American Bruja: The Los Angeles Cauldron

Chapter 22. Aislinn McBride

Monday, August 8, 2011, 7:00 a.m. Los Angeles, California

I wake to the sound of Rose's cell phone ringing. Rising to my elbows, I roll over to snatch her phone from the bed stand. The incoming number looks international.

My eyes flick around the room for my sister. The bathroom door's closed. My sister – I mean – my mother - must be in the shower.

As my skin itches, my left hand snatches a strip of Suboxone. It's under my tongue before the aches and pains of withdrawal tear through my body. I answer the call with my right hand.

The woman on the phone speaks in a thick Irish brogue. "Rosalyn?"

"No, it's me, Aislinn."

The shower shuts off and Rose bursts from the bathroom in a towel. "Aunt Ester?"

I nod and put the phone on speaker.

Ester's disembodied voice floats across the room. "Yer father, he be dead."

The phone slips from my grip to land on the bed. Me and Rose exchange wide-eyed glances.

"When I went to the rest home, the staff tole me he died."

Rose gasps. "You're sure?"

Ester laughs in a barking cough. "I demanded to see the body. Nieces, I snatched the sheet off Seamus and checked for a pulse. When I didn't find one, I pinched his thigh. They'll have to screw him into the ground."

Rose pulls me to stand as her feet move in a little happy dance. "Praise be to Saint Brigid!"

"Indeed. Nieces, you owe me a visit. Bring Amber."

Hope flares in my heart. If Rose's rapist is dead, then Conlan's free of him. "What about Conlan?"

Aunt Ester snorts. "A bit of Seamus's trickery."

I squeeze Rose's fingers as tingling bursts from my chest to rush down my arms and legs. "Then explain to me how we saw Conlan in the Underground Seattle in 2007. Seamus didn't know I existed until a couple days ago."

She pulls me in for a hug and pats my hair. The scent of rosewater tickles my nostrils. "That psychologist Betty Morton probably conjured him."

My heart's squeezed in a vice, crushed under the weight of their denials. With both hands I shove Rose. "I'm not giving up! Conlan's here. I can feel him."

Aunt Ester groans. "Sorry my dear, but yer boy is dead."

I let loose a scream  as Rose ends the call.

The momentary joy over Seamus's death flees her face. Tears drip down her cheeks. "Aislinn, I can't bear to see your heart broken all over again."

For fuck's sake! I've got a chance to get my baby boy back, and she's treating me like a child. Like she's my mother.

The room seems to shrink and the air feels heavy. I've got to get out of here. Throwing the door open, I'm hit by a blast of hot air and the pungent scent of coffee.

I glance at my shorts and tank top, then at Rose in her towel. "I'll meet you in the kitchen."

The steamy air clings to my skin as I walk the brick pathway under the eaves. Through the kitchen windows facing the courtyard, I see my ex. He's wearing a crisp, collared white shirt and his muscular arm lifts a cup to his mouth. Just as he takes a sip, his hazel eyes meet mine. Christopher waves his free hand and gestures for me to join him.