The Golden Lily (31 page)

“Boy, that sounds familiar,” muttered Adrian.

“Okay, then,” I said, resolving to be strong. “I need to get started. Sonya’s waiting.” Provided she was still alive to wait.

Ms. Terwiliger left, teling me to get her when I was on the spell’s last stage. Adrian delayed a moment to speak with me.

“You sure you’re okay with all of this? I mean, from what I know about you and the Alchemists … wel, it seems like you’d actualy be pretty not-okay with this.”

“I’m not,” I agreed. “Like I said, this goes against everything I believe—against everything they’ve taught me. Which is why you can’t tell anyone. You heard her passive aggressive remark about me not practicing? She’s been on me for a while now to develop my so-caled magical skils, and I keep refusing—

because it’s wrong. So, she has me research spell books for my independent study with her, in the hopes of me learning by osmosis.”

“That’s messed up,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” I gave him a small smile. “Wel, I want to find Sonya. So I do have to do this.”

He gave me no smile in return. “Okay. But I’m just going to be out there—having a tea party with her cats or whatever it is she has in mind. You need me? You yel. You want to leave?

We go. I’ll get you out of here, no matter what.” Something clenched in my chest, and for a moment, the whole world narrowed down to the green of his eyes.

“Thank you.” Adrian left, and I was alone. Wel, almost. One of the cats had stuck around, a sleek black one with yelow eyes. It was lying on a high shelf, watching me curiously, like it wondered if I could realy pull this off. That made two of us.

For a moment, I couldn’t move. I was about to wilingly work magic. All the protests and arguments I’d given Ms. Terwiliger were like ash in the wind now. I started trembling and felt short of breath. Then, I thought about Sonya. Kind, brave Sonya.

She’d devoted so much energy and time to doing the right thing.

She’d devoted so much energy and time to doing the right thing.

How could I do any less?

As I’d noted to Ms. Terwiliger, the spell was deceptively simple. It didn’t require half as many steps as the fire amulet. I had to keep water simmering in a copper cauldron and add different ingredients to it, most of which were clear oils that had to be measured with exacting care. The air soon grew heavy with the scent of bergamot, vanila, and heliotrope. Some of the steps had the same ritual redundancy I’d done before. For example, I had to pluck thirteen fresh mint leaves off one of her plants, dropping each leaf in one at a time while counting them off in Greek. Then, when they had simmered for thirteen minutes, I had to remove each one with a rosewood spoon.

Before leaving, Ms. Terwiliger had told me to stay focused and think about both the steps of the spell and what I was ultimately hoping to accomplish. So, I turned my thoughts toward Sonya and finding her, praying that she was okay. When I finaly finished these initial steps, I saw that almost an hour had gone by.

I’d barely noticed it passing. I wiped a hand over my forehead, surprised at how much the steamy room had made me sweat. I went out to find Ms. Terwiliger and Adrian, uncertain what weird activity I’d find going on. Instead, things were pretty ordinary: they were watching TV. Both glanced up at my approach.

“Ready?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Smels like tea in here,” said Adrian, as they folowed me to the workroom.

“Smels like tea in here,” said Adrian, as they folowed me to the workroom.

the workroom.

Ms. Terwiliger examined the small cauldron and nodded her head in approval. “It looks excelent.” I didn’t know how she could tell at a glance but figured I’d take her word for it. “Now.

The actual scrying involves a silver plate, correct?” She scanned her shelves of dishes and pointed at something. “There. Use that.” I puled down a perfectly round plate about twelve inches across. It was smooth, with no ornamentation, and had been polished to such briliance that it reflected almost as well as a mirror. I probably could’ve done without that part, though, seeing as my hair and makeup were showing the wear and tear of the day. Around anyone else, I would have felt self-conscious.

I set the plate on the worktable and poured one cup of water from the cauldron onto the silvery surface. All non-liquid ingredients had been removed, and the water was perfectly clear. Once it stopped rippling, the mirror effect returned. Ms.

Terwiliger handed me a tiny bowl of galbanum incense, which the book said should be burning during this last stage. I lit the resin with a candle, and a bitter, green smell wafted up, contrasting with the sweetness of the liquid.

“You still have the hair?” Ms. Terwiliger asked.

“Of course.” I laid it across the water’s smooth surface. Part of me wanted something to happen—sparks or smoke—but I’d read the directions and knew better. I puled a stool up to the table and sat on it, alowing me to gaze down into the water.

“Now I look?”

“Now you look,” she confirmed. “Your mind needs to be

“Now you look,” she confirmed. “Your mind needs to be both focused and spread out. You need to think about the components of the spell and the magic they hold, as well as your desire to find the spell’s subject. At the same time, you need to maintain a perfect clarity of mind and stay fixed on your task with razor sharp focus.”

I looked down at my reflection and tried to do all those things she’d just described. Nothing happened. “I don’t see anything.”

“Of course not,” she said. “It’s only been a minute. I told you this was an advanced spell. It may take a while for you to fuly muster the strength and power you need. Stay on task. We’ll be waiting.”

The two of them left. I stared bleakly at the water, wondering how long “a while” was. I’d been excited when the spell seemed so simple originaly. Now, I wished there were more ingredients to mix, more incantations to recite. This high-level magic, relying on will and mental energy, was much more difficult—mainly because it was intangible. I liked the concrete. I liked to know exactly what was needed to make something happen. Cause and effect.

But this? This was just me staring and staring, hoping I was

“staying fixed” and using “razor sharp focus.” How would I know if I was? Even if I achieved that state, it might still take a while to manifest what I needed. I tried not to think of that yet.

Sonya. Sonya was all that mattered right now. All of my will and energy had to go into saving her.

I kept teling myself that as the minutes ticked by. Each time I I kept teling myself that as the minutes ticked by. Each time I was certain I should stop and ask Ms.

Terwiliger what to do, I would force myself to keep looking into the water. Sonya, Sonya. Think about Sonya. And still, nothing happened. Finaly, when an ache in my back made sitting unbearable, I stood up to stretch. The rest of my muscles were starting to cramp up too. I walked back to the living room; almost an hour and a half had passed since I’d last been out here.

“Anything?” asked Ms. Terwiliger.

“No,” I said. “I must be doing something wrong.”

“You’re focusing your mind? Thinking about her? About finding her?”

I was realy tired of hearing the word focus. Frustration was replacing my earlier anxiety about magic. “Yes, yes, and yes,” I said. “But it’s still not working.” She shrugged. “And that’s why we have a curfew extension.

Try again.”

Adrian flashed me a sympathetic look and started to say something—but then thought better of it. I nearly left but paused as a troublesome thought nagged at me.

“What if she’s not alive?” I asked. “Could that be why it’s not working?”

Ms. Terwiliger shook her head. “No. You’d still see something if she wasn’t. And … wel, you’d know.” I returned to the workroom and tried again—with similar results. The next time I went to talk to Ms. Terwiliger, I saw that it hadn’t been quite an hour. “I’m doing something wrong,” I insisted. “Either that, or I messed up the initial spell. Or this realy insisted. “Either that, or I messed up the initial spell. Or this realy is beyond me.”

“If I know you, the spell was flawless,” she said. “And no, this isn’t beyond you, but only you have the power to make it happen.”

“If I know you, the spell was flawless,” she said. “And no, this isn’t beyond you, but only you have the power to make it happen.” I was too tired to parse her esoteric philosophy nonsense. I turned without a word and trudged back to the workroom.

When I reached it, I discovered I’d been folowed. I looked up at Adrian and sighed.

“No distractions, remember?” I said.

“I won’t stay,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah … I mean, I don’t know. In as much as anyone can be with all of this.” I nodded toward the silver plate. “Maybe I do need you to get me out of here.” He considered for a moment and then shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I stared up at him in disbelief. “What happened to me not having to do anything I didn’t want to do? And you nobly defending me?” One of his knowing little smiles played over his lips. “Wel.

That was back when you didn’t want to do this because it chalenged all your beliefs. Now that the line is crossed, your problem seems to be a little pessimism and not believing you can do this. And honestly, that’s bulshit.”

“A little pessimism?” I exclaimed. “Adrian, I’ve been staring at a bowl of water for over two hours! It’s nearly one thirty. I’m exhausted, I want coffee, and every muscle in my body hurts.

exhausted, I want coffee, and every muscle in my body hurts.

Oh, and I’m about ready to throw up from that incense.”

“Those things all suck,” he agreed. “But I seem to recall you giving all of us lectures recently about enduring hardships to do what’s right. Are you saying you can’t do that to help Sonya?”

“I would do anything to help her! Anything within my power, that is. And I don’t think this is.”

“I don’t know,” he speculated. “I’ve had a lot of time to talk to Jackie—she lets me call her that, you know—and I’ve learned all about this human magic stuff.

There’s a lot you can do with it.”

“It’s wrong,” I grumbled.

“And yet here you are, with the ability to find Sonya.” Adrian hesitated and then, reaching some decision, stepped toward me and rested his hands on my shoulders.

“Jackie told me that you’re one of the most naturaly gifted people she’s ever encountered for this kind of stuff. She said that with a little practice, a spell like this’ll be cake for you, and she’s certain you can pull it off now. And I believe her. Not because I have proof you’re magicaly talented but because I’ve seen how you approach everything else. You won’t fail at this. You don’t fail at anything.”

I was so exhausted I thought I might cry. I wanted to fall forward and have him carry me out of here, like he’d promised earlier. “That’s the problem. I don’t fail, but I’m afraid I will now. I don’t know what it’s like. And it terrifies me.” Especially because Sonya’s life depends on me.

because Sonya’s life depends on me.

Adrian reached out and traced the lily on my cheek. “You won’t have to find out what it’s like tonight because you aren’t going to fail. You can do this. And I’ll be here with you as long as it takes, okay?”

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. “Okay.” I returned to my stool after he left and tried to ignore the fatigue in my body and mind. I thought about what he’d said, about how I wouldn’t fail. I thought about his faith in me. And most importantly, I thought about Sonya. I thought about how desperately I wanted to help her.

All these things churned within me as I stared at the water, crystal clear except for the hair floating in it. One red line against all that silver. It was like a spark of fire, a spark that grew brighter and brighter in my eyes until it took on a more definite shape, a circle with stylized lines radiating from it. A sun, I realized. Someone had painted an orange sun onto a piece of plywood and hung it on a chain-link fence. Even with the shoddy canvas, the artist had gone to a lot of care in painting the sun, stylizing the rays and making sure the lengths were consistent with each other. The fence itself was ugly and industrial, and I caught sight of what looked like an electrifying box hanging on it.

The landscape was brown and barren, but mountains in the distance told me it was still the greater Palm Springs area. This was kind of like the area Wolfe lived in, outside of town and away from the pretty greenery. Through the fence, beyond the sign, I caught sight of a large, sprawling building—

“Ow!”

“Ow!”

The vision vanished as my head hit the floor. I had falen off the stool.

I managed to sit up, but that was all I could do. The world was spinning, and my stomach felt queasy and empty. After what could have been three seconds or three hours, I heard voices and footsteps. Strong arms caught hold of me, and Adrian helped me to my feet. I clung to the table while he picked the stool up and helped me sit back down. Ms. Terwiliger pushed the silver plate aside and replaced it with an ordinary kitchen plate filed with cheese and crackers. A glass of orange juice soon joined it.

soon joined it.

“Here,” she said. “Eat these. You’ll feel better.” I was so disoriented and weak that I didn’t even hesitate. I ate and drank as though I hadn’t eaten in a week while Adrian and Ms. Terwiliger waited patiently. It was only when I’d practicaly licked the plate clean that I realized what I’d just consumed.

“Havarti and orange juice?” I groaned. “That’s too much fat and sugar for this time of night.” Adrian scoffed. “Glad to see there’s no lasting damage.”

“Get used to it if you’re going to be using magic a lot,” said Ms. Terwiliger. “Spels can deplete you. Not unusual at all to have your blood sugar drop afterward.

Orange juice will become your best friend.”

“I’ll never get used to it, seeing as I’m not going to—” I gasped, as the images I’d seen in the silver plate came tumbling back to me. “Sonya! I think I saw where she’s at.” I described what I’d seen, though none of us had any clue about where or what I’d seen, though none of us had any clue about where or what this place might be.