I chuckled to myself. Look at me, trying to come up with lesson plans for a new witch. What the hell was happening to me? After 330-ish years on my own, I’d acquired a best friend, a roommate, and an acolyte. This was getting ridiculous.
Part of me just wanted to abandon it all and disappear into a new city… but I couldn’t leave Lacey, and I definitely couldn’t leave Maia…
Ugh. I was getting soft in my middle age. I just needed to distract myself for the rest of the week, as soon as we were safely through security and on the plane, I’d be able to relax.
Maybe.
“I’ve been doing some research on this Leon Alleban person,” Maia announced as I walked in the door on Wednesday night. We were leaving in two days and the apartment was a mess as Lacey continued to freak out about packing. I still hadn’t heard anything from Eli, and Lacey hadn’t been to Spiral or mentioned him at all.
I dropped my bag by the door and picked up Suki, draping her over my shoulder as I sat down at the table.
Maia was tapping away on a new laptop and I eyed it suspiciously. I didn’t have a laptop. My television was black and white for fuck’s sake. I liked things simple.
“Where did you get that?”
“Lacey gave me her credit card,” she said with a shrug, turning the screen around to face me.
I gritted my teeth and squinted at the screen. A scan of what looked like a really old map was enlarged, filling the screen. I stared at it for a minute, waiting for Maia to tell me what the fuck I was supposed to be seeing here. I didn’t even know how to react. Suki was purring in my ear and all I wanted was to go lie down.
“What am I looking at?” I sighed finally.
Maia sighed with disgust and turned the laptop back to herself, “It’s a map of Santiago de Compostela. I thought you could read Spanish!”
I sat back in my chair and stroked Suki’s back as she kneaded my shoulder. “I never said I could read Spanish… I just knew what that Malleus was saying. I can’t explain how. I just knew.”
“Well, that’s not fucking helpful at all, is it?” Maia muttered. “When I searched for Leon Alleban, I didn’t find a person… I mean, I did. But they’re probably not alive anymore.”
“Where are you getting Wi-Fi from? I don’t have internet,”
“Your neighbor’s password was pathetically easy to guess…” Maia said causally.
Kids today. No respect for boundaries. I wondered what else she’d been into today.
“Ahem.” Maia was staring at me. I glowered at her and crossed my legs under me, moving Suki into my lap. “What I did find, was Doña Urraca de Leon…” She stumbled over the pronunciation, but as soon as she said the name, I felt something twinge in my spine.
“Say that name again,” I whispered.
“Urraca de Leon? What… what about it?”
I felt that electric twinge again, but it faded just as fast as I felt it. A spark, nothing more. “Nothing… what’s the big deal about her?”
“Seven hundred years ago, the people of Santiago de Compostela tried to burn down the governor’s palace… but get this, it wasn’t because they didn’t like his taxes or anything, it was because of her. The people thought she was a witch… so they burned down the palace.”
My mouth went dry, and Suki had stopped purring. Even Lacey was quiet in the living room. “Did she survive?”
Maia shook her head. “As far as I can tell from my research, no one did. The governor was replaced the following month, and the palace was rebuilt on the same spot. They had a daughter, but nothing is mentioned about her other than the year she was born.”
“Figures,” I muttered. “So, why is this important?”
Maia shrugged, “I don’t know… it’s just a feeling.”
“A feeling?” Uh-oh. “Like what kind of feeling?”
“Like a pinch in my back, but it was nothing, it’s gone now,” Maia said, her expression confused.
“Well. I guess we have to add the palace to our sightseeing plans,” I said with a sigh. If Maia had felt the same twinge I had, that had to mean something. I didn’t believe in coincidences, especially when it came to Daughters of Hecate. We all had a special link, no matter how faint; and I had to honor that. It could be nothing. It could all be nothing.
Chapter 15 ~ Maia
I’d never traveled out of the United States before… I’d never even been on a plane. Coming to New York had been the first time I’d ever even been anywhere farther away than a light rail ride away from home. Jitters were natural, right? I had plenty to be scared of… it also didn’t help that Lacey was rattling off plane crash statistics as though she wouldn’t be obliterated right along with the rest of us if the damn thing went down.
“I don’t know why you’re freaking out, Maia,” she said, holding another floral print dress up to her shoulders. I shook my head, not another dress. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d worn one, or even tried one on.
“I’m not freaking out, you’re just being an asshole,” I said grumpily.
“I keep forgetting that you’ve never been on a plane, but you shouldn’t be worried. The statistics are so out of control,” she waved her hand casually, dismissing my comment. “You’re more likely to be killed by a cow in a field. Which is actually kind of a frightening thing if you think about it…”
“You’re hilarious, Lacey…”
“I’m not trying to be, it’s true. Cows kill more people every year than sharks do, it’s really unfair that they’re demonized in all of those movies. I’m more afraid of cows than sharks.” Lacey huffed, tossing the dress into one f her suitcases.
“We’re not talking about sharks, Lacey. We’re talking about planes!”
“Whatever. Do you think I should bring this hat? I don’t know if it’s big enough.”
I pitched forward on the couch, landing face-first on the cushions so I would have something to groan into. Four paws landed squarely in the middle of my back as Suki jumped up to claim her new favorite sitting spot.
“Caaaaaat,” I moaned into the couch, and Suki settled herself in the center of my back, purring hard enough to vibrate into my spine. “You’re the fucking worst, I don’t even like cats.”
“Don’t you listen to her, Suki, you’re a lovely kitten and everyone loves you,” Lacey shouted from the living room. I groaned again and Suki kneaded her claws gently into my back. I grumbled into the cushion and then lifted my face off the couch to look into the living room.
“Did you talk to your boss like you told Ophelia you would?”
We were leaving for the airport tomorrow night, which suited me just fine, but Ophelia had specifically asked Lacey to talk to someone named Bishop. Lacey had agreed, but I couldn’t help but notice that she hadn’t really left the apartment since our night at Coney Island. Maybe for five minutes or so, but she was just going downstairs to pick up our Pho orders.
“Ummm… yeah, I totally did. He gave me the week off, so everything’s cool, I’ll tell Ophelia when she gets home.” Lacey said brightly, but I couldn’t see her face to see if she was lying or not.
The apartment door closed with a thud and Suki used me as a launching pad to jump off my back to get to Ophelia as she dropped her bag on the floor and kicked off her boots.
“Tell me what,” she said, stooping to pick up Suki.
“Thaaaaaat I’m just going out!” Lacey ran by me, grabbing her jacket as she ran past. She blew air kisses at Suki and raced out the door, the laces on her boots flying as she went.
“Is that really what she was going to tell me?” Ophelia asked with a concerned expression on her face.
I shrugged and leaned propped myself up on my elbows. “No idea. I asked her if she’d gotten the time off work, and she said she had… dunno what’s up with the sudden exit.”
“Are you packed?” Ophelia slung Suki over her shoulder and walked to the kitchen, letting her familiar dangle comfortably as she moved around the space, filling a small waterin
g can and tending to the herbs that were growing on the counter.
I pointed at my duffel bag. “Everything I own is in that bag… so yeah. You could say I’ve been packed for a few years.”
Ophelia nodded, and opened the fridge, staring at the leftovers inside before slamming it shut and pulling a bottle of wine from the cupboard. She pulled a mug off the hooks by the sink, and paused for a moment before grabbing another one and setting them on the table.
“Come sit,” she said simply, taking a seat and rearranging Suki in her lap.
“Why?”
“We’re going to do some magic.”
“Oh, shit, really?” I scrambled off the couch, my knees thudding against the floor while I got my feet underneath me and threw myself into the chair across from her.
“Yeah, really,” she replied, the barest hint of a smile on her face.
“Okay… okay, okay, okay.” I couldn’t believe it. She said that she was going to teach me, and she was actually going to do it. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had made me a promise that they’d kept. My knee bounced under the table and my fingers drummed on the wood. “So… what do I do?”
Ophelia smiled and leaned forward, pushing a candle between us. She touched the wick gently with a fingertip and the candle flared to life, burning brightly purple for a split second before settling into a more normal orange glow.
“Holy shit! Are you going to teach me to do that?”
Ophelia smiled, “Honestly, I couldn’t do that myself until just a little while ago… it’s been a weird couple of months.”
“Really? You mean… you were using matches?”
“Yup. Seems silly to think about it now.” She placed her hands palm down on the table and looked at me. I could feel something start to slip over my shoulders. Relaxation. Calm.
“What are you doing?” I asked, I wasn’t mad or afraid, I was just curious. I wanted to know how to do everything.
“You have to relax, I’m just trying to help you. You need to clear your mind. It’s hard at first, and I know you have a lot of shit swirling around in your head right now. You have to tell all of it to shut the fuck up so you can concentrate.”
“Right. Concentrate. I remember.” I closed my eyes and tried to do what she told me to do. Clear my mind. Right. How did you do that anyway?
“Palms flat on the table, and look inward. I know it sounds dumb, but it kind of works. At least it works for me.” Ophelia’s voice was soothing and calm, and I tried to slow down my breathing.
“What am I looking for?” I barely whispered the words, but the image came to me instantly. A spark... a tiny flame like the candle between us.
“Concentrate. Feel the power inside you. It’s a part of your blood, a part of your bones, it’s in the air in your lungs...”
“And then what?”
“Just breathe,” Ophelia chuckled softly.
I shrugged and did as I was told, but all this breathing was making me feel light headed. And then my face was itchy. I had to crack my knuckles. My arm had started to burn. I needed to pee.
“Stop twitching,” Ophelia said, her voice tense.
“I’m trying,” I said, but it came out wrong, and I sounded more annoyed than I was. It wasn’t annoyed... I was bored. Why couldn’t we get to the magic part? “I just... can’t we...”
Ophelia sighed heavily. “Fine. Open your eyes.”
My eyes snapped open and I leaned back in my chair, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thanks... that was—“
“Boring? I know. I’m really shit at meditating too, but I thought if you started there it would be a little easier for me to do it too. I’m still learning.”
She didn’t smile, but I did. It was nice to know that she was still figuring shit out too. I didn’t get along well with my high school teachers, but the tutors my social worker had assigned me had been pretty cool.
Ophelia was kind of like them. Older than me, but not by much... and then I remembered how old she really was and my smile started to fade a little.
“Let’s try something else,” she said. She paused for a moment. Thinking. “Do you have anything from your mother?” she asked suddenly. I blinked at her, and then got up from the table to find my duffel bag. I fished around until I found the package that Becca had kept safe for me. I pulled out a photo and brought it back to the table with me, setting it down in front of Ophelia before taking my seat again.
Suki put her paws on the table to examine the photo more closely, leaning close to rub her face against it. Ophelia smiled. “Your mother was definitely one of the Daughters. I’m so sorry that she was taken from you. From us.”
She slid the photo across the table, stopping when it was in line with the candle.
“Sit up straight in your chair,” Ophelia commanded, doing the same thing herself. I shifted in the chair, following her lead. She held her left hand over the table, turning it palm up. I mimicked her carefully, holding my hand in the same position.
“Okay. Relax. I want you to bring your power forward into your hand. Like this.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it lightly. Suki purred in her lap, and the candle flame flickered in her golden eyes. Ophelia cupped her hand and flexed her fingers, and then a ball of purple flame enveloped her hand. I gasped aloud, but Ophelia put her right forefinger against her lips in a gesture of quiet, and the purple fire in her left hand pulsed and shrank, becoming a more controlled ball of flame instead of a surging elemental manifestation.
I blinked in surprise.
“I... I can do that?”
Ophelia opened her eyes and smiled, the light of the fire in her hand reflecting on her face. “If you shut your mouth and concentrate, you might be able to get something...”
I shut my mouth immediately and tried to do as I was told. I reached back into the dark parts of my mind, looking for that little flame again. There. It was small, and icy blue, and I could feel it flowing through my veins like water, coursing in and around my blood, through my limbs; it rippled and fluttered and I tried to will it to take form, like Ophelia’s had. To come through my palm... light me on fire... whatever it took. I had to show her that I could do it. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, flexing my fingers. Come on. Come ON.
My hand was cold, goosebumps running up and down my arm. My birthmark... witchmark, that’s what Ophelia had called it. Whatever it was, it burned and itched, the sensation hitting a nerve right behind my left ear, but I stayed still, concentrating. Come on. And then it happened, my hand went ice cold as my power lurched forward.
“Woah!” Ophelia cried, and I heard her chair scrape backward over the hardwood floor. My eyes flew open and I stared at my hand, which was encased in rippling blue flames.
“Shit! Shit. Shit. Shit!” I shouted, jumping up and shaking my hand around to try to put out the fire. Stop. Drop and roll... was that how it went? Should I run it under the sink? “Fuck!”
“Maia!” Ophelia was edging around me carefully, her hands at her sides. She didn’t look worried, I was the only one freaking out. “Calm down, try to control it. Make it smaller. Imagine that it’s a little ball, make it smaller in your mind. If you keep imagining that it’s going to burn down the apartment, it probably will, so just... chill the fuck out.”
I was breathing hard, holding my hand out in front of me as though it was... well... it was on fire. But my hand was cold, and the fire didn’t burn me. I closed my eyes, imagining the fire growing smaller and rounder. Easier to control. Quieter. My arm shuddered as the flame grew but then I felt my power pull back, withdrawing, and I pulled it with my mind, helping it recede.
“Good... that’s it,” Ophelia’s voice sounded far away and I opened one eye carefully to check on my progress. The flames were smaller, but it was nowhere near being a round ball, I’d just flattened it a bit.
I gritted my teeth and concentrated harder, imagining a ball. What was the last ball I’d held? A tennis ball at Becca’s apartment. That would have to do.<
br />
I squinted at my hand, watching as the flames that covered it began to shrink and rotate, rounding and flexing into the shape I was imagining. I wondered if my mother had been able to do this.
I stared at my hand in disbelief as the blue flames took shape. The light of my magic reflected blue against my skin. My magic. My power.
Suddenly, Ophelia’s smile faded and she looked towards the apartment door as it opened.
“You have to meet her, she’s just the greatest thing. Fee’s going to teach her and everything, just like you’re teaching me... Oh...”
Lacey stumbled into the apartment with her usual grace, but I wasn’t looking at her, I was staring at the tall, lean figure that loomed above her as he brushed his dark hair out of his eyes.
Eli Maddern. Eli. Fucking. Maddern was standing in the apartment, and my hand was on fire.
Fuck my life.
Chapter 16 ~ Ophelia
Oh, shit.
I’d almost forgotten about Eli. And I’d definitely forgotten to tell Maia about how I’d been able to get her backstage at M.A.D’s concert… Shit.
She was standing in the middle of the kitchen, her chair knocked over onto the floor, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide and staring. And her hand was still on fire.
“Maia!” I hissed, hoping that she would snap out of it. Thankfully, she wasn’t stupid, just star-struck. She waved her hand frantically, before slapping it against her thigh. I sighed and looked down at Suki, who was watching Maia’s antics patiently. “Go help her,” I said quietly, and Suki walked over and wound herself around Maia’s legs. At the cat’s touch, the blue flames that had engulfed Maia’s hand and forearm began to fade, and then disappeared into tendrils of teal smoke. Maia looked at her hand incredulously, her cheeks flaming red with embarrassment.
“Thanks,” she muttered, reaching down to stroke Suki’s back gratefully.
“Eli, this is Maia. You met her at Spiral the other night.” I said hesitantly. He was unpredictable, and I hoped that he didn’t just assume that I’d told Maia everything about him, and the band… and Lacey.
Moonlight Burns: (Urban Fantasy) (Daughters of Hecate Book 2) Page 14