Stalk the Moon

by Jessica Lynch

  Hunter folds his hand, tucking it behind him and out of her reach. He shakes his head. “No. I refuse to believe that.”

  “To believe me, you mean,” Cassandra murmurs. “And that’s my curse. No one ever believes me. I wonder why I keep trying.”

  Turning away from Hunter, she starts toward her cooking. After two steps, she’s forced to step when I’m in her face.

  Wait—

  Did I move?

  I don’t remember moving.

  Doesn’t matter now. My bow is still strapped to my back, my quiver in place over my shoulder, and my knife is slipped beneath the length of braided rope tied around my waist. I don’t need no friggin’ weapon to take down a princess.

  “Well.” She looks me up and down. “Seems I’ve touched a nerve.”

  I don’t even have to check to know that I’ve got to be lit up like the Empire State Building at night. As my jealousy grew, the room was getting brighter. It’s because of me. Of course, it is.

  “Don’t touch him again unless you want to lose that hand.”

  My voice is husky, thick and raw. Artemis. So I’m not in control, am I? I can fix that. Gritting my teeth, I push her aside. It’s getting easier now that I can kind of tell when she’s making an appearance. The light begins to dim. My heart rate slows. And I glare at Cassandra because, Artemis or Noelle, we’re both in agreement on this. Hunter is mine.

  “I have no claim to him, nor do I want one,” she concedes, dipping her head in a quick nod. “He’s all yours.”

  “Yes. He is.”

  Hunter slants a look my way. Beneath the shadow of his hood, I can see how he’s looking at me. I jut my chin out. He grins.

  Behind me, I hear Alex sigh. “As entertaining as this is, I feel like we’ve lost the point of our visit. Sending my sister back home. Remember?”

  I guess he’s back to the helm of his ship. He’s not even trying to be subtle about it. If a portal popped open right now, he’d gleefully kick my ass right through it if it meant I was leaving. Why does he want me to go so bad? It can’t just be because of his rivalry with Hunter. There’s more to it than that. And I don’t get it.

  I want to ask him about it, say something to him about it, anything. I don’t get the chance. Before I can open my mouth, Cassandra raps the wooden spoon against the cauldron. I jerk toward her and am immediately snared by the look in her eyes. They’re like a pair of magnets and I’m drawn to them. I can’t tear myself away.

  “Tell me about your portal.”

  I have the urge to do whatever she says, which isn’t like me—or Artemis. She’s a powerful witch. Considering what she asked me is harmless, I don’t fight her thrall. “Well, it’s a mirror—”

  “That’s the way the magic manifests mirrorside. It’s always a mirror.”

  Good to know.

  And, whoa. I just got that. All the times I heard someone use that weird term and I finally understand. Mirrorside. The side with the mirror. It makes so much more sense now.

  I shake it off. Tell her about the portal. Okay. “Anyway, it’s a big mirror and, yeah, I know that’s not hard considering I’m so short. Um, four feet tall, maybe two feet wide. Old. Really old.” I squint, trying to remember all the details. “Sucker was heavy. Bronze frame and, oh, it has these friggin’ weird clawed feet.”

  “How did it find you?”

  “I found it,” I tell Cassandra. “At a flea market. Some guy was selling it.” When all she does is continue to stare at me, I’m compelled to explain further. “Older guy with a deep tan, silver hair, and a wandering eye.” I snort. That’s putting it mildly. “He had a younger girlfriend—no, sorry. She was his wife. They owned the stall where I bought the mirror and the softest blanket ever.”

  Hunter makes a harsh sound. “Zeus.”

  “Bless you.”

  Cassandra looks at me strangely. I shrug. “He sneezed.”

  She shakes her head. “Go on. Tell me more.”

  “That’s about it. I wanted the blanket, he offered the mirror, and I ended up with both. At the time, I thought I bamboozled the guy ‘cause I got the better deal. But now—”

  “The mirror found you, darlin’.”

  Yeah. It did.

  Cassandra blinks and the spell is broken. I no longer have the urge to spill my guts out to her, though bopping her over her head with my bow sounds pretty good.

  “Don’t do that again,” I snap. “I have nothing to hide. If you want me to answer a question, ask. That wasn’t necessary.”

  “I’m used to Apollo. I had no reason to believe his kin would be any different.”

  “Yeah? Well, now you know.”

  “Fine. Then one last question, no glamour. No beguilement. Be honest, ‘cause the spell will know and the portal will fail. Before I do this, are you sure you want to return?”

  I hesitate. The way she says that—the spell will know—reminds me of when Hunter gave me my bow and told me I had to accept it. Things are strange in the Other. I don’t want to get on the wrong side of the magic. I’ve seen what it can do.

  “When you say return, do you mean to my house or coming back if I want to see Hunter again?”

  She doesn’t blink. “Both. I’ve already seen it. I’m just making sure that it’s what you want.”

  “I… well, yeah.” I make a point not to tell her about my cat. I don’t think she’d appreciate that I’m here trying to convince her to make me a portal because I want to bring Dudley into the Other. I also don’t deny that it’s my plan to come back.

  “Good. The story has to be told, one way or another. The magic demands its price. Someone will pay, just like I’ve had to pay.”

  Alex waves his hand, knocking all of her dire warnings aside. “Are you always such a downer? If you can’t send her back, just say so. No one will think any less of you, Cass.”

  Cassandra snorts. “I don’t care what you think. And I can do it. I don’t think it’s right, but I can do it.” She whirls on me. “I will need a drop of your blood. Give me a finger.”

  I fold my hand in a fist, just in case she gets any funny ideas about trying to see what my palm says. Extending only my pointer finger, I offer it out to her. She snatches it in a grip so tight, there’s no getting out of it.

  Trading her wooden spoon for a knife she had tucked in her apron, there’s barely any time for me to worry about germs and diseases before she’s pricked the tip. Cassandra squeezes. A bead of vivid red blood blossoms on my fingertip.

  She fucking licks it.

  I gag, jerking my hand back. “Are you serious? That’s so nasty.”

  “Trust me, it’s no treat for me, either. But it’s what I must do, Artemis.”

  “Noelle,” I mutter.

  “Blood tells.”

  I shudder. “Still nasty.”

  “Hush. I need quiet—from all of you,” she adds needlessly. Once it became evident that I was going through with this, Hunter clammed up. Surprisingly, so did Alex. The warning is for me and, shaking off the sting in my finger, I listen. “Now let me work.”

  Cassandra closes her eerie eyes and starts to hum. While she does what she’s doing, I glance down at my hand. She won’t see me clean off her witchy germs if her eyes are closed.

  Before I get the chance, I notice that I’m glowing again, but only the hand that she touched. I watch in amazement as the skin on the tip of my finger knits back together. In seconds, the small wound is gone.

  I glance at Cassandra. Still busy. I quickly wipe her saliva on the inside hem of my dress. There. As good as it’s gonna get until I get some damn soap.

  The whole room goes still. Apart from the shuffling of Alex’s sandals as he re-settles his position, leaning against the wall as he watches Cassandra closely, all I can hear is her humming. It’s getting higher, growing in pitch, the long stream unbroken. How is she breathing?

  I… I’m not sure she is.

  And then she lifts her left hand, turning it over so that the palm is facing up. Ey
es still closed, she snaps her teeth and, suddenly, a wooden bowl is soaring through the air. It nestles in the cup of her palm.

  “Holy shit,” I whisper.

  Witch. They weren’t kidding.

  Cassandra reaches into the bowl with her other hand, taking out a pinch of something green. Grass? It looks like grass. Bringing the grass to her lips, she blows on it and, with a jerk, tosses it away from her.

  I’m afraid it’s going to fall into her soup and ruin it. To my amazement, the grass hangs suspended in the air for one moment before it incinerates, sparking in reds and golds like fireworks. It’s a quick crackle, crackle, pop and, when the tiny wisps of smoke clear, a rectangular-shaped shimmering haze lingers in the space where she threw the grass.

  Cassandra’s eyes open. Her face has a pinched look, her dark skin paling considerably under the strain of whatever magic she just used. It’s the only sign that the magic costs her anything. I’m surprised she let us—well, Alex—see even that much weakness.

  Setting the bowl back on the shelf behind her, she turns to meet my awestruck gaze. The tiniest of satisfied smirks tugs at her lips.

  “There you are.”

  “That’s it?” She made it look so easy. There’s no way it can be that easy. “That’s all?”

  “I did most of the work this morning,” Cassandra explains, as if what I did see her do is so inconsequential that it isn’t even worth mentioning. “The blood was the last thing I needed. There. One portal back, as requested. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to return to my supper. Casting takes a lot out of me. I need food and rest and for all you fools to leave my home. And not in that order, either.”

  I know I should be grateful and tell her thanks, despite her less than welcome attitude. She helped me when she didn’t have to, and I really appreciate it, but I can’t. The words won’t come. Instead, I’m staring at the hazy patch that’s appeared in front of me. I’m dazzled by the sight.

  This is my ticket home.

  “What… what do I do now?”

  “Go. Stay. It’s no concern of mine.” She waves her hand at the shimmering portal. “But it won’t stay long, and I won’t have the strength nor the herbs to force another one open until next season. Like I said, there’s always a price.”

  I guess Cassandra has given up on warning me. She stops to ladle some of her steaming potion—excuse me, soup—into a second handmade wooden bowl. Before she leaves us, though, she has one parting shot for Alex. “If the gods hear my prayers, maybe you’ll take the leap.”

  He waits a few seconds after she’s gone before shrugging. “And deprive her of such a delicious opportunity to continue to loathe me? Now, why would I do something like that?”

  Ignoring him, I focus on the portal. Maybe two feet wide by three feet long, it’s a large rectangle that is a distorted overlay of Cassandra’s back room. One thing for sure: I don’t see anything familiar sticking out in the haze.

  “How does it work?” I ask out loud. “How do I get back to my condo?”

  Hunter answers me.

  “Just tell it where you want to go. Image shifts, you touch it and, next thing you know, you should be back on the other side.”

  “That’s it? That’s all I have to do?”

  “As far as I know. She’s already done the hard work, callin’ up the portal. The rest’s on you. Besides, it can’t hurt, right?”

  I guess not.

  Feeling kind of silly, I tell the portal my address.

  Alex snorts. “A Jersey girl. I should’ve known.”

  My head snaps in his direction. He’s been testing me all morning, ever since he stumbled uninvited to Hunter’s cabin. Sure, he brought me to Cassandra and arranged it so that I could go back home. Doesn’t mean he has to keep being such a dick about it. Implying that New Jersey isn’t the most awesome state ever and that anyone wouldn’t be proud to call it home?

  I’ve hit my limit with his snarkiness.

  “Shut up, Alex. I mean, seriously. Give it a rest.”

  “What? Was it something I said?”

  I’m beginning to think he’s physically incapable of shutting his trap.

  “You just don’t—”

  “Noelle, darlin’.” Hunter leans around me, taking my elbow in his big hand, smoothly moving my body until I’m glaring at the portal instead of Alex. “Look.”

  I stare. Sometime when I was facing off with Alex, the portal changed. Excitement slams into me like a wave. I instantly forget about the pain in the ass standing behind me. The squeal escapes me, high-pitched, girly, and so very like me when I get excited.

  My room! Oh my god. My dresser! My bed! There, on the floor where it fell, I see my blanket. Dud’s heated bed is right next to it and— I squint. Yes! Dudley is curled up in the bed, sleeping soundly, safe and definitely not scorpion chow.

  Now that I see him again, I can admit to myself that there was a teeny, tiny part of me that was terrified he might’ve managed to slip through the mirror after I did. Even if he didn’t, what if he couldn’t find food? Water? I know Dud’s a former stray and he can take care of himself. He’s also my baby. I’m so happy to see that he’s perfectly fine.

  Of course, Alex has to chime in.

  “Pink? Really?”

  Ugh. His lazy drawl rubs me the wrong way. It takes everything I have not to turn and smack him.

  Then he adds, “Not what I expected from my sister.”

  Don’t smack him. Don’t smack him.

  My eyes slant to the side. “Noelle likes pink. And didn’t I tell you to shut it?”

  There’s a sparkle in Alex’s silvery gaze. He actually likes it when I bicker with him. Not likes it, like the way Hunter likes it when I… yeah. I’ve always been an only child. It might’ve taken me a minute—or, well, a couple of days—but I’ve finally figured it out. This is good, old-fashioned sibling bickering.

  I give in. Isn’t that what a sister should do? Buying into it, taking his bait will only encourage him. Hell if Alex needs more encouragement to be an asshole.

  Gesturing toward the portal, I point at the orange-colored lump. “Hunter, look! That’s him. That’s my cat. He’s okay.”

  I sigh in relief. Dudley’s okay.

  Hunter is careful not to touch the portal as he moves closer to peer into it. He gets bonus points for taking me seriously, looking at the hazy lump and nodding in approval of my cat. “I like him. He reminds me of an old orange barn cat we had back on the farm. Called him Rusty. Good cat.”

  “My Dudley’s the best,” I say loyally.

  “Dudley?” Alex chokes on his laughter. “You named your cat Dudley?”

  I scowl at him. “Is there some part of ‘shut it’ that’s too difficult for you to understand?”

  “I don’t know.” He raises his eyebrow. “Is there some part of ‘it won’t stay long’ that you didn’t get, sister?”

  I know he’s only calling me sister over and over again because he knows it ticks me off. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean he’s wrong. And his Cassandra impression is spot-on, damn it.

  Speak of the devil. Wearing a scowl, her apron gone and a faded bandana taming her wild curls, Cassandra appears in the doorway.

  “You’re pushing my power, girl. I thought you would’ve been gone by now.”

  Me, too. I’m stalling. As much as I want to go back, even if it’s only to grab Dudley and anything else I might need, I keep hesitating. The portal is there. It’s right there. One touch and I can go home again.

  But what if I can’t come back?

  Cassandra only promised me a way out of the Other. I’ve already pushed her too far, making her hold the portal open while I waffle back and forth. Her portal might only be a one-way trip. I still have my mirror.

  Will it work?

  It has to work.

  I pass my bow over to Hunter, then lift my quiver up and over my head. He takes that, too. With trembling fingers, I undo the button of my cloak and shrug it off my shoulders. I bend lo
w, swoop it up, and quickly fold it. Hunter’s already reaching for it by the time I hold it out to him.

  “Hang onto these for me, okay? I’m gonna need them when I return.”

  “I’ll guard ‘em with my life.”

  I slip my hand under his cloak, wrapping my fingers around his bicep. I give it a squeeze. “I’ll be back,” I promise. No matter what I have to do, I’m coming back for him. For my Jake.

  “And I’ll be waitin’.”

  “If you’re done with the doe eyes, I’ll remind you that the portal’s about to close any second now,” Cassandra says, exasperated. “I can’t hold it open much longer. If you don’t go now, you won’t until it’s all over.”

  “I’m going. Just give me a minute.”

  “That might be all you have left. And, girl?” I glance over at Cassandra. Under the bandana, her hair’s doing that crazy woo-woo thing again. Her eyes have gone blank as she stares at something that none of us can see. “Artemis. She’s not in you. She is you.”

  Without another word, she turns and leaves us alone in the room.

  I gulp. Whoa. I don’t even know how to wrap my head around the one. A vision? A truth?

  A cursed prophecy?

  Shit.

  “Noelle, darlin’. I’m right here. Don’t listen to her, yeah? It don’t matter.”

  That’s right. I’m Noelle. And Hunter is in front of me. Not Orion. Hunter.

  Mine.

  Slipping my hand out from under his cloak, I stand on the tips of my toes and press my hand to the back of his neck. I tug him toward me, slanting my lips over his when he’s near enough to kiss.

  Alex, mature as ever, makes a retching sound behind us.

  Breaking the kiss, I rub my thumb along the sandy whiskers on Hunter’s jaw. “We’ll meet up again at your cabin. Sound good?”

  He gives me a crooked grin. “Yeah. At our cabin, darlin’.”

  One more kiss, a tiny one at the corner of his mouth. I offer a quick murmur of thanks for Cassandra—she’s a witch, maybe she heard me—and roll my eyes when Alex says he’ll see me again, if I do decide to return. There’s no shaking him now, I guess.

  Eh. It’s not so bad. I can deal with a “brother” like Alex so long as I get to keep Hunter, too.