I nodded and crossed the room. She clasped my hand tightly, and there was a flicker of confusion on her face for a moment. I pulled my hand away, and her face returned to normal. She shook her head as if trying to get rid of a mosquito, and we turned and walked around the side of the house. She’d had no problem touching me last night; what if the glamour was starting to wear off? I tried not to panic as I followed her outside.
Demeter led me to the meadow behind the house. In the late afternoon light, it looked like a field of gold and precious jewels.
“I’d like to check on the hives, if you don’t mind.” Demeter spoke softly, not looking at me.
“That’s fine.” I glanced down at my thin tunic and trousers, worried. I hoped my glamour could fool bees.
A faint hum filled the air, like a helicopter in the distance, as seven boxy hives came into sight at the edge of the clearing.
Demeter crossed confidently and removed the lid of one of the boxes. The hum got louder and more distinct, and I realized I was hearing thousands of bees. The air seemed to vibrate, and my nose tingled. Demeter bent lovingly over the hive and pulled out a comb, examining it closely.
“We should have one more harvest of honey before they begin to sleep for the winter.” I leaned forward, interested despite my fear of being stung. The bees were massed on the comb, working quickly and efficiently. There was one tremendous bee in the upper-left corner; it was easily as long as the first two joints of my finger.
“That’s the queen, isn’t it?” I felt foolish for my question. Persephone had obviously helped her mother many times, and wouldn’t need to be told which bee was the queen of the hive. But I couldn’t help myself; there was so much I wanted to ask Demeter. I was carefully storing away everything she said so I could tell Mom once I returned home. She’d want to hear all about it, I was sure.
Demeter didn’t seem surprised by my question. “All the other bees in the hive live to serve her. None of them would dream of challenging their queen.” Her deep green eyes looked into mine and I felt a chill. “Have you felt any tremors in your magic, lately, daughter?”
I looked down at the hive, trying to keep my face neutral. “What kind of tremors?”
“I have been told that you offered help to a new Red. Is that true?”
I laughed nervously. “We all did. Kali, Pele, even I were vying for her attention. It is difficult to be a patron of Red magic, Mother. We only ever have the chance for three devotees. There are never enough Red Witches to go around.” I hoped that Persephone would have said something like that, and I tried to keep my voice casual. My heart was pounding so loudly that I was sure Demeter could hear it.
Demeter nodded slowly. “I understand the girl did not pick you.”
I swallowed, wondering how much Demeter already knew. “No. She vowed to our cousin, Aphrodite. A waste of Red magic, if you ask me.”
Demeter replaced the comb and moved on to the next hive. “Still, you had dealings with the girl. Hecate would like to question you.”
“Why?” My arms grew cold and I struggled to keep my voice steady. Demeter shrugged, looking down at the bees.
“Evidently, this girl is strong. Hecate wants to learn more about her.”
I was strong? That was good to know. “Why would this concern Hecate? Isn’t she above all forms of magic?” I took a stab, hoping that my encounters with Hecate hadn’t reached Demeter’s ears.
She looked at me. “Hecate is above all magics, but of them. She is the Queen of Witches, after all. Of course she is taking an interest in this new child.”
Silently, I walked to another hive. Demeter closed the one she was checking and followed me. “You know that I owe Hecate a great debt. She was the only one who was brave enough to tell me your fate. I won’t have you treating her rudely just because you weren’t able to win this mortal’s devotion.”
I shook my head, looking down. “Of course I will treat Hecate with all respect.”
Demeter nodded. “Good. She should be here soon.”
My head jerked up and I fought to keep the panic from my voice. “Soon? How soon?” Had Demeter figured out who I really was?
Demeter sighed. “She’ll be here before you begin your descent, to escort you as she always does.”
This was news to me. Why hadn’t Persephone warned me about this? Maybe she’d figured we would swap places again before the dark goddess arrived. How would I hope to fool Hecate? Forcing myself to remain calm, I nodded at Demeter.
The goddess took a few steps away from me, keeping her face averted, but her words were full of pain. “Must you really leave me?”
Gods, Persephone had to put up with this whining every year? How awful. I mean, I felt bad for Demeter, but she needed to get over it already. Still, I tried to keep my response kind. “There must be balance. It can’t always be springtime.” I held out my arms and hugged the goddess. “But I will be back. I always am.”
Demeter nodded, stroking my hair. “I still do not understand the choice you made, daughter, and I have had centuries to think it through. I do not know what love you bear for my brother in his cold realm, but you have borne your choice like a woman.” She sighed. “I simply cannot stop thinking of you as the child you once were.”
“But I have to live with my choices. And so do you.” My voice shook, and Demeter touched my cheek gently.
“Yes, little one. I live with your choice every day.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The next week was tense. Every day, I worried that Hecate would appear in the cottage, denouncing me and demanding that Demeter turn me over to her. I had no doubt that Demeter would obey Hecate. Persephone had been wise not to trust her mother with my secret.
But Hecate didn’t appear, and Demeter and I spent the time walking the fields and speaking with the farmers who were her devotees. Dennis followed me everywhere, and although I teased him and chased him off each day, I secretly enjoyed his company. I would miss him when I returned to my own world.
Each afternoon, I arrived back at the cottage before Demeter and tried to practice Red magic. I could now sense its force if I was still, and I was beginning to feel the differences between Red magic and anything else. Red magic felt like a jolt of electricity, and it was the strongest force, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t feel the gentle tug of Green magic, or the warmth of White magic. One day, I even felt a sickening pull in my stomach that I assumed must be Black magic, but I shied away from that quickly, thinking of Rochelle. I didn’t want to end up like her, and while I knew rationally that Black magic had nothing to do with her being power hungry, she had proved my parents’ prejudices when she tried to kill me. Black or Red, whatever she was, she’d gone from being my best friend to my enemy, and I didn’t want to be anything like her.
Before, I had only used Red magic when I was frightened, when I was desperate, or when I was angry. Now, in the small house in Greece, I tried to call upon Red magic when I was calm and quiet. It was hard. The more I tried, the more I wondered if it would be impossible to separate Red magic from chaotic emotion. I didn’t want to do anything too dramatic, but I tried to light the hearth fire each evening and failed.
After I had been in Demeter’s house for a week, I got particularly frustrated.
“What good does any of this do, if I don’t know how to use it?” I slammed my hand down on the table in frustration. The fire leaped when my fist hit the wood, and I stared into the now-dancing flames. I took a step closer to the fire, excited. As a test, I tried to breathe slowly and evenly. As my mind slowed, the flames fell.
Was I going about this all wrong? Maybe I shouldn’t try to distance strong emotion from Red magic; maybe the two were irrevocably bound. I didn’t want to use Red magic irrationally, though. Instead of focusing on frustration, I stared at the fire and tried to call to mind the fear I felt of Hecate. The fire surged again.