Chapter Eleven
Chapter
Eleven
“I feel like I owe you an apology.”
Elle and I are alone for the first time since the incident last night with the game piece, and so far, we’ve spent the last thirty minutes cooped up in my ancient Camry in complete silence.
And not the warm silence of friends who don’t need to constantly hear the sound of their own voices. Awkward silence. Weighted silence.
“About last night,” I clarify. “I should have remembered that Party Polygraph isn’t workplace appropriate. And I definitely shouldn’t have brought up…well, you know.”
In the passenger seat, Elle sighs. “We’re adults, Pippa. Mentioning ‘sex magic’ isn’t going to offend my delicate sensibilities. Besides, I know Alex as well as you do. I agreed to play knowing he designed the game. Frankly, I’m surprised the questions were relatively tame.”
Her words should be reassuring, but she’s still staring out the window like the riot of color on the trees is the most fascinating thing she’s ever seen. Yes, it’s a picture-perfect fall day, but come on. It’s not like she didn’t grow up around here.
“If you’re not upset with me, why did you run off last night?” I risk a glance in her direction. The rural road is deserted but full of hairpin turns. “Why can’t you stand to look at me?”
Color blooms up Elle’s neck and seeps into her cheeks before I’m forced to focus on the road again.
“It’s not anything you did,” she says at last, and from the corner of my eye, I see her pivot to face me.
“I was starting to feel too high, and I thought it was better to put myself to bed before I got dizzy.”
“You could have said that.”
“I know, but…I can get morose when I think about Kinsley.”
“The ex-girlfriend.” A tiny, involuntary thrill works down my spine at the reminder of Elle’s queerness. Of how she let me demonstrate sex magic for her. That’s not something you do with someone you despise. There must be at least a little attraction. Right?
But then I remember what she said in the kitchen that day I was finally mobile enough post-possession to get my own food.
“Was she the one who always made you the bad guy?” I ask, but when Elle turns her attention back to the foliage outside, I kick myself for bringing it up. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s fine.” Elle tugs at her sleeves, nestling the fabric in the palm of her hand.
“Kinsley was the first woman I dated after coming out. Before I’d realized I’m a lesbian, I had nearly gotten engaged to my college boyfriend.
He was sweet and kind and patient. I thought I’d loved him, and I did, I guess.
It was just a platonic love. We had zero chemistry, but I assumed that was normal. ”
“Compulsory heterosexuality at its finest,” I offer gently.
She huffs out a laugh. “And then being with Kinsley, things finally felt right. All those stupid love songs made sense. And god, the sex. Even our less-than-stellar moments were better than anything I’d experienced before.
” The pink in Elle’s cheeks darkens to crimson.
“Anyway, I was so enamored that I didn’t notice when she started to get more critical.
When she started to pick at every little thing I did. ”
“You figured it out eventually. You broke up.”
But Elle shakes her head. “That’s the thing, though.
I didn’t see it. She could be sweet, too, you know?
She talked about getting married and building this incredible life together.
But then Kinsley got a job offer on the West Coast. I wanted to move with her, but she said I wasn’t ‘sophisticated’ enough to drag across the country. ”
“Fuck her,” I say, my sudden conviction loud in the cramped space of my car. “You’re incredible, Elle, and fuck anyone who makes you doubt that.”
Elle’s green eyes meet my dark brown ones, full of questions I didn’t mean to raise.
She must realize the strength of my reaction isn’t the platonic support of a fellow queer woman, and there’s a heat to her expression that wasn’t there before.
A longing that mirrors my own, and I swear her gaze slips to my lips before I force my attention to the road so I don’t accidentally turn us into the ghosts we’re currently hunting.
“Anyway, I kept myself busy after the breakup. I finished the last semester of my MBA, learned how to bake from YouTube tutorials, and made plans to put in for a promotion at work. Then, a few months ago, Alex landed on my couch, heartbroken and needing a change. Midnight Manor was born, and here we are.” Elle glances over at me. “Where exactly are we going again?”
“There’s an abandoned hunting lodge out this way. According to the Witch-tionary, the locals believe the area is haunted. But not, like, creepy haunted.”
“Are all the locations you found in the middle of nowhere?”
“Why? Scared?” I tease, which only earns me an unamused look. “They’re not all this remote, no. I thought outdoor ghosts would be eager to trade up for a cozy B&B. Some of the research I’ve read suggests they can feel temperature.”
Elle twists her head to the side, studying me while I drive. Her focused attention in such a confined space makes my stupid heart beat faster. “I hope you see how incredible you are. I’m sorry your family couldn’t recognize that.”
A confusing blend of emotions swells in my chest. The mention of my family tugs on an old, lingering hurt, but that’s overshadowed by the sudden surge of hope that thrums through my veins.
The force of her conviction mirrors what I felt hearing about her shitty ex, and I can’t help but wonder if she mirrors the same attraction, too.
If she spent last night wondering what might have happened if Xander hadn’t interrupted us in the library.
If she wonders what it would feel like to have my hands in her hair and my lips pressed tight to hers.
“Your destination is on the right.”
Thank you, phone navigation, for saving me from myself.
I pull off the road into a small gravel parking area that opens up to the woods, where a trail is marked with a wooden sign. Once we’re parked, I grab the two backpacks I put together for our task today. “You good to carry one of these?”
Elle takes the offered bag and slings it over her shoulder. “How far are we hiking today?”
“About two miles.”
“Perfect. This can count as my run.” Elle squares her shoulders and sets off toward the beginning of the trail.
I hurry after her, fumbling to get my own pack secured.
Once we’re past the tree line, the rest of the world falls away.
Leaves crunch underfoot, yet there’s a veritable sunset of foliage overhead.
The deeper into the woods we go, the heavier the silence feels.
Anticipation presses heavy on my chest, mingling with the hundreds of questions I’m too chickenshit to ask Elle.
After nearly forty minutes, the trees part to reveal a small human-made clearing.
At one end, a dilapidated shack stands weathered by time, the walls sun bleached, the door half off its hinges.
A small firepit sits in the middle of the clearing, logs split down the center serving as uneven rows of seats.
The place is littered with beer bottles, and I get the feeling this has been used as a party spot for generations.
“Well, this is…certainly something.” Elle makes a face, wrinkling her nose. “Do you think you’ll find any decent ghosts here?”
“Only one way to find out.” I slip off the backpack and retrieve my supplies.
I had Dea overnight a custom cinnamon and cypress incense blend to go with the crystals I already had in stock.
Bloodstone and obsidian to increase the protective barrier of the circle.
Clear quartz to amplify its summoning properties.
I’ll keep the lepidolite stones in the bag until we find a ghost we want to bring back to the manor.
When I set the Taser on the ground, Elle leans over my shoulder. “You don’t think we’ll need that, do you?”
“It’s just a precaution. The posts about this place didn’t mention anything particularly troubling.
” I stand and reach for her backpack, slipping it down her arms. My fingers graze along the soft fabric of her plaid shirt, and as soon as the bag is free, I return to a crouch to put space between us.
“Once I set the summoning circle, the ghosts should be well and truly trapped until they either agree to get in the crystal or I send them on their way. We should be fine.”
“Saying ‘we should be fine’ isn’t as reassuring as you think.”
I glance up at Elle, and from this angle, with the sun backlighting her red hair, it’s like she’s surrounded by fire. “I’ve been clear since day one that we’re wading into uncharted territory. Guarantees aren’t something I can offer.”
She sighs. “I know. It’s just so hard to have so much uncertainty in my life right now.” She reaches out to pull me to my feet. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Nope, just give me a few minutes to set up.” I shake off the desire to hold her hand forever, and then step away from her touch and get to work.
Drawing in fresh magic, I cast a large containment circle around the firepit, where I’ve already lit my custom incense, and then mark the four corners of the barrier with the crystals I’ve cleansed and charged for this purpose.
From the bag Elle carried, I pull out the final special ingredient for today’s outing: four pieces of garden quartz, a unique crystal with intricate inclusions that give the illusion of a garden scene.
While turning over Xander’s request for visible ghosts in my brain, the garden quartz felt like the right place to start.
It can promote clarity and stimulate the third eye, and there’s something about the images inside the crystal that resonated with my need to make visible something not normally seen on the surface.
I infuse the four pieces of garden quartz with additional magic to fully charge their potential and place them at the cross quarters of the summoning circle.