Nights Kiss

by Amanda Ashley

  At the sound of her name, Brenna stopped dancing. In an instant, she whirled in his direction, her gaze searching the deep shadows of the night.

  "Who is it?" She took a step forward, unconcerned by her nudity. "John Linder, is that you? Show yourself if you dare."

  She waited a moment, but heard nothing. Deciding she must have imagined it, she was about to turn away when she saw a bit of movement between one tree and the next. A chill ran down her spine as a dark shape separated itself from the shadows.

  Her first thought was that she had somehow summoned the devil himself, for the creature walking toward her seemed to be a part of the very night that surrounded her. He was tall and lean with powerful shoulders and long limbs. His hair was as black as the inside of her kettle. Even in the dark she could see that his eyes were a bold midnight blue set beneath straight black brows. His skin was pale, though not sickly looking. More like that of a healthy man who spent little time in the sun.

  She shivered as his bold gaze met hers. "Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing lurking in the shadows in the wee hours of the night?"

  "I've come to see you, Brenna Flanagan."

  His voice was soft yet compelling. The sound of it sent another shiver through her. "How do you know who I am?"

  "I know all about you."

  She lifted one delicate brow in disbelief. "How can that be, sir, since we have never met?"

  He smiled faintly.

  She noticed that his teeth were very white.

  "Perhaps it was your magick that summoned me."

  His voice, what was there about his voice that turned her thoughts down paths no unwed woman should even contemplate?

  "Indeed?" She took a wary step toward him, her eyes narrowing, then widening in shocked recognition. Exclaiming, "'Tis you!" She took a hasty step backward, one hand covering her heart.

  Roshan nodded. Perhaps it had not been his own powers that had brought him to this time and place. Perhaps it had been a bit of witchcraft wrought in the light of a full moon.

  * * *

  CHAPTER 3

  She looked at him a moment more, then whirled around and ran, quick as a startled doe, into her house and slammed the heavy wooden door behind her.

  Roshan stared after her a moment before following her. After traveling back five centuries to get here, he wasn't ready to let Brenna Flanagan out of his sight quite so soon.

  Her cottage was set in a clearing not far from the grove. It was a small square structure built of weathered wood and stone. Smoke curled from a squat chimney. A single window was covered by a white curtain. There was a well to the left of the house.

  Reaching her door, he knocked softly and waited.

  There was no answer.

  He knocked again, quietly cursing the supernatural restraint that kept him from entering a house without being invited by one who lived there, and prevented him from staying if he was asked to leave.

  He knocked a third time, louder this time. "I know you're in there, Brenna Flanagan. I'm not leaving, so you might as well answer me."

  "What do you want?" she asked, her voice muffled by the heavy wooden door between them.

  "I just want to talk to you."

  "About what? Who sent you here?"

  "No one sent me."

  "Then what are you doing here?"

  "I came to save your life."

  She laughed derisively. "Then you are wasting your time, sir. As you can surely see, I am in no danger here."

  "You're in more danger than you know. Why don't you let me in and I'll tell you all about it."

  She was silent for a moment, thinking it over, no doubt. A full minute later, the door opened and Brenna Flanagan stood in the doorway wearing a white apron over a long gray dress. Her feet were bare.

  "Come in." She took a step back, allowing him entrance to her home.

  He felt a whisper of energy as he crossed the threshold into her dwelling. It was indeed a small place. The parlor in which he stood was furnished with little more than a couple of chairs and a small wooden table. A black cat was curled up in one of the chairs. Ears flattened, the cat hissed at him, its tail twitching. There were candles everywhere, most of them unlit. A fire blazed cheerfully in the small stone hearth. A black cauldron hung from an iron tripod. Herbs grew in narrow boxes on the windowsill. A broom rested beside the fireplace. Several colorful rugs covered the raw plank floor. He could see the corner of a bed through the partly open door across the room.

  He looked at the fireplace again. According to what he'd read, witches who wished to keep their craft a secret often used the mantel as an altar. There were a number of baskets and jars on Brenna Flanagan's mantel, along with a cup, a bell, a pair of white candles, a censer, and a black-handled knife.

  She studied him a moment before waving her hand in the direction of a ladder-back chair. "Sit down, then, and tell me how you know who I am and why you think my life is in danger."

  "I am Roshan DeLongpre," he said, pulling one of the chairs from the table. "I saw your portrait in a book…"

  "Such a thing is not possible."

  Knowing he would never be able to explain it to her, he didn't try. How could he tell her he had seen her picture in a book he had read on the Internet? How did you explain a computer to someone who lived in an age of horse-drawn carriages?

  "It was a portrait painted by John Linder."

  Her eyes widened. "Who told you about that?"

  "No one. It's as I said. I saw the painting in a book."

  "I do not believe you. 'Tis impossible."

  "Is it? You were wearing a white dress and"—he glanced at the cat sleeping in the chair—"you were holding a black cat on your lap."

  "How could you know that?" She paced the length of the room then stopped in front of him, her eyes narrowed. "No one knows of that painting. And even if they did, why would anyone put it into a book? A book." She shook her head. "Nay, 'tis impossible. I will not believe it unless I see it for myself."

  Reaching into his pocket, Roshan withdrew the picture he had printed off the Web and handed it to her.

  She stared at the paper for a long moment. It was a replica of the portrait John Linder had painted, though it was much smaller in size. "What manner of wizardry is this?" she asked, her voice low and edged with fear.

  He laughed. "You're the witch, not I."

  Her eyes narrowed. "Who told you I was a witch?"

  "No one told me. I read it in a book."

  "A book? What book? Show it to me."

  "I don't have it with me." Wary of leaving any trace of his visit behind, he took the picture from her hand, folded it, and returned it to his coat pocket. "What day is it?"

  She frowned, obviously confused by the sudden change of topic. "'Tis the thirtieth day of October."

  Roshan grunted softly. "We haven't much time then," he said, drumming his fingertips on the arm of the chair.

  "What do you mean, we've not much time? Time for what?"

  "To get you away from here before it's too late."

  "You talk in riddles, Mr. DeLongpre. Please, speak plainly, or be gone."

  "You're going to die tomorrow night, on All Hallow's Eve," he said bluntly. "Burned at the stake as a witch."

  She stared at him, the blood draining from her face, and then she shook her head. "Nay, I do not believe you."

  "You had better believe me," he said. "Your life depends on it."

  Lifting the cat from the chair across from his, she sat down. The cat immediately curled up in her lap, starring at Roshan through unblinking yellow eyes.

  "Did you ever make it rain toads?" Roshan asked.

  "Who told you such nonsense?"

  "Did you complain about one of your neighbor's pigs rooting in your garden?"

  "You know about that, too?" she asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

  "The man died a few days later, did he not?"

  "He had a weak heart. Everyone in the village knew he was ailing
."

  "If I asked you to make me a potion, could you do it?"

  She shrugged. "Perhaps."

  "Women in Salem are being hanged for less."

  She crossed her arms over her breasts. He saw the shiver she tried to hide.

  Roshan grunted softly. Finally, he had said something that made her stop and think. Witch hunts had been running rampant in Salem, and all because of a bizarre set of circumstances that began when a young girl began acting strangely. She ran aimlessly through the house, hid under the furniture, and complained of having a fever. It was unfortunate that young Betty Paris's symptoms seemed to mirror those described in a popular book of the day. Memorable Providences, written by Cotton Mather, was about a washerwoman in Boston who had similar symptoms and was believed to be a witch. Talk of witches and witchcraft had increased when some of Betty Parris's playmates—Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, and Ann Putnam—started displaying the same strange behavior as Betty. When the local doctor failed to find a cure for the girls, he suggested that their illness might be supernatural instead of physical. From there, things really got out of hand. Dorcas Good, a four-year-old child, was accused of witchcraft. The child was arrested and spent four months in jail, during which time she saw her mother carried away to be hanged.

  Before the hysteria was over, nineteen people had been hanged. But that had no bearing here, in this tiny village. Brenna's date with death would occur after Salem had come to its senses.

  Brenna released a deep breath. "Thank you for warning me," she said, a distinct tremor in her voice. And then she frowned. "Are you a wizard?"

  "No."

  "Then how do you know these things?"

  "It's a long story." And not one he had time to tell her now, even if he was so inclined. He could smell the dawn peeking over the horizon.

  She was staring at him, her brow furrowed in thought, her eyes filling with suspicion. "Who are you?"

  "I'm afraid I don't have time to explain it to you now," he said, rising. But it wasn't only the dawn's coming that urged him to leave the house. It was the nearness of the woman, the allure of her blood. It called to him, quickening his hunger, urging him to call her to him and quench his hellish thirst.

  Afraid he wouldn't be able to resist the siren call of her blood, he bid her good night and hurried out of the house and into the darkness to seek his prey and a safe place to pass the hours of daylight.

  Brenna stared after the stranger, puzzled by his hasty departure, troubled by his warning. Could it be true? Could her life be in danger?

  She went to the window and peered out into the darkness. She would have thought him quite mad; indeed, even now she wasn't sure of his sanity. But he knew about the painting, something no one knew of save for herself and John Linder. Not only did the stranger know about the portrait, but he had somehow copied it onto a piece of paper that was whiter and finer than any she had ever seen.

  Who was he?

  Where had he come from?

  How had he found her?

  How did a portrait known to no one save herself and the artist find its way into a book, and how did the stranger have a copy?

  She moved through her house, dropping the crossbar in place on the door, shutting the single window, snuffing the candles.

  Meowing softly, Morgana jumped up onto the bed, circled four times, and curled up on the pillow.

  Undressing, Brenna pulled on the shift she slept in and crawled under the covers.

  Usually, she had no trouble at all falling asleep but every time she closed her eyes, she saw the stranger's image—his hair as black as hell's heart, his eyes dark and deep and mysterious. He had denied being a wizard but every instinct she possessed warned her that he was not an ordinary mortal.

  After tossing and turning for an hour, she slipped out of bed and drew on her robe. A soft incantation brought the hearth fire to life. She lit a pair of white candles for protection and then filled her cauldron with water. When the water was still, she passed her hands over the bowl.

  "Show me the stranger who came to my door, tell me why I feel I have seen him before; is he wizard or warlock, ghost or ghoul, show me the truth ere I act the fool."

  Taking a deep breath, she peered into the bowl, her mind devoid of all thought save what she wished to see. A swirling mist feathered over the face of the water and when it settled, she saw Roshan DeLongpre's image reflected in the mirrored surface. He sat at a desk in a large room with high ceilings and white walls. He was leaning forward, staring at what looked like a small window. And even as she watched, he made some curious gestures with his hand and suddenly her image appeared on the window, and beneath her image there appeared several lines of writing that were too small for her to read.

  He moved his hand again and a piece of paper emerged from a strange-looking object beside the window. And there, once again, was her portrait.

  She leaned forward, her eyes narrowed, as Roshan went outside, her picture clutched in his hand. She stared at his image, thinking what a handsome creature he was, when he was suddenly enveloped in a swirling silver gray mist. And when the mist was gone, so was he.

  She reeled backward, one hand pressed over her heart. "What dark magick is this?" she exclaimed softly.

  Whatever it was, it was more than witchcraft, more powerful than any of the spells with which she was familiar. She could brew potions. She could cast charms. Sometimes she could even foretell the future. But to vanish from sight in a swirl of mist… She shook her head in astonishment.

  Leaning forward, she stared into the dark surface of the water once again but it was clear now, the spell broken.

  In the morning, she found it hard to accept what she had seen the night before. Mayhap she had dreamed the mysterious Roshan DeLongpre. Mayhap she had imagined the whole thing.

  She tried not to think of him as she prepared her morning meal but time and again the image of his countenance appeared in her mind. She didn't know what or who he was, but he was no mere mortal, of that she was certain. And if he was not a wizard, then what was he?

  He had warned her that her life was in danger. Dare she believe him? How did she know he had not been sent here to trick her in some way, to make her confess that she was, indeed, a witch? Burned at the stake. The very thought sent a shiver of dread down her spine. 'Twas a horrible way to die.

  She shook the thought away. She was in no danger. Her neighbors did not fear her. Did they? Frowning, she turned to the task of making her bed. The villagers came to her when they needed help in finding an object that had been lost, or for potions to ward off the evil eye. They sought her aid in bringing rain to drought-weary crops or for charms and amulets to protect them against any number of disasters. They came to her for marriage and fertility charms, and for amulets to bring them good luck, or prosperity, or good health. They thought of her as a healer. Didn't they? She had never heard any of them call her a witch.

  Troubled, she went to the well. What if the stranger was right? What if her life was in danger? She lowered the bucket and filled it with water, then returned to her house. Morgana trailed at her heels like a small black shadow.

  Brow furrowed, Brenna filled a kettle with water and hung it over the fire to heat, the stranger's words echoing in her mind as she moved about her daily tasks. And all the while, she experienced a growing sense of foreboding. An omen, or merely her own anxiety fueled by a stranger's warning?

  Time and again throughout the day, she went to the window looking for him, not certain if she was relieved or disappointed by his absence.

  Toward midday, she went out to weed and water her gardens. Roses, violets, lavender, vervain, and rosemary were used in love potions. She grew peppermint, sage, garlic, rue, and wood sorrel for healing; mugwort, yarrow, and wormwood for divination. Juniper, mistletoe, basil, fennel, flax, rowan, and trefoil were protective herbs, and she grew these in abundance for use in sachet bags and protection wreaths.

  Returning to the house, she went to her work area, where
she kept her mortar and pestle, and began grinding the leaves of rosemary and lavender into a bowl, along with a handful of herbs. The love charm was for Nellie Beech's youngest son, Georgy, who was smitten with the youngest of the blacksmith's daughters.

  Purring softly, Morgana brushed against Brenna's ankles, then sat at her feet while she worked. Brenna hummed softly, adding a bit of music to the charm, as well as the petals from a pink flower, pink being the color for love and affection.

  Colors played a vital part in the casting of spells and preparing charms. The color green heralded fertility and prosperity; red was for passion and vigor, it was believed to increase wealth; orange increased sexual potency; blue brought peace and healing to the soul; yellow stimulated the intellect; brown was used in working magick for animals; black was for banishing illness or breaking spells. Brenna surrounded herself with the color purple to increase her own magical powers.

  Late in the afternoon, John Linder came to visit. He was a tall, gangly young man with a shock of white-blond hair and sad blue eyes. John was shy to the point where it seemed almost painful for him to speak. He fancied himself in love with her; perhaps he was, but she felt only friendship for him, friendship and pity.

  Today he came by on the pretense of needing a charm to cure a burn on the palm of his hand.

  Smiling, she bade him enter her house.

  Stuttering "Thank you," he followed her inside, removing his well-worn cap as he did so.

  He sat on the chair beside the hearth, his cap clutched tightly in his lap, watching her every move as she mixed a bit of sheep's suet and the rind of an elder tree and boiled them together in a small silver pot.

  When the ointment was ready, she removed it from the fire.

  "How did you do that?" she asked while the ointment cooled.

  Linder shrugged. "I… I burned it on the handle of… of a pan." A blush stained his cheeks. "I forgot it… it was… was hot."

  Nodding, she applied a thick layer of ointment to his palm, then wrapped his hand in a strip of clean cotton cloth. "It will be gone in a day or two."