Ritual Space

by Viola Grace

  Adrea looked at the page and smiled. Her name was written on the paper with the distinctive flourish of her aunt’s hand. “She did. Don’t worry. I will get by.”

  He nodded but appeared confused. “If you need me, here is my card. I will contact you when the details for the funeral have been completed.”

  “Thank you.”

  “The ceremony, burial and reception will be held here. You can expect about seven hundred guests. Do not worry. The function will be fully catered. They are coming to pay their respects to your aunt and to greet you.”

  Adrea blinked. “Seven hundred?”

  “Yes, you will have to open the gateways to allow them to come, but many will respect your recent acquisition of the property and lack of training and car pool, so to speak.”

  She smiled weakly. “Oh, good. I am glad I have a few days to get the hang of that.”

  Mr. Grant patted her on the shoulder. “As Neadra always said, it is in the blood. I am sure you will do just fine.”

  She nodded. “Right. Any idea where I am supposed to stay?”

  “The house will provide for you. I am guessing that it is your motorcycle on the inside of the gate?”

  She blinked. “I didn’t think to check. I am guessing yes.”

  “Then, you have a way to obtain what you need meal wise, though the garden is usually fully stocked.”

  Adrea chuckled at his tone.

  “I think I might just head out and find some takeout.”

  “If the property lets you out, feel free. If not...” He took out a notepad and jotted down a number. “This is the name of a Chinese restaurant that will deliver out to this place.”

  “What do you mean if the property lets me out?”

  “You are currently in the process of bonding to this land. It will become part of you and you part of it, but this takes time. Neadra said it took weeks. Be prepared to fend for yourself and send me lists of anything you need. I will have my assistant bring it to you.”

  She blinked rapidly. “Oh. Right. Gotcha. I think I need time to plow through this book anyway.”

  She thought about it, and despite the length of time since her last stop on her bike, she wasn’t hungry. She would wait until hunger stirred before worrying about where food would come from. She had other things to focus on.

  Adrea closed her eyes and found one remaining mage. He was standing outside the house and guarding it. She guessed he was guarding it; he wasn’t moving.

  She walked Mr. Grant out, and he left her behind. The door closed and locked behind him, so she turned and went in search of the final officer.

  She found him standing in front of the house. “Excuse me. Everybody else has left.”

  He nodded. “I am aware. I received a call that outlined your importance. You have been assigned a guard around the clock until we know you are capable of managing your own defense.”

  She frowned. “That sounds annoying. What is your name?”

  “Detective Luning.”

  Adrea twisted her lips. “Do you have a first name?”

  “Hyl. It’s a family name, Ms. Morrigan.”

  “Call me Adrea. My aunt never stood on ceremony, so neither shall I.”

  He smiled. “Adrea then. Are you ready to enter your home? You were right, by the way. The house began to make itself over the moment that the energy wave struck it. Without your warning, our teams would never have gathered what they did.”

  She swallowed and looked at her aunt’s home, but it wasn’t her aunt’s home anymore. It was changing shape to alter itself into the long Victorian style that Adrea favoured. It was very charming. Now, it was time to find out what happened to Neadra’s collections.

  The crime-scene tape was dangling from the doorway. Detective Luning pulled it away, and he tried to open the door.

  Adrea chuckled and pushed him away. “My door, my chance to open it.”

  She pressed the lever and pushed the door open, swinging it inward. The dark wood floors and open structure proved that the house was hers. It was everything that she wanted in a home; she just hated how she had come to have it.

  “The crime-scene team took pictures of everything, which is a good thing as this place is completely transformed. I have never seen anything like it before.”

  “You haven’t been here before?”

  He shook his head. “No. I have only recently transferred to Redbird City.”

  “Where did you transfer from?”

  Detective Luning didn’t answer. He responded by saying, “I will clear the building and guard the door.”

  “Good luck with that. The doors in here won’t open for you.”

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because I have to key each room to my preferences. Tell it what I want it to be. This was originally a haunted house; a house of refuge hosting a welcoming spirit. Now, it houses the manager of Ritual Space.”

  The book in her arms warmed, and she really wanted to read the message from her aunt. “Well, you can do what you like, I am going to sit in the kitchen and read.”

  “I will check the kitchen before you settle.”

  Adrea looked at him, and he seemed puzzled by his own insistence. “Seriously. You can go.”

  He shook his head. “There is something here. Something watching you. I can feel it.”

  She closed her eyes and opened them when she had identified what he was sensing. “Oh, that is just the rabbits.”

  “Rabbits?”

  “People come here to cast spells without them getting loose. Those who want reproductive spells generally start with rabbits. Many of those folks don’t have the heart to kill them, which leaves bunnies running loose on the grounds. They absorb a bit of magic over time, and as I am the guardian of the property, it is in their best interests to keep an eye on me. As long as I am healthy, no predators walk these lands.”

  “Rabbits?”

  She laughed and gestured for him to follow her through the house. She walked across hardwood and looked at the pale marble that now made up her home.

  Detective Luning murmured, “No metal. Plastic but not metal.”

  Adrea didn’t comment on his perception. He was right. Neadra couldn’t use metal, so there was no reason for it to be in her house.

  The door at the back of the house opened on the herb garden. She listened to the crunch of gravel under her feet, and he followed her, a silent shadow at odds with the very cheerful clumps of plants.

  “Guys, please come out and introduce yourselves to Detective Luning. He doesn’t believe you are here.”

  The herbs rustled, and a large grey rabbit emerged. More rustling and a bunny in white, another in brown and then dozens more gathered on the gravel.

  Adrea knelt and held out her hand. “Blueberry!”

  The white bunny with the deep blue stripe between his ears hopped up to her and jumped into her arms.

  She snuggled with the beast that should have been long dead. Blueberry was a decade if he was a day. Bunny rabbits just didn’t live that long.

  The quivering ears and twitching noses of the other rabbits were all focused on Luning.

  “He’s fine, guys. It is nice to see you again. Thanks for the tea earlier.”

  The rabbits hopped up to her, one by one, and touched their heads to her knees. It was a ceremony. The rabbits depended on the land and that meant they were dependent on her. They were swearing fealty to her in their own fuzzy way.

  She continued to cuddle Blueberry until the last of the bunnies had paid homage.

  “With this many adults, I would think there would be more babies.” Luning crouched next to her.

  “Nothing gives birth here. This isn’t a place for the future; it is an eternal present. Time does not march on here; it simply holds itself still as the world moves around it.” She smiled and set her favourite bunny down. He hopped off with the rest of his herd.

  “Well, Detective. W
as this what you sensed watching me?”

  He scowled and stood up. “Part of it. There is more.”

  “Well, you can keep an eye out for my stalkers and I will get my studying done.” She rose to her feet and swayed a little.

  He caught her with an arm to the middle of her back, and she hoped that the dimming light covered her blush. She turned and bustled back into the house, leaving him to trail behind her.

  She was relieved to find that she had not put the book down while cuddling with her buddy.

  Adrea sat at the kitchen table and started to read. It was time to find out what she was in for before she started working on who killed Neadra. That was what she would do in the morning.

  Chapter Five

  The elegant handwriting laid it all out for her in a few sentences.

  Dear Adrea,

  If you are reading this, I have met my end. You are now the manager of Ritual Space, and there are a few things you need to know.

  One, I am sorry, but the life you knew is over. Your life has joined to the land, and it will keep you close until that bond is strong enough to stretch a little. That should come in a few months, until then, the back of this book has a number of nearby businesses that will deliver to you.

  Two, you don’t need to renew your link to the land every year. Once was enough. I simply needed to show you what you had to do, in the most non-threatening way possible.

  Three, your father wanted to inherit Ritual Space, but it can only be passed along through the female line. Normally, larger families make this easy, but your father was an only child and you were his only child. In a few decades, you may want to look into fertility spells.

  Four, you will live an average of two hundred years. There isn’t any getting around it, we live for a very long time and usually leave when we choose. I have always known I was destined for a violent death, so I hope that I have managed to wait until you were over eighteen.

  Five, the book is designed to fill you in on all the detailed questions that you may have. Each is grouped by subject. Ask the book, and it should flip to the correct page.

  In closing, I wish you had not been dumped into this situation, but feel free to ask the house or the rabbits for anything you need. Mr. Grant will handle the details of my funeral, so put your trust in him. His family has been handling our accounts for centuries.

  I love you. I wish you well, and I know you will be fine.

  All my love,

  Neadra

  The rest of the book had an index, tabbed pages and leaves pressed into each one.

  She sat and read through the night, the lights of the kitchen came on as daylight faded to nothing. Adrea paused occasionally to have a drink of water, but she didn’t feel tired, so she kept reading.

  The book was full of family lore as well as a description of how to do a cleanup and renovation of the ritual spaces. The tale of how the spaces had been brought together for the purpose of giving mages somewhere safe to blow up while they were learning. From that point, it turned into a sheltered area for shifters to have events and the mythical beings enjoyed being themselves for days at a time.

  How to take bookings was also included in the book. The list of repeat clients could be found in the office along with the other numbers used for the business side of things.

  Adrea closed the book and let out a heavy sigh while she ran her hands through her hair. Her mind was spinning with a thousand bits of information, and she needed to sort them out.

  She looked down at her clothing and sighed. She should have packed better.

  Adrea shoved herself up to her feet, took the book with her and headed up to the third floor where the bedrooms were located. If she was lucky, the house had saved all of Neadra’s clothing. Her aunty had been a clotheshorse, and she and Adrea were the same size.

  The third door that she opened was Neadra’s. The tears started the moment that she set foot over the threshold. Everywhere she looked, she saw her aunty, her mentor and probably her best friend. Just like that, she was gone.

  Adrea sat at the edge of the bed and let the sobs come.

  ★ ★ ★ ★

  Hyl looked up at the rain coming down on the house in the most magical place he had ever been. Adrea Morrigan was finally letting the loss hit her. The rain was the side effect.

  He could feel the strength in the containment of the walls surrounding the space. With the spell holder in control, nothing would be able to breech the defenses.

  The strength of the protections just left him with one question as he stood in the shadows of the porch. How had a killer gotten to Neadra Yoder?

  ★ ★ ★ ★

  Adrea woke when the sun tickled her face. Her soul felt lighter for the grieving. There would be more tears, but they wouldn’t have the same power as the first wave.

  She gathered some exercise gear and looked until she found her room. It was neat, tidy and empty aside from a bed. She located her ensuite bathroom with towels waiting for her, and she took a quick shower to clear her eyes.

  Her hair towelled dry in a few seconds, and the moment that her skin wasn’t damp, she pulled on spandex shorts and a sports bra. The shoes and socks didn’t fit quite right, but then, they weren’t hers.

  With a deep sigh and a settling sense of grief, she went down two flights of stairs and out the front door.

  “You are up early.”

  She shrieked and jumped to the other side of the porch.

  “What the hell, Hyl?” She panted and pressed her hand to her chest. Well, she tried to. She wasn’t actually scared at all. Her senses knew that he was there the entire time. She had acted like she would have if she was still completely normal. Normal had been blown up yesterday.

  He stepped out of the shadows as if he lived in them, and he inclined his head. “Pardon me. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “It is fine. I knew you were there, but I didn’t know you were there. Did you stay there all night?”

  “A sentry spell allows me to remain awake for days at a time.”

  “Right. Well, I am on my way out for a run. I will be back in an hour or so. Time is funny here.”

  “I will come with you.” He stepped forward.

  “I thought you were here to guard the crime scene. I am not going near it.”

  He paused. “Take your phone and call if you need help.”

  She shook her head. “No. It throws me off. Just keep an eye out for the rabbits. If they come to get you, you will know I am in trouble. In the meantime, get some rest. From what I hear, those spells aren’t good for you.”

  Adrea turned and started at a gentle run that took her past the house and grounds and into the ritual spaces themselves.

  The air changed and cooled as she ran past the standing stones. She cut down a path and headed past the pyramids, the dry and hot air warming as she cut through the desert. From there, she passed the great forest, the haunted forest, the dark forest and the great silent lake.

  Scorched ground puffed under her feet through the sterile lands, fading abruptly as she leaped into the bamboo gardens.

  Adrea kept far away from the meditation house. She had the other half of Ritual Space to check, but that could wait a day. She jogged lightly back to her house, and to her disgust, she hadn’t even broken a sweat.

  Being functionally, temporarily immortal was a pain. She couldn’t sweat, couldn’t feel fear and her heart rate never went up. No wonder her family lived so long, they couldn’t get wound up.

  As she glanced at Detective Luning, she wondered if sex would ever be the same again. She knew it wouldn’t. How could sex be enjoyable if no one made her heart beat fast?

  He blinked and stepped forward. “You have been gone for three hours.”

  Adrea winced. “Damn. Well, I was doing a tour of my property.”

  “Mr. Grant and the coroner phoned. They wish you to return their calls.”

  “Right. I will get
right on that.” She walked inside and headed to the kitchen. She guzzled three glasses of water and then checked the fridge. She reached in and grabbed an apple, sticking it in her jaws as she headed back to Neadra’s room to get some clean clothing. She consumed the apple while she picked out an outfit.

  Neadra had a flare for dramatic clothing, so Adrea had a wide range of clothing to choose from. She ended up in a long skirt, button and lace boots and a shirt with a wide cowl neck that showed off most of her shoulders.

  She located her phone and winced at the low battery.

  “House, is there a phone-charging cord available?”

  There was no answer, so she headed to the office to go through some of the tech boxes that Neadra kept around for curiosities sake. To her amusement, the charging cable she needed was already plugged in next to the computer and waiting for her phone. She plugged it in and looked at the flashing message light on the answering machine.

  There were only six messages, so she picked up a pen and piece of paper before playing the messages.

  The first was someone who wished to book the space for a family event in a few months. The second was an arcane club who wanted to come and try out a new spell. The third was a hang-up. The fourth was a condolence call as were the last two.

  It was so weird to have the calls go from addressing Neadra, to addressing Adrea.

  The booking book had columns for each of the environments, so Adrea checked and was able to confirm an available booking for the daughter of the Gangers for their wedding. There would be six hundred guests, so the great field adjoining the bright forest would be in use. She had plenty of room in the booking book, but when she cross-referenced Ganger in the repeat-customer book, it said she needed to book the entire property. Okay, she would.

  The spell practice was an easy lock. They wanted the standing stones, so she could definitely fit them in.

  With a deliberate manner, she reached out for the phone and called Lenora Ganger back.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Mrs. Ganger? My name is Adrea. I am the new proprietor of Ritual Space.”