Divination (Spells and Sins)

Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

"A whispered spell can carry louder than a shouted command."

Lunara

W ith Elysia’s hand still tucked in mine, I kept close to her while I stared at the condensation on a nearby window.

“Where’d you go?” Elysia’s palm trembled against mine, but her fear must have kept her from realizing we were still touching.

Stepping around, I pulled her back against my chest, and whispered, “I’m right behind you.” She shivered against me, inciting wicked thoughts as I tiptoed toward the front door, never letting go of her hand. “We should probably keep quiet until we’re in your car.”

“My car?” Elysia’s hand slipped from mine, removing the cloaking spell I’d concealed us with. The paleness of her sheet-white face was only accentuated by her trembling pink lips. Whether those lips trembled from her fear or the chill that seemed to hang in the air, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I longed to kiss those lips again, to still their quivering with my own.

“Didn’t you just say we need to consult your coven?” I grabbed her hand again, slipping my invisibility shield back over her.

“What if that thing’s still out there?” Her hand gripped mine tightly, keeping my feet planted inside her cottage.

“Look.” I pointed at the window, then realized she couldn’t see me. “The window.”

“The frost is melting.” While I couldn’t see Elysia’s face, I could hear the surprise in her voice.

“I think it’s safe, but I’ll keep my invisibility spell in place, just in case.” While her grip had lessened on mine, I gave her a reassuring squeeze before I led her towards our escape.

I stopped just inside her front door, turning to face her, even though we couldn’t see each other then asked, “You ready?”

“What if I’m not?”

If I could see her, I would have touched her face, run my hand down her cheek in an effort to calm her nerves, but with our figures invisible to each other and the outside world, our joined hands would have to do. “It’s okay. I’m right here with you.” I gave her hand another squeeze. “I’ve got you. We can do this.”

Elysia’s deep inhalation echoed through the room before I reached for the door.

“Here we go.” I gave Elysia the slightest tug, pulling her behind me as I opened the door and rushed through.

The door slammed with a resounding thud and Elysia instantly began cursing with every step she took. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“Elysia. Quiet,” I whisper-yelled with a goofy smile on my face. But why was I smiling?

We were likely in a race with a deadly shadow-figure and I was smiling. I’d officially lost it.

When we reached the hood I released her hand and didn’t look back, as much as I wanted another glimpse at her beautiful figure. There’d be time for that later.

I hoped.

Once we were both safely inside the car, Elysia quickly hit the lock button and hit the power switch then rubbed her hands together as she stared back at her cottage.

“What’s wrong?”

She sighed, continuing to stare a moment before she answered, “I forgot to lock up.”

With eyes wide, I stared at her, convinced we had both lost it. “You wanna go back?” I asked, quirking a brow in her direction.

Her head swiveled my way with her lips pressed in a thin line. After she blinked several times, she responded, “Not hardly.”

“Then let’s get out of here.”

We arrived at a home that looked nothing like the human homes I was accustomed to. The porch was riddled with potted plants while dried herbs hung from the rafters, all backlit by the lights that blazed from every window.

As Elysia and I approached the front porch, I stared up at the sigils that outlined the second floor windows and hoped my presence would be welcomed.

I stalled at the base of the porch steps, studying each of the sigils, trying to remember what each one meant.

“You coming?” Elysia looked back at me from the top step, before glancing left and right at the surrounding grounds.

“Yeah. Sorry.” I made my way up the four front steps and tucked my hands behind my back, hoping to hide my fidgeting.

“Just let me do the talking, okay?” Elysia suddenly seems to be the level-headed one in this pairing and I couldn’t help feeling like I’d been brought home to meet the parents.

“Fine by me.”

Elysia emitted such an adorable giggle, I almost grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the car so I could show her exactly what that laugh did to me. But before I could act, she knocked on the oak front door, keeping her eyes on the oval window as a figure approached.

“Who is it?” a gruff voice called from inside.

“It’s me, Morgana. Open the door.”

One of the lace curtains that covered the window to my left pulled back just enough for someone to see out, but I was unable to see in.

“Who’s with you?” Morgana didn’t seem to like surprises.

“I’ve brought someone who needs our help.”

When a breeze blew past, I spun in place, checking the area for another shadow figure, but this time it seemed to just be the wind. Still, I couldn’t help how uneasy I felt. “Maybe I should wait in the car.”

Elysia grabbed my hand, pulling me closer to the front door. “Just hold on. She’ll let us in.”

“Seriously, I don’t mind waiting.” I nodded my head toward Elysia’s car, but she gripped my hand tighter.

“No. She’ll open the door, Lunara.”

While I wished her reassurance was the comfort I needed, I felt the negative emotions coming off of several people inside and knew my odds were better if I remained out here. “Seriously, you can just fill me in when you guys are done.” I slipped my hand from hers, taking a step backward and bumping into one of the top-heavy potted plants, hearing it crash on its side as the front door opened. “Damn.”

“Andromeda, no.” An older woman in a long flowery skirt and a cream linen shirt with flared sleeves ran from the house, straight for the destroyed pot. “Girls, help me. Andromeda’s down.”

A slew of women poured out of the house while I stepped back on the porch, making sure not to knock over anything else. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to knock over the…plant?” I wasn’t quite sure if she was more upset about the broken pot or the plant, but as she cradled the lavender stems in her hands to carry them inside, I knew I’d chosen correctly.

“Come, ladies. We must get Andromeda into a new pot immediately. We can’t lose another.”

While most of the women, including Elysia, followed Morgana inside, a couple stayed behind to gather up the soil and broken pot shards.

I watched from a distance, bound and determined to stay outside now that I’d taken out one of Morgana’s beloved, but when Elysia returned looking for me, I missed out on my chance to run and hide.

“Come on.” She leaned against the door so casually, as if this place was as much home to her as her own cottage in the woods.

I envied that feeling as I’d never had a place that really felt like home. Thanks to my tainted blood, the fae didn’t want me and the humans weren’t sure what to do with me. And right now, I definitely didn’t feel welcome here.

I shook my head in response, but Elysia didn’t take no for an answer. She marched right to me, looping her arm through mine before she led me inside.

Three women had settled into chairs in the living room, but Morgana was out of sight.

“Cassia, Thalia, Rowan…” Elysia tugged me closer. “This is Lunara.”

“You’re a fae?”

“Rowan,” Elysia snapped.

“Half,” I replied, extending my hand. “Nice to meet you.” I may not have wanted to be here, but that had nothing to do with the present company.

Rowan dragged her gaze to Elysia before she looked at my hand and took it in hers. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“My elders sent me to the human world in search of a highly sought after artifact, but I fear my presence here may have more to do with whatever strange things are taking place right outside.” I peeled my hand from Rowan’s when her companions began to eye me warily.

A woman with mouse brown hair flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “There’s nothing going on outside.” After her dismissal, she crossed one leg over the other and placed her hands in her lap. “It’s just fall. The weather is changing, leaves are turning, and the animals are getting ready to hibernate.”

“That’s not what’s happening at all, Thalia,” Rowan piped up, leaning over to get a better view of her opponent.

Thalia rolled her eyes. “Not you, too.”

“It’s true.” Elysia took a seat next to Rowan, leaving enough room on the only sofa in the room for me to sit beside her. “Cassia saw the shadow figure run across my yard tonight.”

Thalia pursed her lips, rolling her eyes once again. “You two are always seeing shadow figures and ghosts and goblins. Get a grip.”

While the women continued to argue about whether or not what we saw actually existed, I took a seat beside Elysia and kept my mouth shut.

“You expect me to believe that because it’s fall , the shadow I saw was just a figment of my imagination? The immense cold that showed up out of the blue and almost as quickly dissipated was just a seasonal wind?” Elysia huffed, falling back against the couch cushions as she defiantly stared across the room.

Everything in me screamed to comfort her, lay my hand on her leg or gently take her hand, something that would ease the anger I knew she felt. But I was in a strange place and I barely knew this woman. These feelings needed to simmer down until we could actually explore what we felt.

“I think we all need to calm down and discuss this like proper adults,” Morgana said as she entered the room carrying Andromeda in a fresh new terracotta pot.

Needing to make amends, I jumped from the couch and said, “I’m so sorry about your plant.”

“Not to worry.” Morgana set the lavender on a nearby stand then patted me on the arm. “Andromeda only experienced minor trauma. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

As Morgana took her place at the center of the living room, I stood alongside the couch, too afraid to take the only remaining seat when this was Morgana’s home.

“Please, sit.” She waved towards my vacated seat, urging me to reclaim it. “We have much to discuss about your presence here and the Starfire Orb.”