Sugar Hearts

Well, since I\'ve been threatened with violence (winks at Wow) I figure I better update! Although you may not like this cliffhanger any better.

Many thanks to Doll\'sEyes, FlamesEmbrace, Rin-chan, Wow, and Girl in a Tree for their encouraging words. It\'s so wonderful to hear from you all!

James does make another appearance before the end of the story. But if you want to know more before then, here\'s the link to \"The Medal of Saint Micheal\", the story Queenie is writing about him. If you like it, be sure to leave feedback asking her to finish the damn thing. I beg all day long, and it never does any good. LOL! http://forum.anorivrin.net/aaa/index.php?topic=922.0

Love,
Falcon

Sugar Hearts

Chapter 12

“There. It’s done.”

Kale removed Marzi’s blindfold for the final time, and Marzi blinked in the light, which seemed brighter and more golden than he remembered. But he blamed that on the slight dizziness he’d felt ever since Kale completed the ritual. Oh well. At least, on this night, he hadn’t been required to drink blood. Compared to that, eating a tiny sliver of raw meat was no problem at all.

“So,” Marzi inquired, as he got dressed. “Are you finally going to tell me what all that was about?”

Instead of answering, Kale caught Marzi’s chin, and yanked his face close enough to kiss. His fingers seemed to burn like hot iron against Marzi’s skin. Inflamed by his lover’s touch, a soft gasp of desire escaped Marzi, and he leaned forward, expecting to feel Kale’s mouth press against his own. But Kale only inhaled, drawing Marzi’s breath deep into his lungs. Then, with an expression of satisfaction, Kale licked his lips.

“Yes,” Kale murmured. “I can taste it already. You’ll know soon enough.”

Again, some tiny part of Marzi wondered what the hell he’d gotten himself into. But he trusted Kale, and even the smallest fragment of doubt felt like a betrayal, so he killed his nervousness with a laugh. “Alright. Keep your secrets. But after all this buildup, I’m expecting something pretty special.”

“I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Now, are you tired? Would you like to go home?”

“No,” Marzi admitted, somewhat surprised. On the previous two nights, the ritual had exhausted him. But tonight, he felt restless, and slightly twitchy. “No, I think I’ll have a drink, maybe dance to a couple songs.”

“Of course. I’ll retire to the balcony, so I can enjoy a clear view of you.” Kale rewarded his lover with a slow, sweet parting kiss, and a shudder of pleasure tore through Marzi. Overwhelmed by bliss, he opened his mouth, allowing Kale’s tongue to drip between his lips like syrup. Oh god. Give me this moment forever, and I swear I’ll never ask for heaven.

Gently, Kale stroked Marzi’s hair. “Go get your drink. And come find me when you’re ready to go home.”

“I love you.”

“Yes. But soon, you’ll love me even better.”

Reluctantly taking his leave of Kale, Marzi made his way to the bar. Scott, the bartender on duty, immediately turned his back on the line of people waiting to order drinks, and hurried over to serve his boss’s boyfriend. “Hey Marzi,” he greeted with a smile. “The usual?”

“The usual,” Marzi confirmed. He’d hoped that Inferno’s familiar pulse of light and sound would help clear his head, but everything seemed muted, as if he was separated from the club by a barrier of tinted glass. Increasingly restless, Marzi rubbed his hands against the thin sleeves of his silk shirt. Tried to understand why the underside of his skin had begun to itch.

Then, without warning, something slammed into him. Gold light blazed before his eyes, as if someone had shoved his face into the sun, and a sensation like fire tore through his body. Only a desperate grab at the bar counter kept Marzi from collapsing. The intensity of the feeling faded as quickly as it had come, but left strange undercurrents in its wake.

After a moment, the humming in Marzi’s ears faded enough for him to make out Scott’s voice speaking his name. “Marzi? You want your drink?”

“Keep it.” With shaking fingers, Marzi pulled a handful of dollar bills out of his pocket, and slapped them down on the bar counter. “It’s on me.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I...I just need some air.” Turning away from the bar, Marzi staggered toward the club’s exit. A few minutes outside would fix him. He’d indulge in a little flirting with whatever piece of muscle was watching the door tonight, and let the winter cold soothe his churning senses. It was just so hot inside Inferno. So damn hot. But as he shoved his way through the crowd, it soon became apparent to Marzi that he no longer possessed the strength to make it as far as the exit. So instead, he veered to his left, and pushed open the door to the men’s room. Stumbling past the urinals, he managed to catch hold of a sink.

“Oh fuck,” Marzi gasped, splashing cold water onto his face. Not caring that he also drenched his shirt and hair in the process. “Fuck, fuck, fuck...”

The ritual. This must be some side-effect from the ritual. He needed to get to Kale. Kale would know what to do. But even as Marzi reached that realization, another wave of fiery energy slammed into him. And this time his body slammed back. Torn by forces beyond his control, Marzi jerked so hard that he lost his grip on the sink. For an instant, his legs struggled to hold him upright, but they refused to work in unison, and their badly choreographed efforts were no match for the spasms ripping though him. Marzi went down, banging his chin against the edge of the sink as he fell.

Up until then, the bathroom’s other occupants had contented themselves with shooting a few sidelong glances in his direction. But now Marzi heard their concerned murmurs as they gathered around him -- heard someone ask him if he was okay, while another person suggested calling 911. Then their voices faded to unintelligible muttering, drowned beneath the buzzing that seemed to fill his body. As if someone had sucked all the blood out of his veins and replaced it with swarms of angry bees.

“Kale...” Marzi tried to gasp. “Please...get...Kale.” But he could barely hear his own words.

Focus became impossible as everything developed a golden glow, which surrounded both people and objects, like an indiscriminant halo. Attempting to clear his vision, Marzi blinked. But that only made the gold light bleed through the air until it formed a blinding haze. Then, within the fog, something coalesced. A body born into being, just as stars are born in distant galaxies. A creature of such brilliant beauty that it took Marzi a moment to recognize his sister.

Pepper?

She knelt beside him – except that “kneeling” didn’t come close to describing her grace, fluid as liquid light. When she touched him, her fingers danced across his cheek like sparks. Hang on. It’s going to be alright.

Marzi tried to cling to the vision of her. But another light burst through her body, blinding him, and when it passed, he found himself back on the floor of the men’s room. A man wearing a paramedic uniform knelt beside him, still holding the tiny flashlight he’d just finished shining in Marzi’s eyes. As he noticed that Marzi seemed to have regained a bit more awareness of his surroundings, he smiled that calm, reassuring smile that medical professionals learn to perfect.

“Hey. I need to ask you a few questions.”

Somehow, Marzi found the strength to nod.

“What the hell kind of drug did you take?”

“I didn’t...nothing...”

“Kid, your pupils are the size of nickels, and your pulse is jumping around like a spastic gymnast. You must have taken something.”

Before Marzi could answer, another seizure wracked him. His back arched, and his hands curled into fists, driving his fingernails through the skin on his palms. He felt like someone had impaled him on a burning stake. For one terrifying instant, time seemed to stop – he couldn’t inhale, couldn’t feel his heart beat. He almost thought he’d died. But then his body once more managed to subdue the strange force invading it, and Marzi sunk back on the tile floor, sweating and panting for breath.

“Kale...” Marzi pleaded, clinging to the one person he thought could save him. But he was drowned out by the paramedic’s partner.

“He’s not responding to the Naloxone. We need to get him packaged, and into the rig.”

“Right.” The first paramedic slid his hands under Marzi’s shoulders, and started to lift him onto a nearby stretcher. However, at that moment, they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Step away from him.”

Twisting his head, Marzi saw Kale, accompanied by one of his bodyguards. Neither Kale nor the bodyguard openly carried a weapon, but the bodyguard had one hand in his jacket pocket, and the gesture was not lost on either of the paramedics. But the veiled threat of violence barely registered with Marzi. All he felt was an intense rush of relief. Kale was here. Everything would be alright.

“Listen,” the first paramedic tried to reason. “We just want to help him.”

“You can’t. Now, I believe I told you to step back.”

“It’s okay,” Marzi assured, as the paramedics reluctantly surrendered him. “I’ll be okay.”

“That’s right. You will be.” Kale extended his hand to Marzi, and Marzi took it, allowing his lover to pull him to his feet. But the strength to remain standing continued to elude him. Dizzy and weak, he sunk into the safety of Kale’s embrace.

“...the ritual...” Marzi attempted to explain. “...something must have gone wrong...”

“No,” Kale comforted, wrapping his arm tightly around Marzi’s waist. “Something went right. Very right. But we need to get you home.”

Kale nodded to his bodyguard. “Stay here for a bit, and make sure these gentlemen don’t do anything rash.” Then, he began to help Marzi toward the door. “That’s right. Lean on me. I’ve got you.”

As they moved through the club, Marzi made no attempt to speak, knowing he couldn’t compete with the deafening music. He just clung to Kale, like a shipwreck survivor clinging to the last piece of floating debris. But once they were outside, waiting for Kale’s driver to fetch the limousine, he could no longer hold back his questions. “What’s...happening...to me?”

“I’ve given you what you wanted.” Gently, Kale freed a strand of hair that had become entangled in Marzi’s eyelashes. “I’ve given you magic.”

Oh. Oh, he should have known. After all the enchantments Pepper had let him taste, he should have known this. But the pulses of energy tearing through his body were so much more than the slight tingle he felt when he ate one of her magic candies – to recognize that they were the same thing would be as impossible as expecting someone to recognize a thunderstorm just because they’d once felt a drop of rain.

“Why...is it...doing this...to me?”

“Your body is trying to fight it. You need to get control.” Kale’s mouth brushed against Marzi’s ear, his breath like desert wind as he whispered into it. “This is your greatest moment, Marzi. This is your hour of triumph. Once you gain control, I’ll show you how to use your power, and we’ll rule this city together.”

Marzi didn’t feel particularly triumphant. He felt sick and scared. But he couldn’t let himself disappoint Kale. He couldn’t fail. “Tell me...what...I need...to do.”

Impatiently, Kale shook his head. “There is no telling. It’s instinct. This is your birthright, Marzi. This should have been yours. Somewhere, deep down inside, you know what to do.”

Marzi wanted to scream. I don’t! I don’t know what to do, and it hurts, and please, please, please just make it stop! But he forced himself to close his eyes and try. At first, he reached out for the magic, as if he could lull it into some sort of quiet. But the magic twisted and writhed as it laughed at him, a wild thing mocking any attempts to tame it. So, he tried the more familiar terrain of his body -- tried to convince it to stop struggling and surrender to the magic. But his body remained stubborn. It didn’t trust this invasion any more than it trusted an attack by germs or viruses. And so, the two forces battled on, dragging Marzi back into a world of gold mists.

Marzi didn’t notice the limousine\'s arrival, and barely felt it when Kale helped him inside. He only knew, as he collapsed on the limousine’s leather seat, that he heard Pepper’s voice from within the fog.

Hang on, big brother. Hang on.

Then there was a sharp pain in Marzi’s head, like someone driving a stiletto through the back of his skull, and everything went black.