Swallow the Moon (25 page)

The tense silence eased, the breeze picked up and the crickets started to sing again.

"In the spirit of love and sacrifice, all things are possible." The Goddess raised the pitcher over Eric's head. "So mote it be."

Eric threw his head back. As the water poured down his body, it changed. Darkness ran down his naked body, spilling into the clear pool, making it as black as blood in the moonlight.

The spring bubbled like a pot at the boiling point, stinking of blood and sulfur.

Cora erupted from the water, her head and torso on the body of a snake. She hissed at June, shoving her away from Eric.

June fell, losing her concentration and her connection to the Goddess.

MINE!
Cora reared up, dark with blood and terrible in her rage. She towered over Eric, swaying and hissing. Her teeth were fangs and her fingers claws.

Body and soul, you're mine! I won't let you go!
Cora grabbed Eric's arm, coiled around him, dragged him, thrashing and screaming, under the water. The water surged as they fought.

Then there was silence.

June's sacred spring was black and still; Eric nowhere to be seen.

Disoriented, June took a couple of shaky breaths, looking into the inky water. There was a man's shadow reflected in the pool.

Was it Eric?

You're so beautiful.
The moonlight illuminated him, clad in jeans and leathers, his long hair pulled back, his beard trimmed close.

"Jake?" she said his name softly, a mere whisper in the night. Unwillingly, she left the pool to go to the altar. Jake stood on the other side.

Let me touch you.
His voice caressed her.

Where was Eric? How could she find him?

Don't waste your time with him.

 "No." She set the pitcher on the altar. She longed to snatch up her wrap, to cover her nude body. Instead she confronted Jake with her head held high though she was chilled with fear. She called the light, reinforcing the circle. She gave Jake a longing glance, then looked back at the pool.

What had Cora done with Eric?

June, darling.
Jake stroked the circle with his fingers, sending hissing sparks into the air. "Remember when I said we could be together?"

"I do." June looked at Jake, remembering the lovely dreams of the two of them by the lake. She also remembered how Cora had ripped them apart, claiming Jake as her own.

Open the circle.
Jake smiled at her.
I'll show you how.

June shook her head.

You can't save Eric, Cora's got his soul.
Jake leaned closer.
She doesn't care about his body.

Open the circle. Let me take his body.

June looked at him with longing.

This is it, our only chance to be together.
Jake's voice was rough with emotion as he reached out to her.
We could get married, raise our children here.

June's hand came up to meet his. The circle of white light flared, keeping their finger tips from touching. The trees shivered, sending a cascade of leaves dancing through the moonbeams.

Open the circle.

Jake was separated from her only by the thin shield of white light. She could open the circle, let him in. They would be together.

Was he the lost half of her soul, the man who would complete her?

This is our only chance.

Temptation and doubt gnawed at her. Didn't she deserve a break – a chance for the life she had always wanted? Look at everything she'd just been through – wasn't it her turn to come out on top – to have the one thing she wanted the most?

No one will ever know.

Would her true soul-mate suggest such a terrible thing? Would Eric?

Did she have this kind of darkness inside her? Was it just waiting to come out? Or was Jake the dark to her light, like a yin-yang symbol?

Open the circle.

She wavered, tempted with the impossible dream: Life with her soul-mate – marriage, children - here in her house, together forever.

Did it matter what happened to Eric's soul, if Jake could have his body? Eric was bitter and depressed – he didn't feel at home anywhere. His own actions had shattered his life. He was just a drifter, someone who would leave her and never return.

The three words she longed to hear went unsaid.

You know this is what you want.

"Not at this price." Even if Jake said he loved her, the one thing she longed to hear, she had to save Eric. She couldn't give up, it wasn't right.

This guy is scum. His soul isn't worth saving.

The night at the Iroquois – saving her at the bridge – sneaking treats to Tasha – how could she betray Eric?

"I'm sorry, Jake, but I won't do it." June couldn't stop the tears from spilling down her face as she gave up her chance for true love. She could
not
betray Eric. "Not even for you."

Jake wavered like a reflection in water and was gone.

June fell to her knees, weeping for her lost dreams, but only for a moment, there wasn't much time.

She had to find Eric.

She waded in to the cold black water, searching for Eric with her hands. She found him, cold and still, under the surface. She groped for a handhold, caught an arm, pulling him into her arms.

He was an ice cold, dead weight.

She got him to the edge of the pool. She'd only wanted to help him. She hadn't thought it could go so terribly wrong. Was he dead because of her?

There was a pulse at his throat.

She dragged him to the base of the altar. She wrenched his head back, pinched his nose, then started rescue breathing.

"Come back."

June breathed for him, watched Eric's chest rise, heard him exhale when she released his mouth. Another rescue breath and he coughed, spitting water. Gasping and retching, he rolled over, alive.

"You're alive." June sat up, sniffing back tears. "Oh, thank the Goddess."

Eric coughed, spitting more water. He leaned against June.

"Magic sucks."

"It's my fault," her voice broke. "I was terrified of Cora."

"She's pretty freaking scary." Eric sat up, breathing deep. "I heard you and Jake."

"I'm sorry." June rubbed his arms, wishing she could warm him up.

"I knew you wouldn't give in." He wiped the water from his face.

"You did?" June looked into his eyes. "How did you know?"

"You haven't got a selfish bone in your body." Eric brought his hands to cup her face, wiping the tears from her cheeks. He kissed her, an electric, erotic kiss. His hands caressed her bare skin as he plundered her mouth.

The world narrowed to this moment, this kiss, his wet skin under her hands; the mutual heat of their bodies, naked under the stars. When he cupped her breast, she moaned with desire.

Ghosts be damned. She wanted him, here and now, by the spring, under the stars.

She arched into his hand, leaning back to let his lips trail down her throat. Her fingers tangled in his hair, guiding him. He eased her to her back in the grass, the better to explore her in the moonlight. His hands and his mouth teased and tasted until she was writhing with need.

"Do you want to go back to the house?"

The candles still burned, the circle was intact. The night sky was clear. They could make love here, safe from spirits.

"No. Make love to me here." June cupped the back of his head, drawing him back so she could kiss him. "Now, don't wait." She shifted as he rose over her. Their mouths barely touched as he brought them together. She locked her heels around his thighs.

They made love in the grass, as the stars wheeled above them, while the candles burned bright, then again as the candles guttered and died. They dozed in each other's arms, the circle protecting them, until dawn lightened the sky.

June opened her eyes to see the first streak of sunrise. She kissed Eric tenderly before she rose. Her spirit hummed with contentment as she banished the circle and thanked her angels for keeping them safe through the night.

They donned their clothing to go back to the house.

The pool was clear as it reflected the glorious dawn.

~^~

Eric untangled his arm from June's hair, rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. Beside him, June slept, nestled against his side. The house was quiet, the sun up. He couldn't have slept more than an hour.

What a night.

He felt physically sated, emotionally euphoric – not at all like a man who had come face to face with death – not only death, but
something
immensely powerful. What he'd seen was not a cute little fat baby with stubby wings, not a tall slender woman with wings either. He didn't want to think of it, or him, as an angel.

His last sight had been June.
She'd
looked like an angel, clad only in her long dark hair, holding the glass pitcher, a nimbus of light surrounding her.

When Cora wrapped her cold claws around him, dragging him into darkness, he'd screamed. As he drowned, an irresistible force had pulled him – not back – but elsewhere. Some place where he could see the woods, the pool and June as if from a great height.

The humanoid form, surrounded by a pillar of fire, spoke to him.

"Behold – Son of Adam – thy prayer has been answered."

Eric hadn't exactly
prayed;
more like screamed, 'God help me.'

"Who are you?"

"I am Michael, the Guardian of the Dawn." The flames condensed into a human form, a powerful man with dark hair.

"Am I dead?"

"Darkness has thy body, but thy soul is here." Michael gestured towards the black, still pool. "The road forks, yon Daughter of Eve must choose her path."

They watched Jake attempt to manipulate June to gain Eric's body. But June did not rise to the bait.

"Lying bastard," Eric snarled.

"Empty are the promises of the damned," Michael observed. "This is not their first attempt, nor shall it be the last."

Eric's heart went out to June as she fell to her knees, sobbing. He watched her crawl into the pool, find his body and drag him back to dry ground to start rescue breathing.

"Ah, she has chosen well." Michael nodded, turning to Eric.

"Ask and the door shall open, seek and thee shall find." The Archangel looked into Eric's eyes. "Redemption is the gift of the Son. In humility and sacrifice, all things are possible."

With that, Michael dropped him.

Eric fell back into his body like a brick into a pond.

It hurt like hell.

This morning he felt like a new man. That could be the aftermath of a night of incredible sex. Did it matter?

No, he decided, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the woman sleeping beside him. He rolled back to her, snuggled her close and went back to sleep.

~^~

A chime sounded; Eric rolled over. June opened her eyes when Eric swore.

"I've got to go." He sat up to get out of bed. She caught his wrist.

"Where are you going?"

He looked down at her with a grin, then kissed her fingers.

"I've got court this morning. If they don't throw my ass back in jail, I'll be back."

He leaned down to kiss her slow and easy. She hummed in her throat.

"I'll expect you back before dark."

"As soon as they open the door, I'm out of there."

"Okay." June closed her eyes, dozing while he got dressed. She heard him call, "There's fresh coffee," just before he left.

She really needed to get up; all her ritual items were still by the spring. It took a couple of lazy stretches for her to get the motivation to shower and dress. The coffee did its magic; she got into the swing of her morning routine easily.

It was hard to think of this as a week day when it felt like a Saturday. She was on a pink cloud after a night making love under the stars. June was humming under her breath as she left the house. She heard the house phone ring as she closed the door behind her. The answering machine would get it.

The pool was clear. There was no lingering taint of Cora in the spring. June fished the candles from the water, gathered her ritual items into the basket. She smiled as she touched the altar – now this place was sacred for another reason.

She savored the memory of the night spent in Eric's arms. He was a tender and passionate lover, beyond her wildest dreams. There had been a promise of more passion in his kiss goodbye. She shivered at the thought of another night with him.

As she walked back to the house, she thought she heard the phone ring. Was it telemarketers starting early? There wouldn't be bill collectors yet. She lost a bit of her glow with the thought. Well, she could file for unemployment. It would keep her from starvation while she figured out what to do next.