Chapter 27
27
Lenny drove to Boston in record time, the highways were clear and before long the signs for Logan airport were directing her to the departure terminal. Dora hadn’t spoken much before she left, and she knew she was worried for her friends, Lenny got that although she herself tried not to make friends and get too close to people. They either left, died or turned into huge disappointments. Family was what mattered and Ambrose, too – that poor kid had got dragged into this a long time ago and all he’d done was help Dora. Lenny supposed none of them had expected this to happen, but it had and here they were. She’d long given up trying to understand how they could be born again and again with the same memories, they didn’t always look quite the same except for their black hair that turned silver by the time they had to prepare to battle Cowrin and emerald-green eyes, those were the two constants every lifetime.
She needed a drink and walked into the departure terminal where she spotted a cocktail bar.
Lenny was seething with anger. She’d done her best, had given up her family, her life to keep Dora safe and for what? Here they were, Dora had a head full of mixed emotions after meeting her aunt and her dying mom, she was in mortal danger and had been about to rush headfirst to the very person Lenny had spent the last quarter of a century keeping her safe from. She sat at the bar and ordered a double bourbon on the rocks. She took her drink to a small table tucked away in the corner, a part of her hoping that there were no flights today, she didn’t want to go back to London so soon.
Her phone rang and she answered, hearing Dora’s voice. ‘Are you angry with me?’
Lenny shrugged. ‘I don’t know what I am, Dora. Tired is probably a good enough word to describe how I’m feeling, weary is another.’
‘What am I supposed to do, Lenny? I can’t ignore that my best friend in the world is missing and Mabel my other friend might be being held hostage in her own flat.’
‘I wouldn’t expect you to.’
‘Good because I can’t.’
Lenny took a large sip of her drink. ‘I’m sorry about your friends, I really am, but me rushing off to London is putting everyone in danger, I need you to be aware of that. I’m not saying I won’t go because I will, but you need to know that this is serious.’
‘I do know that and I’m very grateful to you for going, but I’d rather go myself. I can get an Uber and come there now.’
‘No, Sephy would kill me if I let you go. She may look all sweetness and light, but she has a wicked temper. You need to find the missing book.’
‘I know, I’m looking for Ambrose now to see if he can help me.’
‘Thank you. I should have given you some of this information before, some little life hacks to help with the day-to-day stuff. But I didn’t so here they are: when you get back be sure to pop a rose quartz in your bra, always keep tiger’s eye in your pocket and some citrine in your purse. If you have no citrine a condom will suffice.’
‘What?’
‘It’s simple magic, Dora, the simplest any fool can use. Rose quartz encourages self-love and other kinds of love, it will keep your heart open and warm, you need that; tiger’s eye provides protection, which you almost certainly need, to be fair you need a chunk the size of the Eiffel Tower but you’d never be able to fit it in your pocket; and citrine attracts abundance. A condom will save you against expensive life choices so it’s basically the same.’
‘Are you being serious?’
‘I never joke about love, wealth or protection, Dora. Inside that pouch Lucine gave you earlier are some of the strongest protection crystals along with the black salt. They should help if for some ungodly reason Corwin finds you before we’re ready. Don’t be afraid to use them, they could just save your life.’ She stared into space over the top of the heavy crystal bourbon glass.
Dora didn’t bother asking her aunt how she knew about the pouch, Lenny always knew everything. ‘Are you insane?’
Lenny laughed, tipped her head back and swallowed the amber liquid then clicked her fingers at the barman for another. She continued, her voice no longer a whisper.
‘You have to believe what you will. When you’re finally up for an intellectual discussion on the basic principles of magic then come and see me when I get back.’
‘Why are you being so loud?’
‘Because no one cares. And why are you still in denial about who you are? After the last twenty-four hours and what we’ve tried to show and tell about your heritage, you still think we’re talking a load of crap.’
Lenny leaned back as the waiter approached carrying a tray with another drink. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Lenny who looked as though she had just devoured him with hers.
A voice shouted, ‘Hey Mike, order’s up.’
Finally looking away from Lenny he walked away.
‘What’s happening?’ Dora asked.
‘Nothing. Obviously you don’t really believe in any of this witching or bewitching stuff so don’t worry about it.’
‘I have a headache.’
Lenny waved her hand dismissively in the air. ‘Not sure all this confusion is helping you, Dora.’
She swirled ice cubes around in the glass and Dora must have heard the clinking. ‘Are you drinking?’
‘I’m not going to be flying for a few hours, there’s no availability until later. I have a date.’
Dora sounded shocked. ‘You do?’
Lenny was smiling at Mike. ‘The bar man can’t take his eyes off me; this old bird still has life in her, you know.’
‘You are incorrigible.’
‘I know, but you love me, right. I love you, Dora, don’t ever forget that. As do Sephy and your mom.’
Dora’s voice was a whisper. ‘I wish I remembered them, the good times.’
‘They weren’t always good, to be fair a lot of them were tragically dismal and downright terrifying, but we’ve always had each other.’
‘Can I not go back to London with you?’
‘I think that maybe it’s time to let you live a little on your own steam and right now there is no safer place on earth than Salem. It might be what you need to jerk your memories out of whatever place it is you’ve locked them away in. And as I told you, when Mike gets off, we’re going to have a good time before my flight.’
Dora laughed. ‘I love you, be safe; I can’t believe I’m saying that to my old aunt. Please will you ring when you know what’s going on?’
‘Less of the old, I’m young at heart.’
Lenny smiled. She loved her niece more than anything, but she had a feeling that this lifetime for the English sisters was hurtling to its climax and was about to have the most spectacular ending of them all. If that was so she was going to enjoy herself, maybe lose herself for a couple of hours in Mike’s company where she could forget all her past and present witch wounds, and for the first time in a very long time maybe live a little and have pure, hot, wild sex.