Fiery Gemstones (A Heston Witch Novella) (3 page)

All three ladies burst out laughing.

“
Seriously, Edna,
”
Eden continued when their mirth over shared memories had died down,
“What are we
going to do about Preston Williams?
”

“
I have an idea,
” Ethos chipped in.
“Let’s
have him
for dinner.
”

“
Really, are we going to resort to
cannibalism now? Do you really think that will be
necessary?
”

“
Not have him for dinner,
as in devour him,
silly.
Have him for dinner. You know, invite
him to The Happy Place for dinner.
”

“
And then what? Dazzle him with our considerable
charm?
”

“
No
,
you dazzle him with your considerable charm
,
Edna, and if that doesn’t work, you could always do some mental mojo on the fella.
”

“
Hmm that would work,
”
she mused
aloud
.
“
I’d wanted to get him to sit down and talk ages ago but he just keeps throwing random numbers at me, he’s obsessed with
Red Rock Haven
.
”

“
Well, you’ll simply have to give him a new obsession.
Red Rock Haven
isn’t for sale, not now, not ever,
”
Eden stated fiercely.

“
I know that. But will he? Alright I’ll try this your way but if this doesn’t work, you guys will just have to trust me to deal with this on my own.

“
Why wouldn’t it work?
”
Ethos wanted to know.

“
I don’t know. I have a funny feeling about the guy
,
that’s all.
”

“
Have you seen anything?
”

“Nope
, not a thing. I didn’t even see him coming into
Silverline City
before he showed up around here and that is very strange.
”

“
Well, what
ever he is hiding up his sleeve
, you’ll have a chance to read his intentions tonight.
”

“
Not to put the cart before the horse
,
ladies
…
”

“What!?”

Both sisters turned to look at Eden
. She held up her hands defensively.

“
I’m just saying, you haven’t even invited him yet.
”

“
Oh,
”
Edna
said sheepishly,
“
you’re right.
”

She pr
essed the intercom on her desk.

“
Hey Sharon,
”
she said to her secretary when she responded.
“
Help me send a message over to Williams and Shanks and tell that buffoon Preston Williams that he should meet me at the happy place at 8.00pm tonight for dinner. Tell him I’m ready to discuss his latest offer for
Red Rock Haven
.
”

“
Ok, Ms Heston,
”
Sharon said cheerfully,
“I’ll get right on it.”

If she was surprised by the content of the message
,
she was much too professional to show it. Besides she had a good idea what the result of the meeting would be. There was no way the Hestons would move out from
Red Rock Haven
, no matter how many bundles of
money Preston waved in their faces.

“
Will he accept the invitation?
”  Ethos asked curiously.

Edna closed her eyes and focused.
Her gift of prescience was very strong. Like her sisters often said,
if
she’d
seen
it, it was as good as done because her visions were never, ever wrong.
She knew she’d been having issues tracking Williams so she focused on his aide and
bodyguard
,
Burt Morgan
instead
. She saw them conversing in Preston’s office.

Preston was holding a slip of paper in his hand and was gesturing with it like it was a
winning
raffle ticket. “Just got a message from that Heston Witch girl, Edna,” he crowed. I knew the little witchy fool would come around sooner or later.

Huh, you wish.

“
Boss, do you
really
think that’
s a good idea,” Burt asked with a frown.

“
Sure, sure. It’s just a little sit down
with the little lady. On
her own turf,
”
he conceded,
“But
don’t worry, I can handle anything that might come up.
In fact, I might just have a trick or two up my own sleeve,” he concluded with a fat smirk.

Watching Burt’s face,
Edna
saw him reacti
ng with a frown as he listened to
his boss
’s confident spiel.
She wondered if it was Preston’s arrogance or the fact that he
would be me
eting her for dinner that night that was turning his stomach.

Huh, I’d say it was probably the noxious arrogance of that beast of a man,
she thought.

After all
,
the
message she’d sent was one Preston had been badger
ing her for constantly though she had repeatedly declined to meet with him one on one
.
She’d have thought Burt woul
d be happy that his boss’
s plans were falling into place.

Burt lifted his head as if he could see her
watching him
and she shrank back in alarm.

Silly!
She scoffed silently.
You know he can’t see you.
Of course, that’s simply not
possible.
There was no way he could
see or
sense her. She wasn’t
physically
there
after
all. She
was
merely
exercising her prescient
gift
and eavesdropping on their
future
conversation.
She pushed her subconscious back and retreated to her physical body. Wriggling her shoulders to expel the faint sense of alarm she
’d
felt when her subconscious gaze had met Burt’s
piercing black eyes, she coloured slightly as she remembered the pleasure she had felt when she first laid eyes on his well-built physique and his short blond hair.
He was so handsome,
she thought dreamily as she rubbed the ring on her pinkie finger. The massive diamond on it was her own gemstone and touching it comforted her as she tried to order her thoughts.

“Err, Edna, what’s up? What did you see?”

She flushed a deeper shade of pink but thankfully Ethos and Eden either didn’t notice or they were being unusually tactful. At least they didn’t ask her any other questions.

“
He’
ll be there,”
she told her sisters.
“
And
so will I
.
This
nonsense
ends tonight.
”

As her sisters finished their coffees and got ready to leave she detained them for a few more moments.

“
One more thing. I
thought as a
caring
and devoted
aunt
,
I should let you know that your offspring, my delightful nieces
,
are planning to sneak out of
Red Rock Haven
tonight, not really sure what for, though.
”

“
Hand it over,
”
Eden said with a smile.
“
Told you they’d have an escapade in the works before the week was out.
”

“
D
rat,”
Ethos
said
, handing her a silver coin engraved with a picture of Evie,
Silverline
’s only form of legal tender.
“
You always win. I don’t know how you do it
.
It’s
not like
you
can see the future.
”

“
Sweetie, I
did watch the
two
of you
grow up remember? I have more experience at this.
I know what teenage witches are like.
”

Still debating what to do with their errant
daughters, the two of them went off and left Eden alone. She shut the door behind them with a fond smile. Sisters.

Where would I be without
them?

Listening to voices from yester year.

E
sther was dreaming. She knew she had to be dreaming. She was sure that she was asleep in her bed and yet it was as if she was watching events unfold through the eyes of another.

“My subconscious is working overtime” she thought to herself within her dream. “It’s got to be all this research Elvira has me doing.” 

The girls had been reading up on the history of Silverline City, part of their ‘get to know your heritage project’. It was something they had started over two years ago and it seemed as if every time they went down to the archives they found out something new.  She’d spent the day pouring over maps and journals in the old west wing library. She recognised the scenic setting as a garden of beauty and of pleasure.

“Eden,” a voice in her head whispered. “This place was called Eden.”

She closed her eyes in her dream and tried to will herself awake but it didn’t work. If anything she was drawn closer to the scene she was observing and at a point, felt herself merging with the participants. It was as if she’d stepped into the set of an epic movie. From then on she was little more than a member of the audience. Deep inside her, she acknowledged that this was no simple dream. She was watching and reliving events that had happened long ago.

She opened her eyes slowly.

All around her there was light and warmth. She felt …safe, secure and… loved. She contemplated her feelings for a couple of moments. She became aware of another presence outside herself. No, there were two of them. One of them was like her, the other… she stretched her faculties to their limits, trying to comprehend his essence, to understand more of who he was.

She sighed as she came to the realisation that she could never fully appreciate him. It was impossible for her to know him. He was unknowable, he was infinity itself. She gave a mental shrug and turned her attention back to the first being she’d noticed. Her heart beat in an echo of his and a voice inside her head said “Mine.” She claimed him before she fully realised what she was doing but decided it felt…
Right.
It felt absolutely right.

She could hear them speaking softly. No, her intellect told her. They weren’t speaking exactly, but they were communicating all the same.

“So what do you think?” She heard the Infinite One ask with a touch of indulgent humour in his voice.

She turned to look at the one she had claimed and felt something inside her melt at the expression on his face.

“She is perfection, she is exquisite, my Lord.”

“She is yours then, since she meets your demanding criteria for a companion.”

Her eyes returned to the one her mate had called Lord.

Yes, it’s an apt description but still seems woefully inadequate.

He was much more than sovereign, she sensed.  He looked at her and she blinked in amazement at the reflection of warmth, love and benevolence that she saw there. He addressed her directly for the first time.

“You are his and he is yours. This is how I intended it to be. He is Man and you, my precious darling, are Woman.”

She shuddered as she realised that she was in the presence of her creator. His communication left her in no doubt. She could tell that he loved her and her mate with every fibre of his limitless self and she knew they were precious to him. And she knew that she had been created to complement the perfection of creation that was …

She searched deep within herself and found what she was looking for, a link with her mate. Suddenly she knew his name and she knew all there was to know about him.