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“Not really,” I admitted. “I mean, I just started on Instagram a few days ago.”
“And you’re the real deal, which is part of the reason why Lilith is gunning for you. She doesn’t want you to discover her big secret.”
“But you’re telling me now,” I said, and he shrugged. Even though it was probably pushing a hundred degrees outside, he still wore a long-sleeved black button-up shirt, although the sleeves were rolled up, showing off an impressive array of tats.
“I figured I’d level the playing field,” he replied. If he was at all concerned about Lilith finding out that he’d been blabbing her secrets to me, he didn’t show any sign of it. And actually, in a way, I thought I understood. He disliked her business practices, but not enough to make a clean break and lose a steady paycheck. By confiding in me, he could be subversive without risking too much. “You seem like a nice person. I didn’t want to see you get flattened by the Lilith Black wrecking ball.”
“Um…thanks.” I hesitated, then asked, “But why the whole witch thing if she doesn’t even believe in it?”
Boden reached up to run a hand through his hair. I couldn’t see any obvious roots, which meant even if he darkened it a bit to be pure black, it must still naturally be a fairly dark brown. “She decided it was a good angle for her. A few years ago, she saw people getting famous on YouTube and Instagram, and she wanted a piece of the action. Since she didn’t have any real talents, she researched what sort of content would be a good fit for her and decided on witchery. After all, it’s not like you can really prove magic is real one way or another, is it?”
Good question. True magic wasn’t throwing fireballs or flying on a broomstick or whatever fantasies tended to get perpetuated by the media. It was all about concentrating your energies and setting intentions, and allowing your own energy to merge with that of the universe. Magic definitely worked…I wouldn’t have won that first small lottery back in California or found my way to Globe if it didn’t…but it wasn’t nearly as showy as most people wanted to believe.
“Not really,” I said. “You either believe in it, or you don’t. And if you can manifest the things you need just by sheer grit, you don’t really need magic.”
An approving light flickered in Boden’s eyes. “Exactly. Lilith’s good at grit. And hustling…and leaving a trail of bodies in her wake, if that’s what it takes.”
I chuckled, although my laugh sounded nervous even to me. “I hope you’re speaking metaphorically.”
“I am…for now.” He paused there, and his expression, which had been mainly amused, sobered immediately. “Lilith really doesn’t like competition.”
“I’m not competition,” I protested. “I’m not trying to get a gazillion followers, or whatever. Honestly, I started this whole thing just as a way to get more tourists to visit Globe. Josie Woodrow put me up to it.”
My revelation seemed to relax him a bit. At any rate, that little quirk had returned to his mouth, an indication that he wasn’t quite as worried as he’d been a moment earlier. “I believe you. Still, it’s better to stay out of Lilith’s way.”
“I will,” I said, which was only the truth. I had absolutely no desire for our paths to cross any more than they already had. “Really, this is just me doing what I can to get Globe on the map.”
Boden didn’t immediately reply. Maybe he was trying to decide whether I was telling him the simple truth or whether I had some kind of other angle to my Instagram account that I simply didn’t want to reveal. When he spoke, however, he only said, “Do what’s right for you. Don’t let Lilith scare you off. Just…be careful.”
“I will,” I replied.
That seemed to be enough reassurance for him. He said, “I need to get going, or Lilith’s going to wonder what I’m up to. Good luck with your ritual.”
Although he didn’t add,You’re going to need it,I got the impression that was exactly what he’d been thinking. He took hold of his shopping cart and began to push it toward the checkout counter, while I watched him go.
So…Lilith Black was a fake. I didn’t know why I should be so surprised, except that I knew I would never have thecojonesto pull that kind of a con with several million people looking on. But, as Boden had pointed out, who would ever be able to tell? From the outside, she was a huge success, had manifested the lifestyle of her dreams and the sort of following most people could only imagine.
And maybe that was its own form of magic, even if it wasn’t the kind of magic I practiced.
I let out a sigh and went over to thump a few watermelons. My rival might have been fake, but I wasn’t…and I had a lot of work left to do.
8
Change of Heart
I’d worriedthat no one would show up to claim any tickets to my solstice ritual, and I’d be left with a pile of cheese, sausage, and fruit…not to mention several bags of flour and containers of honey, purchased so I could make my little Litha cakes. But people flowed in and out of the shop all day, buying various odds and ends, picking up their free tickets for the ceremony. Not in huge numbers — I had a feeling we’d probably be a little under capacity — but enough that I guessed my worries had been for naught.
Hazel had already offered to help me out in any way I needed, so I’d asked her to watch the refreshment tables and replenish the platters as necessary. Chuck was already handling the overall logistics of the event, although he’d gotten Travis to do traffic control and keep an eye on the attendees’ cars while they were occupied at the ritual site.
And Josie had told me that she’d “drop in,” although she couldn’t promise she’d be there for the whole thing. “Tuesday night is bridge night, you know,” she told me.
Since I’d been subjected to the minutiae of her schedule for the past two months, I’d been able to respond, “Oh, I know. And I know you can’t miss it. But the bonfire won’t even start up until nine o’clock, since I want to wait until full dark.”
Her expression had indicated that she wasn’t terribly thrilled by the prospect of tromping around in Chuck’s back forty in utter darkness, although I knew it wouldn’t betoodark. We’d have a waxing gibbous moon that was nearly full, along with a bunch of citronella oil torches to light the way. I wanted to do this ritual correctly, but I also didn’t want to get eaten alive by mosquitoes in the process, or have someone break a leg because they tripped over something in the dark.
I hadn’t told anyone about my conversation with Boden Marsh, partly because I had the feeling he’d told me those things in confidence, and partly because I didn’t know whether anyone would even believe me if I told them that Lilith Black was an utter fraud. It would probably sound like sour grapes on my part, like I didn’t want to admit that someone else was a better witch than me.
For all I knew, it was some sort of weird test to see if I could keep a secret. To what purpose, I had no idea, but years of working with clients and doing readings for them had taught me that sometimes people’s motivations were beyond screwy. It was a relief to know I didn’t have to do that anymore and could focus on the much more straightforward task of keeping my store running. I’d enjoyed doing readings, and yet I was happy to have left that part of my life behind.
