Where The Numinous Awaits

Ch. 16: Nixie's Voice

August 23 | Day

Hearing voices coming from the shed early the next morning, I went to investigate and found Dex and Abuela Maya huddled over some kind of experiment. Both women wore protective goggles, Abuela's held on by a colorful beaded lanyard. A long countertop against one wall of the outbuilding operated as a workstation where lab equipment cluttered the surface, and a bulbous glass bottle bubbled pearlescent liquid over a burner.

Dex glanced over her shoulder when I walked in. "Morning, princess," she greeted me. Our eyes latched and held for one second, two, three...four. The chemistry between us was electric. I ducked to hide a smile.

"What are you working on?" I asked.

"An order for Darcy Cyprian," she replied.

"Isn't he the vampire after my book?" Frowning, I rested an elbow on her desk.

"One and the same. He contacted me about a substance called the Hermetic Draught, and since it's common knowledge that I'm a potions master, I couldn't turn him down. But, with this, I can keep tabs on how close he gets to finding out that we have The Book of Tides." She dabbed at her forehead with the back of her wrist and moved to show me an image on her computer. "Take a look," she said.

On the screen was a tattered page of ancient text, stained with age and dirt. I could barely make out the faded handwriting, and I didn't recognize any of the ingredients. It was still mind-boggling to me that spell books and magic potions actually existed.

I shook my head. "I don't like the idea of you working for him. How will this help us?"

"Darcy believes the Hermetic Draught is the key to unsealing the Map of Destiny, an artifact that leads to whatever a man desires. Theoretically, it can lead him to The Book of Tides," Dex explained as she renewed her work. "Now, I did some research and discovered that the map was originally sealed by druids and should require an equally skilled mage to open it. However, if Darcy thinks the draught will work, then it just might."

Abuela dripped a dropperful of a viscous brown fluid into the beaker. "I have some familiarity with our foe. He used to be much more subtle in his pursuits of power, but lately something has him desperate to cement his reign over the Council of Overlay Affairs. Could it be the coming Age?" she asked.

"The Age of Magic?" Dex shrugged.

I didn't know what they were talking about, and it showed on my face.

"Wondrous new technologies have opened minds," Abuela Maya said to me, "and the impossible has become commonplace. Humans are connecting the dots about spiritual practices from around the world, realizing that consciousness is a powerful tool that can bend reality, in effect, ushering magic back into the hands of mankind.

"In addition, scientific breakthroughs in the fields of quantum physics and neurobiology are providing evidence to support what we are seeing." She pushed up her safety goggles. "Before long, this higher vibration of human consciousness, in combination with perhaps sentient technology, will unleash limitless potentials, and Supernaturals like Darcy Cyprian are right to be afraid."

I stared at the potion they were crafting. "So, what does the vampire's ambitions mean for us?"

"As far as Dracy is concerned, this definitely impacts our timeline." Dex leaned against her workstation and crossed her legs at the ankles. Her intense gaze traveled my body and returned to my eyes. A shiver of pleasure at being admired coursed through me.

I placed my hands on a glass display case in the middle of the shed and studied the delicate biome of fungi and lichen that it housed. Thoughts of magic spells and artificial intelligence and power-hungry Supernaturals swirled around in my head. "Then we need to hit the museum tonight," I determined.