Callie - An Enchantress Novel - Book 1

Chapter 18

Callie pulled the mini into the driveway. The headlight beam swept across the front of the house, highlighting that the door lay slightly ajar. She approached gingerly, easing the door open to peer inside. Irene cautiously stepped over the threshold, but Callie was unable to follow.

"Damn, I forgot Adie hasn't invited me in yet," Callie swore. "Technically, as you're living with us now, you should be able to do it."

"Em okay... Come in?" Irene said hesitantly.

"Make it a statement not a question."

Irene exhaled audibly. "I don't think it'll work, but please come on in!"

Still unable to cross, Callie dug her phone from her pocket and called Adie. "Will you invite me into our home please? I can't get in."

Adie laughed. "What, over the phone?"

"It's worth a shot. Give us a sec so Irene can take the phone inside." She put it on loudspeaker and handed it to Irene who took it a few paces down the hall. "Okay, try now!" she called.

"Callie, you may enter our home."

A few seconds later, she took the phone from Irene's hand and put it next to her ear after turning the volume back down. "You weren't kidding when you said they wrecked the place."

"Cool! it worked. I'll be back there later, is it really that bad?"

Callie groaned when she looked down the hall at the mess the demon's minions made of the house. "It's worse."

"Don't worry about clearing any of it up. It can wait until we get back. Just pull the door over when you leave so no animals get in."

"See you later then." Callie hung up and took a better look around. She felt deeply saddened by what she saw.

Broken shards of mirror were scattered from the front door right the way up the hall. The small fragments were crushed deep into the pile of the rug. She crept further in. The sofa and chairs in the living room lay upturned and slashed. Her mother's ornaments, which had once taken pride of place in the display cabinet in the corner by the window, lay destroyed, pieces of fine bone china strewn around with the remnants of the cabinet. The family portrait, taken just a week before the accident that killed both her parents, no longer hung over the fireplace. She could see no hint of it in the room, nor of the one of her and Adie taken whilst on holiday in Tenerife. The kitchen yielded more of the same devastation, with the contents of the cupboards emptied out. Smashed crockery coated with flour, pasta and stale bread mixed with the souring and decaying fridge contents littering the floor. The foul odour made her gag. She opened the window and gasped the clean air.

"I can't leave it like this, it smells bad enough already. A couple more days and it'll get up and walk out on its own." She pointed to the brush behind Irene. "Would you pass the brush and pan please?"

Irene snatched it from its spot beside the mop and bucket. "Why don't I do this while you pack? It'll be quicker."

"So not arguing over cleaning," Callie agreed with vigour. Glass crunched under her feet with every step on the way upstairs.

The floor and lower half of the bed in Adie's room were soaking wet because the window had been left open when Adie escaped. Nothing else had been touched, so Callie closed the window and left for her own room. It looked like a tornado had stuck with clothes lying everywhere.

Just how I left it, she thought in satisfaction, happy in the knowledge that no one had been poking around in her drawers.

She kicked her dirty clothes aside to gain access to the suitcase under the bed. There were a few clean outfits left on the wardrobe shelves, so she added those to the case along with some toiletries. She moved on to the bedside table and easily found her driver's licence and bankcard in the drawer. When her mind registered what lay on the top of the table, her breath caught at the sight. A perfect yellow and orange rose - resembling a flame - was sitting in a tiny crystal bud vase with a small envelope placed in front of it. She inhaled the fresh, almost sickly sweetness of the flower before opening the letter to read the elegant flowing script within.

My Dearest Callie,

I find myself intrigued. Never have I encountered such a fearless, daring and beautiful creature in all my many, many years. I know we have gotten off on the wrong footing, but I would like to make amends and get to know you better.

Please forgive my assistants intrusion into your private space. I offer my apologies for the mess they created previously. I will make them clean it up if you so wish. All you have to do is call me. You know how.

Forever Yours

Lucien

Callie sank onto the edge of her bed to re-read the letter. Wow, she thought, astounded. Didn't see that one coming. She quickly refolded the letter when she heard Irene's footsteps coming up the stairs, stuffing it into her pocket. I'll show her later.

"Did you get everything we need?" Irene asked when she poked her head round the door.

"Yup, I think so."

They loaded the suitcase into the car and made their way to the first hole-in-the-wall bank machine just over the now invisible border separating North from South Ireland. She was able to withdraw what she hoped was enough euros for their trip. Their next stop was the first address on the list Sidney had given her. They were expecting her and insisted that Sidney had already settled the bill.

The motorway was wide and practically straight, with very little traffic, which meant Callie's mind was free wander to the letter from her arch nemesis. She pulled it from her pocket and rubbed it between her two fingers and thumb - in two minds whether or not to reveal it. She glanced at Irene through the dimness of the dashboard lights and saw her eyes drifting closed. The letter can wait, she thought, turning the radio down and settled in for the long five-hour drive to the Circle of Fire headquarters.

*****

Lucien stood back several paces from the wall and studied the picture he'd just finished hanging. He moved forward again to push the right side up an inch so it sat square to the wall.

"What should I do with the rest of them, Sire?" his beady-eyed assistant asked, holding up what remained of the large pictures he had retrieved from the Williams household.

"I don't know. Burn them for all I care," he replied absently, still enraptured by the image before him.

Callie's smiling image held the hand of an arm around her shoulders. The arm had once belonged to her sister, but due to some careful grafting on Lucien's part, his own image now appeared in its place.

"You left the other things I instructed?"

"Yes, Sire."

"Good. Now get out." Lucien retreated to his favourite armchair when the idiot left, turning it to face the picture so it became the focal point of the room. He stared at her image in eager anticipation of her calling his name.