Witch Oracle in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  I patted her shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be better soon. Maybe it’s just a terrible virus. But I bet she’ll start getting better now she’s here. Come on. Let’s go and get some sustenance into you both.”

  Beren gave me a grateful stare and mouthed “thank you.” Imani and I made our way out of the room, Liv’s parents reluctantly following. I just hoped whatever was wrong would be fixed by the time we got back. Nausea gripped my stomach. If Beren couldn’t help her, nobody could. I blinked back tears. I was not going to cry now. She was still here, if hanging by gossamer. Beren had to be able to fix it.

  Imani and I did our best, but the longest we could keep them out of the room was fifteen minutes. I flicked off a text to Beren as we headed back, just to make sure nothing looked unusual when we returned. Her parents were upset enough as it was. We didn’t need to freak them out.

  I held my breath as we went in, hoping against everything that she’d be awake. But one look at Beren’s face freed me from that misapprehension. He gave an almost indecipherable head shake, which was like a punch to the face. He cleared his throat. “Um, I think now you’re back, I need to grab a cup of coffee. Lily, Imani, why don’t you come with me. I could use the company.”

  As he walked past Liv’s parents, her mother rubbed his arm. He put his hand over hers and gave her a sad smile. “We’ll make sure she gets better. I promise.” Her forlorn nod brought more tears to my eyes. I turned and headed back to the hallway. This can’t be happening.

  Once we were all outside, we headed back to the cafeteria. Beren made a bubble of silence. “It’s a spell I can’t untangle. I tried everything. It won’t budge. It’s like a leech on her energy. It’s sped up her metabolism to the point that she can’t eat enough to sustain herself, and it’s eating through her fat reserves at an alarming rate. Once she’s lost those, it will attack her muscles, her heart. She’ll die.”

  I clutched my stomach at the need to throw up. “Who did this to her? Could you tell?”

  “Yes.” He clamped his jaw for a moment, the muscles bunching. “It’s that idiot, Owen the bloody Oracle. I managed to slow it down though, but I couldn’t stop it altogether. That’s going to buy us a few days at most.” He stared straight ahead as we walked, his mouth set in a grim line, jaw ticking. His hands balled into fists that he clenched and unclenched.

  “But he’ll come and stop it, surely. We need to call him.” I mean, that would be the sensible thing to do.

  “I already did. I left a message on his answering service just before you guys came back. I didn’t mention I was PIB, but I explained what I assumed the issue was and asked if he could come and help.”

  “There’s only one problem,” Imani said, her voice low. “Once he knows we know what he’s done, he may run. I don’t know if he meant to do this or why, but if he did, there’s no way he’ll want to face us.”

  “But he doesn’t know you’re the PIB. Maybe it was an accident, a glitch in his future-telling spell?”

  Beren turned flinty eyes my way. “I bet it’s a side effect of giving people what they want. Don’t you see? Liv was upset about being called fat. She must have wished to lose weight or something. Dammit! He gives people what they want. You heard him in that video you recorded.” Beren disappeared his spell, whipped out his phone and made a call. “Ma’am, we need to bring Owen in. He’s killing Liv.” She must have asked how he knew, as he explained what he’d just discovered.

  Beren stopped just inside the cafeteria door. He nodded, grunted. “Okay. Fine. Yes. I’ll tell them. Bye.” He hung up and put the phone in his pocket.

  Imani and I both stared at him. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m staying here with Liv. I’ll keep an eye on the spell and see if I can work out how to reverse it or counteract it if I can. Ma’am wants you two in at the PIB. She’s agreed to bring Owen in, but even though they’ve been keeping tabs on him, they can’t find him right now. They have to track him down.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You can’t be serious! They knew he was a problem. How could Ma’am let this happen?”

  Beren shook his head. “They didn’t realise how critical it would be to have him in their sights all the time. They were mainly concentrating on the people he’d seen the other night, tailing them. Honestly, we need more agents. This is ridiculous.” He yanked his hair and growled.

  “You get back to Liv. We’ll come say quick goodbyes, then get going.” I grabbed his arm and stared into his sad eyes. “She’ll be okay. We’ll find him, make him fix this. And you’re the best at what you do. I have total faith in you, B.” I gave him a quick hug.

  “Thanks, but we’re not nearly out of the woods. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like her body’s going to eat itself, and in such a short amount of time. I swear I want to kill every fat-shamer out there, and she was never even fat. Is it cruel of me to say that at least Kate got her comeuppance? This is mostly her fault. What a bloody mess.” Mess was an understatement. My best friend lay dying because of cruel people. There was no need for all the hate. What had Liv ever done to them? Sadness lay like lead in my heart.

  We hurried back to Liv’s room, said goodbye, and left the distraught trio. I gave Liv a kiss on the forehead before we left, scrunching my eyes tight to hold back the tears. It better not be the last time I saw her. If it was, Owen would live to regret it… or maybe he wouldn’t… live, that is.

  Imani must have seen the murder in my eyes as we left. “Don’t do anything stupid, Lily. We need him to disengage his spell.”

  “I know. I’m just so angry right now. And don’t worry: I don’t like killing people, and I don’t want to go to jail, but a girl can visualise, can’t she?”

  “As long as that’s all you do.” She gave me a concerned glance as we opened our umbrellas and ran into the downpour.

  I’d rein myself in—I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise Liv’s recovery, but the rage searing my insides wanted release. And, for the first time in my life, I was scared… of myself. I’d killed before, more than once, and even though it scarred my soul, was I becoming that person—not an accidental killer, but someone who wanted to exact revenge? Someone who would seek to take another’s life?

  Imani pressed the beeper on her car. I threw my door open and dropped into my seat, pushing the thoughts away. I wasn’t going to be that person. Nope. My parents would be ashamed. I couldn’t let circumstances change who I was. I needed to be better than that. Maybe if I told myself that enough, the worm of unease crawling in my belly would disappear.

  I crossed my fingers as I stared into the liquid greyness outside the car. But it wouldn’t be enough. Somehow, I needed to find strength before it was too late.

  Chapter 13

  Back at the PIB conference-room table, Ma’am drummed her fingers on its surface. It was like the thrum of tiny racehorse hooves galloping. The cuteness was lost on me today, though. Will sat opposite me—to Ma’am’s left—and Imani sat to her right, next to me. Agent Cardinal, the wiry redhead who’d worked on the nursing-home case with us, sat next to Will. Such a small cavalry. How would we track Owen down in a hurry? Being a witch, he could be anywhere in the world.

  Ma’am’s fingers stilled, and she folded her hands in front of her. “Right. Lily, you’re off Gus detail.”

  “What? No!” As much as I dreaded what Gus might talk about at times, he needed me, and so did both his bosses. What if that spell didn’t stop till it got what it wanted? Surely there was time to help find Owen and protect Gus’s two bosses?

  “Yes.” Something edgy strained from beneath her poker face. Her tone was dead. “I’m afraid Moira choked again last night at home. She’s dead. Gus will be getting his promotion.” Her jaw ticked as she jammed it shut. Imani’s sharp intake of breath punctuated the shockwave vibrating through the room. Even Will’s forehead wrinkles deepened.

  My eyes flew open. God no, no, no. I shook my head over and over. I should have been there. We should have realised his magic
could follow the victims anywhere. How did we not figure it out? Poor Moira. I didn’t really know her, but she seemed nice enough, and she was innocent—just someone with a job who needed to be out of the way so Owen’s prediction could come true.

  The rage in my belly bubbled and spat, an acid storm of fury. “Does Gus know?” He was going to be devastated. He’d blame himself. Would he even take the promotion? What if it was too much, and he quit? So much for Owen’s bloody predictions. My cheeks heated, and my magic called to me. It was telling me a lightning bolt would be a good idea. Smiting Owen would be fun. Everyone should get to be God for a day.

  I jammed my teeth together. No. I wouldn’t give in. That’s not who you are, Lily. Plus I’d be the biggest moron ever, killing him before he could save Liv.

  Imani drew her brows down as she stared at me. “Lily? Are you okay?”

  I blinked some of the red haze from my eyes and met her scrutiny. “Gus is going to blame himself. Not to mention, that poor woman didn’t deserve to die, and her family. Oh my God, how are they going to cope? This is.… It’s just….” The back of my throat and nose prickled as tears threatened. I squeezed my hands into fists, channelled my thoughts to the sting of my nails biting into my palms.

  What if Olivia were next?

  Ma’am put her hands on her lap, took a deep breath, and addressed me. “We’re not having that conversation, Lily. It’s not your problem, and you’re not to take it on board. Your job is to help these agents find Owen and bring him to us unharmed. Whatever his magic is doing, he needs to stop it. No one else can, at least not in time to save a lot of people heartache.” I opened my mouth to speak, but she held up a warning palm. “We can’t assume everyone will die, but they may lose jobs, or end up with injuries etcetera. But, yes, some will die to facilitate his predictions. Whether it’s intentional or not is irrelevant. We need to get him here and make him disarm his spells.”

  Agent Cardinal leaned forward. “How are we doing this? Do we have any leads?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes. He’s appearing tonight in one of his biggest shows to date. He’s at the London Coliseum.”

  Agent Cardinal whistled what I assumed was awe. “Impressive.” I glowered at him. There was nothing impressive about Owen—he was a narcissistic fraud. He caught my look and jerked back. That’s right, buddy. I’m looking at you. Owen wasn’t getting even a millimetre of goodwill from me. Being famous didn’t make you worthwhile. Why did people get caught up in that crap? If someone was horrible, I didn’t care how talented they were; I’d rather support someone who was also a decent human.

  Ma’am cleared her throat and raised her brow at me. I gave her a “what?” look. She ignored me and said, “I’d rather take him in well before he gets to the venue. As soon as possible, actually. Time is of the essence, considering all the lives at stake. I’m hoping this will be an easy arrest, since he has no idea we’re even investigating him. But use caution. You’ll need to put those cuffs on quickly, or he could disappear.”

  I couldn’t help but sneer. “He’s so arrogant, he’d probably still turn up for his show. But by then, how many more people could be dead or hurt?”

  “Exactly. So, here’s his home address. We’ve had people outside, but, of course, if he’s travelled anywhere this morning, he won’t be inside. We’ve only just put a catch spell on there because, obviously, we didn’t know earlier what we know right now. We may have missed our chance, but we’ll see.”

  “If he’s not there, where else are we looking?” asked Will.

  “He may even be at the Coliseum, preparing. He does have an assistant who works from an office in London. Here’s the address. Agent Cardinal can cover the office—that’s the least likely place he’ll be. The assistant is a witch, but I doubt she has any idea of what Owen’s up to. She’ll hopefully be helpful. We’ll need to bring her in for questioning anyway.” The tingle of Ma’am’s magic grazed my neck, and three pieces of paper appeared on the desk in front of Will; another piece of paper sat in front of Cardinal. “These are the search and arrest warrants. Because of the urgent nature, I’ve had our agents set up a landing point at Owen’s address. Bring him in first. If he’s not there, go to the theatre.”

  At least there wouldn’t be any driving time. That would save hours, at least as far as going to London was concerned. “Where does he live?”

  “Oxshott. It’s about thirty miles west of here. It’s an extensive property. We’ve set up the landing spot just outside the front gates, but as it’s set back from the street, there should be no problem. If anyone sees it, we’ll mindwipe. Not ideal, but we have to do what we have to do. Any questions?”

  “Um, why exactly do I have to be there? It’s not like I can arrest anyone. Won’t I just be in the way?” I chewed a fingernail. Other than messing up, I didn’t know how I’d react to seeing him. What if I lost it?

  “You can tell if he’s about to unleash a spell. If you feel his magic, I want you to yell block, and with some luck, Imani can cast a contain spell, but she’ll have to be quick. It will stop him from releasing more magic or going anywhere. If we do this right, we’ll get him in the cuffs without problems.”

  Imani nodded, her expression grave. Why so serious? It seemed straightforward enough. I guessed agents had to assume the worst was going to happen, and maybe she was just terrified we’d lose him and not save Liv. Which was fair enough. She wasn’t the only one. And how long did Liv have left? I swallowed the bile that rose up my throat.

  Stop thinking. I had to focus on my job now, which was to help bring Owen in.

  “Before you leave, uniforms please, Lily and Imani.”

  “Okay,” I said. Imani just nodded. I hesitated. I’d never changed using magic in front of anyone. What if something went wrong and I got stuck in my underwear? “Can I just duck to the bathroom?”

  Ma’am drew her brows down. “Whatever for? You can get changed here. Stop being ridiculous. You’re wasting time.”

  Fine. I sighed and took a deep breath, then requested a clothes swap. My jeans, jumper, and coat disappeared, and I was left standing in regulation black suit, tie, and white shirt. Thank God. I syphoned a tiny bit more magic and asked for my coat back—it was cold outside, and who knew how long we’d be out there.

  Ma’am stood, and everyone else followed. “Go one at a time, Lily last.” Golden numbers appeared in my head. I made my door and slapped them on. Will went first, and then Imani.

  My body was on high alert as I stepped through into the freezing rain. Four agents awaited us under a canopy of skeletal trees. Gravel crunched as I turned to take it all in. The road was about twenty metres away. We stood between it and the grand brick-and-iron front gates, which gave access to a long drive flanked by trees and parkland. About fifty metres in sat one of the largest houses I’d ever seen. Two stories of historical mansion, with ivy growing over the lower level, and a fountain in the middle of the circular driveway near the front doors. He didn’t deserve to live in such gorgeous surroundings.

  Business was certainly booming for our evil fortune teller. Hopefully it was all about to end.

  Will chatted to a shorter, beefy agent who must have been in charge. “Any movement?”

  “No. All quiet. The catch spell hasn’t been triggered. We’ve magically disarmed the video surveillance. We did that yesterday as soon as we were on the job.” He gave a nod to the camera trained in our direction sitting on the top of the gate. “So, how are we playing this?”

  “Magic the gate open and drive in. Two of your guys can stay here, the other two go around the back. My guys will cover the front.” An earpiece appeared in Will’s ear, and he tapped it. “I’ll give you the signal to go in when we’re ready. And we take him alive and in as good a state as possible. This is critical.” Will didn’t divert his gaze from the agent until he’d given a firm nod.

  “Understood.” He turned to his men, gave them orders, then motioned towards the street. “Van’s over here.”

/>   “I’ve got the gate,” Imani said, gesturing towards it. It clicked, then slowly opened.

  We followed the agent to the white van on the street. He hopped into the passenger side. His partner, a tall bald guy, slipped into the driver’s seat. Will, Imani, and I jumped into the back of the van. I slid the door closed. We lurched forward at speed, gravel spray chinking against the chassis. I tripped and fell backwards, crashing into Imani. She caught me with a grunt.

  “Oops. Sorry.” I put a hand on the side of the van to steady myself.

  “It’s okay. Just be ready when we get out.” Her firm grip on my arms was harder than it needed to be, and her expression was grim. I’d never seen her so stressed about an assignment—not that I’d seen her on a lot of jobs, but still. She wasn’t her usual cool-and-collected self. She didn’t release me until we’d come to a skidding halt in the turning circle in front of the entry.

  I connected with the river of power as I jumped out—I was not going to muck this up.

  Black suits ran to their positions. The house was so large that the agents sprinting around the back had a long way to run. Will and Imani took up places on either side of the front door, guns drawn. Will motioned me to get behind him. I wasn’t going to argue.

  “We’re in position.” Will must’ve been talking to the other agent, but he didn’t get an answer straight away. My heart did its best to try and beat its way out. The rush of my blood swooshing past my eardrums blocked out almost all other sound.

  We waited.

  Imani focussed solely on Will, waiting for his signal. Something flashed in his eyes, and he gave her the nod. Her magic swept over my scalp, and the door slammed open. They rushed in, guns held out in front. Will yelled, “This is the PIB. Owen Thomas Small-Cox, show yourself!” His voice echoed in the large, stone-tiled vestibule. A nervous snort exploded from my nose. Mr Self-Important had the most ridiculous name. No wonder he didn’t use it. Small-Cox. Seemed fitting.