by Paula Lester
“No need to stand,” he said as he reached her. “This will take just a sec.” He removed a long, slim piece of wood from his inside jacket pocket.
Cascade stared at it. “Is that a real wand?” It was the first thing that seemed to fit with all the talk about witches.
He smiled and whispered, “Yes, I’m a little old school, though this one has some perks.” To Cascade, it appeared to be a solid piece of wood bigger than a small stick. But as she watched, Dustin peeled away one side and unfurled the wand.
Dustin leaned over to show Cascade what he held. It looked like a weathered, leather, hard-cover book. Except, in the well-worn center was the darkened indentation of a hand. Cas counted six fingers.
She looked the question up at him.
“This is a TOC—a table of contents. All members of a magical family share similar markers, sort of like DNA. This will take a sample of yours and determine any matches. And, uh, the extra finger slot, ignore that. It used to be very common once upon a time, but we mostly don’t like to talk about it now.” Dustin winked, and laugh lines appeared around both brown eyes. “Pop your hand right here, love. This won’t hurt a bit.”
His voice was firm yet reassuring. Cas wanted to trust him. But it wasn’t as if she had much of a choice. She put her hand on the impression. And...
...nothing. Nothing happened. No sharp needle prick. No beep. No magical voice. Nothing.
“There!” Lavania shouted. “I told you all. An aberrant!”
Dustin flapped the TOC like it was fan. “Hold on. She gets cranky in the morning. One more time, if you please.”
Since it didn’t hurt the first time, Cas felt more confident about touching the TOC again.
Once more, nothing happened at first. The edges of the TOC shivered as if waking up. Cascade felt her face was a bit too close to the thing. She pushed back in her chair.
Dustin, however, seemed nonplussed. “There we go, old girl.”
The TOC’s edges flapped against Dustin’s hand. It rose until it hovered a foot above his palm.
Cas stared, open-mouthed. “What is it going to do?”
“Direct me to the right book, of course.”
The TOC’s edges moved faster and faster until Cas couldn’t make them out anymore. It flew over her head and toward one of the walls. But it was not graceful. The TOC’s flight was haphazard and lopsided—it dipped and bobbed. To Cas, it looked a lot like a drunk hummingbird.
As if to prove her point, the TOC smacked into a wall, bounced off, and plopped to the floor. It curled back up with a wet-sounding rattle.
Lavania tsked. “That was pathetic. Rejuvenate the animation spell on that immediately, Dustin.”
“Yes, Archsiren,” Dustin answered as he retrieved the wand and tucked it away in his jacket. He reached toward the empty wall. He pulled a giant book out of nothingness. A shelf popped out of the blank wall in front of Dustin, and he set the book on it. He pulled out a pair of glasses from an inside jacket pocket and placed them on the end of his nose before opening the large tome.
“Cas,” Shiloh said, “where is the river stone now?”
She forced herself to look away from Dustin. “It was gone when I woke up this morning. It must be in my house somewhere.”
Cas didn’t know exactly what being hexed entailed, but she didn’t like it nor the way the court seemed nervous about it. Despite that, maybe now that she’d provided this piece of the puzzle, they could figure out what was going on and fix it. She just wanted to go home and get back to normal.
“Her lineage comes through her mother,” Dustin announced. He’d been rifling through the book and now pointed at a line of tiny print mid-way down the page. “She died when Ms. Lorne was about five, but she was a witch.”
Cas blurted out, “What?”
Feeling astonished, she moved toward Dustin, intending to look at the book, but Lavania’s sharp voice stopped Cas as effectively as a leash. “Sit down, Ms. Lorne.”
Cas didn’t have the energy to resist. Her mother, a witch? How could that be? She found herself doing as the Archsiren bid. Did her mother keep this secret from her or had she died before being able to tell her? Dustin shot Cas a small smile. Her eyes were filling with tears, so she couldn’t see his face well, but she appreciated the sentiment.
“What was the mother’s name?” Lavania’s voice sounded strained, as if she fought to stay in control.
Dustin adjusted his reading glasses. “Let’s see. It was Oceane. Oceane Lovebrooke. Cascade’s birth father is noted as human.”
Lavania paled. She remained very still for some time and then asked, “Is it true? You’re Oceane’s child?”
Cas gave a small nod. “Yes. She was my mother.”
“Hoorah, she’s a born witch.” Shiloh clapped her hands. “How delightful.”
“Yes, delightful,” Lavania mocked her fellow siren. She breathed out. “That doesn’t change the matter at hand. She’s a danger to herself and others. We have a responsibility to protect the community.” Lavania tapped a long fingernail on the arm of her high-backed wooden chair, her eyes slightly unfocused and fixed on a spot on the wall over Cas’ head. “What should we do with you now?”
“We should kill her,” Albert croaked, and Cas jumped in her chair. The sound of fireworks erupted, echoing off the walls in the room and causing everyone to put their hands over their ears.
When the sound stopped, Albert said, “See? She’s dangerous. Now that we’ve heard the woman out, killing her is the only thing to do.”
“I don’t think we need to kill her,” Stu said. “We can banish her to Sitegard with the other magical criminals.”
Cas’ eyes widened at the thought of being taken somewhere remote and left to fend for herself. That wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t know how, but she’d fight them, magical witches or not.
She was about to stand up and flee when Dustin spoke calmly. “May I offer a suggestion? Humbly, of course, as I am certainly not a siren.” He removed his glasses and waited for Lavania to nod her consent to continue before he went on. “We could take her to a relative of hers for safe-keeping. A witch who could keep her contained, perhaps teach some basic skills. Just until you can figure out what’s happened and what needs to be done next. She has a half-sister named Tallulah North. She’s a witch. Maybe Ms. Lorne could be taken to her. She lives right here in Crystal Springs.”
Shiloh shot a hand up into the air. “I second that emotion!”
The shocks kept coming, giving Cascade no time to recover before another one hit. They knew about Tallulah? She hadn’t heard from her half-sister in at least thirty-five years. How could these people possibly know about her?
“It’s motion, Shiloh. How many times do I have to explain that to you?” Lavania’s face hardened as she reached a decision. “Yes. We’ll send her to the half-sister, Dustin. Send a peacekeeper squad to Ms. Lorne’s house to find this so-called river stone. Though I warn you, Ms. Lorne, if you prove to be lying, the punishment will be swift and severe.”
A buzz sounded in the room, and Lavania snapped at the air, “What is it, Waverly?”
The blue-haired receptionist’s voice came into the room as though through a speaker but without any static or distance to it. “Dzovag Livings is here. He’s getting impatient in the waiting room. He says his appointment was thirty minutes ago, and he’s beginning to feel slighted by the Council, which isn’t treating his request with the proper gravity.” Waverly sounded like she was reciting this information. Her tone held its usual flat boredom.
Lavania sighed. “Yes, yes. We’ll get to Mr. Livings shortly.” The buzz sounded again, and Cas guessed that meant the speaker had been turned off.
Lavania turned to the others. “Well, we can’t keep Mr. Livings waiting, can we? I suppose he isn’t rich enough yet; he needs approval for his latest scheme so he can overcharge more humans and witches alike.” Lavania stood up. “I need a cup of javabrew before I can deal with him though. Dustin, I
leave Ms. Lorne with you. See to it that she makes it to Ms. North’s house this morning. If she harms anyone, I’ll have your head.”
Cas turned toward Dustin, who walked her way with a smile and an outstretched hand. As she thought about seeing her horrible, long-avoided half-sister, she had the fleeting thought that Dustin looked like the sweet lamb who would lead her to the wolves.
Chapter 5
“She isn’t answering her phone or the magical summons I sent.” Dustin’s lips pursed, and he tapped a pen on his leg.
“I haven’t seen Tallulah in a good long while, but she was not a person inclined to bending to someone else’s schedule when we were kids,” Cas offered.
“A little selfish, eh?” The clerk grinned at her. He was handsome, but Cas could see he was probably older than she’d thought at first. He had a spray of fine wrinkles, and black hair with a heavy sprinkling of ivory.
“Well, I don’t like labeling people, but that’s how I remember her, yes. I haven’t seen her since I was about thirteen years old or so. Our mom passed away when I was five and she was three, and my step-father, Tallulah’s dad, didn’t know what to do with us once we got to be teenagers, I guess. Next thing I knew, she was going to live with our aunt and I was in boarding school.”
Cas paused. She hadn’t thought about that time in a while, but now the confusion and hurt she’d felt returned. She continued in a softer voice. “I never understood why she got to stay with family and I was sent away. I felt like Cinderella, not being treated fairly by my step-father. Tallulah and I didn’t keep in touch after that, really.”
Cas’ foot bounced as she sat on the edge of the chair. She and Dustin had moved from the council chambers to a small suite down the hall. She’d gone to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, and now she tried to keep her nervous energy from popping out in some goofy magical way.
“Hmm. Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do other than have you escorted to your sister‘s house.” Dustin smacked his hand down on the desk as if declaring the matter closed.
“Half-sister,” Cas corrected. “Taken by whom?” She half hoped he would say Juniper. Even though the Blossom-greeter had really thrown Cas into a big mess and been annoying—at least Juniper was familiar in a sea of unknown.
“I’m not sure. I can’t do it. I have to be available for the council all day. They often need something from me during their hearings and meetings.” Dustin’s lips pursed again. Cas was starting to recognize this as a sign of the clerk trying to solve a problem.
“I’ll take her.”
Cas jumped at the sound of the deep voice, which seemed to come from nowhere. She didn’t see another person in the room and hadn’t expected it. Was it coming through a magical speaker like Waverly’s voice had back in the council chambers? Was someone watching them?
Cas looked around the room wildly, peering up at the ceiling. Dustin rolled back from the desk and peeked underneath. “Echo. How charitable of you. I’m surprised you would volunteer to go into one of Crystal Springs’ wealthier neighborhoods. I didn’t think you liked those sorts of people.”
Cas leaned forward in her chair, trying to see who could fit under Dustin’s desk, but the shadows were too deep.
“I don’t, but I’m getting bored hanging out around here. Besides the occasional mouse to chase, there’s little to occupy my mind.”
A small black paw emerged from under the desk, stretching as far as it could before stepping onto the carpet. A second paw and foreleg emerged, followed by a cat’s head and body. The back legs came out last, stretching out behind the small black cat as he yawned. He took several steps out from under the desk toward Cas before sitting down and cocking his head at her. His whiskers twitched a little. “Yes, I’ll take her. Maybe her sister has a nice girl cat I can chat with for a while.”
“Half-sister,” Cas said automatically, and then she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but is that cat speaking?” She addressed the question to Dustin, who settled back into his chair and crossed an ankle up over his opposite knee.
“It’s kind of rude to talk about someone as if they aren’t there,” Echo said. His voice was much deeper than she’d expect from such a tiny cat, and his mouth actually moved when he spoke. What was she thinking? She would never expect a cat to talk or have any preconceived notion of how deep of a voice one should have. Cas felt a wave of dizziness come over her again. It seemed like that was one of her body’s responses to being overwhelmed with absurdity.
But it wouldn’t do for anyone, even a cat, to think she was rude. “I’m sorry,” she said her breath hitching. “I’ve never heard a cat talk before. I’m Cascade Lorne.” She left her chair, crouched down in front of the cat, and held her hand out to him.
His eyelids narrowed to slits and he yawned again, but he made no move to give her his paw. After a few awkward seconds, she retracted her hand and stood up.
“This is Echo. He does errands for us sometimes. Well, when he feels like it, mainly.” Dustin sounded cheerful now that his problem was solved. “Tallulah North lives at 1475 South Coast Road over in the Highlands subdivision. Echo will accompany you there. If you try to go anywhere else, we’ll send a peacekeeper squad to nab you before you can move twenty steps.
Though his words were ominous, he said them in a friendly, matter-of-fact way. "We’ll contact you once the council has figured out exactly what to do with you. In the meantime, I recommend you learn everything possible from your sister about controlling your magic.”
Dustin jumped up from his chair with the ease of a man half his age, and Cas thought it was impressive for a man who must be at least sixty. He crossed to her, and she did her best to look him in the eye.
“Listen, you’ve been pretty nice to me, and I appreciate that. But I just have to say a couple of things. First, Tallulah is my half-sister,” she emphasized the proper relationship with her tone. “Like I said, we aren’t close, and I don’t think she’ll really welcome me with open arms. Second, I’m new to all of this, and I don’t want to make a faux pas, but am I really expected to consider this cat my guardian? And, as far as that goes, is he my guardian or my prison guard?”
Dustin smiled and patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ms. Lorne. I can only imagine how tough this day has been for you. Many humans would have passed out from the stress.”
“Well, I did. Sort of,” Cas mumbled. “But that’s not going to happen again.”
“Of course it isn’t. You seem like a fine, strong person to me, and I think you’ll get through this. But for right now, I would advise you to just keep your head down, do what the council says, and work on getting your power under control as quickly as possible. Those are the things that will keep you alive and un-banished for the next few days.”
A buzz sounded in the room. “Yes?” Dustin said to the air.
Lavania’s voice echoed into the room. “Please come to the council chambers. We need you to look up some precedents for us. Mr. Livings believes he should be able to put his luxury hotel right on the banks of the hot springs.”
In the background, Cas could hear an angry voice. “I should be able to put my hotel up wherever I want to, right away! I make money for this town and for this council, and I can’t believe how I’m being treated. I demand to be given my approval right now, so I can get started on this before my investors all get spooked.”
“I’ll be right there, Archsiren,” Dustin said. The speaker buzzed off, drowning out the angry man in mid-sentence. “I have to go. Good luck, Ms. Lorne. And Echo,” Dustin looked down at the cat and pointed an index finger at him. “You behave yourself or the council won’t look kindly on it. Don’t forget, we’re keeping a close eye on you.” With that, the clerk spun on his heel and left the room.
“Well, we’d better get going then. We can take a courser to within a block of South Coast Road—I think there’s a stop in the bank over there. I’d better just use the little kitty’s room before we go.” Echo trotted over to a litter
box with a hood, hopped in, and hunkered down. He looked over his shoulder and said, “Do you mind?”
“Oh, of course. Sorry.” Cas felt awkward and turned away, busying herself looking at nature photographs on the wall. After a moment, she felt something brush against her leg.
Echo sauntered past. “I’m ready,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Cas followed the cat out the door. She had mixed feelings as she stepped into the hallway. She was glad to be putting some distance between herself and the council, but she was nervous about going into public because of the unpredictable things that had been happening. And she was really not looking forward to seeing Tallulah.
Echo led her back out to the reception area where Waverly sat up on her high stool flipping through a magazine. She didn’t look up at them when she spoke. “Stay in line, Echo.”
“Stay awake, Waverly,” Echo shot back, sarcasm dripping from his deep voice. “I know you’re perpetually bored, but the council won’t appreciate you falling asleep on the job.”
The secretary rolled her eyes and flipped a magazine page.
Echo and Cas stepped out onto the round marble platform and rode it down to the building’s lobby. It was busier than it had been when she and Juniper arrived. There were a lot of people in the lobby. Some of them stood in small groups chatting, others sat on benches that came out of the walls, reading papers and looking at phones, and some walked across the marble floor and stood on hover platforms that took them up to various levels of the Courthouse.
Cas followed Echo toward the front of the lobby, where a set of large glass doors framed the entrance. Sunlight poured in, highlighting twirling dust motes. Without warning, Cas sneezed.
Four small mice appeared in midair, confused looks on their tiny whiskered faces. They dropped to the ground and scattered. Echo bounded after the plumpest of the group. The mouse careened toward a crack in the foundation, wriggled into it, and was out of sight.
Echo sat down next to the hole and lifted his paw up to give it a few licks. Cas went over to him, and he bowed his head a little. “My apologies for that undignified behavior,” he said, and his voice sounded remorseful. “Sometimes I can’t control my urges.”