Hannah reached out a hand and rested it on Paris' arm again. "Why don't you take Jade home and look at what she's been working on? I'll do some scrying and additional card reading to see if I can find anything else out. We can meet at the Covenstead to review tomorrow. Jade, you could join us." Hannah said the last bit directed toward Jade, a small smile on her face as though she could smooth over any hurt feelings.
Jade looked back at her coolly. "Sure," she said flatly. "Is that it for my tarot card reading?"
"Yes, dear," Hannah said. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you more."
Jade pushed back from the table and stood up, feeling a little sick. She probably shouldn't have eaten so many macaroons. "I told you it's fine." She jerked a thumb toward the front of the house. "I'm gonna go wait in the car." Paris nodded once at her before she stepped past him and then made her way outside.
The air was cool and sharp with the spicy scent that sometimes came out at night. She crossed her arms over her chest again and breathed deeply. Jade knew, no matter what anyone thought, she hadn't done any magic that would have affected the entire coven.
Okay, she was pretty sure. Maybe not 100% sure, but reasonably sure. She kicked at a rock with her toe. Besides, even if she had done something like that, it was hardly her fault. If there was even the possibility that she could have that kind of affect on the entire coven, they shouldn't have let her have those books in the first place.
Right? Right.
In her mind, she ran over the pages of the demon grimoire she'd been reading through. She didn't recall anything that could have affected the Coven's magic. It had all been half-spells and partial anecdotes of dealing with demons. A binding spell that looked interesting. There'd been one or two spells on opening and closing portals to the demon dimension that Jade had been particularly interested in. Her only experience with demons had left her feeling cagey and nervous about their ability to cross over if sufficiently motivated. She got the impression that opening a portal from the demon dimension was hard work for the demons unless they were called by someone on this side. Jade had been interested in knowing how to close a portal once opened. She didn't want to be surprised by any more demons, not after last time. If they could open doors, Jade wanted to know how to shut them. The spells were half-complete with some notes in the margins from Paris' mother, Sakkara, about possible ways to finish them. Jade toed at the ground as she thought about everything she'd read. She hadn't said anything out loud, had she? She recalled reading over the half spells in the grimoire and making notes, but she didn't call on any of her magic to do it. Unless she'd done it unknowingly. She groaned inwardly. If she had somehow done something to the magic of the Coven, Paris would never let her look at those books again without him present.
Jade heard Hannah's front door open behind her and turned to see Paris coming down the front steps.
"If it's all right with you, I'd like to head back to your place and take a look at the books," Paris said, using a wide sweeping arm to herd her toward the car. He kept his distance though and she appreciated that he seemed to have picked up on her aversion to being touched. He hardly ever invaded her personal space or crowded her. She didn't mind when women did it. Women were different. They mostly had a way of coming into your personal space that didn't feel like they were trying to piss all over your territory or trying to crowd you out. Jade felt different about men crowding her. Paris seemed to be careful about how he approached her and on the rare occasions he had come into her large personal bubble, she didn't get a pushy or overbearing vibe from him. She never felt like he was trying to prove anything or that he was oblivious to the fact that it was her space. Jade got back in the car and slumped down in the seat.
"So, like, what are the chances that I did do something. I'm not saying I did," she said, rushing to clarify, "but, you know. Statistically speaking, what are the numbers?"
Paris focused on driving while he spoke. "I'm not quite sure, to be honest. As we've discussed before, you're powerful and you seem to have a knack for some things. But a spell of this magnitude, if it were indeed affecting the entire coven, would have been quite a feat to pull off. Especially if you did it while unaware. It would be equivalent to catching lightning in a bottle."
"So, doable but damn unlikely?" she hedged, feeling a little bit better about the whole thing.
"Just so. Jade," said Paris, his eyes darting off to the side to look at her briefly and then back at the road. "I don't want you to think we're immediately suspicious of you for any undue reasons. You're quite powerful and you're untrained. If you did do something, I've no doubt it was an accident and certainly not malicious."
"It's fine. I get it," she said quickly, not looking at him. "I do. New girl comes to the Coven, figures out demon magic. Who knows what she'll do? I'm not mad." It was mostly the truth. She wasn't mad. But she still felt defensive and put out. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him setting his shoulders, like he was getting ready to assuage her and keep doing it until she really believed him. "So," she said quickly, cutting anything he could say off. "Your magic's busted?"
"I wouldn't put it like that, but there's definitely something off about it."
"You can feel the whole Coven?" Jade asked, thinking about how Hannah had asked him to check in with the Coven's magic.
"Yes. We're all tied to each other after a fashion. Your magic is still quite new to you so you probably don't feel as attached to us yet. As Coven Leader, I'm more tuned to the Coven as a whole. It's like white noise. It's there, but I don't always notice it unless I'm paying attention. You could probably learn to sense it as well. You're certainly strong enough. Perhaps once you've been here longer, I can help you with that."
Jade made a noncommittal 'hmm' sound.
"Coming to the Coven Ball will also help you feel more connected to us," Paris added.
"I'm getting that eau de desperation again, English," she said, recalling when he'd first tried to get her to come to the Coven. She'd gotten the sense then, rightly so, that he was afraid she wouldn't come back with him. She didn't know it at the time, but if she had said no, it meant he would have to try to break her magic. Jade had watched him break another witch at the Coven, Matthew, the witch who had tried to steal Jade's power. She wasn't sorry she watched because she felt like she needed to see it, but Jade still remembered how much Matthew had screamed. She got an earnest feeling from Paris now; he was trying so hard to make sure she felt included. Jade waved a hand at him. "I already joined your coven. You don't have to keep selling it to me."
"That's not what I'm trying to do, Jade. I just want to ensure that you feel welcome here. This is your home now."
"Yeah." She winced. Even she could hear the reservation in her voice.
As Paris pulled the car up in front of her little cottage, she sat up straight, remembering her lizard 'friend,' Bruce. Crap. Jade hadn't seen him since yesterday. If he was back and Paris found Bruce in her cottage, he'd take him away. Or give her shit for it. Neither was appealing.
"Problem?" Paris asked and Jade realized he'd parked the car and was wondering why she hadn't gotten out.
"Uh. No. Nope," she said quickly, getting out of the car. She said a silent prayer in her head that Bruce would stay out of sight. Or maybe he wouldn't even be in the house. Jade had left one of the windows open in the living room for him and she'd kind of hoped he'd come back and find his way inside. Now she was just hoping he stayed missing until Paris left.
Not sensing Paris behind her as she approached the front door, she turned and looked back for him. He was standing a few feet from the house with a somewhat distasteful look on his face.
"What is that?" he asked, gesturing widely with his hand toward the front of her house.
"What? Oh, that's my demon lock. Sorry." She had to close her eyes for a moment to recall the spell to add someone to the magic and then had to concentrate, feeling the demon lock shift and whirr as she adjusted it to let Paris in. In her mind, she imagined it l
ike a puzzle box - intricate and interlocked, each piece fitting in with the one next to it. She pulled it apart and unlocked the bits and bobbles of it until she felt it fall apart. She opened her eyes and waved him up.
"It's open now."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Seems like a lot of work when you could just use a key."
"No one can get by the demon lock. I found it in the demon grimoires. It was very specific. Only my magic can break it unless someone knows the exact counter-spell. Keys can be copied. Locks can be picked," she said with a shrug. "Besides, I don't have to unlock it for myself. It knows me."
"What about when people come over?" he asked, crossing the threshold to her place.
She glanced sideways at him. "Who would come over? That's the first time I've had to unlock it in two weeks."
Paris seemed troubled by that, but didn't say anything further. She kicked her shoes off and tried to circumspectly look around for any and all large lizards that may be inhabiting the premise. She didn't see Bruce. So far, so good.
"Demon books are in the kitchen," Jade said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. Paris nodded and then followed after her. She had her books spread out on the kitchen table and Paris immediately sat down and started perusing what she'd been working on. There was a plate with some toast crumbs and a smudge of peanut butter on the table, as well as three coffee mugs. She moved forward awkwardly and gathered the dishes up, loading them in the dishwasher. Paris rested one of his hands on the table and then pulled it back slowly, staring at the smear of peanut butter and raspberry jam that was now smushed into the heel of his palm.
"Oh, shit, sorry about that," Jade blurted, wetting a paper towel for him. Paris took it gingerly from her and he wiped his hand off and then swiped at the table. He checked the table and his hands once more before he started flipping the pages of the books she was working on. Her eyes kept darting toward the ceiling, wondering if Bruce was maybe upstairs or somewhere else in the house. She should go check. Paris looked like he wasn't in any kind of a hurry, carefully flipping through pages, stopping to read spells as he went.
"Um, I'm just gonna go change my clothes," she lied quickly. "I feel like I still smell like sewer, so, you know, um make yourself comfortable. Start a pot of coffee, whatever."
Paris looked up and started to stand. "Is your coffee in the pantry?"
"Oh God, I don't keep anything in the pantry. Not since the whole 'demon portal' thing," she replied. Even after the whole incident with the two demons ended, she still got a hinky vibe from the pantry and avoided it in general. When she'd gone through the whole process of warding her house, she'd thought long and hard about what to do with the pantry. After a few sleepless nights, she decided not to ward it. She'd never told Paris that and so far, he hadn't seemed to notice. "I don't want my food sitting in there. Gross."
He stared blankly at her for a moment. "It's quite safe now, but if you're concerned, I can check it again for you. With the additional demon magic we've been learning I'm sure we can fix it."
"You can 'fix' it a hundred times, I'm still not putting anything in there," Jade replied. "So! Coffee's next to the fridge, don't be shy with the beans, I like it dark. Like my heart."
Paris blinked again at her and she managed what she was sure came across as some kind of bizarre smile before she took off for her bedroom upstairs. Coming up the stairs she could just barely see the door to her bedroom ajar and she paused for a moment. It looked like there were clothes strewn on the floor. Okay, she knew she was messy, but she wasn't that messy. Bruce must have tossed her things around. For what reason, she wasn't sure. She crept forward quietly and pushed the door open.
No lizard to be seen.
Movement from the corner of her eye made her turn her head and she caught sight of a tail swishing back and forth from the closet.
"Bruce!" she hissed. The tail stopped and disappeared into the closet to be replaced seconds later by the blunted snout of the lizard-thing. Jade stepped over to the closet and peeked inside. "Where have you been? I was worried about you." Bruce stared up at her, motionless like she was some kind of predator. She sighed. Okay, so it might have been hard to tell by her hissing tone that she'd been worried. Jade relaxed her shoulders and unclenched her fists. Bruce had made himself a little nest of her clothes - it looked like her workout pants from yesterday, her running top (also from yesterday), some socks and a pillowcase. He blinked up at her with his large, reflective orbs.
She couldn't even be mad at him. When she was feeling scared, anxious or just low, she liked to crawl into the closet to sleep too. Seeing Bruce centered in a pile of her clothing, looking like he'd been napping while she was gone... "Yeah," she muttered. "I can relate."
He moved forward a bit and butted her with his solid head, making the 'pffftttt' sound again.
She patted him on the head and was rewarded with another 'pffffttt' sound. "Thanks, buddy. I'm glad to see you again, too."
#
Paris was beginning to get the first twinges of a'demon headache' - the headache he got from reading his mother's demon grimoires - when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took a quick glance at the caller ID that indicated it was Callie.
Callie started talking as soon as he answered. "Is your magic weird? Mine's weird. I tried to do a locator spell to find Stuart and I ended up finding four lost socks and a hair pick."
"Yes, Hannah noticed something was off while she was reading Jade's cards. From what I can tell, there's something affecting all the magic of the Coven."
Callie paused for a moment and Paris could almost hear her chewing her hangnails. "Did Jade do something?" she asked, her voice a little slow and hesitant.
"Not that I can tell so far. Her magic, however, appears to be unaffected."
"Oh crap," Callie said flatly. "That's gonna look horrible if it gets out. But," she continued on, her voice taking on an undaunted tone, "you don't think she did anything," Callie clarified.
He flipped over another page of the grimoire, his mother's handwriting starting to swim before his eyes. He couldn't manage much more reading tonight. That was the problem with the demon grimoires. Well, one of the problems, not the least of which being that they were tainted magic. "As I said, it doesn't look like it so far. Did you find Stuart?" Paris inquired regarding Callie's fat feline.
"Ugh, yes," she said emphatically. "He was in the neighbor's garbage can. They had salmon last night. I think at this point I owe them a new can. He keeps destroying their lids."
"He's quite persistent and surprisingly agile for a cat of his size," Paris said offhandedly, turning another page.
"He's not fat! I keep telling everyone! He was the biggest in his litter."
"Mm-hmm." Paris rubbed his eyes. He pushed the book away from him slightly and closed it. He wished he hadn't touched his eyes. His mother's demon grimoires always made his hands feel a little greasy and soiled. Additionally, he thought he might still have some peanut butter on his hand from earlier. "Has anyone else complained about their magic, that you know of?"
"No, but I can ask around discretely, if you like,"
"Please. Do your best to be discrete, but at this point, if you've noticed it casting just a regular locator spell and Hannah and I have noticed it..." he sighed, trailing off. "I can't expect the rest of the Coven to remain unaware for long."
"Will do." Again, Paris swore he could hear her worrying her cuticles. "Um, so did you or Hannah have any idea why Jade's magic was unaffected?"
"We didn't really get a chance to get into too much discussion, but I would hazard a guess that it either has to do with how much of it she has or the fact that she's different from us."
"Because she wasn't born in a coven."
"Exactly. And she's still essentially untrained. She's learning, yes, but a lot of what she knows is just beginner magic. Her magic hasn't fully integrated into the Coven's magic yet either, I don't think," Paris added. All the witches in a coven tended to be 'in tune' with one ano
ther - sort of like a symphony of instruments. Each witch had their own tone, timbre and pitch unique to themselves, but still in harmony with the rest of the coven. As children learned, they 'tuned' their magic to work within their coven - adding to the blended balance.
Jade was still rather like a new tuba - out of synch and tune with everyone else, belting out notes without knowing how to make herself fit in.
Now that he thought about it, it was an apt description for her personality as well as her magic.
"You're friendly with Jade, correct?" he asked Callie.
"Yeah. I like her. She's fun," Callie said easily. "Why?"
Paris pushed himself back from the table a bit and peered around the corner to ensure Jade wasn't on her way downstairs in case she overheard. "I've just been concerned. I don't know that she's fitting in around the Coven and to be frank, I've no idea what to do about it."
"Hmm," said Callie. "Well, I don't know if you can do anything about it. I mean, she's an adult, Paris and so is most of the Coven. It's not like you can just... order people to hang out with her. Even if you could, I doubt she'd appreciate it."
"No, I suppose you're right."
"I get that you feel responsible because you're the leader and you invited her here, but at the end of the day, it's her choice to make friends and engage with people and I don't think you have any control over that." Callie paused for a moment letting her words sink in. "Give it time. She's new and she's... well, I get the impression she hasn't had the easiest time with people in the past."
Paris thought about what little he did know about Jade and about what he'd learned about her life before she came to the Coven. She'd had a job, but no serious attachments or commitments - going to and from work with little deviation from her routine. Perhaps she was one of those people who didn't need social attachments as much as others did. He made a mental note to look a little further into her history to see if it offered any more information.
Callie continued. "I think you're underestimating the connections she has made here. Henri and I go for coffee and lunch with her separately and together a lot, and she goes running with Daniel. Henri says he's never managed to have a running partner for longer than a week before."
Counter-Hex (Covencraft Book 2) Page 7