Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

uninvited either, neither can you.”
    “Oh.”
    My mind raced. I didn’t know how to get out of this and the cat was back at the other building.
    “I wouldn’t allow you to do this without the talisman though,” Nicholas said, full of new ambition. “Just come back to the car once you invite me inside. You’ll be safe until I’m finished.”
    “How’s that?” I asked, still not understanding the significance—like the car provided some unseen protection.
    “Because I’ve never invited anyone in here but you.”
    “Oh.”
    I gave a weak smile and thought back to the tunnel and my driveway. If I only had stayed in my car that night, then Phil wouldn’t have taken me to meet Alora. I was safe all along. The revelation hit hard. I closed my eyes as my insides crawled in alarm.
    “Won’t they feel you coming?”
    “Maybe. It was a lot easier when I had the talisman. Don’t worry. I’m good at ambushing. They won’t understand my power and by then, it’ll be too late,” he chuckled, excited. I felt the beginnings of a panic attack.
    What do I do? What do I do?
    I sat on my hands to keep from biting my nails; the building was in sight now. He pulled up across the street and parked. This could be the moment the prediction came true, and he died.
    “Ready?”
    I nodded sheepishly.
    He was out of the car before I finished nodding, opening my door.
    I looked at the ominous building, remembering back to the events just a few hours ago. Nicholas grabbed my hand and walked me swiftly towards the door. Nicholas was far gentler than Phil, but déjà vu grabbed me, unsettling my stomach.
    Once we got to the door and I stopped, my body started to tremble.
    “I’ll be okay. Just invite me in and then you can wait in the car,” he said, noticing my petrified expression.
    “Please don’t do this,” I said, knowing Alora was ruthlessly powerful.
    “Don’t worry about me. Just hurry. They’re going to know I’m coming.”
    Against my better judgment, I quickly lugged the squeaky door open and whispered “Come in”.
    He was by me in a flash, dusty swirls the only evidence of his flight into the darkness. I stood wide-eyed trying to adjust to the dark, reaching out to see if I could find Alora’s presence. Nothing registered beyond Nicholas. I wondered if I was close enough.
    “She’s not here.”
    I jumped and looked down, withholding a yelp. A familiar black cat wove around my ankles. I hated that she could sneak up on me like that, not being able to feel her in her cat form.
    “Geesh. You again. What are you doing here?”
    “Talk in your mind. I don’t want Nicholas to hear you.”
    I glared at her, miffed at all the demands placed on me.
    “Happy? ” I thought in a distempered tone.
    “Don’t be upset. I’m only here to let you know Alora is gone.”
    I waited for her to pry around in my mind and come up with some wild retort. I didn’t get why she needed internal conversation when she knew everything I thought anyway. It seemed juvenile to go through the pretenses.
    “And?” I thought, feeling impatient.
    “What do you mean ‘and’ ?”
    “Don’t pretend you aren’t rifling through my thoughts.”
    “I can’t read you anymore. You’ve figured out how to block me.”
    My anger subsided. I wasn’t sure if I entirely believed her, since she was in cat form and I couldn’t read her back. I thought some vile insulting things about her as a test and waited. Nothing.
    She didn’t hear me unless I spoke directly to her.
    “So where’d Alora go?” I said in my mind.
    “Since her coven was annihilate d today, she left to recruit more followers, since she doesn’t sire people. Phil was a mistake.”
    I’d wanted to know who’d originally made him, since Phil didn’t name names.
    “And Bettina?”
    She purred loudly in my head. “Gone.”
    I looked at her little, sweet, kitty face and swore I saw a smile.
    “Will Alora come back?”
    “Yes. I’m sure in the near future. She didn’t get what she was looking for.”
    The necklace suddenly turned icy cold against my skin and I fought to reach up to touch it, not wanting to bring attention to my medallion. I sensed it knew who Alora was. How would she know about the talisman if it stayed in Nicholas’ family? I convinced myself the cat meant Alora’s purpose was to capture Nicholas.
    “He’s coming. I’ll warn you when she returns, until then keep the secret little one.”
    And she was gone.
    “No one’s here,” he