Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
As I entered the house, Iris came bustling down the stairs.
“I’ve made up the room for Chase,” she said. “He’ll have to take care of himself—I’m not his maid, but he can eat with us, and I’ll be happy to make up his bed and change the sheets.” She was carrying a basket of laundry toward the laundry room.
“Are those Delilah’s?” I asked, pointing to the clothes.
She nodded. “Yes, they are.”
“You give me that basket,” I said, holding out my hands.
She grinned, but handed me the laundry. I marched upstairs, into Delilah’s room, and dumped the entire load on her bed.
Iris, who had followed me, giggled. “And what do you think she’ll say?”
“Nothing, because she knows better. We had a talk with her earlier.” I tossed the laundry basket on top of the clothes.
“All right, I’m going to fire up the Whispering Mirror and talk to Asheen again.
We had another demon come calling tonight, next to the Wayfarer.
Luckily, we were there, and we saved Chase’s ass. ”
“If you don’t find a way to break that spell…” Iris said, then paused.
“Yeah, if we don’t, then chances are he won’t make it through the week.” I sank to the edge of Delilah’s bed, shaking my head. “I have to find a way to break that curse.”
“Have you ever tried to break a spell?” Iris said.
I waved off the thought. “Me? My magic’s half-assed at best. I can’t do anything to break it.
” Feeling embarrassed, I looked over at Iris.
“Let’s face it. I’m useless. My sisters can fight, but I’m not the most agile.
I don’t have the skills they do. I can wield magic, but I can’t control it.
” My father’s words rose in my mind, coming home to hit hard.
Ever since I was little, he had discouraged me from using my magic since I couldn’t control it, even while he scolded me for not trying hard enough.
“If you just tried harder, you could manage your magic,” he would say, glaring down at me. It didn’t help that I looked like him—the same jet hair, the same violet eyes, that same intense stare. I wanted to be close to him—I wanted him to be proud of me. “You just aren’t trying, Camille.”
And I would swallow my tears because I knew I’d be scolded for crying, and mumble promises to try harder. He’d pat me on the head and say, “I know you will, because you’re my daughter, and there will be no quitters in this family.”
Iris shook her head. “Don’t talk about yourself like that—it’s not your fault your magic misfires.” She looked perplexed.
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter why it happens. All that matters is that…never mind.” As the memory faded, I headed toward my study. “I’m going to call Asheen.”
As I settled in front of the mirror and activated it, the fog began to swirl. I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders, brushing my hair back from my face.
A moment later Asheen squinted through the mirror, looking like she was ready to climb into bed. She was wearing a nightgown and squinted at the mirror. “Camille—do you know what time it is?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and I know you go to sleep early, but I really needed to consult you. I found out what the tenzar was holding. It triggered a demon magnet spell. Do you know how to break one of those?” Realizing how abrupt I sounded, I added, “I’m sorry.
I’m just so focused on solving this that I forgot my manners. I’m sorry to disturb you this late.”
“That’s all right,” she said. “I understand. If a friend of mine was under a demon magnet spell, I’d be worried, too. Give me a moment to get some tea and I’ll be right back.”
I waved her off. “Go on, I can wait.”
As she walked away from the mirror, I headed over to my balcony and opened the door.
Outside, the rain had stopped, and the clouds rolled across the moon, still full from the night before.
They boiled, churning as they raced by, whipped to a froth by the wind.
I took a deep breath and reached up, feeling the pull of the Moon Mother.
She was glorious, she was, wild and feral, and she claimed my heart.
“I love you,” I whispered. “I belong to you.”
Take comfort that I am here with you, and that you are worthy in my eyes. No matter what world you wander, I will wander beside you.
The words comforted me, easing the feeling that I was a failure.
My sisters did their best to ease the stings I received from our father, but as the Moon Mother shone down from behind the veil of clouds and fog, it hit me: I was forever seeking his praise.
The little girl in me wanted her father’s approval.
I also realized that I’d probably never receive it.
Sephreh had set me up to play mother to my sisters, but I could never take the place of our mother, no matter how hard I tried. We all knew that.
With a sigh, I closed the door and turned back to the Whispering Mirror.
Asheen was there, waiting. She had found a dressing gown, and had a teacup with her. I settled back on the bench.
“Thank you, by the way, for helping out. I appreciate it,” I said. I wanted my friends to feel like I valued them.
“I don’t mind,” Asheen said. She took a sip of her tea.
“All right, so you’re facing a demon magnet spell.
First, you don’t need the tenzar to break the spell.
All it is, is a receptacle. Once the spell is triggered, then you can re-use the disc, because the spell vanishes from it.
The residue energy you feel from it probably comes from the sorcerer who made it. ”
“So you think a sorcerer made it? It doesn’t seem like something an Earthside witch would make—even one who works with dark magic.” I held up the disc, staring at it. The longer I looked at it, the more it felt like it belonged back in my home world.
Asheen closed her eyes for a moment as she held a crystal ball. Then she set the sphere down and opened her eyes.
“Right. I’m getting a vision that some sorcerer crossed over from Y’Eírialiastar to Earthside.
He found the portal your friend stumbled into.
Maybe he was being chased, or chasing someone.
Whatever the case, the sorcerer set up the tenzar as a trap.
And your friend just happened to cross into it first.”
“That makes sense,” I said. “All right, if I don’t need the disc to break the spell, what do I need? Do you have any idea?”
Asheen pulled out a book. “I happen to have a copy of Ezaera’s Demonology, so grabbed it while waiting for my tea. Let me see what it says.”
Ezaera’s Demonology had been written by an Elfin mage and scholar—Ezaera the Wise. He was a member of Queen Asteria’s court, and the Elfin mage had penned several volumes on magic, including a study of the dark arts. I hadn’t seen that book since I first trained with the Coterie of the Moon Mother.
As I waited, she flipped through the pages, then stopped. “Here we are. Demon magnet spells.” She read through it, then—eyebrows arched—said, “Got a pen and paper?”
I grabbed a notebook off the table on which the Whispering Mirror sat. “I’m ready.”
“All right. To negate a demon magnet spell you have to obtain a lodestone, three hairs from the victim of the spell, a vial of pixie dust, four berries from the Golden Chain bush, three drops of your blood, and a ruby.”
As she proceeded to give me the rest of the directions, I grimaced. This was a costly spell. Not only that, but to find the berries and pixie dust, I’d probably have to go to Otherworld unless some magic shop here carried exotic ingredients.
Once the portals had opened, trade between the two worlds had started up, and for the first time since the Great Divide, the Fae and Elves were interacting with humans again. I’d have to ask Frieda for shops that might carry some of the Otherworld ingredients.
“Wow,” I said, staring at the instructions. “That’s going to be delightful. Not.” I glanced back at her. “Do you really think I can do this, Asheen?”
She tapped on the glass of the Whispering Mirror. “Camille, look at me.”
I looked up, meeting her gaze. “Yes?”
“You had a rough time in the Coterie. I know that some of the acolytes and members didn’t want you there—they didn’t believe you belonged.
But the Moon Mother herself chose you. You passed the test. You were accepted by the only one who matters—our silver lady on high.
And Derisa gave you official approval. Yes, you have problems. But you can do this—your magic doesn’t always falter. I believe in you.”
I teared up. “Thank you, Asheen. Your friendship…it means so much to me.”
“Then go. Break the spell, and help your friend. Let me know how it goes,” she said. With a yawn, she bade me farewell and closed out the call.
I glanced at the instructions again, then—as I heard voices downstairs—headed down to greet Chase and to tell them the news.
An hour later and we were done with our call to our father. It went exactly as I had expected it to. He was stiff with me, gentle with Delilah, and ignored Menolly as much as he could.
We didn’t tell him about the demon magnet spell, nor did we introduce him to Chase. The less we mingled our home life with our Earthside life, the better. All three of us had agreed when we first came over that we’d try to make a new start here, even if we were eventually headed back to Otherworld.
After we ended our call, we headed back downstairs for cookies and milk. Well, except for Menolly, who couldn’t eat. Chase joined us in the kitchen, looking tired.
“So, you really think you can break the spell?” he asked, giving me a hopeful look.
I shrugged. “I’ll try. Asheen is certain it will work.”
As we relaxed, Chase glanced around. “You don’t have any pets? For some reason that surprises me.”
“I want a cat, but with Delilah being so territorial, that doesn’t seem like a good idea,” I said.
“If it was up to me, I’d have a menagerie,” Delilah said. “I used to bring animals home all the time when I was a kid. We had a huge shelter for them out back.”
“You brought home every kind of animal except the one I wanted: a cat. Rabbits, mice, dogs…we had them all,” I said, laughing. “But I made Delilah take care of them. I had too much work to do as it was.”
“Delilah was so soft-hearted,” Menolly said. “She’d bring home any animal she found who needed help. Father wasn’t happy, but Lethe helped smooth things over.”
“Lethe?” Chase frowned. “Wasn’t that your boss, Camille?”
I shook my head. “No, but his name’s close to hers. Lathe was my boss. Lethe—her full name’s actually Lethenatall, but it was too long for us to pronounce when we were small. So our mother asked Lethe to use a nickname. She was Lethe from that day on.”
“What was your mother like?” he said, accepting another glass of milk from Iris. “You seldom talk about her.”
I glanced at the others. “I’m the only one who remembers her as more than a blur. I was so young when she died. Our mother was Maria D’Artigo and she was a gracious, wonderful woman who got caught up with our father when he was Earthside on a mission. She followed him home and married him.”
“And you have her last name?” he asked.
“In Otherworld, women and men are known by their mother’s first name. I’m Camille te Maria there. When we came over Earthside, we decided to take her surname as our own.”
“So the father—” he paused. “I guess that makes sense.”
“You absolutely know when you have a baby that it’s yours. Nobody there can prove that the father is who he claims to be. So the system is matrilinear in that sense,” Delilah said.
“Well, that’s interesting. And yeah, it does make sense.” He paused, then said, “I was raised by a mother who spent every waking moment chasing any man who could support her—well, us. My father left before I ever really knew him. He was an addict. Heroin, cocaine…whatever he could get hold of.”
Startled, I glanced at him. We didn’t know much about Chase’s background, other than that he absolutely loved his job.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
He shrugged. “It is what it is. I didn’t like depending on my mother’s paramours, so I started working young.
I managed to stay in school and work a couple of jobs from the time I was eleven.
I delivered newspapers, and worked as a stockboy at a local grocer’s.
I also got a weekend stint as a busboy. The grocer paid me under the table.
He knew we needed the money and that I wouldn’t be able to work for him otherwise, given child labor laws. ”
“What did your mother say about you working so much?” Delilah asked.
“As long as her boyfriends kept her in booze, she didn’t care,” he said.
“You’re a self-made man,” Iris said. “That’s admirable.”
“It was a necessity if I didn’t want to end up like my old man.” Chase shrugged. “My mother dates slackers and losers. I saw too many of them fall because of booze and drugs. I swore I’d never be that kind of man.”
We all fell silent. The energy was thick and heavy, and I was dreading sleep—I had a tendency to have rough dreams when I was upset—when a mouse suddenly raced across the kitchen floor, squeaking.
Delilah’s eyes went wide and—before I could stop her—she jumped up and raced after it. In a blur, she began to shift, and a moment later there was a big, fluffy orange tabby cat there, yowling as she chased the mouse into the laundry room.
“I’m on it!” Iris said, dashing after her.
I rubbed my forehead, my apprehension turning to laughter. “Oh, Kitten, you always know when we need a laugh,” I said as Iris came out of the laundry, holding Delilah in her arms.
Delilah let out a disgruntled meow as Menolly snorted and took her from Iris.
“Kitten, you know better than that,” she said.
Even Chase started to laugh. “How often does she do that?”
“More than you want to know,” I said. “Okay, I think with that, we should go to bed. If you need anything, just shout, but I’m hoping my wards keep the demons away for the rest of the night.”
As we headed to bed, Chase following me upstairs to his room. I realized that I actually felt some hope that I’d be able to break the curse. Sometimes, all it took was a few good friends who believed in you to bring light to the darkness.