by Lori Devoti
“It isn’t against her will. She wants to go. Don’t you, Dana?” The door to outside was wide open; Pisto stood this side of it. A light breeze shifted her hair. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining the breeze growing, until it clawed at her hair, wrapped around her, and jerked her out of the basement, left her defeated and winded outside on the dirt.
As if reading my thoughts, Bubbe moved again, this time casting as she did. A bubble clamped down around me. I couldn’t see it, didn’t think anyone else could either, but I could feel it-and I could see the expression on my grandmother’s face. Whatever she was doing was costing her.
Guessing at her game, I twitched my fingers, tried to reach the wind-nothing. Bubbe had shut me off, dropped me into a vacuum.
I pulled in a breath, ready to fight dirty if necessary, but then Peter moved behind her, reminding me we weren’t alone. What Bubbe had done was subtle. What I would have to do to break free wouldn’t be. Was I ready to expose myself and the Amazons that completely?
Pisto stepped farther into the room. “C’mon, Dana. Time to go home.” Her hand lowered to her sais, two tridentlike weapons shoved into her belt. She pulled one out, spun it around so the long end ran parallel to her arm and the forked end was concealed by her hand.
Peter murmured something else to Dana, then the pair turned and started walking away from Pisto toward the main stairs that led to my shop and living area instead.
Alcippe thrust out an arm. A curtain of dirt, jerked from every corner of my unswept basement, rose from the floor. The noise was deafening. It was like being part of a landslide, except the earth was moving sideways, then upward.
Her arm out straight, Alcippe held the wall, cutting off the path Peter and Dana had been about to take.
“Pisto, get your sister,” Alcippe ordered. Then she looked at me. “I won’t let you tear us apart again.”
That was it. I’d had enough, and the dirt wall Alcippe had set in front of Peter pretty much gave away the whole magic thing anyway. I sucked in a breath and prepared to blast my way out of Bubbe’s bubble. As I did, I realized I didn’t need to. My grandmother had quit chanting, let whatever had been cutting me off disintegrate.
I jerked my attention to her, but she had her back turned and seemed to be concentrating on Peter instead. He looked dazed, lost. His arm was still around Dana, but I could tell he had no idea where he was…what was happening around him.
I wondered briefly if Bubbe had teamed with Alcippe to stop Peter’s exit with Dana, but as quickly as the thought appeared, I dismissed it. My grandmother was a cat at heart. Most high priestesses were. They didn’t work as a team.
Bottom line, she was more concerned with shielding Peter from learning something he shouldn’t, something that might cost him his life later, than in keeping me from battling with Alcippe.
Maybe she even wanted me to finally face my old nemesis.
I pulled in a breath and prepared to blow Alcippe’s curtain back to the four corners of my home.
My lungs had just started to fill when the outside door creaked and a voice filled with authority called out, “What’s going on here?”
Detective Reynolds stood in the doorway, a gun in his hand.
Pisto whirled. I didn’t stop to think, just made a swiping motion with my hand while I released the little bit of air that I’d gathered. The wind wrapped around her feet, tripping her.
She fell, her sais smashing into the cement floor. To my right Alcippe moved too. Her wall of dirt collapsed as she did, clouding the room until all of us were coughing and choking, fighting our way through the dust storm caused by my wind and Alcippe’s dirt. Somehow, through the mess, Peter found me. His hand gripped me by the arm and he dragged me forward toward the door. My tennis shoes slid over loose dirt. I almost lost my footing but, head down, he kept pulling. As we reached the door, I realized he had Dana by the arm too.
The three of us stumbled up the steps into the clean air. Dana collapsed on the grass, her hands on her belly, her eyes huge. I dropped to my knees beside her, assured her she was okay, that her baby was okay.
Behind me I could hear Pisto yelling, demanding I step away from her sister, but I ignored her. I didn’t know who or what was keeping her from launching herself onto my back and I didn’t care. I felt Dana’s fear like my own. I wasn’t going to leave her here to wallow in it alone.
Finally, with Dana cradled in my arms, her face pressed against my chest, I turned my attention to what was going on around us. Peter, his normally casual posture abandoned, stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, his body coiled as if ready to spring. It was an alert, almost aggressive stance I’d never witnessed him take.
It was unsettling-like he was an entirely different person from the one I thought I’d come to know, but also disturbingly reassuring. It was nice to have someone else on guard, to be able to concentrate on comforting Dana without worrying about an attack from behind. It was nice not having to be the strong one. A piece of me screamed at the sacrilegious thought, but I couldn’t deny that another part of me almost sighed with relief-even if it was for only a few moments.
The sound of Pisto screaming again, this time just a general cry of outrage, pulled my attention away from Peter and to the chaotic scene playing out in the small space between my shop and the gym. Seemed like everyone was there-Amazons, my employees, and a few customers. Even the dog had reappeared. He sat in the back as if unsure whether to dive into the melee or run for cover.
But the real sight was the main players-those who had been in the basement when the curtain fell. Reynolds, Bubbe, Alcippe, and Pisto, all coated in dust, stood on the other side of the basement stairwell.
Dirt continued to spiral out of the open basement door; it made seeing exactly what was going on a challenge. But I couldn’t miss Pisto’s yells or the fact that someone or something was keeping her from coming over the open stairwell at me.
Giving Dana one last reassuring pat, I stood. Enough of letting Peter carry the load. I needed to be ready to fight.
At this angle I could see that Mother, looking calm and clean, had Pisto gripped around the waist. The Amazon lieutenant leaned forward, a crazed look in her eyes. Somehow she’d lost her sais. I could see them lying on the ground a few feet away. One side of her face also appeared to be swelling, making me guess Mother’s calm demeanor was deceptive.
To their left, Alcippe and Bubbe seemed to be involved in a battle of their own. I couldn’t tell if magic or only wills were involved, but it was obvious the two were attempting to gain control of each other in some manner.
Reynolds stood facing all of them. He’d lost his jacket and his gun was back in its holster. He had his back to me, so I couldn’t see his face, but his hands were shaking. By the way he held them, I had to guess he was trying to decide if holstering his gun had been a wise choice. But from the basement doorway, all he’d seen was an explosion of dirt and now coughing, if tense, people. I doubted if, on paper, either would look like a justified reason to pull a gun.
The door to the cafeteria opened and Zery stepped out. She, like Mother, appeared calm, but I knew she was holding an iron fist around her emotions. She always did.
Reynolds spotted her and moved that direction in controlled, even strides. As he approached, five Amazons moved to block his progress. He froze. Every line of his body showed he was aware of their intent, but he didn’t lose his cool or reach for his gun.
His and Zery’s control were a stark contrast to the raging Pisto behind him.
Zery called out an order and the Amazons folded back like geese moving into a new formation. Her movements smooth and unhurried, she brushed past Reynolds and took his former position in front of her lieutenant and high priestess. Without a word from Zery, both ceased their struggles-Alcippe taking a step back and lowering her head, Pisto jerking her body from Mother’s grip and moving to stand by her queen’s side.
Her countenance dark, she watched me.
I folded my arms over my chest and stare
d back.
Beside me, Peter moved closer, completely cutting off Pisto’s view of her sister. Her shoulders stiffened, but she didn’t shift her gaze from mine. It was me she blamed for this, and she was making sure I knew it.
In another situation she would have called me out, but with Reynolds, my employees, and their clients watching, Zery wouldn’t stand for it.
Another time, Pisto’s expression said.
As Zery moved back toward Reynolds, so did Pisto. Anger still rolled off her body. While Zery and Reynolds talked, she kept her eyes focused on something over his shoulder, seemed to be ignoring them both.
At one point, Zery turned to her and barked out some short order. Pisto hesitated, then pivoted and cantered off, around the corner and out of sight.
Zery swiveled back to Reynolds, who was watching the warrior leave. After another word to him, Zery stepped around him and followed Pisto. With her exit, the remaining Amazons, including Alcippe, Mother, and Bubbe, followed. After I raised my eyebrows a time or two at my employees, the area cleared of everyone except Dana, Peter, Reynolds, and me. Even the dog, who had sat still through everything, loped off.
Reynolds just stared at me.
I turned with the idea of helping Dana to her feet, but Peter had beaten me to it. Instead, I grabbed her hand, squeezed, and whispered in her ear for her to go upstairs and get showered. Then remembering my resolution to keep an eye on her, I held onto her hand, keeping her from leaving.
“She’ll be okay. I’ll walk her up.” Peter held out his hand.
I paused, unsure.
His hand didn’t waver. “Your mother went toward the shop when she left. I can ask her to play guard dog, if you like. Then I-” he glanced at the approaching detective-“can come back down here.”
I gave Dana’s hand another squeeze, then slipped her fingers into Peter’s. “I’ll be fine,” I murmured.
Reynolds came to a stop a few feet away.
“Oh, I know that,” Peter replied. “Still might come back down.” He stared at the other man as he spoke.
Reynolds arched a brow but otherwise didn’t respond.
After one last stare, Peter and Dana left.
“What was that about?” Reynolds asked, pulling a white square of material from his pocket and handing it to me.
At my questioning look, he mimicked dabbing at his face. “You have a spot.”
I glanced down at my dirt-coated body, then at his. “Yeah, you too.” I tossed him back the square, bent at the waist, and shook a small sandstorm of dirt from my hair.
When I’d resumed an upright position, he was leaning against the banister, looking patient and expectant at the same time. “So, you going to tell me anything?”
I went through the motions of knocking dust off my arms and laughed. “Seems I’m the one who’s been doing all the telling. I think I’m done.”
“It doesn’t-”
“Work that way. I know.” I stepped toward the sidewalk. I was finished. I didn’t know what he’d seen or thought he’d seen in the basement, but I doubted I’d be able to affect his perceptions. Let him worry it out on his own. His conclusions couldn’t be any more detrimental to me or the Amazons than the truth.
And I had a hearth-keeper to protect.
“What if I tell you what I find out about the Web site?”
That stopped me. I turned.
“Would you?”
He shoved the cloth into his front pocket and walked over to where I could now see his jacket lay on the ground. “I might.”
I laughed again. “I’m starting to think you don’t get the whole barter system.”
He picked up his jacket, let it dangle from two fingers at his side. “It’s the best I can do.”
I shook my head. “And what is it you want from me for this ‘best you can do’?”
He glanced at the basement steps. “Tell me what I saw down there.”
I pulled in a breath, held it for a second. “Nothing. You saw nothing.” Then I walked to the front, and he didn’t stop me.
Chapter Twenty
Midnight I was jolted awake-this time by tiny sniffles. The dead girls were back. I didn’t pause this time, didn’t wait for them to approach me, just shot out of bed and headed to Dana’s room. At least this time I was dressed. I’d taken to sleeping in my clothes, never sure when I’d be awakened again, or by what.
Her door creaked as I pushed it open. The noise jolted me into realizing I was unarmed, without even a ward ready to protect myself. I paused, but only for an instant. I was too close. I wasn’t waiting for my mind to slow down enough to think of a spell. If the killer was waiting for me, I’d have to come up with something while on my feet.
I pushed the door the rest of the way open, and heard the soft rustling sound of movement in the bed.
“Dana?” I whispered. “Is that you?”
More rustling, then the sound of a hand feeling around in the dark.
“Dana. It’s Mel.”
A groan, and a lamp clicked, blasting the space in a blinding yellow glow. A tousled head appeared from behind a mass of covers. “Mel? What’s wrong?” Dana shoved her body to a sitting position.
“Nothing. Nothing. I just thought I heard something.” I backed from the room, pulling the door shut behind me. Then stood there with my heart pounding.
False alarm.
Or was it? Harmony…
I took off in a run, my bare feet pounding against the wood floors. It was a short trip, and this time I didn’t bother with the niceties. I slammed into the door, twisting the knob as I did. The door banged into the wall and I didn’t stop, kept going until my legs smacked into the bed and I’d jerked the covers back revealing my daughter, her eyes round and a scream ready, staring up at me.
I jerked her into a hug.
She panted against me, not resisting as I began rocking forward and backward, pulling her with me as I did.
“Mom, are you okay?” she finally got out.
I stroked her hair and squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to let the tears I could feel there spill out.
“Mom, seriously. You’re scaring me,” she whispered, her voice still rough with sleep.
I was scaring myself too, but I couldn’t let go…wouldn’t.
“Melanippe?” Bubbe stood in the doorway, her hair wrapped in a turban and a staff in her hand. I’d never seen my grandmother carry a weapon of any kind. That scared me too.
“Let the child go. She has school. Needs sleep.”
I nodded and tried to relax my arms, to release my daughter, but somehow my grip tightened and my face got lost in her hair.
“Mel. That’s enough.” Mother this time. Her hand touched my shoulder, then my hair.
A sob escaped my lips, and I knew they were right. I was losing it, but I couldn’t, not around Harmony. I dropped my grip on my daughter and pushed her lightly back against her pillow. Murmuring words even I couldn’t understand, I tucked the covers around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She stared up at me and I knew I’d screwed up-scared her when I wanted her to feel safe. I wanted to say something to fix what I’d done, but at that juncture my mind was a blank. I let Mother take me by the hand while Bubbe stayed with Harmony, probably casting some spell to make her forget what she’d seen, to keep her from realizing her mother was insane or close to it.
With Harmony’s door shut and Dana tucked back into bed too-she’d wandered into the hall when I’d exploded into my daughter’s room-Mother led me into the kitchen and put a kettle of water on the stove.
Mother cooking. Things were worse than I’d imagined.
After a few minutes, she set a mug of hot water and a packet of instant cocoa on the table in front of me. I shook the packet and poured it into the water, more for something to do than because I wanted the cocoa.
Mother pulled out a chair across from me and sat, just watched me while I stumbled through stirring the mix into the water with a dirty spoon still on the table from dinner.
“There’s something you aren’t telling us,” she announced after I’d finally submerged the last of the mix into the cup.
“There’s much she isn’t telling us.” Bubbe walked into the room, her staff tapping with each step. She stopped next to the table. “Good she starts with the spirits who circle.”
My head snapped up. My grandmother held my gaze. How long had she known?
Mother straightened, her eyes shifting back and forth between Bubbe and me. I glanced at her, then down at my cup.
“I thought the killer…” I wrapped my hands around the cup, let the warmth seep into my fingers. “They came when Zery…I was afraid.”
“Who are they, Mel?” There were lines on Mother’s face I’d never noticed before.
I looked at Bubbe. She took a breath. I didn’t need to tell her. She knew. “How can we help, if you don’t trust?” she asked.
I grabbed the cup tighter and started to talk. I told them about finding the girls, about releasing their spirits and moving their bodies. I told them about going to the safe camp and delivering the totems, about trying to break into Bubbe’s office to learn more. I told them everything-except why I hadn’t told them before.
I saw the hurt and confusion on their faces, the realization that I didn’t trust them. Suddenly, I couldn’t look at them anymore. I dropped my gaze to my cup, stared at the hot cocoa my mother, the warrior, had made for me.
“Both of the girls who were killed went to this one bar, and were pictured on the Web site. Three other girls were too. Dana was one of them. When the girls’ spirits came back, I panicked.”
“You didn’t try to speak with them?” Bubbe moved closer, placed her gnarled hand on mine.
“No, but the last time they came was when Zery-” I looked up. “Zery.”
I shoved my chair back and headed for the steps. Mother and Bubbe were right behind me. The trip down the stairs felt longer than it ever had before. The ridged metal strips attached to the edge of each step cut into my feet.
I reached the doors first, didn’t wait for my family, jerked the doors open and fell onto my knees. A body…blond, face turned away from me, lay on the cold concrete porch. My hands shaking, I couldn’t bring myself to touch her, didn’t want to live this again…didn’t want to know…
