Forgotten Witch : A Lia Miller Series

by Sara Stone

  "Yes. I got attacked from behind. I was wearing headphones and didn't hear him approach me. I never actually saw who it did, although I am positive it was a man. He wore a ski mask and dark clothes." She hiccupped a bit as she was explaining, which made my heart clench.

  "How did you call me without a phone?" I asked when she seemed like she wouldn't continue. Her voice still echoed in my head. I had no idea how I had heard her. It was haunting.

  "What do you mean?" she asked, wrinkling up her eyebrows and pulling back a bit into the couch.

  "You were calling me. At first, I couldn't tell it was you, but your voice got louder until I started to look for you." The fact that I was the only one that had experienced this freaked me out. Had I heard it in my head? It seemed like it came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

  "I was hoping that you could help me, but it was a very brief notion. I'm... I'm not sure how you heard me as it was right before...before I passed out. I was sure I was going to die." Tears started to roll down her cheeks as I hugged her tight. I was trying to comfort her and make it stop. I didn't want to see her hurting.

  "I think it was part of your gift. Although you thought of her only briefly, she heard you, loud and clear. I have never heard of such a thing," Rose explained, "Not that what happened to you is okay in any form." Rose seemed sure that her answer was the only one. Hattie being a medium, typically saw things like the past, part of the present, and even the future. I was a little lost on how she could have been contacting me without a spell to do so. Clearly, I had a lot more to learn about magic and all the workings of this new reality of mine.

  Ulric sat quietly through the whole exchange. When Hattie explained being attacked, he gritted his teeth and went rigid as a little muscle by his eye twitched. Judson was barely holding it together, visibly shaking. I could understand his frustration at having a friend getting hurt, but his anger made me wonder if there had been a past between them. I closed my eyes and tried wishing away the tinge of jealousy that hit me. I had no right to feel that, especially in this situation.

  Rose made her way to leave, hugging both Hattie and me and promising to call tomorrow to check on her. I thanked her profusely for the help. If she hadn't been around to help me, then I was sure Hattie wouldn't have made it. Ulric followed suit and packed up his bag before telling me that we would resume training tomorrow. With Hattie's attack, it was clear that I needed to learn a whole lot more. That left Judson sitting quietly and Hattie making herself comfortable on the couch. Judson and I were locked in a staring contest before she cleared her throat, stopping it instantly.

  "Lia, can I stay here?" she asked, her voice was small and childlike.

  "Of course, you can," I said, "you can stay as long as you like." Relief washed over her face at my answer.

  "My friend is bringing over your window in an hour. I am going to stay and help him get it in," Judson said. There was no question. It was a statement. He wasn't leaving and didn't ask if I had the patience to deal with someone after all that had happened. I half nodded at him, too tired to tell him to put it off for another day.

  "Well, if they get that window fixed, then you can sleep up in my room, and I will take Gram's room," I said.

  "Um...do...do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" she asked, worry lines creased her face.

  "I don't mind at all. It'll be like a sleepover. We can watch movies and eat junk food," I said, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. I wanted Hattie to relax and not worry about asking me for anything. I wanted to show her how much her friendship means to me.

  She took her cellphone and made a few calls. She got some coworkers to step in and help her out for a few days so that she didn't have to chance anyone seeing her bruises at the coffee shop or having a freak out with it being so fresh for her.

  "Why didn't you call me?" Judson asked., snapping the question at me, catching me off guard.

  "What?"

  "Why didn't you call me? I was just up the road." He stared me down angrily.

  "Are you kidding me? I did call you! Check your flipping phone!" I snapped back at him. The tone and demeanor that he was taking had me on edge. I did nothing to deserve it, and I had to fight the impulse to be childish about it. He acted like I had purposely gone galivanting about making sure to leave him out.

  "I have. Repeatedly. You never called." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, closing his eyes. He looked tired. His usually passive face held deep lines between his eyebrows, and his mouth turned down in a slight frown. There were dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't been sleeping. None of us really were. It was making sense why his temper was quick to flare.

  "I will show you my phone. I called Ulric. You. Then Rose showed up to help. I don't know why this is such an issue to you." I pulled out my phone and pulled up the call screen. There his name sat clear as day showing I called. I handed it to him roughly.

  "You can see right there I called. You clicked it over to voicemail." I put a lot of emphasis on you, making it sound more accusatory than it needed to be pointing my finger at his name and then his chest.

  "It's an issue to me because I am supposed to keep all of you safe," he said, through gritted teeth, tossing my phone to the cushion beside me before walking off into the kitchen.

  I got up and followed. He didn't get to talk to me all condescendingly and then walk off when he was wrong. He had smashed my last fraying nerve, and there was no way that would be it for this conversation.

  "I still don't even know what that's supposed to mean," I said, walking to the table and leaning my hip against it. At least I could put it between us, so I didn't fly off the handle.

  "It means that instead of wasting time doing spells that may or may not backfire, you could have tried calling one of us, as in me, the protector, instead." He had turned to face me, still holding the glare. This conversation was far from over.

  "Are you serious?" my voice screeched as he dug in deep with the personal cuts, "I start hearing a random voice, and you sent me to voicemail, so I guess that makes it my fault." I was insulted, to say the least. I hadn't asked for any of this. I was jumping in with both feet, trusting people who others would commit to an asylum, yet here I was being called incapable.

  He stood there, not speaking, so instead of just dropping it and letting him apologize for being such a donkey's backside, I continued to rant. I could have left well enough alone, but I had a long day after a long night. There was no stopping anything from flying out of my mouth.

  "You are the so-called protector. Where were you? How are you supposed to do whatever it is that you do? Which, by the way, hasn't been showing a newbie anything. So really, my lack of competence with magic is partially your fault. You keep saying that you can't tell me why you should protect me, but you haven’t even protected me either!" Yes, I completed my rant with the air quotations around protector just to add insult to injury. He had hurt my feelings, and I wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine, which was not the ideal way to handle things. A long night equals no flying figs from me.

  "If you had come home and spent more time with Mabel, it wouldn't be on anyone to show you anything," he shouted, leaning in and clenching his fists. He pulled back, looking confused for just a second before turning and walking out of the back door, altogether leaving the fight like it was no big deal.

  I stumbled back as if he had slapped me. I couldn't do anything other than stand there and gape after him. My heart shattered at his words. Tiny knives pierced through me, slicing open all doubts I secretly held on myself. I had let Gram lead two lives. I could see the hints and signs, but she was adamant not to show me anything besides what was considered normal, and yet maybe I would have noticed more if I had been here.

  I stood in the kitchen, my heart racing wondering what just happened. I shook my head, trying to get the accusations he said out of it. They replayed over and over like a broken record. I tapped my foot as I thought about all the smart retorts I
could have had. Too late now. On top of what happened with Hattie, I couldn't believe he outright fought with me. My stomach felt like it was knotted up. I admonished myself for being naïve enough to have not expected it. He was always irritated or upset with me anyway.

  Part of me wondered why he had looked so confused. I wanted to think it wasn't like him to act like that, but then again, how would I really know? All the people surrounding me lately were just close strangers. I hadn't known them long enough to understand habits or how they treated people. My heart clenched. I wanted to know. I wanted them to be my friends, but it wasn't likely with the way things were going.

  I had to talk myself into putting on a brave face. Settling my nerves, I hoped as hard as I could that Hattie hadn't heard all that. That would be mortifying. I really didn't want to bother her with it all, yet there was the girl in me wanting a best friend that I could talk to. Before I could walk out, she peeked into the kitchen with a sad look on her face.

  "Are you alright?" she asked.

  "Um...yeah..." I kept trying to tell myself I was anyway.

  "You don't look alright." She walked in and gave me a hug. I was supposed to be making her feel more comfortable, and she was the one doing it for me. I refused to cry. Not over what he said. If I wanted to be upset about Gram, then I would on my own time, not because someone threw their opinions at me.

  "Thank you," I said, pulling back and giving her a small half smile.

  "I was trying not to listen, but everything was sort of being yelled," she said, looking at the floor as her cheeks turned red.

  "Yeah, things got a little carried away," I said. It was my turn to be embarrassed as my cheeks flushed, making me look away.

  "That's very out of character for him. I don't think I have ever heard him yell like that or say those kinds of things to anyone." She was stood there shaking her head in disbelief.

  All I could do was shrug. I didn't know him well enough to agree or disagree. The pang of hurt flashed as I pictured his handsome face marred with anger. I didn't want to keep talking about it.

  "So, I guess we wait for this window guy, and then if we don't want fast food, I will need to go shopping. You can hang out or go with me."

  Her posture changed when I said she could hang out. It was like she curled into herself. I could see the trepidation cross her face. If I had been attacked, I wouldn't want to be alone.

  "I think I will go." She pursed her lips like she didn't want to say that out loud. I nodded at her to let her know I could tell she was having an issue with it. A grown businesswoman not wanting to be alone was not as humiliating as she was thought. I wasn't going to judge her when I slept on my couch after my window had been broken. We were a pair. At least we would get through it together.

  We hung out in the living room, flipping through TV channels and browsing social media in companionable silence when there was a knock at the door. We both jumped at the loud sound, laughing at our overreaction. I hopped up and walked over to the door. I had my hand on the knob when I took a deep breath to steady my fraying nerves. My imagination was running wild with the possibilities of someone on the other side ready to attack.

  I opened the door to see the back of a redheaded man with his hands in his pockets. He was just a few inches taller than me but stout. Not in a fat way, he was toned as the plaid fabric stretched out around his muscular arms. He had on a leather tool belt and tan work boots, very mountain man.

  When he turned around, he had a smile on his face reminding me of a cat that ate the canary. His eyes drew in my attention. They were greener than mine but a few shades darker, like an evergreen forest. His face was on the rounder side, reminding me of a cherub with a beard.

  "Dahlia? I'm Ronan. Judson sent me to fix your window," he said, holding out his hand to shake mine.

  "Hi. Thanks for coming so soon," I said. His shake was firm, which was nice. Don't break my hand but don't act like a wet noodle.

  "Can you take me to the room where it needs to be replaced?" His smile put me at ease. Any lingering fear of having him in my house was gone.

  "Yeah, it's this way." I lead him up the stairs to my room.

  He stood there inspecting it as I awkwardly hung back. I didn't know if I should leave him to it or if he would have any questions for me.

  "Is it always this easy for a man to get into your bedroom?" he half turned to look at me. I was taken aback by the question and the seriousness on his face before he cracked a full smile. I laughed while shaking my head. I wasn't even going to dignify it with an answer.

  "This should be an easy fix. It's an old house and a single pane, so I'll just have to take out what's left of the broken one and put in the new one."

  "Great, I will be downstairs if you need me."

  We both walked down the stairs. I turned toward the kitchen to notice Hattie peeking out wide-eyed.

  "If I had known the house would be full of beautiful women, I would have come sooner," he said with a wink before going outside to his work truck.

  I mouthed, oh my God, to Hattie as she covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. Judson was just flat out intimidatingly hot, but Ronan was down-home comfort on a stick. He wasn't chiseled but worked enough to have nice arms, which was always a plus in my book. His easy-going banter instantly made me like him, and I could tell Hattie was itching to talk to him. She had brushed out her hair and straightened herself out.

  "What are you doing?" I asked, wide-eyed. This was not the day to get hussied up and hit on someone, even if he was a redheaded beefcake. Maybe those healing herbs and spells helped more than her bodily wounds, or perhaps he was the distraction she needed to push away the hurt for a while. Either way, it probably wasn't the healthiest way to deal with things, but then again, who was I to judge?

  "Do you not have eyes?" she whispered harshly, widening hers.

  "Um, yes I do, and he's here to fix the window."

  "Quick break another one, so I have a chance to talk to him." We fell into another round of giggles. Laughing with her was the best kind of medicine. It felt like we had been friends forever.

  We sat on the couch while we waited for him to be done. If Hattie were planning on staying more than one night, I would need to stock up on just about everything. Wine especially. I think we both needed a glass or two to wind down after all the stuff that happened.

  He came down after about a half-hour of work with going back and forth from his truck. Each time making a joke or sending a cute smile Hattie's way. His personality was a breath of fresh air. Hattie was practically drooling over him every time he was out of earshot. We were acting like a bunch of schoolgirls giggling and blushing.

  "Okay, ladies, I am all finished up there. Dahlia, do you want to check it out?" he asked, motioning towards the stairs.

  "No, I think I trust you," I said, shrugging.

  He held a hand to his heart as if I wounded him.

  "What do I owe you? That was quick, and you came on short notice."

  "It was no problem. It pays to know someone that can fix your house." He winked, and I thought I heard Hattie swoon.

  "Seriously, what do I owe you?" I asked.

  "How about a home-cooked meal? I live on my own, and I don't cook. TV dinners and fast food don't help my manly physique." He rubbed his belly to send the message home.

  "I can do that. I just need to run to the store."

  "I will go home and wash up. See you back here in an hour?"

  "That works."

  He left, and Hattie was stuck drooling on the couch. She had a thing for him. I caught her staring at him repeatedly, causing yet another round of giggles. She looked so much better in such a short time I had a hard time remembering that she wasn't here to hang out. I admired that she wasn't in a panicked state. She was braver than I would ever be. I would have more emotional wounds than physical after an attack like that. I didn't want to rain on her parade, so I would let her stay distracted until she brought it up.

  We went
to the grocery store around the corner and spent a fair amount of time walking around trying to figure out what to cook. I wasn't a chef by any means. There were only so many things I knew how to make. Given that he showed up and worked on that without a day's notice, I wanted to make sure it was something tasty.

  Hattie had already figured out she was going to make dessert along with dinner. She was a full believer that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach but thinking about it now, probably with a pinch of kitchen magic. She picked up all her stuff first then we went about finding what I needed. I decided on a lasagna. It would be easier to make as the sauce and the meat could be cooked up first so that all we had to do was heat it up together.

  We turned down the last aisle before getting a place in line when a hand settled on my shoulder. I jumped and spun around, knocking into Hattie as I went, who ended up dropping her basket, causing a loud bang. I was lucky we both didn't end up screaming like little girls. My first reaction was wanting to karate chop our attacker, so that was an improvement. I wasn't such a meager mouse anymore.

  It was Brad. He held up his hands apologetically as he took a step back. Other people around us were waiting to see some type of altercation. My heart was speeding painfully in my chest.

  "What are you doing, Lia?" he asked, eyeing Hattie and our baskets.

  "We are cooking dinner at my place for Hattie's new beau." I shook my basket as if to show off with a big grin on my face. Hattie gently slapped my arm in response while she blushed furiously. She acted like she was shocked I said as much in front of Brad but had been daydreaming out loud to me the whole way to the store and then some.

  "And I don't get an invite? Shouldn't your new beau get one too?" he asked, slumping his shoulders and fake frowning. I knew he was playing with me when I caught a hint of mischievous in his eyes as they crinkled around the corners. He tried hard to hide his smile until I took the bait.

  "Oh, of course. Please join us for an early dinner." Now it was my time to blush. We had been on a couple of dates, so it wasn't too bad that he asked to come over. I couldn't figure out regular dating etiquette, so I winged it, like most things lately. His smile made my head swim. I was happy I asked, although my house still looked as if it belonged to my gram, with no personal touches of my own, except for my bedroom. The thought of him seeing my bedroom made my cheeks burn even more. I could feel the blush creep up my ears. I ran a hand over my hair, trying to keep it from being noticed.