Earth, p.14
Earth, page 14
Maria entered carrying a glass, a jug of water, and a small plate of food on a tray. She set the glass and pitcher on the table and placed the food before me. The unfamiliar little sausage-shaped offerings looked delicious.
“Sarmale to start.” She answered my unspoken question. “For the main, I can offer beef stew, or I’d be happy to prepare something else if you’d prefer?”
It seemed odd to eat stew in the middle of the night, but I was hungry, and my body clock was out of sync, so I said, “Stew would be lovely, thank you.”
My need for food was more urgent than my need to deal with the unpleasant feeling of being a little cold and damp. Varu didn’t seem to notice our damp clothes.
When Maria left the room, I looked at him. “You aren’t eating, of course. What are these? Do you know?” I picked up the morsel of food with my fork and took a bite without waiting for an answer.
“My servants are Romanian, and this is typical of their food. It is called sarmale. She cooks big batches of them. Same with the stew.”
I got the name, I was still none the wiser about what they actually were. But they were tasty and warm. “Is that deliberate? Servants from your home country?”
“Yes, I chose them back in Romania, and they came with me.” I thought he’d been here for centuries, but he may have gone back to visit from time to time.
I tucked in hungrily. The sarmale was a little spicier than I anticipated, but really not bad at all. “It seems strange, you not eating. I had etiquette drilled into me at school, but we learned nothing about sitting down to eat when a vampire is in the room. Like whether you’d know about food. Do I talk to you about it? Do we pretend I’m not eating, or do I tell you how good it is and that you don’t know what you’re missing?”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Think nothing of it. You and I eat different things.”
He was right. That didn’t take any thinking about.
“And you need to keep your strength up. It’s going to be a busy couple of days.”
“What makes you say that? I planned on going back to my hotel room and sleeping for forty-eight hours after I meet with Haydn and find out what’s going on.”
Varu smiled knowingly. “You hope you’ll understand what’s going on after meeting Haydn. Let me know how that goes.”
“What aren’t you telling me, Varu?”
He raised his shoulders. “Eat up,” he said as Maria entered carrying another tray. This time she brought a huge bowl of stew, enough for two people. There were additional side plates of bread and potatoes. Again, the warm herbs and spices smelled heavenly. I was so so hungry.
I surveyed the food, wondering about the best way to tackle it. “Don’t just sit and watch me eat, tell me about you and Beck and Haydn.” And I dug into the stew with the spoon.
“Tell you what?”
“Why aren’t you and Beck a couple?”
Varu snorted with laughter. “We’re a totally different species. Somewhat similar, granted, but he’ll be old and die in no time compared to how long I will live.”
I swallowed the hot stew. “But you look good together. You make each other happy. You care about him. And then, you and Haydn are so, um... what’s the word, antagonistic... toward each other? Yet you pushed Beck to live with Haydn. That’s what I don’t understand. You like one man, don’t like the other, and you push the two together when one’s a complete and utter jerk.”
Varu laughed. “Haydn’s an ass, but he’s what Beck wants and needs.”
“Bullshit. He wants you,” I blurted out.
Varu’s mouth curved upward, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He shook his head but took a while before answering. “You are jumping to conclusions based on what you’ve seen. You’ve seen Beck with me. Yes, I care for him and he for me, but we will never be like a romantic couple from fiction. If you consider what you saw, I also saw Beck with you, and he seems to like you a lot too.”
“Huh,” I grunted. That was just a bit of fun.
“And, wait until you see Beck with Haydn.”
Chewing on my food, I considered Varu’s words. “Are you saying Beck has the hots for Haydn too? Oh my god, you need to step between them. Beck shouldn’t fall in love with that violent jerk.”
“I’d say they love each other already. If they were ordinary humans, they might even be planning their wedding, but Haydn’s bound to you. They’ve both been anxious about your arrival here and how that will change everything.”
I sputtered; in fact, I choked on my food. “In what way might I change things?” I spat out after sipping water. And how can I be in the way of them getting married?
“We’ll have to see. Just like Beck once did, you now need Haydn to help you survive as an elemental.”
And that mysterious way of talking was so annoying about Varu. I sensed he knew more than he ever said, and he dropped hints but didn’t follow through. “Just tell me, why does Beck look like he’s in love with you? And why did he take part in a threesome with the two of us if he’s in love with Haydn? That’s something I don’t understand.” And didn’t accept. There was no way I’d accept Beck and Haydn were a couple.
“As I said, those two witches have never made a single-minded commitment to each other because of you. Miss Selby, the relationships that Water has with myself and with Fire isn’t like those you have learned about in romantic fiction. We are nothing like Jane Austen’s characters, or Cinderella and her prince. We aren’t seeking one true love. Fire and I are both friends with Beck. We both care about him. At my age, I’ve had many lovers and seen them die, yet my existence goes on and on. With great age comes the great ability to share.”
“You aren’t jealous about Beck and Haydn?”
“A tad, sometimes.” He shook his head, a smile on his face, as always, as if I’d said something amusing. “Loving relationships don’t have to be exclusively between two people. More people involved doesn’t dilute a relationship. It can make it stronger. Affection is not like a pan of meat stew that gets emptier as you eat; it is more like blood, it is unlimited.”
“Think I’ll stick with stew, thanks.”
“For Beck, he has two deep friendships with two men who care for him. As for Fire, well, I don’t much like the fire witch, and that’s mutual. But in his way, he greatly cares for Beck. For me, I care about Beck, so I’m pleased he has more than just me in his life. I can’t provide everything he needs. I can’t always be there for him. I can’t offer him everything, and I can’t always protect him. And, likewise, I don’t expect him to be everything for me.”
“You sound so wise.” I didn’t expect him to say so much. “Oh. And how do I fit in? You said I’d change things.”
“You will. Haydn won’t commit to Beck because he’s waiting for you to turn up and take your place at the head of the Summer House Coven. You might bless their relationship, encourage it, or bring it to an end through the choices you make.”
“What if I don’t want to head the coven?” I’d only just discovered I was a witch, and I wasn’t sure about that at all. Surely I wasn’t expected to take up some witchcraft responsibilities as well.
“What you do is up to you, but there are some things that you can’t avoid. You were born an elemental, you will become a powerful witch, and you are heir to the Selby estate. Of course, your mother might return and take her place as High Priestess, or you can produce an heir. It will be easier to explain by showing you when you are ready to leave the table.”
“I’m ready.” I’d made a big dent in the pile of food placed before me though I couldn’t possibly eat it all.
Varu pushed back from the table. “We must descend.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The earthy sleeping chamber or dirty panic room
Malka Selby
WEARING ONLY NAVY BLUE cotton socks on my feet, I followed Varu down the stairs, descending below his house once again.
He stopped at a place where I’d felt guilty earlier and guilty now. I wondered if Maria and the man had told Varu they’d seen us snooping. He might be about to challenge me for prying in his bedroom. I wondered if I should own up before he said anything.
Hey, I didn’t know that was your bedroom. Beck showed it to me. In my head, it sounded stupid.
Varu watched my face as he opened the door. “What do you see?”
“Just black dirt,” I answered slowly.
He switched his weight from one foot to another as though deep in thought. “Um, describe in more detail exactly what’s there.”
“An empty room. It’s dark. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all loose dirt, from what I can tell. It looks like a freshly plowed field, not flattened like a track.”
“And how deep is the room?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. Two or three beds might fit in lengthwise. I guess that would make it twenty feet deep and perhaps ten or fifteen feet wide. It’s hard to tell from out here.”
Varu stepped in, holding out his hand, inviting me to join him.
Looking down at my new socks that hadn’t been on my feet all that long, I decided to take them off and wash my feet later. I pushed off each sock with the opposite foot, much to Varu’s amusement, took his hand, and stepped on to the soft soil.
We walked deeper into the dark space. A breeze whipped about the room, sending my hair over my face. I let go of Varu, swept my hair back into place, and crossed my arms in front of me.
“There are no windows down here,” he said.
“Yes. Obviously.” I sounded like a teenager as I looked at him blankly. His point was what?
“The wind is due to your mother’s magic. Very few witches can do what you just did.”
Startled, I looked around, wondering what he was talking about and what it had to do with my mother. “What did I just do?” I looked at my feet to see if I’d sunk into the ground again. “I’ve followed you on the stairs. Had a threesome with two passionate guys who are also supernatural creatures. What else?”
He laughed. “Stepping this far into my room, or even seeing inside it, is something most witches can’t do, and I don’t know why you can. I’m not sure if it is your magic or because you are your mother’s daughter. When people open that door, they see a small space just a foot or two deep, nothing more than a broom cupboard lined with soil. That’s what Maria sees, and that’s what Beck told me he saw when I showed him where I sleep.”
It hadn’t crossed my mind that when I looked at something the person standing next to me would perceive something so very different. But that was what Varu implied about the conversation I’d had about this room with Beck earlier.
“Well, that explains why he won’t just stick with you. You know how to push a man away by making him think you sleep in a dirty little cupboard.”
Of course, Varu raised an eyebrow and smiled. “You’ll notice, Water Boy knew the way to the guest room. I only sleep here. When I opened the door to this room, he saw a shallow cupboard. I allowed him to believe that there was nothing more to my sleeping quarters.”
It was mind-boggling to discover Beck and I had looked in earlier and had a conversation about this room, but it turned out we were discussing different things.
“No one apart from me has been in here since Serina.”
“Ew.” My face wrinkled in disgust. “Don’t tell me you also slept with my mother?” I shuddered.
He shook his head. “No. We’ve never.” For once, he didn’t smirk, but appeared disturbed at the notion.
“Then how do I see something different from other people?”
“Of course, this space is real to us. We’re standing in it. That’s Romanian soil beneath your feet. We passed through the false illusion of the back of the closet. We’ve walked through a wall of earth. Not dissimilar to when you fell through the ground in the cemetery and passed right through to my cellar.”
“So, you’re telling me that there’s a wall of earth somewhere over there, but I’m not aware of it, and I passed through it? How is that possible?” Squinting to see something that wasn’t there, I stepped toward the door with my hands held out in front of me, trying to feel something. I found nothing. It sounded farfetched, but nothing, literally nothing, would surprise me anymore. Not after the day I’d had.
Without blinking or even smiling, Varu watched me. “You can’t find it, can you?”
“So, you noticed.” Smart arse.
“Even I see a solid wall of earth.” He walked over and put his hand up, presumably touching this invisible wall. “I don’t know why you can’t see it as well. Both you and I are able to pass through the earth, but this is strange. We might need Serina to explain it, although I would hazard a few guesses.”
“Do you want to share your best guess? The thing is, my mother is a bit busy right now; tied up, you could say.”
“Perhaps you can see through the earth because you can pass through it like me, but I see it with vampire eyes. Different magic enables you to see and pass through. You’re from a family of witches, and your mother put the enchantment on this room.”
I wondered at the relationship between my mother and this vampire, who should have been arch enemies from what I’d learned, and yet they chose to live close to each other and help each other.
“I don’t see through all earth. Falling through the ground in the cemetery felt gross, and I hope I won’t do again in a hurry. I’m trying to forget it. It’s not like it turned invisible.”
“But the difference is I’m a vampire, and you’re an earth witch. Our abilities are similar, but the source of our ability isn’t the same. It might be to do with the wall being so thin or to do with the magical wards that protect this room. Wards set in place by your mother. The wall of earth should prevent humans, witches, and vampires from finding this space.”
“Oh, this is your safe room? Like in the movie Panic Room with Jodie Foster?” My traveling companion, Betty, was a big Jodie Foster fan and had forced me to watch Jodie Foster’s every film at some point. Betty said she was forcing me because her lesbian moms forced her to watch Jodie, and it never did her any harm.
He looked at me blankly.
“You may mock me about my lack of a mobile phone, but don’t you watch movies?”
“I am a cinema man, actually. The snacks there are good for enjoying in the dark whilst watching the film, but I must have missed that one. Was it good?”
Best we don’t talk about our food, after all. “Yes, pretty good. But why did my mad mother get involved in setting up a panic room for you? Who or what do you have to hide from? And how come I can just walk in as if I belong here?”
“I’m not sure why you can see in and walk in here. As for why? The answer’s simple. Serina and I helped each other. I think I’ve already explained it makes sense to cooperate with your neighbors. I’m not sure if she intentionally granted access to blood of her blood. She may have foreseen that you might one day need access to a safe room. Or perhaps she never knew this would happen. It might be because you’re an earth witch. I’m hoping it’s not an overlooked weakness in my safety, because I don’t want other witches as powerful as yourself stumbling in uninvited.”
“That’s a pretty big if. They’d have to be opening the doors to broom cupboards under the basement of a vampire’s house in London.” I couldn’t believe I’d so quickly adapted to calling this man a vampire when I’d only met him a few hours earlier, and I had been very resistant to the label only a few hours ago. At that point, I thought ‘vampire’ was a term of insult because they only existed as bad guys in stories. “And it can’t be anything to do with being powerful because I’m not magical at all. Anyway, is this room what you wanted to show me?”
“One of the things. I brought you here for another reason. Serina Selby’s magic has protected the room for many years, and before she went to prison, your mother placed an item in here for safekeeping.”
Looking around at the empty room, I felt skeptical. “What, a barrel of extra Romanian dirt?”
Varu cocked his head to one side and scraped his fingers through his short black hair. “Funny. No. A valuable magical item that belongs to your family. To you, actually. Are you aware of it?”
I looked again; my eyes strained to see anything other than black soil in the darkness. I imagined seeing spiders and other creepy crawlies, and my bare feet wanted to get out of there. I stepped toward the light coming through the open door, resisting the temptation to run.
“Malka, you need the item. It’s yours.”
I stopped. I thought I probably stood within the vicinity of the invisible wall of earth. I couldn’t see a single grubby molecule of its existence. Nevertheless, I was pleased to be within a few steps of the exit. “I don’t know where it is. Or what it is. What am I looking for?”
“You won’t find it by looking with your eyes.”
What else am I supposed to look with?
“I come into this room every day without seeing it, and I have excellent night vision. Your mother has hidden it. She was a powerful Air witch and I expect she still is. Now, her blood flows in your veins. Your magical potential is phenomenal; seventh order, no less. Your element is earth. This room is only earth and magic, nothing more. You can find it by using your senses.”
Senses? I could try. I closed my eyes so I definitely wouldn’t see spiders, and I wasn’t going to think about them either. Senses? I listened. The pool was below us with the waterfall and pumped water, but I could hear nothing of it. “Does the magic stop sound entering and leaving the room? Can people outside hear you snoring if you sleep in here?”
“The room is soundproofed, to some extent. No sound leaves the room. But when we are inside, we can hear things beyond the room.”
I closed my eyes again and listened. “I can’t hear anything, just so you know.”
I heard only my own heart beating and breath traveling through my nose. I didn’t think any other sense would be useful. The scent of freshly turned earth filled my nose. The soft earth felt pleasant under my feet. From time to time, a breeze swirled around the room before dying down. He’d mentioned it being my mother’s magic. I wondered if that happened to magic trapped inside a room and if it were trying to escape.
