The Curse of Dark Root: Part Two (Daughters of Dark Root Book 4) (39 page)

“Maybe I'm just running out of light bulbs,” I said, lifting my chin.

“You kept an entire industry in business, my dear. GE sends its sincerest thanks.”

I snorted softly. “I'm working on controlling my temper and being better at letting things go. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook. I've forgiven you for the past, but in the future...”

“Got it,” he said, kissing my forehead. “I will never screw up like that again.” He tightened his grip on me. “That's why you can't leave Dark Root. You're a blazing light for trackers. Your emotions flash like a police siren. Just wait till all this settles down a bit, please?”

I swallowed and nodded. “Okay, I can stay put a while longer, but Montana really should see a doctor.”

“Let Michael take him. He's proven he's a good dad. You owe him that.”

Though disconcerted by Shane suddenly complimenting Michael, I had to agree. “He has been amazing. I didn't know he was capable of such selflessness.”

I thought about Michael and Shane, both making sacrifices for their children. Mother was wrong about warlocks. Sadly, I'd let her prejudices color me. From now on, all my opinions would be my own.

I hugged Shane tightly, lost in love for him. “I'll let Michael take Montana to the doctor. Just don't tell him I caved. He'll act smug.”

“Glad to see your newfound humility hasn't dented your pride.”

I pointed to the corner of the garden, where the soil met the tree line. “That's where I bury my demons,” I whispered.

“I hope they’re good fertilizer,” he joked, though his fingers tensed against my skin.

“Don't worry,” I said. “It's just one demon so far, and he's in a glass jar for safekeeping. Although...”

I hesitated. “I, uh, think there might be one in your diner.”

“What?”

“I believe my father opened a portal decades ago, and a dark spirit followed him back.”

Shane chewed on his lip. “I admit I've felt something in there. A few somethings, actually. Once I even had to talk myself out of hightailing it out of there in the middle of the dinner rush. The atmosphere suddenly got so heavy I thought I was suffocating.”

“I know that feeling.”

“You think a malevolent spirit caused the fire?” he asked.

“That's my guess.”

“Why now, though?”

“I think the Council blocked the portal long ago, but it couldn’t hold forever. It may be due to Dora and Jillian’s weakened abilities. I know the magick is slipping all over Dark Root, and we need to start strengthening the protection spells.”

“Well, that’s just great. The diner hasn't seen a haunting in thirty years, but the second I fix it up the ghosts come back.”

“Your biscuits probably get good word of mouth in the spirit world,” I teased.

“Or maybe the dead just heard I had a pretty new girlfriend and wanted to pop over and take a gander for themselves?”

“Much more plausible.” I nodded towards the kitchen window, all chatter inside as the others paraded by with covered dishes, tall wine glasses, and baskets of homemade bread. “I guess we should join them. Even if this dinner is in your honor, it won't stop Ruth Anne from eating everything on the table if we're late.”

Shane rubbed his stomach. “Yeah, we better. I haven't had a home cooked meal since...”

His words trailed off and I didn't press. The past was the past. We held hands and walked back to the house, both quietly longing for a return to normal life. He paused at the back steps to inspect the half-buried jar sticking out from the ground. “Anything else happen in my absence?”

“You know all the big stuff.”

“What about the little stuff?”

“Hmm. Well, I had some run-ins with Larinda, my dead grandmother tried to kill me, I kissed Michael, and I'm pretty sure my son is going to push me over a banister one day.”

“What do you mean you kissed Michael?”

“That's what you latch on to?”

Shane grabbed me and kissed me passionately. When he finally released me, I was pleasantly dizzy. “I'm going to kiss you so much you'll forget all about Michael. I'll kiss away every thought you've ever had of that man, if it takes an entire lifetime.”

“Deal,” I said, melting into him.

My euphoria faded as I spotted a large raven, watching us from a high perch in a nearby oak. Another of Larinda's minions, no doubt.

I glared at the creature, daring it to come closer. The bird fidgeted on the branch, knowing it had been spotted, then flew back into the thick of the woods.

My fever returned instantly and without warning. The world spun, and it wasn't due to the lingering effects of Shane's kiss.

The next moment, he was carrying me into the house, calling for aspirin and a cool cloth. I could see his blurred face, frantically tapping my cheeks, and calling my name.

I reached for him as the world disappeared.

TWENTY-NINE

Touch Me

MERRY FILLED THE tub with tepid water while Jillian added Epsom salts and peppermint oil. Eve lit candles and Ruth Anne helped me undress. Aunt Dora managed the steep climb upstairs and stood guard outside the bathroom door, sending the men away whenever they approached.

The water warmed as it absorbed my body heat. I sank into the bubbles, my vision enveloped by the mountains of suds.

“I saw a raven,” I rambled.

The others answered “yes, yes,” and “shh, save your strength.”

Didn’t they understand the raven was an omen? It appeared with my fever. If I had my doubts about the curse before, it was clear to me now that Larinda was behind it. She wanted to weaken me in order at get to my son, to offer him up to my father. But it would take more than a fever––she wasn't just fighting one witch; she was battling an entire coven.

The women filed in and out in shifts, refilling my tub water and keeping me awake. Eve arrived at some point, handing me a cup of yarrow tea as she sat down on the toilet seat. She looked me over, lost for words. “Oh, Maggie.”

“I'm fine now,” I tried to reassure her. I could take most anyone's pity, but not Eve's. Because when pity shone in her eyes, I knew things were bad.

I glanced at a clear vial cupped in her hands. “What's that?”

“This?” Her dark eyes lit up beneath her bangs. She leaned forward, her eyes darting towards the door where Aunt Dora stood just outside. “I didn't have a chance to say anything yet, but Paul's coming tomorrow! I'm so excited I don't know what to do.” She smiled, but then let it fade. “I mean, I was excited, until this happened.”

I pulled myself upright in the tub, crossing my arms in front of me. “Don't feel guilty for being happy. There's already enough guilt in this house at the moment.”

“Thanks. That means a lot to me.” She held out her wrist, displaying a freshly inked heart tattoo with an inscription reading:
Eve and Paul Forever.

“You must really love him,” I said. Eve had never so much as doodled a boy's name in her journal, yet here she was tattooing Paul’s name on her flawless skin.

“It's not a real tattoo, or even henna. It’s magick ink I found in Mother's room when we cleaned it out. Now I can’t get it off, and I can't let him see this!”

“Why? He might be flattered.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “A man must never know you're thinking of him, Maggie. They only respond to aloofness and being ordered around. Once they think they have you, they disappear. I only wish this mark would.”

“And the vial in your hands will help how?”

“I made this vanishing ointment earlier, but I don't think I got it right.” She pulled the stopper and dabbed a bit of blue oil onto the tip of her finger, then rubbed it across the heart. She inspected the tattoo, frowned, then added another dose.

“Can’t you just cover it with makeup until it fades?”

Eve added more oil and then rinsed her hands under the sink. “I tried that – it didn’t work. On the plus side, this vanishing potion is an old recipe of Mom’s and could make us rich, if we figure out the right balance of ingredients.”

“You really think it will sell?”

“Yes. I’m also working on another recipe Mom used that might even be better. That one actually illuminates things that are concealed by magic. Mother just left lists of ingredients and crude instructions, but I'll get them right.”

I ran more warm water as I considered the implications of Mother’s illumination potion. “So, if we had enough of that stuff, it could reveal magickal portals and doors, too?” I asked, hopefully.

“Maybe. For that level of magick we'd probably need it in mist form.”

“Too bad we don't have the mist now,” I lamented. “We'd spray this town down with a fire hose. Who knows how many secrets we'd uncover?”

I thought about the mysterious portal in Dip Stix, and the one in Sister House. There were probably many more doorways, carved out by my father and Larinda, waiting to be rediscovered.

Eve continued to dab at the oil on her wrist. At last, she held up her hands, a proud grin on her face. There wasn't so much as a shadow of the magickal ink anywhere on her skin. “Don't tell me I don't know my potions!” she announced.

“As long as I live, I'll never speak those words.”

She looked grimly at me. I leveraged myself from the tub and she handed me a warm towel.

“I'm sorry you're sick again,” she said. “But at least you have Shane here to help now. Just think, we'll both have our guys back.” She caught her reflection in the mirror and slid her hands through her silky mane, all concern gone from her face. “Now we need to find Merry a guy. And don't you dare suggest Michael! The sooner that man runs off to form another cult, the better.”

“I don't think Merry wants a guy,” I said, carefully drying off. “I think she just wants June Bug home.”

“June Bug is great, but she won't keep Merry warm at night.” Eve took my towel and exchanged it for a robe. “But kids do change you. I can't wait to see Paul but I can't wait to hug Nova either. He says she may start school here in August. Can you believe that? Our kids may all grow up together, and I won't even have to wreck my body for it!”

“You always come out on top, Eve.”

She looked at me, her insensitivity finally registering on her pretty face. “You're just so strong, it’s easy to forget you’re sick.”

“I forget, too,” I admitted. “And I have every intention of seeing our kids grow up together, and then seeing them all want to run away from this town. Just like we did.”

Eve smiled, her eyes sparkling. “Yes, only to wish they'd never left.”

“They'll realize Dark Root has everything they need––fine food and friendly folks.”

And ghosts, demons, curses.

We had everything here in Dark Root.

Even things that shouldn’t be here.