by Laura Emmons
I relaxed a little against him.
“Oh…I doubt the rest of the coven will see it that way,” Jenny considered the news. She smiled at us. “I always knew you two would make a good pairing. There will still be repercussions. Now what?”
“So now the rest is none of our business,” Bob said. With that comment, the matter was put to rest, at least within the Keach household. In all of the drama, and with the broken dishes to help clean up, I forgot to ask her about Buach’s aura.
***
When Evan dropped me off at my house later, he kissed me breathless, and then told me to take the bus into school in the morning.
“Okay…can I ask why?”
“There’s something I need to take care of. Don’t worry. It will help us deal with those repercussions my mom spoke about.”
Chapter Thirty
Regret
I anticipated seeing him in Psychology, so I got to class early on Monday. He wasn’t there. I told myself he was just late, he’d be back soon. While I ate lunch alone, I wondered if he stayed away on purpose, so kids with Seer gifts wouldn’t know we’d hooked up, so to speak.
***
On Tuesday, I wondered if I’d done something wrong. He still didn’t attend school. I walked to First Presbyterian in the pleasant, springtime sunshine. The whole chorale sounded different without his voice. I was so used to keying off him I messed up my solo, so I asked Mrs. Donnelly if I could be excused early.
When I’d called Jenny and she said Evan left Sunday afternoon and hadn’t contacted them, I got scared.
***
On Wednesday, he didn’t attend a council meeting to discuss Madison’s crime and punishment. The council members started speculating about where he’d gone and why he’d left. They tabled Madison’s trial and sent her back into house arrest. They wanted to wait for Evan. The only good thing that happened at the council meeting was seeing Madison reminded me to ask Jenny about the walnut color in her aura.
“Describe it for me again, honey.”
I did.
“Oh, yes, I remember when I’ve seen that color. When Evan was just a boy, we went to a magician’s show in Winchester. The guy hypnotized people as part of his act and made them do silly things, like quack like a duck. Evan laughed so hard, but he noticed how all the hypnotized people had a dark walnut haze in their aura until the magician snapped them out of it. Does that help?”
“I think it does, Jenny, thanks.”
She squeezed my arm. “He said he had to do something. It must be important to him. He’ll come back when he’s done.”
“What if he gets hurt while he’s gone?” I whispered, voicing my fear for the first time. What if he just can’t face the clan, knowing he’s let everyone down? What if he decided I’m not right for him after all?
“I can’t think about that,” she shook her head. By tacit agreement, we didn’t talk about it again.
***
By Thursday, I’d decided I didn’t care if the whole school knew Evan and I had slept together, I just wanted him back. After school, I talked to Fiona about who would hypnotize Buach, Madison and Mooney.
“Only the Sidhe can hypnotize people magically, but they shouldn’t be able to hypnotize each other.”
“What about Arianrhod? If she’s capable of hypnotizing all types of magical creatures, it would explain why she has so many spies,” thinking to myself if Arianrhod had orchestrated all these mysterious deaths, she’d have no qualms about forcing people to do her dirty work.
Fiona shrugged, “I’m afraid Dariene is the only person who might have the answer.”
***
After school on Friday, I took my bell and my rose petals to the sacred meadow and called for her help. When I’d explained my theory about Buach and others being hypnotized by Arianrhod, her silver eyes snapped with anger.
“Before ascending to godhood, Arianrhod was a nyad; she has the gift of hypnotism. She might even be strong enough to compel my King. Thank you for sharing this with me, young Healer.”
“If I’m right, can the spell be broken?”
“I might be able to reverse the compulsion.”
“If you are successful, will you tell me? There’s a young woman in the clan who is accused of a serious crime. If she was forced to commit it by Arianrhod, she might not be responsible, and should therefore, not be punished.”
“I will send you news of how I fare with Buach. Look for my messengers.”
I nodded, and she left me alone in the meadow. The wildflowers had sprung up everywhere. I sat still in the grass and a family of deer walked up right next to me, feeding on the tender petals. The fawns still had their spots. I wished fervently Evan and I could share this moment.
***
I didn’t hear back until the following Wednesday. Dariene had been successful in restoring Buach’s sanity by breaking the curse which bound him to Arianrhod. I reported my findings to Fiona. She called the council to the sacred temple, where Madison faced Dariene and was cured. Since Madison hadn’t been responsible for her actions, she was allowed to stay in the clan as a free woman. Fiona restored her job at the store. Madison seemed much more pleasant to me after being awakened from the curse, and I was thrilled to help.
Fiona made an astute observation. She said we could identify other spies by simply scanning their aura. I let her and Corey team up to follow up on the task. I wanted Corey to feel helpful. He’d been acting really depressed since the incident with Mooney and I couldn’t heal that pain. They started spending pockets of time walking around town, the farm and even the village of Great Cacapon searching for spies. Fiona would identify people, Corey would scan them.
***
After two full weeks had passed without Evan, two things were definite. I must have done something to drive him away, and I hated myself for it, even though I had no idea what I’d done. Also, the rest of the clan was on the verge of panic without a Great Seer. I missed him so much. Even my twice weekly lessons in driving my new nineteen year-old car with Pat didn’t raise my spirits. The clan members might have sensed my guilt or they might have based their accusations on our earlier problems with the Brideog doll, but most of the clan started to openly criticize me about pushing the Great Seer out of the clan with my slutty advances. I had trouble ignoring them.
That’s why I found it unimaginably hard to be forgiving and magnanimous to Steve McCoy. He dropped by the house precisely two weeks after Evan had left.
“Can I talk to you?” he said, nervously.
I figured it must be important if Steve had gotten up the courage to see me face-to-face. Plus, I could see the edges of Corey’s aura hiding behind the kitchen door. His anti-healing hands were ready and willing to rush into the living room and save me if Steve tried anything inappropriate. I shrugged and stepped aside to let him in the house. Perching on the edge of the couch, sitting right in the center, I forced him to take a seat in one of the easy chairs across the coffee table from me, mildly pleased to note how his nose hadn’t grown back exactly straight.
He cleared his throat and launched right into business. “The council finished their investigation of me. They determined I told the truth. You were the only girl I ever tried to hurt.” His hand fidgeted with a loose thread on the hem of his t-shirt absently.
“I’d heard,” I replied, coolly.
“So anyway, it’s up to you if you want to press charges against me, but I wanted to try and explain before you make a decision. Will you let me explain?”
I exhaled a resigned sigh. “I’m listening.”
“You’re the first girl I’ve ever liked who wasn’t as into me as I was into her. It’s…” he struggled to find the right word, “frustrating.” He paused to see if I would contradict him.
How should I respond? “I’m sorry you feel that way, Steve.” I was not going to make this easy for him.
“So when I saw you in that dress…for the love of Llew, you’re so damned gorgeous! I felt myself losing co
ntrol. Sometimes, Warriors, we do that…we lose control.”
I remained completely impassive.
“Anyway, I thought the liquor would calm me. A few guys at school always smuggle a bottle into the dances. It made me worse.” He ran both of his hands through his thick blond locks, for a second I thought he might rip his own hair out by the roots. “I’m sorry…I’m so, so sorry.” He finished with hands held out in supplication.
I took a moment to consider my response. “Listen, Steve, if you pull that shit on a girl in California, they’ll lock your ass in prison for the rest of eternity. You won’t have the clan council or your dad to protect you there.”
His head snapped up to stare at me. “How did you know I’m going to California?”
“When we talked, you paid the most attention to me when I talked about life in Southern California. It’s not hard to figure out why. You’re a really good quarterback. You’ll do great in college.”
He nodded, “Thanks. I just found out. Scouts have been talking to Dad and coach since last year, but now I’ve got a scholarship offer.”
“Which school is it?”
He gave me a small smile, “USC, I’d like to go to college,” he said wistfully.
“It’s a good school,” I told him. “Will you come back here afterward?”
“I’m not sure,” he shook his head, “council positions usually skip a generation. The clan would probably survive without me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Steve. There’s something wrong with your dad. I think he might be sick, but I can’t quite figure out what’s ailing him.”
I spoke to him as Margaret MacDougall, healer of the Cacapon clan of Appalachia.
He nodded, “I’ve noticed something, too. If the clan needs me, I’ll come back. Of course I will.”
“Do you think someone might challenge you for the position of Great Warrior?”
“Maybe…there are a couple of men who might want the council position.”
“Then you’d need someone in your corner, wouldn’t you? You’d need someone with influence to stand up for you.”
“What are you trying to say?”
I wanted him to drop the act and show me his true personality. “This isn’t about any charges. You’ll skate by any punishments the council might impose. This visit is about the clan’s future.”
“Okay, say that’s why I’m here. Assume I’m here because I might need your support in a few years. I’d make a really powerful Great Warrior. You’re going to be the next Great Healer. Everyone already accepts this. What will it take to get your forgiveness?”
“You want my vote.” I stated this as a fact. He understood the value of political capital. My vote was as good as gold to him.
“Yes.”
“I want you to stop playing games and treat me as shrewdly as I treat you.”
“Fine.”
We weren’t kids anymore. This was a pact between the future Great Healer and the future Great Warrior.
“I want to make a deal.”
“What do you want?” Now we were talking.
“If you want my support, now and then, I want yours.”
“Why do you need my support?”
“I need an army. I have a really bad feeling there’s a battle coming. I’ll need a strong general to lead the defense of this clan.”
“Who are we fighting?”
“You have to keep this secret for now,” I warned him.
“I can keep a secret.” Of course he could.
“Arianrhod has already started this war. She’s murdered countless members of my family. She’s wiped out entire families in the clan. She’s forced others to do her dirty work. She must be stopped.”
At first he seemed shocked. Then a scowl twisted his features as he thought about all of the strange deaths in the clan’s recent history. He realized I was right about Arianrhod. “But how do you stop a goddess?”
“I’m trying to come up with a secret weapon. When I do, I’ll need you ready to fight back.”
“Is that what Keach is doing, searching for a secret weapon?”
I wish. “I…I’m not sure what he’s doing.”
Steve didn’t miss the catch in my voice. He narrowed his eyes while trying to figure me out.
I masked my emotions and continued. “So here’s my deal. We both do what we have to for the good of the clan. You go to USC, but you buy an open-ended plane ticket and when I call you, you get on the next plane and come home…ready to fight.”
He considered my offer, and then jerked his head once, to accept.
I emphasized my position. “I mean it Steve, I don’t care if you’re getting ready to play the Rose Bowl…I call, you come…got it?”
“I got it. It’s for the clan. Hell yes, I accept.”
We shook on it.
“I’ll tell Fiona you’ve suffered enough.”
He grinned. “So I have. You’ve got wicked moves, Stewart. What discipline was that?”
“Mostly Tai Chi Chuan,” I shrugged.
He nodded in understanding. “…with San Sau, yeah I get that. You threw in something else…what, Judo?”
I smiled. “You know your martial arts, McCoy.”
“It’s what I do. Well, I’d better be going so your brother can drop the butcher knife and come out of the kitchen. Thanks for your time, Stewart.” He unfolded his massive body and turned to leave.
See…smart…deviously smart. I walked him to the door.
Just before he left he turned and looked into my eyes, sighing, “You’re a heartbreaker, Maggie. I may never get over you.” Then he sauntered out. I stood there in stunned silence. Was he serious? Was I a femme fatale who made men flee?
***
I ran upstairs, buried my head under the pillow and cried, but I didn’t get to wallow in self-pity for long.
Corey walked into my room and sat on the bed. “He’s coming back.”
“No…” then I understood. I sat up and stared at my brother. “What have you seen?”
“Not much…but I’ve seen the two of you dancing in the grass. You’ve got flowers in your hair, and he’s wearing those horns on his head.”
“Horns?”
“You know, from the night of the mothers…” His voice didn’t catch when he mentioned that night. Maybe we were getting stronger, moving on…maybe.
“You mean the buck’s antlers,” I clarified.
“Yeah, he’s wearing those things, and you’re laughing and he’s chasing you.”
“When, I mean, am I like, fifty?”
“No, it’s soon…real soon.”
I brightened a little.
“Listen, I need your help. I found one of those spies. It’s a gnome.”
“Okay…”
“I didn’t tell Fiona. What’s she gonna do, yell at it? Dariene said her power to break the compulsion doesn’t work on gnomes. It overheard Fiona talking to me. It knows I have magic. You know what has to be done, but only you, Evan and I understand what I can do. I don’t think we can tell anyone else…not yet, anyway.”
“Are you sure there’s no other way? With Mooney we knew he was evil. He’d confessed to murder and his skin melted when you put the silver chain around his neck. We don’t know anything about this gnome.”
“We only have until nightfall to figure it out. The gnome will call her as soon as the moon rises. What if we put a silver chain on him? If his skin melts, will you help me?”
I considered this. He was right. We’d all agreed not to start another clan-wide panic by keeping Corey’s magical status and his terrifying power a secret. We figured Fiona would want to tell Duncan, Rose would tell Pat, and they might tell someone… If too many people knew, in a town like this, soon everyone would find out. Then there’d be panic, and Arianrhod demanding his head on a platter.
Corey continued, “I need help. I can’t do it alone. First, I need to get there.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s i
n Fiona’s backyard. It’s in her personal garden. I figure Arianrhod placed one here and one there to spy on everything the MacDougall family does. She probably used to have more spies, but now there are so few of us left, she only needs the two.”
“Okay, so you want me to get in trouble again by driving with just my learner’s permit.”
“It’s for a good cause.”
“It’s not like I have any social life to lose by being grounded.”
I’d hoped Evan would be back for the May Day celebration, but it was a mere week away. “Okay, what else do you need?”
“If we go through with it, I’ll need help with the body.”
“Oh yeah, I guess you will. All right, then. Let’s go before it gets dark.”
***
I distracted the gnome behind the sugar snap trellis. Corey threw a silver chain around his neck. Instantly his skin smoldered under the thin chain. The smell of burning chemicals emanated from his neck.
“What’s this about?” the gnome yelled at us.
“You work for Arianrhod,” I stated simply. “Have you killed for her?”
“Well, I talked that Fiona woman into jumping into the river, but that was ages ago,” he shrugged.
I nodded to Corey.
He touched the gnome on the forehead. It was over that quickly.
I healed his hand and went to the shed to get a couple of shovels. I hoped we could bury the body deep behind the corn, but Corey was scratching his neck.
“What is it?”
“It’s the necklace. It itches when I get sweaty and dirty.”
“Well, take it off. There’s no one out here to see you and I want to get back by nightfall. Your scratching is slowing us down.”
He nodded, put it in his pocket and we got to work. We were nearly done, when someone slipped in the nearby woods. We looked toward them. Dusk had started to set and I couldn’t see anything under the tree line. We both dropped our shovels and ran over there, searching for a full ten minutes, but we couldn’t find a trace of whom or what had seen us.
Chapter Thirty-One
Vengeance
We returned to the garden and finished packing in the dirt. I put the shovels back in the shed and we headed back to the car. I wasn’t worried about running into Fiona; she’d be working at the store for several more hours, but we’d wasted time wandering the woods. Officially twilight, the sun had disappeared behind the western mountains but there was still enough light to get back. In a half hour, the light would be gone, though. I didn’t want to be out after dark, and not just because my learner’s permit was only valid during the day. Motioning for Corey to get into the passenger side of the car, I started to fish the keys out of my pocket. That’s when I spotted, out of the corner of my eye, a shadowy figure oozing suspiciously off the cabin’s front porch. My stomach plummeted.
