“Liar,” I replied.
The buzzing of my alarm came far too early… just like it always did on nights when Eli came to stay. I groaned and rolled over to grab my phone and frown at the time. The lock on the front door clicked and Lacey bounced into the apartment, freezing awkwardly as she caught sight of Eli’s naked torso in the bed beside me.
“Sorry!” she whispered loudly, making a big deal of sneaking to the living room and pulling the blackout curtains closed to keep out the inevitable sunlight.
“It’s fine, Lace. I have to get up anyway. Early shift.”
Lacey blew me a kiss and dove into her nest of pillows and blankets. I pulled on my bathrobe and padded over to the living room, tweaking aside one of the heavy velvet theatre curtains she used to block off her bedroom space.
“Hey,” I said quietly.
“Heya!” her bright reply always made me smile; there was literally nothing that could dampen Lacey’s spirits… not even accidental immortality. There I went again, calling things that were my fault ‘accidents’ as though it would make everything better. It didn’t make me feel any better, that was for damn sure.
“How are you doing, Lace? I feel like we don’t get to talk a whole lot anymore.” I really did feel bad about it. Lacey thought about it for a second, and then shrugged.
“I’m fine. You’re busy, I get it. I mean; it’s not like we’re working the same schedules anymore or anything.” Lacey smiled broadly, showing her sharpening teeth. She’d told me proudly that they would be fully sharp in the next few months. ‘In time for Christmas!’ she’d squealed excitedly.
“I know, but I miss hanging out with you,” I said. That wasn’t a lie. She’d grown on me a lot in the past few months. Suddenly, an idea struck me. “Lacey, take tomorrow night off work.”
“Seriously? Why?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“I’m going to take you to Coney Island. We’re going to go on some rides and play some overpriced games... it’ll be fun. I promise.”
Lacey blinked at me for a moment, and then squealed with joy, “Ohhhh myyyy godddddd, Fee, really? Really?” She clapped her hands and started rifling through piles of clothing. “What should I wear? I want to be cute, but not too cute to go on roller coasters, y’know?”
I laughed and grabbed her hand. “It’ll be great. I’ve never been on a roller coaster, so that’ll be something.”
“Really, Fee? Never?”
I shook my head. I’d watched Coney Island being built, and how it had changed over the years, but I’d never wandered around under the bright lights. It was too exposed, too dangerous. But it didn’t feel dangerous now.
“Fee...” Lacey’s voice had changed, the excited squeal was gone. “What happened to that girl? The one who was at Eli’s show? She’s like you, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, yeah she is. I don’t think she knows it yet, though.” I paused, “Well, she doesn’t believe me yet.”
“Is she in trouble?”
I blinked at her, “Did someone say something? Did Church—“
“No, no. I’m just guessing. The last time you were like this you were in trouble,” she said, picking at her nails. “I smelled ash when I came in... are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”
Ash. She’d smelled the Malleus’ fingerprints on me. The one that I’d grappled with in the subway. It had to be. I forced a smile onto my face.
“It’s nothing, Lacey. I promise. Everything’s fine.”
Lacey didn’t look convinced, but she shrugged and smiled. Suki wandered through the curtains and curled up in Lacey’s lap, purring contentedly.
“I have to get ready for work,” I said, “I’ll leave you two alone to scheme. Maybe she’ll have an opinion about your Coney Island wardrobe.”
Lacey hugged Suki to her chest and smiled up at me. “Go, go to work. Tell David I say hi. Where does he think I am now?”
“Florida I think.”
“Ugh... not Florida... tell him something different. I miss the sun too much, that just makes me sad. Now I’m thinking about sun tanning and reading trashy novels on the beach!” Lacey whined.
“I’ll tell him you’re in Montreal, okay? I think it’s still snowing there right now,” I said, pulling aside the velvet curtain and stepping back into the living room. The sun was coming up now, and I knew she wouldn’t follow me to complain any more. Eli was rolled up in blankets and the blackout curtains were shut tightly. They’d be secure until after I came home from work.
My shift at Haven was just like any other weekday shift. The crowds were light, and the day passed quickly. I had to admit that I was distracted, which made everything go by just a little faster. One minute I was opening the shop, and before I knew it, Tyra was shouting her goodbyes and I was leaning over a mop bucket washing the same spot of floor over and over again.
By the time I’d cashed out and locked everything away in David’s safe, the sun was about to set. I locked the café door and pointed my boots in the direction of the park and home. It would take almost an hour to get to Coney Island; I just hoped that I was still feeling up for it when I got home. I was never very good at making plans, but Lacey’s enthusiasm should make up for it.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
U on ur way home?
Lacey. She was up early. I texted her back quickly.
Ten minutes away. Everything ok?
Those three dreaded dots pulsed on the screen as Lacey typed. And then they disappeared.
That wasn’t like Lacey. Usually I couldn’t get her to shut up. I quickened my pace just a little.
When I got to my building, it took everything I had not to run up the stairs as fast as I could. I opened the apartment door with my magic, not bothering with the ruse of jingling my keys, and rushed inside.
“Lacey!” I cried, and then stopped dead in my tracks.
Sitting at my kitchen table with a mug of steaming tea in front of her and my cat in her lap was... Maia.
Cat burglar.
Lacey was leaning against the counter, a bright smile on her freckled face.
“Fee! I woke up and she was just sitting here... is she coming with us tonight?”
Maia turned in her chair to look at me, an impish smile on her face.
“Where we goin’? I love surprises.”
Chapter 12 ~ Maia
An awkward silence settled over the apartment, which was a shame because I was really enjoying talking to Lacey. She was a bit of a bubbly mess, but she seemed nice and uncomplicated. I didn’t have any friends who were uncomplicated... But I was also really enjoying the look of stunned surprise on Ophelia’s face.
Suki purred in my lap and I rubbed her ears carefully. I still wasn’t sure about this whole cat thing, but she was warm and I didn’t mind that she was shedding all over me.
“She was just sitting at the table when I woke up, Fee… I didn’t let her in,” Lacey said in a rush. I grinned broadly and took a sip of my tea. Ophelia raised her eyebrow and Lacey crossed her arms over her chest. “I couldn’t just kick her out… I mean. You know why. So I made her tea, and she seems really cool, and Suki seems to like her, you know that cat knows what’s up…”
“She didn’t know what was up with you…” Ophelia said dryly and Lacey chewed on her lip awkwardly.
“Yeah well, that was different,” she replied, opening cupboards and rummaging around needlessly. “Is she coming with us?”
“Coming with you?” I asked innocently. “Where are we going?”
“Coney Island! I’m so excited, I’ve been thinking about it all day, I even had a dream about a roller coaster, Fee, it’s going to be so great,” Lacey’s rushed excitement was contagious and I felt a grin spread across my face.
Ophelia set down her backpack and shrugged out of her jacket. She eyed me carefully and Suki jumped off my lap to run over to her and rub against her legs.
“What are you doing here?” she asked sharply. I smiled wider.
“I’m drink
ing some tea that Lacey made me and admiring your apartment. I like the apothecary shop vibe you’ve got going on, did I mention that before? I mean, it smells a little funny—“
“You know what I mean. Why are you here, Maia?”
I took a deep breath and drummed my fingernails against my mug, trying to figure out how to say what I needed to say.
“Yesterday was fucked up. Something happened in the subway with that guy, then you dragged me back here, opened a lock with purple smoke, and then your cat sat on me and something else weird happened, and then I ran away and some assholes tried to kidnap me… they followed me back to my hotel too. They left right before you got there.”
Ophelia didn’t say anything, she just watched me. Suki was sitting at her feet, her golden-green eyes burning into mine, her purr filling the silence.
“I thought about what you said, and what you showed me… and I ate a lot of pizza. And then something happened.”
“Something happened? Did you puke? That’s the worst,” Lacey interjected, making a face. Ophelia shook her head and Lacey shut her mouth and leaned against the counter again.
“No… I was trying to move something. I mean I have power too, right? I blasted that guy into the guardrail in the subway… I was trying to make it happen.” I swallowed hard and stared at my hands. “I mean, if something happened, it meant it was all real, right?”
Ophelia nodded, but didn’t say anything. Suki came over and jumped up into my lap again, rubbing her head against my bicep where it had been cut, right above my birthmark.
“I tried for hours, soda cans, pizza crusts… the TV… nothing moved. And then I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth or something, I can’t remember… but the mirror… I broke the mirror.”
Lacey burst out laughing and then covered her mouth with her hands. “You what?”
“I… I don’t know what I did, but the mirror… it just cracked in half.”
“You were just standing there and it broke?” Ophelia asked quietly. I felt my cheeks heat up just a little.
“No… I was really frustrated. I was pissed off that I couldn’t make anything move. I was tired and angry, and I punched the counter… and then the mirror cracked,” I said haltingly.
I wasn’t explaining it properly, but there wasn’t really any way to properly explain that I’d screamed and thrown things and kicked the bathtub and ripped the shower curtain and then beat my fists on the counter… I’d been hot and cold, and then I felt something inside me lurch forward… and then the mirror had cracked… and then I’d thrown up.
I don’t care who you are, that wasn’t a cute story.
“Wow,” Lacey breathed. “So it’s true… Fee, I was right! She’s like you!” Lacey clapped her hands excitedly, hopping in place on the kitchen tiles.
“Calm down, Lacey,” Ophelia said, coming to the table. She emptied my mug of tea into a potted plant that was sitting on the table in front of me. She put the cup back on the table in front of me. Suki purred in my lap. “I want you to do it again, Maia,” she said softly. She crouched down beside the chair and laid her fingers on my arm. The moment her fingers touched my skin, my birthmark started to itch, but it might have been the cut on my arm, I couldn’t be sure. I tried my best not to flinch away.
Her fingers were hot.
“Concentrate on the mug, try to move it with your power. It’s in there, you just have to focus.” She smiled at me gently. “Suki will help you.”
The cat in my lap purred louder, almost proudly, and I stroked her dark fur. “How will she help me?” I still wasn’t sure what was happening, it all seemed so crazy. Becca would never believe this. Would I even be able to tell her what had happened? Or was this a ‘take it to your grave’ kind of initiation? Great. A shudder ran up my spine and I swallowed nervously.
“Just relax. Hold up your left hand, put your right on Suki’s back,” Ophelia said. I did as I was told, feeling stupid, but somehow comfortable in the position. “Good. Now, concentrate on the mug. You want to push it, just a little. Send your intention toward it. You intend for it to move.”
I looked briefly at Lacey, who was chewing nervously on her fingers, and then back at the mug. It was pale yellow, printed with curling green leaves. I wanted it to move. Just a little. Just to prove to myself that what had happened wasn’t just my imagination. I had witnesses now.
“Focus,” Ophelia said, but her voice sounded far away. I closed my eyes, focusing on how Suki’s fur felt under my hand, and on the heat that was thudding through my chest and down my arm. Was I having a heart attack? Was this angina? What the fuck was happening? I gritted my teeth.
Move.
Move. Move. Move. Move. MOVE!
The words thundered in my mind and I heard Lacey gasp as the cup began to rattle on the table.
“Maia!” someone shouted my name and Suki’s claws dug into my thigh. I opened my eyes just as the cup cracked, the sound echoing sharply in my ears, and then the two pieces slid apart and fell to the table.
Lacey’s mouth was open wide, her eyes round and staring. Ophelia was just smiling.
“That was my favorite cup!” Lacey shrieked suddenly.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured weakly, leaning back in the chair. I felt nauseous, and winded, like I’d just sprinted for the last bus home and missed it by an inch.
“It’s fine,” Ophelia said, her hand was on my shoulder, reassuring and gentle. “Lacey’s just being dramatic.”
“I am not! I loved that mug!” Lacey wailed running over to rescue the remains of the cup. I watched her with wide eyes.
“Did I really do that?” I whispered.
“You totally fucking did,” Ophelia replied with a smile. She pulled a chair up beside me and stared into my eyes. “Do you believe it now?”
“I mean… I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
Ophelia nodded and sat back in her chair. “Last night you called me a murderer, and I deserved that.”
I blinked at her, not knowing what to say. I sure as hell wasn’t going to apologize; I knew what I’d seen.
“I went back to the station, to see what the cops had done… but there was no one there. No lights, no sirens, no forensics. Fucking nothing. It was like we hadn’t even been there.”
I felt my mouth go dry. “You mean they just disappeared? What the fuck are you saying?” I managed to croak out most of the words that were whirling around in my head, but I was stunned. Gone?
“Who were they?” I had to ask.
“I told you before. Witchfinders. I don’t know who they are, or how they find us, but they always know where we are. Sometimes we can hide, and cast protection spells to keep them away.” Ophelia shook her head and glanced at Lacey quickly. “I thought they were gone. I haven’t seen them around the city for almost six months… and then you showed up, and it was like you were wearing a flashing neon sign on your head.”
Great. Just great. And here I was trying to start my life over.
“I can’t go back to the hotel, can I.” It wasn’t a question. Whoever they were, those assholes knew where I was staying.
“She brought her bag, Fee,” Lacey cried from the kitchen. “Can we keep her?”
Ophelia chuckled and crossed her arms over her chest, regarding me carefully. “What do you think, Maia? Do you want to stay here until we figure some shit out? It’s getting a little crowded in here lately, but you’ll be safe here with us.”
“Before you decide anything, we’re still going to Coney Island, right?” Lacey asked, her eyes wide and eager. She turned to me, her freckled face full of hope, “Do you like roller coasters?”
I smiled broadly, “More than anything,” I said without hesitating. But then something occurred to me, “What if those Malleus guys come after me again?”
“You don’t have to worry about anything, Maia. Ophelia is a stone cold badass. It’ll be fine, I promise.” Lacey beamed at her friend confidently, and Ophelia just shook her head.
; “Grab your coat, kid. We’re heading to Coney Island.”
Coney Island was like nothing I’d ever seen in my life. Sure, I’d been on roller coasters and through midways before, but this was no Puyallup Fair. There were lights and music everywhere, and I didn’t know which way to look. Lacey tugged me in a thousand different directions at once, pointing out rides and prizes at the game stalls.
“They’re all rigged, but I can’t stop playing them!” Lacey shouted in my ear, and I smiled awkwardly as she ran off to try and win a goldfish.
“One day she’ll win, and I’ll have to find a home for a fish that she wasn’t expecting to adopt,” Ophelia said dryly.
“Is Lacey like...” I gestured feebly, not quite knowing how to put into words what I wanted to ask.
“Like us?” Ophelia shook her head and tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear. “Not exactly.”
“What you mean ‘not exactly,’ she obviously knows what we are... are we safe with her?” Ophelia’s unwillingness to tell me what Lacey’s deal was made me just a little bit nervous.
“Of course we’re safe. I wouldn’t keep her around if she wasn’t safe,” she said, with what looked like a reassuring smile on her face. “Lacey is my best friend, you don’t have to worry about her.”
“How did you get us backstage at Spiral the other night? It was... it was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life. Do you know someone there?” I’d been dying to ask her, but had never gotten the chance, mostly because I was too busy being freaked out. But if we were going to be friends, I might as well make conversation.
“It’s... complicated,” Ophelia replied, waving at Lacey as she threw another Ping-Pong ball too far to the left.
“More complicated than what you told me yesterday?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Okay.
Lacey ran back over and linked her arms through mine and Ophelia’s, dragging us towards the roller coaster. “It’s time for the Cyclone, Fee!” she shouted brightly, ignoring Ophelia’s exaggerated groan. “Can you believe she’s lived in New York for so long and she has never been on this roller coaster? It’s ridiculous, and I’m fixing that right now!”
Moonlight Burns: (Urban Fantasy) (Daughters of Hecate Book 2) Page 11