"49...50..." He pretended to struggle but I'd seen Flix pick up the front end of a Lincoln Continental with his pinky finger, so I knew he was milking the situation for all it was worth. He was shirtless, of course, his chiseled pectoral muscles tightened in faux exertion, glowing skin a perfect sun-kissed gold. I shook my head, and that's when my gaze landed on none other than Kin. He stood there, clad in his usual gym attire and speaking out of the side of his mouth at a nondescript man in track shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off who was ogling Flix with even more lust in his eyes than any of the women in the building.
I raised one eyebrow at Mona, who had already waved my almost-ex-boyfriend over with an exuberant hop and a friendly smile.
"Hey Kin, how's it going--did you know Lexi and I were going to be here?" She asked innocently.
"Uh, no, I didn't, but I'm glad to see you both." Kin reached for me tentatively and deposited a stiff kiss on my forehead when I returned his grasp on my fingers with a gentle squeeze. The man almost literally turned my bones to jelly, making it extremely difficult to stay angry with him. Even when I knew I was right.
"Lexi, this is Carl." Kin gestured to the man with the track pants he had been talking to, and for a moment all thoughts of my troubled relationship were forgotten. First of all, I was insatiably curious about this man with whom Flix had been spending all of his time--especially since he was usually so forthcoming about his conquests, but had been annoyingly silent when it came to all things Carl-related. And second, of all, I was angrier than a wet hen sitting on a cold egg that Kin had gotten to meet him first.
And since when did Kin and Flix go to the gym together, anyway? I wasn't aware they were friends for any reason other than having me in common, and now I felt like I was the one out of the loop. I chose to ignore the fact that I'd been in my own little bubble lately, too, and that Flix's behavior wasn't exactly something to condemn him for. To adhere to the rules of basic etiquette, I tamped down my hurt feelings and smiled brightly at Carl.
"I'm Lexi; it's nice to finally meet you."
The easy smile Carl had been broadcasting before my arrival widened even further. "Lexi, I've heard so much about you." A friendly hug and a kiss on my cheek later, I could see why Flix was so enamored.
Even though there wasn't anything particularly out of the ordinary about Carl's features at first glance (I'd sorted him quickly into the nothing special category), after a few moments in his presence, I could feel the tug of charisma radiating from his pores.
Indifference was replaced with curiosity, and my instincts began to scream. I gathered all of my energy together and reached out with my witchy senses, searching for any supernatural energy signature that might be radiating off Carl. He was clean, but he looked straight into my eyes like he could tell exactly what I was doing, and his smile drooped for a fraction of a second.
There was a story here, of that I was sure. Right now, I was too discombobulated from Kin's presence, and slightly irritated that I hadn't known he and Flix had become friends.
"Lexi. Hey." Flix, finally having extricated himself from his adoring public, greeted me without fully meeting my gaze.
"Are you quite finished?" I kept my voice genial, ribbing on Flix like I normally would, even knowing full well he could feel jealousy and irritation of the tenth degree roiling off me in waves. "And what are you doing, stealing my boyfriend?" Or taking his side in this stupid fight, I added, silently and using only my eyes to communicate.
"We've both been going to this gym since before the two of you met. Remember when you and I signed up together back in January? I've actually used my membership, and now Kin and I meet up to work out. What's the problem?" Relax he mimed back.
Mona's nervous giggle pierced the tension my stare-down with Flix was creating, and we all broke away from the group. Mona and I headed in one direction while Flix and Carl begged off to hit some flea market on the other side of town, and Kin sauntered toward the locker room after promising to call me later.
"What on earth was that all about?" Mona chirped as we gathered our things.
"You got me." All of the accomplishment I had been enjoying after the excruciating yoga class had evaporated, and I just wanted to go home. I'd deal with Flix and Kin later when I was calmer. Yeah, that would happen. Not.
Chapter Twenty
We headed out of the city on Route 11, windows open and our dark hair blowing in the wind. If I closed my eyes and tried really hard to forget everything else, it would have felt like a real mother-daughter moment. Or even just a regular day in a regular life I'd never had a chance to lead. Unfortunately, the intimacy Sylvana and I had experienced the night we'd gone to see the Mudwitch had evaporated in the bright light of the morning, to be replaced with awkward silence. I felt like I'd had a one night stand with someone who'd have preferred I exit quietly through the open bathroom window. Instead, I expected a cuddle and some breakfast in bed--not Sylvana's style, that much was clear.
Or maybe she just wasn't a morning person.
"Where are we going again?" I said.
"To the first place I should have looked, actually. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. Shadow Hold is the most logical place to put an item you wanted to hide away from all the worlds."
"Shadow Hold. That sounds dangerous, should I be worried?"
Sylvana shot me a fierce, one-sided smile along with a sideways glance.
"Safe as houses."
It wasn't houses I was worried about. Shadow Hold sounded intimidating. "Once we get through the portal," Sylvana said.
There it is, I thought, the kink in the plan. Getting into the nexus where I'd inadvertently freed Sylvana had taken the combined efforts of several members of the group I was with at the time, myself included. Portals cannot be created by one entity alone. Otherwise, they'd crop up everywhere like quicksand traps, and people would disappear all the time. Opening a portal requires a group similar in persuasion to the one who created it.
The portal leading to Shadow Hold would probably take more.
"Doesn't it usually take a minimum of three different types of people to open a nexus?"
"Different kind of portal, you'll see. Besides, we're only here to make sure we have the right location. Trust me. It'll only take a few minutes for you to verify if we're on the right track and then we're out of there."
Sylvana parked the land yacht of a car next to a highway sign promising a scenic overlook.
Overlook meant heights, right? Not as high as dolls on my list of fears, but definitely in the top five. Oh, goodie. We'd probably be climbing, and after my day at the gym with Mona, I wasn't sure my calves were up for it.
The familiar black pack slung over her shoulder, Sylvana crossed the street to take a path I'd missed seeing when we parked. It looked like we'd be going down, not up. My calves promptly informed me downhill wouldn't be any picnic, either. I could almost hear them shrieking, which brought up a mental image of my calves with tiny mouths. Totally creepy.
On a day less fraught with pain and danger, I'd have enjoyed the hike as we skirted down along the edge of a stream to get to the valley floor. Air cooled by rushing water felt good against skin heated by the effort of picking our way along the marked trail.
"It's pretty here." Sylvana threw a funny look over her shoulder at my comment.
"Your grandmother loved this area. There's a waterfall at the bottom," I could already hear the rush and thunder beginning to grow, "It's right in a junction where leylines cross. She'd channel that energy and turn the waterfall into a rainbow for me. When I was six or seven, I thought she was the most powerful witch in the world."
As tough as she wanted to seem, the slight droop of my mother's shoulders and the stiffness in her neck suggested a sense of wistfulness over the outings with her mother. It wasn't bad memories she was trying to ward off, but good ones.
"What happened between you and Grandmother? It sounds like you had a better relationship at one time."
"Could you show me? When we get there?" Sylvana's chin dropped toward her chest as she took a breath that squared her shoulders.
"Come on." We descended the last twenty yards in a rush and came out into a clearing at the base of the waterfall. I'm a city girl, born and bred and I've always preferred concrete to mossy rocks, but in this place, I could sense the elemental connection to nature that marked most witches. I felt the pull of stronger forces in the movement of the water; smelled it in the earthy scents, and heard it the tree songs played by the wind. A bird sang a two-tone of notes that arrowed right to my gut and lodged there with an exquisite beauty that was close to painful.
If this was how Terra felt all the time, I'd underestimated everything she'd given up to spend years in an urban environment while raising me. Her gardens made a lot more sense to me now, and I realized how much I owed her--all of them--for their generosity.
"Sit right here," Sylvana directed me to a flat rock with the best view of the waterfall, and I felt something click into place inside me. This simple recreation from her past formed a link between us that up until now I'd only felt in hints of possibility for a close bond. Oddly enough, I also felt my grandmother there, or I thought I did, a shadow of a larger presence that didn't feel evil or benign--just incredibly there. Glancing at the angle of the sun and back at the waterfall, Sylvana seemed to be waiting for just the right moment.
The spell, when Sylvana raised her arms and performed it, reinforced the sense of being joined by an act to a past I hadn't suspected ever existed.
Sunlight swept through the clearing, climbed the waterfall to touch the first threads of color as they spilled down over the edge. The forest held its breath around me during the sparkling seconds before the magic of light, water, color, and Sylvana thundered into the waiting basin.
Using her hands like she was directing an orchestra, Sylvana wove bands of color into swirls and braided them together while I wept silent tears for the little girl she'd been and for the mother who would play conductor to bring such beauty to her daughter. That was the moment I finally felt like I was part of a family with traditions and a heritage that wasn't only about power.
Even wicked witches sometimes make good magic.
Five or six minutes was all it lasted until the angle of the sun dissipated the spell. Still enchanted, I sat still another few seconds, closed my eyes and imprinted this moment on my memory.
"Thank you, Mother. That was lovely." My voice was husky with tears, and when Sylvana replied, I was surprised to find hers sounded the same.
"I love you, Lexi. Whatever else happens, you should know that I do."
Leaping off the rock, I launched into her arms and finally experienced the shining feeling I'd been waiting for ever since I could remember. My mother's arms folded me over me, and I clung to her embrace while a shiver ran through us both.
How long we stood there, I couldn't say, but when we finally parted, the raw, empty places I'd spent a lifetime covering with a veneer were now solid and true and filled. No matter what happened from here, I'd had this moment, and nothing could take it from me again.
Aching calves forgotten, fear of the errand pushed to the back of my mind, I followed my mother deeper into the forest with a spring in my step and a lightness in my heart.
That feeling lasted for half an hour--right up until we turned off the marked trail and into a section of close underbrush that pulled at my clothes and hair.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" The prospect of spending a night lost in the woods killed all those lovely communing with nature feelings I'd been enjoying a short time before.
"Trust me." The family catch phrase didn't inspire me to any great lengths of confidence. "Follow, it'll be better in a minute." Another twenty feet of hard slog and Sylvana stopped to scan the trees around her. "I know it's right here somewhere." All I saw were more trees, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt.
"Right there, that's it." She strode over to a birch tree with shimmering leaves and laid her hand against a knot that was just above eye level. "Tree grew since I was here last." Sylvana gave the knot a press, and a path opened up like magic. No, not like magic, it was magic.
Trees moved out of the way, rocks too. Damn, sometimes it's fun being a witch.
Still, following my mother down wooded trails with uncertain ends was becoming an unsettling habit.
Unlike the path to the Mudwitch's house, this one branched off multiple times, and Sylvana paused at each crossroads to get her bearings. Only twice we turned wrong and had to backtrack when the path ended abruptly or meandered into heavily-thorned brush.
"She probably expected me to follow in her footsteps," Sylvana commented out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" I knew she was referring to Clara.
"Judge and jury. She and her cronies made a mission out of collecting powerful items and hiding them away to hoard the strongest magic for themselves--and then never using any of it." Bitter words. "What's the point of having power if you don't use it to shape the world to your desire?"
A chill stole over me. That sounded a lot like using magic for personal gain--something the faeries did without a second thought, but then again, they suffered fewer consequences. Direct personal gain and witchcraft went together like oil and water, unlike incidental personal benefit, which was harder to define. Where's the line, you ask? Well, it can be a fine one, but basically, if a witch does a spell for purely selfish reasons, that spell is considered taboo, and the witch has earned a few wicked points. If the same spell is cast to benefit another person and the witch somehow gets something out of it, well, that's okay. You see what I mean about how hard it can be to find the line.
I'd begun to think of my mother as more misunderstood than wicked, but her statement made me wonder.
Not for long, though, because I started to recognize my surroundings.
"Wait. This is it. I remember this row of trees and the sun flashing off a stained glass window in that distant clearing. But in the crystal ball, I was being drawn toward the bow; I could tell which direction to go. Now, I feel nothing. Why isn't this working? Do you think someone got here first?"
Running forward, I stopped just before pitching down the gentle slope leading to the cluster of buildings and took it all in. Built using large cobblestones, the round structure in the center towered over a series of shorter rectangles circling it like the rays of the sun. Thatched roofs and narrow windows lent a medieval feel to the tableau. From the top of the hill, I could see a second, similar grouping some distance away.
Sylvana sighed and paced back and forth. "Unlikely with so few being aware of this place at all. Do you know what spell you were using to locate it in the vision? At least we know it was here, but here covers a couple hundred acres and a dozen buildings with stained glass windows."
"The vision picked up with me already feeling the pull--I didn't see what happened first. But it felt an awful lot like the same thing that guides me toward a match--my intuition, I used to call it before...before I knew about the whole Fate Weaver thing."
Something--some cosmic knowledge, or maybe some part of my power buried deep down inside me--clicked in my brain. It wasn't like the internal GPS that I'd been using for years; it was the same thing. And I knew, without a doubt, that I could unlock it. Don't ask me how; maybe because I had already seen myself using it in the vision, or maybe some other facet of my birthright had kicked in. Regardless, I wasn't going to question it, I was going to act.
Minutes passed.
Or maybe I was going to stand here looking stupid in the middle of the woods. In the past, it's always taken proximity to a client's desire for true love to trigger the tracking side
of the equation. Well, until I started having those compulsions, but there again, they came from outside; I had never used my own force of will to get the process started. I wasn't sure how to begin, so I squinched up my face and tried to feel something.
I probably looked like a little kid attempting to hold it when she had to go potty.
Nothing happened, so I tried again.
"It's not working."
"How do you know you're a witch?" Sylvana asked a question that sounded ridiculous.
"Because it's my birthright and I've been awakened." Finally.
"That's in your head, how do you know in your gut?"
"Oh." I thought about it for a few seconds. "I feel the well of power deep in my bones."
"How do you know you're a Child of Cupid."
"Because Jett told me and you confirmed it and because I have such good instincts for putting matches together."
"And what does your gut say about that?"
"Not a lot and only when it feels like talking. I've never been able to access the side of me that tracks matches on my own. It only comes when it wants to."
"The only thing that's different is your perspective. Being a witch has been part of your identity from the beginning. I think all you need to do is accept the other side of your heritage as fact. You're not a witch with fancy extras. You're Alexis Balefire. There is no other like you. Find your true self, and you'll know what to do."
"You think it's really that simple?"
"Nothing is ever simple, it's just necessary."
I looked around, found a mossy rock to sit on, and moved my body into Lotus position to meditate. "Stop staring at me, mother. This might take some time." I felt her presence withdraw, cracked open one eye and saw her sitting with her back against a tree several yards away.
Who am I? Aside from a passing visual of Anthony Michael Hall in The Breakfast Club--and I was pretty sure I wasn't a walrus--nothing but a few disjointed adjectives came to mind.
All Spell is Breaking Loose: Lexi Balefire: Matchmaking Witch (Fate Weaver Book 2) Page 14