Not only could I not let that happen, I didn’t think I could just walk away from Tangerine either. I’d seen the pain and fear in her little eyes. She wanted to live. I’d felt her fighting for her life, and it affected me deeply.
“Do you have any black candles?” I asked.
“Are you joking?” Azriel asked as he finally let go of my hand. “I hate to be a cliché, but I am a vampire, Kinsley. All I have are black candles.”
“Right. Dumb question. Okay, please get me as many black candles as you can and carry Tangerine out into the living room. I need more room than this. We have to work quickly. The tether is fading every moment.”
He nodded to me and scooped up Tangerine’s little body. I followed as he took her into the living room and kicked his coffee table out of the way. He laid her down and then started to leave to get the candles.
“While you’re getting the candles, I’m going to go through your kitchen and see what I can find. Is that okay?”
“Whatever you have to do,” he said.
In the kitchen I found a bottle of red wine, a few herbs, salt, and black pepper. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work. I took what I’d gathered into the living room and arranged the herbs, salt, and peppercorns into a large circle around the dog.
When I’d finished with the circle, I poured the wine into the glass and took a huge gulp of it. After a deep breath, I drained the glass and poured another.
“Are you getting drunk?” Azriel asked as he returned with a box of candles.
“Just a little,” I said. “It helps me cross the veil. I’d normally use some jimsonweed or maybe psychedelic mushrooms, but I’m working with what I have.”
“How does hallucinating help you?” he asked as he set the box of candles on the floor next to me.
“Those things don’t make you hallucinate,” I said. “People think they do, but what they are actually doing is opening you up to the other side. People don’t realize how powerful or dangerous it is. They think it’s imagination, but it’s not. The things that you see are real.”
“I could probably come up with some mushrooms or LSD,” Azriel said. “I’d just need to go ask around. Would LSD work too?”
“The wine will do,” I said. “Let me set up these candles. We need to get started.”
“What can I do?” Azriel asked.
“Does the wine have any effect on you?” I asked.
“Some but not as much as it would on you.”
“Okay, well, finish the bottle then, and you can help me set up the candles.”
He drank the wine, and we arranged the candles into the shape of a pentagram.
“Do you need anything else?” Azriel asked when the pentagram was done.
“This should do it,” I said to him and then turned to Meri. “Are you up for this?”
“What’s a little necromancy amongst friends?” he asked. “I’ll do my best to keep anything nasty from coming through when the veil is down, but you’ll need to act fast. The longer it’s open, the more that will come.”
“What will come?” Azriel asked.
“Demons, evil spirits,” I said. “Heck, just regular spirits who are curious or want to be on this side. We have to keep all of that from crossing over and just bring Tangerine back.”
“You can do that?” He sounded unsure for the first time.
“You wouldn’t have come to me if I couldn’t,” I said. “Is the wine having any effect on you?”
“A little. What does it matter?”
“Because you’ll be the one calling her back. I’ll open the veil with magic, and you have to call her back to you. So, I need you to be able to see the other side. Shouldn’t be hard as you live half in and half out. I need matches or a lighter,” I said but then thought better of it. “You know what? Never mind.” I snapped my fingers and all the candles lit at once.
“Kinsley,” Azriel said breathlessly.
It was obvious he was awestruck by what I’d just done. I would have thought it would take more to impress someone who had lived for so long, but he probably hadn’t spent much time around witches. Historically, we didn’t mix well with vampires, but I didn’t know why. Perhaps it was related to how we reacted to each other. I wasn’t prepared to accept that it was just Azriel that I experienced a stark connection with, but it wasn’t the time for those thoughts. There was an important task at hand.
“Focus,” I said. “You can be astounded by my powers or whatever once we have Tangerine back.”
“What do I do?” he asked. “How do I help?”
“You stay inside the circle and wait quietly until I say. When I give the word, you call her back. She’ll come to you, but she has no idea who I am. Otherwise, I’d tell you to wait outside.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t ask this before, but are you in any danger? Can you be hurt by this?” Azriel asked.
“I should be fine. I have Meri to protect me, and there’s not much out there that can overpower me.”
“But it’s not for certain?” Azriel asked.
“Nothing is.”
He looked back and forth between me and Tangerine as if for the first time he realized he could be trading me for the dog’s life. Azriel’s face was tormented with conflict. He hadn’t thought this thing through, but instead had acted on pure emotion. I wasn’t angry at him for that. I couldn’t be. It happened to us all.
“I don’t know if I can let you do this…” He sounded as if all the fight had gone out of him.
“We’ve come this far, and we’re going to see it through. I’ll bring her back to you,” I said. “I can handle this.”
I could already feel the chaos seeping into me, the prick of darkness boosting my hubris. I had to keep control and not let it get its hooks into me entirely. The darkness promised power, but if you let it, it would consume you.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
I focused all of my attention on thinning the veil and murmured words of chaos that I’d only ever heard Lilith use. I’d seen her reach out to the shadows a few times as a child, and I knew which words were the key. Words that cannot be written down but must only be whispered in the quiet of the night.
I could feel the veil thin to the point of being threadbare. The pull of the other side was as intense for me as it must have been for the dead to our side. I resisted the call of its mystery. I wasn’t going to find out what happened if I answered the call and crossed over. I had too much to live for, but I did have to remind myself more than once. The allure of the hereafter was seductive to someone with chaos in their blood. It didn’t help that I’d crossed the line and actually used necromancy. Azriel had been right to be worried. I needed to finish the ritual and disconnect myself from the darkness.
“Call her now,” I said as I felt the opening begin to contract. I’d opened it as far as I could. All we could do was hope it was enough.
“Tangerine,” Azriel said and then whistled. “Come here, girl.”
I heard a happy bark and felt my heart lift a little. She was still close, and she’d heard him. I also felt the nasty, oily muck of something evil creeping closer.
“Call her again. We need her to come through now. I have to close the passage,” I said.
“Tangerine. Come here, pretty girl,” he called out. “Do you want some cheese?”
With that, I heard more happy barking and the sound of tiny claws clicking towards us. A moment later, the transparent specter of Tangerine emerged as if from thin air.
She walked over and pantomimed sniffing her body, and a second later she was pulled back into it. The tether was thankfully still intact, and it brought body and spirit back as one without the little dog having to understand what was going on.
As soon as she stood up and ran to Azriel, I let the veil close. Not a second too soon as I felt the icy fingers of something just beyond what I could see reach out for me.
I snapped my fingers again and the candles went out. By that time, Tangerine was in
Azriel’s arms licking his face happily.
When I recognized it was over, I collapsed onto the floor. I didn’t pass out or anything, but I was just sitting there cross-legged and staring into space. I’d never felt so drained in my life. I put my hands on my knees to keep from folding over and sprawling on the floor.
Meri ran over and rubbed against my leg. It made me feel a little better, but I was still bone-tired. My eyes and body were in a competition as to which felt heavier.
“Are you all right?” Azriel asked.
He sat down on the floor next to me with Tangerine in his lap. I reached over and scratched her behind the ear, and in return, she let out a happy yip.
“That took a lot out of me,” I said. “I need something to eat and I need to rest. Can you take me home?”
My eyes started to drift shut, and I almost fell over backward. Fortunately, the feeling of falling snapped me back to attention, but it would only last so long.
Azriel stood up and offered me his hand. “Why don’t you rest on the sofa for a bit. I’ll send one of my men out for food. You can eat and then I’ll take you home.”
“I have food at home. I’ll be all right until we get there.”
“I’m not leaving you alone like this,” Azriel said and used the hand that wasn’t holding Tangerine to pull me to my feet. “You can eat here, and when I’m sure you’re fine, I’ll take you home. You saved my Geri, and I’m going to take care of you.”
“So, if I hadn’t saved her, would you be putting me in the dumpster out back?” I asked as he led me to the sofa. My feet refused to lift all the way off the floor, and I had to shuffle along as he supported my weight with one arm around my waist.
He helped me onto the sofa, and I had to lie down. I couldn’t even sit up anymore. As I did, Azriel gently pulled off my shoes and set them next to the leg of the sofa.
Azriel knelt next to the couch and stared into my eyes. “I would never hurt you. I’m in your debt forever for saving Tangerine, but even if you hadn’t, I could never hurt you.”
He brushed a lock of hair that had fallen over my forehead back behind my ear. A feeling like a warm blanket spread over me, but it came from inside. I couldn’t tell if it was because of what he’d said to me or it was Meri’s doing. My familiar had jumped up on the sofa and curled up next to me as a sleepiness like lead took hold.
I heard Azriel stand up and walk away from the sofa. I wanted to ask him to come back, but I couldn’t keep myself awake. There was no choice but for me to drift off. I could no more fight it than I could fight the sweeping powers of a raging river.
The next thing I knew, Azriel’s hand was on my shoulder shaking me gently. I almost brushed it away and told him I needed more sleep, but I smelled the intoxicating scent of garlic and cheese sauce.
“Fettuccine Alfredo from Bella Vita,” he said as I pulled myself out of my stupor. “Garlic bread, toasted ravioli, and tiramisu too. I hope it’s enough.”
“How long have I been asleep?” I asked and sat up.
Azriel had cleaned up the pentagram, put the coffee table back, and laid the food out in a spread for me. In addition to the food, there was a huge plastic cup of Coke with a pink bendy straw sticking out of the top.
“Just twenty minutes. I made sure the man I sent knew there was a $1,000 bonus in it for him if he got back in under a half hour.”
“You could have just ordered delivery. It would have cost you a lot less than a thousand dollars,” I said and scooted to the edge of the sofa.
“It was worth it.”
“I sort of knew that the garlic and vampire thing wasn’t true, but I guess this proves it,” I said.
“I rather like garlic,” Azriel confirmed.
“Do you want some of this? I can share.”
“That’s sweet of you to offer, Kinsley, but no, thank you. Please, eat. If you want to be alone, I can go,” he offered.
“It’s your apartment,” I said.
“I know I said I was calling in a favor, Kinsley, but I don’t think you understand. When I said I was in your debt forever, I meant it. But, please eat. We can talk more when you’re feeling better.”
The food smelled so good, and my stomach felt like it was eating itself. So, I dug in. I ate it all. Every bite. If I hadn’t had bread to mop up the sauce, I might have licked the container.
When the food was gone, I chugged the icy cold Coke like my life depended on it. “Let me clean this up,” I said as I set the mostly empty cup back down on the coaster.
“You don’t need to do that,” he said. “You can rest some more, or I can take you home.”
“I guess I should get out of here. I’m sure you have things you need to do.”
“I won’t be dealing with any more club business tonight. I plan to spend the rest of the evening here with Tangerine. You don’t need to leave. If you want to stay for a while, that is.”
I thought I might have detected a hint of anticipation in his voice, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Any other time, I would have reminded myself I was dating Thorn and left.
But something had shifted between me and Azriel. We’d bonded, and I knew then it wasn’t something I could just deny.
“You’ll take it the wrong way if I stay,” I said.
“I won’t take it any way, Kinsley,” Azriel said. “You made it obvious to me before that you don’t find me attractive. I’m not the type of man to beg for a woman’s affection.”
I opened my mouth to correct him, and then closed it again. He was wrong about me not finding him attractive, but what good would it do to correct him? Wouldn’t I just be leading him on further? After all, I was dating Thorn and had been for some time. Things had been going well, and it seemed like we were getting serious. Still, it seemed rude to let him believe he wasn’t attractive, and being around Azriel made me want to say and do stupid things.
“It’s not that I don’t find you attractive,” I finally admitted. “I felt like I was already in a relationship with Thorn.”
“And you don’t now?” Azriel asked.
“I do. I mean, we’ve been dating for months.”
“You just moved to town a few months ago. Didn’t you just get divorced?” Azriel asked.
“Well, yes, but I’d been going through that divorce for a while,” I said. “But I don’t think I need to justify my decisions. Besides, you made a pass at me and we’d talked once.”
“I wasn’t trying to get into a relationship with you,” Azriel said. “I was only interested in one thing.”
“Wow,” I said and felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. “I think maybe I should go home.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Kinsley. I’m only a man, and you’re a beautiful woman,” Azriel said. “But it’s different now.”
“That sounds like a line,” I retorted.
“It’s not.”
I believed him for some reason. There was a sincerity in his eyes I could read from across the room. Plus, I could still feel his emotions, and he was telling the truth.
Suddenly, I was a mess of conflicted emotions. I didn't want to feel so drawn to him, and I certainly didn't want to have such a strong connection with someone other than Thorn. My love life had already been enough of a mess for two lifetimes. I had hoped that by spurning Azriel months ago, I would have avoided a love triangle. It seemed the universe had other plans. But what was this? A test to see if I truly wanted to be with Thorn? That seemed unfair.
"Has he told you that he loves you?" Azriel's stark question shocked me out of my internal reverie.
"What?"
"Has Thorn told you that he loves you?" he asked again, more slowly that time as if I hadn't understood him. I understood him fine. I just couldn't believe he was asking.
"What business is that of yours?" I countered.
"Well, answering a question with a question is a typical deflection move. I have a feeling that if the answer was yes, you'd have snapped something like of course at
me."
"It's still none of your business,” I said.
"How long have the two of you been together now?" Azriel asked.
I let out a deep, resigned sigh. He wasn't going to let up, so I figured I might as well answer. "It's been around six months,” I said.
"And he hasn't told you that he loves you,” he said flatly.
"Well, how long does it take you to tell a woman you love her?" I asked.
"I've never told a woman I loved her,” Azriel said. "It would have been a lie. When I said that Tangerine was the only one who'd ever loved me, I meant it."
I stood there stunned for a moment, just biting my bottom lip. What was he getting at?
"Where are you going with this?" I asked.
"Do you love him?" he responded.
"Now you're answering a question with a question,” I said.
"Just tell me this,” Azriel said and took a step toward me. "Tell me you didn't feel that connection. Tell me that it was all in my head and that you weren't feeling my emotions and I wasn't feeling yours. Tell me that, and I will never bother you again. I swear it."
"I can't tell you that,” I said after a few moment of weighing whether the situation called for the truth. He said he would leave me alone if I hadn't felt it. I could have lied and ended the entire thing right then and there. But, I couldn't do it. Because the truth was, as much as I cared about Thorn, I didn't love him. Yet. I had no idea if I ever would, but I'd never felt anything between him and me the way I felt with Azriel in those moments. "How do I know it's not just some trick you use to lure in prey?"
"Kinsley, you've been alone with me in my apartment for hours now. If I wanted to hurt you... If I even could hurt you... I would have done it by now. No one knows you're here."
"Meri knows I'm here,” I said and looked over at my familiar.
"I'm sure he's a force to be reckoned with, but I've dealt with worse,” Azriel said.
Midnight Magic Page 3
