by E. M. Moore
“Scilla…?” Her stare switched from frightening to scared. She gripped the side of the counter, her knuckles turning white, her eyes widening. “Scilla?” she asked again.
I stood. “What’s going on?”
I ran over to her and Mel put the phone on speaker. There was a crashing noise and someone breathed heavily on the other end. Finally, Scilla’s voice rang out. “I’ll make you pay. I will.”
There was a loud whack. Mel and I jumped. Two thumps sounded on the other line. Then, a small voice said, “Run.” Scilla coughed, the sound weak and gasping. Another deep breath later, she said, “Security.”
There was another rustling noise and then there was clear breathing on the other end. It wasn’t the breathing of someone who had just been attacked, but normal, even breathing. Mel and I exchanged a look. The killer, who’d picked off Mel’s coven one-by-one, must have picked up the phone.
Mel ended the call. I grabbed it from her hands and put in Jackson’s number while my sister had a meltdown next to me.
“Mel? It’s about time you called me,” Jackson’s voice came from the other side of the line.
“Jackson, it’s Maddie. Something’s wrong with Scilla. She’s just been attacked. We were on the phone with her and the killer, he’s over there right now.”
“Shit.” He covered the phone and said something, but I couldn’t tell what.
I looked over at my sister. She had slumped into a ball in the corner. I took the phone to the opposite side of the room and covered my mouth with my hand. “Jackson, he came on the line. He knows who we are. He knows who Scilla was talking to.” The siren blared in Jackson’s car and the unmistakable sound of the engine revving to full force filled the silence. “Lock the doors, the windows, grab anything, any type of weapon you can. Prepare yourself. If he knows it was Mel on the line, he’s coming for you. I’ll send people to Scilla, but I’m coming there, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can. Five minutes tops.”
“Okay.” My eyes darted to Mel.
I was about to hang up when Jackson cleared his throat. “Maddie?”
“Yeah?” My body had already started to shake. My hands took on a life of their own and a shiver went up my spine.
“Do whatever’s necessary. Do you understand? Anything. Even magic.”
I wasn’t even sure I said yes. I did nod, but he couldn’t see that. I ended the call and went over to my sister. I shook her shoulders when she didn’t answer me the first time. “Mel, let’s lock everything up and then we have to come up with something to do.” I ran around the apartment locking all the windows and all the doors. Mel stayed in her little crumbled up state. When I came back into the living room, I clapped next to her ear, which finally got her attention.
She looked at me, wide-eyed and pale as a white sheet. I grabbed her spell book off the sofa and shoved it in her face. “We need to come up with a protection spell like two seconds ago. Let’s do this.” I pulled on her arm and made her sit up. She went from scaredy cat to business mode in two seconds flat. She opened her spell book to a spell and told me to kneel in the center of the floor. She followed suit, sitting down crossed legged right across from me.
She put the book in front of her and we held hands. She closed her eyes and repeated the words of the spell on the page. It was a sad melancholy tune and then forceful as if she were a storyteller weaving her plot. I didn’t know the spell, but I put all my force behind it and believed every single word she said. The magic built. It tickled my toes and all the way up through my hips and was almost to the tips of my fingers by the time the door rattled.
Mel spoke the incantation quicker. She repeated the same verse over and over, but each time the words meant more. The feeling behind it catapulted the mere words into another realm of magic. She squeezed my hands, and I squeezed hers back. She said the last word and then we stared at each other. Electricity buzzed through the air. My hair was sticking on end with the power sizzling through us. We were safe. I knew we would be safe. The apartment door rattled again.
“We’re okay,” Mel said.
I just nodded. Nothing was going to happen to us. I knew it more than I knew what my own name was.
“Kick it!” a voice yelled from the other side of the door. Another loud thump sounded before the door started to creak. Someone was trying to kick the door in. Finally, it splintered. The door slammed against the wall and Jackson appeared in the doorway. For a second, I almost smiled. But then, I noticed someone had pushed him through the entryway.
Mel turned at the same time the person behind Jackson made themselves known.
I gasped. “Rich?”
No way. How was that possible? A hint of a gleaming silver knife pressed into Jackson’s back. The tip just barely grazing his skin. Jackson shook his head almost telepathically telling us not to move. I wanted to tell him we were fine and he should be worrying about himself, but I didn’t want to alert Rich of the spell we’d done. Maybe we could draw them closer to us, therefore putting Jackson in the safe zone.
Mel gripped my hand. My mind started spinning to try to figure out how Rich fit into this. “The tapes…”
Rich grinned from ear-to-ear like a Cheshire cat. “Yep, that was me. I’m surprised no one figured it out sooner. Who else would’ve been able to erase all the tapes? Come on. I really didn’t think I’d be able to last this long.”
“Isn’t ease of use one of the selling points of the system? It’s actually really easy to maneuver within—”
Rich’s eyes narrowed. “For you maybe, but you're a librarian and not everyone is so technically inclined. You have no idea the amount of service calls I have to make in a week.”
Well, that would be a problem of the past. If we ever got out of this anyway. “Why are you doing this?”
His eyes clouded over. “My father.”
Yes, I thought to myself. His dad beat his mother. A revenge plot, that’s what Mel said they were doing. Rich wanted to keep his dad from abusing his mother and then they wouldn’t help him again. “You were trying to keep your mom safe.”
Rich nodded. “And it worked for a little while. Then, he started to beat her again. The witches put it in his head that beating her was a bad idea. Whenever he thought about it, something bad would happen to him. He fought past it though. You see, he was just too nasty for the spell. One day, he just broke out of the spell and beat her again. I called Scilla. I wanted her and her little coven to make it right, to put the spell back on him. That’s what I paid for after all. They wouldn’t fulfill their promise. They went back on their word just like everybody else.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand, Rich. They should never have done the spell in the first place. You can’t do spells like that and expect nothing bad to happen to you. You can’t harm anybody else, it’s against Wiccan law. If you perform magic against someone else, it comes back on you.”
Rich grinned again. Pleasure obviously coursing through him. “And it did. Eenie meany miney—” He pointed at Mel. “Mo.”
Mel forced her shoulders back and raised her chin in the air. “You asked us to do the spell once, and we did.”
“It stopped working.”
“That’s not our fault. Your dad is clearly evil. If the spell stopped working, nothing would stop him.”
Rich’s eyes narrowed and a sick smile pulled at his lips. “That’s not true. My mom finally stopped him. She did. The last time he beat her so bad, she called the cops.”
Which is what he should have done in the first place. “Then it’s over with,” I offered. “Your dad’s in custody, your mom’s in the hospital. She’ll recover. Why are you still coming after Mel and her friends?”
“You think you have everything figured out, but you’re wrong. Jackson talked to Scilla today, now Scilla is dead.”
Mel whimpered.
I squeezed her hands again, trying to comfort her without words. “Just leave the rest of it alone.”
“Ha. Right. Tell that to
my mother who got hurt again because the spell stopped working. What about her broken ribs? Her nose? No, I’m finishing what I started.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Jackson said.
“Oh, I think I will. I have no doubt I will, actually. You three are going to die and no one knows I did it. Who knows? When they find all three of you dead here tonight, maybe they’ll think it was a lover’s quarrel. Sisters going after the same man… Even if they happen to figure it out, and honestly, I don’t have that much faith in the Salem police force, but if they do, I’ll be long gone by then. I’ll be needing the money I spent on the failed spell back.”
A lover’s quarrel? I wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. How ludicrous. He obviously wasn’t good at coming up with motives.
“You,” Rich said, pointing at my sister. “Thank you for calling Scilla while I was there. I would never have known you were the fourth witch. Be a good girl and get my money.”
I held onto Mel for dear life. If we lost contact, if she stepped out of the little circle we made, she wouldn’t be protected anymore.
“She can’t do that,” I said.
Rich forced the tip of his knife a little further into Jackson’s back. He gritted his teeth, hissing through the pain. “Do it or he’ll be the first to go.”
I tugged on Mel’s hands and she looked back at me. “Where’s the money? I’ll go get it.”
“No, I’ll get it.”
I widened my eyes to convey the fact that was just not happening. If anyone was going to break the circle, it would be me. “I’m doing it,” I said.
“One of you will get my money!” Rich screamed.
Mel tore her hands away from mine. As soon as she did, the energy left the room. It was like standing naked in front of a crowd. She hurried into the bathroom, Rich following her with his eyes the whole time. Jackson looked at me and then toward the bathroom door, cocking his head slightly. I stood and took a step toward the bathroom.
“Don’t move,” Rich said.
I held my hands up.
Jackson brought his knee up quickly and then slammed his heel down on Rich’s toes. He howled in pain. Jackson twisted, throwing his elbow into Rich’s nose and moving away from his grasp. Rich lashed out with his knife and it ripped across Jackson’s bicep. They struggled. It was like a boxing match, except Rich was the only one who held the weapon. He kept swiping it out against Jackson and catching him here and there on his arms. They circled each other.
I frantically searched the apartment looking for something to help. Hopefully Jackson was able to call all this in and the police would arrive soon. In the mean time, I needed a weapon. Jackson grunted in pain. My gaze lifted to find him bleeding from his thigh now.
A loud, fierce bark erupted in the small space. Nails scratching against wood filled the air until I saw Maxie reach the landing on the top step. He barreled forward and grabbed Rich’s leg with an angry growl. Yelping in pain, Rich swung his hand forward. On instinct, I ran toward the group and held back on Rich’s arm. Not my dog!
Jackson kicked his hand, and the blade went flying. I moved back as Jackson punched Rich twice in the face. Max still wouldn’t let go of Rich’s leg as Jackson wrestled him to the ground, forcing his face into the wood. He pulled out his handcuffs and locked them behind his back.
It all happened within seconds. My heart beat in my throat. “Maxie,” I said as Rich still cried out in pain. Maxie’s eyes met mine, and I slapped my leg. Max let him go, jumped over his body, and sat on his haunches next to me, staring at the scene. Mel came out of the bathroom, an envelope in hand, and slumped to the floor after she saw Rich on the ground with Jackson on top of him.
She looked at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then, she found Max and smiled. “How did he get up here?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
She crawled forward, sat next to Maxie and hugged him. Jackson got out his cell phone, made a call, and shook his head while he waited for the person to answer. “I can’t believe a dog saved the day.” He scorched Max with a look. “I would’ve had him if you’d given me thirty more seconds or so.”
Chapter 11
Maxie sat between Mel and I on the couch all night as the police came in and out like they owned the place. He soaked up all the attention, not just from us but all the uniformed officers, the paramedics, and even the Chief. His tongue hung out the side of his mouth for the better part of a couple hours as the officers pet him and ribbed Jackson for letting the dog make the arrest. Detective Ward took it in stride, often glancing over and looking at Max with amazement.
I still didn’t know how he got out of my apartment, but I was sure glad he did. He gave Jackson the right amount of time, distracting Rich just enough so he could take control of the situation. As the police worked, bagging the knife and taking our statements, I took the time to tell Mel the other half of the story she didn’t hear.
I told her how Rich’s dad had been beating his mother for most of his life and that was why he wanted them to do the spell. I told her they did a good thing, and that they should be proud of what they did.
Mel pulled the blanket around her tighter. Two officers escorted Rich out of the apartment. “I know I shouldn’t, but I kind of feel bad for him,” she said, watching the scene with a grave expression.
“Don’t feel too bad. He did try to kill us.”
“No, I don’t. He’s still a jerk.”
“A knife-wielding lunatic jerk,” I supplied.
“No kidding.”
Maxie turned toward me and gave me a big kiss on the cheek. “Aww, thanks, boy. You’re a good boy, huh? I think you deserve not to have a bath for at least a couple months and a treat every night.”
Jackson, who’d heard that last part, joined our little group laughing. “Well, it’s all over. Rich is being taken downtown right now. You guys are both safe, thankfully.” He opened his mouth to say something again, but his cell phone rang. His shoulders slumped, and he took longer than normal to fish his cell out of his pocket and answer it. He answered it very unenthusiastically, but that only lasted a few seconds. Detective Ward’s eyes lit up. “Really? Great. Thank you. Thank you.” He hung up the phone smiling. “It’s Scilla Longbottom. She’s going to make it.”
Mel fell back against the couch, her hand clasped to her chest. “Thank the Goddess,” she said. She looked at me from the corner of her eye. “You know what that means though. The third bad thing hasn’t happened yet.”
Jackson scorched us with a look. “What do you mean a third bad thing hasn’t happened yet? Pepper’s dead. Casey is dead. You and Maddie were attacked. I think that adds up to three.”
Mel shook her head and I pat her knee. “It’s okay. If it ever happens, it happens.”
Dezi poked his head in the room, and Jackson whirled around at the sound of his name. “Be right there.” He turned toward us with his hands in the air. “Just be safe. I’ll be right back.” He walked away and Mel and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes.
“It’s okay. Maxie’s here to save us,” I called out.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Whatever.”
I laid my head back against the couch and pulled Maxie into my lap as I looked over at my sister. “You know what really did save us though…”
“Magic,” we said at the same time.
“You felt how powerful that spell was, didn’t you? There was no way he was getting through the circle we made with that protection spell. Nothing would’ve happened to us.”
“Jackson maybe,” Mel said, “But I agree. There was no way anything was getting through that. We make a pretty good team.”
“Always have. Sorry I wasn’t there for you, Mel, but I’ll be there for you again. I guess there’s nothing wrong with being a witch and a librarian.”
“I never knew why you couldn’t be both,” she said. “I think you’re worried what those gasbags might say about you. You know, the board of directors at your library,
but you can be a professional and still be a witch.”
“Except everyone looks at you funny.”
“You get used to it.” She pulled her spell book off the floor and handed it to me. “I think you need to start practicing again. You keep getting involved in all these murders around town. If it happens again, you need to be prepared.”
“This time it was your fault,” I reminded her. “I wouldn’t have been involved at all except for you involved yourself in it.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, but knowing your luck, something else will happen down the road and there’s still that third evil thing that’ll happen to us.”
I took the book from her and trailed my hand over the cover. “Or I could just make my own luck.” Maxie rested his chin against my knee. His eyes slowly drooped. I looked down and then up at Mel, who was also starting to doze off. Jackson walked in and I put my finger to my mouth and shushed him. “Sleeping,” I whispered.
“I see that.”
I offered him a small smile. “Thanks again. It seems you’re always there when I need you the most.”
“That’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
Our cell phones buzzed at the same time. Jackson clenched his in his fist and shook it in the air. I looked down at my own screen and smiled. “It’s your mom.”
“Of course, it is. She’s somehow got her pulse on the rumor mill of Salem.”
“It’s the guilt trip.”
“Absolutely.”
THE END
Flip the page to read the next in the series: Wicked Cool
Chapter 1
What’s the best thing about trying on dresses with Mrs. Ward, your library assistant, and your hair-brained sister? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Their bickering made me want to shove Q-tips in my ears. Mel’s fault. Kind of. She’d recently joined the Salem Business Association on account of there being open spots. Mel’s coven members, who happened to both be female entrepreneurs, were murdered last month, and the group needed more volunteers to serve on the Association.