I take a sip from the coffee that Kess puts in front of me. “No problem. We can work together.”
My mind finally wakes up, and the words start to spill out. I scribble them down quickly and ask Kessley to check the kitchen cabinets for the ingredients. She goes upstairs to pull the ones we’re missing from Vicky’s endless pocket.
“She’s still out,” is the first thing she says when she apparates back into the kitchen.
“Good.” I gulp down the rest of my coffee and stand up. “I’m ready.”
Kessley is a good assistant, but she can’t take away my nerves. We set everything up around Vicky’s bed. Kess mixes the herbs for me and creates a circle of salt. Meanwhile, I explain my plan to Dylan.
“Sounds good to me,” he says when I finish.
I wish him luck, and Kessley hands me the bowl of herbs and a matchbox. Then she joins the others outside the circle, ready to intervene if anything goes wrong.
Dylan takes his place on Vicky’s left side and takes a deep breath, out of habit. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I confirm.
Dylan places his hands above Vicky’s head. His gaze rests on her face. I wait for the reflection in his eyes to change. When it does, a shiver runs up my spine. A dark layer is lifted from Vicky’s face. But only in his eyes. When I shift my gaze to Vicky, nothing has changed.
Dylan’s hands start to move in circles, one going left, one right. This is my cue.
I light the black candle next to Vicky’s head and the one at her feet and walk around the bed and around Dylan to light the other two. Meanwhile, the circles he draws are getting bigger.
I suppress the urge to check for changes in Vicky. I need to do my part, or this may not work.
Back at Vicky’s other side, I sprinkle herbs over her body. The words of the spell leave my lips confidently.
“Powers of the universe,
take away this evil curse.
Strengthen the powers of this mage.
Remove the darkness and the rage.”
My hands tremble slightly. It’s time for the scariest part. Charon said she’d be immune to fire. This is the moment to find out.
Taylar and Kessley step closer with a bucket of water in their hands.
I light another match and drop it onto Vicky’s chest before I lose the courage to do so.
There’s a whoosh, and the flame grows. It’s like dropping a lighter onto a trail of oil. The fire spreads over her body rapidly, and the room is filled with the smell of burnt spices. The dominating odor is thyme, which I used for purification.
When Vicky moves, Jeep jumps into the circle next to me. “Keep still, Vicky. They’re curing you.”
She obeys and closes her eyes. Jeep shoots me a sideways glance. “Continue.”
Dylan has not paused for a second. His hands are moving inside the flames. His almost invisible state protects him from the heat.
While I recite the next part of the spell, a tiny dot of black is lifted from Vicky’s forehead. She moves her head restlessly, and I avert my eyes. If I look at her for too long, I’ll forget the words.
“Powers of the moon and sun,
release her from what doesn’t belong.
Take the dark that tries to hide,
but leave her powers safe inside.”
As soon as the last word leaves my lips, the candles and fire are extinguished. Dylan sucks in air, and the black dot slips into his mouth. He tips his head toward the ceiling and spits it out. Then he bends over Vicky again and breathes in another dot. He blows it up and both specks dissolve.
Vicky blinks several times.
“Did it work?” I ask.
She sits up and cracks her neck. “I think it did.”
Jeep backs up to give me some room, and I wrap my arms around my girl.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you both.” She turns her head toward Dylan. “I was constantly fighting Beelzebub’s powers inside me, but I couldn’t tell you. He was trying to turn me against you.”
I stroke her hair. “But he didn’t.”
“Because you noticed in time.”
I stare at my feet. “Well, that was actually Charon’s doing.”
“Thank God you went to see him,” D’Maeo says.
Vicky rubs her temples. “What happened after we saw your mother? Did something go wrong?”
I snort. “What happened is that you tried to lift a rock the size of a small elephant with your mind about five minutes after receiving new powers.”
Our friends chuckle.
“Talk about a recipe for disaster,” Charlie says.
“Not really,” Vicky retorts. “It would’ve been a disaster if I hadn’t done it.”
“You did save us,” I agree. “But you scared the shit out of me. Please don’t do that again.”
She tilts her head as if in thought. “I can’t promise you anything.”
I poke her in her side, and she laughs.
But her laughter turns into a frown. “Wait a minute. I still don’t know how to create the circles of Hell.”
Taylar finally puts down his bucket. “That doesn’t sound good.”
I step aside when Vicky flings her legs over the side of the bed. “I asked Charon about that. He said Vicky would know soon.”
Her frown deepens. “I have to wait? I thought I’d know what to do instantly.”
I shrug. “I guess not.”
Taylar lets out a snort. “Sounds like bullshit to me.”
“Why?” I ask. “Charon has been straight with us from the beginning.”
Jeep rolls his sleeves up to reveal his unmoving tattoos. “And weirder things have happened.”
“True,” Maël says, stashing her staff somewhere inside her cape.
Taylar throws up his hands in defeat. “I guess you’re right.”
We go downstairs, and after a high five with Dylan and two cups of coffee, I finally remember to ask what the others did while Vicky and I were gone.
“We found Armando Accardi,” D’Maeo says. “The man that accidentally killed Dylan.”
The young mage clears his throat. “But we couldn’t speak to him because your Shield can’t leave this house without you.”
I sit back in my chair when Mona’s sparks put a plate in front of me. “No problem, we can go see him after dinner.”
Dylan nods gratefully. “I would like that. And we know how to find him now.”
Mona goes around with the first pan.
“What are we having?” Gisella asks. “It smells good.”
The fairy godmother puts a spoonful of rice on my plate. “Rice with chicken and salad, with a fairy godmother twist.”
We wait patiently for her and Kessley to finish scooping everything onto our plates before someone dares to ask, “What’s the twist?”
“Probably sparkles?” Taylar says. “Aren’t you running out of them by now? You’ve given us so much already.”
For a moment, Mona lights up from within. “Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty to spare as long as I get a chance to rest every night. But this time, I’ve added something else. Something I don’t have a lot of, but…” She stares at the ceiling. “Yes, I think it’s time to use it.”
Several of us slide forward on our chairs, and D’Maeo raises an eyebrow. Even he doesn’t know what’s going on.
Mona gestures to Kessley to sit down and lifts the last pan from the stove. With a sneaky smile on her lips, she walks over to me first and hands me a ladle. “Go on. It’s good, I promise.”
My mouth falls open when I scoop something from the pan. It’s a sauce of sorts, but it’s golden, and it sparkles. I put it over my rice and watch as it pulses. “Are you sure this isn’t a sauce made of sparkles?"
She walks around my chair and holds out the pan to Vicky. “I never said that. I only said these aren’t my sparkles. They do resemble sparkles though.”
Vicky scoops up some of
the sauce and holds it up to her nose. She sniffs it and dips her finger in it.
Everyone watches her expectantly, but she doesn’t say anything. She just closes her eyes and moans in delight. The sound has never been more comforting to me. She really is okay. Dylan and I did it.
“What does it taste like?” Kessley asks, bouncing on her chair impatiently.
“Like Heaven.”
Mona nods. “Of course it does.” She moves on to Dylan, who adds sauce to his rice quickly and picks up his spoon to taste it.
“Wow!” he says.
Unable to hold back my curiosity any longer, I take a big bite.
Immediately, the weirdest feeling washes over me. It’s like the tingles you get when someone caresses the hairline on the back of your neck and the feeling of a rollercoaster in one. My taste buds are overloaded. They switch from sweet to salty to sour and back, and I love all of them. Every single thing I enjoy the most passes by, and it’s as if something soft touches my lips, just like the feeling you get when you take a mouthful of whipped cream.
I swallow a couple of times, and the feeling spreads through my whole body. My hand has a mind of its own. It scoops up another spoonful, which is just as good.
“Mmm,” I say. “This is like all my favorite dishes turned into one perfect meal. But better.”
Mona chuckles. “I know.”
“What did you mean, of course it tastes like Heaven?” Charlie asks, watching the pan with hawk eyes as Mona moves around the table to serve everyone.
“Well, this is divine light,” she says matter-of-factly.
I cough. “What? I’m eating light from God himself?”
The fairy godmother stares into the pan. “Sort of, yes.”
Since I’m still not convinced I like the guy so much, I prod my rice aimlessly. My body is screaming at me, pleading for me to take another bite, but I suppress the urge. For now. “Why are you feeding us divine light?”
She holds the pan out to Jeep without meeting his eye. “Because you will be fighting in Heaven soon, so you’ll need to be able to see the angels even in their invisible form. Also, you won’t be blinded by their light anymore once you’ve eaten this.”
“Really?” I study the glowing stuff on my plate and shake my head. “We sure could’ve used this sooner.”
“There was no need for you to have it before. Now there is.” Mona sounds a bit stern as she says it.
“Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean it like that. But I remember my temporary blindness as if it was yesterday. It was no pleasant experience.”
“Temporary blindness?” Kess asks as she wipes a bit of sauce from her chin and licks it from her finger.
I take another bite before I answer her. A fuzzy feeling settles in my stomach. “Yes, I went blind for a couple of hours because I opened my eyes when we traveled with Quinn. Normally the human eye can’t handle the brightness of an angel’s true form.”
“But now we can?”
Mona nods and moves on to Taylar. “Yes, once you’ve eaten this, you will be able to look at the true form of a living angel without going blind.”
“Forever?” Dylan asks.
“No, but long enough to do what needs to be done.”
“You’re so cryptic today, Mona,” Jeep comments. “That’s not like you.”
When she doesn’t respond and puts the pan back on the stove, Charlie holds up his spoon. “Aren’t you having some yourself?”
She walks around the table and sits down next to Maël with a plate full of rice, chicken and salad, but no golden sauce. “I don’t need it. As a fairy godmother, I can already look at an angel’s true form.”
Kessley leans back in her chair, with her face to the ceiling. “If I could choose what I’d want to be when I grow up, I’d want to be a fairy godmother.”
Taylar frowns at her. “You’ll never grow up.”
“I know that! Thanks for spoiling the dream.” She throws him such a deadly stare that he almost chokes on his rice.
The white-haired ghost coughs, walks around the table and wraps both arms around Kess. “I’m sorry. That was a stupid thing to say.”
Once he’s gone back to his seat, we enjoy the food in silence, all of us absorbed by the blissful taste of the meal.
“I’m a bit surprised to see you eating with us almost every day, Maël,” I confess when there’s not a single drop of gold or anything else left on my plate. “I know you’ve come to peace with your past, but the last couple of days, you seem to enjoy food.”
The African queen straightens up. The golden headpiece on her tiny curls glows more than usual. “You are almost right. It is not necessarily the food itself I enjoy; it is the act of eating together. It makes me feel like I have been reborn.”
Tears prick behind my eyes. “I am glad to be a part of that.”
Jeep swallows a mouthful of chicken. “I understand what you’re saying, Maël. We never did this with John. And even though we had a good bond with him too, before he was influenced by the Black Horseman, this group feels more like a family than before.”
“I agree,” Taylar says, wiping his mouth. “And it’s as if the more I eat normal meals, like the living, the more I feel like I’m alive again.”
A warm feeling washes over me. “I am so happy to hear that, because you all feel like family to me too."
“I wonder though…” Gisella starts. She hesitates. “If it’s a good thing that you are all starting to feel like living people again.” She turns her head to Mona. “Would that interfere with their powers? Make it harder to turn invisible for instance?”
Mona shakes her head. “I wouldn’t worry about that. I’ve never heard of such a thing, and feelings of happiness will only give someone more strength.”
Gisella breathes out. “Well, that’s a relief.”
Charlie scoops a truckload of chicken and rice on his spoon. “Great, I’m glad that everyone’s happy and strong. Can we please continue our meal now?”
The werecat-witch gives him a rough shove and grabs his wrist before he can tumble from his chair.
“You know, if you can’t behave, Charlie and Kess can switch seats,” Taylar grumbles, leaning back a little to avoid getting hit by Charlie’s swinging arm.
Kessley, sitting next to Maël, gives him a bright smile. “That’s a good idea!”
“No, it’s not,” Charlie objects. “I want to sit next to my girl. Even when she punches me.”
Taylar opens his mouth to object again, but I hold up my hand before he can utter a word. “Don’t fight about it. There’s plenty of room here. Charlie, if you sit on Gisella’s other side, Kess can take your place.”
Charlie leans forward to check out the empty chair on Gisella’s left.
Jeep puts down his spoon and frowns at him. “Come on, don’t tell me you’re afraid of me. I promise I won’t put poison in your food, okay?”
Charlie snorts. “Of course I’m not afraid of you. We’re all on the same side here, you know. But…” He lowers his head. His finger follows the line of his almost empty plate over and over.
“Well?” I ask. “Just tell us. If something is bothering you, we should try to change it.”
He licks his lips and nods. “Okay. I’ll tell you.” He coughs and fidgets with his long hair. “I… I’m a bit…” He searches for the right word. “Worried… that more ghosts will pop out of Jeep’s tattoos. Since they tend to be rather aggressive, I don’t want to be too close.”
Gisella rolls her eyes. “Fine. You pussy.” She stands up, moves one chair to the left, nods at Jeep and slides her plate in front of her. “Happy now?”
Charlie blushes deeply and moves to her chair. “Yes. Thank you.” He glances at Jeep over Gisella’s shoulder. “Sorry, Jeep. I didn’t mean…”
The tattooed ghost raises his hand to silence him. “It’s fine. I know I’m intimidating.”
Charlie sits up straight. “That’s not wh
at I―” He smirks as Jeep starts laughing. “Never mind.”
Taylar is glowing. He pats the free seat on his left. “Kess?”
She apparates into it in a millisecond, and they grab each other’s hands.
Dylan, sitting next to Vicky, in what used to be Mom’s chair, grabs her plate and slides it over to her.
I exchange a grin with Vicky before turning to D’Maeo. “What about you? If Maël moves one spot to the left, Mona can sit next to you.”
“Oh no, that’s okay,” Mona calls out quickly, standing up to collect the dishes. “Most of the time I’m moving around, and when I’m not, I like to have an excuse to sit on his lap.”
D’Maeo chuckles loudly and pulls her close as she passes him, spilling some leftover rice on the floor. “Once again, we agree.”
Charlie clears his throat. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but is there more food?”
Mona pushes herself up and hurries over to him with a pan. “Of course there is. But you can’t have any more sauce.”
“What? Why not?”
“Too much of it will overload your system. You’ll start seeing too much.”
He looks up at her with a sweet smile. “You mean like things that aren’t there? Don’t worry about that, I can handle it. I’ve done it before.”
Mona throws some chicken on his plate. “No, you haven’t. Trust me on this.”
Charlie sighs. “Okay then. It was worth a shot.”
Kessley stands up to help Mona with the dishes, even though Mona’s sparks could do it too. I guess she likes to help.
I’d like to ask the fairy godmother why she’s not telling us everything, but I trust her to have the right reasons, and I’m sure she won’t say anything no matter how I press her for answers. All I can think is: our battle in Heaven is drawing near.
CHAPTER 12
“So, Armando Accardi,” I say, turning to Dylan. “The man who accidentally killed you. Do you want to go see him now?”
“That would be great. But I understand if there are things you need to do first, and I’d be honored to help.”
I throw him a grateful look. “Thanks for the offer, I appreciate that, but I don’t think…” I cut off my sentence when a familiar gust of wind hits my neck. This time, however, it is accompanied by a bright light. The others are staring at it, and I whirl around to see what it is, although I already know. Sure, it’s been a while since I received a set of cards, but I’d recognize the gust and the rustling anywhere.
The Eighth Mage Page 9
