covencraft 04 - dry spells (7 page)

“Sacrifice can be the hardest of all. It’s that’s what separates good leaders from average.”

“Are you reminding me of my lessons or are you implying that faking your death was some kind of sacrifice?”

“I cannot go into details.”

“Why not?” Frustration burned at him. “Surely you can see how absurd this all is. We need an explanation.”

“We?” asked his mother. “As in you and Jade? Or just you?”

Paris exhaled long and hard through his nose. “I think Jade would also like to know why you’re back.”

“I’ve told you,” she said calmly. “I’m back to secure Jade for an errand.”

“For your demon mistress. Who you’ve been with this entire time?”

She paused. “Yes.”

“Since your presumed death.”

“Yes.”

“In service to her?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“That’s not germane to the errand.”

“Germane? Germane?”

“Temper,” she admonished.

Paris swallowed thickly. “I should like to know what sort of deal you made that necessitated you leaving your position as Coven Leader, lying to us, and going into service for a demon.”

Sakkara stood, turning from him. “As I said, it’s not relevant to the errand.”

“It’s relevant to me.”

Her back muscles tensed and then relaxed as she went through the motions of cleaning up the counter. “Can you not trust that I did what was best?”

A year ago, if someone had asked if he trusted his mother, the answer would have been a resounding ‘yes, yes, of course.’ Now, the question stuck in his chest, thick and heavy.

“No. I cannot.”

She didn’t turn back around. She took a cloth from the drawer where he kept them, where she’d always kept them, something he’d never changed, and wet it in the sink, bringing it back to wipe down the counter. “How unfortunate.”

#

Feeling like a child, Paris waited until his mother had gone to sleep in the spare room before calling Hannah. She answered on the first ring, giving no indication that it was past two in the morning in her time zone.

“Hello, Paris. This is a surprise.”

“Hello, Hannah. I’m sorry for waking you.”

There was a long silence on the phone as Hannah waited for Paris to tell her why he called and he sat there unsure where to begin. After two minutes, Hannah broke the quiet first.

“As much as I love to be woken from a dead sleep at two in the morning, I do have a council meeting early in the morning and would like to sleep again tonight before that. Is there something I can do for you?”

“My mother is alive.”

There was a rustle on the other side of the phone and then Hannah said, “Pardon me?”

“My mother. She’s alive.”

“No. That’s… Paris, dear, are you quite all right?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, checking once more that the door to his study was closed, securely latched against any intrusive listening. “I… I’m not… Did you know how extensively my mother dealt with demon magic?”

There was more rustling and Paris heard the distinctive click of a light being switched on.

“What? Your mother… I’m sorry, could you please start again?”

Paris took a deep breath. “My mother is alive.” The words felt thick on his tongue. Hannah listened patiently as he recounted the events of the last few weeks, culminating with his mother’s appearance at Jade’s house the night before with her request for Jade.

“Did you know how involved she was, or is, with demon magic?”

“No. Perhaps,” Hannah added after a moment, “I… I knew your mother very well. At least, I thought I did. She was an extraordinary Coven Leader.” There was a pause as Hannah thought and then she continued. “I… suspected… I didn’t know anything for certain, but at times your mother seemed… distant or … distracted. Of course, being Coven Leader is a difficult task and I assumed it was the weight of the role on her shoulders. When Jade found her grimoires, your mother’s three demon grimoires,…” Hannah sighed. “I hadn’t known, but I can’t say I was surprised either.”

Her words sat heavy on him like an uncomfortable garment against his skin. “Why not?”

“Do you remember when you were eight? You were terribly ill.”

Surprised at her change in topic, Paris considered her question. “Vaguely. I was out of school for a while. I remember having to catch up.” His memories of the time were that of a child: he was in school, then he wasn’t. He remembered a stretch of time spent at home and then intangible, strange memories of the hospital: people looming over him, long corridors and conversations he didn’t understand.

“You had a terrible fever related to a flu and your mother tried several of her poultices and tinctures without avail. She took you to the hospital, but they were unable to bring your fever down. We feared for your life.”

“I didn’t know it was so serious.” Paris only remembered people moving in and out, some red gelatin he was allowed to eat and a stern doctor.

“One night, your mother asked me to stay with you. I had been counseling her to leave for a while. Take a break, a shower, get some sleep, but she would not leave your side. Finally, she relented and I thought she meant to go home and take my advice of a nap, a meal and a shower. However, she came back not two hours later and her scent… there was magic all around her but different.”

“Black licorice,” Paris murmured, thinking of the sugar-sweet, pungent smell of his mother’s demon magic.

“Yes. I’d never smelled that on her before. She was more calm than I’d seen her in days. She came back in your room and packed your bag, as if you’d already been released. You woke up within minutes and an hour later, you were checked out with no signs of fever or illness.”

He only remembered being ill and then not being ill any longer. Had he been touched by demon magic then? He wouldn’t have known the difference and even now, could not say for certain. He only knew that the scent of anise - black licorice - was only present in his mother’s craft when she worked dark magic.

“She’s been with a demon this entire time,” Paris continued. “And now she’s back to ask Jade to undertake some kind of errand. To fetch an item.”

“What kind of item?” asked Hannah.

“I don’t know. But it’s currently held by the Gorgon, Medusa.”

Hannah exhaled sharply. “That’s… quite an errand. Why?”

“I don’t know.” Paris rubbed at his eyes. He was tired. It had been a long night and he should be asleep.

“And Jade? What does Jade say about this?”

“She’s been having migraines,” he replied, not sure why he answered with that detail. He’d filled Hannah in on Jade’s past - on how she’d formerly been a member of the Coven, Josef’s niece. He’d explained as best he could about Lily and how Jade had split from her, how they were two separate people. “She had one tonight, while my mother was speaking to her. We don’t… Dr. Gellar can’t say…” He swallowed. Jade’s migraines were very much on his mind. “Her physiology is not meant for as much magic as she has and with Lily returning…” He trailed off. “Dr. Gellar is concerned there is permanent damage.”

“What does Jade think of your mother’s request?”

“I don’t know. Her migraine worsened quite quickly and I put her to sleep. I’m hoping to speak with her tomorrow. Without my mother present.”

“What do you think of your mother’s request?”

“I… don’t know that either.” His eyes darted to the closed door of the study, picturing his mother somewhere behind it. “She’s exactly as she was and yet, at the same time, not at all how I remember her. She was always driven, but to see her so focused on something that I would have considered anathema to her nature - an errand on behalf of a demon…. It’s unsettling. I feel responsible.”

“Why?”

Because she’s my mother, because somehow she belongs to me and I to her, because I’m Coven Leader, because I feel that Jade’s well-being rests with me and I’m doing a horrible job.

As if reading his mind, Hannah continued, “You are not responsible for your mother’s actions. You are your own person.”

“Am I? I’m the product of my upbringing, which rested solely with my mother. A year ago, I would have blindly credited her with much of my success as Coven Leader.”

“Absolutely not. Your success is your own.”

“I’m not so sure. She raised me to be the leader I am.”

“Perhaps. But you make your own choices.”

“I’m not sure what choices to make now.”

Hannah took a moment before speaking. “I’m not sure there is any advice I can give you that would help.”

“I have to talk to Jade,” Paris said, thinking out loud.

“Yes.”

He breathed deep. “Again, I apologize for waking you, I…” he didn’t know how to finish his sentence.
Thank you
seemed so inadequate.

“Please let me know if you would like me to make arrangements to come back to the Coven.”

Paris opened his mouth to protest that her returning wouldn’t be necessary, but he couldn’t force the words out. “I will.” While he didn’t necessarily feel better about his mother returning from the dead, he didn’t feel quite so fraught after speaking with Hannah. He would speak with Jade, discover her feelings on the matter and then proceed from there.

#

Waking up from a migraine felt like dreaming: being underwater and fighting her way to the surface of the lake, being unable to breathe and not knowing which way was up. Jade jerked awake, feeling a surge of adrenaline course through her, making her heart pound and her breath catch. She expected a fight, fear putting her on edge. All that happened was she woke up, in her bed, in her room. Alone.

It took a moment for her to remember why she’d been asleep in the first place: her migraine. She remembered pain and the cool press of Paris’ fingers against her face and then, nothing. As her mind caught up to being awake, she flipped back the covers and slipped out of bed. A quick glance at the clock had her confused. The time read eight, but she couldn’t make that fit with the daylight that was coming in from the window. Unless… oh shit, it was eight in the morning. That meant she’d been asleep overnight. Her hair was a mess with flyways and strands escaping from her ponytail, tickling her face. As she made her way downstairs, she finger combed it and pulled it back again into its tightly secured hairstyle. Bland, but functional.

“No, you only get the
one
serving of coffee.” Jade could hear Lily’s voice from the kitchen. “I don’t care how many times you blink at me with those lizard eyes. If you have another cup, your tail starts to twitch. You know this. I know this. One cup. That’s it.”

Jade entered the kitchen to find Lily sitting at the table drinking her own coffee, head tipped down speaking to Bruce. True to what Jade had just heard, Bruce was giving Lily baleful, soulful eyes, pleading with her for another cup of coffee. There was an empty wide-mouthed mug on the floor under the table, licked clean. He pushed it forward, toward, Lily with his snout.

“Sleeping Beauty awakes,” Lily said, looking up as Jade entered She got up and poured Jade a cup of coffee.

“Sleeping, yes; beauty, not this early. Not until I get my makeup on.” Jade sat down at the table and Bruce’s tail swept across the floor, slapping her on the ankles. His tongue darting out and touched her ankle quickly, sand-papery and light.

“Speaking of makeup, I wanted to wear that lipstick? That one in the black container with the silver strip. Like a neutral but not?” Lily said, lilting the end of the sentence. “Pink mocha? Mocha peony? Something like that?”

Jade sipped the coffee. It was still hot - the pot must be less than an hour old. “They discontinued that shade.”

Lily sat down with a thud, a heartbroken look on her face. “No.”

Jade frowned. Was that really what she looked like when upset? Lily’s face was a mirror of her own, she it must be the same expression Jade wore when disappointed, like some kind of demented turtle. “Yep. Gonzo.”

“Ugh. Fuckers. That looked really good on us.”

“I know. I bought a few, but over time, most places are sold out.”

“God, you die for a little bit and the whole world goes to shit. They still make our foundation shade, yeah?”

Jade nodded. “Yeah, that one’s still good.” She gave Lily a thumb’s up.

Bruce’s mug toppled over and he glared at both Lily and Jade.

“I told you, no more coffee,” Lily answered.

Bruce slapped his mug with his tail, sending it sliding across the floor to hit the baseboard by the fridge.

“Being this petulant only makes me less inclined to give you more coffee.”

Bruce huffed and then cast an accusing look at Jade.

“Sorry, buddy. One cup rule or you tail twitches and you knock stuff over. I’ll make a fire for you in the fireplace if you want.”

Bruce tossed his head haughtily and left the kitchen. As he did, Jade murmured a few words, casting the spell for a medium-heat fire in the hearth that he could show his belly to.

Lily sighed. “I tried to make one for him, but it just… fffft. Fizzled out. I’m not sure why. I’m not as good at it as you.”

“I’ve had more experience.”

“No, that’s not it. I’m not as powerful as you are, Jade. And it’s okay. You don’t have to keep pretending like I am.”

Jade fiddled with her mug, turning it in a slow circle, staring at the surface of the beige liquid. “You’re just as powerful as I am.”

Lily sighed. “No, I’m not and I don’t think I’ll ever be. And like I said, that’s okay.”

It didn’t feel okay to Jade. She didn’t want to have more power than Lily. She wanted them to be equal. The same. Or if that wasn’t possible, she didn’t want to be the one with more power. Or maybe she did. She didn’t know. She tried to think about it sometimes and it got all mixed up in her head - thinking about how she ‘died’ when she was little, joining up with Lily in her mind and then eventually taking over her body. Taking power over something that wasn’t hers. A staged coup.

Lily stood up abruptly. “For god’s sake, you didn’t take over. It’s not like there was a bloody revolution with people screaming about cake and guillotines.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes, you did. You act like you purposely tossed me out on my ass, but that’s not what happened. You and I both know it. When I left… When I disappeared, I wanted to leave, I wanted out. I wanted to-“