Any Witch Way (The Witch Next Door Book 3)

by Judith Berens

“Who?”

  “All these people…” His eyes shifted over the gathered villagers, then he chuckled. “I’m not trying to freak you out, by the way.”

  She snorted and playfully smacked his arm. “Then maybe don’t start a conversation with ‘Something feels off.’”

  “Hey, I’m merely being honest.” He laughed. “I get it. Find a better opener.”

  “Yes, please.” Without any warning, the drummer struck up a beat, followed quickly by the lilting flute and the woman’s sand-filled gourd. She nudged him with her elbow. “Oh, so they were all simply waiting for the music.”

  “Maybe.”

  About a dozen villagers gathered behind them and began to raise them to their feet. They giggled and shouted things Lily couldn’t make out over her own surprised laughter and the fact that she could only focus on trying not to fall over or onto any of them. Finally, when both she and Romeo were standing, the countless hands released her and a cheer rose from all the villagers together.

  “What is going on?” She looked up at him, and his eyes were as wide as hers felt.

  “I have no clue. Hey, this isn’t what Neron was talking about earlier, right? You don’t think we’re—”

  “We are not sacrifices,” she muttered and slapped his arm. “That’s awful.” They both began to laugh, catching the contagious good humor all around them.

  “Now, you dance,” Chalina shouted.

  “What?” Romeo shook his head.

  “Both of you.” Aluino folded his arms and nodded.

  “Okay, I don’t know how many times I have to tell people. I don’t—”

  “Do the dance!” Rosalía shouted.

  He pointed at her with a mock frown. “You are not helping.”

  “Dance! Dance!” The other children joined in, then the adults, and it basically became a chant for the two American magicals within a traveling group of indigenous witches to simply do the dance.

  Filipe walked slowly toward them and scowled at Romeo. The kid stopped and folded his arms. “I thought you were brave until now.” His people cracked up at that, but the kid didn’t even blink.

  “You know, kid, I get the feeling you actually mean that.”

  The boy simply shrugged and raised his eyebrows before he walked away.

  Romeo sighed so heavily through his nose, it almost sounded like a growl. “I can’t back away from that challenge, can I? Okay, fine!” He spread his arms and stepped away from Lily. The villagers broke out into even louder cheering. “Fine. We’ll do the dance.”

  “We?” She laughed and Chalina prodded her forward into the ring of open earth beside the fire.

  “I believe the man said both of us.” He wiggled his eyebrows and she rolled her eyes but they turned to face each other.

  The music changed abruptly, the drumbeat much slower now while the flute uttered fast, twirling notes, high and low and high again. Chalina leaned forward to nod at Lily. “Now.”

  “I don’t even know what this is.” Still, she performed the first series of steps. At the end, she raised her arm and held it in the right position, waiting exactly as she’d been taught. Another round of loud encouragement bombarded her from all the villagers watching, and it made her laugh.

  Romeo moved through a few shuffling, awkward movements. The men had a good chuckle at that and didn’t even try to hide it, but someone else shouted, “You dance much better tonight!” He clenched his eyes shut and laughed with them, and the music changed enough to bring a whole different feeling to the scene.

  “Keep going!”

  When Lily stepped forward, so did Romeo. They laughed to see their own movements mirror each other, sometimes as a reflection and sometimes in opposition. He stumbled a few times but managed to release all the awkwardness and simply dance with Lily around the fire. “It looks like you know what you’re doing,” she whispered when the motions brought their faces inches apart.

  “Honestly, I’m only copying you.”

  She laughed, spun in a tight circle, and threw her head back to catch a glimpse of him doing something like a bow. By the time they both stamped their feet into the damp earth beneath them, he had stopped thinking about where to put his feet and how ridiculous he felt. She had stopped feeling dozens of eyes watching her perform something she didn’t understand. They didn’t touch each other until the very end, when she spread her arms and he clapped his over his head before he pulled his fists toward his chest. Neither of them expected him to catch her around the waist and dip her so low to the ground that her hair brushed the dead leaves on the jungle floor. She shouted in surprise and grinned. When she looked at him, his chest heaved and he stared at her like he’d just discovered he could fly.

  The flute stopped on a high, fluttering note. They hadn’t realized how completely silent the camp had fallen around them until the villagers burst into raucous applause, whistling and hooting, while they stamped their feet. A few cheers followed, and the music picked up again at a much faster pace. Laughing, Romeo lifted Lily fully onto her feet again and the villagers around them began to dance as well. Aluino pulled Chalina into a quick, whirling spin, and when they passed the young couple, the woman caught Lily’s gaze and raised her eyebrows. “Now you know.” She disappeared with her husband into the flickering firelight and the jumping shadows and the moving bodies of her people.

  “Know what?” Romeo asked, still breathing a little heavier than normal.

  “That’s the thing.” She laughed. “I still don’t know.”

  “That was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done.” He ran a hand through his hair. “They cheered but I think they were only trying not to hurt my feelings.”

  She slid her arms around his waist and looked at him. “Actually, that was some good dancing. Whatever it’s called. Nice dip at the end.”

  “Yeah, well, I only did what felt right in the moment, I guess.”

  “I’m sure that’s what dancing is.”

  He chuckled and hugged her closer while they watched the villagers celebrating a little more vigorously than they had since leaving their home. With her ear pressed against his chest, she heard and felt his racing heartbeat.

  The camp bustled with activity the next morning when Romeo and Lily opened the Winnie’s side door and stepped out into the jungle. A second later, the villagers cheered at them again, pumped their fists, and whooped like the two had done something unfathomably heroic. They only had enough time to exchange a confused glance before Aluino approached and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “You should stay out here with us through the passage.” He grinned and shook them a little.

  “Is this one different than the others?” Lily asked.

  “For you, yes!” The man laughed. “The earth takes great joy in blessing new unions. You will feel it if you stand within our circle.”

  “Wait, what?” Romeo leaned toward him. “What new unions?”

  The man merely laughed and turned away from them to take his place in the growing circle of villagers.

  Romeo looked at Lily with wide eyes. “That sounded a lot like—”

  “Yeah. I think he meant us.” She tried not to laugh. “What did we actually do last night?”

  “It’s how our people join their lives together.” Rosalía approached them with confident steps and stopped in front of them to study them from head to toe. “Mama said it always feels different as husband and wife. Maybe that’s why you’re so confused.”

  Lily blinked furiously. “As what, now?”

  “Husband and—”

  “Yeah, okay. We heard you the first time.” He chucked the girl gently under her chin.

  Rosalía jerked her head away and laughed. “You really don’t know how things work here, do you?”

  “Shouldn’t you be practicing something super-important?” Lily raised an eyebrow and the girl straightened out of her playful posture.

  “After we pass through, I will. I promise.”

  “Good. Do you have a place in
the circle right now?”

  “Yes!” The child danced away toward the ring of villagers now starting to hold hands, paused once to grin at them, and added, “Take your shoes off.”

  They stood in silence for a minute, and Romeo glanced at his sneakers. “That’s simple enough, right?”

  “Sure.” They slipped out of their shoes and stood barefoot in the damp soil. Lily took a deep breath.

  “Okay, so…”

  “It was the dance, right?” Turning toward each other, they froze and burst out laughing. “I knew it was the dance.”

  “These people are sneaky.” He shook his head.

  “Would you have done it if they’d told you what it meant?”

  He shrugged. “Not if you didn’t know too. Would you?”

  Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she could think of an answer. “That’s one of those big things that kinda needs to be talked about first, right?”

  “That’s what I thought. And we were peer-pressured into…” He cleared his throat. “Uh…”

  “Getting married by an indigenous tribe in the jungle.” She barked out a laugh.

  He sighed dramatically. “That kinda sounds cool, but only a little.” His eyes widened and he leaned away from her. “You’re not…are you taking this seriously? Or—”

  “Are you kidding?” She slipped her arm through his and grinned at him. “Again, that’s something that needs a conversation first. I’m not…we’re not married.”

  “Okay. So what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico.” He swallowed and looked at the now empty camp and the circle of villagers preparing for the next massive teleportation.

  Lily watched him closely. I can’t tell if he’s relieved or disappointed. “Hey.” He looked at her. “Nothing changed, okay?”

  He smiled. “Good. I mean…I know that. But still. Good.” He leaned down to kiss her, and they might have talked about it more if the villagers hadn’t already begun their chanting.

  Their voices were a lot clearer outside the Winnie, although Lily still didn’t understand a word of the incantation. The low, droning buzz was a lot more intense too, and she clutched his arm with both hands even before the world vibrated around them. Through her shaky vision, she saw the huge trees around them blink in and out of focus, then she couldn’t see anything for a fraction of a second. The earth grew warm beneath her feet and hummed like some kind of soft, purring engine springing to life. Her legs tingled as the energy moved up through her body, and by the time it reached her head, they’d already passed through.

  Romeo stumbled beside her. Trying to steady his weight, she lowered him awkwardly onto the ground so he wouldn’t fall and maybe crush her too. The Winnie’s side door banged shut, and she turned to see Rosalía race across the ground toward them.

  The girl skidded to a halt and opened her hand to reveal two of the purple wolfsbane flowers. “Is he always so forgetful?”

  Lily chuckled and took them. “All this takes a little getting used to, I think. Thanks.” She knelt beside him and worked the flowers into his mouth again. This is not as bad as force-feeding him a poisonous tincture to save his life, but it still feels weird.

  In less than a minute, the wolfsbane had done its work and Romeo gradually focused on the girl who stood in front of him. “You had already planned to do that, hadn’t you?”

  She fixed him with a challenging look very reminiscent of her mother. “Only if you didn’t. I waited to see first. I think maybe that pot would fit better in the shower.”

  He turned toward Lily. “See? That was the next best place.”

  “I won’t take showers with a whole poisonous plant.” She pressed her lips together and caught his hand for a little squeeze before she released it. “So where did we end up this time?”

  Nodding, Rosalía stepped aside to reveal the full view of the next mountain peak before them. “We are almost at the temple.” She pointed at the few white spires and most of a white arch that protruded above the jungle canopy. “Papa said we’ll be there tonight.”

  This time, Romeo squeezed Lily’s hand. “That’s some seriously impressive traveling.” He pushed himself to his feet and offered her a hand up too. “Are we going right now?”

  “After eating, I think. Are you hungry?”

  “I…think I’ll wait for a while.” He ran a hand through his curls and smirked. With a shrug and a careless tilt of her head, she skipped away to rejoin her parents and the other villagers setting out food and water for everyone. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the white stone of Ichacál in the distance. “Okay. This is the final stretch.”

  “Yeah.” She studied what little she could see of the healing temple. “Now we get to see what kinda place it really is.”

  Inside the Winnebago and the wooden box on the shelf behind Lily’s bed, the carved stone head with black-hole eyes and a perpetually open mouth stirred. It rattled a few times within the box before the carving’s eyes and mouth illuminated with a sickly green glow. The light pulsed in a quick series of rhythmic bursts, alerting those who awaited its return. More and more people traveled to Ichacál every day for safety and the promise of renewed hope, but the stone carvings answered only to their masters.

  Twenty-Six

  It took them almost eight hours to navigate the wagons and the RV through the mountainous terrain—one steep decline before an even steeper ascent toward Ichacál. At one point, Romeo got out to help push a few of the wagons through the worst of it, and when he returned to the Winnie, it was only to usher the completely exhausted kids inside so they could sit and not add any extra weight to the wagons.

  The sun hadn’t quite set when they pushed over the final rise and found the dirt road leading directly to the temple. The surrounding jungle, though, blocked almost all of the remaining daylight. When the wagons finally began to roll more easily over a better-maintained road than anything they’d traveled thus far, a few haggard cheers rose from the villagers who weren’t pulling said wagons. But even those subsided under exhaustion. Still, the relief of having finally made it to their destination brought a wave of excited whispers that drifted through the travelers.

  After another kilometer, they found the path illuminated by glowing white stones lining the dirt. The intricate arches, spires, gateways, and windows of Ichacál’s healing temple emerged from the trees. With a renewed burst of energy, the wagons were pulled and pushed much faster now toward the temple itself. The whispers grew to exclamations of awe and gratitude, and Lily had to really step on the gas pedal for the first time in five days.

  At the small courtyard outside the temple—which was really nothing more than a rounded circle of packed earth and a few flowers sprouting around its edges—the travelers were welcomed by the Wisemen of Ichacál.

  That was the first thing that caught her attention when she turned off the Winnie and stood. “We made it.”

  The kids curled on the couch, in the armchair, and even stuffed into the booths at the small kitchen table all scrambled from their seats toward the side door. Filipe reached it first and shoved it open, followed by the others. “The Wisemen,” one of them whispered, her eyes wide as she paused on the stairs.

  “Get out so we can see.” Another boy pushed her from behind, and the rest of them tumbled out into the courtyard.

  Lily stepped cautiously out of the RV and looked around. The place was definitely well-lit, both with those glowing stones along the pathways and with tiny versions of the light orbs she’d first taught Rosalía. Romeo stood outside and she stopped beside him. “Who are the Wisemen?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say all the dudes in blue robes.”

  She finally saw them—about a dozen witches, all of them male, streaming in two lines from the temple’s main entrance toward the weary travelers in their midst. The men’s sleeves fell far past their hands and their robes trailed behind them on the ground. It had the same visual effect as the floating warlocks the day before, but these witches s
till moved with a graceful rise and fall to their steps.

  “Welcome to Ichacál,” they said and opened their arms in greeting to shake hands and offer quick hugs. The courtyard filled with subdued conversations. “Come share our shelter and our food.”

  “We also seek advice,” Aluino said. “Maybe your help, but only if you are willing to offer it.”

  The Wiseman standing in front of him closed his eyes and nodded. “Yes. We may speak of all these things in the morning. Tonight, what your people need is to rest in the comfort of knowing you are all finally in a safe place.”

  “Yes. Thank you.” The villager nodded and placed his arm around Chalina’s shoulders. Filipe and Rosalía followed closely behind their parents. A few villagers went through the wagons to gather what they wished to take with them into the temple before they too joined the others and the Wisemen ushered them all inside.

  The young couple hung back for a moment. “So far, it feels like a safe place.” Romeo folded his arms. “That’s a decent welcome, right?”

  “Yeah. But it feels a little weird that those Wiseman didn’t seem surprised at all to find dozens of displaced people from a different country showing up on their doorstep. It’s almost like they were expecting us.”

  “Maybe they were.” Neron stopped on the other side of Romeo and stared at the temple entrance. “I did not have the time to tell you sooner. I could not see any deeper into the warning.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  The death witch shook his head. “The spirits’ voices are silent. The visions…” He sighed. “Only a blur I cannot understand.”

  “Even the shadow-bird?”

  “Yes.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Well, that simply means we’re gonna have to keep our eyes open for absolutely anything that might feel off.”

  “It shouldn’t be any harder than it normally is,” Romeo added.

  One of the Wisemen turned from the temple entrance and beckoned to the trio with a broad, sweeping wave. His blue sleeves fluttered through the air.