Amy sunk back and took another deep breath. “I was walking down the street, but everything began to feel weird. It was like I was dizzy, or nauseous, or something. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I didn’t like it. I pulled out my wand, but the next thing I knew, everything went black. When I woke up, I was paralyzed, in some sort of cave. I was on a chair, but the only thing I could do was breathe and move my eyes.”
“Did you see Titan at all?”
Amy grimaced. “Yes. He came in at one point. He told me that he was keeping me here until you arrived, and that after that he was going to kill me as well. He was using me as bait to try and attract you. There were a couple of candles that lit the room, and I managed to cast a spell that sent them toward him. The candles set his robes on fire, but he managed to put it out. He was obviously mad; he hadn’t expected me to be able to cast a spell without my wand or words. After that, he forced me to drink a potion, and everything was different. It was like my thoughts were slower than normal, and I couldn’t think as clearly as before.”
I nodded. “Heather just gave you the antidote to that one.”
“It was the most vile potion I’ve ever experienced,” Amy said with a grimace. “I kept trying to cast more spells, even though I couldn’t speak, but I just couldn’t get my brain to focus powerfully enough.”
“Now you know what it’s like being one of us mere paranormals who can’t do that,” Ellie said with a grin.
“I couldn’t think of what to do. I heard Tina’s voice a few minutes later, but I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t help, at all, but I did try to stop her from coming. I didn’t want you putting yourselves in danger to come after me. After that, time kind of melded into a bit of a blur. I don’t know how long it had been until I heard Ellie’s voice in my ear. I thought it was a joke for a minute, but then I saw the broom floating. A rush of adrenaline must have hit me, because for the first time in a while I felt almost like myself, but then it passed. I remember coming here, and I saw Heather for a second, and then I passed out.”
“That’s right, I gave you something to sleep,” Heather replied softly. “We weren’t sure what else Titan might have done to you.”
“Nothing,” Amy said, shaking her head. “At least, nothing that I know about. No strange curses or spells or anything of the kind.”
“That fits with what we’ve discovered,” Heather confirmed. “As far as we can tell, there’s been nothing else cast on or given to you besides the potion to slow your mental capacities.”
Amy nodded. “Well, I am very grateful to all of you. I can’t believe you went to all that trouble to save me.”
“Of course we did,” Sara said. “We weren’t going to leave you in the clutches of that monster.”
“Well, I’m going to sleep some more for now,” Amy said. “Can someone please find out how I did on my exam?”
I laughed despite myself. Only Amy could come out of a harrowing life-threatening situation and still care about her grades. She was truly the Hermione Granger of the magical world.
Heather gave Amy some more potion to help her sleep. She then looked at us and asked if we needed it. Honestly, a part of me didn’t want to sleep, but I knew my body was exhausted. Heather seemed to realize exactly what the three of us were thinking, because she immediately cast a spell that conjured up three mattresses, pillows, and blankets, and ordered us onto the floor.
“I don’t care if you’re not checked in as patients, you all need some sleeping potion. You’ve been through a lot and your bodies need some rest.”
“What about The Witching Flour?” Ellie asked with a yawn.
“I’ll go put a sign up that you’re dealing with a personal issue and won’t be around for a few days,” Heather said. “Now come on. The three of you need some sleep.”
We all lay down on our individual mattresses, which reminded me of camping with friends’ families when I was a kid, and the next thing I knew Heather was shoving a spoonful of fluid into my mouth, and my eyelids began to droop.
I definitely needed this sleep.
I awoke to the sounds of murmuring above me. Chief Enforcer King was talking with Lita on the chairs next to Amy’s bed.
It quickly became obvious it was a private conversation and that the others were all still sleeping, so I squeezed my eyes shut and did my best not to move, even though my shoulder was in kind of an awkward position under my body and I was fairly certain I wasn’t going to be able to feel my arm soon.
“I have every dragon shifter I can spare flying around town,” Chief Enforcer King said to Lita. “Some of them have also recruited their families to help. I know we don’t normally do that, but these are exceptional times. The wolf shifters on my force are scouring the woods. If he were here, we would know.”
“Thank you, Aria, for your efforts. I suspect you are right, and he has not made it into town as of yet. The portals were shut as soon as the four witches and the elf made it back into Western Woods.”
“That’s right,” Chief Enforcer King confirmed. “I spoke with Drake and Kyran myself. Drake shut down the portal at the tree named Eddie straight away, and he immediately sent word through the radios for all other portals to be shut. It took less than forty seconds for all portals to be secured, including the one that isn’t guarded due to lack of popular knowledge of its existence.”
“Good,” Lita said. “I don’t want to alarm the witches, but I am very worried.”
“As am I,” Chief Enforcer King replied. “Frankly, the idea that a witch could be taken from this coven and transported to Kilokilo without anyone noticing is quite worrying.”
“I discussed the matter with Christian, the head of the coven of Titan,” Lita replied. “After all, not only was Amy removed from Western Woods, but she was transported into Kilokilo without anyone noticing. He was equally worried. We suspect Titan is using magic to cloak his appearance.”
“That must be powerful magic indeed if it’s managing to get past the sensors in the portal. They’re supposed to be able to sense if someone has cloaked their appearance.”
“Exactly. But we can’t think of any other way he could have done it. You’re absolutely certain that there was no way he travelled through the portals before they were closed?”
“As far as I can tell,” Chief Enforcer King replied. “Though there are no guarantees. He may have slipped through somewhere in those first forty seconds.”
“Well, we can’t let the witches know that,” Lita said quietly.
“You’re right,” Chief Enforcer King replied. “But we also can’t keep them here forever. They’re going to want to go out.”
“I know. It’s so difficult. They’re not safe, and the citizens of this town are not safe so long as Titan is out there. And if he is in town, then he’s going to come after them. I cast a spell on this room; it’s invisible to everyone except ourselves, the witches, and Heather. As long as they stay in here, they’re safe.”
“This can’t continue, though. We both know it. I don’t mind keeping the portals closed as a temporary measure, since the safety of the town is at stake, and I’m sure everyone will understand, but long term we have to figure out a solution. Western Woods can’t be blocked off from the rest of the paranormal world forever.”
“I know,” Lita said softly. “We are going to have to do something. My only worry is the prophecy. It’s going to have to be Tina that destroys him, but at what cost? The prophecy says nothing about her friends. It says nothing about the other members of the coven, or of the citizens of this town.”
“We will have to do our best to support her,” Chief Enforcer King said. “Unless you want to force her to leave. She could travel elsewhere, somewhere more secluded, and drive him to her.”
“No,” Lita said, shaking her head firmly. “I don’t believe that would be fair to Tina. Frankly, I’m not certain she has the skills to defeat Titan on her own just yet. She’s extremely powerful, a naturally talented witch, but he’s all of
those things and is not only older but grew up with magic. I know the prophecy says she will defeat him, but I just can’t see how she’s going to manage to do it on her own.”
“Well, then it becomes a question of whether or not you want to put others in danger,” Chief Enforcer King replied. “What is your coven willing to sacrifice in order to ensure that Tina manages to defeat her father?”
“You’re right, Aria. I don’t think it’s my place to put any of my coven at risk. I know you will have to re-open the portals soon, but please, give me a few days to consider my options.”
“Of course,” Chief Enforcer King replied. “We can handle being a self-sufficient town for a few days without issue. I will continue to have constant patrols, with all the dragons in the air and other shifters on the ground, all attempting to sniff out Titan.”
The two of them got up then and left the room together. I turned, groaning as pins and needles ran through my hands, and stared at the ceiling. I had never considered the fact that the prophecy only said I would be the one to kill Titan. It didn’t say anything about anyone else who might get involved. And just when I was starting to think my friends might be safe.
Chapter 14
A few minutes later Ellie stirred. “What’s going on?” she asked with a yawn.
“Nothing. I just woke up,” I lied. “The others are still asleep.”
“I have to get to the bakery.”
“No, you don’t. It’s closed for a few days, remember?”
“That’s right,” Ellie said. “What about the familiars?”
“Let’s get Heather to go and feed them. I’m sure she’ll be happy to. I’m still worried about Amy.”
Ellie pulled out her phone, and her eyes widened. “Oh no! I forgot about Tora. I told her to come in to work today for the first day.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The situation was so ridiculous, the timing so incredibly bad. “Wow. Well, offer to pay her for today anyway, and hopefully she’ll understand.”
“I hope so,” Ellie said. “Look, I’m going to go down to The Witching Flour anyway. I want to try and bring a semblance of normalcy back to life. Amy is fine. She’s going to have to rest for a few days, but Jupiter knows she could use a few days off.”
“You can’t,” I said, the urgency in my voice making Ellie narrow her eyes at me.
“Why not? What do you know?”
I sighed, recounting the conversation I overheard between Chief Enforcer King and Lita.
“Ok, so basically the odds are he’s not in Western Woods,” Ellie said. “There’s only one way to find out for sure.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s more than one way, and Chief Enforcer King and Lita are handling it,” I said.
“Well, if I go out to the bakery, then he’ll come and try to find me,” Ellie said. “That’s a way faster way of confirming whether or not he’s here. It certainly beats being cooped up in this hospital room forever.”
I sighed. “What if he is in Western Woods? He’ll come after you, and he’s probably not going to be in as good a mood as when he took Amy. After all, we snuck her out from right under his nose. And there’s a very real possibility that he’s the one you buried in a bunch of rubble when you caved in the mouth of the lava tube. I’m just guessing, but he might take that a little bit personally.”
“Yeah, well, he can come and tell me what he thinks in person,” Ellie replied. “I’m not going to hide away in this room waiting for him to come and find us. If he wants me, he can come and get me.”
“Fine. But I’m coming too. There’s absolutely no way I’m letting you go out there by yourself.”
“Good. If he does come, he won’t be able to take us both.”
I wasn’t quite sure about that, but I had to admit, a part of me understood Ellie’s reasoning and agreed with it. As much as I was not looking forward to a showdown with my biological father, by all accounts it was coming, so a part of me really just wanted it over and done with.
Whatever would happen would happen.
It was almost noon, so we were significantly late on opening The Witching Flour, but Ellie texted Tora that the shop would open at two, and the both of us snuck out of the hospital, sending Sara and Amy texts letting them know where we were so they wouldn’t panic, and made our way toward the bakery on foot.
I couldn’t help but take a closer look at every paranormal I saw, and I noticed that Ellie kept her wand in her hand rather than in her pocket the way she normally would. We were both on edge, and it was fairly understandable.
As soon as we made our way into the shop, Lucy, who had opened despite the fact that we weren’t here, stood up and rushed over.
“Did you find Amy? Is she alright?”
“She is,” I said with a nod. “Thanks. She was taken by Titan. The portals have been closed. He shouldn’t be in town, but you never know. I just wanted you to know.”
Lucy’s face paled, but she nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. He’s coming after you, isn’t he?”
“Yes,” I replied. No point in lying. I wasn’t going to put anyone in danger by being evasive. Titan was probably coming for me, which meant anyone in proximity of me was in danger, as much as I didn’t want that to be the case. “He almost certainly is. As long as he’s been locked out of town, he can’t come in and get me, but we can’t keep Western Woods sealed off forever.”
Lucy nodded. “Thank you for letting me know. I’m not brave, or anything like that. But I do want you to know, I hope you win when you finally take him on, and you have my support as a member of the coven of Jupiter.”
“Thank you so much,” I said, the sincerity of her words almost moving me to tears.
“I need to get started on the baking,” Ellie said. “On the bright side, I have a decent amount of dough and batter already prepared, so we mostly just need to get things into the oven and then we’ll be able to open up. Can you come give me a hand?”
“Sure,” I nodded, and the two of us spent the next twenty minutes or so working on getting enough baked goods ready for the day. I single-handedly shaped what felt like a gazillion cookies, with Ellie and me mostly working in silence, except when she had some instructions for me to follow.
We both worked with our backs to the wall, facing the door that led back to the main serving area. Neither one of us would admit it, but I knew Ellie was just as nervous as I was. My eyes flickered involuntarily toward the door every few seconds, my heart skipped a beat at every unexpected sound or movement, and I found my hands occasionally shaking as they rolled the cookies into balls before flattening them out.
As the clock ticked closer to two o’clock, though, things got a little bit better. For one thing, Tora arrived, bright and cheery. I had about ten minutes to get her acquainted with the point-of-sale system, so we dove right in.
I was pleased to find she was a quick learner, and as soon as Ellie took the sign announcing The Witching Flour was closed off the window, I was confident Tora would be fine working here.
“So I’m guessing something unexpected came up?” she asked with a grin.
“Yeah. Sorry about that,” I said. “I swear, we’re not normally so unorganized that we don’t show up to work in the morning.”
“Just a regular day in the life of a witch trying to hide from her infamous father who’s out here trying to kill her,” Ellie added, and Tora’s eyebrows rose.
“Well, it sounds like I’m missing a fun story.”
“We think you should be aware. The portals have been closed to keep my biological father out, and while Chief Enforcer King is certain that he’s not in Western Woods, there’s a tiny chance that he might have slipped in unnoticed, in which case he might make his way over here and try to kill me. It’s only fair that you know, as by being here you risk a bit of danger.”
“Thanks for the heads up. I have to say, being a casualty of a vindictive murderer was definitely not one of the expected perks of the job.”
I laughed. Tora w
as hilarious. “So does that mean you’re staying?” I asked with a grin.
“Honey, I’ve spent my working life serving coffee and scheduling appointments. A little bit of excitement in my career would definitely be an improvement. I’m staying.”
“Good,” Ellie grinned. “If you see an evil-looking wizard who probably resembles Tina, I’d recommend getting out of the way. We aren’t exactly on his good side right now.”
“Noted,” Tora said as our first customer of the day popped his head in. It was a wizard I recognized, but I couldn’t quite place a name to the face.
“Hello there, are you open?” he asked.
“Absolutely, come on in,” Tora replied cheerily. “We had a few technical difficulties that delayed us this morning, but we’re here now and ready to serve.”
“Great,” the wizard replied, taking off his glasses and giving them a quick polish as he made his way to the counter before popping them back on and having a close look at the items for sale. “It’s my wife’s birthday, and I thought I’d get her a couple of cinnamon buns to celebrate.”
“What a great idea,” Tora replied, grabbing a box and placing a couple in there. “I’ll throw in a cookie for your wife, on the house.”
“Thank you so much,” the wizard replied. “How nice of you.”
Tora threw me an apologetic look, but I gave her a reassuring smile. I knew Ellie and I were on the same page when it came to business: the customer experience was the most important thing, and giving a customer a free cookie on their birthday was totally the sort of thing we encouraged. Tora was a natural, and I knew hiring her had been a good idea.
Behind the Eight Spell Page 8