Face the Fire (35 page)

Gently, he closed his fingers over the ring and brought out a dimly remembered spell suited to housewives. When he opened his hand again, the little ring gleamed silver.

He studied it for a long time, then slid it onto the chain with its mate.

In her office, Mia printed out e-mail orders, set
them aside to fill, then efficiently began on the paperwork generated during her brief absence. She’d used the backlog as a legitimate excuse to leave the house early. Though, she recalled, Sam hadn’t seemed eager to keep her around.

By nine, she’d made considerable progress, and stopped to make her first phone call. She needed to see her lawyer at the first opportunity and make a few adjustments to her will.

She told herself she wasn’t being fatalistic, just practical.

From her satchel she took some of the personal papers she’d brought from home. Her partnership agreement with Nell in Three Sisters Catering was in order. But she intended to leave Ripley her share, should anything happen.

She thought Nell would appreciate that.

As the will stood now, the bookstore went outright to Lulu, but she’d decided to change that and designate a percentage to Nell. Lulu, she had no doubt, would approve.

And she intended to start a small trust fund for her sisters’ children, including the deed for the yellow cottage. It was something she would do in any case.

She would leave her library to Mac, as he would make the best use of it. For Zack there was her star collection, and her great-grandfather’s watch.

It was the sort of thing one left to a brother.

She would leave the house to Sam. She could trust him to preserve it, to see that her garden was tended. And to guard the heart of the island.

She put the papers in her bottom drawer, locked it. She didn’t intend for any of these arrangements to be necessary anytime soon. But she strongly believed in being prepared.

She gathered up the printouts, took them downstairs to fill the orders. And she got on with the day, and her life.

“Something is just not right.”

“Yeah,” Ripley agreed. “There are too many people on the beach, and half of them are idiots.”

“Seriously, Ripley. I’m really worried about Mia. We only have a couple of days before the full moon.”

“I know what day of the month it is. Look at that guy there, on the Mickey Mouse towel. Frying like a fish in a pan. Bet he’s from Indiana or someplace and hasn’t seen a beach before. Give me a minute here.”

She marched across the sand, nudged the brilliantly pink man with her toe. Nell waited, shifting from foot to foot while Ripley launched into her lecture, pointed skyward, leaned down and poked a finger in the man’s shoulder, as if testing doneness.

As she marched back, the man dug out sunscreen and began slathering it on.

“My public service for the week. Now, about Mia—”

“She’s too calm. She’s breezing along like it’s business as usual. She came to the book club meeting last night. She’s in there right now checking inventory. We’re doing
the biggest spell I’ve ever done in a matter of days, and she just pats me on the head and tells me it’ll be fine.”

“She’s always had ice water for blood. What’s new?”

“Ripley.”

“All right, all right.” With a huff of breath, Ripley marched along the seawall to finish her beach patrol. “I’m worried, too. Satisfied? And if I wasn’t, Mac’s twitchy enough for both of us. He’s buried himself in research, spends hours making notes. He thinks Mia has something going on that she’s not telling us.”

“So do I.”

“That makes three of us. I don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do about it.”

“Zack and I have talked about it. We could confront her. All of us, at one time.”

“What, like an intervention? Come on. You couldn’t crack that woman with a sledgehammer. I wish I didn’t like that about her.”

“I had another idea. I thought that between the two of us, we could . . . well, if we were linked, we could get through this shield she’s thrown up and see what she’s thinking.”

“You’re talking about prying into her private thoughts, against her express wishes?”

“Yes. Forget I said it. It’s rude and intrusive and sneaky.”

“Yeah, that’s why I like it. Great idea. I can take an hour . . .” She checked her watch. “Right now. Your place is closer.”

Twenty minutes later, Ripley lay back on the floor of Nell’s living room, panting and sweating. “God! She is such a bitch. You’ve got to admire that.”

“It’s like trying to cut through concrete with a toothpick.” Nell swiped her forearm over her brow. “It shouldn’t be this hard.”

“She figured we might try it. She was ready for us. Man, she is good. And she’s got something to hide.” Ripley wiped her damp palms on her slacks. “Now I’m seriously worried. Let’s tap Sam.”

“We can’t. Whatever she’s protecting probably has to do with him. It wouldn’t be right. Ripley, she loves him.”

Staring at the ceiling, Ripley tapped her fingers over her stomach. “If that’s her choice—”

“She hasn’t made her choice. At least that she’s letting on. She loves him, but as far as I can tell, it isn’t making her happy.”

“She never could be simple. You know what I think? I think she’s going to go for it during the banishment spell. A double whammy. She’s already made her decision, Nell. She doesn’t do anything spur of the moment.”

“Ripley, she said our babies would be safe.”

“That’s right.”

“She never said she would be.”

Sam loosened his tie as he watched Mac circle the
outside of the cottage with one of his handheld gadgets. Every so often, Mac would detour, crouch, mutter.

“He puts on a real show, doesn’t he?” At Sam’s side, Ripley rocked back on her heels. “Since Mac’s big production, he’s been doing this check at our place, and at Lulu’s, twice a day.”

“What’s all this about, Rip?” Sam had come straight from one meeting into what appeared to be another. Zack and Nell were due any minute. “Why are we doing whatever it is we’re going to be doing without Mia?”

“This is Mac’s deal. I’ve only got pieces of it.” She cocked her head as Mac started back toward them. “Okay, Dr. Booke, what’s the story?”

“You keep this place tight,” he said to Sam. “Good job.”

“Thanks, Doc. Now what the hell is this about?”

“Let’s wait for the others. I’ve got to get some stuff out of the car. Is Mia expecting you anytime soon?”

“I don’t punch a time clock.” Noting the easy humor that passed between his friends at the statement, Sam set his teeth. “Look, she’ll be on her way home shortly. Lulu, who must’ve passed stubbornness on to Mia through osmosis, has moved back to her own place. I don’t like Mia being alone for long.”

“We’ll get you off to play house,” Ripley began, then saw the icy temper on Sam’s face. “Hey, hey. Easy, Sam. We’re on the same team, remember?”

“It’s hot out here.” With that, Sam turned and strode into the house.

“Edgy,” Ripley said as he passed.

“Who isn’t? Here come Nell and Zack. Let’s get started.”

Within ten minutes, Sam found his little cottage taken over. Nell, obviously anticipating the state of his supplies, had brought cookies and a cooler of iced tea. She managed to set it all up like a party even as Mac spread his notes and books over the table.

“Nell, would you sit down?” Zack tugged her toward a chair. “Get the kid off his feet for five minutes.”

“Hey, I’ve got double.” Ripley boosted herself onto the kitchen counter, snagged a cookie. “So, I’ll start. Nell and I decided to do a little spying yesterday—”

“It wasn’t spying.”

“It would’ve been,” Ripley said, “if we’d pulled it off. But we couldn’t. Mia’s totally blocked. She’s got herself locked up like a vault.”

“And you think this is news?” Sam asked.

“She’s got something going on in that prissy brain of
hers that she doesn’t want anyone to know,” Ripley continued. “It’s irritating, but more, it’s got us worried.”

“She’s worked out what she’s going to do.”

“I think you’re right about that,” Mac said to Sam. “The other night when we were together, she said something about knowing all the aspects, the interpretations. It got me thinking. On the surface, it’s pretty cut and dried. Her task, let’s call it, deals with love. Love without boundaries. We can take that to mean she’s meant to love that way, or to let go, freely, of an attachment that restricted her. Sorry,” he added.

“We’ve been through this before.”

“Yeah, but what seems cut and dried rarely is. The first sister, her counterpart, trapped the man she loved. You take a silkie’s pelt, you bind him to the land and to you. They had a life together, a family. But his feelings for her were a result of magic, not free will. When he found his pelt, he reverted, left her.”

“He couldn’t stay,” Sam put in.

“No argument. Now, a possible interpretation is that Mia is required to
find
a love without boundaries. One that comes to her without qualification or magic. That just is what it is.”

“I’m in love with her. I’ve told her.”

“She has to believe you.” Zack laid a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “And either accept or let you go.”

“But that’s not the only interpretation. You need to follow along here.” Mac picked up one of the old books, opened it to a section he had marked.

“This is a history of the island, written in the early seventeen hundreds, that used documents I’ve never seen. If Mia has those documents, you didn’t get them from the library.”

“She wouldn’t keep them there.” Worry clouded Sam’s gaze. “She’d probably have them in her tower.”

“I’d like to see them, but for our purposes, this is enough. It goes into the legend in some detail,” Mac continued. “I’m going to hit the highlights.”

He adjusted his glasses, skimmed down the yellowed page. “ ‘By magic it was formed, by magic it will thrive or perish. So the choices of the circle deem life or death, one times three. Blood of their blood, hand of their hand. The three who live must face the dark, each to her own.

“ ‘And Air must find her courage. To turn from what would destroy her or to stand against it.’ You did both,” Mac said to Nell. “ ‘When she will see herself, give herself for what she loves, the circle is unbroken. So Earth will seek her justice, without blade or lance. To shed no blood but her own in defense of what she is, and all she loves.’ ”

Ripley turned her hand palm up and studied the thin scar that slashed across it. “I guess we pulled that one off.”

“You had a choice.” Mac turned to her. “More of a choice than we’d realized. ‘And when her justice is meted with compassion, the circle is unbroken. Thus Fire must look into her heart, open it and leave it bare. To see love with no boundaries and offer for what she holds dear, life. When her heart is free, the circle is unbroken. The power of the Three will join, will hold. Four elements rise and end the Dark.’ ”

“Sacrifice? Her
life
?” Sam surged forward. “She can sacrifice her life?”

“Hang on.” Zack clamped his hands on Sam’s shoulders. “Is that how you’re reading this, Mac?”

“You could interpret this that any one of them could have given her life, for the others. For us. For courage, for justice, for love. This book came out of Mia’s library, so it’s an option she’s aware of. The question is, is it one she would consider?”