Daisy St. James and the Forge of Fire ✔️

Chapter 3. The Proserpina Society

After school, Daisy pulled up to an old shop on Ravenwood Boulevard. Back when Abuela Thea used to visit, they came to the Scarborough Shop at least once a week. The tinkle of a purified silver bell reminded her of her abuela's odd melodies that doubled as spell incantations as she pushed the green door open— bright against the dark wood and glass windows out of an old-fashioned novel.

"Green is for protection— it makes you invisible to spirits." Daisy could hear Abuela Thea's voice as clearly as the bell.

She stepped in, and the overwhelmingly herbal scent, tinged with the smoke of incense, surrounded her seeping into her clothes and skin like the quilt Abuela Thea sewed for her sixteenth birthday.

Jars of herbs and unusual ingredients lined the walls, with labels scribbled onto duct-tape labels in crisp black ink with a steady hand. Tables of candles and cauldrons filled the storeroom floor.

"Just a minute! I'll be right with you!" A young voice called from the back room.

Daisy said nothing, and instead looked to the homemade bookshelf. Paperbacks that looked older than the premises of the shop were displayed. Their faded covers boasted of spells that were guaranteed to work.

Too many of them, Daisy decided, were about love spells.

She turned around as she heard footsteps, and saw a girl not much older than her emerge from behind the counter. She wore her hair in braided pigtails, and was a natural blonde, with streaks of blue and pink in an ombré style. Her clothes beneath the protective green apron declared that she was hip and most likely a student at Fort Sirena University who was only recently introduced to Wicca.

"Sorry to keep you waiting— there was a new shipment from the mainland, and Mrs. Macallister doesn't like to keep the new stuff waiting, especially when there's a chance for contamination," she said. "How can I help you?"

"Hi, Dominique," Daisy said, glancing at the college girl's name tag. "I was wondering if Mrs. Macallister or if Sarah was in?"

Dominique frowned. "Surely I can do whatever they're needed for—"

Daisy bit her lip. When she only came up to the hem of Abuela Thea's colorful dresses, she'd been taught the password that only Florian and the others of the Iliana line knew.

"I'm here about a pomegranate," Daisy said. "It's for the mermaids."

Dominique blinked, confused. Then recognition dawned on her, along with a healthy dose of fear.

"Sarah's in," Dominique said. "I'll go get her right now— sorry."

She vaulted over the counter and raced to the back. Seconds later, she returned with Sarah Garrison in tow.

Sarah was in her early thirties, with startling natural red hair and a bohemian look, with flowing skirts, flower crowns, and the contrasting pair of combat boots. Maternity treated her with an extra set of curves since Daisy had last seen her.

"Ah, Thea St. James's granddaughter," Sarah said. "Daisy, was it?"

She nodded.

"Ah, it's good to see you again." Sarah's roots as a cheerleader for Fort Sirena High showed a little too much in her peppy smile. "Sorry about Dominique— she's not one of us, but she knows about the Proserpina Society."

"It's alright." Daisy's gray eyes followed the poor college girl as she started stacking new glass jars in the built-in shelves, adjusting labels and writing some of her own.

"Word on the street has it that the DSA's putting together a crew for a big time mission, and they're testing all of their agents for it," Sarah said, giving the streets a side glance.

"I can't confirm or deny anything— it's all classified," Daisy said. The truth was, she knew nothing about what Sarah was talking about. "But that's not the point. I was wondering if you could take a look at something for me."

"An artifact?" Sarah raised her eyebrows, her cherry lips already shaped like an O.

"Yes." Her heart pounded as her fingers closed around the chain. She fished it out of her shirt, where it lie beneath her bra, close to her heart. "What can you tell me about this?"

Sarah lifted the medallion closer to her glasses, and Daisy let go of the chain as Sarah turned it over, running her fingers over the markings.

"Where did you get this?"

"Shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico that was carrying a rain-bringer diamond," Daisy said. "Found this among the other gold we brought in."

Sarah's eyes met Daisy's. "Anyone know you have this?"

"A few, but it's not a big deal," Daisy said. "My mom's got a bracelet she took from the Vaults. We're supposed to use them. Otherwise there's no point in retrieving all of this stuff."

"I see." Sarah looked back down at the medallion. "I'll admit— I'm not entirely sure what you have. But it's not Spanish, or any currency I know of."

Sarah then squinted, looking more closely at it. "If I had to make a guess, I'd say the markings and the shapes look Atlantean."

"Are you sure?" Daisy stepped back so quickly that she yanked the medallion out of Sarah's reach.

"Can't say for sure," Sarah admitted. "Edith might know someone who can tell you for sure. How long can you stay?"

"I need to get going." Daisy tucked her chain back under her shirt, and adjusted her collar to hide any evidence of it. "I need to drop off some things at my place before I go see Mom at the university."

Sarah nodded, understanding the meaning beneath Daisy's words.

"I'll give you a call," Sarah promised.

As Daisy drove home, she couldn't help but think of Abuela Thea and Abuelo Isaac. Both spoke fluent Spanish, since their families had come over with the original settlers of St. Augustine. But Abuela Thea's family had been in Fort Sirena forever.

In fact it used to be Isla Iliana— after her abuela's surname.

There were rumors about the Ilianas. They were wealthy, but no one could say exactly where they'd gotten it. They had their gold before coming to the New World. They were the original settlers of the island, and were the ones who gave it to Daisy's great-great-grandfather when they founded the DSA in the 1920's.

Rumor had it they were the ones who started rumors about the mermaids that gave the island its new name.

The only thing Abuela Thea ever confirmed was the rumor that the Ilianas were brujas— witches.

She'd been a member of the Proserpina Society— and was a prominent member of the St. Augustine chapter. It was an ally of the DSA's, a group of amateurs in the occult who viewed it all as a game, and experts who were too jaded after Watergate to ever trust the government with something as profound and deadly as magic.

Technically, Daisy was a member because of Abuela Thea. She lurked in meetings, never made a stir. She stayed in contact with the experts. But for some reason, Abuela Thea never talked to her, except through yearly birthday gifts and Christmas cards. She never came to visit, never emailed, and never returned any of Daisy's calls.

Any hopes of having a maternal figure other than Dr. Gillespie were pretty much in the toilet.

And Daisy didn't know why.