The iron gate, p.31
The Iron Gate, page 31
part #2 of The Iron Soul Series
Nodding, Alex moved down the hall, pausing at the door to watch Morgana vanish into the kitchen. There wasn’t a clock in the bathroom, so Alex was left to wonder the time as she showered and cleaned up, noting the new toothbrush gratefully. A glance out the window told Alex that the sun was roughly overhead so it wasn’t too late when she dressed in fresh clothing and went to join Morgana.
The kitchen was a large airy room and the large window looking out into the yard was open, allowing a cool breeze to fill the house. Alex lingered in the doorway, studying the plants that Morgana had hanging from the ceiling and breathing in the scent coming in from the forest beyond the house. Another smaller window near the small dining table was open and with a pair of hanging potted plants swaying in the breeze.
“Feeling any better?” Morgana asked as she finished putting something in a cabinet above the sink. Turning toward Alex, she gestured Alex to have a seat at the high island counter that dominated the bright kitchen.
“Much better,” Alex replied with a smile which turned into a grin when a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles was placed in front of her. Morgana also set a bottle of pills down next to the plate. It was a small white nondescript bottle, and Alex wondered just how Morgana got the pills. Then again, Merlin could apparently alter memories and leave false trails for the police so getting a few pills probably wasn’t a challenge.
“Here are some muscle relaxants, but remember not to drive when taking them.”
“Well, they mess with my school work?” Alex asked as she opened the bottle and dropped one of the pills into her hand. “Finals week is almost here, and I haven’t had the easiest year.”
“They will dull your reaction time, but shouldn’t cloud your mind too much,” Morgana assured her with a soft smile across the counter. “In fact, you may do better as the edge will be taken off your stress.”
Alex wished she had a clever comeback for that remark but settled for taking the pill with a gulp of water and eating her lunch. As she ate Morgana caught her up on the later events of Beltane: Nicki had taken Jenny home while Aiden returned Lance home and thankfully thus far Arthur seemed to have accepted his situation relatively calmly. Yesterday Aiden had driven Nicki over to deliver some of her things, and Nicki had taken her car back to campus.
“We’ll discuss everything in more detail soon,” Morgana promised when Alex began to ask about Arthur. “You might be pleased to know that he swung by yesterday. He barely missed Aiden and Nicki. Merlin gave him my address.”
“Arthur came here?” Alex asked as casually as she could, but couldn’t keep her voice was squeaking.
“He was very worried about you,” Morgana said with a small smile. “I didn’t let him see you for more than a moment since you were sleeping, but I did assure him that you were going to be fine.”
Alex looked down into her glass of water well aware that she was blushing, but also unsure of how to feel about this news. Finally, she took another sip of her water and set it to the side. “Has anyone heard from Jenny or Lance?”
“Not yet,” Morgana replied with a shake of her head. “They were delivered safely back to their dorms.”
That wasn’t much of an answer, and Alex suddenly found her appetite fading, but after a look from Morgana managed to eat the last bit of the sandwich. Her professor seemed to debate with herself in the kitchen as she washed the plate for a few moments before informing Alex that she’d take her back to the school. Returning to the bedroom, Alex gathered up her things and put them in the small bag that Morgana provided her. Picking up her phone, Alex quickly hit the speed dial for Nicki.
“Hey, Alex,” her friend’s cheerful voice greeted. “How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad; listen Morgana is about to bring me back. Can you meet me and show me where my car is?”
“Not planning an escape attempt are you? It’s nice to hear your voice, but you really should listen to the older, more powerful, trained doctor and all around scary mage you know.”
“Nothing like that,” Alex replied, rolling her eyes even as she smiled. “But I would like to know where my car is.”
“Sure thing, I’ll be outside by Hatfield in say fifteen minutes.”
“That should work, thanks.”
Alex walked back out to the entry hall to find Morgana calmly speaking on her phone, by the tone and subject she guessed with Merlin. Sitting down on the small bench by the door under the coat hooks, Alex kept her back straight and waited patiently. She caught part of the conversation: they were discussing when to start Arthur’s training and something about the summer, but Morgana said only a little on that.
“Alright, I’ll be there soon,” Morgana promised into the phone. “Sorry about that, Alex,” Morgana apologized as she ended the call and slipped her phone into her purse. “I’m sure you’re eager to get back to campus.” Morgana led her out to her red sports car parked in the drive.
Morgana stayed near Alex as she eased herself into the passenger seat and relaxed against it, finding a good position. “I’ll write you a doctor’s note,” Morgana informed Alex as she climbed into the driver’s side of the car. “Just in case.”
“Won’t they know it’s from you?” Alex asked, frowning slightly. “I know you were a doctor until recently, but-”
“They won’t know the names of the local doctors,” Morgana chuckled. “Besides it is just to explain your pain pills and potentially needing to miss classes, just in case.”
Nodding, Alex decided to accept the explanation. It made sense she supposed; after all, she was in college not high school. Teachers here weren’t responsible for their students like they were when they were kids. Sighing, Alex closed her eyes and breathed in and out as the vibrations of the car moving irritated her sore muscles. The ride across the river and to campus seemed to take longer than usual, but thankfully they arrived before Alex was whimpering in pain.
They pulled into the largest parking lot for the dorms, and Morgana maneuvered around the cars towards the walkway that led up to Hatfield. Alex smiled when she caught sight of Nicki waiting patiently on the sidewalk. The car stopped, and Nicki jumped forward to open Alex’s door.
“The pill will take full effect soon,” Morgana promised Alex as she climbed out with Nicki’s help. The professor leaned across the car, lowering the passenger side window after Nicki closed the door. “Take another tonight if you need to. If you have any questions, call me, no matter what time it is.”
“I will,” Alex promised as she straightened her back and sighed in relief as the pain eased slightly. “Thanks again.”
“Thank you, Alex,” Morgana told her with a softening smile. “You did a wonderful job in keeping him safe.”
“Even though he got attacked and ran off?” Alex asked doubtfully.
“He’s still alive,” Morgana reminded her. “This is the first time he has survived the chain of events surrounding the betrayal.” Morgana chuckled and shook her head. “I hate to say it, but Merlin was right about you Alex. You did change things. You broke the cycle.”
Alex felt heat rising to her cheeks even as a sense of pleasure warmed her chest. Next to her, Nicki grinned and placed a careful hand on her shoulder.
“Nicki,” Morgana called drawing the redhead’s attention. “I’ll leave Alex in your hands.”
“Yes, Morgana,” Nicki replied with a nod.
Morgana nodded in return, leaned back into the driver’s side and pulled out of the parking lot. Nicki made a small sound of displeasure.
“She took off fast,” Nicki huffed with a frown.
“I think she’s meeting Merlin and maybe Arthur as well,” Alex said to calm her friend. “And she did take care of me. There’s just a lot that they need to tell him.”
“I suppose,” Nicki replied slowly, still clearly displeased. “How are you feeling, sweetie?”
“Sore,” Alex admitted. “And my memory is a little fuzzy; Morgana said that I had a concussion, but she healed everything. My muscles are just bruised, but I’ve got pain pills to help with that.” Alex assured Nicki quickly. “I’m going to be fine.”
“Man, Alex, it’s not fair. The rest of us have never been hurt like that.”
“Well maybe that means that I’m not as good a fighter as the rest of you,” Alex replied, shrugging slightly only to realize that it was a very bad idea.
“No, it’s not that, it’s that you keep having to go up against the Sídhe on your own,” Nicki informed her with a shake of her head. “Speaking of which have you made housing arrangements for next year?”
“Not yet,” Alex admitted. “I haven’t been sure of what’s going on with Jenny…”
“That’s fair, anyway listen Gallagher Hall didn’t fill up, so they are opening the suite rooms to sophomores for the coming year. We could sign up together. We’d each have our own bedroom, but also share a living room. There are two-person suites left, not perfect, but it would give us young mages a better meeting place.”
“What about the boys?” Alex asked with a smile.
“I’ve told Aiden about the announcement; he’s going to talk to Bran.”
“Well that sounds like a plan to me,” Alex agreed. “Do you want to take care of that?”
“Sure,” Nicki replied. “I can do that.”
“Good, so where is my car?”
Nicki laughed and gestured for Alex to follow her. They had to go across the parking lot, but up ahead Alex caught sight of her dark blue car with the tolerance bumper sticker in the shade of a tree. Alex braced herself as she walked around the front of her little blue four-door, waiting to see the dents in the hood. Behind her, Alex heard Nicki chuckle and resisted the urge to smack her friend’s head. She was the one who was either going to have to fix it or figure out some kind of explanation for her parents, not to mention the insurance company. But there was nothing; no body sized dent, not even a scratch.
“Seriously?” Alex asked, reaching out and running her hand over the hood, wondering if it just wasn’t visible.
“Merlin fixed your car,” Nicki informed her with a laugh. “Saturday we came to check on you, but you were out cold. He decided to go ahead and fix the dent, and I drove it back to campus for you.”
Alex nodded vaguely as she moved around the car, noting with surprise that some of the small dings and dents that she’d gotten in parking lots over the years were gone as well. Moving to the right side quickly, Alex grinned when she discovered that the small scrape from a mailbox when she’d first been learning to drive was gone as well.
“According to Merlin, restoring an item is pretty easy, so long as it isn’t anything complicated. The body of a car for instance. He checked the engine and said that everything looked fine there which was good ‘cause apparently that is a lot more complicated and shouldn’t be fixed with magic.”
“This is cool,” Alex remarked, still grinning widely. “Total body job without paying a dime!”
“Yeah, I asked him if I can try on my car.” Nicki smiled brightly at her. “He said to wait until summer. And of course to make sure I’m not in sight of anyone.”
Alex patted her car fondly and turned back towards Nicki, catching sight of Hatfield Hall across the parking lot. Nicki must have noticed the smile drop away from her face because her friend turned and looked towards the dormitory and nodded.
“How about you stay with me for the rest of the semester? There’s only a couple of weeks left, and I wouldn’t mind the company.” Nicki reached into her pocket and pulled out a single key. “Here’s the spare key they gave me.”
Alex looked back at Nicki, feeling churning emotions that she couldn’t quite identify. She managed a quick nod and after a moment of fighting to regain control added, “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“It’ll be good practice for next year,” Nicki said as Alex reached out and took the key. She held out her hand for the small bag Alex was carrying. “Come on.”
“I need to get my stuff for classes and some clothes,” Alex muttered, turning to look over at Hatfield Hall.
“Do you want me to go?” Nicki asked her gently. “I grabbed your stuff yesterday.”
“Did you see Jenny?”
“No, I didn’t, I’m guessing she was in the shower. Her robe was missing, but it was yesterday morning and…”
“I’ll do it,” Alex sighed, handing the small bag she had been carrying to Nicki. “Meet you at your room.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, but I can’t avoid her forever. We are in some of the same classes after all.”
Nicki looked like she wanted to argue and to be honest Alex really wanted to be talked out of this idea, but a moment later Nicki nodded and stepped back. “See you in a few then, but if you’re not over at my place in …. an hour, I’m going to call the others and do a mage rescue operation.”
A small smile tugged at Alex’s lips, and she nodded to Nicki. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked back to the sidewalk and followed it across the lawn to Hatfield Hall before she could change her mind. Despite the nice weather, Alex felt very cold by the time she entered the building and stepped into the elevator. Breathing in and out slowly, she struggled to stay calm as a hundred different possible reactions from Jenny and potential conversations skittered through her mind. When the elevator door opened on her floor, Alex wasn’t very sure about this decision anymore.
29
Conversations
Somehow Alex stepped out of the elevator before the door closed on her and walked down the hall even as her mind helpfully produced a long list of reasons why she shouldn’t. Her dorm room door was suddenly terrifying as Alex heard someone moving around inside. She’d been desperately hoping that Jenny would be out, but then the silliness of that thought hit Alex squarely in the chest. Two days ago the girl had found out that she was the reincarnation of one of the most famous adulteresses in history or mythology and that she’d been reliving the same love triangle over the past school year. Of course, she wouldn’t feel like going out. Suddenly having Nicki wait outside didn’t seem like such a good idea… after all, she needed to get most of her school things and a few days’ worth of clothing.
“Come on, Alex,” she muttered. “You can fight Sídhe; you can face your roommate.”
Yet she stood there frozen in fear until one of their neighbors down the hall stepped out while talking on her phone and waved to Alex, giving her an odd look. Forcing a smile, Alex waved back and pulled out her room key. Before she could change her mind, Alex unlocked the door and pushed it open as gently and quietly as she could manage.
There was a lump of blankets and pillows on Jenny’s bed. A loud sniff from under it all revealed Jenny’s position. Tissues were scattered around on the floor, and the room was dark with the lights off, and the curtains were drawn across the window. Only one small sunbeam managed to penetrate the darkness, illuminating a sliver of the blue rug between the beds. The air was extremely stale, smelling of sweat and heavy with emotion. Some of Jenny’s clothing was scattered around her side without any of the usual regard Jenny held for her clothes. The desire to run far away and not face this was back and stronger than ever.
“Uh hi, it’s me,” Alex announced nervously as she shut the door carefully. “Nicki has offered to let me stay with her, so I’m gonna grab some things.” Alex moved away from the door and tried to focus on what she needed to get.
Alex walked past the pile of blankets determinedly and grabbed her messenger bag. She made quick work of disconnecting her laptop and packing it away, stuffing her tablet and a variety of books into the bag until it was full. Placing it on the bed, Alex then dug a backpack out of the top of her closet and packed up the rest of her school books.
“Are you okay?” a weak and exhausted voice asked from under the blankets, breaking the thick silence. The words were followed by a loud, painful sounding sniff.
“Yeah I’m okay, Morgana took care of my injuries,” Alex replied without turning around. She tried to sound friendly and calm. “Good as new.”
That was a lie, but the tone of Jenny’s voice was more than a little worrying. As much as a part of Alex was still a little angry at Jenny for cheating on Arthur, she couldn’t deny all the times she’d seen Jenny a wreck over it. Sighing softly, Alex shook her head and kept packing, realizing that she didn’t have it in her to be angry with Jenny. It was done and over with now, all any of them could do was pick up the pieces. She just didn’t know how to start.
“I’m sorry,” Jenny whispered, her words barely reaching Alex from under the pile of blankets.
Taking a deep breath, Alex nibbled at her lip for a moment before she dared reply. “This wasn’t your fault, Jenny… you couldn’t help it, any of it.”
