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  “Ogress,” Elizabet said firmly. “And a cannibal, from the looks of her kitchen,” she said, glancing around and wrinkling her nose. “And what else are you?”

  “I am An Caillach Beara, The Hag of Beara,” the old woman said, straightening slightly from her bent-over position. “I came here from Ireland hundreds of years ago, like many of the Wee Folk and the Tuatha De Danaan. And who are you who comes so boldly into my parlor?”

  “I’m Elizabet Winters,” the black woman said quietly. “I’m a witch and a healer and guardian of this young girl. I’ve spent weeks chasing down any trace of magic in the city, trying to find her.”

  “But I’ve spent time and magic on her as well,” the old woman said, smiling. “It was my magic that called her here, reaching out to her across the city. Who, then, has the greater right?”

  “Uh, can I … I mean, I didn’t …” Kayla could feel the currents of power rising between the two women, like the smell of rain before a storm. “Listen, Elizabet …”

  “Be silent, child,” Elizabet said, not unkindly. Her eyes never wavered from Beara. “So, old woman? What will it be? You may be a powerful Irish ogress, but there are two of us, and we can’t be discounted that easily.”

  The old woman stared back at her. “For five hundred years, no one has dared threaten me.”

  “Get used to it, lady.” Elizabet’s voice was tight.

  “I’m really not that much of a villainess,” Beara said, looking away. “Yes, I feast upon the mortals, but only the worst of them—the thieves and muggers and punks who would prey upon a helpless old woman. The predators, the ones who laugh at me and my magic. They chased me out of Ireland, those ones, and so I came to this New World. The land of the free, the home of the brave. Even here, they hound me.” She sighed. “It’s just as well, I suppose … one still has to eat. Still, if I let you go, then I’ll have to deal with the police… .”

  “I’ll make you a deal,” Elizabet said quietly. “Let us leave now, unharmed, and we won’t interfere with what you do.”

  “What?” Kayla said, and stopped as Elizabet put her hand on her shoulder, holding her back. What’s she saying? This lady is a murderer, a cannibal, an ogre, God knows what else! We can’t just walk out of here and let her keep doing this!

  “So, old woman, what do you say?”

  “We are alike in many ways, you know,” the ogress said. “You’ve learned what it took me many years to understand: any woman with power is to be feared and hunted. At least we should not hunt each other, eh?”

  “They don’t burn witches these days, but they sure don’t invite them to join the P.T.A., either,” Elizabet said with a faint smile.

  I don’t understand this. She’s acting friendly with this—this thing! “Elizabet—” Kayla began.

  “Shush, child,” Elizabet said without glancing at her. Kayla realized that Elizabet’s gaze had never wavered from the ogress for a moment, not even when she was smiling.

  “I would enjoy speaking with you again, Elizabet,” the hag said. “You are a woman after my own heart, reminding me of my long-lost sisters.”

  “As long as you’re not after my heart,” Elizabet said. “I don’t think I’d like to come over for dinner, thank you very much.”

  “Oh no, we’ll have high tea with scones and crumpets,” the hag said with a chuckle. The old woman’s smile faded. “I have a small truth to confess. I knew I couldn’t harm this girl from the moment I saw her. Even though I was very tempted, when she picked up one of my knives… .”

  Kayla suddenly remembered the knife in her hand. A little self-consciously, aware of the raised-eyebrow look that Elizabet was giving her, Kayla put it back on the counter.

  “But there is a danger for all of us on the horizon: a black cloud on our future, a danger to the magic in this place and all who need that magic to live,” the hag said. “In six moons’ time,” she continued. “Whatever is going to happen, it will happen in six moons’ time. You have that long to prepare this young one to help counter it.” She pointed at Kayla. “Her skills will be needed. You have six months to teach her what she needs to know.”

  “I don’t want to think about six months from now,” Elizabet said wryly. “I’m just worried about getting Kayla through the next two weeks.”

  “Gee, thanks a lot,” Kayla muttered.

  “Nothing happens by accident, young healer,” the hag said, gazing directly at Kayla. She looked down, not wanting to see the dangerous power that burned behind the old woman’s eyes. “Not magic, not this meeting, not you wandering across my doorstep.” Beara turned away, hobbling back toward the other room. “You should go now. I still need to put supper on the table, and there are more of those young thugs on their way here.”

  “We’ll leave,” Elizabet said.

  “No problem,” Kayla said under her breath. “I’ve been ready to get out of this place since the minute I walked in.”

  “Quietly, child,” Elizabet said in a low whisper. “We’ll talk more when we’re safely out of here.” Elizabet waited until the hag had left the hallway, then quickly pushed Kayla out the door. Kayla flinched back on the doorstep, seeing the lifeless face of a young man, his eyes dimly lit by the light from the window, his body lying on the pavement a few feet away from her. Another boy lay facedown several feet further away.

  “Walk, Kayla,” Elizabet murmured behind her. “Start walking. We have to get out of here.”

  Kayla didn’t need any encouragement. Walking quickly, they left the shadowed alley, stepping out into the bright, welcoming light of the streetlights.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It feels like it’s been years instead of days since I was here, Kayla thought, sprawling out onto the comfortable couch in Elizabet’s living room. “Elizabet, I didn’t say it before, but … thanks for getting me out of there. I thought I was a goner.”

  “You probably were, despite what the ogress said about the magic being endangered in this area,” Elizabet said, wearily pulling off her boots.

  “I still can’t believe you said we wouldn’t do anything about her,” Kayla said. “I mean, we should call the cops to go stop her. Or maybe the Feds …”

  “I’m surprised you don’t understand.”

  ” … or the National Guard? Maybe we should call in the Marines?” Kayla shivered, thinking about what was brewing in that cauldron. “That’s one nasty lady.” She glanced at Elizabet. “What do you mean, you’re surprised that I don’t understand?”

  Elizabet leaned back against the couch with a sigh of pure exhaustion. “Well, what do you think would have happened if we’d had to fight our way out of there?” she asked. “Who do you think would have won?”

  Good question. That old lady looked pretty mean. Then again, Elizabet’s a tough cookie, too… . “I don’t know,” Kayla said.

  “That’s why,” Elizabet said. “Don’t ever take on a fight unless you think there’s a good chance you can win, child. Not unless the stakes are very high.” She yawned. “Well, I’m for some hot chocolate, and then it’s probably time for bed. Would you like some?”

  Kayla consulted her stomach, which was still a little queasy but seemed to be settling down at last. “Yeah, some hot chocolate would be great.”

  She followed Elizabet into the kitchen, sitting down at the table as the older woman began hunting for the ingredients. In a way, it feels like none of that really happened, she thought. Maybe it’s all been a dream, and it’s the same night when Billy got hurt. Elizabet’s making me another cup of chocolate, and then … Elizabet reached for a small box of Mexican chocolate and broke off several pieces, setting them in the pot to melt.

  That yellow and red box … Roberta …

  Kayla felt something tighten inside her, and tears blurred her vision. She rubbed at her eyes, which only made it worse, as she thought about Roberta and Luisa, and Fernando, and Jose …

  Elizabet turned. “Kayla? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s, it’s just …
that’s the same chocolate that Roberta made for me. Roberta, she’s dead now… . I thought she was such a bitch, but she was nice to me, and they killed her, she’s dead now… .” It was hitting her all at once, all the shock and anger and terrors of the last few days, falling down on her like a wave. She couldn’t keep from sobbing. “And Ramon, they tried to kill him, they shot Fernando right in front of me, I couldn’t do anything to help him …”

  Elizabet knelt next to Kayla, putting her arms around her. Kayla felt her tears soaking into Elizabet’s blouse. Elizabet didn’t say anything, only held her.

  “I’m … I’m okay,” Kayla said, after a few minutes. “Really, I’m okay.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Kayla thought about everything that had happened and nodded. She told Elizabet what had happened from the moment that Carlos and his friends had broken into Elizabet’s house to get her, and what had happened to her with the homeboys. And the strangeness of the Unseelie’s world, and how she’d saved the life of their Queen—though, thinking about it, she wasn’t certain that anybody except the Queen herself was going to benefit from that. And how the T-Men had come after them at the apartment, and …

  I should tell her. I should just tell her what happened.

  “What is it, child?” Elizabet asked, as though reading her thoughts—which she probably was, Kayla reflected wryly.

  “Something happened tonight,” Kayla began hesitantly. “Something really awful.”

  Elizabet listened as Kayla told her what had happened earlier that night at the apartment. She felt her stomach turn over and took several deep breaths as she described what she had done to the young man, the T-Man who had nearly died.

  Elizabet was silent for a long time after Kayla finished the story. “I should be saying I told you so,” she said, “but you know that already, don’t you? The magic within you doesn’t have a conscience of its own. You can hurt people or help them. You’re the one who has to decide which.”

  Yes, but … “But I couldn’t stop it,” Kayla said. “I couldn’t do anything about it.”

  “You’ll have to learn to control it,” Elizabet said. “The magic isn’t going to go away. It’s a part of you now, a part of what makes you yourself. Right now, your magic is as dangerous as a loaded shotgun in the hands of a three-year-old. But we can change that.” She glanced up quickly. “Oh Lord, the chocolate is burning!” Elizabet moved quickly to the stove, turning off the burner as the room filled with the smell of burnt chocolate.

  “So much for the hot cocoa,” she said, returning to the table.

  “What do you mean, we can change that?” Kayla asked, wrinkling her nose at the burnt smell. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes.

  Elizabet smiled. “My grandmother, she was the one who taught me. Of course, my talent isn’t anything compared to yours, but I should be able to teach you a few things that she taught me. Gram was an amazing lady. I wish you could have met her.” She looked up at the clock as Kayla yawned again. “It’s definitely past your bedtime, though,” she said. “We’ll talk more about this in the morning.”

  Kayla hesitated for a moment at the open door to the spare bedroom. She stood there, toweling her hair dry and wiping the last of the water from her face. Looking into the bedroom, it really did feel as though the last few days hadn’t happened at all. There was the bed, still slightly rumpled from when she’d been reading a book the night that Carlos and Ramon had come to the house. In a way, it feels like a dream, she thought. Like I’m waking up from an awful nightmare. But now it’s okay, I’m home. She stopped short at that thought.

  Home? I guess that’s what this is now. It feels like home. And Elizabet? I don’t think she’ll ever be like my mother. I don’t think I’ll ever feel she’s my parent, but my friend, definitely my teacher. Someone who can help me figure all of this out and make sense from my life.

  She put on a pair of pajamas and, on an impulse, moved to the bookshelf that lined one wall of the small bedroom. Just as she’d hoped, there it was: the book about the dragons. Smiling, she took it back to bed with her, opening up to the page where she’d stopped reading before.

  She awakened with a start at some noise she couldn’t identify. The room was still dark, with only a hint of light filtering in through the closed curtains. She reached out, and her hand brushed against the novel on the pillow next to her, lying where she’d left it before she fell asleep. She heard another sound, a rustling of the bedsheets. Someone was in the room with her—no, someone was sitting on the edge of the bed… .

  She picked up the book and threw it hard in the direction of the noise.

  She could see the person now, a dim outline in the faint light. The book flew through the air and then through the person, bouncing off the far wall.

  Oh no … it’s something magical again, I know it, it’s something magical … can’t I even get a night’s sleep without something weird happening around me?

  “That ain’t very polite, girl,” the person said with a laugh, in a woman’s low, rich voice, heavy with a Southern accent. “I would think that Elizabet might’ve taught you better manners. Then again, you ain’t been Elizabet’s ward for very long now, eh? Just a couple days?” She stood and moved closer. Kayla blinked.

  The old woman, her wrinkled black face creased with a broad smile, was only an outline of pale blue light, nothing more than that. I’m going crazy … that’s it, it’s all finally hit me and I’m going crazy … now I’m seeing ghosts.

  “You’re … you’re …” Kayla’s voice wasn’t working quite right.

  “Elizabet’s gram, that’s right.”

  “But you’re … you’re dead!”

  Gram chuckled. “I think that’s obvious, girl. Most normal folks don’t go around floatin’ through walls, y’know.”

  “But you’re dead!”

  “Been that way for a few years, now.”

  “But … you’re …”

  “Yes, I’m dead. Now shut up, girl, and let me talk.” Gram seated herself next to Kayla. “That’s why I’m here, girl,” she said cheerfully in her slow Southern drawl. “Since Elizabet thought it was important that we meet, I figured I’d go ahead and meet you. You ain’t never seen no ghosts before?”

  “Uh, no!” Kayla blurted.

  “Ah, no wonder you’re surprised. Some people just can’t handle the concept too well. Elizabet now, I tried appearin’ to her once, not too long after I left this world. She just couldn’t handle it at all. Thought she was losin’ her mind. You, on the other hand, look like you’re doin’ just fine, honey.” She stood up, stretching wearily. Her outlines thinned even more as she stretched; Kayla could see the walls through her. “Now, girl, we have to talk with Elizabet… .”

  Elizabet set down the sociology textbook she’d been reading and reached for the light switch next to the bed. Kayla’s voice, muffled through the closed bedroom door, stopped her in mid-motion.

  “Elizabet, can we come in?” Kayla asked.

  “Of course,” Elizabet said, then suddenly realized Kayla had said the word “we” instead of “I.” “Kayla, is someone … ?”

  The door opened and Kayla stepped in, followed by someone that Elizabet had thought she would never see again, at least not in this lifetime. Her grandmother glided into the room, smiling wickedly, with her feet not quite touching the ground. She sat down at the foot of the bed. “Evenin’, honeychild,” Gram said.

  Elizabet just stared at her.

  In the long silence Kayla finally piped up. “Uh, Elizabet, she’s your grandmother, you know? Your grandmother, the dead one.”

  “I know who she is,” Elizabet said. “What I’m wondering is what is she doing here? And why I’m dreaming about her.”

  “Ain’t no dream, Elizabet,” Gram said. “You’re in trouble, an’ that’s why I’m here. You are in one heap of serious trouble. I can’t see exactly what, my sight isn’t too good looking very far into the future, but something evil has set its s
ights upon you, and on this girl here, too.”

  This must be a dream, Elizabet thought. Or maybe I’m insane. That would explain this.

  “Shoot, girl, you’re not crazy, any more than I am! Lordy, you believe in magic, right? Why so much trouble believing in ghosts?” Gram spoke in an aside to Kayla. “That’s why I never showed up before now. I knew she wouldn’t believe it.”

  “All right, then, I’ll take this at face value,” Elizabet said. “What I don’t understand is how you can be here.”

  “You don’t have time to understand,” her grandmother replied. “What you have to do is teach this child what she needs to know, and quickly. You don’t have much time, granddaughter. Only six months.”

  As she spoke, Gram’s translucent body was becoming even more faint. She faded away to a mere brightness, a hint of light in the air. “Teach her what she needs to know before it’s too late.”

  The words lingered in the empty air where Gram had sat a moment before.

  “Kayla, do you know what’s going on?” Elizabet asked.

  Kayla shook her head. “It’s not my fault,” she said quickly.

  “I know it’s not your fault, child,” Elizabet said with a sigh. “Six months. I wonder what’s going to happen in six months?”

  “I wish I knew,” Kayla said.

  “Well, we’ll find out when it gets here. Alternatively, we go ask Beara, since she obviously knows something about it as well. I’d just as soon not do that, though. It might be significantly harder to get out of her home a second time.”

  “Yeah, that’s for sure.” I don’t want to go back there without the Marines, or maybe the National Guard.

  “Now, go to bed, child,” Elizabet said. “We’ll start your lessons in earnest in the morning.”

  “Okay,” Kayla said. “I’ll let you know if any more of your dead relatives show up to visit,” she said, grinning.

  “You do that,” Elizabet said with a smile, and turned off the bedlight.

  Back in her bedroom, Kayla picked up the fantasy novel from where she’d thrown it and set it down on the nightstand. “All of this is really just a little too weird for me,” she said aloud, thinking about the events of the last week.