“Blessed be.” said the humans and Fae in the circle.
We then heard Eloise and Herne say “Blessed be.” Then, to nobody’s great surprise, a new woman’s voice added her own “Blessed be.”
I looked, and between myself and Jack stood another familiar, to me anyway, face.
“Hello Arianrhod.”
She looked like she did the first time I had seen her… tall, fair-haired, in a gown spun from pure moon and star-light.
“Hello, Annabelle.”
“Uh,” Jack said, leaning in close to me, “That’s the Welsh Goddess Arianrhod?”
“Yep.” I replied.
“And he’s an actual Horned God?”
“Looks that way.”
“OK, just checking.”
“The circle is perfect.” Raina said with a smile.
We did no magick that night. It was a celebration of the turning of the year, so we sang songs, danced, and generally had a wonderful time. Herne made drums echo through the woods when we wanted to dance, and Jack cracked a wide grin when Arianrhod danced with him. Eloise danced with Herne, and I made a note to ask her sometime about her past with him… they seemed very familiar.
When all was said and done, we blessed cakes and mead… along with a few joints… and sat together in the glow of the fire.
“This is fine mead!" Herne said, draining the cup when it came to him. "Here, allow me to contribute." He waved his hand over the ritual cup and it refilled with an amber-colored liquid. He passed it to Gaia, and she took a sip.
“Oh my, that’s divine!” she purred.
“And then some!” Herne replied with a smile. “It’s from honey raised by Pan himself. A wonderful vintage.”
“Wait,” Raina said, taking the cup from Gaia, “Pan? As in the Greek God?”
“That’s how most of you know him.” Herne said. “Lovely fellow, great in bed!”
“You can say that again!” Arianrhod and Eloise said in unison. Eloise blushed, but Arianrhod just grinned.
“So, how am I doing?” I asked Arianrhod. I looked at Eloise as well.
“Your powers are progressing nicely.” Arianrhod said.
“And you’re still on this side of the veil,” Eloise added, “so you’re all good there.”
“The Sorceress’ journey is an individual one.” Herne said. “There’s really no yard-marks that are generally accepted. You’re doing just fine, for you, and you’ll continue to do fine… until something bad happens.”
“Which may never happen.” Eloise added.
“So really, don’t sweat doing ‘fine’, just do you.” Arianrhod concluded.
It was time to taste Pan's mead. I took a sip and felt what could only be called sheer pleasure spreading down my body.
“Damn!” I said, grinning. “I wish this Pan guy grew weed!”
Herne reached behind him and pulled out a bundle wrapped in broad, flat green leaves. He handed it to Jack and motioned for him to open it.
Jack did, and a pile of the sweetest smelling, multicolored buds were inside.
“I love you." he said to Herne, slack-jawed.
Even the Deities had to laugh at that one!
* * *
I hit the trails in the forest around the compound early the next day. Dawn had just broken, and the woods around me were waking up.
I would have to be dressed WAY warmer if I was at home! I thought. However, November first in Hawaii was far fairer than in Ohio. I love the autumn time, don't get me wrong, but sometimes a vacation someplace nice just recharged the old batteries.
I walked along the path sure-footed and unencumbered. I had skipped my usual long dress that morning for stretch pants and another one of Raina’s hoodies… this one a dark green with ‘Kiss the Witch’ screen printed on the front. Even my shoes… a pair of sturdy boots from Evelyn’s collection… were practical.
I’m ready for anything! I thought. But nothing’s probably going to happen. I knew that, unlike the mansion back home, this property was walled on three sides, with the ocean making the fourth. Nobody was likely to cross my path, which made this more of a nature walk for me.
Doing magick on the wilting and dying plants had become so easy I hardly had to slow down anymore. Just a wave of my hand and whoosh… the plant was whole and green again. Even though it was easy, it was still enjoyable.
All of this talk about malicious forces and powerful enemies, it’s nice to be able to help life thrive!
Of course, I knew that the walls around the compound weren’t enchanted or anything… they were just walls. Walls could be climbed over. It would require an extraordinarily stupid person to breach these walls… there were a lot of wealthy people with homes in the area, and most of them had armed security.
We've got a hyper-dedicated Fae ready to take out anyone who threatened me.
Gaia had refused a room in the house, preferring to camp out in the tropical forest. I had no idea where her camp was, and I didn’t see her for the bulk of the days.
Yep, it would take a real idiot…
My thought was cut off by a gunshot. I dropped to the ground out of a combination of instinct and training and scanned around me.
It hadn't hit anywhere near me, so I doubted that I was the target. But why else would someone bring a gun in…
Another shot broke me out of my thoughts again, and I saw a rustling in the underbrush farther ahead of me. Another rustle, and then a medium-sized dark shape darted across the path.
OK, so is the wild boar running from the…
A larger shape charged across the path. It was a man. He raised his gun again and tried to find the boar in the thicket.
Poachers I thought, shaking my head. They really ARE that stupid!
I had to stop them. They were shooting blind into the vegetation, not caring what they hit.
That pissed me off.
I thought about sending bees after him, but decided that was too slow. Instead, I pulled out my other favorite trick.
I reached out my hand and reached out with my mind. Gimme that! I thought, and suddenly his rifle was torn from his hands and sailed across the space between us, coming to rest gently in my hand.
The man looked at his empty hands with shock for a moment, then turned and looked at me.
I stood up. Holding the gun in what I hoped to be an easy and confident manner… I had never liked guns, and tried to avoid them when I could… I looked at him and said “Didn’t your mama ever teach you about not trespassing on someone else’s land?”
He looked totally lost for a minute, but finally found his voice. “I don’t know how you did that,” he began, “but you’d better just put that gun down on the ground and raise your hands.”
“And why would I want to do that?” I asked defiantly.
“Because my buddy’s in the woods behind me and he has you in his sights.” he replied, a grin slowly growing on his face.
I heard the audible click of a rifle being cocked not five feet away from me, and I quickly found his friend, their gun indeed pointed at me.
I was lost for a moment, but then heard the sound of the wind whistling by an object running very, very fast.
I turned back to the guy farther away from me, my own grin growing. “Too late.”
The guy with the gun by me grunted and was quickly yanked up into the tree canopy above. Various sounds of rustling, violence, and pain echoed through the woods, until the second poacher, gun wrapped around his ankles like ribbon, hit the path ahead of me with a thud! The shape didn’t move, but it breathed… he was out cold.
I locked eyes with the unarmed man and grinned again. “Run.” I said.
He did, but he didn't get far. He was soon yanked up into the trees and joined his friend unconscious on the ground.
Gaia walked out of the forest, smiling. “That was easy.” she said.
“Thanks for not killing them.” I said. “It makes it easier to turn them over to the local authorities if they’re in one piec
e.”
“I read the guy who had a bead on you,” she said, “and he was never going to pull that trigger against another human. Pigs? Yes. Humans? No way. So I let him live.”
“Nice!”
Just then, Raina came barreling out of the woods. She ran up, breathing heavily.
“I heard gunshots...” she started to say, but then saw our poacher guests out cold on the forest floor. “These two?” she asked us.
“Yep, poachers.” I replied.
“Seriously?" she said, shaking her head. "Fifteen-foot walls not enough to tell these guys 'stay the fuck out'?"
“There’s a space where the wall meets the shore where it’s easy to go around it.” Gaia said with a jerk of her head towards the beach. “I’ll call Vincent and have a crew out here to shore that up asap.”
“You know,” I said, stress showing in my voice, “I really need to learn some more magick. People tell me that I’m supposed to be some bad-ass magickal chick, but all I can do right now is act as celestial miracle grow or do lame Jedi levitation tricks!”
“Don’t let Jack hear you diss the Jedi.” Raina said quietly, eyebrows raised.
“I’m just saying that I should have been able to do more.” I continued. “I mean, why couldn’t I make his gun disintegrate in his hands? Or turn his buddy’s gun into peanut butter?”
“Or blast their guns and leave them with some nice hand burns to teach them a lesson?” Raina added.
“Right, that!” I replied.
“Well, I’ve been wanting to work on my magick too.” Raina said. “I don’t really want to go back to Ohio to do it… Jack’s looking forward to heading back to spend time with Katsu, and I don’t want exploding walls in the room next door to spoil the mood, you know?”
“This place is too well known.” I said. “Vincent and Angelique the some truly legendary parties here a few years ago, and the staff tells me that people have been stopping my all week.”
“We can go back to the Twilight Fae realm.” Gaia said helpfully.
“Thank you, but no.” I replied. “I need to feel how magick works in this world, not Fae.”
“Call your boyfriend.” Raina said, turning to me. “They own a bazillion properties around the world. Tell them that we need one that hasn’t been used for a long, long time.”
I had no doubts that he’d have one.
* * *
Nocturne Plantation was reputed by the locals as being haunted. Very few doubted this, even confirmed skeptics. It was reportedly purchased by a 'wealthy heiress' just before the revolutionary war, only she and her companion had disappeared not long before the fighting started. The slaves disappeared in the waning days of the 1700s, and it had been deserted ever since.
What made the local mystery even deeper is how good the place had been reportedly kept up. Vincent had, of course, arranged to keep the property structurally sound and in good repair over the centuries.
Gaia had gone on ahead with a couple of other Fae to finish getting things ready. With a glamour in place to disguise their true nature, they would look as human as anyone. They would also keep the place running during our visit. Vincent had, however, also arranged for an “old friend” to stay with us to help with things, and I was looking forward to meeting another one of Vincent and Angelique’s allies.
Raina drove while I looked out of the window, searching for the gate to the property. I knew that we were close.
“How long?” I asked, leaning towards the windshield.
“Five minutes closer than the last time you asked.” she replied, feigning annoyance.
“I know, I’m just excited.” I plopped back into my seat.
“Enjoy the ride.” Raina replied. “I have never driven a ride this sweet, and I know that you’ve never ridden in a BMW before.”
It was a nice car. I had originally planned on a rental, but Vincent insisted on breaking out one of his numerous vehicles. “Less chance of being traced that way.” he had said.
I wriggled down in my seat, enjoying the feeling that it was molded just for my body. I rolled the windows down, and let the mid-sixties air hit my face.
“It’s a good twenty degrees warmer here than in Ohio.” I said.
“It’ll get chilly in December, though.” she replied. “Good thing that this place has a ballroom to practice in.”
“Vincent and Angelique haven’t been back to this place in over two hundred years.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing… they just haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Must be nice...”
Soon the woods dropped away from the edge of the road, and a large stone gate set in a row of iron fence soon appeared ahead of us.
“Lucy, we’re home!” I joked, and Raina joined in on the laugh.
The setting sun cast long shadows as we turned into the drive. Raina hit a button on a remote, and the gate started to swing inwards.
“Nice to see some modern updates to the old torture palace.” Raina observed as she drove through the gates, which started to close as soon as we were inside.
The path was long and winding, but eventually we could see the main house in the distance. It was just as impressive as I had been led to believe.
“I know.” I sighed. “It’s too bad that such splendor and beauty was built on the backs of slaves, in misery. Kind of casts a pall over everything.”
“Yeah, but this place is special.” she said. “Vincent told me that they psychically dominated the white staff and overseers, leaving the black inhabitants to self-govern. The overseers put on a good show for visitors, but left them alone most of the rest of the time.”
“Yeah.” I said. “I was reading about how harsh they were to slave hunters who trespassed. It was the best place for their slaves during an impossibly cruel era.”
We pulled up in front just as the sun sank beneath the horizon. Raina and I got out of the car and walked to the front door.
“Why do I feel like I should knock?” Raina asked me.
“I know what you’re saying.” I don’t know if it was the creeping shadows or the history of the place, but it was a little spooky.
As if on cue, the front door swung open to reveal a stunning woman dressed in a red dress with a plunging neckline. Her hair hung in long, relaxed spirals that flowed over her shoulders and back. Her skin was almost completely black, and it contrasted with the dress deliciously.
Deliciously, Annabelle? I asked myself. Since when are women ‘delicious’ to you?
“Greetings.” she said, smiling. Her voice sounded like it resonated in my very soul. “Welcome to Nocturne Plantation. My name is Ashara, and Vincent has asked that I make you feel at home while you’re here.”
“That’s good.” Raina said, dazed. “I mean,” she recovered, shaking her head, “it’s… nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” I added.
“Please,” Ashara said, still smiling, “come in. I will give you the grand tour.”
We walked behind her into the house and through the foyer. “How long have you known Vincent and Angelique?” I asked.
“About two hundred and fifty years.” she replied.
“Oh!” I said, surprised. “Are you a...”
“Vampire? Yes, for the last two hundred and thirty or so years.” she said, still walking. “Vincent and Angelique saved me from some evil men when they lived here, and turned me when I begged enough after I had grown. Don’t worry,” she said, looking back, “I was inspired by their example and only hunt the evil. You are quite safe here.”
“I hadn’t thought otherwise.” I replied.
* * *
The lengthy house tour done, Raina and I sat on a back patio and looked over the rolling fields in the moonlight. I sipped some most excellent coffee, and Raina did the same.
“This coffee is incredible.” she said, amazed.
“Vincent sent me a text.” I replied, “It seems that Ashara was an early investor in Tim Horton
’s up in Canada.”
“Nice.”
The forest had done much to reclaim the unused fields, and its edge was closer than it was originally. I found myself wondering if all of the Fae that Gaia had brought were living in the woods as she had in Hawaii, or if they used any of the voluminous unused rooms in the main house.
“Can you believe how big this place is?” I asked, still slightly awed.
“I counted fourteen bedrooms.” Raina replied.
“And two kitchens.”
“And a drawing-room, a parlor, and a library...”
“To say nothing of the barn, the old slave quarters, and everything else we’ll explore tomorrow.”
“And then we get to work.”
Raina was excited to start working on our magick, and I was pretty stoked as well. We could blow shit up out here and nobody would know. I mused.
Just then I noticed a shape halfway between the house and the woods, one that hadn't been there just a moment before. It was human-shaped, but couldn't distinguish anything else.
“Raina...” I said in warning.
She had seen it too, however. Leaping up from her seat, she pointed at it with glowing hands.
“Identify yourself!” she demanded.
“Hey Raina, chill out… it’s just me.” the shape said.
That voice… it’s familiar! I thought. “Gaia?” I asked.
“Bingo!” she answered. “I just wanted to try out my human disguise for you.”
She stepped closer, and my jaw dropped. She looked entirely human, with dark shin and…
“Gaia, your hair’s green.” I said.
“I know.” she said, stepping into the light created by Raina’s hands. “Green hair is kind of in right now, so I switched my hair and skin colors. Like it?”
I had to admit, she looked like an African American emo girl, and the look was not unattractive.
The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Page 18