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And you know? Scratch that. Most of the time, people’s motivations were definitely beyond screwy. Ordering inventory was much simpler.
Anyway, by the time the end of Monday afternoon rolled around, I’d given out seventy-two tickets, and there was also part of Tuesday remaining to hand out the rest. I planned to close the shop early on Tuesday afternoon so I could focus on the final bits and pieces of my preparations, but that still gave people a few hours to come by and get a ticket.
And if they didn’t, no big deal. I was fine with seventy-five attendees. That was still enough to make the work worthwhile.
Beneath it all was the knowledge I’d held close to the vest, that Tuesday, June twenty-first, was my thirtieth birthday. I didn’t know exactly why I felt the need to keep the date a secret, except I really didn’t want anyone to make a big deal about it. My life was such that I already had pretty much everything I needed, and I didn’t want anyone — specifically, Josie or Hazel — to fuss about buying me presents or trying to take me out to lunch, or whatever. Better to let the day pass while I was in service to the greater powers of the universe.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, though, it was to a stomach knotted tight with nerves. I’d done my best to tell myself that everything was going to be all right, and I honestly had tried to cover as many bases as possible in the limited amount of time I’d had to plan. Even so, that awful sensation of impending doom was back.
I tried to keep those apocalyptic feelings at bay by having a strong cup of coffee to get the day started, and then by making sure I was busy the whole morning. Some more people trickled into the shop to get tickets, rounding up the number to an even ninety.
Just as I was about to take the “be back at” sign and hang it on the door, signaling that the store would be closed until Thursday morning — no way was I going to drag myself into the shop on Wednesday after being up all night the day before — Lilith Black came sailing in, her assistant Tansy trailing a few feet behind her.
No sign of Boden, which was probably a good thing. I’d never been known for having a good poker face, and I had a feeling I probably would have sent off some sort of subconscious signal to indicate he and I were a bit better acquainted than Lilith believed.
“Hi,” I said cautiously, since it wasn’t as though I could ignore her outright.
“I just wanted to drop in and wish you the best of luck tonight,” Lilith said. That day, she was still wearing black from head to toe, but her dress this time was almost diaphanous, a filmy draped thing that left her arms bare and made her look a little bit like a goth Titania. “But I’m sure you’ll do just fine, considering your limited resources.”
Oh, how I wanted to throw back in her face that I knew she was a complete fraud, that she didn’t know any more about magic than I did about brain surgery. Somehow, though, I held the words in. If nothing else, I didn’t want to get Boden in trouble. Oddly enough, I kind of liked the guy. He had a no-nonsense way about him that I appreciated, despite his Snape-masquerading-as-a-goth-dude appearance.
“I hope so,” I said mildly.
My gaze shifted past her to Tansy, who had her phone out and appeared to be doing her best to film the exchange while escaping any notice.
“Um…what’s she doing?”
Lilith’s gray eyes glinted with annoyance, but she put on a fake-looking smile and said, “Oh, she’s just following me around and getting everything on camera. You don’t mind, do you?”
Considering I’d gone to work that morning in jeans, a plain blue sleeveless top, and hardly any makeup, I knew I wasn’t exactly in the best shape for a close-up. However, letting Lilith see that she’d irritated me didn’t seem like a very wise course of action, so I managed to smile as I replied, “Not at all. I can see why you’d want to document your entire trip.”
Her smile slipped a little; I could tell she hadn’t wanted me to be quite so magnanimous. “Well, thanks. And again, good luck tonight.”
She stuck out a hand, and I realized I’d have to shake it or be recorded for all time looking like a petty wench. Gritting my teeth, I extended my hand as well, and shook hers. Unlike Boden’s, her grip was the proverbial limp fish, and moist to boot.
But it was over soon enough, although my psychic powers seemed to have deserted me for the moment, since her aura remained hidden and I hadn’t gotten a single glimmer of her intentions from that limp handshake. The fake-looking smile returned, and she said, “Have a happy Litha,” just before she turned and headed out the door.
Well, at least she knew the traditional name of the holiday. Then again, Boden hadn’t said that she didn’t do her research, only that she didn’t believe in magic and didn’t actually practice the craft.
Whatever. It annoyed me that she was so cavalier about something so important, but I knew my disapproval probably meant bupkis to her.
Almost as soon as the door had shut, I hurried over and locked it, and hung up my little “be back at” sign. I glanced down at my hand, still feeling the stickiness of Lilith’s touch, but I didn’t see any stains or other signs that something had been actually wrong with her.
No, she probably just used goopy hand lotion.
Even so, it felt good to hurry upstairs and take a quick shower, then to spend more time than I normally would on my hair and makeup. Hazel had said she’d try to film as much of the ritual as she could, and I wanted to make sure I looked decent.
Of course, the weather was hot enough that I’d probably sweat off most of that makeup by the time I was done.
I reassured myself that it would be cooler under the trees. Besides, we wouldn’t even be starting until after dark.
Starting the ceremony, that is. I needed to be at Chuck’s ranch hours before then to get things set up. He’d already offered one of his spare bedrooms for me to change, since wrangling chairs and tables while wearing some kind of Stevie Nicks–inspired getup wasn’t a very good idea.
Archie wasn’t thrilled to be given his supper early; that cat hated any deviation from his schedule. More than once, I’d wanted to ask him if his birthday had been in late August or September, or maybe in January, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be thrilled with that line of questioning. Still, considering his insistence on a strict routine, I figured he had to be a Virgo, or maybe a Capricorn.
Despite his grousing, I got out the door on time and drove over to Shady Oaks Ranch, the little bag that contained my change of clothes sitting on the front seat of my Beetle, and the trays of food carefully stacked in the back. All during my preparations, I’d wondered just what Lilith had been up to with her little visit to the shop. Doing her best to put me off balance right before the event? Or had she just wanted to catch some unflattering images of me on her assistant’s cell phone camera?
Either way, I didn’t believe her “best of luck” wishes for a second. If she’d been an actual practicing witch, I might have worried that she would put some kind of a hex on my ritual to make sure it went badly. As it was, she’d probably been positioning herself to look generous and friendly, even though such behavior was a complete lie.
