“There are circles forming under her eyes. They weren’t there when I arrived.”
He crouched to inspect. She was right. “What does this mean?” he asked, voice tight.
“Time is not on our side or hers,” Vilna-Daluca said.
“We cannot risk severing the connection that guides her return,” Demeter said.
Concern had gripped Johnny’s gut, but this was getting worse by the minute. “Her return? She’s meditating . . . right?”
Demeter faced him. “It’s a meditation, but it’s also part astral travel.”
Remembering when he and Red had used Great El’s slate, and the meditation-like journey she had guided him through, Johnny wondered if they were different. He’d felt like he’d traveled to the center of his soul, not to some outward place.
“Astral travel. That’s projecting your spirit outward, like an out-of-body experience, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“I’m confused. I thought meditation was inward,” he said.
She smiled at him. “Meditation often involves self-examination in the serenity you find inside your own soul. But the soul isn’t like the physical body, it is mobile in ways that do not involve the gravitational pull of this planet.”
He squinted at her. “Still confused.”
“There’s no up and down in the soul. There’s no left or right. No forward and backward. There is only the motion of the will. She doesn’t project out from her body. She projects out from her soul, into dimensions that do not exist in the reality we know.”
“Seriously?” Vilna-Daluca asked.
Demeter turned back to Seph. “She could do it since she was little. She creates a place and goes there. Totem animals have guided her through many lessons.”
“How little?” Vilna asked, incredulous.
“Seven or eight.”
“You mean she’s viator?”
The accent Vilna placed on her last word made Johnny certain it was foreign. Italian or Latin if he had to guess.
Demeter said, “Virago.” After a pause she turned to Vilna and added, “She’s not an average witch. She is the Lustrata.”
“Someone is spoiling for a fight,” Lydia muttered.
“No,” Demeter said, not taking her eyes from the Elder. “I know she is, and I know that she wouldn’t simply get lost or stuck in a meditation. Something is keeping her there, keeping her spirit away from her body.”
“Do you know anything about her current totem? That could be helpful,” Hunter said.
Demeter shrugged and shook her head no. They all turned to Johnny.
He copied Demeter’s reaction. “She never talked specifics about her meditations. Would her totem not let her leave?”
“No, no.” Hunter clarified, “If she is being kept in a meditation against her will, it wouldn’t be her totem’s doing. But if we knew the name we could attempt to contact it to learn what was going on. Without a name to call to her exact totem we are not going to find it.”
“Good point. If I can touch her forehead,” Demeter said, “I can find her totem’s name.”
“Okay,” Hunter said. “So we are going to triangulate a circle of ley line energy around you and Persephone, then you break her circle and we contain it while you learn the totem’s name, and then meditate and contact it for advice. When you come out of your meditation, you’ll know what to do. Is that the plan?”
“Sounds good to me,” Demeter said.
“We might have to hold the ley energy a long time,” Lydia said.
“Are you able?” Vilna asked.
To Johnny’s eyes, Lydia looked worried, but she nodded. He wasn’t comfortable with the notion that, ultimately, he was entrusting Red’s safety to the frail-looking old woman’s ability to hold a ley line.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
I stared at the throne, then at the handsome man kneeling beside it. This was all wrong, but I could not put my finger on why. Drowning in frustration, I could no longer see clearly as my eyes welled with tears. “I do not remember!”
He stood and enfolded me in warm, comforting arms. “Oh, my love, your memory will return. I am confident you will remember me soon.”
“But—”
He put a finger to my lips. “Shhhh.”
I almost protested, but let that idea go with a sigh.
His finger trailed to my cheek, wiping away my tears. “May I kiss you, my love?”
My feet wanted to retreat, but I held them rooted here. “You didn’t ask before,” I replied.
“You shied away before.”
I bit my lip, but did not offer an apology.
“I understand, love. You do not remember me. But those kisses I gave you earlier were not the type of kiss I want now. So I am asking . . . may I?” His eyes searched mine. Underneath the hope and adoration in his expression, there was a hint of sadness.
Pressing my lips to his was not an unpleasant notion, except for the doubts inexplicably clinging to my heart. Perhaps if I kissed him, the flame of familiarity would ignite and I could remember our love. Or maybe the unfamiliarity would redouble my misgivings. I weighed the options. “You may,” I said.
Aidon put his mouth to mine. It was a trembling kiss, like a first brush of lips. That he did not immediately take the liberty of a full-on, happily-married-for-many-years lip-lock made me soften to him. He at least understood my perspective.
When the kiss grew bolder, I did not resist. Though my eyes were closed I could feel warmth surging within me like summer sunshine. And yet . . . there was something arid about this warmth, something coarse scouring me like desert sand. Then his voice echoed through my mind, whispering, You are safe here. All will be fine. When he broke away, I believed those words and all my worries had faded.
“Too much?” he asked.
“No. Just right.”
He smiled. “More?”
All will be fine. I nodded.
This time, his tongue found mine. He tasted of blood oranges. His hands roamed, hot on my arms, teasing under my breast, tingling along my spine.
For an instant his lips left mine and he gestured at the regal furniture behind us. Even as I turned to see what had drawn his attention, the seats slid together, melding into something more like a chaise lounge than a throne. The air around us shimmered and black velvet curtains hung in a circle in midair, providing privacy. A single black marble pillar appeared beside the chaise, and a three-wick amber candle flickered atop it.
I was amazed! “How did you do that?”
“Magic, love. You can do it, but you’ve forgotten how.” Aidon sat, pulling me down beside him.
I can do such things?
He deposited a series of kisses on my neck, which were quite arousing, but his warm breath caused a chill to run down my spine. “I’ll teach you everything again if I have to.”
He unfastened the clasps of his vestlike shirt and discarded the garment, then resumed kissing my neck.
My head fell back and my eyes shut as desire trickled through me. My hands explored the contours of his chest. Had I known many men? Was this . . . husband . . . my only lover?
His deft fingers caressed between the ribbons at my back as he kissed his way down my neck, avoiding the tender burns. His affection concentrated on the upper mounds of my breasts.
Heat was rising within me.
“Whatever you wish, my love,” Aidon said between kisses, “by my hand, you shall have it.” He stood, lifting me with him. He closed the distance between us, jerking me into his arms and wrapping me in his strength. He kissed my lips again, rough and delicious, and I was locked in a longing I could not escape, and did not want to.
My hands ran along his back. His body was like stone, every muscle so hard. I squeezed his backside, and he bit my lip gently as he growled encouragement.
This moment had all the titillating arousal of the touch of a stranger, but it was mingled with the security of a committed relationship and an inherent knowledge of what pleas
ure our bodies could create.
He broke the kiss and I instantly yearned for more. Lust had laid claim to me, but I fought to catch my breath and regain control of my passions.
“Can you feel the storm within you, my love?”
“Yes.”
“Can you feel the blaze burning in your soul?”
How did he know? “Yes!”
“Is the flood filling you up?”
“What is happening?”
“You are so close. . . . ” He took my thumb into his mouth and sucked on it. “Malek tsalmaveth.” He switched to the other thumb. “Basilissa nekros.”
The sensation was strangely wonderful.
“Call your mantle.”
“My mantle?”
“Close your eyes. Look inside yourself. There is a light within you, an armor that glows.”
My eyes shut obediently. I tried to see within . . . to feel a storm, a blaze or a flood. “I can’t find it.”
He kissed my palm, my wrist. Working his way up my arm to the inner spot on my elbow, he then moved back to my neck.
“Don’t stop,” I begged.
“Search deep, my love. Follow the desire deep into this body, then fall into it, fall deep into the sensations rising in your soul. There you will find the light.” He squeezed my hands.
And there it was. At the instant I found it, I felt brightness shine out from me.
He gasped. “Yes. There it is, my love. Now hold on to it. Open your eyes.”
Silvery light twinkled around us. It was beautiful.
He rubbed his thumbs in circles against mine. “This is how you command fire, love. Right here. In your thumbs.”
“I command fire?”
“You do. Now choose something to burn. You do not command all the elements yet, so you have to be in contact with something to make it blaze, but since I am here with you, you can push your will through me . . . and burn it without direct contact.”
After looking around, I chose the curtains. Focusing on them, I cast my demand down my arms, into my thumb, and passed it to his.
Flames licked over the curtains. The fire gave off heat and light, but did not consume the fabric.
Aidon reviewed my handiwork with an expression of satisfaction. “You are a quick study, my love.” He pressed his lips to mine again.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Wait,” Johnny said, facing Demeter. “What if you get stuck in the meditation, too?”
He watched her carefully as she considered the question he had posed like a weapon.
“I don’t mean any insult,” he added when she hesitated, “but she’s the Lustrata and she’s stuck. What makes you think you won’t get stuck?”
She lifted her chin and set her shoulders. “That won’t happen.”
“How can you be so sure?” Hunter asked.
“Because. Whatever is interfering with her is doing so because she is the Lustrata. My insignificance means I won’t get ensnared.”
Johnny shot a glance at Hunter, who passed it to Vilna like a hot potato. Vilna’s face twisted into a rather displeased expression, but she nodded. “She has a point.”
“Let’s do this,” Demeter said. She scooted the tray of supplies on the counter closer to her and took up a position near Red.
Hunter sat on the floor and took her shoes off. “So we’re clear, Domn Lup: Are you going to be inside the circle or outside of it?”
Johnny shrugged. “Demeter?”
“Doesn’t matter, I guess. You can be in if you want to, but I don’t foresee there being anything you can do.”
“Outside,” he said.
“All righty, then.” Hunter now had her socks off as well. “You keep your eyes on Persephone and let us know if at any time the magic makes you so uncomfortable you have to leave the area.” She cuffed the ends of her pants up. Pulling bracelets adorned with little colored stones from her pockets, she hooked them around her ankles. Then she stood.
“Use this.” Demeter lifted a pouch of what looked like petals from the tray and handed it to her.
Hunter sniffed it. “Apricot? Honey? What is this?”
“A mix of agrimony and arbutus petals,” Demeter said.
“Ah,” Vilna added. “Good choices.”
“Why?” Hunter asked. “I use herbs, but I don’t recall ever having used agrimony before . . . or arbutus.”
“Probably not, dear.” Lydia joined their conversation. “Agrimony is best for reversing spells, breaking hexes, and banishing negative entities. Arbutus is used for exorcisms.”
“Hold on a minute,” Johnny interrupted. “Banish negative entities? Exorcisms? What the fu—fudge is going on?” He changed his expletive at the last, considering who was present.
“Precautions,” Demeter answered. “It’s helpful, not all-inclusive. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”
“You said she was stuck in a meditation.”
“She is.”
“You didn’t say the something that was keeping her there might be an evil entity.”
“There’s no way to know if that’s the case until I speak with the totem, so I’m covering the bases should this be a worst-case scenario. Now step back and let us get on with this.”
Begrudgingly, he returned to his spot in the doorway.
With the broom she rode in on, Hunter swept a counterclockwise circle around Red, saying, “With this broom, I sweep all negativity away.” The witches moved inside the circle. “Let positive energy flow that our efforts may be pure.”
“So mote it be,” Demeter said. Vilna-Daluca and Lydia echoed the statement.
Hunter laid her broom on the floor. She took the incense stick Demeter had lit for her in one hand, and the four stones she had gathered in the other. She closed her eyes for a moment and turned in a circle. She stopped and pointed. “North is this way?”
“Yes,” Demeter said.
Starting at the north, Hunter walked a clockwise circle this time. She made one slow circuit, letting the smoke waft from the end of the incense. On the beginning of the second go-round, she crouched to place a stone at the eastern point. “Elements of air, of the east, guard this circle and breathe into us the breath of life.”
When she rose she did not walk to the next point, she danced to it. He noticed that she moved with the confident balance of a trained dancer. He also noted that she had cute feet; her toenails were painted a dark red, the bracelets were draped at sexy angles, and the stones tinkled when they struck together.
She placed another stone. “Elements of fire, of the south, guard this circle and warm us with the heat of life.”
When she rose up, she twirled, then arched her back, lifting the incense up high. Her hips swiveled and her body swayed. Another spin brought her to the next point and another stone was set upon the floor. “Elements of water, of the west, guard this circle and bathe us in the liquid of life.”
When she rose again, she seemed even deeper into the ritual. She had passed him when drawing the circle and he was sure she was no longer aware of his presence. Red and he had talked about magic many times. She’d told him that, for some, the casting of a circle was merely an act of protection. For others, it was like drawing a curtain around the circle, a curtain that transported them out of this world and into the etheric world. If he had to guess, he’d have said Hunter belonged to the latter.
Hunter positioned the last stone. “Elements of earth, of the north, guard this circle and tread with us the terrain of life.” She rose and Demeter put a wand into her open hand. “This circle is cast and sealed,” she said, making one final ring around with the tip of the wand pointing at the circle she’d swept and danced already. “The elements are present. Lord and Lady, hail! I call to thee. Hear me, Goddess, She who walks alone in the spaces in between, maintain the balance of power we are about to invoke. Aid us to bring your daughter home.”
Vilna-Daluca, Lydia, and Demeter stood around Red, each a point of a wide triangle. As Hunter completed this circ
le casting, Demeter shuffle-stepped closer to Red, not breaking the water circle around her. Hunter took up the position Demeter had vacated.
“Vilna, since you have far more experience than I with ley lines,” Hunter said, “I defer to you for the sorcery portion.”
With a nod, Vilna accepted the black pillar candle that Demeter offered. When Hunter and Lydia also held their candles and Demeter had lit each one, Vilna began.
She didn’t speak, but she hummed softly. Within seconds, the hair on the nape of Johnny’s neck was rising. As she refined the melody, adding a note here and there, she let her voice grow louder. Lifting the candle to eye level, she stared at it intently and sang. Slowly, her right hand rose above her head, fingers curled as if she held a softball. A blue-purple orb of light swirled between her palm and fingers.
To her left, Hunter joined the melody, following it, then accenting it. She lifted her candle, focused on the flame, then raised her hand. When the flickering orb appeared in her hand, an arc-like lightning sprang from Vilna’s to connect to Hunter’s.
Last, Lydia began to sing. Her addition to the song was bold, fully formed from the first note. She belted her unique tune like it was the chorus of song she’d always known. She copied the position of the other witches and the orb flashed into her hand, followed by the lightning joining hers to Hunter’s. A completing arc joined hers to Vilna’s.
Blue-purple light filled the space within the circle Hunter had cast, shading the witches with a glow not unlike the black lights Johnny had seen at various clubs his band had played in.
He was listening to the witches’ lovely, dark chant, and was rather fond of the strange melody, but he remembered he was to keep his eyes on Red.
God, she’s going to hurt when she comes out of this. I’ll carry her upstairs to a hot bubble bath, followed by a massage. Anything she wants.
Demeter reached into her pocket and pulled out a four-leaf clover. “Here goes,” she said, and placed the clover on her tongue. She reached into her pocket again, and pulled out two stones. One she kept in her right hand, the other she transferred to the left. She slid her foot forward to the edge of the watery circle that protected Red.
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