Crystal Cove (Friday Harbor #4)(83)

Marigold didn’t reply. But for a split second the truth was on her face, and it made Jason’s blood run cold. Yes. She was fully prepared to throw Justine into the volcano.

“Marigold,” Rosemary asked sharply, “is this bargain really necessary?”

“It is. He’s the one who endangered her in the first place. And Justine is equally responsible for breaking the geas. I want her to learn a lesson from this.”

“Teach her lessons on your own time,” Jason said irritably. “Right now the goal is to extend her life beyond the next three damn days.”

“So she can continue to screw it up?” Marigold stunned him by asking.

Jason gave her an incredulous glance. “It’s her right to do so, isn’t it?”

“If you were a parent, you would understand that sometimes the worst thing we can do is protect a child from the consequences of her actions. Justine may learn something from this comeuppance.”

There was a strange and disturbing note of satisfaction in Marigold’s voice. If Jason had had any questions about the estrangement between Justine and her mother, they would have been resolved in that moment. This was not a mother who would welcome back a prodigal child, unless that child came back crawling and decimated.

“Maybe,” Jason said. “But if my child were facing her comeuppance, I wouldn’t buy center-court seats and bring popcorn, and call it a great parenting technique.”

She shot him a hostile glance and spoke to Rosemary and Sage. “This entire problem could be solved easily if we tossed him off the cliff.”

“I would take a running leap if that was the only way to help Justine,” Jason said. “But in the hopes of preserving what little time I might have left, I’d like to give the spell-breaking thing a shot first.”

“Then give me your promise,” Marigold insisted. “Tell me you’ll leave Justine no matter what happens.”

“I can’t give a promise when I know I would break it.”

Without another word, Marigold turned on her heel and headed to the door.

Rosemary hurried after her. “Marigold! Think carefully about what you’re doing. Your daughter’s life is hanging in the balance. You must do this for her.”

Marigold’s mask broke long enough to reveal a glimpse of anguished rage. “What has she done for me?” she cried, and slammed the door as she left the house.

Jason and Sage stood alone in the silence. “I’ve got one of those, too,” Jason said after a moment. “Only it’s my father.”

Sage was bewildered. “Marigold didn’t used to be like this.”

“She’s probably always been exactly like this. She’s just gotten worse at covering it up.” Jason shoved his hands in his pockets and went to the window, staring at the blood-colored sunset. “Can we still lift the spell without her, or should I start practicing my long jump?”

“We can still lift the spell. But … I’m sure Marigold will return to help. She won’t turn her back on her own daughter.”

He gave her an incisive glance. “Her back’s been turned for four years, Sage.”

Rosemary entered the lighthouse, looking aggrieved. “The water taxi was still waiting at the dock. Marigold had no intention of staying. She just came here for a bit of grandstanding. I told her if she wouldn’t help the coven in a time of need, particularly when her own daughter’s well-being is involved—there isn’t much point in her belonging.”

Sage’s eyes widened. “How did she answer?”

“She didn’t.”

“She would never voluntarily leave the coven,” Sage said.

“No. Which is why we’re not going to ask her to leave voluntarily. After I talk to the coveners, I’m going to make certain she’s thrown out on her ass.” Catching Sage’s expression, Rosemary said, “I’ve defended Marigold for years. I’ve always tried to focus on the good in her and overlook the rest. But this can’t be overlooked, Sage. This makes it impossible to pretend, to Justine or ourselves, that Marigold cares about anyone but herself.”

Distressed, Sage went to straighten a stack of magazines on the table. “I think she might show up tonight and surprise us.”

Rosemary glanced at her partner with a mixture of love and exasperation. She turned her attention to Jason. “She won’t show up,” she said flatly.

“Personally I’m glad,” Jason said. “My sixth sense tells me she would have added an extra step to my ritual. Like evisceration.”

* * *

As the last smear of daylight faded from the dark lacquered sky, the coven arrived in groups of two and three. They were all dressed comfortably in jeans or long skirts, accessorized with colorful scarves and copper jewelry. They were a pleasant, chatty group, clearly relishing the opportunity to see one another. As they grazed among the food that Sage had set out, roasted red pepper dip with pita chips, artichoke and mushroom crostini, pumpkin dumplings on skewers, they could have been attending a monthly book club meeting.

“Jason,” Rosemary murmured to him at eleven P.M., “we’ll need to begin preparing the schoolhouse for the ritual. It’s about two thirds of a mile from here. If you wouldn’t mind driving the coveners there in groups of three, they can begin setting up.”