Chapter Forty-three
HARMONY’S voice mesmerized King as her chant rose like a prayer:
“Oak and Holly vie for rule
Seasons change so fight your duel.
Fall will come, embrace the sight
From shades of green to colors bright.”
Harmony stopped by the unlit bonfire to wait. Someone had set it up like a Boy Scout, kindling perfectly placed. Morgan, King figured.
“This is it,” Harmony said. “The big lighting. I’ll sing a chant, and when I end it with ‘torches to wood,’ touch your candles to the kindling and step back. Everybody ready? Good.” She stood Jake to the side away from the pyre and began to chant.
“Dragon of chaos, eager and sprite,
Drum to summer’s endless light.
Spark fire and wondrous might
Welcome a new twelve month right.
Torches to wood; make it bright!”
Jake laughed louder than he beat the drum. Before long, the fire cracked and snapped, smoke wafting around them. “Blow out your candles,” Harmony said, “and give them to Storm.” She looked around, not meeting his eyes, and made sure the candles were snuffed and put aside so no one could get burned.
“Jake,” she said, bending to him, “you can put your drum down and dance with us, or you can keep drumming.”
“I gotta drum.”
“Then drum you will. Everybody else clasp hands and do what I do. This is like playing ring around the rosy with a twist of your hips.”
King stood to the side and watched, because his ankle wouldn’t allow him to dance.
Following Harmony’s undulating motion—quite the turn-on—everyone spiraled around the burning pyre, and damned if King didn’t enjoy watching them. Aiden looked like a goose, and Storm tripped over her own feet and pulled down Morgan the Miserable, who was enjoying himself.
Their hilarity was contagious, but the more pleasure they took in the festivities, the louder Gussie wailed.
Harmony stopped dancing and looked up at the castle. “The fire needs feeding. I have just the fuel. Come and get it.”
“What’s this?” King asked when she handed him a picture frame.
“One of Gussie’s empty ‘negative’ picture frames.” Harmony handed out a dresser set, buttonhook, gloves, and scarves, and more frames. Taking her turn last, she took out the headless doll that had been in the toy room doll carriage, chanted something to herself, and tossed it in.
The fire flared to life, and Gussie quieted.
Harmony gave them each a paper and pencil. “Write what you wish to receive from our hostess the sun on the eve of her special day. I suggest that you write ‘Peace for Paxton Castle.’ ”
King figured everybody wrote that, so he wrote, “I want Harmony . . .” and stopped. He wanted Harmony
to
understand him, and like him anyway, sleep with him, live with him. He wanted her
to
bring peace to the castle, but he wanted her to stay when she did. He wanted so much from her, he couldn’t decide which was most important, so he left, “I want Harmony . . .” and hoped the sun would pick wisely from his many choices, because he couldn’t.
After all the paper wishes had been thrown on the fire, Harmony and her sisters started singing “Ring of Fire,” people joining in, clasping hands, and walking around the fire, while Jake’s drumbeats slowed with the movement.
The lyrics felt personal. King wanted to dance, to drop his cane and join them, but he couldn’t. “Bound by fire and desire,” all he could do was watch Harmony sway to the music.
They all seemed to stop moving at the same time, perhaps all bound by desire, except for Reggie, who was too young, yet she lifted her child in her arms, nonetheless. She came and kissed his cheek. “Night, Dad. And thanks. See you at dawn.”
“Are you going to be all right inside with Gussie?”
“As long I have Jake, I’m safe. Gussie adores him.”
King watched his baby girl walk into the dark, unforgiving night toward a haunted castle to put her baby to bed. She’d walked alone through many a dark and unforgiving night. Maybe that’s where she got her strength.
Aiden danced alone like a doofus. “I don’t wanna stop partying yet. This is fun. What’s next on the agenda?”
Storm sat in the sand and pulled him down. “Sit with me and appreciate the majesty of the universe.”
Destiny sat and wrapped her arms around her knees to watch the fire, and like a moth to a flame, Morgan sat beside her and watched her.
King saw Harmony opening a cooler to take out cheese, crackers, a bowl of fresh mixed berries, and small bottles with homemade labels of dandelion wine. She offered food and drink to everyone but him.
He didn’t know what to say.
Yes, he did. “Harmony, I’m sorry.”
She didn’t hear him, or she was ignoring him.
“Harmony,” he said louder. “I acted like an ass today, and I’m sorry.”
She took a half turn his way. “I understand. You are, by nature, an ass.”
Chapter Forty-four
HARMONY couldn’t believe that the mighty King had apologized.
“I am an ass for hurting you. I know that.”
When Morgan and Aiden enthusiastically agreed, King laughed with them . . . at himself, which also surprised her.
Then King put an arm around her and drew her to the fire, though she walked slow to match his pace.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to be with him. If Morgan, Aiden, and her sisters weren’t there, she’d say no. She would. “I didn’t think you’d make it through the procession, never mind the entire celebration,” she said, as he pulled her down beside him.
“Neither did I. My feet are killing me after stepping on all those rocks.”
“Grow thick soles, why don’t you?”
“Plus I felt like an ass.”
“For taking part in the revelry, or for being yourself?”
“For being the only one who wasn’t
enjoying
himself.”
Harmony knocked shoulders with him. “What made you stick with it?”
“You, being such an angel to my grandson.”
“Jake’s easy to love.”
“Not like his Grampa, hey?”
Breaking waves filled the awkward silence.
King cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean—”
“I’m sure you didn’t.”
“How could I not follow along with Jake beating those drums, the sound of his laughter reaching me at the tail end of the parade?”
“So what made you come back from Boston?”
“Reggie practically told me to grow up. Get a life. Get a belief system.”
“As in, have faith in
something
?”
“Pretty much. Turns out faith is what got her here.”
“She’s a smart girl, and she didn’t think she needed protecting from all this, huh?”
“All she wanted was to get back here, and she was coming with or without me.”
“Maybe you were projecting your own need for emotional protection on her and Jake?”
King tilted his head and gave her a noncommittal shrug. “Crazier things have happened.”
“You know, Paxton, you might be growing up. Care to give me a demonstration?”
Harmony caught the sudden stillness of his body, as if all systems went on alert. The intensity of his gaze in fire-light made her shiver. “What kind of demonstration?” he asked.
“Stay with me. Hold me by the fire until dawn while I meditate in preparation for the ritual tomorrow. I need to visualize the negativity leaving the castle.”
King stared into the fire, dealing with some inner struggle of his own, and though she could no longer discern its nature, she knew she was asking for something a great deal more intimate than sex. She understood his self-protective instinct. She’d never felt about anyone the way she felt about him, and before she fell any deeper in love, she needed to know what King Paxton was really made of.
He stood as if he was leaving, and her hope plummeted, but he put wood on the fire, sat in the sand behind her, and wrapped his arms around her. He nosed her hair aside, let his lips roam from her shoulder to her ear. “You’re naked under this robe, aren’t you?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Is this a test?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Visualize,” he whispered. “And when you’re ready to sleep, use me as your pillow.”
Harmony visualized . . . and woke with a start. Use him as her pillow? She’d used him as her mattress. King, Aiden, and Morgan were still asleep, but her sisters had left the fire.
Harmony got up, careful not to wake King, and went inside to prepare the ritual.
“Harmony, wait,” King called a minute later.
She stopped. “I thought you’d sleep a little longer.”
He took her hand and laced their fingers together. “My front got cold.”
She leaned into him. “First time your front ever wakes up cold.”
He kissed her neck. “There’s a difference between cold and ready.”
She pulled his head down and blew into his ear. “I noticed.”
Inside, Destiny and Storm were setting up the altar.
“Harmony,” Destiny said. “We were just going to wake you. Is our high priestess ready to lead us?”
King stopped. “High priestess?”
Chapter Forty-five
KING woke Aiden and Morgan and found Reggie and Jake waiting for them inside when they got back. The saplings forming the circle each sported a blue balloon, and a bouquet of balloons was tied to the table, er, altar, leg.
Three gorgeous visions came down the stairs, three kittens walking behind them. Harmony—in a red robe that caressed her breasts, hugged her waist, and flowed to wide points at her hands and bare feet—wore silver sea horses on her earrings, pendant, and toe ring. But on her finger, she still wore the Celtic puzzle ring. Destiny wore butterfly jewelry with her yellow gown, and Storm wore dragon jewelry with her orange gown, each different, and beautiful all three, even the spike-haired rebel. But none were as startlingly radiant as Harmony, the high priestess.
King didn’t know whether to be scared or turned on.
“I invite you all to take part. If you wish, take off your shoes and step into the circle of trees.” Harmony spoke in an ordinary tone, which surprised King. “Remember,” she added, “that after I cast the ritual circle, you can’t leave until I close it down.”
Reggie and Jake joined Destiny and Storm in the circle.
He, Aiden, and Morgan looked at each other.
Jake came and grabbed his hand. “Come on, Grampa,” he said, pulling uselessly. “Mama,” Jake called, “Grampa’s scared again.” King laughed and let his grandson lead him into the circle, and he felt . . . as if he belonged. The area radiated a kind of peaceful warmth. Or was that Harmony’s smile?
Morgan shrugged and joined them.
“If you don’t believe in what we’re doing,” Destiny said, “get out, because anybody who doesn’t help bring peace is feeding strife.”
Morgan slipped his hands into his pockets. “Want me to go, King?”
“This isn’t my ceremony,” King said. “I have to respect the girls’ wishes.”
Morgan chuckled. “You never let anyone tell you what to do, but you’re letting a woman take control? You’ve changed, buddy. I guess black magick wins. Or is it sex magick?”
“You don’t believe in any kind of magick,” Destiny snapped. “But for the record, we work white magick.”
Morgan scoffed, and Aiden steered him toward the door. “King, I think Morgan needs me more than you do.”
“That’s probably true,” King said. “Come back later.”
“You don’t have a ghost of a chance,” Morgan yelled as Aiden shut the door.
Harmony tied the balloons to Jake’s wrist. “You have an important job. Bright blue is for protection, and we chose
you
to protect us.”
Jake beamed.
God, how he loved that boy, King thought, though he’d never actually said so to Jake or Reggie. He
had
been scared.
Harmony stood before the altar to face them. “We’re dressed in the colors of midsummer to honor the sun. Close your eyes and imagine sending roots into the earth like a tree.”
Jake smiled. “My tree grows balloons instead of leaves.”
King knew the drill.
The girls walked the circle: “Three times around, I cleanse the circle with salt,” Storm said as she sprinkled salt while Warlock sat on her shoulder and followed a dangling earring with his eyes.
“Three times, I cleanse the circle with water.” Destiny sprinkled water from a scallop shell, Caramello hitching a ride on her gown’s train.
“Three times, I cleanse the circle with incense,” Harmony said, Gingertigger hopping around her skirts to catch its points.
Jake giggled, and Reggie tried to quiet him.
“Let him laugh,” Harmony said. “Joy makes the circle stronger.” She and her sisters began to chant:
“We gather at the tree The root and crown so tall Together we make our call In hope, with a plea for all.”
After making three full clockwise circles, Harmony stepped to the altar, her sisters behind her.
“Divine light, enter this sacred sphere. Ban negativity from entering here. Peace and love, grow and adhere.”
The mother cat jumped on King’s shoulder, and he shouted his surprise.
“Relax, King,” Harmony said, her breath at his ear and her hand at his back, infusing him with peace. “Let her stay. I’m glad she’s joining us. She has a powerful protective energy, don’t you Star?” Harmony petted the cat, then she combed her fingers through King’s hair, raising a shiver of awareness between them, before returning to the altar.
His peacemaker became a dagger-bearing high priestess then, and she wielded her dagger to construct a circle around them. “For a future of peace and love, this circle is cast.” She placed the dagger on the table and lit the corner candles.
“At the dawn of the solstice sun,
Ancient elements join as one,
Air, fire, water, and earth
East, south, west, and north
With your strength let peace be won.”
Gussie’s whimper echoed, weak but rising, the first they had heard from her with Harmony
inside
the castle.
Harmony lit four tall candles in the center of the altar. “I light this candle for peace . . . this for protection . . . this for positive energy . . . this for harmony.”
Gussie’s wail gained momentum and volume. The triplets hummed together, and the objects on the altar trembled:
“Father God, Mother Goddess,
For this island, aid in our resolve
All negativity to absolve.
Free its people, land, and shores,
Sweep the evil from its doors.
This is our will; set Paxton Castle free.
And it harm none, so mote it be.”
Lightning flashed, and with it, Gussie’s wail grew strong.
Harmony looked at her sisters, and concern passed between them.
King’s protective instincts went on alert. He knew from his stint in the parlor car that lightning was Gussie’s ally.
“Lightning is a powerful energy,” Harmony said. “Gussie is gaining strength, so we have to grow stronger, as well.”