“Don’t be. Maybe you’re right. At least, I hope you are. I don’t like feeling this way. It’s not like me at all.”
“No, it isn’t. But, I can certainly understand it. You’ve been through way too much this past couple of months. You’ve been overloaded with a whole spectrum of emotions, and something eventually has to give. Sometimes our brains just have to take a breather, and that tends to make our psyche’s go a little off kilter.”
“Is this how you feel? I mean, when you’ve finally had all you can take?”
“We all feel things differently, Felicity.”
“So, that’s a no?”
“It’s a we all feel things differently.”
“Aye, I thought so.”
She turned back to face the yard. I stood there wondering if I should have simply said yes to the original question in order to help her reconcile what she was going through. Of course, hindsight is twenty-twenty, but at the moment even that seemed more than just a bit myopic.
I looked over my shoulder and glanced through the kitchen window but saw no activity at all. I had to assume Ben and the tech were out inspecting the yard as I had suggested.
Turning back to Felicity I said, “Looks safe in there now. Want to go in?”
“Not just yet.”
“Do you want me to leave you alone?”
She shook her head. “No.”
I waited a moment, listening to the rise and fall of the wind as it hissed through the bare branches of the trees.
“So, Ben is insisting we come stay at his place until this blows over,” I finally said. “I think that might be a good idea.”
“We can’t leave the animals,” she said. “We’ve done that too much lately. They’re already traumatized enough.”
“We’ll get RJ to take them.”
“RJ is out of town.”
“Then Joe and Terri. We’ll find somebody.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“I know it isn’t, sweetheart, but she knows where we live. It isn’t safe here.”
“There’s magick involved, Rowan. Will it really be any safer elsewhere?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But, we can at least stack some of the odds in our favor.”
“We could just ward the house again.”
“Wards stop magick. They don’t stop people.”
“If we stay with him, we’ll just have to ward there as well. What will he say when I start salting and smudging his house?”
“Knowing him, probably something about hocus-pocus and la-la land.”
She sighed heavily. “Aye, I suppose maybe you’re right. Staying here would be too big a risk.”
I heard a knock behind me, and I turned to see Ben standing at the back window of the kitchen, rapping his knuckles on the glass. As soon as he had my attention, he waved me in.
“It looks like Ben needs to talk to me,” I told Felicity.
“Aye, I’m sure he needs to talk to me as well.”
“I’m sure that can wait if you aren’t ready.”
“No. I should get it over with.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
I ushered my wife in through the back door ahead of me then followed her through the atrium and into the kitchen. The warmth of the house made my cheeks tingle as the circulation resumed in my face.
“Hey,” I said with a quick nod toward Ben. “We were just talking about coming in to pack some bags.”
“Yeah, good idea,” he returned, a stoic expression on his face.
“I suppose you need a statement from me?” Felicity asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “But, why don’t ya’ get started packin’. We can do that in a bit.”
“Aye, are you sure?”
“Yeah.” He nodded again.
“Thanks,” she replied.
We both started from the room, but Ben tapped my arm as I passed. When I looked up at him, he jerked his head toward the back of the kitchen.
“You go ahead, honey,” I told Felicity. “I’ll be along in a minute.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just need to talk to Ben.”
She looked at us both then turned and continued through the doorway without a word. When he decided she was out of earshot, Ben raised an eyebrow.
“Not doin’ too good, is she?” he asked.
“She’s okay,” I told him. “Rattled, but that’s understandable.”
“Want me ta’ call Helen and invite her over for dinner so they can talk?”
“I doubt she’d want to come over for dinner only to have to work, Ben. Besides, I’d rather not put any pressure on Felicity. I think she might just need some time to get over the shock.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. For now anyway.”
“Okay,” he said, looking to the side then smoothing back his hair. “So, you were right about the bones. Didn’t take long ta’ find a coupl’a fragments. The tech is taping off the front yard right now, and she just called in some support ta’ do a full sweep.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“So, when we pick ‘em up, will that make the curse go away?”
“Not really. For one thing it will be impossible for you to get all of them.”
“It somethin’ that could kill ya’?”
“Probably not.”
“Prob’ly?”
“It’s magick, Ben,” I explained. “It isn’t good, but it’s also something I can protect myself against.”
“Well, then I guess ya’ better do some of your hocus-pocus then.”
“Trust me, I will. And, Felicity already has hocus-pocus planned for your house.”
“Friggin’ lovely. So, how’s your head? You’re sure you ain’t gonna kick off all of a sudden or somethin’, right?”
“It hurts, and I seriously doubt it.”
“Okay, just checkin’. So, anyway, listen… Do cloves mean anything?”
“Why? Did you find cloves out there too?”
“No. Got a call from Martin. Apparently, Devereaux didn’t do any of the regular Voodoo shit we’ve found in the past. Nothin’ obvious anyway. But, there was a big ass container of cloves spilled all over the kitchen counter.”
“Hmmm… Clove oil is used in love and lust spells. Are you sure it just wasn’t some sort of accident in the kitchen?”
“Well, there’s a pile of wax too. Looks like what’s left of a red candle accordin’ ta’ Martin. They also found a dish with what appears ta’ be blood in it. He figured I should run it past ya’ since I was here.”
“Okay, if you throw in the candle and the blood, I’d have to say it sounds like some kind of magick, or at least an attempt at it,” I replied. “But I’m not sure exactly what.”
“Okay. Just thought I’d check…” He sighed then shook his head. “So, if ya’ saw it ya’ think ya’ might be able ta’ tell?”
“Maybe. It’s hard to say.”
“What if you were in the same room with it?”
“The odds would be better,” I replied. “Ben, are you asking me what I think you are?”
