The Sorceress Screams (11 page)

Chapter Eight

Jacqueline was
as exhausted as I was by the time we reached my apartment. Bringing the rental
van back had taken a half hour I hadn’t wanted to give up. Perhaps that was why
she was more than willing to stretch out on the futon in the living room. I got
her fresh sheets, a pillow, and a blanket in my last minutes of lucidity. Then
I dropped onto my bed. We both slept until my alarm went off at six in the
evening.

I took a quick
shower and readied in the bedroom while Jacqueline took hers. She’d leveled
only one perplexed look at my cerulean hair and pale skin and then muttered, “
weird
ass white girl.”

While I waited
for her to finish arranging her curled hair just so, I listened to my voicemail
messages. I’d set the phone to silent this morning. Nothing would have been
Earth-shattering enough to merit my waking to answer a call.

The first
message had been from Nell demanding to know what had happened in Vegas and if
I’d make it to the planned party tonight. I sent her a quick text message
letting her know it was still on. However, the second recording waiting for me
was as disturbing as it was irritating. Would it have been better to answer
Desmond’s call so I could shout at him then or wait until I could do it in
person?

He’d claimed
there’d been an outcry among the coalition. It had something to my ability to
tap Water magic.
Veronika
had spilled the beans when
she’d explained how I’d gotten them away from Nadir.

The coalition
now knew I had access to at least three schools of magic. In a disgustingly
casual tone, Desmond had mentioned he’d had to take responsibility for me in
order to calm the group. And that I now owed him
four
favors.

He’d taken away
my right to choose who took responsibility for me. I was furious. That decision
could have been made at a later date. But if I complained, he’d point out that
I could have spoken for myself if I’d been present at the meeting.

The final
message was another frantic call from Nell about the party. By the time I’d
finished listening to it, I’d received a text message back from her with a
frowning face and a demand I get my ass to the shop.

Jacqueline and
I grabbed two cookies each out of the package atop my breakfast bar as a
makeshift meal. My leather wristband told me they weren’t traps from the
Underworld and thus were safe to eat—or at least as safe as processed cookies
could be. We piled into my Nissan to make the short trip to my shop. Jacqueline
remained quiet beside me as she had all day.

Nell’s Mazda
was already in the lot when I pulled in. Beside it was a black BMW.

“Fuck me,” I
said under my breath.

Jacqueline’s
frame went stiff as a board. Her gaze darted around the lot. “What? Is he
here?”

“No, but
Desmond Marino is.”

I forced
myself out of the car. And then gave into a minor tantrum by slamming the door
and stomping toward the building. I could already see him and
Veronika
seated on folding chairs inside.

Nell beat me
to the lock simply so she could glare at me. She snapped a question as soon as
the glass was wide enough to allow it. “What is
he
doing here?”

“I was going
to ask
you
the same thing.”

“He claims he
was invited,” Nell said. “I didn’t invite him.”

“I didn’t
either.”

Desmond
cleared his throat. “Alina invited me.”

I shot Nell a
smug “Ah-hah!” look because Alina was
her
mother.

The Water
priest settled back in his most arrogant of leans as if he owned the damn
place. “I thought
Veronika
would like to meet people
her own age during her unfortunate stay here.”

The pretty
blonde jerked toward him and then focused on us. I couldn’t tell what her
neutral expression meant without an empathic link. But Desmond’s statement
implied
he
wasn’t her age. I supposed
he was correct. He had to be in his mid thirties.
Veronika
couldn’t be any older than me.

I gestured at
my guest. “This is Jacqueline Washington.” Waving at Nell for Jacqueline’s
benefit, I went on. “This is Nell
Kranz
. She works
with me here at the shop. And that’s Desmond Marino, the head of Neptune’s
Fellowship.”

Desmond
inclined his cropped head of blue-black hair. She nodded a greeting in return.

“Go ahead and
have a seat. I need to get some things out of storage.” I didn’t wait for their
permission before heading down the stairs.

Nell and I had
created some gift bags and door prize packages using inexpensive items that had
plenty of
bang
. Each bag had a special incense stick,
a good luck charm, and a coupon for twenty percent off one item. Nell joined me
up the stairs, I assumed so she could help haul them to shop floor. Her
favorite CD already piped through the space.

I smelled
pizza on my second trip up. My stomach growled like Cerberus during an invasion
when I spotted the delivery witch heading out to her car with empty hands.
Jacqueline and I dove into one of the large cheese pizzas to quiet our rumbling
tummies.

Veronika
refused a piece, citing that
Dr. Marino had fed her a large dinner. My shoulders drooped. I’d been a
horrible host for Jacqueline. But the reminder of the large dinner “Dr. Marino”
had fed
me
a week ago sent me
downstairs until the flush had faded from my cheeks. I took my time scaling the
stairs.

“So wait,”
Veronika
said. “That chick with the blue hair is Becky?”

“Becky?”
Nell’s sharp voice called across the shop. “Who in the shit is Becky?”

“
Kora
is,” Desmond said. “Becky would be a diminutive of
Rebecca—her given name.”

“Her given
name is Rebecca?” My employee asked. “Then why the hell does she go by
Kora
?”

“I would
assume for the same reason you go by Nell.”

“Because the
grandmother she was named after is a bitch?”

I popped onto
the top floor. “No. Because I like my godmother more, so I use her nickname.”
During my time in the Underworld, Persephone had been as big a champion for me
as my own mother. I didn’t mind carrying a form of her nickname “
Kore
”.

Nell’s friend
Terran
the Earth witch pulled into the parking lot. I
breezed to the door like a good host. With
Terran
was
Avery—an Air witch. Would Logan the Water witch come later or not at all? They
seemed to travel as a pack.

The two girls
bounced to Nell for hugs. I settled on my stool behind the glass display case
for a few moments while they introduced themselves to the others.

Though I’d
slept a few hours, I was still keyed up with fear. The sun would soon set. I probably
needed to warn Maximo of what had happened before a foreign vampire showed up
on his turf. Too bad I didn’t have his phone number. I glanced back at the wall
clock, noting I had a mere five minutes before the party would begin and at
least an hour before I’d be able to leave. The timing on all of this left much
to be desired.

I glanced at
where Jacqueline huddled into her chair near the door. She looked as though she’d
bolt at any moment. What was I supposed to do with her? I couldn’t keep her on
my futon forever, especially not when I received visits from my mother. I
dropped my head in my hands. How was I going to get out of this one?

Logan’s car
pulled into the lot moments later. With her was a young male witch I hadn’t
met. He murmured his name, Jeff, while shaking my hand. Jeff was handsome in
the dark-haired, pale-skinned, Desmond Marino sort of way. They could have been
brothers, but the stiff greeting they gave each other implied otherwise.

Nell faced me.
“That’s everyone
I
invited who
RSVP’d.” The emphasis on the noun was accusatory, as though she believed I’d
invited others she didn’t know about. I didn’t remind her it had been Alina who
had invited Desmond.

“Okay.” I
nodded. “Let’s get started.”

Nell told
everyone about the pizza, freshly baked cookies, snacks, and drinks on the
table against the back wall as well as the restroom that was just inside the
employee only entrance on the Sedona floor. Then she turned the volume down on
the music so I could begin the presentation.

“Hi, everyone.”
I fussed with my
jagged hair and then made myself make eye contact. “Welcome to Rarities. It’s
nice to see you all again and in street clothes. You look like normal people
now.”

I winked at
Terran
because she’d been wearing a pink puffed monstrosity
her mother had forced her into when we’d met at the solstice ball. The young
woman grinned in return.

“For those of
you who don’t know me, I’m
Kora
Walsh. I’m new to
Wipuk
. I’m a sorceress.” I fixed an eye on Desmond. “I
don’t use weaves.” My attention switched to Avery. “I don’t sell weaves.” I
moved my gaze over to Logan. “I’ve never even touched a weave.” I made sure my
voice was level and the pace sedate. “I think they’re evil. The items we sell here
are objects that have natural power—power that didn’t come from a witch’s
sacrifice. Some of these items do miraculous things. Some just make life a
little easier. But many of the objects require attunement with their owner. So
tonight we’re going to play a few games. The winner of each game will win an
object. To be fair, we’ll only allow one win per person.” I gestured to Nell.
“But first, here is a small token of our appreciation for your attendance at
our event.”

I stepped back
for a quick drink while Nell explained about the gift bags. She told them how the
incense focused the mind so it was easier to slip into a meditative state. Next
she discussed the good luck charms from sacred places. Once the bags had been
distributed, Nell slipped into her seat at the edge of the gathering so that I
could take over.

I strode out
in front of them. “The first item up for grabs tonight is this focus bracelet
in etched silver.” I held up the bangle with the Celtic design scrawled along
it. “It’s a feminine piece, so the guys might want to sit this one out. This
bracelet improves its witch’s focus by clearing the mind of distractions. It
works much like the incense in your bag except it doesn’t require you burn
anything and the benefit is constant instead of fading when the stick is
consumed. This bracelet will improve casting time for most of a witch’s
abilities,
it will improve accuracy, and in some cases
increase the impact of the casting.” I snagged Avery’s attention with eye
contact and a pause. A half smile curved my lips. “And it comes in silver for
added protection against
Were
and undead.”

Nell brought
forward a taper candle in a silver holder. She pulled a lighter from her pocket
and then lit the wick. I stepped into the periphery so she could start the
game.

My employee
took the spotlight with a commanding voice. “Since we don’t have any Fire
witches here tonight, we’re going to use fire for this game. You’re going to
take turns. Whoever can extinguish the candle using the fastest magical method
will win the focus bracelet.
Extra points for a clever or
original method of extinguishing.
We’ll vote as a group who gets the
bracelet. Who wants to go first?”

Logan popped
up. “Me!”

Nell and I had
made certain there was a little bit of each element in the shop. Logan would be
able to use the softly tinkling fountain on the shelf to the left.
Terran
would be able to manipulate one of the hanging
plants Nell had hung Sunday. And Avery had the whole room of Air to play with.
Only Jacqueline might have problems because I hadn’t added anything shadowy.

We stood aside
for Logan to do her thing. Predictably she shot a spritz of water from the
fountain, extinguishing the candle. Pleased with herself, she perched atop her
chair.

Nell dried off
the wick and then lit it once again.

Avery stood
next. Air burst through the space. The flame guttered out.

Nell relit the
wick for
Terran
. The Earth witch used the long,
spider-like arms of one of the hanging plants to pinch out the flame.

Jeff the Water
witch stepped up to the plate to try his hand at extinguishing the flame. Like
Logan, he used the fountain, but his action was flashier, calling an arc of
water through the air that landed directly on the flame. Not to be outdone,
Veronika
strutted to the center of the room in her skinny
jeans, fitted black blouse, and platform pumps. She used the fountain as well,
but rather than snuffing out the flame, she sent the water into the blue
portion of the flame and then forced it to explode from within with a pop of
water vapor.

Nell looked
toward Jacqueline and Desmond to see if either intended to try their hand at
the candle game. Desmond shook his head. His quirked mouth and relaxed recline
appeared mildly amused with a side of boredom.