by Catie Rhodes
On the way to my truck, I noticed Tanner climbing into a vehicle with Cecil, Shelly, and Jadine. They drove into the dark night. Someone turned back for one last look at me. My gut told me it was Tanner. I wanted to shoot him the finger but was so tired I couldn’t even work the remote to unlock the door. Hannah ended up driving us back to the RV park.
She parked my truck in front of my camper, slid out, and came around to make sure I could climb out without falling on my face. “Want me to spend the night with you?”
I shook my head. The pre-Michael Gage Hannah would have argued.
This one simply nodded and said, “We need to fortify your camper with iron. Maybe that’ll keep her out.”
My frustration built. “How will iron work if the holy water you pitched on her didn’t?”
Hannah thought it over. “I’m not one hundred percent sure it will, but it might. We’re talking about two different animals. Holy water is blessed. That’s sort of magic. But iron is alchemy. Might be more like poison ivy for Miss Ugly.”
She had a point. Tired as I was, we went around to the other members of Sanctuary begging for iron. It was worth a try. Miss Ugly meant business, and I didn’t have any better ideas.
I hit the jackpot with an older couple, one who’d been with Sanctuary since they were first married many years ago. They offered me a box of old, iron horseshoes they’d scavenged from somewhere or other. Hannah and I hefted them back to my camper.
“So…if Tanner asked you out, would you go?” Hannah grinned at me across the box of horseshoes. I bared my teeth at her, ready to kick her in the ass just to see if it would make her shut up.
The mere mention of Tanner Letts made me think about the way he moved, about the intensity behind his eyes. I shoved off the thoughts. I was mourning Wade, dammit. Tanner Letts wasn’t even good enough for a rebound tryst.
“Well?” Hannah pressed.
“No. I wouldn’t go. Quit worrying about that nitwit and come on. This box is heavy.” I walked faster. She followed, shooting me satisfied smiles.
We set the box in front of the camper. Hannah grabbed several horseshoes. “I’ll put these around your RV’s other side.”
I got my own handful of horseshoes, but my phone began playing the old Stevie Nicks song I had assigned to my friend and magical mentor, Mysti Whitebyrd. Dropping the horseshoes to the dirt at my feet, I took out my phone and saw Mysti was requesting a video call. I accepted and smiled as Mysti’s face appeared in the window.
Unlike Hannah’s striking redhead beauty, Mysti’s beauty had more of a girl-next-door vibe. Her plain light brown hair and perky nose let her hide in plain sight. But her eyes, piercing and intelligent with surprising sensitivity, made her hard to forget.
“Good to see you, sister. How’s the job in Canada?” I couldn’t quit smiling despite the bad night. Next to Hannah, Mysti was my best female friend.
“The norm. People always wait too late to call in help.” She turned away from the phone and glanced behind her. In the silence, a woman was screaming. Had Mysti stopped working and taken time out to call me? That wasn’t good.
“What’s going on? Are you and Griff okay?” I didn’t need more bad news tonight.
“We’re okay. I’m more concerned about you. I heard you had quite the night.” Mysti peered at the phone as though the little camera could give her a true idea of my well-being.
I tried to sound tough. “You talking about Miss Ugly?” Mysti nodded, and my knees weakened. “How’d you hear?” I sat at the wood picnic table in front of my RV. Each RV space came with one. I had a cheap, plastic ashtray on mine and now lit a smoke.
“I’ve been talking to ghosts. Samantha—your great-great grandmother?—contacted me just a few minutes ago. Both she and Priscilla are frantic.” Mysti’s darting eyes indicated the ghostly visit had unsettled her. It gave me the heebie-jeebies too.
Mysti could contact the spirit world, but it wasn’t her specialty. It took effort and skill. A spirit, especially one like Samantha who had a bond with me, would not contact Mysti by choice. Especially not after telling me she’d be in touch. Something was wrong.
“Do I even want to hear this?” I propped my phone up on the ashtray and dragged hard on my cigarette.
“Probably not, but you need to.” Mysti licked her lips, something she always did when nervous.
I nodded. “I’m not ready, but go ahead.”
“The dark beings have barred Samantha or Priscilla from contacting you. Samantha says they’ll probably stop her from contacting the living world at all once they figure out she contacted me.” Mysti paused for air.
The ball of nerves in my stomach began rolling around, sending painful tendrils of anxiety through my body. My shoulders tightened. “How can they do that?”
Mysti shrugged. “I can only guess. Samantha has used her hiding place to somehow surpass the spirit realm. She exists in much the same way the dark beings—like your friends Sol and Bub—exist. But that’s their world, and they’re more powerful than Samantha. She’s bound by whatever rules they impose on her.”
“Sol and Bub aren’t my friends.” The two monstrous beings scared me, made me do things I didn’t want. We weren’t friends. At all.
“But you understand the distinction I am making, do you not?” Mysti’s voice sharpened. This let me know that she was scared more than anything else could have.
Cheeks heating, I nodded.
“Good,” Mysti said. “According to Samantha, the dark beings, which I sometimes call chthonic beings after the Greek myths, are greatly amused at your plight. They are taking bets on whether or not you’ll survive this thing you call Miss Ugly. Neither Samantha nor Priscilla may interfere.”
“But what am I supposed to do?” My voice rose. Footsteps crunched in the dirt, and Hannah came to the edge of the camper to watch me.
“You’ll rely on your own wits and gifts.” Mysti raised her chin. She wouldn’t coddle me. There wasn’t room for it this time.
I gestured with my cigarette. “But how? Samantha said magic won’t work on Miss Ugly.”
“I don’t know, dammit.” Mysti’s voice rose. Hearing the frustration there somehow helped. I wasn’t alone, neither in my feelings nor in my ignorance.
I took a deep breath and held up the T-shirt Tanner had given me back at the carnival. Mysti gasped at the design taking shape on my chest.
I gave her a wan smile. “Samantha said this is Miss Ugly’s signature. She intends to eat me like food. This mark seasons my meat and makes it more palatable for her.”
Mysti began nodding before I finished. “Is that Hannah I see standing in the background?”
I twisted in my seat to see that Hannah had snuck up behind me. She and Mysti waved at each other.
Mysti continued. “I want Hannah to take a good picture of that mark and send it to my phone. There are several beings that use a signature to mark people they claim. What else can you tell me about Miss Ugly?”
I told Mysti about how I hadn’t been able to see Miss Ugly until I glimpsed her in the mirror and how she’d run when shown her own reflection. Then I said, “She made an awful sound. Like this, ‘hoooooo.’” I recreated the noise by moaning while sucking in my breath.
Mysti’s face went still. “Let me do some checking and get back to you tomorrow.”
“No. You know something. Tell me now.” I leaned into the camera until all Mysti probably saw was a little fraction of my face.
She shook her head. “I don’t want to misspeak. Let me have my due diligence. We’ll discuss it tomorrow.”
I leaned back. This was my life we were talking about. Fear of death aside, being cannibalized topped my list of Unappealing Ways To Die.
Mysti continued as though the matter was settled. For her, I suppose it was. “For now, remember that it’s unlikely she’ll come for you in daylight hours.”
I made a show of rolling my eyes. “Gee, it’s only six hours to daybreak. That’ll be real easy.”
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Mysti stared me down. It worked, even long distance. “If she shows up, try iron.”
I nodded. We had that covered.
“Samantha had one last thing to say.” Mysti sounded like she was running down a mental checklist. Knowing her, she probably was. “She said you cannot die yet. You have business yet to complete.”
Business yet to complete. Like my life wasn’t even my own. Like having a happy life didn’t matter. “What the hell does that mean?”
Mysti shrugged, and it wasn’t one that invited more discussion. “I have one more matter to discuss with you. It’s completely unrelated, but it might take your mind off this mess.” She tried to smile and almost made it. “You game?”
“Okay.” I wasn’t really game, but I never told Mysti no. She’d been too good to me.
“I woke up this morning with you on my mind. When I drew my daily tarot card, I concentrated on you.” She paused, and a secret smile, one I usually only saw when she talked about Griffin Reed, her lover and business partner, snuck onto her face. “I drew the two of cups.”
Tarot interested me, but I hadn’t yet mastered the technique for intuiting the meanings of the cards. I shook my head to show her I didn’t know the significance.
“Cups as a suit deal with your emotions and relationships. The two of cups means that new relationships should be rewarding. Have you met someone new?” She smiled again, and her meaning hit home.
“You mean a romantic relationship.” I slumped. Not Mysti too. I didn’t have time for this. Not with Miss Ugly trying to feast on my flesh.
Mysti somehow read my thoughts. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a good time. The universe doesn’t work that way.”
Hannah leaned in. “She did meet someone new tonight. Her panties are on fire for him, but she’s in denial.”
I spun in my seat to glare at Hannah. “You little red-topped turd.”
Hannah gave me wide-eyes and innocence. “I’m just talking about what I see.”
I ignored Hannah and told Mysti about running into Wade and Desiree.
Mysti’s smile faded at my story. “True or not, it’s obvious they both believe it. There’s nothing further you can do. Let it go.”
“But Desiree is full of shit, right?” I needed Mysti to say she was so I could go back to pining for Wade.
“The universe gives you signals when it’s time to move forward,” Mysti said.
“But I…” I wanted things to go like I planned just one time.
“You’ll know what to do when the time is right. For now, stay alive through the night.” A particularly high-pitched wail came from behind Mysti. She glanced behind her.
“You have to go, don’t you?” The idea of the next few hours without her scared me more than it should have.
“I do, but I’ll be in touch soon.” She blew a kiss, and the screen went dark.
“Let’s go take that picture of your mark so you can send it to Mysti.” Hannah led the way into my camper. We turned on the brightest lights and took a grim photo with my phone. I sent it to Mysti.
Hannah got herself a cigarette out of my pack.
“I thought you were quitting.” She really needed to, but I’d smoked so many years there was no way I could lead by example.
Hannah ignored what I said about quitting smoking. “Even Mysti is saying Tanner might be worth your time.” Her grin was almost like the ones she used to have before Michael Gage attacked and brutalized her. It reminded me how far she’d come these last couple of months, and I couldn’t help returning it.
“Why don’t you go out with Tanner?” I sat down at my table and gave Hannah a smarty smile of my own.
“I’d never step on your toes. You were practically salivating.” She ran her tongue over her lips and made an exaggerating slurping sound.
I pointed at the door. “Isn’t some silly romance novel calling you over there at your place?”
She pretended to pout. “Sure you don’t want company?”
“If you’re going to talk about Tanner Letts, no,” I said with mock ferocity. She walked out the door laughing.
I don’t know when I went to sleep or how long I slept, but I woke up thinking a summer storm was blowing through. Snuggling back down into my bed, I waited for the soothing sound of the raindrops to start tapping on the camper’s metal roof. A warning hovered at the edge of my consciousness, but my sleep-fogged brain didn’t want to latch on to it.
“Hoooooo.” The noise snapped me out of my doze and into full awareness.
I climbed out of my bed and crept to the window over the kitchen sink. Lights affixed to tall poles cast a yellowish glow over the still sleeping campground. Dawn hadn’t broken. It was close, but no cigar. I peered into the half-darkness, muscles already rigid with fear.
“Hoooooo.” The noise came again, this time giving me a direction to look for Miss Ugly. I refocused. Her hunched-over form lurched toward the camper.
My mind scrambled for defenses. I remembered the iron horseshoes. Please let them work. I remembered watching Hannah put the horseshoes around the back of my camper, remembered the feel of the box in my hands as I prepared to put them around the camper’s front side. I let out a little moan of fear as I realized my mistake.
I didn’t set the horseshoes because Mysti had called right then. I talked to her about Miss Ugly, but then she mentioned that stupid two of cups. Hannah took the opportunity to start blabbing about Tanner Letts. None of it really mattered except for one thing. I’d come to bed without putting out the rest of the horseshoes.
I dug through my witch pack, finding only sea salt and holy water. Hannah had tried holy water on Miss Ugly back at the carnival with no result. There was no need to waste time trying it again. My fingers closed over a tiny jar of salt.
“Hoooooo.” Miss Ugly’s howl came from right outside the camper now. If she was going to come in here with me, I had only seconds.
I went to stand in front of the door. Flutters of fear ran through me like painful electrical currents. The black opal got in on the act, pinging to warn me of the nearby magic.
Orev’s caw joined the ping. He’d roosted somewhere near my camper and was now awake. Together we’d fight Miss Ugly. The idea of having more magic on my side bolstered my confidence. I braced myself and got ready to battle.
The door blew open. Miss Ugly stood backlit in the doorway, hideous as ever. “Hoooooo,” she moaned.
My legs weakened, but I pulled myself together, took a step toward her, and tossed the salt in her face.
She didn’t even react. One long-fingered hand flashed out and grabbed my ankle. She yanked me off my feet and dragged me out of the camper. I landed on my tailbone and let out a yelp. Pain radiated up my spine. I lay there looking at the starry night for just a second and then blocked any thoughts of pain. Now wasn’t the time to hurt. It was time to fight.
“Orev,” I yelled. “Come now.”
The flapping of many wings filled the air. My fear abated. Orev had not only come, he’d brought friends as he sometimes did. I had no idea where he found willing ravens at night or how he convinced them to help a human. Right now, it didn’t matter.
Orev swooped toward Miss Ugly’s head. She shooed him away as though he was no more consequential than a fly. He catapulted backward, but came right back. Miss Ugly turned from me to wait on the next attack.
Caw. Caw. Caw. Orev wanted to peck out Miss Ugly’s eyes. Having seen him kill a snake once, I knew his vicious side and urged him forward.
A ripping sound came from above, blasting my eardrums. Wind whipped against my skin. It pushed at me with enough force to sway me on my feet.
Orev flapped harder, but the wind suspended him in midair, a few feet above Miss Ugly and me. Something held him back. He cawed in frustration.
The ripping sound came again. The wind roared harder and pushed Orev away from me. Soon his black feathers blended with the night. A blast of white flashed far above.
Orev’s angry caw
s filled my head, but he was farther from me now than he’d ever been on this plane. Had the dark beings that barred me from Samantha now taken my familiar? How dare they? Hot fury flooded my skin and curdled in my stomach. Tears burned my sinuses. I wanted to kick and scream, have a tantrum. Orev was mine.
Miss Ugly turned back to me and said, “Hoooooo.”
I snarled at her and showed her my fist. She yanked me off balance and started walking, dragging me along behind. I kicked at her. A few kicks landed. She ignored them.
Hannah boiled out of her camper and launched herself at Miss Ugly, throwing wild punches.
“No,” I shouted at Hannah. There was no way I could protect her, not now. If Hannah tried to save me, she’d only get herself hurt.
Miss Ugly used her free hand to squeeze Hannah’s wrist. Hannah’s eyes filled with agony. Her knees crumpled, and she let out a squeal. Miss Ugly slung Hannah out of the way.
“Not you,” Miss Ugly grated at Hannah. “Only the thief. Not you.”
Thief? Huh? This was all so crazy.
Hannah rolled to her feet and ran to the box of horseshoes. She snatched one, pressed it into my hand, and shouted, “Remember what Mysti said.”
Miss Ugly dragged me toward the nearby woods. One fist gripping the horseshoe, I attempted the mother of all stomach crunches and swung it at Miss Ugly. The iron missed the monster by a few inches. Having short arms sucked. I gripped the horseshoe tighter, determined to have another chance to use it.
Meanwhile, sharp rocks cut into my bare legs, scratching them raw. Moonlight made the larger limestone boulders lining the path glow in the dark night. I grabbed for a larger one, wrapped the arm holding the horseshoe over it, and held on for dear life. Miss Ugly nearly pulled my leg off my body. The feeling reminded me of a kid pulling a wing off a bug. I let go of the boulder and let myself be towed, the horseshoe gripped in my fist clanging against rocks.
The darkness changed, became thicker, deeper. More there but less of this world. I sat up straight. Miss Ugly was taking me into the dark outposts. No. If I went in there, I might never come out.