Spellcasting in Silk: A Witchcraft Mystery

by Juliet Blackwell

  “Selena and I were talking about her future. Would you like to join the discussion?”

  “I . . . of course.”

  “Selena will be under my protection,” Aidan said.

  “She’s already under my protection,” I said.

  Our eyes met and held, a silent challenge.

  “Selena,” Aidan said after a moment. “Why don’t you and Sailor go look for some perfect tomatillos? We’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

  Selena looked from Aidan to me, as though sensing the tension.

  “We should all stay together,” said Sailor, stepping toward our little group.

  “Lily will join you in a moment,” Aidan said, his gaze not moving from my face. “No need to worry, Sailor. We’re right out here in public. What could happen?”

  Selena got up and meandered toward the fruit stands.

  “Sailor, please stay with her,” I said. “I’ll be fine. This won’t take long. Please.”

  With obvious reluctance, Sailor went to join Selena.

  “Was that for Sailor’s benefit?” I asked. “You wanted to pull rank on him, put him in his place?”

  “You have no idea how little Sailor matters to me. This is about Selena.”

  “You can’t have her, Aidan. She’s only a child; she’s not capable of looking out for her own interests.”

  “You make it sound as if my motives are suspect. Surely you’ve noticed how powerful she is. If she’s not under my protection, someone else might well step in.”

  “Someone already has: me. I’m taking care of her.”

  The knowledge that I’d just lost track of her in a public place hung, unspoken, in the air between us.

  “Also, Oscar’s on the job,” I added. “Most of the time.” When he wasn’t on a leash and taken elsewhere.

  “Oscar’s a good bodyguard. But . . . listen, Lily. Selena’s not the only one I’m concerned about right now. When you and I connected, the other night on the bridge, I felt a change in your power.”

  “What kind of change?”

  He hesitated, as though choosing his words with care. And that made me nervous. Aidan almost never hesitated.

  “I have a proposal for you. I’d like you to come work with me.”

  “You want me to work for you?”

  He gave me a half-smile. “Not for, but with. I’m suggesting a partnership.”

  “With you,” I tried to wrap my mind around the idea. “Lily Ivory in partnership with Aidan Rhodes? That sounds . . . complicated.”

  “Complicated, but interesting. Like most worthwhile things in life.”

  “What’s going on, Aidan?”

  “Things have been ratcheting up in our fair city. Even officialdom has started to notice—witness the mayor’s clean-up campaign. And I’m . . .” Again with the hesitation, and the reaching for words. His blue eyes cast about, taking in the marketgoers and picnickers. Finally he seemed to come to a decision, and met my gaze once again. “I’m not as powerful as I used to be. As I need to be. I have limitations that need to be addressed.”

  “What kinds of limitations?”

  “I don’t think this is the place or the time to get into details. Suffice it to say that if you and I combine our powers, I believe we’ll be strong enough to keep things under control. We can look after Selena together, give her guidance and make sure she’s safe, and then if things go well, she will become a powerful witch in her own right and will be able to step in to help.”

  “I’m, uh . . . I mean, we can work together from time to time, of course.”

  “I’m not talking about that—that’s what we’ve been doing so far. But now we need to come together, a united front. Publicly.”

  “What about Sailor?” I asked.

  “What about him?”

  “He’s not going to be thrilled about me working for you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Your relationship’s not long for this world, anyway.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “Listen: I know what you think of me. You suspect I have other motives. But I released Sailor in the first place because I could sense the feelings you had for each other. Love makes people vulnerable, which for normal people is part of its beauty. But you aren’t normal, Lily. Given your abilities, being vulnerable makes you dangerous.”

  “You’re saying magical people can’t experience love?”

  “Not the kind of love you’re thinking of. Not true, selfless love.”

  “I don’t believe that,” I scoffed. “You’re making this up as you go along. You’re jealous of what Sailor and I have.”

  “I wish it were that simple. Tell me: How many powerful people do you know who are in a loving relationship?”

  I thought of Graciela and her witchy friends; my father; Aidan. Finally, one occurred to me: “Hervé!”

  Aidan shook his head. “Different system entirely. Hervé’s relationship is an integral part of his belief system; the dyad is an important source of his power. But that is not the case for you. Your relationship to Sailor, your desire for love and connection, makes you vulnerable.”

  “So you tried to send Sailor away because you’re a nice guy?”

  “Is it so hard to believe I would do something for altruistic reasons?”

  “I think you rarely do anything that isn’t in your interest, one way or the other.”

  “Think what you will about my character, Lily, but deep down you know I’m right about this. We’re much more alike than you’ve ever wanted to admit.”

  I felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere and looked up to see Sailor and Selena approaching the table, a little brown paper bag of tomatillos in hand.

  “Time’s up,” said Sailor, glaring at Aidan.

  Aidan rose. “Monopolized your woman for too long, have I? No worries, I’m late for an appointment, anyway. Selena, remember what I said. I’ll see you soon. And, Lily? Always a pleasure.”

  * * *

  Sailor waited until we got back to Aunt Cora’s Closet, Bronwyn and Maya went home, and Selena was upstairs with Oscar before grilling me about my conversation with Aidan.

  But I didn’t know what to make of what Aidan told me; I needed time to process it, think it through. So I equivocated.

  “I think . . . he was saying that things might be ratcheting up in San Francisco lately.”

  “Ratcheting up, how?”

  “Just mayhem-wise. He wasn’t specific. But you have to admit there’s been a lot going on, supernaturally speaking, since I arrived.”

  He smiled and tugged my ponytail. “You do seem to be something of a lightning rod for trouble. I’ll grant you that.”

  “And at my last showdown, at the oak tree . . . it seemed like my foe was defeated a little too easily.”

  “It wasn’t all that easy. And you had help. From your grandmother’s coven, and the woodsfolk, and Oscar. Not to mention your guardian spirit.”

  “I know. But still. It’s just a little worrying.”

  “Good thing I’m getting stronger, too, then, right? As are you, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “I am getting more powerful but . . . Anyway, I think I may have to work with Aidan.”

  He tilted his head slightly in question. “Work with him how?”

  “We need to partner, combine forces, make sure we’ve got control.”

  “I thought you told me you and Aidan ‘combined forces’ once and you melted metal?”

  “That was a while ago. We were unprepared, but we’re both more in control now, and he’s got a better handle on me. We linked the other night and didn’t have a problem. In fact, it allowed me to experience a vision.”

  “When was this?”

  “The other night I went to the Golden Gate Bridge to try to figure out what happened with Nicky Utley.”

  “And you met Aidan there?”

  “Yes, he was there, but that’s not my point—”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I . . . I don’t kn
ow. Everything’s been so crazy lately, and we haven’t had a lot of time to talk. I wasn’t deliberately not telling you. My point is that things are different now between Aidan and me.”

  “Could this have anything to do with Aidan wanting influence over Selena?”

  “He and I need to work together to keep her safe.”

  “Or so he says.” Sailor shrugged. “Ever occur to you we need to keep her safe from him?”

  “The thing is . . . I believe him, Sailor. I think he wanted to make sure she was okay, that I could protect her, that’s all.”

  Sailor pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, and stroked my cheek with one finger. When he spoke, his voice was very quiet.

  “You are a trusting soul for one who has seen so much.”

  I didn’t know what to say. This was the second time today I’d been called “trusting”—by psychics, no less— which was the opposite of how I felt.

  “I’d like to arrange a discussion with all three of us: you, me, and Aidan,” Sailor continued. “Just so we’re all on the same page. In the meantime, do me a favor: Promise me you won’t let him in here when I’m not around.”

  Only then did I realize he still had his jacket on.

  “You’re not staying?”

  “I have to go—”

  “— work with Patience,” I said with a nod, peeved. “Fine.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “It worries me when a woman says ‘fine.’ ”

  I gave him an insincere smile. “Whatever could you mean?”

  “I have to do this, Lily. You know that. And after seeing Patience, I’m going to have dinner with my aunt Renna and see what she thinks about my progress. This encounter with Aidan is further proof that I need all the strength I can gather. If you need to have someone at your back, I intend to be that man. I trust Aidan about as far as I can throw him.”

  I blew out an exasperated breath.

  “I’m sorry, Lily. You’re going to have to be patient a little longer.”

  “Patience isn’t my strong suit.” Pun intended.

  He gave me a crooked grin, and kissed me. “Don’t I know it.”

  * * *

  First Aidan, now Patience. Grrr.

  I didn’t have the mental space to deal with both of them at the moment. But I could do something about my feelings toward Patience, at least. Sailor’s devotion to that sexy fortune-teller was driving me round the bend. Enough.

  I took a cedar box down from the high shelf it shared with my red leather-bound Book of Shadows. Taking a bundle of dried sage, I lit the ends and then smudged the inside of the cedar box with the smoke, using a feather to direct it into each corner, then laying the bundle in a large scallop shell in the middle of the box.

  While the sage smoldered and purified the box, I brought the newspaper article featuring Patience and a pair of scissors over to the kitchen table.

  Oscar crouched atop the table, eyes huge.

  “Whatcha doin’?” he growled.

  “Nothing. Oscar, I’ve asked you not to stand on the table.” I started to cut out the photo of Patience out of the newspaper.

  Eyes never leaving my hands, Oscar crawled off to stand on a chair. His gravelly voice dropped to an awed, excited whisper. “Mistress is doing voodoo on Patience Blix?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Then whatcha doin’?”

  “And I’m not your mistress anymore, remember?”

  He shrugged.

  I turned the cutout picture over and inscribed her name in careful block letters in red ink.

  “You are!” cried Oscar. “You’re doing a hex on Patience Blix!”

  Chapter 24

  “You’re hexing Patience?” Selena gasped as she joined us in the kitchen. “No way! I’m gonna tell.”

  “No, of course I’m not hexing anyone. I would never do such a thing. I never . . . um, almost never, hex.”

  Selena and Oscar stood on either side of the table, watching me, wide-eyed. I let out an exasperated breath.

  “If you must know,” I said as I gathered three garlic cloves, a hunk of burdock root, and basil leaves that I had soaked in water and left in the light of the last full moon, “I’m making a vexation box.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It helps a person cope with something—or someone—that’s annoying her no end.”

  With a sharp intake of breath, Oscar whispered, “You’re going to kill Patience?”

  Selena gasped.

  “Really, Oscar? After all this time you think I’d use my powers to kill someone?”

  He shrugged one scaly shoulder. “If she was going after Sailor.”

  Selena snorted.

  “I would not kill someone for going after Sailor,” I said as I brought the ingredients over to the box, where the smudge bundle had stopped smoking. “Tear her hair out, maybe,” I added, muttering. “Wipe that smug smile off her face . . .”

  Oscar snickered.

  I removed the sage bundle, and placed the garlic cloves, burdock root, and five basil leaves in the box.

  “Cedar is a protective wood,” I explained to my rapt audience. “Sage purifies, and basil is also protective—especially when it has been infused with the light from a full moon. Burdock root helps to expel negative ideas. And garlic is protective and repels bad thoughts.”

  “So you’re trying to protect Patience?”

  “Not hardly. It’s a vexation box. This woman”—I held up her smiling picture and concentrated on it—“is vexing me greatly.”

  I placed the photo in the box, under the garlic, and shut the lid. I picked up the box and gave it a couple of hard shakes, noting with satisfaction the burdock root and garlic knocking against the sides.

  Then I started to yell.

  Oscar ran away to hide in his cubby over the fridge, and Selena scooted over to the living room couch and pretended to read one of Oscar’s Agatha Christie novels.

  I yelled a little more, shook the box a few more times, and started feeling better. Finally I placed it back on the high shelf.

  “Who wants hot chocolate?” I asked.

  Oscar stuck his snout out from under his blankets. I could see one glass-green eye peeking out.

  “Is it safe?” Selena called from the living room.

  “Much safer now, I’ll tell you that much. A vexation box captures anger and annoyance. That way I don’t lose my temper.”

  “I’ll bet that would be bad,” said Selena as she came into the kitchen.

  “You should see it!” said Oscar with a loud cackle. “Things flying every which way—or every witch way, get it? Like a poltergeist! It’s awesome! Mistress, could I have double marshmallows in my hot chocolate?”

  * * *

  Later that evening I brushed Selena’s long hair while she played with a ball of red wax. With every stroke, I remembered the comforting feelings from childhood, when Graciela would sit behind me and do the same, working through tangles with patience and tenderness. A simple, intimate act repeated endlessly through the generations.

  Though her hands worked ceaselessly with the wax, her energy felt calm, tranquil. Maybe time for another attempt at getting information from my closemouthed ward.

  “Selena? What did you do at Betty’s?”

  She shrugged.

  “I mean magic. What sort of magic did you do at Betty’s?”

  “Not much. Lupita said I shouldn’t dissipate my powers.”

  There was a lot of that advice going around.

  “So what did you do?”

  “Mostly polished the silver. I like to make things shiny.”

  The first time I had seen Selena at Betty’s house, cleaning the silver, she was wearing white gloves. The gloves kept fingerprints from the metal, but could Lupita have suggested the gloves for another reason entirely? I thought about what Sailor had said at the farmers’ market, that Selena might be unaware of her strange relationship to metal. When Selena cleaned the tarnish from the silver, did she imbue the
metal with some of her power?

  Could the silver have been trapping her magic?

  “Can you tell me anything about Lupita’s fiancé?” I asked as I started to plait her hair into two long braids.

  She shrugged. “He was nice. He had a hard childhood like me ’cause he was different too. A lot of people are. I’m not a freak.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re special, in a good way. So, what’s the name of this fiancé?”

  She shrugged. “I . . . forget. I’m bored.”

  “Selena, are you afraid to tell me who Lupita’s fiancé is? Is it someone I know?”

  “I forget, that’s all. I can’t remember everything. I’m hungry.”

  “You’re safe with me, you know. Selena, you can tell me things, even scary or hard things.”

  “I know,” she said with another shrug, throwing the lump of red wax onto the kitchen table where it landed with a dull thud. “Whatever. Can I go?”

  “Tell you what,” I said, giving up and looking pointedly at my familiar. “As a special treat why don’t you and Oscar choose a movie while I make us up dinner trays?”

  With obvious reluctance, Oscar ambled over to the DVDs and starting thumbing through the stack. After considerable negotiating the two settled on a selection: Speed. Oscar was a rabid Sandra Bullock fan, and Selena announced that Keanu Reeves was “way cute.”

  I made sandwiches and fruit salad, and the three of us settled down for an early dinner on the couch. A little witch family.

  A half hour later a bunch of desperate people on a bus were trying not to get blown up, and I was wishing we were watching Charlotte’s Web. The phone rang. I knew it was trouble before I picked up.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s Patience.”

  Yep, I thought. Trouble. I glanced at Selena and Oscar, who were engrossed in the movie, and moved into the bedroom to speak in private. “What a lovely surprise.”

  She chuckled. “Oh, yes, I’m sure.”

  “How did you get this number?”

  “I told you, I have my ways. Listen, Lupita Rodriguez just called me.”

  “Seriously? Where is she? What did she say?”

  “She said she had a message for you.”