Page 3 of Hell and Hexes
By the time I reached my door, I was exhausted and wishing I’d driven to work. Maybe Cassie was right. Maybe Iwasn’tready to leave her couch and come back home. But my clients needed me. I’d already had to reschedule two weeks of appointments and couldn’t continue to do that. And, I was going crazy on Cassie’s couch. She was fussing over me like…well, like I’d been at death’s door. I was bored and tired of watching movies on my laptop and reading books. Plus, I knew I was putting a serious cramp in my sister’s love life, and, given my reputation as a sex therapist, I didn’t want them to be stuck doing quiet missionary position up in their bedroom as they tried not to disturb me.
But leaning against my front door and trying to summon the energy to open it and walk inside, I kind of missed Cassie’s fussing and her couch.
And I missed Eshu. He was a demon that apparently worked with Lucien down in hell or something. I wasn’t really sure what his position was, except that he was in and out of Cassie’s house meeting with Lucien several times a day. He annoyed the heck out of Lucien, which I thought was funny. He also told the most horrible jokes, which I also thought was funny. The guy made my convalescence more than bearable, and I missed his silliness. I missed how he made faces at Lucien behind his back, how he deliberately annoyed a demon who was the son of Satan and evidently a big wig in hell. Eshu was a rebel, a joker, a contrarian. He took nothing seriously, made fun of everything, and did it all with a conspiratorial wink my way that made me feel like we were about to run away together and pull off a caper.
I missed Eshu. But I wasn’t going to be that needy witch moping around my sister’s house, trying to catch a glimpse of the demon. I was sure he was just as funny and charming with everyone he met. There was no need to read anything into his flirting and joking and embarrass myself by asking after him. Besides, I wasn’t in any sort of condition to be dating right now. I’d died. I was still healing. My magic was on the fritz, although I hadn’t told anyone about that little fact. I could barely walk from my office to my home.
Pulling myself straight, I managed to get my key in the lock, open the door, and stagger inside. There on my foyer table was a jug filled with green liquid and an index card with the words “drink me” looped around the top.
Glenda. I smiled, even though I knew the contents of this jug would be completely vile. With a shaking hand, I popped off the top and gulped down a few swallows, managing not to promptly throw it back up on my floor.
It tasted like latex paint and dog crap with some cotton fuzz for texture. But the moment it hit my stomach, I felt a surge of energy. Glenda’s healing elixirs always worked their magic, even if they tasted horrible. The high of the potion had settled out by the time I’d walked to the kitchen and stuck the jug in a cabinet, leaving me feeling not like a superhero but at least somewhat normal.
Normal enough to go over to Pistol Pete’s and hang out? It was Thursday night, and I hated to spend another evening in my pajamas on the couch, but I really didn’t want to push it too far and end up a couple of miles from my house, ready to pass out. I glanced in my near-empty fridge and realized I’d need to go out tonight anyway to grocery shop. Hanging out at a bar my first day back would probably be pushing things a bit. Maybe tomorrow, when a band would be there. Yeah. If I felt good enough tomorrow after work, then maybe I’d get a burger at Pete’s and hear the first set or two of the band.
I didn’t bother taking a shower or freshening up my makeup, but I did change out of my pants suit and put my long hair up into a ponytail. Just as I was filling out my grocery list, there was a knock on my door. It opened to reveal two of my sisters. Cassie was carrying three plastic grocery bags, and Glenda was right behind her with an additional two.
Yes, all my sisters have a key to my house. My cousin Aaron as well. It’s not like Cassie couldn’t open my door with a wave of her hand and a quick incantation, and it made sense that the rest of my family could drop things off or pick things up without having to track me down for a key. My office I locked up like the treasure room in a castle, but my house didn’t hold anything valuable or anything so personal that I didn’t want my family to see. Plus, they were all terrified to snoop, convinced they’d find drawers full of sex toys and a blow-up doll in my bedroom.
They weren’t wrong. About the sex toys, that is, not the blow--up doll. Although my “wild” sex toys only consisted of two vibrators, an anal plug, some lube, and a pair of nipple clamps that I’d quickly decided weren’t for me.
“Haloooo!” Cassie cheerfully called. “How did your first day back go?”
I glanced over at Glenda, who put her finger to her lips and winked.
“Wonderful. I feel great.” I totally didn’t mention that I’d felt like dog crap until I’d drank Glenda’s smoothie. Cassie worried enough about me as it was. And I appreciated that Glenda was willing to hide her assistance and make it seem as if I were completely recovered, otherwise I was sure Cassie would have bundled me up, stuffed me in her car, and had me back on her sofa for another week or two.
Cassie gave me a thorough looking-over as she put the grocery bags on the counter and began to unpack them. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.” I grabbed the block of cheese and carton of milk and put them in the fridge while Glenda pulled two pounds of hamburger, a frozen pizza, and a box of donuts from her bags.
“Well, we figured you probably didn’t have anything in your fridge that wasn’t totally spoiled, and that you might be too tired to do any grocery shopping…” Cassie’s voice trailed off and she made a hurt-sniff sort of noise. I hid a smile, knowing that my eldest sister needed to be needed.
“I really appreciate it,” I told her. “I was just making a shopping list, but honestly Iamkind of beat after not doing much for the last two weeks.”
Cassie beamed. “Well, now you don’t have to buy groceries. Or dinner. Look—Glenda and I brought some pork fried rice, wonton soup, and egg rolls. I thought we could all have dinner together.”
I glanced over at my younger sister, who had pulled another jug of smoothie from her huge purse and was discretely shoving it into my cupboard. “I’d love that. Let me grab some plates and chopsticks.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” Cassie took me by the shoulders and steered me over to the couch. “Sit. Glenda and I have got this. You rest.”
I sat and watched as my eldest sister took charge of everything, just like she always did. Some people might find Cassie bossy and overbearing, and I’ll admit we sisters did sometimes chafe under her occasionally smothering care, but we loved her for it. She’d not hesitated to raise us all when our mother had hit the road, and that was saying a lot since she’d only been thirteen at the time. Plus, there were times when it was nice to be pampered and coddled. Actually, there were a lot of times when it was nice to be pampered and coddled.
Glenda walked over and handed me a bowl of wonton soup. “You doing okay?” she murmured. “Your aura looks a bit dim and colorless.”
“My aura is a whole lot less dim and colorless thanks to your potion,” I whispered back. “Without it, you guys would have come in to me passed out on the floor.”
Glenda grimaced, shooting Cassie a quick glance. “Glad that didn’t happen. Cassie would have hauled you back to her house and tied you to the sofa.”
“Don’t I know it.” I let out an exasperated huff. “I just want to get my life back, you know? I want to get back to my clients, back to my hobbies, back to my routine.”
Glenda reached down to give me a quick hug. “I know. Just don’t push things too fast. You almost died. Take all the time you need.”
Ihaddied. And going through that made me a bit frantic about taking advantage of the time I had. I didn’t want to spend another two weeks on Cassie’s sofa—two weeks I’d never get back. I might die next week or next month or next year, and I wanted to spend every moment I had left doing the things I loved and not “taking it easy”. There was nothing like an actual death experience to make a witch cherish the little things in life and knowingly live in the moment.
Cassie came over with plates of fried rice and egg rolls, plus a handful of chopsticks. She and Glenda joined me on the sofa, and we all ate, talking about our jobs and discussing whether we should have meatloaf or pot roast for this Sunday’s family dinner.
“How are things with Lucien?” I asked Cassie. “He seemed a bit upset about something going on in the third circle of hell yesterday.”
