Page 31 of Hex You

“Do you want to go back to the car for a moment to regain your strength?” Khenti gently brushed a dank length of hair from her face.

Mercy met Khenti’s worried gaze. “No, I’ll be okay. It’s totally normal for me to get sick when I communicate with plants that aren’t well. Now I know this tree will make my stomach feel awful, so I’ll be prepared for that when I touch it again.” Mercy glanced up at the banyan. “And this tree is super sick.”

Khenti nodded slowly. “Yes. I can feel it. Not like you—it does not make me ill. But there is a thickness, a darkness in the air here that is not right.”

Mercy turned to him. “You’re right. Even though I’m not touching the tree right now I feel the wrongness of it—and I mean more than just the crumbling gate and the stink of it. I wonder if whatever killed Mrs. Stoll could’ve come from the Hindu Underworld?”

“Can you ask the tree?” Khenti said.

“That’s a really good idea. I can communicate with the tree, even though it might not speak to me in words. Hey, would you cleanse the area all around the trunk and under the canopy with juniper smoke while I try?” Mercy asked.

“Of course! I would be happy to help.”

Mercy gave him the thick stick of dried juniper that she’d bound together with purple thread. Then she struck a long match against the box, lit the stick, and demonstrated to Khenti how to waft it around. Fragrant blue-gray smoke billowed from the juniper stick, cresting like waves up into the branches of the sick tree.

“Does it always smoke this much?” Khenti asked.

“How much it smokes depends on how much negative energy there is to cleanse. Apparently, there’sa lotof bad stuff hanging around here.”

“Shall I speak the words of a spell as I cleanse the tree?” Khenti asked, wafting the smoking stick around.

“No, the smoke itself is the spell. It changes the energy around it, but it helps to focus on intent as you’re cleansing the tree,” said Mercy.

“So, I think about the tree being cleansed of negative energy, correct?”

“Yep, absolutely correct.” As smoke filled the area around them, Mercy returned to the central tree trunk. She centered herself and then pressed both palms against the tree. She asked it nothing at first. Instead she reached down, down, down and tapped into the pulsing lime-colored river of power beneath her feet. Concentrating, she drew power from the ley line—and it answered readily, filling her body with warmth and strength that soothed her protesting stomach. Then, imagining she was a hose attached to the green power by her feet, with the nozzle being her hands, she guided the surging ley line through her and up into the ailing tree.

The power responded. It came willingly. But as before, it was like her hose was kinked and it only dribbled into the tree. Mercy kept her eyes closed and even pressed her forehead to the rough bark as she concentrated, willing more healing power into the tree. She felt the sweat trickle down her back and between her breasts, and still she held on until her knees turned to mush and she had to stagger back before she passed out.

“Mercy!” Khenti hurried through the thick smoke to take her arm and make sure she remained upright.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” Mercy was breathing hard as she clung to Khenti’s strong arm, but as soon as she’d stopped trying to force power into the tree she felt fine—better than fine. The power she’d been attempting to fill the tree with was now filling her! “Keep cleansing the banyan. I just gave it as much ley line juice as I could force into it. Now I’m gonna ask it about whether anything has come through.”

“Are you sure you should—” Khenti cut off his own question and bowed his head slightly to her. “Luck to you, Green Witch.”

“Thanks, Khenti. Going in for a third time.” Mercy tossed back her sweat-slick hair and strode to the tree. She didn’t hesitate. She pressed her palms against the bark. She could easily feel the difference even just a little of the ley line power made. The tree wasn’t as cold or sick. Mercy sighed in relief, even though she realized she’d just bandaged the problem instead of fixing it. She concentrated on the banyan—on its breath and the life she felt under her hands. “Mighty banyan, guardian of the Hindu Gate, has anything—a creature or spirit oranythingpassed through you recently?”

Mercy’s answer came within seconds. From her palms she could feel a definite negative and a closed sensation, like a door slammed shut. She sighed in relief. Khenti returned to her side and she smiled up at him, hands still resting against the tree.

“Nothing has escaped from the Hindu Underworld. I’m sure of it. The tree is sick, but its gate is still closed.”

Khenti nodded. “I am glad to hear it.”

“Me, too! At least that narrows our focus to the Greek Underworld and the Japanese Underworld.” Mercy paused. “Well, maybe not the Japanese Underworld. If Hunter really did heal the cherry tree then we know that whatever killed Mrs. Stoll had to have come from the Greek Underworld.” Mercy bowed her head and touched it against the tree. “We’re going to fix you—Hunter and me—I promise. Just hang on. Be strong. We’ll be back. Soon. Until then, blessed be.”

Mercy patted the tree’s bark affectionately before she stepped away from it. In a movement that was natural and comforting rather than possessive, Khenti put his arm around Mercy and she rested her head on his shoulder. They stood like that for a little while without speaking. Mercy knew she should move away—head to the car, go get dinner, and take it back to the house for everyone—but it felt so good just to stand there, encircled by Khenti’s warm arm, that she didn’t move.

“The tree seems better,” Khenti said softly as his fingers drew slow circles over the skin of her shoulder, causing her to shiver. “Are you chilled? Do you feel ill again?”

Mercy lifted her head and looked up at him. “No, I’m not cold and I feel just fine. The tree is better, but that’s only temporary.”

“I wish it was permanent,” Khenti said.

Words blurted from Mercy’s mouth before she could stop them. “I wish a lot of things were permanent.”

His brown eyes held hers and his fingers returned to drawing circles over her skin. “I will remain in your realm to help you vanquish whatever demon has been loosed here, but Mercy, I must return to save my mother from—”

Mercy quickly pressed her finger against his lips. “I know, and I really appreciate you staying to help us. I’m sorry. I—I shouldn’t have said that.” She started to turn away, but Khenti put both of his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that she had to face him.