Even so, I had at least tried to keep my emotions in check. However, what I heard coming from Felicity at this moment was a darkness so black that it made me fear each coming word.
“Why would I care?” she spat. “I was done with him. Besides, he deserved it, didn’t he?… You said so yourself. He shouldn’t have called you Felicity… That had to hurt. Him worshipping me and not you… Really? It’s too bad you feel that way. Why not? Maybe she’s tired of you, did you ever think of that?… Maybe you just aren’t worthy of her… Maybe you’re just all used up and that’s why she wants me… What makes you think you can stop her? Really? I’d like to see you try… Is that so? Well, you know where I am. Come and get me… Hello? Hello?…”
Felicity allowed the phone to slowly drop down from her ear then switched it off.
“She hung up,” she muttered.
“The call was coming from a prepaid cell phone,” Constance announced. “They pulled a grid location but didn’t get an exact pinpoint. There are units responding to the area right now. Don’t worry, you did fine, Felicity. We’ll find her.”
My wife laid the handset on the table then pulled out a chair and slowly lowered herself into it. I watched as the hard expression on her face began to ease then melt away. She stared across the table at me for a moment, until finally there was nothing more than blankness and a vacant stare in her eyes.
“Honey…” I began.
Before I could get the rest of the sentence out of my mouth, a tear began rolling down her cheek and her lower lip started to quiver as her body trembled. By the time I got around the table to her, she was sobbing in violent heaves.
Across the room I heard Ben say to Constance, “I’m callin’ Helen.”
CHAPTER 35:
“Anything?” I asked as Constance walked into the kitchen and laid her cell phone on the island with a disgusted sigh.
She shook her head and frowned. “No. Not a thing. They’ve searched the area, out through a ten block radius. They’re still working it but nothing yet. She turned the cell off almost as soon as she hung up, so we can’t even track a signal.”
“So, we wait,” I said.
“And, we keep looking,” she agreed. “Remember, she’s definitely agitated, so she’s far more likely to make a mistake now than if she was calm and calculating. That’s a good thing for us.”
“She’s been making mistakes for a while now,” I added as I turned back to fill the coffeemaker and start a fresh pot.
“Yes, she has. Just not the kind we need her to make.”
I finished filling the reservoir then slid the carafe in and flipped the switch. Instead of turning around to face Constance, however, I simply leaned against the counter and allowed my head to hang. The chronic thud in the back of my skull was drumming along in unison with my heartbeat, and on top of that, my temples were throbbing with the muddied pains of exhaustion.
I glanced to the side and settled my eyes on the bottle of aspirin that was still sitting on the counter where I had left it days before. I had tried repeatedly to self-medicate with other over the counter pain relievers, following their directions to the letter, but plain old aspirin was the only thing that ever seemed to help. Giving up, I reached for the bottle and popped it open. Instead of my normal handful, however, I limited the dose to four tablets. Whether or not that would be enough to even touch the pain, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t need to get back into the habit of poisoning myself.
I popped the pills into my mouth then quickly washed them down with a swig of my cold coffee. Setting the cup aside, I continued to rest against the counter, eyes closed and chin against my chest.
After a moment, Constance quietly asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Headache.”
“That’s not unusual for you, I don’t guess.”
“Yeah. Lucky me.”
“Is Felicity still on the phone with Helen?”
“She was when I checked a few minutes ago,” I acknowledged, pushing away from the counter ledge and turning, then leaning my back against it. “It’s been over an hour now. But, at least it seems to be helping her.”
“Good,” she said as she slid onto one of the barstools near the island. “I really hated seeing Felicity like that.”
“You and me both.”
“By the way, Ben is out on the front porch having a cigar. He said to let you know in case you wanted to join him.”
“I could probably use that,” I replied. “But I don’t know if I have the energy right now.”
I couldn’t help but notice that Constance was eyeing me carefully from her seat. She continued to watch me as I stood there rubbing my temples. I’m sure I looked like a total wreck. I know I felt like one.
Finally, she said, “You look tired.”
I sighed, “I feel tired.”
“How are you doing with all this?”
I let out a sarcastic half chuckle. “Just another day in my fucked up life, I suppose.”
“Right,” she replied, her own sardonic tone showing through. “So, how are you really? Besides being tired, I mean.”
“Truth? Angry. Maybe a little worried.”
“A little?”
“Okay, a lot.”
“You don’t have to worry, Rowan. We aren’t going to let anything happen to either one of you.”
“I know you believe that,” I replied with a careful nod. “But there is only so much you will be able to stop.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, Annalise is a known quantity. She’s corporeal and I know you can do something about her. Miranda on the other hand… Well, she’s beyond your control. Maybe even mine…”
“Won’t stopping Devereaux stop Miranda as well?”
“I really don’t know. But, I doubt it. There may well have been some truth to what Felicity said to Annalise on the phone earlier. Miranda might be looking for new blood. If she is, then she won’t stop until she gets it.”
“And, since she has fixated on Felicity…” she left the rest of the sentence unspoken.
“Exactly,” I agreed. “It will be fine if there is no connection there, but if she finds a way to make one… Assuming she hasn’t already…Well… I don’t really even want to speculate.”
“How could she manage to create a connection, though?”
“That’s the wonderful and extremely scary thing about magick, Constance. A little goes a long way, and something very simple can have a great impact.”
“So, you’re worrying about what they found at the Lewis homicide?”
I shrugged. “I guess I am. On the surface it seems like a fairly innocuous bit of spellwork aimed at lust. I keep trying to tell myself since Annalise isn’t getting the satisfaction she wants, she did it for that specific purpose… A stab at re-igniting her own passions… But, it wasn’t really hoodoo, which is a little odd. Of course, it had some of the hallmarks of folk magick, which is no surprise and could explain the deviation. I just don’t know for sure what it was, and that’s the thing that bothers me most.”
“Isn’t there anything you can do about it?”
“I can protect against it, but not knowing what it is for sure, there’s no way to counteract it.”
“But, like you said, you can protect against it.”
“Yes. I can for a while. But, we’re talking about the magickal equivalent of being in a boxing ring. I can dance around in a circle with my gloves up in front of my face to deflect the blows; but eventually I’m going to wear down, and a punch is going to get through, and then another, and another…”
