Dark Arts (27 page)

Zachary’s mind was so muddied that all he
could feel was his mother holding his hand, and the breath of the
Gentleman against his ear. The pain was numb, but still there
enough for him to know that he was damned to suffer through life if
he chose it. He squeezed once, and rushed to the second.

His mother’s head came off his hand. “He’s
awake!” she shrieked.

“The doctor said he was sedated,” his father
said. “It’s not possible.”

“He squeezed my hand two times,” she
countered. “He’s awake.”

“That’s two, champ,” the Gentleman said.
“Give me one more, and it’s a done deal. An ‘A’ grade training
program, safety in the afterlife with me, and power waiting for you
at the end.”

“I know you can hear me,” his mother said.
“Stay with us.”

The thought of dying on his mother, of not
having a chance to tell her that he had no control over himself
when he cut April and himself was almost too much. Telling her that
something had him, that he had been possessed would be a gift to
her. It was something she believed in, she was no rainy day
Catholic, but a woman who went to church and believed. He could
convince her that her son couldn’t hurt anyone like that.

“But if you cut that girl, you can go,” his
father said. He would never convince him. His father was as much a
churchgoer as his mother, but he was strict, a believer in the
wrathful God, and a world determined to destroy itself. What was
worse, his father never believed in him. He would rather believe a
policeman or a judge once someone told him that there were no drugs
in his system.

Zachary found the strength to squeeze one
more time, and he did so with vigor, crushing the crucifix into his
mother’s palm hard enough to make her wince and pull away.

The Gentleman patted him on the shoulder,
and then he was standing beside the bed, looking down on himself as
his body went into a violent seizure. “Well,” the Gentleman said.
“If you can close like your father, you’ll do just fine.”

Miranda led Maxwell to the bathroom in the
main cabin, where she sat him down on the closed toilet and
straddled his lap. He only suspected something strange was about to
happen when he was through the bathroom door. By the time she was
in his lap, straddling him and turning the sink’s hot water on, he
was full of questions. “Sure you have all this in the right order,
luv? I’m thinking we’re wearing a little too much clothing.”

“I’m giving you a shave so we can get you
ready for the initiation,” she told him with a smirk. “Tie your
hair back.”

He had never met a woman who could lead him
by the hand like she did, but there was a certain energy when she
was determined, and it was best not to fight it. He took a hair tie
from the sink’s edge and pulled his hair back. “I’m pretty sure I
can meet the spirits as I am,” Maxwell said. “Then again, this is
one of the only things my father didn’t educate me on.”

“They’re secrets for a reason,” Miranda
said. She picked up a can of shaving foam from the bathtub’s edge.
Beside it was a straight razor. “I think the only good thing that’s
come of today is that we all remember why. Purifiers and circles
that think there’s some point in competing with others would never
leave us alone if they knew how we’re initiated.”

“I was trained as a solo Weaver,” Maxwell
said. “I know how to work with people, but my father didn’t expect
me to for some reason.”

“He didn’t believe you would ever have to,”
Miranda answered as though it was something she had known as a
certainty for a long time.

“How do you know?” Maxwell asked.

Miranda turned the hot water off and checked
the temperature of the pool in the sink then piled some shaving
foam in her hand. “Over the last year my aunt Gladys has been
telling me all about you, and until I saw you a few days ago, I
didn’t believe that we were going to get together for a second.
Among many other things, she told me as much as she knew about how
you were trained by your father, and she knew a surprising amount.”
She used a brush to spread shaving foam across his face and smiled
at him. “Tonight you’re going to get all the attention, and when we
finally get time together we won’t feel like talking, but for the
next few minutes, it’s Miranda time. I’m going to have a razor
against your face, and I have a few things to tell you.”

Maxwell shared a look with her for a moment,
they were both reminded of what was done to April and Zachary. “You
all right?” he said quietly while trying not to move his lips.

“I’ll be fine,” Miranda said. “Someone did
some horrible shit and we have to get over that so we can help
April and Zachary through what’s ahead. May as well start tonight,
yeah?”

“You sure? I can shave myself,” Maxwell
said, eying the razor as she opened it with a flick of her
finger.

“No talkie, Miranda time, remember?” she
said with a little smile. “I’ve done this before, don’t worry.”

“Mmmm-hmmm,” he managed.

“Like I was saying,” she said as she slowly
followed through her first smooth stroke down his upper cheek.
“When I was in New York, and my aunts had me back in hand, you’re
all Gladys would talk about. I went back to them because I didn’t
want to lose my family, and I knew I would if I kept running from
one stage, one band to the next. I was doing a sofa tour, and it
got dangerous every once in a while, but I was okay. My family
wanted me back, not just my aunts, but everyone in New York. They
didn’t understand why I was sofa surfing when I could stay with any
of them, but I think you get it.” She finished a stroke and looked
him in the eye.

After a moment she smiled, nodded and
continued. “You do. So, I promised my aunts I’d stay with them
until we went back to Sudbury, I’d do them that favor. I thought
I’d come here, meet you, have a nice time at the Gathering and then
go back to New York. That’s not happening anymore. Instead of
putting my mom’s house up on the market, I’m going to move in and
see what happens because I’m in love with you. Keep smiling to a
minimum, I’m no good with a moving surface.”

Maxwell swallowed the smile he barely knew
he had and tried to remain still.

“Better. It is a very bad time to have an
accident with a razor right now. I have conditions if I’m going to
stay. First, you have to stick around and give this a chance with
me. Second, no working in the mine – my aunt Susan still prays for
three people who were buried in there every night, one of them was
my uncle. Third, if you’re going to move for better work, or
whatever, we stay together. We’re both looking for a future, we may
as well do it together. I know I want to be with you more than I
want to go back to New York, but without New York, all my plans are
shot.” She finished a stroke and held the razor away. “You can nod
now, that is if you agree.”

Maxwell nodded, hearing everything she said
and truly agreeing with all but one point. “Can I-“

“It’s Miranda time,” she said, cocking her
head.

“You’ll like it.”

“Okay, shoot, but keep it short. We don’t
have a lot of time.”

“Why don’t we both go to New York?” Maxwell
said. “A guitarist couldn’t hurt.”

She closed his mouth and started in for
another sweep of the razor. “I honestly didn’t think of that. You’d
go with me?” Miranda wiped the razor on a towel and smiled. “You
can nod or something, but just for a sec.”

Maxwell nodded. “There’s still real music
there. I’d like to give it a shot, especially with someone I’m good
with. You’re magic on stage.”

“Thank you, flattery will get you everywhere
my love,” she said. “Hold still, we’re almost done. Okay, so we’ll
talk about New York later.” She took a moment to concentrate as she
shaved between his upper lip and nose. “I watched you at the
hospital. What Panos did was horrible, and it’s hard to stop
thinking about it for a minute, I know you’ve barely stopped
thinking about it at all. So, he’s getting what he wants. Maybe
Panos knows that you are so powerful that he doesn’t want to face
you until you’re completely off balance. If that’s his game, he’s
definitely winning.”

Maxwell watched as she spoke. Her words
seemed well chosen, and everything she said rung true. He was
actually happy that she had him in a position to just listen.

“You know how to help April, and you can’t
do anything for Zachary until his family smartens up,” Miranda
said. “So, it might sound cold, but I’m going to tell you to do
that, and then stop thinking about it until it’s time to help them
some more. You have your own shit to concentrate on, and if you
bungle that because Panos got to you, then you’re failing yourself
and your friends. I know your instinct is to help everyone around
you, I’ve seen it just in the last few days, but there have to be
limits right now, capisce?” She swished the razor in the sink, and
Maxwell took that as his cue to nod.

“Good, now I have to tell you a few things
about the initiation, especially if your dad didn’t prepare you.
You’re already open to the other side like I’ve never seen, but the
initiation opens our eyes up in ways that would make other people
crazy. We do not talk about what we see to anyone who isn’t
initiated. A lot of Circle members have been locked up in asylums
over the last two hundred years. The next thing: Samuel wanted me
to tell you that you’re not joining with a Guardian and a Summoner,
you’re being initiated as a Solo Weaver like your father intended.
That was Sam’s decision based on what he knows, you will have to
trust him. I wanted you as my Weaver, so you know, and both Scott
and Bernie wanted to be your Guardians. I’m actually kind of sad
I’m not going to see that scrap. So, what that means is that you
can practice magic with whoever you want or alone. The other thing
to be aware of is the Guardian circle. You’ve never seen one. In
this kind of initiation circle there will be another circle outside
of it with all of our strongest guardians, because we expect the
veil to be extremely thin this year. We are going to bring the
False Priest into the middle circle once the young initiates are
finished and moved to the guardians. This will be your final rite.
You will have to face the False Priest because he noticed you, if
it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be here. You know the rules of a
powerful circle like this. Chin up,” she instructed. “You’ll have
about half an hour to make final preparations, the ceremony will
begin, the initiations will take place, and then they’ll initiate
you. When everyone is ready, you’ll summon the False Priest into
the center, proving you have mastered that art. Then you will bind
him the way a Guardian does, and then you will dismiss or destroy
him permanently. This is with everyone watching, and based on that,
you will or won’t be accepted by our Circle.” She stopped talking
so she could concentrate on shaving his throat, and when she was
finished she briefly kissed his chin and smiled at him. “Yuck,
soapy,” she said, standing up and washing the razor.

“That’s all,” Maxwell said, wiping the
traces of foam from his face with a towel. “Properly banish an
angry, old spirit in front of the whole Northern Circle.”

“There are people from all the circles in
North America here, there have been rumblings about this one since
the last one, seven years ago, but I’m not supposed to tell you
that,” Miranda said, drying the razor and closing it. “I’m also not
supposed to tell you that no one knew who would be the focus of
this Gathering until you cast a circle with us on the beach.”

Maxwell stood and put his hands on her hips.
“Nope,” she said, pulling his shirt up. “Shower time, we both have
to be clean and ready and there’s going to be a line for this
bathroom in fifteen minutes. No one meets the spirits after
sweating all day if it’s a special occasion.”

“Thanks for the help,” Maxwell said. “Is it
still Miranda time?”

She ran her hand over his cheek and smiled.
“For one more minute.” Miranda kissed Maxwell, wrapping her arms
around his neck and leaning against him. They remained that way for
longer than intended, and he wished it could go on when they
parted. “Okay, one more thing, and this is little Miranda talking,
the one who wanted a Spanish prince to ride up with a black
stallion in tow for her so she could ride off into the sunset with
him. It’s only been a few days, and it’s passed like a minute, but
sometimes it feels like we’ve been hand in hand for months, so I
have to-“

“I love you,” Maxwell said. “Never found it
with anyone before, but you’re the one, Love.”

“Then I’m yours, but only if you’ll be
mine,” she said with a playful grin.

“That’s what I need,” Maxwell said. “The
rest is all details and window dressing.” He finished taking off
his shirt and started on his jeans.

Miranda’s clothing was on the bathroom floor
and she was starting the shower before his socks were off. He
pinched the cheek where she had her protective tattoo and she
shrieked. “I need to get one of those, maybe not where you have it
though.”

“We have a tattoo artist here, I was going
to surprise you. Oh, and Allen will have his brands in the circle,”
Miranda said. “You know this shower is all business, right?” she
said, slipping past the shower curtain.

“If you insist.”

“I’m not meeting the ancestors with you
dripping down my leg,” Miranda said.

“Well, that picture’s sure to get me in the
mood,” Maxwell said, climbing into the shower.

“You’re kidding,” Miranda said from under
the showerhead.

“I am,” Maxwell said. “You’ve a foul mouth,
but I love you anyway.”

“You better.”

“Did you have to banish something during
your initiation?”

“I was thirteen,” Miranda replied. “So, no,
I was being introduced into the Circle as a legacy. That, and I
didn’t get the attention of something like you did, or have the
knowledge you do. The Circle has to see how you use your
knowledge.”