by Patti Larsen
I may not have been sensitive to magic at all anymore, numb to it, but in that moment I was sure I felt them fluttering around in my mind. Only Mom’s calm voice kept me from screaming at the sensation.
“It’s my thought your combined power may be able to uncover the truth.” Mom finished her tea, the cup and saucer settling on the small table between us as she sighed. “I’ve tried everything I can, but to no avail.” She looked very tired all of a sudden. For the first time since I lost my power I actually paid attention to someone else’s needs.
Why was Mom so worn out?
My answer would have to wait. The twins sat back as one, even steepled their thin fingers together under their sharp noses as one. My own twitched, close to a sneeze. The dark room was full of old furniture and dust, the curtains drawn against the setting sun. Everything about their house screamed scary old ladies. Picture Halloween at their house, only they lived it 24/7. Even the odor of old food smells, eau de boiled onion and cabbage, had that haunted feel.
“We will try. Because it is for you, Miriam. And for the girl.” Nice of them to use my name. Still, at least they were willing. Mom didn’t run the kind of coven where anyone had to obey her. She preferred open cooperation. I guess I understood that, for the most part, though there were a few times when a well placed order or two would have saved us a world of hurt.
I was about to ask them what I needed to do when I felt them in my mind. Really felt them, just like old times when my magic was open. My excitement burned so high I almost leapt out of my chair. Was it that easy? Really?
I should have known better. The feeling of them lasted a moment before the magic in my head, the protective net I’d grown to despise, lashed out at them with a double whip of power.
Dazed from the backlash, my body jerked without my consent as the twins were physically thrown back in their seats. They both cried out, hands raised as if to defend themselves from whatever guarded my mind. Mom instantly wrapped her shields around me, but there was no need for that. Not anymore. The magic inside me retreated at once, coiling tightly around me and smothering my power again.
I’d never seen the twins so shaken before. They actually looked terrified. Mom stood and went to them. I could only guess she offered her energy because within moments of her touch they both perked a little, though their fear remained.
“Please,” Mom said, “tell me.”
“Whatever is in the girl’s mind,” one said while the other held a trembling hand to her mouth, “has taken total control.”
“More than that,” the second said around her fingers, eyes locked on Mom, “it has possession of her magic, uses it to feed its own power. I sense…”
“What?” Mom returned to her seat. “What, Estelle?”
How could she tell them apart? As irrelevant as the question was at the time, I couldn’t help but wonder.
“The magic itself isn’t so strong.” She shook her head as if baffled by it. “Instead it’s like a leech, devouring the girl’s power to feed it. And it’s very old, older than she is, much more so.” Estelle shuddered and fell back into her chair while Esther rubbed her hand. “One thing is certain, if you are able to lift this parasite from the girl’s mind…”
“Her power will exceed even yours.” Esther finished for her sister while they both looked at me with awe. “As to how it can be done…”
“We don’t know.” Estelle sat forward again. “There is something familiar about its touch,” she said. “Though why, again, I do not know. Whatever it is, wherever its source, it means her no harm, at least.”
Anger surged suddenly inside me. Meant me no harm? I was paralyzed magically, useless and empty. And it meant me no harm.
Mom must have felt my fury because she reached out and took my hands. “Is there anything you can do?”
The twins shook their heads as one, matching bobble headed witches.
“Nothing,” they said. “It’s not for us to do.” They said it like it was my fault.
Oh no they didn’t.
Mom hurried me outside after a quick thank you to the twins, practically shoving me out the front door and onto the walk.
“Watch your girl, Miriam Hayle,” they said as they hovered in their doorway, two apparitions straight from a B horror flick. “She’ll bring us more trouble, that one, before this is done.” The heavy door slammed shut on us before I could offer my favorite rude hand gesture.
Mom slid her arm through mine and pulled me down the street toward our house. It was only a few blocks, but felt like miles. It was like each step led me further from my power and deeper into normal.
“I’m sorry, honey.” Mom squeezed my arm with her free hand. “I know we’ll figure it out.”
“It’s been six weeks.” Had it really been that long? A lifetime of gaping emptiness stretching out forever. Six weeks since my demon left, since Quaid abandoned me now that I was powerless. Six weeks of absolute and utter loss.
I thought I might get used to it. Hadn’t happened yet.
Mom nodded slowly. “I know,” she said. “I wish things could be different. That we’d seen this earlier. That I’d listened to you rather than assuming you were being difficult.”
Okay, I was as eager as the next person to know I was right, but this wasn’t Mom’s fault.
“Any news on Demitrius?” If we found him, at least we’d have my demon back. Maybe she and I could figure it out together, now that the other half of me was on the outside and we could clearly see what stood between us.
I just wasn’t that lucky. Mom tried a smile, but it was sad. “Not yet.” Her eyes drifted over my shoulder and she frowned, just a bit. I glanced back to see what she was looking at. A large bank of clouds moved in from the east. A flash in the distance followed by the distant roll of thunder preceded the rising wind. I shivered a bit at the cold in the air and sudden darkness the clouds brought.
“Storm coming,” I said as I looked back to Mom.
She was still frowning. “Yes,” she said.
Was it just me or did she hurry us the rest of the way? Probably worried we’d be drenched if it rained. I wanted to talk some more, to see if she would be willing to explore the magic in my head again, but the moment we reached the kitchen, she kissed my cheek and went for the basement stairs, the door swinging shut behind her.
So much for that. Thanks anyway, Mom.
Miserable and cranky, I went up to my room. I fumbled around for the switch in the falling black as a gust of wind blew my curtains wide, the white sheers billowing in the near darkness. The sight gave me goosebumps. I flicked on the light before closing my window, letting the fabric settle. Just in time. Rain slammed against the glass in a rush, flooding my view of the back yard in a wavering stream of water.
I collapsed on my bed to think and instead fell asleep.
***
The entire court stood before me, their beauty flawed by the accusation in their eyes. Even my beloved, my truest dear, stared at me in hatred. His glowing blue eyes told me what I needed to know.
She pointed her finger at me, jealousy so clear in her face I wondered how they did not see, did not understand it was her they needed to judge.
“Death,” she hissed. The others swayed, the ethereal lights dimming in response.
“Death,” they said, melodic voices a chorus of anger.
“My love.” I reached for him but he pulled away.
“Death,” he said, and in that moment, shattered my heart forever.
Thunder shuddered above as the very elements fulfilled my sentence.
***
I jerked awake, heart pounding, a roll of heavy thunder shuddering right over the house. My bones rattled with it, an echo of the dream. Panting, I fell back into the mess I’d made of my comforter, wiping at tears I’d cried in my sleep.
What the hell? I’d had some vivid dreams before, but that was a trip. And as much as I tried to tell myself it was safe to go back to dreamland, I found myself sitting up until
the wee hours, knees clasped to my chest as I watched and listened to the storm’s retreat.