Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel (16 page)
“I can’t go in there.
Tell them all that I’m still sleeping, or recovering, or whatever.”
“Jude. You have to do this at some point. Best to do it while you look a little shaky.” Gillian smoothed some little bit of hair down, her hands busy around my face. “One, it will keep the meeting short, and two, it will keep some of your powers in reserve for later.”
“Like the secret ingredient in dessert?”
“I’ll buy you the biggest chocolate bar I can find once this is over.” Theo’s hand burned on low at the small of my back, and helped to suppress the shakes. I held tight to his right arm like a life preserver, partly because my legs were wobbly from being on my deathbed, but mostly due to my unwillingness to move forward.
I’d assumed when Gillian told me the remainder of the Covenant was downstairs, she meant in the kitchen or dining room. Nope. She meant everyone and they were all in the R.R.
Woo-hoo.
“So this is like a mixer, right? A meet and greet, hey, how you doing, kind of deal?” I babbled, but since it kept my mind from actually dealing with the upcoming event, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Besides, even if I’d wanted to, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stop.
“The sooner you enter the room, the sooner it will all be over.” Gillian finished smoothing my hair to her satisfaction, a smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “And the sooner Theo will buy you your chocolate.”
“Great. Great. So, we’re going in.” After a moment, I flexed my fingers on Theo’s arm. “You guys are going to make me walk in, not just sort of lead me in, aren’t you?”
“You are the Prophecy, Jude. Some show of strength is necessary.” The smile broke fully over Gillian’s face. “I have every confidence, however, that if you feel even the slightest bit weak, Theo will prevent you from falling.”
“I never pass up the chance to fondle a pretty girl,” Theo joked. His hand nudged me forward, and I heaved a sigh, I wasn’t getting out of this.
“You’d better get me the most amazing chocolate bar the world has ever seen.” Squaring my shoulders, I moved forward, my fingertips barely brushing the door before it swung open on its hinges. Gillian shook her head while Theo chuckled and I took my first step into the room.
My initial thought was my brain was still putting itself back together and I was seeing double or triple. The low murmuring I’d heard upon entering dropped off instantly and left my ragged breathing the only sound in the massive room.
White, black, mulatto, Asian, Hispanic. Men, women, children. Old, young, middle-aged. The only visible thing they had in common were their bowed heads.
The crowd parted seamlessly as I walked slowly into the room, the men bowing and the women dropping into a slight curtsy. The quiet held, my bare feet making no noise on the stone floor. I’d crossed a quarter of the room before anything happened.
One second I stood in the Ritual Room, the next I was walking down the center aisle of St. Louis Cathedral. I was in the moment long enough to know I wore a wedding dress and carried flowers before being catapulted back to the present.
When I returned to the present I realized I’d acquired extra weight on my right leg. Looking down, I blinked at possibly the most adorable looking little girl ever. She had the Shirley Temple thing going on, right down to the dimples. Normally, perfect people annoy me, but something about her made someone even as jaded as me soften. I bet she got everything she wanted simply by flashing her adorable dimples.
“Celia!” The little girl and I turned our heads in the direction of the frantic voice. A female roughly the same age as the Ice T’s, but a lot more human, tried her best to push her way through the crowd. With the room packed almost to the gills, her efforts met with failure. She looked enough like the child attached to my leg I knew them as relatives of some sort.
The young woman managed to push through the last line of people between her and my little entourage. Dropping to one knee, she grabbed the child’s hand and tugging on it, she whispered, “Celia, you can’t go around grabbing people. We’ve talked about this. And you really, really cannot grab her.”
“But why?”
“Because she’s the new leader of the Covenant, Celia. Come here.” Celia didn’t move an inch.
“But why?”
I could tell the older girl was used to getting asked “why” for everything. “Because you’re holding up the gathering, Celia, which is very, very rude.”
“But why?”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing and decided if I didn’t do something we’d be playing Twenty Questions all night. I knelt, forcing Celia to let go of my leg, and marveling at the dimple, put my face close to hers. “Because, Celia, I was hurt a little bit ago by a bad man, and even though I’m mostly better, I still get tired and have to take naps.”
Her pouting face, complete with lower lip stuck out, made me wish for a camera. “I don’t like naps. Elizabeth makes me take them anyway.”
“You missed yours today, it is past your bedtime, and those are the only reasons I’m not absolutely furious at you, Celia.” Elizabeth lifted her head to scowl at Celia. “Seriously, Celia, you know how to act in public. I left you with Rian, so I really want to know how you managed to get through all these people, without touching any of them, to get all the way over here and launch yourself at the most important person in the room.”
“Is it such a big deal that she didn’t touch anybody?” I looked around, shaking my head. “Aside from the fact there’s no room in here?”
“Celia’s physically blind. When she touches someone, they frequently get shifted to the future for a moment.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “People tend to get upset. Celia thinks it’s fun.”
“It is fun, Elizabeth. I get to be in the wedding and my dress is really, really pretty.” Celia patted my cheek with her hand, drawing my attention back to her. I realized then how her eyes, the same hazel-blue as Elizabeth’s, were clouded and filmed over.
“I like pink better, though. Can my dress be pink instead?”
Tongue in cheek, I replied, “We’ll have to see. Maybe they won’t have any pink ones whenever it’s time to get the dress.” It didn’t surprise me when I stood and Celia lifted her arms and stomped her foot lightly.
“Up, please.”
“At least she remembered to say please,” Elizabeth muttered under her breath. Standing as well, she moved to pick up Celia, who twisted away and pointed a delicate finger at me. “No, Celia, the Prophecy is not going to pick you up.”
“Up, please.”
“Again, while it’s good you remembered to say please, the answer is still no.” When Celia started to sniffle, Elizabeth scowled again. Even though Celia couldn’t actually see her face, she apparently recognized the change in Elizabeth’s tone. “You do not want to start that right now, Celia. You will not like what happens one bit.”
Behind me, Theo moved forward a step. “Would it be alright if I carried her? You said yourself, she’s not had a nap and it’s past her bedtime. Maybe she’ll go to sleep if someone holds her for a bit.”
“This is Celia, remember?” Elizabeth shook her head, shrugged her shoulders. “If you want, you’re more than welcome to take her. Don’t complain when she talks your ear off.”
The arrangement seemed to work for Celia, who calmly allowed Theo to pick her up and prop her on his hip. When Elizabeth made to move back into the crowd, I shook my head “If Celia gets to play with the big kids, you do too.” I didn’t have to look back to know Gillian gave a nod of approval. Elizabeth hesitated, until Celia said, “Come on, Lizzie. I want to see the sparkles.”
None of us knew what she meant, but it seemed to be our cue to continue moving through the crowd of people, Theo and Celia to my left, Elizabeth to my right, with Gillian slightly behind us. The bowing continued, although as soon as we passed a low murmur started up. More to take my mind off whatever crazy spectacle I would soon be part of than anything else, I asked Elizabeth where their parents were.
“Our mother died giving birth to Celia five years ago, soon after I turned thirteen. Our father had never been part of the Covenant. Our mother was at one time, but didn’t want her children to have to worry about powers, and visions, and so on.”
“So where’s your father?” I asked.
Celia jumped in Theo’s arms at the bitter sound Elizabeth’s laugh made. “He started drinking himself to death when our mother died and finally finished last year. Celia doesn’t know much about him, because between the blindness, the visions, and our mother dying in childbirth, he pretty much avoided her. The whole plan to dilute the powers in the blood backfired. Celia’s a better seer than anybody, even Rian.”
Theo spoke up from my other side. “She’s right, Jude. Celia is just a lot more touchy-feely than Rian.”
“You said the plan backfired. How so for you?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Maybe it would have been better to say it backfired for Celia. I get feelings sometimes, hunches, but that’s about the extent of my powers. My purpose is to take care of Celia, which is more than a full time job.”
“I can bet,” I murmured under my breath. Inspiration struck, and I bit my tongue for a moment before following my instincts. “I need a personal assistant. Or so Gillian tells me. The Crossroads is plenty big enough for you and Celia.”
I heard Gillian’s quick intake of breath behind me, and a similar sound from Elizabeth. Celia was a little more vocal. “Ooh, ooh, say yes, Lizzie. We won’t have to live with Wily anymore. I don’t like her.”
“Hell, based on the name alone, I insist you move in to the Crossroads, even if you don’t come as my personal assistant. I wouldn’t wish a name like that on my worst enemy.” I shook my head, chuckling. “On second thought, maybe Hart would surrender peacefully after a week of living with a name so weird.”
“Not nice, Jude,” Theo muttered under his breath. Celia giggled and I leaned in to whisper to her. “He lectures me more than Elizabeth lectures you.”
“Now you’re just lying.” I couldn’t help laughing at the comical look of affront on Theo’s face. Even Elizabeth laughed, albeit reluctantly. “I wouldn’t dream of lecturing you, mostly because you would do your crazy fire throwing thing.” He went nose to nose with Celia, almost breathless with giggles. “Remember that before you wake her up in the morning.”
“It seems to be a done deal, so how can I argue?” Elizabeth stopped when we reached the outer line of the circle. From our current position, I could see one of the reasons the room was jammed full. The circles were almost empty of people. Only the Council stood within, and none stood inside the second circle.
“I’ve learned to develop a similar attitude about some things. It gets easier with time.” Taking a deep breath, I looked back at Gillian. “So, we’ve met and greeted. What’s next?”
“I would be interested in seeing a circle cast.” Since they’d helped cover up the mess by the river, I wouldn’t smack whichever Ice-T had spoken. I could think about it, though. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask the Prophecy to cast a circle.”
“Not at all,” Gillian answered smoothly from behind me. I would have bet anything she’d expected something like this. If only she’d shared her anticipation with me. “If the holders of the elements would move into position and the Council members move back a fraction. It is Jude’s first circle, after all.”
I watched Theo move toward the southern part of the circle, and Gillian toward the northern. As one, Lies and Guile moved east, and a guy about their age - Christophe, I remembered, moved west. Gillian motioned me forward, and I stood in the very center of them, alone. Celia squirmed down from Theo’s arms and skipped across the floor to latch back onto me, relieving my solitary status.
“For heaven’s sake,” one of the twins muttered. I shot them a dirty look and they shut up. Until something happened which made it necessary for Celia to be outside the circle, she could stay where she was.
I looked to Gillian for guidance, and she gestured to Father O’Brien who stepped forward with five candles, all of a different color. He walked around the circle, handing a green one to Gillian, a yellow one to Lies and Guile, a red one to Theo, and a blue one to Christophe. He called Celia to him, handing her a purple candle and pointing at me, which meant the purple one was mine.
“Go first to your east, and call air to you.” Nodding at Gillian’s instructions, I walked to stand in front of the twins and took a deep breath. Talk about stage fright. Bullets of apprehension skimmed my skin. I could use a breeze to cool me down at the moment.
No sooner did I have the thought, a light wind kicked up around the room, the candle held by the twins flickering to life. I did my best to tune out the murmurs from the crowd, although I couldn’t stop the small smirk on my face at the twins’ matching scowls. Not the most harmonious moment, sure, but none of us sniped at each other.
“Theo, and fire.” Turning to my right, I walked to Theo, wondering how I would call fire without burning someone. Theo shook his head and laughed, the thought must have shown on my face.
“There’s more than one type of fire, Jude.” I blushed at his hint. Whether it was my fiery cheeks or the semi-dirty thoughts he put in my head, the wick of his candle lit up, shooting high before dwindling to a safer height.
“The smaller fires burn the longest.” What his comment meant I’d have to figure out later because Christophe, obviously impatient, cleared his throat. I rolled my eyes and Theo laughed as I moved right, and west. Christophe held his blue candle out, waiting for it to light like the previous ones. I waited too, thinking of the Mississippi and how it washes away everything in its path. We all waited.
Nothing.
After a moment, I felt a lighter pressed into my hand. I looked down at Celia, who pointed to Father O’Brien. She whispered loud enough for the first few rows of people around the outer circle to hear. “Light the candle with this.”
Annoyed with my less than stellar performance, I moved to light Christophe’s candle. Before the flame touched the wick, the candle slipped from his hand. He picked it up, and I tried again.