Page 53 of Devils and the Dead
He wrinkled his nose. “I agree with Maude on this one.”
“It’s the only spot that’s large enough,” I argued.
“Maybe the dining room table is for magic, and dinner can be somewhere else.” He shot me a shy smile. “Or maybe you can just always have dinner out. With me.”
“If you’re paying, I’ll go for that.”
I bent down to pull the candles from the kitchen cabinet then took them into the dining room. I had studied this spell enough that by the time Hades and Maude walked into the room, I had the table covered, the candles arranged, and the spices and incense ready to go.
“You, stand behind me here,” I instructed Hades as Maude took her place in front of me. It was dark out, and with the heavy curtains, I didn’t need to lower the blackout shades as before. I shut off the lights, then lit the candles, knowing where everything was by memory.
“Babylon?” Maude whispered. “I don’t…I know I need to be naked, and that was fine when it was just you and me, but…”
I’d been focused on the ritual and not thought about how Maude would feel being nude in front of Hades. I needed him to help me power the spell, but I understood her discomfort.
“I’ll close my eyes,” Hades offered. “And if I need to open them to do something, I’ll be sure to keep my gaze lowered and away from you.”
Maude waited as he shut his eyes and had turned slightly so he wasn’t facing her. Then she disrobed.
Her skin was in much better shape than it had been when I first pulled her from the grave. The previous spell had done a lot to restore her hair as well. But she still definitely looked dead. Hoping this time the spell would work, I got busy lighting the myrrh incense, then rubbing her all over with the cedar oil.
That done I stood in front of her, holding the spices and other oils.
“Refresh.” I placed a dot of tea tree oil on Maude’s forehead.
“Renew.” I placed a dot of peppermint oil over her heart.
“Restore.” I bent down to brush rose oil over the tops of her feet, then stood.
“Revive.” Picking up the sprigs of thyme, I brushed them over her lips, then in a vertical line down her body.
“Rebirth.” I repeated the process with sprigs of lavender. That done, I set everything aside and picked up the last bit of the cinnamon candy Bronwyn had spelled for me.
“Are you ready?” I asked Maude.
She nodded and opened her mouth.
“Resurrect.” I placed the candy between her lips and she closed her mouth around it. Stepping back, I put a hand on Hades’s chest. “Put your arms around me and hold me close.”
I felt him do as I asked. His arms were strong around my waist, his body warm against my back. I could feel his breath stirring my hair and I smiled, just happy to have him here, to be so close to him.
But this ritual wasn’t about us, it was about Maude.
“Maude Hoffman, you have been called from the grave to live a second life,” I pronounced. “Live once more, body and soul. A new day. A new life.”
I felt the magic pour from me. The flames of the candles flickered. The scent of myrrh filled my nose. Then my aura changed. Another’s joined in, deepening and enriching the spell. The burgundy of my magic was suddenly infused with black and gold, making it rich, complex, and breathtakingly powerful.
For a second nothing happened, then Maude glowed with a white light that grew until I had to close my eyes against its brightness. Suddenly the world went dark, and I opened my eyes to find the light gone, the candles gutted, and the incense no longer burning.
“Maude?”
“I’m…I’m okay. I think.”
Her voice had lost that raspy, breathy quality. I stepped out of Hade’s arms and felt my way along the wall for the light switch, hardly daring to hope. Flicking the switch, I turned and gasped.
Maude stood before me, alive and well. But she hadn’t been resurrected into the elderly woman she’d been at her death. No, the Maude before me looked to be my age with reddish blonde hair, and smooth pale skin dotted with freckles. Her eyes weren’t that milky blue, but a whisky-brown. She smiled, parting full lips along a wide mouth.
The spell had worked. It had worked better than I’d ever expected.
