Hiram’s face was unrecognizable in his rage and humiliation. “Harlot! Whore!” he screamed, reaching behind him and grabbing a knife. “I’ll cut that devil child out of you and save the town a burning by killing you myself!”
He lunged at her, but he really didn’t stand a chance.
Elanah chanted and released her power, hitting Hiram in the chest. He shook wildly, as if he was having a seizure. Foam erupted from his mouth; his eyes rolled back into his head and boiled.
Within seconds Hiram was dead. He fell to the ground with a thunk.
Elanah looked around her home wildly. Her whole life had just taken an unexpected turn for the worst.
Grabbing her bag she took a horse and rode into town to find Sean.
Chapter 31 – Tangling With a Librarian
The Town of Superstition, Present Day
The morning sun shone on the town of Superstition as Luke approached. Superstition had been built high in the mountains, away from civilization. The townsfolk lived lives similar to the well-known Amish community, with only a few deviations. No electricity ran through the town. Cars were not allowed on their roads, and visitors had to park at the foot of the hill. Only horses were allowed, and bikes as they moved on human power.
He parked under the large “Welcome to Superstition” sign at the gate to the town. The town wasn’t that big, but the huge wooden fence kept vehicles out. Not everyone who visited realized their vehicles could go no further.
He stepped out of his car onto well-tended grass. The town was beautiful from his vantage point, looking up. Small cottages, white picket fences, gardens of flowers and vegetables. The outskirts boasted quaint homes which would turn into a town centre once he hiked about a kilometre up the hill. After looking around he locked his car, and passing through the gate, began his trek up the winding road.
It was unusually quiet. One horse and cart passed him, and that was it. It only took him ten minutes to reach the centre of town where he finally saw people. It was constructed in the same manner as Barrington, just a much smaller version. They only had a small park in the middle with a gazebo for town gatherings. They had a library, a school, a municipal building, and a church. The church and grounds were the first thing you saw as you rounded the corner from the road. It was a beautiful, gray-stone building with four spires rising into the sun. The cross on the top of the church cast a shadow on the park in front of it. Lilac bushes and apple trees dotted the grounds, and he knew everyone in town helped with winter clean up and planting of the summer flowers. Gabriel and Rain had volunteered a lot of their time to this task before heading to Barrington for the wedding. Luke felt sad. That trip to Barrington had destroyed their relationship. He tightened his lips in determination. It wasn’t their fault. It was Elanah who had done this. He needed that knife.
He looked around. On the right was the town school with the library beside it. Each building was separated by some lawn and a dirt road. He walked to the library and stared at it for a minute. It was small, much smaller than Barrington’s, and made completely of stone. It wasn’t a wide building, but long and high, and he could see many windows running along the sides, open to the balmy air. As he entered, the comforting smell of old books and paper assailed him. If he closed his eyes he could imagine he was in his own library back home.
Small wooden desks lined the walls the length of the library to the back, with light from the windows spilling onto the tables. Between each window was a wall sconce for additional light on cloudy days. Bookshelves bursting with books lined the room in the middle. Small spiral stairs on either side of the entrance lead to a second floor. He absorbed all these details in seconds before he looked at the main piece of furniture in the room.
The librarian’s desk.
Containing the librarian.
Who was staring at him.
Hagar.
She wasn’t smiling, and Luke felt a twinge of fear.
She stood up and waited. She was an intimidating figure. Medium height with dark hair pulled into a severe bun, she wore a long-sleeved shirt despite the warm weather, and a long dark skirt with buttons running down the front. She had her hands clasped loosely in front of her and she made no movement whatsoever. She wore silver wire spectacles that reflected the light, so he couldn’t really see her eyes except to know that she had them. He couldn’t tell her age, either. She seemed…ageless.
Luke flushed, shifting from foot to foot. He felt as if he’d just been caught doing something wrong, even though he hadn’t done anything…yet.
“Can I help you?” she asked quietly.
“I—" Luke squeaked before clearing his throat and trying again. “I am here to do some r r research,” he said breathlessly, stuttering. Oh God, really? Was he going to hyperventilate now? He swallowed and forced himself to calm down even though the feeling of evil grew in the room.
“Really? On what topic?”
Luke started to sweat. Rain hadn’t been kidding. The woman was terrifying. “I heard you had a display I was interested in looking at for…research,” he said lamely.
“So you said. What is your name, young man?”
Luke froze. Did he tell her his name or lie? If he stole the knife, word would get back to his father. His dad was in Elanah’s thrall. He wasn’t sure what his father would do if he found out Luke was no longer spelled and that Sadie had given him back his real wedding ring.
The tension in the room rose as he hesitated. Malice emanated from the motionless woman in front of him. He cracked. “Barrington! My name is Luke Barrington,” he said, afraid.
The woman smiled very slightly. The tension in the room was crushing.
“A few years ago a Barrington was working with Rain Parker doing ‘research’ on Superstition. Not long afterward, one of my rare books went missing for a time. A journal, I believe. It was eventually returned, of course, in pristine condition, but the fact remains that it was taken from the library without my permission.”
Luke remembered that. It had been Dame Parquhar’s journal. Rain had smuggled it out for Nathalie. They’d made a copy of it, but decided that the original would be better protected by the Superstition librarian, and had sent it back.
He gulped. He easily towered a foot over this woman but was so cowed he felt tiny. The sun had dropped behind some clouds and the room darkened. There was no birdsong to be heard anymore, only a deep, malevolent feeling was left that seemed to linger in the shadows of the room. Terrified, Luke closed his eyes and reopened them using his sight. The librarian was pulsing slightly, setting the atmosphere. While he could see she was influencing him, there was nothing he could do about it.
“Seer, answer me truly,” she said in her rich, low voice. “Why do you want the witch’s knife?”
Busted. Luke tried to stall. “Isn’t it on display for anyone to see?”
“Not anymore. I’ve hidden it. After the journal was stolen, and with the strange happenings in Barrington recently, I felt the knife needed more…security.”
Luke looked around. He could sense objects of power below him where the rare book collection was kept, but only books. No strange metal.
“Why are you here, Seer?” she asked him again.
She was compelling him to answer, but there was no magical insistence that he tell the truth. He could lie, but he realized this was her test of his honour and his respect for her.
As a witch.
“I need the knife to remove the immortality from a witch named Elanah Von Vixen, who has taken over the town of Barrington and is planning to harm every witch in the vicinity to serve her own ends,” he blurted out. “I was only going to steal it temporarily,” he said then covered his mouth with his hands, horrified he’d admitted that.
The librarian laughed and suddenly the sun was shining in the library again and he could hear the birds singing outside. The dark, forbidding atmosphere disappeared and he was back in a dusty old library.
“Are you asking me to borrow it?” she qu
eried in amusement.
Luke smiled back, relieved. “Yes,” he said, hesitantly. “May I borrow it…please?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t normally let the knife out of my sight. It’s a very dangerous object and it’s protected here. However, you have a purpose, so you may take it, but you must leave me something in return. Something precious you will not live without. I want the knife back the day after the summer solstice, no later. It cannot circulate among humans.”
“So you know what is going on in Barrington?”
“I sensed something was wrong in Barrington months ago. I researched the Kellar hex and read Nettie’s journal. I understood what Elanah had to do to set that spell. I was the one who called Hester LeRoux to pull Elanah Von Vixen to our time. Last night Hester let me know you would be coming. Otherwise, I would not have been so friendly.”
Luke looked baffled. “Then why did you just scare the hell out of me? Sorry, language.”
The librarian raised her eyebrows. “Tests are required to assess integrity and intelligence. The knife has terrible power, and only a person with a sound mind and strong morals should handle it. This knife has done unspeakable things in the hands of atrocious beings. Evil clings to it and may influence a man of a lesser mind.”
Luke nodded wordlessly. What had he agreed to bring back to his home town?
He looked down and twisted his wedding ring from his finger and handed it to her. Sadie had returned it to him before she left. “Here is my most precious belonging, a symbol from my wife of our unbreakable bond. I cherish this ring.”
She tilted her head, accepting the item. “Thank you. I will keep it safe.” She slipped the ring into the pocket of her skirt and placed her hand over it. The pocket disappeared.
Luke was awed at Hagar’s power. Even with Sadie, it didn’t matter how often she used her magic, he was always awed by it. He hoped he’d get over that.
She looked at him curiously. “I’m sorry, Luke, but I have to ask. Where were you going to hide the knife to get it past me?”
Luke felt his face getting red. “In the waistband of my jeans in the back, you know, like a gun. I have a long shirt to hide the bulge.”
She looked amused, again. “I had the help of the Fae to hide the knife. You must walk widdershins around the book stacks, from the front of the library, to the back, thirteen rotations before the display case will become visible, and you must walk backwards.” She handed him an ancient looking iron key on a ring. “This is the key to the case.”
“I thought the little folk couldn’t touch iron.”
“They can’t, which is why the case and key are iron. I couldn’t take the chance a faerie would take it either. They could do a lot of harm. They are very mischievous folk.”
Widdershins was the old term for counterclockwise, so he had to walk backwards going the wrong way. Luke felt nervous. Was this evil magic?
“The key you hold is tied to the path and will open it when you start to walk. After you open the case, the knife will be locked to the base. Touch the sheath with the key and say liberatio. Then you will be able to take the knife. Do not remove it from its sheath. Just bring it back with you.”
“Right.”
Luke moved close to the first book stack and turned around. Walking backwards and widdershins, he made the turn of the library. By rotation three, everything was hazy, as if he were viewing the library from behind a gauzy curtain. By rotation seven, he wasn’t sure where he was. By rotation nine, the faint outline of a room started to appear. By the thirteenth he slammed into a wall and stopped. He was inside a small, empty stone room the size of a large closet. In the centre was a stand holding a cast iron display case with very slim slits throughout. He could see the knife inside. He put the key in the lock and clicked the case open. Touching the sheath with the key, he whispered the spell word and took the knife. It glowed and hummed in his hand as if assessing him. It seemed almost sentient. Looking at it Luke understood that the knife wasn’t good or evil. It was…just, and impartial. The victim wasn’t the only one who had to worry about the knife. The wielder did as well.
And he thought he could just put the knife in his pants.
Luke realized the librarian hadn’t told him how to return from wherever he was. He tried not to panic. Now was not the time to hyperventilate. Yet the room was so small, how much air could be in here? At that thought, he really had to concentrate not to freak himself out. He guessed that if he came in walking backward and widdershins, he’d get out walking forward and deasil. He wasn’t sure why old words were floating around in his head, but he didn’t question it. Instead he walked forward clockwise around the stand. By the third turn the room had become misty, and he knew he was heading in the right direction. At the end of the thirteenth turn he walked forward and almost hit the librarian’s wide desk. She was waiting for him, and it was now late afternoon. Luke was shocked.
“How long have I been gone?”
“Five hours,” she said.
“It felt like five minutes,” he whispered.
“Time moves differently in that realm.”
No kidding.
She looked at the knife but didn’t touch it. “Be warned. The knife is very dangerous. One slash will remove immortality from a being who has it, but that is not the limit of its power. The Fae King didn’t realize when he created this knife that its magic, or purpose, is to cleave two things apart. Do you understand?”
He thought so. “So if a normal person without a power of some sort…”
“Would lose their life. It would separate their life from their body.”
Holy shit.
“Also, the knife has been named.”
Rive. The knife had given him the information when he’d picked it up. It knew him as Luke the Seer. It had led him out of the room. He nodded that he knew it, and she seemed satisfied.
“There is one other small thing. It is also called The Witch Killer because no witch can live without her power. Cut her using this blade and she will be separated from her power and die. Do not let anyone else handle this knife but you, Luke Barrington. Once the immortality strike has been made, re-sheath the knife and have it spelled so it cannot be used again, then bring it back.”
Luke was cradling the knife gingerly. “I understand. Er, ma’m?”
The librarian smiled. “My name is Hagar.”
Luke inclined his head respectfully. “It was nice to meet you Hagar. Do you, perchance, have a bag?”
Chapter 32 – Katie
Barrington County, Present Day
Max and Katie were arguing in Baby Sweetes. He’d come with his father to the hotel after supper so he could speak to her. He’d seen her in Town Circle on the weekend, shopping with Elanah and eating ice cream.
“Elanah is the enemy!” he hissed at her, exasperated. “You promised to help me get information so I could save Ella, not make a whole bunch of new friends!”
“Why should I care about stupid Ella?” Katie snarled at him. “I did this favour to get close to you! What did I get out of it? Nothing but work I don’t need, and you ignoring me! I think I’ve gained five pounds since I started working at this candy store!”
Max ran his hands through his hair in frustration. This girl was driving him nuts. “I never promised you romance! I asked for your help!”
“You made it seem like I had a chance with you!” she squealed.
Arrrggghhh. “I did not!”
Katie pouted. “Anyway, I’ve done the best I can. Elanah doesn’t like to reveal her surprises to us.”
“Surprises? Is that what they are? You were supposed to find out what was happening on the summer solstice, which is a few days from now, I might add. You’ve given me nothing!”
“That’s right! And I won’t, either! I still have this stupid bracelet for you, but you just haven’t earned it!” She dangled the bracelet under his nose then shoved it back in her pocket. “And you’re never getting it now. I’m not some lovesick goo
goo girl you can just use! I’m Katie Fairchild, daughter of Hampton Fairchild, President of the Limerick Candy Factory, and one of Elanah’s trusted friends. Only a select few of us were invited to her barn party, so you just think about that, you loser. Now get out of this store before I call your daddy!”
Max stormed out. When he looked back, Katie was still red and huffing, and when she saw him looking she stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled as he left the hotel. She was spitting like a hissing cat, but she’d given him everything he needed to know.
Chapter 33 – Philippe
Limerick: December 1597
Elanah shrieked in agony as she pushed her son from her body. He was a strapping boy.
And she thought sex with Danner had been painful.
It was cool in the room. Only Sean and Hester were there to deliver Elanah’s child. The couple had had no choice but to ask Hester for help as the hunt for Hiram’s witch/murderess wife was still hot, merely dampened briefly due to the winter snow storms. Hester agreed reluctantly. She was no midwife, but she’d seen enough birthing growing up. Her mother had practiced her voodoo magic on many pregnant ladies in their backwater town. Plus, she had magic if anything went wrong.
The baby screamed in outrage as he was pulled from his mother’s warm body. Hester swaddled him quickly and handed him to his father while she finished up with the mother. Sean was ecstatic as he stared at his little boy, the product of their great love.
Elanah was crying silently. She was so happy it was over. The boy was alive and healthy. She had spent six months in this shack terrified she’d be found and burned with this little life trapped inside her. She wanted him to have everything, and hopefully it would be a better life than hers.
Malice: A Barrington County Novel Page 25