“Sure.”
I followed her outside, and we started down the dirt path to where a dim, orange light was burning in the distance. The rocky trail led off the beaten path and twisted around some roots and uneven terrain that made the passage difficult. You could smell smoke as it swelled out from around the encampment.
As we got closer, the light eventually became the flames of a raging bonfire, and there were several women dancing and singing around it, their ruby auras shining in the darkness. Nadia glanced at me sideways with a grin.
She paused at the edge of the clearing and removed both her shoes, gesturing for me to do the same. I grunted in mild annoyance and, sitting down to remove them and watched the others dance. We didn’t bring our shoes into the circle, we just left them where they fell and stepped in to embrace the complete awesomeness of the pagan ritual.
It was heathen, it was madness — and it also looked like fun.
Three of them were dancing around the fire barefoot and smiling. Others were sitting on fallen logs along the side and playing drums, singing arias into the darkness. Some of them were Witches with a capitol “W”, in the true demonic sense I’d become familiar with, and danced like crimson fireflies with the rhythm of the drums. Others were just ordinary women, who celebrated nature as part of their religion and found magic in all the world around us. They looked so positively happy and at peace with themselves I couldn’t help but smile. They were in their element, literally. And they knew it.
At the base of one of the trees was an offering of seasonal fruits and vegetables: apples, squash and pumpkins, all set up like a picnic on a quilted blanket.
Nadia studied my expression as I took it in and leaned down to whisper, “Welcome to my world!”
My smile widened. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“Thank you for coming. I’d like you to meet some of them,” she motioned to me gently. “You remember Gladys and Sebastiana from when you came down last time.”
I vaguely recognized the women she gestured to as having been in her shop when I intruded on their meeting. Phoebe’s startled expression the first time I walked into Quarter Moon was not one I would soon forget. “Of course,” I stated nervously, offering them my hand.
One of them got up to welcome me and kissed me on both cheeks. “Welcome, child.”
The other woman came up behind her and gently took my hand. Like Aunt Nadia, she had coffee-colored skin and hair as black as night, though hers had been cut short and tied back with a colored scarf. “It’s a pleasure. Your mother was a friend to all of us. I’ve wanted to meet you for quite some time.”
I could feel myself beginning to blush as Nadia put her arm around me and led me to a place to sit.
“You probably noticed, but we do things a little differently out here. Samhain is the pagan new year, it celebrates death and that all things must come to an end. It’s an important part of the cycle of life. Aside from Beltane and Yule, it’s one of our biggest rituals.”
“Then I am very honored to be here.”
“I’m glad.”
One of them handed me a cornhusk doll wrapped in twine and motioned to the fire. “It’s meant to symbolize death, so we can be reborn from the ashes.”
I took the doll from her and walking closer to the flames. “So I just throw it in?”
“Yes, but it’s not about the doll, it’s about you letting go of negativity or anything that’s holding you back and allowing that part of you to disperse. It’s an emotional release, I’ve found it quite therapeutic in the past. Give it a try.”
I closed my eyes and held the doll to my chest, thinking of all the things I wanted to part with in my life. To let go of the girl with clunky shoes and mismatched clothed, with sloppily plaited braids in her hair, and become the woman who would take on Aidan. My human shell had shed itself earlier in the spring and allowed my demon form to shine through. It wasn’t until I let go of those human bonds that I could embrace my powers and get stronger, but I’d never had the emotional cleanse. Now it was time for me to do just that. I’d come close after Elyse died, but couldn’t let go completely because it was the part of me that was most like her.
I could feel the heat of the flames on my skin as I opened my eyes again and thrust the doll inside. The fire consumed it, licking up the side of the corn husk figure. The fibers cracked and popped, peeling away in blackened curls. As I watched it disintegrate in flames, I felt the negativity leave my body and felt an immediate sense of relief. I became hypnotized by the swirling fire, and a girl I’d never met before came up beside me and placed a flower wreath of Marigolds and Chrysanthemums upon my head. Before I knew it, they had pulled me into the dance along with them, and I was twirling in a giddy haze.
For the briefest of moments, I forgot myself and the glamor on my hands and arms began to fade. The black scales glistened in the fireside as a tingling sense of release washed through me, but the women just smiled and continued swaying with the rhythm. Paige winked at me from the edge of the drum circle and the edge of my mouth turned up into a tentative smile. I expected fear or hostility at the sight of my demon skin, yet there was nothing but acceptance from the group of women around me.
With the strangely new and open environment and the encouragement of others, I felt emboldened to release the illusion completely and spread my wings for them all to see. The music didn’t even stop, we just continued in our merry reveling. One of the women even took me by the claw and laughed as we started spinning in a circle.
They weren’t afraid of me.
That level of peace and acceptance was a feeling I’d been longing for, so I let myself get lost in the moment and pretend I could be reborn. I was happy, I was in love, and the future was abounding with possibilities. Nadia watched me, smiling from the sidelines and started playing a steady rhythm on a drum. If this was her world, then I was glad to be a part of it.
The flames licked up the wood and seemed to join us in the dance. Breathing in the heat and the euphoric bliss of letting go, I pulled the fire from its home and sucked it in as well. The flames leapt forth from the logs and flowed through the air towards me in a magic coil and plunged itself down my throat.
It didn’t hurt and it didn’t burn me either. I felt complete.
Chapter Fifteen
Dark Side of the Moon
Hours later, the dancers grew tired and I was sitting on the ground as Sebastiana braided my hair. Like many of the others, hers was tied back in braids and woven together with ribbon. The light brown end of it fell slightly past her shoulders and dangled itself around her hoop earrings. Our dancing had caused there to be rock bruises on my feet, and I found that oddly satisfying. Hemingway was purring loudly a few feet away from me, curled up with another feline. It had been an exhausting night, and I was loving every minute of it, but something still bothered me.
“Why did you become a witch?” I asked her suddenly.
Her fingers stopped momentarily, halfway through the braid before picking up again. “I wasn’t thinking about the ramifications,” she answered slowly. “I was very sick — pancreatic cancer. They’d given me about three months to live. Every day was painful. I didn’t want to hurt anymore, and I was scared. The chemo was basically poison. I couldn’t eat, I could barely move, it was torture. Nobody wants to die … I just didn’t want to be in pain. So I asked the demon to make me healthy, to give me more time. I thought if I had more time … maybe it would get better.”
“I’m sorry….”
“I should have just accepted my fate and let myself die, making use of the medical science available to me, of course. I would have been in pain, but then at least the sentence would have been limited. I could have spent it with my family. Now, I live, but it’s only a half-life because my soul belongs to Mammon.”
“What happens when you die?”
The witch became silent as Sebastiana looked at me. “Didn’t you hear what I said? My soul belongs to Mammon, that extends into the afte
rlife.”
“But … what do they do with it?”
She sighed. “That has yet to be determined. Sometimes, if they’re lucky, a witch may continue in their servitude … until their master gets hungry. More often than not, they eat them.”
My human nature blanched at the horrific visual, but at the same time the demon inside me purred at the thought of it. The succulent red auras belonging to any witch were particularly alluring, especially in my current state. I had found myself longing to taste them at more than one occasion as the girls were dancing by the fire. I quivered thinking back to it, and turned by attention back to Sebastiana. “What do you mean ‘eat them’? Are they cannibals?”
“Once their contract is finished a demon will eat their witch’s soul. When they’re done, there will be nothing left.”
“That’s awful.”
“Demons are built to destroy,” Nadia reminded me. “They can't help it.”
I frowned but nodded in acknowledgment.
“You’ve been to the Grove of Ancients, haven’t you? Wasn’t that where they held your trial?”
“It was….”
She nodded thoughtfully. “What do you remember about it?”
I shrugged. “I dunno, there were angels, demons … fae,” I told her wagging my eyebrow playfully. “It was beautiful.”
Nadia smiled, her gray eyes glinting in the fire-side. “Most of the time they’re able to co-exist quite harmoniously. They each have their role to play. Demons destroy and tear down what is already dead, Angels guide, inspire and protect all the things required for life to continue, and fairies … fairies create life.”
I frowned. “That sounds more like an angelic calling.”
“Oh, you misunderstand me, child. All life is sacred to the fae, they don’t discriminate based on race or potential that life may bring. They’re as likely to defend a three-headed man-eating jungle cat as they are a human child. They’re both equal in the Fairy Realm and why should one life have more value than another?”
I nodded. “I see a point.”
“Don’t forget, you have the blood of fae as well,” she reminded me. “You and Nathan both.”
“Yeah, I know. I was kinda hoping my demonic curse would be all I had to deal with. That it would negate the other somehow.”
Nadia laughed. “Of course not! If anything, it gives you more potential. At least, that’s what my father thinks.”
I looked up at her in surprise. “You spoke to Ellyllon about me?”
She took a sip of her cider and nodded. “Naturally. I may have been banished from the Fairy Court, but we still have a warm and congenial relationship.”
“You don’t mind that he kicked you out?” I asked her in surprise.
“Oh, that wasn’t his doing, love. It was Lady Fleur and believe me, it wasn’t personal. She doesn’t allow any of his children to set foot in the royal halls unless they belong to her as well. We’re a constant reminder of his indiscretions, and we’re only half-blood fae, which she finds insulting.”
Thinking back to the fairies that sat in the Council on my trial, I remembered the lovely woman with silver hair and butterfly wings who was seated next to Ellyllon. She seemed so kind and gentle, I couldn’t imagine her doing something that cruel.
“Wait, how many children does he have?” I asked them curiously.
Paige and Nadia glanced at one another with a secret smile before one of them answered, “Lady Fleur has born him twelve children, all of whom are Lords and Ladies in the Mystic Realm. However, there are seven more of us who were illegitimate and share the role of outcasts.”
“Sounds like you and Mom have a lot in common,” I muttered hopefully. “So, where are they? Do you keep in touch?”
Paige smiled, gazing off into the fire. “The seven of us are remarkably close. Ellyllon is many things, but faithful companion is not one of them. A strong and powerful leader? Yes, of course. Wise beyond measure, just … and above all, a kind and loving father. You can imagine how that upsets his queen to know he still has contact with us at all. His responsibilities in Court and the complicated nature to our relationship makes it difficult, but we sisters have always been there for each other, even when he cannot — it’s the only relationship I’ve known that has stood the test of time.”
“In fact we have a set of twin sisters that are about your age,” Nadia commented. “Halle is in college up in Boston, and Cassandra just moved to southern California.”
Nadia lowered her glass and smiled. “Michele was the first person I felt understood what we were going through … at least, until she got herself involved with Aidan.”
“That’s still so weird to me,” I confessed. “I thought she was involved with my dad.”
“Well, when she and Garrett ran away from home he stepped in as her … guardian of sorts.”
“Gross.”
Nadia shrugged. “He was in love with her — it was his one redeeming quality. Aidan would come by from time to time. One day he brought Raffe with him,” she told me wistfully. “We fell in love.”
I smiled. “That’s sounds so sweet.”
“It was good ... at first, but then things got complicated.”
“How so?”
She opened her mouth to speak and there was a sudden tug from behind my eyeballs, letting me know something weird was happening.
Oh, no. Not again….
Vertigo overtook me, and I felt my stomach rise before landing in the middle of an English pub. The smell of beer and tobacco hit me like a punch in the gut. Along the wall was a row of burgundy upholstered booths with wooden tables.
At the bar was an attractive man drinking some dark brown liquid from a glass. The way he was nursing it let me know something big was weighing on his mind. His shoulders hunched in a protective, self-reflective manner. My gut was telling me to watch him, so I walked up and sat in the chair beside him, knowing full well he couldn’t see me. He had dark brown eyes and an even darker brow ridge. His hair was mussed back with gel in an attractive manner, and his skin was a dusky olive tone that resembled something vaguely Mediterranean.
As he downed the last of his drink, the door swung open. A cloaked woman stepped inside, with the hood covering most of her face. She walked over to the man, removing both her gloves and setting them on the counter. “Good evening, Raffe.”
His eyes were downcast and focused on the glass in his hand when he responded. “I’m not in the mood for formalities.”
The cloaked woman smiled as she pulled back her hood. “Did you get the papers?”
Raffle threw back the rest of his drink and frowned. “Yeah, I got your ruddy papers.”
“And the potion?”
He snorted rudely and pulled a vile from his jeans. “You mean this?”
The traveler reached for it, and Raffe stopped them before they were able to take it. “Payment first, my friend. I had to break a few necks to get it.”
The woman threw back her hood and grinned. “How did you manage to get past the guard? The locks are bound by magic.”
“I stole a key from Ellyllon’s daughter and wrapped it in a lock of her hair. The charms recognized fairy blood, and I was able to slip past.”
“That's the trouble with blood magic,” the traveler agreed. “It doesn't protect you against your own kin.”
Raffe scoffed and raised his cup in a sarcastic cheer.
“And you have no qualms about betraying the woman you took to bed?” she pressed him gently.
He snarled and turned towards her, furious. “Do you think I have a choice? Events are in motion that can’t be stopped. Besides … she doesn't know.”
“Perhaps she does,” the woman murmured bitterly.
“I don’t want your pity,” he snapped. “Enough of your games, now hand it over.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” she told him simply. “It never should have come to this.”
His expression changed from rage to horror as she pulled off the
glamored mask she was wearing and revealed my beloved aunt.
“Nadia…” he gasped.
“When you showed up at my father’s house, I thought you came for me,” she told him sadly.
His eyes were tortured when she looked at him, knowing the full depth of his betrayal.
“But you didn’t, did you? No, you came for this,” she announced, pulling the papers from her bag.
“I came for you, my love! But this is more complicated than you imagine. I was protecting you—”
“You used me. It was all a lie, wasn’t it?” she demanded angrily. “Everything we shared … it was all to infiltrate my father’s house. You never cared for me.”
“You think it was a lie? Nadia, you give me far too much credit as an actor. I cherish you. I couldn't pretend to have affection if I didn't.”
“That didn't stop you from betraying me.”
“I never meant to hurt you, Darling, but my hands are tied; you have to understand.”
“Oh, I understand,” she stated slowly, pulling a wooden stake from the top of her bag. “Because mine are too. This is bigger than you and me.”
“Nadia, don’t do this! I love—”
As the words escaped his lips, she plunged the stake deep into his heart. He petrified right in front of us and turned into ash as the stake went up in flames. On his face before it crumbled was an agonizing cry of heartbreak and betrayal.
No one was at the bar to notice, it was vacant except the two of them. She kept her composure as if nothing happened, her chest convulsing slightly but hardly noticeable — she was trying not to cry. The light of hope had gone out in her eyes when she wiped a tear away and left the same way she came.
I couldn’t imagine what that had done to her, killing the man she loved.
I fell backward once again and felt the same pull from behind my eyelids, bringing me back into the forest. Nadia sat beside me, staring down sheepishly at her mug. She couldn’t have known what I saw, but now I understood why she didn’t like to talk about him. I didn’t want to push her, but I also needed clarification. She was the only one I knew who had killed an immortal being. If I was going to have a chance in hell at doing the same to Aidan, then I needed to know what that stake was made of.
The Devil's Due (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 2) Page 23
