Any Witch Way (The Witch Next Door Book 3)

by Judith Berens

  “Do you want me to drive?” she asked.

  “No, I got this. I think it takes considerable brainpower and even more patience with that one to spend hours on teaching simple spells. They are simple, right?”

  She smirked. “Yeah. I wouldn’t allow anything else.” Jeeze, I have to talk in riddles simply to keep her from knowing what I’m talking about.

  “You think she’s still listening, don’t you?”

  “You know, I do like it when you can almost read my mind.”

  He laughed and steered them back onto the narrow dirt road leading to Highway 307. “So do I. You know, it’s been a while since I’ve played a good guessing game.”

  Lily stared at him. “Are you talking about the same game you didn’t think I could understand?”

  “The one that got me in trouble?” He looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows. “Yep. We know she can’t understand me.”

  “That might change soon.” She resisted the urge to turn and watch Rosalía again.

  “Woah. Do you think she’s that good?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. And it keeps getting proven.”

  He sniggered. “This is fun. I dunno if it’s harder for me to think of the right questions or for you to come up with super-vague, completely useless answers out of context.”

  “Hurray.” She said it so flatly, it made them both laugh.

  “Okay. So you came up with a new part of the translator spell.”

  “Which needs a much better name.”

  “True. How’d you work that out?”

  She stared at him. “Take a wild guess.”

  “Wow, really? She did?”

  “Yep.”

  Romeo’s mouth turned down out the corners and he tilted his head in admiration. “I’m surprised and not surprised at the same time. How’d she even come up with the idea?”

  If I just say book or reading, that kid’s gonna know exactly what kind of conversation this is. She wrinkled her nose and stared out the passenger window. “From one of your tools.”

  “Huh?” He glanced quickly at her, then back at the road. “I don’t have any—oh.” A chuckle escaped him. “Look at us. Solving a puzzle together. That we made.”

  “It’s great that you’re so easily entertained.”

  “Ha! Okay. She found a book in your duffel bag. A magical book?”

  “Ding, ding, ding.”

  “Hmm. I assume she wasn’t supposed to.”

  Lily smoothed the hair back from her forehead and pursed her lips. “And neither was I. For a long time.”

  “Did you, though?”

  “Not until legal adulthood.”

  “How come?”

  She frowned as she tried to come up with a vague answer for that one. “It had very specific…deterrents at the time.”

  “Oh, it was one of your mom’s books.”

  She turned to stare at him. “How’d you get that out of what I said?”

  “Lily, I’m very sure Greta was the only person in your life who’s been able to keep you from doing whatever you wanted.” He laughed at her darkening frown. “I mean that in a good way. No one can stop you when you really want something. Except for your mom.”

  “Wow.” She smirked. “It’s a good thing this game isn’t about trying to stump each other. Apparently, you know me too well.”

  “No.” He sent her a glance laced with something she couldn’t put her finger on. “There’s no such thing.” A short silence followed while he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “So this little witch sittin’ back there on the couch got through the wards or whatever that you weren’t able to crack until you were eighteen. And she read the book.”

  “Uh…it didn’t—”

  “Oh, wait. Is that what’s bothering you? You think she’s smarter now than you were at that age?”

  “No. You didn’t let me finish.”

  Romeo laughed. “Right. Sorry. Please continue.”

  She smirked at him. “Those deterrents fell away three years ago, right? They weren’t in place for this…most recent instance.” The odd way she had to say that made her laugh at herself. “Yeah, I know. That sounded really weird. But you know what I mean.”

  “Right. Got it. So it was already much easier for her.”

  “Yep.” Lily nodded and looked out the window. Did he actually nail that on the head? She might be smarter than me, but am I really bothered by that?

  “So what was goin’ on with you earlier?” His brows flickered together when he looked quickly at her again. “I know something was bothering you. I could see it. If you were worried about her being a better witch than you or something, I’d simply tell you that was almost impossible. Even if she got through your mom’s wards, which didn’t happen. So…” He shrugged. “I think I’m stumped now.”

  “Yeah, this one’s harder.” She took a deep breath and really had to think about exactly why another knot currently tightened in the pit of her stomach. “I heard something.”

  “From her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s what’s bothering you?”

  “I think so.”

  Romeo pressed his lips together. “Did she try to get you to teach her powerful spells again this morning?”

  “Bingo.”

  “And you don’t like it that she keeps pushing.”

  Lily dropped her head back against the headrest and puffed out a sigh. “Nope. This is the most ridiculous conversation we’ve ever had. We should simply put this on hold until things have cleared a little.” She nodded toward the back of the RV again, then glanced in the rearview mirror above the passenger seat. The reflection there showed Rosalía sitting cross-legged with closed eyes on the couch, her head against the back cushion and her hands resting limply at her sides. She’s either really concentrating on some magic, or she fell asleep. I’m still not gonna take the chance.

  “Yeah, okay.” Romeo flexed his fingers on the steering wheel and adjusted his grip.

  They moved down the slightly winding highway, over hills studded with trees much taller this far south and entirely tropical plants. After a while, they began to climb significantly in elevation and the trees around them looked more like a jungle as the Winnie struggled up and down on the bumpy roads.

  “Do you want any music?” he asked.

  She leaned her head against the seat and shrugged. “Sure. Play whatever you want.” I should be talking to him right now ʼcause I think I’m starting to worry about what we’re driving into.

  “Lily?”

  “Yeah.”

  He fumbled in her purse on the center console without taking his attention off the road and finally found her phone and held it out to her. “Whatever’s going on in your head, it’s obviously messing with you. We don’t have to talk about it. But you can at least write it down so I don’t have to sit here wondering what I can do to help.”

  Lily scowled at the device but took it reluctantly. “I don’t know what you can do to help.”

  “Well, usually, all it takes is me saying a few encouraging things to remind you of whatever you’ve forgotten, and it ends up working itself out.”

  She laughed. “Maybe you should be a psychologist.”

  “What? No way. You gotta go to college for that. Right now, I wanna be…well, I simply wanna help you.”

  “Which is also something you’re really good at.” They smiled at each other, but it was a little awkward without actually being able to discuss what was going on. She unlocked her phone and typed a text message out with no receiving number because she wasn’t going to send it to anyone.

  ‘She told me she wanted to learn spells that hurt people to make people stop doing bad things. Now, I can’t help wondering how many spells she read in that book and how much she will remember. She won’t have anyone to teach her how to use them the right way once we take these kids home. If she tries to use seriously powerful offensive magic on her own, so many things could go wrong and we don’t have the time t
o stick around so I can teach her. We have to keep looking for my mom.’

  She read through the message again and considered it carefully. It would’ve made a really long text. I didn’t know I could dump that all out in so few words. She held her phone out again for him, and he took it slowly from her. His gaze flickered up and down between the screen and the road. “Do you wanna pull over for that?”

  “Nope. I’m good.”

  While his driving didn’t seem to be affected, she watched the road with him just in case. After a few minutes, he set her phone in her purse and sighed. Lily watched his profile and waited for the encouraging reminder of whatever she’d forgotten.

  “Thanks for doing that,” he said finally.

  “Yeah, well, I’ll ignore the fact that it feels exactly like passing notes in fourth grade.”

  Romeo laughed. “Your writing’s definitely improved.”

  She rolled her eyes and looked out across the sprawling green landscape of hills and blue sky and lush, green forests. “Okay…”

  “So, this might be a first for me, Lil, but I don’t think I have anything to say that’s gonna make you feel any better right now.”

  “Honestly, that’s fine. I didn’t expect you to.” She nodded slowly. “I should’ve paid more attention to where I put my stuff and how to…keep everything safe.” When she looked into the rearview mirror again, Rosalía hadn’t moved from her position. Maybe she did fall asleep. “If anything happens and someone gets hurt, at least we’ll both know who to blame.”

  “What?” He startled like he’d woken abruptly and shook his head. “That’s not what I was gonna say. Like, at all.”

  “It’s not?”

  “No. Lily, this isn’t…” He licked his lips and frowned at the highway. “This isn’t about blaming someone or failing or guilt-tripping yourself. I wouldn’t ever say anything like that to you anyway.”

  “No, I know that.” Her cheeks flared with heat. “I know you wouldn’t say that. But if you did, I’d totally get it ʼcause that’s what I’m already thinking.”

  “Well, stop it.” His playful chuckle died when he looked at her again and saw her tightly pressed lips and the slight flush in her cheeks. “Oh, man. Hey, when I said I couldn’t tell you anything to make you feel better, I didn’t mean I literally had nothing to say. Or that I think you should punish yourself for…I dunno. Feeling like you failed to keep other people from endangering themselves?” He set the back of his hand on the center console and wiggled his fingers.

  “Okay, I admit that I’m totally confused right now.”

  “Lily.” He looked at her and held her gaze. “I won’t look at the road until you take my hand.”

  “Don’t do that.” She darted a pointed glance at the road. “Focus on driving, please.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “Romeo.”

  He widened his eyes.

  “Oh, my God.” She slapped her hand into his, and he turned his focus to the highway to correct his blind driving, thankfully before another bend ahead. “Talk about failing to keep people out of danger.”

  “That’s not what I said.” He laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand. “I said failing to keep other people from endangering themselves. That’s the part of this I know you won’t like, okay? ʼCause it’s one more thing you can’t fix.”

  She took a deep breath. “Yeah, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  He smirked and it slid into a sigh. “Okay, but hear me out. It might take a while, but eventually, it could make you feel better. Are you ready?”

  “Oh, come on.” She uttered a wry huff of a laugh. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

  “You aren’t responsible for what anyone else does or doesn’t do.”

  “Yeah, but I—”

  “Wait. Hold on a sec.” He squeezed her hand again. “I know you. And now I know about the conversation you guys had this morning. I can’t imagine any other scenario where you didn’t stop her right there and explain to her why it’s a really bad idea to barge in, guns blazing, without even knowing how to hold or load or shoot a gun. Right?”

  “Essentially. Without all the firearms.”

  “Right. And I know you explained it in a way that she understands because I watched you explain everything else when you guys were doing that ball-of-light thing last night.” She snorted, which made him smile. “But seriously. Yeah, it’s not ideal that she snagged one of your mom’s magical books and started filing away all the stuff in there that even I don’t think a kid her age should know.”

  “Which is why I feel so horrible.”

  “No, I meant that only as in I trust your mom’s judgment.”

  Lily leaned her head back against the seat again. “Yeah, she knows what she’s doing. I understand that much more now, too.”

  “I’m sure that’s how it’s supposed to work. It’d be creepy if we appreciated our parents like that from the beginning.” She had to laugh at that and he merely shook his head. “Back to my point. You told her what she needs to know and in exactly the way she needed to hear it. Obviously, she’s smart enough to put two and two together when the most powerful witch she’s ever seen tells her she’s not ready to use the things she wasn’t supposed to see. Lily, whatever she does after that is on her. It’s one thing if you chose not to warn her, but you didn’t. Now, it’s up to her. Whatever choice she makes on her own and whatever happens because of it is only on her. Ever. Not you. You can’t fix other people’s choices.”

  “Romeo—”

  “I dunno. Maybe you think that sounds lazy or like you’re dumping your responsibility and washing your hands clean. But it doesn’t mean you don’t have a conscience.”

  “Okay—”

  “I only wanna make sure you know that you’re not responsible for everyone around you who makes bad choices. That’s way too much—”

  “Hey.”

  He turned to look at her with wide eyes. “Yeah?”

  This time, she squeezed his hand and smiled. “You’re rambling and I only wanted to say thank you.”

  Romeo opened his mouth to reply, then closed it again.

  “You’re totally right. No, it doesn’t really make me feel better, and yeah, I have issues with sending the ball off into someone else’s court. But I know you’re right so that was exactly what I needed to hear.”

  “Good.” Another few minutes passed in silence before he snorted. “I was rambling?”

  “A little, yeah.” She wiggled their joined hands. “But it was cute so you get points for that.”

  Fourteen

  “Hey, Rosalía.” Romeo glanced into the rearview mirror as the girl opened her eyes and straightened on the couch to look at him. “We’re about five minutes from Plan de Ayutla.”

  She grinned. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’m gonna need your help to get the rest of the way after that. Do you think you can give me directions?”

  “Definitely.”

  He patted the center console. “Awesome. But be careful coming up here, all right?”

  The girl glanced at her still-sleeping brother and slipped off the couch. Lily laughed when she ducked into a low crouch and waddled toward the front seats. She squatted behind the center console and looked with wide eyes through the windshield at the buildings rising up ahead. “It’s really easy.”

  “I like easy.”

  Needless to say, it wasn’t easy at all. The truth was that they wouldn’t have been able to navigate the route to the village if someone had given them written instructions. Most of the roads in Plan de Ayutla didn’t have street signs and they couldn’t exactly be considered real streets, either.

  The girl was a diligent navigator, however. “Oh, there! Turn left there.”

  “Where?”

  “Right after that building.”

  “Kid, they all look the same.”

  “After the…one, two, three, fourth building on the left.”

  This was the way they made t
heir way through Plan de Ayutla and out of it again toward her village. “This doesn’t even look like a road,” Lily said and clutched the armrests as the Winnie bumped and rocked over the exact opposite of a well-paved road.

  “Okay, that bush with the orange flowers…” Rosalía jabbed her finger at the windshield. “You have to go around it and cut back to find the other road. There was a huge sinkhole here last year.”

  “Oh.” The couple exchanged a glance. “That’s fun.”

  The entire half-hour passed in this fashion while he followed impossible directions from a kid who knew exactly what she was talking about. Finally, the undergrowth and the thick vegetation began to thin a little and the Winnie rolled onto hard-packed dirt in front of dozens of buildings literally in the middle of the jungle. Most of them were not much more than boxes with only one room, or two at most, built with plain wooden slats and raised on stilts. Almost all had a platform on one side to act as a porch. Clotheslines held brightly colored belongings out to dry in the sun. A few doorways were covered with woven curtains in the same bright colors, which also matched the brilliant hues in the baskets of fruit on almost every porch, some resting higher on added shelving but most of them on the ground outside the door.

  Rosalía squeaked and leapt out of her crouch. “We’re home!” She ran to her twin on the couch and almost jumped on top of him. “Wake up. Hey, we’re home. Filipe!”

  The boy sucked in a breath and jerked awake. He shoved his sister off him with surprising force and she bounced across the couch. Rosalía laughed and pounced on him again. They shoved and kicked and jostled each other onto the floor before they scrambled to their feet and rushed to the Winnie’s side door.

  The girl thumped against the door so hard, Lily thought it would split. She fumbled with the latch and managed to open it, Filipe pushed her off the last step, and they raced across the packed dirt toward the buildings. By the time they both thought to shout—and alert everyone to the fact that they’d returned—neither Lily nor Romeo could hear who it was who actually yelled at the tops of their lungs.