I considered that. He could be right. "Okay. So help me see things clearly."
"A binding like yours will amplify a libido, but that mark isn't the only new part of the experience. Your partner was new."
"You're right," I conceded.
"Isn't there another part of these sexual circumstances that was unique?"
"Huh?"
"Have you ever been with a waere before?"
"No."
"Have you ever had intercourse in the position the two of you chose?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?"
"If you are going to overanalyze something new, then you have to be open about all the aspects that were new. Was it a new position for you?"
"When we started, no, by the end, yes."
"Hmmm." Amenemhab cocked his head. "What if it is as you fear? If it is due to the mark? What if it is all of these things? What if it is simply the chemistry between the two of you?"
"If it is the stain, I can't do that again; if it's our chemistry, I can."
He shook his head as if disappointed. "How do you ascertain this?"
"If it's the stain then it's controlling me. I have to find a way to stifle it, period."
"But you enjoyed it!"
I spread my arms. "Enjoyed it so much I'm here."
"So you won't repeat something you already did once and enjoyed" — he scratched a paw down his brow and over his muzzle—"because you think the mark might be making it feel better?"
"Don't be condescending."
"I'm not."
"You are. You make it sound silly."
"It is silly."
I made a face at him.
"Of all the things that have happened to you and changed in the last month, very little of it has been under your control. One thing you can control is your relationship with Johnny. Perhaps you are conflicted simply to exert some control because you can?"
"You're a little furry to be going Freud on me."
He sat taller. "You enjoyed sex so much it disturbed you and you're here. I'm obligated to 'go Freud' on you."
"You make it seem like I'm just being a silly, prudish girl. I'm not. I've got feelings for him. I was attracted to him even before the stain. Now my feelings are growing, and growing fast. Scary fast. I know I'm freaking out a bit. I'm afraid it's the stain that's making me feel this way, not just… us."
Amenemhab stood with irritated suddenness. "Do you doubt that taking your grandmother in was the right thing to do?"
Unsure where he was going with this and disliking his impatience, I answered guardedly. "I knew it would be aggravating and good at the same time. So no, I don't doubt it was the right thing to do."
"Was taking Beverley in the right choice?"
"Of course."
"Was saving those parts of you bound to Menessos the right thing to do?"
"Yes."
"You had a choice, you know. You chose to take the actions that would save your other self. Now that you are more fully aware of the consequences, are you more or less certain that was the right thing to do?"
I hesitated. Without those parts of my self bound up with the stain, I wouldn't have any sense of right and wrong. I wouldn't have feelings for other people. I couldn't imagine being the kind of person who had no values, who could not care for others.
"Was it the right thing to do?" he pressed.
Softly, I said, "Yes."
"Then find a way to live with the binding, Persephone, for it is yours. Forever. Unavoidably." He paused. "You can, of course, waffle over every decision and you can pick and choose your relationships, selecting only the ones that avoid intimacy." He paused. "Not what I would recommend, by the way."
My hard look didn't faze him.
"Persephone, the real question is: why would you deliberate so hard to find a justifiable reason to avoid fabulous intimacy?"
I opened my mouth to answer, then stopped. I couldn't say it.
"Let me guess, you think you do not deserve it?"
I stared at the ground.
He pressed, "Because you think the binding has tainted you?"
I didn't answer, which was, in itself, an answer.
"I adore and applaud your altruism, but, please, do not disregard what you have given up! Being selfless is heroic, but being selfless to the point of self-destruction is futile. It undermines the triumphs gained in the selfless moments."
That made sense.
"Your body has been graced with the touch of something immortal—"
"Something dead."
"Stop searching for reasons to abhor it, Persephone. It is part of you now, and self-loathing will only consume what little confidence you have." His voice was firm.
I didn't know what to say; he was right.
"Yes, you have been forcibly altered. Yes, Menessos is at the core of it. But do not forget the Goddess put Her mark upon you long before the vampire. She chose you for this fate. She handpicked you to bear this. She knew the twists and turns that would befall you. She found you strong enough and worthy in Her sight. Perhaps you should open your eyes and see that fabulous intimacy as compensation for the rough road you're meant to travel." Amenemhab left me with that and loped away.
Out of the meditation, I sat in the middle of my garage.
The right thing for the right reason.
Put your big-girl panties on and accept it. I could do this. Johnny had been after me for months, so he must have growing feelings as well. Beverley had encouraged our kissing, and Nana seemed to know anyway, so truly, who was I trying to hide it from?
Myself.
I'd find a way to tell him why I was being ridiculous and how I planned to fix it. Tomorrow.
Surely tomorrow we'd also discuss my Eximium plans, since something kept him from it tonight.
Chapter 11
Friday, around noon, my phone rang. Before Nana could get up from the dinette, I answered. "Hello?"
"Red!"
I grinned. "Hi, Johnny. I—"
"I have the best news. This is so awesome. Yesterday, Feral got word that some suit had been asking about Lycanthropia at the music store. So we did some digging, found out from a friend at another Cleveland guitar store that someone'd been asking there as well. So, we knew something was up and pulled an extra rehearsal last night before going out to a jam night to play. The suit was there!" Johnny said.
"The suit?"
"A&R. A rep scouting for artists and repertoire."
Sounded like good news. "And?"
"He said the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is hosting some big meeting of label execs and A&Rs. Started yesterday, with various discussions, panels, and all that kind of shit. Label showcases. Industry stuff. Said they'd invited various unsigned bands to play short sets."
I leaned against the wall, listening to him; he was like a kid, he was so excited. At least his absence here last night wasn't because I'd not kissed him the morning after.
"Some band they had scheduled to play tonight had to cancel because their guitarist slipped in the shower doin' his girlfriend and broke his wrist. So the suit's in need of a replacement band! He gave us a business card, wrote a private cell phone number on the back. He wants Lycanthropia to play."
"That's awesome!" His band had been on the edge of getting noticed for longer than I'd known him. "How'd he know to ask at the music stores?"
"Said since the cancellation came in he'd been calling all over northern Ohio talking to bars and local venues getting numbers on attendance, quizzing local radio stations about who got requested, and music stores about who sells. After assimilating that data, he was keen on picking us, but went to the music stores to ask personally."
Realizing the synchronicity made my grin widen. "So you get to be a local 'nominee' too, just like me, huh?"
"Yup."
"When is the show for the big shots?"
"Tonight."
I'd have bet he was jumping around like a little kid. "Wow, that's fast."
"Yeah, I m
ean shit like this, they've had it planned for months, but with the last-minute cancellation and all, us being able to fill in unexpectedly gives us a boost."
Then it hit me: "So, I'm not going see you before the Eximium."
"Red, I'm sorry." All that little-boy excitement had drained from his voice. "We're at the studio right now, rough-mixing the tracks for a disc so we can pass some out to the execs in attendance. Please don't think I'm crapping out on you."
"I understand," I said firmly. "That's okay."
"Don't lie. I can hear you're disappointed and after we… you know… and all. I'm sorry, Red."
"Stop apologizing. This is your dream, Johnny. Get those tracks done."
"Red—"
"The beach is always there," I said, copying what he'd said to me. "High tide, low tide, and done-with-your-disc tide."
He laughed. "I'll make it up to you," he said. "I swear."
"I'll hold you to that. Break a leg tonight."
"Deal. Is there a witchy version of 'break a leg'?"
"As Above, So Below."
"Hmmm. I get it, it sounds sagely and all, but I'm gonna stick with: Kick ass tomorrow at your Eggsy-competition thing. What was it called again?"
"Thanks. And it's an Eximium."
"I know with that starting at dawn you're not likely to come and see us—we're not going on 'til midnight and that's way too late for you—but in case you wanted to come down and maybe wish me luck or something, I put your name on the comp list anyway."
"And because Erik was giving them Celia's name and Feral listed six girls' names?"
"Well, maybe…"
After sweet good-byes, I hung up the phone.
Maybe we'd be okay after all. He sounded good. I sounded good. I think.
Behind me, at the dinette, Nana cleared her throat.
It sounded like the mustering of grouchy thoughts in preparation of her last-ditch effort to talk me out of the Eximium. Worse, it was followed by the long inhalation that began long-winded lectures. Thinking to head that off as long as possible, I turned, saying, "Find anything in the Codex about fairies yet?" I moved into the kitchen and started making another half-pot of coffee.
She rasped that breath away. "No. Why do you keep asking about fairies?"
"A water fairy came to me in the grove the other night."
"A fairy?" Clearly surprised, she sat straighter and leaned forward.
I'd successfully headed off whatever tirade she'd been prepping.
"I haven't seen a fairy since the Concordat went into effect," she said. "The grove… must've been riding the ley. Was it male or female?"
"Female. Blue. Her eyes were too big." I pushed the button to start the brewing.
Nana gave a small laugh and resituated in her seat to face me better. "You'd never seen one, had you?"
"No."
"Big or small?"
I indicated with my hands. "Two feet, maybe."
"They can grow bigger at will, almost to full human size." She pulled out her cigarette case. "She must've spooked you since you keep asking if there's anything about them in the Codex." She put the filter of one between her lips and flicked her lighter.
"She had a warning for me."
The lighter's flame disappeared. She jerked the still unlit cigarette from her mouth and demanded, "A warning about what?"
I strode around the counter and sat across from her. "Apparently our vampire-wizard never rescinded his bonds after the Concordat."
"Did she threaten you, trying to get you to influence him to break it?"
"No, nothing like that. She seemed infatuated with him and even said she was eager to be called on. It's the other three. She said they were plotting against him and she knew that I must be special to him, since he entered my circle. She fears they will act against me to get to Menessos."
Nana remained silent, tapping the dinette top, thinking. "That means an earth fairy, a fire fairy, and an air fairy… north, east, and south. I will give this some thought."
"I increased the perimeter. Should I boost the wards to make them stronger?"
"Your vampire's blood oath should keep them out. If they incur his wrath he will be less inclined to break their bonds."
"He's not my vampire."
Nana harumpfed. "Fine. I'll put iron horseshoes over the doors. You do have a ladder?"
"You get the horseshoes, I'll do the climbing and nailing." After a moment, I asked, "What if they try to take me hostage, saying they'll free me if he severs their bonds?"
She made a face. "They wouldn't take you. You're not a virgin."
I sat straighter, ready to tout something back, except nothing appropriate occurred to me.
Then Nana's expression turned serious. "But Beverley is."
Beverley! "What can we do to protect her?" My brain went into overdrive. Cold iron, St. John's wort, and four-leaf clovers came to mind. "If I could get little iron pellets, like shavings of some kind, I could sprinkle them all over the yard perimeter. What are BBs made of? Would iron interfere with the other wards?"
She waved dismissively. "I've got a flint arrowhead and a silver chain."
Flint with silver was an old Irish ward against fairies.
"I'll put the arrowhead on the chain and make Beverley a necklace. I'll have it empowered by the time she gets home from school and give it to her tonight with the warning she's to never take it off." She appeared thoughtful, then added, "And I think I know just the story to tell her tonight to teach her what she'll need to know."
"Thanks, Nana."
"Of course. She's the closest thing to a great-grandchild I'm ever going to get, apparently."
All consideration for blank expressions disregarded, my eyes about bugged out of my head. Where had that come from?
She lifted her cigarette and lit it. "Now, Persephone, about this Eximium…"
Damn. She got me. Hooked me deep, and now she was going to reel me in.
"Tell me, honestly. Do you want to be the Lustrata?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"No."
"Then, yeah, I guess."
"You accept it, that easily?"
"Not that easily, no. But kicking and screaming won't change it, so…" I shrugged.
"Just swear to me that your motive for being in this Eximium is not to have the council see you as a failure in some wacko attempt to get out of being the Lustrata."
"I swear. I told you the reason already."
Evidently she accepted what I said as she rose from the bench and said she was going to find the arrowhead and chain. Her fuzzy slippers flopping, she left the kitchen.
I got up and poured fresh coffee in my Lady of Shalott mug. I'd teased Johnny about him not being allowed to drink out of this mug because it was my favorite. Returning to the dinette after squirting a sizeable dollop of chocolate syrup into the cup, I sat and stirred my coffee.
I remembered Tennyson's lines about the Lady of Shalott.
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott…
My fingers traced over the image of the boat on the cup.
Metaphorically, I was weaving night and day, trying to make the many threads of my life into a web of happiness. A curse is on her if she stay to look down to Camelot. «Stay» meaning «stop» and Camelot being a metaphor for grandeur, a place of rich culture, of enlightenment. It made me wonder. Happiness lost, in Camelot. In the classic stories, Guinevere tried to cling to honor, but could not fight her passion for Lancelot any more than he could fight his passion for her. And it had ruined a kingdom.
My passion had ruled me but I was no Guinevere. And no matter who Menessos resembled, I had no Arthur to answer to,
no king's reputation to protect.
Only the role of Lustrata to fulfill.
Though I still wasn't clear on exactly what bringing balance and walking between worlds entailed, Johnny seemed to be preparing me for hostile days ahead. I hoped I could grow into the Lustrata's laudable shoes. And quickly.
After dinner, when Nana and Beverley went upstairs to begin their evening routine, I finished nailing up horseshoes at the front door and the door to the garage. I had another pair to put up over the garage door and the garage's «man» door, but decided to let them wait. I went to the landing and listened as Nana told her story.
"There once was a pair of pretty sisters," she said, "who heard the sweetest music as they strolled in a field collecting flowers. Following the sound, they discovered the music came from a fairy ring. This was not a ring for your finger, mind you, but a circle of toadstools where the grass inside the circle has been flattened by the feet of dancing fairies. To the sisters' delight, the fairies were still there! Caught in their revels, they asked the girls to dance with them. One of the girls refused, but the other agreed to dance. After she skipped around the ring with the fairies three times, she slipped into the fairy world through a doorway that suddenly appeared in the middle of the ring. It was as if the ground had swallowed her and the fairies. The remaining girl wept bitter tears for her sister, but she was never seen again."
I climbed the steps to stand in the doorway of Beverley's room.
"Many years later," Nana went on, "the sister who didn't dance had a daughter of her own. This girl was pretty like her mother and loved to collect flowers from the field. Her mother always warned her to beware the fairy rings and gave her one of these." Nana held up a silver necklace with a small flint arrowhead. A circle of iron shared the hole in the top of the flint through which the chain ran. Silver four-leaf clover charms dangled on either side of it.
"For me?" Beverley asked.
"Yes. Be sure to wear it at all times and avoid any fairy rings you might find."
"Wow. I love this, it's so cool!" Beverley slipped it over her head.
I went in to hug her good night. "You will wear it everywhere, right? Even to school every day?"
"Yes! Wait… is something bad going on?"
"Not if you wear the necklace."
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