The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) by Christina G. Gaudet Page B

kindness leaves me with, but otherwise ignore him.
    “Behind you,” I whisper to Cindy. “A door. I think...” and I hope I’m right or else we’re in even more trouble. “It’s the portal.”
    “On it,” Cindy says without a glance at the wall or any other motion to tip Stewart off to what I’ve found. She steps forward to put herself between Stewart and me. “It’s the box you want? Well, you can have it. Just leave my sister alone.”
    When she offers Stewart the box, my hand goes straight into my purse where I dig around for a second. My fingers tap the smooth wood , and I have to force myself not to give anything away.
    I pull my hand out and stare at the object Cindy holds. It looks identical. I almost want to check my purse again to be sure.
    “No!” Al shouts from next to the stairs. “You can’t give it to him.”
    She ignores him and continues to offer the fake box to Stewart. “This is my only offer. Take it and go.”
    Stewart considers her for a moment before his gaze shifts to me. I recognize the challenge as he smiles, baring all of his teeth, but I have no way of responding. Although I can see magic, using it is still impossible. Opening the bag changed nothing.
    He raises his hand and magic flows from it to wrap around Cindy’s throat. I watch helplessly as it lifts her off her feet. She gasps and coughs, struggling to breathe while Stewart’s attention never leaves me as though he barely registers she exists. He’s killing her, and he’s acting like she might as well be a fly.
    I barely notice when Borin blocks Al as he lunges at Stewart, other than for it to register he’s not going to be able to help. My blood pumps too hard to properly think about anything other than attacking the grinning bastard.
    I rush over and swing at Stewart. He blocks, but it breaks his concentration on his magic. Cindy drops to the floor where she stays, coughing and gulping air. Not exactly ready to help fight, but at least she’s still alive.
    As fast as I can, I swing again, but again he blocks me, this time with enough force to make me take a step back. It isn’t simply flesh and bone I’m up against; he’s coated himself with a layer of magic like a brick wall. A kick lands on his shin and as though in slow motion, a sharp pain spreads from my foot up my leg. When I step back to regain my balance, the entire left side of my body goes numb and I sink to the floor in pain and shock.
    Stewart smashes my hand against the wall behind me and I instantly drop my makeshift weapons, the keys jangling to the floor.
    Cindy struggles with her pockets, managing to pull out some powder and blow it at Stewart, but her breath comes out as a wheeze and he easily bats away the dust.
    With a flick of his hand, he lifts Cindy again and throws her against the wall. Her head hits hard and she crumples to the ground.
    Seeing her body go limp knocks the adrenaline out of me and leaves me with a spinning head and weak muscles. She can’t be... There’s no way he... She’s still alive. She has to be still alive.
    “Lou!” Al shouts from too far away.
    The one brief second where his eyes meet mine is all the distraction Borin needs. A punch to Al’s ribs and a kick to the back of his knees and I hear the sickening thud as Al tumbles down the stairs.
    Stewart forces me up with a hand to my throat. I suppose I should feel privileged he’s willing to touch me directly rather than through his magic. I have no strength to stand as he pulls me to my feet, the pain too much, only growing worse at Stewart’s touch. This time the pain moves up my body from my feet more rapidly, as though he learned his lesson last time about working too slowly.
    My entire body is being crushed, like every nerve is pinched starting at my toes and working its way up to my throat where he holds me at eye level. I feel like I’m a tube of toothpaste, my contents squeezed up from the bottom to come spilling out the lid, or in my case, my