Chapter 7 #2
I’d only very recently met Leila and discovered her infatuation with Persi.
It wasn’t all that surprising. Persi was exactly the kind of woman whom people regularly became infatuated with: confident, gorgeous, mysterious, and exuding an air of unattainability that only made everyone want to obtain her more.
I’d quickly learned Persi left a trail of broken hearts behind her everywhere she went.
Leila was simply the most recent to fall under her spell.
Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Leila began to stir restlessly.
Her eyelids fluttered, and then her eyes opened wide as she let out a gasp of surprise and sat bolt upright, staring around her like she had not only no idea where she was, but even who she was.
I waited quietly, not wanting to startle her, while the pieces of her puzzle fell into place.
Finally, she turned her head, caught sight of me, and froze.
“Hi Leila,” I said.
“I… Wren, what are… what happened?” she muttered.
“I thought you were a burglar or… something worse. So I used one of Persi’s charms on you,” I admitted.
“Wow, it was a powerful one,” Leila muttered, shaking her head experimentally, and then cringing. “I feel so… confused.”
“That was kind of the point,” I said. “Sorry. Persi said it wasn’t ready yet, but I didn’t have a choice.”
“Why am I… oh!” Her cheeks flamed as she stared around at the rose petals and candles still all over the room. “Oh my goddess, I didn’t… I’m so… why are you here?” The last few words burst from her like an accusation.
I raised an eyebrow. “You stole my question.”
I wouldn’t have thought Leila could go any redder, but she proved me wrong. The heat of embarrassment was rolling off her in waves. “That came out wrong. I just meant… Persi is always the one who opens on Wednesdays. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“She’s got some other stuff she’s working on this morning,” I said, keeping things intentionally vague, since I didn’t really know what Persi was doing in her workshop all by herself, “so I offered to open instead. Now I’d like to know the answer to the same question.”
Leila’s hands twisted anxiously in her lap. “I meant to be gone before anyone got here, but I got carried away and lost track of time.”
I chose not to point out that she hadn’t actually answered the question, and asked another instead. “How did you even get in?”
“I’d seen Persi enchant the upper door a dozen times. I just… paid attention, I guess.”
“Speaking of Persi…” I said, letting my voice trail off as I gestured broadly at the mess of flower petals and candles surrounding us. “Want to take another crack at actually answering my first question? Why are you here? What is all this?”
Leila let her face drop into her hands. “Oh my goddess. This is so humiliating,” she murmured into her trembling fingers.
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s… sweet,” I said.
Leila peeked through her fingers. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Well, kind of. It’s actually a little…” I searched for a less offensive word.
“Pathetic? Desperate?”
“Hmm, I was gonna say stalker-ish, but sure, desperate works.”
Leila groaned, slumping over onto the floor again like I’d hit her with another charm. “I’d like to die now, thanks.”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t do that, actually,” I said lightly. “That would throw off my whole day. Lots of paperwork.”
Leila froze for a moment, then turned to look at me. “You’re funny. Persi never told me you were funny.”
“Maybe Persi doesn’t think I’m funny,” I said. “She actually seems to find me aggravating most of the time.”
“Persi finds everyone aggravating most of the time,” Leila said with a sigh, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. “Myself included. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing here. I must be insane.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t known her very long, but Persi seems to have that effect on people, from what I’ve seen. You’re in good company.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better, knowing I’m only one in a queue of slavishly devoted admirers?” Leila asked, still looking at the ceiling like she wished it would cave in and bury her.
“I guess not. Sorry,” I said, and now I was the one blushing. “I’ve never been in love before. I guess I don’t really get it.”
There were several seconds of awkward silence. I was still searching fruitlessly for something to say when Leila spoke, her voice soft, her gaze still trained on the ceiling.
“She saved my life. My last partner—well, let’s just say he had some anger management issues.
Being me, I felt like I could fix him. He wasn’t bad, just broken.
That’s what I told myself. Like a fucking idiot.
” She laughed, one bitter bark of laughter that trembled with pain.
“But all he wanted to do was make everything and everyone around him more broken than he was. That’s how some people are.
They don’t have the will or the ability to pull themselves up, so they drag everyone else down, and find joy in the destruction.
Sorry, that’s a lot. But the lesson there is, don’t try to fix people. You can’t do that work for them.
“Anyway, one night he drank too much and decided he wanted to break more than my spirit. I managed to get away, but not before he did some serious damage. I got out of the house and took off down the street. The hydrangea bushes in the Shadowkeep garden were the first place I spotted where I thought I might be able to hide. I heard him shouting his way down the street, and then I heard him trying to force his way through the gate. It’s a testament to how drunk he was that he couldn’t even get that simple latch to work, but thank Hecate he couldn’t, because the noise made Persi come investigate what was happening.
She was upstairs, working late on the second floor, and burst out onto the porch like an avenging angel, face furious, hair streaming out behind her.
” Leila smiled at the recollection. “I’m surprised Kyle didn’t piss himself and run off right then and there.
It would have been better for him if he had. ”
I allowed Leila to bask in the memory for several seconds before my impatience got the better of me and I prompted, “So what happened?”
“Huh? Oh, sorry,” Leila said, shaking her head as though to clear it.
“Sorry, I’m still feeling a little confused after that charm.
It’s messing with my train of thought. Anyway, Persi flew out and asked what the hell was going on.
Kyle started demanding that she let him in, that she hand me over, that he knew I was there, and if Persi didn’t help him find me, she’d regret it.
Well, Persi doesn’t respond well to threats.
” A slow smile spread over Leila’s face.
“She walked slowly down the porch and across to the gate with a serene expression that should have been a warning in itself. Then she pressed a finger to Kyle’s lips and whispered, ‘Hush.’
“And when Kyle tried to respond, he couldn’t. His lips wouldn’t move, and he couldn’t make a sound, even if he had been able to open them. Persi watched him struggle for a few seconds, then said, ‘You’d better run, little boy, before I prevent that, too. Go ahead. Run along.’”
“And he actually did. I’d never seen him scared like that.
And the realization that he was actually gone broke a dam in me.
I started sobbing uncontrollably. That’s when Persi found me still hiding in the bushes.
She didn’t ask me any questions. She just reached out a hand and said, ‘Come along, darling. Let’s get you patched up. ’”
Leila looked at me and shrugged helplessly. “What can I say? By the time she’d run me a bath, brushed out my hair, cleaned and bandaged my injuries, and whipped up a tea for deep, pain-free sleep, I was madly in love with her. Pathetic, right?”
I considered. “I don’t know. It sounds pretty romantic to me. She rescued you. I think falling in love with your knight in shining armor is pretty understandable.”
Leila laughed. “Well, even if I could have protected my heart from the ministrations, I still would have lost it by the morning.”
“Why? What happened?” I asked a bit breathlessly.
Leila smirked. “Well, if you ask Persi, nothing at all. But at dawn, a few witches doing some divination down on the beach found Kyle stark naked galloping around the sand on all fours, barking like a dog. They tried to catch him, but they must have spooked him, because he took off up the boardwalk and then right down the middle of Main Street, still barking at the top of his lungs. It took half the shop owners to finally corner him and remove the hex. He never showed his face in town again, and to this day Persi swears she had nothing to do with it.”
I couldn’t help it. I was grinning now. “You know, I’m sure some people would find that story unbelievable, but that sounds like textbook Persephone Vesper to me.”
“Yeah,” Leila said, her smile fading. “I just wish I’d known about the ‘emotionally unavailable’ part of the definition before falling head over heels.
And now look at me, breaking and entering to make grand romantic gestures that are also felonies.
I could have burned your store down, leaving all these candles here. Goddess, I’m as bad as Kyle.”
“Look, Leila, I’m sure this wasn’t your finest moment, but you’re definitely not as bad as Kyle,” I assured her.
“Are you going to tell her? That I was here?” Leila asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t have to. But I think you should count yourself lucky that I showed up instead of her. I mean… did you really think something like this was going to win her over? And that’s assuming she didn’t literally kill you for breaking into the shop.”
Leila sighed. “No. I think I knew it was useless even while I was planning it. But I just… I don’t think rationally when it comes to Persi.”
“Maybe it’s just Persi’s own aura rubbing off on you,” I suggested. “I don’t think Persi’s ever thought rationally about anything. Things like logic have very little sway in her world.”
“Yes, I was sort of banking on that,” Leila said, with a helpless sort of gesture to the remains of her romantic set-up.
“I thought this might be exactly the kind of non-logical, non-rational thing that might appeal to her. I’m now realizing it all makes me look like a desperate teenager.
” She looked up at me. “No offense to teenagers. Sorry.”
“None taken,” I replied. I was guilty of a lot of teenage stuff, but at least I’d never been a crazy lovesick one. “Come on, I’ll help you clean all of this up.”
Leila’s morose expression brightened. “Really? You’re not going to tell her?”
“Of course not,” I said. “As long as you promise not to sneak in again.”
“Promise!” Leila said, raising a hand like she was taking an oath. “Oh, Wren, I owe you for this.”
“No you don’t.”
“Oh, I really do. If you ever need anything, free tour of the Cove, tarot reading, spirit board reading, just say the word!”
“Thanks, but… hang on,” I froze as a bent to pick up a handful of rose petals. “Are you serious?”
“Of course! You could join one of my tour groups, or I could even do a private one for you, if you don’t mind doing it in the off-hours. I mean, I bet there’s history you haven’t learned yet since you’ve been back, and I could—”
“No, no, not about that part,” I said. “Although that does sound cool. No, I meant the tarot and the spirit board. Are you a spirit witch?”
Leila lifted her chin, a proud gleam in her eye. “That’s right. The Nightjars are all spirit witches. I’m seventh generation in the Cove. My grandmother runs that little divination shop above the bookstore, the one with all the fairy lights in the windows.”
My heart was starting to pound again, though now it was from excitement rather than fear. “Listen, Leila, can you… could I trust you to keep a secret?”
Leila looked a little wary, but nodded. “Well, sure. I mean, if you’re going to keep quiet about all of this, I can definitely return the fa—”
“I’m not trying to blackmail you or anything,” I said hastily. “I promise, no matter what, I won’t tell Persi about finding you here today. But in return I think… well, I need a spirit witch’s help—a powerful one—and my family can’t know about it. Not yet, anyway.”
Leila bit at her lip. “I… look, Wren, I want to help you, but I don’t want to get in trouble with your family by keeping things from them.”
“I’m not asking you to lie,” I said quickly. “And if you’re worried about upsetting Persi, don’t be. She’s not exactly the overprotective maternal type; and anyway, she’s the one person in my family who I think fully respects the need for secrets.”
Leila still looked undecided. “I don’t know…”
“I’ll help you!” I blurted out. “With Persi, I can… can help you try to win her over.”
“Are you serious?” Leila asked, perking up at once. Her eyes lit up like someone had struck matches behind them.
“Of course,” I said. “Obviously, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll help however I can.”
“And what would I have to do, exactly?” Leila asked. “Just so we’re clear.”
“I need someone to help me with scrying,” I said. “No one else in my family has spirit witch abilities. They can give me the basics, but I think I’m beyond basics now. I need a spirit witch to help me, a powerful one, someone who won’t treat me like a child.”
Leila considered. “Well, I am a spirit witch, but scrying is definitely not my medium of choice. I can do it, but it doesn’t always… cooperate, if you know what I mean.”
“Oh, I definitely know what you mean,” I muttered, thinking about my string of failed divination attempts.
“Tarot has really always been my most reliable means for divination. Do you need help with tarot?”
“I need help with everything, but in this instance…” I thought of the mirror and shuddered. “Well, let’s just say that scrying is the most pressing need.”
“Hmm,” Leila considered. “Well, in that case, I’d recommend you come to see Granny Nightjar. I can get you an appointment if you want. I handle all her appointments.”
I hesitated. “Well…”
Leila raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess,” she said. “You’ve heard a thing or two about my grandmother.”
I shrugged sheepishly. “I… might have.”
Leila laughed. “You and everyone else. Well, I know she’s got a reputation for being… eccentric, but you won’t find anyone in the Cove who knows more about scrying. So, what do you say?”
I sighed. Granny Nightjar couldn’t be more intimidating than facing that mirror by myself.
“We’ve got a deal,” I said, holding out my hand.
Leila grinned and shook my hand enthusiastically. “Deal!”
“Great,” I said, and then caught sight of the clock. “We’d better get this cleaned up and you out of here. I have no idea what time Persi will show up, but it could be any minute, and I still haven’t even opened.”
And with that, we began, frantically, to clean.