Chapter 15
In the end, neither Scott nor Dina won the scavenger hunt and they were the last ones back to the Little Parlor.
“Where have you been?” Rosemary asked, pulling Dina aside. “And why do you look so smug?”
“I do not look smug.”
“You absolutely do. What happened? Anything to do with you and Scott walking in together?”
Dina rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “Nothing happened.”
Rosemary narrowed her eyes. “You’re a terrible liar, Dina Whitlock. But I’m going to assume you have a good reason not to tell me, so I’ll keep my opinions to myself…for now.”
Unlike Immy, who was a locked box to which Eric had the key, Rosemary was truly a “secrets to her grave” kind of friend.
“Do you know what the next activity is?” Dina asked her, noticing that a lot of the wedding party appeared to have opted out of this one. She looked around for her parents and was horrified to see them drinking tea around a table with Scott’s mums. She flicked him a glance. He had seen it too.
Should we go over? she mouthed at him. He smiled but shook his head.
“Something outside. Immy’s keeping it all very hush-hush, but look at her, she’s practically bouncing.”
It was true, the bride-to-be was clearly ready to make a move. In the end, only eight people from the wedding party went out for this activity, with most of the parents and grandparents choosing to rest before the festivities to come.
As the group walked across the east field of the property, led by Eric and Immy, Dina took a moment to bask in the afternoon sun. She’d always felt a strong connection to the earth through her magic and noticed the change in seasons more than the average person, but being outside of London, surrounded by green hills and woodland, the connection was more alive.
As they walked, she pointed out a variety of herbs and flowers to Rosemary, who was working on a botanical horror and wanted to know how readily available poisonous plants were in the English countryside.
The entire time, Dina was acutely aware that Scott was close behind her, listening to their conversation about flowers. Her mind kept traveling back to the lovers’ nook. To the feel of his body pressed against hers.
They reached a gate where the field met the woods. It was one of those country gates that wasn’t so much a gate as two crossed planks of wood used as steps over a wooden fence. Dina was perfectly capable of climbing over herself, but as Scott reached out a hand to help her down from the step, she reached out her own in response. His grip was warm and firm, and it steadied her. She couldn’t believe this man was literally making her weak in the knees. She was becoming a walking cliché.
“Do you have a favorite flower or plant, Dina?” he asked, his voice low enough that only she could hear.
“Why, are you trying to buy me flowers, Scott Mason?” Dina batted her eyes dramatically. “Lemon verbena, though. That’s my favorite. It’s a pretty hardy plant, and you can turn it into a tisane. In Morocco we call it louiza.”
“Louiza?”
“You add the leaves to boiled water and they let out the most deliciously sweet fragrance. Not exactly lemony—more like a honey balm.”
“What does the tea taste like?” he asked.
“Sort of like chamomile maybe, but with more body, and sweeter.”
Scott nodded, looking as if he was storing away that information for later use.
“What about you then, since we’re on the topic of favorite plants?” Dina stepped over the roots of a nearby oak that had clawed out of the earth, and nearly lost her footing. She leaned one way to counteract the slip, which meant that she ended up falling into Scott. He gripped her waist with both hands, steadying her.
“It’s going to sound silly,” he said, “because everyone loves them, but roses. A very specific type of rose though. A couple of years ago I went to the M’Goun valley.”
“Hold up,” said Dina. “This isn’t your way of telling me a story about that time you were in Morocco, just because you know I happen to be from there, and you’re trying to impress me, is it?”
Scott chuckled, running a hand through his hair.
“Maybe I was trying to impress you a little bit, but it’s true either way.”
“In that case, please continue.”
“I was there to research some of the protective charms the farmers use in that valley, specifically to protect against pests ruining the flowers before they’re picked. I was up one morning, really early, and I ended up going with this shopkeeper, Hamid, on a walk past the river. I swear, I could smell them before we even turned into the valley. And then it was just pink, as far as I could see. Even the women picking the roses wore pink, so their heads looked like pink boats bobbing up and down in this sea. And the smell was so…thick, you know? Best way I can describe it. Like honey cake, and fresh watermelon and treacle all rolled into one. I could taste it in the air, it was so strong. I bought so many bottles of rosewater on that trip I must have looked like some kind of smuggler at customs.”
“It sounds amazing. I’ve always planned to go for the rose festival but whenever we go to visit, time is always taken up by seeing family. Which is nice and all, but for a country that’s half my heritage, I haven’t seen much of it.” Dina shrugged.
They turned a corner, the treeline beginning to thin as the dense forest petered away into scatterings of trees.
“I want to know more about those protective charms though. What were you studying them for? Was it for the exhibition you mentioned?” she probed. Dina realized she wasn’t just making conversation for the sake of it, to pass the time until they reached the secret activity (Immy hadn’t told her what it was despite her prodding). She genuinely enjoyed speaking with Scott.
“Yeah, for that. It’s all about protective charms from cultures around the world. Looking at symbols—like the eye—which are found everywhere, often used for the same thing.”
“Fascinating.”
“I think so. The museum wasn’t super keen on the idea at first. It involved a couple of other complications I insisted on.”
“Oh? Like what?”
Scott offered Dina a sheepish look.
“It might sound a bit silly, but I insisted that if we were going to borrow artifacts from other countries, whether they were family heirlooms in private collections or ones already owned by state-run museums, we were going to craft a smaller exhibition or installation, featuring those artifacts, that would eventually tour the countries they came from. So, any artifacts borrowed from Morocco for the exhibition would mean that at some point on its tour, the exhibition would go to a museum there, probably in Rabat or Casablanca.”
“That doesn’t sound very controversial to me.”
“Well, it was. You’d have thought I’d suggested burning one of the entombed mummies from the ancient Egypt exhibit from the way they looked at me. It was unheard of, apparently.”
“But they agreed to it, in the end?”
“They had to. The exhibitions they’ve been running of late have been too academically focused.” Scott fished into his pocket and pulled out a small turquoise bead that had a scarab etched into it. “See this, right? The ancient Egyptians associated scarabs with new beginnings, rebirth, the start of a new day. And they would carry them, as jewelry or charms, as a reminder of that. People will come to the exhibition and they’ll see these beads—well, this is a replica, but one like it—and it’ll make the history feel real.” His eyes lit up as he spoke.
“I get it. You see a charm made hundreds of years ago and it’s not all that different from the lucky rock you keep in your glovebox. I guess it reminds us that history is full of people like us, who had their own worries and fears they wanted to be protected from. Is it open now, then, the exhibition?” Dina asked.
“Not yet. A few weeks until it’s ready. But I could give you a special tour, if that’s something you’d be interested in? It seems like it would be your sort of thing.” He smiled down at her, and Dina felt a stirring deep in her belly that felt suspiciously like lust and…something else.
No, she was clearly imagining it. It was only lust. She was attracted to his brain just as much as his body, clearly. But he wanted to show her the exhibition in a couple of weeks. Which would mean they would still be seeing each other then. Oh no, this very much went against her “this is only a weekend fling” plan.
Dina didn’t have time to answer, as Immy and Eric paused in their walk to get everyone’s attention.
“All right, everyone, you’re about to see what I’ve been keeping secret from you all…” Immy shouted at them forebodingly. As they turned a corner, Dina saw it. Ahead of them, situated in the center of a grassy field, was Immy’s secret activity. A hedge maze.
“Fucking spooky,” Rosemary muttered.
The small hill they stood on looked down over it, allowing Dina to see just how complicated it was. This wasn’t the kind of maze you could sit by and wait as your children scurried to the center and back. This was a no one-gets-left-behind, don’t-break-out-into-smaller-groups kind of maze.
Dina shot a look at Immy, who was practically squealing with delight. Everyone seemed to be excited; there was something about mazes that felt like a playground for grown-ups. Everyone except Scott. Dina tried to catch his eye but his gaze was firmly set on the maze, his jaw clenched and a rigid set to his shoulders.
Eric clapped him on the back and gave his shoulder a squeeze. Dina thought she heard him whisper something about not worrying, but she couldn’t be sure. It looked to her like Scott didn’t want to go into the maze. He’d said he was a little claustrophobic—would that affect him in the maze too, even if they were outside?
She could always cast a little anti-anxiety charm; they always worked well in situations like this. He wouldn’t even know.
Power twitched at her fingertips. It was Samhain after all, and her power swelled within her, aching to be used. The magic that came with Samhain was different from the other dates like Ostara or Beltane. It was wilder, and it came with its own shadow.
And with the old woods at her back, and the rolling fields before her, she was all but breathing the magic in. It seeped from the soil into her body and wound its way like deep green tendrils into her heart.
Rory’s face popped into her mind. That was what happened when she used magic on others. There was no use even considering it; she had better forget the idea immediately.
“Let’s team up!” Eric called out to the group. They split into two groups of four, and as Dina wandered closer to the hedges she noticed that whoever had pruned them had done so with a ruler, because there was not a leaf out of place.
“First team to get all the way to the center and back wins,” Eric proclaimed.
“I want Dina on my team!” said Immy.
“Immy, we’re doing bride versus groom. You can’t have all the good picks, and we both know Dina has the sense of direction of a bloodhound.” Eric laughed.
Immy rolled her eyes at Dina.
“Fine, you go with Eric. But if you win I will fire you as my maid of honor.”
“Someone’s feeling competitive I see,” Dina responded. The rest of Eric’s team quickly assembled, claiming Rosemary and one of Immy’s cousins, Tom, who seemed uninterested in the whole affair.
Scott was on Immy’s team and was staring at the entrance to the maze like it was a monster that was going to swallow him whole.
“We don’t all need to go in. People can stay out here if they want,” Dina said aloud, hoping that would make it clear that Scott had no reason to go in if he didn’t wantto.
“Dina, don’t be silly, we have to go in as teams,” Immy replied, completely oblivious.
“Who takes left, who takes right?” Rosemary asked, inclining her head toward the two diverging paths just inside the maze’s entrance. The hedges had to be at least eight feet tall.
“We go left and you go right, Immy?” Eric suggested.
“What do we win?” Tom chipped in, apparently suddenly interested.
“Everlasting glory, obviously,” Immy cackled.
Dina sidled up to Scott.
“Are you okay?” she asked under her breath. He looked a little pale and was biting his lip—and not in a sexy way. “You don’t seem keen on going in.”
“No, no. It’s fine. I’m fine,” Scott replied, wiping his clearly clammy hands on his trousers. “It’ll be fun,” he said, probably in an attempt to convince himself. She reached out and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
“Dina, no cheating! Get back over here,” Eric called. Once they had conferred in their teams over possible strategies—not that it was possible to have much of a pre-planned strategy for navigating a maze—Immy counted down from three and the game began.
Scott offered Dina a half-smile as he reluctantly followed Immy into the maze. Dina and Eric took the left path, followed closely by Tom and Rosemary.
The maze swallowed them up. It had been a warm morning, at least by late October standards, but a damp coolness settled over them once they stepped into the shade of the hedges.
Unlike the woods, Dina didn’t feel any kind of magic in the bones of the maze. It wasn’t particularly old, nor menacing. Which was a good sign. The last thing they needed was a maze with an attitude. Dina had been in one of those in Vienna before, and she’d had to cast her way out, leaving scorch marks in the brush.
They stopped once they got to a fork.
“I say we go right. Dina?” Eric asked.
“Why would Dina know?” said Tom.
“Ah. Well. Dina tends to be good at these kinds of things. Bloodhound instincts, like I said,” Eric replied carefully. Behind Tom, Rosemary was wiggling her fingers around, pretending she was performing witchcraft and cackling silently—she looked unhinged, and Dina loved her forit.
“I say we go right,” Dina said. She couldn’t be sure; she didn’t have any kind of prescience. But, like most witches, she possessed a gut instinct—though some might call it a sixth sense. When it told her which way to go, she normally followed, no questions asked.
Occasionally, they heard Immy’s group through the hedges, and saw a flurry of color on the other side as they walked past. Once, Dina thought she smelled Scott’s cologne and felt a sudden need to reach through the hedge for him. Though she had to admit that a pair of bodiless arms poking out through a hedge wouldn’t exactly be comforting to anyone, let alone someone who clearly didn’t love mazes.
“This is perfect writing fodder,” Rosemary remarked, as they took a path to the left. Silence hung heavily in the maze, and a low mist collected at their feet. It had grown quite cold, and the sunlight had petered away into that half-brightness of a fully gray sky.
“How so?” Dina asked.
“The gothic maze, the creepy woods, and the manor with rooms full of antlers and taxidermy? It’s deliciously spooky. The house isn’t haunted though. I checked.”
“What about the maze?” Dina asked, looking around her as fogged rolledin.
“No ghosts here. Some in the woods though,” Rosemary responded matter-of-factly.
Dina smiled at her. “One day we’re going to create a TV show called England’s Most Haunted and it’s just you and me wandering around old estates where I get all freaked out and you tell me that it’s just a regular building.”
Haunted or not, Dina couldn’t deny the spookiness of the maze; it was also proving surprisingly difficult to complete. They took turn after turn, several times ending up where they’d been a moment before, not that it was easy to tell. Every wall of green leafage looked identical. Finally, when everyone’s legs were starting to get tired and Tom had complained about being thirsty at least four times, they found the center, complete with a tarnished bronze sundial. There was no sign that Immy and her team had beaten them to it, but they couldn’t be sure.
“Does that mean we win?” Tom asked. He’d been intermittently checking his phone and seemed miffed that there was no signal here.
“Not yet,” said Eric cheerily. “We need to get back to the exit first.”
They followed the route back as best they could, with a couple of wrong turns here and there.
Dina felt her chest expand and let out a deep exhale as they saw the maze’s exit.
Maybe it was just knowing that Scott wasn’t having a good time, but it was definitely not as fun as she’d hoped it wouldbe.
“Looks like we won!” said Eric, high-fiving each of them. “Immy is never going to forgive me,” he said to Dina.
“Bet you she brings it up in her vows tomorrow,” she laughed.
“Wouldn’t surprise me one bit.”
“Aww, you beat us! Damn!” Immy cried as her team slunk out of the maze from a different path. “I really thought we had you there.” She slumped.
Eric picked up his fiancée and swung her around. “I can share some of my everlasting glory with you if you want.”
“Mmm, okay then.” Immy leaned in to kiss her fiancé.
Dina looked away to give the couple a moment of privacy and searched for Scott. But he wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
“Hey, Immy, where’s Scott?”
“He’s right—” Immy turned around and looked at her smaller team. “Huh. I swear he was right with us. Wasn’t he?”
The others shrugged. Dina stared back at the maze, standing ominously tall and in shadow.
“Oh shit, he’s still in the maze.”