Eternal Ever After (26 page)

I felt like an idiot for even asking. We walked to my car and strapped Katarina into the backseat. Now I was glad to have suggested a sheet, if for no other reason than to keep from seeing her sneer in my rearview mirror as I drove. We passed the two lion statues flanking the main entrance to the museum on South Michigan Avenue. I pulled the BMW into an empty space down a few blocks and around the corner. Victoria exited the vehicle and eased the painting out of the backseat while I followed behind. Since we had to park so far away, I felt relieved that Victoria carried it.

The pair of us climbed the steps and crossed the threshold into the entrance hall. Victoria approached a man wearing a name badge.

“Sir, we’d like to donate this to the museum.”

He regarded the sheeted painting with suspicion. “Have you been in touch with someone regarding acquisitions?”

“No, but surely even if you don’t have room in your permanent collection, it can be auctioned off to raise funds at your next charity event,” Victoria said.

“What is that you have there? A painting?”

“Yes,” Victoria said, pulling off the sheet. “As you can see it’s in excellent condition.”

“Lady, I don’t know about these things. Just give me a minute.”

The man walked over to a desk and picked up a phone but I stood too far away to hear him. He hung up the phone, waving us over. I followed Victoria, who carried the painting.

“You’re not selling it, you don’t want anything for it?” he asked.

“No.” Victoria shook her head.

“Then we’ll take a look at it. If you wait here the director will be right down.”

“Keep it.” Victoria handed him the painting, turned on her heel, and headed for the entrance. I could barely keep up with her brisk pace.

The truth about being free doesn’t mean you stop caring about something. It only means you’ve finally let it go. I hoped that was what this meant—that Arie had finally let her go.

CHAPTER 19

I drove Victoria back over to the club and dropped her at the door. The colors and intensity of the light in the sky as the sun went down soothed me. Rue’s Attic might not be open. There were no hours listed on the business card she gave me, but I wanted to stop anyway. If I was being perfectly honest, shopping for the dress was just an excuse to see her again. Even though the idea of family felt foreign, I liked it, and I wanted to know about being a witch.

Through the glass a dim light shone toward the back of the store, but it didn’t appear to be open. Movement near one of the racks drew my attention. Rue was stooped next to a bin, re-stocking incense. Her mass of blonde hair spilled around her shoulders, hiding her face. I tapped on the glass door and her head popped up. A wide smile spread across her face. Rising slowly from her crouched position, she lumbered across the store and unlocked the door to let me in.

“Oh, come in, come in. I was just finishing up.”

She closed the door behind us and wrapped me in an enthusiastic hug. I couldn’t help but beam at her when she released me.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“In the back there’s another box. I left it on the table.”

I trudged through the store and passed through the curtain of beads, finding the box precisely where she said it would be. It wasn’t too heavy but Rue seemed to be moving slow. I brought the box up front and set it on the floor next to where she sat. Sitting Indian-style next to her, I opened the box, and we began filling the large tote with long rectangular boxes of incense.

“This incense smells divine,” I said, holding a pack under my nose as I took a whiff.

Rue smiled. “Take some home with you. It’s my gift.”

“Thank you… Rue, you said that I’m a witch. You’re one too.”

“What were you expecting, a pointy hat and a broomstick?”

I laughed. “Well no, it’s just a bit of a shock. But it certainly explains the clairvoyance and why I see things.”

“Not all witches are clairvoyant, dear.”

“Tell me what it’s like, what it means…”

“It’s really different for everyone.”

“How?”

“Some of us are good with herbs, some of us are good in the kitchen, and others are better with stones or energy or healing.”

“And I see things,” I said with a sigh.

“And you see things.” Rue put the last box of incense in the tote.

“Is there anything else you need help with?” I asked.

“No, I think I’m about done for tonight.” She grimaced and her crow’s feet crinkled as she pushed herself to standing with her hands on her knees.

“Are you all right?”

“It’s just my ACL—old sports injury. We’ve had so much rain lately. I can almost predict the weather better than our local news.”

I laughed. “Maybe I could make us some tea.”

“That would be wonderful. There’s still some in the kettle on the stove.”

We went to the back room and she sat at the table while I poured our tea. I brought the mugs over to the table, setting them on the tablecloth. The fragrant smell of herbs rose from the steaming mug. It warmed my hands as I held the cup, taking a sip.

“Thank you for helping me unpack that carton of incense and for the tea. I’m so glad you stopped by.”

“I am too.”

“So to what do I owe this visit?” she asked with a smile.

“It doesn’t have to be tonight. You’re closed. And I don’t even know if you have anything appropriate. I have a gala to attend and I need something formal but Gothic.”

Rue frowned. “It’s a beautiful dress I saw you wearing in my vision. But do you really have to do this?”

“Something tells me I do. There’s someone after me, but at least this way I’ll be surrounded by those who can protect me.”

“What if they can’t?”

“I know it’s a risk, but you have to trust me.” Even if I wasn’t so sure I trusted that everything would work out, I kept my voice level to hide my uncertainty.

“And I know what I saw. You died.”

“I’ll be fine. I promise.”
Will you…? Will you really be fine?
Still, Katarina had to be stopped, and it killed me to think that something might happen to Arie or any one of them if their world was discovered. I didn’t believe in fate being concrete or out of my control. I knew what could happen, but I also felt I had the power to change it. Visions were blurry places in space and time that only showed a very small part of a much bigger picture.

Rue sighed. “Then I guess we should see about getting you a dress.”

“Just something basic, something black.”
And not too expensive.

“I have plenty of that, but nothing formal enough to suit this occasion.”

“Oh, I don’t care, a dress is a dress. It’s just one night.”

“Come with me.”

Rue pushed away from the table and walked to the kitchenette in the break room. She opened a cupboard and grabbed a container of salt from the shelf. I followed her through the beads, which clanked together. A good ten feet stood between the glass case which housed the cash register and the wall with the life-like tapestry.

We came to a stop in the space in between. Against the wall under the tapestry a small cabinet had a cloth that covered the top. It had a triple moon with a pentacle in the center of the full moon. Around the edges were endless Celtic knots, almost like my mother’s necklace. Two statutes, one masculine and one feminine, were positioned next to tall candles. In a circle were two small bowls, a candle, and a feather. A wine goblet stood on one side of the circle and an incense burner on the other.

Rue poured salt into one of the bowls and disappeared with the other. I heard the sound of running water coming from the direction of the break room. When she returned with the bowl it had been filled with water. Rue sat the bowl next to the other one, containing salt. Then she lit all three candles on top of the cabinet and the incense.

She took my hand and pulled me toward her. “Help me move this cabinet out from the wall.”

I stood on one side and Rue took the other. We carefully slid the cabinet so there was about a foot between it and the wall. The flames flickered and drops of water splashed onto the cloth. Rue opened the cabinet and pulled a spray bottle with clear liquid out from underneath. She misted the liquid around us in a circle, which really looked quite silly.

“What are you doing?”

“Purifying. It’s witch hazel.”

Then she put the spray bottle back in the cabinet and brought out a ball of white yarn. She unrolled it into an enclosure that encompassed us, the cabinet, and touched the wall under the tapestry. It resembled a crooked circle when she was finished.

“The beautiful sea, the blue heaven, and present earth.
Muir mas, nem nglas, talam ce
…” she said in voice that rang clear as a bell.

For a long time she stood with her eyes closed in the center of the makeshift circle. I wanted to ask what this was about, but I felt it would be intrusive to interrupt whatever it was that she was doing. The flames on the candles she had lit flickered even though there were no ceiling fans or air circulating that would cause them to.

She opened her eyes. “To the dwellers of the wildwood, both seen and unseen, hear my call. Grant us a new reality, keeping safe my family, as I will, so it must be.”

A cold gust of wind blew the doors of the shop open. I started toward them but Rue took hold of my arm and wouldn’t let go. The wind died down and the doors swung closed. An earthy smell enveloped us. When I turned, the tapestry and the forest from my dream had come to life. The pixie under the tree flitted toward the forest and a deer moved through the tree line. My dream had come to life; or rather, she had brought life to my dream.

I reached out to touch the tapestry. When my fingers connected with the surface it was like watching ripples on the surface of a pond. I pulled away.

“It’s okay,” Rue said. “Come with me.” She turned and walked right into the tapestry, disappearing through its liquid-like surface, emerging on the other side as a much younger version of herself. Her willowy figure was draped in flowing white like in my dream. Rue waved at me to follow her.

I inhaled deeply, closed my eyes, and took a giant step forward. When I opened my eyes I stood next to her under a birch tree. Its white bark looked ghostly in this eerie light. I looked down. I wore a tunic dress fashioned from some sort of hide and boots in a similar style. Rue’s smile radiated childlike joy, the kind that passes between siblings sharing secrets. I had walked into a dream. I’d worry later about how to walk back out.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Nowhere.”

“Okay, well where exactly is nowhere?”

“We’re in the inner world. It’s where dreams are made. I made it up. I made it all up.” She beamed at me.

“Brilliant. But why are we here?”

“Walk with me.”

Rue walked to the edge of the forest. I followed her with a million questions on my tongue, but this place didn’t seem like one that would like questions or readily give answers. She stopped beside a hazel tree and turned to me.

“Shake one of the branches,” she said.

I hesitated before reaching out and giving one of the arms a great shake. Nuts fell to ground, scattering around our feet.

“Now what?” I asked.

“Pick up one of the nuts. Take a deep breath. Then close your eyes and picture what you want.”

I shot her a skeptical look. Despite the Sight, I wasn’t a child with glittering eyes who believed in magic. Yet here I was in a magic she had created, and I grabbed one of those intangible nuts, waiting for the impossible. The kind of magic I believed in was the everyday kind created by kindness, the tiny threads that stitch the universe together. Not some hocus pocus meant for the whimsical believers of fairy tales. That’s almost like saying you believed in unicorns, faeries, or everlasting love. But these days I had started to believe in faeries. So maybe anything could be possible.

In my mind I formed a thought. Well, it started as thought and grew into an image. I felt the nut grow warm in my hand. I wanted to open my eyes but I was afraid if I did it would stop whatever I felt growing.

“That’s it,” Rue said. “Keep going.”

Something was starting to take shape, out of magic, out of the sheer will of my suspended disbelief. Still, I couldn’t open my eyes. It would disappear or be forgotten before it ever took shape. Only magic makes forgetting hard, except when you’re sound asleep. That’s what my visions were. They were magic that twisted the future into tiny pixels filled with infinite possibility that couldn’t account for choice. It’s how I knew Rue couldn’t be right. No one could know the unforeseen incidents arising from the power of my choice. And I chose not to die. In fact, I was very much against it.

I opened my eyes slowly. The nut began to glow before light exploded the casing. Floating in the light was the most beautiful gown I’d ever seen. Its strapless bodice sparkled with rhinestones and it had a corseted back with black laces. A spider web of rhinestones covered half of the black bell-like bottom; they shimmered like a thousand stars in the sky. Long black velvet gloves with fingerless tips shot out of the light, like a firework, before falling to the ground. Rue stepped forward, picking them up.

The light began to fade and gravity took hold of the gown. I rushed forward before it could touch the ground, catching it in my arms. It seemed strange that gravity would have hold in a place like this. What seemed ever stranger was that gravity was the first thing I questioned.

I didn’t know what my face looked like but I felt sure it matched the child-like joy reflected in Rue’s expression.

“Amazing,” Rue said in a breathy voice.

I laughed. “Why are you amazed? You’re the one who brought me here.”

“Because I’ve never seen
anyone
with the ability to materialize on their first try. I thought for sure I’d have to do it for you. You’re a natural. Just like your mother.”

“Really?” I couldn’t help but smile. I looked across the clearing to the tree where we came through the tapestry. A pond stood on the other side. “How do we get back?”

“Do you swim?”