KISS THE WITCH (13 page)

I let go of the girls’ hands and splayed my
arms to keep my balance until the room steadied to a reasonable
drift. Eventually, the numbness in my feet disappeared and the
tingle in my stomach subsided. I looked at Ursula. Her
expressionless face made me wonder if what I had just seen really
happened.

I turned to Lilith and asked, “Now
what?”

“
Now we’re
done.”

“
Good, because I have to
pee.”

“
No wait.”

“
What?”

“
We have to close the
circle.”

“
Huh?”

“
You can’t step out of the
circle until we close it.”

“
I really have to
pee.”

“
It only takes a second.”
She pointed the athame at the candles on the table, waved it over
them once and they went out.”

“
Cute,” I said.

She handed the athame to me. “Want to try
it?”

“
I don’t know. You think I
can?”

“
Sure, why not? You’re a
witch. Go ahead. Close the circle.” She motioned toward the eastern
edge of the circle. “Start there.”

I pointed the athame at the spot where the
yellow candle once stood, and simply passing the athame over a
quarter ring of fire and thinking about it, I snuffed it out.

“
Wow,” I said. “Did you
see that?”

“
Yes, that’s good. Now
finish it.”

So I did. I pointed the athame at the
southern point of the circle, and in one broad circular stroke, I
extinguished the fire all the way around. I handed the athame back
to Lilith, grinning like a fool. “How’s that?”

She took it, tossed it on the table and
threw her arms around my neck. “You know, you’re very sexy when you
perform witchcraft all oiled up in the buff like that.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Yeah. What do you say we
make a little fire of our own in there?” She gestured toward the
bedroom.

“
All right. What about
Ursula?”

“
Excuse me? Ursula is not
going to bed with us.”

“
What? No. I didn’t mean
that. I meant it would be rude to leave her out here while
we––”

“
That’s not what you meant
and you know it.”

“
Are you insane? I
didn’t––”

“
Look, you know what. I
think we had enough fire for one night. I’m out of
here.”

She turned and started away. I called back.
“Wait. Where are you going?”

“
I’m going to take a
shower.”

“
No. Lilith.
Please.”

“
Aye,” said Ursula.
“Methinks a shower sounds merry.” She turned and headed for the
other bathroom. “Goodnight, Master Tony.”

“
Fine,” I said.
“Goodnight, to you both.”

I watched Ursula walk away, letting her hair
out as she faded down the hallway. And as she disappeared into her
room, I thought to myself how quickly things change. I knew I would
wake up in the morning and see Ursula at the kitchen table as
usual, but I would never look at her the same again.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Lilith
slipped into my bed and woke me in a most pleasant way. Apparently,
she had second thoughts about lighting another fire between us. As
I eased from my slumber to a more conscious state, however, I found
myself whispering Ursula’s name. I had not been dreaming of her or
of anything in particular that I remember. I only know that I
caught myself before uttering her name loud enough for Lilith to
hear.

Later, she laid a trail of kisses from below
the covers up to my neck and chin before resting her head on my
pillow. “You were saying?” she asked.

I brushed her cheek with the back of my
hand, and though I knew it was Lilith, in the pale glow of
moonlight stealing through the window, I entertained the notion
that I could not be entirely sure.

“
That was nice,” I
said.

She nuzzled closer, laid her arm upon my
chest and cooed something softly in my ear. I closed my eyes for
just a moment and awoke to a sunlit room. The smell of fresh coffee
percolated in through the open door. Lilith was gone. But for a
single black hair across my pillow, I might have thought I dreamt
her.

I rolled out of bed, put my jeans on and
headed for the kitchen. Lilith and Ursula were there, both still in
sleepwear. That is to say, Ursula was in sleepwear. Lilith sleeps
in the buff and typically slips into short sweats and a T when she
gets up.

I found them talking in whispers and pouring
over details in a notepad that Lilith started for Ursula to help
her with her witchcraft. They stopped when they saw me enter the
room.

“
Oh, hey,” said Lilith.
“You want some coffee?”

I sat down opposite the girls and folded my
hands upon the table. “I’d love some.”

She gestured toward the coffee pot. “Help
yourself. It’s over there.”

“
Huh?”

Ursula said, “Think not of it, Master Tony.
I will get thee thy coffee.”

“
Okay,” I said, and I
smiled at her through still sleepy eyes. “Thank you
Ursula.”

I watched her cross the room and reach up
into the cabinet on tiptoes for a cup. At that angle, I could see
the sunlight spilling through the window, tracing her silhouette
through the sheer veil of her nightgown. For a moment, every curve,
every subtle nuance in form shown through like sculpted art. I
imagined her skin below the flow of silk absorbing the warmth of
the sun, awakening from her stretch and returning like a supple
breeze. She poured the coffee into the cup and a conspiracy of
decadent images frolicked in my mind. I thought of the night
before, of her body glistening in oil as I held her tight. Did she
fall, or did I pull her down just to feel the weight of her body on
mine? I remembered how she smiled at me, even laughed with
child-like purity at the innocence of it all. Or was that how she
wanted me to see it? Perhaps her innocence dissolved in the growing
fascination she found in her hands. Had she not spent more time
exploring there than she should have? Had I not allowed it?

“
Do you hear me?” said
Lilith.

I blinked and found myself under Lilith’s
scrutiny; her piercing glare leveled at me through narrowed
eyes.

“
What?”

“
I said do you hear me?
Are you having trouble concentrating?”

“
It’s hard,” I said. “I
mean…it’s not hard. It is difficult. What did you say?”

“
I asked if you slept
okay.”

“
Oh, sure. Like a
baby.”

“
Hmm, I see.”

“
You see?”

She cast her glance toward Ursula, and my
eyes followed. Ursula had stepped from the sunlight into a shadow.
Still, that could not block the images of the night before that
remained in my brain. She turned around and saw us looking at her.
Perhaps she felt us watching. I smiled awkwardly, feeling a
conspicuous sense of guilt I could not explain.

She returned with the coffee and placed it
on the table before me. I thanked her without looking up. She
touched my hand and told me she was pleased to do it.

“
Pleased to…. Wait a
minute,” I said, and my heart skipped a beat. I looked at her,
certain those were the very words Lilith cooed in my ear before she
fell asleep with her head on my pillow and her arm across my
chest.

“
Come, Ursula,” Lilith
called, and the two went back to the notepad and resumed without
mention of anything more to me.

Minutes passed and my thoughts began to
wander again. I could hear them talking about spells and charms and
the differences between the two, but I could not follow it. My mind
was somewhere else. I suppose it was the detective in me. As I sat
there sipping my coffee, peering indiscriminately over the rim of
the cup at the two, it struck me how casual both were about the
events of the previous night. Lilith, I suppose, did not surprise
me so much. She has no inhibitions. When calling up nerves and
bravado, she checks her modesty at the door.

Still, something did not seem right. At the
risk of overstating the phenomena that took place during the coven
ceremony, I will tell you that we almost certainly travelled to a
parallel dimension and perhaps to another time, as well. That such
an event would not dominate the morning’s conversations made me
suspicious beyond simple curiosity.

To top it off, although Ursula appeared as
indifferent as Lilith did toward the ceremony, I know I caught her
looking at me surreptitiously. Her repeated glances even caught
Lilith’s attention. She closed the notepad and regarded us both
skeptically.

“
Do you two have something
you want to get of your chests?” she asked.

I hooked my brows in honest surprise. “Me?
No. I don’t have anything. Ursula?”

Ursula shook her head, her brows stitched in
similar surprise. “Nay. I have no words for thee, but to beg your
pardon if I caused concern for naught.”

Lilith drew a bead upon me. “You know, it
would not hurt you to pay more attention to this shit.”

“
What shit?”

She picked up the notepad and shook it at
me. “This. I made these notes for you, too, you know. You are in
the coven now. You should…. No. You NEED to practice witchcraft
more often now. The strength of the coven depends on it.”

“
I will. I told you I
will. I promise.” I checked the clock on the wall. “It’s getting
late. Carlos will be here soon to pick me up. We can talk about
this tonight.”

Twenty minutes later, I was dressed and out
the door. Carlos rolled up to the curb in one of his Corvettes. I
was barely in it when he asked me about the ceremony. I did not
want to talk about it, and I told him so, but Carlos has a way of
latching on to something like a pit bull and not letting go. After
making him promise not to mention anything about it to Spinelli, I
told him how it all started.

“
My God,” he said, with a
foolhardy grin. “So you really saw Ursula naked, huh?”

“
Carlos, it’s no big deal.
You know she looks just like Lilith, and I have seen Lilith naked
thousands of times.”

“
Yes, but Ursula…. Wait.
Thousands of times?”

“
Well, sure. I mean we’ve
been together a few years now.”

“
Wow, you have returned to
prime. Haven’t you?”

“
Carlos, I––”

“
All right. Forget it.
Tell me about it.”

“
`Bout what?”

“
Ursula.”

“
What’s there to
tell?”

“
I don’t know. Give me
something juicy, something Dominic doesn’t know.”

“
Like what?”

“
Like, does she have any
identifiable marks on her body that we normally can’t
see?”

“
You mean a
birthmark?”

“
Yes.”

“
No.”

“
No
birthmarks?”

“
None that I could
see.”

“
What does that mean? You
didn’t see all of her?”

I thought about it, and I don’t know why,
but I laughed.

“
You are laughing. Why?
What is it? You did see all of her, didn’t you?”

“
Oh, yes. I saw all of
her, but really, it’s not right to talk about it behind Spinelli’s
back.”

“
What’s? You want we
should talk about it in front of him?”

“
Oh, no. I’m not telling
him I oiled up his fiancée and touched her in places he has only
dreamed of.”

Carlos suddenly got very quiet.

“
Shit,” I said. “Did I
just say that out loud?”

He laughed. “Oh, hell yes you did.”

“
Forget I said
that.”

“
Forget it? Tony, I’m
going to include it in the next publication of the precinct’s
newsletter if you don’t spill the details.”

“
You will not.”

“
Tony, this––”

“
Carlos, you cannot spread
a word of this to anyone, especially Spinelli. If he finds out
Ursula touched me down there, he will––”

“
Wait. Ursula touched you
down there?”

“
Shit.”

“
She touched your
pecker?”

“
Carlos, if
you––”

“
Tony. You have to tell me
now. Listen, I will not tell a soul. I promise. Come on. We have
been together over thirty years. We tell each other everything. You
can trust me.”

I don’t know why I told him. I should have
known better. The truth is, I think guys inherently need to tell
other guys when something like that happens to him, especially his
best friend. I turned to him and shook a stern finger, warning him
of the consequences he faced if he told anyone else.

“
I won’t,” he said. “I
promise. Not a soul. Now hurry up and tell me. We’ll be at the
station in a couple of minutes.”

“
All right, but I mean
it.”

“
All right. I got it. Not
a soul. Now tell me why she touched you.”

“
It was perfectly
innocent, really. See, we started out by oiling each other up
and––”