Cate Tiernan - A Chalice of Wind

I didn’t know. “I'm trying to get us out of here," I said in a low voice, as if speaking loudly would draw attention to us. The witches, all wearing long robes of different colors, some with hoods, started moving dalmonde, clockwise, in a circle before the tree. We heard a faint humming sound, their chanting, but I couldn't make out any words.

Thais's face was white and scared.

Before, Nan had pulled me out of my bad vision. But no one was waiting for us back at the workroom.

Boom!

A burst of light and a huge shock wave of sound almost lifted us off our feet. Thais and I gripped each others arms, our hair practically on end from electricity. I saw the circle of witches glowing as the energy entered them, saw their backs arch with either ecstasy or pain, their hands outstretched.

One of the witches was laughing-I think it was a woman. We saw another witch grab her stomach and fall to the ground. Two other witches bent over her, and even through the storm, the pouring rain that drenched us, we could hear her wails.

"Get us out of here!" Thais cried.

Tm trying!" I told her, and repeated the words that should pull us right back to reality.

Time seemed to speed up. We could see everything more clearly, though we weren't too close. The witch on the ground gave birth-another witch helped the baby out, and the rain started washing it clean. It was tiny and hardly moving. Then the baby s mother sank back on the black, wet ground, her face pale and bloodless, her eyes open. Even from here we could tell she had died. The rest of the coven seemed horrified and shocked, except for the witch who was still in the throes of enjoying her surge of power.

Just like in my vision, blood was seeping into the same ground as the spring burbling up through the tree roots. I had no idea what any of this meant.

"What's that?. Thais asked, trembling, and I heard a slow bell ringing, sort of a drone.

"I don't know," I said. A woman picked the baby up and held it. The baby cried with a high, thin, kitteny sound, and I heard the bell peal again. I frowned at Thais, and she shook her head-she had no idea what it was either.

It's the doorbell!" I cried, just as the hood of the witch fell back. A flash of lightning lit her face, the baby, the whole circle, and the ground red with blood. In the next instant, Thais and I were blinking at each other across the lit candle in the middle of the floor. Our hands were white-knuckled, numb from clutching each other so tightly.

The doorbell rang again. Feeling shaky, I blew out the candle and stood up, quickly dismantling the circle. Thais went to open the door, moving slowly.

"Yo!

Party!" Racey yelled, holding bottles above her head. A crowd of people swarmed in after her, someone put a CD into the stereo, and instantly the house was filled with noise and light and people. Q-Tip raced out the front door between their legs and escaped into the night. Smart cat. I glanced at my watch-it was past nine. I was horrified, shaken, and wanted only to go sit down somewhere and process what we'd just seen. Thais looked ill and uncomfortable. But we didn't have much choice right now.

Just as Thais was closing the door, it pushed open again and more people came in. She gave them brief, uncomfortable smiles as they all began to say hi, realized itwas her, and then headed on, looking for me.

"Hi! Hi!" I said, trying to sound enthusiastic, feeling like I'd rather be anywhere but here. Fortunately, Racey was in the kitchen, already making blender drinks. Collier Collier came in with a twenty-pound bag of ice on his shoulder, I saw Delia head for him, and I smiled and winked at her, feeling odd and numb. With an unhappy glance at me, Thais headed for the dining room, where Eugenie and Kris were starting to rip open bags of chips.

She didn't need to say anything. We both knew what we had seen in that last second before the doorbell had pulled us home. The older witch's hood had fallen off as she held up the newborn baby. It had been Nan, And the lightning had shown us the dead mothers face: she'd had a birthmark just like ours, a red splotch on one cheekbone.

The baby had had one too.

"Fabulous idea!" Kris said, her long blond hair swinging as she whirled past me, "Where's your trash?"

"Kitchen," I said automatically, trying to put myself into the here and now, "But we better set one up in the dining room too."

I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair. I had no idea what I looked like but decided I could not look very festive. I ran upstairs, tore through my closet, and pulled on a bra-strap tank and a short black skirt. In the bathroom, my eyes looked huge and haunted, but I whipped through my makeup routine and two minutes later, I ran downstairs barefoot just as the doorbell rang again.

“I’ll get it!" Miranda Hughes said, grabbing the door.

Andre stood in the doorway, tall, dark, and mouthwatering, and surveyed the noisy crowd inside, I smiled, full of relief and happiness that he was here: his presence would erase the trauma of the vision. He caught sight of me, and his dark blue eyes widened in appreciation. He held up a paper bag: the tequila.

'Andre!" I called, pushing through the crowd to get to him, "Everybody, this is Andre! Andre, this is everybody!"

Laughing, he swept me up into his arms, kissing me on the mouth, I sighed with pleasure and relaxed against him, so, so happy he was here, feeling safe and cared for and not alone.

"Hey, babe.' he said into my ear, and a fluttery sense of delight ran down my spine,

"Hey yourself?' I said as he put me on my feet again.

Still smiling, he glanced around the room, and then suddenly, his face paled and he froze.

"What is it?" I asked, I whirled to see what he was looking at. To my surprise, Thais was standing in the dining room doorway, wearing the same thunderstruck, horrified expression that Andre had,

"Luc" she breathed, looking like death.

“Luc?" Clio said to me. "No. This is Andre, my boyfriend. Andre, this is my sister, Thais."

Luc didn't say anything, just stared at me, His face looked grim and white, and tension made his body as tight as a bowstring.

I felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach, the wind knocked out of me, I tried to swallow. Luc still had his arm around Clio's waist. I'd seen him kissing her, seen him pick her up and whirl her off her feet. Luc dropped his hand and stood apart from Clio, not touching her, and I saw a look of alarm come over her face.

"Luc," I said again numbly, my voice sounding bro. ken, brittle as glass. By now people around us had started to realize that something weird and much more interesting than the party was happening, and heads were turning.

Just last night, wed lain in the wet grass on the levee, and he'd held me while I'd cried and told me he wished he could have no memory of making love to anyone but me. I'd even come close to giving him that memory, against every grain of logic in me. Now I'd just seen him kiss my sister, kiss her deeply on the mouth, their hands on each other as if they knew each other very, very well. God, had they …

At that moment, I knew I was going to be sick. I turned and raced upstairs. I found a small bathroom and slammed the door shut in back of me. I made it to the toilet just in time, just as all the pain and horror and disbelief made my stomach turn inside out.

I don't know how long I was up there, but I had washed my face and was sitting on the floor against the tub when I realized someone was knocking on the door. If it was either Clio or Luc, I would stab them through the heart.

"Go away," I croaked, fresh tears starting to my eyes. Stop it, idiot! I lashed out at myself.