Page 50 of Black and White, Twice the Might (Cadenbury Town #8)
“ E benezer Oscar Anderson-Sherwood, you better wake up right now.” I hear Xander practically shout at me. I also feel someone prodding me, and not too gently, I might add. Wait, he just whole-named me!
I groan and open my eyes. I’m lying on my back on the ground. The first faces I see are a concerned Xander, then a worried Enoch. “Sly,” I say, moving quickly to sit up. I grab my head when it starts spinning.
“Careful,” I hear Sly say, kneeling down and putting his arms around me.
“Are you alright?” I ask, turning to him.
“I am, you were the only one who got hurt, sweetheart.”
Enoch moves out of the way, and Justice kneels in front of me.
“Can I check your head?”
“Please,” I reply, nodding, then wish I hadn’t as that move hurt. “While Justice is fixing my head, someone can fill me in on what I missed.”
Justice leans forward and gently places his hands on my head.
I feel his magic tingling around the spot on my head that hurts.
“You’ve no major damage to your head. A cut I’ve now healed, and the pain associated with being hit should now be fading.
” There is a pause, and he takes his hands away. “How does your head feel?”
I have a think. “All better, thanks, Justice.”
He pats my leg and stands up.
“Are you sure he’s fixed?” Enoch asks him.
Justice touches his shoulder. “Completely.”
“Thanks,” Enoch replies before turning back to me and slapping the back of my head.
“Hey!” I exclaim, glaring at him. “What the hell, Enoch?”
I ignore the chuckles from those around us.
“What did you expect when you get hurt? If we had been down here with you, we could have helped.”
“Or been hurt like your brother,” Titus points out to them.
I move to stand up, Sly and Xander helping me.
I look around the now large space, the false wall having vanished. I see some of Sly’s family, down and out, and others tied up, and more than one covered in blood from bites and scratches.
“So, what did I miss?” I ask.
“We got your magical SOS and came running,” Sal says, before grinning. “Picture the scene, my friends.”
We all laugh at that, and Jude slaps his arm. “Ernest isn’t here; we don’t need a ballad.”
“True,” he admits. “Okay, so we ran down here and were momentarily stumped when we saw the wall. Titus threw magic at it, in the hopes of blowing it up, but as soon as his magic touched it, it vanished. We saw you get knocked out and jumped in to help with the fighting.”
“Kean shifted into his wolf and jumped at your attacker, getting him off you, so Xander and me ran over to protect you while the fighting went on,” Enoch’s arms are flying around as he tells me this.
I look at Kean, who is back to his human self. “Thanks.”
“We knocked out or subdued everyone,” Jude adds, waving his hand to show Sly’s family.
“That mirror is a portal; they were talking with a demon when Sly and I arrived.”
Sal walks over to the mirror and has a look, while he is doing that, I walk to the device in the corner and pick it up.
“Leave that alone,” Sly’s father shouts, struggling against his bindings.
“I think we’ll take it with us,” I hold it up and show the others. “Our trapped magic is in here.”
“Yeah, no way are we leaving it here. We’ll be taking our magic back, thanks very much,” Temp says, frowning at Sly’s father.
“This mirror is a portal to somewhere dark. It has the same feeling as the portal in the caves at Little Welling,” Sal announces.
Titus walks to Sal’s side. “Can you close it like last time?”
Sal nods. “Yep.” He opens his arms and starts muttering.
Jude walks to his side and places his hand on Sal’s back, grounding him.
Sal’s muttering gets louder, and light is crackling between his hands. “Close your eyes,” he yells.
I pull Enoch close, his head resting on my chest, and just as I close my eyes, I see Sly has done the same to Xander.
There is a loud boom and a bright flash of light. Even with my eyes tightly closed, it’s bright.
“Sorted.”
I open my eyes and let Enoch go. Sal is leaning into Jude, who has his arm around him.
“No, what have you done?” Sly’s mother shouts.
Sly releases Xander and walks closer to his family. “You didn’t think we’d leave you with a demon portal, did you, Mother?”
I walk to his side and take his hand. Titus and Justice join us.
“What do you want to do with them?” Titus asks.
Sly gives a deep sigh. “Honestly, I have no idea.”
“We could bind their magic. It’s not as strong as it was before. I’m guessing the demon stopped helping them,” Justice comments. “Or strip it from them.”
I watch his family pale.
“Stripping it is then,” Sly grins, dropping my hand and rubbing his together.
“Monica might take issue with the magical stripping, but I’ll smooth things over,” Titus assures him.
Sly flashed him a quick smile. “Thanks, Titus.” He holds his hand out and swirls it around. “Come,” he demands.
His family screams as their magic leaves them and goes flying into Sly.
He gasps and closes his eyes for a moment. “Done,” he says, opening his eyes.
I ignore his crying family, and I retake Sly’s hand. “You alright?”
He nods. “Yep. Let’s get out of here.”
“What about us?” his father asks, in a small voice.
“Do what you like, just make sure none of us ever sees or hears from you again.”
We all turn our backs on them and ignore their yells, we all walk up the stairs, leave the basement, and then the farmhouse.
“Want to come back to ours?” Kean asks as we reach the cars.
“Nah, thanks though, it’s getting late,” I look around at everyone. “Thanks for your help, folks.”
Alfred grins. “I’m glad we all came now. Breakfast tomorrow morning will be fun, and I can tease Ernest all day about our adventure.”
We burst out laughing.
Enoch holds up both thumbs. “Have fun with that then.”
Sly looks at everyone. “Thanks for your help tonight. We’ll chat to you all tomorrow, drive safely. Give me the keys, sweetheart, I’ll drive.”
After a round of ‘nights’ and handing the keys to Sly, we settle into the car and join the procession back to Cadenbury.
It’s actually a quiet journey back to our house, and I think we’re all relieved when we get inside.
“Ebby, are you really alright?” Xander asks, putting his hand on my arm.
I nod. “I promise, I only had a sore head and Justice fixed that for me.”
“Running into that basement room and seeing you knocked out was scary. You should have seen Sly, though. He was proper angry. I’m not even sure if the people he used his magic on were alive or just knocked out,” Enoch tells me.
I pull him into a hug and look at Sly.
“They’re alive. Probably in pain, and with a few broken bones, but I didn’t kill them.”
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting someone to jump on my back. It was a witch fight for goodness’ sake, who does that?” I let Enoch go.
“Cheaters,” Xander spits out. “I need sweets.”
“Me too, let’s get lots and I’ll beat you at whatever game you pick.”
I watch them walking to the kitchen, chatting about games and how Enoch is going down. I don’t say anything about having sweets, they deserve them tonight.
They walk back a few minutes later, carrying said sweets and drinks.
“Bed before midnight, please,” Sly calls after them.
They don’t reply, just carry on talking to each other.
“Somehow I can’t see that happening.”
Sly locks the front door and turns the lights off before taking my hand and leading me upstairs to our bedroom.
As soon as our bedroom door closes, Sly pulls me into his arms and hugs the stuffing out of me.
“I was so scared and angry when I saw you get knocked out. I threw a shield around you and hit out at my family in anger. The others arrived just as you fell. I let Kean deal with your attacker.”
I kiss his cheek as I draw back, not leaving his arms. “How are you feeling about fighting them?”
Sly sighs. “I honestly didn’t care. They were a danger to us, and now they’re not.
I’m glad they’ve been stopped and stripped of their magic.
I have other relatives who weren’t there that have magic, but I never hear from them, and with what happened tonight, I’m pretty sure it will stay that way.
I have you and the boys, plus our new family, so it’s all good. ”
I lean forward and kiss him, pouring all my love for him into that kiss. In no time at all, I strip us both naked, push Sly onto the bed, and then make slow, sweet love to him.