Witch In Disguise

by Hannah Lin

  Suddenly, his gaze settled on hers, and she saw nothing but trust in his eyes. “Arabella.”

  “Follow me.” Taking his hand, she tugged him back toward the shop, and he followed easily. Only when she got him inside and locked the door behind her did she take a deep breath.

  “Sorry about this,” Arabella muttered. There was one thing she learned from her father. Balling her hands into a fist, she settled her weight into her back foot and swung her arm, hitting Lukas solidly in the jaw.

  He crumpled to the floor.

  Arabella winced. At least he wouldn’t be following anyone’s orders if he was unconscious. Settling a hand on his chest again, she took a deep breath. The tendrils were wearing and dispelling.

  She knew exactly where to find the witch.

  7

  “You should have known better than to partner up with me,” Arabella said softly as she opened the door to the stock room of Book, Bell, and Candle.

  Grant sat in a ring of white candles and opened his eyes. Instead of looking angry at her appearance, he just smiled.

  Arabella held her hands behind her back. “The orchid flower. Known for its conductive properties. Add that to a divination mirror, a candle, and the right chants, and you’ve got a window to the soul. Literally. Planning on drawing the power of your soul for a reason?”

  “Not my soul, of course,” Grant said. “Why would I do that when I could draw on the power of all of these mindless idiots playing so haphazardly with magic?”

  Standing slowly, he stepped out of the circle. “If I had even an inkling that there was someone like you in town, I wouldn’t have needed to go to such extraordinary lengths.”

  Anyone who cast that spell would be wide open for Grant to drain. Even if they weren’t real witches, there was power in every human soul. More frightening, anyone who could siphon off that much power had an immense amount of magic themselves.

  Arabella swallowed hard. “What gave me away?”

  “A strange magic was resonating in the town today, beckoning to me. I followed it all the way to your little shop. Little Miss Arabella. You’ve been keeping secrets.”

  Inwardly, she cursed herself. Of course, her magic had broken through her own protective shield. She was an idiot.

  “I’m not the only one. Walk anyone to their death recently?”

  They started to circle around each other. One witch sizing up the other, and they both knew who was stronger.

  Grant smiled coldly. “The idiot walked in on me performing a little ritual. I’ve been feeding off the town’s energy for months. Steven didn’t even seem to realize what he was seeing. He kept blathering about me stealing his girlfriend. I’d never even met the man. I should have been able to shrug it off, this being Mystic Falls and all, but I’m afraid I needed the ritual to open me up to a little more power.”

  “Let me guess. The spell hit him and opened him up for power.”

  “To part of my magic and to the truth. The ritual went awry, and he began absorbing my power. By the time I took back what was mine, he was nearly dead anyway.”

  “You could have saved him,” Arabella pointed out sharply. “Wiped his memory.”

  “You know what it’s like when a mortal gets hit with magic. You never know what could be left behind, and I couldn’t let him lead anyone to me. It was easy enough to strip him of his will.” Grant studied her thoughtfully. “Looks like it was a moot point because here you are. You must be stronger than you look. I’m surprised that I haven’t sensed you before. Power dimming shield?”

  “A little potion mixed in with my morning coffee.”

  Arabella eyed the candles suspiciously. A power stripping spell didn’t require the casting of a circle. Not when the magic had an outside target. “What did you do just now?”

  “Preparing for you. When you were able to deflect my spell I knew there was something special about you.” Grant held out his hand. “We don’t have to be enemies, Arabella. I imagine that you came here for the same reason I did. To openly practice your magic without anyone knowing. We could join forces. Feed off the magic invoked here. We could easily control this town and everyone in it.”

  Of course. Why draw magic from unsuspecting souls when there was another source of magic that he could tap into? With their shared power, they would be unstoppable.

  There was a hunger in Grant’s eyes. The man would always want more magic.

  “I am offering you a freedom that you have never known,” Grant continued. “One taste of what our magic can do and you will never go back, Arabella. Think about why you came here. A boyfriend terrified of your magic? A family who didn’t understand you? I understand you, Arabella.”

  Slowly, she pulled the crystal out from under her shirt and slipped the chain over her head. The conduit was already charged and exactly what he would need. Glee danced in Grant’s eyes as he reached out and took it.

  “Yes,” he hissed. “Come to me, Arabella. Join me in the circle.”

  Grant’s power shuddered through her as he took her hand and led her into the ring of candles. Clasping the quartz between their palms, he pushed her arms out and opened her heart center.

  “In this circle, two become one. Let our magic combine and never be undone. Let the earth crack open and power flow into me, all that we are, let me be!”

  Grant’s voice thundered, and the bookshop began to shake. Power surged through Arabella, and she cried out as it seared her blood. The quartz was a conduit all right, but it was tuned to her.

  Grant was undoubtedly powerful, but he knew nothing of ancestral magic. Tapping into that power, she controlled the flow of magic. Instead of sharing it, she took from him.

  Arabella took it all.

  Too late, Grant realized that she had been draining him of his magic. The quartz pulsed in her hands, feeding until it started to burn. When she finally let go, the quartz and Grant both fell to the floor, and she pulsed with power.

  “Arabella.”

  Lukas’ voice seeped in, like a long distance call, and she turned to the muted sound.

  “You’ve got to let go of it now,” he said hoarsely. “You’re glowing.”

  “The quartz was supposed to hold it, but he was too powerful. I don’t have anything else.” Arabella’s voice cracked, and she struggled to hold on to herself. Every second that Grant’s magic stayed inside her, she felt herself slipping away.

  “Here.” Reaching into his pocket, Lukas drew out the tree of life talisman and held it out to her. “Take this.”

  “It’s not magical. It’s just a regular pendant.”

  “It’s not regular, Arabella. You gave it to me for protection. I believe in it.”

  Power of will is stronger than the power of magic.

  Reaching out, Arabella took the useless pendant and focused. To her surprise, it warmed to her touch. In the back of her mind, she saw the skeptical look on his face the day that she sold it to him. She remembered the spark when they accidentally touched as she handed the talisman to him. She felt the joy when she realized that he still carried it around.

  Memories and strong emotion were a magic all on their own, and Arabella pushed all of Grant’s excessive magic out. As much as she hated to admit it, a part of her revolted, the part of her that wanted the seduction of the extra magic, but she ignored it. The foreign magic flowed from her.

  Finally, the pendant iced over. Falling from Arabella’s fingers, it clattered to the floor. Astonished, she stared at it. Never before had she experienced anything so potent. She was exhausted and amped all at the same time.

  “He thought I was here because I feared no one would understand me,” she said as she studied Grant’s body. His chest moved steadily up and down, but he was down for the count. It might be a while before he woke up again.

  Swallowing hard, Arabella backed out of the circle and away from Grant. “In that moment, I realized just what I did have. A family who loves me to the point of smothering me, and a town that accepted me wit
h no questions asked.”

  “You’ve got something else,” Lukas said quietly. His hands settled on her waist as he pulled her into his body. His warmth calmed her.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  8

  They couldn’t get Grant arrested for Steven’s death, but once Lukas was able to dig up Grant’s real identity, he found that Grant was running from a dozen arrest warrants in six different states. Now that he had no magic, he had nothing to fight back with.

  He’d be in prison for the rest of his life.

  While Lukas dealt with the police, Arabella carried the quartz and talisman out to the falls. Under the final phase of the full moon, she tossed them into the water and raised her hands to the sky.

  “Spirits of the earth, take back what is yours.”

  The water shimmered in beautiful tones of silver before it returned to normal, and Arabella knew that Grant’s magic wouldn’t harm anyone ever again.

  Surrounded by the peace and serenity of the falls, she sat back on the boulder and closed her eyes. The past couple of days had taken their toll on her. Even with her family, she rarely used or was exposed to that much magic all at once.

  Her mother would tell her that she needed a nice cleansing bath with lavender and eucalyptus, and she was probably right. Thinking of her mother made Arabella realize that there was one more thing she needed to straighten out.

  No more running.

  Knowing that her mother would be awake, she pulled out her phone and called her.

  “Arabella? Is that you, honey?” Evelyn answered tentatively.

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Arabella said after a few seconds of silence. Settling on one of the big boulders, she pulled her knees up to her chest and stared at the crashing water below. “Lukas told me that you hired him.”

  “Not to bring you back, honey. I know now that you needed to find your place away from the family, and I think I understand. I’m just sorry that I drove you away and didn’t listen to you.”

  Her mother’s voice always started to take on a mysterious southern drawl when she was apologizing. It comforted Arabella, and she smiled. “It’s all right, Mom. I think everything has worked out the way it was supposed to.”

  “How many times have I told you that everything will work out like that? Every day of your life, that’s how many times.” Evelyn paused. “Now, darling, I’m not judging, but our lovely detective says you’re in Mystic Falls.”

  Our lovely detective. Arabella chuckled. “I am.”

  “Darling, that place is nothing but grifters!”

  “Nobody is doing anything dangerous. They aren’t draining anyone of the family fortune or claiming to know where missing children are. They’re selling love potions to people who need confidence and curses to people who need justice. Their magic is rooted in hope.”

  “Well, that’s all right then. Would you mind if your family comes to visit you from time to time?”

  Her mother would love Mystic Falls, and she would definitely make a spectacle of herself. She’d no doubt drag Arabella’s sister out with her, who would make every man in town fall in love with her. It was the stuff of nightmares, and yet Arabella missed them both.

  “I would love that, mom, but only if you agree on no magic. I like this town. I don’t want to have to move.”

  “Are you happy, honey? Do you really think that you have a future there?”

  Arabella thought about Diana and their movie and pizza nights. She thought about the town and their easy welcoming of her.

  And she thought about Lukas and the dinner date they had for tomorrow when he promised to let her pick out some furniture for his apartment.

  “I think I’m exactly where I need to be.”

  The End