Hellborn

by Lisa Manifold

  Zane patted my arm. “No, they’re not. There are a lot of them, all seeming to stem from your grandmother. Maybe,” he hesitated.

  “What?”

  “Maybe we need to press Doc. I get that there’s a détente going on, but maybe he knows more than he’s telling. He did spend twenty-plus years cooped up in her room.”

  “Good point. I hate to ruin things—everything is so pleasant right now—but we might need to.” I tapped my finger on my lips, thinking. “Hey, do you think that necromancer will give up the sword without a huge fight?”

  “If you take Dee, and she acts like a collector—he’s a collector himself. He’ll understand the drive. He can’t think that she’s interested in the magic. It’s a magic object, not made of this earth, and it’s rare. That’s her focus.”

  “Well, you’re going with her. You’ll be able to manage that, won’t you?”

  He nodded, but looked concerned. “It makes me nervous that you’re thinking of trying to contact the spirit of your grandmother. It’s not really raising the dead, per se, which I’m glad of. That takes skill, despite what you might think.”

  I decided I might as well go for the gold in uncomfortable topics. “Do I need to apologize for thinking the worst of you when we met?”

  He shook his head. “No. Gareth is like many necromancers. I know that I’m considered slightly odd by most and someone to avoid. I need to thank you for not killing me.”

  “It was close.” I smiled.

  “I prefer to keep on living, so thank you. Anyway, let me get packed, and we’ll get this going.” He took a moment to speak with Dee and Deana, and then with a wave, went back to his place.

  Deirdre, Daniella, the Deanas and I all sat around the dining room table that night, drinking tea and telling stories. It was nice. The feeling of hostility had dissipated, although I could tell that DeAnna was nervous about her daughter and granddaughter heading off with Zane. She managed it for a bit, but finally, the nervousness won out.

  “Do you think they’re going to be all right?” She nodded at her offspring. “I can’t seem to calm my worry.”

  I believed in gut feelings. “What do you think will happen?” I asked.

  Deirdre and Daniella looked over, letting the other conversation lapse. They knew the tone in my voice.

  “That’s he’s a weasel, he’ll try to trap them, or something,” DeAnna said. “I don’t know, and I feel stupid for worrying about something I can’t name, but I can’t stop!” She wrung her hands, the frown making her forehead wrinkle.

  I looked at my sisters, a question in my eyes. They nodded. Turning back to DeAnna, I asked, “Have you ever done any magic? Did your mother teach you anything?” I kept my voice neutral. I thought I knew the answer, and if I was right, Deana—our sister—needed a serious bitch slap.

  DeAnna shook her head. “No. Momma didn’t want us to be involved in anything that she was growing up.”

  “I loved Deana, and I miss her all the time, but if she were here, I’d smack the crap out of her,” Deirdre said. “I understand not wanting you all to grow up like she did but you can’t change who you are. Had she prepped you, even a little, you’d be in better shape for this.”

  “What, you think we’re going to lose?” Deana asked.

  “No, I don’t. But I think this is going to be tough. We’ve grown up and been using magic our entire lives. It’s comfortable for us, even when it’s difficult. You guys don’t have that knowledge base, or any kind of comfort. And Deana should have known better.”

  “Then what are we waiting for? What can you show us now?” Dee asked.

  “Not a lot,” Daniella said. “But we can give the two of you protection spells, that you can cast easily. And slowing spells. So if someone comes at you, you can slow them down. Maybe one more?” She looked between me and Deirdre.

  “Fire,” Deirdre said. “Catch someone on fire, they leave you be fast. It’ll give you enough time to get away.”

  “That’s pretty tough,” I objected. “Come on, I just got fire from Hell, and I don’t even get that one yet.”

  “No, just like a cherry bomb kind of thing. Something they can throw, and activate with a word.”

  I nodded. “Something that looks like tea bags, so you can easily take it on the plane.”

  “It’s not going to blow up mid-air is it?” DeAnna was alarmed.

  “No, it needs the spoken word to set it off. We don’t want anyone blowing parts off,” Daniella laughed. “Well, come on ladies. You’re not going to get much sleep tonight. But you’ll leave here feeling better, and a little more safe. And that’s the important thing.”

  Together we all trooped down to the basement. Beeval came through, with Evil sleeping on his head. Our basement, which was in the shape of a long rectangle, was set up like one big herbal dispensary. A long work bench was built along one wall, with room for five people to work, and spread out. There were mortars and pestles, because some things had to be ground by hand. The other three walls were taken up with large and small glass jars, holding all manner of herbs. The far end of the basement had drying racks for the herbs that needed drying before they were stores. Some didn’t. But we took our herbals seriously. They’d saved our asses more than once.

  Nothing like this, and I hoped our dedication would pay off. First things first. Set our newbies up with the things they needed. Deirdre took on making fire, and she pulled Deana to her. Daniella was better with the protection aspect, so she began to gather the materials for the spell, towing Dee next to her.

  I started taking down the jars with the herbs for a slowing spell. “Come on, DeAnna. We’re going to make a slowdown teabag.”

  She gazed at me doubtfully. “Will this work?”

  I nodded. “Yes. We’re going to make these so that they’re like beginner spells. All Dee or Deana will need to do is speak the spell word, and it will activate the spell. As you get better with magic, you won’t need the herbs. But they are a focus, and a helper, until you get to that place.”

  “Why wouldn’t Momma have wanted us to know this? She told me her whole life how glad she was to get out of Deadwood, and I came here with that in mind. But …” She looked at me, and the confusion in her expression was almost heartbreaking. “I haven’t seen that you three are bad. I mean, you did drag us into your mess. But it’s our mess, too, isn’t it? Because we’re all the children of the original Desdemona?”

  I put my arm around her. It had to be difficult to learn that what you’d been taught your entire life was not only not accurate, it also wasn’t the big bad wolf you’d been told it was. “We’re family. You are helping out family. When this is over, we’ll teach you anything you want. Anything at all. You can stay here and learn, whatever you want. I promise.”

  DeAnna surprised me with a hug. “Thank you. Thank you for giving us a chance when we came in not ready to do the same.”

  “You’re welcome. Time to focus.” I nodded at the jars on the long workbench. St. John’s wort, hyssop, sage, and a quartz stone tied into a teabag. We mixed up the ingredients in silence. The slowdown spell was not overly difficult: Agrimony, angelica root, ash prickly bark. If you were feeling frisky, you could also add some bladder wrack, buchu, or lemongrass. I added all three. I felt extremely frisky.

  “This is it?” DeAnna asked. “It seems so simple.”

  “It is.” I nodded. “The herbs are there to help with focus, to protect the user against whatever harm is aimed at them. We charge these before you can use them, which means we put magic in them. When the word is used to activate, the herbs allow the user to cast magic. It’s perfect when you’re just beginning. But you need to be with a trustworthy witch—one with less than positive intentions can hurt a beginning magical user.”

  “Good thing you’re trustworthy. How many do we need to make?”

  “Oh, maybe twenty, twenty-five. I want you to each have five teabags of each—did you hear that?” I raised my voice so that my sisters heard. �
�Make twenty-five each so that they can practice?”

  “We’re going to do them here, in front of you?” DeAnna was definitely nervous.

  “Yes, so we can help you be as efficient as possible.” I didn’t look up as I spoke. I’d figured out that DeAnna had a hard time with the woo-woo aspect of magic, and I needed to keep things as level as possible, with logic and reason.

  I literally would have smacked Deana back into the hereafter if she were with us right now. She’d hurt her offspring by not at least making them familiar with aspects of magic. And given DeAnna, at least, a complex.

  It took us longer than normal, because we were going slow to show them what we were doing, and how, but finally, we had all the bags assembled.

  “Who wants to go first?” I asked with a grin. “School is now in session!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  We saw Dee, Deana, and Zane off the next morning. I felt good, even slightly hopeful, as we watched them drive away in Zane’s Land Rover.

  The impromptu teaching last night—well, this morning—had gone well. Even DeAnna, who was by far the most nervous of the three, had done well, and managed to set off all the spells. They’d been alarmed when Deirdre, Daniella and I took turns being the target. But it had become fun when Daniella said, “Listen, if we can’t dodge stuff from you guys, we deserve to get knocked on our asses. So hit us with your best. We can take it. Seriously. We used to practice with Granny and Meema. The goal is to not get knocked on your ass.”

  They’d relaxed then, and Deana showed signs of being really proficient. I debated whether or not to invite her alone, and then decided against it. If they wanted to learn, they could come and spend the summer here, and come back whenever they wanted.

  Like a mother ship.

  “I hope they’re back fast,” DeAnna muttered.

  “Well, don’t hope too hard. You’re going to learn while they’re gone.” I put an arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

  “Learn what?” Her eyebrows went up.

  “First, we’re going to go over to Zane’s and see if we can call Granny’s spirit back.”

  “Not Meema?”

  I could feel my face fall. “No. She’s not in a place where we can reach her.”

  “I’m sorry,” DeAnna said quietly. “I know how hard it is to lose her.”

  I nodded, feeling the tears. Then I sniffed, and swiped at my face. “Well, that’s neither here or there right now. Right now, we need to see if we can find Granny and shake the damn truth out of her.”

  “She might not want to tell us.”

  “No.” I remembered my conversation with Zane last night, “But before we do that, we need some other information.” I caught Daniella’s eye, and jerked my head.

  She saw it, and nudged Deirdre. That was the great thing about being with your sisters all the time—there wasn’t always a need for words.

  DeAnna trailed behind us, arms crossed.

  “Doc!” I yelled. “Come on, we need to talk!”

  He drifted through a wall. “I was called by the dulcet tones?”

  “Yes. You were. Prepare to be uncomfortable.”

  “That does not bode well,” he said.

  “It’s time for truth. Like, all the truth.”

  “In what respect, darlin’? I’ve been as honest as I could be.”

  “We need to know more about the time you spent with Granny.”

  A cloud passed over his face, which was weird, being able to see this on a ghost. But there had definitely been a cloud. “What?” I asked.

  “That was a bad time for me, Desdemona. I’ll try and remember things, but now, it seems like a dark blur. I was angry, very angry. So was Desi. Neither of us were at our best,” he finished.

  “Yeah, I know. But I need to know about how and why she died.”

  “Why?”

  Oh, he was hiding something. I could just tell. It was all over him. Next to me, DeAnna sat down at one of the chairs at the island.

  “Because it’s weird, don’t you think? She does this deal, and gets to live forever—”

  “Without being arrogant, I believe she had plans to live with me,” Doc said softly.

  “What happened with that?” DeAnna interrupted.

  Normally, I would have verbally slapped her, but if she helped Doc be more comfortable, this would be better for me. For all of us. The secrets had to end.

  “I was dying. From the time I moved from Texas, I knew I was on borrowed time. I was always grateful that women were willing to be with me, but I had nothing to offer a woman. Desi did try to tell me that she could help me, but I was resigned and cynical at that point. I didn’t listen. Once I went south again, and met Kate...” He shrugged. “It was all over then in regards to other women. And I? I was dying, and Kate was willing to take on caring for me, in many ways. I could not have come back to Desi even had I wanted to.”

  “Easier that way?” Deirdre commented.

  “I was no saint, darlin,’” Doc said with a wry expression. “I did care for Desi. As I told you, she was a great deal of fun, and I enjoyed our time together. That was the most I could give a woman in that time. Once she brought me here, I was angry.”

  “How long did you fight?” I asked.

  “Until she died. I didn’t know she was planning it.”

  “What? She planned her own death?” DeAnna was shocked.

  “Yes. If you were to live here, from my understanding, you would possibly not die.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I wish we knew more about Granny’s family. In order for us to all have the amount of power we do, there had to be something there to begin with. No demon gives this much power.”

  “Why not?” asked DeAnna.

  “Because while they say they want to help you, demons are like everyone else. They’re looking out for their interests. And their interests are getting souls to Hell, to work for them. I don’t really know, but that’s the impression I got. The main point is, you don’t do deals with demons. And Granny did—out of desperation, I guess. But she had to have some talent for the craft to be going on with. She managed to keep this town on the rails, and most of the supernatural shitheads out of it. She taught Meema to do the same, and then Meema taught us. That’s not just a demon gift.” I nodded at Doc.

  He pursed his lips, thinking. “I know that about five years before she died, she cried almost every night.”

  “Why?” Daniella beat me to it.

  This was more like it.

  “I don’t know. By that time, I wasn’t so almighty angry, and listening to a woman cry is no one’s idea of a good time. Whatever it was, it was a deep hurt.”

  “So why did she choose to die?” Deirdre had a fierce look on her face.

  “Right before she died, she called to me, and I came, but grudgingly. She told me that she was sorry, that she didn’t know how to let me go, and she’d missed me so much after I left. I told her that I wanted to be free. She said she was sorry, and looked down at her hands. They were in her lap, palms upturned. Then she got up and walked out of the room. That was the last time I saw her, or spoke to her, so it must have been a few days before she died. I rather think she took something,” he added. “She was drinking a tea before bed. Your mother found her the next morning. I did come in to observe the screaming.” He crossed his arms.

  “Okay, so she killed herself. She was ready to go. But why? This just doesn’t make sense. Meema was young, only in her late thirties, and we were little, like nine or ten. Granny was so invested in taking care of Deadwood—why kill herself?” I shook my head.

  “Something changed,” DeAnna said.

  “Like what?” I wondered.

  “Something she thought was one way, and it changed.”

  “But she’d already sent the two consumptive women off with Ashlar. I don’t think he’s known since then. He didn’t seem the type to sit back and wait quietly for the right time.” Daniella looked at Doc for confirmation.

 
He nodded slowly. “I would agree. He had the anger of just learning he’d been taken.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “Patience wouldn’t seem like one of his virtues—unless he’s having us on.”

  “No,” Doc said. “That was an angry demon who just heard the bad news.”

  “Okay, so we will assume it wasn’t the demon, although that’s not a for sure thing,” I said, holding up a finger. “So what could have changed?”

  “Well, maybe the terms of the bargain she made? Something she’d thought about herself that turned out not to be true? Or something that was true, that she’d never thought of?” Daniella asked.

  I laughed. “Did you ever talk to her?” I asked DeAnna.

  “No, but I’m trying to think of my mother, who sounds a lot like Granny. Secretive, personal obsessions, a very fixed point of view—she’d be rolling in her grave if she knew what we were up to.”

  “I wish I knew why your mom was so against all of us here. We loved her. She was our sister. I don’t get that either.” Deirdre had lost the fierce look.

  “Secrets become bigger and bigger with every person that carries them,” Doc observed.

  “Well, thank you, scholar Doc Holliday!” I threw up my hands. “That solves everything!”

  He shrugged. “I always knew there were secrets. I thought most of them were with Desi. But maybe there were more?”

  “We need to talk to her spirit, if we can.” I was thinking about the books Zane had showed me, going over where to begin.

  “Even if we do, do you think she’d tell us?” DeAnna asked. “It sounds like she took a great deal of them with her, and she did it on purpose.”

  “True, but maybe the outcomes of all her shit will loosen her tongue,” I said. “If not, there’s always the massive guilt trip. I think she did have some,” I added for Doc’s benefit.

  “I think she did as well,” he agreed. “That didn’t comfort me at the time.”

  I laughed at his tone. “It’s amazing to me how your spirit still manages the best sarcasm in the house.”