Witch War in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  The stakes just rose.

  And it wasn’t in my favour.

  “Try a stunt like that again, and Annabelle will pay the price.” Hatred bordering on insanity oozed from her gaze. A chill spread from my scalp to my toes. There was no doubt she’d make good on her threat. I’d just walked into this like the biggest idiot, but how could I not? Imagine if I hadn’t come. Annabelle would probably already be dead.

  There must be a way out of this.

  Think, Lily. Damn you.

  Unfortunately, Dana’s father had recovered from our little incident. He stared down at me. “Insubordinate witch.” He looked at the thug. “Bring her to the operations room. We’re doing this now. It’s about time those useless humans without magic felt our wrath.” His crazed stare found me again. “Their time of dominance has come and gone. It’s our time now. Those savages have held us hostage for too long. What a farce that we can’t show our magic just so we don’t make them feel bad. And if they think they can retaliate and kill us, as they tried hundreds of years ago, they have no idea what’s coming. You, witch prodigy, are going to help me cast the biggest spell the world has ever seen. With it, we’ll gain control over millions of people. And we’re going to start with the army.” His manic grin sent horror shuddering through me. What. The. Hell? “World domination must start somewhere, and it starts today.”

  Clive yanked me to my feet. He pulled me towards a staircase that went to a lower level. Just before we started down, Dana called out, “We burnt your mother out trying this, so good luck.” She smiled and batted her eyelashes. How I wanted to rip them out and shove them down her throat.

  I narrowed my eyes. I couldn’t hold up the pretence that everything was fine when she brought my mother into it. Yes, I was giving her what she wanted, a reaction, but it couldn’t be helped. “Was that before or after your dad and Toussaint hunted her down while she wore a collar?”

  Dana’s father grabbed my hair and yanked my head back. I grunted with the force of it. Damn. The more I showed weakness, the more they’d enjoy this. “How do you know this?”

  He was staring at me from the side. I couldn’t move my head—his grip was too strong—but I could give him massive side-eye. “I just know, like I know you killed your wife. You may think you have the upper hand right now, but you’d better watch your back. I’m way more than you bargained for.” His eyes bored into mine, but he said nothing. All I got for my trouble was another jerk of my head. Man, that ached. I added it to the score I was going to settle as soon as I figured out how.

  He released my hair, and I resisted the urge to turn and kick him in the shin. Patience, Lily. You haven’t worked out what you’re doing yet. Don’t make it harder. Yes, that was something I had to learn—patience. Why was it so hard? Gah. One of these days I’d get it right.

  The thug squeezed my arm as he forced me down the stairs. It ached, but I ignored it. I had more important things to think about… like whether I would poke Dana’s dad’s eyes out before I killed him.

  The other three thugs followed us down. Right. Five witches to overcome, then upstairs to deal with witch face. I pretended it wasn’t impossible. I had nothing to lose by believing I was going to turn this crap show around.

  Something Dana’s father said to me upstairs was niggling at me. Insubordinate witch. Yes! That was it.

  We’d reached the bottom of the stairs, but it went down another flight. Was this place on a hillside or had they dug out a basement?

  Now, what had I been thinking of? That’s right, insubordinate witch. I smiled. Someone else, a few months ago, had called me the same thing. It was something I was proud to be, and it was what had kept me alive back then. But it wasn’t just what she called me; it was what I did after that… what I could do.

  We stepped onto a concrete floor at the bottom of the second flight of stairs. The dark hallway was short and stopped at a stainless-steel door. Was this a bunker? Was he planning on blowing up the world? No, that was nuts, plus, his crazy daughter was upstairs. If calamity was happening, he would’ve brought her down here.

  Dana’s dad waved his hand near the door, and it slid to the side. Bloody collar. I couldn’t feel when someone was casting magic. My time was coming, though. Patience. And that ring on his middle finger looked familiar—a thick gold band with a square-cut emerald in the middle. Where had I seen it before? Oh my God! It was one of the artefacts stolen from the PIB. I’d beaten the man wearing it, on the bridge in London. Angelica had been made to hand it over to Top-Hat director. How had Dana’s father gotten hold of it?

  The thug stopped my train of thought. He shoved me through the door and into a room lit with white fluorescent light, which showed concrete, concrete, and more concrete. At this end was a row of screens, computers as well. An empty space opened in the middle of the room, but at the far end was…. I sucked in a breath, and my heart raced. It took a moment to fully comprehend the horror. A row of twelve cages, seven-feet-high and about two metres by two metres each. Eleven of them were occupied by a single person and a mattress on the floor. It was too far away for me to see the people’s faces clearly, not that they were all facing me anyway. Most of them lay on their mattress, backs to me. Two of them watched with blank faces. None of them had collars, so they must be non-witches.

  Were these test subjects? People I was supposed to control?

  Was that last cage for me?

  Insubordinate.

  Timing.

  I slid my finger along the front of my collar and remembered my mother.

  “Bring her here.” Dana’s father stood in front of the screens. Thug man dragged me over there. His three mates fanned out behind us. Maybe I needed to seem more helpless so they’d go away, or maybe he was going to remove my collar. If that happened, the plan I was formulating wouldn’t have to happen, which was probably good because it was dangerous. I could kill myself trying what I had in mind.

  He magicked something into his hand. It was déjà-vu city today. The two bracelets in his hand were also stolen from PIB with the ring, but they’d never been recovered. Apparently, they linked the wearers to amplify power. He tipped his chin, and thug man pushed me to him. Man, I was sick of being shoved from here to there. I turned my head and glared at the huge guy and considered whether I should knee him in the balls too.

  My tattoo burned. I gripped my wrist and held it to my stomach. “Argh!”

  Dana’s father laughed. “Pay attention. See these?” He held up the bracelets, and once I focussed on him, the scalding subsided. “I’ll wear one, and you’ll wear one. I can draw all your power then, but I can also control you as I have the dominant bracelet.” Of course there had to be a catch. At least they were going to have to remove my collar. “And, the beauty of these? I won’t have to remove the collar. Unless I’m directing the flow of power, you won’t be able to channel any. And while I’m drawing power, it is all mine to control.” He stared at the bracelets, an affectionate smile on his face. Bloody weirdo, and also, crap. Looked like I was going to have to go through with my plan, but to do it now or when he had the bracelets on us? No, I needed to do it now. I could grab him and draw his power at any time. I didn’t want him to have any advantage.

  Looked like it was time to risk my life. I flicked my gaze to the empty cage. I was pretty much dead anyway. Being locked down here and used for the rest of my life was not an option.

  I’d rather die.

  “Hold out your hand.” I did as asked while centring myself and finding my own power reserves. I’d broken through one magical bond months ago, and it was time to break through another.

  Insubordinate.

  I’ll show you insubordinate.

  Just as he was going to put the bracelet on, I made a fist and spun around, smashing thug guy in the face. Yikes that smarted! He dropped my arm—probably not because I’d hurt him that much, but getting hit in the face unexpectedly was bound to get a reaction. I sprinted to the far side of the room. Not to get away—that
was impossible—but for them to drag me back would give me enough time to do what I needed to.

  I reached the cages and my gaze met that of a skinny woman with auburn hair that had started greying at the temples. Her gaunt face looked unfamiliar, but her eyes. I knew those eyes.

  “Lily?”

  My breathing stopped.

  That voice.

  My heart raced.

  They grabbed me from behind. I shut my eyes. I had to block everything out if I wanted to succeed. I’d deal with the shock later.

  Someone kicked me in the side. I grunted, and sharp pain sliced through me, but I was somewhere else, deep inside. My reserves were there, and underneath them, that invisible lifeline to the river of power that I could only access once I’d almost depleted my own power. Something that seemed to be unique to me. Angelica had meant to talk to me about it, but we’d never gotten around to it.

  Now was the time I had to work it out, and fast.

  Rather than draw all my power, I sucked in energy from the river through my lifeline, but it was only tiny bits of magic at a time. I fought as they dragged me across the floor. The longer I had to take power, the more I’d have to break this damned collar. And I had more reserves than the first time I’d done this. Experience and practice made a witch stronger, and I’d had plenty of that in the last year.

  As we neared Dana’s father, I gripped the collar and started feeding my magic into it. As I fed my own life force, I took in more from the river. I willed it into the collar and curled into a ball, using all my muscles so they couldn’t unroll me and stick the bracelet on me. I drew power, fed it, and held my wrists into myself for dear life.

  The tattoo scorched me, and sweat trickled down my face. I panted as my heart rate increased.

  “Help me, dammit!” Dana’s father.

  Keep going, Lily. My stomach ached as I sucked from the river as hard as I could. It took excruciatingly more effort to do it this way compared to having an open portal. The collar heated, uncomfortably so. Was I getting closer?

  A thug on each side, they tried to pry my arms out. “No!” I screamed.

  One of my arms was stretched out.

  Damn it!

  I poured as much of my life force into the collar as possible. It singed my neck. So close. Someone grabbed my hand.

  I forced as much power as I could in a last push.

  The odour of burnt flesh filled my nostrils. A rushing noise filled the room, and the collar cracked. My portal opened, and the power poured in, the force of it flinging my body away from Dana’s father. If I’d been standing, I would’ve been thrown to the floor. They probably thought I was possessed.

  Ignoring my stinging neck and aching stomach, I scrambled to my feet and grinned. The five men stared at me, their surprised brains not sure how to deal with the situation. None of them had return to senders up. I mean, why would they? Was it wrong to feel joy?

  Dana’s father was the most dangerous, so I targeted him first.

  Lightning shot from one hand and hit the bracelets, destroying them and severing his hand. He screamed. His thugs ran for me. I syphoned so much power, I thought I would self-combust. My body burned as if I had a fever.

  I splayed my hands out and thought only of electricity, beautiful and deadly.

  I cut down his thugs in front of him. My power shot through their hearts, leaving a smoking hole in each man. They fell to the floor almost in unison, a deadly ballet where I was the choreographer.

  Dana’s father drew magic while he gritted his teeth. I laughed. “You picked the wrong witch, buddy. I’m going to enjoy this.”

  “No!” he screamed as he released his spell. What an idiot. In his panic, he hadn’t noticed my return to sender. His spell forced me a step backwards, but that was it. His spell rebounded, and as his face contorted in horror, his magic hit. His body ignited. From his head to his toes, a conflagration of evil.

  I didn’t have time to deal with the caged people, who were all now standing, staring at the carnage. I magicked their doors open and called out, “You’re free now. I’ll be back.”

  I exploded the lock on the door—I didn’t have time to figure out the code—and sprinted up the stairs.

  It was time to save my niece.

  Had Piranha felt all that magic? If she had, would it have mattered? She would’ve thought I was down there helping her father take over the world. I was pretty sure none of the screaming would’ve reached her either since the bunker was concrete.

  The advantages were all mine.

  But it wasn’t over yet. That knot in my stomach was staying tied until I knew my gorgeous niece, Annabelle, was safe. There was nothing more dangerous than an angry mamma bear… except an angry auntie bear.

  I raced from room to room, but she was nowhere. I bolted up another flight of stairs two at a time and slowed when I reached the hallway at the top. She’d better be here. I strode along the hallway and slammed open the first door. An empty room. I shut it and went to the next door. Maybe I shouldn’t open it so violently. If Annabelle was with Piranha, I didn’t want to scare her.

  I opened the door like a normal person. Relief breezed through me like the sigh of jasmine-scented evening air after a warm summer’s day. Piranha sat on her queen-sized bed, my niece in a cot next to her. She was apparently reading from a kid’s book. Creepy much? Playing happy families with a kidnapped baby? That was a new level of insanity I didn’t need to see.

  She jumped off the bed and slammed her hands on her hips. Her magic tingled my scalp. It was so nice to have no collar so I could tell when people were about to cast a spell. Her eyes bugged out. I grinned. She must have realised I didn’t have a collar and that I had a return to sender up.

  Before she could do anything, I drew magic and translocated Annabelle to the room I’d just seen. I didn’t know if I had enough power to send her home, and it was risky, but having just been in the next-door bedroom, I knew exactly where to place her, but Piranha would have no idea where I’d sent her.

  “How dare you! Where’s my father?”

  A bang sounded from downstairs, and the house shook slightly. What the hell was that?

  “Ooh, you’re in big trouble now. My father’s coming.”

  Did I have the heart to tell her? Yeah, yeah, I did. “Your father’s dead. I killed him.”

  “Liar!” Her magic tingled my scalp, but she didn’t dare cast a spell at me. She was more sensible than her father.

  “Well, to be honest, I didn’t actually kill him. He killed himself because he didn’t realise, as you have, that I had a return to sender up. You’re smarter than him—I’ll give you that much.”

  Shouting came from downstairs. Did they have backup? Damn. I’d better hurry this up.

  She flew at me, a gun appearing in her hand. Crap. And she had a return to sender up too. Footsteps thundered up the stairs. “You’re a liar. My father’s going to make you pay for your disobedience.” She shoved the gun at my temple. “Get out into the hallway.”

  My mouth went dry—even though I had my magic, if she pulled the trigger, nothing would save me.

  She followed me into the hallway as three men reached the landing. “Here, Father. I’ve got her.”

  Well, that wasn’t Dana’s father. She registered it the moment I did, but I didn’t give her a chance. I ducked into a crouch and elbowed her in the stomach. The gun went off, and shards of brick exploded out of the wall. My ears were ringing, yet again. It was a wonder I didn’t have tinnitus by now.

  Before Dana could recover, I turned and punched her in the face. It felt as if my knuckles splintered. Such intense pain. “Argh!” But she screamed, too, and blood poured from her nose. She lifted the gun again, but I brought my fist down on her forearm, forcing her to point it at the ground, then grabbed her collar with both hands, yanked her body down as my knee went up. She cried out as my knee slammed into her stomach. As soon as she dropped the gun, Will pushed me out of the way and stood in front of her, his gun
pointed at her head.

  “You’re under arrest.”

  She looked up at him and felt at the blood trickling from her nose. She glared at him. “No one’s arresting me. No one puts me in jail.” Her magic prickled my scalp as a doorway formed around her.

  “No!” I drew my power without thinking of anything but stopping her. More lightning poured from my hand, spearing her through the middle. Her face registered shock, and she stared at me before the life fizzled from her eyes and she dropped to the ground, a great big hole in her middle. Will, Beren, and James stared at me. I bit my lip and shrugged. “Oops.” If I said any more, I’d cry. I searched inside myself for guilt, for empathy, but I found none. Was my metamorphosis into cold-hearted killer finally complete?

  I didn’t have time to contemplate it. James grabbed my shoulder, panic in his eyes. “Where’s Annabelle?”

  “Oh, God, sorry.” His eyes widened, and it looked as if something inside had just died. “Oh, no, um, she’s fine. I mean, sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, but I was busy.” I nudged him out of the way and hurried to the first room near the stairs and opened the door. He was right behind me. “Look, there she is. Happy as.”

  Annabelle looked up at us and smiled. James choked out her name. “Annabelle!” He scooped her up and held her into his chest before holding her out again to look her over. Tears flowed from his eyes. “My baby. Oh my God.” Tears pricked my eyes. But then James looked at me, although with all the emotions roving his face, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “You’ve got some explaining to do, Lily.”

  Guilt swiftly took the bottom out of my stomach. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell anyone. But she told me if I didn’t come within 30 seconds, or if I told anyone, she’d kill Annabelle. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t just leave her to fate.”