First Moon (The Ternion Order Book 1) Read online

  He hadn’t heard her come up the stairs over the soft hum of the fan. Plus, she was barefoot, adding to the stealth of her arrival. She wore a belted, midnight-blue kimono over loose-fitting pants of the same color and silky material. It looked like something she might wear to bed. Although it covered everything except her head, hands, and feet, the flowing outfit was incredibly sexy.

  Getting no reaction from Kyle but a stare, Amanda glanced down at her attire and said, “I suppose it looks like I’m wearing pajamas, doesn’t it?”

  “You look … nice,” he said. Wondering about his own attire, he asked, “Should I remove my shoes in here?”

  “You don’t have to, but you might be more comfortable. We’ll probably be here for a while.”

  Kyle followed her suggestion and kicked his shoes off by the doorway while she bustled around the room. He followed her progress, noticing that, as loose-fitting as her clothes were, the silky material draped in ways that revealed her curves. With her dark hair tied back in a tight braid, nothing obscured the view.

  He shook his head and tore his eyes away from her. Sure, she was attractive, but his growing fascination with her seemed unusually intense. Was this simply normal horny male behavior, or could it be the influence of the demon? He imagined an evil cackling in his mind, enjoying his self-doubt.

  Amanda glanced over her shoulder at him. “You okay?”

  Kyle resolved to focus on what she was doing rather than watching her do it. “Yeah, fine. Just a little distracted.”

  “That’s understandable. I know this is probably scary for you, but don’t panic. I’m not expecting anything spectacular to happen. I’ll either succeed or I won’t. I doubt we’ll have any spinning heads or projectile vomit.”

  Kyle’s stomach grumbled in spite of the unsavory reference, reminding him that he had eaten nothing to throw up. At least he had one less thing to worry about.

  Amanda stood at a waist-high table covered with an indigo cloth. Silver stars of varying sizes decorated the skirt of the cloth. The brass pot that had arrived the previous day sat at the middle of the table. On a shelf above the table rested three rounded glass pitchers with gracefully curved handles. All of them had been filled with a clear liquid. Several other items that looked like they might have come from Butterflies and Rainbows were positioned along the wall at the back of the table surface.

  “Could you please turn off the fan and have a seat in that chair?” She pointed toward a straight-backed spindle chair in one corner of the room. “I’ll need you to be quiet while I work. I have to consecrate the crucible first, and then it will be your turn.”

  Kyle did as she asked. The fan had already pulled the stuffiness out of the room and brought the temperature down to a comfortable level. He sat in the chair and watched silently while Amanda began her preparations.

  Amanda carefully centered thick colored candles in each of the depressions he’d noticed earlier around the circle. Kyle suspected that she chose candles of different colors for a reason, since she seemed to be selective about which candle she put where. He took a moment to orient himself and concluded that she had placed the green candle to the north, the yellow candle to the east, the red candle to the south, and the blue candle to the west.

  Next, she carried several items to the concrete pad. She made multiple trips to her table and retrieved some herbs from the storage cabinets along the west wall. Kyle noticed that she set each item as far as she could reach into the circle, but never stepped onto the pad. By the time she stopped to survey her collection, she had the herbs, a pitcher of water, her old-fashioned lighter, a feather fan, a rather nasty-looking double-edged dagger, a bell, and the new crucible.

  Apparently satisfied with her efforts, Amanda lit a couple of the candles on her table and turned off the sconce lights. Although the room became much darker, the moon augmented the light of the candles through the cupola. She returned to the north corner of the pad and turned around to look up at the north wall above the table.

  Kyle leaned forward in his chair and craned his neck around to see what she was looking at. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the wall had two dark-gray vertical lines painted on it. No, that was wrong. One of the lines was painted on the wall, and the other was a shadow. Tracking the angle with his eyes, Kyle realized that someone had painted a thin black line on the south-facing window of the cupola. The shadow line on the wall was cast by moonlight, and Kyle guessed that the lines would join when the moon reached meridian.

  Amanda placed her hands palms-together in front of her face. Bowing her head, she swept her hands to the side until her arms were straight out and then slowly dropped them to her sides. She turned around and stepped into the circle. Moving to the center of the circle, she folded her legs under her and sat cross-legged. She arranged the dagger, herbs, and other items in a semi-circle with the new crucible directly in front of her.

  Kyle’s chair was positioned in a corner of the north wall, and since Amanda was facing north, he was able to see everything she was doing. The whispers of her clothing as she moved and the silvery half-light of the room blended to give her an air of strength, beauty, and mystery.

  Amanda used her lighter to burn the sprig of herbs. As soon as the tips flickered with flame, she blew them out. The bundle smoldered, producing an aromatic smoke. She waved the sprig in a circular motion and called for the spirits of light to help her push dark forces away.

  Kyle was pushed back into his chair by a pressure on his chest. After a moment of disorientation, he recognized the sensation as similar to what he’d experienced when Amanda refreshed the wards. Once again, the spirits were reacting to the presence of the demon. The part of him that still had trouble accepting magic posed the possibility that this was all in his head. Psychosomatic or not, it felt real enough.

  By the time Amanda set the sprig down, it had nearly stopped smoking. She picked up the bell, which had squared-off corners like a cow bell, and she rang it once with a metal striker. Although the sound wasn’t that loud, it was almost painful to hear. A force slammed Kyle back in his chair so hard that it knocked the wind out of him and bumped his head against the wall. It shoved his chair the last couple of inches until it too was pressed against the wall. It was as if he were seated in a race car and someone had popped the clutch, pushing the pedal to the floor. So much for the psychosomatic theory.

  The pressure eased and Kyle rubbed the back of his head. Amanda ducked her head in an apologetic shrug.

  Amanda put down the bell and picked up the pitcher of water. Rising to her feet, she stood in front of the blue candle, holding the pitcher with both hands. She called to the spirits of water to purify her circle and keep dark spirits at bay. She kneeled and slowly poured water into the depression around the blue candle, which was now lit and flickering in response to her movements. The water flowed into the main circle and made its way around the entire ring, filling the other candle depressions along the way. When she stopped pouring, her liquid circle shimmered silver in the moonlight.

  An oddity struck Kyle, making him furrow his brow. When had she lit the candle? Her position had partly obscured his view, so he hadn’t noticed when it happened. How intrigued him even more than when. She was holding the pitcher with both hands the whole time. Had she used her toes to light the candle? He resolved to watch more closely when she came around to a position that gave him a better view.

  Amanda crossed the circle and traded the nearly empty pitcher for the feather fan. Facing the yellow candle, she held the fan across her chest as if she were about to dance. She called to the spirits of air to protect her working. Kyle watched closely this time, and nearly gasped when the candle lit without her touching it. Amanda took the flame as her cue. She swept the feathers in a continuous up-and-down curve, painting an invisible cylindrical wall above the circle of water. As sensuous as any dance, her graceful movements were captivating.

  A shimmering in the air disrupted Kyle’s focus when Amanda had nearly completed
her circuit. Distortion followed her fan motions around the circle, like heat waves rising from a desert highway. The invisible wall wasn’t so invisible after all.

  Amanda put the fan down and stood facing north toward the green candle. Her position gave Kyle the best view of her activities. Kyle leaned forward to check the moon’s shadow line on the wall above him and observed that it had moved from the left side of the painted line to the right. The moon was now past meridian.

  While he watched, the line grew fainter and disappeared as the room grew noticeably darker. Kyle’s pulse quickened at the ominous sign until he realized that the moon had merely gone behind a cloud. The light from the candles on the table and in the circle seemed to grow brighter with the loss of moonlight, shifting the spectrum of illumination in the room from silver to gold.

  Amanda stood still for a few moments behind the wall of distortion, and Kyle thought she might be waiting for the moon to come out from behind the cloud. But then she reached into her pocket and withdrew a necklace with a pendant set with some kind of dark stone. She put the necklace around her neck, and wrapped her hand around the pendant. She called to the earth spirits to anchor her protections and give her a strong foundation for her working. The green candle lit spontaneously, even though Amanda hadn’t moved.

  Kyle glanced around the room, wondering what sign he might be missing. Then it came. A deep boom, more felt than heard, rattled Kyle’s lungs. It was like the sonic boom of a jet airplane, but much more visceral. The spirits of earth had spoken.

  Apparently, this was the sign Amanda had been waiting for. She crossed the circle to the red candle, picking up the dagger as she passed. She held the dagger at arm’s length with both hands, pointed toward the ceiling, and called to the spirits of fire to lend her power and strengthen her working.

  Kyle had a poor line of sight to the red candle from where he was sitting, but the moment it lit was obvious. The fire spirits seemed to be showing off as the wick burst into flame and flared nearly a foot before subsiding to match the other candles.

  The flickering light from all four candles sparkled on the steel blade of Amanda’s dagger. Her hands were glowing, and for a second Kyle thought her sleeves might have caught fire. He started to rise from his seat, but the glow left her hands and flowed up her arms, where it briefly enveloped her from head to foot before fading. Kyle slowly reseated himself, shaking his head in stunned amazement.

  Amanda returned to the center of the circle and sat cross-legged again. Her ritual for consecrating the crucible seemed to involve more water and calling on spirits, but Kyle was too distracted with his own thoughts to pay much attention.

  What he had witnessed was disturbing on a primitive level. He had a strong urge to run out of the house, jump into his Explorer, and drive as fast and far as he could. He started to get up out of his chair to go, but then he remembered the reason he was there. Running away would only lead to one unpleasant conclusion. Was the desire to run coming from the demon? He ground his teeth in frustration at having to second-guess his every emotion and impulse.

  He gripped the arms of the chair and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself. It didn’t work. Nausea struck hard, and he swallowed convulsively to keep from gagging. It was a good thing they hadn’t eaten before coming up to the moon shrine.

  In a few minutes, all of this strange power would be focused on him. Amanda was clearly a powerful witch who knew what she was doing. Having observed her abilities, his concerns about the new crucible fluttered away like leaves in a fall wind. If she believed that she had the knowledge, the tools, and the power to pull off the exorcism, then he believed it as well.

  But what would it feel like to have a demon torn from your mind?

  He hated going to the dentist, for goodness sake! At least with a tooth extraction, you got anesthesia. Was there a magical anesthetic for demon extraction?

  Kyle forced himself to sit still, keep his eyes closed, and breathe slowly while Amanda worked. He could still hear her, but not seeing the things that his brain said were impossible helped tremendously.

  After several minutes, Amanda unexpectedly rang the bell again. Kyle jumped and reflexively opened his eyes. As with the ward spell, a green shimmer flowed from Amanda to the crucible, which sucked it in and glowed with a white aura that faded quickly. From that point, it sounded like she was finishing up the casting.

  Amanda addressed each candle again, releasing the spirits and thanking them for their assistance. The candles went out each time without a trace of smoke, as if she had pinched each wick with wet fingers. Kyle resisted the temptation to close his eyes again, determined to deal with what he was witnessing. He’d be in the middle of it all too soon.

  She released the spirits in the opposite order that she’d called them. When she was done, the column of distortion had disappeared. She leaned over and turned the valve Kyle had seen earlier, letting the water drain from the circle.

  Amanda’s new crucible was filled nearly to the rim with water when she carried it toward the table. She dumped the water into an empty black trash can next to the table.

  She held up the crucible proudly and said, “All set. We can safely use it for your ceremony now.”

  “Awesome,” Kyle said without much enthusiasm.

  “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

  “I’m freaking out here a little, but I think I can hold it together.”

  She looked up at the wall. The clouds had passed for the moment and the moonlight drew the moon’s position line well past the meridian. “Maybe we should wait until tomorrow. I could use a break, honestly. I think I underestimated how much energy the consecration would take. Also, the moon will be up later tomorrow, so we can time the critical part of your ceremony with the meridian.”

  Kyle collapsed back into the chair, not realizing until that moment that he had literally been on the edge of his seat. “You’ve convinced me.” The last thing he wanted to do was push her limits, given what was at stake. “My nerves are kinda shot anyway.”

  Amanda finished wiping out the crucible with a dark towel and set it on the table. “Then tomorrow it is. Let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.”

  Kyle followed Amanda out of the moon shrine and down the stairs. He was both thankful for the reprieve and disappointed that he would have to live with the demon for another day. Maybe by the following night, he’d be able to absorb what he’d experienced and reconcile it in his mind somehow. He was pretty sure that Amanda would think it was poor form to puke inside the circle.

  Chapter 14

  In the Circle

  Kyle made himself useful around the farm Sunday morning by helping Lucille in the garden. She set him to work tying up tomato plants that had started to tip over and picking green beans from a tall trellis.

  He had no idea that pole beans could be so prolific. He laughed when Lucille set out a five-gallon bucket for him, but an hour later, the bucket was full and he was starting to think he might be able to fill a second one.

  “That will do for today,” Lucille said. She had a basket on her hip filled with summer squash and a half-dozen fresh herbs.

  “How are you going to eat all these?” he asked.

  “One bite at a time,” she answered, shuffling off toward the house.

  Kyle picked up the bucket and followed.

  At the screen door, Amanda took the bucket from him and said, “You have a call. It’s the front-desk guy from the hotel.”

  Kyle thanked her and ran inside to pick up the receiver. “This is Kyle.”

  “Hey, this is Earl down at the Ponderay Hotel. That little lady of yours checked out this morning, and I’ve got folks who’d like the room if you’re willing to give it up. I’ll give you a refund for the unused days, of course.”

  “She checked out already? Did she say where she was going?”

  “Nope. Didn’t ask. None of my business. She just turned in her key and left. So how about that room?”
r />   “Sure, you can have it back.”

  “All righty then. Come on by when you get the chance and I’ll cut you a check for the balance. You have a good day, now.”

  “Thanks, same to you.”

  Kyle hung up the phone with smile on his face. Sherry must have found another place to stay already. Good for her. The sooner she moved on with her life, the sooner she could forget about him.

  Amanda peeked her head out of the kitchen doorway and saw that he was smiling. “Good news?”

  “Yep. I think I may have one less complication in my life. Sherry checked out of the hotel this morning.”

  Amanda stepped fully into the room, a look of concern on her face. “Are you okay with that?”

  “Absolutely. I didn’t want to kick her when she was down, but if she’s ready to move on by herself, I’m thrilled for her.”

  “Cool. Well then, let’s get to canning.”

  “Canning?”

  “You didn’t think we were going to eat all those beans tonight, did you?” Amanda said with a wink.

  For the next few hours, Kyle helped Lucille and Amanda prep and preserve the green beans. “Canning” was a bit of a misnomer because the jars were made of glass, but the result was the same. They pickled about half of the beans as “dilly beans,” which Amanda assured him were delicious. Kyle was surprised to discover that he enjoyed himself and gained a new appreciation for gardening and self-reliance.

  They were cleaning up in the late afternoon when Amanda suggested to Kyle that they go for another horseback ride.

  “I’d love that,” Kyle responded. He set aside the pot he was cleaning and turned to face Amanda and Lucille. “You know, I want to thank you both for letting me stay here and share your lifestyle for a while. I’m having a great time. Much better than I expected.”

  Lucille smiled and nodded. “You’re quite welcome. I appreciate your willingness to lend a hand. This lifestyle can be a lot of work, particularly this time of year.”