Rise of the Moon: Arcana Book One

by JB Caine

  “Hold it, hold it, Maddy,” Aunt Kitty laughed. “I’m not staying over. This was just a convenient way to tote along a few things I thought you and Lia might like to have. All of these scares we’ve had lately have made me think that Lia needs to know more about the things she can do, and also about some of our family history.”

  “That sounds like it violates the spirit of the holiday, however practical it may be,” Mom pouted. “But we’ll let you stay anyway, since you brought biscotti.”

  “The universal currency,” my aunt smiled, and climbed the steps into the kitchen.

  The meal was small but satisfying; most importantly, I felt safe, protected, and loved. I had gained a tremendous appreciation for those things over the past week. Afterwards, we sat with cups of chai latte, and my mother lit a fire in the small fireplace while we drank.

  “You probably need to know a bit more about your grandmother,” my aunt said at last. “She was the Moon for about 35 years before relinquishing the power to me. She was notoriously difficult, but she was also very strong and, at one time in her life, very powerful.”

  “What happened to her?” I asked with a sense of foreboding.

  “She had a heart attack, just as you were told. There wasn’t anything mysterious about her death in and of itself. But she was very much a student of Selene’s magic. She was constantly testing new abilities, working at developing them and making them stronger. She had a variety of skills I never developed, but then, I never worked at it the way that she did. I was much more content to keep to myself and only use Selene’s gifts on occasion.”

  “Mom, did you know about all of this?”

  “Not really,” she replied. “I moved to Jacksonville to go to school and work for awhile. I wasn’t involved or interested. I thought I was being practical; I never really believed in the things my mother would talk about. I thought she and your aunt were sort of New-Age hippie pagan types like a lot of people who tend to live near here. You know, like Casadaga, the new-age community down south a ways?”

  Aunt Kitty patted her knee. “Your mom was always a stark realist, Lia. She never showed much interest in magic, so we didn’t discuss it with her.”

  “I’m sorry about that now,” Mom mused. “I wish I had known more about it. I feel like I’ve got a very steep learning curve here.”

  “The thing about your grandmother, Lia, is that she used her magic in whatever way she saw fit. She wasn’t a bad person, but she was...shall we say...ethically flexible when it came to things like people’s free will. That’s one of the reasons I was so adamant about it with you. She felt like her magical abilities gave her the duty to push things in the direction she thought they should go. She was doing the right thing, by her way of thinking, but it didn’t always have the best consequences. From what the few Arcana I’ve met have told me, she managed to tick off just about everyone. Probably the only thing that saved her from serious repercussions is that she never really had an organized goal or approach. She just did whatever she felt like doing in the moment.”

  “Like what?” Mom and I asked together.

  “Well, influencing Maddy’s and my dating lives for one. No boy she didn’t like hung around for more than one date. I didn’t realize until I was much older, by the way, that that was her doing. I’m pretty sure she attended a trial or two and made herself the thirteenth member of the jury, though she never admitted as much. She got her way a lot in business, as you might imagine. It’s a good thing she wasn’t in politics.”

  “That sounds very short-sighted,” Mom observed. “I mean, what if her desires weren’t the RIGHT thing? And we’re going to revisit this dating issue later, Kitty. I have questions.”

  “That wasn’t a problem she wrestled with, as far as I could tell. She followed what she thought was right, and that was good enough for her conscience. Here’s what I think is significant, though, Lia. Other Arcana members courted her for her allegiance, just as they’ve courted you. But she was older and understood her powers, so she was able to protect herself better. She refused to associate with any of them, because she didn’t trust that they wouldn’t manipulate her.”

  “That seems like a pretty reasonable assumption.”

  “Indeed. But she did more than just say ‘no, thank you.’ She repelled them, made enemies of some. I sort of flew under the radar because I didn’t make much use of the power. But you’ve come on the scene like a house of fire, and you’ve been noticed. There may be grudges at play, and also those who would play upon your youth and inexperience.”

  “So I need to train up pretty fast.”

  “Yes, I think so. And I don’t think you can do all of it here. You need a mentor with more magical chops than I have. The Empress can be trusted, and I suspect she can make a connection or two for you going forward.”

  “Well, that’s good to hear. It makes me feel a little less terrified to know there are at least a couple of trustworthy members of the Arcana. Is she going to help us read Gemma’s aura?”

  “Not her specifically, no, but she has a student who seems to be fairly adept at it.”

  “One of the Arcana?”

  “No, just a young woman with gifts. But if Mary says she can be trusted, then I believe her. We’ll meet up with her Saturday. Your job is to find a way to get together with Gemma so that we can observe and see what we can find out.”

  “Yeah, okay. Can I invite her here?” I didn’t relish the idea of being anywhere with Gemma that wasn’t protected.

  “Sadly, no,” my aunt explained. “My wards will neutralize whatever magic she has, just as the Magician’s wards neutralized yours.”

  “But someplace public,” Mom insisted.

  Chapter 28

  Black Friday was not a shopping day in our house. It was a wear-jammies-all-day-and- eat-leftovers-and-watch-the-Harry-Potter-marathon day. In other words, one of my favorite days of the year. True to form, we never even left the house except to get the mail.

  I did text Gemma and ask her if she wanted to meet at Dotz for a coffee so I could thank her for the lovely Friendsgiving party. She was quick to agree, and I communicated the details to Aunt Kitty so she could set things up with the Empress.

  The next day, Aunt Kitty pulled up in the driveway with the Empress and a woman of indeterminate age (though I guessed maybe thirty) with bright purple hair. She had an easy smile and a wide array of piercings and tattoos. They certainly made quite a pair. Mary introduced her to me as Kai.

  “So you see auras?” I asked. “What do they look like?”

  Kai smiled like a teacher does when a student asks her first question of the school year: indulgent, patient, encouraging. “Well, you know what the corona around the sun looks like? Sort of like radiation rising from the source?” I nodded. “It’s kind of like that. But different colors mean different things, and that tells you about the person. It’s easiest to see if the person is in low-ish light and against a blank wall, but with practice, that’s not necessary.”

  “So you can see mine?”

  “Sure. Yours is mostly yellow, which tells me you’re a pretty optimistic person by nature. But there are also some spots that are sort of gray swirling around, which tell me you’ve been having some negative emotions, like stress, depression, or fear. But there’s this additional halo around it that’s really thin of deep violet. That tells me you have great power.”

  “Whoa, that’s cool.”

  “So here’s the plan,” Aunt Kitty interjected. “You’ll go and meet Gemma as planned, and then Mary and Kai will enter a couple of minutes later. They’ll stay for a few minutes, just enough to get a feel for Gemma’s energy. Then they’ll leave and come back here. You have your coffee and chat for another ten minutes or so, then head home, and we can debrief. How’s that? Simple?”

  “Works for me,” I agreed, though something told me it wasn’t going to be simple at all.

  A few minutes later, I found myself sitting on the bench outside Dotz, waiting for Gemm
a so we could walk in together. Once she arrived, we placed our orders and I picked us a seat near the back wall. It wasn’t a blank wall; it was covered with vinyl records, but I hoped it would do.

  “Hey, I’m sorry I had to bug out so quickly on Wednesday,” I began. “I hadn’t been feeling all that well, and I didn’t want to pass out or something and ruin your party.”

  “Omigosh, are you doing alright?” Her concern seemed so genuine that I was starting to feel a little foolish for suspecting her of anything.

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Probably just low iron in my blood or something. I’m feeling much better after a couple days of rest.”

  The door jingled open, and Kai and Mary entered. The young man at the register greeted them, and Mary went over and made grandmotherly chatter while Kai wandered around and looked at the coffees, baked goods, funky decor, everything. I kept Gemma engaged in small talk so she wouldn’t notice when Kai staked out a seat along the window where she could sneak regular glances Gemma’s direction without being seen. Mary brought some muffins to their table and they proceeded to talk in low tones about who-knows-what.

  “So, you and Alex seemed friendly at the end of the meal there...any exciting news?”

  I laughed uneasily. “Well, not yet. I’m not holding my breath. But he did apologize for ghosting me,” I chuckled internally at my pun, given the events of Halloween night.

  “See?” she exclaimed. “I told you he’d come around!”

  Mary and Kai finished their muffins, thanked the cashier, and left. Gemma barely registered that they had been there at all.

  We talked for a few more minutes, and ran through the lines for our duo. I was getting ready to make my goodbyes when my mother strode through the door. I was alarmed by the change in plans.

  “Hi, honey! I’m so sorry to barge in on your visit, but your Aunt Kitty has had a little mishap, and she needs us to come help her right away.” The tension was flowing off my mother in waves.

  “Is Aunt Kitty alright?”

  “Oh, I’m sure she’ll be fine, but we need to go help her. She’s fallen and hurt her back, and it’s about a forty minute drive. So we need to get over there right away.” Now I knew something was up. Aunt Kitty should be sitting in my living room right now, not lying on the floor back at home. My mother didn’t lie casually, so she was clearly trying to extract me immediately because she thought I was in danger.

  “Oh, Gemma, I’m sorry I keep doing this to you.” I apologized.

  “No, not at all! By all means, go take care of your aunt! I hope she’s okay!” Again, so sincere. So what was going on? What had Kai seen? I gave Gemma a quick hug and made a quick exit, where my mother’s car was waiting. What the heck?

  Once we were inside and backing out of the parking spot, I asked, “So what’s going on? You pulled me out of there like my life depended on it! And where are we going?”

  “Oh, we’re going back home, but we’re going to circle around a little and then come in the back way and hide the car in the garage.”

  “Why?”

  “Apparently there’s a car a block over that’s watching you. I’d better let Kai tell you the rest. I didn’t fully understand it. I just know they thought you were in danger, and they said to hurry and come get you before you had a chance to start walking home.”

  This stunned me into silence, and I rode in quiet agitation as we wound north on Ponce de Leon, then got off and wound through back streets until we got home. We darted from the detached garage into the house. Inside, Aunt Kitty, Kai, and the Empress were waiting with the blinds mostly shut.

  My mouth was dry, like it had been stuffed with a washcloth for hours. I found it impossible to speak. I just stared at them and waited for an explanation.

  “Oh, thank the goddess,” Mary breathed. “You weren’t followed?” She addressed this to my mother.

  “No, I don't think so. I took a lot of turns and retraced my steps before coming back here.”

  “Good, good.” She walked over and took my hands, which were trembling ever-so-slightly. She led me to sit on the couch, and patted my hands comfortingly as Kai opened her mouth to speak.

  “So, at first I thought it was a false alarm,” Kai began. “Gemma’s aura was like pink lemonade, swirling with yellow and pink. Perky, positive, girly.” That sounded like the Gemma I knew. “And then after a minute, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before. There was this thin energy stream of violet and purple. But it wasn’t surrounding her, like auras are supposed to do. It was like a tether, an umbilical cord, linking her to something outside the cafe.”

  I still couldn’t speak. I just stared while she continued to explain, and tried desperately not to shiver from the cold that was creeping up my spine.

  “When we left, I kept watching the cord to see where it led, and it seemed to be attached to a car about a block away. I couldn’t see the person in the car clearly, but it was definitely a man with a deep violet aura like yours.”

  “The Magician,” I squeaked.

  “We think so,” Aunt Kitty said. “He may have been trying to recapture you. And the tether tells us that Gemma is, in fact, connected to him. But maybe not in the way we thought.”

  “What does that mean?” I was trying to get angry at Gemma. Anger was better than fear. I had had enough of the taste of fear this week.

  “We think Gemma is unaware of the connection,” the Empress said gently. “We think he’s watching you through her eyes. Perhaps influencing her to stay close to you. The Magician is a master of control.”

  I suddenly didn’t know how to feel. I wanted to be angry, but I couldn’t if Gemma didn’t even know she was being used. I wanted to cry, but I’d cried so much in the past month, I was dry. I wanted to jump into action, but I had no idea what to do.

  All that was left was fear. Fear to leave the house alone, fear to be friends with anyone because they might be another pawn in the Magician’s game, fear of losing the person I had always been.

  The Empress was right. He was a master of control.

  And even without zip ties, he had me trapped and afraid.

  “This might not be all bad,” Kai offered. “If you can figure out how he’s doing this, how he’s tied himself to her, you may be able to use the connection to trap him somehow. Or maybe you can at least break the connection.”

  “Solid thinking,” the Empress agreed. “He would need a physical link to her in order to use her in that way, I should think. To the best of my knowledge, the Magician doesn’t possess the power of sigils, so that sort of continuous mind control would need a physical object to anchor it to.”

  “A talisman?” my aunt asked.

  “Just so, Katherine. Lia, think carefully. Is there an item that Gemma always has with her? It would not be something electronic, so her cell phone would not count.”

  It only took me a moment to think of something. “Her ring. There’s this small gold band she wears on her pinky. She twiddles with it all the time.”

  “Ah, that is definitely a likely suspect. Jewelry is ideal for talismans. And you don’t know where she got it?”

  “No, we’ve never talked about it.”

  “Well,” my mother chimed in, “it sounds like we need to find that out. And then figure out how to separate her from it. Get rid of it somehow.”

  We needed to find out where that ring had come from. There was no point in going through with some elaborate plan for some ordinary ring. If we were able to determine that the ring was likely to be a talisman, then the next step was to convince her to take it off. Then we had to neutralize it somehow. And all of this had to be done in such a way that Gemma had no idea what had happened. If she was being unwittingly used by the Magician, then she was an innocent victim of his control, and I didn’t want to hurt her.

  And so we began hatching a plan.

  Chapter 29

  Sundays were supposed to be quiet. Have I mentioned that? The prior Sunday had been anything but, and the last thing I wa
nted to do was to deal with anything more stressful than homework I’d procrastinated on. So when I saw a black SUV by my mailbox, I was about ready to go to war.

  Mom was making her Sunday morning grocery run, so I should have stayed inside, but I stormed out on the porch and put my hands on my hips. Claudia had already stepped out of the vehicle and was walking up the sidewalk, flanked by her brother.

  “You picked the wrong girl on the wrong day,” I said, seething.

  Claudia was taken aback, but only for a moment. “I hardly think that’s necessary. I came by to tell you we received your message. We were hoping to set up a semi-regular means of communication.” Her glare betrayed her semi-polite words, and even though he was pretty slick about it, I saw John nudge her, urging her to dial it back.

  “Sorry,” I said through gritted teeth. "I’ve had a rough week, and I’m really not up to this conversation right now. You have my number to text me. What more are you asking?”

  “May we speak inside?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, but no. I’m afraid I’m pretty thin on trust these days. It’s not entirely your fault, but there appear to be a lot of wheels turning that I don’t know about amongst the Arcana folks.”

  Claudia’s eyes darted around nervously as she reached the bottom porch step. “That is NOT a conversation for open ears, Lia,” she reprimanded me.

  The truth was that she was right about that part, and even though I didn’t have super-nosy neighbors, this scene might well attract unwanted attention.

  “I’ll tell you what, we can talk for five minutes. Right here on the porch. You’re not coming inside. I don’t know what kind of things you can do, and I’m not letting you in my house.”

  For the first time, John spoke up in his sister’s presence. “Lia, did something happen?” I had to give it to him, he did seem genuinely concerned.

  “You could say that.” I opened the screen door and waved them to a seat on the wicker sofa. I sat in a chair a few feet away.