Blackwater Lights by Michael M. Hughes Read Free Book Online

swirling stars, feeling those strong fingers against his skin, massaging the contours of his bones and muscles. He followed her words andbreathed deeply, in and out, until the stars stopped jumping around. Finally he exhaled and everything righted itself.
    “Come on. Let’s get up.” She shook his shoulders and pulled him to a sitting position. “You’re getting lost in your head. You need to move. Circulate that energy.” She pulled him to his feet. The world shifted and then solidified. Blood sloshed and energy pathways opened. She was right. It felt good to stand up. She put her hands on her hips. “Take off those silly boots.”
    He struggled with the laces and she helped him. His feet felt like they’d been liberated from a dank dungeon. He wiggled his toes. “Jesus. Thank you. Oh my God, that is so much better.”
    She held out her arms. “See all this? It’s a night-blooming garden. It comes alive in the moonlight.” She pulled him to a dark cluster of vines. “Smell that,” she said, closing his eyes with her fingertips and pushing his face forward into a bell-shaped white flower.
    “What is it?” he whispered.
    “Datura. Angel’s trumpet.” Her fingers slid through his hair like electricity. “A visionary plant.”
    He inhaled deeply.
Visionary. Like you
.
    She led him through the gardens, which extended far behind the house. The easy Ecstasy glow had overtaken the jittery come-on.
This
was the feeling he remembered—a loss of fear and an unabashed openness. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I think I was wigging out back there. I’m feeling more normal now. My eyes are still flicking back and forth like crazy.”
    “Nystagmus,” she said. “It happens with E.”
    “Yeah. It’s still happening, but not as much.” He breathed deeply. “This feels really, really good, Lily. Goddamn, this feels so good. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me.” His teeth squeaked as they scraped together.
    “Stop clenching,” she said, massaging Ray’s tight jaws. “It’s my pleasure, sharing this with you. He has one of the most specialized gardens in the world—there’s nothing like this anywhere else, on this scale. This much green magic.”
    Crawford. He was all she thought about.
    Her voice rose in pitch. “He trained with a
brujo
in Mexico, and a
vegetalista
in the Amazon. He learned their songs, the
icaros
they use to paint pictures in the air. And he trained as a chemist. He made this Ecstasy, in fact.” She danced to the distant beat from inside the house,eyes closed, swinging her arms from side to side.
    “Doesn’t he worry about … the police?”
    “He doesn’t have to worry. He has friends in all sorts of places.” Lily stopped swaying and put her hands on Ray’s shoulders. “He likes you,” she said. “I can tell. When I met you I knew you were perfect for him. For
us
. We could have a
lot
of fun together. Stuff you can’t even imagine.”
    Ray cocked his head, perplexed. Was she suggesting a threesome? “Like?”
    “He has a gift for finding people like you. He has lots of people who work for him. You should come and work with us, Ray.”
    “I’m not sure I understand what you mean. What kind of work?” Even with the Ecstasy short-circuiting all the negativity in his brain, the thought of working for Crawford gave him the creeps.
    “Well … like manifesting things. Making things happen. Connecting people. Reshaping reality.” She closed her eyes. “The Great Work.”
    “I … I’m not sure I understand.”
    “You will. But we have plenty of time to talk about specifics. I want to have some more fun while I’m feeling this good.” She reached into a pocket inside her skirt and pulled out a glass vial. “Let’s snort some 2C-B and go swimming.” She put her arm around him and pulled.
    Ray held her arm. He was still a little unsteady. “What’s 2C-B?”
    “More fun stuff,” she said, tugging at him. “Let’s go. I feel like getting naked.” She poked