“I just saw Carlisle’s daughter Alyssa arguing with him,” I said. “I want to know what it was about. I think his name is Adam, but I can’t remember his last name. His registration form should have some more info on it.”
“I have the registration forms at home,” Cora said. “I’ll have Silas bring them over so we can check them out. Anything else I can do?”
“Just that would be great,” I said.
“Are you going to Neil’s talk at ten?” Cora asked. She smiled. “I am so excited!” She sipped her coffee.
I shook my head. “I can’t make it. I have a massage booked for nine, and then I have to set up a mud bath at ten. Thank goodness this nice fairy named Margie offered to take my eight o’clock massage off my hands.”
Cora frowned. “I can’t believe you’re booking massages on top of everything else you’re doing.”
“I really want the center to offer them,” I said. “This place is about learning and healing. I think body work is a big part of healing. Releasing tension in the body will help beings access more of their magic.”
“That might be true,” Cora said, “but logistically, you can’t oversee the whole center and handle all the little details. You’re going to have to learn to delegate, Marley. Have you thought about giving some of the operations tasks to a few employees? Maybe you could hire this Margie fairy lady. It sounds like she’s interested in the work.”
I scrunched up my nose. “That sounds complicated,” I said.
“It would be a lot less complicated than trying to run around and do everything yourself.”
“I don’t know...” I said. “We’ll see. I’d better get going if I’m going to the massage studio. Thanks for checking that registration for me.”
“Think about it,” she said as I started to move away. She waved goodbye, and Blueberry yipped and wagged her little tail. I bid them both goodbye and then started hustling toward the spa. As I walked, I scanned the lobby for Alyssa or Adam. I didn’t see Adam, but I did see Alyssa. She was at the buffet table fixing a cup of tea. She looked like she was deep in thought.
I wished I had the time to ask her about Adam, but I had a massage to get to.
Chapter Nine
I pushed through the double doors that led into the spa area, and stepped into the long hallway lined with various treatment rooms.
The walls were smooth stone, which was pocketed with recessed lighting, as well as little inlaid planters. Soft music floated magically through the air, and I could smell eucalyptus and lavender.
I truly loved this area of the building and was happy with how it had turned out. I passed the women’s and men’s locker rooms, the crystal cave, and several mud bath rooms. I reached the end of the hallway, where the massage studios were located, just in time to see Margie leading the very relaxed blond merwoman out into the hall. “Now be sure to drink plenty of water for the next few hours, Lee,” Margie said, while fluttering next to the merwoman. “The deep tissue work we just did is sure to release some toxins into your system that you’ll want to flush out. I also recommend a nice hot sauna, which will also help your body expel those pesky toxins.”
“Thank you so much, Margie,” Lee said. “That was the best massage I’ve ever had! All the pain and knots in my neck and back are completely gone.” She wiggled her shoulders a bit and swiveled her neck side to side. “I feel fabulous!” she exclaimed.
Margie grinned. The two spotted me, and I waved. “How did it go?” I asked.
Lee spoke up. “This fairy is incredible. She worked magic on my muscles!”
Margie grinned. “It was my pleasure,” she said to Lee. Then to me she asked, “Sure you don’t want me to take your nine o’clock off your hands?”
I chuckled. “Wow. You really are helpful. But I can handle it. I really appreciate your help.”
“Anytime,” she said. The two continued down the hallway, and I ducked into an empty massage room. As I looked through an assortment of oils, I pondered what Cora had said. Maybe I should consider hiring some employees, I thought. It would certainly help me run the day-to-day operations of the center more efficiently, not to mention it would free up my time so that I could put out any fires that came up. Not literal fires, I hoped, but figurative ones—like a murderer on the loose, for example. That kind of fire.
I was deep in thought when I heard a soft knock on the door. It was my client, Shauna, the merwoman with pink hair. I invited her in, and for the next hour, I worked on her tight muscles.
When I started to learn witchcraft, I also started to sense energy in my palms, especially when I was around other beings. Skili mentioned to me once that it had to do with my latent healing abilities. So, as I ran my hands along Shauna’s tight and knotted muscles, I let that warm, buzzing energy travel out from my palms and into her body.
At certain times, I felt the need to let my hands linger over one particular area of her body. I wasn't sure why, but I trusted my instincts. Whenever this happened, Shauna eventually let out a major sigh of release. At one point, she even started crying. I trusted that everything was happening as it was meant to happen.
Once the hour was over, I left her alone for a moment. Then I returned with a tall glass of water in my hand. She sipped it and then said, “That was amazing, Miss Greene. You have some very powerful healing abilities.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said. “I just do what feels natural.”
“Well then, you’re a natural healer,” she said. “I haven’t felt this good in ages.”
“I’m really glad,” I told her. We chatted for a moment, and then I helped her off of the table and guided her back down the dimly lit hallway.
She gave me a big hug and another heartfelt “thank you” before exiting the spa area. I returned down the hallway, feeling beyond satisfied. This was what the center was about. This was what I wanted. I wanted to heal. I wanted to give beings the sense of peace and wellbeing. I wanted to affect change in individuals, and then let that change ripple throughout the magical universe.
I wanted to do good.
I had a soft smile on my lips as I pushed open the door to the communal mud baths. I just wanted to check the temperature of the bath, to make sure it was ready for guests if they decided to pop in for a soak after Neil’s ten o’clock lecture. Then I planned on readying one of the individual baths for Beatrix, who was due at the spa at ten.
She’ll be here at the spa any minute now, I thought, as I crossed the floor made of patchwork slate. I’ll just quickly check on this bath, and then I’ll go out into the hallway to meet her.
I crouched down at the edge of the bath. All in all, it was about big enough to fit a dozen bathers. I dipped my fingers into the thick, chocolate-colored substance, expecting the mud to be nice and warm.
It wasn’t.
It was stone cold.
“Unicorn poop,” I muttered, pulling my hand out of the bath and shaking it.
When my witch sisters and I created the center, we set the intention for everything in the building to function for the highest good. So what was going wrong with the baths?
“Did someone say ‘unicorn poop’?” a voice asked.
Then, to my amazement, two big holes opened up in the center of the mud bath. A big blob of mud rose up around the holes, and then a lumpy figure followed. The big body-shaped glob of mud, which had holes for eyes, then stepped right out of the bath.
It stood at the edge, dripping mud onto the pristine floor.
“What the heck?” I said, as I stepped back away from the figure. “Who—or what—are you?”
“I am Geoffrey Golem,” the mud-figure said. “A creature made entirely of mud—at your service.”
He actually sounded quite friendly. I looked back to the bath from which he emerged. “You’re made of water and minerals?” I asked, confused. “How are you... you know, alive?”
“Us Golem monsters are made of mud,” Geoffrey said. “Wherever there’s a big pile of magical mud
or clay, chances are good that one of us will emerge. Not to worry—I won’t cause harm. You created a lovely cocktail of minerals in that bath. I seem to be built of healing elements.'' He used his big gloppy, brown, mitten-like hands to feel around his body.
As he tapped his chest he said, “Ah yes, I feel the quartz powder mixing with the lithium and magnesium. What a delightful brew! You must be a very wise Earth Witch to create such a mixture. I am so pleased to be able to serve you, my master creator.”
“Whoa, whoa,” I said, motioning to the guy. “I’m no master creator. Just call me Marley. I think this is all one big mistake. I wanted to make mud baths that would help beings here at my resort. I didn’t mean for the mud to actually come alive. Do you think you could—maybe, just, kind of climb back in the tub and dissolve again?”
His eyes sloped down at the edges. A big, gaping, hole of a frown emerged on his mud-pile face. “Dissolve?” he said. “You want me to—seriously? I’m so offended!”
Just then I heard a noise out in the hallway. I was sure it was Beatrix.
I held up a finger to the Golem monster. “Excuse me one second, please, Geoffrey,” I said.
Then I backed away toward the door.
As I did, I heard the mud figure muttering to himself. “Dissolve! She wants me to climb back into the tub and just dissolve! Why? What have I ever done to her?”
I opened the door to the hallway and stuck my head out. As suspected, I saw Beatrix. She was knocking on the door to a private mud bath room across the way.
“Beatrix?” I said.
She turned to face me. “Oh! There you are, Marley,” she said. “I’ve been looking for you. I’m ready for my custom soak.”
“Dissolve!” Geoffrey wailed. The sound carried from the room behind me out into the hallway.
“Who was that?” Beatrix asked, trying to peer over my shoulder.
“Nothing!” I said. “No one... just... I have a little situation on my hands that I have to take care of. I’ll be with you in five minutes. Okay?”
“Fine,” she said with a frown.
I ducked back into the communal mud bath room and closed the door.
As I walked back to Geoffrey, I saw that he was now sitting on the edge of the bath. His legs melted into the bath water, and the holes that he had for eyes were spewing out big droplets of mud. The muddy tears created a fountain that splattered into the bath below.
“Here I go...” he said sorrowfully. “Back to the mud from which I came...”
He sounded so sad.
I felt terrible.
But at the same time, I thought it was best. I watched him quietly as he inched forward.
“Here I go, for real,” he said. “Once I submerge back into the mud, you won’t have to deal with me any longer.” He stopped crying and pointed his hole-shaped eyes my way, as if he was waiting for me to speak.
“Thank you,” I said. “It was nice to meet you, Geoffrey. Thanks for making an appearance. But I have enough on my hands right now without dealing with a mud monster on top of it all.”
“I see,” he said. “I’m a nuisance to you. I’ll just disappear... “
He started crying again. He slipped off of the edge of the pool and waded in towards the center. “Here I go,” he said again, as he lowered himself into the mud. “Goodbye, individuality! Goodbye, life!” He paused again when he was just a shoulder and head in the mud. He looked at me with his big eyes.
I couldn’t stand it. “Hang on,” I said.
“Yes?” He popped up, so that his whole torso was out of the bath. “Yes? Hang on? You said hang on?”
I bit my lip. What was I about to do?
I stepped forward and offered him a hand. He looked at it.
“Let me help you out of there,” I said.
A crescent shaped gap opened up a few inches below his eyes, forming a big smile. “You want me to stick around?” he asked.
His hand slapped against mine, and I pulled on it. I felt the mud in my hand curl around my palm as I hoisted the figure of Geoffrey back out of the bath.
“I guess I do,” I said, surprising myself a bit. “If you’d like, you can hang out here for a little while. I don’t really have a room for you to stay in—they’re all booked.”
“Oh, I don’t need a room,” he said. “I’ll sleep here, by the mud from which I came!” He pointed toward the bath.
The thought of a giant pile of animated mud always hanging out by the communal bath didn’t quite sit well with me, but I didn’t have time to process my feelings. “We’ll figure out a plan later,” I said. “Maybe you can just roam free, you know, out in the wilderness. I’ll help you figure out where you want to go, once the weekend’s over.”
“Thank you!” he said. “My creator! My queen! I’d like to serve you, to show my gratitude. Please, beautiful master creator, what can I do for you?”
“Seriously, just call me Marley,” I said. Then I glanced back at the door. Beatrix was waiting for me. If I kept her waiting for too long, she might give up on her private bath altogether. That wouldn’t be good, because I really wanted a chance to ask her a few more questions.
I turned back to Geoffrey. “Um... I do have one little favor you could do for me,” I said. “This bath is supposed to be hot, but it’s not. Maybe you could look into it? I’m not sure what happened. Maybe the water is coming in from the wrong place or something?” I furrowed my brow.
“Don’t worry about it for another second!” Geoffrey said. “I can fix it. Leave it to me!” He slapped a wet hand against his own chest, and mud splattered out from the impact.
I grimaced. Maybe inviting this mud monster to stick around wasn’t such a good idea. But what was done was done, and I couldn’t take it back now.
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate the help.”
I exited the communal mud bath room. Beatrix was standing across the hallway a few doors down, waiting for me. I started toward her, already thinking about what kind of concoction I might brew up for her custom bath. Thinking isn’t really the right word, actually. I was feeling into it. I was trying to use my healing senses to intuit what she might need from the earth.
Lithium. That one was clear.
Magnesium.
Rose quartz.
Iron.
Sulfate.
I was getting closer to her, so I offered a polite smile. Then movement just beyond her caught my eye.
It was a caped figure, gliding down the hallway. The hooded cape was long and gray. The hood was up, obscuring the face of the figure by shadows.
My heart sank, and a chill ran through me.
I had a feeling I knew who this caped figure was: one of Sarin’s recruiters.
Chapter Ten
I stopped in my tracks and looked past Beatrix to the cloaked figure. “Excuse me!” I called out. “Excuse me...” I wasn’t sure whether to say “mister” or “miss,” so I just omitted both.
As I addressed the cloak-wearing figure, it stopped in its tracks.
“Excuse me,” I called out again. “This retreat is actually for guests who registered in advance. We only had twenty-five spots, and they’ve all been filled.”
I waited for the figure to speak.
It didn’t.
I waved at it. “Are you hearing me?” I asked. The shadowy face was starting to creep me out. I felt goosebumps erupt on my arms.
Beatrix looked back at the figure, too.
“What is that thing?” she asked.
“A recruiter,” I muttered.
“A recruiter for what?” she asked.
I didn’t answer her. Instead I called out to the figure again. “I know you work for Sarin,” I said. “And I know you snuck in through the portal gate under her giant dress. Like I said, this retreat is for registered guests. I’m going to have to escort you back to the gate.”
With that, I passed Beatrix and headed for the figure.
I don’t know what I expected. I guess I thought that the be
ing would just let me guide him or her by the elbow all the way back to the portal gate. I was very, very wrong.
The cloaked figure took off so fast that I knew I had little hope of catching it.
“Shoot!” I muttered. I looked over my shoulder at Beatrix. “Just gotta have one little tiny telepathic communication!” I said. “I’ll be right with you!”
Then I quickly reached out to Skili with my mind. Luckily, she must have been awake, because she answered me. “What’s wrong?” she asked
“There’s a cloaked figure—one of Sarin’s recruiters—heading for the building’s exit, I’m pretty sure... It's running away from me. It shouldn’t be here. Can you keep it in sight until I can meet up with you? I have to set up a custom mud bath, but I don’t want it to get up to any trouble.”
“I’ll try,” Skili returned.
I turned back to Beatrix.
She raised a brow at me, and then looked pointedly at her watch. “It’s now 10:30,” she said. “Are you ready to provide that 10:00 custom soak you promised?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. I returned to her and then pushed open the door to the private mud bath room. I held it open for her, and she stepped inside.
“By all means,” she said. “If you have another creepy recruiter to converse with, or some other random telepathic conversation that needs your attention, I can just wait. It’s not like I just lost my husband yesterday. Just ignore me, why don’t you?”
I knew she was being sarcastic. “Really, I’m sorry,” I said again. I truly was. I hurried over to a shelf of glass jars filled with minerals of all colors that stood against one stone wall of the little room.
“That wasn't just a random telepathic conversation,” I said, as I reached for a jar of bright yellow powder. “I had to communicate with my familiar—Skili. And as for the recruiter, that was a situation I really had to deal with. It snuck into the Earth Realm, and my witch sisters and I have to get it out before it can cause any trouble.”
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