in that night in the parking lot. Disposed of you along the way.”
    Ah. That sound—the laugh. “You were there.”
    “That I was. Too bad I was having such a good time watching the human dump the big bad vampire on her ass. I lost track of my purpose. Well, that won’t happen again.”
    “Looks like nothing worked out the way you planned it, did it? Did you suppose it would be easy? That I’d cower, beg for my life? You underestimated me.”
    He shrugs. “No matter. I can make you two disappear and no one will be the wiser. My sentence is indefinite. By the time I’m allowed back, this entire incident will have been forgotten. And while I’m on Earth, who knows what mischief I can get into? I needed a break. I should really thank you for the opportunity.”
    I stare at him. He has to be stopped. Should I call out for the Elders? Tell them of Samual’s plan? Would they care? Judging from the cavalier way they had been willing to throw Earth to the wolves with Belinda Burke, I doubt it.
    Stephen is beside me. “What should we do?”
    I don’t know. If I attack Samual, what would happen? Would the Elders take that as an attack on them all? And even if I beat Samual and it went unnoticed, how would we get out of here? I can’t risk Stephen’s life.
    My brain is buzzing, my palm itching again. I glance down at it. The skin is flushed. I turn to Stephen. “When you communicated with Susan, did she say anything more than I would be coming for you?”
    He shakes his head. “Just to stay close to you. That you would bring me back.”
    It couldn’t be that easy. Could it? “Take my hand.”
    He raises his eyebrows. “You want to hold hands now?”
    I grab his left hand in my right. “Don’t let go.”
    At the touch of his palm, the charm embedded in my hand begins to grow hot. He feels it and his first instinct is to pull away. I don’t let him. The charm is working its way back through my flesh and materializes between our hands. “Hold on,” I whisper.
    Stephen’s grip tightens. He’s beginning to understand. “Susan?”
    But understanding blooms in Samual’s