covencraft 04 - dry spells (35 page)

No. Stop. Send me home, but just stop.

“You’ll end up in the middle of nowhere.”

I don’t care, just stop, Jesus make it stop.

“Fine.” Seth sounded more annoyed than anything else. There was a loud popping sound and then he shoved her hard. She reeled backward and she was falling, falling. Medusa’s court room disappeared around her, the world going grey and distant.

Then black. Then nothing.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jade blinked and found herself on the ground. She pushed herself to stand and winced at the sharp pain everywhere. Her arm, her face, her leg, her feet. Her feet? Oh right. She was in her socks. Her shoes left behind in the Dearth.

Damn it.

There were small rocks underfoot. She was standing on pavement. In the middle of somewhere. It was some kind of street fair. It was dark, nighttime. But there were people everywhere. Some gave her a strange look and she glanced down at herself. She was dirty, in sock-clad feet, the sleeves of her jacket torn off. She was bleeding. Her right thigh gave a mighty protested when she tried to shift her weight. She stared at it, confused and dumbstruck until she remembered Seth slicing his talon into her leg, making her keep her mouth shut at demon Customs. It had hurt then, but it hadn’t bled.

It was bleeding now. She wouldn’t die from it, but it was gross and obvious.

Her arm hurt and she turned her attention to that. It was the cut she’d gotten from Mnemosyne in the demon bar, when she’d traded her blood. It hadn’t bled then; Mnemosyne had siphoned the blood out. But like her leg, it was also bleeding now.

Her face throbbed and Jade touched it with gentle fingertips, remembering when she slammed into the dash of the car. At the same time, her stomach rolled, something thick and viscous turning over inside the hollow of her belly. The drink she’d had at the demon tiki bar. She could feel it roiling in her gut. She turned her head to the side and vomited thick black liquid. She spat, trying to clear the taste of bile from her mouth. She stepped away from her sick and inhaled, taking in the scents of the street fair. Corn on the cob grilling, something spicy, coffee, and vanilla all mixed together. A small child stared at her as she toddled by with a large tuft of pink cotton candy in her sticky fingers.

“Are you okay?”

Jade flinched when a hand touched her. It was a woman, perhaps in her forties or fifties, staring at Jade with concerned eyes. She had on a lovely maroon peacoat. Jade wondered where she got it.

“Do you need help?”

“I…” Jade’s eyes darted around. There were people everywhere. And music. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from. A loud popping sound exploded next to her ear and she stumbled back before she figured out what it was; some kind of a food station making an airy, crisp tortilla.

“I think you should sit down,” the woman said. She led Jade to the curb and indicated Jade should sit, but Jade couldn’t make her knees bend. She didn’t want to sit. There was a man with the kind woman; the same age, graying hair at his temples, and a concerned, kind face. He kept behind the woman, a hand on her shoulder, making sure the woman knew he was there. Jade stared at the place where his hand rested.

Jade shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’m… where am I?” she asked.

The woman’s face became more concerned. She reached out and Jade took a step away from her. “Perhaps I should call an ambulance for you? Or the police?”

Again Jade shook her head, unsure what to say until her brain focused on one of the words the woman had said. Call.

“Do you have a phone?”

The woman nodded and reached into her purse. “Yes. Can I call someone for you?”

“Can I?” Jade reached out and the woman pressed her phone into Jade’s hand.

“Would you like to sit? Or maybe have some water? David, go find some water,” she commanded the quiet man next to her. He nodded and disappeared into the crowd. A small yapping sound made Jade flinch and she realized belatedly the woman had a dog in her purse.

“Duds, hush now. Sorry, he’s a barker,” the woman said, smiling ruefully.

Jade eyeballed the furry mass that poked its head out of the woman’s purse. A yorkie, or a Papillion. Maybe a shih tzu. The woman patted the little animal absently and it made Jade think of Bruce.

“He probably thinks he’s protecting you,” Jade said, her words coming out numb and flat, even to her own ears.

The woman’s eyes lit up. “He does! Oh, he’s such a sweetheart. Do you have a dog?”

Jade thought of Bruce again. “Kind of.”

The woman smiled. “They’re such comforts.” She paused, shifting her weight. “You can make your phone call, dear.”

Jade stared down at the phone in her hand, realizing she didn’t actually know Paris’ number. It was programmed into her own cell phone, but she’d never taken the time to learn it. She dialed information, the cool, impersonal tone of the automated operator coming on, loud in Jade’s hear. “How can I help you?”

“Um, yeah. I need to contact a Coven?”

The woman with the small purse-dog widened her eyes. Jade couldn’t deal with her expression and turned away, rattling off the details to the automated system. After a moment, she could hear the familiar sound of a ring tone in her ear and then, after only one solid ring, Henri’s voice, somewhat disinterested and distracted as he answered the main line.

“Oh, um. Hi, Henri. It’s Jade.”

There was a pause, then, “Jesus, fuck! Jade?”

She swallowed. “Yes.” She didn’t know what else to say.

“Holy shit. Where are you? How are you? Callie told me everything. Jesus,” he repeated. “Are you alive? What a dumb question, of course you’re alive. Oh my god, are you okay? You’re probably not okay, but, how are you? Oh fuck.”

“Uh…” It was all Jade could manage. Her throat was closing up, tight and achy at the sound of Henri’s voice. He sounded like home and friends and reminded her of coffee in the cafeteria. He liked a mocha with whip, even though he complained about the calories. She swallowed again, the bitter sting of bile still at the back of her throat. “Um, can you find Paris for me?”

“Yes! Oh my god, yes! Of course! But you’re on the phone! With me! And you’re okay?”

“I… I think so,” Jade replied. Her eyes darted around again and she felt the clawing edges of panic creeping closer to her, the sharp fingers of anxiety, fraying the edge of her mind. “Is Paris there?”

“Yes, I’m putting you through right now. We miss you! Of course we miss you, but we’ve been worried about you and I’m just so fucking glad to hear your voice. Okay! I’m transferring you now. Hold tight.”

“Okay,” she replied lamely. Her eyes stung. Her vision went hazy. Shit. She was going to start crying. She needed to keep her shit together long enough to get home. Jade inhaled and exhaled, counting as she did. One, two. One, two. She thought maybe if she could contact Lily…

A bright shock of pain arced across her brain, like a lightening bolt and she twitched. She immediately pulled her mind back in on itself. She thought maybe she felt the soft presence of Lily’s mind hovering outside her own, but thinking about opening up her mind again was like poking a sore spot in her brain. It hadn’t hurt in the Dearth. Well, nothing had hurt much in the Dearth, but now? She raised her free hand and tapped at a spot just above her eyebrow, finding it tender and hot. When she put slight pressure on it, she could feel a tendril of pain work its way up and across her scalp, then down the back of her skull, settling into the top of her spine. Okay, so no contact with Lily.

Keep it together.

The phone rang again in her ear, this time with the short tonal sound of a call being transferred. She heard a click and then, “Yes?”

Paris’ voice sounded terse and clipped. Short, but familiar. The woman and her small yappy dog were staring at her. Jade’s throat locked up and she gripped the phone tightly. She couldn’t force any sound past the painful constriction in her larynx. She was suddenly afraid. Afraid of the space around her, afraid of the light, afraid of the noise. Afraid if she said one word, she’d start sobbing uncontrollably. The dog yipped again and Jade jumped, her hands starting to shake.

“Who is this?” Paris’ voice snapped in her ear. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She wanted to say her name, she wanted to say his name, but nothing came out.

She heard him sigh, exasperation coloring the sound. “This is a private business line. I’m hanging up.”

Fear clenched her chest hard and squeezed out a breath. “Don’t.” It was the only word she could get out, her body pulling in on itself.

There was a silence; a stretch of empty, black space. The dog blinked at her.

“Jade?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you?”

“Oh, I…” Jade looked around. “I don’t know. But there’s a lady here and she probably does.” Stupidly, Jade handed back her phone. The woman looked unsure, but took it and then rattled off a name, maybe hers. Then a street address. Then a city, then a state. The small yappy dog stared at Jade, its dark eyes glittering. Like Seth’s did. Jade took another step back.

“Dear, here you go.” The woman was holding the phone out to her. Jade took it and raised it to her ear, not sure what to do.

“Jade? Jade, are you still there?”

“Yes,” she said again. She swallowed, her eyes darting around. There was another loud popping sound and she swore.

“Are you all right?” Paris’ voice was strong, insistent.

Jade laughed - high pitched and off-key. “It’s a stupid tortilla machine. It keeps scaring me. I mean, startling me. I don’t even like tortillas.” Why was she saying that? It didn’t matter.
Come get me
was what she wanted to say. But the words wouldn’t come out.

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said automatically, and then saw the woman’s eyes dart down to her leg where Jade could feel the cool air hitting the damp trail of blood. Jade glanced down at her arm where the makeshift bandage was starting to turn red at the center. “I mean, not really.” The small dog wiggled in the woman’s purse and then started cleaning its chest. “How’s Bruce?”

“Bruce? Bruce is fine. He’s at your cottage. He misses you.”

Jade could feel the tendrils of Lily’s presence swirling around her brain.

“Lily,” Jade said.

“Lily is fine too, she’s down in Counter-Magic. I’ve sent someone to get her.”

“No, I mean, I can feel Lily. I think she’s coming up to see you.” If she didn’t really try to connect with Lily, if she just sort of let it happen, like seeing out of the corner of her eye, then she didn’t get a sharp stab of pain. Jade could sense it, in her mind; Lily climbing the main stairs of the Coven, the long, grand staircase - racing up the stairs wearing heels.

There was some murmuring from the phone, Paris talking to someone just out of Jade’s hearing. She hadn’t been paying attention to the words and the context was lost on her.

“I’ve someone coming for you, Jade. Someone I trust.”

“Oh. Can’t you and Lily come get me? With Bruce?”

She heard Paris sigh. It sounded sad. “We’re several hours away, Jade. Do you know where you are? Did you hear Caroline when she said where you were?”

Caroline. The older woman’s name was Caroline. “Oh, um, I guess,” she mumbled. She hadn’t heard. Well, she had, but she hadn’t been paying attention. The tortilla machine popped again and Jade flinched. “Fucking tortillas.”

“Are you sure you’re all right? Do you need the hospital?”

“No.”

“I know you don’t like hospitals, but if you’re hurt?”

“I’m okay. I’m in one piece,” she said, glancing down at her outfit. Belatedly, Jade realized she was holding the wooden box Medusa had given her in one of her hands. She stared down at it. This was what she’d gone for. What Sakkara had sent her to get. With the thought of Paris’ mother’s name, Jade felt her brain sharpen, coalescing from its scattered ramblings to form some cohesive thoughts. Sakkara.

“Where is Sakkara?” For the first time since she’d arrived on the correct side of the veil, her voice didn’t sound shaky or weak.

“At my house.”

“Make sure she stays there.”

“I will,” Paris vowed.

She believed him. She didn’t know how he would do it, but she trusted he would. “Okay,” Jade said, nodding to herself. “Okay. I’m giving Caroline her phone back now. Who is coming to get me?”

“Her name is Yvonne. She’s a former Coven member that lives in the same city. She’ll take you to her hotel. I’m making arrangements to come meet you there.”

“Yvonne,” Jade repeated, trying the name out.

“Do you… that is… Jade.” The sound of his voice saying her name was low and soft. “Should she take you to hospital?”

“No,” Jade answered again. The thought of going to a hospital, where people would ask her questions and poke at her, touch her.  She curled further in on herself. “I’m okay.”

A cool rush of emotion washed over her brain. Lily was with Paris now. She made a mistake and concentrated on her, seeing Lily in Paris’ office. The curtains were drawn. His desk was in disarray; papers strewn over the top, some pens, his laptop. She didn’t think she’d ever seen it so disorganized. Another blast of pain rippled through her mind, like when her neck was out of adjustment and she turned too quickly, as though someone had found the funny bone for her grey matter and struck it soundly. Not funny at all. She pulled back, away from Lily, focusing her attention on the small dog in Caroline’s purse and the pain started to recede. The dog was wearing a sweater. Something plaid. Caroline was staring at Jade with worried eyes. Her husband, boyfriend, whatever he was, was back at her side, holding an unopened bottle of water.

“I should go. I have to give this phone back.”

“No, wait,” Paris’ voice was insistent over the phone. “You… I mean, you’re sure you’re all right?”

She laughed again, unaware she was going to until the sound rang out; it sounded louder as it echoed back at her through the phone. “I was going to say I’ve been worse, but you know? I really don’t think I have.” She blinked, her eyes glassy and unfocused with moisture.