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Roman held onto Kris and didn’t want to move, but after a time, she took in a breath and managed to stand. She went to the sink and washed her face, then brushed her teeth. She pulled her shirt up and looked at the bandage around her stomach. She pulled it off and put her hand over the stitches and skin. Roman saw the stitches start to move out of her skin and fall to the floor. The scar disappeared on her stomach and back.
Roman knew to be patient. Kris went through an event he’d never experienced and all he could do now was stand by her.
She turned to him and brought her hand up to his cheek. He looked into her eyes and saw the love which he’d missed for the last two days. Her aura lit back up, but looked dark blue, which meant she felt afraid. He needed to ease her.
“Roman,” she whispered. “I want to go to sleep for a while.”
“You got it, babe.” He walked her to the bed.
The others were gone, but from his mental connection with Omar and Marcus, he knew they were close.
Kris pulled her clothes off, crawled under the sheets and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Roman lay down behind her and pulled her to his chest. He saw the bottle of elixir on the nightstand, but decided not to disturb her.
Kris slept for twenty hours and Roman didn’t leave her side. When she rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes, she didn’t look at him. She took his hand and held it tight to her chest.
“Roman?” she said.
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to do that ever again.” She turned onto her side and looked at him. “In fact, this is getting really tiresome.”
Roman turned on his side and massaged her back. “Do you want to talk a little?”
“Roman, I love you,” her voice cracked.
“I love you back, beautiful lady.”
“I wonder sometimes what it is you see. I’m not beautiful like El. She moves with such grace,” she said.
“You, my love, are a thousand times more beautiful than El. She’s not my type at all. You have every quality I could ever want.” He kissed her forehead.
“Even though I’ve turned into a big, pissed-off chicken?” she whispered.
“What do you mean?”
Kris propped up on her elbows and looked down at him. “I’m really scared.”
“Kris, there’s no reason—” he started, but she cut him off.
“Wait, I’m also mad and tired of all this. Having my soul yanked out of me, getting shot at and wandering around not knowing my own name. It almost feels like I’ve been violated in a way.” Her eyes started to fill. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but when we merged, I understood these demons wouldn't be able to attack me anymore. I thought I would be safe from Rochelle and her gang.”
“You were violated, Kris. You are safe from the evil beings, but only physically. Spiritually, they can still play with you. I'm sorry if I didn't explain it to you better.” He pulled her into his arms. “I can’t even begin to understand what you went through.”
“I know better now to listen to you. If I hadn’t gone alone, would it still have happened? Would you have been caught, too? I would hate myself if you’d been shot.”
“Kris, don’t be so hard on yourself. There wasn’t any way of knowing it would happen.”
“Roman, I love you.” She pushed herself up and sat lotus-style. “I don’t want to keep looking over my shoulder and wonder when the next attack might come. I don’t want to learn spells and vanquish demons. I want us.” She put her hand on his chest. “I want us to love one another, and live in peace.” She fell silent and looked at her hands.
“Anything else we can put on the want list?” he asked.
“Do you think I want too much?”
“No, I like your want list very much,” he said and moved up to kiss her.
“Good. Roman?”
“Yes.”
“I’m starved. Is there anything to eat in the icebox?”
Roman laughed. “I think we can find something.”
They got out of bed and dressed.
Opening the door, Kris walked into the living room and found Cassie at her computer. She turned and smiled at Kris.
“Hey, you’re up. How are you feeling?” She stood and moved to Kris.
“Hungry and needing coffee, bad,” Kris said and went into the kitchen.
Roman smiled at Cassie and shrugged. He watched Kris pull a bag of bagels out of the breadbox, throw one into the toaster and get cream cheese out of the refrigerator. She poured a cup, and when the bagel popped from the toaster, she sat at the table and began to eat.
Cassie sat down and watched Kris while she chewed. Roman got a cup out of the cabinet and poured himself some coffee.
Kris chewed on the food and swallowed. “Cass, honey, I really need for you to stop staring at me.” She took another bite.
Cassie looked down at her cup. “Sorry,” she said. “It's good to see your aura back.”
Roman turned to go out the back door.
****
Kris ate half the bagel and then stopped. She put her head in her hand.
“Are you all right? Should I get Roman?”
Kris sat back and looked at her. “No, I’m just stuck. I know I have to snap out of this, but I’m pissed-off.” Her voice faded and her eyes welled. “And I’m really sick of crying.” She stood up and got the coffeepot to refill her cup. “Do you want more?”
“No, I’m good.” Cassie stared at her.
Kris sat back down and put her hands around the cup. “I just don’t want to be afraid anymore. Roman’s done everything he knows to protect me.” She rubbed her eyes. “I want to be able to relax and breathe for five minutes, you know?”
Cassie sighed. “No, I don’t know. They’re after you because they want your magick’s. I’ll never know your power, Kris.”
“I wish I didn’t know it. Thanks, Mom, and all the ladies from the past.” Kris drank her coffee.
“Kris, you don’t have to answer this, but what did you experience?”
“I don’t remember much. I could hear you guys talk and knew I some of the answers, but couldn’t find the words.”
“Wow, that had to be scary,” Cassie said.
“Roman!” Kris shouted.
He came back in from the deck. “Yes, babe.”
“I’m going back to bed.” She stood up and looked at Cassie. “Thanks, Cass,” she said. “Let me think some and then we’ll talk.”
Omar walked in behind Roman and smiled at Kris.
She took one look at Omar and her brows creased. “I can’t do this.” She turned and hurried into the bedroom.
****
“What?” Omar looked at Cassie.
“Guys, she’s stressed right now. Just be patient with her.” Cassie looked up at Roman. “She needs you, dude.”
Roman put his cup in the sink and headed toward the bedroom. “Later, guys. Lock the door on your way out,” he said.
He found Kris, pulled her clothes off and she buried herself in the bed covers. Roman took off his pants and T-shirt, and found his way under the sheet. He felt her hand reach out to him and she moved into his arms. He stayed quiet until she was ready to talk.
****
Kris dozed on and off, and dreamt strange things. She tasted cinnamon in her mouth and knew Roman got the elixir going again. It did help keep her calm and made her warm.
She dreamt about shoes running by themselves, and being chased by evil squirrels. As soon as she’d calm down, she’d start to feel as though something followed her. Faces flashed by, and the most alarming were the old man, Meshach, and Rochelle. They seemed to appear quite a bit.
Kris then walked through a field. It looked like one outside of Omaha and she wasn't sure why she’d been pulled there. Across the field, Kris saw a figure. She felt she needed to go to it. Making her way through the grass, she came up to a woman who stood with her hands folded.
She wore a long beige gown and was tall. The woman had no hair on her head and her eyes were deep blue and flashed. The Oracle she’d heard the men speak of, stood before her and she couldn’t understand why. Kris felt like a big nobody.
You are somebody, child. You must never doubt this, the Oracle thought to her.
Kris could feel the woman's fingers touch her mind.
I can feel your confusion. It is a difficult thing to have your soul wrenched out of you. She moved around and took Kris's hand. You have the strength within to overcome and move forward.
Kris tried to register what she said. Ma’am, I’m very scared.
I know.
I also don’t understand why they want me so bad. The keep saying I’m full of power, but I don’t feel it.
Kris, you have a very pure spirit. It is what Roman fell in love with. The honesty you have within you is a rarity. It is your truthfulness and kindness which gives you power. You are able to see visions and can change evil things. These are gifts others would steal from you in a heartbeat. They must be protected. To do this, you must not hide, child, she finished.
You mean go out and face the enemy? Kris looked up at her blue eyes.
Think about all which has occurred. There are questions one will understand, questions which are hidden from another. Use not only your power, but also your mind. You are intelligent and strong, child. You will overcome. She smiled. May I ask you a question?
Yes, Kris answered.
The witch, can she be trusted?
Oh yes, she can be. She’s very grounded, ma’am.
Good. She put her hand over Kris's eye. Remember everything, Kris, she whispered.
Kris felt herself pulled into another vibration. She started to see all the things which had happened to her since March.
She saw Abednego and his wine-tainted flunkies, Derrick and the two thugs. Shadrach came into view when he turned Lorrie. Then the old man, Meshach, with his five ancient sorcerers. Abednego loved Rochelle and wanted her back. Shadrach said he’d shared her and... Wait just one minute.
Kris sat up in bed and gave herself a moment to wake up. Roman waited next to her.
“Hey babe.” She looked over at him.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Still weird, but I think I have an answer to our Meshach problem. Call in the troops. I want this over with, so you and I can start to live.” Roman didn’t move, but continued watching her. “What?”
“Your light...it’s so amazing,” he whispered.
“What color now?” She looked at her hand.
“Gold, you’re a bright gold all over,” he said. “You have divine guidance, knowledge and it’s so beautiful.”
“I’ve been gold before.”
“Not like this, babe,” he said. He sounded out of breath.
“Roman, your Oracle came to me in a dream.”
He smiled. “She spoke to you?”
“Yes, well...she thought to me. The point is she woke me up and I think this is going to be easier than we believed.” Kris leaned over to kiss him. “Find Omar and Marcus and I’ll call Cassie. We have work to do.”
It took about two minutes for Cassie to get to Kris's back door. She still held her cell phone up to her ear when she stepped into the kitchen. She stared at Kris.
“Gold, right?”
“I’ve...it's gorgeous.” She walked toward Kris with her hand up. Cassie's eyes got as big as saucers.
“Cass, you’re scaring me. Please hang up your phone,” Kris said.
She clicked the phone closed and brought it down to her chest. “Kris, I...”
“Come and have a seat, Cass. We have to come up with a plan.” Kris led her into the living room and sat her on the couch.
Roman stood at the kitchen sink and looked out the window. He called to Omar and Marcus. It wasn’t long and they came through the door. They saw Kris standing by the couch and stopped.
“Damn woman, great look,” Omar said with a huge grin. When he saw Cassie looked stunned, his grin faded and he went to her.
Marcus smiled at Kris too and winked. He walked in and sat in the chair by the computer. Roman grabbed a straight back chair from the dining room table and sat. He looked up at Kris and held out his arms. She walked over to him and plopped down sideways on his lap.
“Roman said you had an epiphany. What’s up?” Marcus asked.
“I didn’t say epiphany, I said awakening.” Roman looked at Marcus.
“Epiphany or awakening, both are good words,” Kris said. “I feel fortunate and honored to have been visited by the Oracle in a dream,” she said.
“The Oracle came to you?” Omar asked.
“She did,” Kris tried to sound humble. “She talked me back into my head and showed me a few things. I think I know how we can get rid of the threat.”
“Tell us, babe,” Roman said.
“One of the things the Oracle pointed out is a question. Why does Meshach have five ancient sorcerers around him, when Abednego and Shadrach only had flunkies?” Kris asked.
The others went silent.
“Holy shit,” Cassie said.
Kris smiled at her. “Welcome back, girlfriend.”
“Do you think...I mean...no way.” She started to laugh.
“I think Meshach has a plan of his own, but it isn’t very honorable and I think Rochelle needs to know about this plan.” Kris raised her eyebrows.
“Did I miss something?” Roman asked.
“No.” She kissed his check. “I’ll explain in a minute.”
“It is a good question,” Marcus said.
“Now here comes the argument.” Kris looked at Roman. “Remember when I suggested we not wait for Derrick to come and destroy the lake, we needed to take the fight to him? And you thought it was a good idea.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“We know Meshach is at the winery. I say let’s go over to face him. I don’t want to wait around for him to make another move.”
“Kris, with the talent he’s got around him. I’m not certain this one is a good idea,” Roman said.
Kris put her merge spot over his. “You need to trust me on this one,” she said.
“I trust you.” He hugged her tight.
“Good. I think old Meshach wants the merge between me and Rochelle, but he’s got other plans. I think he wants to abolish Rochelle once she's gotten me and steal her power, which would be our combined powers.”
“If we go to the winery, what spells besides the abolishing should we prepare?” Omar asked.
“No spells. I don’t think they’ll be necessary,” she replied and continued to look at Roman.
“If we don’t have spells, what do we use?” Omar persisted.
“Logic, we use plain old logic.” She smiled.
“I’ve heard of that. It has to do with computers, right?” Marcus commented.
Kris looked at him. “Smarty pants.” She pulled herself up from Roman’s lap. “See, I may not look it right now, but I’m pretty pissed-off with Meshach. I don’t want to play their game anymore. They’ve changed the rules and it’s cheating. Plus, they shot me, which really brings them near to the top of the things I really hate, list.”
“Honesty is the best policy,” Cassie said.
“You got it. We should all carry sage ropes with us.” She looked at the non-movement amongst the group.
“You mean we’re going in there in real time, not spiritually?” Omar looked concerned.
“You got it, dude.” Kris touched her nose and pointed at him.
“That’s nuts,” he said.
“Not at all Omar. But just in case, I’d like to have you guys back me up. We might need an abolishing spell.”
Roman stood up and put his arm around her. “I’m in.”
“Me, too.” Cassie jumped up from the couch.
Omar and Marcus both stood at the same time. “Its nuts, but I wouldn’t miss it,” Marcus said.
Kris looked at Omar. “We can’t do it without you, Omar.”
He put his hand around Cassie’s waist. “I better come along. Someone has to protect this one.” He kissed her nose.
Kris put her fists up and did a little happy dance. When she stopped, they stared at her. “You know what? I’m starving again.” Kris turned into the kitchen and started to ransack the refrigerator. Roman walked in behind her, followed by the other three. She got bread out, put it in the toaster, and pulled jam and peanut butter out of the cabinet.
“What’s the plan?” Roman asked.
The toast popped up. Kris pulled it out and started to spread peanut butter and jam. “We go over to the winery and have a chat. I want to talk to Rochelle.” She bit off some toast and chewed.
Roman crossed his arms and frowned. “How sure of this plan are you?” he asked.
“I’ll tell you, there is only one thing I’m surer of.”
“Which is?”
She looked at him. “You, of course.”
Roman smiled, walked over to wrap his arms around her and smashed the toast onto his chest. He leaned over and put his lips on hers. She opened her mouth and let him circle around with his tongue.
When he pulled his head back, she smiled at him. “Damn, you taste good,” she said and finished chewing her toast.
“So do you.” He kissed her again.
“They’re going to start humping right here in front of us,” Omar said.
“No we aren’t,” Kris said over Roman’s shoulder. “We haven’t messed around for...” she looked at Roman who held up five fingers. “Five days?” Kris felt shocked. “Wow, we have some catching up to do.” She peeled her toast off of his chest. “I think we should plan to leave soon, like half an hour or less.”
“Should we take my car for luck?” Cassie asked.
They all agreed on it. Cassie left to bring the vehicle over from next door. Marcus went out to the lake to let the new Guardian know he and Omar would be away for a while.
“You need to change your shirt,” Kris said. He let her go and left the kitchen. She looked at Omar. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything, but I hate secrets,” she started. “When I visited with the Oracle, she asked me an interesting question. She wanted to know if the witch could be trusted.”
Omar’s brows shot up. “What did you tell her?”
“I told her yes, Cassie could be trusted.” Kris put her plate in the sink and rinsed it off. When she turned around, she found Omar looked like he might cry.
“Thank you, Kris,” he croaked. He moved to her and gave her a hug. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome, dude.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve got to put some shoes on.”
Roman stood in the bathroom and tried to rinse the peanut butter and jam out of his shirt. Kris put on some socks and loafers and watched him through the open doorway. He hadn’t put on a clean shirt and she enjoyed admiring his back and arms as he scrubbed the stain.
He finished with the shirt, squeezed the extra water out and threw it at the laundry hamper. Squatting in front of her knees, he put his hands on her thighs and moved himself between her legs.
“Roman?”
“Yes.”
“I love you.” She kissed his shoulder and neck. “I have to thank you for your incredible patience with me these last few days.”
“I love you, too. You’re welcome.” He rubbed his head against her breasts.
“Let’s get this finished and come home right away.” She pulled back and placed her lips on his. “Then let’s make love for a few days.”
Roman started to laugh. “You realize I’m going to have a hard-on, while we have this little chat with Meshach?”
“I’ll be wet when we get back.” She arched her brow and smiled at him.
“Now who’s being a horn dog?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I called you that, didn’t I?”
“You did, indeed.” He kissed her chin.
“It’s good to know we’re both horny.”
“I won’t need Viagra any time soon.”
She hugged his neck and felt his hands move up her back.
“If I don’t stop, we’re not leaving this room tonight.” He pulled back and stood up. Walking to the dresser, he pulled a long sleeve T-shirt out of a drawer.
She watched him put it on and sighed. After he tucked the shirt in, he came back and offered his hand. Kris took it and stood. They went into the kitchen and saw the other three stood on the back deck.
They left the house and headed for Cassie’s car.