Shadow Play: The Witch's Betrayal Read online

  “Yes,” Terra answered quickly then fumbled in her jacket pocket, “Here. That’s my cell. I can pick you up for the hearing if you like. If that’s not weird or anything? Your file just had a work release amendment added to it. I guess you can do what whatever you like.”

  Shannon smiled warmly and looked at the card, “Perfect. I’d like that. They’re going to let me out a couple of days before that. I’ll call you with directions.”

  Terra raised an eyebrow, “I just saw the new work release form this morning. You must have friends in high places.”

  “I get lucky on occasion,” Shannon shrugged as she looked to the building that Marcus had ducked into, “No need to worry. I’m not skipping town on you.”

  “Me too,” Terra responded warmly, “I’ll be there for you.”

  Chapter 4

  Shannon sat hunched over the project bench. Twin flares from the gas jet reflected off the smooth surface of her safety glasses. She tweaked the gas feed with her thumb.

  “Dammit,” she said, “that’s hot.”

  Her assistant looked up from the small glass kiln and smiled as he watched her work the glowing molten glass bubble back and forth across the stainless steel table, “I know you’ve been out commission for the last month, but isn’t it supposed to be?” he snarked, “I’m almost done with this part. These crazy metals did exactly what you predicted.”

  “Yeah? So weird,” she grinned, “What colors did the oxides present?”

  “Huh?” he asked curiously, “Wait, when you told me we’d be making this, I, well, never mind. This just came to you, what in your sleep and now you’re asking me chemistry questions? I’ve never seen you do this level of glasswork, let alone this mystery metal thing. It’s kinda creepy, Shan.”

  He held up the first section for the piece, “But it’s really cool. Deep blue as requested, a group of greens, then every color you could dream of. Very striking.”

  “Perfect. Yeah, I know it’s weird. I just started designing it in my head like the idea was there all along.” She sat up from the table and stretched. Her arms and shoulders glistening from the heat of the studio, sweat darkening the tank top at her cleavage. “Sorry for the short notice on this but I wanted to get it ready for Friday.”

  He smiled, “Happy to help, happy to see that smile of yours. It’s been way too long, Shan. I gather your hospital stay was productive?”

  She grinned from behind her glasses, “Yep. Marcus is on board. He’s excited, just need to get him out.”

  “We’re working on that,” the assistant nodded his approval, “So, speaking of the lawyer. Is she the reason for the smile?”

  “Pretty sure she thinks I’m a lunatic,” Shannon shrugged, flipping the heavily tinted lenses back down over her eyes, “She’s so polished, I’m a little afraid of her. And don’t get ahead of me. I’m probably making a huge mistake.”

  “You don’t make mistakes, Shannon.” That earned him a smirk. She pointed over to a small pile of broken glass on the studio floor, “Right.”

  He chuckled again, “The price of being creative. The crystal seems ready.” He set the small iridescent structure on the worktable next to her, “Are you sure about this?”

  “Oh Robbie,” she whispered, ignoring his concern, “it’s so beautiful. In my head, the blue is almost perfect.”

  Her assistant watched the tears well in her eyes as she inspected the intricately fired crystal as it glowed on its support stand. She wiped her arm across her eyes quickly to blend a tear into the sweat that beaded at her temple.

  “Whew, it’s warm in here.” She picked up the long pipette of glass and began to work the end into the flame jet. The assistant watched quietly knowing that any interruption would not be appreciated.

  The spinning and shaping of the globe continued for several minutes until she inverted the ball and set it down in the center of the stainless top, pushing the top into a flat disc. She looked at Robbie, “Wanna assist?”

  He answered quickly, “Nope. I want to watch the master at work.” He hoped a bit of levity would bring back her earlier smile. He got an arched eyebrow instead.

  “Whatever.”

  She worked quickly. Continuously spinning the globe, adding lines of color to the flat side of the disk, first red, then a tiniest hint of yellow. She spun the globe for several minutes as it expanded back into a clear ball of glass. The small colored tendrils rose up from the center of the globe, the spinning creating a centrifuge as the tiny flower began to grow inside.

  As the spinning continued, a white-hot shard of molten glass spun off the end of the stem, narrowly missing her knuckles. Only then did he notice how tightly she was holding the pipette. Any mistake now could ruin the design.

  “Relax, Shan, you’re rushing. You don’t have to be back at Cottonwood for three hours. Deep breath,” he lowered his voice, “Just work it back and forth...work it nice and slow.”

  She glanced at him briefly, shaking her head. His commentary continued…

  “Back and forth now, watch it grow. Make it last…work the little bud…oh, oh yeah, it’s gonna be so good.”

  She sputtered with laughter, “God, Rob you’re such a delightful perv. I’m gonna need a cold shower. I get it…thanks. Nice job on the work release by the way.”

  “Marcus walked me through it. It’ll be better when he’s out.” Robbie watched the color return to her hands, her long elegant fingers now held the long stem with a more adept touch, “Good timing,” she grinned, “I’m ready for the inlay.”

  She put the globe back into the glowing kiln and continued to spin it. Shifting her weight, she drew it back out as he rose above her and placed a metal rod into the soft top of the spinning ball. It parted to allow a brief bubble and he set the sparkling crystal into the center of the orb just above the colored stems. Shannon reached up and set a small drop of glass from a second stem to fill in on top of the crystal. The glass formed seamlessly around the shimmering gem.

  “Nicely done, sir. Absolute dead center.” She set the globe into a shaping cup and continued to rotate it as it began to cool.

  She looked at him and grinned, “Relax. Nothing bad will happen.”

  He exhaled deeply, “Let’s hope. This is new territory for me, but apparently not for you”

  “I’m sorry if my call freaked you out. I woke up yesterday morning and it was in my head, I can’t ignore it.” She took a pair of small tongs and merged a dark green glob of glass to the base. As it began to fuse with the globe, she stretched it away from the ball and, with a twist of her wrist, bent the flat length of colored glass into a long orchid-like leaf.

  A quick push with a pointed steel rod crimped the leaf with a realistic central rib. The last leaf was the tallest. Curving up from the base of the globe, Shannon turned the glass petal and crimped it forward. She set if off to one side of the orb and held it in place until the glass had cooled. Another touch with the steel rod added a tiny but perfect detail.

  They sat back to admire her work.

  “Beautiful,” he said, “How much will you tell her?”

  She’d been anticipating his questions, “For now, nothing. I just hope she likes it.”

  “How could she not?”

  She took an LED flashlight out of the table drawer, “Let’s see how we did.”

  She watched his usually smiling face morph into a pained expression. “Sorry. You can step out of the circle if you want. You may still be able to see it.”

  Her assistant stood up from the table, “I’m a chicken shit, I admit it.” He carefully tiptoed his way through the intricately drawn design on the studio floor and took a big step over the salt line that made up the edge of the protection circle.

  He turned around sheepishly, “Ok, the girly man is ready.”

  “My God, Robert, you are the manliest, girly man I know.” She put her finger to her lips, “Here goes. Head for the door is things go south.”

  “That’s so not funny,” he said, backing u
p toward the kitchen, “Are you sure about this?”

  She shrugged yet again, “I don’t remember anything other than the words. The rest is a guess.”

  She closed her eyes and drew two fingers slowly across her collarbone, then held her hand still in front of her.

  “I offer a bridge of souls long passed,

  Apep, God of chaos, store your protection and harness your powers.

  Keep this intended soul from harm at home and in life.”

  She clicked on the flashlight and drew it in a small arc over the top of the first leaf. The cold white light caught the colors of the shimmering crystal and reflected instantly them up to the old tin ceiling of the loft. The brilliant colors danced across the metal tiles in a dazzling display.

  She heard a long whistle behind her, “Wow. Prettiest light catcher ever.”

  She snapped off the flashlight, but the flickering lights remained for a few seconds. “Yep, and let’s hope that all she ever needs it for.”

  “This is going to get dangerous isn’t it?” Robbie was silent for a moment as Shannon looked at him, then nodded.

  “Jesus,” he said softly, “You’re really gonna do this aren’t you?”

  Shannon took off her safety glasses and set them on the table, stretching her arms over her head, “These aren’t dreams I’m having, Rob, they’re memories.” She looked at the sculpture in front of her, “How did I know how to do this? The crystals? The incantations? It’s part of some big cosmic plan.”

  “Or maybe just something quite simple and important to you. You just don’t have all the pieces yet. Knowing you as I do,” he added, “that might be a good thing.”

  “Right,” she answered softly, “Something’s been standing in my way and I have to figure out a way to unblock the memories.” She stood up from her chair, stretching to relieve her aching back, “I’m tired of hiding, Rob. I wake up in the mornings and I’m scared. If I don’t make my move now, it might be too late.”

  Chapter 5

  The judge glowered down at a mortified Shannon as she stood next to her attorney. Terra looked down and saw Shannon’s hands trembling. For all the quirky bravado this woman had displayed at the jail, now she looked genuinely frightened.

  Terra smiled to herself. It wasn’t long ago when she would have been the one with clammy and shaking hands, terrified at the thought of getting a poor judgement for a deserving client. “How do you plead?” the judge asked a time worn voice.

  Terra glanced at her client then back to the judge, her eyes searching as if something had suddenly gone wrong. A quick sigh of relief escaped her lips as she saw him hold up a document.

  “Sorry, it’s been a long day.” He held up his hand, “In light of some additional information provided by your rather resourceful attorney, I’m willing to offer a small bargain to you.”

  For the first time in the proceedings, Shannon looked directly at the judge, “Yes, sir.”

  He read over the document a second time, looking over his bifocals at Terra, then back down to the document. “Were it not for your intervention at the jail in defense of that young prisoner, this court would be inclined to throw the book at you.”

  Shannon glanced quickly at the lawyer by her side. One look at Terra’s ever confident smile firmly in place was enough to calm her down. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt she had a chance to start over. Whether it was a gasp or sigh that slipped out, she didn’t care. Terra clasped her trembling hand briefly, “It’s gonna be okay.”

  “Ehem.” He held up the thick file jacket, “As you’re obviously no stranger to the system, let’s refer to this little episode as your last chance. That you voluntarily checked yourself in, and have now completed treatment, counts for something with me. I’m going to consider your stay as time served, pay full restitution to the bar you partially destroyed and 12 months of probation.”

  Shannon nodded, “Thank you sir.” Terra’s expression remained cool.

  “However,” he added, his voice rising to more authoritative level, “If you are back in my court, ever.” He held up a second sheet of paper, “Listen, your well-intentioned attorney is sticking her neck way out for you.” He glanced at Terra and added a quieter aside, “Not that I recommend that.”

  “If you let me down,” he continued, “I will assume that you have failed her as well.” He paused waiting for a response.

  “I understand, your honor,” she said quietly, “I won’t let either of you down.”

  The judge thundered back at her, “It’s not about us, young lady. It’s about you. We want to help. Now it’s up to you.”

  “Thank you, sir.” There was something to the uncertain tone of Shannon’s voice that caught Terra by surprise.

  “See the bailiff for the paperwork.” A sharp rap with his gavel brought the proceeding to an abrupt close.

  Shannon turned to Terra, but her attorney had her eyes still locked on the judge. She looked toward the bench and saw the judge raise a subtle eyebrow at Terra.

  “What just happened?” Shannon whispered.

  “Shhh, nothing,” Terra whispered back with a sly grin, “Let’s go before he reconsiders his offer.” She nudged Shannon gently with an elbow, “You did great.”

  Climbing into Terra’s Pathfinder, Shannon just stared at Terra in silence.

  Terra took a minute to notice then looked at Shannon, her hazel eyes boring a hole into her. “What?”

  “Ok, seriously Terra, what just happened?”

  “I think we can both agree that you got off lucky,” she responded cheerfully.

  Shannon cautiously disagreed, “No, you did something. You and the judge…”

  Terra held up her hands defensively, “No. All I did was observe and then do a little extra research, maybe asked a couple questions to the right people. The hearing was just the wrap up.”

  “Research?”

  “Your judge wasn’t always the best person. I’m told he had a pretty wild time in his younger days.”

  Shannon looked shocked, “Oh my god, you didn’t…”

  “Hold on,” Terra cut her off, “I absolutely didn’t. This was completely legit. I’ve heard he has a soft spot for those looking to make their lives better. I just made sure we got the right court date, with the right judge.”

  Shannon eyed her suspiciously, “And that thing with the kid in the drunk tank, how could he have possibly known about that? More research?”

  “Something like that. I just made sure he was made aware of it.” Terra grinned, “For some reason, you requested me as your attorney. I just made sure to pay attention on your behalf. I’d call it good networking. Karma, maybe.”

  Shannon sat back in the passenger seat of the SUV, “I don’t know what to say. And that,” she snickered, “doesn’t happen very often.”

  Terra started up the car, “So, a good day then?”

  Shannon nodded, “You have no idea. Can we stop by the studio for a minute? I have something for you.”

  “You’re not paying me, ya know.”

  “I know. I made something for you,” she offered softly, but was grinning ear to ear, “To show my appreciation.”

  Chapter 6

  “Turn in here,” Shannon directed Terra to the downtown alley driveway, “Watch out for the restaurant dumpster on the left. It’s sorta mobile on occasion.” She grinned, “I know it looks like a sketchy neighborhood...it is actually.” She pointed to a jog in the alleyway, “That’s me on the end.”

  Terra did her best to look cool, “Charming. I’d be terrified to live down here.”

  Shannon pulled a plastic card from her pocket and ran it through an almost invisible reader strip next to a battered door frame. A buzzer sounded, and the door opened slightly, she looked at a surprised Terra, “Sketchy on the outside, but very safe inside. C’mon in.”

  The door opened to reveal an artistically furnished living space with a large working art studio in the back of the warehouse.

  “W
ow, I didn’t expect this,” Terra exclaimed as she inspected the space. A galley kitchen with an island was set to the left of the entry. A comfortable overstuffed sofa and chairs circled a massive coffee table between the kitchen and the studio. An industrial looking stairway curved its way up to a second level loft.

  “Yep, that’s the idea.”

  Terra looked back at Shannon, “Very cool. It seems to fit you.”

  Shannon grinned, “Thanks. It’s a work in progress,” then she laughed, “My whole life is a work in progress.” Her eye went to a tissue wrapped package on the coffee table and she went to pick it up. She set the tissue covered gift down on the kitchen island in front of Terra.

  “For you, Terra. I am so so grateful to you. I hope you like it.”

  Terra reached out for the package, when the alley door suddenly swung open and Shannon’s assistant barged in carrying what looked to be a very heavy package in his arms.

  “Shannon,” he bellowed, then froze when he saw the two women standing at the island. Terra just stared back and forth at the two of them.

  He looked at Shannon, then at the startled Terra holding the gift in her hands, “Oh, shit, I’m sorry for interrupting,” his square jaw grimacing at Shannon, “Sorry,” he repeated softly.

  She smirked at him, “Not a problem, Rob.” She looked at Terra, “He’s gonna stand there just long enough to make sure we both notice his huge biceps cuz that’s his thing.” She laughed at him, “Get over here. Introductions… Terra, this is Robbie. Rob, my attorney, Terra.”

  He set the packages down and reached out his hand, taking her fingertips, “Au chante,” he said with a charming smile. It made Shannon chuckle, “Yeah, here we go.”

  Terra looked up at him, all six foot three and shoulders as broad as a barn door. She glanced at Shannon, trying to figure out the set-up. He watched the quick interaction and answered the question in her head.

  “Assistant extraordinaire and handy-guy neighbor,” he quickly offered, “I help Shan with her artwork.” He pointed to the package in her hands, “That, is some serious work right there. She really slav...”