by JB Caine
He was maybe five feet from me when I heard another car pull into the driveway. He heard it, too, and it seemed to cause him alarm. “This isn’t finished, my girl. I know you’re here somewhere. If you could have left, you would have.” He headed back through the open garage door, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Someone got out of the car and walked to the front door. I could hear the newcomer knocking forcefully. I heard the door open, and Quinn’s voice saying something like, “Can I help you?”
Then I heard the most beautiful sound I had ever heard in my life. “Yeah, hi. I’m going to need to talk to Debbie, please.” That voice. That gloriously sassy voice. Treigh’s voice. Tears started running down my cheeks, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Quinn was clearly protesting that there was no one named Debbie here, but Treigh wasn’t having it. “Look, she gave me this address, and she owes me $50. I’m going to need my money back, and I’m not waiting anymore.” The argument raged on, and Treigh was clearly buying time. I didn’t know what the plan was; I only knew that I couldn’t help much.
A familiar tingle passed across my now-freezing skin. Well done, Lia. All will be well now. Help is coming. I went from weeping to sobbing. I was going to be alright! Show them where you are, my dear. I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but the image of a searchlight popped into my head.
I looked up at the waning moon and imagined a beam of moonlight focused directly on me, revealing my location.
I heard more car doors open. One set of footsteps moved toward the yard gate, and the other moved toward Treigh. The front door slammed. A hand reached over the gate and felt the latch and the padlock. I heard a quiet expletive and recognized Aunt Kitty’s voice. “Lia, I know you can hear me. I see your signal, but you have to stop before he sees it, too. We’re coming for...”
I heard feet running toward her, and then my mother’s voice. “Is she here? He slammed the door as soon as I got out of the car.”
“She’s here, but the gate is locked.”
“The hell it is,” Treigh snorted. “Stand back.” A moment later, the wooden gate splintered inward. Again. Again, until there was a crack across the entire width of the gate. I could hear the three of them huffing and puffing as they worked at the boards, yanking them off of the crossbeams and creating a hole where the bottom of the gate had been. Treigh and my mother crawled through.
“Lia!” Mom called. “Lia, where are you? Kitty, I don’t see her!”
I had forgotten about my glamour. I dropped the weedy illusion and revealed my hiding place behind the air conditioner.
“Oh, God!” Mom exclaimed and leapt to my side. She wrapped her arms around me and I sunk into her warmth. Treigh crouched down and pulled the wadded-up washcloth out of my mouth.
“Lia…” He looked over my pathetic condition, bound hand and foot, and his eyes filled up with tears. “Oh, darling…”
That was the last straw. Whatever piece of my nerves had been intact became thoroughly unraveled, and I began bawling.
We heard the front door slam and the barking of dogs. “Darcy, Tess! Here!” A car door opened and the dogs stopped barking. “We WILL meet again, my girl!” Quinn called, and then the car engine roared to life and peeled out, leaving the squeal of tires as his final word.
Treigh lifted me up and my mother opened the door to the garage. We passed back through the hallway I had seen before, and Treigh set me down gently on the couch. I had managed to get myself under control as we passed through the house. He went into the kitchen to try and find something to cut the zip ties. My mother went to let Kitty in through the front door, and then came and sat beside me, rubbing my arms to warm me up and trying to appear reassuring through her own tears. Aunt Kitty remained on the front step.
“Kitty, why don’t you come in?” Mom asked.
“The house is strangely warded. It has enchantments all around it, especially on the doors and windows. I’m guessing Lia’s powers don’t work very well in there.”
“You’re right,” I croaked. Between the gag and the crying, I was seriously dehydrated. “How did you know?” Treigh returned from the kitchen with a knife and a bottle of water.
“Turn around,” he instructed, “and hold still.”
“My hero.” And then I stopped speaking because I was about to become hysterical again. My hands popped free, and I immediately brought them around and started rubbing my raw and sore wrists. He went to work on the tie around my ankles and soon it popped off as well.
“Who did this to you?” my mother asked.
“I don’t know his real name. He called himself Dominic Quinn, but said that was an alias. He’s the Magician that Grandma warned me about.” I grabbed the bottle of water and chugged it down. Ah, sweet relief. “Can we talk more about this at home? I don’t want to be here anymore.”
“Of course, honey, of course.” My mother and Treigh helped me stand, and we all walked out to the car. Aunt Kitty was still examining something in front of the house. “Kitty, let’s go.”
“One second,” she called back. She pulled out her phone and took pictures of the window sill and something underneath the doormat. Then she joined us at the car and slid into the driver’s seat. “Sigils,” she said, as if that explained everything.
The truth is, I didn’t even care. I was tucked between Mom and Treigh in the back seat. I was safe. Now all I wanted was to let hot water wash this whole experience off of me, and then to be wrapped in the softest jammies and fluffiest blankets we owned, snuggled and surrounded by the people I loved most.
Once that had been managed, I was sitting on my own couch with a cup of chamomile tea in one hand, and my mom holding the other. I told them the whole story, from chasing the dog to everything Quinn had said to me while I was tied up. My aunt listened, quietly taking notes so she could tell the Empress what had happened.
Apparently, my mother returned to find me gone without my cell phone, and knew something was wrong. Not only was I missing, but the door was unlocked. Noticing that I had taken out the trash as requested, my mother had rightly surmised that someone had grabbed me after I’d gone outside. She had called Kitty and Treigh, since they were the only two people who might have a full understanding of who might have taken me and why. Like I had originally, they had assumed that the Tower had been responsible for my disappearance.
They had walked the neighborhood but had found no clues. When Kitty arrived, she had tried various location spells, but she had been terribly out of practice, she thought, and her efforts turned up nothing. As soon as I had managed to get myself out of the house and away from the warding spells, the pendulum my aunt had been using to try and locate me started swinging in the general region of Quinn’s house, only about three miles from my own. They had gotten in the car at that point and started patrolling that area, and then the moon had come out. A will o’ the wisp had begun floating in front of the car, and my aunt had recognized immediately that Selene was trying to signal her. They had followed the floating light until it stopped in Quinn’s driveway. The rest I already knew.
By the time we had finished our respective stories, it was nearly ten o’clock, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.
Treigh rose to leave, but said, “Ms. Alvarez, can I talk to Lia alone for a second before I leave? We need to settle a couple of things.”
”Of course, dear,” my mother obliged. “I’m going to run upstairs and get the guest room ready so that Kitty can stay the night.” She patted my leg, and she and my aunt scooted up the stairs. Treigh turned to face me.
“Look, I don’t want you to say anything until I’m done, okay?” I nodded, and he continued. “I’m still not okay with what you did, and I might have some trust issues for awhile, but when your mom called me and told me that you had maybe been kidnapped...or worse…” His voice trailed off for a minute, but then he gathered himself. “When I thought that I might never see you again, that you might...die
...with us being like we were, well, I have never felt that bad in my life. I can’t go on without my queen by my side.” My eyes filled with tears. “But I also have to have you promise that you will NEVER use any kind of magic on me without my permission.”
“I promise,” I said, my voice quivering with emotion. “Treigh, I’m so sorry.” I stood up and threw my arms around him, shaking with the few tears I had left. After a minute, he sniffled and broke the hug, but he was smiling.
“I want to make something very clear here. We are off this week for Thanksgiving, and I’ll be damned if some tragedy is going to ruin the best food holiday on the calendar. You are to go NOWHERE alone this week. If your mom can’t take you, you call me. If I’m not available, you wait. Do you understand me?”
I nodded. “Now you have to go to Gemma’s Friendsgiving.”
“Fine. Two days of food is an acceptable situation.”
“You can bring Michael if you want…” I tiptoed around the subject.
“He’s in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. I’ll have to settle for you.” He winked, and I felt better than I had in over a week, even given what I’d been through that day. “Alright, go to bed, and I’ll call you tomorrow and check in.”
“Okay.” I hugged him one more time, locked the door behind him, and then dragged my tired bones up the stairs to my bedroom.
I am lying in a canoe on the ocean, staring up at the moon. The water rocks me gently, and I am soothed by the sound of the waves lapping against the side of the boat.
The goddess appears in a beam of moonlight, floating above me.
Thank you, Selene, I say to her. Thank you for helping them find me.
You’re welcome, child. You did well. Your mind and instincts are strong.
I’ve never been so afraid.
You had good reason to be, child. The Magician is powerful. Usually he is wise and just, and has the power to manifest success by sheer will. But this Magician is reversed, deceitful and greedy. He is a dangerous man.
He said it wasn’t over. That he’d see me again.
I suspect he will. He is not used to failing, and he does not take it lightly. You will need to grow stronger and make allies. There are secrets that will not stay hidden for long.
What does that mean? What secrets?
You will know in time, my dear. I am the mistress of hidden things, and these must reveal themselves in their own time.
So I’m still in danger?
Certainly so. Power brings danger, I’m afraid. Your aunt knew this, as did your grandmother. You will have to decide if you will embrace the power and learn to control it, or walk away and leave it for another generation.
I am not going to walk away. I’m scared, but I’m not going to let him win.
I am glad to hear that. The truth is, he will likely come for you whether you reject the power or not.
What? Why?
All things in time, my dear. Rest now.
She floats up and becomes one with the glowing orb in the sky, and I drift into a blissful and dreamless sleep.
Chapter 27
Being back in Treigh’s good graces, I was now actually looking forward to Friendsgiving. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to being around Alex, because AWKWARD, but the rest of it would be okay. Despite being told I didn’t need to bring anything but a vegetable, my good Southern manners required that I bake something sweet to take along, even if it didn’t get eaten right away. So I baked brownies, because you can never go wrong with chocolate.
True to my promise, I waited for Treigh to come get me, and we went to Gemma’s together.
“Girl, you makin’ my whole car smell like chocolate goodness,” he half-complained. “The buffet was set out along the kitchen bar, and looked like a feast fit for royalty. She had opted for chicken, since most of us would be eating turkey the next day, and it was golden brown and speckled with aromatic herbs. There were several side dishes of red, green, orange, and brown, and of course an astonishing array of desserts.
“All this for eight people? You’re going to have leftovers for a week! You really outdid yourself! This is just beautiful!” I raved.
Gemma grinned at the praise. “I just can’t do anything halfway,” she laughed.
We all sat down at the table, and I made a conscious effort to sit a couple of seats away from Alex. A bit of a challenge, really, since there were so few of us, but I managed to put Trina between us, so it was all good. We said a friends-related blessing and then got up to load our plates with goodies.
Conversation focused mainly on school and low-key gossip, and a steady flow of compliments toward Gemma for the incredible meal and the beauty of the table. She was positively alight, and I was happy for her, since she had gone to so much trouble. When all the eating was finally over, I got up to help her clear the table, despite her insistence that it wasn’t necessary (again, Southern manners on both parts). I took on the job of clearing the table while she rinsed off dishes and put them in the dishwasher. As I was going back for another load, she started to hum while she worked, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
My mind flashed back to my captivity, to the moment just before Quinn entered the room for the first time. He had been humming the same tune she was humming as she rinsed. They had both been humming “For Good.”
My brain whirred and I had to put my hand against the door frame for balance. What were the odds? Had to be astronomical, right? And yet…
I looked over my shoulder, and Gemma was humming away, oblivious to my alarm. I darted back toward the dining room to get Treigh and tell him we needed to leave. Stat. In my rush, rounded a corner without looking where I was going and ran directly into Alex’s chest. He grunted with the impact.
“Uh, hey,” he said uncomfortably.
“Hi. Did you have a nice time?” Good gravy. Could I come up with something lamer to say? Not likely. But more importantly, I needed to leave. Now.
“I, uh, yeah, it was good. But listen, I kind of wanted to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”
My eyes widened. Of all the times he could choose… “Yeah, a minute...Treigh and I need to go soon, but I could chat for a sec. What’s up?”
“Look, I...man, this is awkward... I feel like I’ve been a real jerk to you. I mean, one minute, we’re practically a couple, and then we’re hardly talking. I’m sorry about that.”
You could have knocked me over with a feather. HE was apologizing to ME? “Hey, it’s okay. I mean, things change…” What was I supposed to say?
“No, it’s not okay. I don’t know what happened. I guess Halloween night just overloaded me or something. I mean, it was a crazy night, right?”
He had no idea how crazy. “Yeah, crazy. But it’s cool, really. Apology accepted.” How was it possible that here I was, in this rare and special moment, and all I could think about was getting out of here as fast as I could?
“Great. Maybe we could, I don’t know, try going out for coffee or something not crazy?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.” He smiled and then that lock of hair fell in his eyes.
“I’d...I’d like that, yes.”
“Cool. I’m glad I got to talk to you before you left.”
“Me too.” And I swear, I really did mean it, but…
“Oh, look at you two!” Gemma came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. “No wonder you didn’t come back.” She elbowed me and grinned. “Way to go, my girl.”
My skin crawled and goosebumps popped up on my arms. “Hey, Gemma, thanks for everything, but Treigh and I have to go.” He looked up at me with a mouth full of pie and eyes full of questions. “Like now. Really need to go. Sorry to eat and run.” I tried to look calm, cool, and collected, but inside I was screaming.
My girl.
I didn’t know how, but Gemma and the Magician were connected.
In the car, I told Treigh about the humming and the use of the endearment Quinn had used for me. He eyed me skepti
cally.
“Lia, as your friend and the voice of reason, I think your trauma is playing games with your mind. Are you absolutely sure it was the same song? People hum, and if they aren’t good singers, they could make two songs sound alike. You’ve been singing that song non-stop for over a week. So has Gemma.”
“I’m pretty sure, Treigh.”
“But you were drugged when you heard him singing, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying you MIGHT be imagining it. You have to at least consider the possibility. My brain said he had a point, but my gut told me otherwise.
I called my aunt as soon as Treigh dropped me off at home and asked her if I had lost my marbles. She said she wasn’t sure, that it could be my mind playing tricks, or it could be something else.
“There’s one way I know of that we could check,” she said. “We could examine Gemma’s aura. That’s not a 100% accurate way to determine something like this, but it’s probably easier than some other methods which would be pretty hard to disguise.”
“How do we do that?”
“Well, we need someone who can see auras, for one. I never was any good at it, but Mary might know someone. I’ll call her and ask, and I’ll tell you tomorrow what I find out.”
“Okay, that sounds pretty good,” I agreed. I was still freaked out, but at least we had a plan of action. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Aunt Kitty’s Prius pulled into the driveway around 1:00 on Thanksgiving afternoon. She was wielding her usual basket of baked goods and rolling a small suitcase.
“Are you staying over?” Mom asked. “You should have told me! I would’ve washed some fresh towels, and…”