Love Uncharted

by Berinn Rae

  The pressure in Lily’s head had eased, leaving only a trickle of blood seeping from her nose. The room boiled with magic that pricked her like a thousand needles. Clutching the geode close, she scrambled to her feet and stumbled out of the house.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Lily, for pity’s sake, stop! Please!” Nila yelled out the open window of her little car, her face wet and cold from the sleet pouring out of the dirty sky. She was driving down unfamiliar, unlighted streets, shadowing Lily, who ran heedlessly through the dark. The windshield wipers at full speed barely cleared enough visibility for Nila to see. She was terrified of hitting Lily with the car.

  But Lily refused to stop, in fact could not even hear Nila yelling. She simply ran, feet blundering through puddles, hair plastered in icy strings to her head. The geode glowed like white fire under her arm. Her only thought was to reach Daniel. And so she ran as if the hounds of hell snapped at her heels. Towards the last place she’d felt him before their link had shattered.

  Losing patience, Nila skidded into a swerve across the road and slammed on the brakes, effectively stopping the girl. “Get in the car, damn you!”

  Lily fell to her knees beside the car, choking for air, sides stitched with pain. “I’m so pissed!” She gasped a scream. “So mad! How could they? I curse them — ”

  “No!” Nila leaped out of the car. “For goodness’s sake, do not curse them!” She hauled Lily up and forced her into the passenger seat.

  “Like I’d do any harm … ” Lily coughed raggedly and curled into a shivering ball. “The bloody bitches killed my magic! I need Daniel,” she said, then, “Oh, God, I think I’m going to be sick.”

  “You don’t have time to be sick.” Nila flung herself back behind the wheel and flipped the heater on high. “We have work to do. At this moment the talisman is heading Daniel’s way. If Gran has her wish, he’ll be forced to wear it.”

  “She can force him?” Lily’s teeth chattered against blue lips.

  Nila rammed her foot down on the gas. “She’ll try. Or hadn’t you noticed Gran likes things her way?”

  The inside of the car reeked of the hateful incense, making Lily’s stomach heave and her head spin. She felt hollow boned and weak as a baby sparrow. “My magic is dead, Nila. She stole my joy, my painting … ”

  “No one can steal another’s power. Gran only bound your magic, made it inaccessible. And it can be unbound.”

  Lily turned her dripping head towards the girl, recalling Nila muttering quick words just before the Shackling spell struck her. “You hexed the spell?”

  The girl shrugged. “You heard Madame warn me. I think I managed to deflect some of it.”

  “Deflect it where?”

  She flashed a grin both macabre and nasty in the glow of the dashboard light. “Let’s just say Gran’s electricity will be sporadic for a few weeks.” Anger twisted her face. “Shackling is forbidden except in extreme cases. And after a hearing in front of the entire Cohort. Your magic, though not in the least bit normal, doesn’t seem close to extreme.”

  The rain drumming like impatient fingers on the car roof echoed the pounding ache inside Lily’s head. Peeling off her sodden jacket and sweater, she wondered if the young witch would revise her opinion when she found out the men Lily’d painted to life were now stalking her like the walking dead.

  Another shiver wracked her body. “The minute that damn talisman touched my blood, my link with Daniel died. And he’s so far beyond angry. If Gran thinks her will is stronger than his, she’s delusional.”

  “She might very well be delusional,” Nila said icily. “To attempt a shackling … holy shit! And with witches who had no clue their magic would be so used? She’ll lose her position in the Cohort at the very least.” The girl wrenched the wheel as the car hydroplaned towards a gutter full of roiling water.

  “Then I’m sorry for her,” Lily said. “But only a little. I know she is only trying to protect Daniel.”

  Nila reached across to squeeze her hand.

  “I can heal him, you know. Or I could have, before.” Lily’s voice broke.

  “I believe you can, Lil. I’ve never seen magic like yours. Madame Bagasha usually senses a new power in the city and seeks the person out before, well, before mishaps occur. But she missed yours. Rogue magic is an Elemental and, like I said, unpredictable. Highly intuitive, spontaneous, and creative. Like you. With Elemental witches, the magic is part of their essence. I know you can undo what you’ve done. Just like you can paint over a canvas you don’t like. But you’ll need help and supplies. And Madame Bagasha.”

  “I need Daniel,” Lily sobbed through another teeth clenching shiver. “Now that my magic is Shackled I can’t hurt him, right? Take me to him, Nila, please?”

  Face grim in the meager light, Nila nodded. “I will. But there’s something you need to know, Lily. Since you are an Elemental, magic is substantive, of your essence. A shackling can mean death to an Elemental. It will slowly drain you until, well … until you’re nothing but an empty husk.”

  Lily began to cry. She felt the cold weight of the binding inside her chest. Her ribs hurt from the swollen thickness of the spell. Her heart ached as if massive fingers were squeezing the life from it, beat by sluggish beat. She’d feared her magic, yes, even rejected it. At first. Only now did she understand. She was made of magic. As much as skin and bone, beating heart, thought, and emotion.

  Nila had it right. From inside her shriveled innards that once held light and joy and love, Lily felt a hatred building against Daniel’s grandmother. And it frightened her. If she could hurt Daniel through love, what despicable, unconscious acts might she do for vengeance? Another shiver shook her, this one of fear. Maybe Gran was right to shackle her …

  “You can shield, can’t you?” Nila asked suddenly. “I saw you block Gran when she tried to Read you.”

  “Yes, a little. It was instinct. And I used anger, not good, I know. Nila, I can … I could see magic. In color, I mean. Weaving and swirling through the air. I could mix the colors of every witch’s magic there tonight. Gran’s is a deep, bloody burgundy.”

  Nila’s mouth dropped open. “But of course! That makes perfect sense, your medium is color.”

  “You know that if I’d any idea I could hurt Daniel, I never would have … ”

  “Like you had any choice,” Nila smiled at her. “Either in the waking of your magic or in loving him. Daniel’s not just a Reader, he’s a babe magnet. Always has been. And the way he tells it, you belonged to him the moment he first laid eyes on you. Which is a lovely bit of magic in itself, if you ask me. All his life, Daniel’s kept his distance from people. Never allowed anyone to get close. Except maybe Gradyn, a little. Gran did her job well.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She taught him an empath can be destroyed by too much emotion. Isn’t that the saddest thing? When her abilities manifested, her parents had her committed to a sanitarium. She grew into a cold, calculating woman with no patience for emotion. Which explains her immediate dislike of you, wearing your heart on your sleeve. To Gran, lack of control is a weakness. That’s what life taught her, poor soul.” Nila slowed to turn the little car up the expressway on-ramp and eased into traffic heading through downtown. “She’s forever pressuring Daniel to join the Cohort, hates that he won’t use his abilities for their benefit. But he refuses to have any part of us, thinks we meddle. And he’s right. We do meddle. We always think we know what’s best. A Cohort of witches is like any other cooperative, a beehive of power grubbing politics and personal agendas.”

  “I won’t be part of them either, ever. Those women tonight treated you like a leper, Nila. Why? You’re one of them.”

  “I’m not, actually. I am Madame Bagasha’s, and they resent it.”

  “That you train with her and they don’t?”

  “I guess. But also because my magic is in some way Rogue, too.” She glanced at Lily. “They have a right to be angry with me. I failed in my res
ponsibility by not discovering you have Rogue magic. Thank the Gods you’re a loving soul, Lil, or more than Daniel might have been hurt.”

  Glancing at the geode on Lily’s lap, now a rippling purple, Nila smiled. “That thing gives a whole new meaning to the term pet rock. See those colors it’s flashing? They’re typically soothing.”

  “What can I say? It loves me.” Lily gave the rock an ambiguous look. “I’m not sure the feeling’s mutual. If it amplified my feelings enough to strip Daniel, then … ”

  “It’ll work the same way to heal him. I have faith in you, Lil. You should too.”

  “Faith, yeah, about that … I’m only sure of two things when it comes to my magic. It’s more forceful hooked up to love. And love uses it for its own purpose. Can I put faith in that?”

  Nila grinned. “More than anything else, I should think.”

  They drove in silence after that. The rain streamed from the sky hard and fast. Nila concentrated on keeping the car steady in the growing traffic. The strong musk of incense still clung to their clothes and coated Lily’s throat with sick dread. She was exhausted, freezing, and afraid of what she’d done, what she could no longer do and what would become of Daniel. Every muscle in her body ached. Every nerve screamed as if she’d imploded in on herself.

  Nila began talking again, about magic and about the workings of simple spells and techniques. Lily knew she was just trying to distract her. But it worked. After a few more minutes, Lily uncurled. She actually felt the heater warm her skin as it began to dry her cotton shirt. Bit by bit, her body unclenched and she concentrated more intently on Nila’s words. If her power ever lived again, Lily knew she would need all the knowledge she could get to make it work safely.

  Twenty minutes later, Nila left the expressway and turned down a side street to stop in front of a squat little building dwarfed between towering downtown office buildings. She turned off the engine and the hot fan died. Lily immediately started to shiver. “Gradyn lives here?”

  “Hardly,” Nila laughed. “Look closer.”

  Lily’s jaw dropped when the Madame’s magic shop materialized before her eyes.

  “I told you we needed supplies.” Nila motioned her out of the car. Lily plucked her soggy sweater off the floor and tugged it back on, cursing as the clammy wool stuck to her skin. She loved this wool sweater, a shrunken hand-me-down from Daniel. She buried her face in the sleeve for a moment, trying to draw in his scent and got only a dose of wet sheep. She stepped reluctantly from the warm confines of the car and found that even wet, the wool protected her from the worst of the wind as she ran towards the purple door with its dragonhead handle.

  • • •

  Inside the shop, the air swept over her with golden color and an astounding warmth, as if it knew what her draining spirits needed most. The room hadn’t changed, prisms still danced on beaded strings and an invisible breeze swept the scent of sage, camphor, and gardenias across her skin. But tonight, standing behind the counter packing a woven basket, was the diminutive, bright eyed, and bristly haired Madame herself.

  She smiled like a fairy godmother caught out on the town when she saw Lily’s eyes fill with grateful tears. “Surely you didn’t think I would send you off on your first healing unprepared? I’ve packed candles, crystals, herbs for spells and healing teas.” Madame’s eyes twinkled. “And a few extras for whatever else might come up.”

  Nila cackled, Lily blushed, and Madame pretended her words weren’t as obvious as the spangles glittering on her wrists.

  Nila glanced inside the basket. “Lavender candles instead of green ones? But you know Daniel’s a Taurus.”

  “Taurus?” Lily asked.

  “The bull,” Nila whispered a lurid grin.

  “She and Daniel won’t have the time, nor much inclination I suspect, for fun and games.” Madame pushed Nila out of the way with a flap of her hands. “Now, Lily, though I impart this knowledge quickly, do not doubt that it is important. As rules go, these are sacred. Rule Number One: Always keep your use of magic simple and confined to what you know.”

  Lily looked confused. “But the shackling worked. I have no magic.”

  Madame’s mouth thinned into an angry line. “And I do apologize for Daniel’s gran, my sweet child. She had no right and she’ll be dealt with. But your magic isn’t dead. See how the geode still pulses? As a Reader, Daniel can undo the shackling when he’s had some healing time.”

  Lily felt a glimmer of hope. “But Gran insists Daniel is stripped. Can he even work magic?”

  A sly smile crossed her face and was instantly gone. “Love is as powerful a magic as any, dear girl. Which leads me to Rule Number Two. Remember to take into account both the light and dark sides of magic. Never doubt that all power has two faces. Every working has the potential for good as well as evil, as you learned tonight. Never forget that. Rule Number Three: All the power you call must be directed into a spell, a working, or a charm. Something specific. No energy must be left lingering. When your geode broke the magic circle at Magdaline’s house tonight, the power went wild. I had to harness it, which made me more than a little cranky, I can tell you.

  “And that was the reason I could not help you at the time, Lily. I am sorry. I placed that harnessed power inside three gemstones I have added to this basket. Their potency should improve Daniel’s healing process. When you set out your triangle of healing, you must place a candle and one of these stones at each of the three points. This,” Madame held up a cluster of purplish crystals, “is an amethyst. For protection. The golden amber is for focusing. And this dark stone, hematite, will enhance a working harmony between the two of you.”

  “Where’s the rose quartz for love?” Nila teased.

  “They need no help in that area,” Madame said in a tone implying Nila was an idiot child. She wrapped the gemstones in scraps of flannel and tucked them back inside the basket along with a much worn book of healing spells. Behind her back, Nila plucked a pale red quartz from under the counter and with a broad wink Lily couldn’t miss, dropped it into the basket.

  “Rule Number Four,” Madame continued. “This is magic’s most precious, unbreakable rule. Harm none. Anger generates … well, you were a victim this night, Lily, but you also inflicted pain. When the geode blasted the circle, we remaining witches ended up with aching heads and a valuable, long overdue reminder that negative energy has absolutely no place in a weaving. Now,” Madame gave the basket a final pat, “I’ve tried to think of every possibility, my dear, and added a few things Daniel can use.”

  “Like condoms?” Nila grinned.

  Madame cupped Lily’s face between her small hands. Lily felt a tingling buzz run through her body. “There is to be no physical contact between you and Daniel, Lily. Even if the boy insists.”

  Blushing yet again, Lily nodded.

  “And about the geode … ” Madame Bagasha mused.

  “Should I leave it behind?”

  The little Romany witch shrugged. “You’ll have to trust your heart to guide you now, little one. Just try not to love the boy to death.”

  Behind Madame, Nila grinned shamelessly. Lily reached to take the basket … and jerked away as a wave of revulsion filled her chest.

  “Oh my weary stars! I forgot! The blasted talisman is in there,” Madame Bagasha dug into the basket and pulled out the gemstone necklace. Lily turned her face away with a shudder as Nila quickly found a lead box. Madame dropped the talisman inside and carefully latched the lid before placing it back in the basket. “I’m sorry, child, but Maggie insisted it reach him. Just in case. It’s Daniel’s choice to wear it or not. I insisted on that.”

  “Do you think … ” Lily began and then gushed. “Do I have love enough to heal him?”

  “Oh, my dear, yes. And how I envy you this adventure.” She pressed a kiss to Lily’s cheek. “Be sure to ask the Goddess’s blessing, and always give thanks as well. It’s the polite thing to do. And good luck. You’ll need that as much as any blessing. Or mayb
e not.”

  With a wink, she shooed the two from the shop.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Outside the magic shop once again, the sleet hit Lily with a frigid blast that had her diving thankfully into Nila’s car.

  Nila had the heater on high before they’d fastened their seat belts. “Sorry we didn’t have dry clothes at the shop for you, Lil. Gradyn will probably have some female thing you can change into. Can you imagine the parade of women through his life?”

  “Do you?” Lily asked, surprised. “Imagine his women, I mean? I’ve known him almost a year, and I’ve never seen him seriously pursue anyone. He is a champion flirt, though.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Nila said with feigned disinterest. “I stay out of his sights. The man scares the wits out of me, all gorgeous and fancified. Makes me twitchy.”

  “Is that so?” Lily cast her a long look. “Daniel makes me twitchy. Among other things.”

  Nila frowned. “Madame Bagasha was serious about no physical contact. Right now touching Daniel would be like pressing a fresh burn. Pure agony. Do you think you can keep your hands to yourself or should I take you home right now?”

  “Do I really need a lecture, Mom? I was linked to him for hours, I know what kind of pain he’s in.”

  “Sorry.” The girl had the grace to grimace. “What was that like anyway? Could you, like, hear him speaking in an echoing, ominous voice or what?”

  Lily laughed, “No.” She clutched the basket nervously on her lap, once more unsure of what she was doing and who she imagined herself to be in order to do it. “He was just a reassuring presence in my head. I could feel his stronger emotions.”