This is the second part of Maggie’s Point of View of the latest scheme from Luna and Maggie. If you’re trying to keep track, the first part was Newfound Depths by Luna, the Second was Unusual Depths by me, The Third was Newfound Desires by Luna….now comes Unusual Desires from this corner…notice a theme? LOL.
I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we are enjoying writing it!
Hugs,
Maggie
Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Berkley Publishing Group do not authorize this author. All characters that you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton except for the ones created by the people in this group. This is solely for entertainment purposes.
Rating: R to be safe for strong language and minor violence
Special thanks to Luna not only for being an excellent beta but also
encouraging me to keep writing when I think I should just give up. *grins*
Looking around the spare bedroom, there was no sign of Luna anywhere. Where was she? The spilled blood was still there but I had no way of telling if it was shed willingly as part of the ritual or taken by force. Staring at the circle of power, I prayed for answers, as if the room could tell me what had happened. Not surprisingly, my request was greeted with nothing but cold silence, silence that was far too reminiscent of a cemetery for my comfort.
Hugging the spell book tight to my chest, I slowly backed out of the room. Closing the door, the click of the bolt driving home was obscenely loud in the silence. That more than anything served as an alarm bell that time was running out. I needed to move fast if I was going to find Luna before she was forever out of my grasp.
Running down the stairs, I grabbed my keys and headed out to my car. The sun was already shining brightly in my eyes. How much time had I wasted in that room? Catching sight of myself in the rearview mirror, I realized I hadn’t gotten dressed yet. Lowering my head to the steering wheel, I banged it frustration before getting out of the car to head back inside.
Back in my bedroom, I sat down on the bed and forced myself to do the breathing exercises we had been working on to control my emotions. Being a Gateway for the Dead, we had discovered it wasn’t safe for me to have my emotions running amuck. I never knew who would try to come through if I left my defenses down.
Quickly changing, I headed down to the kitchen. I was starving, must have been the nerves. Sitting down to eat some cereal and toast, I made a list of those I could ask for help finding and possibly rescuing Luna.
The one I most wanted to ask for help was unavailable. I didn’t know how to contact Lija directly while he was away. He had said I could call Killian if I needed him for anything. I had agreed because I knew they were close and I didn’t want to make waves. Truth was, there was no way I was calling the Master of Dublin for help, especially not on this.
Who did that leave though? Noah had said they were going to be out of town for a few more days. I was guessing the fact that Lija and Noah were both unavailable was why my soul sister had chosen to try the damned spell in the first place. Sighing, I knew I couldn’t tattle to the Pard on her even if I could contact Noah.
Who else could I ask? If Killian’s help would have made me uncomfortable, Jean Claude’s was flat out non-negotiable. He would either tell Anita about what was going on, or use the information to put us even more firmly under his thumb. I was betting on the latter considering power was involved.
No Jean Claude meant no vampire or pack help at all as they were expected to report anything unusual to him. Fuck! I was fast running out of options. I had a few human friends but they fell into two categories. The ones connected to JC who were out of the question and the ones who knew nothing about my “research” position who would run screaming if I told them what I needed help with.
It was looking like I was on my own this time. I took a deep breath to stop myself from panicking and reminded myself that I COULD do this. I was not without resources or my own strengths. I just had to find a way to use my assets to the best advantage.
Looking over at the spell book I had been carrying around with me like a security blanket all morning, I ran my hand across the binding. Somehow I felt closer to Luna when I touched it. It held the key to getting her back, if only I knew how to use it.
There was a crash as my chair slid into the wall behind me when I jumped up. Luna had contacted a coven about our mental link a few months back. She was hoping they could teach me to control and help us get a handle on our bond. The phone number of her contact was in still in my filing cabinet at the lab JC furnished for my use.
Throwing the spell book and a notepad into my attaché case, I locked up the house and headed back to the car, putting on my shades as I went. The sun was just too bright today for some reason. Reminding myself not to let my distraught nerves turn every minor annoyance into something to complain about, I stuck the first CD I found in the car stereo and headed out.
Despite it all, I had to smile at what luck would have me listening to. Luna or Lija must have used my car recently because it was Prayer by Disturbed. They weren’t by any means my favorite of the groups the pair had introduced me to but they did express a certain mood well. More than that, not being someone who believed in coincidence, the music was a comforting message that I wasn’t really alone in this quest to find my soul sister. My closest friends were never far away in spirit if nothing else.
Getting out of my car in the parking lot outside Jean Claude’s lair, I noticed it was rather noisy for this time of day. I could hear someone sweeping the pavement. He must be nearby. I thought about stopping to tell him to hose down the area when he was done. Something smelled rotten over by the gate and it must have been pretty bad for me to be able to smell it. I was surprised none of the weres that worked here had complained yet. Ah well, they weren’t exactly early risers given the nature of their employment, or more to the point, employer. Cleaning up whatever was stinking up the parking lot would no doubt be on someone’s to do list for the day.
I tried to close the door as quietly as I could as I headed inside the lair, but it still seemed loud. My nerves were obviously frayed and going to drive me insane before I found Luna if I wasn’t careful. Quickly making my way to my office, I couldn’t help coughing as I entered the laboratory. It smelled horrendous in here too. I would have to ask Jean Claude if he had someone new doing clean up around here later. Trying to hold my breath, I headed into the office and grabbed the number of Luna’s contact.
Once again holding my breath, I ran back out through the lab, slamming the door closed as I left.
“Where’s the fire, Cutie Pie?” I jumped as I turned to see who had found me. Jason, it would be Jason. He was looking at me rather oddly. He must have had some new cologne because he smelled different, exotic somehow.
Realizing he was waiting for a reply I sighed, “Jason, I don’t have time to play cat and mouse, or in your case, wolf and anything that moves. I’m working on something private.” I moved to leave but he blocked my exit.
“I’m crushed that you’re immune to my charm,” His smile seemed to wilt when I didn’t respond, “You seem different Maggie. Is anything wrong?”
Feeling my temper begin to rise, I tried to remain calm, “I’m not any more different than I am any other day around here. Other than the fact you are blocking the exit why would anything be wrong?”
“Lights too bright for ya in here today or you going for the celebrity look?” He asked pointing at the sunglasses; sunglasses I didn’t realize I still had on.
“My eyes are bothering me,” I tried to move past him and he grabbed the sunglasses off my face as he took my wrist with his other hand.
“SHIT! I can see why.” Realizing my eyes must still be green, so different from my normal eyes, I didn’t have time to come up with an excuse, “Who did this to you?” Heading down the hallway with my wrist still locked to his side he added, “We’ll have to tell Jean Claude when he rises. He’ll know what to do.”
That was exactly the wrong thing to say. I had enough though I fought the almost overwhelming desire to scream. That would have just brought more company down on us. Yanking my wrist away from Jason so fast I think it surprised us both, he turned to look at me, shocked. Reaching for me, I batted his hands away and pushed hard on his chest. “You don’t know what’s going on. Leave it alone!”
Shaking, I belatedly realized I had thrown Jason into the wall. He appeared dazed but otherwise okay. I started to move toward him and he jerked. He obviously didn’t want me to come near him. Confused I ran out the door to my car before he could say anything else.
Sitting in my car, I locked the doors as I burst into tears. A short time later, I noticed movement by the lair door. Sniffing back my tears, I saw Jason heading out toward my car and he wasn’t alone. The goons with him looked like they were expecting trouble. I could positively feel the tension from where I sat.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I found an extra set of sunglasses in the glove compartment and looked around for the quickest way out of the parking lot. My nervous breakdown would have to wait. I couldn’t help Luna if I was playing twenty questions with Jean Claude and I was guessing I would only get one chance here to escape.
Jason and his buddies started to run when I turned the engine over. I quickly slammed into reverse and swung the car around to head out the employee gate. I could smell the rubber burning as the tires squealed. There was a loud thump as one of the guys managed to jump onto the back of the car. A quick swerve made the car fish tail and my rider was thankfully lost.
Driving to the outskirts of town, I knew I didn’t have much time. As soon as night fell, Jean Claude would be told of my behavior. Then I would most likely have uninvited guests at my doorstep. I pulled out my cell and called Luna’s contact at the coven. Luck was with me for a change. She answered on the first ring and agreed to meet me at her shop.
I headed into an older part of town that oddly wasn’t part of the vampire district. I idly wondered if that had been a prerequisite Luna had demanded of our prospective help. The address wasn’t difficult to find, though I rechecked the number I had written down three times. It looked so unassuming from the outside. This was a magic shop?
Stepping out of the car, I noticed a pair of older women out for their afternoon stroll, doing a bit of window-shopping. They didn’t bother trying to look in the dark windows of the brownstone building in front of me. In fact they seemed to keep a respectful distance from the shop. They turned to greet me, smiling. I started to smile back but something in my expression must of upset them. They quickly turned to walk away from me stopping only when they reached the corner to hazard a glance back. Did I look that bad? I stopped to look at my reflection in the car window but couldn’t see what could have frightened them. Maybe it was the sunglasses.
God it had been a long day. Walking up the steps to the store, I felt nervous. My nerves tingled like power was dancing across my skin. It was like the static charge you sometimes can feel right after you turn off the television if you are next to the screen, only it penetrated deeper. It seemed to seep into my bones and I wasn’t sure this was such a good idea after all. Luna, I was doing this for her. My desire to get my sister home stronger than my fear, I reached for the doorknob in front of me.
A host of smells assaulted me as I opened the front door. The fragrance of old flowers mixed with too many herbs to distinguish any one scent, except perhaps the smell of burning candles that overlaid it all. Damn, was Luna trying to connect to me? My senses hadn’t been this strong since the last time Luna merged with me, showing me the world through her eyes.
A warm gentle voice pulled me out of my musing. “Maggie? I’ve been expecting you.”
Looking up, the first thing I noticed was that she was nothing like I would expect a Wiccan High Priestess to look. She appeared to be in her mid thirties, wearing a simple light blue peasant blouse over faded blue jeans. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry that I could see and little make up. Rose was the dominant scent that hit me as she moved closer.
“You were expecting a cloak or big black hat perhaps?” The woman smiled at me.
I blushed as I realized I had been staring. “No. You must be Raven. I guess I was just expecting someone…older, more intimidating.”
“I could say the same of you Doctor.” She lightly laughed as she led me to a back room. It was cozier with a small worktable and teakettle sitting on a side table atop a hot plate. After fixing us both some tea and offering me a plate of cookies, we settled in and I told her what I knew of Luna’s disappearance, finding the circle of power, the open spell book.
The witch seemed a bit concerned but not overly surprised by my revelations. It appeared Luna had talked to her about the spell but not heeded our would be mentor’s warnings. Big shock. When did Luna EVER listen?
Realizing I had finished off the cookies while we talked, I handed the plate back, “Sorry about eating all of them. I guess I skipped lunch.”
Smiling Raven reassured me, “Don’t worry. You’re going to need all the energy you can gather for the spell I’m giving you to try. I really don’t like the idea of you trying it on your own, but given what we know of your bond to Luna, I think she won’t respond if she doesn’t have a clear path to you. Here’s what you are going to need.”