covencraft 04 - dry spells (13 page)

Lily was a light presence against her grey matter - there, but not intrusive. She couldn’t tell exactly what Lily was doing. Only that she was puttering around and occupied. Despite the fact that it may cause her a migraine, Jade wanted to push at the connection. She wanted to feel Lily’s presence in her brain, especially when she was farther away from her. Were they drifting, becoming less and less entwined? The thought made panic seize her chest. She’d be alone again. It wouldn’t be like before, Jade reasoned. She wouldn’t be alone in the world, feeling raw and untethered, but still… Jade shook her head. She had the Coven now. Even if she wasn’t their most favorite person, or even well-liked, she was a witch. She belonged. Sort of. She had Callie and Henri. Daniel. Josef.

Paris.

She exhaled and jumped over a tree root that arched above the ground, the bare wood exposed to the harsh sky. She didn’t know how she felt about Paris. Or rather, she thought she knew, but she didn’t know what to do about it. It had been so long since Jade felt anything like attraction. Now that it was there, she didn’t know how to address it. Did she feel something for him? Did he for her? If there was a mutual attraction, how did she act on it? Could she call what she felt simply reservations? If she was honest, what she felt was fear. Fear of rejection, fear of intimacy, fear of the unknown. If there were specific fears assigned to relationships, Jade had all of them.

She rounded the path in the woods, passing the big tree that signaled she was about a kilometer in. By now, her legs were in a rhythm and her breathing matched up pretty well, as long as she didn’t think too much about it. That was what the music was for; a steady, loud pulse of rock that drowned out her thoughts and her feelings. This was a horrible time to think about Paris and Jade’s maybe-not-so-secret feelings for him. This was the time to let her subconscious work on her problems. Let her mind zone out and relax.

Or at least, it was, until she looked up and stopped in her tracks, breathing hard at the sight above her. Sparrows. Ten or twelve of them, circling wildly above her. Their small bodies were disproportionate to the unease they stirred up in her belly. She felt like their wings flapped in her gut as well as in the sky. She yanked her earbuds out and tuned into the sounds of the forest, hearing the high-pitched chirps of the birds. Other than that, she didn’t hear anything else. No dead leaves rustling, no wind softly blowing. She stayed where she was, catching her breath, afraid to take her eyes off the small flock of birds. The snap of a twig behind her made her heart skip a beat and she knew who she would see when she turned around. Sure enough, Sakkara was just behind her, no more than five feet away.

“I doubt you made that sound by accident,” Jade said, wrapping up her headphones in a loose roll. They’d be tangled in an instant; some crazy law of physics that state no matter how careful she was, they’d end up knotted.

“I could approach you silently, but it’s rather sinister.”

“‘Cause that’s so different from everything else you do.”

Sakkara smiled and if she thought it would make Jade feel better, she was mistaken. Jade had once seen a picture of Sakkara with a much younger Paris, the two of them smiling at the camera, looking happy and content. It was nothing like the smile Sakkara wore now. The one she wore now didn’t reach her eyes and the dichotomy between the happy grin and flat eyes made Jade take a step backward. She wondered if she could fish her phone out of her pocket without Sakkara noticing and call Lily. Call Paris. Being alone in the woods with Sakkara wasn’t high on Jade’s list of things to be doing today.

“I could have called, but what were the chances I would have met with you alone?”

“You don’t inspire a lot of trust, what with the creeping and the stalking.”

Sakkara drew in a breath and Jade recognized that gesture. She’d seen it enough on adults when she was a child. It was the gesture of someone trying to keep their patience.

“I thought perhaps if we had the chance to meet again, alone, we would have a better opportunity to talk.”

“Talk?” Jade repeated. “You’ve already done plenty of talking. You told me what you wanted and I haven’t said no. Yet.”

The intensity of Sakkara’s gaze sharpened at the word
yet
. “There is a shelf life on your usefulness.”

Jade’s stomach curled in on itself at the way Sakkara phrased that. Her
usefulness
. Things that weren’t useful were discarded. “Oh really?” she asked. She knew she had a pretty good poker face, able to keep her features relatively expression-free. She could only hope she was giving one of her best performances at the moment. “Why is that?”

“Your connection with Lily. You can feel it starting to fade, can’t you? Your headaches, intrusive and seemingly tied to your connection with her.”

Jade swallowed. “You seem to know an awful lot about it.”

“It’s my business to know these things. She’s farther away, isn’t she? And getting farther with every moment.”

If she focused, Jade knew she’d easily be able to tell what Lily was thinking, what she was doing. But the lingering bruise of her last migraine, a halo of tenderness around her grey matter, made her pause. Connecting with Lily was no longer like being in a room with a radio on. Now, it was like Jade was a room away and had to pause and listen carefully to determine if there was still a tune playing or if the radio had been shut off. She’d stayed silent too long, and a knowing look spread across Sakkara’s features.

“I’m sure it’s difficult, but it’s the way of nature. Trying to right the unnaturalness of your situation.”

It sounded so cold coming from Sakkara. In Jade’s mind, in her heart, her bond with Lily was tangled and messy, but also comforting and reassuring. Sakkara made them sound like some kind of bad nuclear radiation experiment. Unnatural.

“There may still remain some faint lingering effects, even after you’re done. I’m not sure. But now is when the connection is the strongest. Each day it’s less than it was the day before. I must have an answer.”

“Look, if you’re going to pressure me then the answer is no. I don’t play to ultimatums,” Jade said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

#

When the door to Jade’s cottage opened, Paris took his time, leaning forward a bit. He couldn’t tell who answered, Lily or Jade, but she seemed fine with him getting a closer look. She waited patiently, leaning in a bit as well and widening her eyes so he could get a better look. In the daylight, he could clearly see they were a bright apple-green.

“Hello, Lily,” he stated.

She smiled, an expression that came to her easier and quicker than it did to Jade. “Got it. You’re getting better.” She moved to the side, making room for him to enter.

“Only because I could see the color of your eyes. I fear from a distance, I’d not be able to tell you apart.”

Lily held up the three strands of chains around her neck, one of rose, one of silver and one of gold. “I wear busier jewelry. Scarves. Belts. Earrings.” She paused, her eyes drifting upward as she thought. “Skirts.”

“I’ve seen Jade wear a dress,” Paris countered, thinking back to the simple sparkly grey dress Jade wore to the Coven Ball.

“If I remember correctly…” Lily tapped her finger against her lips. “Or rather, if Jade remembers correctly, Callie and Henri helped her pick that out. If she thought she could have gotten away with pants, she would have worn them.”

Bruce trotted into the foyer, his talons clicking on the hard floor. He went up to Paris’ leg and butted his head against it once and then again when Paris didn’t do anything in response.

“Hello, Bruce.” Paris leaned down to pet him, feeling his warm, supple lizard-skin. “You feel hot, like you’ve been baking in front of the fireplace again.”

Lily guffawed. “He was, until Jade left. I’m not as good with fire and the flames don’t hold unless I’m actively working on it. So when she leaves, poof.” She made a motion with her hands that Paris guessed was supposed to indicate a fire going out.

Bruce head butted Paris’ hand and Paris quickly conjured some flames for the fireplace. “There you are. That should keep you.” He stood back up. “You mentioned Jade left?”

“Running.” Lily made a face.

“You didn’t want to join her?”

“No. Running is a lot of work. Unless someone’s chasing you.”

Paris filed that bit of information away in his ever-growing list of the differences between Lily and Jade. He supposed because they looked identical, except for their eyes, he expected them to like the same things, but more often than not, he found they differed. Which made sense, he supposed. They were, after all, two different people.

“You want to wait? She’ll probably be back in about thirty minutes,” Lily added. “Give or take. She’s already been gone for about twenty minutes.”

“I’d like to wait, thank you.”

“Do you want some tea? I think Jade keeps that kind you like, orange something. But it doesn’t smell like orange.”

He blinked. “Oh. All right then.”

He turned back once to watch Bruce lying down in front of the fireplace, baring his belly to the heat, his pink tongue lolling out a bit from the corner of his mouth before following Lily into the kitchen. He took a seat at the small table while she put a kettle on.

“I’m surprised Sakkara’s not with you,” Lily said as she set up the makings of tea.

Paris sighed. Despite his best intentions, he’d not confronted his mother again. At least, not for long. “She indicated she had to check back in with her… demon mistress.”

Lily leveled him with a look. “That’s disturbing.”

“To say the least.”

“How’s the Big Bad going to react to the fact that we haven’t accepted or rejected this errand yet?”

“I don’t know.” It was interesting: when Jade spoke of Sakkara’s errand, she always used the first person, as though she alone were responsible; Lily always spoke of them together.

Lily pursed her lips. “Listen, I know you’re in between a rock and dead mother and I don’t blame you. Except for how I kind of blame you.”

Paris blinked at her statement, confused.

She waved a hand. “I know, it’s not rational or whatever, but there’s no one else around here to put the blame on other than your creepy mom and she doesn’t seem to give a shit.”

“Well. You’re not wrong,” he agreed.

“Tell me something I don’t know. I guess what I’m trying to figure out is… do I need to start worrying about getting passports for Jade and me and getting the hell out of the country? Is there even a place we could run? Your mom was able to get to Jade while she was sleeping and all anyone talks about is how great of a witch Sakkara is. What’s the plan if ‘just say no’ doesn’t work?”

“I don’t know.”

Lily sighed. “Yeah. I was afraid of that.” She paused, mid-motion, her eyes going far away.

“What is it?” Paris asked.

“How sure are you of where your mother was going?” she asked.

Dread settled in his stomach, thick and heavy. “Not at all. I’ve only her word. Why?”

“Sparrows. In the Preserve. Jade can see them on her run. She’s afraid.”

Paris’ gut clenched. “My mother. She went to go talk to Jade. Alone.”

#

“
I’m afraid I lied to you before.”

Jade moved away from Sakkara, stepping backward, off the path and into the trees. “Color me surprised,” she said dryly. “About what this time?”

“About waiting for your decision. I’d hoped you’d agree by your own free will, but if you won’t…”

“Oh shit,” Jade said. In her mind, she imagined the flawless form of a circle, just as she had when Dex attacked her with his blood spell. A circle of fire sprung up around her, perfect and hot, the flames red-orange with tails of bright purple and blue. Something immediately hit the edge of her circle, pushing against it with a sickening force. The smell of black licorice assaulted her nose, thick and too sweet. The pressure on her magic was a physical force, making her stomach roll with its intensity.

Sakkara tilted her head slightly, looking over Jade’s circle, as if studying it. “You’re quite fast, and without an incantation as well. You’ve so much extra power at your disposal, but you’re still quite clumsy with it.”

“I’ll be sure to let Paris know you think his lessons weren’t quite up to snuff.”

Sakkara’s lips quirked. “It’s hardly his fault. He’s unprepared for your kind of magic.”

“Oh yeah? What kind is that?”

Sakkara moved closer and Jade fought the urge to step back. She would be safe as long as she stayed in her circle. Wouldn’t she? It kept her safe from Dex while she worked the binding spell on him. He’d manage to escape at the end, but Jade had been unharmed. Mostly.

As if Sakkara could read Jade’s thoughts, she spoke. “Your circle is quite impressive and if I were merely some witch out to do you harm, you’d be perfectly safe. But I’m not just some witch. I’m the handmaiden of a demon. And my mistress will get what she requires.”

Sakkara spoke. Something hit her circle, something hard and sharp. Pain stabbed both Jade’s ears and she clapped her hands over them, feeling wetness leak from her ears. She fell to her knees, her stomach threatening to send her last cup of coffee back up to meet the earth. Sakkara raised a hand and cut through Jade’s circle with a slight wave, as though there was nothing there at all. She stepped forward into where the circle had been and her presence inside the area felt like a violation. Jade coughed and spit out a mouthful of saliva on the ground as her stomach twisted in on itself. The flames around Jade went green and then flickered out, the air going cold. Sakkara placed a hand on Jade’s shoulder, the weight of it feeling impossibly heavy. Jade buckled under her hand, her palms coming away from her ears to brace herself on the ground, but not before she saw tracks of blood painting her palms.

“Medusa is on the other side of the veil, the demon side. You’ll be frightened at first, but you’re quite smart. I’ve no doubt you can find your way. You need to learn more. You have the ability, but my son seems to have coddled you. Your tutelage has been sorely lacking. Once on the other side, I’m sure you’ll adapt quickly and be able to trade your skills for information.”