White Witch, Black Curse

"You gave it to me!" I exclaimed, frustrated and hoping he wasn't going to tell me it was four time zones away.

"You have no right to try to summon Dad again." Only now would he look at me, and his temper was showing. "Mom had a devil of a time pulling herself back together after that little stunt. Took me two weeks and almost five hundred dollars in phone bills."

"Yeah, well, I spent seven years putting her back together when you left after Dad died, so I think we're even."

Robbie's shoulders slumped. "That's not fair."

"Neither is leaving us for a stinking career," I said, my heart pounding. "God, no wonder she's so screwed up. You did the same thing Takata did to her. You're both exactly alike."

My brother's face became closed and he turned away. Immediately I wished I could take it back, even if it was true. "Robbie, I'm sorry," I said, and he flicked a glance at me. "I shouldn't have said that. It's just…I really need that book."

"It's not safe."

"I'm not eighteen anymore!" I exclaimed, dish towel on my hip.

"You sure act like it."

I dropped the dry silverware in the drawer, slammed it shut, and turned. Seeing my frustration, Robbie softened, and with his voice carrying a shared pain, he said, "Dad's at rest, Rachel. Let him go."

Peeved, I shook my head. "I'm not trying to talk to Dad. I need it to talk to Pierce."

Robbie huffed as he drained the sink and rinsed the cooking pan under tap water. "He's at rest, too. Leave the poor guy alone."

A faint excitement lifted in me at the memory of the night Pierce and I had spent in the snow of Cincinnati. It had been the first time I had really felt alive. The first time I'd ever been able to help anyone. "Pierce is not at rest. He's in my church, and has been for almost a year, changing my phone's ring tones and making Jenks's cat stare at me."

Robbie turned, shocked, and I reached to turn the water off for him. "You're kidding."

I tried not to look smug, but he was my brother, and it was my right. "I want to help him find his rest. Where is the book?" I asked as I took the pan and shook the water from it.

He thought for a moment as he rummaged under the sink for the cleanser, dusting a little in the sink and then replacing it where it had sat for almost three decades. "The attic," he said as he started to scrub. "I've got Mom's crucible up there, too. The really expensive red-and-white one? And the bottle to hold the potion. I don't know where the watch is. Did you lose it?"

Elated, I put the roaster away half dried. "It's in my dresser," I said, trying not to sneeze at the sharp scent of cleanser as I jammed the dish towel over the rod to dry and started for the door. I was going to get everything in one go. How lucky could I get?

I was halfway to the kitchen door when Robbie caught my elbow. "I'll get it," he said, glancing past me to the unseen living room. "I don't want Mom to know what you're doing. Tell her I'm looking for my bottle-cap collection."

Snorting, I nodded. Yeah, like he'd really take his beer-bottle-cap collection on the plane with him. "Ten minutes," I said. "If you're not down here by then, I'm coming up after you."

"Fair enough." He smiled as he pulled the towel from the rack and dried his hands. "You are such a sweet sister. I truly don't know how those rumors get started."

I tried to come up with something, my mind going blank when he flicked the towel at me, scoring. "Hey!" I yelped.

"Leave your sister alone, Robbie," my mom said faintly from the living room, her voice carrying a familiar firmness, and both Robbie and I smiled. It had been too long. Smirking at his innocently wide green eyes, I grabbed the sponge and hefted it experimentally.

"Rachel!" came my mom's voice, and grinning, Robbie tossed the dish towel at me and sauntered confidently out of the kitchen. Almost immediately I heard the attic door being pulled down, and the thunk of the stairway hitting the carpet in the bedroom hallway. Confident now that I'd be going home with everything I'd need, I wiped the sink out and hung up the dish towel.

"Coffee," I whispered, sniffing at the coffeemaker and hoping she'd lightened up on the grounds in deference to having a guest.

Shoes a soft hush on linoleum, my mom came in. "What's Robbie doing in the attic?"

I pulled back from the still-dripping coffee machine. "Looking for his bottle-cap collection." Okay, so I lied to my mother. But I'd be willing to bet he'd find something up there to take back with him, so it wasn't a lie altogether.

She made a small sound as she pulled four white mugs from the cupboard and set them on the tray. It was the set she used for her best company, and I wondered if it meant anything. "It's nice to have you both here," she said softly, and my tension vanished. It was nice to have Robbie here, to pretend for a while that nothing had changed.