Starlight Web

by Yasmine Galenorn

  “I’d love to. Thank you. Ari’s going, too, aren’t you?” I glanced at her.

  “Yeah, Meagan and I are going to the cotillion. Why don’t we make it a foursome?” She glanced at me, and I could see the smile she was suppressing.

  I snickered. “Yay! That will give me a chance to reconnect with Mean Meg.”

  “Don’t you dare call her that!” Ari said, waving her spoon at me. “Or I’ll tell Killian something embarrassing from your childhood.”

  “I doubt if you could embarrass her more than she already has,” Killian said, a grin playing around the corners of his mouth.

  “What do you mean?” Ari asked, straightening up, her eyes narrowing.

  “I mean—”

  “Don’t tell her! She’ll never let me live it down,” I said, brandishing my spoon.

  “Tell me! Please! She’s making me come out and spend the night in a haunted asylum,” Ari said. “You don’t understand. January has tons of dirt on me and I don’t have enough on her!”

  Killian gave me a wary glance. “Maybe I’d better not. She’s my neighbor, she knows where I live.” But his eyes were dancing again.

  I sighed. “I would have told you anyway, in private. So, this morning I ran out back because I saw a wolf in the backyard, chasing a mouse. My robe fell open and…”

  “And you don’t wear anything to bed, if I remember. And…” She glanced at Killian, who was staring at his plate, trying not to laugh. “Oh, I get it. So you’re a shifter?”

  “Wolf shifter. I got a full frontal show.” He arched his eyebrows, then winked at me and went back to his sandwich.

  I ducked my head, laughing. “Yeah, he saw me up close and personal. Well, at least he didn’t turn to stone.”

  “Stop that,” Ari said, then turned to Killian. “She’s a looker, isn’t she? January’s my best friend and I know she’s mostly straight, so I’ve never made a pass at her. But I have eyes.”

  Taken aback, I glanced at her. “I didn’t know I was your type.”

  “Hell yes. And I don’t really have a type, though I prefer long hair. You’re gorgeous. I may be petite but it’s just my body’s setpoint. You’re beautiful, how many times have I told you that?” She paused, her smile fading. “I hate that Ellison filled your head with all that crap about being fat.”

  It was my turn to sigh. I flashed a look at Killian, who was busying himself with his soup. “Yeah, I do too. It’s going to take me some time to shake it off, but I’ll try. My mother didn’t raise me to hate myself, and Aunt Teran would read me the riot act if she heard me bitching about my body. Thanks, chica. There’s a reason you’re my bestie.”

  Killian cleared his throat. “I know some men can be assholes about body type, but really, for men who are worth having, what matters most is what you’re like, and self-confidence.”

  I flashed him a sideways glance. He sounded like he was being genuine.

  By the end of dinner, we had worked out a plan. Killian would drive out there to meet up with me at the asylum around three, and Ari would join us by six. After dinner, he excused himself.

  “I have a folder of forms I have to fill out for the city regarding my new vet business,” he said.

  I waved good-bye to him and then, closing the door, leaned against it for a moment. “He actually asked me to the cotillion,” I said.

  “He likes you,” Ari said.

  “I don’t know what to think. I mean, I know he likes me. We got along great at lunch, and he’s going to the carnival with me, but…do you think he just wants a friend?” I asked. “Even if that’s all he’s looking for, I’m glad we’re neighbors.”

  “No, he likes you. Mark my words, the man has staked a claim on you.” Ari carried the last of the plates into the kitchen.

  As I rinsed them and stacked them in the dishwasher, she put away the leftovers.

  “You make it sound like he peed on me,” I said, laughing.

  “He might as well have. He’s a wolf shifter. Have you ever dated a shifter?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “No, a few witches, and a couple humans. Ellison is as human as you can get, in the worst possible way.” I paused as my phone rang. Without checking to see who it was, I answered it. “Hello?”

  “What the hell do you mean by destroying my convertible? I’m going to sue your ass off.”

  Speak of the devil.

  I grumbled. “Go fuck yourself, Ellison. We’re done. I took everything that was mine and we’re done. You got what you wanted, so quit being an asshole and leave me alone.”

  Ellison growled. “You really think I’m going to let this go?”

  “Remember this, dude. One of the things you didn’t like was that I’m a witch. Well, now I have no reason to make you comfortable, so you might want to think twice before threatening me. If all the damage you take in this divorce is a soggy car, count your blessings. I could have done so much more. And I still have plenty of reasons to send a few whammies your way. The magazine? The house? Don’t throw stones because right now, your windows are pretty fucking big.” I could feel my voice ice over—not a good sign for anybody I was talking to.

  He paused. Then, in a tone that was far more polite, asked, “So, did you get everything from the house that you need?”

  “Everything except my half of the magazine and the house. You really put the screws to me and I won’t forget it. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back…for now.” I was ready to end the conversation, but Ari tapped me on the arm. I glanced at her, and she pointed to the mute button.

  “Wait a minute,” I said, then pressed mute.

  “You want me to hex him? I will, happily.”

  I worried my lip, then shook my head. “If anybody hexes him, it should be me. I’m the one he dumped on. Tell you what, we’ll talk it over and see if we can think of a truly fitting response, one that embodies irony.”

  She nodded, and I ended the conversation without another word.

  “So, how do you really feel about your job?” she asked after I tossed my phone on the table. “I could tell during dinner that you weren’t saying everything.”

  “To tell you the truth, today out at the asylum, I was scared spitless. Partly because a ghost who can body-slam me against the wall—well, that’s one ghost I don’t want to meet. But also…I’m so freaking out of practice. I let myself go, magically speaking. I feel like I need a gym for my spellwork.”

  “You really want to get back into shape?” she asked.

  I nodded. “I need to. I want to open a side business reading the cards and…well…as a paranormal exterminator, so if you have any suggestions, I’m open to them.”

  “Then you need to book some time with Terrance Stiles. He coaches witches looking to up their game. I’ll give you his number. I booked a few appointments with him and it helped me refine my practice.” She grabbed my phone and entered his contact information. “There you go.”

  “Thanks,” I said, wondering if I should just call him now. But the doorbell rang before I could make up my mind and I opened the door to find an envelope taped to the front, but no one in sight. Frowning, I started to dash down the steps to see if there was anybody walking past on the sidewalk, but I was barefoot and tired, and as my foot hit the crunchy snow, I quickly retreated. Shrugging, I carried the envelope back inside.

  “What’s that?” Ari asked.

  “I have no idea. It was on the door.” I sat down and turned the envelope over. My name was written on the front, but there was no stamp or address. The handwriting didn’t look familiar. “Should I open it?”

  “If you want to know what’s inside.”

  I opened the envelope and removed a single folded sheet of paper. The paper reminded me of a linen weave, heavy parchment. “Okay, let’s see what it has to say.” I opened it.

  it’s about time you returned to moonshadow bay. we’ve been waiting for you.

  I stared at the paper, then looked at Ari. “All right, what the hell is this?” Bewi
ldered, I set the note on the table and slid back on the sofa, bringing my legs up beneath me.

  “That’s weird. Who all knows you’re back?” She picked up the letter and held it for a moment, then shivered. “The magical signature on that is so strong it almost burned my fingers.”

  “Well, Millie knows I’m back, and Teran, and you. And whoever the three of you happened to tell. Killian’s new in town, so I doubt if he had anything to do with this.”

  “I told Meagan, but I didn’t tell her it was a secret so she may have mentioned it, though I’m not sure who she’d tell. What about your aunt?”

  I grabbed my phone and called Teran. “Did you tell anyone I was back in town?” I asked.

  She laughed. “Good evening to you, too. I’ve been waiting for you to call.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re my niece and I love you? I just meant that I haven’t called you so that you’d have some time to get settled.”

  “Can you come over?” I wanted to get her take on several things, including my new job.”

  “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  As I put the phone down, I returned my focus to the note. I wasn’t usually easily spooked, but combined with the day’s events, the words threw me. I glanced at Ari, who was fiddling with the fireplace, laying a fire.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I need to get back in the hang of building a good fire. We had a gas fireplace back in Seattle and I lost track of how to do that.”

  “It’s simple. Remember—paper, kindling, a couple dry logs. Give everything room to breathe but make sure it’s stacked so that it won’t fall apart. Come on, help me get this thing going while we wait for Teran.”

  As I knelt beside Ari, I felt so grateful to have her for a best friend. She knew exactly when I needed to take my mind off my worries and she always seemed to have something in hand to do so. But then, she was an empath as well as a witch, and even though she could be startlingly abrupt, she also could read people like a book.

  “Say, how about when I start my private practice, you join me? It’s going to be a sideline, so we can work it around both our schedules. I think we’d make a good team.” I watched as she deftly set the fire going.

  Ari paused, glancing over her shoulder at me as I sat on the raised hearth. Marble, it jutted out from the fireplace by a good eighteen inches and was perfect for putting decorations on.

  “Are you serious? You want a partner?”

  “I think we’d make a great team, and since it’s a side business, we won’t be all stressed out when we don’t have clients.” I held out my hands as she set the kindling to blaze. The flames crackled and popped, catching hold as they gobbled up the paper and set the thin wood shavings ablaze. A moment later and the flames licked at the logs, which were tinder dry and caught immediately.

  “I like the idea. After what you told me about the asylum today, I was kind of antsy with you taking on a side business involving evicting unwanted presences, too, but together, we can keep each other safe. And if it’s only a side gig, we won’t get too overwhelmed.” She glanced up as the doorbell rang. “That’s probably Teran.”

  I jumped up, heading to the door. My hips and glutes were still sore from being tossed around that morning, but I’d hurt worse—like the time I tried to go bungee jumping and instead of freefalling gracefully, I had gotten myself tangled up in the cord somehow and had bruised several muscles and sprained my butt. I got a lot of laughs, but unless you’ve ever sprained a glute muscle, you have no clue how much it can hurt.

  Aunt Teran swept through the door, a bottle of peppermint schnapps in hand. “Make some cocoa and we’ll spike it with this,” she said, thrusting the bottle into my hands as she shrugged off her coat, and pulled off her gloves. She was wearing a long sweeping dress covered with candy canes, reindeer, and conifers. “It’s colder than a witch’s tit out there—and I should know.”

  We laughed—the joke was old, but it was a common one in the winter months around Moonshadow Bay. I handed the bottle of liqueur to Ari.

  “Want to make some of your famous cocoa? Meanwhile, I’m going to tell my aunt about today and show her the message.”

  “Aye aye,” Ari said, heading into the kitchen.

  My aunt threaded her arm through mine. “Why don’t we keep her company?”

  It was useless to argue, so I just nodded. “Let me get something and I’ll be right in.”

  As Teran followed Ari into the kitchen, I retrieved the envelope from the living room and made certain the screen was firmly in place in front of the fireplace, keeping any embers from rolling out. It managed to keep most of the sparks at bay, as well.

  Ari was already looking through the cupboards, pulling out sugar and cocoa and milk. She found a bag of mini-marshmallows and added that to the pile.

  Teran and I settled in at the kitchen table. I told her about the day.

  “Arabella Jones died? I hadn’t heard. That’s a shame. I can tell you that when I was little—I was born in 1957, remember—we were warned to stay away from the asylum. Mother and Father were furious that it had been built so close to the town. Moonshadow Bay was smaller then than it is now, but there were a lot of children. Your grandmother warned your mother and me that she would spank us if we went anywhere near there. We never got spanked, so the threat loomed over us like a dark cloud.”

  “Did you ever disobey?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No. Althea and I were too frightened. The incident with Psy Schooner happened in 1963. I was six, and Althea was ten. The asylum was open until what…1965, I think?”

  “That sounds about right. Schooner supposedly killed himself the next Christmas, and the year after that, the feds closed the place down.” I let out a long sigh. “I think they should just raze the place and seal off that stretch of land. I learned a lot about it today.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as it’s been considered cursed land ever since the Lummi people were the sole inhabitants of this particular area. Well, along with a few other tribes. But they never went near the land if they could help it. I’m suspecting that some land elemental has been there since ancient days and is so entrenched in the very soil that it’s tainted the land.”

  “Could be,” my aunt said. “While elementals are usually neutral, some of them are old and crafty and they hate anything that walks on two legs—well, except birds. You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I do. Anyway, something body-slammed me around there this afternoon. But the reason I called you over tonight was because…I found this on the front door about half an hour ago. I have no idea who it’s from.” I handed her the envelope.

  She took it and a smile spread across her face as she touched the paper. “I’ve been wondering when this would happen.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you ever hear your mother talk about the Ladies?”

  I froze. “You don’t mean…”

  “Now that your mother is gone, that leaves you as the matriarch of our line. They talk to me, too, but your mother was the one they focused on, and while they’ll talk to other women in our family, they only focus on one at a time. This note…it’s from the Ladies.”

  I straightened my shoulders, feeling very much under observation. The Ladies were members of my mother’s line—all women—come down through our family history. When they chose you, there was no getting out of it. They were with you, guiding you, and often scolding the hell out of you. I had watched my mother run herself frantic now and then, trying to meet their expectations. They were all witches, of course, and if the note was from them, I knew my life was about to change in ways I couldn’t even imagine.

  “What does it mean?” Ari asked.

  “It means that they’re about to take January in hand and lead her into a brand-new world,” Teran said. “I have to tell you, when they chose your mother over me, I was a little jealous, but also relieved. They have high expectations, and even though they don’t
focus on me, I’ve felt the sting of their tongue before, when I fucked up.”

  “What do I do?”

  “Nothing. They’ll come to you over time. Just remain alert and open to them. They’ll take it from here,” Teran said.

  We carried our spiked cocoa back into the living room and sat near the fire.

  I tried to remember my mother talking to me about the Ladies. She hadn’t said a great deal—and I suspected she thought it would be awhile yet before they showed up in my life, so she hadn’t prepared me for them. But now, I’d have to wing it. Teran could help, but if the Ladies wanted me to listen to them, they’d have to be willing to talk.

  Feeling restless, I stared into the flames as Ari and Teran talked. I closed my eyes as the flames played a warm rhythm on my skin, and tried to relax.

  Chapter Ten

  Morning came early, especially with a schnapps-induced hangover. One spiked cocoa had led to two, had led to three more shots of peppermint schnapps before we had called it a night. Now, I was so fuzzy that I could barely think.

  I managed to fill my travel mug with a latte and throw together a turkey and swiss sandwich before I had to hit the door running. But I no sooner opened the door than I remembered that we were going to be spending the night at the asylum. In my cotton-headed brain, I had managed to push that to the side.

  “Cripes, I’m late, I’m late!” I headed back inside, frantically trying to think of where I put my sleeping bag. Did I even own a sleeping bag? Finally, I just tossed a bunch of warm clothes in a backpack and added several boxes of granola bars, a flashlight, and a bottle of my mother’s Protection spray.

  “I can’t believe I’m already late and it’s only my second day,” I muttered to myself as I hurried down the porch steps, trying to juggle my coffee, my purse, the pack, and the very slick stairs. I needed to buy rock salt on the way home, or maybe on my lunch hour.

  As I reached the bottom, I stepped off the last stair onto the sidewalk and the next moment, I faceplanted on the ice, my heel catching in one of the chinks of hardened snow. My travel mug landed near me, splattering hot latte all over the snow, my purse went flying down the sidewalk, I landed on top of my pack and groaned as something hard jutted into my stomach, and I began to notice a ringing in my ears as I lay there, trying to catch my breath.