Chapter 2

Two

Current day

“Stars help me, Moira,” my mother’s voice came out in an exasperated huff over the phone in answer to my reply.

Do I have a man to take to the All Hallows Festival this year? No, sorry mom but every guy in our little town is a jerk and I am not about to beg one for a pity date.

Honestly, I don’t know why she calls out to the stars. After all these years, if they haven’t answered her call before now they never will. I’m sure they stopped listening years ago. At least in regards to her prayers for me to find a husband before she “grows too old to enjoy her grandkids.” Not that I have any plans of having them any time soon, even if there was a guy in my life. When I do find someone I want to spend time being carefree and doing crazy couple things like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane or snowboarding down a mountain before having to be responsible for the health and welfare of a little one.

“It’s just one event,” she continued.

Yeah, one event that lasts four days. The last time I asked a guy to be my festival partner he basically moved in and ate everything.

Hitting the button for the speaker, I sat down on the couch and opened up my ebook app. Might as well get some reading done, if nothing else, while she has me stuck listening to her. I should be able to get to the next chapter before she expects something more than a ‘mhmm’ for a reply. The last time she called I was able to get through two.

‘Hot lips pressed against my skin, complimenting the even hotter hands brushing over every curve of my body in the darkness. Each touch was a sharp contrast to the cool silk sheets I could feel beneath my naked body. Though I’m not sure when I undressed, knowing I had gone to bed in my comfy flannel pajamas. Laying on a worn mattress with more lumps than mashed potatoes, beneath the cheapest cotton sheets I could afford three years ago.

My shadowed lovers whisper things around me, pulling my attention back to them. Their tongues painting unfamiliar words upon my skin until they brand me at a soul deep level. Leaving me wanting, panting breathlessly, wiggling in their grasp, and begging for more.’

“Moira!” My name cut through the haze, pulling me out of the fantasy, “Moira Renee, are you ignoring me so you can read again?”

My cheeks flamed as I quickly closed out the app, returning to the phone call.

Stars, I’ve been caught. “Maybe?”

A heavy sigh came over the line next, “It’s been five years since you’ve moved out,” and yet she calls me almost every day. At this point it feels more like all I did was get a bedroom further away from home, “I had hoped you would’ve found someone to spend your life with by now. It’s not healthy to be alone so much.”

“I’m not alone,” I scoffed.

“Ravens don’t count, Moira.”

Her words made me want to roll my eyes and scoff. But I didn’t, because she would see me do so with that mother-knows-all sense of hers and that would start another unsolicited tirade of her opinion about the way my life is going.

Besides, despite what she thinks, I happen to know quite a few ravens and several crows who know how to count.

A light tapping sounded from my apartment window, as if her words had summoned one of my daily companions, drawing my attention.

“Well, thank the stars, I ran into a nice young lad just the other day,” she continued. Thank the stars indeed, she has decided to move on, “He works at the grocers stocking shelves and taking bags out to vehicles. His name is-”

Breath held, I closed my eyes and started chanting, ‘please don’t say it’s…’

“-Daniel,” she finished.

“Not Danny,” I couldn’t help but cry out, flopping back on the couch. The phone gripped tightly in my hand out of fear of throwing it. This being my second phone this month alone, I can’t keep paying for new ones, even if I do buy them used.

“What’s wrong? You two used to be so close.”

“If by close you mean he stalked me on the way home from school.”

This time it was my mother’s turn to scoff, “Moira, don’t be ridiculous. Just because he lived four houses down doesn’t mean he was stalking you.”

It does if it means he was always waiting outside the school to follow me, no matter how long I dallied or how fast I grabbed my stuff and ran, sometimes before the bell even finished ringing.

“Besides, he’s all grown up now,” it’s been five years since we graduated. I would hope so, “And he’s turned into quite the fine man, if I do say so myself, “ eww, I do not need that image in my head, “He’s also apprenticed to Master Sailas and will be helping the committee with the All Hallows Festival this year.”

And there we have it. The reason for why Danny Boy is suddenly the perfect match, in her opinion. Anyone who is apprenticed to Master Sailas has to have some potential for becoming the next leader of our little village. A position that changes hands every forty years or so, with the current leader moving over to a seat on the council to continue to help guide their replacement when it does.

Danny will be the sixth candidate he has taken under his tutelage within the last ten years. With every apprentice prior having failed some unknown test and sent back to their families without being given a reason. Knowing Danny, despite how magically strong he may be, the odds are not in his favor.

Being tied to him would be like sitting in a boat, not knowing it has a leak until you’re neck deep in water and it’s too late to call out for help. The radio would be fried anyways because he wouldn’t check it before he bought the blasted boat and the sharks would already be circling for scraps, having thought it would be funny to chum the water on the way down.

Okay, maybe not to that extent but it wouldn’t be too far off either.

At the window my raven guest pecked at the pane of glass again, drawing my attention once more. Walking over, I watched as he puffed up his feathers, a glint of laughter in his eye as he tilted his head and hopped from side to side. In his claw he held a small string of beads. Most likely a forgotten bracelet he found at the playground just down the street.

Balancing the phone between my ear and my shoulder, I walked across the small room and opened the window. A crisp breeze circling around the room, causing goosebumps to appear along my arms.

“Good morning, Raider. What do you have for me today?” my voice was soft, almost a whisper so as to not scare him away. Opening the glass jar I keep next to the sill, I poured out a small pile of cracked corn and unsalted sunflower seeds on the ledge. I know I shouldn’t reward him for giving me treasures but he would bring them to me even if I didn’t give him treats.

While normally I don’t know most of the ravens and crows that visit me by sight, somehow I always know when it’s him. That and he always brings me the best gifts.

Letting go of the bracelet, Raider moved over to eat his food. The small glass beads sparkled in the early fall sun on the gray stone. Each one a tiny prism of rainbows encased in little orbs.

“Moira,” you could feel the exasperation in her voice as my mother stressed out my name, telling me she must have been saying it quite a few times now to grab my attention.

“Huh? Sorry, I got distracted.” Picking up the bracelet, I held it in the palm of my hand, enjoying the warmth coming from them as they hummed with a little bit of warding magic.

“Of course you did. Must be busy with one of those birds again,” she sighed, “Honestly, if you stop feeding them they would move on. You know how unhealthy it can be having them flitting about, dropping little mites and feces wherever they go. They’re probably also the reason why you can’t keep a window garden, like any respectable witch. I bet they eat all the sprouts.”

“They do not!” I couldn’t help but shriek in protest, cutting off her words. Unlike my mother, I have no plants because I suck at being a hedge witch. Every time I try to grow any they wither and die so I just gave up.

“Anyways, as I was saying-”

When will this phone call end?

“-Daniel will be at the ceremony tomorrow, assisting Master Sailas. He mentioned looking forward to catching up with you after the bonfires are lit.”

I bet he is.

Finished with his food, Raider glares at my phone, tilting his head from side to side every now and then. I swear he was contemplating on stealing it, most likely tossing it off the ledge, and scavenge it for shiny bits.

Sliding the bracelet on, knowing he wouldn’t be happy until I do so, I reach a hand towards him. His chest puffs up and he lets out a little sigh as he tilts his head under my finger. A warble coming from his chest as I scratch his forehead, right between the eyes.

Unlike the others, Raider has always been more attached, always accepting my attention when I give it, to the point of demanding it at times. I’m sure he used to belong to someone but was released or escaped at some point and somehow found his way to my sill.

The buzzard on my oven goes off, reminding me I had preheated it to 300* and it was now ready. Providing the perfect reason to end the call with my mother.

“Oh, hey, mom,” I cut in on yet another one of her ramblings, “I’ll have to let you go. The oven timer just went off and I need to tend to my nuts,” I smiled as she stopped long enough to gasp, taking the pause to continue, “You know me, I’m absolutely serious about my nuts. I need adequate time to check them over fully before they go anywhere near my mouth. Wouldn’t want to choke on a bad one. Only the best of the best go in my mouth. Would you like me to save some for you?”

“Moria Renee!”

I rolled my eyes, holding back a chuckle as I made my way across the open area, over to the oven. I don’t know why she sounds so shocked. She should be used to my attempts to leave her speechless by now. Anything to get a reaction from her so she’ll be distracted from whatever she has chosen to be the button push of the day.

“Goodbye, mom.”

Pushing the end call button, I placed my phone on the counter, off to the side where I won’t bump into it, and began preparing one of my favorite Halloween treats. Though honestly I enjoy them any time of the year and use any nearby holiday as an excuse to make them.

While I might have a black thumb when it comes to plants, I’m a master at baking. Give me a recipe and it will come out amazing. There’s not a cake or cookie I can not bake.

Pan in the oven to warm up, I pulled walnuts, hazelnuts, and nutmeg out of the fridge and laid the bags on the counter. Next I grabbed a large metal bowl from beneath the small island, placing it next to the nuts, and snagged the bottle of extra virgin olive oil.

“Tok, tok,” Raiden chirped from the back of a nearby chair, knowing to stay out of the kitchen while I am busy. While I have no qualms about him being in my home, despite what my mother may say, there is no way I would allow him near my kitchen, especially when I’m baking. Some places are just too sacred, even for Morrigan’s messengers.

I smiled as I began the simple task of roasting nuts, preparing them for the sugar coating that will go on them later. “Don’t worry. There will be plenty for my favorite raven.”

Out of all the months of the year, October is my favorite. Unlike other places, where communities only have a day or two to celebrate the fall, we have a four day festival, starting tonight.

Tomorrow is Mischief Night, a favorite of children as they run around the community doing harmless hexes and tricks. Together, we all gather in the town square to watch as Master Sailas lights the bonfire and the evil spirit of Stingy Jack is summoned, to be placed inside a special pumpkin. Master Sailas will then cast a spell, using the vessel to protect the village from any other entity who wish to do the village any harm.

“I wonder who will be chosen this year,” I mused aloud, carefully turning over every bit in the bowl so they get a nice, even coating, “Do you happen to know?”

Pausing, I looked up to watch Raiden. Being the messenger of the goddess, surely he would have heard something. Of course he would just so happen to get preoccupied with grooming his inky black feathers, completely ignoring me.

“Fine,” I sighed, “keep your secrets.”

“Tok tok tok,” he replied, as if he was laughing at me.

Stars take him.

“See if you get any of my nuts,” I muttered, to which he replied with another chorus of “tok tok tok.”

He knows I’m kidding and that he’ll get some when it’s cooled off. The little brat.