Starlight Web

by Yasmine Galenorn

  “My parents were in a terrible car crash. My father was brain-dead by the time the ambulance got here. My mother was bleeding internally and they couldn’t stop it. I hate hospitals,” I added, shivering.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve never lost anybody who matters to me.” Caitlin stood. “I think I’d like a cup of coffee. Would you? I can get it, them, if you’ll stay here and wait.”

  “Thanks. Cream and two sugars, please.” I watched her head down the hall toward the vending machines, and at that point, my cell went off. It was Ari. “Hey, we’re still at the hospital.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  I ran down the day for her. “It was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I’m going to head home after we talk to the Otherkin doctor.”

  “I am so glad I didn’t come out there. Seriously, this job should offer hazard pay.” Ari sounded more worried than I had heard her sound in a long time. “I meant what I said—think very carefully about whether—”

  “Hold on,” I said as Dr. Fairsight entered the waiting room, Dr. Banks behind her. They were headed my way. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you in a few minutes.” I stood as the two doctors approached. “Did you find anything?”

  Dr. Fairsight nodded. “Tad asked that I talk to you and your friend—where is she?” She looked around for Caitlin.

  “She went to get us some coffee. She’ll be right back—in fact, there she is.”

  Caitlin was coming down the hall, two cups of coffee in hand. She handed one to me, then we all sat down, the doctors sitting on the central ottoman that served as both extra seats and a coffee table.

  “So here’s what I found,” Dr. Fairsight began. “Mr. Warren—Hank—is suffering from a drain on his magical reserves. For someone who works magic like he does, his energy reserve is remarkably low. He’s still unconscious. I think that, in order to protect his life energy, Hank went inward and built up a wall. He allowed the creature to access his kii, but not his life energy. Once the kii begins to rebuild, which shouldn’t take too long given he seems to be extraordinarily strong-willed, he should regain consciousness.”

  Kii was the word that witches gave to the magical energy we used. There were different types of kii, which determined what kind of magic a witch could use, but it was separate from the essential life force, and yet it was linked.

  “What about Tad? He’s not a witch.”

  “That’s why, on a physical level, he’s far weaker than Hank is right now. But it’s also why he’s conscious and Hank isn’t. Tad’s life force was being drained, while the creature—whatever it was that attacked them—drained Hank’s magical reserves first. It hadn’t tapped into his life force yet, so physically, he’s in no danger. Magically, I think you found him in time.”

  I looked at Caitlin. “So, if the victim has magical capabilities, their magic will be drained first, before their body?”

  “Right—as long as they shield themselves with the magic. It’s like having an extra wall of defense.” Dr. Fairsight sighed. “The question is, what attacked them will attack others. And from what you said, it already has killed a number of times. The land, if the creature is immersed in it, needs to be cleansed. And I don’t think you’re going to be able to do so on your own. This will take a far greater force.”

  “Who could do it? Can the Court Magika help?” I wasn’t too sure of what all the court encompassed—whether it was only focused on judicial matters.

  Dr. Fairsight frowned, then turned to Dr. Banks. “I wonder if I can have a moment with Ms. Jaxson and Ms. Tireal?”

  Dr. Banks shrugged. “I need to get on with my rounds. I’ll be around if you have any more questions, and when Tad’s parents arrive, have the nurse contact me. Since he’s human, I’m overseeing his recovery.”

  As he walked away, I detected the slightest hint of irritation. Once he was out of sight, I said, “Did we just get snubbed?”

  “No,” Dr. Fairsight said. “I think sometimes humans have a hard time admitting they can’t treat all of the patients who come through. It’s not so much a matter of pride as a desire to help and the frustration over not being able to. All right. You both work for Tad, correct?”

  We nodded.

  “We’re all part of Conjure Ink,” Caitlin said.

  “Then I’m going to give you some advice on how to cope with your creature. You can either contact the Witches Guild, or you can talk to Rowan Firesong. I suggest the latter. Rowan’s the most powerful witch I know of. At least, she can probably tell you what it will take to eradicate this curse-turned-creature.”

  “How do we contact her?” I asked.

  “Rowan keeps to herself and I seldom send anyone her direction, but when there are serious magical issues that arise, she’s the go-to person in town. Sort of the godmother of the town, you might say. She probably knew your great-grandfather when he founded Moonshadow Bay,” the doctor said, smiling at my look of surprise. “Your family is known around here. And…I don’t think you remember, but I worked on your mother, trying to keep her alive. Unfortunately, her injuries were just too great.”

  As she stood, the doctor handed me a card, with Rowan Firesong’s name and phone number on it. “There’s not much you can do here tonight. You should go home,” she said. “Your friends will be safe with us.”

  I tucked the card in my purse and nodded. Witches didn’t shake hands a great deal—we could feel too much, all too often. Sometimes it was disconcerting to flash into someone else’s life and discover that they liked to wear baby-doll underwear and eat M&Ms when they had sex. I warded myself up a lot to prevent the unbidden glimpses, but now and then they still broke through.

  “Thanks, we’ll call her…” I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was going on eight. “It’s early enough. We can call her tonight.” I looked at Caitlin. “Are you going home? You can come over and hang out if you want.”

  She brightened a little at that. “Thanks. I really don’t feel like being alone.”

  As we headed out, with a promise that if anything changed overnight, the doctor would call us, I shivered under the trickle of flakes that drifted down. They were so small they were almost like a fine mist. One thing I was sure of—we’d be warning the real estate developer to back off any plans for buying the place until everything was taken care of.

  Chapter Fourteen

  In my car, even though it was late, I called both Ari and Killian and asked them to meet me at my house in half an hour. I texted Caitlin and told her I was going to pick up a couple pizzas so if she got to my place before I did, to just wait. Then I pulled up to the Pizzaria—one of the long-established local pizza joints—and hustled inside.

  The place was jumping, with a long line waiting for their orders. The homey red brick walls and amber lighting gave a warm glow to the restaurant, and they had a beautiful tree in the corner, covered with blown glass ornaments. I had to laugh when I saw that most of the ornaments were food oriented—even including a few pizza-shaped ones.

  While they had changed some of the décor, one thing they hadn’t altered since I was young was that they had a number of pizzas ready to go—as long as you weren’t picky about toppings. They always had a number of pepperoni and cheese pizzas ready to take home and heat up, and they had two meat-lovers pizzas in stock. I bought one pepperoni and both meat-lovers pizzas, and was out the door in less than five minutes.

  I carried the pizzas out to my car and headed home. The cheery string of houses sporting both beautiful and garish holiday displays made me smile, but Ari’s question kept coming back to me. Did I really want to stay in this job, given how dangerous it had already proven to be? On one hand, I already really liked the job. On the other, poking around old bones could be dangerous. Even though my mother had taught me to be cautious around spirits, she had never fully prepared me for the magnitude of what could be out there.

  I parked in my driveway, noting that no one else was there yet. As I headed toward the door, pizzas in hand and equipment
left in the car, I sensed a movement around me, heading toward the house. Frowning, I headed up the stairs, reaching out to try and sense who was there.

  It’s about time you got yourself home, came a whisper that washed over me.

  I froze. Who the hell was talking to me? I turned around, looking, wondering if it was my mother’s spirit, but this didn’t feel like her at all. The voice did sound familiar, though.

  Finally, I stepped up on the porch and froze again. There, in front of the door, was a vase with one perfect rose in it. The rose was beautiful, so white it almost seemed to be formed out of snow.

  I set the pizzas on the steps and gingerly picked up the vase. My hand tingled, the same as it had when I picked up the note the previous night. I brought the flower to my nose and inhaled. A crisp scent of vanilla and cinnamon, of cognac and oranges swept through me.

  The Ladies. It had to be from them.

  And then, as if emerging from a long sleep, a memory surfaced, from a day long ago, when I was very young.

  “Go out back and pick me some tomatoes, would you, January?” My mother was making lasagna for dinner and she wanted to make the sauce.

  I was seven, and I headed out on the back porch, squinting as the sun rose overhead. It was July, and everything seemed to sparkle. I found the garden basket and headed down the steps toward the kitchen garden my mother kept.

  The day was glowing, the sun rising high in the sky, and the drone of bees and insects filled my ears. I wasn’t afraid of bugs—I didn’t like spiders much, but I had a little stick to move them off of the plants, and so I never minded picking vegetables for my mother.

  The tomato patch was near the back end of the yard, where the soil was best for growing vegetables. The Mystic Wood was only a few steps away. Well, twenty yards or so, but it didn’t seem that far to me. I set the basket down and began picking the ripe orange globes, setting them carefully into the basket. The dusky scent rose from the vines—a scent I had fallen in love with early on. Tomatoes were my favorite food in the world, and my mother had taught me how to tell when they were perfectly ripened.

  After a few minutes, though, I began to notice a steady hum coming from the wood. I turned to stare at the trees. The forest seemed overly vibrant, and I suddenly felt like I was watching a cartoon—everything seemed to be almost like neon animation. After a moment, when I didn’t see anything, I turned back to the vegetable patch.

  I had almost finished harvesting the tomatoes when I noticed something emerging from the Mystic Wood. It looked like a golden child—a small girl who might have been near my height, but she was very thin, and she shimmered like the sun, covered with sparkling gold.

  I laughed, thinking it was a clever costume.

  Ari—my best friend—was away at a summer camp for young witches, and I had wanted to go but my parents wouldn’t let me. So I had spent most of the summer by myself. Oh, I had other friends, but they didn’t live a few doors away like Ari did, and they weren’t as much fun to hang out with. So another child, who lived in the woods behind my home? I welcomed her presence. I knew that she was a she—just like I knew that her name was Rebecca. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me.

  “Hi,” I said, heading toward the edge of the tree line where Rebecca was standing.

  “Come play,” she said, holding out a hand.

  I laughed. “I have to take the tomatoes to my mother first, but I’ll come back and play with you afterward!”

  “No, come now.”

  I knew I should take the tomatoes in, my mother was waiting for them, but Rebecca seemed so insistent and I was lonely.

  “All right.” I reluctantly set the basket on the ground and took a few steps toward her.

  The golden gleam around Rebecca seemed to fade at that moment, and I froze. The look on her face seemed to contradict her friendly voice. She looked angry, and her teeth were long and sharp, and she looked hungry—hungry in a way that frightened me.

  I began to back away but she lunged toward me. I shrieked and stumbled back.

  At that moment, my mother raced down the porch steps screaming, “Get away from my child!” at the top of her lungs.

  The spell broken, it dawned on me that Rebecca—whoever she was—wasn’t the best playmate to have. She scared my mother, and that scared me. I shrieked, trying to crabwalk back up the lawn since I couldn’t seem to scramble to my feet.

  As Rebecca drew near, there was another flash of light, and I caught the glimpse of a tall, sturdy woman wearing a long dress and a flat-topped hat as she appeared in front of me. She reared back, seeming so large that she blotted out the sky, and she let out a growl that scared the hell out of me. But it also scared Rebecca, who turned and raced back into the Mystic Wood. The woman turned around and knelt by me.

  “You must listen to your mother, January. And you must listen to me. My name’s Esmara. Don’t forget this.” And then, she vanished.

  I turned as my mother came running up. The look on her face was still frightened, but I could see relief peeking around the corner.

  “January, come here,” Mother said, holding out her arms.

  I ran into her embrace, and she hugged me tight. As her arms encircled me, I heard her whisper, “Esmara is safe. You can always trust her. If I’m not around, you can safely ask her for help.” But she didn’t want to talk any more about her, for some reason, and it wasn’t till years later that I discovered I had had a great-aunt with that name.

  I placed the pizzas on the dining room table along with the vase and rose, and shrugged out of my coat. I felt grimy and cold, thanks to the day, and I wanted a shower. I texted Ari, Caitlin, and Killian to come in when they got here, that I’d be right down. I left the door unlocked—in Moonshadow Bay you could still do that without worrying, as long as you were in the house—and headed upstairs. Stripping, I stepped beneath the hot water, shivering as the chill in my veins began to thaw. After washing up, I quickly dried my hair, then pulled on a circle skirt and a V-neck sweater. Heading downstairs, I realized I didn’t have any makeup on, but decided that I’d just have to look washed out for the evening.

  “Hey,” I said, hearing the chatter from below and hurrying downstairs. Ari was there, along with Caitlin, and Killian was just taking off his jacket. “I’m sorry—I couldn’t wait to shower.” I suddenly felt exhausted.

  “Not a problem. I’ll heat up the pizzas,” Ari said, setting down her wine glass. I saw that somebody had brought a bottle of zinfandel.

  I curled up in the recliner, folding my legs beneath me. “Caitlin, did you fill them in on what happened?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. So, have you called Rowan Firesong yet?”

  I shook my head. “Not yet. I decided I’d wait until tomorrow. It’s almost ten and frankly, I’m too exhausted to even think. What do you think? Should we wait till tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Oh, I got a call about ten minutes ago from Tad,” Caitlin said. “His parents arrived, and Hank woke up. They’ll both be in the hospital overnight.” She let out a sigh. “I’m dead tired. I think I’m just going to go home, and I’ll see you at the office tomorrow morning. Let’s say nine? Tad won’t be around to squawk about it.”

  “Sounds good,” I said, walking her to the door. “You want to take some pizza with you?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll stop on the way home and grab a burger.”

  Ari yawned. “The pizza’s in the oven. Listen, I’m beat, too. Enjoy your dinner, stay safe, and call me tomorrow.” She waved and headed down the icy path.

  I turned. Killian was still sitting in the living room, gazing at the tree. “Do you need to leave too, or would you like to stay and eat?”

  He shrugged. “I can stay or go, if you’re tired. Pizza sounds good,” he added.

  “Then stay. I don’t think I can sleep, as tired as I am. The crap that happened today left me shell-shocked.” The timer went off. “I’ll get the pizza,” I added, heading into the kitchen, carrying my wine.

/>   Killian joined me, helping me take the pizzas out of the oven. “We’ve got more than enough to eat,” he said, laughing.

  “I thought Caitlin and Ari were hanging out,” I said. “So I bought three. Oh well, I like it cold for breakfast,” I added. “I’m weird like that.”

  Killian was staring at me. “I wish you’d stop deprecating yourself.”

  “What? Weird is good,” I said, snorting. “I’ve never been the ‘normal’ one, Killian. And I wouldn’t want to be. Honestly, my marriage sucked because I could never be myself without my ex going off on me. I stayed because it was easy to stay. He didn’t hit me, for one thing. And…sometimes, the cycle gets so easy to fall into. He’d bitch about my weight or something I said or did. I’d cry. He’d apologize and bring me a gift the next day and things would be better until the next time he went off on me. It’s a common cycle, really.”

  “I know,” Killian said. He was standing by my side, gazing down at me. We were so close that the hairs on my arms stood up. I shivered as he leaned closer. “No one should ever make you question who you are. Your ex was an idiot.”

  I nodded, feeling like I could barely breathe. He was so close I could smell him—I could smell his musk, I could feel the warmth of his body, and I could feel the current passing between us. I hadn’t felt that in so long. At the beginning, Ellison and I had something like it, but it had never been as strong of a pull as I felt now. I was almost afraid to look into Killian’s eyes, but then I found myself meeting his gaze.

  He began to lean forward. “Is this all right?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  I nodded, unable to verbalize anything, and so he continued to lean in until his lips were on mine. They were warm and full, so soft against my own that I could barely believe he was kissing me. For a brief moment, I flashed back to kissing Ellison—he had always been perfunctory and aloof and I had thought that was okay.