covencraft 04 - dry spells (8 page)

“Stop!” Jade exclaimed. At the same time, she heard the fire in the other room snap and hiss. Bruce let out a lizard-like bark, peeved that Jade had let her magic slip out of control and spike the fire. Jade took a deep breath and reined her power back in. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“I know. There’s a lot you don’t want to talk about.”

Jade curled in on herself a bit, knowing exactly what Lily meant, but not willing to concede. She felt something flit by Lily’s brain - pieces of a conversation with Paris. The thought of him drew Jade back to the present.

“Did he leave? How did he seem, you know, with the whole undead-mother thing?” Shocker, to say the least. She thought about the picture she’d once seen in Paris’ office at his house - a portrait of him as a child with his mother, both of them smiling and happy. Finding out she was not-so-dead probably gutted him.

Lily made a see-saw motion with her hand. “I don’t think he’s dealing with that right now. He’s more concerned about what Sakkara wants rather than the fact that she came back from the dead.”

“What happened after Paris put me out?” Jade had the memory of being in pain and then of Paris shoving something in her mouth, whispering words and then blissful unconsciousness.

“Sakkara was still creepy, but she left. She’s going to come back, I’m sure. But for now, we have a reprieve. We put you on the sofa, and then later on when you didn’t wake up, Paris carried you up to bed.”

God, how embarrassing. Jade’s mouth had probably hung open and she likely drooled, maybe snored. Plus, Jade was no light feather.

Lily snorted in laughter. “You looked pretty good.” She shrugged. “You know, for being unconscious. And it’s not like we’re fat,” Lily added. “We’re just… tall. And sturdy.”

“I’ve been running. I’ve been trying to keep it under control.” Jade felt her cheeks get hot.

“I know you have,” Lily said, waving her hand. “But… cheesecake.” She placed her hands on her belly and jiggled it where the fleshiest bit was. There had been a lot of cheesecake in their lives. They both sighed and had a silent moment for cheesecake.

“But,” Lily continued, “he didn’t mind. He’s rather gallant. I didn’t even know anyone still fit that word, but he does.”

Jade’s stomach rolled over at Lily’s tone: fond and familiar. She stuffed the feeling down, hoping Lily hadn’t noticed. She wasn’t jealous. She wanted Lily and Paris to get along. She wanted them to like each other and have things to talk about. She didn’t want to keep Paris all to herself. He didn’t belong to her. He didn’t belong to anyone.

“I don’t like him,” Lily said suddenly. Jade cringed, knowing that Lily had picked up on her thoughts, but then, she felt put out on Paris’ behalf. Why didn’t Lily like him? Lily must have picked up on that as well because she continued on, “I mean, I like him but I don’t, you know,
like
him. I’m not about to send him a naughty Snapchat or anything.”

“Why not?” Jade asked. “I’m not talking about the naughty Snapchat because seriously, that’s a bad idea whenever. Someone could save that picture and then it gets out and ka-boom.” She made a gesture with her hands like fireworks, pushing a little magic behind it to send down a shower of light and colorful sparks. “Your ass is all over the internet. But… how come you don’t like him?”

Lily stared at her for a moment and all Jade could feel was incredulity flowing off Lily. Jade squirmed a bit in her seat.

“Well, for one, I just got back from… where ever I was.” She pursed her lips. “We should probably think up a term for that.”

“The Wherever?”

Lily shrugged. “That works for me. Okay, so I just got back from the Wherever. I’m trying to figure out what I missed and now this whole magic thing.” She waggled her fingers, making a ball of mist appear and then disappear in front of her. “And possibly trying to figure out if this is all fake and we’re trapped in an insane asylum, making all this up to escape the horrible reality. Could be, right?”

It was Jade’s turn to shrug. Yeah, in the realm of possibilities, stark-raving mad was always on the table. Sad to say, but true.

“So, that’s reason number one.” Lily held up one finger and then flipped up a second one. “Two, I barely know the guy. Sure, he’s hot and I’d tap that, no question. He’s got great eyes and really nice ass, but I don’t know him from Adam.”

“I know him,” Jade said. If she knew someone then so did Lily. Lily could access Jade’s thoughts whenever she wanted to.

“Well, that brings me to point three. You like him.” She looked at Jade significantly.

Jade leaned back in her chair a bit. “Sure I like him. He’s been… nice. Mostly.”

Lily raised her eyebrows.

“What? He has been!”

Lily stared, crossing her arms over her chest. “You can’t lie to me. I know when you do.”

Jade’s chest constricted, like she was under a vice and someone turned the screw too tight. “I’m not lying. I don’t… I mean, maybe I do, but I can’t…”

Lily sat back down at the table. “I know you don’t feel things like me. You never have. And then when-“

“Stop,” Jade said again, bringing the conversation to an abrupt halt again. Lily always wanted to talk about the thing they never talked about. The moment in time locked in a small corner of Jade’s mind, never to be let out. Jade was determined it would stay there.

Lily held up her hands in surrender. “Not talking about it won’t make it go away.”

“Well, talking about it sure as hell won’t either.”

“How would you know if you’ve never tried?”

“I don’t need to try things to know they’ll be a bust. Interpretive dance. Live poetry readings. Getting gut-shot. These are all things I don’t need to try to know I’ll hate.”

Lily exhaled sharply through her nose, shaking her head slightly. “Fine. You’re not ready to talk about it yet.”

“No. Not yet. Ever. Just… Let it die.” Jade scratched at her forehead. “Jesus, it would almost be nice to get a migraine about now so I could shut this down.” At that, Jade sensed a sort of wall come down in Lily’s mind, around the topic-which-would-never-be-named. But also… around Paris. Jade mentally scratched at the wall for all of two seconds, but didn’t want to push, afraid of what she might find.

“He cares about you,” Lily offered.

“He cares about everyone in the Coven. That’s his job. He’s the Coven Leader. I’m pretty sure it’s in the job description.”

“Yeah. But he cares about you differently.”

Jade wanted to ask, ‘you think?’ but couldn’t force the words out. It felt so childish and insecure to say them out loud. It was such a huge feeling in her chest - the idea that Paris might like her - like a large balloon filled with too much air, so close to popping. It was the first time she’d had the sensation in her life and she didn’t know what to do with it. She knew she was attractive and she assumed people had desired her before. But she felt like she knew Paris. And she felt like he knew her, or at least, knew about Lily: a secret she’d never been able to tell anyone. He’d helped her. He hadn’t run screaming. He’d stuck around. That meant something. But Jade couldn’t think about that now. She had bigger concerns. She shook her head.

“Let’s talk about Sakkara,” Jade said.

Lily swirled her coffee, shot gunning the rest of it. “I’d complain you were changing the subject, but that’s definitely something we need to discuss. Mommy Dearest.”

“She is kind of creepy. Like one of those plastic people whose smile has been grafted on.” Jade motioned around her face. “The lips make a smile but the rest of the face is like a robot.”

“Uncanny valley,” Lily added, referring to the state when something almost appeared human, but not quite. Jade had seen a robotics show on it once. Lily must have plucked the memory from her brain. There was a slight twinge at the back of her skull and she wondered if her earlier bad joke about another migraine was foreshadowing. God, she couldn’t be getting another one so soon, could she?

“Yeah,” Jade agreed, scratching at the table with her thumb nail. “I’m… curious.”

“I’m not,” Lily replied.

“What? Why not?”

“That woman has been stalking you for weeks, creeping on your dreams. It’s weird. I don’t want to do her any favors.”

“Oh,” Jade said, blinking at Lily.

“You do?” asked Lily, her tone incredulous.

“Well, I don’t know. I mean, it sounds really hinky, but…” Jade trailed off, swirling her finger in the air above her coffee cup, making the liquid stir itself with a short burst of magic.

“Yeah?” Lily asked, leaning in. Jade sensed she might already know what Jade was about to say.

“I wonder if she’d teach us some demon magic. As a trade. Maybe. I’m good at it, but I think I could be better. Sometimes, when I work with it I think I’m really close to something. Something bigger than what I can do right now.”

Jade liked demon magic and there was no one else at the Coven that she knew of that would even touch it with a ten-foot pole. Paris got very stiff and proper when Jade mentioned it and would caution her against doing too much. After reading through his mother’s demon grimoires, he would often rub his fingers together or on his pants, as though they were covered in some kind of filth that he couldn’t see, but could only feel. If Sakkara wanted to use Jade for an errand, then maybe Jade could use her in return.

“You already have a lot of power.”

“Yeah.” Jade shrugged. “I guess.”

“But you want more.”

“I don’t… it’s not like I’m power hungry; at least, I don’t think I am. I just feel like…” She continued to swirl her coffee with short pulses of magic. “You know when I first got here and that guy Matthew wanted to take my power, he sent that weird quick-silver demon after me and I feel like I barely got away. And then Dex and Veronica were here and Dex was so sure he had a spell that would compel me to do what he wanted. He might have succeeded if it hadn’t been for our…” Jade waggled her fingers around her brain. “Our duality or whatever. Then Sakkara was creeping on my dreams and she was able to take apart my demon lock, the one I had keeping the cottage secure.”

“Yeah, because she mostly wrote that spell,” Lily countered.

“But what if I had more power?” Jade pressed. “I’m strong now, but I’m not as good at regular magic as other people in the Coven, I don’t think. Maybe with fire, but with everything else? I think there are some witches that could give me a run for my money. But with demon magic…”

“But why?” Lily leaned in. “For what purpose?”

Again, Jade shrugged and in that moment, she forgot that Lily had direct access to her brain. Jade couldn’t shrug off questions she didn’t want to answer with Lily like she could with everyone else.

“You think you’ll be able to protect yourself, protect me. Us,” Lily filled in. “Because you think about us growing up, with Dad and then later when…”

Lily’s brain touched upon the spot in Jade’s mind: the moment which should not be discussed. The spot in time that Jade pretended didn’t exist. Jade’s coffee cup toppled over, sending liquid across the table, causing them both to jump. Jade grabbed a tea towel and started mopping it up.

“You can’t change the past.”

“I know that.” Jade mopped up the coffee with harsh, angry swipes across the table and floor. She tossed the towel in the sink, hard, causing it to make a loud
thunk
as it landed. “I’m not talking about changing the past. Jesus, I’m not stupid. I know things can’t be undone. But I can make sure that we’re safe.”

“We are safe.”

Then why do I still want to sleep in the closet? Why was it so easy to fall back into having nightmares? Why do I feel like I have to be on guard all the time?
“I just want to be sure.”

Lily sighed. “Maybe… maybe with me back now, you can feel safe. I can help you.”

“Until you-“ Jade cut herself off, swallowing suddenly. She really hadn’t meant to say anything, but by the time she realized she’d spoken, it was too late.

“Until I leave again?” Lily said, looking like she’d just kicked a puppy. She shook her head, her hair loose around her shoulders. “I’m not going to. Not again.”

Jade didn’t reply.

“I mean it,” Lily added, coming toward her and pulling Jade into a hug. Callie and Henri hugged Jade; their friendship easy and tactile, but the warmth of their hugs still surprised Jade, still made her lean into the touch and at the same time, want to pull away so she wouldn’t make the mistake of getting used to it. It was the same with Lily: her affection so easily and freely given. It was easier to hug Lily than it was Callie or Henri, but there was still a small voice inside of her warning her not to get accustomed to it. She didn’t want to rely on it. Unless…. Unless she had so much power that no one could ever take anything from her again.

“Don’t start making deals with Sakkara because you’re afraid,” Lily cautioned, her voice low and quiet in Jade’s ear. She pulled back a bit and looked Jade in the eyes, her green eyes bright in the kitchen light. “Promise.” When Jade didn’t answer, she squeezed Jade’s shoulders. “Promise,” she repeated.

“All right, I promise,” Jade said.

CHAPTER FOUR

Waking up the next morning, Paris had a blissful three minutes of the netherworld between sleep and waking where his only thoughts were strange afterimages of his dreams - some meaningless minutiae about losing his socks and not knowing where to find them. Then, current circumstances burst to the front of his mind with the subtlety of a large animal trying to wiggle its way through a tight space. His mother was alive, in the house, and working for a demon. If he listened carefully, he could hear her: the sounds of someone else awake and moving about. She was in the kitchen, probably making a pot of tea for the morning. He had no idea if it was still her daily ritual. What was life like when one was serving a demon? Did she need food? Did she sleep? What were her tasks?

Did he dare ask?

Getting out of bed, he grabbed his cell phone and turned it over in his hands. It was early, but Jade seemed to keep regular hours - up early on the weekdays to run before work. On the weekends, he presumed she kept a similar schedule. That was, if she wasn’t still unconscious from his spell and her migraine. He supposed if he called and there was no answer, that would answer his question.