Black Hat, White Witch

by Edwards, Hailey

  Shutting my eyes again, I dowsed for signs of magic. A quiver shot down my arm, alerting me to residual energies. Taylor had concealed whatever spell he cast, but Colby’s light magnified its stain on the earth. I focused on Camber and Arden, their faces, their voices, their laughter, and swept my arm in a wider arc.

  A pulse shot up my arm, straight to my heart, and I gasped as my eyes opened on a new direction.

  “We just came from there.” Clay rubbed his nape. “Are you sure you’re not picking up on the fight?”

  A lot of magic had been thrown around near the pond. It was a miasma of dark and light energies.

  “Probably.” I rubbed my face with my hands. “Any word from the Kellies?”

  “I’m sorry.” Colby snuggled against my scalp. “I thought I could help.”

  “You did help.” I patted her. “Your magic is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I must be channeling it wrong.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” She crept forward then leaned over my forehead. “We’re a team now, right?”

  “Taylor held the girls captive for hours before he called,” Clay cut in, sparing me from explaining to Colby how tonight made it that much more dangerous for people to discover her existence. “What was he doing?”

  “The magic here is faint.” I thought about how it felt. “He might have been meditating.”

  Black witches tended to require time to come back to themselves after large expenditures of power.

  That, or the darkness they unleashed within themselves turned them stark raving mad.

  “What was he doing at the pond?” Clay glanced back the way we had come. “For eight hours?”

  The better question was what had he done there to expend so much power he had to recenter himself.

  “Nothing good,” the daemon rumbled. “Go back?”

  “I’m going to dowse and walk.” I pointed to each of them. “Don’t let me smack into a tree.”

  “Where’s the trust?” Clay laughed. “You know I won’t let you kiss bark.”

  Allowing my eyes to close, I extended my arms and addressed Colby. “Ready?”

  Wings aflutter, she yelled, “Ready.”

  Careful not to burn her out, I modulated the flow of power from Colby into me, and we got to work.

  Deep within my casting, I was aware of the occasional nudge or bump to prevent me from crashing, but I ignored the physical contact to focus on the destination. Until a wide palm wrapped around my arm and stopped my forward motion with gentle insistence that caused me to open my eyes.

  We had arrived.

  And by arrived, I meant we had walked a perfect circle right back to where we started at the pond.

  The daemon holding on to me studied the area but shrugged when he discovered nothing new.

  “Don’t let me tip into the water,” I told him, then nudged Colby. “Let’s dial up the juice.”

  “Okay.” She jittered with excitement. “I’m ready.”

  Before I got my arm lifted, she channeled a flood of white light through me that spat out my wand to fizz and pop on the surface of the pond. I honed my focus, but her power was insistent. We had found them.

  Calling upon my will, I broke the connection between Colby and me then staggered back.

  “They’re in the pond.” I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. “There was too much residual energy after the battle for me to sense them, but this is it. The girls are here. They have to be.” I hit my knees in the mud. “I can’t believe…”

  A firm hand landed on each of my shoulders as Clay and the daemon comforted me.

  Grief roiling through me, I tipped back my head to stare at the night sky and spotted the rusty chain.

  “You don’t think…?” I lurched back to my feet and fisted its taut length. “We have to check.”

  Until we exhausted all leads, we weren’t going anywhere. I couldn’t face Miss Dotha or the girls’ parents otherwise. The girls couldn’t have survived this long underwater without help, but Taylor was a skilled witch. There were several ways he could have submerged them long-term while keeping them alive to use as bargaining chips, and that would explain where he spent his magic.

  “There’s tension on it.” Clay sounded surprised. “The way it hangs into the water makes it hard to tell.”

  The thick links made for a sturdy but heavy chain one of the teens must have pilfered from a parent.

  “Pull,” the daemon told him, gripping the chain. “For Rue.”

  The guys put their backs into hauling the chain out of the murky pond, link by slimy link, while I kept a wary eye on the water for any traps Taylor might have set. Colby peered over my head, helping, though I wanted nothing more than to send her up to a high limb to watch from there or even back to my SUV.

  But the familiar was out of the bag now. Good luck stuffing her back in it. I would have to allow Colby to make her own decisions about how—and if—she used her powers. To rob her of choice would make me as bad or worse than the Stag or Taylor.

  “It’s stuck.” Clay braced his legs. “There’s definitely something down there bumping the sides.”

  “Then I’m going in.” I lifted Colby in the air. “I hope there aren’t leaches.” I shuddered. “Colby, you’re my lookout.” I stripped down to my bra and panties, grateful the daemon saw the floorshow instead of Asa. “Guys, I’m going to lower myself using the chain. Don’t panic if you feel it jerking.” I hesitated. “Actually, do panic if you feel it jerking, but light wiggling is fine.”

  “Bad idea,” the daemon grumbled. “New plan.”

  “We don’t know what shape the girls are in.” I refused to voice my darkest worries. “I have to do this.”

  “She’s right.” Clay looped extra chain around his fist for a better grip. “The time to act is now.”

  Taking his advice to heart, I followed the chain into the water, my hand sliding over the slick links. Fear I might drop my wand into the abyss forced me to leave it behind, but I wasn’t happy about it. After murmuring a spell for illumination in the hopes the burning globe would light my way, I filled my lungs with air and let myself sink.

  Hand over hand, I hauled myself into the darkness with my eyes slitted against the filth of the water.

  The ball of light drifted slowly ahead of me, but visibility was low. I didn’t see the cage until my guide dipped between its wooden bars and bounced off a pale shoulder.

  Scooping the light into my palm, I shone it side to side until I located a thick root piercing the enclosure. I braced a hip on the wall, dug my toes into the muck to brace myself, then jiggled until the cage jerked free.

  Once I verified it was clear of entanglements, I gave two hard pulls to signal to the guys I was done.

  A hard yank knocked me into the opposite wall as the cage shot past me. Shoving off the packed mud, I hooked my fingers into the bottom of the cage and rode it all the way to the surface.

  The second air hit my face, the daemon was there, his arm an iron band around my waist as he dragged me to shore.

  Coughing and spluttering, I watched Clay secure the chain to hold the cage above the water.

  Now that I could see the whole picture, I wish I hadn’t opened my eyes.

  Camber and Arden huddled together, their fingers laced, and their heads bowed until their hair tangled.

  “Are they…?” Clay stepped into the water. “Did you check for a pulse?”

  “No,” I rasped, my throat sore like I had been screaming. Maybe I had been.

  Slow to leave my side, the daemon joined Clay in pulling the cage onto shore and unhooking it.

  “There’s no door.” Clay scratched his head. “The bottom must be hinged.”

  On trembling legs, I stood and joined them. Upon closer examination of the cage, I wanted to kill Taylor all over again. “He grew it around them.”

  There were no hinges, no seams, no doors. No escape. The entire piece had been twisted from roots and vines that had slithered under and around the girls until i
t finished weaving the spoked dome over them.

  No wonder they had been screaming. They were terrified. He had sealed them in and made me listen.

  The spell he used on the fae girls he preyed on wouldn’t work on humans. Their souls were too faint, too ephemeral, to make consuming them worthwhile unless there was no other food source available.

  But there were petrification spells, freeze spells, sleep spells, any number of vicious options that killed their target, if they remained in stasis for too long. Hard to believe, but those were the best-case scenarios.

  Before I understood her intent, Colby flew between the bars to land on Camber’s shoulder.

  Eyes shut, wings flexing, Colby’s power lit her tiny body.

  “They’re alive.” She shot up over to me. “I don’t know what’s wrong, though.”

  Sweet relief crashed through me. “We can work with that.”

  “Want me to crack it open?” Clay tested the bars. “They seem flexible enough.”

  “Yes.” I didn’t waste more time dressing, just retrieved my wand. “We need it off them.”

  The daemon gripped two thick vines and strained with all his might. They bent, but they didn’t break.

  Clay tried his luck, but he might as well have been wrestling with a ball of rubber bands.

  “It must be part of the spell.” I touched my wand to a vine for a reading. “It’s definitely part of the spell.”

  “Rue.” Clay rushed to my side. “Don’t move.”

  Heart kicking up, I froze in place as he cupped my shoulder. Jerking my head toward his hand, I watched as Colby’s legs buckled. The stubborn girl hadn’t warned me she was fading, but Clay had been keeping an eye on her. She slid off me into his waiting palm with a sigh and didn’t so much as twitch afterward.

  “Colby.” I grasped his hand, yanking it to me, certain my worst fears had come true. “Are you…?”

  I knew I shouldn’t let her help. I knew it. But I did it anyway. I even liked it.

  No, no, no.

  “She’s asleep.” He smiled softly down at her. “Her battery is empty.”

  For several long seconds, I watched to be sure she was breathing easy. “I think you’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right.” He cradled her gently. “Look, I’ve known a lot of familiars in my time. A hundred or more. I’ve seen burnout before. Many times. This might be my first loinnir, but I’m telling you that’s what this is.” He scanned the pond. “She threw around a lot of magic. Probably discharged an accumulation since she’s never functioned in her familiar capacity.”

  The cage waited beyond, but this was Colby. “You’re sure…?”

  “I’m sure.” He held her close in a gesture of protection. “I’ve got her. You work on the girls.”

  “Let me grab my kit.” I needed all the help I could get without Colby. “I should be able to do this solo.”

  The idea of leaving the girls stuck as they were until Colby recovered was out of the question.

  I started by pouring a salt circle around them and sealing it with three drops of my blood. From there, I burnt herbal offerings in a caldron the size of my palm. I lit a bundle of dragon’s blood sage for potency and protection and walked a slow circuit around the cage, filling the air with its heady smoke and earthy fragrance. A few blood crystals placed and blessed at the four corners gave me another boost.

  I just hoped it was enough.

  With enough preparation time, I could work minor miracles even on my new diet. I prayed to any and all gods and goddesses who listened that this unraveling revived the girls, but they rarely favored me. I made my own luck.

  Pressure built behind my breastbone in stark contrast to the easy flow I channeled earlier, but this magic came from me. It was all mine. What remained of it. I could do this, but it would cost me. Lucky for me, I had Clay here to catch me if I fell. And, though ours was a new and tenuous trust, Asa too.

  And his daemon.

  He would probably save me for the sake of having someone to pet him.

  As my chant built to a crescendo, I aimed my wand and unleashed my counterspell on the circle with a tap.

  A beat before my eyes rolled back in my head, I swore I heard twin inhales that exhaled on screams.

  16

  A familiar scent roused me from sleep. Tobacco. And…green apples?

  From deeper in the house, Colby barked orders while she battled orcs with her friends. But a rhythmic click, click, click kept steady time at my elbow. That was not part of the game, and they only ever played one.

  Cracking my eyes open, I discovered Asa sitting in a chair stolen from the kitchen beside my bed. Rimless glasses perched on his nose, and the beginnings of a scarf poised on a pair of wooden knitting needles.

  A tiny part of me wondered if that was what he had been whittling in my yard that day, but I didn’t ask.

  “Am I dreaming?” I angled my head to see him better. “You wear glasses? And knit?”

  “We all need our hobbies.” He set aside his project. “Stakeouts are boring.” He removed his glasses. “It’s not that I need these to see. I need them to see beyond.” He leaned forward. “Tinkkit is an ancient fae craft my mother taught me. I knit intent into my work, and my daemon half has trouble perceiving the strands of the natural positive energy I channel. The spelled glass helps me block out my daemon sight.”

  “You’re a fascinating dae, Asa.” I wiped the crust from my eyes. “Maybe one day you could…”

  A gasp caught in my chest as it all rushed back to me, and I bolted upright, my heart racing a mile a minute.

  “Shh.” He gripped my upper arms to hold me still. “The girls are alive and well and in the hospital.”

  A twist in my middle left me tasting bile. “The hospital?”

  “They’re being treated for exposure and shock.” He stroked his thumbs over my arms. “The spell hit the girls hard, and they hadn’t shaken it off when the paramedics arrived. That type of magic isn’t meant for use on humans, so it was in their best interest to be examined by human health professionals.”

  Wetting my lips, I screwed up my courage. “What do they remember…?”

  “Not much.” He gave me a reassuring squeeze. “They were unconscious for most of it.”

  “You interviewed them.”

  As much as I wished he hadn’t asked them to relieve their trauma, he had no choice. I had explained him away as a cop, so the girls would have trusted him. They would have answered his questions without the trepidation that came from a formal interrogation. That much, I had done right. I still didn’t like it.

  “I had to know what precautions to take.” He flexed his jaw, as if he regretted the necessity. “I gave both of the girls a dose of a mild potion to blur the edges of their memories. That ought to protect them.”

  From Black Hat. From the director. From a truth that would wreck and ruin them.

  “Thank you,” I rasped, grateful beyond measure for his quick thinking.

  Agents kept an emergency tin of potions in their cars, a magical first aid kit, but the pre-mixed spells had a shelf life and required immediate application to be effective. That wasn’t always possible, and humans died because what they had seen or heard couldn’t be blurred, smudged, or faded in time to save them.

  “Colby?” Her steady voice assured me she was all right, but I had to know if she was okay. “How is she?”

  “Clay was right.” Asa slid his hands down to my elbows. “She was exhausted, but she’s fine.”

  His assurance shoved a weight off my shoulders, and I shut my eyes to soak in the fact I hadn’t hurt her.

  This time. Next time? I didn’t want to think about it. But I knew Colby was sizing us for matching superhero costumes in her mind.

  “We found Taylor’s car.” Asa let me go, and I missed his steadying grip. “This was inside.”

  A heavy weight landed on my lap, and I popped my eyes open to find a pale leather grimoire.

  “There’s
a part, near the back, that might help you put everything into perspective.”

  “You read it?” I felt dirty just holding it. “You didn’t read it aloud, right?”

  “Black arts don’t bother me much. Daemon, remember?” His smile was tolerant. “And I’m no fool.”

  “Sorry.” I touched his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to imply…”

  “I understand your caution.” He tilted his head, listening. “I’m going to tell the others you’re awake.”

  “Thank you.” I caught his hand as he stood. “I mean it.”

  Without another word, he bent and brushed his warm lips across my suddenly hot and tingly cheek.

  Shoving handsome agents who knitted out of my mind, I cracked open the grimoire to a marked page.

  I read the passage, reread the passage, then well and truly felt like a fool of the highest order.

  What I did to Colby wasn’t an accident. It was a conscious decision. For us both. But I never intended her to fulfil her role as my familiar. Therefore, I didn’t study her rare condition, our unique bond, or anything else to do with what happened that night. We both chose to pretend this was how we had always been.

  Last night—I assumed it was last night?—proved that ignorance was not bliss.

  According to the grimoire, Taylor hypothesized that since I’d bound Colby to me at the height of my power that she would have a greater capacity for storing and channeling magic. But she was a soul given form. An innocent soul. The rarest and most powerful kind. Children of a certain age were often targeted by supernatural predators for that exact reason. In binding Colby, I had caught pure lightning in a bottle.

  And, according to the numerous spells outlined in the grimoire, anyone could pop her cap and drink.

  All they had to do was kill me first so that our bond would release Colby’s soul.

  As I flipped deeper into the book, I discovered the complex spell Taylor used for creating his masque and worse. Far worse. Curses. Enchantments. Soul magic.

  The door burst open on cat-size Colby and Clay, and I shoved the grimoire under my pillow.

  I took a moth right between the eyes as she smacked into my face and clung tight to my hair.