I started to thank her, when her eyes found that level squint and her lips that serpent’s grin that Lilith gave me moments earlier. My heart sank to my stomach. My throat tightened and my palms grew sweaty. She returned to Dominic. He was talking to Carlos and Lilith. They were laughing, the three of them, engaged in their bubble of ignorance while Ursula and I kept an eye lock on each other. She was reading me. Feeling me. Exploring my mind while I tried and failed to read hers. I watched her eyes fall away. I followed them to the ground, and there between us, in the dirt, was an electric blue vein of energy tethering us, tying the two of us together. I could feel it tingling in my toes. My jaw dropped. I looked up at her again. She smiled and then turned her head dismissively.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion then. Carlos laughed in slow motion. Lilith clasped her hands together in slow motion and then pulled them apart, perhaps describing the zip ball explosion the other morning in the living room. Dominic put his hands up defensively, as if startled by Lilith’s demonstration. Again in slow motion. The only one not moving slow besides me was Ursula. Yet the others did not see it. I walked the static blue line to her. She turned to me, her smile thinning by degrees.
“Ursula, what is going on?”
“You do not know?” she said.
“Know what?”
“We are linking.”
“Linking? What’s that?”
She trained her eyes on the blue line. “You kissed me. The light doth bind our souls now and forever.”
I pointed to the others. “What’s wrong with them? Why are they moving in slow motion?”
She looked and laughed. “But they are not. No more than we are having this conversation.”
“You saying we’re not?”
“Not in words of spoken sound.”
That freaked me out some. “Ursula.” I wagged my finger at her. “I am on to your gag. It’s a cute trick to be sure. One of your better spells.”
She shook her head. “What say thee thy words of doubt? `Tis witchcraft, aye, but not a spell. Thou doth see with thine own eyes thy witches light.”
I looked at the ground between Lilith and me. No such vein of energy existed between us. “Lilith and I don’t have it,” I said, sure to deflate her ruse. She shied away from the question. I asked again, more forcefully. “Ursula. Why is there no light between Lilith and me? We’ve kissed thousands of times.”
She pointed at the circle. “`Tis the energy of the coven, this light, meant for me and mine.”
“You and Dominic.”
“Aye.”
“So, why didn’t it work? Why aren’t the two of you linked?”
“It is as I have told you, the light of witches.”
I nodded. “I see. Dominic’s not a witch.”
“Alas, he is not.”
“Why didn’t you warn me then? I would not have kissed you if I knew.”
“What was to warn? Thou kissed me so fast my head did spin and doth spin still.”
“I got caught up in the moment.”
“The moment, aye, and what a moment thou hath caught.” She shook her head and looked away. “`Tis a strange event what turns indeed. Wilt thou not pinch me now and wake me from this dream?”
“I wish I could,” I said. “And I wish I could tell you that none of this is happening. Yet here we are, talking in this surreal, detached envelope of reality while these three go about their business without the slightest notion that we are having this conversation––or not having it, as you say. Ursula, you have to tell me what to do, because I really don’t understand it.”
“Nay. Nor do I for its entirety.”
“Tony.” I looked at her from across the circle. It was Lilith. No longer was I standing next to Ursula. The four of them were outside the circle, looking back at me. “You coming or not?”
I looked about, feeling spent, as if awakening from a dream. “Yes,” I said. “I’m coming.”
I fled the circle and caught up with them in a sprint. I might have thought it was all in my head, had Ursula not looked at me and gestured with her finger across her lips. She directed my attention to the ground with a glance. The electric blue vein was still there, tethering our witchy blue souls.
SEVENTEEN
Back at the house, Dominic and Ursula acted like the consummate newlyweds; touching, kissing and sometimes displaying their affections in an openly lascivious manner. It seemed a bit out of character for both, but perfectly normal for a couple so much in love. Carlos popped the champagne bottle and offered a toast to the occasion. What he lacked in linguistic eloquence, he made up for with heartfelt sincerity.
“If I may,” he started, his glass in hand, his arm outstretched as if holding a lantern to the entrance of a darkened cave. In some ways, I imagined he was. To toast a future unknown, one can only surmise its outcome by the brilliance of the light that shines before him. “To Dominic. My best friend.” He looked at me with a side-glance and whispered, “Sorry, Tony. No offence.”
I gestured back, raising my glass. “None taken.”
He continued. “And to his beautiful new wife, Ursula. May the road before you be paved with gold.” I know. He should have stopped there. “May the potholes you encounter be small, far and few. May life’s detours always bring you back to a pavement straight and narrow. May the intersections never cross you up and may the lights at those intersections always be green. I mean for you, of course. Not for the cross traffic. That would be dangerous. Unless no one is coming the other way. In that case––”
“Carlos.” I cranked my hand in a cameraman’s roll. “Can you hurry it up some? The champagne is going flat.”
“Of course,” he said, souring his expression. But having successfully distracted him, I knew his train of thought was permanently derailed. He hoisted his glass higher. “To Dominic and Ursula.”
“Hear, hear,” I said. “To Dominic and Ursula.”
We all drank. And after drinking to that, we drank some more, toasting everything from Lilith’s magick to the magic kingdom at Disney World. To be honest, by the end of the evening we would have toasted the magic of microwave popcorn. The champagne was going down that easily. Seven bottles of champagne and countless shooters later, we were all either tipsy, cockeyed or stone cold drunk. Still, no matter how much I drank, I never lost sight of the electric blue vein, that damn witch’s light tethering Ursula and me together. The truly strange thing was that, although I spotted Ursula looking at it every now and then too, no one else, not even Lilith, ever seemed to notice it.
Later that evening, I pulled Dominic aside and asked him what Ursula whispered in his ear that changed his mind about accepting the house Carlos gave them. He told me she whispered that with a house like that, they could start working on having babies right away.
“You know how small my apartment is,” he said, and then he smiled. “I can’t wait to get started.”
I looked across the room at Ursula. I would have started already, I thought. But my answer to him sounded less impetuous. “You have time. Enjoy each other’s company while you can. Kids change everything.”
Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he said, but I knew he was only being polite. My money was on Ursula getting pregnant by morning.
It was sometime after midnight when we called for a taxi to take Dominic and Ursula home. Lilith set the couch up for Carlos to sleep on. Shortly after, she and I went to bed. As promised, she made good use of my handle. Even tried a few new things that I would not have thought possible. But then, Lilith is a shape-shifter. Couple that with some liquor and she can really surprise you. That is to say, she does not drink much, but when she does, she is one righteous ball of fire.
By two in the morning, she had worn me down and worn herself out. I was sitting up in bed looking at her, watching her sleep, when I noticed that annoying blue light again. It appeared to radiate off my body like a glow stick, gathering in a concentrated pool on the floor by the bed and stretching like taffy out the
bedroom door. I got up and followed it down the hall. A string of static sparks popped in nervous missteps just beyond my stride, as if anticipating my footfalls. It led me to the bathroom, past the sink and toilet and terminated at the tub. But for what little light I could see by, I was sure there was no one there. I hit the switch, illuminating the room, and there she was, Ursula, sitting on the edge of the tub in a nightgown so sheer I could see through it clearly. At her bare feet, the electric blue tether linking us.
“Ursula? What are you doing here?”
She looked at me. Not at my face, but lower. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my mid-section. I snapped up a second towel and handed it to her. She waved it off, instead, passing her hands over her body and blurring her features to my eyes.
“Wow, some trick,” I said. “How did you do that?”
She shook her head. “`Tis no trick. The mind sees what it will. I am here as you want me, but in your mind is all. I come neither clothed nor unclothed. Thou wished to see me in the flesh, so thy eye hath made it so.”
“Yes, but now I see your face clearly and only a blurred silhouette of your body.”
“Aye, `tis by suggestion I blind thee. Still, you see me as ye wish.”
I passed my hand in front of my face and Ursula was naked again, veiled only in a sheer whisper of lingerie. Another pass, another look, and she was clothed in traditional seventeen century garb, hemmed to the ankle and button to the neck.
“That’s amazing. I see you any way I want.”
“As you wish.”
“Except I really don’t wish to see you at all. Why aren’t you home with your husband?”
“I am in body, but my mind is with thee. We are linked. Thou hath beckoned me through the witch’s light.”
“So, you are not really here?”
She shook her head. “In body, no.”
“But if I were to touch you….” I crossed the floor and reached for her. Upon contact, a bright blue spark arced between my finger and her arm, sending a shock through my bones like a mini lightning bolt. I fell back with a shriek, jerking my hand involuntarily and slamming it against the sink.
“Damn it, Ursula. What was that?”
She pressed her finger to her lips and shushed me. Then she pointed to the door. I turned to see Carlos shuffling into the bathroom, blind to our presence. I stepped away from the sink and let him pass. He positioned himself in front of the toilet, opened his stance, took it out and proceeded to relieve himself. I turned to Ursula, who did not seem shy about watching him.
“Can you see him?” I asked.
She crowded her brows as if I had asked her a stupid question. I suppose I had. “Of course.”
“Can he see us?”
She shook her head. “Methinks not.”
And then she did something completely uncharacteristic, something I would have expected only from Lilith. She scooted along to the edge of the tub, leaned in closer to Carlos, and with her index finger she…. Well, she poked his thing, diverting a heavy stream of urine off to one side of the bowl and onto the floor. She pulled back and giggled, covering her mouth with her hands as if Carlos might hear. I fell back against the wall, laughing so hard I nearly pissed myself. Carlos, who had been half-sleeping, or sleepwalking, I’m not completely sure, swung his aim back to the bowl, over corrected by a foot and sprayed the other side of the floor, missing Ursula’s foot by inches.
“Ursula,” I said. “I cannot believe you did that. You are a naughty, naughty girl, aren’t you?”
“Please, Master Tony. Forgive me. I could not resist.”
“I think you have been hanging around Lilith too long. She has definitely corrupted you.”
“Aye. `Tis Lilith’s fault. I admit. I am what she made me, is all. What fruit falls doth falls not far from the tree.”
“What?”
She shook her head, and then Carlos shook his and tucked it back into his pants. He washed his hands, but did nothing about the mess on the floor. As he turned and started back to the couch, I said to Ursula. “How did you do that?”
Again, she gave me that innocent look, though I was beginning to suspect she was not that innocent at all. “Do what?”
“How did you interact physically with Carlos if you’re not physically here yourself?”
She gave me an unconvincing shrug. “I know not the laws of energy, only what the laws allows.”
“So tell me again why you’re here? You said I beckoned you, but I wasn’t thinking about you when I saw that damn blue light and followed it to the bathroom.”
“Hark,” she said, her eyes and ear pitched toward the ceiling. “My Dominic calls for me. I must go.”
“No, Ursula. Wait. I have questions.”
And like that, she was gone. I turned and headed down the hall back to the bedroom. The bathroom light switched off by itself, but not before the light spilling in behind me lit up the bedroom. I could see Lilith lying there, sleeping with her head at the wrong end of the bed. And me, also sleeping, though still sitting up with my back against the headboard. I felt a tug at my chest and the sensation of falling. The next thing I knew I was rushing toward the bed. My conscious self snapped into my sleeping body and startled me awake.
I took a deep breath and let it out, feeling a little like a fish returning to water. Was it all a dream? I had to know. I got up and made my way back to the bathroom. There, on both sides of the toilet bowl, was Carlos’ pee puddles. I mopped them up with wads of toilet paper, flushed them down the bowl and went back to bed. Sleep returned to me fast and easy. And if I dreamed of Ursula, I did not remember it in the morning.
EIGHTEEN
I awoke at sunrise to find Lilith lying there watching me, her cheek upon my pillow, our noses nearly touching. She thinned her lips softly. Brushed my face with the back of her hand. Traced my eye with her fingertips. I tried to remember the last time she looked so beautiful to me. I could not remember.
“Morning,” I said, smiling back at her.
“`Gmorn` to you.” Her breath smelled fresh like peppermint. She had been up. Gone to the bathroom. Brushed her teeth. I rolled over onto my back, wishing I had done the same.
“Sleep well?” I asked.
“Yup,” she said, and she slid her hand under the covers, down my chest, across my stomach and lower. “You?”
“Yes. Like a ba––beee….” I shuddered at her touch. Her hand felt cold, but good. I unfurled my toes and splayed them outside the covers.
“Like a baby?”
I exhaled deeply. “Yes.”
“That was nice last night. Wasn’t it?”
“The wedding?”
“Yeah.” She gathered me in her hand, squeezed and pulled gently. I gasped audibly, sighed and then found my body easing to the rhythm she had settled into.
“Yes. That was sweet. I think those two are meant for each other.” I turned my head to look at her. She still had that smile, that angelic expression that told me she was happy to be with me. I kicked the covers off and crowded them to the foot of the bed. Shards of sunlight streaming through the blinds pinstriped my body, but the breeze from the ceiling fan negated its warmth.
“You were sweet,” she said. “And you looked most handsome in that firelight.”
Lilith had me at full attention, teasing me with her touch, dragging her fingertips over sensitive terrain before clamping down with utter authority. I arched my back and adjusted the spread of my legs. She nestled closer, her breasts warm against my side. I put my arm around her and cupped her tattooed cheek in my hand. She stretched out straight and did the same with her trophy.
“No. You were sweet,” I said. “And beautiful. And amazing.”
“Amazing at the wedding? Or afterward?”
“Both, but yeah, mostly afterwards.”
She rolled her eyes up at me, wet her lips lightly and smiled. “You think that was amazing?”
Her words sent a rush of anticipation through my bones. I closed my eyes, a
nd in the shadow of my pride, she laid her kisses down, warming me with her breath, her thick hair tickling my skin as it cascaded over me like spider silk. I wanted to tell her I loved her, that I could not live without her. I just didn’t want her to think it was for all the wrong reasons. In the end, I said nothing. I let her take me to the whims of her wishes, to a place as magical as any witch may know. When I came for her, she came to me and laid her head on my pillow.
I waited until she fell back to sleep before making a trip to the bathroom. I was standing in front the mirror, shaving and thinking about the night before when it started to come back to me. We had all consumed a lot of champagne. And as I have learned, anytime one mixes alcohol with witchcraft, one’s memories can blur. I had nearly convince myself that what happened with Ursula and me after everyone had gone to bed was all a dream, a champagne induced twist on reality. Yet my heart told me otherwise. Deep down I knew I had linked with her. I summoned her simply by thinking of her. I connected to her on a non-physical plane and we exchanged thoughts just as tangibly as if we were in the same room engaged in conversation. It would be different if it were only my imagination. If I could see her, touch her, talk to her, and keep it all in my head, then what harm would that be? But that was not the case. Perhaps that is why I felt so guilty.
I finished shaving, leaned over the sink and rinsed the lather off my face with a splash of cold water. When I returned to the mirror, she was there.
“Ursula?” I wheeled about on my heels. “What the….” I checked the bathroom door. It was closed. The lock still latched from the inside. She was barefoot, wearing only blue jeans and a white button-up blouse with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. “How did you get in here?”
She directed my attention to the floor. I looked down. There, stretched between my bare feet and hers, was that confounded electric blue vein. “D…did I do that?”
She hooked her brow, as if I really needed to ask. “Aye. Thou art filled with thoughts of me I see.”
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