Chapter Nine
Cole closed the cabin door as the home health nurse left.
He’d called Richard first to arrange Peyton’s move and Kevin second. He yelled at everyone from the detective agency he and Leah had hired, to the police, and his poor secretary caught his wrath also, all to no avail. With still no one able to pinpoint Hendricks whereabouts, he watched Peyton’s condition deteriorate.
Peyton vacillated between bouts of freezing to all out sweating. Right now, the blankets piled high kept her warm and he added his own body heat ninety percent of the time. He knew what that meant, Hendricks had captured her mentally. The other ten, Cole would throw the covers off of Peyton and wash her face from the constant perspiration. Damn Hendricks, he had added more victims to his growing list. He contacted Kevin and the authorities to warn them.
He fought the only way he knew how, through the legal system, but judicial procedures had always been a slow process and this time was no different. He didn’t know how much longer Peyton had. His stomach tightened and he wanted to punch someone, preferably Hendricks. Cole would kill the bastard if he ever saw him.
“Cole?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you carry me to the lake?”
“No! It’s freezing outside.” Had she lost her ever loving mind?
“Please?”
“Jesus Peyton, you’re asking too much from me. I don’t want you to die. Every time I ask you to accept help, you refuse.” His chin lowered to his chest, tears filled his eyes at the injustice of it all.
Helpless, that’s what he felt. He wanted to give her everything, but the cost was too steep. It meant she’d depart from his world. The only love of his entire existence kept asking him to stand here and watch her die. He wasn’t a praying man, but he prayed for Peyton, hoped for strength, and begged that he could make a difference.
“You’re right…I shouldn’t have burdened you…very selfish.” He scarcely heard the whispered words.
If he granted her last wish and took her to their special place, she wouldn’t make it. Peyton would perish in his arms. Did he have the right to deny her final request?
In his mind, he rendered the decision automatically. He wielded the clear mind and the power to keep her safe. The caretaker must have the backbone to determine right from wrong and what was best for the loved one.
But at the end of Peyton’s life, was he entitled to supersede her appeal? Unequivocally, the resounding answer would be yes, again. He stood beside the bed, mesmerized by Peyton’s beauty even when she was at deaths door.
His conscious battled the pros and cons. His gut knotted and his heart ached. He acknowledged, he wouldn’t deny her last request. Wrapping Peyton in the blankets, he raised her small frame to his chest and carried her on their final journey together.
The bitter wind blew as he sat down on the bench under the trees. He shivered and cradled her in his arms protecting her from the chilled air. “We’re here, baby. I love you.” He didn’t think he could cry anymore, but he was wrong.
The late afternoon drew to a close and the setting sun meant another day had passed without finding Hendricks or relief for Peyton.
He lit the fire pit, reminisced out loud about his childhood, humorous anecdotes and his silly sisters. Under the guise of protecting them, he had followed Jillian and Leah on their dates in high school. Yeah, he was a pain in their backside.
“We even gave each other nicknames. Jill was named Cinderella because her chore was to clean out the fireplaces. Leah’s was snake since she hated them and mine was Link. When I was a teenager, I looked like a string bean, tall and lanky.”
Peyton never commented or stirred. The full moon rose and as it began to set, he asked for her forgiveness. He buried his face in her hair and howled like an animal.
Once he calmed, his swollen eyes and blurry vision added to the loneliness and desolation. He shut them, choosing not to witness what he understood was inevitable, life without Peyton by his side.
He awakened and blinked, the morning had almost broken. Richard gripped his shoulder and shook him. “Hey. I want you to meet some people. They’re at the cabin. Give Peyton to me, I’ll carry her.”
Groggy with what he figured was only an hour sleep, he bent over. Cole hovered above Peyton’s mouth. Her breath tickled his skin. She was still alive. He nodded to Richard.
When Cole entered the cabin, his flesh tingled from the heat. The couch and tables were pushed back with men and women gathered in a circle.
An old woman wearing pants and a floor length tunic approached. Her long gray hair surrounded her wrinkled face. She giggled at him then became serious. “My name is Vadoma.” She pointed to the center. “Put her inside our ring.”
Richard lowered Peyton, laying her on the Persian rug. Vadoma murmured something to his brother-in-law and Richard glanced at him. “I’ll try.”
The low dawn light intermingled with the glow from the fireplace. The group held hands and chanted in foreign words.
Cold and tired didn’t begin to describe his physical shape and his mental state wasn’t any better. His patience was nonexistent. He leaned toward Richard. “I’ll give you about two seconds to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Come with me into the kitchen.”
Richard poured two cups of coffee and handed one to him. “As you know, Peyton is a victim of black magic and they’re driving out the powers that are killing her.” Richard gulped the hot liquid. “The long story. When Vadoma contacted me, I thought she’d lost her marbles. Jillian spoke to the old woman and believed her. The short of it. Could they harm Peyton any more than you having her out all night?”
“You bastard.” Cole threw his mug in the sink.
A wrenching cry wailed from the great room. “That’s Peyton.” He spun intent on rescuing her from the circus of freaks. Richard tackled him and restrained him on the floor. “Ugh.”
In a wrestling maneuver, Cole twisted and had Richard at the disadvantage. His brother-in-law lay on his back. Cole immobilized Richard’s shoulders with his knees and sat on his chest. Cole heaved in a breath, cocked his fist back.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret.” Jill’s calm voice resonated inside his head, and pleaded for rationale.
He halted. “Give me one damn good reason.”
Jilly whispered, “Bad karma. If you deck Richard, Hendricks will cull your negative energy and use it against Peyton. It’s as simple as that. Peyton is hanging on by a thread, don’t give him more ammunition to hurt her.”
With every heartbeat, Cole’s head pounded and wanted to kick the shit out of somebody. Anybody. And he had Richard in his grasp. Cole closed his eyes, focusing on Peyton. He lowered his arm, scrambled off of Richard and helped him up. He’d lost his sanity for a split second. “I’m tired, worried…Sorry man, I didn’t mean to take it out on you…but don’t you ever tackle me like that again because next time, I won’t stop.”
Cole pivoted to Jillian. “Start talking.”
After Peyton’s screams abated, Jillian’s hand spanned across her waist offering him and Richard seats at the kitchen table. Once everyone settled, her mouth opened then closed. She took a deep breath. “Hendricks initiated this black magic if you will. Vadoma, as her name means, is an all knowing one and came to free Peyton of the sorcerers’ spell by interlacing her spirit with Peyton’s.”
Cole rolled his eyes. Jilly spoke to two men who lived their lives by logic. “To begin with, how did this Vadoma know about Peyton’s problems, or for that matter how does this strange woman think she can overcome Hendricks?”
“Vadoma caught a glimpse of Peyton driving home. She saw Peyton doubled over from stomach pains and used telepathy to journey into Peyton’s body and soul discovering her problem. She traveled though Peyton’s mind to the memory area of her brain and found us.”
“You’re kidding right?” Cole rubbed his eyebrow.
“I try not to think about what she saw you two doing.” Jillian laughed
“Jill, you’re off track again.” Richard shook his head.
Jillian cleared her throat. “Anyway, I gave Vadoma permission to come…and…try to save Peyton. Hendricks is attaching to Peyton two ways, physically and mentally.”
“I’ll try anything to save Peyton.”
Peyton shrieked again.
Cole rose. “But it sounds like they’re killing her.”
Jilly grasped his arm and tugged him back to his seat. “Give them a chance.”
Several hours later, Vadoma entered the kitchen. “That Hendricks is a strong one. He fought us the entire time. We know where he is. He used a possession as a talisman. If you want Peyton to survive, take it away from him.”