The Magick of Dark Root (Daughters of Dark Root) (19 page)

“Sounds right,” she said, as we cruised into town.
 

She took the road down Main Street. Most of the shops were closed for the evening, but the lights in Dip Stix Café still burned. We could see Paul and Shane through the window. They were laughing easily with a young woman who sat twirling her hair as she ordered. Eve’s energy bristled and she put her foot on the gas.

“You’re prettier than she is,” I said.

“I know.”

“And Paul’s crazy about you.”

“I know that, too.”

“Then what?”

She tapped the steering wheel. “I’ve always known how to get men. I bat my lashes, ooh and ah over their skills, and pretend to act interested in their hobbies.”
 

“Not to mention your magic,” I said.
 

Eve was born with the gift of seduction. Most men couldn’t be within several feet of her without falling victim to her powers. It was one of the reasons I had been so envious of her when we were teenagers.
 

“Yes, my magic.” She bit her bottom lip. “I’ve just never learned how to keep one. Normally, I get bored before they do. I’m the one who gets text messages from exes and finds excuses not to come around”

“Is Paul avoiding you?”

“No, he isn’t. That’s the worst part. But he’s on that damned phone, texting at all hours. I’m not used to feeling this…this insecure.” She looked at me, lifting her palm. “How do you do it, Maggie?”

I gave her my best sardonic smile. “On the job training, I guess.”
 

“Hmmm. Yes. I suppose.”

I strained my neck, hoping to catch one last glimpse of Shane. He had not called, or stopped by since the morning he dropped me off at Sister House and I was surprised by how much I missed him. He had said he loved me, but now he avoided me as much as I avoided him.

“When did life get so crazy?” I asked, slumping back into my seat, wondering if Shane texted ex-girlfriends.

“I don’t know,” Eve sighed. “But I want to go back.”

“Back?”

“To when I had some control over things.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that feeling.”

“Pity.”

Eve talked about slipping on a pair of warm pajamas and eating raw cookie dough as Harvest Home came into view. In the living room window, we could see Aunt Dora, her hands covering her face, her shoulders heaving.
 

“She’s crying,” I said. I’d never seen Aunt Dora so much as sniffle, and the sight broke my heart.

“What’s wrong with her?” Eve asked. We remained in the vehicle, unsure of what to do next.

“She’s scared. Scared of losing her sister, scared of losing her home, scared of a future that feels ominous…like we are.”

Aunt Dora spotted us in the driveway and dabbed the tears from her eyes. She opened the door, speaking cheerfully. “My girls are home! I made cookies. Come inside!”

We gave her quick hugs on our way in.

“What are those fer?” she asked.
 

 
“Just because we love you.”

After dessert I pulled Eve into the bedroom and locked the door. “Let’s try again, Eve. I think we can do this. We can practice a little more and then play a few games at The Watering Hole.”

Eve looked tired. “Maggie, let it go.”
 

“Please, Evie. Think of what we could do with the money! Help Aunt Dora and Mother and Merry and us.” I batted my eyelashes the way she had done in the car when showing me her man-catching moves.
 

“Fine,” she laughed, her voice fairy light. “When did you become so persuasive?”

“I learned from the best.”

“So it seems.”
 

I tossed and turned in bed, watching the shadows. I had been lying here for nearly four hours and I still couldn’t sleep.

I tried to get comfortable, pushing a pillow between my legs before flipping onto my stomach and then returning to my back.
 

All the while my digital clock counted down the time until the witching hour was over––that window between the hours of midnight and three a.m., when the veil between this world and the spirit world was at its thinnest. I had seen things in my life––ghosts and demons––and though I no longer feared them as I had before, on this night I wanted to be left alone.
 

At last, three o’clock came and I relaxed.

I thought about calling Shane, waking him from his dreams, telling him that I was falling in love with him, too.
 

“Really?” he’d ask.

“Yes.” Then I remembered. “But…”

“But?”

“I’m pregnant with Michael’s baby.”

I imagined the heavy silence on the other end of the line.
 

I’d laugh, apologize, and say, “Ha-ha. Just kidding. You know what a prankster I am.” Then, in my neurotic imagination, I’d hang up and he’d wonder what happened as soap opera music played in the background.

Even my fantasies were screwed up.

Though my pregnancy wasn’t obvious to anyone but those who knew about it, I couldn’t hide it forever. But until I got my act together––had a place I could call home and some money in my pocket––I wasn’t ready to face him. My pride wouldn’t let me. When I finally told him, I wanted to be strong enough to withstand his rejection, if that’s what it came to.

In my peripheral vision, I saw something scurry across the floor, a dark shape the size of a toy car. It settled into the corner behind my chair. Was it a rat, or a ghost? I sat up on my elbows, searching the blackness. The shape dissolved into the floor, leaving a trace of its aura behind, like oil from a leaky engine.
 

Probably just a small spirit passing through.
 

“Well, you’re no help,” I said, sliding back into my bed. If the damned things were going to visit me in the middle of the night, the least they could do would be to listen to my problems.

A knock on the door startled me more than any spirit could.

I yanked the blankets up to my chin. “Yes?”

“Maggie, sorry to wake you,” Paul said, his voice thick with worry.

“Come in.”
 

Paul stepped lightly inside, flooding the room with illumination from the hall. He held the cordless house phone, his hand covering the mouthpiece. “It’s that guy you used to date. The one Eve sent away.”

The news both annoyed and amused me.

That guy
was Michael, and he had driven all the way from Northern California a month ago to ask me to marry him. Eve had given him one of her special teas and immediately after drinking it, he took off in his van to pursue a woman he had never met in New York, instead.
 

“Is everything okay?” I asked Paul.

“I don’t know. Sorry. He demanded to talk to you and said he was going to come see you in person if I didn’t put you on the phone right away.”
 

I took the phone and smiled to let Paul know it was okay.
 

“I can stick around if you want,” he added.

“I’m fine. Thanks. I’ll holler if I need you.”

Before he left he said, “Okay, good luck.” He left the door open a crack.

“Michael?” I said into the mouthpiece, bracing myself for the strange power he had over me. The first day I met him, I’d followed him out of Dark Root to help form his new religion. I would have stayed with him forever, had I not caught him and Leah together.
 

“Maggie! I’m so glad to hear your voice. I’m not sure what happened, but I’ve been to New York, following a woman I didn’t know. They put a stalking order on me! What did you do?”

“Sorry, that’s not my brand of magick,” I said, stifling a chuckle.
 

“Anyway, that’s not why I’m calling. I woke up from this dream. You were having a baby. My baby. Is it true?”

Michael had abilities of his own, though he insisted they all came from God and he was nothing more than a prophet. To be honest, I wasn’t sure where any of this came from, so I couldn’t argue. But if he really
was
God’s prophet, I reasoned, the world would no longer be here, as he had predicted.

“Tell me I’m crazy.” Michael almost begged. “I couldn't go back to sleep until I knew for sure.”

I didn’t want him in my life, not when I was almost emotionally free of him. But I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him either.
 

With hesitation, I said, “Yes, Michael. I’m pregnant.”

“I’m the father?”

“God, yes! Why the hell would you ask that?”

“Oh, Maggie. That’s wonderful news. I’ll go there, or you can come here and we can raise this baby.” He made plans for us, rattling off a list of things we could do and places we could go. South America, where there was a religious revival, or maybe Africa, where the natives were hungry for “The Word”

“No, Michael.” I stopped him. “Absolutely not. I’m staying here and I’m raising the baby alone.”

“I have rights, too.” His voice shook. “I will take you to court, if I have to.”

I laughed. “I’m sure the courts will entrust a baby into the care of a certified stalker.”

“That’s not fair, Maggie! You probably did that to me.”

“Yeah? Prove it.”

I could have taken it easier on him. He was under Eve’s spell at the time. He was also under a spell when he had succumbed to Leah’s
charms
.
 

Still, I couldn’t forgive him, spell or no spell.

“Maggie, be reasonable. We can work this out.”

I felt my face flush. Who was he to tell me to be reasonable? He couldn't step back into my life and start demanding things.

“All I want from you,” I said, my throat tight and my voice short. “…Is money. Lots and lots of money. If your kid is anything like you, he’ll be eating me out of house and home. Send me money and you may get a picture on Christmas.”
 

“You can’t call the shots. There are laws.”

“Not in Dark Root.”

There was a pause on the other end. “I’m not sending you anything if you don’t let me see the baby, and that’s final.”

“I never expected anything from you, Michael, so it’s a moot point.” I was so angry I expected every light bulb up and down the hall outside to burst. I rubbed the crystal band on my wrist, soothing myself. The Circle hummed beneath my touch, sending tiny flecks of amber light into the dark, and calming me.
 

“Michael,” I said, once my heart rate returned to normal. “I have enough problems right now. Please leave me alone.”

“I can’t, Maggie.” His voice was soft but resolute. “I just can’t.” And he hung up the phone.