covencraft 04 - dry spells (18 page)

“Jade doesn’t like to be touched,” he said inanely, pulling his hand back as she found her footing again.

Understanding crossed her features and Lily nodded. “No, she doesn’t. But you’re in the inner circle now.”

“Inner circle?”

Lily’s lips quirked as they stepped off the path and onto the small-stone gravel that made up the parking lot at this end of the Preserve. “You know, like one of the people she’d share her last cup of coffee with.” She opened the car door, but didn’t get in, pausing and staring back into the forest.

“Do you feel something? Something from her?”

“No, that’s not…” She shook her head. “I feel like we’re leaving her out there.”

“We’re not,” Paris said and his response felt too quick, too sharp even to his own ears. “We need to find Sakkara.”

Lily stared over the top of the car at him, one eyebrow raised. “So it’s Sakkara now? I wasn’t under the impression you were on a first name basis with your mother.”

“Until today, I wasn’t.” Paris opened his own door and got in, starting the car and directing the heat vents to the passenger side.

Lily winkled her nose and flipped them shut. “You think your mother’s still hanging around? What if she’s pulled another disappearing act?”

He twisted the key too roughly, the engine making a horrible grating sound: metal on metal. He didn’t know if she had left. He could only assume that wherever Jade was, Jade would have to return with the token she was retrieving from the Gorgon. She’d have to bring it to Sakkara. Wouldn’t she?

“If she’s gone, we still have her grimoires,” he said, hoping Lily believed him. He wasn’t sure he believed himself.

“You mean those books that only Jade can read without getting a headache?”

“We’ll manage. We can have Callie and Henri help. They’ll do it. They’ll do it for Jade.”

“Yeah,” Lily replied, staring out her side of the car. “They will.”

“And just now in the forest, you saw the runes,” Paris continued, thinking of the runes etched in the sky, but also the ones that seemed to be burned into Jade’s shoulder.

“What runes?” Lily asked. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her turn to face him.

“Those shapes Sakkara drew in the sky, and on Jade’s shoulder. If we can figure those out, it might help us.”

“You got that good of a look at them?” she asked.

He spared a quick glance at her, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. “No, but you did.”

“So?”

“Jade has excellent recall. She can remember spells she’s only seen once; not always verbatim, but close enough, as long as she’s seen them written down. Can’t you?”

The pause in the car was heavy and uncomfortable before Lily broke it, saying, “I can’t do that.”

He glanced over again quickly and then back at the road. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I can’t do that. Jade can do that, but not me. If she saw them, I could try to get them from her, but what if we try and it ends up not working and I leave her stranded somewhere with one of those migraines?”

Paris thought of Jade, somewhere, someplace unknown, incapacitated by a migraine.

“No, you’re right, of course. Unless we know something will absolutely work, it’s too much of a risk.”

“But I think if she learns something and she needs me to know, she can get it to me. If she learns something that could get her back, or something she thinks is important. She’d do it.”

“She’s quite practical that way,” Paris said. Lily smiled in response. “What?”

“The way you say it, it makes being practical sound…” Lily shrugged and shook her head. “You sound so fond of her.”

He
was
fond of Jade, but he didn’t know how to respond to Lily’s words. The rest of the drive to his house was silent. Paris wasn’t even sure Sakkara would be still be there, but he couldn’t think of anywhere else to start. At the very least, if she wasn’t there, he’d retrieve her demon grimoires and take them to Jade’s cottage to start reviewing them. Then call Callie and Henri. Possibly also their boyfriends, Nick and Daniel, to help in reviewing them. Perhaps Josef as well. He’d want to know about Jade. But Lily had been correct - Jade was the only one who could read the demon spell books for long periods of time without getting a headache or going cross-eyed. She was also the only one, that Paris knew of, who had any familiarity or proficiency with demon magic. He took a deep breath and forced it out of his nose slowly. It didn’t matter. They would work with what they had. One thing at a time.

He knew Sakkara was in his house as soon as he pulled the car into the driveway. He could feel her magic. When he was younger, it had always felt warm and comforting, accompanied by the scent of vanilla and sage. But now, whether it was because her magic had changed or because he realized she wasn’t the person he thought he knew, her magic was like an oil slick to him now - shimmery, but slippery, sliding just beyond his reach. As Paris got out of the car, he inhaled, feeling the too-sweet scent of black licorice against his soft palette.

“Is she here? You’ve got a look on your face.”

Jade would use that expression too, ‘You’ve got a look on your face.’ He wondered, was it Jade’s expression or Lily’s?

“Yes, she’s here.” Setting his jaw, he slammed the car door shut, no doubt announcing his presence. The front door was unlocked and, as he entered, he could hear the sound of the kitchen faucet running. He entered the kitchen, Lily behind him, to find Sakkara bent over the kitchen sink.

“What have you done?”

Paris couldn’t call her by name, not to her face just yet, but neither could he call her
mother
. Not today, not right now.

Sakkara turned around, holding a dishtowel to her nose. He’d never seen her look indelicate. Whether it was true or just the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, he always imagined her looking impeccable. Hair groomed and neat, makeup done with a deft touch. Clothes spotless. To see her standing in the kitchen with a bloody towel held against her nose was… disconcerting.

“What happened to you?” he blurted.

“I’m willing to bet I know exactly what happened to her,” Lily interrupted from behind him. “Jade’s fist to your face.”

Sakkara dabbed at her face with the towel, pulling it away to check if her nose was still bleeding. It wasn’t. “She’s rather brutish.”

“I’ll show you brutish!” Lily made a move to lunge after Sakkara. Paris held up a hand and she paused, looking at him expectantly. “I don’t want to hit your mom in front of you, but I will if I have to.”

“There’s no need to resort to savagery,” said Sakkara, folding the towel so that no trace of blood could be seen. “I’m perfectly willing to discuss events rationally.”

“Maybe I’m not,” replied Lily.

“You sent Jade to the demon dimension,” Paris said, stopping them both. Lily’s shoulders sagged and she sighed; she’d clearly been spoiling for a fight, but was willing to defer to him. Sakkara examined him with an apprising look.

“I did.”

“Bring her back,” Paris said, keeping his tone simple.

“I cannot.”

“You can.” Paris allowed his anger to color his voice. “I know you can. You’ve clearly mastered elements of demon magic and had enough knowledge to send Jade there. Bring her back.”

“I won’t. She must complete the task set out for her. I’ve bound her there until the task is complete.”

“If you care at all for me, as a former Coven Leader, as my
mother
, bring her back.”

Paris willed himself to stay perfectly still. He wanted to shout at her; he had an urge to loom over her, but her very lessons rang in his ear: a lifetime of being told to think things through, to consider all options, not to resort to violence and barbarism.

“I’ve no doubt she’s up to the task. You must have faith in her.”

“Have faith? In Jade?” he repeated. “At this point she’s the only one I do have faith in. Goddess knows I can’t trust you.”

“Paris,” Sakkara said, a chiding tone in her voice. “You may be an adult, but there are still so many things you don’t know. Things you don’t understand.”

“I don’t want to understand.”

Sakkara pursed her lips. “Be grateful you can take that stance. Sometimes there are things that must be done, things you don’t want to do, that you think you can’t do… but it’s all for the greater good.”

Paris shook his head. This could not be his mother. This could not be the same woman who tied his shoes and packed his lunch and taught him his first wind spell: sending paper confetti in a colorful spiral around his head, making him laugh for hours. “This is… I cannot believe this is what you’ve become. I cannot reconcile the memory of my mother with you. I
saw
what you did to her! You held her down. You bound her. You sent her to a world she knows nothing about, to complete a task that you won’t fully explain.” He shook his head again, thinking over what Sakkara had said before. Jade must confront Medusa, a Gorgon - a creature of myth and horror - all on an errand for a mysterious demon mistress. “This is madness.”

“I’m sure it seems that way to you, but there are things in this world…” She exhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring slightly. “This is why I warned you about dealing with demons. You never know the full price. They never tell you the full price.”

He frowned. “Are you being forced to do this?” Hope flared in his chest. Maybe he hadn’t been wrong about her, maybe she was being coerced somehow. He could see Lily out of the corner of his eye; her expression suspicious. Watching him and Sakkara. Though her face was familiar, she was an unknown element to him. What was she like? How would she react? What would she be willing to do for Jade? He didn’t know.

“It’s not that simple,” Sakkara answered. Her face was resolute. He could feel the spark of hope inside his chest flicker and die.

“I don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve been forced to do, but if you care for me,” he said, “you’ll bring her back.”

Sakkara’s lips tightened and he knew her answer before she opened her mouth. “It’s because I care for you that I cannot.”

“That is such bullshit,” Lily said, her tone frank and harsh. She lurched toward Sakkara and Paris placed a hand on her arm, attempting to calm her. She batted it away in anger, so much like Jade in that moment he could almost forget she wasn’t her. “If I had half the magic that Jade has, I could make you do it.”

Sakkara looked dubious, her eyebrows clearly stating what she thought of Lily’s words. “Jade is quite powerful, but lacks the necessary training to be a considerable force.” She turned to Paris. “You should take more care with her studies. I didn’t train you to be Coven Leader to have you throw it all away by making foolish mistakes.”

“Are you mad?” Paris asked, unable to rally his emotions. He felt flat inside, like a stark prairie landscape. This couldn’t be his mother. This could not possibly be his mother. “Do you hear yourself? You just banished a Coven Witch to another world, and you stand here and lecture me.” He felt his own magic slip free of his control and didn’t bother to reign it back in. The floor rippled slightly, the hardwood buckling under his feet.

“Paris,” Sakkara said, eyeing the crack in the floor. “Be reasonable.”

“I cannot,” he said, repeating her words back at her. “Or I will not. Does it matter?” Two of the hardwood planks snapped up, breaking free of their carpentry, sending splinters up into the air.

“This is childish,” Sakkara said, her eyes fixed on his. They were identical to his own.

Growing up, he’d always known he favored his mother and had taken pride in it. She was Coven Leader. She was brilliant at it, she would teach him to be the same. Now, it was like staring at a portrait and seeing rot and decay lingering underneath, hidden for years behind a shiny veneer, like Dorian Gray.

He thought of what he’d seen in the forest - of Jade, struggling underneath Sakkara’s fierce magic, buckling under her power, flinging her own untrained magic out, and cleaving to a demon for help. Another floorboard in the kitchen splintered, followed by the sound of one of the tiles in the hallway cracking. He almost wished he hadn’t stopped Lily from striking his mother. But it still wouldn’t bring Jade back from where his mother had sent her. Trapped her.

“I wish you’d stayed dead,” he said finally.

The look on her face as his words hung in the air… it likely would have been kinder if Lily had struck her.

Unable to look at her any more, he turned and left the house.

CHAPTER NINE

The road was getting closer, although at such a slow pace Jade thought maybe she was imagining it. The mountains were strange. Large, but not overly ragged. They were smoother than the mountains you see in photographs, but more jagged than you would guess for, say, overly large hills. The red-orange color of them was sort of pretty up against the stark teal sky. But after a while, she found the colors harsh and assaulting against her eyes.

All the vegetation they passed was either dead or looked wrong, like an approximation of life instead of life itself. It was like someone had described the idea of plants, cacti and succulents to someone who was out of sight on the other side of a screen. The artist, having never seen their colors nor their particular shapes before, did the best he or she could, but it all turned out slightly off. It was like living in a dreamscape.

Her eyes were dry and Jade blinked, trying to moisten them. When it didn’t work she tried to call forth a few tears by feeling sorry for herself. It wasn’t hard. She was trapped on the demon side of the portal, the Dearth, Seth had called it. She thought she might still be able to feel Lily, kind of a vague sensation against her brain. Like when she wore a pair of too tight jeans all day and then took them off, finding indentations on her skin and still feeling the sensations of pressure and constriction. She frowned. It was a horrible analogy. She didn’t feel that way about Lily. Lily wasn’t constricting or binding. She simply was. Existing in and around Jade’s mind. Despite her feelings, she couldn’t muster up any tears and her eyes stayed dry.