His Dark Magic

by Pat Esden

  She brewed a pot of jasmine tea and fixed two mugs, one with special ingredients and one without. Juliet loved tea almost as much as she loved talking. If she added a few chocolate chip cookies from her mom’s last care package, she’d for sure be able to convince Juliet into having tea instead of lunch.

  Chloe padded to her front door and opened it an inch, just far enough that she’d be able to hear if anyone came up the stairs from the foyer. She got out the tin of cookies and was contemplating popping the mugs into the microwave to reheat the tea when the clomp of footsteps echoed in the hall. A second later, a knock reverberated on her door. She took a deep breath and opened it.

  Keshari stood there with a woven bag tucked under her arm. “I decided to check and make sure you were okay. Didn’t you get my messages?”

  “How did you get through the front door?” Chloe said sharply. She grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I am glad to see you, just surprised. I thought you were Juliet.”

  As if summoned by her name, Juliet bounded out from the stairwell and down the hallway. “It seems I’m not the only one wondering what happened to you.” She gave Chloe a Cheshire cat grin. “Were you with that guy?”

  Chloe shot a look at Keshari.

  Keshari dipped her chin, wide eyes begging forgiveness as if she were guilty of talking to Juliet about Devlin. She gestured at the mugs. “That smells wonderful.”

  “Jasmine tea and honey from my aunt’s hives.” Chloe grabbed the tainted mug and thrust it at Juliet. “Come on in. I’ll tell you everything.”

  As Juliet headed for the afghan-draped end of the couch, Chloe handed the other mug to Keshari. “I’m so glad you stopped by. Go, sit. I’ll get us some cookies.”

  Juliet raised her voice. “So, will I get to meet Devlin when we visit the complex?” She lifted her mug, hiding a conniving smile before she took a sip, then another.

  Anticipation fluttered inside Chloe and her hands trembled as she placed the tin of chocolate chips on the coffee table. “I talked to the high priestess. She said I can bring you by the Northern Circle complex anytime.”

  Juliet blinked. “Really?”

  Keshari frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “It surprised me too.” Chloe made herself comfortable on a floor cushion, stretching out her legs as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “The priestess said even tonight would work.”

  “Wow, that’s fantastic.” Juliet dipped her fingertip in the tea, then sucked off the liquid. “I’d love to do that. But this weekend would be better. I’m not doing anything on Saturday. Do they have any cats? I bet they do.”

  “I don’t know about cats. But Devlin has a dog.” Chloe clawed her fingernails down her pants legs. Why was the spell taking so long? Brooklyn claimed one sip and the trigger words would work instantly.

  Keshari put her mug aside and opened her bag. “I meditated about your new path while I created a mandala, blessing and prayers for you.” She took out what looked like a quart-size mason jar filled with muddy-colored sand, and held it out for Chloe to see. “I finished this morning. Now I need to release the sand. Would you like to do it with me?”

  “Sure. What do you mean by ‘release’?”

  Juliet sat up straighter. “You release the sand by pouring it into a lake or river. I saw a demonstration once. The water carries the prayers to the ocean and—” She stopped talking and rubbed her eyes. “Phew, all of a sudden I feel really tired.”

  Chloe faked a yawn, patting her mouth to add to the effect. “I’m exhausted too. This is the first chance I’ve had to sit down since I got back from the Northern Circle.”

  Juliet’s mouth opened in an impossibly wide yawn. “Wow. I can’t believe this.” Holding on to the arm of the couch for support, she staggered to her feet.

  “Are you all right?” Keshari asked.

  “I’m fine. I just need to take a catnap, a couple of winks, a siesta…” Still babbling, she wobbled out the door.

  Once Chloe heard Juliet’s apartment door shut, she jumped up and closed hers quietly. She turned back to Keshari, everything bubbled out. “I confess, the tea was bespelled. I had to get her off my back about going to the complex.”

  Keshari shook her head. “I’m not certain if I should laugh or yell at you.”

  “Don’t worry, I feel horrible enough for both of us.” She joined Keshari on the couch. “But, honestly, I feel worse about not answering your messages. Everything’s been such a blur. When I texted you, I was going to back out of the coven. Except everything the Circle is into feels right to me, even more so than the future I’d planned out for myself. It’s kind of terrifying.”

  “I’m so happy for you.” Keshari smiled. “I also totally understand why you didn’t have time to text.”

  Chloe pulled her into a bear hug. Then she sat back and told Keshari everything she knew about the awakening ritual: the who, where, what, and when. She even went into the part about the journalist. “I’m scared shitless and excited. If that makes sense.”

  “I’d give anything to see it.” Keshari laughed. “Who am I kidding? I want to meet Merlin. He may not be part of my heritage, but I love the stories about him and Camelot.”

  “I wish you could be there too. But we could fail. This isn’t exactly something that’s been done before.” She hesitated, then used the unsettling phrase that had repeated in the back of her mind for days, like the tolling of a bell. “It’s on the razor’s edge between dark and white magic.”

  “You have only good intentions. You want to help others by finding cures.”

  “Yeah, but bespelling Juliet wasn’t exactly white magic. I didn’t hesitate about doing it either. It was easy, too easy.”

  “With your abilities, you could have chosen to do a permanent and much more harmful spell.” She took a breath. “The Dalai Lama said, ‘Compassion is a wish to see others free from suffering.’ You are a compassionate woman, Chloe. As long as that is your aim, you don’t have to worry about turning toward evil.”

  “You really don’t think I’m jumping into this too fast?”

  “No. I think you are brave.”

  Chloe smiled. Brave was one word no one had ever applied to her. Crazy seemed more accurate.

  Chapter 21

  I thought of her, that night alone in the cell, the gentle stroke of her magic on my forehead, soothing away my fear. And I vowed to always be there for her.

  —Devlin Marsh

  Not long after Keshari headed home, Chloe noticed the jar of mandala sand left forgotten on the floor. She slumped down, cradling it between her hands. It would have been nice to have those extra blessings and prayers, but releasing the sand would have to wait. She’d already received a message from Athena asking if she could come early tomorrow to help before the evening session:

  Morning would be better. If it works for you. Before sunrise would be best.

  Chloe knew “if it works” was an attempt to be polite. Athena meant she was expected to be there before dawn, and to bring extra clothes because she wouldn’t be home until Sunday morning at the earliest.

  As she expected, the next few days and nights were a haze of gatherings and rituals, of robes and strange foods, and chanting in the teahouse until they fell asleep on the mats, their magic and bodies exhausted and entwined. Together they summoned fog from the lake. Called wind from the calm sky. Sprouted leaves on bare branches, and created energy-balls with their minds and magic. Things that she’d been told were way beyond the grasp of witches her age.

  To a large extent, the passing days felt as much like daydreams as reality. It was the most incredible, glorious, and energizing time she’d ever known. No question, she’d found the home of her heart. Even if right now it didn’t afford her and Devlin much alone time.

  Saturday evening arrived and the dizzy haze of her excitement subsided into stillness under
the weight of what lay only a few hours ahead. Along with everyone else, she put on her black robe and went to the teahouse for a meal of dark bread and juice freshly pressed from pomegranates and white grapes.

  The shadows and brightness cast out from a dozen candle lanterns flickered against the walls. In the background, slow chanting music played. Almost everyone was talking softly as they ate. But Chloe found herself falling into profound silence. Her gaze drifted to Devlin’s profile. A spark of desire burned inside her as she took in the beautiful slope of his jawline and classic nose. He stopped talking with Midas, glanced her way and smiled, as if he’d sensed her watching. Then he turned back and continued to chat.

  She closed her eyes, concentrating on the music and letting everything else fall away. Her thoughts wandered to a different night:

  Music drifting. The shimmer of light on smooth blue water.

  She’d swiped her finger across the screen of the e-reader. Page 44. The red dress. She was rising from the poolside lounge chair and floating into the house. Her toes brushed the carpet. Twenty-two treads to the top of the stairs. The closet door swung open. The coat hangers jangled. The dress snugged her hips.

  Glass breaking. Her pulse leaping. Terror. Running. Shards glittering under the pool lights, like the gleam of sequins, like water. Like the floor in a hospital. Like spittle at the corner of a boy’s mouth—

  Chloe bit down hard on her lip, holding the image of the boy in her mind and praying more deeply than she ever had. Dear Hecate. Dear every God and Goddess, please be with me. Guide me. Not for me. For the boy. For my parents. For the Circle. Bless my gifts and help me use them wisely.

  As she released her lip and opened her eyes, the room returned in sharper focus: everyone talking, the rustle of robes and the clink of glasses. But she remained in her own world for a second longer, studying everyone’s faces, memorizing them. Chandler and Em. Jessica and Midas. Devlin and Athena. A sad sense of melancholy seeped into her bones. No matter what happened, tonight was bound to change them all.

  Athena rose to her feet, her robe swirling out around her. The candlelight glittered on her cheekbones and the rigid line of her neck, encircled by the darkness of her choker. Around her, the air rippled with energy, then stilled.

  Goose bumps tingled on Chloe’s arms. Seeing auras or a witch’s energy wasn’t one of her gifts. She’d have thought it a trick of light, except she’d noticed the same thing the first time she’d met Athena. What was it?

  She glanced again and realized—with surprise—that she’d once more lost track of time. Only a few minutes ago, Athena had been in deep conversation with Brooklyn and Matt. But now they were both gone.

  Adrenaline jumped into her veins. This could only mean one thing. They’d left to take up their positions, closing off the park and bike path to outsiders. It was time. This was it.

  “All right, everyone.” Athena’s voice rose, taking command of the room. “If you’ll all grab a lantern, we’ll begin.”

  Devlin handed one to Chloe, its handle hot against her fingers. “Are you doing okay?”

  She nodded. Her whole body buzzed with excitement. “I just hope I don’t screw anything up.”

  “Listen to Athena. Follow her lead and you’ll do fine.”

  With Devlin walking next to her, Chloe followed everyone else down the path to the complex’s back gate. A chill hung in the air. Darkness crowded in around them. But their lanterns formed a tunnel of brightness, opening before them and closing behind.

  By the time they arrived at the Earth Clock, Chloe’s eyes had adjusted to the light. Instead of sheer darkness, the world beyond her had transformed into a web of leafless trees and shades of gray. The standing stones themselves brightened and dimmed in the lantern’s flickering light, creating the illusion of ghostly faces and skulls glaring from their rough surfaces.

  Chloe shivered, fear and excitement quivering under her skin.

  Em bent close to her. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Her voice hushed even further. “When I was a kid, I used to dream about running away to join the Knights of the Round Table.”

  “I wanted to be Merlin,” Chloe whispered. Then they both fell into respectful silence, watching as Athena and Devlin cast the ritual circle.

  Once that was done, Athena laid out a crescent of votive candles at the circle’s center and placed what looked like a damp bird’s nest inside the curve.

  A whiff of rancid blood reached Chloe’s nose. Her stomach cinched, the taste of bile creeping up her throat. Not a real bird’s nest. Most likely it was a nest created out of the journalist’s hair and fingernail clippings, soaked in his blood.

  She swallowed back the nausea. There was no reason to be repulsed. She’d known these things would be used. What they were doing called for powerful magic. It took sacrifice.

  Athena placed Merlin’s crystal inside the nest. “Bless our circle tonight. Grant us the strength of the old ways. As waning gives way to waxing, doorways open—”

  Jessica leapt forward into the circle, raising her hand to silence Athena. “Wait. I heard something, someone—” She bolted across the circle and into the darkness beyond the stones, like a wolf on the attack. Devlin and Midas took off after her, one step behind.

  “Over there,” Midas shouted.

  There was a crack-snap of dry branches breaking.

  Chloe’s mouth dried. Fear pounded in her chest. It wasn’t Brooklyn or Matt. They weren’t stationed this close. Maybe an animal. A dog. Henry. Or the journalist that Athena had sent packing.

  Em stepped closer to her. “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” Chloe whispered.

  More breaking branches. The crunch of leaves.

  Jessica shouted, “Son of a bitch.”

  Sleigh bells jangled.

  Chloe gasped. Bells. It couldn’t be—

  A thud. A grunt. A whimper. A second later, three outlines appeared out of the darkness and into the circle of stones, Jessica and Midas hauling a woman between them. As they reached the center of the circle, the air went out of Chloe’s lungs, her suspicion confirmed. It was Keshari.

  Oh Goddess, no.

  “Look what we caught,” Midas said, gripping Keshari’s arm tighter.

  Athena clasped Keshari’s chin, forcing her face up until their eyes met. “I know you. You chose not to join the Circle. Now you’re spying.”

  “Let me go,” Keshari pleaded. “I won’t tell anyone.” Her terrified gaze lit on Chloe, then darted away as if to pretend they didn’t know each other.

  “Friends look out for friends, even when they don’t ask for it.” Keshari’s motto rushed through Chloe’s head. That’s why she was here, she was certain of it.

  Chloe raced over to them. “She’s not a threat to us! Let her go.”

  “Please”—Keshari’s voice trembled—“I promise, I won’t cause any trouble.”

  Chloe’s heart squeezed. This was beyond horrible. She straightened her spine. “Seriously, she won’t tell anyone. It’s almost midnight. We don’t have time for this.”

  Devlin strode back into the circle, his voice firm. “Chloe’s right. We need to get back to the ceremony.”

  “I agree,” Chandler said.

  Athena tilted her head as if thinking. “True, we don’t have time to spare.” She slowly stroked her finger down her throat, a deliberately languid movement that sent a chill zinging through Chloe. “I suppose this could be an innocent mistake. Then, again, perhaps not.”

  “She didn’t just stumble across us,” Jessica snarled. Her glare narrowed on Chloe. “You and her were together the other day. You can’t deny it.”

  Chloe ground her teeth. “So what—that doesn’t mean I told her anything.”

  “Bullshit.” With her free hand, Jessica reached into her robe and pulled out a hunting knife. Its thick blade glinte
d in the lantern-light. “Same crime as the journalist. Same punishment.”

  “No!” Keshari shrieked. She thrashed against Jessica and Midas’s hold. They grasped her harder, magic crackling from their fingertips until her knees buckled.

  Terror choked Chloe’s voice. “Athena, please. If Matt and Brooklyn had been doing their jobs, she’d never have made it this far.”

  “Shush.” Athena turned her back on Keshari, swiveling toward where the crescent of candles sat with the nest and crystal inside its curve. She bent over, placed her palm on the crystal and murmured, “Master, I beseech thee, grant me your power.”

  “Athena,” Devlin said sharply. “Don’t—”

  Red light shot out from the crystal, its spears knifing between Athena’s fingers. With a sweep of her hand, she scooped the light into a crackling energy-ball. Tossing the energy from hand to hand, she turned back to Keshari. She smiled, then hurled the energy ball straight at her.

  Jessica released Keshari and leapt out of the way. Midas ducked. Keshari did the same, but she was too late. The energy-ball caught her upside the head. Red light exploded, every vein in her face illuminated stark white. Her eyes slammed shut. She folded to the ground, unmoving.

  Chloe dropped to her knees beside Keshari. Keshari’s skin was ashen, her lips purple. But she was breathing. There were no visible wounds. “What did you do?” she screeched at Athena.

  Athena shrugged. “Don’t you think it’s kinder that she doesn’t feel it when we slice her veins?”

  Chloe’s voice trembled with rage. “I don’t think we should do anything to her.”

  “Fresh blood will ensure our success. You want that, right?”

  “Of course I do. But not like this.”

  Chandler cleared her throat. “This girl and her family are local. They’re not powerless. This isn’t like the journalist.”