Sex and the Psychic Witch (17 page)

Chapter Thirty-three

“AND you think I have a smart mouth,” Harmony said. “But look at the bright side. At least there’s no Live at Five news crew here.”

“We need blankets,” King called, and several landed on them as their rescuers’ laughter receded.

“Are they gone?” Harmony asked.

“Yeah, they’re going in through the train shed.”

“Thank the Goddess.” Together she and King removed the lace canopy and bedposts. “I gotta stretch in the worst way,” Harmony said, getting up. “Oh, ouch, everything aches.”

King arched and rubbed his ass. “I’ve really been taking a licking.”

“But you keep on ticking.”

King hooked her around the waist and brought her naked body against his. “Got any energy left?”

“Are you kidding me?”

He groaned. “Not
that
kind of energy. I want the mattress and box spring in the Dumpster. Less explaining when the crew fixes the shed door.”

“They’ll
see
the mattress in there.”

“Won’t matter. Tomorrow, we’re throwing out a dozen mattresses.” King shrugged. “So we started early.”

“You actually think our rescuers will keep their mouths shut?”

“They’ll razz the hell out of us, but I don’t think any of them will tell the crew.”

“Can I tell you how much I don’t want to remove the evidence right now?”

He kissed her brow. “Better than drowning, right?”

They got back to the dorm an hour later, everyone but Aiden and Storm asleep. Tiptoeing around in the dark, they took turns in the bathroom and climbed into their respective beds.

“I figured you went to the tower,” Morgan said into the darkness. “I kept waiting for you to fall through the ceiling.”

“They don’t go looking for kinky,” Destiny said. “It just finds them.”

Harmony gasped. “Des!”

“They’re just jealous,” King said.

“I’m really, really glad my son sleeps soundly,” Reggie said.

“Oh God,” King said. “My daughter heard that.”

“Don’t worry,” Des said, “nobody told her what happened.”

Reggie scoffed. “I can guess.”

“Not in a million years!” Morgan chuckled, and that was the closest Harmony had come to liking him.

Reggie sighed theatrically. “I imagined my dad would be a pipe and slippers kind of guy, but what do I get? A new millennium stud puppy. I’m so glad Jake is a sound sleeper.”

“Me, too, sweetheart. At dawn, we start giving everybody their own rooms.”

“It’s already dawn,” Morgan said.

King cleared his throat. “At noon, we start giving everybody their own rooms.”

Storm woke Harmony at nine. “The mural’s done. Wait till you see.”

Harmony turned to King’s cot, but he was gone. She’d slept later than anyone. Great.

When she got to the parlor, she saw that the mural itself did, indeed, fill the entire wall. Storm was sprinkling salt and protective herbs in front of it.

Destiny stood back, examining it, while Gingertigger and Caramello paced the length of it like guard soldiers, stopping to hiss or charge the mural, only to bounce off and charge, pace, and hiss again.

Tigerstar stood in front of the Queen Anne chair with her back arched. Warlock used the same stance beside the piano.

Before long, Aiden, King, and her sisters gathered round in earnest, as if they’d waited for her. She and her sisters clasped hands. “It’s bizarre,” Harmony said. “Uneven.”

Aiden nodded. “From its condition and the types of paint and tints used, I think it was painted over a period of ten or twelve years. The brushstrokes reveal time-lapse inconsistencies, including a growing unsteadiness that would indicate the painter’s aging hand.”

King walked to the far end. “I don’t see a signature.”

Harmony swept the mural with her gaze. “At first sight, I’d say the signature runs horizontally along the bottom. The way the mural is sectioned off vertically in different colors and shades reveals the painter’s mood, right? The colors also mimic the mood of the dolphins at the bottom of each respective section.

“Bright colors equal laughing, playing dolphins in a bright sea. Dark colors equal dolphins beneath a gray sea. Oh, and look at the end. One lone, beached dolphin. Who died alone here? Gussie? Who collected dolphins? Gussie. The dolphins are her signature.”

“Look at that last section above the beached dolphin,” Storm said.

Harmony shivered. “A young woman, Lisette, stepping into the sea . . . wearing the gown I bought at the yard sale, proof I came to the right place.”

Destiny nodded. “Let’s concentrate on reading the mural from the beginning so we don’t jump to any conclusions.”

Reggie came in with Jake by the hand and sat on the sofa facing the wall. “Can we watch?” she asked.

“Of course,” Harmony said.

Reggie put toys on the floor at her feet, and Jake sat down to play.

Harmony got the warm fuzzies again when she turned to King, who was watching Jake. “King, since you were born here, will you hold my hand? As a psychometric, I’ll get as much knowledge from touching you, through your connection to the castle, as from the painting.”

King squeezed her hand, which she found reassuring. “The first section, in pastel colors,” she said, “portrays a child asleep on the beach, and below, two happy dolphins are swimming in a pastel sea.”

“The child’s not asleep,” Destiny said. “She’s half-drowned.”

“She washed ashore in a storm.” Storm elbowed Aiden. “Funny how well I can read storms.”

“She washed ashore here,” King said. “That’s the island beach. I recognize the outcropping of rocks in the distance.”

“Good. We’ve nailed the location. The girl, a little older, is playing in a nonthreatening toy room with a doll carriage. She’s part of a happy family, I’m assuming, since the section is painted in bright colors.”

Brahms’s “Lullaby” began playing on the piano, the keys moving with no one playing. Harmony hadn’t mentioned the phenomenon, nor that she suspected it meant they were getting close to the truth.

Warlock backed away from the piano, while Caramello and Gingertigger ran over to flank him, as if he might need reinforcements.

Tigerstar left the Queen Anne chair to curl up beside Jake, but the boy looked up. “The lady’s crying,” he said.

The music stopped, and Reggie took Jake on her lap. “What lady, baby? Tell Mama.”

“The lady in the chair.”

Whoa,
Harmony thought.

King took Jake and brought him to the chair. “You’re not afraid of her?”

Jake smiled at the chair. “She’s nice, but sad and cold.” He turned to his mother. “Can we get her a blanket, like we got at a shelter once?”

“Sure, baby,” Reggie said.

King swallowed. “Tell Grampa what the lady looks like.”

Jake smiled. “
You
know.” He pointed to the Queen Anne chair. “See, she’s got a purple dress with stars on her neck and ears, and a fish like those”—he pointed to the mural—“on her dress.”

Harmony bit her lip.
Gussie
. Jake saw Gussie. Young children saw ghosts because they hadn’t been trained yet not to. Harmony hadn’t expected the confirmation. But if Gussie sat in the chair, who was playing . . . “Jake, do you see anyone sitting at the piano over there?”

He giggled when he looked. “Silly Honey. There’s nobody there.”

“Yep, silly me.”

King brought him back to Reggie, and Harmony turned to her sisters. “I saw and heard the piano when I sensed the wall was significant. What do you think it means?”

“Lisette’s here,” Storm said. “In the present.”

“You think she was playing the piano just now?”

“Absolutely.”

“I think the music is some kind of sign,” Destiny said. “It’s telling us that what we’re doing is significant. Let’s get back to reading the mural to see what else we can learn.”

“Right,” Harmony said. “Okay. A mother and baby dolphin in a bright section are playing beside a ship in full sail, and a man on deck is waving to them.”

Destiny scanned the painting. “That theme is repeated often. He’s sailing away in almost every section.”

“That would be Gussie’s husband, Nicodemus,” King said. “He captained his own ships and spent years at sea.”

“Notice how the colors stay bright until the girl’s grown up.” Storm indicated the section she referred to. “The color dims where the captain is on shore, leaning on his cane, watching Lisette as a beautiful young woman. His expression is painted to look . . . ominous.”

“Nicodemus gave half of the Celtic puzzle ring to Lisette,” Harmony said. “So his interest in her would appear ominous to Gussie.”

“Neither the colors nor the dolphins are happy there,” King said. “What do you think, Aiden?”

“I think this could be a happy home again if somebody put some heart into it.”

King raised a brow. “I was asking your opinion of the painting.”

Aiden gave his friend a no loss/no gain shrug. “The brushstrokes are bolder there than anywhere in the painting. The painter was most likely upset or agitated when he or she painted that section.”

“You know what else is repeated often?” Destiny said. “The round mirror with the dolphin finial. It can’t have been in every room of the house, yet that’s how it’s portrayed.”

Storm nodded and grinned. “It has to be her scrying mirror, which means the mural itself could be some kind of spell.”

“Not possible,” Destiny said.

“You’re both right.” Harmony touched a depiction of the mirror and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she smiled. “What your scrying mirror shows you, mine may not show me, right? Gussie is showing us that this is her vision.”

The piano played the lullaby again.

“Another point for our side,” Storm said. “And another piece of the puzzle solved.”

“Great call, Harmony,” Destiny said. “Must be why you’re the oldest.”

Harmony traced a sepia-toned close-up cameo of the ring’s embracing couple. Near it, Nicodemus is sailing away beneath a hovering angel and a lightning bolt. She turned to King. “How did Nicodemus die?”

“At sea, in a thunderstorm, as you already suspect.”

“One powerful witch,” Storm said.

Chapter Thirty-four

HARMONY hoped with all her heart that reading the mural correctly would help bring peace to the castle.

“If Gussie loved Lisette and Nicodemus,” Storm said, “their treachery probably hurt her deeply.”

“
If
Lisette and Nicodemus
were
treacherous.” Destiny got that familiar faraway look they knew so well. “Maybe Gussie only
thought
they were treacherous. She’s known to have caused discord—still does. Someone who’s naturally negative and devious expects others to be that way. Suppose her assumptions about Lisette and Nicodemus were wrong. She was obviously paranoid.”

“Des is the Pollyanna in the family,” Storm told King and Aiden.

“Suppose Lisette and Nicodemus had nothing more than a father/daughter relationship,” Destiny said. “King, you and Reggie had a lot of catching up to do when she got here, right? Maybe Lisette and Nicodemus liked to catch up after his voyages, but Gussie didn’t like them getting along. Sound familiar?”

“Keep talking,” Harmony said.

“Okay, I will. Suppose Nicodemus and Lisette . . . escaped . . . Gussie’s watchful eye to catch up and keep her from coming between them. We
know
a family who pretends they don’t talk to each other so the instigator can’t come between them. They go camping together, take care of each other’s kids, and as long as the argument-causing matriarch doesn’t know, they get along fine. If the matriarch knows, she causes a rift between them.”

“You think Gussie suspected a romance where none existed?”

“I do, and my instincts are strong on this.” Destiny went to stroke the figure of Lisette wearing the gown. “I think King and Reggie remind Gussie of Nicodemus and Lisette.”

Storm shook her head. “That would make more sense if King had nearly died
alone
last night—”

“Daddy, you nearly died last night?”

“It’s okay, kitten,” King said, putting an arm around Reggie’s shoulder. “I’m okay.”

“Sorry,” Storm said. “My point is that Harmony nearly died, too.”

“Here’s a wild thought,” Destiny said. “King and Harmony were nearly sent to sea . . . where Nicodemus died, where Lisette started her journey to Salem. Gussie, I believe we’ve established, was mentally ill. If Gussie loved dolphins, she loved the sea, so sending people to the sea could have been her way of bringing them peace.”

The piano played again, loud and with feeling.

Storm shook her head. “I don’t know, Des. I think Gussie’s screwing with your brain. I think she killed them.”

“Do you see her killing anyone in this mural?” Destiny asked.

Storm smacked the mural. “I see angels hovering over the people who died.”

“But Lisette
didn’t
die,” Destiny said. “She made it to Salem, or Harmony wouldn’t have found her gown. Gussie only
assumed
she died.”

Harmony’s head went up, and she joined her sisters beside the last and darkest section of the mural. “The gown found
me
. Maybe Lisette led me to it, so I’d find the ring and come here.”

“That’s my point.” Destiny turned to include everyone. “A beached dolphin is a dying dolphin. Losing Nicodemus and Lisette broke Gussie’s heart.”

Storm scoffed. “Or losing the ring broke her heart. Lisette sewed it into the gown’s hem, don’t forget.”

“Because it was her last gift from her father,” Harmony said. “He died before she stepped in the sea. Lisette was left alone with a mentally ill woman who believed Lisette betrayed her. She might have loved Gussie, but she knew she wasn’t safe staying with her.”

The lullaby played again, with emotion. Harmony thought they might have gotten it right. “I’ll be. Lisette wanted Gussie to think she was dead. Lisette outsmarted Gussie.”

Aiden’s staging collapsed in a thunderous heap, sending wood shards, dirty water, and cleaning solution in every direction.

Reggie covered Jake with her body.

Storm and Destiny screamed, while King put himself between Harmony and flying debris. “Hey,” Harmony said, “thanks, but I thought I was supposed to protect you.”

“So why’s your arm bleeding? You insulted Gussie, and you were closer to the staging than anyone, so I figured you needed protecting.” King looked at her cut as Morgan came in. “Morgan, get the first aid kit. Is anybody else hurt?”

“I am,” Reggie said, a hand to her bloody cheek.

King didn’t seem to know which of them to tend first.

“Take care of Reggie,” Harmony said.

Destiny took Jake. “You okay, buddy?”

The boy nodded, but he looked with concern at his mother. “Kiss Mama better?”

“In a minute, scrumpling.”

Storm took the first aid kit from Morgan. “Gussie’s
still
manipulating the people around her.”

“True,” Destiny said, putting Jake down beside his mother.

“Reggie, are you all right?” Harmony asked.

“Who wouldn’t be with
two
Paxton men at her beck and call?”

“The splinter only caught her ear,” King said, “but I thought it split her cheek.” He sat on the sofa beside his daughter, looking pale. “Are
you
okay, Harmony?”

Morgan barked a mocking laugh. “Are you gonna faint, old boy, because of a few splinters? Hell, I’ve seen you walk away from death. You’re losing your edge, Paxton, because of a couple of women.”

King shot to his feet. “I don’t know what’s eating you, but apologize.”

Morgan raised his hands. “Kidding.” But his neck and ears turned ruddy. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to be a shi—” He caught Jake’s gaze. “Short-sighted, bigmouthed idiot.”

“He means it.” Destiny regarded him with surprise. “Morgan, even your aura’s embarrassed.”

Harmony turned to her sister. “You don’t read auras.”

Destiny pointed a thumb over her shoulder toward Morgan. “I can read his. It’s dirty.”

“I resent that,” Morgan snapped.

Destiny raised a satisfied brow. “That’s why I said it, but you are screwed up.”

Morgan frowned, and Destiny ignored him. “I think Gussie caused strife so she could be the peacemaker and center of attention. It’s a sickness.”

“She and Nicodemus never had children, so when Lisette washed up on shore, the girl must have seemed like a gift,” Harmony said. “A gift who betrayed her with her husband, or so she thought.”

“King?” Storm asked. “How can you be the heir, if they never had children?”

“I descended from Nicodemus’s black sheep brother.”

“Figures,” her sisters said.

“Thanks,” King said, “but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re doing a lot of speculating.”

“Speculating?” Storm hooked arms with her and Destiny, so they stood three against the world. “We’re psychic. Get the picture?”

“Psychics make mistakes,” Morgan said.

Destiny rounded on him. “Psychics don’t exist in a debunker’s world, so how would you know?”

“Forgot.” Morgan snapped his fingers. “No such thing as psychics, witches, or ghosts. So leave me out of this.”

Destiny raised her chin. “Never forget who you’re pretending to be. Where have you been all morning?”

“I was pretending to get the new bedding set up. Jake, you have a great new room. And there are eleven other bedrooms with good mattresses. You just have to choose a room and some furniture now.”

“Not before we protect and bless the rooms and neutralize the furniture,” Storm said. “I wouldn’t stay in any of them unprotected with that psychotic witch on the loose.”

The lights went bright, then everything went black.

“Oh happy day,” Storm said. “I pissed her off again.”

They heard King’s pager go off.

“I’m sure that’s the foreman telling me the lights went out,” he said, “but I’m not leaving anybody in the dark. Grab a hand, and I’ll lead you to the site, and out the door, if necessary. Roll call, sound off.”

When Jake heard everyone accounting for themselves, he yelled, “Jake Paxton and Mommy, too.”

Curt, King’s foreman, said he didn’t know what caused the power surge, but a backhoe cut the main power line.

“Nobody’s hurt, then?” King asked.

“Nah. The crew’s outside till we get the power on and they can come back to work.”

Harmony saw lights and did a double take. The empty elevator behind the main stairs came down lit like a Christmas tree. “Could the elevator be on a separate circuit?”

Curt whistled when he saw it. “You don’t understand. We cut the main. Whatever’s running that elevator is
not
connected to a power line.”

“Make it stop,” Jake said. “The lady wants to get out.”

“Is it the lady in purple?” Harmony asked.

Jake nodded. “And she’s even sadder.”

The elevator rose again, and when it came back down, Jake sighed. “She’s gone, but that’s okay because she wanted to get out.”

She wants to get out,
Harmony thought.
She wants vindication.
Hadn’t Destiny come darned closed to vindicating her this morning? Maybe the right spell . . .

King hugged Jake, as if he’d protect him from everything, if he could.

Harmony sighed. A sucker for a good father, she was falling hard. “Lotta karma going on around here,” she said.

“Gussie may have wanted the ring at the beginning, but I’m not sure
she
knows what she wants, now,” King said.

“Us either,” Storm and Destiny agreed.

“But she does want Harmony here,” Storm added.

“Think about what you just said. She wants harmony here. Maybe that doesn’t mean she wants me. Maybe she wants peace.”

“It seems to me,” Reggie said, “that her husband gave her things but never himself. Maybe that’s all she ever really wanted. I know how that feels.”

King paled, and Reggie touched his arm. “I don’t feel that way now, Daddy. Mom used to say you didn’t want me, but your guilt money bought me things.” She leaned into King, holding Jake, and Jake stroked his mother’s hair. “I didn’t want things,” Reggie whispered. “I wanted my dad.”

“You know better now, right?” King pulled her closer.

“I do.”

“Then this might be the right time to tell you that I applied for your custody, yours
and
Jake’s, until you’re eighteen and can assume custody, though I hope you’ll stay with me when you do.”

Reggie threw her arms around his neck, and Harmony fell even deeper.

“Don’t count your chickens. Applying for custody is the easy part, compared to the real battle.”

“Mom.” Reggie groaned.

King nodded, looking as miserable as his daughter. “My lawyer’s making inquiries as to whether she reported you missing. If she didn’t, we have a case.”

“And if she did?”

“I go to jail for having you here.”