“Yeah. Two incredibly hot women completely out of reach for a penis-bearer like myself.” he sighed.
“So, you’re ready to get back on the horse, dating-wise?” I hadn’t heard Jack talk about his lack of a significant other since his encounter with a party hook-up turned into a battle with a were-roach earlier in the year.
“Let’s just say that all of the internet porn in the world can’t always chase away loneliness.” He hit the joint again. “Especially with two happy couples around all of the time.”
I was confused. “Two?” I asked. “I mean, there’s me and Vincent, sure. But Trevor and Evelyn are siblings, and Vincent and Angelique haven’t been romantic in a century or more...” I trailed off as I saw his face. He was covering his eyes with his hand.
“Damn, I really am a stoned idiot.” he said, and looked up at me. “I’m not supposed to say anything.”
Say anything about what? “Dude, I’m sure you realize that there’s no way of backing out of this now, right?”
He sighed and sat back in his seat. “Raina has been seeing Rini for a while now.”
“The Fae magick chick?” I asked, incredulous. “How long?”
“Since we went to their realm the first time.”
“Seriously?”
“I guess so. They've been keeping everything on the down-low."
“How did you find out?”
“They’ve been using the basement to come and go from the Fae realm. They tried to do it when I wasn’t here, but they miscalculated and I saw them one time.”
I was gobsmacked. Everything made sense, however. She’s getting so good, so fast, at magick, I thought, she must be going to the Fae realm to do some serious practicing, in addition to the cuddle-bunny stuff. With the fact the time doesn’t really exist there, she could have been spending weeks, or even months, there without the rest of us even noticing.
I have no idea why she had to keep it a secret, but she’s going to have some explaining to do when I see her!
I looked at Jack and suddenly noticed that he was glued to the monitors. Glancing over, I saw a white shape flicker across one of the screens.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I was wondering the same thing.” he replied. “Whatever it is has crossed four monitors.”
“Which ones?”
“Two, four, six, and eight.”
“Put number ten on the main screen.”
He typed furiously, and the feed from monitor ten popped on the giant screen. The back patio sat empty, not even a breeze blowing.
“One of them should be by this camera any second now.” he said, staring.
“What makes you think that there’s more than one?”
“These cameras aren't numbered sequentially. To skip between even-numbered screens would require some acrobatics not seen since I tried to explain why there were rolling papers in my science book in eighth grade."
We watched for another minute before a faint white shape appeared at the top of the screen. As it grew closer, I could make out a human shape on the grainy video.
“Hit the lights.” I said calmly.
Jack hit a few more buttons and the back patio was flooded with light. The camera switched from night vision to regular, the green replaced with living color. Walking into full view was a woman… a very familiar-looking woman.
“God damn.” I said. “It’s one of the Asian women from my astral travels.”
“What’s she doing?” he asked.
As he spoke, the young woman looked right at the camera. She pointed at the camera, then straight down.
“I think she wants to have a chat.” I said, getting up. “Are you coming?”
I really didn’t expect him to leave the safety of the basement, I was just being facetious. That made me even more surprised when he stood up.
“Sure.”
We walked upstairs in silence, listening to see if she’d gotten tired of waiting for us and had let herself in. The parlor was empty when we emerged from the stairwell, however, so we walked cautiously across the darkened room. The remaining moonlight streamed in through the high windows, casting long shadows in our path.
“Should we call in reinforcements?” Jack whispered as we neared the back hallway. Before I could answer, Angelique stepped into view in the open doorway before us.
“I hear we have guests.” she said coolly. “Shall we?”
The three of us walked towards the back door and stepped through. I saw that the first woman had been joined by the other, and the two of them stood serenely in the middle of the patio, waiting for us.
In the floodlights, I could see their clothes more clearly. They looked like traditional Japanese robes, but more basic… older, more primitive. The embroidery, however, was second to none… elaborate designs traced out dragons, birds, and many other animals. There were also mystical-looking symbols placed strategically about their garments, and the stitching almost hummed with energy. Their hair was down, though there was enough to form mini-buns on the back of their heads through which painted wooden sticks had been placed.
I was fascinated. Jack, however, looked like he had been struck with lightning.
Angelique spoke first. “My name is Angelique, and this is my home.” she said formally. “Since you’ve been guests on my land for quite a while now, may I ask who you are and what your business here is?”
“My name is Hatsu,” the first woman said, “and this is my younger sister Katsu.”
Katsu, who was slightly shorter than her sister, smiled and nodded.
“And what brings you to our lands?” Angelique asked.
“The lake.” Hatsu answered simply. “We’ve seen such a thing before, and it’s never good.”
“We mean you no harm.” Katsu piped up. “We are allies.”
“You’ll understand if we remain cautious.” Angelique said.
“You’ve been charged with guiding and guarding the Sorceress.” Hatsu said, glancing at me. “We would expect nothing else.”
“Very well.” Angelique gestured inside. “Shall you explain yourselves to all of us?”
“Gladly.”
The two women seemed to move as one after Hatsu's words. Angelique kept herself between the two visitors and Jack and me as we moved back inside.
* * *
Unlike when we passed through it last, the parlor was now brightly lit by both firelight and electric lamps. Angelique and Vincent stood off to the side, deep in conversation, while Jack and I filled Raina in. Trevor and Evelyn sat on one of the sofas near us, and both had cups of coffee in their hands. Trevor’s eyes were bleary from being awoken at that hour.
“Bloody hell, why couldn’t they appear during business hours?” Trevor griped.
“Trevor, we're occult investigators." Evelyn chided him. "Three AM. is within our business hours!”
“So where’s your cat friend?” Trevor asked as the rest of us took a seat nearby.
“Starr is patrolling the grounds while we’re all in here.” Raina said, taking her seat.
“Shall we get started?” Angelique said firmly, and the rest of us quieted down. “The floor is yours.” she said to the two women, stepping back behind us. Vincent joined her and looked in anticipation.
“Thank you, Lady of the manor.” Hatsu said. “My sister Katsu and I are better known as the Botan Doro, and we were born five thousand years ago in what you call Japan.”
“What manner of creature are you?” Angelique asked.
“We are human.” Hatsu replied. “Trained as Witches in our local way. We were given… certain gifts long ago, and have abnormally long lives, but we are still human at our core.”
“What gifts?” Vincent asked.
Hatsu smiled. “It would take too long to name them all, just know that Fae magick isn’t the only kind in the world.”
“Why are you here?” Raina asked, her face serious.
“We are here because of the Sorceress.” Hatsu bowed in my dir
ection. “We have been charged to protect her at all costs.”
“Charged?” Raina said. “By whom?”
“A very old friend, quite long ago.” came Hatsu’s reply.
“And how do we know that you’re being honest?” Trevor said. “How do we know that this isn’t just a ruse to get close to Annabelle so that you can strike?”
Hatsu didn’t answer, she just gestured to her sister. Katsu stepped forward and reached into the folds of her kimono. She pulled out several objects and placed them on the coffee table.
“Hey,” Trevor protested, “That’s my comb!”
“And my journal!” Raina added.
“And my lipstick.” Evelyn looked shocked.
“We have been able to come and go in this house at will.” Hatsu said calmly. “If we had wanted to attack the Sorceress, we would have done so by now.”
Angelique raised her eyebrows. “Apparently so.” she said, impressed.
“Why wait until now to come to us?” Vincent asked.
“It is not our way to actively work with others.” Hatsu explained. “Most of those we help never know that we were involved. However, the attack yesterday by those creatures surprised us. We have never been snuck up on like that.”
“We felt it best to work cooperatively.” Katsu said, the first time she had spoken since we were outside. “This time.”
“Very well.” Angelique declared. “Where shall we begin?”
“I would like my sister Katsu to learn your electronic surveillance, so that she may aid me in watching over this domain.” Hatsu said. “And I would like to speak with your Fae allies to discuss the magickal methods.”
“Raina, can you contact the Fae?” Vincent asked. Raina nodded. “Very well. Come with me to await word while Jack gives Katsu the tour of the basement.
“This way.” Jack said softly. Katsu smiled and followed.
Was that a blush I saw on his face? I thought as they walked away.
Chapter Six
From the Diaries of Angelique Dupre
10/16/1588
Roanoke Colony
Sarah has been having a most difficult time connecting to the earth. One would think that someone living in conditions such as these would have an intimate connection to the land, but this girl followed her Bible classes too literally. To her, it’s just dirt.
I’m afraid that this one seems to break the streak of the chosen ones being of uncommon beauty and intelligence. She’s a plain girl, without the inner beauty shining through that I have seen so often in her kind.
She is also dim, beyond what is expected of women in this age. I fear that she never would have attracted a mate, so the option of taking a human lover has been mercifully taken away by fate. I will fulfill her needs if she asks, but I am not having the problems that I’ve had in the past.
* * *
“Feel the heat of your body...”
I kept my eyes closed and tried to do as Raina said. I knew I could do it with no problem, but my attention was being pulled in every direction: the air calling to my breath, the earth calling to my bones, the works. I tamped everything down with great effort and focused on my body heat exclusively.
I was soon rewarded with a flash of intense heat. My heightened senses made everything blazingly intense, and a smile crept across my face.
I had convinced my vampire mentors that it was time to learn some offensive magick, so they had set Raina to the task of teaching me. While our magickal systems were quite different, Raina understood as much about a Sorceress’s kind of magick as has ever been written down.
“Good, good." Raina circled me as she spoke, and soon her voice seemed to be coming from all around me. "Now reach, with your perception, downward. Remember that the earth is but a crust, a skin on an endless ocean of magma. Reach through that skin to the boiling lava beneath us."
I did as she said. I felt the seemingly infinite lake of fire that all life floated on, and felt it’s energy join with mine.
“Now open your eyes.”
I opened my eyes and saw that Raina stood off to my side. Directly in front of me was the target we had erected before we started, a straw man with a hockey mask clumsily strapped on its head.
“Ah, Jason… “ I said with a grin, “I see we meet again.”
“Now zap him!” Raina cried.
I drew energy from the center of the earth and sent it at the target. The straw man erupted into flames, the hockey mask a melted mess on the ground.
A wide grin graced Raina's face. "Kickass."
“I seem to be improving.” I said. “Last time, it only smoked.”
“I love how you can cast such energy without talking.” Raina replied. “I still have to at least whisper the names of power.”
I gestured to another target. “Show me how you’d do that move.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
She took a deep breath and readied her stance. I could see her muscles relaxing in ripples across her skin, and the air grew still. After a moment, her hands flew forward.
“Soilsiú!”
I jumped back a bit as lightning jumped from her outstretched fingers and arched over to the straw-stuffed target. With a blinding flash, it vaporized on contact.
I looked at my friend with wide eyes. “That was bright.”
“Bright as fuck.” she beamed.
We couldn’t help it. We both broke out into belly-shaking gusts of laughter.
* * *
“So where did you learn how to do that?” I exhaled as Raina took her turn with the bong.
“Rini.” she said, careful not to let too much smoke out.
We sat together on the biggest, comfy-est sofa in the meditation room, coming down from the energy high that we were often left with after working a lot of magick. I had to stop using meditation to mellow out, however. I used the same techniques to connect to the power, and so that had become my instinctual response to meditation since.
Hence the bong.
“So how’s that going?” I asked her. I had decided against ‘confronting’ her about why she had kept her relationship with the Fae woman a secret. She had to have her own reasons why, and it wasn’t my place to question them. If she lied to me again, however…
She exhaled an impressive cloud of smoke and grinned, shaking her head. “It’s not, right now.”
I winced. “Ohh, sorry.”
“Don't worry about it." she replied, waving my embarrassment away. "We've already had a few bumps along the way, so this isn't anything new."
“It’s only been a few months,” I said, eyebrows raised, “how many bumps could you have had?”
“Well...” She smiled again, closing her eyes.
My curiosity awakened, I leaned forward. “Well what?”
“You know that thing about how time doesn’t really exist in the Fae realm? And how you can exit it at any point you want to?”
“Yeah, I remember.” How could I forget? I thought.
“Well, I’ve been… kinda… abusing the shit out of that.” She shook her head, still grinning.
Then it dawned on me. How often do you go to their realm?”
“A lot.”
“How long have you been staying?”
“Long times…”
“Weeks?” She looked at me sheepishly. “Months?” She didn’t move. “Years?!?”
“Only once.” she replied, hand held up. “Right after you became the Sorceress.”
I remembered back, and shrugged. “So that’s how you got so good, so fast, at Fae magick.” I lit the bowl on the bong and took a deep hit. The thought of having lived years more than everyone else made me need one.
“And that’s the source of our problems.” she continued. “She’s worried that I’m hungry for power for power’s own sake. I keep telling her that it’s to help me protect my friends… you, Jack. Even Trevor and Evelyn.”
At that moment the door opened and Evelyn walked in. She glance
d at me, raising her eyebrows.
“Info dump meeting in an hour, loves, okay?” she said.
My response was to cough out my hit. As my face turned red, I heard Raina say “We’ll be there.”
Evelyn smiled at her. “Okay. See you then.”
I passed the bong, but couldn’t stop staring at her. After she took her hit, she exhaled and asked “What?”
“Did I just see that?”
“See what?”
“She likes you.”
“Bullshit.”
“I know flirting when I see it.”
“You told me you could never see flirting!”
“That’s just at me. I never miss it when it’s directed at someone else.” I insisted, shaking my head.
“You know Rini and I aren’t broken up yet, right?” She asked, reflexively taking another hit. “I do not cheat!” she choked out, holding her breath.
“And I’m not saying you should.” I replied, taking my turn. “It’s just that it looks like you could have a soft landing if things do go badly.”
She grinned. “I would have thought that you would be one of those ‘I’m sure it’ll work out!’ types.”
“I’ve remembered forty-eight incarnations where Vincent and I have been lovers.” I said. “And now I’ve remembered two where I was lovers with Angelique! It kind of takes the sting out of a ‘forever’ break-up.”
“That calls for a fresh bowl!” she declared, getting out her bag.
I couldn’t have agreed more.
* * *
I knew the place.
As I walked along, the mist covering my feet seemed to stretch out forever. The horizon was unbroken by hill or structure, and the only light was from the billions of stars shining down all around me.
I had been there once before, during a ritual to meet a Deity. I had met a Goddess, a very particular Welsh Goddess..
“Come Annabelle...” the familiar voice of Arianrhod said. “Come to somewhere more comfortable.”
I turned and found a door standing by itself on the plane. I opened it and stepped through.
The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Page 10
