by Dana Donovan
“Ursula?” I said. “I think she’s up and out already.”
“Where’d she go?”
“To the hospital to see Dominic. He’s getting out this morning.”
“Is he?”
“Yes. You know he’s asked to see her every day this week. I think he’s got a thing for her.”
“I’m sure he does. She’s beautiful.”
“Oh?” I rolled onto my side to give him the benefit of looking me in the eyes. “More beautiful than me?”
He laughed nervously. “Lilith, she looks just like you.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Yeah, but not exactly.”
He sighed, which made me think it was time to kick his ass out of bed. But then he got wise and said, “Well, no not exactly.”
“Go on.”
He traced my brow with the tip of his finger. “She does have those high, thin eyebrows that make her look like she’s always scheming.”
“Yes?”
He slid his fingers down my cheek and skirted them over my mouth. “And when she smiles, her thin lips pinch a little tight at the dimples, and you can never be a hundred percent sure she isn’t secretly gritting her teeth.”
Okay, I admit he can be charming sometimes. “What else?”
“Her eyes.”
“What about`em.”
“They’re so big and black that at night you can’t tell if she’s looking at you or through you.”
“Yeah, I noticed that, too.”
“And her nose….”
“Uh-huh?”
“Ah, well there’s nothing about her nose. It’s perfectly beautiful.”
“Perfectly?”
“Yes, but not as perfect as yours, which leads me to the conclusion that you are by far more beautiful than Ursula in every respect.”
“You’re damn straight.”
I rolled over onto my pillow and laced my fingers up behind my head. As I lay there staring at the ceiling and watching the fan swirl in lazy loops, my mind drifted off in wonder of what might become of Ursula. I couldn’t imagine dropping out of one century like she did and popping up in another that had advanced exponentially over the previous three. Had she jumped from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century I doubt she would have noticed much difference. What must she think of twenty-first century’s astounding advances over hers? I thought the grimoire might have a spell or two in it that could possibly get Ursula back to her own place in time if she wanted to go, but before I could finish that thought, Tony said, “I didn’t see anything.”
I turned my head to find him staring up at the fan with that same look of wonder in his eyes. “What did you say?”
He rocked his head back to look at me. “I said I didn’t see anything.”
“Where?”
“In the Grimoire.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You were wondering about a spell to send Ursula back to her own place in time.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I didn’t see anything in the Grimoire about that.”
“Tony, you realize I didn’t say that out loud.”
“You didn’t?”
“No.”
“Huh.”
“Huh? That’s all you have to say?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know. How `bout saying, hey look at me. I was just reading your thoughts?”
“Alright, hey look at me. I was—”
“Not now, Jesus, Tony, this is what I was talking about. You’ve got the power. The witchcraft is in you. Embrace it. Work with it.”
“Like you did last week?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you did something, you turned yourself into a tiger, or a jaguar or whatever it was that killed Putnam.”
“Oh, that’s just foolish.”
“Is it?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“So, you don’t ever shape shift. Is that it?”
“I said it’s foolish, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but you didn’t deny it.”
“Go make some coffee?”
“See, this is exactly my point. You want me to practice witchcraft, yet you deny its potential. You never even told me about the gate key.”
“I told you about the gate key.”
“Sure, last week, but you’ve been hounding me for over a year to try harder, practice more, focus my attention. Why didn’t you tell me about the key earlier?”
“I didn’t tell you because….”
“What?”
“I don’t know. The gate key was the biggest secret my family ever kept. I guess I just couldn’t bring myself to open up that door.”
“Lilith, you know how hard I’ve been trying to manage this whole back to prime thing. Why would you let me struggle so hard?”
“I told you I don’t know. Cut me some slack.”
“You cut me some slack. Haven’t we been through enough together already to earn each other’s trust?”
“Yes.”
“All right then.” He rolled his eyes back up at the fan. “You know I pulled off a level three spell last week.”
“You?” I propped myself up on one elbow and looked at him to see if he was smiling. “now I don’t believe it.”
“No, ask Carlos and Spinelli. I tried the cloaking spell out on Froggy and he never saw me. It’s like I disappeared entirely, like a ghost.”
“A ghost, huh? That figures.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, you know how it is. Every time I ask you to do something around the house you go off and disappear.”
“Oh, do I?” He pushed me onto my back and rolled over on top of me. “Well what would you say if I told you that this ghost wants to go another round with you?”
I tried to push him off but he wouldn’t let me. “I’d say forget it. Three times is enough.”
“But ghosts never tire.”
“Tony, I’m warning you.”
“All right, fine.”
He rolled off me and climbed out of bed. I sat up and watched him collect his pants off the floor; the morning sun streaming through the window caressing his buttocks in a warm candle-like glow. I began thinking that maybe I acted a little too hastily then. I fluffed his pillow and patted the mattress beside me. “On second thought,” I said, sizzling the ‘S’ a little. “I guess it is still early. Why don’t you come back to bed and we’ll, you know—talk.”
He turned around, allowing the sunbeam to spotlight his more indulgent attributes. “Talk?”
I flopped back on the pillow, folded my arms up over my head and grabbed hold of the headboard. “Yeah, or whatever.”
I could see him thinking about it, his sensuous stare bathing me in long, slow brush strokes as if wondering where to start. An electric rush shot through my body as his gaze glazed over me like honey. I stretched one leg out straight, and then the other, kicking the sheets to the floor and pointing my toes up in the air, wiggling them in anticipation. He smiled. I smiled. My eyes spilled down his chest, past his washboard stomach to his sunlit pride and the growing shadow it cast. I reached out to touch him and he slipped back a step. Our eyes met. He was still smiling, teasingly. I leaned toward him; my back arched, my fingers splayed on outstretched hand coaxing him gently. Again he slipped back, and now his smile seemed perfectly wicked to me. I propped myself up on my elbows and scowled at him deeply. “What’s this?” I said. “Are you dissing me?”
“Dissing you? No.” He stepped into his jeans, buttoned the top snap and pulled up his zipper. “I’m going to go make the coffee.”
“Yeah, well excuse me, Mister; horny witch here.”
He shook his head lightly. “Nah, I think I’ll pass, but thanks.”
“Pass? You think you’ll pass?”
“Yeah. You want toast?”
I grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him. �
��Screw your toast, and enjoy it, because this is the last time you screw me, buster.”
“What? Lilith, come on. You’re the one who said no to me first. I was already out of bed and you—”
“And I, like a fool, called you back. Remember this day, Tony.” I grabbed the other pillow and pitched it at his head. “Now get out of my room, and take a good look around on your way out; it’s the last time you’re ever gonna see it.”
“Lilith, please, don’t….”
“Out!”
He turned and scooted out the door, closing it only half way, but making a noticeable retreat with heavy footfalls down the hall on his way to the kitchen. I dropped back onto the mattress and laid there awhile staring up at the fan and wondering what the hell had just happened. I never thought I’d see the day when Tony Marcella would pass up all this for a cup of coffee. My instincts told me he was up to something, but a small piece of me (a very small piece) wondered if maybe he was losing his attraction to me. I’m not usually prone to such bouts of insecurities, but come on, what’s a girl to think?
I waited until I could smell the coffee brewing before making up my mind to get up and get dressed. I had just sat up when the bedroom door suddenly shut tight. I turned to see if the window was open. It was not, which seemed strange, because a cross breeze coming from the hall would have blown the door open, not closed. Off in the corner, a chair moved, as if bumped into lightly. My heart began pounding. Something unnatural was happening and I couldn’t imagine what. I thought of calling for Tony, but my pride would not let me. After all, I had just told him that I’d never let him set foot in my bedroom ever again, and by ever I meant three days—a week max.
After about a minute, I began to think that it was all in my head. Nothing happened since I thought I saw the chair move. I sat up straight, my back against the headboard; my knees up to my chest. I could feel my heart settling down again, and the chill that had found its way up my spine was now gone. See, I thought, I didn’t need Tony after all. I took a deep breath and let it out with a pucker, feeling just a little bit silly for letting myself get spooked in broad daylight. But just as I was ready to get out of bed, I felt a pair of hands seize my ankles and jerk my legs out from under me. I grabbed hold of the headboard and let out a scream loud enough for Tony to hear from a mile away.
The phantom force continuing pulling at my ankles till my body was stretched out straight and levitating over the mattress. Again I screamed, but still Tony did not come to my rescue. I remember thinking, I know what this is. It’s Hilton’s ghost seeking his revenge. His hands, stronger in death than in life, were going to work their way up to my neck and then choke the life out of me.
“TONY!” I screamed, my voice cracking in high-pitched syllables. “HELP ME!”
But he did not come. I imagined it was because Hilton’s ghost had already laid waste to Tony’s bones out in the kitchen—probably took him by surprise as he took me. Poor Tony, he never had a chance. That sneaky bastard, Hilton; I wanted to kill him all over again. I thought I might, too. There’s a spell in the grimoire for such a thing. It requires a dash of pebble dust from Wraith Mountain, a hilltop accessible only at night on a witch’s moon. And it just so happens I keep a stash of it handy in the nightstand. Coincidence, you might think, but I like to be prepared.
I let go of the headboard with one hand and started reaching for the top drawer of the nightstand. That’s when I felt the grip around my ankles loosen. I froze, thinking he had given up, but then I felt the full weight of a man on top of me, weighing my naked body down on the mattress with absolutely no wiggle room. He grabbed my wrists and forced them back over my head; and the worst of it—he was naked, too. I could feel his…you know what probing about most rudely. I know. You wouldn’t expect that from a ghost. But you know the funny thing is…well, it wasn’t that bad. He felt warm and soft all over, except for that one special area, of course, which felt warm and hard. And even though he was pinning my arms up over my head, he seemed unusually gentle otherwise. I found myself relaxing, suspecting now that it wasn’t Hilton’s ghost on top of me, but someone very familiar. I closed my eyes and let him in, and when he let go of my hands I wrapped my arms and legs around his body and squeezed him tightly.
“Mmm, I know it’s you,” I said softly in his ear. “That’s a pretty good trick: A level three, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Didn’t expect it, did you?” he said.
I ran my nails down his back and dragged them backwards along his behind. “No, I didn’t,” I said, and then I squeezed his cheeks hard enough to leave a mark, which, of course, I couldn’t see, but I know I did. “We better hurry, though,” I cooed.
He laid a phantom kiss upon the side of my neck. “Why’s that?”
“Because,” I felt for his ear and nibbled it lightly. “I fear Lilith might walk in on us at any moment.”
“What the….” I felt him pull away, and no longer was he invisible. His brows gathered quizzically, the way they do sometimes when I pull at his nose hairs while he sleeps. “Ursula? I thought you went out.”
I locked my fingers together behind his back and pulled him in tightly. “Be calm, Master. Lilith hath gone for the bath this moment hence.”
“The bath?”
“Aye, behind thee when you went for coffee. Hath thou not noticed?”
“No. Thou hadn’t noticed,” he said, and when he tried to get off me, I locked my legs around him tighter.
“Please, Master Tony, I beg thee. What pleasures doth thy bring if not for thy own sake? Oh, and it has been so, so long.”
“Look, Ursula, I’m sorry, I thought you were Lilith. You sounded just like her. You look…. Oh, Jesus. I gotta get out of here.”
“Indeed, she hath taught me well the tongue of modern day. But spare thy scorn, kind sir. Am I not desirable to thee, Master Tony?”
“What? No…no, you can’t do this. Lilith will kill us both. Look, I have to go.” He pried himself off me in a not so gentleman-like haste and backed out of the room covering his privates with a pillow. As he turned and scurried off down the hall bare ass, I wondered how I might explain to Ursula the trick I played on him. But then again, maybe it’ll be more fun watching them both if I say nothing to either. Ooh, what impish spite doth lie deep in the wicked bones of a witch.
Table of Contents
Bones of a Witch
Foreword
Midpoint