“Can you help us reverse whatever this guy’s doing?” Joshua asked.
Quanice thought for a moment.
“I can’t do that. But we can call on a servitor to get you in.”
“Get us in?” Selene asked.
Quanice smiled again. “Yeah. If you give us a minute to figure out what operation they’re running, we can probably find a way to slide you in between the place where space and time connect.”
“You can do that?” Raquel sounded impressed.
No shit. That was pretty impressive if Quanice’s crew could actually pull it off.
“Only one way to find out,” Quanice replied. “Let me talk to the crew.”
35
Selene
As Raquel and Brenda strategized with the rest of the coven and the other magicians gathered there, Selene and Tobias took a moment to confer. They had asked him for a moment and he waited, tapping at a mullein leaf with one finger. Why mullein? Selene didn’t know. It must be some herbalist thing. Tobias always had something in his pockets these days.
Selene closed their eyes for a moment, breathing in the scents and sounds and energies of the park. They could practically taste the Alchemist. Swallowing down bile, they re-centered. Wiggled toes in their buckle boots, rocking back and forth on the grass. Grounding. They couldn’t be off for this. It was too important. While there was no telling what exactly would happen, or whether the trap they’d made would even work, Selene had to be ready for what was to come.
Because something was coming. The whole stretch of the park blocks, despite the festive aura, thrummed with it. Whatever the Alchemist was doing rippled through every pocket of music, laughter, weirdness, and agitation. Selene hoped the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were ready for it, and not too distracted by the hateful street preachers they currently contended with. Alejandro had talked with Sister Krissy, giving a heads-up, but since he couldn’t tell them exactly what to look for, Krissy just said that the Sisters would be ready to offer protection to whomever needed it. That was what the flag walls were there for, and knowing the Sisters, those flag walls were imbued with a little something extra.
Selene had a sudden flash, an image of Lucy sitting at Tabitha’s bedside. They hoped both women were all right. Lucy looked up, as if she could see Selene, then shook her head and gestured Selene away.
Don’t distract yourself, their coven sister mouthed. I got this.
Selene snapped their attention back to the park blocks. Back to Joshua, standing at their side, smelling of amber undercut with the slightest tang of sweat and fear.
“Hey,” they said, touching his white shirt. “Are you okay?”
He swallowed, then cupped Selene’s cheek. The look in his eyes made Selene want to weep, and they didn’t know why.
“I’m okay,” he said. “Part of me feels calm. Ready. But the other part? I have to be honest with you, Selene.”
He leaned in closer. They breathed together for one long moment, forgetting the park, the Alchemist, the crush of people….
“I’m terrified that something is going to happen to you and I won’t be able to help.” Joshua paused, then dropped his hand to Selene’s shoulder. Soft. Warm. Gentle. “And I know…I’m falling for you, okay? So, do what you have to do, but please be careful if you can.”
Heat slid up Selene’s neck. Their cheeks grew hot. They wrestled down their impulse to run. Planted their boots in the grass for what must have been the thirteenth time that day. Stay, Selene. Please stay, they thought. Selene realized then that they’d never wanted anything more. Than to stay. To allow their body to lean into this man, their hands to reach up. Touch his jaw.
Draw him closer. Look into his eyes.
“Okay,” Selene replied.
A throat cleared behind them.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Moss said, “but Tobias needs you. He thinks it’s time.”
Selene took one step back. Joshua stood, stock-still, eyes trained on their face. Selene’s lips turned up into a smile.
They turned to Moss then, who was all kitted out for battle. Black bandana around his neck. Old Earth First! T-shirt hugging his skinny frame, gripping the Queer Witches banner as if it was going to be ripped from his hands.
Selene wasn’t yet sure if they loved Joshua, but they loved Moss. Loved everyone in Arrow and Crescent. Their coven. Their family.
The thing they would fight and die for.
“Let’s do this,” Selene said.
Tobias had the one jar of ointment they’d managed to save, planning to use it as a physical anchor to the Alchemist if needed. Selene’s hands itched to hold it, but Tobias wanted to make sure everything else was in place before handing it over. He also had a paper sack of dried rose petals.
“I don’t trust this situation, Selene,” Tobias said, stroking his goatee. “There’s too many variables. Too much can go wrong.”
His dark hair flopped over his face and his lips turned down in a frown. Dressed in battered gray chinos and sneakers, he wore a rainbow unicorn T-shirt as a concession that this was supposed to be a fun weekend.
Not so much. Damn the Alchemist for ruining everyone’s Pride.
People are dead, Selene, they chided themself. Selene shook their head. A long dark strand stuck to their lips, embedded in the bloodred lipstick they’d slicked on half an hour before. People were sick and even dead, and now this crowd—gathered because they wanted nothing more than a chance to be festive together on a sunny day—was in possible danger.
The trans and enby communities had too much stolen from them already. Any chance to reaffirm life was one they needed to take. But this bastard was trying to steal that away, too. Anger flashed through Selene’s body. It was time to become the Goddess’s blade again.
Breath shuddered into their lungs and certainty sliced through them.
“We can’t always get a clear read, Tobias. You know that. But if we’re going to attack, it has to be today. Now.”
“What I mean is,” Tobias said, voice edging toward impatience, “I don’t trust that this isn’t all some elaborate ruse to snare you. We need to be even more careful than usual. I am not feeding you directly into his hands.”
“Well, I am the fabled alchemical creature, haven’t you heard?”
“Stop it.” Joshua stepped up beside Selene. “Never call yourself by a name that man used. Don’t give him that power.”
Selene sighed. “I’m not giving him any power. Trust me. The man is an idiot.”
“An idiot who managed to convince a whole bunch of people to give him money and time. An idiot who has taken out several of our friends. An idiot…” Tobias started ranting.
Selene put a hand on his arm. “Tobias. I get that you’re scared. But I can’t be, okay? Just let me do my thing.”
Brenda and Raquel came back over.
“You almost ready?” Raquel asked. “The rest of the coven is primed to put the protections up. Louis and Legis are anchoring the whole thing. We just need to check with Quanice. Make sure the Chaotes are ready, too.”
“I’m not ready,” Tobias said. He was sweating.
“Well, you have to get ready,” Selene said, a sudden flare of anger flashed through their body. “I can’t hold on much longer, Tobias. The power is building. Can’t you feel it?”
The energy ramped up and all of a sudden, Selene felt as if they were in a movie or something. They swore their hair must be swirling around their head, and felt as if they were levitating off the grass. The sounds of the crowd around the little pocket of magic workers sounded like the roaring of a mighty ocean, ready to crash upon a vast shore.
Everything wobbled, throwing them off center. The energy at the edges of their aura felt brittle, close to fracturing.
“Raquel?” they said.
“What do you need?” Raquel’s voice sounded like steel coated with honey. Selene needed some of that.
“I can’t ground. It’s all too strong.”
Selene f
elt Raquel’s hands on their shoulders and heard Raquel’s voice in their left ear.
“Take a breath all the way from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet.”
Selene tried to comply. They fought to drop their attention into center. Fought to take a breath that would fill their whole body with the flow of oxygen. They felt the moon, just past full now, waning one sliver a day. The sun was waning, too. Just barely.
They felt the sun and moon together in the sky, mighty cosmic forces. And ordinary, too. The magic of a reflective rock and a combustible star. Night and day. Selene felt it so clearly, this dance.
“The sun and moon must marry one another. Together, they shall have a child, and name that child Aradia.” Another alchemical wedding. They’d never thought of it that way before.
Selene didn’t know if they had spoken the words aloud or not, but they must have, because they felt Raquel’s hands press more firmly downward, toward the earth. Then Brenda stepped in front of them.
“Selene,” Brenda said. “You need to stay with us until it is time. You’re already too far out. Ground and center. Reinforce your own boundary. Hold fast.”
Mother Moon…
“I can’t.”
“Does anyone have some tiger iron?” Brenda’s head whipped back and forth.
“I do,” Tempest said, proffering a lump of tumbled stone, striations of deep gray hematite interlaced with tiger stripes of warm orangey browns.
Brenda slid the stone into Selene’s right hand. Selene lurched sideways, then took in a ragged breath. Felt their eyes flutter. Felt their soul sink toward their feet again. The energies around them dialed down, from ten to around seven. Still vibrant, slightly over the top, but manageable. The sounds in the park normalized, voices, laughter, drums become distinct noises once again. Sunlight winked and flashed among the leaves.
“Thank you,” they said to Brenda.
Raquel’s hands released their shoulders.
“I want you to hold onto the stone until you need to fly. It would be my preference that you keep it, but I understand you may need more freedom from the earth plane.” Brenda made sure Selene was looking directly at her before continuing. “You’re one of the strongest sorcerers in this coven. You are not expendable. You are coming back to us, no matter what, you hear?”
Raquel stood next to Brenda, arms crossed over her chest, and gave a firm nod.
“Okay. I’m okay,” Selene replied. It wasn’t quite an acknowledgement that they understood. But they did understand. All too well. They just weren’t one-hundred percent in agreement. They would come back if they could. But if it was necessary not to? They would do what it took.
But they weren’t going to tell Brenda or Raquel that.
Cassiel walked up and handed Selene a water bottle of coated red steel, top already screwed off. Selene took a drink, then handed the bottle back.
“Tobias and I are ready,” Cassiel said. “You okay?”
“Fine,” Selene said. “Let’s trap this asshole.”
They sent a thought toward Lucy, letting her know to be on alert, and felt an affirmative.
It was about to go down.
Selene slipped the stone into their pocket, then turned.
“Where’s Joshua?”
36
Joshua
Joshua had decided that he was going to take the fish goat by the horns and try to stop this thing before it started.
If he could take out the Alchemist physically, before Selene and Tobias even set their magical trap? Maybe he could eliminate the threat, and this crowd could enjoy the rest of the day without an invisible sword hanging over their heads.
Leaving the experts to help ground Selene, he walked over to where Legis, Frater Louis, and Quanice’s chaos magician buddies were clustered behind the banner emblazoned with the chaos star. Frater Louis and Quanice gestured at one another, clearly engaged in an intense conversation.
“No,” Quanice was saying, “you can’t just cut the cord between a magician and their servitor! Do you know how much could go wrong?”
“So what do you suggest we do?” Frater Louis replied. His voice was calm, but the small Thelemite was practically vibrating with energy. Everyone was ready for battle.
Joshua tapped Legis on the shoulder.
“Hey,” Joshua said.
Legis bent his head toward Joshua. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to do something that may be stupid.”
“And what, you want backup?”
Joshua considered. He did want backup. But Legis already had a role…
“I would love backup, but don’t you need to anchor this whole thing?”
Legis huffed. “Are you kidding? Frater Louis can stabilize the whole operation while dancing a jig and fighting off dogs.”
“That’s…quite an image.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“I want to find the Alchemist and take him out before anything starts.”
Legis crossed his arms over his big chest, and raised his right eyebrow.
“You mean, physically?” he asked.
“Yeah. I punched him once already, and I’m not even any good. And you’re big. I think we can do this.”
Legis nodded. “I didn’t expect this from you, but okay. I’m in.”
The big Thelemite turned and interrupted Frater Louis and Quanice.
“We’re going on a mission. Hopefully we’ll be back before we’re needed, but just in case, Frater Louis, can you hold this thing together on your own?”
Frater Louis gave Legis a look as though he knew they were up to no good. He pursed his lips and finally shrugged.
“Do what you need to do,” Louis said. “If we don’t have enough firepower and experience from this crew? This whole thing is going to fail anyway. We may as well approach it from every angle we can.”
“Let’s go,” Legis said.
Joshua took one last look at Selene, who was still absorbed with Tobias, Brenda, and Raquel.
I love you, he thought.
Then he and Legis headed toward the center of the first park block, winding through the bright crowd.
I hope I’m doing the right thing.
He had invoked Éliphas Lévi’s Power to Dare and it seemed as if that was all he was doing today. Taking risks.
He and Legis started walking, heading toward the bronze elephants.
“You got a plan?” Legis asked over his shoulder as he cut a swathe through the crowd.
“Trip him? Shove his face into the ground?” Joshua replied. He was regretting wearing his top hat. He hadn’t figured on wanting to get into a fistfight with this guy.
It was as if some flip-side Joshua had taken over. A man who used his fists instead of his charm.
There was just no charming some people.
Legis slowed down a bit, letting Joshua catch up. “You say he’s by the elephants?”
“I think so. He’s pulling some space-time weirdness so it’s still hard to tell, but that’s where I felt him the strongest.”
They were stopped several yards from the fanciful statue, and the crowd was even more dense than before. But this close to the stacked elephants, Joshua could see that there was actually a small clearing to one side. And the children who had been playing on the structure earlier were gone.
“Look at that. He’s got to be there.”
They rounded the bulk of the statue and sure enough, there was the Alchemist in a top hat of his own today, and a peacock-colored waistcoat that Joshua would have envied in other circumstances. A white shirt. Black trousers.
Surrounding him were three blond, middle-aged, middle-class-looking women, a portly man with dark hair, and a young, shirtless skinny white man in rainbow trousers. The women and the portly man seemed as if they were holding up a circle. Joshua softened his gaze and saw it. It was as if the air bent slightly around them, cordoning off the space.
The shirtless man lay down in the center.
; “Oh no. Nononono. That is so not good,” Joshua said, increasing his speed.
“How are we going to get in there?” Legis asked, jerking Joshua to a stop. “We have to think for a minute, man.”
“Joshua!” Selene’s voice rang across the park. The fact that he heard it over the noise of the crowd was a miracle. He turned and saw them striding across the park, hair flying, electric, looking like an avenging angel. They were flanked by the whole coven, and the chaos magicians, banners tangling in legs, everyone rushing his way. His mouth went dry and his heart pounded in his chest.
“Joshua!” Legis said. “Look!”
Joshua ripped his gaze from Selene and turned back to the weird circle just east of the elephant.
The Alchemist was smearing something all over the shirtless man. It gleamed in the dappled evening sun.
Flying ointment.
“Shit.”
37
Selene
Damn Joshua and Legis for taking off on their own. That was not the agreement they’d made. What the hell were they planning? Selene just hoped it wasn’t something physical, not in the middle of a bunch of people who hadn’t asked for this fight. Who had just shown up, wanting to celebrate Pride, and be around a bunch of people who celebrated them, for one damn day out of the year.
But they had no time to deal with that. The Alchemist had turned for a moment when Selene called out to Joshua, and stared straight at them across the distance, his hands shining with flying ointment. How was he protected from it? That was strange. Maybe the batches he used with his own people had less nicotine?
He had looked at Selene with desire before turning to the half-naked man lying on the ground. The Alchemist’s gaze turned Selene’s stomach. They fought the bile down. Again.
Focus. You have a lot of people counting on you. Why was magic so much more difficult the more personal it became?
“Tobias,” Selene said. Their coven mate stood at Selene’s shoulder. “Can you get a bead on that ointment? How is he using it?”
By Moon Page 17
