Chapter 8
Jena parked her car in front of The Witchery and let out a long sigh. Her impulsive decision to go into Fayet and check out the Spell Shop for ingredients had been a total waste of time and gas.
It might’ve been owned by legitimate practitioners ten years ago, but it’d since been bought out by some new-aged wannabe.
No way was she buying herbs shipped in from halfway around the globe and treated with lord only knew what.
For Christ’s sake, they were selling them side-by-side with pink cartoon cat Tarot cards and penis-shaped incense holders…
the latter of which she may or may not have gotten for Aggie’s Christmas stocking.
But aside from that find, the trip had been seriously depressing.
How was The Witchery failing so badly? The magic in this part of the county was deep, and the condition of the node wasn’t nearly as dire as everyone was screaming about.
Yeah, it was dense, but the wards constraining it were holding.
Besides, there were at least a dozen established covens and three times as many practitioners between the two towns to stabilize the leylines if they got wonky.
With the Spell Shop defunct, The Witchery should have a fricking line around the block waiting to get in.
Jena buzzed her lips, pretty certain that the reason why they didn’t had nothing to do with a certain mail order giant and everything to do with Mary Montgomery’s slander.
Without Aggie to stand up for herself, the bitch had done her damnedest to ruin the business, and everyone else had let it happen.
Though where they were getting their supplies from… God, Jena hated this town.
She grabbed her bag, and headed into the shop, then up the steps.
Her nose wrinkled. Ugh. The stink from her sweater had migrated to the second floor and beneath Chases’s damned musk, it smelled like mildew and things best not disturbed had been.
Guess the renovators had made an appearance. Lord only knew what they’d found.
She set her bag on the counter and went down the hall to Aggie’s room.
Soft, wheezy snores came from the curtained bed.
Jena slipped into the room and poked her head into the bath.
A fan had been set into the window blowing outwards, and a fresh piece of plywood was over the floor.
Tubing to the sink, toilet, and tub snaked close to the wall where the older woman couldn’t trip over it.
Wow. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere, either.
Something in Jena’s chest loosened at the care the contractor had taken.
The piles of construction mess she’d expected weren’t there, and it looked like the little bath was functional.
It was definitely cleaner than it’d been this morning.
She’d made the right decision. Thank God.
She didn’t have twenty grand to spend on a thoughtless hack.
She backed out of the room, leaving Aggie to sleep.
At least one of them would. Making that potion and processing all of the herbs she’d gathered was going to take the rest of the night.
Jena didn’t mind the work, but unfortunately, most of it was mindless, which left her brain free to spiral on stupid Chase Montgomery.
And that was only marginally better than what’d happened in the garden.
She crossed herself and murmured a quick protection spell.
Her power hadn’t screamed at her like that since she’d been unfortunate enough to stumble across a double murder scene back in the city, and this had been louder.
Whatever was in there, she didn’t want to call its attention.
It’d already been far too interested in her.
Jena chewed her lip. Why hadn’t Aggie mentioned it though?
The easy answer was that she didn’t know about it, but that didn’t make sense either.
Jena clearly remembered the months of nightmares she’d had after she’d gone up there the last time.
Aggie had been with her then, and she’d been up with her after every horrible dream.
There was no way she wouldn’t have investigated, and most likely gotten the coven’s help.
Which just solidified that whatever it was wasn’t an echo or remnant of power, and if it was sentient and clever enough to hide…but then why out itself to her?
“Where were you all day?”
Jena yelped and almost dropped her strainer at Aggie’s voice. “Don’t do that! I thought you were sleeping! Are you feeling any better?”
Aggie shrugged, wheezing as she shuffled to the table. “Fair to middling. Make me some tea?”
“Only if you take this potion with it.”
“What is it?”
“Disgusting. You’ll love it.” Aggie grunted, and Jena put the kettle on to heat. “I drove to Fayet to check out the Spell Shop.”
“Waste of gas. You didn’t get all that there.”
“No. I went out to the ruins.”
Aggie abruptly became more alert. “Did you now?”
“I did.” Jena tapped off her strainer and capped the resulting liquid. “And whatever freaked me out as a kid is still there, just past the bridge, inside a containment circle. You have any insight into that?”
The older woman’s brow furrowed, troubled.
“No, and I swear to you, I looked into it. Dragged the whole goddamned coven out there multiple times. None of us could pick up on anything…but it stands to reason you did. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, your blood’s keyed to that node and power calls to power.
You’re predisposed to be more sensitive to whatever happens out there, and if sin-eating was wrapped up in the spell, those echos would resonate even louder with you. What did you feel?”
Something a heck of a lot stronger than an echo. Jena frowned, but she guessed that made sense. “Sin and a sentient malevolence.”
“Well, that’s less than ideal,” Aggie murmured.
“Ya think? But the circle is keeping whatever it is contained. The other wards are there too, except for the sixth and seventh.” Damn it.
It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to go and re-establish them.
She wouldn’t have to step foot on the hill to do that—and it absolutely would not mean she was agreeing to take her mother’s place as guardian.
It was just being responsible. If no one could banish it, whatever was in that circle needed to stay put.
“And the node’s not nearly as bad off as everyone says it is. ”
Aggie shot her a look. “Maybe not for you, but last time I was out there, I got hit with a jolt of power that made my teeth glow.” She shook her finger.
“And last month, June Hill about shit herself trying to reinforce the ward at the gate. Said it was like grabbing onto an electric fence. The hell it’s not that bad.
What you got out there is a bunch of pissed off magic with a sweet spot for you and no one else. ”
Jena rolled her eyes. “No, what’s out there is a problem waiting to happen, and it’s not the node, it’s in the middle of that garden.”
Aggie sighed and sat back. “I can’t imagine anything being up there after all this time.
Not anything the coven wouldn’t have sensed…
but your mother…” She shook her head. “I wish her grimoire hadn’t gone up in flames with everything else.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, she was a next level witch.
There’s a reason your family was chosen to guard that node. ”
“There’s also a reason our name is in the toilet,” Jena muttered. “Speaking of which, I saw the contractor was here.” She eyed the older woman over the herbs she was stripping. “Is he coming back to finish the job, or did you scare him off?”
“Says he’s pulling permits tomorrow, so I’m assuming he’ll be back. If not, I’m not gonna cry about it. He’s got it set up so everything works, and I can use the shitter without fear of plummeting to my doom.”
The kettle started to scream, and Jena paused her work to pour Aggie a cup of tea and a measure of potion. “Always a good thing, and I got an email from that job I applied for in Fayet, so I might even be able to pay for it. Looks like I’m going back for an interview.”
“I hate that drive.” Aggie scowled.
Jena sighed. So did she. The winding cliffside road was miserable in good weather, and it was supposed to pour for the next few days.
The fact that her grandparents, uncle, his wife, and newborn had plummeted to their deaths around mile marker fifty-eight didn’t help either.
“Hey, do you know where that dehydrator ended up?”
Aggie coughed into her handkerchief and looked like she’d bitten into something sour. “It’s probably upstairs with the rest of the junk I never use.”
“Purist.” Jena laughed, bringing over Aggie’s tea and the potion. What the—
Jena set both down and picked up the paper. That son of a bitch. She stared at the front page headline, her blood pounding in her ears.
Montgomery-Chambers Wedding
Mr. and Ms. Wallace Montgomery are pleased to announce the engagement of their son Chase Anthony Montgomery to Crystal Meghan Chambers…
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jena gritted out, her teeth clenched so hard her temples throbbed. “That dirty, lying—”
“Who’s this now?” Aggie asked, stirring her tea.
“Chase Montgomery!” Jena slapped the paper down onto the table. God, she was so fucking stupid! Of course it’d all been a lie. Why wouldn’t it be? And she’d kissed him! Had let him—Ugh! Jesus, she felt gross—
“Oh.” Aggie sipped her tea. “That.”
Jena spun on the older woman, her eyes wide. “Oh, that?! That’s all you have to say?”
“Eh, don’t believe everything you read.” Aggie wheezed, placing her cup back in its saucer and eyeing the potion. “Besides, I thought you didn’t have a crush on him.”
Jena scowled. She didn’t, damn it. She just—“It’s the frickin’ Havers’s Herald, not a supermarket tabloid!”