Time was running out, but there was one more place to try.
***
Business wasn’t any better at Andre’s café this time. When I didn’t see him around, a shiver ran through me. Had they gotten to Andre as well? If so, I’d have to start popping in on my fellow witches to see if one of them had a potion I could take back to Nepal for Ethan and Naoko.
“Andre? Where are you? It’s Stephanie!”
I heard the back door creak and braced myself to deal with more Nazis. But a moment later I picked up Andre’s familiar odor. He shambled towards me, a smile appearing on his pale face. “I didn’t think you would be back here so soon,” he said. “Must be a special occasion.”
“Skip it,” I snapped. “Do you have a Restoration potion here?”
“In the back,” he said. It was sometimes hard to read the face of an undead man, but this time I could see he was clearly worried.
He unlocked the door to his little shop and left me pacing in front of the glass counter while he ducked under it. “You run into a bit of trouble?” he asked. “Or can’t you tell me?”
“It’s the damned Nazis. They’re everywhere. They took Alexis.”
His head appeared over the counter. “Alexis? Why would they ever want a sweet girl like her?”
“To get to me,” I growled. And to get to Ethan. Though I wasn’t sure how breaking into the vault and Rampart City and Edinburgh fit into it; even without those I could still get help from the coven. “I don’t suppose any of them have shown up here yet?”
“Non,” he said. “Just your garden variety drunks and tea totalers wanting coffee.”
“They might show up here soon either to wreck the place or to try and sell you the potions and charms they stole from us. If they do, try and get word to the coven.”
Andre stared at me for a moment. “I ain’t seen you this worked up in a long time,” he said. “Probably not since the Revolution.”
“Didn’t you hear me? They have Alexis. They have my sister! Who knows what they’ll do to her?”
A part of me wanted to cry, but the rest of me decided to punch the glass counter hard enough to crack it. I winced with pain and then chided myself for being stupid. Breaking my hand wasn’t going to get Alexis back or help Ethan and Naoko.
Andre, sensing my impatience, went back to rummaging around. He finally came up with a dark brown stone vial. It even had Alexis’s handwriting on the label, the adorable curly script saying, “Restoration.” I snatched it from Andre’s hand before he could stand up.
“Thank you so much for this,” I said. I reached across the counter to shake his cold hand. “You might want to get out of here before they show up.”
“I can’t leave this place. You know that,” he said. It wasn’t just a love of his business; the voodoo magic became weaker the farther he went from New Orleans. If he went far enough he’d probably turn into a puddle of goo. Sometimes I was sure he considered this, when he missed Rachel or his kids, but like most of us he had a hard time pulling that trigger.
“I know,” I said. “Maybe just hide out somewhere in town then.”
“I’ll consider it.” He nodded to me. “Now you go find Alexis. Be sure to bring her back safe and sound.”
“I’ll do that,” I said. Then, with the Restoration potion in my pocket, I vanished back to Nepal. The flames had finally spread to the rest of the house, meaning that both Nazis were probably dead by now, not that I cared much about that.
Ethan and Naoko were where I’d left them. I knelt down between them and then opened the potion vial. I hoped half the vial would be enough to heal both of them. Once the vial was empty, there was nothing to do but wait.
I dragged them one at a time into the old stable. Naoko didn’t use the place, not needing any horses, so that it was empty except for the bare walls: and a note. The note was made up of letters cut out of magazines and glued to a piece of paper, like something you’d read in a pulp magazine. The words the letters spelled gave me another cold shiver. “WE HAVE ALEXIS. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, BRING FRASER TO FLORENCE AMPHITHEATER IN TWO DAYS TIME.”
Chapter 17
I read the note a half-dozen more times, not gleaning any hidden meanings from it. There was nothing I could use to determine the identity of the sender. Nothing that might tell me where they might be coming from or giving me a way of tracking Alexis down. There was nothing I could do but sit in the stable, Ethan and Naoko resting in the next empty stall.
I finally tucked the note into my pocket. Staring at the stone floor, I thought of Alexis’s dream. She had dreamed she was in Florence, watching me and Marco. At the time I thought she had been seeing the past, but maybe she had been seeing the past and future mingling together.
Florence. Why there? True it was in the Nazi’s backyard and ruled by Hitler’s pal Mussolini now, which would make it safer on their end. But there were a lot of other places in Italy where they could have gone, like Rome. Why had they chosen Florence?
I put that with the recent break-ins to our house in Rampart City and my house in Edinburgh. Then too was how the Nazis had been able to keep up with me all along, from Rampart City to the Gardenia in the Atlantic and then to Casablanca. It was as if whoever was behind all this knew me and knew what I would do—knew me well enough to know that Florence held a special meaning to me, one I would have just as soon forgotten.
It had been nearly a hundred twenty years ago when I went there. I had never been to the city before, at least not in the daylight. Marco had sent me a letter three weeks earlier asking to meet me here for another rendezvous. Most of our meetings took place in Italy, where Marco knew the territory and no one Alexis knew would be able to see us. He always came up with some excuse; this time he claimed he would be looking for boarding schools for his older sons Mathieu and Marcus. He probably would do that after making a stop in Florence.
It was his request we meet in the ancient amphitheater of the Boboli Gardens. That would be a public place and yet not so crowded that we would have difficulty finding each other. Not that he would have much difficulty finding me in the bright blue dress I was wearing. I tried to smooth the wrinkles out of the dress and then pawed ineffectually at my hair. I wanted to look good for Marco, not that it was really possible right now.
I descended the stone steps of the amphitheater slowly, taking one white step at a time. I looked around but didn’t see Marco anywhere. It was only ten in the morning, so he probably hadn’t arrived yet. His cousin ran the vineyard Marco had run before meeting Alexis about twenty miles away. He probably would have stayed the night there and left after breakfast on a coach to meet with me.
I was much too tired from the journey from Cairo to do anything other than lie down on one of the stone benches. I stared at the grass field where the Italians had once held plays, concerts, or other events. At the moment there was only a little girl frolicking in the grass. She was too far away to see but I imagined that she had Marco’s black hair, patrician nose, and strong chin and my green eyes. When I closed my eyes, I could see her running towards me, leaping into my arms.
I woke up to someone shaking me. I instinctively rolled onto my back so that I could see Marco standing over me. From that vantage I saw his face go pale, his eyes focusing on my midsection. His mouth twitched without any sound coming out of it for a few moments. He finally gathered his wits enough to blurt out, “What have you done?”
With a grunt I sat up and put both hands on the belly that was now too large to conceal anymore. “It’s not what I’ve done. It’s what we have done.”
Marco sank onto the bench next to me, burying his head in his hands. Right then all my girlish hopes and dreams went up in smoke. When I got the letter in Cairo, I imagined I would show him my pregnant stomach and he would finally decide to leave Alexis and run away with me. I hadn’t really cared where we went, so long as we were together, this time not for a few days but forever.
Seeing him with his head in his hands, I
knew that wasn’t going to happen. Marco didn’t want to be with me. I was a fling, his whore for when he tired of Alexis. I fought against the raging hormones so that I wouldn’t cry in front of him. “Did you ever love me?” I whispered.
“I do love you, Stephanie.”
“But not like how you love Alexis.”
“Alexis is my wife. And the mother of my children.”
“She’s a proper lady. And I’m not,” I muttered, thinking of Mama and how long she had tried to make me into a lady without success.
“I am sorry, Mademoiselle Stephanie. I thought you understood. You and I can never be together in that way.”
I looked down at my stomach, this symbol of life and beauty turning into a mark of shame. A part of me had always known this would happen, but in my heart I had continued to hope it wouldn’t. It was what I deserved for betraying my sister, for trying to steal away her husband. But I wasn’t the only one who was going to suffer.
“What are we going to do about our daughter?” I asked in a low voice.
“How do you know it’s a girl child?”
I patted my stomach. “I just know.”
He stared at me, probably thinking it was wishful thinking on my part or maybe that I was losing my mind. He decided not to call me on it. “My nephew ran into a similar situation.”
“Must run in the family,” I snapped.
He ignored this childish outburst. “He took the mother of his child to a secluded location and she gave birth to the child. When it was healthy enough, he returned and brought the child to his wife, claiming he had adopted it.”
“What happened to the mother?”
“She was well cared for.”
“You mean he bribed her.”
“If that’s how you choose to look at it. He could have easily left them both on their own to live in poverty, as outcasts, or to die.” He tried to take my arm, but I shook it away. “You can stay with my cousin at the vineyard. You can give birth there. Once the child’s old enough, I’ll take it home to Alexis. I’ll say that I’ve adopted it.”
“What about me? What am I supposed to do?”
“You can still see the child—as her aunt.”
“I can never tell my own daughter that I’m her mother?”
“Yes. Otherwise we will all be undone. Not just you and I, but Alexis as well.”
I looked down at my stomach again. What he said made sense from a pragmatic point of view. Despite everything that had happened, Alexis still loved Marco as much as the first time she’d seen him. That devotion had kept her blind to what her husband and sister had been doing behind her back for a decade. Learning that Marco had been unfaithful to her wouldn’t just hurt her, it would destroy her. If that wasn’t bad enough, the word would spread around town, making Alexis and her sons social outcasts. I could live with that, but she couldn’t, not sweet, innocent Alexis who had never made an enemy in her life.
I looked back down at the grassy field. The little girl had gone, but I still saw her there in my mind. I still saw her as our daughter. This time when I closed my eyes, though, she ran into Alexis’s arms and called her mother. I saw her sitting in front of the Christmas tree in a green velvet dress Alexis had made for her. She opened the give I had bought for her and then turned to me. “Thank you, Aunt Stephanie,” she said, her voice hollow and polite. Her eyes were just as hollow when looking at me.
I imagined her older, a woman now, her stomach even larger than mine at present. She screamed in pain from a contraction. Her hand flailed around, brushing against mine but not taking hold of it. She kept searching until she found Alexis’s hand—her mother’s hand. I could only stand at the back of the room and watch my own granddaughter be born, another child of my flesh who would look on me as a stranger.
“No,” I whispered. In a louder voice I said it again, “No.”
“Stephanie—”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to do it.”
“But you must. Or else—”
“I won’t ruin your precious reputation either.” I knew then what I had to do. I heaved myself off the bench, wobbling for a moment before steadying myself. “I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going to go?”
“That’s not your concern.” I looked into his eyes, wanting him to remember this moment forever. “You are never going to see me or our daughter ever again.”
“Stephanie, please—”
“Goodbye Marco.” Even in that moment I still loved him, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. If I did I wouldn’t have the strength to leave.
He let me go. When I reached the bottom of the steps he was still sitting there, staring at me, his face blank. I forced myself to turn away and keep walking. I didn’t go far, just underneath the steps. There no one could see me as I vanished back to Cairo.
I thought of this again as I sat in Naoko’s stable. Florence had been where mine and Marco’s love had died. Whoever was behind all of this must have known that and wanted me to go back there. It was about the last place in the world I wanted to be, but I had to go, for the sister I’d hurt too many times already.
Chapter 18
Naoko woke up first. It was just a tiny groan, which for Naoko was like a blood-curdling scream. I wiped the tears from my eyes and then crawled over to the other stall. I got there in time to put a hand on her shoulder before she could sit up. “Don’t try to move yet,” I told her.
She looked better, the Restoration potion sealing up the cuts, minimizing the bruises, and resetting her nose. She still had purple blotches on her face and pink scars visible through the torn parts of her robe. In time those would go away too, leaving her looking just as she had been before the Nazis showed up on her doorstep.
“Alexis?” she asked.
“She’s gone. They took her.”
Naoko shook her head. “I failed her. I failed my sister.”
“It wasn’t your fault. They had a charm.”
“That does not lessen my failure. I swore to you that I would protect her and I did not.” Another woman might have cried, but Naoko only looked at her feet and sighed. “I am dishonored. Disgraced.”
“You did the best you could,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t even think about committing hari kari on me.”
“I would not do such a thing. Not until we have rescued Alexis.” She tried to sit up, groaned, and then lay back down.
“Take it easy. The potion is still working.”
“I am sorry, Stephanie. I was careless. I was complacent. I never thought anyone could harm me in my refuge. My pride has brought about my shame and dishonor.”
“What happened, Naoko?”
“Alexis and I were in the house. She was sewing a new robe for me. I did not need a new robe, but I could see the activity made time pass more easily for her. She is much like you in that she lacks patience, though she is better at concealing her discomfort.”
“She’s had a lot more practice at that. When did the Nazis show up?”
“After night had fallen. I could not sense their presence, but Alexis did. Or more accurately, she sensed their lack of presence. She said it was like a bubble completely devoid of any life.”
“Did she feel ill?” I asked, glancing over at Ethan, whose wound appeared to be better, though not fully healed yet.
“No, she was merely anxious.”
“You didn’t think to vanish yourselves from there?”
“We tried, but we were unable to. There was something preventing us.”
“The charms?”
“They should not have been close enough yet. A charm’s range is very short, as you well know.”
I nodded again; from my experience with bogeymen and demons, a charm had a maximum range of twenty feet at most, though they were far more effective at closer range. Having little experience with witch charms, I would have to take Naoko’s word for it. “You didn’t try sneaking out the old-fashioned way?”
“They surr
ounded the house. I thought it better that we remain together to combine our strength.” She closed her eyes and sighed again. “My pride made me think we could destroy them. I was wrong.”
“How many were there?”
“At least fifty of the Germans. There were also three others. Three women.”
“Women?” I thought back to the castle in Germany and the young women trying to conjure a demon. “Were they blonds? Very well-trained at fighting?”
“Yes. They were very well-trained. The best warriors I have ever fought since the last time we sparred. I tried to use my magic, but as you know it would not work.”
“I know. The charm.” I thought of Celia in the airplane over Casablanca and the girls at the castle. “They seem to have a way to keep us from using magic on them even without the charm too.”
“That is most distressing,” Naoko said. She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes. “Your sister seemed to know them. She would not fight them. She offered to surrender herself if they would let me go.”
“Goddamnit, Alexis,” I muttered and then apologized to Naoko. “She knew they were after her?”
“Yes. Your sister is a very wise woman, wiser than we give her credit for.”
“I know.” I had to wipe a tear from my eyes. “They took her?”
“Yes. Most of them after that, but a few stayed behind. They beat me until I passed out. Their plan was to burn me alive inside my house.” She smiled faintly at me. “They would have succeeded if you had not arrived to save me, though I did not deserve it.”
“Don’t talk like that, Naoko. You’ve saved my life plenty of times. Let’s call it even.”
“You are very kind. Your heart has always been pure.”
“I’m an old softie,” I said, thinking of what Celia had said in the plane. “It’s not Alexis they want. It’s Ethan.”
“The young man next to me?”
“Yes. They figured if they couldn’t kill me and take him, they’d blackmail me into giving him to them.”
“What is it they want with a mortal?”
Awakening (Birth of Magic #1) Page 17