by Su Williams
“You’re sure it was your dad you saw put it there?” Nick asked, unsure of my abilities.
Well, I was sure. “Absolutely. I could—I don’t know—feel him, I guess. Come on. Let’s go check it out.”
“You sure you’re not too tired? You might need to sleep more often than Sabre and I do for a while. You’re brain doesn’t quite get that you’re not human anymore, yet.”
“No. I’m good.”
“Let me text Sabre and tell him what’s going on.” Nick’s fingers flew across his keypad as we headed downstairs to investigate. I’d fall on my face if I tried that…total dork. “Sabre will be here, shortly,” he announced as we reached the bottom of the stairs. “He’s—intrigued—by your discovery.”
My knuckles grazed the washer as I walked past, and another searing memory jettisoned adrenalin through my veins. Thomas’ hand pressed to my mouth; the lascivious thoughts he forced into my mind. I gasped for air. Nick slid his arm around my waist to steady me.
“Em?”
“It’s fine. Just another memory. Tell me this gets easier—less intrusive over time.”
“It will. I promise.”
We stood facing the paneled West wall of the basement. Just a wall. Nick slid his fingertips over the surface and scrunched his brows in deep concentration.
“I don’t get it,” he said, bewildered. “There should be a print of who touched this last, but there’s nothing.”
“Yeah, but didn’t you say the spark deteriorates over time? This wall may not have been touched in over forty years.”
“True. But it’s more than that—like it’s been—wiped clean. I just can’t place…” His nimble fingers slid under a panel of wood and he gave it a tug. The panel gave a little, so I reached in to help pry away it away from the foundation. Darkness gaped at us and frigid air wafted out, dusty and just a little mildewy. The blueprints showed the basement ended at this wall, but Daddy’s little map, scrawled on a raggedy old piece of notebook paper revealed the truth. This room.
Nick clicked on his penlight and scanned the foundation of the house.
“Look. You can see where the original foundation has been cut through. This must be under the front porch.” He shined his light up into the cobwebbed joists.
Cold seeped in and snaked through my clothes. I shivered and Nick reached out and rubbed my arms. “I don’t understand. Who would put a secret room in an old cottage in the middle of the woods?”
Nick shrugged. “Why don’t you go get your coat so we can check it out?” he suggested. I liked his body heat better, but couldn’t hardly investigate the room with his arms wrapped around me. I trudged up the stairs for my jacket, skull cap and fingerless gloves.
When I returned, Nick stood inside the tiny five foot by six foot recess, examining a solitary dust-laden box. The old, faded box sat amongst cobwebs and dust bunnies in the middle of the floor. Clouds of dust, that reminded me of pictures of Spokane when Mt. Saint Helens erupted, billowed as we finished prying off the panels of wood. I stepped inside the secret room, and dragged my fingers across the top of the box, then rubbed the grit between my fingers.
“Huh. This is volcanic ash from the Saint Helens eruption in ‘80. I remember how the sky darkened like the world was ending, and we had to go to the Carnation warehouse downtown to shut all the windows on the trucks. We couldn’t see more than a couple of feet in front of us on the way back, the ash was so thick. And it took forever to go away. People were washing it down the sewer drains until the mayor came on TV and told everyone to stop because it would clog the pipes.”
Nick looked at me bewildered. “Emari. You couldn’t possibly remember that. You weren’t even born yet.”
“But I do…I mean…it’s like I can remember being there. But I couldn’t have been could I?”
His fingers skimmed through the ash and he rolled it between his fingers. His brow corrugated and his mouth pulled down in a frown, but “hmm” was all he said. The box was devoid of any label or marking. Its moving tape was dried and cracked. Nick made quick work of opening the box with his pocket knife and flipped the lid open in another cloud of dust and ash. We rummaged through swatches of fabric folded neatly in nice little rectangles, and old notebooks with parched, faded covers. While Nick thumbed through the notebooks, I scavenged deeper into the box. My fingertips stubbed against a wad of quilted cloth wrapped around something hard. I hoisted the package out and unwrapped the layers of fabric. The last fold of wrapping fell away, and revealed a glossy, polished mahogany box. The lid was carved and inlaid with mother of pearl, and what appeared to be emeralds and blue sapphires. “Whoa!” was the only word I could speak.
My fingers trembled as I caressed the cool, smooth wood, and I held my breath as I lifted the lid. The tiny hinges gave a tiny moan. A quiet gasp rushed through my lips and Nick turned to see what was wrong. Nestled in a luxurious bed of sapphire velvet, lay an ornate spider pendant. I gingerly lifted it from its nest and placed it in my palm. Its legs arced out from the heel of my hand to just below the pads of my fingertips. The head, body and legs were a carved silver metal that looked like pewter, but the pendant felt too heavy to be a junk metal. The abdomen was a large, bloody red ruby. My fingers curled around the pendant and one of the sharp, pointy legs pricked my skin, drawing a tiny bead of blood. I yelped and jerked my hand away. The spider clattered to the cement floor, but I could have sworn one of those gnarly legs twitched before it left my hand. Nick came to my side.
“What is it?” he asked, checking the wound.
“It bit me,” I whined, gesturing to the spider that now lay in two pieces on the floor.
Nick picked it up.
“Oh no. Did I break it?”
Nick chuckled. “No, it’s made like that. See? It’s a tiny blade, not big enough for anything but to piss somebody off.”
Forgetting the cut, I held out my hand to take the pendant. He gently placed the sprawling spider in my palm, and I examined it, carefully this time. The workmanship was exquisite. Some kind of runes or hieroglyphics swirled across the metal. Nick confirmed the gem was indeed a ruby, and that it was very old.
“Did you pick anything up? I’m still a little unfocused,” I complained of my less than perfect memoryprinting.
“Absolutely nothing. It’s like a black hole, like no one has ever touched it, including us.”
“Hmm. I’m getting something but I can’t tell what.”
“Here, let’s try something. Remember when Sabre and I were trying to retrieve the memories of what happened at the tracks before Christmas?” I cringed and nodded. That was not a pleasant memory. Thomas dog-napped Eddyson and nearly killed him. “Do you remember we both worked a weave with you?” I nodded and he continued. “Maybe if we work together we can pull something out.”
“’kay. What do I do?” I asked, eager for a change of topic. If memories fired bright before my trip to death and back, now they seared like electric shock.
“Just pull on the pendant like you’ve been doing all evening around the house. I’ll enhance you. Okay?” I nodded again and sandwiched the spider between my palms. Nick enclosed my hands in his and closed his eyes. From the darkness of my mind, I reached into the metal and stone. But nothing appeared, just blank lightless nothing. Nick scowled and my fingers tingled with voltage. “No. Way. There is just no way there is nothing embedded in this.”
My shoulders drooped with failure. “Did I do something wrong?”
His fingertips grazed my cheek. “No, Sweets. You did everything right. It’s something with the pendant. Sabre should take a look at it. He’s told me stories of ancient talismans, but no one’s seen one in centuries.”
As I placed the pendant back in its box, I noticed a smaller spider-shaped impression in the velvet lining and wondered if, perhaps, there was a matching smaller pendant to fill that slot. I nestled the spider in its box, trailed my finger down the ruby abdomen, then snapped the box closed.
* * *
; Sabre was detained with some Caphar-ish kind of errand, so Nick and I sat in the warmth of the living room and examined our new-found treasures. Eddy cuddled in the secure nest of my legs as I sat cross-legged on the floor. Sleep relaxed every little muscle, and even his jowls flopped open and loose. Nick riffled through the notebooks in an effort to find something not in Aramaic. Probably Sabre could translate the ancient language. He was old enough.
I held the pendant in my hand, awed and amazed by its beauty. Some unknown energy thrummed within it, despite it seeming to be only a piece of jewelry. As I held in my palm, one of the legs twitched so minutely I thought I imagined it, until I felt it prick my skin. In shock, I watched as the spider drank in the bead of blood that seeped from the wound. A silent command to give the pendant to Nick pressed itself into my mind. I handed the spider over to him.
Nick’s face flushed with wonder. “It just gave me the memory of your last thought!” he said.
“What? How?”
“It’s a piece of arcane magic. Little known. Seldom seen. As rare as the Caphar are, rarer yet is this magic,” he explained. “This creature will come to life and do your bidding. It will retrieve memories from whomever you command.”
“That is not possible,” I argued.
“But it is. Emari, consider what you’ve learned of the world you thought you knew. There is magic all around you that you never knew existed.” Nick handed the spider back to me. “I think it wants its mommy.”
“What is that supposed mean?”
“Apparently, it has tasted your blood. It’s now bonded to you. It will obey whatever you ask of it.”
This all seemed far too mind-boggling to understand, but my heart warmed knowing the magic within the pendant chose me. My mind reeled with ideas of how to put the creature to use.
Sabre sauntered in from the kitchen a couple of hours later. “What the hell, Sabre?” I chided. “Don’t you believe in knocking?” He cocked his head at me and shrugged. I guess phasing everywhere you go made you forget your manners.
Nick passed him a couple of the notebooks and he pored over them in silence for several minutes. Then, he handed them back to Nick without a word.
“Well?” Nick pressed.
“Our heritage. In Aramaic.”
Nick nodded toward the basement. “The walls downstairs—it’s like they’re sanitized. No memories or even the spark of a memory.”
Sabre just nodded and took Nick’s word. Finally, he turned to me. “So, where is this little creepy crawly you’ve unearthed?” he asked, stoic as always.
I pulled out the mother of pearl box and the hinges creaked open. But the pendant seemed different now. Gently, I lifted it from its nest, and laid it in the palm of my hand. Before, the legs sprawled across my palm and over my fingers. Now, the spider nested securely in the middle of my hand. I turned it over and over in my hand, trying to figure out how it had managed to shrink. Nick said it contained magic. It had to be magic to be able to shrink like this. Holding the spider in my palm, I ran my index finger down its shimmering body. I jerked my finger away when the legs twitched. And tried desperately not to drop it, when the pendant jerked and sprawled out over my fingers.
“What the…”
Just to be sure, I traced my finger down the body again. With a twitch the spider shifted to its smaller form. Once more, I stroked the spider’s back and watched it expand. A beguiled smile grew on my lips. “Way cool!” The spider vibrated in my hand, its spell wending its way through me, as its charms trussed me in its silken web.
“May I?” Sabre asked, still stoic, but a glimmer of wonder flashed in his eyes. He was excited—as excited as Sabre got—over this treasure. His touch was so gentle, so careful, that he seemed like an altogether different person. He ‘hmm’d’ a few times and reverently placed the pendant back in my hands. “Be home tonight,” he said to Nick. “We’ve preparations to make.” Nick and I glanced at each other, then back to Sabre.
“What? No long drawn out dissertation about the history of this thing?” I asked.
“Big word for a little girl there, Em,” Sabre said with tiniest hint of humor. I sneered at him. “But no. You have garnered as much as I could tell you from the creature already. It will reveal itself to you alone.” He turned to Nick and snapped his fingers. “You. House. Tonight.” And with that, he sparkled from the house. I hated when he talked to Nick like that.
“Ass,” I hissed at him.
Nick smirked. “He knows.”
Chapter 19 Uprising
Absently, my fingers traced the outlines of the smooth mother of pearl embedded in the lid of the spider’s box. The workmanship was exquisite, so ornate and detailed. I opened the box and lifted the sparkling arachnid into my palm. A heartbeat later, one of the mandibles twitched and pricked my finger. The scarlet bead vanished into the creature’s mouth. I was a little creeped out, but then the legs shifted and the spider’s body rose up, supported by the long spindly legs. It turned to face me and I sat staring in shock. Then, a hot sparking fire raged from the palm of my hand to my mind and blossomed in my chest. A voice I didn’t recognize spoke directly to my mind.
Greetings. You have just discovered one of the arana onaria in existence. Only three of these talismans were created, as the magic is tedious and extensive. I have named this one Ari. Now that Ari has tasted your blood, she will do all that you bid her—within the parameters of her abilities. Ari communicates absorbed memory through touch. She is able to retrieve memories by contact with the person you are trying to extract information from, or, as in some Caphar, pick up a print of a memory left behind. She will return to you to impart the memories imprinted on her. Also, as the Caphar, Ari is able to evanesce.
As you’ve noticed, blood is a catalyst for the spider. She will only obey the person whose blood has brought her to life. Hidden in the lid of the jewelry box are four crystal phials. The small blade, or lancet, is just long enough to puncture the deep artery of the arm to extract blood from a dead or soon-to-be-dead Caphar. Through the same magic, the blood will be imprinted with the memories of the Caphar, as well as any special gifts they may have possessed. Covet the crystal phials of blood with your life—lest they fall to the hands of the Rephaim, who will manipulate the power to their own gain.
Ari has been a diligent and faithful servant to me for many, many years. I entrust this magic into your care. Use it well.
“Whoa!” grated hoarse and gravelly from my throat.
“What did it do?” Nick asked.
“She.”
“She?”
“Yes, she.”
“Is that some kind of girl thing? Giving a gender to an inanimate object?” Nick teased.
I laughed. “Well, let’s just see how inanimate she is.” I stroked Ari’s back once again, and she shifted back to her bigger size. Leaning closer to her to keep Nick from hearing, I whispered, “I need you to share a secret.” And I imparted a memory that spiked my heart rate. Ari’s legs twitched against my palm, but this time, didn’t prick my skin. I guessed she was familiar with my ‘taste’, so now all she needed was the spark of the memory…
Nick and I sat on the couch while Ivy showered in the bathroom. His miraculous touch bestowed on her the best night’s sleep she’d gotten in many weeks. My heart overflowed with gratitude. I stretched myself up so I was looking directly into his eyes. I ran my fingers across his cheek and he melted under my touch. His eyes closed and he drew in a deep breath that expanded his chest, then released it, relaxing deeper into the cushions. My fingers sparked tiny tremors across his warm skin as I grazed them across his brow. His body answered with a corresponding shudder. I leaned into him, brushing my lips delicately across his; a kiss so gentle and soft it might not have been a kiss at all.
Ari shimmered and raised her bulbous body up on her spindly legs. I lowered my hand to the floor and she ambled out of my palm and across the floor to Nick. He lowered a hand to lift her.
“Ouch,” he hissed through
his teeth.
“Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. She bites.”
Nick’s grimace evolved into a smile. He closed his eyes and his chest expanded as he absorbed the intensity of the memory. Drawing her to his face, he whispered, “I have a secret of my own.” Ari rested a moment in his hand, then scurried across the floor to me.
I anticipated the weight of her on my skin, but she was whisper soft as she navigated into my palm. I gasped at the memory she transferred. Emari Jewel Sweet, I love you more than life. The intensity of the emotion, the message surged through my mind, filling me with understanding. It anchored something deep inside me. But how could he love me? And how could he love me this intensely? And still, somewhere in the deep recesses of my heart, a spark of worry that he’d leave me—again, niggled at me. I ran my finger down Ari’s back and she shivered into her smaller form. Closing my hand around her miniaturized form, I held her to my chest as though to hold that memory to my heart forever. “Nick,” I breathed.
He knelt on the floor before me and took my arms in his hands. “Emari. I do love you. More than my own life. I will never leave you again. I will never hurt you again.” Again, a shadow ghosted behind his eyes. And refracted in that dark cavern within me. Rising to my knees, I wrapped my arms around his neck. My heart throbbed with a fullness I hadn’t felt in so long. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Just tell me you’ll stay—for now.”
“For now.” He pulled away from me and held out his hands for the spider. Reluctantly, I handed her over; the bond was already strong between us, and it was almost painful not to be in contact with her. “She,” he said. “It is most definitely a she. Tell me what you’ve learned about this amazing bit of magic, because she keeps most of her secrets for you.”
I smiled and slid over by his side, then ran a finger down Ari’s back. She sprawled in Nick’s hand.