Page 32 of Loved By the Orc

“Here, baby—I’ve got you.” Slinging his axe over his back, Tark lifted me in his arms and carried me—golden arm and all—out of the abandoned apartment.

15

HARMONY

“How did you know where to find me?” I asked, when I had finished crying. Because yes, I shed some tears—I’d just been through a near-death experience and it wasn’t quite over yet. Not until I got the damn golden arm off of my neck. It felt like some grisly necklace and it was extremely heavy lying on my chest and abdomen as it was.

“I had a feeling about an hour ago that something wasn’t right with you,” Tark rumbled, looking down at me. He had carried me through the whole building, going down several flights of stairs since there was no power and the elevator didn’t work. It gave me a whole new appreciation of his strength because I swear the damn golden arm weighed as much as I did!

“You…had a feeling? But why?” I asked, looking up at him.

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “Maybe because of your magic coming out while I was, you know, making you come. It formed some kind of connection between us. Anyway, I justknewyou were in trouble. I went to Goodie Albright right away and asked her to make me a finding spell and then draw a door. She was able to get me in the same basic area asyou—I just didn’t know which apartment you were in until I heard you shouting.”

“I’msoglad you came for me!” I nuzzled my cheek against him—as well as I could with the damn arm in the way. “He would have killed me otherwise!”

“I don’t think so—you nearly killed him yourself before I swung my axe,” he objected. “That’s some powerful magic you’ve got there, Babygirl.”

“I don’t even know what it is,” I admitted, looking down at the arm again. “It justhappenedwhen he tried to hurt me.”

“Looks to me like hedidhurt you.” Tark frowned at my ripped blouse and the scratches on my shoulder and cheek. “I should have gotten to you sooner.”

“The fact that you were able to tell I was in trouble and come at all is amazing,” I told him. “I’ll heal—I just have to get this horrible arm off me!”

“I think maybe Madam Healer can help with that. Or if not, we’ll ask Goodie Albright. Somebody must have a spell or a potion that will do the trick. And look—here we are.”

He carried me outside as he talked and I saw a magic door, standing in the overgrown parking lot just outside the abandoned apartment building.

“Thank God!” I said fervently.

“No, thank the Goddess,” Tark corrected me. “It’s her power that makes Hidden Hollow and all the Creatures that live there possible. But we can talk about that later. For now, let’s get you out of here.”

And then, much to my relief, he carried me out of the Mortal Realm and back to Hidden Hollow.

16

HARMONY

“Well, I think we know what your magic is all about now,” Madam Healer said as she carefully poured the bright blue potion she’d concocted over the golden fingers locked around my neck.

“What?” I asked. I was feeling more than a little claustrophobic. I normally don’t even like to wear a choker necklace because it makes me feel like I can’t breathe and the golden monster fingers were squeezing me tight enough to make mereallyuncomfortable.

“Why, you’re an alchemist, my dear,” she said. “In the literal sense. You can turn base metals into gold.”

“But Mr. Price wasn’t made of metal,” I protested, frowning.

“Actually, if he really was a Soul Sucker, he might have been—at least in part,” she told me. “They’re a kind of demon—spawned in the deep, dark places of the Earth. They have no mother or father—they’re sentient rock that comes to life when evil touches it.” She shrugged. “So it seems logical to assume that your Mr. Price must have had a lot of iron ore in his make-up.”

“So…he was just a living demonic rock?” I asked doubtfully.

“Essentially.” She nodded. “That’s one reason you can’t reason or plead with a Sin Sucker—they have no soul and their hearts, if theyhave one, are as hard as…well, as a rock. That’s why they crave emotions.”

“Well the bastard certainly got plenty ofmyemotions in the time I was working for him,” I muttered. Then I had another thought. “So…do you think that was therealMr. Price?”

“Almost certainly not,” Madam Healer said, shaking her head. “If I had to guess, I would say the real Mr. Price is dead and buried somewhere and has been for a long time.”

“Sin Suckers can mold themselves into any form they want,” Tark said.

“Yes, they can,” Madam Healer agreed. “He probably saw the real Mr. Price and realized he had power over others—which is the first ingredient in causing the formation of negative emotions.”

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