‘Butterflies?’ Crash said, but Mare concentrated on them, visualizing all the little gold filigree wings and then threw them toward the drapery they’d come off of.
Crash yelped as dozens of little gold wings went hurtling across the room to splat on the fabric, some of them peeling off him, but there weren’t any sparks.
‘I want my sparks back,’ Mare said, flustered. ‘When I make magic, there are blue sparks, damn it.’
‘Weight?’ Crash suggested, looking over his shoulder for more butterflies. ‘Maybe it has to be something heavy.’
‘Yesterday morning, I got them lifting muffins,’ Mare said.
‘Well, things have happened since yesterday,’ Crash said. ‘Maybe you’ve gotten stronger.’
Mare nodded. ‘Okay. Hold on.’ She took a deep breath, wrapped her mind around the bed, and lifted. It got about a foot off the floor, some blue sparks shot out, and then it thumped down again.
‘Ouch,’ Crash said, holding on. ‘But I saw blue sparks.’
‘This sucker was spinning when we were coming,’ Mare said, disgruntled. ‘I should be able to do that again.’
‘Hey, anything I can do to help-’
‘Shhhh,’ Mare said, and sat back against her beautiful new headboard to think.
Okay. Time to stop going on instinct and think about how her power actually worked.
With the muffins, she’d seen dust motes in the air turn into blue sparks. That must have something to do with friction, that her power moved things at a really small level. Like the sugar cubes. Like there was something in the air -what? molecules? atoms? germs? tiny little Legos? – that she could latch on to and wrap around things and then-
‘Mare?’
Mare bit her lip and went for something easier. Whatever that is, she thought, I’m gonna string it together, wrap it around this bed, and lift. She put her head down and began to wrap her power around and around the bed in a big spiral, tightening as she went, putting her tongue in the corner of her mouth, her head lowering as she concentrated, her arms spreading out naturally, fingers spreading, too, and then she lifted…
‘Oh, shit,’ Crash said, and grabbed on to the headboard.
‘Sparks?’ she said, concentrating on keeping them afloat.
‘Ceiling,’ he said, and she looked up and saw it right above her nose.
‘Right,’ she said and set them down gently. ‘Huh.’
‘Well, I can see why you never let me in here before.’ He swung around and put his feet on the floor.
‘Too much?’ Mare said, suddenly afraid.
‘No,’ Crash said. ‘Well, a lot Not too much.’ He looked over at her and smiled. ‘We’re bolting the bed down. This one and the one in Italy. You’re coming to Italy, right?’
Mare relaxed. ‘I have to talk to Dee and Lizzie first. If it’s okay-’
He shook his head, and she leaned forward and put her hand on his arm.
‘Crash, they’re like me, they’re magic, they can’t be alone. I think Elric is okay, but I don’t know about Danny, he doesn’t like magic, and if my sisters haven’t found anybody like you, I can’t leave them alone. You know? I just can’t. They need me.’
He kissed her forehead. ‘I know. But then they come with us. Honest to God, Mare, they’d love Italy. And I’ll help. Dee turns into birds, right? And Lizzie turns stuff into…’ He frowned, trying to remember.
‘Bunnies and shoes, mostly.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s Tuscany, it’s a country town. Nobody will notice birds and bunnies. And shoes, well, hell, it’s Italy. Dee can paint there. I’ll build her a studio and Lizzie a workshop. They’ll be safe. I’ll keep them safe.’
‘Oh.’ Mare felt heat behind her eyes and tried to blink it back, but it was too late.
‘Hey,’ he said as she picked up the sheet to wipe the tears away.
‘I’ve loved you forever,’ she told him, sniffing. ‘I’m going to love you forever.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘I’ll love you forever, too.’
‘There’s just one thing,’ she said, blinking back tears.
He closed his eyes and nodded. ‘Whatever it is, I’ll fix it,’ he said, patience incarnate.
‘The footboard.’
‘What?’ He looked around.
‘I was holding on to the headboard when I came,’ Mare said. ‘That’s why it got rearranged and it looks so beautiful now. So I was thinking if I held onto the footboard and you-’
‘It’s just one damn thing after another with you,’ Crash said, and reached for her.
Dee woke to see the sky in turmoil. A broad bank of roiling clouds allowed only brief glimpses of the setting moon. The trees on the mountain writhed and whispered, making Dee think of those witches dancing in the dark, and far down in the valley a train whistle blew. Within the stone circle, it was curiously quiet. Dee was absolutely content, tucked close to her lover after their second bout of lovemaking, this one involving the pop beads.
Dee decided that she definitely had a preference for a man with an imagination. Who knew what pleasure pink pop beads could incite when pulled across some of the more sensitive areas of the body. Then again, they were also a great hit wrapped around a rousing erect penis. She couldn’t wait to see what Danny had in mind for the boa.
‘You’ll marry me, of course,’ Danny murmured, pulling her more snugly into his arms. ‘After all, I’ve stolen your virtue.’
Busy running her fingers through the curiously soft hair that traced Danny’s sternum, Dee chuckled. ‘You can’t steal something that was offered on a silver platter.’
He yawned. ‘Nevertheless, my honor demands it.’
‘Consider your honor upheld. Right now I can’t think past what we’re going to do next. I have to say that I’m sorry it took so long to find out what fun this is.’
‘I’m not. If you’d found out sooner, it wouldn’t have been with me.’
‘It was meant to be, I think.’
‘True. After all, the first person you failed to shift with just happens to be your one true love.’
‘It might also be because he’s the first one who tried to make sure I had an orgasm first. Maybe it was a protective mechanism.’
‘Nah. I prefer the true love idea.’
‘If you must.’ She could hear his heart, and it soothed her. She’d never been this close to a human before. Oh, she’d held Lizzie and Mare, but she’d never been given the gift of a lover’s comfort.
‘I really do want to marry you,’ he said, lazily stroking her hair. ‘Did I tell you I love you?’
‘Better than that,’ she said, spreading her hand over his heart. ‘You showed me. I am honored by your offer.’
‘You’re not allowed to say no.’
‘I have two sisters to think of, Danny.’
‘Let ‘em get their own husbands.’
‘Until they do, we need to stick together just to survive.’
‘I work, too, ya know.’
Dee lifted her head so she could face him. ‘Could you work from Salem’s Fork? We could live here to save money. I could stay in the bank. That way I could be here for the girls.’
He stroked her cheek with his thumb. ‘What if I can’t? What if you need to come to Chicago with me?’
She frowned. ‘I don’t think we’d have the money to commute. Could you wait? The situation here can’t last that much longer. Especially if we can finally take care of Xan.’
‘You’d give me up for your sisters?’
‘Give up is not the idea. Postpone at most. I have a responsibility to them, Danny. I mean, right now Lizzie hasn’t even been able to hold down a job.’
‘Why?’
She shrugged. ‘She’s distracted by trying to change straw into gold. She thinks it would save us all. I think Lizzie’s greatest gift is that she loves us enough to try.’
‘And Mare?’
‘Mare will be okay. But if I could stay, I could help out.’
‘So if I could base my activities out of Salem’s Fork, you’d marry me?’
‘Before you could get the question out. I know it wouldn’t be easy. Neither of us makes a lot of money, and you’d need to travel. But we could make it work.’ She knew her smile was anxious. She wasn’t sure her heart could stand a rejection.