by Kate Krake
He plucked a leaf from the nearby bush. If only it were as poisonous as I’d initially told Neville it was.
“I’ve protected myself with a shielding spell. It’s pretty advanced. I doubt you’d have heard of it.”
I chuckled. I was still shaky but managed to stand up. “You’re an idiot, you know that, right?”
He stopped smiling. “You think you’re in a position to insult me?”
I laughed again. “You’re right, Rowan. The town did accidentally build a ghost maze. Did. Past tense. This thing was disarmed last night. Now it’s just a bunch of harmless plants arranged in a pretty pattern. Any witch with any power could feel that.”
Jackfort looked around, a small wrinkle of confusion creasing his brow.
“It’s true,” I said. “I did the spell myself.”
“You?” he said. “You don’t have that kind of power.”
“That’s what I thought too,” I said. “But I had help from some friends.”
“You don’t have any friends, either. You’ve never had any friends. You don’t have anyone.”
I shrugged. “It’s working for me so far.”
He circled me at a slow pace, hissing between his teeth. A shadow passed above us, and I looked up to see an owl fly by with a soft hoot.
“Well, let’s say I was to believe you, which I don’t—ghost maze or not, there’s still nothing stopping me from killing you here. If you’re trapped here as a ghost, then that’s a bonus. If you’re not, you’ll still be dead.”
“I don’t have anything you want, Jackfort. How many times do I have to tell you? I can’t tell you where Quentin is because I do not know.”
He stopped walking. “You know, I’m actually starting to believe you on that.”
“Then why are you still holding me here? Threatening to kill me? Why are you still tormenting me every day?”
“Because you need to be taught a lesson, Bella. A long overdue one, and one your rat brother needed to learn too.”
“What?”
“Respect.”
“That’s rich, coming from you. You kill my neighbor, you poison my cat, you stalk me, you sexually harass me, and now you kidnap me, threatening to kill me? And that’s just this week. When have you ever respected anyone in your life?”
Jackfort’s backhand landed on my cheekbone in a sharp crack. My face stung and swelled instantly.
“I did not kill your neighbor. That’s amusing, but nothing to do with me. I keep telling you. But more importantly, you will learn respect for your superiors,” he seethed. “I am your coven high witch. You and Quentin both served the Bloodfire under me. You owe me your fealty.”
“I owe you nothing,” I said, pressing my hand to my cheek. “I was never a part of your stupid cult, remember?”
He slapped me again, harder this time. I cried out and hated how weak it made me sound. He grabbed me by the shoulders. “Your brother lied to me, he stole from me, he made a mockery out of me. And you expect that to go unpunished?”
“Then punish him for it. I had nothing to do with it, and I have nothing to do with Quentin.”
“You, the eternal twins, who looked the same and thought the same and did everything together at every minute since you squirmed out of your lost mother’s belly together? You might think you don’t know where he is, but I know all about the bond twins have.”
“What are you talking about?” I said.
He twisted my arm, pushing me to the ground. He pressed his other hand to my forehead.
The revolting ripple of Jackfort’s magic coursed into my brain like a hot wire, probing through every corner of my mind.
No. I was not to going to be violated. He would not take anything from me. I was weak, like my arms were made of cold iron. The only thing keeping my head from dropping was Jackfort’s palm pressing against my forehead. But I had to fight. I gripped his wrist.
“Get out of my head,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
Jackfort pressed harder, ignoring me. “I know he’s linked to you. I will find him.”
I gripped tighter, pulling at his arm. “Get out of my head,” I said, louder this time.
He pressed harder still, but the magic retracted a fraction, enough to tell me I didn’t have to take this. I had everything I needed to fight back, right there inside me already.
“Get out of my head!” I screamed. “Get out! Get Out!” I ripped Jackfort’s hand free, breaking the bond and his repulsive probing spell.
He was breathing hard; the spell had taken energy from him. I scrambled upward, starting to run before I was even properly on my feet. I stumbled but didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. Jackfort was still dazed, and those blessed few seconds gave me the head start I needed.
I ran, twisting the dark paths. I had studied every corner of this maze from the second I’d realized what it was. More than that, the disarming spell had imprinted its pattern on me, so I knew it as intimately as I knew my way around my own apartment. Jackfort followed, wheezing as he ran behind. I only had to lose him around one corner, get him lost, trapped in a dead end, and get myself out of there, free—but he wouldn’t fall behind in his pursuit.
At last, I made the final turn. The end was in sight, the parking lot lights on top of the hill lighting up my path to freedom. As I neared the exit, my foot slipped on the wet grass. I stumbled but didn’t fall. As I stepped out into the open field, Jackfort leaped, grabbing my ankle as he fell, pulling me to the ground. I kicked at him, landing a lucky blow to his head.
“I’m gonna make you pay,” he shouted. I kicked again, planting my boot heel squarely into his nose. I broke free and got to my feet. I took a running step and then stopped. I turned slowly, my body fueled with terror and something else. Something I had only experienced once before, right here, when I had performed the biggest spell of my life.
Real power.
“You sick freak,” I said.
Dark blood flowed down Jackfort’s face from what I hoped was a broken nose.
“I am so going to kill you,” he said, spitting through blood. “After I take you, give you a taste of what I know deep down you’ve always wanted.”
“No,” I said calmly. “No, you’re not. You’re going to leave me alone, you’re going to leave this town, and you’re never going to come near me again.”
I stepped toward him. “Whatever happened to Quentin, it’s not me. It’s him. We might be twins, but where he is and what he owes you has nothing to do with me. And I think you know that, Jackfort. You know Quentin bested you, and you’ve got no power over him. That’s why you came after me. Someone you thought was weaker, someone within your reach. But guess what? I’m not weak.”
My hands shot upwards, my palms facing him. Heat like magma flowed through me, and the energy erupted through my fingers. Jackfort was thrown backward, a deafening crack tearing apart the quiet night.
He lay on his back, clutching at his still-smoldering chest, groaning. The air was tinged with the smell of his burning skin and clothes.
“Seems you’ve finally found your mojo, Belladonna,” he coughed.
“Don’t call me that,” I said. I flicked my hand, and a blue line like a snake of electricity shot out, sizzling across Jackfort’s cheek. He cried out again.
“Who’s teaching you?” he wheezed, one hand now holding his burning face. There was fear in his eyes. I liked it. I had no idea how I’d summoned a high witch battle spell, but I liked that too.
“Just working on my natural power, Rowan. Now if you don’t get out of my town, for good, I’ll strip your skin and feed it to my cat. Apparently, he needs more fresh meat in his diet.”
Jackfort scrambled to his feet. His wrist twisted as he prepared to release his spell, but I snatched at the air before the magic flew. His arms fell limp, paralyzed from the shoulders down.
“What did you do to me?” he gasped, his hands hanging as dead weights by his side. His neck muscles tensed as he tried to move.
�
�Think of it as a safety restraint. The spell will release when you get outside the town boundaries.”
I had no idea if it was true, but it sounded threatening enough.
Jackfort was white fury. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, Belinda Drake.”
“No, you don’t know who you’re messing with. Now get the hell out of here before I make it permanent.” I pointed at his arms, and he flinched away, frightened.
“What’s going on here?” a voice came from behind me.
It was Henry. His old green pickup was parked up on the ridge. How had he found me? Had he seen me perform battle magic? It didn’t matter. I had never been so relieved to see another person in all my life.
Jackfort sneered.
“This another new boyfriend, Bella? If I knew you liked them long in the tooth, I could have set you up with a vampire back in Loreton.”
“Pretty sure I told you to leave, Jackfort. There’s nothing holding your legs. Get moving. Or do you want me to set you on fire from the inside out?”
Jackfort shuffled past Henry and sniffed. “Wizard. That whose power you’re on, Bella? Borrowed power never lasts. I’ll be back for you, my girl. And then we’ll finish this.”
Henry pressed a balled fist into Jackfort’s chest as if he were giving him the world’s slowest punch.
“Get your hands off me, old man,” Jackfort said, but he didn’t move away from Henry’s hand. Henry lowered his arm slowly, his eyes near black in the gloom. He shook his fist at his side as though he were shaking something off onto the ground.
“This is not over,” Jackfort said and then left us.
We watched Jackfort run at a slow, loping gallop out of the field, his arms useless by his sides. Henry pulled me into a hug I didn’t shy away from.
“Oh, my dear, are you alright?” he said.
I did not know how to answer. “Henry,” I said, looking up at him with tears spilling down my cheeks. “Can you please take me home?”
19
Neither Henry nor I spoke on the drive back to my house.
I collapsed into my kitchen chair, Hemlock darting from his hiding spot and curling up in my lap. My entire body shook as I stroked his fur.
Henry made us both a welcome cup of tea without a word and sat at the table opposite me, placing a plate laden with cookies between us.
“How did you know where to find me?” I said.
Henry lowered his head and took a sip of his tea. “I came over for Scrabble, like we’d arranged. The door was open, the chairs knocked over and your purse still here on the table. I knew instantly something had happened, so I went after you.”
“But how did you know I was in the maze?”
Henry pulled at his collar, rubbed the back of his neck and stared into his cup.
“A friend saw you.”
“A friend?”
“Adela. She told me you were there.” Henry cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Belinda, but that’s all I can tell you.”
I nodded. I understood secrets.
“Who was that man?” Henry said.
“My past catching up with me,” I said.
“He’s a witch too?” Henry said. Suddenly ravenously hungry, I took a cookie from the plate.
“Does everyone in this town know everyone’s secrets?” I said through a mouthful of crumbs.
Henry smiled and shook his head. “Not everyone, not every secret.”
I took another bite. “Wizard?” I said. “Is that one of these secrets?”
Up until then, as far as I knew, wizards were fiction. Gandalf, Harry Potter, Harry Dresden, those were the only wizards. Or so I thought.
“It’s not a secret as such, but something I don’t enjoy a lot of people knowing. Some people call us wizards,” Henry said. His tone was low and calm, and he looked me right in the eye. “I’m a priest of the Aldric gods.”
He spoke in such a reverent tone that I knew what he’d admitted was important, and yet I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Aldric gods?” I said, embarrassed by my ignorance.
“I’m surprised you haven’t heard of them, given what you wear every day around your neck.”
“My pendant?”
“One half of an Aldric symbol. One snake for Zustera, one of the twin Aldric gods, one for his sister, Broric. It’s a kind of legend in my faith.”
“I had no idea it meant anything at all,” I said.
“There’s a matching brother snake to that one out there somewhere, another half to a whole.”
Quentin’s twin pendant. Had he known? It did seem too much of a coincidence, and there was an awful lot of that going on these days.
“The Aldric is an ancient pantheon, not nearly as powerful as they once were, but with enough presence in the world to hold some sway still. Particularly over witches.”
“So what does a wizard do?” I asked.
“Much like any other priest does, except with the perk of borrowing the gods’ magic. We pray, we spread the word, do their work. I am a bardic priest—I work through music. You actually caught me mid-lesson with Iain in the shop a few days ago. He’s my acolyte.”
The world fell into place a little more clearly but with no less confusion.
“I thought you and Iain were, like…” I hesitated. “You were so close together, I thought you were… y’know… getting romantic.”
Henry laughed, slapping the table. “An affair? With Iain? Gee, Belinda, you know I’ve been with Josie for nearly a decade now, don’t you?”
I nodded. “That’s what upset me about it.”
“What you saw between us was an act of religious training, not hanky-panky. Our relationship is professional, spiritual, but nothing more.”
“That’s a relief,” I said. “I really like Josie, and thinking of you as a cheater was terrible.”
“You can relax,” he said. “I’m an honorable fellow.”
Henry’s smile faded, and his serious face returned.
“Belinda, only a few in the world know who I am, and Iain too. I would appreciate your keeping our secret as I have kept yours.”
“How long have you known about me?”
“From the instant you first stepped into my store.”
I took another cookie and tried to let the information sink in. My hands still tingled where the battle magic had exploded like lava from a long-dormant volcano, power I hadn’t tried to summon, power I hadn’t known I was capable of.
Was it something that would last?
Henry looked at me and smiled. “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us, Belinda. New as it is, I truly value our friendship and would like it to continue.”
I felt the same way. “I’m glad you told me,” I said. “Thank you for trusting me enough to do so.”
We sat in silence, picking the last crumbs off the plates. Hemlock rubbed against Henry, showing me Henry was the kind of friend I had to keep on my side.
“This past of yours,” Henry said, motioning to the door, “is it something that’s likely to keep causing any trouble?”
I shrugged, shaking my head. “I can’t say. I certainly hope not. I managed to scare him off this time, but it’s not his style to back down forever.”
“That was some very impressive spellwork I saw you do.”
He had seen. It would have been less awkward if he had told me he had seen me naked.
“It was…” I was going to say nothing, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. “Honestly, Henry, I don’t know what that was. I didn’t even know I could do battle magic.”
He nodded. “Blackthorn Springs can have a remarkable effect on different people. That’s why so many supernaturals are here.”
“So I’ve heard. Is it possible that’s why I liked this town so much, so quickly? I wasn’t even thinking about moving the first day I came here. That’s all magic in itself, don’t you think?”
“I’d put money on it,” Henry said. “So, were you and that gu
y a couple?”
I shook my head. “Nothing like that. Though that’s not to say he never tried it with me for years. Rowan Jackfort is the high witch from the Bloodfire coven, one of the darkest Loreton covens. My brother got mixed up with them years ago.”
“So there is a brother,” Henry said.
My first instinct was to clam up, stick to the secrecy I’d been trying to maintain. But there was no going back now. My witchcraft was out with Lila, Adela, and Edie, and now, after what Conri had seen, he’d guessed correctly too. Besides, it seemed I had never been able to hide from Henry. The pages of my life had long been open to eyes I didn’t even know were reading my story, anyway. What was the harm in telling him more?
“I have a twin brother,” I said softly. “Quentin. Also a witch. We were adopted, and neither of us knew anything about our blood family. He had an insatiable desire to find other witches and got mixed up in a coven he met online. The Bloodfire. They’re into bad things—drugs and other illegal stuff as well as seriously black magic. I don’t know the full story, but one time Jackfort had Quentin lay a curse on a man. A Mortis death curse. The same curse that killed Kenny Langdel.”
Henry listened closely, nodding his head.
“You knew about Kenny,” I said, half not wanting to hear my friend had witnessed a murder and was prepared to look the other way.
“I did. I suspected you knew too, and others. There are proper authorities for this, though, Belinda. I’m sure they’ve been alerted. I hope you won’t get yourself mixed up in the hunt for a black magic killer.”
Too late.
“I tried to alert the authorities, but Margie Garon wouldn’t listen to me as soon as I mentioned witchcraft. And Sheriff Bonney has been acting super weird around me.”
“The sheriff’s department has their own way of dealing with it. Part of that is no on-the-record admission of the existence of the supernatural.”
I reached down to pet Hemlock. If Henry was right, I should back away. It wasn’t like I hadn’t kept coming back to the same reasoning since this whole Pandora’s box had opened. At first, it had started as a pursuit of justice, but if someone else was dealing with it, as Henry said, then what was keeping me going—besides lunacy?