She passed the cases of books and came into the main room where an island sat with plastic drawers filled with fresh dried herbs, plants, and little bottles of oils plugged with a small cork.
“Rosa?” The humming stopped and then the dark-skinned beauty came through a beaded partition.
A smile lit up her face. “Lily! You're here!” They hugged, sharing a laugh. Rosa pulled away and looked her up and down. “And you're not wearing any shoes.”
Lily shrugged. “Long story. I was hoping to catch you here. I lost my backpack in a car accident and I need some supplies.”
Rosa shook her head and sighed. “You in a car accident? Why can I totally picture this?”
“Hey, I'm a great driver. The guy in front of me just slowed down too much.”
“Lily, I don't think that's how driving's supposed to work.”
She shrugged. “Whatever.” Picking up a brown paper bag, she began searching the shelves, grabbing essential oils, herbs, candles, and incense that got left in her pack.
Rosa took a seat in a wide but short chair that looked probably older than she was. “What happened to your nose?”
Lily told her about the car accident, the missing shoes, the door stamping her face, and then getting into Telal's.
By time she finished, Rosa was laughing so hard tears fell down her face. “You have such bad luck.”
Lily grunted. “Tell me about it.”
“So how long do you think he'll put up with you living there?”
“With my threat hanging over him—for as long as I want. He won't make it easy though. He's probably already ordered his men to keep me away from his precious office.”
“And him of course.”
“And him,” she agreed. “All right, let's get some of these brewing. My ribs are killing me.”
Together they went through the beaded curtain to a small kitchenette in the back. They began making the mixture together, one handing the herbs over, the other stirring them into a pot.
“You know this is a sign, Lily.” Rosa's voice held an edge to it.
“I don't care,” Lily said lightly, though her hand tightened around the wooden spoon.
“I'm sure you don't,” Rosa said gently, “but it's better to be cautious. Take things slow.”
Lily chuckled. “You know slow isn't my way.” She stirred the creamy substance until it came to a simmer then added crushed plant leaves, oils, and herbs.
“Patience is a great skill.”
“I bet it is. Unfortunately, I don't have any.”
“You could learn.”
“My party was great, huh?” she said, changing the subject.
Rosa didn't say anything for a moment. “Yes, I had a good time. Though that demon Rayn wouldn't stop hitting on me.”
Lily laughed, the sound forced. “Such a flirt. He's cute though. Maybe you should take him up on that date.”
Rosa looked away, a dark looking coming over her eyes. “No, I don't think so.”
Lily turned off the burner to let the remedy cool. Her ribs and abdomen ached by making even the slightest turn. This would help, though, at the very least it'd relax her nerves.
“Are you still having the nightmares?”
Lily lifted the pot over a cheesecloth covering a funnel that sat in a glass, and paused. “Not in the past few nights. Been going strong.” She gave Rosa a confident smile but Rosa's cocked eyebrow said she didn't buy it. “Okay, I didn't last night but that's all.”
“Their frequency shouldn't be ignored.”
Lily might have rolled her eyes but Rosa kept a close eye on her. “I know that.”
“Then what are you going to do about it?” said Rosa. She crossed her arms and in that green velvet dress she wore, she looked like a sorceress...or a monk.
Lily finished squeezing the liquid into the glass and tossed the cloth and funnel into the sink. “What do you think I should do?” She tried to keep the bite out of her voice but it didn't work.
“Be patient. Go slow and prepare.”
Her own patience, what little she had of it, quickly slid through the floor. “Prepare for what? I don't even know what or who it is. It's a dream about a dark man surrounded by evil sitting on a shadowy throne. Hell, it took me two months to even see that it was a throne he was sitting on. The dreams are too vague.” She grabbed the glass with the remedy and started chugging it in big gulps that hurt her throat when she swallowed.
“Are you wearing your charm bracelet at least?”
Lily pulled up the leg of her leather pants until the bracelet showed. Rosa nodded, her expression grim.
“I worry about you. You know it's out of love, right?”
Lily smiled for real this time and gave Rosa a one-armed hug. “I know. I love you, too.”
“Feeling better now?” Rosa grabbed her hand in her soft one. The touch was meant to be comforting, just a friend touching a friend, but then Rosa's pupil's dilated until the brown of her eyes disappeared completely leaving only black holes. She gasped, sucking in a breath of air, and then she stood there, staring but not seeing.
“Dammit, Rosa, are you okay?” Lily'd seen this before, but it'd never happened to her. She yanked on her hand but it was like trying to yank her hand out of an ogre's grip.
Rosa sucked in a sharp breath and her hand flexed open, fingers pointing straight. Her chest moved rapidly, then slowly her pupils receded back to small points. She blinked slowly before looking back at Lily. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her cheeks were pale like she'd seen a ghost.
“What's wrong, Rosa? What did you see?”
“You. You’re dead.”
The shrill of an old time telephone tore through the moment like a chainsaw. After the sixth ring, Rosa jerked then slowly moved to the phone. She kept an antique phone, a vertical rotary one that hung on the wall. She answered it and her shaky voice almost sounded normal.
She hung up a minute later. “I'm sorry,” she said, her voice distant. “I have to go. A special meeting's been called. I'm required to be there.”
“What kind of special meeting?”
Rosa shook her head, her eyes faraway as she moved around the room putting supplies in a brown shoulder satchel. “I'm not sure. He just said I'm required to show up.”
“Who?”
Rosa paused in the motion of grabbing her keys. “Telal Demuzi.”
Lily's brows shot up. “My demon? I'm going with you.”
A brisk shake of her head. “No way. He said just me.”
Lily jammed her remedy into a bag and slung it around her shoulder. “You're taking me.” She stared at Rosa until she hesitantly met her gaze. The staring contest went on for a good two minutes before Rosa finally sighed.
“Fine, you win.”
“I always do.”
CHAPTER 8
“It's time,” Kearnyn said.
Telal finished putting his documents into a briefcase and snapped it closed. He nodded to Kearnyn and laid his hand on his shoulder. With a thought, the room around them disappeared. A new room slowly appeared with a long oval desk surrounded by more than a dozen leather chairs. A single door was the only way in or out and on the opposite wall was a white dry-erase board. Influential figures were already coming into the room.
Telal started around the room, shaking hands with each of the members. For all that he knew, nothing like this had ever been done, and certainly what he wanted to accomplish, had never been done. Most of the members he was familiar with, others were only an acquaintance.