Halfway There, page 21
My what? I glanced at my cat, who chose that moment to lick a paw and slick it over his head. Maybe I should get a dog and see if I could crack his calm demeanor.
Anyhow, that conversation led to me being the one in front of the pot stirring and mumbling some weird words that meant nothing at first. By the time I was on my fourth repetition, I began to understand.
Find. Find. The missing one.
By the blood.
Show me.
By the spirit.
Show me.
By my command.
Show me.
It sounded more eloquent in whatever language I was mumbling.
Nothing happened. I stopped stirring and eyed my partners in spell casting.
“Satisfied?”
“No. Let me add a few more strands of Jojo’s hair.” Trish had a brush in her car that Marjorie had used. She pulled strands from it, the blonde distinctive. They fluttered into the bubbling pot, as did the drops of blood she pricked from her finger as someone who knew her well.
We didn’t get any kind of sign. Winnie, watching the map intently, shook her head.
Tricia held up the cleaned brush. “I don’t have anything else.”
When she would have pricked herself again, I snagged the needle. “My turn to try. I know Marjorie, too, after all.” My first poke didn’t break skin, and I bit my lower lip. I’d have to jab a lot harder.
I cried out when my next attempt went through skin a little too deep. Blood welled. I dripped it into the boiling pot and began murmuring again,
Find. Find. The missing one.
By the blood.
Show me.
By the spirit.
Show me.
By my command.
Show me.
Without intending it, as the last line slipped past my lips, it emerged low and rumbly. I would have sworn the house trembled. A cold breeze definitely kissed my lips and momentarily frosted my lashes. Looking down into my brew, I noticed it had stopped bubbling.
Odd because the stove was still on. I went to dip my spoon, and the moment it touched the surface, the contents of the cauldron exploded.
I cried out and threw my arm over my eyes, expecting it to scald. Instead, hard cold pellets hit me, and I opened my eyes to see hail inside my house, lumps of the potion already melting where they landed.
“Oh gross. I need a towel.” Maybe a few because it had splattered everywhere.
“Um, Mom.”
Winnie’s words drew me from the mess in my kitchen. As I turned, I gaped at my poor living room.
Water poured from the ceiling, hit the map on the table, and proceeded to flood the floor.
“Oh no!” I yelled. I’d need more than a towel to mop it up. I needed to stem the deluge.
I dashed for the stairs while Trish shrieked, “It worked!”
The plumbing issue had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with the overflowing toilet. Never mind the fact I’d not used it all day. It chose to start running as we played with the recipe, and once it started, the model was too old to know it should stop.
The shut-off valve stopped the flooding, but the watery mess would take longer to fix. As I dumped towels on it, Tricia paced.
“It worked. I knew it would.”
“I don’t know what you think was proved.” I pointed to the soggy map. “The whole thing got wet.”
“Which is the clue. She’s near water. Only proving what I said. Maddy must have her.”
“This proves nothing.” I provided the voice of reason. “Only that the toilet is old and should be replaced.”
“It’s a sign,” Trish insisted.
“Of what?” I pointed to the soggy mess. “It was supposed to show her location.”
“It was supposed to give us a clue, and it did. It must mean she’s by the lake.”
What I didn’t say, because even I wasn’t that cruel, was if that were the case, then Marjorie would be drowned. Aka dead. Instead, the more sensitive me said, “We should go to bed. We both have to work in the morning.”
Except I was too restless to sleep.
Had I done magic?
Despite my skepticism, it seemed rather coincidental that the toilet stopped working at that exact moment. Coincidence did not equal magic, and despite what Trish believed, Marjorie wasn’t inside the lake.
Rising from my bed, I put on some slippers and a robe and headed downstairs. Maybe some warm milk to help me sleep? Gross as that sounded. But then again, it worked with babies. Perhaps it was a Pavlovian effect for adults.
I tiptoed quietly past the couch where Trish was sleeping and headed for the kitchen. As the cup of milk heated on the stove, I stepped outside onto the front porch.
The air was chilly, but it didn’t have that biting cold I’d gotten used to. I wrapped my arms around myself and shuffled to the railing. The trees hid my view of the lake, and yet I knew it was there. Could swear I heard the lapping of water on the shore. The faint rumble of an engine.
At this time of night?
I grabbed a flashlight before heading toward the lake, the thin beam of light worse at times, given how it bounced. I turned it off as I spilled onto the empty beach.
By the edge of the lake, lit only by a crescent sliver, I listened. I heard nothing at first. Water rolled upon the shore. A tiny breeze ruffled some leaves and branches.
Whatever I thought I’d heard was either gone or had never been there to start with. As if someone would go boating this time of night. I probably mistook the rumble of a car for an outboard engine. There was nothing out here but nature and darkness.
Then someone lit a lantern on their prow a few hundred feet from shore. I heard voices, barking, then the hum of engines and more lights as the first boat was joined by others.
Something was happening on the lake, but before I could truly grasp what I was seeing and hearing, a harsh voice barked, “Get back inside the house.”
26
What a surprise. Jace, as pleasant as ever, had come to ruin my evening. At least he looked good doing it. Tight jeans, an untucked button-up shirt with a few buttons undone, revealing his firm chest. I preferred to look at that rather than the scowl on his face.
“Good evening to you, too,” was my reply to his rudeness.
“You can’t be out here.”
“I can and will. This is my property, and if I want to look at the lake, I will look at the damned lake.” I stamped my foot as if a tantrum would prove my right.
“It’s not safe out here at night.” He shifted so that he blocked my view of the lake, and I couldn’t help but think it was intentional.
He knew something.
“People keep saying to not go out at night, it’s dangerous, and yet, if that were really true, why is no one paying attention?” It had occurred to me as I pondered the many oddities, that if there was so much evidence and so many people missing, then surely some higher government entity would be involved. The local police at the very least, and possibly even the RCMP—the guys in red more formally known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
“There are people watching, and believe me when I saw they know how to ensure their secrets are kept.”
“Way to sound ominous. Pity you don’t have a mustache to twirl.”
“I’m serious, Naomi.”
“Oh, I believe you are, just like I’m pretty sure you know what’s going on and it has to do with those boats out on the water. What are they doing?” I jabbed my finger at him, and even though I didn’t touch him, he recoiled.
He also didn’t reply.
“Well?”
“They’re fishing.”
“Liar.” My next words emerged in a puff of frost. “There is something happening in Cambden, something people wouldn’t approve of, and you know what it is.” If this were the ocean, I’d assume black market lobster or crab fishing. But our lake had nothing so exotic, and the fishing was considered subpar.
“There are some secrets in this world that aren’t meant for mortals.”
“Way to elevate yourself over us mere mortals.” I snorted. “Let me guess, next you’re going to claim you’re some kind of god.” Maybe in body, but in character he was severely lacking.
“Not a god, but not human either.”
I outright laughed at his claim. “What are you then?”
“A guardian.”
I’d read enough books to know what that meant. “Guardian is a polite word for enforcer.” Once more I shook my finger. “There’s something illegal going on, and you’re part of it, helping to cover it up.”
Rather than deny the accusation, he changed direction. “What makes you believe anyone is breaking any laws?”
“Why keep warning me away?” I retorted instead of laying out my flimsy reasons.
“Not very successfully,” he grumbled.
“What are you involved in, Jace?”
Before he could reply, I heard music. A faint melody playing so softly that I almost wondered if I imagined it. It came from the water. Stepping around Jace, I noticed the boats were no longer the brightest things on the water.
I blinked to make sure I actually saw the water glowing green. It shimmered like an emerald gem lit from within, and it undulated, the waves of the illuminated lake restless. They churned in a way that mesmerized me. I stared, losing myself in the beauty of it. It took getting wet feet to realize I’d begun wading into the water.
It startled me enough that I sprang back onto the shore. I turned to see Jace with his arms crossed over his chest, glowering.
“Were you going to let me wade in and drown?” I asked as I realized he’d done nothing to stop me.
“I knew you’d snap out of it. But now do you believe me when I say there’s danger?”
I turned back and noticed the glow appeared fainter, the music almost impossible to hear. “Is this what happened to those missing people? They got lulled into drowning.”
“Go home,” was his reply.
“I can’t because if something on the lake is hurting people, then we need to stop it.” And by we, I meant contacting the right kind of folk who knew what to do. Since the locals hadn’t done anything thus far, it was time to go higher up than them. Who should I call?
For some reason, I had a hysterical urge to shout, “Ghostbusters!”
“You can’t stop what is happening.”
“Says you. If there really is some kind of criminal ring using our lake as a nexus point, I want to know because I will stop it. Especially if it’s taking people.”
“It’s not taking people.”
“How do you know for sure?” I pounced.
“Because I do. And that’s all I can say. You don’t know what you’re dealing with here. Who you’re dealing with,” he added in a low, ominous tone. “They’ve hesitated to act thus far only because of your name, but once they realize you don’t have the power your grandmother did…” He looked away. “I won’t be able to protect you.”
He sounded ridiculous. Melodramatic. Nobody was afraid or coming after me. Except maybe Martin. It would be mighty convenient to his plan if I disappeared before the divorce was final and he inherited everything.
“Is it drugs?” I asked, although why anyone would be doing a deal in the middle of a lake, I had no idea. There were better places to conduct nefarious affairs.
“Forget what you saw.”
Kind of impossible, even more so with his warning. I turned back to the lake and noticed the glow was gone. The music, too. The lake appeared calm and normal once more without any shining lights.
But things began to make sense. “Whoever that was on the lake is trying to make people afraid. They want people to believe in Maddy rather than look deeper into what’s actually happening.”
“You seem to be sure of many things with mere speculation.”
“It wouldn’t be speculation if you’d cough up what you know.”
“How can I resist when you ask so eloquently?” Sarcastically delivered.
“You’re impossible,” I spat.
“And you aren’t?” he riposted. “You don’t listen.”
“Why should I listen to you?” I cocked my head. “Hmm. You’ve been nothing but rude, not to mention bossy.”
“I’m trying to protect you out of respect for your family.”
“You never knew my family.”
“Says who? You?” His turn to make a disparaging noise. “I actually knew your grandmother. A woman of incredible power and then there’s you.” He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t have to.
How dare he imply I was inadequate?
And why did it sting?
I stalked past him, not saying a word, too mad and too hurt to manage anything.
“About time you listened,” was his mumble as I went past.
I whirled and slapped him. At least I meant to, but he moved too fast for me to see. He held my wrist in a tight grip, and now it was his eyes that glowed. The same color as the lake.
He growled. “I wouldn’t.”
“Let go of me. I won’t be insulted on my own property.”
“Are your feelings hurt?” was his rejoinder. He didn’t let go but rather reeled me closer. “I don’t care. I want you to hate me. I want you to hate this place. Leave.”
I didn’t feel a need to give him any reason as to why I wanted to stay. All I said was, “No.”
“I could make you.” He dragged me even closer, the grip of his hand tight, but he wasn’t hurting me.
My breath shortened, and I got that quivering feeling again. “Hurt me or my daughter, and I’ll have you arrested.”
“It wouldn’t hurt. The things I can do to persuade… You wouldn’t feel a thing but pleasure.” He drew closer, and his mouth almost touched mine. I could sense it hovering there, and I shivered.
“Doubtful, given I hate you.” I didn’t like him. What my body felt wasn’t like either.
“Are you going to lie to me, Naomi?” He purred my name, the words soft on my lips. Warm.
And yet I shivered. There was a chill in the air. A frost that limned my lashes. I blinked at him through ice crystals. “Lust isn’t like.”
“You want me,” he stated but didn’t seem happy about it.
“I do.” I wanted to kiss those teasing lips. Run my hands over those thick arms and down the muscles of his back. Instead, I stepped away and wrenched free. “But I know how to say no to the things that are bad for me.” At least now I did. “Good night, Jace.”
“Good night?” There was surprise in the words.
Rather than reply, I flipped my flashlight on and headed for the cottage, which I could see clearly, the lights in the windows a beacon unlike the other night when it was so dark.
Lights?
When I’d left, only the small kitchen one over the stove remained.
Oh shoot, the stove. I’d left the pot of milk on it. My pace quickened. As I reached the porch, I noticed a car in the driveway, one that I recognized, which probably explained why Trish was pacing when I walked inside—to a stove that didn’t have smoke billowing.
“Where have you been?” Trish snapped as I walked in.
“Out for a walk.” I shut the door behind me. “Is that Marjorie’s car out front?”
My friend scowled. “Yes. She walked in a few minutes ago. But you didn’t answer. Where did you go?”
“Just down by the lake.”
“After I told you not to go there?” Tricia exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how much I panicked when I woke up to find milk burning on the stove?”
“Sorry.”
“You should be. That shit smells nasty! And you’ll need a new pot. I kind of tossed it outside so it would stop making a stink.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“Obviously,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “And how dare you make me worry. I thought the lake took you.”
“No need to be melodramatic. I was just outside.”
“Oh, really? Because I tried calling. You didn’t answer. Which means I then panicked and had to wake up Winnie. We were just about to go searching for you.”
“And I was having the best sleep,” my daughter grumbled as she exited her bedroom fully dressed. She flopped onto the couch.
“I’m sorry I didn’t hear you. As you can see, I’m fine. And given Marjorie’s car is here, I assume she’s okay, too?” I told you so. I’d been the one to say she was probably fine.
“She’s not hurt, but she’s not exactly okay.”
The non-answer wasn’t going to fly. “Where did she go? Does she know about the house?”
Tricia nodded then bit her lip before saying, “She’s the one who set it on fire. Not on purpose,” she hastened to add. “She figures it was a candle she left burning.”
“Where did she go?” I asked.
“Into the city, where she fell off the wagon and got royally wasted.”
My mouth rounded. “Oh no! Why? What happened?”
“When she left me the other night, apparently she came home to a letter claiming she needed move out before the end of the next day. That the house didn’t belong to her.”
“Oh no!” I could see why Marjorie would be upset. In this, at least, I had experience. “Has she called a lawyer? Does she want the name of mine? Martin tried to kick me out, and Mrs. Salvatore got the judge to rule in my favor.”
“If only it were that simple.” Trish paced. “Turns out the letter was from the new owners of the property. Milo sold it without telling her then skipped off with all the dough. Dough which rightfully also belongs to her.”
“She went after him.” I could see what happened next. Things didn’t go as planned, and she fell off the wagon into a bottle of booze. Understandable.
“I didn’t just go after him. I beat the hell out of him.” A wan Marjorie emerged from the bathroom. “Rotten jerk. How dare he sell our house. When I met him, he was living with his brother and we used my savings to buy the place. It was more mine than his. And you can bet I told him that.”
“You found him?”
Marjorie smirked. “Him and that whore of his. Living in some dump with the nicest car parked out front.”
“What did you do?” Because I knew what I’d fantasized about doing to Martin and his girlfriend.
