The whole plan went to hell in the blink of an eye. Not that I knew what the plan was, just that Stacey had one.
I’d followed Jen and Luke back to the table and was just sitting down when I got a text, and then four more. Each contained a picture of a ledger filled in with tiny, crabbed writing, the last ripped across the top. Frowning, I zoomed in to see better. My chest knotted as I started reading.
Each page contained fifty or sixty entries, though I couldn’t read them. They were in some kind of code with a lot of abbreviations and little pictures, like hieroglyphs. The expense and debit columns contained positive and negative numbers ranging from one to five, with a total recorded at the bottom. Someone had highlighted the headings of each page. They all said the same thing: Anne Wyatt: Business Exchanges Chronicled and Tabulated.
Anne Wyatt. Aunty Mommy. My aunt and the woman who’d kidnapped and tortured me most of my life.
“What the fuck?”
I scanned the pages again and checked the number they’d come from before typing out a response: who are you?
But even as I hit send, another text popped up: We found these. Lindsey woke up and says you need to come now. It’s important. You can do the other thing tomorrow. The asshole’s having a garden party. You’ll be able to walk in without any challenges.
Another text hard on the heels of that one: This is Rhi.
“Beck? What’s going on? You look like you just got hit by a bus.”
I lifted my eyes from my phone and met Jen’s concerned gaze. “I’m not sure. Have a look.”
I passed her my phone and wrapped my arms around my stomach, my fingers digging hard into the flesh just above my elbows. Aunty Mommy might not be hanging around as a ghost, but she definitely wasn’t entirely gone.
Jen gave a silent whistle as she scrolled through the pictures.
“Garden party? Is she talking about Lydia’s ex?”
“Think so.”
“You believe her? Think she really is psychic?”
“Psychic?” Luke and Mikey echoed at the same time.
I nodded at Jen, ignoring the two men. “I do.”
She’d scanned through the documents, her brow furrowing. “What do the entries even mean? And what kind of business would your aunt be doing with this Mitzi bitch?”
“Fuck if I know, but it can’t be good. Mixing Mitzi and Aunty Mommy would be a cocktail of napalm and agent orange with a chaser of nuclear waste.”
“Why do they think Lindsey wants to see you right now? Is it related to that bad thing she predicted?”
“Who the fuck knows?” But I’d taken back my phone and tapped out the question.
“Bad thing?” Luke said. “Can someone explain what the fuck you’re talking about? I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.”
“Hush,” Jen said. “Let the grownups talk.”
Rhi replied to my text almost instantly. I don’t know, but please hurry. Lindsey’s in a state and I’m afraid she could have a heart attack or something if she doesn’t see you soon. We’re at the shop.
I showed Jen the message. “I’ve seen her when Lindsey has a vision. It really is scary. Rhi and Lorel have to be crazy worried. I’d better go.”
“I’m coming with you. Give me a minute to grab Stacey.” Jen slid away through the crowd.
I glanced at my watch. Stacey’s shift wasn’t over, but she wouldn’t care. She’d drop everything and come instantly.
“Are you going to explain what’s going on now?” Luke asked, dark brows arched. “What’s this shit about psychics?”
“A psychic I recently met is having a vision and wants to see me,” I said, as I typed a text telling Rhi I’d be there as soon as I could.
“Seriously? You believe in that shit?” Luke asked incredulously.
“Not only that, I believe in ghosts and witches.” I winked at him. Mostly to fuck with him. Now he wouldn’t know if I was serious or not.
“Is there a problem?” Mikey asked, his gaze calculating. He’d morphed into cop mode, but surprisingly, didn’t have the disdainful look I half expected to see. Maybe he was figuring out magic was real, and therefore had to entertain the possibility that psychics could be real, too.
“I guess I’ll find out when I get there.”
“It’s one in the morning,” Mikey pointed out.
Irritation flashed through me. “Congratulations on learning to tell time, only you got it wrong; it’s only midnight thirty.”
He ignored my sarcasm. “Just saying it’s late. Most things can wait until morning, unless it’s an emergency.”
“Your point?”
“If you’re willing to cancel your plans and hightail it over to see them, I’m wondering just how dangerous the situation might be.” Steel glinted in his eye.
“Down, boy. We’re probably just talking, but even if not, I won’t let anything happen to Stacey. Or Jen, for that matter. I’ve been protecting them for as long as I’ve known them.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Who’s going to make sure nothing happens to you?”
That almost made my eyes pop out of my head. “Maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll fall in a deep hole and you’ll only have Lorraine and Jen left to contend with.”
He frowned. “I’m serious.”
Sure he was. I just shrugged. Anyway, if I could take care of Jen and Stacey, I could take care of myself.
“I swear to God if someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on, my head’s going to explode,” Luke said, slapping his hand on the table.
“How have you been protecting them?” Mikey leaned forward, studying me intently. “From what? Or who?”
Points to him for being sharp enough to think that one through.
“That’s none of your business.” No way was I going to tell him about life with Aunty Mommy.
“Alright. If you don’t want to tell me, I’m going to come with you,” he said.
“Me, too,” Luke added. “Wherever the hell you’re going.”
I glared. “Who said either one of you is invited?
“I did,” Mikey said.
The temptation to tell him to fuck off and tie him up in magic whispered a siren song in my ear. I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. I knew, in no uncertain terms, that if I did that, I was no better than Aunty Mommy. I considered that grotesque revelation. Was it true?
I wasn’t prepared to answer that. Nor did I have time to think about the ethics of magic and using it for my own selfish purposes with absolutely no actual consequences. Well, except for self-loathing and disgust.
I hadn’t really thought about it before. When Aunty Mommy was alive, I’d hidden my magic, only to find out after her death that she’d known all along. I’d felt like an idiot for all of two seconds before realizing she knew a whole lot more than I did about using magic, and would have really gone after Jen, Lorraine, and Stacey if I’d tried to fight back with mine. I wouldn’t have been able to protect them. As it was, she’d used them as hostages against my cooperation. I let her torture me; they stayed alive and healthy.
Totally worth it.
From Mikey’s slightly concerned expression, I could tell he read me like a picture book. Maybe he was even testing me. Asshole.
“I’m going to wait outside.” I spun around and headed for the front doors, escaping into the balmy night air. A lot of people stood outside smoking and laughing. I crossed the parking lot to where I’d parked the Highlander. Damn, but I missed my Thunderbird.
I hopped up on the hood to wait, only to find Officer Mikey coming in for a landing, with Luke striding along behind looking both pissed and confused.
Mikey stopped in front of me, his thumbs hooking in his front pockets. If he’d looked even the slightest bit smug, I’d have kicked him in the nuts. Lucky for him, he only looked thoughtful. I waited for him to say something. He didn’t speak. He apparently thought that I’d hate the silence and feel compelled to start blathering like some guilty suspect. He was wrong.
I started looking at the ledger pages on my phone, trying to decipher them. Unfortunately, Mitzi’s handwriting was atrocious, and I’d never been good at Sudoku, much less the mess that was her code.
Luke wandered over to stand beside me and look over my shoulder.
“I’d sure like to know what’s going on.”
“I’d sure like a bucket-sized margarita. Guess neither of us are getting what we want. Shouldn’t you go find yourself a hook-up for the night? You’ve got a club full of opportunity, and it’s not going to last long. It’s almost time to close. Gotta keep your dick happy, right?”
He chuckled. “I’m good. Why won’t you tell me?”
I slid a glance at him. “Okay. Earlier today I helped a psychic and her cousins deal with a homicidal poltergeist. Afterward, the psychic had a vision and said something bad was coming. Before you ask, I have no idea what that means. Just a few minutes ago, one of the cousins texted me with some disturbing pictures and told me I needed to come right away. Lindsey—the psychic—had another vision. There. Now you’re pretty much caught up. If you have questions, keep them to yourself.”
I shot a glare at Mikey, who’d obviously been listening in, and then went back to my phone.
Luke remained silent. Hallelujah. As far as I knew, the only way to shut him up was to put a tit in his mouth, or a cock or pussy, or maybe a ball-gag. Maybe I should start carrying one of the last in my purse for those ‘just in case’ moments, along with hand sanitizer, chapstick, and bandaids.
After a moment, he leaned into me and rested his chin on my shoulder as he also looked at my phone.
“Those the pictures?”
I sighed. So much for not asking questions. “Yes.”
“Looks like gibberish. What's all that mean?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. All I can say for sure is that Mitzi—the poltergeist—and my Aunty Mommy, did business together.”
He lifted his head and put an arm around my shoulders and squeezed, then instantly let go as if worried I’d jab him in the stomach with my elbow. He wasn’t wrong. “Stacey told me a little about your bitch of an aunt and what she did to you.”
“Yeah?” I doubted she’d told him any of the really bad stuff, but the not-so-bad was plenty terrible.
“She was seriously twisted.”
“Won’t argue with that.”
He bumped his shoulder against my arm. “Sorry. I know Stacey didn’t tell me the whole story or even much of it, but you didn’t deserve any of the shit she put you through.”
I knew that. Most of the time, anyhow, but it was nice to hear someone else say it, especially someone who had something of an unbiased point of view.
“Thanks.”
“What are you all doing out here?” Jen demanded as she and Stacey strode up.
Stacey sparkled. Rhinestones trailed across her cheekbones and made little curls on her temples. She wore high-top purple Chucks decked out with rhinestones and rainbow LED lights. Fishnet stockings woven with silver thread wrapped her legs up to her miniskirt, which was neon pink trimmed with more rhinestones, with a blue tank top and a rhinestone-studded jacket.
I hopped down off the car and hugged her hello. She smelled of alcohol and the industrial soap she used behind the bar, plus her favorite floral scent.
“You okay?” she asked, holding my arms as she stood back to examine me.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Jen said you caught a ghost that was trying to kill you, and that a psychic warned you about something bad happening.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not hurt?”
I sighed again. End up nearly dead in the hospital a few times, and suddenly your friends think you’re fragile.
“Not a scratch.”
She nodded, accepting my assurance. Now that Aunty Mommy and all her threats were gone, I’d promised not to withhold any information or lie to them ever again. I’d done both to protect them, and they’d forgiven me, but not again. All the truth, nothing but the truth, forever and ever, amen.
Stacey dropped my arms and glanced at our companions. “Why are we standing around? Don’t we have somewhere to be?” She brushed past Luke and opened the front passenger seat.
Jen climbed in the back and I headed for the driver’s side. Next thing I know, we’re out on the road, with Luke jammed between Jen and Officer Mikey in the back seat, and Stacey riding shotgun. I could have pointed out there was a third seat in the back we could fold out, but decided Mikey’s disgruntled expression was too entertaining for that. Luke couldn’t have been happier.
“I’m starved. Can we grab a burger or tacos or something?” Stacey asked plaintively before we’d gone a mile. “Marco stays open late for the after-hours crowd.”
“You got it,” I said, feeling hungry as well.
I pulled into the strip mall parking lot where Marco parked his truck on weekend nights. He served a mix of Cuban and Mexican foods, with a little bit of TexMex thrown in. He didn’t have many customers at the moment, but I knew they’d pour in just as soon as The Starlight Club and the other local watering holes closed. Tonight a couple of other trucks had joined him, one Greek, the other Polish.
All of us jumped out and ordered, taking our food and getting back in the car. I’d ordered a burrito so that I could eat and drive. Stacey had four crunchy chicken tacos and a chicken fajita burrito. She could eat her weight and was always ravenous after work. I didn’t see what everybody else got, but the car smelled delicious, and for a while, nobody spoke.
The two men had managed to shift Jen to the middle, either to buffer their manliness or keep from getting the other’s cooties. Hard to say. I still didn’t know why they’d decided to join us, or why we’d let them. Luke had been remarkably accepting of the psychic and ghost business.
“There’s another seat in the back,” I told Jen. “If you want to be more comfortable. I can pull over.”
She shook her head. “We’re in a hurry. Maybe on the way back.”
“So let’s hear the whole story,” Stacey said after she’d gobbled her tacos. She sat sideways in the seat, her legs crossed, her back against the door. No seatbelt. The LEDs on her Chucks continued to flash. “Don’t leave out the ghost wrangling part, either.”
She gave me a questioning look to confirm that it was okay that she spoke openly in front of Luke and Mikey. Not that she hadn’t let the cat out of the bag when she’d greeted me, but Jen had probably given her a quick and dirty rundown already, so she knew the men had witnessed our conversation when Rhi’s texts arrived, not to mention my little disintegration act at the table.
The cat had long since shredded the bag and escaped.
After I told the story, I spent the rest of the drive to Sutton answering questions. Mikey seemed content to just listen. Shortly after I began to tell my story, Luke revealed he didn’t believe anything I’d said and started ridiculing the idea of magic. I lobbed a ball of witch light at him. From then on, he just sat and stared wide-eyed at it bobbing in his cupped palms. I didn’t doubt he was listening just as intently as Mikey.
Luke was a slut, but he was also smart. He made his money working at a tech company that did business for the government. Whatever he did for them, they made sure he was happy, paying him well and loading him up with a buttload of perks, including paid-for trips to fancy resorts all over the world, a Ferrari, a vacation house in Pebble Beach, and I don’t even know what else.
He kept most of his wealth a secret, unless you noticed most of his clothes were handmade just for him, or if he took the Ferrari out. Most of the time he drove a pick-up truck with all the bells and whistles you could imagine. Basically, he was down to earth and not a snob about his money.
So to sum up: rich, slutty, and smart, but not snobby. He also had a sense of humor and frankly, the best thing about him was that for as long as I’d known him, he’d had Stacey’s back. Sure, he wanted in her pants, but he’d never force her, and he’d also do just about anything for her. I was pretty sure he’d accepted he’d never get her into bed and flirted mostly because they both had fun with it.
Mikey, on the other hand, despite his asshole tendencies, seemed like a solid guy and smart, but he also had a judgmental streak a mile wide. Since he directed it at Stacey, Lorraine, Jen, and I, he was going to have to crawl a long way before I’d be willing to trust him. Or like him.
I parked in the same place I had before. When we reached the shop, the front door stood open, light from the chandeliers streaming out. I went inside and scanned the interior. The girls had been busy. The salvageable stuff had been moved to one side of the shop. Fat garbage bags lined the opposite wall. Several big garbage cans held broken glass, wood, nails, and other debris.
I glanced up to the chandelier where I’d attached Mitzi. Her pink quartz twitched and vibrated. Jen and Stacey followed my gaze.
“That’s her?” Stacey asked.
I nodded.
“I thought my first ghost would be more interesting,” she said, eyeing the crystal.
“I could let her loose, but she’d probably pull the building down on us,” I said.
“You’re here!” Rhi hurried in from Mitzi's psychic reading room. The relief on her face was almost painful. She waved her hand. “Come quickly. She’s gotten worse.”
She disappeared and I followed, the others trailing after me.
When I stepped through the heavy velvet drapes, my gaze instantly went to Lindsey. She sat in one of the chairs at the glass-and-wood pedestal table. Her head hung down, her hair hiding her face. She sat stiff in the chair, arms dangling. She still wore gloves. Her breathing wheezed loud in the little chamber, alternating with sounds that could have been whimpers.
She shuddered and her breathing stopped. Her ribs bellowed as she fought for oxygen. She threw her head back. Her eyes stared wildly at the ceiling. Her body twitched and shook, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Sweat dampened her face and darkened her shirt. She looked like she’d been working for hours in the Arizona sun. Her skin had gone bright red and her eyes looked bloody from popped capillaries. She didn’t blink.
Lorelei stood behind her, wringing her hands as she spoke quickly into Lindsey’s ear. She glanced up as I came into the room.
“She’s here. Do you hear me? Beck is here. You can talk to her now. Please breathe. Please.”
Lindsey didn’t react. I strode to her and stood over her, putting my face in her field of vision.
“Lindsey? Can you hear me? You need to breathe.” And if she didn’t, I’d have to do it for her. Mouth to mouth? Or using magic?
“I know CPR,” Mikey volunteered.
“Same,” Stacey said.
When Lindsey started to bow up out of the chair, her feet on the floor, her neck pressed against the back of the chair, I bent and grabbed her hand, stripping off the glove so I could touch her skin to skin.
A porcupine exploded in my brain. I collapsed against the table and dropped to the floor, my vision fracturing into confetti. Nothing made sense. My chest clenched down and I couldn’t breathe. I fought a panic that wasn’t mine. Lindsey’s emotions pounded through me in a cataract of frenzied fear and desperation. I heard her screaming. That I heard her only inside my head made no difference. The sound ripped through me like I’d been hit with a taser.
Vaguely I was aware of shouting and talking and the smell of lemons and cloves. Weird. In my mind, thick clouds of greasy yellow and black smoke billowed up. I wanted to hold my breath, but that only reminded me I couldn’t breathe. Prickles ran under my skin, quickly turning to pinpricks and then scraping. I twitched and shuddered, but couldn’t rid myself of the sensation.
Lindsey? I might have said her name aloud. I wasn’t sure. What I did know was that if I didn’t start breathing soon, Jen and Stacey were going to kill me. Come on, Lindsey. You wanted to talk to me. I’m here. What’s going on?
I had an impression of her searching for me, that frantic energy stirring the smoke into a bubbling churn. The greasiness stuck to me like I’d gone a week without showering and then rolled around in congealed bacon fat. Eerie noises twisted around me, like they’d been pulled out of shape. It was like being in a house of mirrors, only instead of distorting images, they distorted sound.
The feeling that I couldn’t breathe grew more urgent. My eyes swelled and my heart thundered, a bass drum playing counterpoint to the weird ribbons of noise.
Lindsey! I put all my strength into the mental shout, then remembered I was a witch. How could I help her? She was trapped in some sort of psychic fugue and she’d dragged me in with her.
I couldn’t separate myself. I needed another psychic. Someone who could reach Lindsey and break her free. I only knew of one other and she was as likely to help us as I was to forgive Aunty Mommy. But since I didn’t have another option, I did the only thing I could: I called Mitzi’s rose quartz prison to my hand.
I thought I’d have to crack her bindings, but as soon as the rock hit my palm, Lindsey yanked her into her freakout, too.
I found myself face-to-face with the woman. Except she was a ghost and this was all in my head. How that worked, I couldn’t begin to fathom, nor did I care. Somebody else could explain magical physics. Right now, I only needed to know if she could help Lindsey.
Mitzi looked a lot like Rhi and Lorel. A sixty-year old version. She stood tall and slender, her hair dyed an orangey red. Her face appeared smooth, with few crow’s feet or other lines. But then, most lines required you to smile or laugh. From the glacial chill of her blue eyes, I doubted she understood the concept of humor. Hate, now, that one she had an expert handle on.
Then she smiled and I realized smiles could be malicious and triumphant and didn’t necessarily require humor. If she’d been wearing a fur coat or had black and white hair, I’d have called her Cruella de Vil. As it was, Charles Manson popped to mind.
“Looks like you’re in a spot of trouble,” she said, and her smile widened. It was a Grinch smile, exactly like in the cartoon.
“I always knew Lindsey would choke. Just like her mom. The power was wasted on them.”
It didn’t take a psychic or a psychiatrist to translate that statement. Mitzi hated Lindsey and her mother because they had stronger psychic abilities than she did.
“Course you didn’t bother helping either of them, did you?” I said it like I already knew the answer, which I did. Mitzi probably would have sucked a donkey’s dick before she’d help them.
“Why should I? I had to learn everything myself,” she snarled. “If you expect me to help her now, you’re fatally wrong.” Again, that fat smile. “I know who you are, you know. Your mother and I did a lot of business together.”
“My aunt,” I corrected. “She kidnapped me and claimed to be my mother. I wonder if the universe thought it was funny to pair up two psychopath aunts to torture the children under their power?”
“I was a wonderful mother to Lorelei and Rhiannon. Lindsey deserved nothing good from me.”
“Only because you’re a jealous hag who apparently cheated your own sister out of her half of this store.”
I probably should have tried sucking up, since I didn’t really have any way to force her to help Lindsey. Using honey rather than shit to lure her, but then maybe she liked shit. Maybe I couldn’t scrape up a fuck to give.
I’d begun to feel like giant bubbles were burbling around in my head. An iron band crushed my chest. I probably should have been more worried, but both Mikey and Stacey knew CPR, so they could keep both me and Lindsey alive for a little while, anyway.
I knew that it wasn’t entirely sane of me to calmly rely on CPR to save my life, but this whole situation was insane, and I had to go with the flow. I also knew Mitzi wanted to see me panic, and I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.
“My sister was a good-for-nothing waste of flesh. I practically had to do everything for her her entire life. She burned half her brain up when she was thirteen and never recovered. She was irresponsible and unreliable. She put money into the store, but I planned everything. I decorated, ordered stock, courted artists, and gave readings. I found your mother and she supplied me with magical talismans, curses, hexes, potions, and all kinds of artifacts.”
“Aunt,” I replied automatically. “And that’s how you guarantee orgasms,” I said as realization dawned.
She gave me an ‘are you serious’ look, and then nodded. “Exactly.”
“So let me see if I understand. You hated your sister because she needed you, and you couldn’t be bothered. You hate Lindsey because she’s her mother’s daughter, and you despise her for not being able to learn how to handle her psychic abilities by herself. Wasn’t enough for you to make her life miserable; you died and made her your executor so you could rub her nose in all she could have had if you’d actually cared about her. You’re a gold-medal bitch, aren’t you?”
“Survival of the fittest,” she said. “Neither Lace nor her spawn are fit enough to survive.”
I wanted to punch the smugness out of her. I didn’t have the time and very likely I didn’t have the ability.
“Here’s the situation, Mitzi. You’re bound to that chunk of quartz, and you’re going to stay bound. You do have a choice, however. If you help Lindsey now and teach her what she needs to know, I’ll make sure you get to enjoy your ghost-hood. You’ll get to travel, or haunt people, or whatever makes your stainless steel heart happy. If you don’t help, I’ll put you in a lead box and wrap it so tight, you’ll spend the rest of your existence in darkness and silence. What’ll it be?”
“As if you’ll be able to escape,” she said with a sneer. “You’ll no more survive than Lindsey will.”
“If you want to bet your future on that, go ahead, but you’re risking spending eternity in a black box with only yourself for company. No music, no conversation, no window into the world, just you with your miserable thoughts. Are you willing to take that chance, just so you can continue your petty crusade against your niece? Against a woman who doesn’t deserve it?”
I could feel her wrestling with herself. At the same time, I felt air pushing into my lungs and the dull numbness that had begun to swallow me retreated.
“Tick tock, Mitzi. All deals go poof! Once Lindsey figures out how to pull out of this. When she does, that’s the end of any leverage you have. I should probably tell you that the one thing I shared with my aunt is a powerful vindictive streak. I’ll put your box on my mantle and take enormous delight in knowing you’re suffering the way you made Lindsey suffer all these years. In fact, please don’t take the deal. I’m looking forward to making your death a nightmare. Given a few minutes, I know I can think up even more creative ways to fuck with you.”
It was my turn for the Grinch grin as I felt her quail, and then her surrender.
“Very well,” she said. “I will do as you say.”
With that, she walked into the boiling black and yellow clouds, making an expression of distaste as she went.
I couldn’t hear what she said to Lindsey, and I had no idea how long she’d been gone, but a sledgehammer clobbered my brain and that was all I knew.
When I woke up, I found myself staring up into Stacey’s angry blue eyes. I blinked, my own eyes feeling gritty and dry.
“Hey.”
The single word sent fire rolling around my ribs. I sucked in a breath, which only served to increase the pain. I coughed in reaction and my pain skyrocketed.
“Here. Drink.”
Jen cupped the back of my head, helping me sit up a little as she pressed a glass of water to my lips. I sipped, and sipped again, then grabbed the glass and guzzled. My entire body felt parched.
“More?”
Jen went to get more.
“What happened?” I asked Stacey. “How’s Lindsey?”
“She’s breathing on her own, but she’s raving and none of us have any idea what she’s talking about. Mike’s recording her on his phone. How are you doing?”
“Chest hurts.” I frowned as I took stock of myself. “And my leg and back.”
She nodded. “You took a fall after you grabbed Lindsey’s hand. Pretty quickly after that, you stopped breathing. I gave you mouth-to-mouth.”
Jen returned with the water. I struggled upright. I was laying on one of the chaise lounges from the patio. It had been dragged inside. I swung my feet over onto the floor and took the water, holding it carefully. My hands shook, and my head swam.
I drank the water about as fast as before.
“More?” Jen asked. Her expression was bland, but her eyes were turbulent.
“What happened?” Stacey asked, before I could respond.
“When I grabbed her hand, I got sucked into Lindsey’s psychic space and my body seemed to start behaving just like hers. Couldn’t breath, couldn’t let go. Only solution I could think of was Mitzi, so I summoned her binding stone and she popped in. A lot too much like Aunty Mommy, if you ask me. I offered her a bargain. Took a little convincing, but she agreed to help Lindsey. Next thing I know, I’m looking up at you.”
“What was the bargain?” Jen asked.
“Just that I was going to make an isolation box, so she could spend eternity with only herself for company and no outside stimulation whatsoever. If she helped Lindsey and agreed to teach her how to control her abilities, I’d let her continue in the world, still bound to the stone, of course.”
“We were giving you CPR. What made you think you’d get out alive?” Stacey’s question was almost nonchalant, like she hadn’t been scared out of her mind, or furious at me for nearly dying and putting them through the emotional wringer.
I smirked. “Couldn’t happen. You two weren’t going to let me die. I knew that.” Maybe my absolute certainty had been what convinced Mitzi. I looked around. Lindsey was in another chaise with Rhi and Lorel on either side, both trying to calm her. Her arms swung and her fingers wiggled in patterns that only she could see. She pantomimed writing. It seemed intricate, some of her gestures broad, others bare flicks of her fingers. The entire time she spoke. I couldn’t understand a word. Several times a word or two sounded almost familiar, but it was all gobbledygook to me. Mikey stood at her feet with his phone held up, videoing her.
“Where’s Luke?” I asked as I glanced around for Mitzi’s rose quartz. “All of us women are accounted for. Did he find a hole in the fence?”
That got a small smile from both Stacey and Jen. I still couldn’t tell if they were mad or not. I wouldn’t apologize, though. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t have done anything differently.
“He’s gone in search of some bandages and disinfectant. You cut your hand on that rock.”
I glanced at my hand. A torn piece of cloth wrapped it. I pulled it aside and discovered Stacey was telling the truth, except the two wounds were more gouges than cuts. The side of the rock where it had broken off had sharp edges. I’d clutched it so hard I’d pressed wedged openings into my palm. Blood welled and started to fill my palm. I grimaced and closed my fist around the cloth to stem the bleeding.
“I guess if that’s the worst of it, I’m coming out of this okay.”
Jen snorted. “Some people would say that stopping breathing was the worst of it.”
“Got any more water?” I asked, deciding that arguing would get me nowhere fast.
She gave me a disgusted look and disappeared behind the velvet curtain, returning a minute later with water, Luke trailing behind.
He carried a collection of things in his hands. His wary gaze fell on me.
“You okay?” He asked, crouching down in front of me and setting his supplies next to me on the chaise.
“Been worse.”
He reached for my hand, taking away the torn cloth. He opened a brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide. “Might sting.” He poured on my hand, using a hand towel underneath to catch the runoff. “Interesting night. This stuff happen to you a lot?”
“Just on days that end in -y.”
“You told Mike you’d been protecting Stacey and Jen. From stuff like this?”
“Sometimes.”
He dabbed my hand with another towel to dry it and started wrapping gauze around my palm.
“I’m beginning to see why Mike might be worried about what you bring to the table as far as Stacey’s concerned.”
“Fuck you, Luke,” the woman in question said, hands on her hips. “I’ll take twelve Becks over one of you, so you can shut your damned mouth and keep your idiotic opinions to yourself.”
She shoved him aside and finished bandaging my hand, wrapping it in athletic tape to hold the gauze in place. She pushed my hand back onto my lap, then poked a sharp finger into my clavicle.
“Don’t you go listening to Luke and Mike. I know how you are. You take your guilt trips very seriously, but we let you keep your secrets and let you wallow in your misplaced sense of responsibility for way too long. Not anymore. Jen, Lorraine, and I make our own choices, and nobody—not even you—gets to tell us who our friends are and what we do. Anything happens to us, that’s on us. Got that?”
She’d kept stabbing me with her finger for the entire speech. I grabbed it in my healthy hand and held it away from me.
“Loud and clear. You can stop the woodpecker bit.”
She glared and then snatched me in a tight hug. “I love you. You scared me.”
I hugged her back and then Jen when she came in for a three-way.
“I wasn’t scared,” I said. “I knew you had me.”
Jen scowled. “Scared the fuck out of me. I don’t know CPR. Yet. I’m putting that on my to-do list ASAP. I’m not going to be that helpless again.”
“I swear, if a genie ever pops out of a bottle for me, my first wish is going to be that you can only die after a long, healthy life,” Stacey said. “All three of you.”
“Same,” Jen said. “Wait, if there are witches and psychics, does that mean there are genies, too?”
I shrugged. “You’ve got me. I guess you’ll have to start rubbing bottles to find out.” I slid my loosely held fist back and forth to represent a man beating his meat.
That was enough to finally break the tension. All three of us broke into peals of laughter, while Luke stood watching.
We sobered quickly, remembering Lindsey. I stood and went to stand beside her, recapping to the others what had happened when I’d grabbed her hand.
“Her pulse is okay,” Lorel said, knotting her fingers together. “So she’s out of the woods as far as that goes. But how do we bring her back to herself? What’s she doing?”
“Might want to get her a pen and some paper,” Mikey suggested.
I glanced at him, wondering what he thought about all of this. His expression remained cool and detached. He was in full cop-mode.
“She has something she’s trying to capture,” he continued. “She’s repeating herself now. You might even want to let her have at a big wall or floor. Have a lot of pencils handy.”
Watching her another minute, I agreed. “Where can we find a wall she can draw on? Something where she won’t run out of space?”
“My place,” Luke said. “I’ve got an indoor basketball court. Lots of wall space.”
Lorel and Rhi exchanged a worried look.
“Might help her escape the vision if she can write it down,” I said. “She might even be waiting to bring herself out until she can capture it.”
“Okay,” Rhi said with another look at Lorel, who nodded. “I drive an old VW Bug. It’s too small to carry her like this.”
“You can take my SUV,” I said, pulling my keys out of my pocket. “The back seats fold down.”
“What about you?” Lorel asked.
“I’ll take your car. I can stop and get some markers to write with.”
“We’ll take your car,” Stacey said, holding her hand out to Rhi for her keys. “I’ll be driving.”
“I’ll drive these three to my house,” Luke said, taking my keys. “Anybody else coming with me?”
“I’ll ride with the three musketeers,” Mikey said, pocketing his phone.
Jen rolled her eyes at me and mimed sticking her finger down her throat and throwing up. She glanced at Mikey. “You realize this isn’t a date, right? Not only will you be the fourth wheel, you’ll probably have to jam yourself in the back with me and ride with your knees up to your ears. You may want to rethink and go with Slutboy over here.” She jerked her thumb at Luke.
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “Thanks for your concern, but I’ll be fine.”
“Actually, why doesn’t Beck ride with us,” Luke said. “I’ve got a bunch of extra bedrooms and you look like you’re going to fall over at any moment.”
I hesitated. As soon as he’d mentioned bedrooms, exhaustion had slammed into me like a Mack truck. My eyelids felt like twenty pound weights. I couldn’t sleep, though. Not with Lindsey like this. I needed coffee. Gallons of it. I started shaking my head.
“Go,” Stacey said. “Luke’s right. We’ll get what we need and we’ll all have a slumber party at Luke’s.” She glanced at Mikey. “Well, maybe not all.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he drawled.
“Just be sure to lock your door,” Jen told me. “I’d hate for Luke to be incinerated because he decided to make a pass.”
“I’d like to think I’d show restraint and just give him crabs or a serious case of male pattern baldness,” I said.
“You might, but I’m not sure Damon would.”
At the mention of his name, I felt a pang. He hadn’t called or texted since he’d landed. Maybe distance didn’t make the heart grow fonder. Maybe distance was all out of sight, out of mind.
I ignored the little throb of hurt kindled in my stomach. He’d had to go back for an emergency. By definition, those didn’t leave leisure time. He loved me, and he missed me, and he’d call me when he could. Inwardly I rolled my eyes. Even though I knew that was true, I couldn’t help the hollowness that opened in my chest, adding to the physical ache.
I had no idea why people wanted to be in love. It left you feeling uneasy and off-balance and lonely and stupid. Maybe Stacey was right not to get emotionally involved. Now, if I’d only realized that before I’d started having feelings for Damon, I’d be a whole lot better off.
“Will you pick up Ajax for me?” I asked Jen and Stacey, trying not to sound as forlorn as I suddenly felt.
“Of course,” Stacey said. “Lorraine, too.”
“What do you call it when one guy cock blocks the other, but only so the target of their mutual affection can’t get laid at all?” I asked Jen as Stacey, Mikey, and Luke left together to fetch the cars.
“Desperate?”
“I wonder how the boys see this ending.”
“I figure it can go one of three ways: 1) menage a trois, 2) Stacey kills one or both, or 3)….” Jen trailed off, then shook her head. “Nope, there are only the two.”
“You don’t think Mikey will loosen up?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t seem the type. Luke’s a lot more likely, but mouth-watering as he is, I don’t know if Stacey could drink enough to take a ride on him. As far as she’s concerned, he really is her brother. Deep down, I’m betting he agrees. He likes to flirt with her, but there’s a line he’s not going to cross. Come to think of it, that rules out a menage a trois, so the only way it can really go is murder. Only question is whether she’ll kill both or just one, and if only one, which will be the first to drive her over the edge?”
“Luke,” we both said together and then laughed.
By the time we got Lindsey loaded in the Highlander, I could barely keep my eyes open. I did manage to remember to retrieve Mitzi’s quartz prison. My blood still smeared it. I was happy to find our psychic connection hadn’t continued. Or maybe she just wasn’t talking to me. If so, she’d be unhappy to learn that suited me down to the ground. With a sigh, I shoved her in my pocket. I owed her some sight-seeing and Lindsey might need her. Maybe I ought to leave her on Luke’s nightstand. She’d certainly get an eyeful.
That thought made me smile all the way to the car until I fell asleep.