“We were arguing. I remember being so angry at them. I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t understand how cool this was. I could control the weather. What teenager wouldn’t want something like out of a comic book movie?” I smiled sadly.
“But everything came apart that day. We were yelling, and suddenly I felt my arms tingling from my shoulders to the tips of my fingers. I hadn’t experienced it so strongly and didn’t at first realize what was happening.” I dropped my gaze to my fidgeting fingers.
“A bolt of lightning struck the car and we drove off the highway into a light pole. My parents died instantly,” I finished in a rush of words. I heard pens on papers in the stillness following my admission.
I risked a glance at Jackson. My heart froze at his expressionless face. I returned my gaze to the Council. “I buried my magic deep after that, while I was in foster care. After aging out of the program at eighteen, I attempted college.” I stopped, unable to catch my breath.
“What happened during college?” Evan asked.
“My magic went on the fritz,” I answered. “Lightning bolts, hurricane force winds. I lost control. So, I dropped out and lived on the street where I couldn’t hurt anyone.”
“How did you wind up in Vegas?” Marcie asked.
“I just drifted here,” I said with a shrug. “But one day I had had enough. After four years on the street, I couldn’t do it anymore and I begged the universe to help me.” I rolled onto the balls of my feet. My final big reveal to Jackson. How his mind must be reeling. “Barbara Knollman answered my call.”
The Council members stirred in their seats at my admission. Of course, they knew she was a demon. Everyone in the paranormal world knew that.
“I signed a pact with the demon to be her minion if she would help me. She created the circumstances for me to start my talent agency and bound my magic. Everything was stable, if not actually good, until she ordered me to kill Jackson McKee. And I refused.”
Matt was frowning, bald head tilted up toward the ceiling. He refocused on me. “How did you release your magic?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you could answer that.”
“I can,” Jessica interjected. All eyes swiveled to her. “The demon never bound your magic, Robin.”
My jaw dropped. “Yes, she did.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Then why couldn’t I feel it anymore.”
“You denied it for so long it became trapped within you.”
“I did?”
“If I had to guess,” Jessica continued, “I’d say guilt over your parents’ deaths and the instability in college drove you to burying your powers.”
A tear fell. “I bound my own powers?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
Evan shifted his bulk to sit forward in his seat. Kind eyes peered at me. “And then you could access it when your friends were in danger.” The other Council members nodded.
“I could?”
“Yes, Robin, you could,” Jessica answered.
Jackson spoke. “How does she break the pact with the demon?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Jackson settled his hand on my shoulder following his question. I took comfort in the touch while we waited for the Council to reply. I wasn’t sure if Jessica had informed the other members about our conversation… had that only been two days ago? Times flies when you’re having fun. Not.
“That’s a good question, Jackson,” Jessica responded. “I did some research after Robin and I spoke last time.” Jackson’s hand on my shoulder tensed for a moment. “Given Barbara’s status as a low-level demon, and the fact that she never bound Robin’s magic, breaking the pact is surprisingly straightforward.”
“It is?” That shocked me. Had I lived this long under Barbara’s thumb, getting weaker and feeling miserable, for no reason?
“It is. But, don’t beat yourself up over that,” Jessica said.
I nodded, unable to speak. If she was right, this would be over soon.
Evan and Matt came around from behind the half-circle table. “Jackson, help us move the chairs out of the way?” Evan asked.
“We need room for the ritual circle,” Matt explained.
Jackson, Matt, and Even moved the folding chairs to the edges of the room, clearing a large space. Theresa placed and lit four candles across from each other, as if at the edges of an unseen circle. Seeing my look, she chuckled.
“It’s hard to draw a circle on the carpet. We learned that it’s not always necessary.” She shrugged and turned to confer with Jessica.
“We’ll use the feminine strength of the Goddess for this ritual. So, men, we do not need you for this one. Could you stand behind the council table?” Jackson, Matt, and Evan obliged. “Marcie, please stand at due North. Theresa, due South. I’ll go to East. And, Robin, you’ll be West.”
I waited until the other three had taken up their positions, since I wasn’t sure which direction west would be, before assuming my own position.
“Is everybody ready?” Jessica asked.
We assented.
“At all times, remember our purpose in conducting this ritual. To break the pact between Robin and Barbara. First, we will call the corners. This will cleanse our space and help us open communication with the Goddess,” Jessica said. She closed her brown eyes, took a deep breath.
I thought I would find the whole thing silly, but I found myself captivated by the process. It was as though something missing in my life for years was awakening.
“I call to the North, the element of Earth,” Marcie began, her voice low and melodious.
“I call to the East, the element of Air,” Jessica continued.
“I call to the South, the element of Fire,” Theresa said.
I opened my mouth and nothing emerged. I swallowed past the lump in my throat, remembered my intention in calling the corners, and lifted my chin a fraction. “I call to the West, the element of Water.”
Jessica nodded at me. “Robin, declare your intention. Use your name and be specific.”
With a strong, clear voice, I spoke into the circle. “I, Robin Landon, desire to break my pact with Barbara Knollman.” My hands fluttered. “Do we need her demon name?” I asked Jessica softly, but with audible panic in my voice. She shook her head.
Jessica pulled a vial of liquid from an unseen pocket of her loose green t-shirt dress. She opened the vial and sprinkled some into the center of the circle.
“I use this salt water for purification,” she stated, clearly directing this explanation at me. She closed her eyes. I swore her red hair was glowing.
“We call upon the Goddess to hear Robin’s plea, to break the pact with the demon, Barbara Knollman. We call upon Mother Earth to intervene to prevent the bond from reforming.”
Wait? That could happen? My shoulders tensed and I gnawed at my lower lip.
“Farewell and blessed be,” Jessica stated with a note of finality.
“Blessed be,” the other ladies repeated. I think I caught on in time for at least the last two syllables. I assumed that would be sufficient.
The women lowered their heads in a moment of silence. I copied their mannerisms, and in my own moment of seriousness, sent my pure request into the world.
“Thank you, ladies,” Jessica said with a bright smile around the circle.
Theresa walked the circle, blowing out and retrieving the candles. The men came forward to return the folding chairs to their prior positions.
It all seemed very anti-climactic. “And that’ll work? To make the pact, I had to sign the bond in blood.” I shuddered at the memory.
Jessica grinned. “Trust me, it worked.”
My phone trilled an incoming call. Barbara. Blood drained from my face. “Hello?” I answered with a trembling voice.
“Hello, Robin. You’ve been busy.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, gathering strength. “Yes, I have.�
�
“I’d like to see you,” she requested in a conversational tone.
“Why?”
“Old times’ sake?”
I swore I heard a smile in her voice. Did she know something we didn’t? “Sure. How about tomorrow morning?” I offered nonchalantly, but my pulse hammered in my head.
“See you then.” She disconnected the call.
I turned to Jackson, the hand holding my cell phone shaking. He closed his strong fingers around mine.
“She can’t hurt you,” he said.
“You can’t know that,” I argued. “She’ll kill me for breaking the pact. How did she even know I broke the pact?” I heard the hysterical note in my rising voice.
“She would have sensed an energy change,” Jessica offered from across the room.
I nodded as I considered that. I made eye contact with Jackson. “Now what?”
“We need to talk,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Hurt shown in Jackson’s eyes. The others had moved out of earshot to provide us privacy. He stood with his arms dangling at his sides. He seemed to be deciding how to open the conversation.
“So, you’re a witch?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“Uh-huh.”
“That might have been good information to have earlier.” His voice had an edge to it.
“Probably.”
“Could I get more than a one-word response, please?”
The exasperation in his voice was unsurprising and justified. “I missed my opportunity to tell you initially,” I said. “Then it seemed too big a thing to mention until after all the issues were taken care of.”
“That sounds like an excuse,” he said in a tired voice.
“That’s because it is,” I admitted with a bark of unhappy laughter. “I didn’t want to be judged for my poor choices.”
“In signing a pact with a demon?”
“Um, yeah.”
His eyes met mine and he gave a small shake of his head. “You didn’t trust me.”
“That’s not exactly it,” I floundered in my reply. “I didn’t trust anybody and…” I swallowed. “I wanted you to like me.” Good grief that sounded pathetic.
A real smile flitted across his face. “I did like you. I do like you,” he amended. He reached out a hand to caress my neck. “I liked you from the beginning.”
“Well, sure, your protection magic drew you to me.” My heart hammered in my chest.
“That’s true,” he responded.
That’s it? You’ve got nothing else? Frustration zinged through me. “At least now you don’t have to protect me anymore,” I said with feigned nonchalance.
“Mm-hmm,” he agreed.
I picked at a cuticle then dropped my arms to my sides, mirroring him. “I should have been honest with you about it all,” I blurted out.
“I could understand why you wouldn’t want to go into details, but you kept some pretty big secrets from me. For no reason.”
The confusion in his voice physically hurt. “I did.”
“You were a witch. Believed your magic was bound. By a demon. With whom you signed a blood pact. Did I leave anything out?”
“I hurt people with my magic,” I mumbled, as pain seared through me.
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean, maybe? I killed my parents,” I said in a hollow voice.
He collected his thoughts for a moment. “Your parents didn’t understand what you were. Are. You therefore never received guidance for how to control your magic. Many things are set in stone; you don’t know that your parents’ fate wasn’t already sealed,” he said.
“That’s a cop out, and you know it,” I protested.
Jackson shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.” He gave me a crooked smile. “Either way, you’ve paid penance. It’s time to move forward.”
With you? I wanted to ask the question, but I didn’t. I simply nodded.
“I guess we’ll be in touch?” His expression mixed hopeful longing with something shuttered that I couldn’t read.
Ugh. More mixed signals. “I guess so.”
With that apparently settled in his mind, Jackson turned and strode from the room. Jessica approached and took me by the elbow. She leaned in, almost conspiratorially. “Give him time.”
“Why is that always what people recommend?”
She laughed. “Because people need time to process information that shocks their system.”
I supposed she was right. Besides, I had a demon to meet with in – I checked my watch – eight hours. If I wanted to get some sleep so I could be bright eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning, I needed to head for a home. Oh, wait, Jackson drove me here.
“Would you mind giving me a lift home?”
“Not at all.”
I wanted to be ready for my final scene with the demon. Hopefully, it wouldn’t also be my curtain call.
*****
“Quit fidgeting,” Barbara ordered. Her hands rested on the desk in front her, talons clicking while she spoke.
I stilled my bouncing leg and twisting fingers, unaware I’d been doing either. “Sorry.”
“You’re apologizing?”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “Sorry.” I rolled my eyes at myself.
Barbara stood from her desk and walked to the window overlooking Main Street. I stared at her sleek bun and red power suit. “You recovered your magic.”
“I did.” I allowed a bit of pride to seep into my voice. That was a mistake.
“You broke the pact,” she said in a voice that froze the blood in my veins.
“We did.”
She turned at that. “We?”
Quick internal debate on whether to disclose… “The Witches Council.”
She nodded and retook her seat. “I didn’t think you had the ability to break it on your own.”
“I could have done that?”
She smiled her predatory smile, all sharp teeth and thinned lips. “Obviously not.”
My face reddened at the insult to my magic. “Hey, I thought you bound my magic,” I objected.
“You did think that. That was convenient for me, for you to think that,” she said.
“Sneaky.”
“I’m a demon.”
“How did you know we broke the pact?”
She stared at me like I’d been dropped on my head too many times as a child. “I sensed the energy change between us.”
Just like Jessica had guessed. “What happens now?” I asked and glanced down at the floor. Could she still suck me down to hell? Could she ever have done that?
Barbara sighed. “It’s fine. As I predicted at our previous meeting, we’ve come to the end of our relationship.”
I gulped.
“I’m. Not. Going. To. Kill. You,” she said, enunciating each syllable.
“Thank Goddess,” slipped out before I could stop the words.
Barbara rolled her eyes. “Little girl, you are no longer a concern of mine. Our pact is broken. The contract for the killing is null and void. I won’t be pursuing that angle anymore. I’ve got some thinking to do on my next steps.” She abruptly stopped, an expression of surprise on her face. Probably shocked she told me even that much.
Feeling emboldened by her uncertainty – and her declaration that she wasn’t going to kill me – I stood tall and stared directly into her obsidian eyes. “I can’t say this has been a positive experience. But it has been a learning one. Thank you for that, I suppose.” I turned my back on her and took two steps toward the door.
“Are you sure you want to turn your back on me?” she asked in a silky voice and I froze. She laughed and I started moving again. “Good luck, little witch.”
Her mocking laughter followed me out of the office and down the hall. At least it was over. I had plans that night to celebrate with my new friends. Should I invite Jackson? I knew I
’d ponder the question all day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Ciao, Robin,” Antonio’s rich Italian voice greeted me when I entered the café that night. He air kissed my cheeks and then grasped my hands. His brown eyes met mine. “Welcome back to your family. For leaving the demon.”
“Thank you, I haven’t felt this good in years.”
“Prego, prego. Please, join your friends. Anything you want tonight is on the house.”
“Grazi.” Warmth suffused me as I walked through Soprannaturale. Nobody avoided my gaze, glared at me behind hooded lids, or frowned when they saw me. I hastened my steps at the sight of Catherine, Alex, Evie, Ryan, Mia, and Jacob sitting around the back booth. I wasn’t surprised Liz wasn’t there. Those fences hadn’t been mended yet, I guessed.
My heart stuttered at the lack of Jackson. I never did call to invite him, though.
“Robin!” Catherine pushed the others over to make room for me.
“I can pull up a chair,” I said uncertainly. Seven around the booth seemed tight.
“Not at all,” Mia responded. “Have a seat.”
I slid in beside Catherine. Ryan handed me a menu. I perused it while the group’s chatter resumed.
“What do you think she’ll do next?” Evie asked.
“I don’t know,” Catherine answered. “From the moment I arrived in town, she’s acted like we have a connection and I’m somehow important to her goals.” She shrugged. “But, since I helped thwart her this time, I imagine she feels differently now.” Laughter erupted at the sentiment.
“What do you think, Robin?” Evie asked. I set the menu down. “You worked with her for years. Did she ever give any hint of her end game?”
I shook my head. “No, she didn’t. Catherine’s right, though. She became Barbara’s focus from the moment she arrived; and then by extension, everyone connected with the Paranormal Talent Agency.”
“So strange,” Alex said.
“I know. She dropped cryptic hints all the time,” I said, “but never anything substantial. But I don’t care anymore,” I declared. “She’s out of my life.”
Paranormal Talent Agency Episodes 4-6 Page 8