by Megan Marple
She was fussing quietly to herself, trying to chop up what appeared to be a tea bag.
“I’d ask if you need some help but since you already seem to have it under control . . .” I began, pulling my robe tightly around myself.
“I don’t understand why the tea is in a bag. Is it edible?”
I sighed before fixing us a pot of my own honey and chamomile mix. “This might make you feel more at home.”
She slowly sipped it, sitting back in the kitchen chair. “Mm. Much better.”
I glanced down the hallway, watching the shadow of my daughter move around her room in the slip of light visible under her bedroom door. “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”
“My dear, while she may be refusing to come to terms with it anytime soon, she can hardly hold it against you forever.”
Dubious, I took a sip from my mug. “You do remember what teenagers are like, don’t you?”
But Aunt Bee just waved me off. “I think the real question here is will you ever forgive yourself? You need to be less harsh when it comes to your past. I noticed you didn’t have any kind of grid set up inside the house. Please tell me you at least have some rosemary growing out back.”
My cheeks burned. “I thought it would look a little . . . weird. No one really keeps crystals throughout their houses in the Human Realm. At least not here in Midnight Pitch, anyway.” I took another sip, trying to avoid her gaze. “But yes, I do have rosemary. And a few others to help, too. They don’t offer the same exact kind of protection here, but it’s enough to make a difference.”
I steadily sipped on my tea. Having my daughter mad at me wasn’t something new or far-fetched, but this was a whole other level. I barely got any sleep last night, and with the evidence of my betrayal sitting at the table, watching me with that look she always used to give me, it was like I was one good jump away from exiting my skin altogether.
“I know you have a lot going on with Fiona-Leigh, and I don’t want to press you for more than you’re willing or able to give. But have you given any thought to what I told you about your brother? About helping us find him?”
Ah. I knew it was coming. “You want me to help find Tristan so Uncle Gardner can sic the MARC on him, is it? Sorry if I don’t immediately throw on my cloak and follow after you.”
Aunt Bedelia narrowed her eyes at me through her large glasses that were now a bold turquoise. “If you think I’d ever be a part of handing him over to the authorities just because Gard says so, you don’t know me as well as I thought you did,” she said coolly. “Or have you forgotten who helped raise you two when Maureen left us?”
The sting of my mother’s name still burned just as much as it did back then. “I’m sorry, Aunt Bee.”
She gave me a stiff nod and continued. “My fear is that the cronies he worked with in the Dark Market will be on the hunt for him, too. And he left behind his wand. I don’t exactly know if he has any other kind of amplifier on him to use in case he needs it, either. Now, I’ve been frank with my brother. I told him I will not help the MARC with locating him if he thinks he will be indicted for the murder. There is no real reason to believe he did anything of the sort, and I won’t change my mind on that. Your uncle, well, you know how he is. He loves Tristan too, but he thinks there are too many factors in play to rule it out entirely. He’s also worried for your brother’s safety.”
I sighed. “Does he know? That you’re here trying to recruit me?”
Her mouth pulled to one side, but she gave me a grim nod.
“And he doesn’t want you to. He doesn’t want my help.”
She hesitated for a moment before sliding her hand up over mine across the table. “Dear, you should know that Gardner still thinks the world of you. He’s just stubborn, that’s all.”
I dropped my gaze to my lap. “He doesn’t trust me anymore. Not after I left the academy. Not after I left with a human.” Saying it out loud didn’t make it any better, and I fought back the sharp pain in my chest.
“Stubborn. Just like you and just like your father. I’m the only way half of the communication in the Brady family has ever been made, mind you. So stop feeling sorry for yourself, Gwendolyn. I’ll not have it. I came here because you love your brother no matter what, and I know you care about what happens to him.” She set the mug down and leaned back.
Going back to Spell Haven. It was never something I’d imagined I would do. When you give up your past, and your decision is as final as mine was, you don’t leave yourself an escape hatch or plan B, just in case. It was my full intention that raising Fiona-Leigh in the Human Realm would be exactly that. No magic. No Brady family. No Spell Haven.
“There will be no going back for me. For us,” I whispered. “And how can I let my baby go through that?”
Aunt Bedelia said nothing, but I could feel the words she was thinking as if she were speaking them. I didn’t need to hear her say it out loud to know she thought Fiona-Leigh should deal with her human limitations accordingly. Because what other option was there?
“Oh good,” she smiled. “So you’ll go?”
I groaned. “At the very least, I’ll go talk with Uncle Gardner about the investigation, but before you say anything else—I’m seriously not coming back for good. This is just me trying to help. As soon as we’re finished, and Tristan is back where he needs to be, I’m on the first Portal ride back here,” I replied. I needed to make it clear as crystal that I had no intentions of uprooting everything here and hightailing it back to Spell Haven.
She was definitely getting testy with me, the way she pursed her lips. “Yes, yes, I understand. Crystal clear.” Behind her, I saw Oisín slink into the room, still humming until he saw the two of us and slowly retreated. I didn’t exactly blame him. Sometimes getting Bedelia Brady to see reason past her own heart was trickier than a finding a vampire in a hall of mirrors.
“Well, if you mean that a vampire would be relatively easy to find since you’d only see the real him and nothing else,” Aunt Bee shrugged.
I hung my head because all the coffee and patience in the world couldn’t make this any easier. “You should really try to stay out of my head.”
7
“Y’all have cars in Spell Haven . . . right?”
The hazy-edged blue mountains drew near and slowly surrounded us as we sped down the main road in Midnight Pitch. I didn’t know which was racing faster; the old green jeep or my heart.
Aunt Bedelia and I exchanged a look.
“Well, they’re a little bit, um, different in Spell Haven,” I tried to explain. “Magic simply exists in the same energy form that we think of electricity in our realm. The Human Realm.”
“We have no use for electric cities in Spell Haven, my dear. Our transportation simply goes,” Aunt Bedelia added, smiling at Fiona-Leigh in the rear-view.
“That is so weird,” Fiona-Leigh muttered.
If she thinks that’s weird, just wait until she sees the menagerie.
It had taken me a little longer than normal to get everything situated earlier before we left, including letting Oisín in on the plan as well.
“Oh, that would be the most gloriously awkward sight to behold. But, alas. I have my morning nap to think about. Not to mention my daily mouse hunt in the garden,” he’d said through a yawn, fanning himself with his black paw.
I’d rolled my eyes. “We don’t have any mice in the garden.”
Three of his razor-sharp claws had slid out from his paw in one easy motion, and he’d purred, holding them out in front of him to inspect them. “Exactly.”
I’d shuddered and suppressed the need to vomit, before locking the house up behind me. All I could do was hope Oisín wouldn’t try to start World War III before we made it back.
As the road stretched out in front of us, it occurred to me that something had been on my mind since my aunt had shown up at our house. I knew the magic rules between our realm and theirs, which left me honestly scratching my head at how she even got
here in the first place.
I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel. “And the gateway is working?”
All I could think about was Aunt Bee’s beautiful written note that was sent to me around the neck of Oisín when he was sent to me. According to her, not only had my father died but the MARC had decided to close off our particular gateway, leaving me and Fiona-Leigh in the Human Realm for good.
“Oh yes, it’s working quite well. I saw to it myself,” she replied, inspecting her many jeweled fingers. “Like I told you, Gwennie dear, things have been changing in the Other Realm. Whether that’s good or not, I still can’t be sure.”
My brother’s easy smile popped back into my head. “I guess I’ll have to form my own opinion on that once we get there.”
The road was a straight shot for most of the way, the scenery only changing with the sun rising in the sky, highlighting and casting shadows of the scattered clouds over the mountaintops. We were well into North Carolina before the sign read “Tennessee State Line, 5 miles.”
The last time I was hunting down the gateway’s location, I had a screaming baby in my arms, still trying to figure out how to use a carrier for her. And to be honest, this time wasn’t going to be any less distracting, but I did remember that it would be about three miles past the state line before we would need to stop. Luckily it was after ten o’clock, so our chances of running into rubberneckers trying to figure out why the heck a carload of women just meandered into the forest was much smaller.
Just as if I was wandering out of my own memories, a slightly bent tree that stood out among the rest of the trees on either side of the road caught my attention, and I slammed my foot on the brakes, sending all three of us lurching forward against our seat belts. “Sorry,” I mumbled, wincing as I caught Aunt Bedelia’s glare from the corner of my eye. “I think this is where we go in.”
Fiona-Leigh’s head whipped back and forth, looking from one side of the forest to the other. “Where we go in? You mean we’re just gonna walk into the forest with no trail, no way to know where were going? You don’t think that’s a little . . . insane?”
I tried to ignore the acid that was none-too-subtly dripping from my daughter’s voice. I closed my eyes. She’s just trying to adjust. She’s just lashing out. She’s angry. She’s angsty. She thinks the whole world is against her.
Drawing in a deep breath, I simply replied, “Not at all.”
“Well that makes one of us,” she muttered from the backseat.
I white-knuckled the steering wheel. “Fiona-Leigh, I understand you’re having a hard time letting this all sink in. It’s a process, I get that. And there’s a lot of weird stuff going on in our lives right now, I’ll admit it. But I swear to you, if you do not drop that snotty attitude with me right now, you will live to regret it.”
She didn’t hiss anything else under her breath so I nodded and slid out of the driver’s seat, trying my best to ignore the amused expression on my aunt’s face as she did the same. I knew what she must have been thinking, but there was no way I took the chance at mouthing at my father when I was her age. Not unless I wanted to spend the next week scrubbing the washroom floors of the Danann House. Without magic.
It took some maneuvering to move the jeep off the road and out of sight, but soon we were on our way. The three of us trekked into the thick of the trees where I took the lead, pointing out various spots for them to watch out for. I knew Aunt Bee didn’t have the kind of access to her magic the way she was used to, and the last thing we needed was someone to get bitten by a snake, or worse.
“How much longer do we have to keep walking?” Fiona-Leigh asked, this time sounding more curious than anything.
I peered over my shoulder at her, assessing the pink tinge in her cheeks. “Not long. Less than half a mile, I’d say.”
“I didn’t realize it was so far out. Like, we’re literally in the middle of nowhere.”
When I’d originally gone out to find a place to live, fresh out of Spell Haven, it definitely felt like I would never find the right place. At least until I stopped at a gas station along the way to grab some water, and happened to find the map of the tri-county area. Sometimes I wondered if that was the best idea, planting roots so close to the gateway. But at the moment, I was grateful for past-Gwen’s decision. I needed to buy myself a drink or three when this is all over and done with.
“Sorry, Fi. It’s not like we have the Other Realm gateway inside our closet or anything,” I said, pulling out my phone to check the compass. “We’re looking for a cabin that should be right about . . . there!” I pointed to a dark shape that was just barely visible through the trees. “Do you see that?”
Fiona-Leigh squinted, but Aunt Bedelia nodded, adjusting her glasses. “Ah, yes. I’ve never seen it from this side. I specifically had your uncle give me access to the Portal.”
My jaw dropped. “He gave you access to what? Are you serious?”
Aunt Bedelia simply shrugged. “Even I can get my way when I try hard enough,” she replied with a grin. “Do you really think Gardner would tell his older sister no? Besides, it’s just easier that way, than having to trek all the way through these woods. And ever since we lifted the gateway access, well, the use of magic has been a little bit stronger in your realm I’ll admit.”
“Is that why you could poof here without using the gateway?” Fiona-Leigh asked.
“Precisely.”
Man, there’s a lot I’ve missed out on. “Interesting. It probably would’ve been nice to get a ride back through the portal too, you know.”
“Definitely,” Fiona-Leigh piped up, fanning herself.
The small abandoned cabin ahead didn’t look any better once we finally got to it, its long-decayed wood and moss-and-vine-covered roof was left for dead not too long after what the older people in Midnight Pitch still referred to as the War of Northern Aggression. Hidden under the canopies of the trees, it looked dark and foreboding—definitely not something you’d want to just stride on into. Eyeing it warily, I was cautious as I stepped up onto the beaten-down front porch, beckoning for the other two to follow after me.
“Are you sure this is safe, dear?” Aunt Bedelia asked, gathering her skirts up in her hands as she gingerly picked her way across the old floorboards.
“Nope. But the gateway’s just on the other side here—yep, I can feel it now.”
While anyone could access the gateway once it was open, it was all but invisible to human eyes. Even for us magical beings it was more of a feeling than a seeing thing until you were right up on it.
I paused. There was a blinding, dazzling light that encircled the busted door-frame of a door that led into the cabin. The gateway.
“Ah yes, I can feel it now too,” Aunt Bedelia said.
Fiona-Leigh frowned. “I don’t feel anything. Oh . . . I guess you have to be a witch to feel and see these things. Lovely.”
“Come right here,” I instructed her, giving her bitterness some leeway. I wasn’t about to bring my daughter into my former life, magic and all, and fight with her on top of it. “I’ll go first. Hold my hand—it feels a little weird when you go through it. Aunt Bedelia will come after.”
Fiona-Leigh stood next to me, and reluctantly took my hand. Hers was clammy, and I squeezed it just in case she needed the extra reassurance.
“Ready?”
She nodded, so I took the first few steps forward, pulling her along after me. It was like walking into the market during a blizzard—the cold whoosh of the gateway’s magic sending our hair flying all over the place with the first step, until we had landed solidly onto soft ground on the other side, where the air was warm and mild.
Aunt Bee was right behind us, dusting herself off. “Here we go now, girls. This is much more my speed.” She snapped her fingers and a small flicker of purple flame burst forth from the tips of them, before fading away when she dropped her hand with a satisfied smile. “Home sweet home.”
Instead of walking into a decrepit c
abin, we were standing on a grassy pathway that led out underneath a massive lip of mossy rocks. To our left was a sheer curtain of water that quietly tapered off around the alcove to where I knew there to be a fifty-foot drop into a nearby spring. Amaranth Forest was just like I’d left it.
Fiona-Leigh wasted no time stepping out into the sunlight, looking over at the waterfall and back at me. “What is this place?”
“This is Amaranth Forest. We’re officially in Spell Haven.”
Aunt Bedelia clapped me on the shoulder and moved ahead of us, waving us along. “More walking, ladies. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the way.”
Of course she was right—even though we weren’t too far into the forest, we still had a few miles to go before we’d make it to our destination. And without a transporter, we’d have to go on foot.
Around us, the forest came to life. Everything sparkled under the sunlight that got through, flowers were blooming on either side of the path and releasing puffs of different-colored smoke. There was a twist in my gut as I came across a huge patch of wild lavender—one of my personal favorites. I plucked some from the ground, thanked the plant for its energy as all witches are taught to do, and inhaled its scent before stuffing it into my pocket. You can never have enough lavender, in my opinion.
“Watch out for the Smoke Petals,” Aunt Bee warned Fiona-Leigh as she stopped to watch the smoking flowers. “Those all have different effects on us. I can’t imagine what they’d do to a human child.”
The path led us closer and closer to the edge of the forest, judging by how much brighter it was here. I stopped to pull my hair back up off my neck and watched Fiona-Leigh run her hand along the plush grass at her feet.
“It’s weird because I can feel the difference here. The grass is softer. The air tastes sweet, kinda, like I just finished some cotton candy or something. Is that because of the magic?”
I nodded. “I think so. I noticed it too, the first time I left. When you use the energy here in magical form, it has that smell. Like burnt sugar, almost.”
