Page 85 of Burdened Bonds

Am I stupid for bringing Renzo along? Is there really any hope of us all getting along in one big happy family? Then again, do I have a choice? Fate seems determined and fate is one stubborn bitch.

“What’s wrong with Pip?” Winnie asks as we start our journey. My pet is laid out across my lap, still unresponsive and still ill-looking.

“He got struck by magic when we were attacked in theforest,” I tell Winnie, resting my hand on Pip’s quivering body.

“Oh my goodness!” Winnie shrieks, spinning around in her seat and causing the rest of us to yelp, Azlan diving for the steering wheel.

“Eyes on the road,” he says sternly.

“Ooops, sorry,” Winnie says with some awkwardness. She focuses forward, peering at me in the rearview mirror. “It doesn’t look like he has any obvious injuries.”

“He doesn’t,” I say. “And we’ve both tried to heal him,” I add, glancing towards Renzo. “But he’s been like this since he got hit.”

Stone scoffs. “You tried to heal him?”

“Yes,” I scowl at him. “There’s nothing obvious to fix. Just some lingering magic in his body that won’t shift.”

Stone shakes his head with his usual level of disappointment and gingerly lays his hand on Pip’s stomach. “When was the last time this thing took a bath?”

“This ‘thing’,” I snap, “smells a lot better than you do, Professor.”

The professor sniffs his shoulder. “You may have a point. It’s been a few days since I’ve had the pleasure of a bathroom.” He leans and sniffs me too. “Seems you haven’t either.” I sniff myself and grimace. “Let’s hope there’s a bathroom at our destination.”

He closes his eyes and pretty soon his brow furrows. I don’t have to be a mind reader to know he’s having about as much luck curing Pip as I did.

“What do you think?” Winnie asks him after a few minutes.

“No injuries but some residual magic that’s making him sick.”

“That’s exactly what I said,” I say, pushing his hand off Pip.

“Can you remove it?”

“Errr,” the professor turns to stare out of the window, “no.”

I sigh. Although, it’s nice to be proved right for once when it comes to Stone, it would be far nicer to have Pip back to full health. I don’t like seeing him like this and I miss his company.

As Winnie drives us, she fills me in on everything that has happened since the academy attack – Stone and Azlan butting in occasionally to add some details. I audibly gasp when she tells me what happened to Spencer at the academy and lean forward to rest my hand on her shoulder when she tells me about Rosa.

“I’m sorry, Winnie,” I tell her later when we finally arrive at our destination. It’s a deserted mansion in the heart of the prairie lands, somewhere Azlan was sent to apprehend unregistereds several years back. He’s confident it’s well hidden and almost certainly unoccupied. Still, he has Winnie park under the boughs of a willow tree and sets off on foot by himself to be sure. “This is all my fault.”

Winnie shakes her head and takes my hands in hers. “Don’t say that, Rhianna Blackwaters. It’s not your fault at all. Did you attack the academy and the city? Did you place a wanted reward on our heads?”

“No, but if it wasn’t for me, you would be at home with your family and your boyfriend–”

“Rhi, if it wasn’t for you, yes, I’d be at home, cowering and afraid. But you give me hope.”

I give her a quizzical look, unsure what she can mean by that, but before I can ask her, Azlan has returned and,leaving the car hidden under the willow, we walk on foot to the mansion.

It stands smack in the center of the land, prairie fields falling away all around it, and looks like the type of house a child would draw. Perfect rectangle, triangular roof with chimney pots, large door right in the middle, neat windows all around. However, it has the look of a house that hasn’t been lived in for sometime. In the early morning light, I can see the windows are covered in grime, a creeper has grown out of control, curling right up into the roof tiles and the door hangs crooked.

“You take us to all the best places, Az,” Stone mutters as we enter into the main hallway, coughing and spluttering because of all the dust spiraling in the air. It smells too, of damp and creatures.

“Renting a room at a five-star hotel in Los Magicos wasn’t exactly an option,” Azlan says. He swings open a door, behind which lies a dining room with a long table and many chairs, some toppled to the floor. “Let’s sit down and formulate a better plan. We can’t stay here forever.”

I shake my head. I’m shattered, barely managing to stay upright, and swaying on my feet. “Not now,” I say, yawning. “I’ve been awake for more than 24 hours and I need sleep.”

Azlan looks like he might argue, but Winnie hooks her arm through mine and leads us towards the grand staircase, swirling her hand in the air to remove all the dust and the grime as we walk.