2 Lady Luck Runs Out (7 page)

My heart sank. This wasn't looking good. We all stared at the last woman.

"Oh." She shook her head. "Can't have pets in my condo."

"Okay, I understand. Sorry for your loss, ladies."

I sighed as we watched them walk away. "No luck for Lucky."

"Can we go now?" Mallory stood behind me, looking uncomfortable. I turned to see Zach standing alone, his hands shoved in his pockets, staring back at us.

"Yep," I said, backing away. "Let's go."

CHAPTER TEN

I awoke Monday morning with Lucky sleeping on my head like a Russian hat and a slight nagging in my gut from my encounter with Zach Faraday. What a strange man. Shaking it off, I pulled my head out from under Lucky's curled up body and watched her slide down the pillow without waking up. I checked my phone and shut off the alarm. Sure, 5:23 a.m. is a reasonable time to be awake.

"What happened to sleeping with Mallory?" I grumbled at the cat. Then, I felt bad and stroked her ear. I should be grateful she was no longer shunning me. And she would have actually had to climb the stairs herself. That was a good sign.

After a torturously cold shower to speed up the wake-up process, I towel-dried my hair, threw on a silk robe and padded down the stairs, where I found Mallory sitting in the still-dark living room, practicing with a row of candles.

"Hey, what are you doing up so early?" My voice disturbed the silence and startled Mallory. She jumped.  

The candles all roared to life at once. "Couldn't sleep."

Now I knew why Lucky ended up in my bed. "Any particular reason?"

"Mm." She shrugged, her eyes never leaving the dancing flames. The middle one stretched up higher and higher, licking the air as if searching for something to consume. "Had a bad dream."

I walked over to stand in front of her. She wouldn't meet my eyes. With her hair all piled on top her head, and wearing pink pajamas with butterflies, she looked much younger than her eighteen years. I felt deeply protective of her and had an urge to wrap my arms around her like I used to when she was little and would sneak into my room after a nightmare. "Want to talk about it?"

"No. Not really."

Lucky had made her way downstairs in stealth mode and used the chairs, bar and then end table to reach the back of the sofa.
Okay, maybe not so much progress.
Could cats get post traumatic stress syndrome? The flower essence wasn't helping her recover from her encounter with the rattlesnake. I'm sure she missed Rose, too. Maybe it was time to try something a bit more powerful. I thought about the chalice Mallory had brought to me. Did I really want to open that can of worms here?

 I watched Lucky curl up on the sofa between Mallory and a throw pillow.

Feeling helpless, I decided to back off. "Okay. I'm going to make some tea. Want some?"

"Sure."

I paused and watched her for a moment as she grew each flame in turn, connecting the energy within her that was in tune with the sympathetic resonance of the fire. She made it seem effortless and a part of me yearned to stretch my own wings and practice.

"Hey, Mal?"

A tired sigh escaped her. "Yeah?"

I shifted my feet. "Have you ever dreamed about Father?"

She finally glanced up at me. Her eyes were puffy. They held a touch of surprise. We never talked about our father. She nodded. "Once, on my thirteenth birthday and then..." she looked away and the middle candle flame rose as the others went out."Then again on the night you left us." She glanced back up at me. "You?"

I hugged my arms around my body and nodded. "Recently, when I was—" I stopped. Telling her I had been in the hospital after being mowed down by a car on purpose would not make her feel better about me leaving Savannah. "When I was really sick. Only, it didn't really seem like a dream. It seemed more like a visit." I smiled. "Except for the weird lady and wolf next to him and the fact that he was under water."

"Really?" Mallory slid back into the sofa and turned her body toward me. "That's how it felt to me, too. In fact, we had this whole conversation and yes, he was under water." She shrugged. "No wolf, though. Or weird lady."

This shocked me. "What did you talk about?"

"Well, this last dream... or visit, whatever it was, I was so upset that you left and he kept telling me everything changes and I had to understand that. He also told me that I had to be strong because you would need me soon and I would know when the right time was to come to you."

I stared at my little sister, trying to piece together this new information.
Our father told her in a dream I would need her?
"So, that's why you came here?"

"Yes," she confessed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." Her eyes were pleading with me not to be angry.  "I told Mom about the dream when I felt it was time for me to come here. That's why she let me. That's also why I don't know when I'm going back. I can't go back until whatever you need me for happens."

A chill moved through my body.
Was I in real danger?

 "Mom took the dream seriously, then?"

"Yes."

"Interesting."
Did our father know I was going to be in danger somehow? Does that mean he is watching us from... wherever he is? Or, it could have been just a dream.
But deep inside I knew it was more than that. I didn't know what to say. I needed to do something normal. "I'll get that tea now," I whispered.

I leaned against the stove for support and waited for the kettle to whistle. So many emotions were moving in and out. I tried to just let them flow, feel them and then release them, but the frustration was not cooperating. I moved here to be normal. To have normal friends, a normal quiet life. But, here was my old life and my crazy, absentee father sticking his nose into my new world. No, I wouldn't let that happen. I had to think.

If it was true that I was in danger then it probably came from me trying to solve Rose's murder. I would just have to do that quickly and then Mallory wouldn't worry about me and she could go home.

When I finally returned to the living room with a new resolve and two steaming tea cups, Mallory had her arms crossed, staring at me. Lucky had moved to the back of the sofa and was pulling at Mallory's hair tie. Mallory seemed too focused on being annoyed with me to notice.

"You know, maybe the reason I was sent here to help you is because you won't help yourself. Don't think I haven't noticed that you're not practicing at all. Are you completely shunning everything that Grandma Winters taught you? Everything that our family is about? Father may not be around but he did give us these gifts. The magick is part of our heritage."

According to Mom and Grandma Winters. I still wasn't completely clear on the whole nature of what our father was and what we were. It all seemed like a bad fairytale.

 "Mallory, that's not fair. We're human, too. Why can't I just embrace that part of our family?" I put down the cups and fell on the sofa next to her, the frustration reaching new heights. "Will you just try to understand my point of view, please? We were never given a choice growing up if we wanted to be normal or not. But now, I feel like I do have a choice. I have a fresh start. I can be normal here in St. Pete and that's all I want. Plenty of people live without magick and do just fine. They have friends, hobbies, completely full lives without feeling the need to manipulate nature to get what they want." I saw Mallory's eyes widen and then narrow, but it was too late. I couldn't stop myself. "How do you even know we're supposed to have these gifts? How do we know that those people calling us witches weren't right? Maybe father isn't...  maybe these gifts aren't from a good place. Maybe they are—"

"From the devil?" Mallory almost choked on the words, the same ones that people had spit at us growing up, tears springing to her eyes. I immediately wished I hadn't said anything. Too late. "Oh, that's rich, Darwin. Wow." She yanked at her hair tie and her hair tumbled around her shoulders like soft flames. Lucky mewed.  Mallory threw the hair tie onto the adjacent love seat and Lucky leaped over the end table to retrieve it.

"No, I didn't say that." I took a shuddering breath. I felt her sense of betrayal blowing through me as waves of heat. Tears were blurring my own vision. I didn't really know what I was saying. I hadn't allowed myself to face my doubts before, to really examine the reason I wanted to leave that side of our family legacy behind. But, I couldn't do it right now either, not under the assault of Mallory's emotional storm. It was too painful. Outside the French doors, the sky growing lighter. "We'll talk about this later. I have to get ready to open the boutique." I stood on shaky legs and went upstairs, feeling drained and sad.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The week was a whirlwind. My relationship with Mallory strained against the walls we both had erected and the conversation we were both avoiding. Luckily the pet boutique was slammed. We didn't even have time to go through the applications our 'part-time help wanted' ad had brought in. I told Sylvia I'd take a look at them this weekend but today was Saturday and it was all about getting ready for Landon Stark's Halloween bash.

*     *     *

We met Sylvia at Gone Retro, a cute little vintage clothing boutique she frequented, to scare up some costumes. Shopping with Sylvia was an educational experience. The woman knew how to find a deal and then make it a bargain. We had only been perusing the costume racks for about fifteen minutes when Sylvia squealed and held up a retro, satin cat-woman costume. Well, costume was an overstatement. It was more like half a costume—a black body suit, faux fur bracelets and matching ears on a headband.

"Darwin, this is puuuurfect for you!" Her dark eyes sparkled mischievously.

After grinning at her and shaking my head, I was talked in to trying it on. To my delight it fit like a glove, the satin material didn't make me itchy and the fur trim around the bust added some volume to my "stick figure," as Sylvia referred to it. I decided adding black tights would be a necessity. But, other than that, I was done.

"Ah, Mallory!" she squealed again a few minutes later. "This! With your gorgeous red hair, this is you, my
amiga
!" She clutched a black mass of lace and tulle to her bosom. "And look. There is a hat!"

Mallory and I exchanged a glance and then we busted out laughing. I felt the tension between us dissolve and my chest loosen.

Mallory's face was flushed, her smile genuine. "It's perfect, Sylvia." She weaved through the rack to accept the find. "I would be honored to be the evening's witch." She smiled back at me. "And Darwin will be my familiar."

I laughed and raised an eyebrow playfully at her.

"You ladies finding everything all right?" The tall, blonde saleswoman approached us after finishing up with another customer.

"I think Sylvia still needs a costume." I pointed to Sylvia, who had her arms buried up to her shoulders in a rack, digging out costumes and then shoving them back in. I wished I had her talent and passion for clothing. She seemed to be having a blast.  

"Oh, I think we have the perfect costume for you," the saleswoman said, eyeing Sylvia's figure. She moved behind the counter and pulled out a plastic bag. "This just came back from the seamstress. It was one of my favorite finds."

"Ooooo!" Sylvia gasped as the saleswoman slipped a 60's showgirl green eyelash lamé dress from the bag. "
Espetacula!
"

"Why don't you try it on?" She winked and pointed to the dressing room.

When Sylvia emerged from the dressing room, we all shared her smile. "Wow!" It hugged her curves perfectly; the black sequined fringe lined the bra area and her bottom, swishing just below her hips.

"Add some black silk gloves and a mask." The saleslady nodded. "You'll be stunning."

We went to lunch together at Bella Brava, all giddy from our great finds, and stuffed ourselves silly with their delicious Toscana woodstone oven flatbreads.

"Landon's party is going to be magical," Sylvia gushed around a mouthful of tiramisu.

She had no idea how right she was.

CHAPTER TWELVE

We arrived together, Landon spotting us immediately as we entered the dining room where he usually performed his magic shows. He made his way through the already crowded place, a vampire cape floating behind him.

"Look at you girls!" he beamed, taking one of Sylvia's hands and making her do a little circle spin for him. "You are a vision, my dear." He kissed her lips lightly, being mindful of the fake blood on his own mouth. Her eyes sparkled behind the black sequined mask as he growled, "Be careful, I bite." He snuggled her neck beneath her silky black hair.

"Later." She swatted him playfully. "I want you to meet Darwin's sister, Mallory."

"Ah! Nice to meet you, Mallory." He bowed and then shook her hand. "Landon Stark."

"You're a magician, right?" Mallory asked.

"Guilty as charged." He looked her over, from hat to pointy black boots. "And you are a witch?"

She laughed. "Guilty as charged."

"Well." He motioned for us to follow him. "Let's get you gals a drink."

We weaved our way through the crowd to the bar. He had really outdone himself with the Halloween theme. The floor was covered in a layer of thick fog from dry ice; carved pumpkins, glowing with candles were table centerpieces; giant black spiders hung from the ceiling and eerie music played beneath the conversations around the dim room.

 "Darwin!" Frankie rushed towards me, dressed as a short, plump Cruella Deville. She hugged me with one arm, the other arm raised high to protect her drink. "Oh, look at you, you little minx!"

"And look at you," I laughed. "You found the creepiest of creepy costumes."

"And Sylvia." she one-arm hugged her, too. "Whoa, Landon, you better not let her out of your sight tonight. Sexy." She moved her attention to Mallory and grinned. "Hi, I'm Frankie."

Mallory shook her hand. I saw her eyes widen at the large diamond and ruby rings adorning Frankie's hand. "Mallory. Darwin's sister."