Hexed and Vexed

by Rebecca Royce

  The door swung open before she could answer him. She’d probably have said something about yes, she got her back up easily, but he wasn’t exactly easy going himself. In any case, the woman who answered the door paled as she stared at them.

  “I always knew there would be a time you would find me.”

  Ava looked at Lawson. Did he understand what had just been said? Because it went well over her head. The woman had blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, green eyes, and a slim figure that was shown off in her yoga pants and long green tunic.

  Lawson cleared his throat. “You’re a witch.”

  Ava gasped and the woman blinked rapidly. “You came. You obviously know that.”

  “Can we come in?” Ava pointed inside. “We’re actually not here to bother you. Unless you’re a criminal?”

  Lawson would probably have to arrest her if she was some kind of wanted woman. Living with the humans was declassee, but not forbidden. Ava had been considering it herself. As long as she maintained without doing spells, she could go anywhere she wanted. Humans could move to witch towns. They generally didn’t—in the same way witches didn’t move to the humans’—but it could happen.

  “I’m not. I mean, I haven’t broken any laws. I always knew I’d have to go back, though. That’s why you’re here. To drag me back? I have children. My daughter and my son. They have no idea. My husband doesn’t know. We have to figure out how to do this so they’re okay. Please, give me this.”

  Lawson lifted his eyebrows slightly in the same way that he’d done with the cab driver. Okay, that was his tell. Most witches had to move their hands or speak if it was a big spell. Lawson just lifted his eyebrows slightly. Ava wondered if anyone ever noticed besides her.

  It must have been a relaxing spell. The woman’s shoulder slumped a bit, and she stepped away from the door. Now, if Ava had been able to do that and actually used that spell on someone without permission—in human land nonetheless—he’d have the right to arrest her.

  “Do as I say not as I do?” She elbowed him, and he shrugged.

  They stepped past the woman and into her home. The foyer led to a staircase in the center with two rooms visible on the left and right of the entrance. The woman walked them into the living room. Two blue couches faced each other with a white chair to the left of both of them. The whole u-shaped furniture display surrounded a glass table. The walls were covered in blue and white wallpaper with a white throw rug completing the look. Bay windows looked out on the neighborhood, right now displaying a young woman walking her dog.

  “Hello.” Ava nodded, starting again. “I’m Ava Blakely. This is Lawson Abramowitz. What is your name?”

  Ava had expected to come see a human, to deliver a warning, and be on her way. This was an entirely different scenario. Although, maybe it didn’t have to be. The woman rubbed at her neck then finally answered. “My name is Johanna Key. You didn’t already know that?”

  The last name was not one Ava knew, which only meant she hadn’t been part of their circle. Most people weren’t. A thought dawned on Ava. “Married name?”

  Johanna cleared her throat. “Yes, that’s my married name.” She looked down at the floor. “Johanna LaMonte would be my maiden name.”

  If living with the humans was almost never done, then marrying them happened even less. Ava wasn’t sure she’d ever met anyone who had before. How had they even met? These were not questions she was going to ask. LaMonte was also not a name she knew.

  Lawson’s face was blank. If he knew that last name, he wasn’t indicating that he did. Ava spoke again. “I’m here because your daughter and a friend came to see me.”

  She gasped. “They did what? How did Lacey do that?”

  Well, at least Ava now had a name there, too. “Lacey and another girl came to my shop. They took a train. They were hoping I could help them. You see, Lacey had accidentally broken a necklace. She didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t ask her at the time how she knew it was a witch necklace, but she did.” If Ava had thought Johanna pale before she started talking, the decrease in color only continued as Ava went on. Consequently, Ava sped up her speech. She’d better do it fast before the other woman collapsed on the floor. “I don’t fix necklaces; I own a potions store. But my neighbor did. So I brought it to him. I thought she was human. In fact, she made my human alarm go off. She was worried you would be sad, distraught, if it wasn’t fixed. I didn’t ask questions. Then my neighbor was killed and I was attacked. I don’t know if Todd’s death was related to necklace, but my assailant was after it. I thought I was coming to warn some humans to be careful.”

  Johanna sunk into her couch. “She’s twelve years old. How is she doing all of this behind my back? I’m here. The kids are my total focus. I… I suppose I’m relieved she ended up with you and not someone who would have hurt her. The necklace. How did she know about it? Oh, my children. And the things they know that they shouldn’t know. Is it even possible to keep secrets from kids?”

  She looked at Ava like she wanted an answer. Ava shook her head. “I don’t have kids.”

  “Oh.” Some of Johanna’s color came back. “I’m sorry. I thought the two of you were together.”

  “We are.” Lawson spoke for the first time. “That doesn’t necessarily imply kids. We’re not married, not yet.”

  Was he really going there already? Ava jolted and then pushed her nerves down. She stored that conundrum for later. This situation required all of her attention.

  “Well, I thought I’d done a good job of hiding certain things. Heavens, does my husband know?”

  “The who knows what and how is not really important at the moment.” Lawson took charge, directing their conversation. “Let’s keep this on track. You’re here. You have a necklace that someone was likely killed for and Ava was very hurt. Why are you here? And what is going on with your family crest necklace? Why does someone want to kill for it?”

  Johanna stared at her feet as though they were the most interesting thing in the world. “My brother is psychotic. My parents had him locked away in Fisher when he was young. He broke out.”

  This time Lawson reacted. “LaMonte? I should know that name. Why don’t I know that name?”

  “My parents took it from him to spare the rest of us shame. He would have been institutionalized as Howard Henry.”

  Lawson groaned. “Now that one I know. They searched for him for a long while. Eventually, my predecessors had to move on to other things since he’d committed no adult crimes. There are only so many of us, and a lot of them. He’s done this? He’s surfaced after all these years?”

  “When he escaped, he came after all of us. Threats. Things breaking in the middle of the night. Weird maniacal laughter. We’ve all gone into hiding. I came to the human world, worked as an assistant in a large company, and tried to hide. That was thirteen years ago. I fell in love. I stayed. Had children. Hoped it was all behind me. But if he has the crest, then he can trace the energy right here. He’ll know where I am.”

  Lawson rocked back on his feet. “He will.”

  Chapter 8

  Ava looked between Lawson and Johanna. Lawson’s focus was solely on Johanna, whereas the other woman sat slumping on her couch, her palm covering half her face. Ava wasn’t sure what to say and stumbled through her thinking. “I… Do you think he’d go after the children?”

  “I’m going to have to tell him—Stanley. I’m going to have to explain things to the kids. I…”

  Ava interrupted. “How did she get past my human alarm? She’s half witch. My understanding is that the witch genes always win. She should have not gone off as human.”

  “I spelled her.” Johanna got to her feet. “That’s something I could be arrested for. Both my kids. When they were babies, I made it so their powers would never come.”

  “Let’s see what is happening with Howard Henry, and then we’ll talk about whatever ramifications there will or won’t be to you. A spell like that? It takes maintaining.”
>
  She nodded, tears coming down her cheeks. “Once a month, I reapply it. I’m the worst person on the planet.”

  Conflict warred within Ava, and she walked to the bay window to stare at nothing in particular on the street. As a person who had no powers and was getting increasingly less susceptible to them by the moment, the very idea this woman could take away her children’s was utterly horrifying. That was a gift, a birthright, the way their bodies and souls were supposed to work. Witches could communicate with the universe, make it bend to their will.

  Goosebumps broke out on her skin. These were deep-seated issues that were never going to go away. This woman loved her children. She was protecting them. When it came down to it, Ava could see doing horrible things in the name of love. Was there anything more important than keeping a loved one safe?

  “Be right back.”

  Ava turned just in time to see Lawson vanish, disappearing from the room. She smiled at Johanna, putting away her personal feelings about a subject that was not her business to begin with. She was only here by chance, because a not human girl had shown up asking the wrong person for help. And of course, Ava had involved Todd… and he was dead. There would never be any way to make up for that.

  “He’s an Enforcer. In case you hadn’t garnered that.”

  Johanna sniffed, wiping her eyes before she spoke. “I got that right away. At the door. Enforcers always have that look.”

  “What look?”

  “Would you like some tea? I need some.” Johanna rose and headed to the kitchen. “You’re in love with him. You must not see it.”

  Ava almost argued and then decided against it. Johanna didn’t need to know they’d decided to be together on the train on the way here. It was too fast for love. Maybe that was why Lawson had made the remark about getting married. Let Johanna think this was a long-term thing.

  As Johanna filled the kettle, Ava stood watching. Surrealness washed over Ava like a warm wave. This woman, this witch, was using her hands to do things. Just like Ava had to do. An image of Lawson rising to get her pill bottle filled her mind. Why had he done that when he could have spelled it into the room with them?

  “I see Lawson pretty well.” She could hardly stop looking at him. “I’m not sure I see one particular look.”

  “We spent a lot of time with them, in the early days when my brother broke out of the asylum.” She touched her forehead. “Right in there. They all carry the weight of the world right in there. They’ve seen too much. Howard was a lightweight problem for them back then. Even with him killing our sister.”

  Ava gulped. That was a piece of information she hadn’t had before and wished she didn’t now. No wonder Johanna was afraid to be found.

  Lawson didn’t look overburdened right between his eyes. By contrast, his dark depths were so compelling she could have looked at them all day. Plus, he seemed pretty jovial most of the time. Johanna must have been expecting to see something and so therefore saw it.

  As if on cue, Lawson popped back in the room, this time with a man dressed in a blue suit with him. “Sorry, everyone okay?”

  Ava nodded. “We’re fine.”

  “Good. Johanna this is my boss, Ryan Roberts. Ryan says he’s met you before, thirteen years ago.”

  Ryan narrowed his eyes. “What is Ava Blakely doing here?”

  “Have we met?” Ava looked between Lawson and Ryan. The older gentleman had lost almost all of his hair, and his suit stuck out slightly in the middle, like it didn’t fit as well as it used to.

  “I was there when you were left at the altar. I’m related to Mitchell, distantly. We never met, no.” Ryan looked at Lawson. “Why is she here?”

  Well, that was great. She’d traveled to the human world, found a witch in hiding, and her being left at the altar followed her all the way there.

  Johanna set down her teacup hard on the counter. “What happened?”

  “That’s really past the point.” Lawson’s voice was hard. “Ava is here because we didn’t know we were walking into this. Ryan, aren’t you here to talk to Johanna?”

  Lawson walked behind Ava, putting a hand on the small of her back. She smiled at him. Ava didn’t need to be defended, but she’d take it just the same. It was nice that someone else cared she was uncomfortable.

  “We’ve been looking for your family, a long time. Now, I understand you have something of a conundrum here. Human husband. Kids who don’t know. Harder to protect you from Howard. Things would be simpler if we could just relocate you to one of our witch cities.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t see how that’s possible. My husband has a job.”

  “We’re talking about your life.”

  Lawson twined their fingers together. “Come on. Am I working this case, Ryan?”

  His boss pointed at him. “No, you’re very busy doing a very important thing. A. Very. Important. Thing. And get her out of here. That’s all we need is Ava Blakely talking to everyone about this.”

  “Hey.” She was many things but a gossip was not one of them. “Have I done something to personally offend you?”

  “No, why would you say that?”

  One second she was in the room with them, the next Ava was somewhere else. She looked, left, right. Her heart raced, and she might throw up. She doubled over, a strong hand on her shoulder. “Easy there, sweetheart. You okay?”

  “No. Where are we? What was that?” She hiccupped. “I think I might throw up.”

  “Breathe.” Lawson kissed the side of her neck. “Just breathe with me. I’m sorry I did that without telling you I was going to beforehand. I just wanted to get you away from Ryan. He’s a good man, but he’s got foot-in-mouth disease. He doesn’t open his mouth where he doesn’t shove his foot down into it. He’s a good leader. He gets the job done. He’s never afraid.”

  Ava waved her hand in the air. “I’ll take your word on it.”

  “I’m shocked you had such a strong reaction. Most people don’t notice it. I’ve even yanked humans around.”

  She raised her head to look at him. “How many times do I have to explain that I’m off? Where are we?”

  “Where I grew up.”

  Ava waited a second for some of the dizziness to pass. Having Lawson so close wasn’t making her any more steady, but creating a different kind of woozy altogether. She eventually got to her feet. “I haven’t been to this part of town.”

  “We’re not in your town. Before I could zap from one place to another or fly, I used to take the train from Capontown to school every day.”

  There was so much she didn’t know about Lawson. “How many kids do that? A dozen?”

  “More like two dozen.” He shrugged. “The schools here are fine, but they’re not our witching school. They don’t lead to jobs as Enforcers or lawyers or whatever. That’s why I traveled every day and never had any friends to hang out with the whole time I was in school.”

  They’d had such a different experience. She was the worst witch in witching school and taunted, but there had always been a ton of people around. No one stayed away from a Blakely, especially not one tied to a Sharpe. She’d had more than her fill of socialization and hated every second of it that she wasn’t with Mitchell.

  That being said, he’d never taken her on an adventure like she’d just had. As far as she knew, Mitchell couldn’t zap anywhere. He could fly. What Lawson did? That was power.

  But then he’d told her he’d simply figured out how to change her back from a turtle when he was maybe fifteen years old. Natural talents like his showed up rarely.

  And rather than making himself incredibly rich, he was using his abilities to chase evildoers down. She got on her tiptoes and kissed him, square on the mouth. Ava couldn’t help her slight smile when his breath caught.

  He tugged her to him before he pulled her up, making them face-to-face.

  “You’re going to hurt yourself holding me like this.”

  “I could carry three of you around at the same time an
d not hurt myself, tiny.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Funny. We both know that while I am not overweight, I am a solid woman. You might be big and tough, Lawson, but you couldn’t carry three of me around.”

  “Do you want me to triplicate you and see if I’m lying?”

  For a second, she stopped breathing. “You couldn’t do that.”

  “No, but it was really funny, tiny, to see you worry for a quarter of a second that I could and might. Even if I was able to do such a weird thing, I wouldn’t. Not to you. I just want one of you, here with me.”

  His breath was warm on her face. She didn’t know why she felt lighthearted, only that Lawson had that effect on her. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Lawson. I’ve never really dated. I’m going to be a mess at this. I’m going to do things wrong and then have to go to your spot to speak to nothing so you can hear me, over and over, while I apologize.”

  He shook his head. “You’re amazing, Ava. Every day I’ve seen you, and I imagine on the days that I haven’t, you put on a happy face—even when you’re not feeling it—and you figure out how to do things even when they’re not easy. You don’t complain, at least not aloud, and you are kind to people, decent. You’re so beautiful; I can hardly look at you sometimes because you don’t seem real. How is that possible? How is it that there is this woman in the world—in this horrible, miserable, terrifying existence—that you exist?”

  That was when she saw it—the spot between his eyes, the look that Johanna said the Enforcers carried—Lawson did carry the burden of the world right on his brow. She hoisted herself up just a tad and kissed him, right there. Because she had to. Because he thought it was a horrible, miserable, terrifying existence while her biggest complaints were that she couldn’t do magic and her shipments were sometimes late.

  Lawson sucked in his breath and held her tighter.

  A sudden pop in the air caught her attention, and Lawson groaned. He set her down, and she turned to see Stefan—looking possibly more ragged than he had the night in the shop—standing in front of them. He had half a beard and tired, red eyes to go with it. Stefan looked like a man who needed to sleep.