by Berinn Rae
“Just look at that painting of perfection, Gradyn Spencer. Those witch women’ve got my Lily and they don’t have a clue who or what she is. ’N’ guess what else? There ain’t a blasted thing you or me can do about it. ‘Cept wait. ’N drink. Where’d that bottle go?”
Disgusted, Gradyn pulled the bottle clear of Daniel’s loose hands. On impulse, he poked him in the cheek.
“Ouch.” Daniel flashed a goofy grin. “See? I’m already healing. Hey, d’you remember Harold Greenway, back in ninth grade?”
“Hard-on Harry? Lords, yes. He walked around with a perpetual erection and — ” Gradyn sent an astounded glance at Daniel who waved a drunken arm at the painting across the room and shrugged with sheepish eloquence.
He snickered. “Remember how we fixed Harry?”
“You want a blow-up sex doll?” Gradyn asked.
“’Course not. I already got a sex doll if I can just catch her.”
Gradyn looked back at Paradigm’s resonating bold shapes and explosive color. “Somehow, I don’t think catching her’ll be a problem, bud.”
Daniel’s brows furrowed. “Yeah, well, Lily’s complicated. We’ve barely kissed.”
“You can’t be serious! You mean, in all this time you haven’t … what the hell’s the matter with you two?”
“Oh, so many things … ” Daniel’s eyelids drooped closed, then popped wide. “She’s afraid if we’re lovers our friendship will be ruined forever.”
Gradyn belched a laugh. “She’s ridiculous.”
“So she keeps telling me. Warning me.” Daniel looked at the painting again and whispered. “Like I don’t know her better than I know myself.”
“That I do believe,” Gradyn said affably. “Have you told her yet what you really do for a living?”
“No. Can’t. She’ll hate me. Feel betrayed.”
Gradyn slapped a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, gripped him. “You look at that painting, dude. She couldn’t hate you if you were the devil calling her down to Hell.”
Daniel stared at Paradigm for a sobering moment. “Tell me, Gradyn, do you see Lily and me surviving my little secret? Blessed Saints, I have so much to tell her … ” He sat silent for a long time before suddenly leaning forward with a loose grin. “By the way, that Megan girl wants to jump my bones. And if not mine, then yours.”
“And any other male who happens into a room,” Gradyn snorted. “I’ve noticed a definite ‘I’m yours for the taking’ vibe about her.”
“See, you are magic!” Daniel’s face lit up, then suddenly blazed with anger. “You bastard, get that thought out of your head this second! Lily is mine.”
“Gotcha!” Gradyn sniggered. “Like I didn’t know you’d Read me.”
“Lily’s not your type. At all.”
“She truly isn’t. All that delicious naiveté.” Gradyn took another drink and smacked his lips. “On the other hand … ”
“Knock it off!” Daniel came out of his chair with his fist heading for Gradyn’s face. His toe caught the edge of the chair and he went down, wacked the table with his elbow, and knocked over the bottle.
“You missed,” Gradyn laughed.
“First time for everything.” Daniel scrambled back into the chair and clutched his spinning head. “Damn,” he moaned. Together they watched the expensive scotch drip an amber waterfall over the edge of the table.
After a moment Gradyn kicked his shoes across the room and asked brightly, “So Chinese take out, do you think?”
Chapter Sixteen
Lily sat hunched in her living room listening to the cold, steely voice speaking over the phone. Daniel’s Gran. And she sounded about as “milk and cookies” as Medusa!
“Nila will pick you up in twenty minutes. I don’t know what you did or why, but Daniel is in terrible pain. You will help us create a talisman to protect him while he heals. Bring the geode.” The sat-link went dead.
That was all, an oblique accusation, a command, no identification. Of course Lily knew who’d been speaking. As she waited on the steps of the Lennox, edgy with fear for Daniel, she hated the thought of meeting his grandmother under these circumstances. He rarely talked about her or his relationship to the community of witches he called the Cohort. But since Lily had rounded the street corner twenty minutes earlier and slammed her senses into Daniel’s pain, she continued to feel his thoughts and emotions like a humming inside her head. And even lost in pain, Daniel’s concern was for her. Waiting on the front porch, tears mingled with the icy rain dripping down her face.
• • •
Nila’s little e-car squealed to a stop against the curb. Lily ran to jerk open the door and fell into the passenger seat.
The young witch’s face was stiff, closed off. “I’m not to tell you anything, Lily, so please don’t ask. But take warning. Gran is livid with me, and with you.”
“Why is she mad at you?” The anger at Daniel’s gran that had begun over the phone now swelled to active dislike.
Nila twitched her shoulders as if her skin hurt. “I was supposed to have recognized your power and reported it. Especially when you woke a geode.”
Lily swore under her breath. “I haven’t a clue what I’ve done, and you aren’t allowed to tell me? So you’re as damned as I, is that it? By witches, no less! How freaking ironic. Nila, I am responsible for myself and my actions. Not you. And not a coven of women, no matter who they think they are. If Daniel wasn’t getting plastered with Gradyn Spencer right now, nothing on this earth would keep me from going to him. Especially his great and powerful Gran.”
Nila grimaced in the eerie light of the dashboard. “You don’t understand.”
“Of course I bloody don’t! And if you won’t give me answers, who the hell will?”
“Madame Bagasha. All the other women have gone mad, I swear.”
“Can you tell me where we’re going, at least?”
“To Gran’s house.”
“I’m supposed to help make a talisman to heal him,” Lily said. “What does that mean?”
“That’s what I can’t tell you. And I’m sorry, Lil. Truly. But Madame is there, she will help you. She’s, well, less vulnerable within the Cohort.”
“More unbiased, you mean?”
“Not afraid of their power, political and … otherwise. “ Nila sent Lily an unreadable look. Crossing her arms, Lily sat back to fume as the younger girl refused to say another word. They headed northeast through the dark, the electric car quietly humming. Another ten minutes had them skirting block after block of burned and blackened buildings, scarred metal beams rising like twisted skeletons in windowless high rises. Beyond them the splintered shells of collapsed, dead homes stood like phantoms. A high, barbed security fence wrapped these war torn ruins.
They drove down rubbled streets with large Danger: Radiation signs posted every twelve feet or so. Nila explained the area had been condemned and never rebuilt after the riots. Lily stared in dismay. She’d never been in this part of Old Town before, hadn’t realized this many once thriving communities had been destroyed so utterly and completely.
“Mostly Hispanic, Italian, and African American neighborhoods,” Nila explained. “Burnt to the ground by the police during the race riots. Those who survived now live out in Valley Town, mostly.”
“That was more than ten years ago. Why is nothing rebuilt?”
Nila was silent a moment and then said, “They used nerve gas. And other chemicals.”
“So you’re telling me that beyond those fences, the ground is toxic?”
“And all the technology and magic in the world can’t cleanse it.”
“Are there other places like this?”
“In every major city in America. Almost sixteen million people died, did you know that?”
Horror twisted Lily’s face. “But I remember, the newspapers said two million. And most of those were terrorists. Or illegal immigrants.”
“Yeah, right.”
The little car finally left Burn-Out Central, as Nila cal
led it, behind, and they were once again purring down streets lined with trees, houses, apartment buildings, and corner markets like Lily’s own Little Belfast. A few minutes later Nila pulled over to a curb and parked.
“Where are we?” Lily asked.
“Island Park. Most practicing witches live here where they aren’t so … noticeable. Not that tolerance toward them isn’t better, it is. The more people who discover and believe in magic, the less prejudice there is towards it. And the Cohort.”
Lily had heard rumors about the Island Park district, strange stories about ghosts, UFO sightings, unexplained lights, and ground tremors. Free Grace Hospital, the most accessible and illustrious hospital in New Chicago, was in Island Park. A community of healing witches explained a lot.
Nila got out of the car. After a stubborn, angry hesitation, Lily followed. The stinging rain hadn’t begun to fall here, but Lily felt it creeping in, bone-chilling cold.
• • •
She discovered Gran’s house was charming. That surprised her. A large, two-storied house with a bright blue front door, a wraparound porch and sprawling yard was enclosed inside a thick hedge broken by an archway of woven dogwood that supported a climbing rose, now dormant. Nila opened the gate and, following her under the arch, Lily imagined the air in summer must smell divine. Then she noticed the spiked thorns and recalled why she was here.
The yard grew like a crazy quilt in patchwork gardens of herbs, flowers, and strawberries, all tidily clipped and winterized. On another occasion, Lily might have found the grounds delightful with its dozens of bright bird houses and birdfeeders high on poles, bird baths, benches, and whirly-gigs in all shapes and colors. As the two women approached the house, the blue door opened. A needle-sharp shadow shot across the yard towards them. Lily stumbled, suppressed a shiver.
Lily approached the tall, spare woman waiting in the doorway, swallowing a tightness in her throat. She felt a bleary faith and love pouring into her through the psychic link she shared with Daniel. Her chin lifted as she crossed the porch and stepped into the house. The cloying smell of incense filled her nose.
Lily’s stomach tumbled uneasily. Nila shrugged out of her coat, handing it to Gran, who’d stepped aside for them but did not speak in welcome. Lily refused to give up her jacket. A loud whirring noise grew in strength as dozens of birds flew out of doorways and down stairs to circle Lily’s head in noisy, chirruping welcome. Enchanted, she lifted her hand to invite a tiny sparrow to clasp her fingers, felt feathers brush her face as three finches squabbled for a perch on her shoulder, while others settled on her head to tweak her hair.
She sensed Daniel’s pleasure at her delight and was suddenly less afraid. What could she fear in a house full of birds, Lily decided, and turned to face Gran. All confidence died at the look on the old woman’s face.
Eyes lowered, Nila said, “Lily, this is Magdaline Gilmore. Daniel’s gran.”
The witch woman did not smile, made no move to touch her. Lily could tell Gran was irritated by the birds’ uninhibited welcome.
Her own anger quickened. “Were you expecting horns and a forked tail, Mrs. Gilmore?”
Gran’s mouth tightened and her answering stare was both arrogant and rude. The woman had once possessed great beauty, Lily realized. Daniel had inherited her dark, slashing brows and large, long-lashed eyes. But where his always shone with humor and warmth, hers smoldered in hard bitterness. She turned abruptly to lead Nila and Lily across the foyer into a large living room filled with women who ceased talking the moment they appeared.
The room was brightly lit. A pleasant fire burned merrily in the grate. The scene might have engendered a cozy atmosphere but for the angry tension Lily felt as palpable as hailstones in the air. Nila introduced her around the room and each of the five women took her hand in an almost brutal grasp before speaking in a patronizing drone, “Our creed is do no harm.”
Lily choked on a laugh. No harm when the air crackled with aggressive dislike? Shocked by their obvious assumption that she’d hurt Daniel on purpose, Lily glanced around the room for escape and found herself looking into the eyes of a tiny, round woman she knew immediately was Madame Bagasha. Even without her flamboyant television costume.
Madame had a plump, rosy-cheeked face framed by gray brillo-pad hair. Her eyes, black and bright as a raven’s, locked on Lily as she pushed her way through the crowd, impatiently clicking her tongue. Reaching Lily, she took her hands as if she’d been waiting an eternity to meet her. They were the same height, and looking into Madame Bagasha’s sweet, intelligent face, Lily felt her fear for Daniel diminish. This woman had kindness written in every wrinkle on her aging face. She would know what to do, she would help Lily save him.
Lily spoke through stiff lips. “I’m relieved to meet you at last, Madame Bagasha. And thank you for at least pretending to welcome me.” She flicked a glance towards Gran standing erect and disapproving of Madame’s greeting.
Madame tucked her arm through Lily’s, drew her across the room to sit beside her on a faded floral settee. “Lily,” she said, her voice deep and oddly rough. “You can understand, I’m sure, why Daniel’s grandmother is less than pleased with you.”
“But I don’t understand anything!” Lily exclaimed in a low tone. “I have no idea what’s happened, only that Daniel is hurting and somehow I caused it. He’s feeling no pain at the moment, of course, because that damn Gradyn Spencer’s getting him stinking drunk — ”
Daniel’s Gran cut in abruptly. “You can sense Daniel? Now?”
“Yes.” Lily looked baffled. “Will someone please explain what’s going on? Whatever I’ve done, I can fix it.”
“You cannot fix a thing,” Gran stated in her cold voice. “Nor will you be allowed to. But you can be sure we will.” Her gesture took in the women standing silently about the room.
Lily’s anger flared and she leaped to her feet. Startled birds flew up only to resettle quickly, as if eager to soothe her. “You don’t know me, Mrs. Gilmore, or my relationship with Daniel. Whatever I’ve done I have the power to undo. I know it here.” She pressed a fist fiercely to her chest. “Please, tell me what’s happened to Daniel.”
Gran stepped closer. “Your self-indulgent ignorance stripped him, burned his empathic senses like a wildfire burns grass. He may never recover.”
Lily’s eyes widened. Her hands flew to her mouth with a horrified cry. Madame eased her, trembling, back onto the couch, and sent Gran an exasperated look.
But Daniel’s grandmother would not be stopped. “His nerves, psychic and otherwise, are now as sensitive as the tissue of someone with third degree burns.”
Lily couldn’t breathe, knew she must escape this room, and this woman, immediately.
Gran opened her mouth again, but Madame cut in. “Enough, Maggie. The girl did not hurt him on purpose, that’s clear. Read her if you like, but stop this bullying. Now.”
In the next instant, Lily was slammed back by the force of a raging alien will inside her head. Instinctively, she threw up a shield.
“We who are innocent hide nothing from each other!” Gran accused.
Lily hissed a furious breath. “And I believe one asks permission to Read another before invading.” She felt Daniel’s joyful support flowing warm in her blood, tasted the flare of her own magic and her vision suddenly tunneled. The scene before her sharpened. She saw each woman outlined in colors discordant and harsh. They were backing away from her as if they sensed some cataclysmic instability in the air. Nested in the crook of Lily’s arm, the geode flared to pulsing life.
“Rogue magic!” Gran raised her hands to cast a counter spell.
“No!” Madame cried, throwing herself in front of Lily. “Maggie, stop this, I beg you! We’re here to find answers. To work together to help Daniel. I am telling each of you right now this girl is under my aegis. Magdaline, do you understand?”
Gran’s eyes burned with something close to hate, and Lily shuddered under a spike of power that raised the
hair on the back of her neck.
“Magdaline!” Madame’s voice cracked like a whip. She turned to Lily. “No one here means you real harm, truly. These women are stirred up by half-truths and anger just as you are stirred by frustration and fear. Please, Lily, pull your magic back, my dear. You haven’t control over it.”
Lily dragged her glare off of Gran and instantly the air cleared. The geode quieted and Lily sat down in the circle of Madame’s arms.
Madame half closed her eyes and her lips parted as if she were tasting the nuances of magic fading from the room.
“Maggie, did you sense him in the Quickening just now? Daniel’s magic, wrapped with hers?”
“No!” Gran spat. “She possesses Rogue magic and must be shackled immediately.”
Lily felt Daniel’s hot anger flick through her mind and stood suddenly. In a voice that shook, she said, “I came here in good faith, desperate for answers that have not been forthcoming. I’ve been judged and condemned without a single question asked of me. But know this. What you do to me, you do to Daniel. If you can help me heal him, I beg you do it. Otherwise, I am leaving.”
Every face in the room turned to Madame Bagasha whose cheeks flared with embarrassed shame on their behalf. “I apologize, child, for all of us. Your … your power, it is not a magic we know. Nor are we comfortable with it. Quite frankly, you’ve frightened us as much as we’ve frightened you. Stay, please. Gran knows a way to help Daniel and she needs your cooperation. Will you forgive her enough to help work a talisman to shield him while he heals?”
“I forgive her, of course,” Lily said, voice steadier. “I know she acts out of love, as I do. But Daniel will not wear a talisman against me.”
Face purple with frustration, Gran stepped forward and snatched the geode from Lily’s arms. For a moment pain flashed on her wrinkled face. Lily watched her brow furrow and her eyes glaze in concentration. Stroking the geode with thin, knobbled fingers, Gran closed her eyes. All color in the crystals faded, doused by a magic Lily felt as real as fingers closing around her throat.
“Tell us what you see,” Madame Bagasha demanded.
