Haunting Me (An Angel Falls Book 3) Read online

  “Yeah,” she says sounding a little perkier. “Jared, you want to load up the instruments and find your band?”

  “Definitely,” he says.

  He lowers his window, then reaches up to open the sunroof. His grin is wide as he turns up the volume on the stereo. I wish I could relax like he can, but it’s impossible. Brinna is next to me on the back seat and the farther we drive the more upset she looks.

  “Remind her, Juliana, or I’m going to make her life unbearable until she takes her medicine.”

  “Brinna is being really pushy back here,” I say over the music.

  “I’ll take it later,” Star says.

  “Now, Star,” Brinna insists.

  “She says to do it now.” I press my lips together and wait for the next rebuttal.

  “She doesn’t understand. When I take the medication I can’t write any new music.”

  “Hand me that bag and I’ll throw it out the window right now,” Jared says as if it’s all some joke.

  “She says she’s only looking out for you,” I say as Brinna begins to plead.

  “I’m with Star on this,” Jared says. “The flair coming out you is unbelievable right now. We can’t stop a musical streak the gods would approve of.”

  “I’ll take my pill as soon as we can get together with our bands. My music is important, too,” Star says.

  “You’re not waiting that long. I know you, Star. You’ll be in the studio for the next month.”

  I relay the message. Star narrows her eyes and accelerates the car.

  “Make her take it, Juliana,” Brinna says.

  I shake my head slightly.

  “I tried to play nice,” Brinna says, the anger steaming out of her. I feel a passing rush of hot air as she disappears from the car.

  And just like that, the engine makes a terrible grinding sound and stops. Star is as silent as the engine. She guides the dead car to the side of the road and shifts into park.

  At first she stares out the windshield. I watch as her aura shifts and swirls. It started out light and full of pale vibrant colors. As I watch from the back seat, her colors condense and pull inward. Star looks down into her lap, her hands still gripping the wheel. Slowly she reaches over and picks up her cell phone. She stares at the screen for a long time.

  I’ve driven this section of highway more times than I can count. The mountains are steep on either side of the road for the next couple of miles and there’s no cell service.

  “You seriously live in the middle of nowhere,” she says.

  “Nowhere for at least two more miles,” I chime in. “Then our phones should work again.”

  Star gathers her things into her black satin drawstring bag. She doesn’t take the medicine with her. She opens the car door and we take that as our cue. We step out onto the hot asphalt as one of the summer’s migrating prairie whales passes us with a gush of hot exhaust fumes. My brain immediately thinks about the risk of being hit by a car. The forest on the other side of the ditch looks cool and inviting. I would give just about anything to step under the cover of the branches and spend the rest of the afternoon picking wild berries and wandering barefoot in the closest stream. Instead, I’m looking around for the most obvious way Jared or I might bite the big one.

  “Hey Jules, ask Marcus to get us a ride.”

  I glance at Jared. “What? You’re talking to me again?”

  “Give me a break. I wasn’t expecting to be hit with a whore-a-gram while standing in line at the drugstore.”

  “If you ever call me that again I’ll disown you as my brother.”

  “Sorry,” he says, immediately feeling the shame in what he just said to me. “I need to forget what I saw.”

  “You know everything that’s happened to me. I’m just being extra cautious. Especially after watching what Corrine went through. This test has absolutely nothing to do with Nathaniel.” I shift my purple bag over my shoulder where the pregnancy test is stuffed inside.

  “Okay, okay. You’re totally right.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I’m an ass-wipe and we both know it. I seriously can’t talk to you about girl problems. My nads are shriveling. I’m sorry,” he says again. “Whatever happens, I’ll support your decision,” he adds, then catches up with Star.

  Jared has a serious phobia about anything related to the physical workings of the female body. Bringing up the subject is a sure fire way to get him to evacuate the room.

  I take one last longing glance at the woods, then look over at the crags of the rock face to the east. Rock climbing. Another pastime that hasn’t been happening — and may not happen ever again as long as Harmony is tailing me.

  Jared has Star’s fingers interlaced with his. Their hands swing gently between them as they walk down the side of the road. Jared says something which earns him a smile and a light slap to his torso with her free hand. They slow their pace until I catch up.

  “So where are the shadows?” Star asks.

  I look behind us. Sure enough, Marcus and Harmony are about thirty paces back.

  “Following,” I say. Star triggers a thought. I ask, “Why did you call them that?”

  “What?”

  “Shadows?” I ask. “The first time I ever heard a name for Angels of Death, Chris called them Creator’s Shadow.”

  “I don’t know. They’re staying with us all the time, right? Like a shadow.”

  “They’re here for Jared and,” I cut myself off. They don’t know the reason for Harmony being here and I don’t want to tell them.

  “Me and what?” Jared instantly catches my stumble.

  “Nothing.”

  “Are you going to ask him for help?” Jared tries again.

  “I don’t think it’s a great idea,” I say. “Brinna was trying to help and look where that’s landed us.”

  It’s out of my mouth before I can prevent the repercussions. So Jared and I share the spectacular and amazing ability of being able to shove our feet into our mouths. Yay for us. We both slide our gaze over to Star.

  She walks on like I didn’t say anything, but I watch the little, condensed cloud of her aura, the part around her head and shoulders, expand and drop lower to encompass her chest and mid-section.

  An old VW bus passes us going the opposite direction. I smile inwardly at the paint job. At one time, it was probably lime green as evidenced by the small patches of paint showing under the hundreds of stickers on the front of it. Time and artistry had attacked the rest of the van and decided it needed to be tie-dyed on the side and have a magical forest on the back. It makes my old blue Saab look downright civilized. A couple of minutes later, I hear another vehicle coming up behind us and turn around to make sure we aren’t going to get plowed down. The VW bus is back and is slowing down and pulling over. A hand reaches out of the window and waves at us.

  The lady on the passenger side sticks her head out and says, “Star Quillin! I was just talking about you.”

  The van parks and the lady climbs out. Excitement pours out of her. Literally. Her aura is huge and expanding in our direction.

  “Hey, Cherie.”

  They embrace quickly. Star looks happy to see her, but I can feel her holding something back. Star waves to the driver.

  Cherie says, “The Goddess has aligned this meeting. I’m sure of it. I was just saying to Hugh ten minutes ago, ‘I hope that Quillin girl will be at her auntie’s for the celebrations.’ It’s a full red moon and a blue moon tonight. It’s such a rare moon tonight and it will be shining right on us.” She beams at all three of us. “I’m so glad to see you.” She hugs Star a second time and adds, “What are you doing out here, girl?”

  Star sounds much less enthused than Cherie as she explains our situation. They offer us a ride so we climb into the back of the van and find a place to sit on the floor among the cushions and bolsters. The various bags, boxes, camping gear, and coolers make me feel like livestock crammed into the back of a truck, especially with Jared’s long le
gs taking up a majority of the cramped space. I close my eyes and concentrate on breathing through the short trip back to Star’s car where Hugh, Cherie’s significant other, offers to take a look at the engine.

  We climb back out and stand around watching Hugh tinker with the car. After about ten minutes, Hugh declares Star’s car is going to need a tow truck.

  Cherie says, “You have to come up to the ranch with us and say hi to your aunt Vivian.”

  I look down the stretch of highway as it disappears around the curve of the mountain. We could have been close to cell phone range by now if we had kept on walking.

  “Tell my sister she could have avoided all this if she would have taken her medicine.”

  I’m not taken by surprise this time as Brinna reappears on my right. The medicine bag around my neck hummed against my skin just before the heart attack moment. Turning my back to Brinna doesn’t make any difference other than I can hear Star’s reply better.

  “Jared and his sister need to get home. Is there any way you can help them out?”

  Brinna starts talking to Cherie and Hugh even though they don’t see her. “Make Star go with you. She needs to visit our great aunt. It’s extremely important. Do it, Cherie.”

  I listen in horror as Brinna tries to influence them.

  Apparently it works because Cherie says, “Hugh will bring you back after he drops me off. I have a whole van full of food and I need time for consecrations and cleansings before the drawing down of the moon tonight. We’re already running late.”

  “Well, that sounds reasonable,” Hugh says as if it’s settled.

  The way Brinna appears to float has me a little unnerved. This time she talks directly to Star. “Grab your bottle of pills, Starlight. You need them.”

  I see instant defiance in Star’s amber eyes, but she doesn’t say anything. She pivots on her pointed buckle boots and walks to the van. Brinna takes her leave just as suddenly as she appeared.

  Jared says, “I’m game for a ride in the magic van.”

  I stuff myself into the VW bus once more, sisterly duties urging me to stay close to Jared in case a twist in fate suddenly changes our reality. Marcus and Harmony make some joke about a clown car and don’t squeeze in with us. We putter down the road, heading farther into the mountains.

  Chapter Twenty-two: Unbalanced

  Nathaniel

  I wouldn’t allow myself to think about Juliana very much while preparing Vivi’s house for the gathering. Now that Vivi is busy welcoming friends and directing coven members to the guest rooms or telling them where they can set up camp, I give myself permission to anticipate being with Juliana again.

  The last thirty-six hours have been a non-stop treat of earthly ordinariness. Cleaning and setting up were at the top of the list. Dust clouds floated about as I cleaned under beds and wiped windowsills. Mounds of chopped and stacked firewood were made ready for the woodstove inside the house and for the bonfire outside. Working with the axe and hatchet was a dismal reminder of my future return to Ireland, but it was going to have to wait. Grocery shopping was yet another adventure Vivi sent me on. She followed up with instructions to prepare platters of cut-up vegetables and fruit, bread, and cheese. The variety of food was kept simple on Vivi’s end, but there’s plenty of it.

  Vivi has a unique connection to the water and I observed with interest as more and more sprites appeared as we neared the beginning of the celebration. The little water fairies seemed equally busy with their own preparations around the creek and the small water cascades surrounding Vivi’s house. I’m not sure if anyone at the gathering can see the fairy lights and the webs of glitter surrounding the house, but in my opinion, it’s pretty magical.

  “Why are there so many fairies here?” I ask Vivi as we watch a couple of witches, who had just arrived by horseback, walk toward the barn to settle their animals into stalls for the weekend.

  “They enjoy the festivities.” She waves a hand toward the freshly consecrated grounds.

  Strings of lights glow among the tree branches. The tables have vases of fresh flowers on them while rings of ivy and flowering garland decorate every other available surface. There’s a giant spiral etched into the forest floor marking the ceremonial space. “Many here this weekend will honor them with gifts of honey and other sweets. The water sprites come in particular because of my magic with the pools and creeks. There are wood nymphs here as well if you have an eye to see them.”

  “I thought I noticed extra eyes on me, but they stay well hidden.”

  “They sure do,” she says.

  “Will many of your friends know what I am?”

  Vivi looks at me, giving me one of her penetrating stares. “A few perhaps. It’s no matter. We are an open-minded bunch of worshippers. Likely you and the wee folk will not be the only beings visiting this weekend.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Help me one last time, then go see that blessed girl of yours,” she says.

  “Anything for you, Ms.Vivi.”

  “This way,” she says and walks around to the back of the big house.

  As we approach her sanctum off the back of the kitchen I feel the now familiar pressure of a protected space. I slow my approach.

  Vivi says, “I’ll let you enter for this one purpose. Don’t fret, Rookie, you’ll be able to leave any time you want.”

  She stops at a rain barrel on the corner of the building. There’s an old-fashioned water pump and spout next to the barrel. She lifts the handle and water begins to flow. As she rinses off her hands the water inside the drum begins swirling. It flows over the edge and continues spiraling like a miniature water spout. Vivi guides her hand through the water and directs it closer to the log wall on the left. The stream of water flows with her hand. She surrounds the door with the running water, all the way around the frame and back to the rain barrel. Vivi leaves the spout running, steps to the side and opens the door.

  “Go on in. If I can’t trust you, I may as well be dead,” she says, the sarcastic insinuation clear.

  “Not funny,” I say.

  We step through her enchanted waterway and into a bright room filled with the sound of flowing fountains and tinkling music. Surprised by how bright the atrium is, I look up and see a glass ceiling. The walls are lined with shelves and covered with glass jars, bottles, canisters, rocks, and many unidentifiable objects. There are a couple of worktables in the center of the room covered with a lot of empty pots of all sizes and shapes. Vivi had gotten rid of a lot of her plants before hiking up to the bluff, but a few green plants remain to add some life and color. A desk is shoved up against the wall next to a door, which I assume leads to the kitchen. On the far left side of the room is a pantry-style buffet and cabinets from floor to ceiling.

  “Nice office,” I say.

  “It suits me,” Vivi agrees. “Now listen, I’ve run out of time, Nathaniel,” she says as she shuffles over to an enormous globe-shaped flask. “If you don’t mind, I need help mixing this weekend’s brew. Once it’s done, I need you to carry it to the main altar for me in this.” She places her hand on an oversized antique ceramic pitcher.

  “Witch’s brew?” I say, unable to suppress a lighthearted grin.

  “Absolutely, young man. Now let’s get started. They’ll start a riot if I don’t have it ready. It’s famous, you know.”

  “Famous for what?”

  “This and that,” she says as she pours a thick grayish liquid into the glass globe. “If you’re here later tonight, you’ll see. Otherwise, you’re probably in the camp of ‘you don’t need to know’.”

  “Got it. Now, what can I do to get this show on the road?”

  Vivi puts me to work sorting some dried yellow flowers from their stems. After which I’m to crumble the dried petals and add them to the very odd puce-colored liquid. I call it odd because it’s changing colors on its own, and boiling even though there’s no heat source I can see. I add the flowers and don’t question the witch at work. Vivi sta
ys steady and mostly quiet as she mixes and stirs. As I’m pulverizing some knotty roots, which I suspect are really rocks, with her mortar and pestle, we hear a knock on the door.

  “Auntie Viv?”

  Vivi wipes her hands on her apron and opens the door. A young lady with a pale face and black hair streaked with black cherry and lavender waits to be invited in.

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes. I can hardly believe you made it,” Vivi says.

  “Yeah, it’s a long story. Sort of a comedy and a tragedy, but I’m here,” she says as she leans in and hugs her aunt.

  “Well, come on in. You’re just in time to help me finish the blue moon juice.”

  “Really? Are you going to give me the recipe yet?” the girl says as she passes through the swirling water around the entrance.

  “Not ‘til I’m dead,” Vivi says and tosses a wink in my direction.

  The girl doesn’t flinch at Vivi’s words. It makes me think she doesn’t know how sick her aunt is.

  “That’s okay. I’m not really into making potions anyway.”

  “Your music is your magic, sweet niece,” Vivi says and leads the girl inside.

  This seems to make her happy and she beams. That is until she sees me. Her smile drops and she gives me an open stare with eyes the color of dark honey.

  “Nathaniel, this is my niece, Star. Star, you will be working with Nathaniel. We’re just about done. Do you think you can watch the clock for me? Timing is of the essence.”

  “Sure, Aunt Viv. Oh. I almost forgot to tell you. Hugh and Cherie are outside and want to know where to put all their junk. And can you invite my two friends to enter. They’re stuck by the bridge.”

  “You two finish up in here and I’ll take care of Cherie and your pals. Add the pomegranate juice at half-past seven.”

  I nod at her order and grind the last of the roots, wondering if this Star girl knows I’m an Angel of Death.