Daughters of Creation

Chapter Two: Ineffable (Part Two)

  As she passed through the door, past him, she caught her image in the glass. Behind her ear, uncovered by the bounce of her curls, a tattooed flower bloomed. Her breath seized in her chest. The flower behind her ear was an aster: a symbol of love, a talisman of love, of trusting. She wouldn't have to worry about her emotions giving her away, no, her tattoos would do the job. Scrambling to hide the still blooming flower, Rosalyn haphazardly brushed her hair to cover her ear and that part of her neck. She would have to be careful she kept that part of her covered for the rest of her visit. She would be mortified if Hari saw.

Hari led her deeper into his shop. Like most of the buildings in Strey, his shop was built from bricks and larger than what the outside hinted to. Rosalyn let her mind expand, allowing the spells in the place to wash over her skin. A buzz entered her veins as she felt the power of the spells identify themselves to her. She could feel the runes for growth, health, protection, and good luck brush across her skin. It felt like she was walking into her own greenhouse.

"I've got lavender in the back for you, thought you might come sooner." Thought you might come see me sooner ... his thoughts touched her mind. She would have flinched if she hadn't missed his presence in her mind so much. Rosalyn could have laughed. The first time he ever spoken in her mind she had assaulted him with vines and other plants at her disposal. She hadn't meant it personally, it had just been a reflex. As a witch her guard was always up. But now—well, now she merely embraced the feeling and wondered when the presence of another person had become so normal to her—when the presence of Hari had become so normal to her.

"Thanks," she licked her lips. This was harder than she had thought. "For the lavender and also for the help."

"What's got you so worried, Rosalyn?" the way he said her name was like the earth whispering her name with a sigh of the wind. "You look like you barely got any sleep last night."

She hadn't. Between worrying about Emrie Michele and thoughts of him, she had tossed and turned all night long. It had gotten so bad Ebony had relinquished her spot on the bed.

"Things are happening in the Veil, Hari—and I know you know, so don't deny. The number of Guards are beginning to rise again and the last time something like this happened I lost my entire family and coven. Unlike last time, though, we didn't have bodies appearing with burn marks on the backs of the victims. And last night Ri had a vision—"

"Did something happen?" he interrupted, brows drawing together in concern as he pulled back a colorful tapestry and led her to the back of the store where his greenhouse was.

She shook her head. "No, not this time, thankfully. But I couldn't pull her out of it and Ri said it felt like her entire soul was being violated before she was ripped out of the vision."

Leaving behind the cool air of the shop, Rosalyn welcomed the humid temperature. It drove away the chill that had begun to creep up her spine. As soon as she stepped into the greenhouse the plants responded to her presence, perking up and rotating toward her as she walked past. Hari took her to the little spring he had created when he'd first purchased the shop. The babbling of the water calmed her nerves as vines crept toward her, curling around her ankles in greeting. Rosalyn smiled and ran her fingers over their green bodies; momentarily forgetting the troubles that plagued her.

"I couldn't do anything to help her ... I'd never seen her in so much pain before."

The vines wrapped around her tighter, responding to her rise in emotions. When she was younger it had tefferied her seeing vines and plants appear beside her when she hadn't used her magic, but the Elders had explained she had a special kind of magic that called plants and nature alike to her whether she used magic or not. She never got the chance to ask them further what they meant because not soon after the Guards burned everything—and everyone—to the ground.