by Catie Rhodes
It hurt to watch them take her. I wanted to run after them, insinuate myself into their family, just to stay near Zora. But feeling that was wrong. A previous incarnation of her might have been mine, but I failed her. Now she belonged to another family. She had a different life ahead of her. My job now was to make sure she got a chance at this life. No matter what it took, no matter what it cost me.
Cecil approached the picnic table. “Ms. Whitebyrd? Will you scan Kenny and Anita for the traitor’s magical signature?”
The memory of Mysti’s white-eyed face and long, silver-tipped fingers came back. I gulped, not eager to see it again.
Her chipper voice broke into my thoughts. “I’d be happy to. Just let me get back to the SUV and get my witch bag.”
“Take the golf cart.” Cecil never took his eyes off Kenny and Anita.
“What’s she gonna do to us?” Kenny’s eyes rolled from one member of our group to the next.
“Shut up now,” Cecil whispered to Kenny.
18
WE MARCHED Anita and Kenny to their camper, a relatively new fifth-wheel. They’d set up a little patio with a roll of artificial grass and had a folding table with two chairs. The couple stopped in front of the door to their home and turned to us, faces set in pleading expressions. Anita was crying.
“What if we was to hook up our camper and drive off?” Kenny tried hard to sell his escape plan. I’d have been willing to give him a gold star for effort.
“It’s too late,” Cecil muttered. “Just go inside.” He motioned to Wade. “Stand guard, son?”
Wade nodded and held open the door for Kenny and Anita. She went on inside, but Kenny stopped to size up Wade. Wade ignored the smaller man, shoulders back, eyes straight ahead. Kenny’s chest deflated, and his shoulders curved inward. Head down, he went inside.
Mysti stopped in front of Cecil. “What you see inside this camper must stay there.”
“You have my word.” Cecil gave her a small bow. “And Kenny and Anita’s too.”
Anita began to sob. She put her hands over her face to do it, but it annoyed me. She and Kenny had caused this whole, ugly scene. We desperately needed to work on our plan to rescue Zora. Instead we were farting around with these dingleberries.
The three of us went inside. Mysti took a quick look around. “Kenny and Anita, lie on your bed, please.”
Anita cried harder. Kenny, white-faced and shaking, said nothing.
“Do it now.” Cecil’s voice was casual. The gun in his hand wasn’t.
Mysti didn’t pay either of them any mind. Already standing next to the bed, she took the seer crystal out of her bag and handed me the bundle of sage. I pointed at the fire alarm. She made a face but nodded. “Ready?”
I nodded. We bowed our heads and took deep breaths. Mysti began her chant. I concentrated on the ring of her voice more than the words and focused my intent. The seer crystal awoke. Though my eyes were closed, the movement of the smoke inside stirred my magic. I concentrated on joining with the crystal’s power and opened my eyes.
Mysti’s eyes had gone that all-white quartz color, and her fingers elongated and went silver and sharp on the tips. Those weird orbs focused on Kenny and Anita. They both went bug-eyed with fear.
Mysti held out her hands to Anita. She raised a hand to fend Mysti off. Cecil pointed the pistol at Anita and laid the hammer down. She put her hands by her sides and squeezed her eyes shut. Mysti’s freaky hands settled on her chest.
Mysti’s shoulders rose and fell as a hum grew in her throat. Fear of the thing standing in front of me, worry it wasn’t really Mysti but some changeling, gnawed at my concentration, begging me to get the hell out of there. But doing so would be unforgivable, a slap in the face to Mysti.
My mentor pushed me to the point of discomfort. If I complained, she ordered me to try some more. She made me think about the things I didn’t want to and wouldn’t let me take the easy way out. Mysti made me a better person. She demanded it and fostered it. I was sorry we hadn’t met sooner. But right now, she scared me.
Mysti took her hands off Anita and put them on Kenny. His body trembled head to toe as the magic surged through him. The hum in Mysti’s throat stopped, and the glow around her faded. She went back to normal. “We’re done. Good news and bad news. Kenny and Anita don’t have enough magic between them to even see a ghost. Neither of them is the traitor.”
Cecil pressed his lips together and exhaled through his nose. “All right then.” He held a hand out to Mysti and tried to smile. “Ms. Whitebyrd, you’ve greatly impressed me. Please send your bill through Peri Jean and know you have a place among us if you ever want it. Mr. Reed does too, although he’ll never take it.”
Mysti took Cecil’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Gregg. Peri Jean?” She motioned to the door.
Cecil gripped my arm. “I need my niece’s help right now.”
Mysti gave me one last glance and disappeared out the door.
Cecil sat down at the dining table and motioned me to sit across from him. He set the pistol on the table between us.
“You gonna kill us now?” Kenny rose from the bed. “After everything we been through together?”
Cecil stared at me several long seconds. I didn’t want to watch him kill Kenny and Anita, no matter how much I hated what they’d done, so I shook my head. Sadness filled his dark eyes. He dropped them to the table. “Kenny, you’ve left me with few choices. I can no longer trust you after today, not to be here with me or to leave Sanctuary.”
Anita sat up on the bed. “What if we can tell you who the real traitor is?”
“No.” Kenny reached for Anita.
“How can you let that awful, greedy pickpocket get us killed?” Anita screamed. Her shrill voice rang in the tiny home.
“Well?” Cecil put his hand over the gun. “What would you do?”
I glanced at the door, wanting my friends so badly my insides ached. They’d know what to do. If only I could ask one of them.
“No.” Cecil seemed to read my thoughts. “Only you can decide, and you must.”
My heart sped up. Nausea rumbled in my stomach. “Depends on whether the information pans out, I guess.”
Cecil shook his head. “You can’t guess. Make a decision.”
I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind. The clutter flooding my thoughts stayed in place. “They tell us the name of the traitor. If they’re telling the truth, and if I get Zora back, they get another chance.” Some of the tension let go, and I slumped.
“You’ll have to announce this to the group at tribunal. It’ll be your responsibility to keep them in line. What’s more, people will have to believe you can keep Kenny and Anita in line.” Cecil watched me carefully. “Sure you wouldn’t rather kill them?”
I climbed out the booth, unable to bear Cecil watching me any longer, and walked into the little bedroom. Anita and Kenny huddled together. I fixed them both with my hardest stare. “Tell me the name of the traitor.”
“It’s my s-s-s-s-sister.” Kenny could barely get the words out. “Danielle.”
My knees wobbled. Behind me, I heard Cecil get up, open the door, and mumble something to Wade. Cecil came to stand next to me at the bedside, the pistol held in his hand. Was he going to go against my decision? A bolt of anger flashed in my head.
Cecil’s spoke so softly that I could barely hear him. “How long have the three of you planned to do this to my family?”
“No, no, no, you got it all wrong, m-man.” Kenny waved his hands.
The door opened, and Finn walked in stony-faced. He held a pistol too. I tried to back away from the bed, but Cecil put one hand on my back to keep me in place. He turned to Finn. “Is Kenny telling the truth?”
Finn walked over and put his free hand on Kenny’s head. He closed his eyes and cocked his head as though he was listening. Nothing happened. He gave Kenny a hard slap. “Remember what she said so I can see it, moron.” He closed his eyes again and began to nod. “Yeah. Danielle told Ke
nny she’d help him take over leadership of Sanctuary. He hasn’t trusted you since your last heart attack.” Finn took his hand off Kenny and wiped it on his pants. “But Kenny had no idea what Danielle had planned. He’s horrified and embarrassed.”
Kenny scooted toward Cecil. My great-uncle’s gun hand twitched, and Kenny stopped moving and put his hands up. “That was when that little gal who painted face tattoos got raped and killed by those local boys. You’s in the hospital. Nobody knew what to do. I had to take charge then, and—”
Cecil interrupted with a short laugh. “And you decided you liked it?”
Kenny stared at Cecil’s gun but squared his shoulders. “I saw I could do it.” And that you couldn’t anymore. Kenny didn’t say the words, but they hung in the air like a ripe fart.
I glanced at Cecil. He’d stiffened, his face gone red. The gun jittered against his leg.
Sweat broke out all over my body. Oh, no. He’s pissed, and he’s going to kill them right now, and I’m going to have to watch and probably help clean their brains off the wall and dispose of their bodies.
Cecil sat on the bed, his back to Kenny and Anita. He put one shaking hand to his face. “You’re right.” He let out a sob, and it was the saddest, forlorn sound I think I’ve ever heard. “I’ve gotten too sick to fulfill the duties I promised I’d carry out.” He turned to me, tears flooding down his cheeks. “I might have a plan to make things right. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll name Kenny as the new leader of Sanctuary.”
Kenny’s mouth fell open with a pop. His dream was within his grasp.
Finn backed toward the camper’s door. “You can’t do that. This is all I know. This is where I want to raise my family.”
Cecil put out a hand to him. “Life goes on. No matter how broken we think we are, we keep going until we’re dead. And we make it work.” The old man glanced at me again, his meaning clear. I could agree to help. We could keep Sanctuary going together.
Finn, reading Cecil’s mind, rushed to hover over me. “My grandmother taught me everything I know.” Finn knew who he had to convince. “She was so proud of this community, of us being able to travel around and…” He trailed off.
I considered ways he might have completed his sentence. Steal? Murder? Con people out of their worldly belongings? My grandmother taught me everything I knew too, and it had been nothing like the lessons Finn learned.
Finn’s grandmother and mine had been sisters. Twins. The two of them must have been dual opposites. Memaw would never have encouraged me to swindle people. Her abandoning these people finally made sense. But now I’m in, and I don’t know what to do. Both Finn and Cecil watched me. Nothing like a little pressure. Someone knocked on the door, saving me from answering.
“Who is it?” Cecil called.
“Wade Hill.” He didn’t open the door.
“Come in.” Cecil got off the bed.
Wade had to duck to cross the threshold. He leaned against the counter so his head wouldn’t brush the roof. “Danielle’s not in her trailer. All her stuff’s there, and her truck’s parked beside it.”
“She told me not to call a vote.” Kenny stood from the bed, but Wade motioned him to sit back down. “Said me and her was done if I did.”
It all made sense to me. Danielle’d come back for her stuff when the Coachman’s rebirth through Zora was done, when I was dead. “The Coachman’s coven is going to do something soon. We need to table this whole issue and get ready. Otherwise, I’ve got no chance of getting Zora back.” I turned to Cecil. “Or do you want to keep at this?”
He waved me off and spoke to Wade. “Set up guards. If either Kenny or Anita comes out, shoot them.”
“But we did what you said.” Anita threw her pillow at Cecil.
“I don’t give a shit.” He took my arm and marched me out the door, already speaking to Wade. “Set up another guard near Danielle’s camper. If she comes back, detain her. Wait until I speak with her to finish it.”
“Who do I use for guards?” Wade leaned down to speak quietly to Cecil.
Cecil glanced around the crowd that had gathered. He pointed at a man about Finn’s and my age and at another man probably in his fifties. Then he led me away, already speaking in my ear. “As I told Dillon, I have an idea on how to get the runes. But we need privacy.”
CECIL and I walked to his motor home in silence, me reeling from the scene I’d just witnessed. They would have killed Anita and Kenny. I was sure of it. The worst part? I understood why.
Sanctuary probably relied more on homemade law than the law of the outside world. Kenny and Anita represented a threat. If they were allowed to walk away, others might rise in their place. Or they might come back for revenge. Eliminating them made sense.
I jumped away from the direction of my thoughts, scared sweat dampening my clothes. A stiff wind whipped through the park. I began to shiver.
Memaw had hated Sanctuary, even though she never called it by name to me, had hated her family. I saw now her reasons were valid. The problem? It wasn’t as simple as turning my back. I saw the need for a community like Sanctuary.
Could it be saved? I glanced around me at the grouping of campers, set aside from the rest of the RV park. People stood around talking. Some of them glanced in Cecil’s and my direction.
Finn stood outside his and Dillon's camper. He raised a hand to wave at me and gave me a thumbs-up. A mix of feelings—guilt, anger, sadness—fought for master of my emotions.
Sanctuary had been in its death throes for a long time before I cast a shadow over them. I didn’t know where things went wrong, only that they had. Maybe the only fix was to let it go. I was scared to take on a leadership role within it. My magic wasn’t strong enough to save lost causes.
We reached Cecil’s big, fancy motor home. It was the nicest one in all of Sanctuary. Griff had been right about that. Cecil unlocked the door and gestured for me to go in first. “Sit down.”
I took the couch, and Cecil sat in the recliner. Age creased his face like a roadmap of hardship. “I know you came over here to find out what I know about the tiles, and I am going to tell where I think they are. But first I wanted to…” His voice faltered. “No matter what you decide about helping me run Sanctuary, I wanted to say I love you. These last few days have been awful. Just awful. But I can’t think of anybody I’d have wanted by my side more than you.” He held out one hand, and I took it.
The desire to tell him not to worry, that I’d help, rose up in me like a fire-breathing monster ready to take out a village. I couldn’t do this. My own problems were about to bury me.
This layer of scar tissue keeping the mantle from properly manifesting made me a target to any powerful magic practitioner who wanted to take advantage of me. And I had no way to fix myself. Saving a rag-tag group of two-bit criminals went beyond my pay grade. Didn’t it?
Learning with Mysti and working in Griff’s business were my life. My new business cards said so. No, it wasn’t the white picket fence of normalcy I’d always pined for, the one where I didn’t see ghosts or do witchcraft and nobody knew me as a freak. I’d accepted that kind of normal was beyond me.
But with Griff and Mysti, I had a chance at another normal, one that sounded pretty good. In this normal, I’d be an average woman who went to work every day—albeit doing supernatural things—but came home to a nice husband, a cute dog, or maybe both. Taking on Cecil’s battle to save Sanctuary would kill that dream of normal. I couldn’t do it. I needed this last chance at normal.
Once I got Zora back safe in her parents’ arms, I’d break the news. Then stepping away wouldn’t seem like such a blow. If I failed, I’d be dead. Out of the race by default. I caught Cecil watching me worry.
“You look so much like Leticia right now.” He dropped my hand and let his drift to hover around his mouth, a nervous gesture he must have learned to control over the years but couldn’t help when things got out of control. “Those eyes of hers would get darker and deeper until they were like
twin black holes. Yours almost smolder. I’m going to throw out one more thing.”
I wanted to say it didn’t matter, but I couldn’t quite get those words to come out.
“That spell my Aunt Fern cast on you, the one keeping your powers from fully manifesting?” He dropped his hand from his mouth and leaned forward. My uncle obviously thought we were negotiating, and he had experience with that. “I know a lot of people. There has to be somebody who can help us figure this out. If you stand with me, I’ll turn over every resource I have to you.” He smiled and winked. “Don’t answer now. Think about it.”
I already was. The spell had to be stopped before the scar tissue got any bigger. If Cecil could help me do just that one thing, how much difference would it make in my life? Memaw wouldn’t have wanted this, my mind whispered. I let the thought drift away. “I promise to think about it. So what about the runes, the tiles, or whatever they’re called?”
Cecil stood and took his photo album from the cabinet above the couch. “I hadn’t thought of this in years. I think I had convinced myself it was a dream.” He sat down next to me on the couch and opened the photo album to a place he’d marked. “But I been feeling sorry for myself, hashing over old times. I saw this picture. Nearly gave me a heart attack.” He pushed the photo album at me.
Cecil, his facial features rendered sharp and his hair a colorless dark shade by the black and white picture, cuddled a pure white cat. The cat looked ready to claw him, but Cecil had the sappy grin of a kid in love with an animal. “This was Snowball. Samantha had her waiting for me when we visited that summer.” Cecil shut the photo album and set it aside. “A neighbor’s mean dog got a hold of Snowball and killed her. I cried until my daddy whipped me for ruining our visit with grandma.” The old man smiled sadly at the memory. “Samantha got me aside and said we could make it live again, only it couldn’t live in our world.”
I pointed at the photo album. Cecil nodded and gestured for me to pick it up. I turned a few pages and found a picture of Samantha. Legs encased in baggy pants, suspenders over her shoulders, she stood in front of a sign with the words Lakeworth Brothers Circus.
