The Witch's Key, Book 1

by Sarra Cannon

  I’d grown to fear the sight of her, even as a child, because whenever she appeared in person, it was almost always to deliver bad news or to reprimand my parents in some way.

  I needed to tread carefully here.

  “I haven’t done anything to interfere directly in any investigation into the missing girls,” I said.

  “Missing girls?” Martin asked. “How on earth did you get tangled up in that mess?”

  I sighed. At least Ms. Greer hadn’t been here long enough to explain everything to Martin.

  “It’s all anyone is talking about at school,” I said. I looked Ms. Greer directly in the eyes. “The school the Council insisted I attend, by the way.”

  She had literally no expression. Unless “harsh” was an expression.

  “The girl who was taken today was my friend,” I said.

  I didn’t offer anything else, because frankly, I didn’t know how much the Council knew. The fact that they knew anything kind of gave me the willies, because I hadn’t really done anything beyond the locating spell.

  I should have guessed they’d been watching me.

  “I’ve done nothing wrong,” I said.

  “Where were you just now?” Ms. Greer asked. “At school like you were supposed to be?”

  I shifted my weight and adjusted the bag on my shoulder. She was going to get me into trouble with Martin now, too. Great.

  “I was visiting another friend I’d made at school the past couple days.”

  I glanced at Uncle Martin, hoping maybe his expression would give me some clue as to what kind of trouble I was in here. Truth be told, I really hadn’t done anything illegal.

  Not yet, anyway.

  I had used my magic a few times, but I hadn’t done anything that uninitiated witches aren’t sanctioned to do. Why, exactly, was Ms. Greer here in Newcastle?

  “See, she was just visiting a friend,” Uncle Martin said. “I told you she’s done nothing wrong. A mirror spell is not a punishable offense if no one sees it. Why are you here, Ms. Greer? Let’s get down to it. I’m too old to play games, especially where my ward is concerned.”

  I swallowed. He was protecting me, instead of yelling at me. That was a good sign, right?

  Blythe Greer kept her eyes on mine for a long, silent moment. It was enough to make my hands sweat and my mouth go dry, but I at least managed to keep my knees from knocking together. Audibly, anyway.

  “Put your bag down and sit,” Ms. Greer said, motioning to the dusty couch in the formal sitting room no one ever used.

  I glanced at Martin, and he nodded slightly.

  “You may go,” she said to Martin, not even bothering to look at him. “I will speak to you next.”

  His mouth opened for a moment, and I thought he was going to tell her to stuff it at first. After a few seconds, though, he excused himself and walked away.

  Crap. Now, I really was on my own.

  I did as Ms. Greer asked and set my bag down on the floor next to the couch. I dusted off a small section of the velvet surface and sat down, coughing as a cloud of dust surrounded me. Man, when was the last time anyone actually sat on this thing? 1902?

  If I ever did hope to have friends who came to visit and hang out the way we’d done at Peyton’s, we were going to need to make some serious changes around here.

  Maybe Peyton’s parents would be so grateful once I helped save her life that they’d come to our house and redecorate the entire place for free. All new furniture and paint. Give the old place a facelift.

  I imagined the look on Uncle Martin’s face as they tried to pull down his black chandelier, and I smiled.

  “This is no laughing matter, Lenora,” Ms. Greer said.

  I pressed my lips together and straightened my shoulders.

  I didn’t want to make this any worse, but I couldn’t help myself. It was a defense mechanism.

  “I know why you weren’t at school just now,” Ms. Greer said.

  I took a deep breath. Okay, so they knew where I was, but how in the heck had she gotten here so quickly? I’d only just gone to Kai’s a couple of hours ago.

  “I am extremely disappointed that you chose to go outside our coven for information,” she said. “The situation with these young women is unfortunate, but it’s not your concern. Why did you seek the help of an outsider, rather than come to me or even your uncle?”

  None of my concern?

  I crossed my arms in front of my chest. That was exactly why I hadn’t come to her. I knew she would tell me to stay out of it.

  “Does that mean the Council is sending someone else to save them?” I asked.

  “The Council does not answer to you, child.”

  “Technically, I don’t answer to the Council yet, either,” I said, regretting my words the second they popped out of my mouth. “I haven’t taken the test, I mean.”

  “You are forbidden to look into the disappearances of these human teenagers any further,” Ms. Greer said. “You are not allowed to look for them, research the facts, or try to aid them in any way. This is an official order from the Council of Witches. Do you understand what that means, Lenora?”

  I clenched my jaw so tight, I thought I was going to break a tooth.

  There was no way I could just sit back and watch those girls die. I wouldn’t do it.

  “Lenora, answer me.”

  I bit my tongue and tried to hold it in. I even thought through an appropriate, obedient response, but I couldn’t force myself to actually agree to it.

  In the end, like always, my tongue had a mind of its own.

  “Are you seriously telling me the Council is planning to do nothing to help these girls?” I asked, standing. “They all have magical blood. Magical ancestry, just like us. What if it was me who’d gone missing? Would I just be left to die?”

  “Of course not, but it wasn’t you who was taken, and none of those young women are in touch with their magical abilities in any way,” she said. “They don’t even know what they’re capable of, and I’d be surprised if they could access any magic with how little there is in their systems, even with extensive training. Those girls are not part of our world, and they are definitely not part of our coven.”

  “That doesn’t make them any less valuable,” I said, daring to step closer to her. I was so angry, my body shook with it. “You could choose to send in a few slayers and save them right now. I know you could.”

  “What the Council decides and why is none of your concern, and if you have any aspirations of becoming an official part of the Slayer community, you’ll do exactly as you're told and leave this alone.”

  “Or what?” I asked, standing my ground.

  Ms. Greer’s eye twitched slightly. She wasn’t used to being defied in any way, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Trust me when I say you don’t want to find out,” she said.

  The threat in her eyes made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. What would they do to me if I kept going with this investigation? Would they kill me?

  Surely not.

  But from her expression, I honestly couldn’t tell.

  “At least explain to me why the Council is choosing not to get involved. It doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “Kai told me he has research that proves this demon has performed the exact same ritual before. Several times. How is killing this many girls okay with the Council? How is this not crossing some kind of line?”

  Ms. Greer’s eyes flashed red, like embers igniting deep inside her.

  “The Council does not have to explain its decisions to you or to anyone,” she said. “And Kai Richards is not a part of our Council. He isn’t even abiding by the laws of his own sect, and his actions are eventually going to get him killed. Just like—”

  She cut her words off, and tugged at the bottom of her jacket.

  “I don't want to see you go down with him, Lenny, but if you continue to look into this or take any action to try to save those girls, I won’t help you when the Council calls for you. I
was very close to your parents, but I want to make it absolutely clear that I will not step in to save you if it comes to that.”

  Her words stung.

  Deep down, I’d always assumed that despite her harsh ways and ruthless reputation, she was loyal to my parents. For some stupid reason, I believed that meant she would look after me the way she’d always looked out for them.

  A Keeper’s job, ultimately, was exactly that. To make sure their Slayers had all the information, training, and support they needed to execute the Council’s orders.

  As my parents’ Keeper for most of their career, I felt there was mutual respect and affection in their relationship. Why had I believed that would extend to me after my parents died?

  Instead, she’d been spying on me for the Council.

  “Have I made myself clear, Ms. Thorne?”

  I swallowed back tears and did my best to hide my emotions.

  “Crystal,” I said.

  “Good. I don’t particularly like to have to handle things in person if it can be avoided. You’re lucky I was in town dealing with a different issue, but I made a stop here out of respect for your parents and their loyalty to me and to the Council,” she said. “Stay out of this, Lenora, and you’ll be just fine. Don’t make me come down here again, though. I won’t be this pleasant next time we meet.”

  Pleasant? Yeah, she’d been a real joy to have around for the past half hour.

  According to her, I was going to have to just let my new friend and four other innocent girls be sacrificed by a demon, regardless of the fact that no one could explain why.

  Such pleasant news.

  Anger and frustration grew inside me, but I held it back as much as I could.

  Uncle Martin reappeared from wherever he’d been in the back rooms. “Are you ready Ms. Greer? I have quite a few things I need to attend to this afternoon, if you don’t mind.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Shall we convene in the privacy of your study?”

  Martin bowed his head and motioned for her to walk with him down the back hallway.

  Seething, I stomped up the steps to my bedroom.

  I couldn’t believe Ms. Greer had been spying on me like this. Or that she and the Council were just going to ignore these rituals.

  Regardless of the fact that the girls who’d been kidnapped weren’t part of our coven, this demon’s murderous activities were putting the entire magical community at risk. He needed to be dealt with.

  So, why weren’t they doing their job?

  I suddenly stopped pacing, my brain landing on a dangerous conclusion.

  Maybe Blythe Greer, or someone close to the Council, was involved in this somehow. Either that, or they were protecting someone.

  I needed to find out what Ms. Greer was really up to here in town.

  She’d said she was here on other business, and I wanted to know what it was. What else could she be doing in a small, middle-of-nowhere town like Newcastle unless she was dealing with this demon in some way?

  I needed to think fast.

  Her meeting with Martin, no doubt to discuss my awful behavior, wouldn't last long. If I was going to do something, I had to do it now.

  The spell book I’d used earlier was still open to the location tracking spell I’d used to find Kai, and that gave me an idea.

  I flipped through a few pages to find another version of the spell that would work for these purposes without alerting Ms. Greer to my plans. Satisfied with a short spell a few pages in, I quickly gathered my materials and created a tiny bundle of enchanted herbs, no bigger than my thumb.

  I dipped the herbs in honey and hid the small bundle in my palm as I tiptoed down the steps. I did a quick search to make sure Martin and Ms. Greer weren’t hanging out in the front rooms, and then I made my way outside, slipping out the back door instead of the front to avoid that pesky raven.

  Carefully, keeping my eyes on that raven, I crouched on the far side of Ms. Greer’s black Acura.

  With trembling hands, I reached under the car and stuck the herb bundle to the metal near the front tires.

  “Persector,” I whispered.

  The bundle warmed slightly as the spell took hold.

  Now, all I had to do was go back up to my bedroom, grab a map of town, and wait. As soon as Blythe Greer left this house, I’d be able to see exactly where she was going.

  It was a dangerous move with potentially lethal consequences.

  But what about the consequences of letting someone I cared about die when there might have been something I could do about it? If I just let Peyton die, a piece of me would die with her.

  If that was the truth of being a Slayer, then I couldn’t take their stupid test and join them, anyway. I couldn’t live that kind of life.

  I’d rather turn my back on magic than turn my back on my friends.

  It was hours before Ms. Greer left the house, though, and I was starting to lose my patience. What could they possibly be talking about for the entire day?

  When she finally drove away, I stood, hovering over the map, dying to see where she was going, when someone knocked.

  But they hadn’t knocked on my door.

  Surprised, I turned my eyes toward my second-story window.

  Carefully, I closed the map and peered toward the window, slightly terrified that whatever demon had taken Peyton was now here to get me. Who would knock on my window after dark like this? Or ever?

  With a flick of my wrist, I commanded the window to swing open.

  “Incendium,” I said with a wobbly voice.

  Kai leaned in, his eyes on the flames that engulfed my hand.

  “Glad to see you’re still alive,” he said with a smirk. “Is this a bad time? You did tell me to find you later, remember? What happened?”

  I let the spell fizzle and sighed in relief. How the heck did he get up here? And why was I so happy to see him, even after he’d just gotten me into trouble?

  Maybe because he was the only one who wanted to help me save my friend.

  Maybe I was willing to deal with the consequences, after all.

  He climbed into my room, and the look in his dark eyes was suddenly very curious.

  “What is it?” he asked. “You’ve got a very mischievous look about you right now.”

  I smiled.

  “You’re just the person I needed to see,” I said, opening the map back up and watching as a tiny dot drove out of town. “We’re going to need your car.”

  Dangerous Territory

  “I do not like the sound of that,” Kai said, looking more nervous than I expected him to, considering the fact that he was somehow spying on my second-floor bedroom.

  “Wait a second. How did you get up here?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “And just how long were you standing out there?”

  I took a few steps closer to him.

  “That better be the first time you’ve ever come up to my room in your life,” I said. “How did you even know which room was mine? You better start talking before I knock you out and steal your car keys.”

  He threw his hand up in defense.

  “I swear to you, I’ve never been up here before,” he said. “As for how I knew it was your room, this is literally the only visible light on in the entire house.”

  I relaxed. He had a good point there.

  “So, how did you get up here?” I asked.

  “That’s a story for another day,” he said, and when I questioned him with my eyes, he shook his head. “Look, I need to be able to keep a few secrets today. Now, you tell me why you need my car.”

  I pointed to the map.

  “That little dot there is the car of a woman named Blythe Greer, and—”

  “Blythe Greer is here in Newcastle?” he asked.

  I put a hand on my hip. How did he know so much about my business? Who was this guy?

  “You seem to know an awful lot about what’s going on in my life. How do you know her?”

  “I don’t exactly know her,” he said, h
is eyes following the dot on the map. “I’ve heard the name, though. From my dad. I told you he was good friends with your parents. Why are you following her? Pretty neat tracking spell, by the way.”

  “Thanks,” I said, pushing my thick brown hair back from my face. “She showed up here today to reprimand me for seeing you, actually.”

  He turned to look at me. “You got in trouble?”

  “Let’s just say she issued a strong warning about me staying out of this business with the missing girls,” I said.

  I explained to him my concerns about the Council or possibly about Ms. Greer having something to do with it. I wanted answers, and even though I knew it was dumb, I was all in at this point. No turning back.

  “She slipped and admitted she’d come here to Newcastle for different business and was just doing me a favor by checking in on me,” I said. “You didn’t happen to see any ravens while you were out there leaping tall buildings in a single bound, did you?”

  He laughed. “Not that I noticed.”

  “Good. Come on, we need to get going before we lose her.”

  “She stopped at a hotel on the edge of town,” Kai said, pointing to the map. “It’s possible she’s doing some kind of business or meeting with someone out there, but it’s more likely she’s staying there for the night. It’s one of the only places in town that rents rooms.”

  I frowned. That didn’t sound very interesting. I didn’t want to risk sneaking out just to end up watching Ms. Greer watch bad TV while hanging out in some run down hotel room.

  “Well, we have to at least go out there and see. Maybe someone’s meeting her there,” I said.

  “Don’t you think we should think through this first?” he asked.

  “I have,” I said. “I want to find Peyton and the others. Ms. Greer, a representative of the Witch’s Council, has suddenly appeared in my town, warning me not to get involved and basically admitting to me that the Council is doing nothing to help. There’s something fishy going on, and she’s my best chance right now of getting answers. What else is there to think about?”