Chapter 6 #2
In her hand, she held a blown-glass sphere with silver writing etched on it.
It said, Delilah te Maria D’Artigo. The sphere was delicate and ethereal, and I hadn’t seen it since a few years after Mother died.
The other two would match, with Camille and Menolly’s names on them.
Our father had them made when Camille accidentally broke one of our mother’s beloved ornaments from her own childhood.
Instead of just inscribing them with ‘te Maria’—as was the custom for last names in Otherworld—he also added Mother’s last name.
“Where did you find those?” I asked, breathless.
“Leethe hid them for me. So many years ago. She told me she’d keep them for when we went out on our own.
Before we left, she took me aside and gave them to me.
I wanted to surprise you and Menolly, so I was going to wait until tonight.
But you looked so sad that…well…” She smiled, and I saw hope in her eyes.
Hope that she had somehow helped me out of my slump.
I bit my lip. “Thank you,” I said, feeling so warm and cared for in a way that I hadn’t for a very long time. “Put it back in the box. I won’t tell Menolly that I know about it. I want her to feel like she was included in this, you know?”
Camille nodded, tucking the ornament away.
“I’ll put the box in Iris’s room and bring it out tonight when she wakes up.
” She hurried toward the kitchen. Iris had a room off the back of the kitchen, beyond the laundry room and the back stairs.
The house might have been Victorian in nature—but it was also a labyrinth.
I finished sorting out the garland and, when Camille returned, said, “I suggest we wait on all of this until Menolly wakes up. She doesn’t have a shift tonight at the bar, so she can help us.” I paused, then said, “Does it feel like we’re becoming more of a family over here than we were back home?”
Camille nodded. “Yeah, it does. We’ve always been bonded, especially after Mother died, but now…it feels like we don’t have to always be looking over our shoulders.”
“So, what are you going to do this afternoon?” I asked.
“I thought I’d take a walk down to the pond and figure out where to put my altar to the Moon Mother. I’ve been meaning to do that for some time.”
“I’d wait,” I said, placing my hand on her arm. “We need to find the redcaps first. It’s dangerous to go out in the woods alone.”
Camille paused. “I suppose you’re right. Well, it’s barely two. I suppose I can go grocery shopping. Iris said we’re getting low on things. Come with?”
I nodded. “All right. Though you just want me to carry the bags in,” I added, laughing.
We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, putting food away, and helping Iris clean the house.
After dinner, Menolly walked into the living room and stared at the tree. “Well, that’s new,” she said, laughing. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a tree.” One glance and she saw all the decorations waiting for us. “You waited for me?”
“We did,” Camille said. “And I have a surprise,” she added. “I’ll be right back.”
Menolly turned to me as Camille darted out of the room. “What’s that about?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t a good liar, but I was good at feigning innocence. It had gotten me out of trouble a number of times when I was young.
“Here we go,” Camille returned, setting down the box of ornaments. “Remember when we were little? Remember when I broke mother’s special ornament?”
“Vaguely,” Menolly said.
I nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
“Father replaced them with these, and I hid them away when he asked us to stop putting up a tree. I didn’t want him to toss them, just in case he took it into his head to get rid of memories that made him upset.
” She opened the box and unwrapped the three ornaments, handing the one with my name on it to me, and Menolly’s to her.
Menolly stared at the sphere in her hand, then looked up, bloody tears spilling down her cheeks.
“I remember that night. And now here we are, in Mother’s homeland.
And you brought these. Thank you,” she whispered.
Iris handed her a wet wipe, and Menolly washed her face. When vampires cried, they cried blood.
“Shall we start decorating with these?” I asked.
“I’d like that,” Camille said.
And so, as she placed her ornament first, since she was the oldest, we began a new tradition.
We finished about eight-thirty, and stood back, watching the lights twinkle across the gables of the house, and a few of the trees near the house. It was a faerie-land, magical and enchanted, and a light snow began to fall.
Inside, the house sparkled and smelled of fresh garlands. Everything felt right.
“It’s so beautiful,” Camille said. “I want this. I want this feeling of family. Maybe it’s a gift that the OIA sent us over here. Maybe I have Lathe to thank.”
“Don’t even mention him. He caused you so much grief,” Menolly said.
“Yeah, but we’re here now, because of him.” She shrugged. “I’m just grateful that we have this moment together. What do you think about inviting Chase to our Solstice ritual? He doesn’t seem to have anybody in his life either.”
Surprised, I said, “I like that idea. And Iris, of course.”
Menolly wrapped her arm around my waist. “Let’s go inside—” But before she could finish, my phone rang.
I glanced at the caller ID. It was Lukia.
“Hello? What’s up?”
Lukia was breathless, sounding frantic. “Can you come over? There’s something in the yard, and I heard something screech out there.
I managed to get my dog in, but she was terrified, whimpering and cowering.
She’s okay—I checked her over—but something scared the hell out of her.
And now, I hear scratches at the door. Please help? ”
“We’ll be there in a few minutes.” I hung up and turned to Menolly and Camille. “Camille, grab the short swords Father sent with us. Lukia needs help—we need to go.”
“I need boots,” she said, darting up the porch steps.
Menolly and I followed her. While Camille changed from her heels into boots, I grabbed the two silver short swords that our father had given us. Menolly couldn’t touch silver, given she was now a vampire. But she had plenty of attacks of her own.
We were out the door in five minutes and into my Jeep. A moment later, we pulled into Lukia’s driveway and were out, looking around. I had grabbed flashlights along with the swords. As we started to look around, I texted Lukia that we were outside and to stay indoors until we texted her again.
Within less than a moment, I sensed something near.
The energy was thick, the malevolence riding the breeze that whipped the light snowfall to-and-fro.
I broke off from Menolly and Camille to examine a huckleberry bush covered with snow.
The next moment, something burst out from behind the shrub and headed right toward me.