The front door was locked, and she saw Sebastian's sandals sitting neatly beside the rug. Still she pulled open the door and stepped into the warm night. Stars and a sliver of moon crowded the sky. A cacophony of crickets and tree frogs filled the night air, and Abby watched tiny lightning bugs blinking in the darkness.
"Hey. Did I wake you?" Sebastian spoke from behind her and Abby whirled around, startled.
He stood silhouetted in the doorway, shirtless, his hair tousled.
Abby sighed and stepped into him, chastising herself for doubting him. She wrapped her arms around his naked waist and inhaled his scent, nuzzling the soft hair on his chest.
"Mmm," he breathed, kissing the top of her head and then tilting her face up to meet his. He found her lips and then kissed her neck, sliding her robe off one shoulder and then the other. It pooled in a silk heap at their feet. He picked her up and carried her to the porch laying her on a chaise. In the darkness, she could not look into his eyes, but she felt them moving over her. As he traveled down her body, she pushed her hands in his hair, massaging hard into his scalp. She arched back and moaned when he moved into her. As they made love, she tried to lose herself in the sensations of their bodies. She wanted to, needed to, but when she'd slipped one of his fingers into her mouth, she'd tasted dirt and felt the grittiness of it against her tongue. It hadn't been there when they went to bed. He had taken a long shower and clipped his fingernails afterward. Sometime in the night he'd been digging.
****
"Victor has to bury the bones on Abby and Sebastian's property," Julian told Oliver as they walked further from the castle toward the sand dunes on the north end of the island.
"What makes you say that?"
"It's part of the magic. Those woods are significant in some way. He can't move them far or he would have by now. He digs them up every fifty years or so. Why not take them to a lair? To a safe place? He has to leave them there."
"Then you believe that Victor buried them in the same place?"
"The same relative space, yes."
Oliver rubbed a hand through his blonde hair. His eyes felt dry and grainy. He needed to go to bed, but adrenaline kept him awake.
"Okay," he announced, shoving the exhaustion down. "What do we do? I'm not keen on popping into Abby and Sebastian's house in the middle of the night.
Julian nodded.
"Morning is only a few hours away. Catch some sleep. I'll talk to Faustine and we'll meet in the breakfast room tomorrow," Julian told him, turning to walk back towards the castle.
****
Julian and Oliver moved stealthily through the woods. They had not told Abby and Sebastian that they intended to search the property for a new burial site.
"Look here," Oliver said, jogging to the stone wall. The dirt surrounding the wall was disturbed and some of the wall had been demolished.
Julian squatted down and touched the earth.
"Abby came out here the other day and had a go at the wall," he said. I could hear her beating on it from the porch after we told her this had been Clyde's home."
"Can't say I'm surprised," Oliver commented. "But that looks like digging."
Julian looked at the hole Oliver pointed to.
"Yeah it does, but it's pretty shallow for bones. Six inches down the earth is packed hard. It's only the top soil that's loose," Julian said, pushing his fingers into the hole.
"Would Abby have been digging though?"
Julian shrugged.
"Sure. We're hunting for more items, right? We know Clyde bewitched the amulet, the dagger, possibly a ring, but no one has seen the ring. It could be buried here somewhere."
"Maybe we should have told them," Oliver said, looking frustrated. "If they've been out here digging, it'd be helpful to know that."
"We will," Julian said, standing and brushing off his pants. "But let's take a look around first."
A rustling sound caused both of them to pause. Julian held a finger to his lips and then waved a hand over through the air. When they moved, their footfalls did not make a sound.
"Abby?" Oliver asked, surprised.
Abby was on her hands and knees in the forest, a small shovel clutched in her hand, a streak of dirt on her face.
She reeled away from the sound, clutching her chest.
"Oh," she breathed. "You scared me half to death." She looked behind them. "I didn't hear you."
"What are you doing?" Julian asked.
She opened her eyes wide and glanced at the shovel. She took a moment to answer and Oliver wondered if she were weighing the possibility of a lie.
"I'm looking for Kanti's bones," she admitted finally. "Victor buried them here. He had to, right? It's part of Clyde's magic. He can't afford to lose the connection to Kanti."
Oliver grinned, but Julian gave her an irritated glare.
"You didn't think it might be dangerous for you to come out here and dig alone?"
"I did revealing spells first," she retorted, looking equally miffed. "And I'm not helpless, you know? Should I sit in my house knitting booties while you take the risks, Julian?"
Julian sighed.
"Did you find anything, Abby?"
She looked sheepish.
"No, but I'm getting close. I can feel it."
"Then we better get to work," Oliver announced. "Yeah?" he looked at Julian expectantly who only shook his head in defeat.
They created an ever-widening circle from where Abby had been digging.
"This is it," Julian announced after several minutes. Abby and Oliver both ran to where Julian stood. The disturbed earth revealed recent digging, but it was the air above the ground that told them magic had been performed there. A heavy greenish vapor hovered over the altered ground. Abby shivered and rubbed her arms despite the warm day. She did not mention that Sebastian had been digging just the night before.
"Don't get too close," Julian told them. "This magic is meant to keep us out and keep her in. I would like Faustine to have a look."
"I'm on it," Oliver said, trotting back to the house.
"Where's Sebastian?" Julian asked.
"Helena took him and Vidya to an herbalist. He wants to learn to make medicine for Vidya and since most of Helena's medicine is magic, she figured he should learn from a human."
Julian raised his eyebrows.
"And they wanted to give me a few hours to myself."
"And this is how you chose to spend the time?" Julian frowned.
Abby shrugged and wiped dirt from her face.
"When the urge strikes..."
Oliver returned with Faustine a short time later.
Faustine carried a heavy black cloak and a brown leather case. He slipped the cloak on. It concealed his entire body, leaving only two mesh slits for his eyes. From his case, he took a glass bottle and a gold ladle.
"You didn't know Faustine was a mad scientist, did you?" Oliver whispered, nudging Abby.
She shook her head, watching Faustine intently as he stepped into the green haze. He vanished completely and Abby stumbled back, shocked.
"Oh my god! What happened?" she asked, looking wildly at Julian whose face was unsurprisingly calm.
"It's the suit, not the magic," he explained. "When the suit comes into contact with a toxic entity, it shields the witch inside it, completely as you can see."
"A human couldn't perform this kind of magic, right? Or a hybrid?" Abby asked forcing her voice to sound neutral.
Julian studied her.
"I find it hard to believe anyone except an experienced witch could perform this magic. But that is a strange question Abby. Why do you ask?"
Abby started to respond, but was interrupted when Faustine re-emerged. The glass bottle appeared empty, but Abby could see tiny, nearly transparent, green particles adrift beneath the glass.
Julian opened the case and held a black canvas pouch to Faustine. He placed the bottle inside and the four witches waited.
"Dramatically, the magician pulled a green rabbi
t from the pouch!" Oliver exclaimed.
Julian shot Oliver an annoyed look, but a tiny smile cracked Faustine's lips.
He reached into the bag and retrieved a roll of parchment. He carefully loosened the twine and opened it.
"Exponentia Acidum," Faustine read. "Antidotum," Faustine trailed off, reading silently. "Abby do you have fennel in the house? And gold jewelry of some kind?"
"Yes," Abby said. "I'll go get it."
She sprinted back to the house and flung open the cupboards, wishing that Sebastian were home while grateful that he was gone. He knew the spices better than she and it took her nearly five minutes to dig out the container of dried fennel seeds tucked in the back of the cabinet. She grabbed a gold bracelet that Nick had given her on their first anniversary wondering why she'd ever bothered to keep it.
Back in the forest, a small black folding table had appeared with a mortar and pestle. As Faustine crushed and stirred, he whispered words that Abby did not understand. Julian stood over his shoulder, occasionally making suggestions.
Oliver slipped closer to Abby.
"Kind of makes you feel like an amateur, huh?"
"That's an understatement," she admitted. "How did they ever learn all of this?"
"Living, I guess. And I get the feeling the old ways were a bit stricter with education."
"Right you are," Julian interrupted as Faustine poured a sprinkle of the mixture into the bottle. A tiny explosion of light occurred within the glass and the green particles vanished.
"I was educated in a coven that did not allow speaking during the first year of training. It ensured that all magic had its roots in the energetic realm," Julian explained, a gleam in his eye.
"The world has changed much since that time," Faustine agreed. He scooped a handful of his concoction from the pestle and threw it into the green haze. Light shot in every direction and the green faded and disappeared.
"Wow," Abby breathed.
"There came a time when some witches believed it might be best if new generations discover magic for themselves. If you seek a teacher, then you might learn spells of old. If you do not, then it is hard to say what magic you will amass in your lifetime," Faustine continued.
"It was a tactic," Julian added. "To reduce the power of young witches who were at times volatile and impulsive. It can be dangerous to give all your secrets to such witches."
"Humph," Oliver grunted. "I'm offended."
Julian winked.
"I would teach you all the ways of the witch, Oliver. You know that."
Oliver grinned.
"I'm afraid I've lost my discipline to be a student, Julian. I prefer this kind of learning now." He waved his hand at the woods.
Abby realized, though she hadn't heard Faustine's words, she knew the magic he had performed. Some part of her had recorded his movements, his sounds, his mixture. Just as she'd repeated Dante's magic to follow the bones, a part of her was always absorbing the magic being performed around her. Likely Oliver was as well.
"Now it is time to dig," Faustine announced.
Chapter 23
"So, this is the place," Abby murmured, pressing her hand against a gnarled oak tree. She had expected to recognize it from her visions of Kanti, but it looked like a thousand other forests she'd walked through.
"This is it," Julian agreed. "There's a boulder formation over there. Some of the Algonquin elders added it sometime later to mark their dead."
"We're standing on an Indian burial ground?" Oliver groaned. "Great! Now we'll all be haunted for life."
"Very funny," Abby grumbled.
Sebastian squeezed her hand.
"You okay?" he asked.
Abby nodded. She was, but still the memory of Kanti's last morning, on the ground they now stood, made her feel as if she might cry. One of the first memories that Kanti revealed to her occurred that fateful day when she was stolen by the hulking giant as she sang to the fire. Her tribe slept, unaware that their gifted child was embarking on a horrifying journey that would end in her death and a curse that would span centuries.
Abby's turbulent emotions didn't end there. Sebastian's strange behavior, his wearing Eugene's pocket watch, and the holes she found along the old foundation on their property all pointed to a very disturbing conclusion. Sebastian had begun keeping secrets again. She could have told Julian, Faustine and Oliver the day before when they discovered Kanti's bones, but instead she remained silent.
A man with dark ruddy skin stepped from the shelter of trees and Abby's heart leaped. Julian had tracked down an Algonquin elder who had agreed to perform a proper burial for Kanti. He tilted his head in her direction, his long black hair braided over each shoulder. He had black streaks painted across his cheeks, forehead and chin. When Julian presented him with the bones, he knelt on the ground and wrapped them delicately in birch bark. He dug the grave slowly, singing a song in the language of his tribe.
Abby fell back toward the trees as did the other witches and Sebastian. They watched the man place the bones gently into the ground. He buried them and chanted for nearly a half hour before quietly disappearing into the forest.
****
That night, Bridget made a feast at Ula. Prime rib, heaping dishes of candied yams, buttered rolls, salads and desserts lined the long table in the dining room. The candelabras blazed and the witches' voices carried through the patio doors and high into the night.
Abby savored the food, using one hand to gently rock Vidya asleep in an antique bassinet that Elda had brought from the cellars of Ula. It had been Lydie's bed during her brief infancy at Ula, but before that it had belonged to Miranda, Julian's deceased wife. Though she and Julian had never born children, the bassinet had been her own baby bed and a family heirloom that Miranda treasured. Occasionally, Abby saw Julian sneaking glances at the rocking bassinet, though if caught, he quickly looked away and resumed his conversation.
"She's as bad as a cat," Oliver said across the table, inclining his head toward Vidya.
"Except at night," Sebastian noted, running a hand through his tousled hair.
He looked tired and had been quite hairy that afternoon despite the success at the burial ground. He seemed to drift in his own thoughts. Abby often had to say his name several times before he realized that she had been addressing him.
"Coffee?" Bridget asked, overhearing their conversation.
He shook his head.
"I feel wired as it is. Caffeine will only make it worse," he replied.
Helena started to stand and Sebastian grabbed her arm.
"It's okay, Helena. No tinctures for me tonight. I'm hoping the storm gathering out there will lull me to sleep."
He nodded toward the window where the sky had grown considerably darker.
"Well it definitely won't help me sleep," Abby commented, knowing she would be in for a night of wakefulness due to the rain. As a water element, she noticed that even more than large bodies of water, rain storms seemed to magnify her energy.
"I'm sure she'll keep you company," Helena said, leaning over Sebastian to grab one of Vidya's outstretched hands as she woke and lengthened her pudgy little arms.
"Well, hello," Abby told her, pulling her blanket a bit lower to reveal the onesie that Oliver and Lydie had bought for her in Australia. It was white and covered in little kangaroos of various colors.
"How are things down unda?" Oliver called over the table.
Vidya's eyes opened wide, and she produced a second yawn.
"Sleep all day, party all night, don't ya?" Sebastian asked her, leaning his face close, so she grabbed at his long black curls. He kissed her forehead and watched her a moment more before diving into the huge slice of banana cake that Bridget had placed in front of him.
Abby lifted her from the bassinet and settled her in the crook of her arm. She waved a little concealment spell over her chest before opening her cloak to latch Vidya on. She didn't mind breastfeeding in front of the other witches, they more than encouraged it, but s
he always felt a little awkward at the moment before her child latched as she sat with her breast fully exposed. In the back of her mind, she could hear her mother hissing with disapproval. Becky was all for breastfeeding; however, she believed strongly that it was best performed in a dark empty room.
Sebastian leaned close and kissed her temple.
"Fancy a boat ride, tonight?" he asked. His eyes sparkled and the tiredness seemed to have vanished.
Wanting to hold tight to this happier version of Sebastian, she nodded.
"I'd love it," she told him.
****
Sebastian stopped rowing. His teeth glowed a startling white in the light of the moon. Lake Superior stretched out around them, ice-cold and still as glass.
The anticipated storm had been fast and fierce, pouring down rain for twenty minutes and then disappearing into the horizon. In the calm aftermath, they had set off in a little rowboat.
"Fancy a swim?" Abby asked.
"Not just yet," he told her, leaning forward and reaching beneath his bench.
Abby looked back toward Ula. Lights blazed in the castle windows. Set high on the cliffs the castle gave Abby chills, much the same way it had the first night she'd seen it. Somewhere within those high stone walls, their baby lay on a blanket as Oliver and Lydie entertained her with magic tricks.
"It's all so surreal," she whispered.
Sebastian sat up holding a box wrapped in shining red paper.
"What do you have there?" Abby asked.
"A surprise." Sebastian grinned, holding up the small box so that Abby could see the dark tendrils of ribbon curling from its surface.
Abby felt a little shiver tickle her spine. An odd sense of foreboding stole over her as she stared at the gift. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she took the box, forcing a smile.
"What's the occasion?" she asked, twisting her finger through the ribbon and pulling it loose.
Born of Shadows- Complete Series Page 131