The Shadows of Dark Root (Daughters of Dark Root Book 5) Read online

  “Yes. No.” I massaged my temples. I was a wilder. Reckless was my natural default. “I’ll try,” I said.

  “You’ll need to do more than try.” Jillian passed the back of her hand across her brow then stared at me, matter-of-factly. “You are taking your sisters with you. And Shane, Michael, and Paul.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “They are depending on you, Maggie. Not on Shane. Not on Ruth Anne. On you. Trying will get you all lost. Or worse. And what good will that do Montana?”

  I swallowed, nodding. It was time to step up. This was my son and my quest. “I understand,” I said.

  “Good.” Jillian’s eyes softened, the deep jade shifting to a rich emerald hue. She took my hand and I felt her ‘reading’ me. “Stop blaming yourself. There’s nothing you could have done to stop this, Maggie. We tried to disrupt destiny, but the wheel of fate won’t stop turning for a few old witches. You and your sisters are the new order now, stronger and more cohesive than any Council before it. You are bound by love. If Sasha did nothing else right, she gave you each other. Stay strong. For now, at least, your son is fine.”

  “Why did you say ‘for now’? And how do you know he’s fine?”

  “I pulled The Star card from the Tarot this morning. It is a card of hope.”

  “A Tarot card is what you’re going on? Hope isn’t the same as reality. Hope is just a feeling.”

  “Hope is one of the most powerful feelings in all the universe. Hope is the essence of miracles.”

  I rubbed an eyebrow, absorbing her words. If I ever needed a miracle, I needed one now.

  “Maggie,” she continued. “I’m linked to him too, remember? He is my grandson, and DNA is a powerful thing. I know he’s fine because I can feel his presence. You can too, if you listen. Try.”

  I held still, listening. At first, I heard only the wind and the distant, squawking birds. I extended my reach, listening with every part of my body. As I concentrated, I noticed that silent things made noise, too. Trees rustled. The gray vines cracked. The rocks hummed. Even the dead earth vibrated, creating an inner noise I could sense rather than hear. It was a subtle purr, but it grew in strength the longer I focused. Even the rising sun and the waning moon had a pulse. Everything had a vibration, like musical notes all playing together. The world was alive, playing a symphony I could hardly fathom yet knew completely, like a lullaby sung to you as an infant and recalled years later.

  In happier days, this realization might have made me smile. But not today. I opened my eyes. “Jillian, I still don’t feel Montana.”

  “Did you feel his absence? Not only his physical absence, but the absence of his light?”

  “How would I know that?”

  “You’re a mother, Maggie. You’ll know.”

  “No. Actually, I felt strangely at peace. That means he’s okay, right? For now?”

  Jillian brushed my shoulder. “Yes… for now.”

  I understood what she meant about hope being a powerful magick. I had been offered just a drop of water, and yet, it filled my entire canteen. “Thank you.”

  I looked towards the rising sun, feeling its warmth while I listened to it hum. My amber bracelet sparked and the golden ankh around my neck – the one I had discovered in Shane’s attic crawl space - flashed brightly. I lifted the glowing ankh and stared at it until it faded back to normal. “What does it mean?” I asked.

  “It means Montana’s calling to you,” Jillian said. She tapped the ankh . “You’ll always be able to reach him, if you are able to tune in. He’ll show you were to go. Don’t doubt yourself, or that ankh.”

  “How long do we have to reach him?”

  Jillian shrugged. “I’m not sure. Time doesn’t work the same way in the Netherworld as it does here.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you’re about to enter a dimension where time does not exist.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “Everything’s possible in the Netherworld. Never forget that.”

  I sat on the porch step, holding the mug between my palms as the sun continued its ascent. “I wish time didn’t exist here. I need a lot of it to figure this out. Theoretically,” I added, using one of Ruth Anne’s words, “theoretically, we can leave at any time then? I mean, if time exists on our plane, but not in the Netherworld…”

  Jillian smiled with one side of her mouth, and a new dimple appeared. “Theoretically, yes,” she agreed, sitting beside me. “But Montana and Larinda are born of this world. Their rules are different. Montana will continue to age and grow there. And his abilities will be a product of his time there. That’s if – IF - Armand lets him grow up.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel any better,” I said, finishing off my tea.

  “I’m sorry, Maggie. I’m new at this parenting thing. One thing I do know is that it’s important to prepare in this world, to be ready for the next one. Once there, everything shifts and changes. I’ve only read about it, and seen glimpses in my visions, but I understand it’s a messy place. The clearer you are, and the more prepared, the easier it will be to traverse.” She stood and stretched her arms. “As above, so below. Everything you do here alters your reality in the Netherworld, and vice versa.”

  “Sounds so ominous,” I said, rising to join her.

  “I’m not going to lie, Maggie. It is. Time may not work the same there, but it is said that living souls have roughly three ‘Upper World Days’ before they are assimilated into the Netherworld.”

  “Assimilated?”

  “Become a part of that world. That is what partly what happened to Larinda. Armand left her there, and her window for permanently returning to The Upper World closed. She expends a great deal of magick just to visit periodically, but she is always pulled back.”

  I clutched my constricting chest, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. “I only have three days to reach him? Why didn’t you let me go last night, then?”

  “Maggie, do you trust me?”

  I looked into her eyes. Though I had just discovered she was my birth mother, there had always been a bond between us that I couldn’t explain. I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Yes. I trust you.”

  “Then you can’t go charging into the Netherworld without a plan. We will wait until this evening. There will be a full moon, which assists in veil crossings, and I will infuse you with whatever magick I can muster. We will use today to prepare. It is our best chance of saving Montana.”

  I shuddered, but nodded, hoping she was right. I liked that she said ‘our’ best chance - it made me feel less alone

  Jillian took my hand and we went into Harvest Home together. Although it wasn’t quite seven, almost everyone was awake. Eve and Paul were huddled up in a far corner of the living room, talking intently to one another. Eve’s smeared mascara drew dark streaks across her alabaster complexion. Her normally sleek hair was a frazzled mess. She sniffled and nodded as Paul did his best to reassure her.

  Near the stairs, Merry was arguing on her phone with her ex-husband Frank, who lived in Florida and currently had their six-year-old daughter, June Bug. “Just let me talk to her, please,” Merry begged. Fear rattled her voice, then anger. “Fine! I hope you go to where I’m about to go! And that you never find your way out!” She cursed him, before tossing the phone back into her purse.

  Merry caught me looking. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t very nice. But he wouldn’t even let me hear her voice, and this might be my last chance.” She found a tissue and blew her nose and plodded off to the restroom, most likely to cry in private.

  I wanted to console each of my sisters, but I couldn’t. I was the reason for their grief. They were coming with me to the Netherworld, leaving behind all that they loved, uncertain if they’d ever return. Only my eldest sister, Ruth Anne, had managed to sleep. She was nestled in Aunt Dora’s recliner, her head resting on her shoulder. Every now and then she’d snort herself awake, look around, then nod off again. I couldn’t imagine how she
was able to sleep - I’d give anything for that kind of magick.

  “Come with me, Maggie,” Jillian said, gently pulling me into the kitchen.

  Aunt Dora sat at the breakfast table with my son’s father, Michael. This room usually felt charming and warm, but in this moment it felt tired and sterile. Glass ‘witch balls,’ expertly crafted by my aunt’s own hands to ward against evil, hung in the windows, motionless as witches hanging from the gallows. The copper teapot sat on the gas stove, for once not steaming. Even the blue checkered pattern on the starched curtains had faded to winter gray.

  “Good morning,” I said, hugging my aunt’s shoulders while purposely ignoring Michael.

  “Ain’t nothin’ good about it,” Aunt Dora said, hugging me back from her chair. The lines circling her eyes were an endless well of troubles. I had never seen her expression so stark.

  “We’re all here,” I said. “That’s something. Right?”

  “We’re not all here.” Dora opened her hand, revealing a blue baby bootie. Montana’s sock. “I found this in the pantry. Don’ know how it got there.” She choked, curling her fist around the bootie.

  I had cried all night and thought I’d run out of tears, but the sight of Montana’s sock in my aunt’s hand turned me into a whimpering child. Aunt Dora knocked over her teacup in her hurry to stand and comfort me. Jillian’s arms were around me, too. We cried together while Michael stared into his lap. He didn’t dare offer any condolences. I hadn’t spoken to him in hours, and I wasn’t about to start now. I needed someone to blame for this, and he had been the last person to have my son. I would lift Michael’s sanctions only when my baby was back home.

  Aunt Dora’s spilt tea rolled towards a card in the center of the table, and I scooped it up before it could get wet. A Tarot card: The Star. A woman sat at a well, her eyes lifted towards the heavens. The well was empty but she was full of hope as she gazed at the bright star above her. I slid the card into the pocket of the long skirt I’d been wearing since yesterday. Hope was something I could probably use in the Netherworld.

  “I’d go with ya if I could,” Aunt Dora said, wiping her nose with a paper napkin. She blew twice, folded it once, and tossed it into the trashcan.

  “I know you would,” I said.

  “I would too, Maggie,” Jillian said. “But I think I’ll be more useful here, watching.”

  “Watching?”

  “Yes. It is one of the reasons I asked you to wait until tonight to go.”

  With that, Michael went into the living room, returning with an old-fashioned hat box. Eve, Paul and Merry straggled in behind him. He set the box on the table and looked at me, expectantly.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Open it,” my aunt instructed.

  I placed my hands on either side of the lid, feeling the rich magick radiating from within the container. I reached inside and removed a beautiful crystal globe from its prison.

  “It’s so light,” I said, lifting out an orb the size of a bowling ball, with just the tips of my fingers. It was delicate as a bubble, and I balanced it on my palm for fear of crushing it.

  “It needs to be activated,” Aunt Dora said. “Where’s the charger?”

  Michael left again and returned with a small gold pedestal in the shape of a lion’s paw. I placed the globe upon the open paw, and stepped back, waiting. But the globe didn’t react. I tapped on it lightly, twice. “I don’t think it’s working,” I said, blowing on the smooth glass.

  “It’s not like the memory globes,” Jillian said. “There’s nothing inside this one. It’s a blank slate, created for scrying.” Her eyes fell on the ankh around my neck. “Maggie, we need to attune your energy to it. This is how I can keep an eye on you, and intervene if necessary.”

  “How will you intervene without magick?” I asked, glancing at the witch balls hanging in the windows.

  “Leave that to me. Now, place both hands on the crystal ball and stare into its very center. Relax your eyes, but don’t blink or look away until you feel me pinch you, okay?”

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” Merry asked, looking from me to Jillian. “I trust you and Aunt Dora, but things are so topsy-turvy right now. What if it backfires? Or she gets sucked in and can’t get out?” Merry shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her voice escalating as she spoke.

  “Merry, it will be okay,” I reassured her.

  She twisted the rings on her fingers, nodding too quickly. “I know. But what if it isn’t okay? We have no way of knowing anything right now.”

  “Don’t be frightened,” Jillian said, patting Merry’s shoulder. “The Netherworld, like our own world, is unpredictable and endless. You’ll never be able to prepare yourself for every scenario, so you’ll need to rely on your intuition. And if you find yourself lost, you have each other.”

  Merry looked from Jillian, to me, and then to the globe. She exhaled audibly. “Okay, let’s do this.”

  Jillian nodded. “Maggie, are you ready to start the process?”

  I chanced a quick look around to see if Shane had slipped in unnoticed. He’d been gone since before sunrise, leaving almost immediately after Michael performed our wedding ceremony. There was a faraway look in his eyes as he kissed me goodbye, one that rattled my nerves. I told myself that Shane would come back in time, but my unease deepened with each passing hour.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  Michael closed the curtains, shutting out the morning light. Eve lit three candles, setting them around the room. Merry drew a circle in the air with her wand, invoking a blessing of protection. All this done, Aunt Dora tapped a silver bell with a small fork, vibrating the room with sound.

  “Clear your mind and focus on the crystal ball,” Jillian instructed.

  I took a seat, clasping both hands around the cool sphere, staring into its core. At first, the crystal stared back, giving nothing away. But as I continued, feeling the weight of my eyelids surrender to the globe’s magick, colors emerged within. A rainbow prism sprouted from the center of the sphere, expanding until it filled the entire globe.

  I was no longer in Aunt Dora’s kitchen.

  I was somewhere else - inside the glass ball, bathed in white light, standing in a rainbow. I lifted my hands, watching the many colors surge through me. I felt a sense of joy, of utter wonder. But it didn’t last.

  On the curved walls, shadow creatures of all shapes and proportions shuffled along. Some had long rubbery arms dragging behind them, others had broad, hulking chests and misshapen heads. Some were almost sprite-like in their delicate appearance, as they flitted about on the glass screen. Their silhouettes marched in circles around me, carrying their burdens like pack mules. I shivered. These were the beasts of the Netherworld. And I knew, instinctively, that their only joy was in trapping other souls inside that miserable realm with them.

  “I can’t do this,” I thought, as one of the creatures licked its lips. “I’m not strong enough.”

  In the far distance, I heard a baby cry. My son!

  “Montana!” I called. His cries echoed around me. I grasped at the air, no longer concerned about the shadows at all. “I’m coming!” I called, running towards the glass wall that separated us.

  A sharp pinch on my wrist brought me back to the kitchen. I was sitting at the table again, shaking, my hands glued to the globe. The others were staring at me.

  “What the hell happened, Maggie?” Eve demanded. “You were tripping out. Screaming about shadows.”

  “I was?” I stood and wiped my wet palms across my skirt, brushing The Star card in my pocket along the way. “I heard Montana. He was in there.” I pointed to the globe. “I need to go back!”

  “You heard our son?” Michael crouched down, looking me in the eyes. He wore his reading glasses and his dark hair had a sizable streak of gray that hadn’t been there before. I nodded slowly, reticent to share the shadow creatures with the others, hoping it had been my imagination and not truly the world I’d be taki
ng them to.

  Jillian tapped the globe with her knuckles and it went dark. “You were safe the whole time. There is nothing actually inside of the ball - it’s just a window.”

  “Aye,” Aunt Dora agreed. “I commissioned it long ago, from a witch in Denmark. It was made ta watch yer father in the tunnels, but he left Dark Root before we could attune him to it.”

  Jillian narrowed her eyes. “Maggie activated it, so as long as you all stay together, Dora and I can watch over you. And intervene if absolutely necessary.”

  I glanced towards the back door, and then into the living room where Ruth Anne still snored on the couch.

  “Don’t worry,” Jillian said. “Ruth Anne and Shane will be under our watch, as well.”

  Paul raised his hand. “Um, I don’t really have any abilities. Are you sure I should go? I don’t want to muck things up.”

  “E’eryone has a lil’ magick in them,” Aunt Dora said. “It’s yer birthright. Some forms are just more obvious than others.”

  “All of your talents will be necessary in the Netherworld, magick or otherwise,” Jillian said. “Don’t sell yourselves short.”

  Aunt Dora chimed her fork once more, signaling the ritual had ended. I looked at the clock over the stove. Nearly an hour had passed! Time might not have meaning there, but with each passing moment here, my anxiety grew.

  “Maggie, you’re glowing!” Merry said, her blue eyes widening as she pointed at my ankh.

  Sure enough, it blazed around my neck. I touched it carefully, though it was as cool as the crystal ball on the table.

  “Hey, look!” Paul pointed to the globe.

  In its center, an ankh appeared, identical to the one I wore. It spun slowly in space.

  “Excellent work, Dora,” Jillian said, clapping her hands together. “Now that the crystal is charged, we’ll be with you the entire time, in spirit at least. We won’t be able to hear you, but if you break the chain on your ankh, we’ll know it’s time to take action and pull you home. But please only do it when you’re absolutely ready to come back.”