Joshua couldn’t really afford to not open on a regular work day, what with Faery Fest cancelled and all, but he frankly still felt a little wobbly, and the magic necessary to get the shop back into some sort of metaphysical order was around all he had the energy for. He couldn’t deal with customers too.
A throat cleared from a shadowed doorway. Joshua turned. White shirt. Black trousers. Peacock-teal silk necktie.
The Alchemist.
Not thinking, Joshua whirled, and threw a punch at the man’s face. The Alchemist stepped to one side and laughed. Joshua barely caught himself before crashing into the door frame.
Damn it. Still weak.
“Attacking a man at his own doorstep? That’s unsporting of you.”
“You live here?”
“For now. It makes it easier to keep a watch on you and that charming witch Brenda. Who should be your competition, if you were actually any sort of a magician. Or a man.”
“At least I know where to send the police now,” Joshua remarked, getting his temper under control.
That laugh again. Like nails on a chalkboard.
“You can’t prove anything,” the Alchemist said. “And you barely have any magic. That much is clear. No one in this city has much, do they? I’m sorely disappointed.”
Who was this jerk? He was practically a cartoon character.
“You assaulted someone, asshole. You think we can’t prove that? And how many people have you poisoned so far?”
The Alchemist just smirked.
Joshua couldn’t let his temper get the better of him. Harness that life force, he told himself. Invoke your will.
Despite the warm morning, he suddenly felt cool. Calm.
“Did you bust into my shop?” he asked.
The man flicked his fingers as if to bat away a fly.
“Your shop was broken into?” he asked, the face of innocence. His mouth hardened then. “You think I have no followers to work my will? What do you think those students of mine are for? It isn’t for their innate alchemical ability.”
The longer Joshua stood on the sidewalk, the less things made sense. Oh, the Alchemist was some sort of megalomaniac, that was clear. But his motivations were still opaque.
“What do you want with Selene?” Joshua finally asked, forcing the words from his lips. It was a question he didn’t want to ask. Shouldn’t ask. But it was also the only question that mattered to him.
A real smile skirted across the Alchemist’s face. He looked toward the sky, then trained his ice-blue eyes back on Joshua.
“Ah. Selene. You’re in love with them, too. I can’t blame you. I sent them a little present today, to let them know how special they are.” He looked at his watch. “They should be getting it sometime in the next hour or so. Selene is rare and beautiful thing, which I don’t think a man like you can fully comprehend.”
He tapped a finger against his thin lips, then smiled again.
“Selene is the perfect alchemical creature,” he said. “That’s why I never let them go.”
Blood roared through Joshua’s head. He swung. Cartilage cracked. Blood gushed down the Alchemist’s face.
The man doubled, hands over his face.
“You bastard!” he shrieked.
“Selene isn’t a creature, you sick fuck. Leave them alone,” Joshua replied. “Leave all of us alone.”
The Alchemist scrabbled in his pants pocket for a handkerchief.
Joshua turned and walked toward the Inner Eye. He hoped Brenda had some ice for his knuckles and the right moonstone for Selene. And he really needed to sit down for a while. And contact Selene. Tell them he’d seen the Alchemist and that the asshole said he’d sent them a present.
At any rate, he’d take today as proof that sometimes the best magic worked directly on the earth plane, with whatever tools you had.
31
Selene
After their ritual, Selene decided that crawling back into bed was not an option. So they were at the studio again, makeup covering their scraped cheek, listening to the chip of chisel on stone from the back room downstairs, and breathing in the familiar smells of graphite and paint.
They could have worked anywhere today, just designing on their tablet. But they had some animal need to get back to the studio and reclaim their space, especially after Joshua had texted to warn them the asshole was out there, stalking too close to coven home territory.
If Selene had learned one thing in all of their years as someone living just outside the realms of normalcy, it was that you couldn’t cede your space to the assholes.
Assholes already owned the rest of the world, so if you did that, you ended up with nothing.
Selene sipped at the heavy purple mug filled with coffee. They needed to focus, being behind now on three client projects, plus the one for Lucy, who at least would be forgiving about it.
There had just been too much going on. Selene knew that a witch should always be able to re-center and return to their focus, but lately? The overwhelming factor was just too much.
But they needed to try anyway.
As they drank, Selene flipped through some of the images they’d saved on their tablet for project number one. It was a book cover design for a small publisher. Their first. If they did well on this one, there would be more work to come. And Selene needed that. They flipped through images of shadowy streets, dark rivers, and a series of different poses from a lovely, thin, white woman with long dark hair. The model that was supposed to represent the protagonist.
Selene was learning a lot. The one cover design class at school had taught them the basics, but working to the specifications of a publisher was another matter entirely.
But today? Interesting as the work was? Focusing was still hard.
Selene was also going to have to meet with Arrow and Crescent. They knew the coven was still freaking out about the attack, and everything else, but Selene still felt so fragile about it all.
Including the visit from Joshua. That had been completely unexpected. And really nice, despite the fact that at one point, Selene had started crying on his shoulder. And the fact that Selene still wasn’t sure how they felt about letting someone new in that close.
But perhaps they could take a breath and give it time.
Plus, there was still a cryptic message to decipher, and when was Selene going to have the mental and emotional space for that? They wished the Powers were less circumspect sometimes.
Tapping their stylus on the edge of the tablet, Selene sighed. What they should really do was call their old therapist. See if he had an opening. A mid-40s trans man, Derrick was someone Selene could trust to at least have a chance of understanding what they were going through.
But money was still tight, and…
And you were just assaulted and really need help, Selene. Don’t be stupid about this.
That was the voice of Selene’s inner Brenda and Raquel. Somewhere in their coven training, the voices of the two women had blended into that of one wise advisor, who often showed up just to kick Selene’s ass.
Okay. I’ll call Derrick.
But for now, Selene really just needed to get some work done. Both to pay their rent, and for their mental and emotional well-being.
Selene needed to know there was one area of their life where they still had some measure of control.
There was a rap on the huge casement of the open doorway. Randy, a sculptor who worked the storefront shop stood there, holding a vase of red roses.
“Hey, Selene? Someone dropped this for you around thirty minutes ago. I just haven’t had time to bring them up.”
“Oh!” Selene swiveled off their stool and stalked across the broad plank floors, holding out their hands. “Thanks for bringing them up! Next time, feel free to text me.”
“No problem. I needed a break, anyway.” Randy transferred the vase over. It was heavy. “See you.”
He clomped back down the stairs.
Selene sniffed at the blooms. Not mu
ch of interest there. Like so many hothouse flowers, these were grown for looks, not fragrance. They set the vase on their worktable and pulled the card out of the tiny envelope with a smile. Joshua really was sweet. Selene trusted him. Maybe they’d give him a chance.
“I’ve never forgotten you,” it read. “I don’t ever want you to forget me.” And a small symbol at the bottom, one swirl of ink. The Ouroboros, biting its tail.
Selene began to shake, as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over their skin. Not Joshua. They sat down on the stool, hard enough to bruise, head in their hands, elbows on the work surface, trying to fight rising panic.
The flowers were from that fucking would-be rapist. Selene was sure of it.
Dangerdangerdanger. Selene’s flight-or-freeze instincts warred inside them. They desperately wanted to run but could not move.
Selene forced themself to take a long, shaky breath in. Then a slow exhalation. Another inhalation, more steady this time. Selene was a witch. They knew how to breathe. They knew how to protect themselves, and damn it, they would find a way to get this man.
The words of the Moon Mother came back to them.
:Those who walk the pathways of darkness see into the night of other souls. Those who live in two worlds travel well. Seek the hidden pathway. See the truth.:
They still didn’t know exactly what it meant, but figured if ever they needed to see into the night of other souls, it was now.
Maybe Selene didn’t need the light of the full moon. Maybe they needed the small sickle moon, with its keen, sharp edge.
The knife they had just said they didn’t want to be. But sometimes, the sharp edge was necessary.
They definitely needed the coven and its matron, Diana, the huntress. She of the bow-shaped crescent.
Sitting up, breath finally slow and even, Selene pulled out their phone and sent a group text to the coven. Alchemist just threatened me. Need to meet tonight.
Then they texted Joshua. And Legis.
If the asshole was going to be this bold, they needed a planning meeting, and it had to happen ASAP.
Their phone buzzed. The first text was from Brenda. Meet at shop? 7pm?
With buzz after buzz, the coven chimed in. Pissed off as hell, they would be there.
Thank you, Mother.
Selene wasn’t alone. Perhaps they never had been.
Looking at the roses, they throttled down the urge to dump them in one of the big garbage cans that dotted the space. They shouldn’t. There might be a magical link there that someone in the coven could trace.
Selene sighed. There was no damn way they were going to be able to work now. Not with those blood red flowers sitting on their desk. They shoved tablet and phone back into their messenger bag. They should head to the hospital and check on Tabitha.
The damn flowers could stay in the car.
Selene packed up their things and slung their messenger bag cross-body. They bent over the bouquet, and grabbed the vase in both hands, ready to lift.
A wave of vertigo washed over them, and they sat on their chair with a whoosh of breath, scrabbling for a moment to keep the chair from rolling, and just saving the vase from tipping.
Focus. Focus.
Selene planted their boots on the floor, and bowed their head for a moment, still clutching the vase of roses. They slowed their breathing down behind the black curtain of their hair. Tuned in.
You’re not going to get me, asshole, they thought, then expanded their awareness outward. Seeking.
There he was. The Alchemist. Selene got a clear image of him, in some sort of makeshift laboratory, using a dropper to transfer liquid from what looked like a test tube, and into an alembic. The fat-bellied alembic sat on a small blue gas fire.
The liquid was brown. They saw his head raise and look around. With a breath, Selene pulled their energy back. The scene changed. Tabitha. Floating. Limbs weakly churning the air around her, her head rolling back and forth, as if she was in distress.
The ropy brown cord emerged from Tabitha’s navel area, and snaked its way through the æthers.
Where did the cord go?
The connection snapped, and Selene was thrown back in their chair. The vase rocked, water sloshing over the edge onto Selene’s hands.
“Shit.” They stabilized the vase again, and carefully removed their hands. There was really no throwing these roses away now. Tobias was going to need to see them. Lucy, too.
“You tried to trap me,” Selene said, looking at the bloodred petals as they ripped tissues from a box, and wiped the table, the vase, and then their hands. “But you forgot that if you send something toward me, I can use it to get to you. Rookie mistake.”
Selene looked around for something to wrap the vase in. It was clear they weren’t going to be able to get it to their car if their skin touched any part of it. Then they remembered the gym towel in their locker cubby. It would do.
32
Joshua
Joshua banged on the glass door of the Inner Eye. Brenda looked up, tucking a wayward dark coil of hair behind one ear. Then she skirted the counter. The locks chunked in the door.
“Joshua, welcome back.” She swept him into a hug that smelled of lavender and copal. She must have been burning that incense blend all day. One of the hazards of the magic worker was that they tended to smell of strange unguents and incenses. “How’s your hand?”
“It’s killing me. I just hope his face feels worse.” Both things were true. Joshua wasn’t used to physical confrontation, and his knuckles were abraded and bruised. Even his hand bones ached. “Everyone here?”
“Pretty much. I think we’re just waiting on Lucy. Head back.”
Joshua made his way to the purple Celtic-knot tapestry and pushed his way into the large class-slash-break room. Sure enough, beneath the brightly colored Elemental banners hanging from the walls in their respective directions, most of the chairs were filled. Including the two on either side of Selene. Damn.
He paused in the doorway for a moment, fingering the moonstone pendant in his pocket, searching for a chair. Legis waved at him from beneath the Fire banner on the southern side of the room. Frater Louis sat next to him and gave Joshua a look that seemed to see right through him. Something Joshua neither wanted or needed tonight.
Joshua gave a slight shake of his head and made a just a moment gesture. He drew the moonstone out and looked at Selene again. They were deep in conversation with Tobias and Raquel. He really shouldn’t interrupt, but felt compelled to, all the same.
Brenda had said the moonstone pendant would act as a perfect focus for Selene. That was what he wanted, right? To give Selene something they could use in the coming battle? A tool to help them work their magic—magic he’d seen in action a couple of times over the past year; Selene was truly impressive—and hopefully a tool that would help to keep them safe.
And a gift that would let Selene know that Joshua was falling for them, hard. He wasn’t sure how he felt about them knowing that. But it was just another part of daring, right?
Joshua took a deep breath and walked across the room. No time like the present.
Raquel saw him first, and fell silent, with one of those looks on her face as if she knew exactly what he was doing. What was up with these people tonight? Couldn’t a guy get any privacy?
He knew the answer to that: Not when everyone’s psychic senses were on high alert and he was probably broadcasting because he was agitated and in pain. His hand was really throbbing. He found it hard to care.
“Excuse me, Selene?”
They looked up, eyes flickering with so many different emotions, he couldn’t tell what they were thinking.
“Hi Joshua.” Their voice was a different timbre than before. A rich contralto. Gorgeous, just like the person speaking. The intimacy they’d shared the night before felt palpable, as if Joshua could touch it. Wrap it around himself.
“Oh my Goddess!” Tobias blurted out. “What happened to your hand?”
<
br /> “I punched the Alchemist. I figured everyone would have heard. I saw Brenda this morning, and texted Selene, right after it happened.”
Tobias paled. “No. No one said anything. But…we’ve been a little busy.”
Tobias gestured toward the little kitchen area. A large vase of blood red roses stood on the counter next to the electric kettle. They looked menacing somehow, though Joshua couldn’t pinpoint why.
“That present you texted me about? The Alchemist sent me roses,” Selene remarked. “They’re some sort of psychic trap. We want Lucy to see if there’s anything else to be done with them.”
“Well, damn.” He turned to look at the flowers again. He had wanted to talk with Selene privately, but it was clear that was going to be too awkward to arrange. His neck burned beneath his starched collar. Damn it. People never affected him like this. Maybe he should just give them the moonstone some other time.
The pendant practically zapped his hand through the little satin bag.
“Joshua?” Selene asked.
How long had he just been standing there, half-turned, staring at the roses? He crouched down in front of Selene’s chair, drawing the blue satin bag from his pocket.
“I, um. Got you something. A focus. I just…hoped it would help you with the magic.”
He held out his hand, holding the small bag in his palm.
Selene’s dark eyes looked into his, seeking something, then looked down at his hand. Their fingers snaked forward, brushing his hand, then withdrew, clutching the silk bag. Tipping the pendant from the bag, they inhaled sharply.
The moonstone glowed beneath the prosaic meeting room lights. It was suspended from a thick silver bow, the milky full moon partnered with the sickle of a waxing crescent. Selene’s long, tapered fingers, stroked the pendant. Then they looked toward his face again.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“I thought it could maybe act as protection, too.”
Selene nodded.
It was as if Tobias was gone. The rest of the coven was gone. The room itself was gone. It was just the two of them, and that little bit of magic Selene held in their hands.
By Moon Page 15