The Flower Bowl Spell (29 page)

I snap my fingers. “Vancouver, Washington.
That’s where Cheradon Badler is from. And that’s where Gru’s son
Isaac was when he pulled a ghosty.” No wonder Gru is involved. I
just wish I could figure out how.

Chapter Twenty-four

The girls barely touch their chicken
quesadillas. I’m having a hard time eating too, but the wine is
still going down nicely. Only Auntie Tess hasn’t lost her appetite.
They have questions about their mother, but it’s not long before we
tuck them in for the night on the foldout sofa bed. Tess and I
retreat again to the kitchen where I scan through Tucker’s notebook
as well as some of Tess’s witchcraft books, looking for a way to
save Cooper. They don’t need him for the Flower Bowl Spell. They
just want to get to me. Can they honestly think I’d give up the
girls?

I use Auntie Tess’s computer to run searches
on Stinky’s phone number to try to ID him, but the number is to a
disposable cell phone. There’s nothing in our reading material
that’s helpful or new either. I’m just going to have to wait until
I see them at the meadow and wing it. For the time being, I need a
distraction.

“Tell me about Viveka,” I say to Auntie Tess.
“You saw her in the Mellora Islands?”

“Didn’t you get my text?”

Right. The truncated text message. “It was
cut off. Did you get mine? I asked you about Familiars. After the
ducks showed up.”

She shakes her head and takes a sip of wine.
“I ran into her there when I went to town one day. She told me
about that dying man and why she left the girls with you—because
Cleo told her to.”

“Cleo told her to?” Why am I not surprised?
“A three-year-old told her to abandon her kids with a person
they’ve never met?” And who has since put their lives in danger? I
gulp some wine myself.

Auntie Tess nods. “She’s gifted, you know.
Like you.”


“Like me…whatever.”

Tess squeezes my arm. “Lamb, you can see
fairies. That’s a gift. I remember that day you saw the dolls and
gophers dancing. I know you tried to tell me about it over the
years. I don’t know why you think you have to hide it from me.”

“I don’t, I just…” I put my glass on the
counter. “I thought you were jealous.”

Tess laughs. “Jealous? Me? Of course I’m
jealous. Well, maybe that’s too strong a world. Envious is nicer.
But it couldn’t have happened to someone I love and care about
more. And I know you use your gifts and talents the right way. Not
like some.”

I think of Stinky and Cheradon. And Tyson. He
certainly couldn’t see what was going on with my hula girl doll.
How far does this dark magick reach?

“Listen,” Auntie Tess goes on. “Viveka
accepts that her daughter is special. She said Cleo has told her
things before, things that no one else could know.”

“Like what?”

“Well, a few months ago Romola fell into a
sinkhole on their property. She was all alone, but Cleo knew it had
happened. And that man Viveka went to see—it’s Cleo who told her he
won’t live. In fact, Jesus Christ counts on Cleo to tell him which
parishioners he should lay hands on and which don’t have a
shot.”

I think about this last detail, wondering if
I feel offended at J.C.’s use of his daughter’s gift, or warmed
that he’s bringing her into the family business. “Can she
heal?”


Tess shakes her head. “Not that I know of.
But who knows? Maybe someday.”

“So why did she tell Viveka to leave her and
Romola with me?”

“Viveka told me there was some sort of
danger, and that’s why Cleo told her to bring them to you. But she
didn’t tell her mother anything more. She didn’t seem to know how
to describe it. She’s not even four yet, so that’s no
surprise.”

Danger is right. Tears well in my eyes and
Tess pulls me to her again.

I think of the grisly and bizarre ingredients
for the Flower Bowl Spell that I’ve been studying in Tucker’s
notebook. Fairy wings and fetuses. But what if it’s even worse than
that, if it can actually be any worse? What if they want the girls?
Human sacrifice, for obvious reasons, isn’t a part of modern craft
teachings. It never would have crossed my mind that Gru might be
into something like that.

I wipe my eyes on a paper napkin.

“Cooper is going to be fine,” Auntie Tess
says.

“He’d better be.” I’m worried, but also
pissed off. “When is Viveka coming back?”

Tess shrugs. “I suppose when that man
dies.”

I wonder when that will be, and if Jesus
Christ will be willing to wait for her. I reach out with my mind to
check up on him. He’s busy with some of the church’s high-rollers,
laughing over an expensive dinner like he doesn’t have a care in
the world.

Auntie Tess breaks into my thoughts. “I can’t
believe Gru would harm you or her great-grandchildren.”

“Me either. She did warn me to get to safety.
That’s something.”

Tess agrees.

“But I’m not going to be safe, and Cooper and
the girls aren’t going to be safe, unless I can end this.” Tucker’s
confrontation, just as he predicted.

Auntie Tess puts her hands on my cheeks and
looks into my eyes. “You will end it, Memphis. Just tell me what I
can do to help.”

****

The field is deserted when I arrive, just as
the post-midnight moon rises round over the tops of the trees. My
messenger bag is filled with Auntie Tess’s herbs and potions.

There’s just enough light from the
surrounding lamps that network the perimeter of the field, along
with the moon, for me to set up. I pull out the herbs from Tess’s
cabinet. She wanted to come with me, but I managed to convince her
that watching the girls was what I really need her to do. As I get
ready, though, I wonder if I should have brought her along after
all.

I grab Tucker’s Flower Bowl Spell notebook
from my bag. I spent the last few hours at Tess’s kitchen table
going over it again, especially his counter-curse. Tucker has never
had the opportunity to try this out, so I have no idea if it will
work. But it’s all I have.

As I put things in their place, I take a
moment to look around. I wonder if they chose Lindley Meadow on
purpose. This is the field where it all began, where I first
realized that I had a window onto another plane.
Why me?
I’ve sometimes wondered. And the answer is always,
Why not?
I’m not such a bad candidate for super-cool abilities.

I set up a protective circle with salt.
Inside, I lay down a wooden board covered in cloth, my old
on-the-go altar. Black and white candles, a jade dragon (my
mother’s old pendant she gave me for my high school graduation),
and two ceramic dishes, one in the shape of the sun, the other a
full moon with a small rabbit nestling against it.

It’s amazing how simple the spell is, really.
A little nutmeg, some moss from the rocks on Stow Lake. (In his
notes, Tucker prefers Icelandic, but northern Californian will have
to do.) Lots and lots of heather. I couldn’t find any hazelnuts, so
I brought along a jar of Nutella from Tess’s pantry, and I smear
its chocolaty goodness on some sticks and leaves of eucalyptus,
which is in overabundance throughout the park. I pour the
concoction into the bowl just as Xien alights on my altar.

“Hey! You found me.” I strike a match. “Of
course you found me. I don’t know how, but you did.”

He shakes his fist at me.

“The rattle? That bell thing. I know I should
use it more often.”

He nods.

“They got my boyfriend, you know.”

I’m just about to say something else, but
Xien swivels away towards the trees before stopping and hovering in
place. Someone is coming. Someone who smells like vanilla and
citrus. I strain my eyes to see. There’s more than one person, and
they are dressed in dark colors, their pale faces floating towards
us. As they get closer, I’m surprised not by who is there, but by
my own disappointment, both in the fact that they really have shown
up and that I might really be screwed.

There’s Cheradon, her manager D.B., Stinky,
and a couple of others—Babs and one of the twins from Arsenic
Playground carrying a heavy-looking, carved elephant tusk. Bringing
up the rear is Tyson, his sunglasses on, keeping his gaze to the
ground. And Cooper.

Tyson has a hold on Cooper, whose arms are
behind his back. Bound, just as I saw them. They’re about ten feet
from my sacred space when they stop.

“Please tell me you aren’t into devil
worship,” I say. “I mean, a rock band, never mind its ska roots,
loving Satan? Can we say cliché?”

They don’t answer at first, perhaps thrown
off by my façade of sass.

“We abhor the devil,” Cheradon says. “We are
not impressed by his so-called power.”

I nod. “Thank you for clearing that up,
Cheryl.”

She shakes her head, hands on her hips.
“Sweetie, Cheryl was my slave name.” She seems a little pissy,
though I suppose this situation calls for that. “Aren’t you even
going to say anything about your old man?”

I take a better look at Cooper, squinting at
him across the weakly lit expanse. There are dark stains on his
face and shirt, and his hair is matted down. His glasses sit askew
on his nose. The stains, I realize, are blood. He can barely keep
his eyes open, and he looks almost relaxed.

“Believe me,” Cheradon says. “He feels worse
than he looks.”

“What do you have him on, some kind of
magickal nitrous oxide?” I ask.

She glances at her manager. “How should I
know? Anyway, the fact that he’s going to die is all your fault of
course.”

My heart slows for a millisecond, then starts
pounding away, but I don’t let it show on my face. I can’t or I’m
dead. I’m pretty sure of that. “How so?”

“We never wanted to go this far. All we
wanted was,” she shrugs, “what we deserve. Our rightful place in
the world.”

I really have no idea what she’s talking
about.

“But you make it so very difficult. Although,
I will say, that’s part of the fun. How do you live with that?”

I just stare at her. No way am I going to
take the bait.

“I mean, knowing you basically killed Alice
with your bogus protection spell?”

I will not be mind-fucked by her, thank you
very much. I try to ramp up my anger so my heart is pounding in
rage instead of in terror.

“And knowing that this”—she gestures at
Cooper—“this upstanding citizen, your lover
and
father to an
adorable girl, is going to die because of you?”

“Wow, you really do yammer on,” I say. “It
seems that Cheradon is another of your slave names, Cheryl,” I say.
“Unless you’re the one heading up this Flower Bowl Spell
operation?”

“Don’t answer that,” D.B. says. His black
silk dress shirt shimmers in the moonlight. If there were a devil,
D.B. could play the better-looking version of him in the movie.

“Didn’t think so. What I don’t understand is
why you had to kill Gladys,” I continue, glad that my voice isn’t
quivering. “Wasn’t she on your side?”

Still hanging back, Tyson seems to stir.
Cheradon looks confused. “Who is Gladys?”

“Don’t ask questions,” D.B. says to me. I
take in his slender, elegant frame. Cheradon’s uncertainty gives me
a morsel of hope.

“Excuse me, but you are not the boss of me.”
I turn back to Cheradon. “Gladys was a friend of your aunt Sadie
and your grandmother.” Cheradon frowns. “She was someone that guy
killed.” I point to Stinky. “For this.” I pull the butterfly-shaped
locket out of my collar and show it to them. Doesn’t matter that I
still haven’t figured the damn thing out. They don’t need to know
that.

“Gladys was a terrible lover and a poor witch
who did not know where to put her loyalties,” Stinky says. It’s the
first time I remember hearing his voice, and it’s just like a stage
actor’s, rich and dangerous.

“She was your lover?” I say. I’m sad at how
low Gladys’s tastes had sunk.

“I allowed her in my bed on occasion,” he
says, crossing his arms over his chest.

Cheradon still looks befuddled. “Aunt Sadie?”
She turns to Stinky. “Papa, is that true? Did you kill Aunt Sadie’s
friend?”

Everything slows down for a second. Stinky,
aka Isaac LeBrun. He glares at his daughter and then turns to me. I
didn’t know who was in charge before, but now I do. And things
start to speed up again.

Subtly, they all spread out around the
circle. Tyson pushes Cooper down onto his knees. He topples over
and seems to get comfy in a fetal position.

I feel Xien at the back of my neck, the soft
tickle of his beating wings. We are a team watching out for each
other. As I move, so does he.

My lit match has long since gone out. I
strike another one and drop it in the bowl. A dramatic little puff
of flames goes up and I begin to recite the words Tucker wrote
under my breath.

“Reverse their work. Turn back the curse.
Reverse—” But something is happening. I’m choking again. I look for
Isaac. His dark eyes are boring into mine, and he’s grinning
through the stubble on his face. Apparently, my protective salt
circle is more than a tad inadequate.

“You stupid bitch,” Cheradon says. “You can’t
counter something that hasn’t even happened yet.” She laughs a
punky little laugh. “We don’t even have the last ingredient yet,
lovey.” She reaches for my arm and my heart feels like it is
dropping into my bowels. “You.”

Chapter Twenty-five

Never underestimate a crone, I decide way too
late. I have to conclude, as D.B. slaps handcuffs on my wrists and
wrestles me to the ground, that Gru set me up. Gru, who I thought
would never do anything to hurt me.

The gang moves forward and into my no-longer
sacred space. On the ground, with the side of my face mashed into
the damp grass, I can’t see much of what’s going on. There’s a lot
of rattling and the soft padding and heavy stomping back and forth
of booted feet around me. The weak lights of my candles go out, and
it’s not long until they’re replaced by the heat of a much-larger
fire. I can feel it on my legs, and its glow throws new shadows on
the ground. My mind seems to detach, and the panic that has gripped
me loosens.
This can’t be it
.