by Paula Lester
Petunia didn’t answer. She was too busy making wild leaps to catch the knife by its handle as it flew past her.
They exited the house, leaving the chaos of the out-of-control spells behind. “Now what?” Defeated, Cas flopped down on the front step of the house.
“Back to the council, I suppose. I’m sorry, Ms. Lorne.” Echo licked his chops, dragging a tiny errant piece of roast beef into his mouth with his rough tongue.
Cas covered her face with one hand and leaned on an elbow. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to whine. I’m just so tired and confused and aggravated. But you’re right, I know. Back we go.” She looked up to focus on Echo.
Echo flicked out a paw and commenced with a quick bath. Cas swallowed her irritation. She was asking a cat what she should do. This was madness. Instead of saying something snippy, she looked around the area for the first time. On the way there, her mind had been preoccupied.
The bungalow was on the edge of a copse. Further up the street, Cas could see neighboring houses that were all small one levels like her aunt’s. This place looked normal, just like her own neighborhood.
A loud crash issued from inside Petunia’s house. Cas groaned out loud. Were the neighbors witches too? Were odd goings-on the norm and would they ignore it?
Cas had no interest in sticking around to find out. The last thing she wanted was a mob of angry, magic-wielding witches.
She rose to her feet. “How far of a walk is it? The fresh air might do my nerves some good.”
“It’s across town, so it would probably take us well over an hour to walk. But we could take the courser half way and then walk the rest of the way to the Courthouse,” Echo replied. “You calming your nerves would be beneficial to us both.”
Cas wasn’t sure, but she thought the cat smirked with his last sentence.
She chose to ignore it. Right now, she felt like a menace. Even Cas couldn’t fault a talking cat who didn’t want to be around her. “That sounds good. I’m sure the council will be thrilled to see me. Again. Let’s go tempt fate and hear what they’ll say now. Maybe they’ll choose not to kill me. Again.”
Tingles shot across her hands. She turned one palm up. Tiny orange bolts of crackling energy jumped between her fingers. Cas shut her eyes and opened them. The little lightning bolts were gone. Part of her wanted to pretend it had been a figment of her imagination. But no, after all that had happened, Cas couldn’t pretend anymore.
Emotions triggered her magic. Huh. Well, that knowledge was better than nothing. The key, then, was to keep herself in check. The thought made her feel just a tad more in control as she followed Echo down the sidewalk.
The courser pickup point on this side of town was in a dilapidated shack that appeared to have been a garage in a former life. Weather-beaten shingles dangled off the roof. Bits of old white-wash flecked the wooden exterior but most of it had faded to a general shade of grey-rot.
Echo nudged the door open with a paw. Cas prepped herself for a dank room with ancient spider webs hanging in the corners.
The cat sauntered in a few feet and sat on his haunches. “Surprised?”
She nodded. “Yeah, definitely.”
“Courser ports have to be inconspicuous to discourage humans from coming too close,” he said. “We set wards to keep them at bay, of course, but every bit helps.”
Where the exterior indicated this was a forgotten relic, the inside was as if time hadn’t passed. It was a simple garage painted a pristine white. Even the floor shone from an unseen light source. An immaculate 1950’s Chevy occupied one of two spaces intended for a car.
“This place is bigger than the outside,” Cas said and turned to peek outside the door.
“Magic, Ms. Lorne. You’ll have to get used to it.” Echo tapped at his collar to call their ride.
Cas pointed. “So is that car really there or is that some magical hologram or something?”
Even with a short snout, Echo managed a snort. “Of course it’s real. But just for show. I doubt it’s functional. A few years back, there was a whole thing to make the more active courser ports attractive in addition to functional. The younger, richer witches like Stu want everything to be pretty. Ah, here’s our ride.”
The trip was quick. Quicker than Cas liked. When the courser stopped its spin, dozens of glassy eyes peered through the translucent skin of the bubble. It was more than eyes—there was also fur, antlers, and long, thick black claws.
“I know, I know. Just move outside the shop quickly.” Echo leaped from the courser.
They emerged out into the street. Cas turned to read the sign painted onto the door.
“Taxidermy?”
Echo arched his back in a nice stretch. “It’s not my favorite incantation. Courser ports this close to town are disguised as businesses that go out of business every few months. This time round, someone chose a taxidermist as the guise. As you can imagine, it’s not the top choice for a cat.”
“But that’s not a good choice. There’s plenty of hunting and fishing nearby. The humans who hunt would come here.”
“Between you and me, it hasn’t been a popular choice amongst the community. The humans have tripped off the wards and they’ve had to be redone several times already. Rumor is Shiloh chose the guise and Lavania has been chiding her almost constantly about it. Rupol’s Taxidermy may be going out of business sooner than expected as result,” Echo said. “This way to the Courthouse.”
They were on one of Crystal Springs’ main streets—Morgana Avenue. It was a shop-lined area featuring everything from homemade ice cream to a mom and pop hardware store. Cas had been in the town’s proper many times, but she’d never suspected anything strange here.
Cas walked a step or two behind Echo. He flicked the tip of his tail from side to side as he padded along the sidewalk. Echo didn’t garner as many second glances as Cas would’ve guessed. But he also wasn’t talking at the moment.
How many of these people were witches? A woman and a boy around six exited a barber shop. Were they magical?
What about that guy putting money into the parking meter? Or the woman walking her dog? Or the old man buying fruit at the shop on the corner?
Cas had no way of knowing. She peered, though discreetly, into every face that passed by. Everyone seemed normal. No not normal. Ordinary. But didn’t she herself seem ordinary? And if not, what did that make her now?
Car traffic along Morgana was steady. Cas stared at the drivers and passengers alike. The faces ranged from bored to happy, from brown-skinned to pale. Flashes of witches flying on brooms popped into her mind’s eye. Did they even drive cars?
What did having magic mean? If experience had taught her anything, nothing came for free. There was a price to pay for all things.
What would be her price?
The thought twisted her belly into one large, hard knot. After the separation from her husband, life had been turned upside down. No, that wasn’t completely true. Life had been a screaming rolling-coaster of moving from one dramatic incident to another, all caused by her gambling addicted ex. But when the ink dried on the divorce papers, she’d faced the gaping maw of a dark unknown. Who was she?
The last few months had been a sometimes-agonizing puzzle of putting herself back together. And only recently had Cas begun to feel a semblance of normal. She hadn’t known it just a few hours ago, but pondering paint colors had been a blessing in disguise.
And she’d had the audacity to dream of something more. Of adventure.
Well, adventure had literally walked up to the front door and handed her a package. What had she been doing ever since that moment?
Freaking out. That’s what.
“What am I going to do?” she said under her breath.
Echo stopped in his tracks. He glanced around before speaking. “Ms. Lorne, I’m feeling a surge. I urge you to think serene thoughts.”
They paused at an intersection to wait for the pedestrian light to turn green.
A car�
�s horn beeped. Cascade jumped and let out a shriek.
The hair on Echo’s back stood up straight. “Ms. Lorne! Please! We can’t afford an incident here.”
Cascade wrapped her arms around herself. “Sorry, sorry. I’m on edge. Aunt Petunia didn’t do much for my nerves.” As she thought about her aunt, an odd feeling started to rise from her toes. It was as if the ground under her feet trembled and began to travel up her legs. “Do you feel that, Echo?”
The cat stood up on his hind legs and leaned his front paws against Cas’ shins. “Ms. Lorne! Calm down. I can feel—”
The tremble rolled upward faster and faster. Then it was inside her head, filling it with what felt like champagne bubbles.
All at once, the bubbles began to pop.
Fireworks erupted in the center of the intersection. Car tires screeched as a blue mini-van swerved to miss the noise and lights. More screeching tires followed as the orderly traffic procession through the intersection devolved into a chaotic mess of lurching cars and near misses.
Cas clapped a hand over her mouth. If she caused an accident, she’d never forgive herself.
After a moment, all the cars in the area stopped. The smell of burning rubber hung in the air. People shouted at each other and shook their fists. They didn’t know what had triggered the near accident but settled for blaming each other.
What had she done? Horrified, Cas wondered if she could somehow diffuse the situation. She stepped off the curb only to find the path blocked.
Echo swatted at her ankle. “I know what you are thinking. And the answer is no. You cannot help. We need to go straight to the sirens.”
Cas opened her mouth to argue. At the same moment, a movement across the intersection caught her eye. A woman with long, auburn hair walked quickly, ignoring the cars and shouting people in the middle of the street.
It was the woman she’d seen several times in her neighborhood—the one she’d asked Mr. Percy about. What were the chances she’d be in Crystal Springs at this instant?
A strained voice coming from the general area of her ankles brought her back to the present.
“We should depart, Ms. Lorne,” Echo pronounced in a stern tone. She looked down at him, and when she looked back, the mysterious woman was out of sight.
“My job is to keep track of you and make sure you don’t cause any havoc, and here I’ve gone and let you almost cause a twelve car pileup. Let’s not mention this little incident to the sirens, all right?”
“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Cas replied. There was no hurry to give the council more reasons to kill or banish her.
“Just don’t do anything, okay? Don’t think. Don’t even breathe unless it’s necessary. Let’s get to the Courthouse as quickly as possible.” Echo deftly began to maneuver around angry drivers and stalled cars.
It was harder for Cas to get through because she was about a thousand times Echo’s size, but she made it and managed not to sniff, sneeze, hiccup, or cough again.
Cas felt some déjà vu as they re-entered the Courthouse lobby. How many times would she have to come back here before something could really be done? She hoped the peacekeepers had found the stone since she’d been here last. Maybe with that, the sirens could figure out what was going on and help her. She longed to go home.
Waverly wasn’t there when they got to the reception area. Instead, Denzel floated behind her desk. He looked up at them when they entered and smiled. Yikes. Cas decided she much preferred Waverly’s air of detached boredom, over this ghostly, grinning attempt at friendliness. It came off as macabre.
“What happened at the aunt’s house?” he inquired.
“Let’s just say the aunt is a no-go. We’ll need to go before the council again,” Echo answered.
Denzel paused long enough to size the woman and cat up. He peered over the rim of his glasses. “Very well. I’ll let them know.”
Denzel floated through the wall behind the desk and disappeared for a few minutes. He re-entered the room the traditional way when Dustin opened the door and came through with him.
“Well, well. Looks who’s back. I heard you were here earlier too. Seems like you can’t stay away.” Dustin’s words were cutting, but his smile and light tone took the edge off.
“My aunt couldn’t remember who I was for more than a few minutes,” Cas said. She decided to leave out the entire spells-gone-crazy mishap.
“That’s a tough break. Well, we’ll have to see if the sirens can figure something else out for you. They’re on lunch break right now, but they’re in chambers, so I’m sure they’ll see you. Come on, I’ll take you. Denzel, can you please keep holding down the fort out here until Waverly comes back from lunch?”
“Of course, sir,” the ghost replied. He hovered behind the desk again.
Dustin led Cas and Echo down the marble hallway to the council chambers and opened the door. All five sirens were in their chairs.
Shiloh looked sullen and kept casting sidelong glares at Lavania. Some of the sirens munched on food. Stu read a paperback book with a western scene on the cover. They all looked up when the three newcomers arrived.
“What are they doing back here again?” Lavania sounded exasperated.
“It seems as though Ms. Lorne’s aunt is no longer of very sound mind,” Dustin explained.
“How so?” the Archsiren asked sharply. “Echo, what happened?”
“The old woman knew who Ms. Lorne was when we told her, but she kept having to be reminded. Toward the end of our visit, she seemed to revert to an earlier time in her life. She thought that Ms. Lorne and her half-sister were younglings again.” Echo sat down and lifted a paw to lick at it.
Lavania leveled a stare, first at the cat, then at Cas. “And? I can tell from your demeanor that’s not all. Did something else happen?”
Cas shifted her weight and exchanged glances with Echo. She didn’t want him to feel the need to lie for her or face penalties for keeping information from the council. She bit her lower lip. It made her nervous to explain what happened. Maybe when they heard about the eruption of power she’d had, they’d get angry and punish her.
But at this point, she was beyond caring much. Forget it. Tell the truth.
“I got a little upset and must have let off some magic or something,” she said, and her voice cracked a little. “It made Aunt Petunia’s household spells go haywire, and that upset her.”
“See? She can’t be trusted! All that power and no way to control it. And the peacekeepers haven’t found the stone she claims SunSprite brought her yet. What a disaster. This woman must be contained!” Albert squawked and shook his cane at Cas.
Cas backed up a step, overwhelmed by the sudden venom the old siren directed at her. But then she straightened her back and looked Albert in the eye.
“I’m getting tired of being threatened. Send me home, and we all can be done with each other. If I don’t have family to take care of me. I’ll take care of myself. Send me home with a manual or a grimoire or something, and I’ll figure this out on my own.”
Lavania put down a forkful of salad. “If you’re no witch, how do you know of grimoires?”
Cas forced herself not to smirk. “Television, lady.”
The Archsiren sat back in her chair and templed her fingers. “Finally, a spark of your mother’s spirit. I was beginning to wonder.”
“There’s another way to contain her,” Shiloh spoke up. Lavania rolled her eyes in the woman’s direction, but the younger siren pulled something out of her pocket. “Though it is a tad... unorthodox.”
Stu slapped his paperback shut. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“Even with mentors, Cascade was going to require serious intervention for the near future. The council must not look bad in the eyes of the community. So, yes. I did.”
Valencia leaned over, trying to look at the thing in Shiloh’s palm. “What did you do?”
“She contacted Mortimer, that’s what she did,” Stu answered and crossed his arms. “
We discussed this—”
“—and I decided to take action.” Shiloh cut him off. “Now, before you all get excited, I made a very discreet call...”
The order of the council devolved as they all began to speak over one another. Cas’ brow furrowed as she struggled to follow the conversation.
Cas leaned over and whispered to the cat sitting by her feet. “Um, Echo? What’s going on?”
“It seems,” Echo said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice, “the siren Shiloh called on a black market dealer.”
“Oh.” Cas straightened just as Lavania clapped her hands for them to come back to order.
The Archsiren’s mouth looked like a thin, hard line. She shot Shiloh a final withering glance before speaking to the council. “Though brash, I agree with Shiloh’s assessment.”
“But Lavania—” Valencia started.
“Silence. I’m weary of all this discussion.” She rubbed her forehead as if a headache was coming on. “And I’m particularly tired of you, Ms. Lorne.” She paused and appeared deep in thought for a moment. “Very well, let’s take a vote. Is anyone opposed to using this item?”
Lavania stared down each siren, but no one voiced an objection. “Very well. Dustin, place it on her.
Cas could feel the muscles in her neck tighten. “Put what on me?” Whatever it was remained hidden in Shiloh’s grasp.
Dustin retrieved the object. His back was turned, and Cas could see how he looked down and inspected it. He cleared his throat. “Forgive my impudence again, but I think the siren’s decision is a good one. With this, Ms. Lorne may go home with minimal supervision. I think she could use some rest.”
“Enough with the brown-nosing, Dustin. Just put the thing on her,” Lavania snapped.
Dustin bowed in acquiescence. He crossed back to Cas.
She started to feel a tremor beneath her feet. It was building ever so slowly.
Dustin must have seen something on her face. “It’s okay, Ms. Lorne.” He opened his hand. On top of his palm rested an oval, orange gemstone attached to a thick silver chain.
