The Gleaning, Spellspinners Series #2 (The Spellspinners of Melas County)

by Kling, Heidi R.

  The stream was only waist-deep. My hair was long, but not that long, and didn’t quite cover everything. The expression on his face when he turned around let me know that part was definitely a pleasant surprise.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey,” he said, softly. He had ripped off his tank top. “Should I, um? If Jacob finds me in the dungeon with wet jeans…”

  “We could magically dry them?”

  “Oh, and you couldn’t your dress?” He half-grinned.

  “I hadn’t thought of that.” And I hadn’t. I was having a hard time sticking to logical thought at all. He was now down to his boxer shorts and was standing there, so ridiculously gorgeous, it was as if he were ripped off my favorite CW TV show.

  He blinked. It was so sweet, the way he was trying so hard to look at everything but what he wanted to look at.

  My shoulders rounded, and I tipped my head to the side. “Chance said we only have five minutes, remember?”

  “Right.” He blinked again. “Right.”

  Approaching me slowly in the water, he stood in front of me, careful not to lean in so close that we’d touch. He cupped a handful of water in his large hands. Carefully, he poured it over my left shoulder. I shivered as it poured down my hair, over my chest, and down my stomach. “It’s not too hot?”

  “It’s perfect.” You’re perfect, I wanted to say.

  The next handful was over the right shoulder. Shivers.

  This went on until he finished the ninth handful. I somehow managed to stay perfectly still as his hard-muscled chest, ripe with ink, shifted inches away from my naked torso. And then, when he was finished, I reached out and held the sides of his hips. Only then, did he finally pull me into him.

  Logan

  Her lips tasted like saltwater taffy, the kind you could buy at the Boardwalk; and her hands and fingers were everywhere. He wished like hell that five minutes could turn into fifty, and they could dissolve into this pool. And he could show her how much he wanted her—that she was all he’d ever want.

  Lily

  My thumbs traced the outline of his hipbones as our mouths desperately took advantage of our remaining minutes. My bare breasts were pressed against his chest, and his ink was just aflame. Under my thumb, a fire surged, a deep and tangible burn that stopped me. I glanced down, and sure enough, there on his iliac crest was a black mark. The broken-rose moon.

  My warlock was my Rognaithe. My Logan was our Chosen.

  Logan

  Her eyes flew up to meet his. “Logan! The mark!” she whispered urgently.

  He looked down, stunned.

  “You’ve never seen it before?”

  He ran his thumb over the raised ink on his iliac crest bone. He couldn’t believe his eyes. “No.”

  “Incredible,” she murmured. “Logan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You know what this means, right?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “It means everything.”

  Lily

  Afterwards, I did my best to blow the water off my skin (the fact that the boys forgot a towel reassured me they were just as male as human boys). I was surprised by the new warmth of my breath. The droplets blew off my shivery skin into the air, dancing like fireflies in the darkness.

  Logan opened the neck of my dress and swept it over my arms, pulling the waist down and kissing me gently. Then, without even asking if I wanted a ride, he swooped me into his arms and carried me out of the woods, back to where Chance was waiting. On the walk, I breathed in Logan’s sweet salty scent, savoring the feeling of my skin against his. I cradled my cheek into the concave dip in his neck, where his collarbone arched in a half moon, relishing the sensation of his heart beating against mine. For now he was okay, and he was mine, and I was his. We were together.

  I kept my eyes closed until a warm breeze and the scent of eucalyptus welcomed us back into the clearing. Back into the real world, where I’d be torn from him again.

  When he kissed me goodbye, I tried to memorize his image—his white-tank top now spotted with water from our bath; his damp hair grazing his strong shoulders—as if I’d never see him again like this. Alive, perfect…my Rognaithe.

  Logan

  “Hey,” Logan said, tilting Lily’s chin up to look into his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon.” He kissed her again, pulling her in close.

  “Are you going to tell anyone?” she asked, floral breath in his ear.

  “Other than Chance? No. I need to think about how I want to play this out. See how much Jacob knows, and what he has planned for me, so I’ll know how to duck around it.”

  She backed out of his arms and looked up at him. “I saw what he did to you in the clearing, Logan. He’s so powerful.”

  “Yeah, well. So am I. I wasn’t fighting back there, remember?”

  “Right,” she said, but there was fear in her eyes.

  “Dude, it’s getting late,” Chance said from a few yards away.

  “You better go,” Lily said. She was tugging on the bottom on Logan’s t-shirt in a way that let him know she didn’t really mean it.

  “Lil?”

  He wanted to tell her about his dream. How his mother must’ve known he was the Rognaithe, but this wasn’t the time. This was about them.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For believing there was good in me. All my life I’ve been told otherwise. If you hadn’t believed in me, well, I don’t think the mark would’ve appeared to anyone else.”

  She didn’t say anything, not with words, anyway. Instead, she hugged him tight, kissed the soft spot on his neck. Logan cupped her face and kissed her mouth, warm and deep with appreciation.

  Lily

  On my way home I thought about Logan.

  How, as I watched him walk away from me, I marveled at how quickly a day can reverse itself. How my believing in him—just trusting my instincts and knowing I was right—had led to that moment. And changed Logan’s destiny forever.

  When I got home I was surprised to find my front door, which we never lock, latched shut. My thin gown had no pockets; I didn’t have my bag, keys, or cellphone—anything. I stood outside, ringing my own doorbell, yet no one answered.

  In my mind’s eye, I Saw my coven lying unconscious in my living room, slumped over on the couches and easy chairs. Mom’s mouth was open as she lay in her armchair, with a book splayed across her chest. “Geez, so much for waiting up,” I muttered. Whispering a frantic spell, I snapped the latch open with my palm.

  “Mom!” I ran over to the chair, shaking her. Nothing. “Mom, wake up!” This was starting to creep me out. Something was wrong. After how worried she was about the Enchantment, and then no contact for the rest of the night? I figured she’d be up pacing, worried sick, not slumbering away.

  I shook her harder. She was so still and limp. Fearing the worst, I checked her pulse. It was there, just weak, like she was in a deep, deep sleep. Laying my palms on her heart, I spun a quick energizing spell, and magic coursed through me and into her. It was like my hands were defibrillation paddles restarting her heart.

  The magic I gleaned from Logan when he healed me seemed to have increased my powers.

  Iris’s eyes slowly opened and took me in hazily, as if she was waking from a dream. “Lily?”

  “Mom, are you okay?”

  “What happened to you? Why are you so dirty?” She rubbed her eyes, looking genuinely confused.

  The other witches stirred, waking slowly, gazing at me with matching “duh” expressions. I ran to the kitchen and brewed a huge pot of strong coffee, which I tossed a dash of clarifying herbs into. After pouring the magically enhanced coffee into an array of brightly-colored ceramic mugs, I carried them back into the living room on a long, wooden tray. In my torn gown, I must’ve looked like Cinderella catering to her Stepmother’s Evil Book Club.

  “I apologize, Lily. We must’ve fallen asleep. What time is it?” Camellia said with a sus
picious eye rub/yawn combo. She looked perfect in her white suit, so I wasn’t buying it.

  “Just after two a.m.,” I said, eyeing her warily.

  “We must’ve dozed off after our long walk back from the Grove. Our apologies.”

  The other witches looked confused, and more than a little “dozey.”

  “Good thing no complications arose,” I said sarcastically. “It’s pretty odd that it took electric hand currents to revive my mother and only a pot of magic coffee to wake the rest of you.”

  Camellia’s eyes narrowed into two slits. “What are you implying?”

  “That the coven was drugged.”

  “Who would drug us?” she asked, eyes now wide and innocent.

  “Oh, I can think of a couple people who might not want our entire coven to know what happened tonight. You’re surprised to see me, aren’t you?” I walked slowly toward where she was sitting, with her back to the unlit fireplace. With a flick of my swordfinger, I ignited the logs, startling her. “Didn’t think I’d be able to get out of that quicksand so easily, did you?” I said.

  Her eyes flashed at the accusation. “I looked for you. I couldn’t find you.”

  Yeah, sure.

  “Well, you were right about one thing,” I said. “I was the one Logan could reveal his mark to. Because he did. Tonight.”

  I expected cheers, but the room remained silent. Some of the elders still seemed groggy and confused, but others were just skeptical—including Orchid.

  Camellia stood and stepped toward me, escaping the heat of the fire.

  “What did it look like?”

  “It was a raised black crescent on his iliac crest.”

  “It wasn’t just his ink?”

  “No. He’d never seen it before, and it burned me.”

  “You were touching it?” Camellia asked, raising her eyebrows.

  I blushed and ignored the question. “You should have trusted me, Camellia. I didn’t need the Enchantment to draw the mark. It was meant to come out naturally, not by deception.”

  “Lily, why did you block your mind to us? We all should have witnessed this revelation.”

  Your Majesty Indeed! Why, You’re Not a Queen

  She was such a smooth liar. Instead of answering her, I addressed the elders. “When I told Camellia I’d had a change of heart, she left me trapped in quicksand, and cut off contact. By the time I escaped, Logan was with another girl—my doppelganger—in the field. Did you all See this, or were you already drugged and immobile by then?”

  The room burst into an uproar of questions. The elders didn’t seem to know what was going on.

  “Slow down. I left you in quicksand?” Camellia challenged.

  “No, we didn’t See any of that,” Iris said. “You were with Logan in the clearing, you were talking and then kissing. And then…” She rubbed her forehead. “I can’t remember what happened after that.”

  “That wasn’t me in the clearing with Logan. Someone drugged you.”

  Iris realized she was altered, and looked around in suspicion. “Camellia, did you do what Lily is accusing you of?”

  Camellia shook her head. “Why would I leave Lily trapped in quicksand? It makes no sense. Sweetie, you’ve had a huge night. The enchantment spell does strange things to girls; sometimes they have side effects. A post-enchantment psychosis, so to speak.” Her eyes swept over the crowd and flashed a hypnotic glow. There was no way she was backing down and admitting anything. I braced myself for whatever whopper she’d come up with next. “The aberrations in Lily’s story are disappointing, but we should give her the benefit of the doubt about the mark.”

  The coven nodded in a manipulated haze.

  “Here’s proof.” I held up the crescent-shaped burn on my thumb. “But you shouldn’t need it, because I’m perfectly lucid.”

  Camellia stared at it for a moment in silence. “This is good news,” she said somberly. “I believe Lily has in fact found the Rognaithe.”

  Everyone gasped, then started crying and hugging. “Our covens will have peace!” one elder exclaimed.

  “Bring on the champagne!” Orchid added.

  I watched the spectacle in shock. Why had they believed Camellia and not me? I hadn’t even had a chance to tell them about Jude and the hex. Or the fact that Jacob had followed Logan and taken him to the dungeon.

  With everyone distracted, Mom pulled me aside, and whispered, “Honey, you’ve had quite a night. Go on up to bed, and I’ll join you after. I have some things I need to get to the bottom of.” She eyed Camellia tellingly.

  “Goodnight, everybody,” I said with a wave.

  Everyone gathered around to give me ecstatic hugs and compliments. Finally, Orchid got a turn. “Rescue me!” I whispered when she pulled me close.

  “What was that all about?” I asked in bewilderment as we slipped out to the porch. “What happened here?”

  “We thought you blocked us out so you could have more sexy time in private. Then we just sat around waiting for you to come back. I was really worried.”

  “But you conked out on me! Do you think you were drugged?”

  “We’re just exhausted, Lil. It’s been a grueling week. But FYI, I don’t think you had a psychotic break.”

  I sighed in relief and hugged her. “Thank you! He’s really the one, Orchid. It was incredible.”

  Her smile faded somewhat, and I worried she might be feeling a little jealous. She fiddled with my amulet for a moment, maybe remembering the first time Logan had secretly switched amulets with me. “Anyway, you look like a disaster,” she said. “You should go to bed ASAP. Talk tomorrow?”

  “Def. Good night, Orchid.”

  “Night! Love you!”

  Upstairs, I took a hot bath, listening to my own romantic-emo music in my head. I made my bubbles dance around the room as I recounted the events of the evening—Logan’s magic still pulsing in my veins.

  After drying off, I put on a clean tank-top and matching soft-pajama shorts and pounced atop my feather bed, buzzing from everything and much too hyper to sleep.

  Soon, Mom slunk through the door, and quietly closed it, I was happy to see her. She ran her fingers through the air, mumbling a chant, protecting our conversation from the others downstairs.

  First, she took me in her arms and hugged me tight. “I’m so proud of you, honey. You were so smart to stop talking and let Camellia re-direct the conversation with her party. But I want to hear everything. You saw the mark, but it wasn’t revealed in the clearing was it?” Iris said, like a detective.

  “Nope. It was after. A fox dug me out of the quicksand, and I ran down to the Grove, expecting to find Logan alone, wondering where I was and why I stood him up, when I saw him there with…this replica of me. It was horrible, Mom. He was kissing her, and she was doing these things to him.”

  She looked appalled but patted my hand, letting me finish.

  “I screamed to him that she wasn’t me, but he couldn’t hear me. I finally broke the spell that was binding them in there, and the doppelganger ran off into the woods. I tried to find her, but I couldn’t. Instead I found a warlock, hovered over yet another effigy of me, this time a voodoo doll. Logan’s friend, Chance, helped us unhex it and during the unhexing ceremony, Logan revealed his mark.”

  Mom blinked.

  “Right? It was insane. I was so lucky to find them. This warlock, Jude, is wicked bad and a total tool. He was trying to torture me through this doll.”

  “Probably trying to weaken you for the Gleaning.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, he was a creeper. Anyway, we can’t trust Camellia anymore.”

  “Did you tell her you wouldn’t enchant Logan, honey?”

  “I did.”

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t feel right betraying him like that.”

  “Even though it was your coven duty?”

  “Mom! Whose side are you on here?”

  “Yours, yours of course, sweetie. But if you told her you wouldn’t look f
or the mark, maybe she got desperate and found a replacement.”

  “A replacement? You know that kind of magic is dangerous. And you can’t replace me! Who does that?’

  “Someone like Camellia.”

  “That someone also left me stuck in quicksand and blocked me from calling you for help.”

  “Do you know that for sure?”

  I raised my eyebrows like obviously.

  “If she’s not too jolly off spirits, I will talk to her about all of this. Get to the bottom of it. No, she shouldn’t be practicing shifter magic, especially without the rest of the coven’s consent, and she should’ve let me talk to you, convince you to stick with the plan—”

  “Mom. I made my decision. I’m glad I didn’t go through with the plan. I found the mark anyway. Naturally. Don’t you get that?”

  “Of course I do, honey. And this is huge. Something to celebrate.”

  “Then why do you look so disturbed?”

  “Because when people start making choices as individuals instead of as a whole, it leads to trouble. And while the results of tonight may be positive, you were put in a whole lot of danger. There is broken trust in our coven, and we can’t have that.”

  “Camellia went rogue.”

  “But, Lily,” Mom said, her eyes bottomless pools, “so did you.”

  Logan

  Back in his cell, Logan’s mind whirled from all the fantastic developments that had occurred in only the last few hours—the memories of his mother; the incredible experience with Lily in the woods; the fact that he was, undeniably, the Rognaithe.

  Just as he was about to succumb to exhaustion, Logan heard the unnerving sound of frenetic scratching, like claws on metal, followed by a painful squeak.

  “Not rats,” he muttered. If he had an Achilles Heel, it would be anything furry sporting a thick, wiggling tail.

  He peered out the aged keyhole. Squeak! He heard it again, the sound of rats trying to escape from a metal cage.

  Through the window in his cell, Logan peered down the corridor and saw an unfamiliar warlock carrying two small cages to a room across the hall. When the door opened, Logan saw Jacob barking orders to the other warlock, who seemed to be some kind of lab technician. Then, Logan closed his eyes and Saw what Jacob saw.