Hmm. Given her mental state, maybe thinking about padded cells wasn’t such a good idea right now.
The complaint calls coming in detailed how witches felt more of her magic out by the lake, and felt it in a dissonant way. Jade knew most of the Coven was a little sore about their magic not working the same as it had before and part of her wondered if this could be sour grapes.
Although she was hesitant to admit it, it didn’t seem so. The way the complaints were entered in, they seemed almost…. cautious. Careful. As though people had been hesitant to call in and didn’t want to be any more forceful than they had to be. It was frustratingly vague, but Jade had already once vented to Daniel about the Counter-Magic complaint line. She didn’t understand how people who had been witches their whole lives didn’t have any better descriptors other than, ‘it’s weird now,’ or ‘I don’t know, it’s just different.’
Daniel had agreed it was one of their failings for sure. It was hard for witches to quantify magic. They tended to be rather intuitive and feelings-based about it and lacked any kind of quantitative measurement.
Reading the comments about the lake area, Jade recalled Paris once told her the area usually made people uncomfortable - ever since an accident several years prior. Now, it appeared it was making people even more uneasy and seemed to be pulsing with Jade’s magic.
Jade rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the hairs there twitching. Looking at the words people used when describing the lake, they felt the opposite of how Jade felt. Witches complained the lake was giving off ‘strange’ energy, putting out ‘bad’ feelings. It was all about the area pushing something ’out.’ Jade got the feeling the lake area was sucking something in. Like a black hole or gravity well, continually pulling, hungry for more.
Jade was cold and clammy. She stopped reading the spreadsheet and sat back in her chair.
“What happened out there?” Jade asked, murmuring aloud. Jade joined the Coven as an adult, instead of being raised in it. There were things, events, and histories that everyone else knew or had absorbed growing up that she had no idea about. She chewed on her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth and tasting her lipstick. She leaned back in her chair, able to just barely see around the cubicle wall and catch a glimpse of Daniel’s back. Should she just ask? Was it taboo? These complaints seemed to be about her magic and she was having nightly dreams about the lake. Didn’t she have a right to information so she could defend herself?
“I can feel you staring at my back,” Daniel said suddenly and Jade flinched. She grabbed the first thing within her reach, a small pad of post-it notes, and lobbed it at his spine.
“That’s creepy when you do that. Did you use magic for it?”
Daniel turned around in his chair, a grin on his face. “Nope. Your chair squeaks when you lean back. Besides, what’s creepier? You creeping on me or the fact that I can tell when you’re doing it?”
Jade rolled her eyes on him. “Fine. I’m creeping on you,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I found this log about the lake area and complaints about me and my magic.”
Daniel paused and blinked a couple times. “Wow, you don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
“Would you like me to try? Hey Daniel, what’s new in the few minutes since we talked? Nothing? No kidding. By the way, there’s this log on the Counter-Magic shared drives about me that I didn’t know about. Can we discuss?”
Daniel shook his head, as though he found her amusing. “I think I prefer the straight talk to that painful attempt at being diplomatic.”
“Me too. So. What’s this log about?”
“It’s just a log, Jade. We’ve had some complaints about the area and people say that they get an impression of your magic.”
“The entire Coven is getting an impression of my magic right now,” Jade said defensively. “I can’t help that Paris reset Coven magic and used me as the template.”
“I know,” Daniel said, keeping his tone even and neutral. It was the same tone that Jade used on people when they were being unreasonable. She bristled.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”
“We don’t tell everyone everything that happens at the Coven, Jade. There’s too much going on.”
Jade eyeballed him with a look. “Lame answer. My name is all over that thing.”
Daniel looked over at where Josef’s office was, like he was checking on the man. Jade couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder too.
“What?” she asked.
Daniel looked slightly grim. “No one around the Coven likes to talk about it. But there was a drowning out there. We don’t have a lot of deaths in the Coven. I mean, we have regular accidents or simple mortality - car crash, bad cholesterol, that kind of thing. But it’s… rare for witches to die in accidents involving nature. A lot of it has to do with our magic. We’re tied to the elements and we are quite good at manipulating them. In turn, Mother Nature tends to respect us so long as we respect her. Death by fire, asphyxiation, or drowning isn’t common. And of course, it’s worse when it’s a child.”
Jade felt her stomach roll over. “A child drowned out there?”
Daniel nodded at her question. “Yeah.” Daniel looked around again, checking there was no one close by. He scooted his chair in closer to Jade and she leaned toward him. “Josef’s niece. She was about four.”
In her mind, she could picture a small, diminutive form, sinking beneath the surface of the lake. Tiny arms, tiny legs, weighed down by cold water. A small burst of her power felt like it popped somewhere inside her, surprising her enough to flinch. From Daniel’s quick jerk backward, it did the same to him.
“Sorry,” Jade said quickly, pulling in her power. She rolled her neck, trying to loosen the tension.
“No problem. It’s upsetting,” said Daniel. “It’s why we don’t talk about it.”
Jade’s eyes darted over to Josef’s office again. It hit her that she didn’t know much about him. She liked him well enough and was happy working for him, but knew zip about his personal life.
“I didn’t know he had a family.”
Again Daniel looked grim. “He… doesn’t. Not anymore. It was just his sister and her kid. And when his niece died his sister kind of… gave up I guess.”
“What happened to her?”
Daniel gave a half-shrug. “It’s kind of like a magical wasting away? We’re so tied to nature and our magic, and it was like… her force of will just gave up.”
Jade didn’t know what to say. “That’s sad.”
“Yeah. After the accident the lake area was avoided out of respect. Later on, as time passed, people tried to go back and use the area again, but they noticed the area felt ‘off.’ Things like that leave a mark, you know? On witches and on nature. Bad vibes.” He shook out his hands as though those same bad vibes were attached to him for speaking about them and he needed to rid himself of the energy.
“And now people are complaining that it feels like my magic out there too,” Jade added. She worried her bottom lip again, feeling a sting of pain at a spot she’d worked over too much with her teeth. “I’m not doing anything. At least…” she hesitated and then pushed through, “at least, not on purpose.” She thought about her dreams and Lily, about how the timing of her nightmares lined up with the complaints. She thought about Bruce’s strange scaly patch and the possibility that she might be sick.
Daniel nodded. “I know.”
“Does Josef?” Jade asked, hating how her voice came out hesitatingly. “I mean, is it weird for him to have something strange going on there now?”
Daniel paused before answering. “Maybe. It’s hard to say. He plays it pretty close to the vest.”
Jade looked at her computer screen, seeing the long list of complaints that had come in. “Are there any other spreadsheets with my name all over them?”
“No.”
She swiveled her head to look at Daniel. “I’d rather know now then find out later.”
“I promise, we’
re not keeping secrets from you.”
Not like I’m keeping from you, Jade thought, the words coming sudden and unbidden into her head. She was a total hypocrite - feeling hurt and angry that they had a log with complaints about her when she was keeping so much more from them. Maybe she was totally at fault. Maybe she was losing her mind and this was how it was all starting - visions of Lily, dreams of Lily, magical consequences she couldn’t control.
“Hey,” Daniel said, tapping her on the arm, bringing her back from her thoughts. “Don’t worry about. We’ll get everything sorted out.”
There it was again - ‘we.’ Coven members were so quick to use it. They were ready to see themselves as a unit, a functioning group. Jade found uneasy comfort in the word. Like a new pair of boots that felt fine at first, but two hours later had blisters breaking out and bleeding. Her stomach felt like lead - too much caffeine and anxiety and not enough food.
“Yeah,” she said weakly, trying to approximate a small smile. “I’m sure we will.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
For about half an hour after Paris came back from medlab, he watched Bruce. It wasn’t that he was worried about the creature; it was more the novelty of him. When Paris entered his office, Bruce’s tail twitched twice and he blinked open one eye. That watchful pupil followed Paris from the doorway to his desk. Bruce waited until Paris sat down before shutting his eye and adjusting himself slightly in front of the fire, scooting closer. Paris was surprised the flames were as bright as they were. He thought Jade’s magic would have faded as her distance from the office increased, first with their trip to medlab and then on her way back to the Counter-Magic offices. He fully expected to have to recreate the flames upon his return. However, they glowed a lovely shade of yellow-orange and seemed to be serving Bruce well, keeping him warm.
Even though all Bruce did was sleep, he was still intriguing to watch. Paris took in his long, serpentine belly with his short, stout legs, each claw on his foot tapering to a fine point at the end. He had slightly hooded eyes, making him look a little perturbed, even as he slept. He twitched as he dozed in front of the fire, much like a dog would - legs jerking slightly, tail moving faintly. After thirty minutes, Paris forced himself to turn away and get back to work. Watching Bruce sleep wasn’t accomplishing much, although it was quite relaxing.
After an hour, a low growling sound brought Paris’ attention back to the creature. It took him a moment to realize that Bruce was snoring in his sleep. Long, deep inhalations followed by short, sharp exhalations. Bruce snored air into his snout and then puffed it out, just the tip of his pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. Paris knew he shouldn’t, but he took his phone out and snapped a picture, thinking to share it with Jade at a later time. Her fierce, magical familiar, sacked out, drooling on the carpet.
The flames in the fireplace burst alight suddenly, sending a wave of heat across the office. In one deft movement, Bruce flipped up to all fours and exhaled sharply out his snout, making a loud snorting sound. Paris sent his own magic out and felt it push up against Jade’s power, a quick, sharp flare that was gone almost as soon as it had come. Bruce turned accusing eyes on Paris, as though he were somehow responsible for what had happened and Paris fought the urge to explain himself to a lizard. Bruce gave a bark-like sound and then rushed the closed office door, scratching at it with one of his talons, leaving several long gouges in the wood before Paris was able to get over and open it. Bruce bolted out, his talons making a clackety-clack sound on the tile floors. Intrigued, Paris hurried after him.
Bruce was a lizard on a mission and witches wisely got out of his way. Of course, Paris thought if a seventy-pound lizard suddenly seemed to be rushing him, he’d dodge out of the way too. Bruce went down the stairs so quickly, Paris feared he’d go tail over teakettle, but he managed to keep all four legs facing downward.
The kindest way to describe the sound Henri made when he saw Bruce go zipping by his desk was a shriek. Paris would have called it a squeal, but it was a tad too guttural for that. Unperturbed, Bruce sailed on by, heading straight down the corridor to the back of the Covenstead where the Counter-Magic offices were. Paris was afraid at what he might find when he finally caught up with Bruce.
Rounding the door to Counter-Magic, he was just in time to see Bruce race up to Jade and head-butt her leg.
“Bruce! Where’s the fire?”
Bruce butted his snout against her leg again and Jade reached down to pet his head. She looked up and caught sight of Paris hovering in the doorway.
“What did you do to him?”
“I did nothing,” Paris protested immediately. “He was sleeping, there was a burst of flame from the fireplace and he came tearing down here as though the very devil were behind him.”
Jade looked sheepish, wincing. “Sorry about that, buddy. Magic got a little out of control.”
Paris wasn’t sure if he was outraged or not that she was apologizing to Bruce and not him. “Something wrong?”
Jade raised a shoulder in a shrug. “Nah. Just… distracted for a moment and lost my spell. It’s all fine now.”
“You’ve been quite good at controlling your magic lately,” Paris said, hoping the leading sentence would give her an opening. She only nodded a bit, keeping her head down toward Bruce.
Bruce perked up, his head turning toward Josef’s office and, after his talons skidded on the tile floor a few times, shuffled to his feet and then darted over, scratching at the door.
“Yeah, that’s a habit we’re going to have to work on breaking,” Jade said, following after him.
Josef was already opening the door by the time Jade came over to fetch Bruce. Josef looked around for the sound of the scratching, much like Paris had done earlier.
“What have we got here? Oh, hello. You must be Bruce.” Josef hunkered down to get closer to the lizard.
Bruce’s tail wagged back and forth wildly, the long length of it making huge sweeping arcs across the floor. It knocked into two chairs and almost one witch before the young lady deftly jumped up like she was skipping rope, averting near disaster. Josef reached out to pet Bruce and Paris was surprised when Bruce also presented Josef with his scaly patch, as he’d done up in Paris office.
Josef reached out to touch it. “What have you here?”
“Oh! Don’t touch it. He gets-“
Jade stopped herself suddenly when Josef laid a hand on Bruce’s spot. Bruce dropped his butt onto the ground with a thud and then rolled over onto his side so Josef could have a better look.
“Oh.” Jade looked completely stunned.
“Problem?” Paris asked her.
“I just thought… earlier today someone else touched it and Bruce got snippy. But…” she waved a hand toward Josef and Bruce.
“He seems fine with me looking at it,” Josef said. He trailed his fingers lightly over the scaly spot.
“Yeah.” Jade crossed her arms over her chest, looking perturbed.
Josef peered closely at Bruce’s sore spot, pressing at it lightly. He turned his gaze up to Jade, eyes narrowing slightly. “Are you feeling all right?” he asked, voice quiet enough so that the rest of the office wouldn’t hear.
“Um. I’m working on that,” Jade managed to say.
“Have you seen anything like it before?” Paris knew Josef had a wealth of experience and it was possible he knew something.
Josef nodded. “A long time ago. When I was a boy. My grandmother had a familiar. An owl.”
Paris wanted to ask what happened to Josef’s grandmother and her owl but had a feeling there was a reason the older gentleman hadn’t shared the details.
“You’ve seen Dr. Gellar?” Josef addressed the question to Jade and she nodded. “Then I’m sure it’s well in hand,” Josef replied. “This fellow reminds me a little of her owl. Same kind of eyes.”
Bruce sneezed suddenly, Elizabethan collar fanning out and then flapping shut. He flipped up to his feet again and then without ado, trotted away to Jade’s desk, c
urling into himself underneath and dropping his head down for a nap.
“And that’s that,” Jade muttered.
Josef stood. “Do you need any time off?”
Paris thought that might be a good idea but Jade shook her head. “No. I like to be busy.”
“Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.” Josef’s phone rang from inside his office and he excused himself with a quick nod to both Paris and Jade. Jade fiddled with the salamander charm on the chain around her neck, running it back and forth.
“I meant to ask if you’d like me to stop by tonight and perhaps work on some magic,” said Paris. “Perhaps we can find another spell for your dreams.”
Jade chewed on her lip. “Okay.”
“I can even give you and Bruce a ride back to your cottage.”
“You know his talons are sharp, right? You have leather seats.”
Paris smiled. “I know. I’ve faith in him.”
Jade looked dubious. “I can’t afford to fix them if he tears them.”
Paris chose to ignore her comment. He felt quite confident that Bruce wouldn’t damage anything. “I’ll see you at reception at around five.”
“Yeah, okay.”
#
Jade kept a close eye on Bruce the whole way to her cottage. He was stretched out across Paris’ backseat seemingly happy to have a little nap as they drove.
“I’m sure he’s fine. It can’t be good for your back to be twisted like that,” Paris said, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.
“It’s fine.”
Bruce flicked his tongue out at her, catching her right on the nose. Jade grunted in annoyance and only then turned to face forward.
Once back at her cottage, Jade made a quick dinner for them of some left over chicken and Caesar salad. It wasn’t much, but Paris seemed to enjoy it. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she could assemble food pretty darn well. After dinner, they moved back into her modest living room. Bruce stretched out in front of the fireplace (his belly full from the remains of the chicken that didn’t get used in the salad) and before he even had to look pointedly at either of them, Paris conjured a nice, bright flame for him. Bruce wiggled closer to the fireplace in appreciation, sighing happily.
Double-Sided Witch (Covencraft Book 3) Page 12