Spellcasting in Silk: A Witchcraft Mystery (20 page)

I took Sailor’s hand as we followed Selena. This simple
act—holding his hand in public, in what Oscar would scathingly refer to as “PDA” or public display of affection—made me feel almost giddy. My breath caught in my throat when I thought about what it really meant to have a man in my life . . . to have
this
man in my life. He was astute and sensitive and kind, despite his sometimes gruff exterior.

Up ahead, Selena was checking out antique pocket watches. I glanced at a display of beautiful late-season nectarines, great pyramids of the peachy fruit. I picked one up to smell its heavenly perfume, then held it to Sailor’s nose.

When I looked back at the antique-watch display, Selena was gone.

“Where is Selena?” I asked Sailor, putting the nectarine back atop the fruit pyramid. “Where did she go? Did you see?”

Sailor shook his head. “I was looking at you. But she can’t have gone far. Must be at one of the neighboring stands, probably looking at more jewelry.”

We hurried through the crowd to the spot where we had last seen her.

The watch display was empty, but the elderly seller said he had seen a girl walk off with a man she seemed to know.

“Can you describe him?” I asked.

“Good-lookin’ fellow, if I do say so myself. Blond hair, blue eyes . . . I mean, I don’t much notice good-lookin’ men, but this fellow was something else.”

Aidan Rhodes.

*   *   *

We found them at a table near the food kiosks.

Actually,
Sailor
found them. Not by looking, but by intuiting.

They sat on opposite sides of the table, talking, while Selena finished off a wedge of chocolate cake. Aidan’s golden hair gleamed in the sunshine, and even at a distance I could see the periwinkle blue of his eyes.

As we approached, Sailor cautioned me. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

“I mean it, Lily. Take a moment to center yourself.”

He was right. Thinking I’d lost Selena had scared me, and when I was scared my power surged, sometimes with disastrous results.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, thinking of my guardian spirit, my grandmother Graciela, the long line of powerful women who had gone before me.

And then I went to yell at Aidan and Selena.

“What in the
Sam Hill
?” I said. “You scared the
stuffing
out of me, Selena. I thought something had happened to you.”

She looked at me, impassive, apparently unmoved.

“And
you
,” I said, turning on Aidan. “You’re a grown man. You should know better than to whisk a child away from her people. What were you
thinking
?”

“Hello, Lily, what a pleasure. Do have a seat,” Aidan suggested, no more impressed by my wrath than Selena.

With no other options open to me, I sat down heavily in a chair between the two. Sailor remained standing, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, like a badass bodyguard. Aidan didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Selena and I were talking about her future. Would you like to join the discussion?”

“I . . . of course.”

“Selena will be under my protection,” Aidan said.

“She’s already under
my
protection,” I said.

Our eyes met and held, a silent challenge.

“Selena,” Aidan said after a moment. “Why don’t you and Sailor go look for some perfect tomatillos? We’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

Selena looked from Aidan to me, as though sensing the tension.

“We should all stay together,” said Sailor, stepping toward our little group.

“Lily will join you in a moment,” Aidan said, his gaze not moving from my face. “No need to worry, Sailor. We’re right out here in public. What could happen?”

Selena got up and meandered toward the fruit stands.

“Sailor, please stay with her,” I said. “I’ll be fine. This won’t take long. Please.”

With obvious reluctance, Sailor went to join Selena.

“Was that for Sailor’s benefit?” I asked. “You wanted to pull rank on him, put him in his place?”

“You have no idea how little Sailor matters to me. This is about Selena.”

“You can’t have her, Aidan. She’s only a child; she’s not capable of looking out for her own interests.”

“You make it sound as if my motives are suspect. Surely you’ve noticed how powerful she is. If she’s not under my protection, someone else might well step in.”

“Someone already has: me. I’m taking care of her.”

The knowledge that I’d just lost track of her in a public place hung, unspoken, in the air between us.

“Also, Oscar’s on the job,” I added. “Most of the time.”
When he wasn’t on a leash and taken elsewhere
.

“Oscar’s a good bodyguard. But . . . listen, Lily. Selena’s not the only one I’m concerned about right now. When you and I connected, the other night on the bridge, I felt a change in your power.”

“What kind of change?”

He hesitated, as though choosing his words with care.
And that made me nervous. Aidan almost never hesitated.

“I have a proposal for you. I’d like you to come work with me.”

“You want
me
to work for
you
?”

He gave me a half-smile. “Not
for
, but
with
. I’m suggesting a partnership.”

“With you,” I tried to wrap my mind around the idea. “Lily Ivory in partnership with Aidan Rhodes? That sounds . . . complicated.”

“Complicated, but interesting. Like most worthwhile things in life.”

“What’s going on, Aidan?”

“Things have been ratcheting up in our fair city. Even officialdom has started to notice—witness the mayor’s clean-up campaign. And I’m . . .” Again with the hesitation, and the reaching for words. His blue eyes cast about, taking in the marketgoers and picnickers. Finally he seemed to come to a decision, and met my gaze once again. “I’m not as powerful as I used to be. As I
need
to be. I have limitations that need to be addressed.”

“What kinds of limitations?”

“I don’t think this is the place or the time to get into details. Suffice it to say that if you and I combine our powers, I believe we’ll be strong enough to keep things under control. We can look after Selena together, give her guidance and make sure she’s safe, and then if things go well, she will become a powerful witch in her own right and will be able to step in to help.”

“I’m, uh . . . I mean, we can work together from time to time, of course.”

“I’m not talking about that—that’s what we’ve been doing so far. But now we need to come together, a united front. Publicly.”

“What about Sailor?” I asked.

“What about him?”

“He’s not going to be thrilled about me working for you.”

“It doesn’t matter. Your relationship’s not long for this world, anyway.”

“I’m
sorry
?”

“Listen: I know what you think of me. You suspect I have other motives. But I released Sailor in the first place because I could sense the feelings you had for each other. Love makes people vulnerable, which for normal people is part of its beauty. But you aren’t normal, Lily. Given your abilities, being vulnerable makes you dangerous.”

“You’re saying magical people can’t experience love?”

“Not the kind of love you’re thinking of. Not true, selfless love.”

“I don’t believe that,” I scoffed. “You’re making this up as you go along. You’re jealous of what Sailor and I have.”

“I wish it were that simple. Tell me: How many powerful people do you know who are in a loving relationship?”

I thought of Graciela and her witchy friends; my father; Aidan. Finally, one occurred to me: “Hervé!”

Aidan shook his head. “Different system entirely. Hervé’s relationship is an integral part of his belief system; the dyad is an important source of his power. But that is not the case for you. Your relationship to Sailor, your desire for love and connection, makes you vulnerable.”

“So you tried to send Sailor away because you’re a nice guy?”

“Is it so hard to believe I would do something for altruistic reasons?”

“I think you rarely do anything that isn’t in your interest, one way or the other.”

“Think what you will about my character, Lily, but
deep down you know I’m right about this. We’re much more alike than you’ve ever wanted to admit.”

I felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere and looked up to see Sailor and Selena approaching the table, a little brown paper bag of tomatillos in hand.

“Time’s up,” said Sailor, glaring at Aidan.

Aidan rose. “Monopolized your woman for too long, have I? No worries, I’m late for an appointment, anyway. Selena, remember what I said. I’ll see you soon. And, Lily? Always a pleasure.”

*   *   *

Sailor waited until we got back to Aunt Cora’s Closet, Bronwyn and Maya went home, and Selena was upstairs with Oscar before grilling me about my conversation with Aidan.

But I didn’t know what to make of what Aidan told me; I needed time to process it, think it through. So I equivocated.

“I think . . . he was saying that things might be ratcheting up in San Francisco lately.”

“Ratcheting up, how?”

“Just mayhem-wise. He wasn’t specific. But you have to admit there’s been a lot going on, supernaturally speaking, since I arrived.”

He smiled and tugged my ponytail. “You
do
seem to be something of a lightning rod for trouble. I’ll grant you that.”

“And at my last showdown, at the oak tree . . . it seemed like my foe was defeated a little too easily.”

“It wasn’t all that easy. And you had help. From your grandmother’s coven, and the woodsfolk, and Oscar. Not to mention your guardian spirit.”

“I know. But still. It’s just a little worrying.”

“Good thing I’m getting stronger, too, then, right? As are you, if I’m not mistaken.”

“I am getting more powerful but . . . Anyway, I think I may have to work with Aidan.”

He tilted his head slightly in question. “Work with him how?”

“We need to partner, combine forces, make sure we’ve got control.”

“I thought you told me you and Aidan ‘combined forces’ once and you melted metal?”

“That was a while ago. We were unprepared, but we’re both more in control now, and he’s got a better handle on me. We linked the other night and didn’t have a problem. In fact, it allowed me to experience a vision.”

“When was this?”

“The other night I went to the Golden Gate Bridge to try to figure out what happened with Nicky Utley.”

“And you met Aidan there?”

“Yes, he was there, but that’s not my point—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I . . . I don’t know. Everything’s been so crazy lately, and we haven’t had a lot of time to talk. I wasn’t deliberately not telling you. My point is that things are different now between Aidan and me.”

“Could this have anything to do with Aidan wanting influence over Selena?”

“He and I need to work together to keep her safe.”

“Or so he says.” Sailor shrugged. “Ever occur to you we need to keep
her
safe from
him
?”

“The thing is . . . I believe him, Sailor. I think he wanted to make sure she was okay, that I could protect her, that’s all.”

Sailor pushed a strand of hair out of my eyes, and stroked my cheek with one finger. When he spoke, his voice was very quiet.

“You are a trusting soul for one who has seen so much.”

I didn’t know what to say. This was the second time
today I’d been called “trusting”—by psychics, no less— which was the opposite of how I felt.

“I’d like to arrange a discussion with all three of us: you, me, and Aidan,” Sailor continued. “Just so we’re all on the same page. In the meantime, do me a favor: Promise me you won’t let him in here when I’m not around.”

Only then did I realize he still had his jacket on.

“You’re not staying?”

“I have to go—”

“— work with Patience,” I said with a nod, peeved. “Fine.”

He raised one eyebrow. “It worries me when a woman says
‘fine.’
”

I gave him an insincere smile. “Whatever could you mean?”

“I have to do this, Lily. You know that. And after seeing Patience, I’m going to have dinner with my aunt Renna and see what she thinks about my progress. This encounter with Aidan is further proof that I need all the strength I can gather. If you need to have someone at your back, I intend to be that man. I trust Aidan about as far as I can throw him.”

I blew out an exasperated breath.

“I’m sorry, Lily. You’re going to have to be patient a little longer.”

“Patience isn’t my strong suit.” Pun intended.

He gave me a crooked grin, and kissed me. “Don’t I know it.”

*   *   *

First Aidan, now Patience.
Grrr
.

I didn’t have the mental space to deal with both of them at the moment. But I could do something about my feelings toward Patience, at least. Sailor’s devotion to that sexy fortune-teller was driving me round the bend.
Enough
.

I took a cedar box down from the high shelf it shared with my red leather-bound Book of Shadows. Taking a bundle of dried sage, I lit the ends and then smudged the inside of the cedar box with the smoke, using a feather to direct it into each corner, then laying the bundle in a large scallop shell in the middle of the box.

While the sage smoldered and purified the box, I brought the newspaper article featuring Patience and a pair of scissors over to the kitchen table.

Oscar crouched atop the table, eyes huge.

“Whatcha doin’?” he growled.

“Nothing. Oscar, I’ve asked you not to stand on the table.” I started to cut out the photo of Patience out of the newspaper.

Eyes never leaving my hands, Oscar crawled off to stand on a chair. His gravelly voice dropped to an awed, excited whisper. “Mistress is doing
voodoo
on Patience Blix?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then whatcha doin’?”

“And I’m not your mistress anymore, remember?”

He shrugged.

I turned the cutout picture over and inscribed her name in careful block letters in red ink.

“You
are
!” cried Oscar. “You’re doing a
hex
on Patience Blix!”