Chapter Forty-six
HARMONY hadn’t told King that in fighting such a powerful witch, her psychic and physical energy could be compromised. Yet she’d never felt more alive, more focused or determined, lightning and all. Nothing was more important to her than giving King, Reggie, and Jake a safe home.
She rang the bell three times to halt the storm and evoke good energies, and she turned to face the circle. “The storm is forcing an unplanned addition to the ritual.” She handed a sprig of holly to each of them. “Holly protects against lightning and negative witchcraft,” she said, arranging holly branches on the altar to form a star.
 
“Holly King soon to reign,
Protect this home from lightning’s bane.
Oak King, raise your staff;
Cut lightning’s energy thrice in half.”
 
Feeling a bit dizzy, Harmony rang the bell again as Gussie’s fighting wail became otherworldly.
“Let the Paxton family thrive
Joyful, calm, free, and alive.
Peace and love in this home bloom,
Safe from she who plots its doom.”
 
Gussie’s howl radiated fear in the people around her. “Positive thoughts,” Harmony said. “The power of three as one will prevail.”
She took a red velvet pouch. “Inside, I place angelica, thistle, holly, mistletoe, a hair from Gussie’s brush, and her dolphin brooch.”
Gussie’s scream became shrill as their royal battle of wills gained momentum.
“In your mind,” Harmony said, “add to this pouch: Gussie’s cry, Paxton home and family troubles, accidents, worry, hurt, negativity, pain, and sorrow.” She tied the pouch with a red ribbon. “Red heals, protects, and combats evil.” She set the pouch aflame with a red candle and placed it in the cauldron. “As smoke rises from the cauldron, so castle negativity rises and dissipates like smoke up a chimney.”
The timbre of Gussie’s wail changed to distress.
Destiny and Storm aligned themselves beside Harmony:
 
“Augusta Paxton, this spell we cast:
In this place, your time has passed.
No more will you fill this air
With wailing energy to ensnare.
The vindication you sought for years
Is freely given by Paxton heirs.
And it harm none, they set you free.
This is our will, so mote it be.”
 
The lightning reenergized Gussie, so her cry came from beside the circle. The cats arched and hissed as they guarded the perimeters, and Harmony’s energy waned. She rang the bell, grasped the altar for support, and fell into a black pit.
“Gussie! Enough!” King’s voice reached Harmony as if through a tunnel, and she knew he cradled her. “If you hurt the people I love,” he shouted, “I’ll take the castle down stone by stone and plow it under. I swear I will. Peace, Gussie! It’s time. Harmony, sunshine, wake up.”
Someone smoothed her hair and stroked her cheek. “Des! Storm!” King shouted. “I can’t wake her!”
Her sisters clasped her hands, and Harmony accepted the life energy they passed to her. She opened her eyes. “What happened?”
Storm chuckled. “Gussie sucked you under, and Bomb Diggity, over here, took over the ritual. Pretty touching and resourceful, for a detached hunk with no belief system.”
“You scared me to death,” King said, pulling her close, his heart beating double time against hers. He captured her gaze. “Harmony, I know you can do this, but do you feel well enough?”
“You believe in me? But not in witches, psychics, or angels, right?”
He chuckled. “I figure you have aspects of all three—though, rarely, the angel—but yes, I believe in you.” His loving kiss helped replenish her well of strength, and she leaned on him to stand.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Hold hands and imagine that Gussie is a spiral of smoke going up the chimney.” She took King’s cane and placed it on the altar. “You don’t need the cane for this. We’ll hold you up.” The six of them formed an inner circle.
“Can the purple lady play ring around the rosy with us?” Jake asked.
Harmony looked around. “Is she here, Jake?”
“She’s watching us, and she’s sad.”
“Gussie,” Harmony said. “Lisette sent me to help you find peace.”
Brahms’s “Lullaby” wafted into the room, while inside the circle, someone hummed. Harmony looked at each of them, all shocked by the sound, all denying the source.
Had Lisette joined the circle to lend her strength from the beginning? “Jake, is there a girl in the circle wearing a faded gown?”
Jake nodded. “She cares about Gussie.”
Harmony nodded toward her sisters. “Now!”
 
“With the grace of the angels and elements, we bless you, Augusta ‘Gussie’ Paxton, and free you from the negative forces empowering you, so you may find eternal peace and rest.
We bless and free you with the power of the God and Goddess!
We bless and free you with the power of the sun, moon, and stars!
We bless and free you with the power of the angels!
We bless and free you with the power of earth, air, fire, water!
With the grace of the angels and elements, we bless you, Augusta ‘Gussie’ Paxton, and free you from the negative forces empowering you, so you may find eternal peace and rest.”
 
Gussie wept quietly.
“I honestly feel bad for her,” King said, and at his words, his cane flew from the altar, into the air, hit the rafters, and shattered. Debris rained down on them, and the cane’s gold tip bounced at his feet. King picked it up, took a tiny leather box from inside, opened it, and looked up. “The female half of the ring.” He took it out and read the band. “What does your half say?”
“Love eternal,” Harmony whispered.
King took her hand, removed her half, snapped the two pieces together, and held it for them to see. “The Paxton Celtic lovers’ ring, at last.” He took her hand, again, and Harmony bit her lip against hope as he slipped the coupled ring on her finger. Still holding her hand, he gazed into her eyes. “Love eternal . . . when bound we be,” he said, revealing the full engraving, then he bent to kiss her, the most gentle and . . . loving . . . kiss imaginable. “Hold that thought,” he said, straightening.
Harmony trembled inside, while Gussie wept, and the cats stopped hissing.
“The purple lady is sorry,” Jake said. “She’s gonna go with the girl, so we can have the castle.” Jake hugged King’s legs. “I love you, Grampa. Can we live here forever?”
“Yes,” King said. “We can. I love you, Jake, and I love you, Reggie.” He drew his daughter close. “Welcome home.”
Gussie’s last, unexpected sob burst like a glass ball into a million echoing shards of . . . joy.
Then . . . silence. Blessed silence.
The cats did a psycho-cat dance of joy, backflipping, altar-hopping, and running up pants legs. Jake giggled and went psycho with them.
Still trembling inside at the implications of the Paxton ring on her finger, Harmony continued the ritual. She broke and shared a warm loaf of honey-drizzled bread among them, leaving a plate on the altar to honor and thank the Goddess.
She and King kissed between bites. “We still have to give thanks,” she whispered against his lips.
He winked. “We certainly do.”
She returned to the altar.
 
“God and Goddess, angels fair, Earth, fire, water, and air, Thank you for our bountiful fare Especially for this peace so rare.”
 
“Amen,” King said.
“Des and Storm, extinguish the candles, if you will.”
Harmony closed her eyes, bowed her head, and raised it. “The circle is open.”
King winked. “Are we free to move about the cabin?”
Jake stood on his toes to look around. “Is the purple lady gone?”
Harmony picked him up so he could check the room. “I feel peace all around us. I hope she’s gone and at peace, Jake.”
King touched her arm. “You hope? How will we know for sure?”
Harmony touched a finger to her lips, then to his. “Live here.”