by Linda Wisdom
Once upstairs, Stasi thought she’d never been so happy to be in the warm, brightly lit kitchen with Blair. She said nothing about the incident to her friend.
She knew this was something she had to deal with herself. Because she was positive Carrie was somehow behind this. Anyone who could hire a wizard lawyer could also hire someone to cast dangerous spells.
Chapter 6
“Ma’am? Miss Stasi? Please wake up!”
Stasi groaned and rolled over. “Oh Fergus, please don’t!” She opened one eye a slit and saw darkness out her window. “It’s not even dawn.”
“Please, ma’am, somethin’s real wrong and we need your help.”
Stasi opened both eyes and stared at the wavering figure standing at the foot of her bed. While she could always see through the ghost, this time he was nothing more than a vague shadow. She sat up, shivering at the chill in the air.
“What’s wrong?”
“We don’t know,” he replied, twisting his hat between his hands. “’Member Cyrus? We were talkin’ and he just up and disappeared.”
She pushed her hair back and struggled to think, but sleep was pulling her back. She mentally zapped herself awake and reached for her soft fleece robe lying across the end of the bed, accidentally upending Bogie who had snuggled inside it. He uttered a soft growl of protest and moved over to curl up in a pile of warm blankets.
“Perhaps he was tired of barely existing here and moved into the next realm.” She wrapped the robe around her and stood up, teetering back and forth a bit as her bleary brain tried to wake up.
Fergus shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t move on, not if he could help it. Cyrus always said there was no reason to go elsewhere. That all he knew was here. And Rena’s gone, too. And some of the others look like I do now. There but not there.”
Stasi searched her memory banks, then recalled the woman who had once worked upstairs at Lil’s. Rena liked crossing the veil during October because she enjoyed the company of men. More than one man during the Halloween season revealed that he’d felt the icy chill of a small hand on his private parts. Others woke up convinced someone was having sex with them and it wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, either. Stasi couldn’t believe that Rena would move on. She enjoyed her trips here too much.
“I suppose you couldn’t wake up Blair.” She knew how much her friend adored sleeping. Waking Blair up was a major project.
“She sorta woke up and threw a book at me. I guess she forgot it’d only go through me.” He grinned. “She’s not going to be too happy when she sees she broke a vase.”
“Serves her right.” She looked at Bogie and nudged him back awake. “You know the drill, baby. Go wake up Auntie Blair while Mommy makes coffee.”
Bogie yapped once and took off like a streak of light… literally.
Stasi muttered a few choice words when she saw that the clock blinked two a.m.
“Why can’t anything happen in the middle of the day, or even early evening?”
By the time Blair’s curses and mutterings died down and she showed up in the kitchen, Stasi was sitting at the table drinking coffee and warming a coffee cake in the microwave oven.
“Honestly, Fergus, maybe you don’t need sleep on your realm, but we still do,” Blair grumbled. “Damn, it’s cold! Heater, turn on. Make it so!” She waggled her fingers in the direction of the thermostat. A moment later the furnace kicked on. She poured herself coffee and plopped down in a chair. “What’s going on now?”
“Cyrus, Rena, and some others have left their realm,” Stasi said quietly.
“Like a vacation left?”
Stasi shook her head.
“You mean they’re gone gone?” Blair chugged her coffee in an attempt to wake up.
The microwave timer dinged and Stasi got up to collect the coffee cake, which she set on the table along with a knife and forks.
“Fergus!” She spoke sharply when the ghost started to dim. “You need to concentrate on remaining here.”
He bobbed his head. “Yes, Miss Stasi, but it’s not easy. It’s as if I have this feelin’ I’m goin’ away too.”
“Why would this be happening?” Blair forked up a bite of coffee cake.
“I don’t know.” That was what worried Stasi. She was presented with a problem she couldn’t solve. She enjoyed problem solving, especially with romance, but this was much more important. She considered the ghosts friends. For them to lose what little existence they had was frightening.
“Ma’am.” Fergus’s eyes were wide with fright, which wasn’t normal for a ghost, who shouldn’t experience the emotion. But Stasi knew when realms grew unstable anything was possible. And that was what she feared was happening now. She sipped her coffee, hoping the caffeine infusion would push her brain into some sort of alert mode.
“I don’t know why this is happening to some of you,” Stasi said, glancing at Blair, who yawned widely and nodded her agreement.
“You said there was all this stuff goin’ on. Retro something,” he said.
“Mercury retrograde, and the upcoming lunar eclipse.” Stasi rubbed her forehead, wishing she could easily conjure up answers, but she knew it was never that simple.
Fergus opened his mouth to say something, but a plaintive howl from outside stopped him.
“That damn dog,” Blair muttered. “There’s not that much of a moon out there to howl at.”
Stasi cocked her head and listened. “No, that’s not a howling at the moon sound.” She stood up and moved to the window over the sink that gave them a prime view of the woods. She frowned at an odd light that flickered in the distance. “There’s something out there.” She rushed to the back door and pulled it open, running out onto the small deck. She looked back inside. “There’s odd lights over the lake.”
Blair shot to her feet and followed Stasi as she practically flew down the stairs.
“There’s nothing magickal in the woods,” Blair said, running to keep up, grateful she’d slipped on her favorite fuzzy duck slippers and not her stiletto mules.
“Nothing that we sensed.” Stasi dodged low-hanging branches and bushes as she continued running toward the lake.
What was usually a peaceful ten-minute walk was a four-minute dash as the two witches ran along the path they’d taken many times before. As they broke past the stand of trees to reach the open area surrounding the lake, they found the Border collie barking and howling as he ran along the bare dirt.
“Okay, boy, we got your message, what’s up?” Blair called out.
The dog stopped and ran back to them, continuing to bark.
“Sheesh, you’d think he was Lassie warning us Timmy fell into a well.” Blair tried to grab for his collar, but he danced out of their reach and ran closer to the lake, then stopped short.
The lights they had seen from the house appeared brighter and danced over the surface of the lake.
“What is this?” Stasi moved forward toward the rock outcropping they walked upon each month when offering up to the moon. Blair was fast on her heels.
“Oomph!” Both witches suddenly bounced off an invisible barrier and fell backwards onto their butts.
“What was that?” Stasi slowly got to her feet, rubbing her rump, which had struck a sharp rock when she fell.
“I don’t know.” Blair stood up and this time walked a great deal slower until again, she hit the barrier. Stasi followed her and both raised their hands, feeling what they couldn’t see. They jumped back when dark green sparks flew off the barrier and burned their palms.
“Barrier we can’t see. Barrier we refuse to flee. Barrier reveal thyself, make it so!” Blair shouted, throwing her hands out.
The barrier shimmered with her power, then threw it back at her with enough muscle to send her flying backwards a good ten feet to land on her back.
“Damn it!”
Blair lifted her head and glared at the barrier as the dog ran over and licked her face. “Ick! Dog germs! For Fates sake! You’re licking my face after you probably spent most of the evening licking your balls.” She tried to push away the dog, but he kept coming back to lick her face again.
“Are you all right?” Stasi asked, helping her up.
“Nothing’s broken.” She brushed leaves and dirt off her robe. She stared at the barrier and the green light orbs hovering over the water, sometimes moving closer to them, then dancing away. “Where did this come from? There was no sign of it two days ago when I was out here.”
“I don’t know.” Stasi approached the barrier with tentative steps. After what happened to Blair she wasn’t about to take any chances. She kept her power under control, not allowing even one spark to appear. If it could throw Blair that far, she didn’t want to think what it might do to her if whatever fueled it got really angry.
“Let’s see if it goes all the way around the lake.”
“Then can we go back and put on warm clothes? It’s freezing out here!”
Stasi nodded. “Good idea. Whatever this is, I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
They didn’t run back to the house, but they did hurry and changed into warm clothing in no time.
Stasi pulled her jacket hood up over her hair as they returned to the lake. Even with her fleece pants, wool gloves, and heavy jacket she could feel the hint of snow in the air.
“We’ve never had odd lights float over the water before,” Blair commented.
“That we’ve known of,” she replied. “We only knew about it tonight because the dog was howling and we were already up.”
“Maybe that’s why Fergus was feeling odd.” Blair kept a respectful distance from the barrier as they walked the circumference of the lake. The dog kept pace next to her, his tongue lolling, as if they were out for a middle of the night stroll.
As they walked, Stasi cast periodic glances toward the woods. She sensed something unsettling among the trees, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. Since she didn’t feel any malevolence, she didn’t mention anything to Blair.
“The lunar eclipse didn’t cause this,” she said. “This was created by magick.”
“Yeah, but whose?”
“I didn’t exactly finish the course on all the alternate magicks.”
“Whoa, snappish much?”
Stasi winced. “Just feeling unsettled.”
“Aren’t we all.” Blair stared at the rock as they finished the walk and ended up where they began.
Stasi walked slowly toward the barrier again, but this time licks of fire appeared along the bottom edge, slowly sliding upward until a wall of flame covered the barrier. She couldn’t feel any heat coming from it, but she knew it could hurt her as easily as real fire could and probably even worse, since it was created by magick.
“That’s not good.” Blair tugged on her arm, pulling her backwards.
“No kidding.” Stasi gulped. “I think we need some help with this.”
“What in hell is that?”
Both spun around as the dog lowered his head and growled.
Trev stood at the edge of the trees, dressed warmly even if his hair was unruly. He looked as though he had thrown on his clothes, not caring that pillow creases marred his cheek, his face was slightly puffy from sleep, and his hair was going in all directions. He stood there staring at the flame-covered wall.
“What do you see?” Stasi asked, not bothering to wonder why he was there.
He didn’t reply right away, but looked intently at the barrier. “A barrier created by magick to keep certain types of magick out. Namely you. The flames are a warning. Normally you can’t see anything.”
“Which is why we literally ran into it,” Blair said. “So, Counselor, any reason why you’re out here in the middle of the night on our property?”
He grinned at her. “You know the drill. Magick calls to magick. Any idea what it is?”
“None,” Stasi replied, determined to ignore the red hearts over his head even as she noted with dismay they seemed to have grown larger and bolder in color since the last time she saw him. “What about you? Do you have any thoughts on it?”
Trev walked forward, his hands held up high, palms out. He ignored the Border collie, who appeared to consider him an interloper and was staying on the wizard’s heels as if to keep a close eye on him.
“Don’t get too close,” Stasi warned him. “Blair tried finding out what it was and it practically threw her against a tree.”
“Someone put a lot of power into this,” he murmured, studying it as if it was a complicated problem. “First to erect the obstacle, then to protect it from intruders. It’s nothing I’m familiar with, but there are many forms of magick out there that I’ve never had to deal with before. A spell this strong could only have been done with blood to bind it.”
The witches shivered in fear. Spells requiring blood were dangerous and powerful. Ones they wouldn’t even consider.
“You never answered Blair’s question. Why are you out here?” Stasi asked, noting that his eyes seemed to have a glow of their own in the dark, along with the hearts’ glimmer.
“I woke up and felt something odd floating through the air. I felt drawn to here, and when I saw strange lights over this way I thought I’d investigate.”
“Why don’t you run along, Counselor,” Blair suggested with a bite in her voice. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want Carrie to see you with us. Don’t worry. We witches are used to cleaning up messes and we’ll do just fine here.” She looked down at the dog, who’d grabbed hold of her sleeve with his teeth and was gently pulling on it. “Hey! I’m talking here.”
The dog whined and pulled again.
“What’s his name?” Trev asked, grinning at the dog’s persistence and silently thanking him for his aid. He was hoping to have a chance to be alone with Stasi.
“Pain in the ass,” Blair snapped.
The dog snorted on her sleeve.
“He doesn’t have a name?” He realized she was joking… sort of.
“He’s not my dog.”
“He’s been a lucky stray in that he looks well groomed and well fed and…” Trev looked downward, “hasn’t been neutered.”
This time the dog’s growls were more canine snarky.
“It seems that’s a medical procedure he intends to avoid,” Blair said, trying to get the dog to release her sleeve, but he only tightened his hold.
“I think he wants you to go with him,” Stasi said, wanting the same. She was curious about why Trev was here, and she didn’t want an audience when she got her answers.
Blair looked from the dog to Stasi to Trev. “Okay, but if he tries anything, zap him a good one,” she told Stasi before she allowed the dog to lead her back through the trees toward home. “Fine, I’m coming! If you tear this jacket, I’ll use your fur to make myself a new one.”
Trev chuckled. “You’d think she doesn’t like him.”
“He isn’t hers,” Stasi said. “He shows up on our doorstep every so often for food. I think Blair considers him occasional entertainment.”
“You mean she doesn’t—?”
“Doesn’t what?”
Trev chuckled. “Nothing. I’m sure it will all work out.”
Stasi studied him, liking this more vulnerable side of him. She could see his shirt half tucked into his jeans under his jacket and buttons in the wrong order. “Why do I think you know something we don’t?”
“I think the two of you do know, but for some reason you prefer to keep it tucked away.” He glanced back at the barrier. The flames were gone with no sign they’d ever been there. With the barrier invisible, no one could tell the lake was protected. The question was, why did someone or something feel that need? And who or what was that someone? The
lights over the water flickered in and out until one by one they winked out of sight.
“I can tell you that no wizard created this.”
“And no witch had his or her hand in it either,” Stasi said. “This couldn’t be caused by Mercury retrograde or the lunar eclipse. This is all pure magick. We just don’t know what kind.”
Trev took her arm to steer her back to the house. “It has to be someone who lives locally. They’d have to be able to return to feed the power on a regular basis.”
Stasi pulled back. “There’s no sense of an avoidance spell here. We can’t allow just anyone to stumble out here. We can provide some sort of protection for ourselves, but a mortal could be in danger.” She stared at the lake, racking her brain for just the right spell.
“I think I have something that would work,” Trev offered. “If you don’t mind?”
“You’d help?”
“Of course.” He rubbed his palms together. “I’m a little out of practice, but this should do it.”
Stasi stood back and watched as Trev drew closer to the unseen barrier, but remained far enough back to be out of harm’s way in case the barrier fought back. Multi-colored sparks of light danced off the wall as he held his hands up and chanted under his breath. The wind picked up, sending the few remaining leaves scattering, and the air grew so cold, Stasi saw her breath frost the air. She widened her stance as the wind grew even stronger, almost pushing her off her feet. The air grew so heavy and dense with power it felt like a living thing wrapped around her. If she hadn’t been watching closely, she would have missed the flare of intense cobalt blue that whooshed from Trev’s eyes like a serpent winding its way around the lake’s boundary until it met back where they stood, the serpent’s mouth grabbing hold of its tail as it froze into a ring that she could tell held a lot of magickal muscle. She looked out over the water, again seeing the strange green lights dancing off the water’s edge, but floating further away from them than before.
“I sensed you had a great gift, but I had no idea it was this strong,” she whispered, awed by the immense control she felt still coming from Trev. She stared at the ring circling the bottom of the barrier. She knew it would deter a mortal from coming out this way, but not harm any human or animal that might come close.