by Robbie Cox
Kayla neared the other girl—she looked like all the other girls at the local college—except Kayla knew the young woman wasn’t anything like the other college students, not with the way she looked at Kayla out at that lake, her eyes glowing a bright yellow. She stood there a moment, her hands stuffed into her pockets, trying to figure out how to introduce herself. How do you go to someone and ask them about their magic powers?
“Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to say something?” the girl asked, never looking up from the book she read. “It is kind of rude to just stand there staring.”
Kayla sucked in a breath as she yanked her hands out of her pockets, wringing them in front of her. “Oh, sorry,” she said, anxiety gripping her, making her pulse race. “I just...” She pointed out the window to the lake. “Just wanted to ask you about...you know...um...what I saw outside.”
The girl turned the page, the sun glinting off her light brown hair. “And what, exactly, did you see outside?”
Kayla felt her brows pinch over her nose as doubt gripped her. Surely, this woman knew Kayla witnessed her glowing eyes. Why would she be coy about it? “Your eyes,” Kayla said. “They glowed. I saw them. You turned and stared right at me.” She took a deep breath. “You have magic.”
The girl cocked an eyebrow at Kayla as she finally took her gaze off the book in her hands and looked at Kayla. “My eyes glowed? Really?” She tilted her head to the side. “Like a neon glow stick? A glow in the dark toy? What do you mean, my eyes glowed? That seems rather...bizarre, don’t you think?”
Kayla took a deep, steadying breath. “I’ve seen plenty of things a lot more bizarre than that. Glowing eyes isn’t a stretch of the imagination. You have magic. Why deny it?”
“Why deny it?” the other girl repeated. “I don’t know you. I saw you out at the lake, and now you’re here asking nosy questions. Why on earth would I admit anything to a stranger?”
“Okay, good point,” Kayla said, slipping her hands back into her pockets. “But...” She took a deep breath, warring within herself about whether she was making the right decision by pursuing this or not. “I have magic, too. I just thought...” What did she think? She shook her head, wishing she knew. “Nevermind. I must have been mistaken.” Turning, she started to walk away before she embarrassed herself any more.
“I’m Selina,” the other woman said to Kayla’s back. “Do you usually go around telling people you’re a witch?”
Kayla turned, still not sure what to think of the woman. “I usually only tell other witches,” she said. “And since I saw your eyes glow, I assumed you and I shared something in common.”
Selina gestured to the empty chair beside her as she closed the book. “Have a seat. Tell me more about the bizarre shit you’ve seen.”
Kayla wasn’t sure she wanted to go down memory lane right then, but outside of the Cauldron Coven and the Warrior and his friends, Selina was the first person with magic she knew about. She wasn’t sure she could walk away without learning more, like how did Selina make her damn eyes glow.
“It’s kind of a long story,” Kayla said as she sat down. “How did you do that with your eyes? I’ve never known someone to do that.”
Selina shrugged. “It’s just a burst of power I focus in my eyes, instead of shooting it from my hands like most do. My hazel eyes give the power a goldish glow. It’s mainly to scare people, not that I was trying to scare you.” She turned in her seat, so she faced Kayla better. “I could tell you were a witch, as well. Your aura glowed with your magic. That’s one of my gifts, the detecting of auras. I think my surprise at seeing you is what made my power show in my eyes.” She shrugged again. “Sorry about that.”
“How long have you been a witch?” Kayla asked, making a mental note to do some research on auras. She remembered Laci having some ability with auras. Perhaps she could talk Laci into helping her read them. Kayla would have to talk to her, if Laci was talking to anyone right then. As far as Kayla knew, Laci said she wanted out of the coven, as well. Seemed like everyone was making a fresh start.
“If you believe some people, I’ve been a witch my whole life,” Selina said. “It just took me a while to come into my powers. I’ve been practicing since I was sixteen. I’m a member of the Daughters of Darkness. Are you part of a coven?”
“I am. Or rather, I was.” Kayla rubbed her hands back and forth on her legs, a knot in her stomach tightening as she thought about her reasons for leaving the group of witches she had been a member of for the past year or so. “We called ourselves the Cauldron Coven, because we met at The Murky Cauldron downtown. Tansy Paxton leads us.” Kayla stared out the window, watching as two mallards floated across the lake, the sun shimmering on the surface as the ripples pushed the water to the lake’s edge. “I kind of walked away from them, though. Too many terrible memories.” She saw Alex standing there at the end of Main Street near the railroad tracks, saw him as he stepped into the circle he made to keep the demons locked inside, and then saw him cross that circle to try to protect her, to pull the demon out of her. She closed her eyes as her mind replayed her snapping Alex’s neck, killing him. A tear pooled at the bottom of her eye as she took a deep breath. “I can’t go back.”
Kayla felt Selina staring at her, saw her in the window’s reflection as she nodded, turning her gaze out the window as well. “Bad memories block our inner peace, which also blocks out our power. It’s probably best you didn’t go back.” She turned to face Kayla again. “However, you need to be a part of a coven. We draw strength and power from each other. A witch on their own can find themselves in over their heads sometimes.”
Kayla nodded as she turned around, facing Selina. “Tansy always said the same thing.” She smiled as she thought of the older woman. Tansy always did what she could for the witches in her care, thinking of them as her responsibility. The fact that Rose and Alex died, and Laci and Kayla wanted out of the coven must be driving the leader of the Cauldron Coven crazy. Kayla didn’t want to cause the woman grief; Tansy did a lot for Kayla, but Kayla just couldn’t bring herself to walk back into The Murky Cauldron. “I miss her and the others, but I just can’t go back there yet.”
“So, join another coven,” Selina said with a shrug. “There are several in Harbor City. I could put you in touch with some of them.” She turned back to Kayla. “Or, I could bring you to meet the others in the Daughters of Darkness.” She grinned. “I could even show you a little about auras if you’re really interested.”
Kayla nodded. “That sounds great. Where do you all meet?”
“We meet out at High Priestess Cherise Rycroft’s place, a ranch out west,” Selina said. “She has a huge backyard with trees lining her property, so no one can see what we’re doing out there.” She giggled a little as she shrugged again. “We can’t freak out her neighbors, right?”
Kayla glanced over at the other girl, her head cocked a little. “Why would her neighbors be freaked out? The Cauldron Coven always did everything in The Murky Cauldron, sometimes even when the place was open.”
Selina nodded. “That explains why you didn’t recognize me or perhaps why you’ve had so many awful things happen to you. You can’t draw on the elemental power around you if you’re inside a brick and mortar business. You need to be out in nature, shaking off the shackles of civilization that hinder you from reaching your true potential as a witch. That’s why we meet out at the High Priestess’s property. There’s nothing to hinder us from drawing on the power of the elements.”
“I don’t understand,” Kayla said, shaking her head slightly. “I thought you could reach the elements from anywhere.”
“While that’s true to a degree, when you’re out in nature, it’s easier to sense nature. Not so much in a brick building surrounded by the material objects of this world.”
“I never really thought of it that way,” Kayla said, staring down at her hands.
A smile creased Selina’s face. “Then you haven’t really studied witchcra
ft. I think it’s time we broadened your horizons, don’t you? Tap into the real power inside of you.”
Kayla just nodded. Everything the other girl said made it sound as if Tansy held things back from the Cauldron Coven, but why would she do that? If they had more power, all the power available to them, then Rose and Alex wouldn’t be dead, and the demon would not have possessed Kayla, forcing her to do terrible things. Why would Tansy cripple her own coven that way?
Taking a deep breath, Kayla swore to herself she would never again be powerless. “So, when do we meet?”
Six
Laci walked down Main Street, the words of Nazareth Xavier echoing in her mind. Laci Valentine, you’re a necromancer, speaker to the dead, bridge between this life and the afterlife. A necromancer. What the hell was a necromancer? She had absolutely no idea what Nazareth was telling her, and she didn’t hang around to find out more. Instead, she just left, shaking her head and exhaling a frustrated breath. She was finished with magic, having left the Cauldron Coven. The last thing she needed was for some weirdo trying to convince her she possessed even more powers, stranger powers. She didn’t want powers; going after magic started her down the path that cloaked her in death in the first place. She wanted nothing to do with anything that even came close to magic, which is why she walked right by The Murky Cauldron and kept walking.
She sighed as she passed by, hoping the witches inside the store hadn’t seen her pass. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to them ever again; she thought of them as friends, the best friends she ever had along with Rhychard Bartlett and his band of faeries. Laci just wasn’t ready to face the others, yet. She needed time to get past everything that happened, to strengthen her resolve, because she knew Tansy wanted her to stick it out with the coven, and one word from her would cause Laci to crumble and return. She didn’t want to return. Not yet. Maybe never. Magic cost her too much.
Walking to the end of Main Street, she stopped at the spot near the railroad tracks where the demon who possessed Kayla killed Alex Barrister. Laci stood there, staring at the spot in the road where she knew the others fought against Wanda and Kayla, or rather the demons who possessed the two witches. Laci hadn’t been there, of course, already in the Summerlands trying to rescue Rose Tillery before the demons used her to reach Laci’s sister. It hadn’t worked. Baltabek crossed the bridge between Rose and Jayden, possessing Jayden’s body hoping to wreak chaos on Harbor City. It was that fight, the fight with the demons, that brought out the power in Laci that allowed her to cross the bridge between the Land Above, what the faerie world called Earth, and the Summerlands, a power Nazareth said she possessed now, thanks to the touch of the goddess Hekate. What the hell is that all about? Now, she kind of wished she had asked the man more questions.
Popping into Melinda’s Bakery, Laci ordered a cup of coffee, two sugars, and a blueberry muffin. She normally would have popped into Common Grounds, but avoided the place for the same reason she avoided The Murky Cauldron; she didn’t want to run into Rhychard, just as she didn’t want to face the witches just yet. She owed the Warrior quite a bit. He saved her life, after all, pulling her from the clutches of her pimp, Jerome Williams, who forced her to leave home over eight years ago to whore for him. However, like Tansy, Rhychard would convince her to remain in the fight, the fight that had already cost her too much. Laci was done fighting. With coffee and muffin in hand, Laci left the coolness of the bakery for the heat of the day outside.
Laci turned the corner, taking a trail that led down to a small park along Manatee Creek, the same creek that ran behind Rhychard’s condos and out into the Indian River. The city had put up benches along a small walkway that lined the creek, so people could sit and enjoy the water or the boats floating along the water’s surface. Laci took advantage of one of the benches, placing her coffee on the bench beside her as she sat there and stared out at the passing water. Rhychard told her at one point that naiads, also called water faeries, lived in the creek, but she had never seen any. For now, Laci would be happy just enjoying the cool October breeze as it drifted across the water’s surface. Florida weather rarely turned cold until after the holidays, but they still managed to get some cool, comfortable nights. Laci relished those nights, and it helped her to ease the chaos raging through her mind right now, the calm creek a contradiction to the tangled madness of her thoughts.
“You know he’s right, don’t you?”
Laci jumped as the voice came from beside her, causing her to jerk her attention to her left. Sitting beside her was a tall man with short, dark hair, slender frame, and dark brown eyes that smiled at her. And her coffee cup poked through the middle of his thigh as if his leg wasn’t even there!
She felt her brows pinch together as she slid away from him, her heart racing as she bounced her gaze between her coffee cup and the man’s face. She didn’t know if she should pull her coffee cup from his leg or just...pass out from fright.
“Um, who, uh?” She swallowed the knot of anxiety in her throat. “Who, exactly, is right?” This couldn’t be happening, whatever this was. She gripped the edge of the bench, her knuckles turning white as she stared wide-eyed at the man.
He shifted around on the bench, placing his arm along the back as he smiled over at her, his hands clasped, fingers intertwined. “Nazareth Xavier,” the man said with a shrug. “The necromancer you spoke to at the library. He’s right.” He glanced out at the creek, his gaze more contemplative than anything. “You’re just like him, maybe stronger.” He turned toward her once more, raking her with his gaze. “You’re definitely younger.” He cocked his head, studying her. “I wonder if this means Nazareth is about to pass on himself. Two necromancers in the same area seems a little redundant.”
Laci glanced down at her coffee cup, the top just above his thigh and the bottom...well, the bottom still rested on the park bench. She pointed to it, still not sure what she saw. “Does that, um, hurt? Do you need me to, you know, move it for you?” Not that she wanted to drink it now. Was there such a thing as ghost germs?
He chuckled as he shook his head. “I didn’t even know it was there, really.” He gestured toward it, shrugging. “Please, take it. I’m sure it’s still warm. I can see the steam rising out of that little slit at the edge of the lid.” He twisted his lips into an inquisitive smirk. “When did people turn to cardboard and plastic to hold their coffee? What happened to plain old mugs?” He glanced up at her. “I promise, it tastes better in a ceramic mug.”
“I’ll remember that,” she said as she reached down and pulled the coffee cup out of his leg, her face twisted into a nervous grimace.
“Would it help if I screamed?” the man asked, smirking. “I’ll admit, the temptation is pretty high.”
“No, I don’t need you to scream, thanks,” she said as she set the coffee cup on the ground at her feet. She turned to face... “I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Duncan Underwood,” he said with a tip of his head. “And I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m not exactly alive.” He shrugged. “Kind of proves the whole necromancer thing.”
There was that word again. “Why are you here?” she asked, wishing she had something a lot stronger than coffee at the moment.
He shrugged again. “It’s not like I really have anywhere else to be right now. Besides, I heard your conversation, saw the disbelief on your face. I figured you might need some convincing.” He waved his hands up and down his slender body. “Wallah. I’m proof of what the necromancer said.”
Laci stared at him. I’m seeing ghosts. I don’t want to see ghosts. Why the hell am I seeing ghosts? “Why are you here?” she repeated, her brows furrowed. Now she looked at his clothing, his outfit fitting more the polyester from the fifties than anything in the new century. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t know about plastic lids and cardboard cups. How long had he been walking the Earth?
“Didn’t like my last answer?” Duncan asked. “Or are you wanting something a little deeper? As in, perhaps, why I haven
’t crossed over?” He nodded. “I guess that’s a valid question. The answer is, however, not so satisfying. You see, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I’m dead; that’s all I know.” He tilted his head, his brows pinched. “I kind of remember what happened, but not completely. Maybe that’s why. Who knows? Not even that other necromancer can figure it out.” Duncan glanced out at the creek, sighing. “Over sixty years I’ve walked this earth.” He turned back to her. “Perhaps you can help me find out why I’m here.”
“How do I do that?” Laci leaned back on the bench, her gaze focused on the water in front of her. “I so don’t need this.” She shook her head, turning back to the ghost, a grip of anxiousness around her heart. “I’m not sure what you need or what you think I am, but,” she took a deep breath, “I can’t help you. I can’t help anyone. I’m sorry.” She snatched her coffee cup off the ground as she stood, dumping it in the trash bin as she walked away. She didn’t need this craziness. Ghosts. Necromancers. More magic. Another power. She was through with it, and she would remain that way, no matter who came to her asking for help. They could go to someone else. Anyone else.
Just not her.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jayden tossed her books on the kitchen table, but already wished she had gone anywhere else but home.
“You need to give your sister some time,” Jayden’s mother nagged as she sat at the table, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. “We both know she’s been through a lot. It takes time to put stuff like that behind you. Stop rushing her.”
“I’m not rushing her,” Jayden said, a little harder than she intended. She took a deep breath as she opened the cabinet door, pulling out a tall glass. “You know what happened. You know how bad it could have been.” She walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out the tall pitcher of her mother’s sweet tea and pouring her a glass. “She needs the protection of the coven; she needs to keep learning about her power. Just because she wants out, doesn’t mean the bad guys will let her out. She needs to finish learning how to protect herself.”