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She nodded. “That’s all I needed to hear. I’ll see you later, lady.” To her mother, she glowered, but said, “I’ll be careful. You better be, too.”
When we were alone, Anadey let out a long sigh. “I wish she’d quit blaming me for being angry about her father. He’s a sleaze and a drunk. He ran out on us, leaving me to cope with a young girl, and never once checked in to see how she was doing. Never once did he send support for her—I had to fend for the both of us on my own. And now he wants back in her life? I’m convinced he’ll try to take her away from me.”
I lightly put my hand on the older woman’s arm. “Don’t do this to yourself. You know Peyton adores you—she loves you so much. How can you believe that someone who’s a relative stranger could come in and destroy your relationship with her that easily?”
She wavered, and I could see she was thinking about what I’d said, but then she shook her head. “It’s just too dangerous . . . I can’t chance it . . .”
“Chance what?”
“Never mind.” Her smile returned and she pointed toward the bathroom. “Here, drink this. It will put you in the right mood. Go immerse yourself in the bath and clean with the soap I put there. Then return here, naked.”
I downed the drink—it tasted like apple juice—and then excused myself and went into the bathroom. The walls were soft rose-petal pink, and the bathtub and fixtures were painted porcelain. The tub was filled with steaming water and a froth of bubbles that immediately calmed me down. As I stripped down and slowly lowered myself into the water, the heat seeped through my muscles and I leaned back, letting the magic of the herbs work their wonders.
All my angst and worry seemed to drift away, out of my muscles, out of my heart, and I relaxed for the first time in days. The blood fever felt like it had worked its way out of my system, and I slowly bathed with the soap that Anadey had left. It was a golden brown, and as I smelled it, I recognized honey and oatmeal, valerian and comfrey, lavender and newly mown grass. I lathered up and then, holding my breath and closing my eyes, slid beneath the surface, letting the water cover my head before breaking through again. I gasped, then wiped my eyes on a hand towel.
Cicely, something doesn’t feel right.
Ulean? I didn’t know you’d come with me.
I think you need to get out of here right now.
I bit my lip, wavering. What do you sense? Is there anything riding the slipstream?
A pause, then: No. But I just have an uneasy prescience about this. Please, leave. Go home.
Wondering what was up, I slowly emerged from the tub and wiped off. As I draped my pendant over my head, I began to notice that I was feeling lightheaded. I sat down on the bench to the side of the vanity and tried to collect my thoughts.
Ulean, I don’t feel well—I’m feeling woozy.
Cicely, get out of here. Now!
I stumbled up and tried to gather my clothing but kept dropping pieces. Finally, I tried to shove myself into my jeans but couldn’t manage the legs. I threw on my jacket, ignoring my bra and top, which were somewhere on the floor. As I opened the door and staggered out, Anadey was there to meet me.
“Anadey—something’s wrong. I don’t feel so good. I think I’d better go home.”
“Nothing’s wrong, Cicely. I just had to make certain you were relaxed. This is a delicate spell. Now, take off your jacket and let’s get on with the casting. We don’t have all day.”
Everything seemed terribly normal, but when I stared into Anadey’s eyes, I saw a flickering light that I didn’t like. It was the light of betrayal. I pushed past her, attempting to make my way to the door, but once again I stumbled, and this time she grabbed me by the arm and jerked me back. She was horribly strong against my drugged state.
Off balance, I crashed to the floor. The room was spinning now, and I was blinking, trying to clear my sight, which had gone blurry. “What did you do to me, Anadey? What did you put in the drink?”
She tugged my jacket off me and then, grabbing me beneath both arms, half-lifted, half-dragged me into a circle of salt and herbs that she’d laid out in the middle of the living room floor. When we reached the center, she dropped me onto the floor, then stepped out of the circle and whispered a few words.
I forced myself to my hands and knees, crawling slowly across the twisting floor, to the edge of the salt. But try as I might, I couldn’t force myself to cross the barrier. I tried to scatter the salt, but my hand met an invisible force field as it neared the edge of the circle.
“You might as well quit trying,” Anadey said, glancing down at me. “The drink I gave you will last through the ritual. I’m sorry, Cicely, but I cannot chance having my fucking ex come here and take away my daughter. He tried, you know, once before. He tried to kidnap her when she was still young, and I stopped him. He still bears the scars of that lightning bolt. But now he’s gained powerful allies, and I have been offered a choice. I won’t lose her.”
I forced my gaze up to meet hers and saw stark fear emblazoned across her face. “Anadey—what are you doing? Are you going to kill me? Hand me over to Myst?”
She stopped, her eyes wide. “Oh no, my dear. I’d never do that to you—please, don’t think I mean to hurt you. I’m just going through with the spell we agreed on, with a twist. I’m going to take away your love for Grieve. Forever.”
As she lightly stepped in the circle again, I tried to catch her by the hem of her robe, to trip her up, but it didn’t work, and I let out a little cry.
“You can’t break the connection—you’ll kill us both.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, kneeling down. She stretched my arms and legs out, tying me to four pegs that she’d hammered into tiny holes in the floor. After that, she began to draw on me with a brush dipped in red ink. Dragon’s Blood ink. I shivered as the bristles tickled their way over my skin.
“It’s true, Anadey. Please, believe me. Talk to Chatter—”
