Grabbing the medallion, he pulled. Hard. She wrapped both of her hands around his and pulled back, leaning against the seat back with all of her might.
Rafe bellowed and sucked in air between his teeth. “Let go of me! It’s burning me! Motherfucker!”
Michael, help me. Michael help me. Michael help me.
The scent of burning skin filled her nose. Rafe’s screaming filled the car.
Caroline held on.
19
Brenda
The coven was gathered in the back room of the Inner Eye, sitting in a circle at the big table under the Elemental banners that hung on the four walls. A few people drank coffee from to-go cups. Brenda hadn’t made any tea. She was too agitated, and couldn’t stop pacing. She wanted to be doing something instead of planning, and it was making her crazy.
But she knew planning was necessary. She just wished it would happen faster.
Not everyone could make the meeting, and Brenda was frantic with it, even though she understood.
Raquel and Cassiel had to keep the café open, and Lucy was in the middle of a big job refurbishing an old Victorian, but Alejandro, Moss, Selene, and Tobias had all been able to rearrange their clients and schedules and make it.
She felt Raquel’s absence the most.
Tempest was in charge of the shop, and had called to reschedule all of Brenda’s clients. No way was she giving readings this afternoon. She was too scattered, for one thing. And finding Caroline took priority.
Alejandro was hard at work, tapping at his laptop. It had been his idea to track Caroline through her phone.
“If her husband was able to trace her that way,” he’d said grimly, “we may be too.”
“Is that even legal?” Moss asked, chewing on some sunflower seeds.
Alejandro just looked at him. “What do you think?”
Alejandro had explained that Rafe had likely used some sort of family tracking app, accessed through their phone plan. It was the sort of thing parents used to keep an eye on their children’s whereabouts.
But tracking someone’s phone outside of that sort of system was going to be tricky.
Alejandro was starting to sweat. Usually he was so perfect, but Brenda could see the sheen of perspiration on his face and darkening the pits of his pale purple dress shirt. He’d shed his sweater long before.
Selene stood next to Brenda, sleek and beautiful as always, in their Goth attire. Long, flowing black sweater layered over black skinny jeans and black boots. They wore a garnet necklace nestled among some longer silver chains.
They smelled of frankincense. Brenda inhaled the scent, grateful for it, wishing the younger person could actually do something to help. Wishing they were a powerhouse like Raquel, or even had Cassiel’s sight.
“Can I make you some tea, Brenda? Or do anything else while we wait for Alejandro to work his magic?” Selene asked.
Brenda leaned into her coven mate for a moment, then sighed. “No, thank you, Selene. Nothing’s going to calm me down right now.”
Selene gave her a squeeze and went to sit next to Tobias, who was laying a Tarot spread out, trying to see if he could get information that way. That was a good place for them. Selene did know their cards.
Moss sat on Tobias’s other side, sipping coffee, one foot crossed over his knee, shaking with impatience, or maybe nerves. He had a backward baseball cap on today, and looked so young to Brenda.
“Sit still, Moss,” Tobias complained. Brenda walked toward Alejandro, and peered over his shoulder at the screen. The symbols scrolling by meant nothing to her. This was so not her sort of magic.
“Any luck?” Brenda finally asked him.
“Not yet. And I’m not sure I’ll actually be able to do this. I’m not the hacker I used to be. Out of practice.”
“But you’ll keep trying?”
“I’ll keep trying.”
Brenda heard a commotion from the shop. A minute later, Tempest flung the curtain aside and Joshua from The Road Home rushed in.
“I got here as fast as I could! There were customers in the shop that wouldn’t leave. I finally told them it was an emergency.”
The younger man wore his usual fancy vest and sharply pressed slacks. No top hat today, though.
“What did I miss?” Joshua asked. He opened his arms, and Brenda walked into them, gratefully.
“Alejandro is trying to trace Caroline’s phone, but so far he’s not having any luck,” Brenda spoke into Joshua’s chest, then pulled back. “Caroline is in terrible danger, I can feel it. But I also have no idea how to find her.”
“And you don’t want to go to the police, why?” Joshua asked.
Brenda stepped all the way out of the circle of his arms and took up her pacing around the table again.
“First of all, not sure exactly what we tell them. I think I saw Rafe shove Caroline into a Lexus, but telling the police that a man may or may not have abducted his wife? They’re not going to act on that right away anyway.”
Tobias set down his cup of coffee and laced his hands behind his head. “Besides, Arrow and Crescent coven isn’t exactly a favorite entity of the Portland Police Department. Not since we worked with my sweetie, Aiden, to get the sweeps stopped.”
“And the chief came in, asking questions.”
“What?” Moss said, slamming his go cup down on the table.
“It happened this morning, right after I opened. I told Tempest about it, then went for a short walk and saw Caroline getting stuffed inside a car. It kind of slipped my mind after that.”
Joshua pulled out a chair and sat down. His posture was perfect, and he pulled down his cuffs. Topaz cufflinks winked at the bottom of his burgundy sleeves. She pulled out a chair and sat next to him, elbows on the table, face propped in her hands. She trained her eyes on his, and he matched her gaze, unflinchingly.
“Can you think of anything that might help?” she asked.
“Give me five minutes.” Joshua slowly inhaled. Brenda felt the long pause after the inhalation and held her breath. And he exhaled just as slowly. Brenda matched her breath to him, recognizing the fourfold pattern. The long inhalation, followed by a pause. The long exhalation, a pause. It helped to calm her down, for which she was grateful.
As they breathed together, she tried to gather the ragged bits of her attention and her magic, back toward the central core she’d spent so many years building.
She could hear Tempest talking to some customers in the shop, and the sound of Alejandro’s fingers tapping keys. Following Joshua’s lead, she let her awareness of everything going on around her to drop away. On her next breath, she shifted her attention onto the inner planes, hoping for insight, some vision of Caroline, or the answer they were seeking, of how in Diana’s name they could help this woman.
:Joshua knows.: The Voice said.
How was it even back? She hadn’t called it, but she felt it all the same, like a nimbus around her shoulders and head.
:You needed me.:
Okay then. She supposed that had been part of the deal: that if the angel had something of use to offer, it wasn’t banished anymore.
Brenda had no choice but to trust that it was true. That this wasn’t just a form of emotional wish fulfillment, or manipulation.
You better not mess this up, whatever you are. She shoved that thought, hard, toward the shaft of light she sensed around her back, then sank into her breathing once again.
Moss and Tobias conferred quietly together down at the other end of the table. In the space where her aura overlapped with Joshua’s, Brenda felt a shift. It felt as though the air around his body became more palpable, and the atmosphere grew thicker. It was tangible.
“What’s happening, Joshua?”
Alejandro’s hands went still on the keyboard. Moss and Tobias stopped their conversation.
Joshua waved one hand in the air, eyes still closed, face looking sharp and intent. “Write this down.”
“Got it,” Alejandro said.
Joshua took in a deep breath. The pause afterward was so long, Brenda had to force herself to sit still, feet flat on the floor, palms held upright on her lap. She was treating herself as though she was one of her students. This was classic “how to keep centered and calm” posture. And one of the best ways to listen to a spirit when it was about to speak.
“The Angels have her well in hand.” Joshua’s voice was sonorous, deep and rich, more resonant than it usually was. It sounded as though he was speaking from a place that was both deep and far away. “Michael is with her. That much is clear. I see the river, and the edge of the freeway, a big steel bridge. The sound of the train.”
Brenda leaned in close, careful not to disturb him. She pitched her voice low. “Which bridge, Joshua? Steel bridge? Hawthorne?”
His eyes fluttered behind the closed lids, and his breathing grew even deeper. The whole coven waited; not one person in the room moved. They were all well trained toward stillness and openness and listening for messages that came from wind or water or fire, or from the astral realms.
“There’s warehouses. And I think…a fire station?”
“That’s the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge,” Moss said.
Brenda slid a hand across the table and gently placed her fingers on top of Joshua’s. He gave a slight nod.
“But Caroline’s okay?” Brenda asked.
“Yes. Michael is with her. The archangel.” He took in a shuddering breath, withdrew his hand from hers, and shook himself. After one more long inhalation, he opened his eyes.
Moss was already on his feet, then crouching next to Joshua’s chair. “Do you need anything? Tea? Some nuts to help you ground?”
Joshua shook his head. “I think we just need to go get Caroline back. You’re right, protein would be good after that. If you have them, I’ll take some nuts to eat in the car.”
Alejandro snapped his computer shut. “I can drive one of the cars,” he said. “We’ll need space for everyone here, plus room for Caroline.”
“I’ll drive,” Moss said.
“Okay,” Tobias said. “Do we need any supplies from the shop before we head out? Everyone got the tools they need?”
That was a good question, but one Brenda had no time for. She just needed to move. Grabbing her coat from the closet, she slipped her arms into the sleeves. She trusted her coven to gather whatever they needed, to get themselves ready to help her friend.
All Brenda could do? Was walk out the door, and try to keep herself from killing that man, Rafe.
And if it’s necessary?
She’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
20
Caroline
A wind whipped itself up, throwing the rain in gusts against the car, flinging branches and leaves.
The rain and wind washed away the view of the river and the second train barreling past. The clanging warning bells and the flashing red lights were swept away by the power of water and air.
It felt as if the car was its own small world. A world of smooth, soft leather and expense. A world filled with the scent of drugs, burned skin, cologne, and fear.
A world where time alternately sped and slowed with the beating of her heart and the heaving of her breath.
Riding on the storm, she could hear the sound of wings.
Caroline fought her way over Rafe, trying to get to the door controls. She needed to unlock the damn car and get out. He wasn’t making it easy, flailing at her with his shoulders, trying to keep his singed fingers out of the way.
“You bitch! What have you done?”
She honestly didn’t know. This was the weirdest experience she’d ever had in her life. Getting the medallion had been strange enough. But the medallion burning Rafe’s hands?
Thank you, Michael, for whatever it was you did.
“Where’s the button?” she said, shoving her arms around him.
He heaved against her, pushing her back. The seatbelt snagged. Damn. Right. She had to get out of the seatbelt first. The handcuffs jangled between them, clattering into the footwell. No way was she letting him get those on her wrist again.
She shoved her hands between their bodies and felt for the end of the strap. There. Her fingers clicked the button and she was free.
The stench was growing worse. A miasma of scents. Caroline needed air. Real air.
“Let me out of the car, Rafe, or I’ll burn the shit out of you again.”
She would, too. She wasn’t certain how, but she knew if she had to, she’d do it again. He didn’t need to know it had been an accident. He just needed to be afraid.
Cradling his singed fingers, Rafe stared at her with wild, angry eyes.
“Where’s the auto lock, Rafe?”
“Fuck you, bitch!”
He scrabbled for the bottle of water in the cup holder. “Damn it!” He couldn’t grip the cap with his fingers. “Get this open!”
He was still so used to ordering her around.
Caroline grew still. “Open. The. Door. Rafe.”
The wind howled and screamed outside. The beautiful spring sun long fled. The Pacific Northwest was showing the Californians who she really was.
Cutting through the sound of wind, Caroline heard the rev of engines and the squeal of tires, then heavy doors slamming. Shouting. All of it a counterpoint to pouring rain. No time to look. She didn’t dare to turn her head.
A pounding on the window. Someone shouting out her name. A man’s voice. Deep and strong. She didn’t know it. Then a voice she did know. A voice that sounded like the trumpet of an angel. Sweet. Fierce. Strong.
Brenda.
Freed from her seatbelt, Caroline launched herself across Rafe and pressed the unlock button. The locks chunked up and the passenger door opened. She felt hands on her shoulders, pulling her out into the rain. Strong arms grabbed her waist; another arm, gentler, wrapped around her arms.
“Caroline, thank the Goddess!”
“It’s you,” Caroline said, turning toward the voice. Blue, blue eyes. Silver crescents dangling from the pale lobes of her ears. Wisps of dark hair plastered to her face by rain. Lipstick the color of cherries, half bitten off her lips.
Caroline breathed in the scent of her. The Brenda-ness of her. She was dimly aware of Rafe’s voice, still bellowing, answered sharply by other voices.
All she cared about was that Brenda had come to get her, the light of an angel hovering around her shoulders.
“Let’s get her into one of the cars, okay?” A man’s voice cut through. She turned her head. He was handsome, with deeply tanned skin. Looked like a businessman. Caroline realized he was the one with the arms around her waist.
Bam! Something slammed into them. The man’s arms tightened, then Caroline was picked up and swung to the side, out of the way. He let her go. Caroline stumbled against Brenda, who snatched her arms and pulled her toward one of the waiting cars.
Caroline whirled to see Rafe, head and shoulders buried in the businessman’s chest. The man struggled to control him, but Rafe kept pushing, bellowing.
There were more people around, grabbing at the men, tugging at them, trying to pull them apart.
The rain battered her face. The wind roared in her ears. Sound stretched outward. The droplets of rain seemed huge, fat, and slow. A leaf floated by. Light strobed at the edges of Caroline’s eyes. Then there was a flash. Then gray.
Then nothing but the sense of falling against something soft, and something hard.
A light. A voice.
:Be not afraid.:
I’m not. But…what’s happening?
:You will be well. Just trust now.:
Trust.
Caroline coughed and blinked, then realized the soft thing she had fallen against was Brenda, and the woman was cradling her head in her lap, stroking her hair off her face. Brenda was bent around her, protecting her from the rain.
She was so beautiful. She felt like home.
“Thank you,” Caroline mouthed, not sure if any
sound even came out. The rain and wind still roared, and voices shouted. Close. Too close.
She turned her head and saw a well-dressed Latinx businessman, and a scruffy woman with strands of wet dark hair flying around her head, and a young white man—kicking the shit out of Rafe.
Caroline looked back up at Brenda. Joshua loomed over Brenda’s shoulder. It was clear he’d been pouring energy into her. They were both keeping her protected.
“Stop them,” Caroline said.
Joshua just nodded and stepped toward the scrum, reaching in among the flailing limbs, putting hands on shoulders, and pulling them away from Rafe, who huddled on the tarmac, head cradled in his hands.
Caroline fought to sit up. Brenda helped her, still cradling her, offering support to her back. Her head pounded and her mouth was dry as dust despite the water everywhere. She just wanted to go to sleep.
She just wanted this done.
The man and woman dragged Rafe upright. He stumbled, then caught himself. The palms of his hands looked raw, as if layers of skin had been burned away.
“Do you want us to call the police?” the man holding one of Rafe’s arms asked her.
Caroline considered. Did she? She felt the fluttering of wings and the warmth of light behind her. What would happen if she pressed charges? What would happen to her life?
She would have to return to Silicon Valley. She would have to face her family and what friends she had.
She would maybe need to face a trial.
Caroline didn’t want to go through any of that. She wanted justice, but she also wanted a life as far away from him as she could get. Pressing charges would bind her against him more tightly, until he what? Went to prison for a couple of years? Paid a fine?
No. She needed a more permanent solution.
“I want you to do magic to make him stop. And I want the angels to protect me. And Rafe? I never want to see you again.”
21
Brenda
By Wind Page 10