“Wow, that’s good. I’m impressed.”
She shrugged as if indifferent, but the smile on her face was wide and full of pride. “I felt like I was letting you down last night. I’m usually a quick study, but this is all new to me.”
“Hey, every witch goes through this. It’s not unusual, and you shouldn’t feel bad. Besides, your ancestor should be the one to teach you these things.”
“So are we ready?” she asked.
I nodded but glanced off towards the house. “Almost.”
Leaving them there, I started for my home. The wind had picked up since I’d left earlier in the day, and it was cold enough to bite my cheeks and arms with the chill. I shivered as I came up the steps, but Beck was there with a sweater for me.
“I could have told you you’d need this,” he said with a half-smile.
“Have I told you how much I hate it when you’re right?”
“Have I told you I love it when you look at me like that?”
It was impossible not to smile, though I tried admirably.
“Yes,” Beck said, nodding his head. “Just like that. I love that smile.”
We stared at each other for a long time, neither of us saying anything. I wanted to get my fill. If the worst happened, and I ended up in the afterlife tonight, I didn’t want to ever forget the look of him and the feelings of love between us. I thought of Granny’s mirror and I wished it were possible to teach Jilly how to use it so I would have a portal into their world.
But it was no use thinking of things we couldn’t change. And fatalistic thoughts did no one any good. We had work to do, and that was that.
I leaned in to kiss Beck, taking care not to linger too long or I was afraid I’d do something silly like cry again. “Don’t get mushy. We’ve got a curse to break.”
He inclined his head. “Yes, ma’am.”
While he went to fetch the kids, I tracked down Rhia and Sandy in the kitchen. They were locked in an embrace, whispering love words to each other. I wanted to muster the will to be disgusted, but considering Beck and I had been on the verge of similar mushiness, that seemed a tad hypocritical.
“Break it up,” I called as I stepped into the room. “It’s time to get to work.”
“Hey!” Rhiannon stepped away from her lover. “Did you get them?”
“Yep, got ‘em. You guys ready?”
Sandy shot me a grin. “Tig wants me on the other side of the door. If you think that’s best, that’s what I’ll do. But I can fight just as well here as I can there.”
“No, let’s go with Tig’s instincts. I want to be sure Beck and the kids stay as safe as possible.”
While Sandy dissolved into a pile of sand, I noticed Patch was there again dozing on the rug in the kitchen. I considered her and how much she loved us. It would be dangerous to have her out and about during the action. I bent down and affectionately rubbed her ears a few moments, then I led her into the master bathroom. Tossing her a treat, I promised her Beck would be back for her soon.
About a half an hour later, Tig and I both used our magic to “carry” all of the magical elements to the area near the cauldron while Beck and Sandy worked together to start the fire beneath it. I set the spellbook up on a chair and used a stone to hold the page down so that I wouldn’t lose my place. With so many ingredients, we had to do it just so to get it right.
“I’ll tell you when it’s time to stir.” My eyes were on Rolayna as I filled the cauldron halfway with spring water. “Remember, start in the center, drag the spoon straight towards your body, then stir around the end in the direction I give you. Always come back to center. Got it?”
She nodded, then carefully placed the long handled wooden spoon in the middle of the steaming cauldron. It was going to be a time-consuming and tedious project. I made my way through the list: Dragon scales, goblin teeth, griffin feathers. Every so often I would stop and tell Rolayna which way to stir and how many rotations. Left three times then right once. Right five times and stop. Left then right then left twice … and on and on it went.
“Jilly,” I called the little girl’s name as she stepped forward with eyes that glowed green with her nymph’s magic.
“My turn?”
My heart filled with warmth as I saw eagerness in her expression. And love. There was no doubt in my mind that she loved me, and certainly none that I returned that love.
“Just close your eyes the way Miss Breena taught you and find the magic. Then lean forward and blow the kiss.”
Her lids snapped closed, and a look of calm composure descended on her face. The wind picked up her wild red locks, whipping them around her face. With a long inhale, she reached up both hands and leaned forward to blow a kiss towards me. When she did, a little wisp of green smoke left her lips, gliding to the cauldron where it stopped and then dropped into the brewing potion.
“Now right five times again and stop, Rolayna.”
Turning my head, I glanced behind me and saw that Tig and Rhiannon were both posted beside the forest. I tried not to think about the fact that things were looking more and more like they had in my dream. I breathed deep and then nodded to Rolayna.
“Rolayna, it’s time. Hold my hand. Do you remember the words?”
She dropped her head in silent affirmation, then took my fingers in her palm.
And then all hell broke loose. Sparks and balls of magic exploded from behind me, and I closed my eyes to focus as Rolayna and I began chanting. The other witch’s voice was cracking with fear, and I felt her try to tug her hand away from mine. I knew the flight instinct in her must be trying to take over.
“No, Rolayna! Stay here. No matter what, you have to finish the spell.”
I conjured my wand to protect us, and that was when I got a good look at the figure from my dream. He was so thin, his bones seemed to protrude from under his skin. His eyes glowed red, and as he approached I could see the tell-tale shadows of horns on his head.
A demon.
Crap. It’s the Tears of Heaven. All this time we thought he was after me, and it was them. He’s here for the tears … I released Rolayna’s hand long enough to reach for them in my pocket. They were the last ingredient, to be dropped into the pot as soon as the words were finished. I slapped the bag into Rolayna’s hand. “Keep going!”
Then I turned my back to her and faced the demon. He towered over me, and even though he was at least fifty feet away, I could feel his hot breath on me and smell the brimstone on his flesh. I opened my mouth to make a snarky remark about his odor, but he leaped into the air to come down at me. Rolayna was slightly to my left, and I intended to dodge right …
But that was when I saw Justin. He was running towards me, fists in the air as if he meant to fight someone off to protect me. I knew that if I moved the direction I intended, it would draw the demon after me and closer to him. So I did the only thing I could. I waved my hand at Justin and used my magic to brush him back away from the action.
The sound of Beck screaming my name was almost as horrifying as the excruciating pain from the teeth of the demon-blade ripping apart my insides. As my body slid towards the ground, I saw a hazy figure looming above me. His scythe was evidence enough of who he was.
I watched the Reaper pull something from his pocket and place it on my chest. The pain was starting to get to me, and I wanted to close my eyes and sleep, but I needed to be sure Rolayna finished the spell. I tried to turn to her, but I caught sight of someone else approaching. I blinked several times to try to clear my vision, but blackness was tunneling in on me.
“No!” It was the Reaper’s voice as he stepped forward to block the other figure. The two of them tussled, but I was getting so light-headed it was impossible to focus on either person. Finally, the Reaper roared in outrage, then raised his Scythe to pound its long stick into the ground beside me.
I strained to shake my head but couldn’t find the strength. “I need time. I need to know she finishes the spell. Wait, this isn’t how this
should end …”
But begging did no good. The world went black just as I realized I hadn’t yet asked Rolayna what day it was.
And just like that, I was dead.
The pain drained away from my body, and a sense of buoyancy came over me. I opened my eyes to find I was in a long corridor with many doors. I took a step forward and happened to look down, gasping when I realized there was no floor beneath me, instead only a grey smoky substance that pooled around my feet as I moved forward. Somehow I knew this was the in-between.
“It doesn’t feel right,” I told myself as I continued walking along the hallway. Even though I accepted my fate in death, a little voice in my mind told me I should be doing something more.
My thoughts turned to Rolayna in those final moments. She’d clearly been terrified by the attack, and I could only hope she would finish the spell. If she didn’t, then I hated to think of what the curse would do to Beck.
As I continued walking, my mind turned to Charley. Granny said she was here, still in Purgatory. If I could find her, she might be able to communicate with Rolayna. No sooner had my mind turned to her than the corridor disappeared and an old rickety house morphed into the space in front of me. Grey still pervaded everything as if the entire in-between had been bled of its colors.
“Grammie Charley?” I asked when the door on the home opened, and an old woman hobbled out onto the porch.
She was dragging a big bag behind her, tugging it along as she walked. She finally stopped at the edge of the porch and took a long, deep breath as if completely exhausted from the short walk. Reaching her hand inside the sack, she emerged with a large chocolate bar. “Here you go, dear.”
She handed me the candy, and I looked at it in confusion. “No, I don’t want that, Charley. I want to talk.”
“Run along, dear. Only one per child.”
“We need to talk. It’s about the curse.”
Her face had been pale before, but it became ghostly white then, no pun intended. Before my eyes, the big bag of candy grew even larger, and her shoulders hunched over as if the weight of the world were bearing down on her. “The curse …” Tears began to stream down her face.
“Don’t cry. We don’t have time for tears.” Okay, so maybe we had all eternity, but that was neither here nor there. “What you don’t understand is that you weren’t the last Gould. You have an heir. And she needs you.”
As if awakening from a trance, Charley blinked and then stared hard into my eyes. “No, I can’t have one. There was no one left. Now run along. More children will be along. There are always more children.”
I stared at the bag of never-ending Halloween treats, and that was when I realized this was her penance. Her self-prescribed punishment for the pain she’d inflicted on so many couples with her curse. I took a few steps forward and clasped one of her hands in mine. “You don’t have to do this. Whatever your mistakes were in the past, they were made up for with all of the joy you gave later. Think of all the children who looked forward to your parties every single year. Remember their squeals of laughter. Think of our friendship. I only remember you with fondness, Charley. Those are the things worth dwelling on.”
And as I reminded her of the good in her life, I thought of my own loved ones, and I hoped I too had done some good.
Memories of them did something funny to me. My body felt off-kilter, as if my molecules were getting mixed up. I pulled my hand from Charley and glanced at both palms. They fluttered like a television with bad reception. This wasn’t at all what I expected about the afterlife.
“You said I have an heir?”
I returned my focus to her and nodded my head. I wondered how much to tell her as she seemed to be in a fragile state. “Yes. Ruth had a child. Your sister’s little boy was adopted by another family, and you have a great-great-great niece. And Rolayna has your magic. I’ve already worked with her, and she has the gift.”
Charley’s mouth slid open in a big “O” of astonishment as she stared off into the greyness of her purgatory.
“She needs you. You’re the only one who can teach her properly.”
Suddenly the misty floor beneath me disappeared, and I was falling. My arms and legs flailed out around me, and I grasped for something, anything to stop me but found only more cold gray air.
A bell chimed somewhere in the distance, and without warning, I stopped falling and landed softly. Even though I hadn’t slammed hard into the ground, I was still disoriented. Wooziness washed over me in waves, and when I finally opened my eyes, I was surprised to see Granny leaning over me.
“Lynlee! Wake up!”
I had been looking at my ancestor through a small hazy mirror for so long that it was a shock to see her in the flesh, so to speak. She was radiant in her beauty, and I wondered if those in the afterlife had a choice about the way in which they were seen. I didn’t have time to ponder that because she was shaking me and calling my name.
“Lynlee!”
“Yeah, yeah, stop pushing me. I’m awake.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” she sighed and stood up to put her hands on her hips. “We don’t have much time. They’ll be here soon, and you don’t have a ticket.”
“A ticket? What do I need a ticket for? And who’s coming?” I put my hands out to the side, surprised to find I was lying in a blanket of lush green grass. As I got to my feet, I took a moment to explore the beauty of the landscape in which I had landed. There were towering trees all around. People milled about in the lovely forest, most of them talking to others and seemingly enjoying themselves. They were dressed in clothing that spanned not only the ages, but different cultures.
This was the afterlife.
“Pfft,” Granny huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in disdain. It was somewhat refreshing to see that she hadn’t lost her arrogance in real life … or death. “You must have a ticket to stay here. Didn’t the Reaper give you one?”
I considered the cloaked figure I’d seen just before dying. “He stuck something to my chest, but I must have lost it.”
“It isn’t possible to lose it. Once he pins it to you, it can’t simply fall off.”
“Oh! Someone stole it!” I gasped, narrowing my eyes. “There was someone else there. The Reaper wasn’t happy about it, but then he slammed his scythe, and I popped up in the in-between.”
“Oh, heavens to Murgatroyd, that isn’t good. If you’re here when they arrive and you don’t have a ticket …”
I frowned, “What happens if I don’t have a ticket?”
“Your soul will get banished to the netherworld. You’ll be adrift, alone. For all eternity.”
“The hell I will. How do I get a ticket?”
“Tickets don’t exist here, except for those pinned to the newly arrived. The Gatekeepers destroy the tickets as soon as you’re validated.” She frowned and stomped her foot. “There’s only one thing to do. You’ll have to go back.”
“To Purgatory? Do you know how cold and lifeless that place is?”
Granny cocked her head as if to say I was being obtuse. And maybe I was, but I thought I deserved some latitude. I’d had a rough day. “Home, Lynlee. You have to go back to the living.” Then she glanced over her shoulder, and I followed her gaze. There were four horsemen robed in gold advancing towards us, the hooves pounded the ground like a doomsday drum disturbing the serenity of the afterlife. I knew without asking that these were the Gatekeepers.
I clutched Granny’s arm to get her attention. “How do I go home? What do I do?”
She smiled, and even though we were sometimes acerbic to one another, I knew behind that smile that she had genuine affection for me. I felt the same way. “All you need to do is think of something worth living for.”
And so I did…
Beck’s lazy eyes first thing in the morning.
Jilly’s expression of abject pleasure as she learned the ropes of her nymph-hood.
Justin’s determination to be a tough big brother.
; The way Rhiannon would steal food from my plate to quench her never-ending hunger.
Tig’s annoying goblin jokes and the way he always shoved himself into my life.
I started to tingle all over, but in the most delicious way. Closing my eyes, I wrapped my arms around myself and imagined being home …
And just like that, I was alive again.
My first instinct was to draw in a breath, but that was nearly impossible to do since my face was smashed up against someone’s chest. I reached a hand up to shove away so that I could gasp for air. When I opened my eyes, I looked directly at the person I knew was worth living for, only his face was pinched in anguish, tears streaming down his face.
“Oh, my God, Lynlee. You’re alive.” Beck clutched me up against him again in a bone-crushing embrace.
I groaned, then reached for my stomach where a sharp burning pain was throbbing. I found a deep gash that was bleeding at an alarming rate. I wanted to be sick, but I didn’t have time for that. I’d caught sight of Rolayna standing nearby, and the satchel with the Tears of Heaven were still in her hand.
“The spell!” I cried out and pushed away from Beck again to try to sit up. “Rolayna, you have to finish it.”
She looked down at the pouch in her hand as if she’d only just remembered it was there. I could still smell the sulfur of the demon close by, and there was the sound of fighting still going on all around us. I motioned to Rolayna, and she rushed back to the cauldron, the contents of which were boiling and percolating over the edge.
“Beck, help me up.”
“Baby, you’re hurt. Just lie down …”
“Please, help me up.” He looped an arm behind me and heaved me to my feet. The pain was so bad that I wanted to scream and vomit at the same time, but instead I hissed and worked my way through it so that I could stand beside Rolayna.
Taking her hand, I nodded, and we began to chant again in unison, “As the day turns to night and the spring follows the winter. As the seed falls to earth and the tree shall grow. As the sun burns by day and the stars shine at night. Let that which is broken be made whole. Let that which is unnatural be repaired. Carborundum innaturale!” Then Rolayna tossed the tears into the pot. The potion hurled straight into the air in a stream of silver liquid. Drops of it began raining down, but evaporated before touching any thing or person. Somehow, even in the dark, the world looked new and clean. I knew the potion had worked.
Reaping Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Series Book 4) Page 8
