Witch Hearts

by Liz Long

  “That’s probably for the best. If everyone else is ready to go, please feel free. If you’d like to stay and practice, that would be all right, too,” Michael said.

  Every single person stood up and got their things together to leave. Ruby realized this new information freaked everyone out; they’d come expecting to support Ruby and Cooper about Courtney's death and instead were leaving with a potential threat hanging over their heads.

  “Can I say one more thing?” she called to the group as they put their jackets on and gathered their bags. They all stopped to look at her. Ruby cleared her throat.

  “I hope…I don’t wish for anyone to be scared. We do need to be careful, though. Please lock your doors, stay with a partner, keep quiet about your talents, that sort of thing.”

  “And for the love of god, protect your Book of Shadows,” Cooper added darkly. “I can’t find Courtney's.”

  Ruby looked at him in shock; he hadn’t told her that part. Perhaps that explained his seriousness in his earlier comment about her safe space and book. He looked down at her and half-shrugged.

  “Put protection spells on everything you own and make sure you’re immune to others’ spells. Whoever this person is, they’re powerful. Watch your surroundings and don’t be too predictable with your routines. If you feel like you’re being watched or followed, call someone that very second and get the hell away,” Ruby finished. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

  Everyone nodded at her; some gave her hugs as they walked out. She received several weak smiles and “hope to see you soon” comments as everyone left. Ruby and Cooper loaded into the elevator with Lacy and a handful of other people after the first ride went down. Once they exited, they walked out of Michael’s building to their cars.

  Ruby and Cooper meandered to his bike with Lacy trailing behind them. Ruby couldn’t quite see her breath in the chilly night air yet, but fall grew colder by the minute.

  “Thank you for coming tonight,” Lacy said to them. “I’m so terribly sorry about what’s happened. I can’t even imagine…I’m just plain sorry.”

  “Thanks,” Cooper said. “I appreciate it. Courtney loved the coven.”

  “We loved her. We hated that you both left,” she said, addressing Ruby. “We really miss you; it’s been a tough few months with everything and now it’s getting worse.”

  “What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

  “The witches being killed, for one. And I guess it’s not that big of a secret,” Lacy lowered her voice to a whisper, “but we don’t really care much for Rebecca.”

  Ruby couldn’t catch her laugh in time. “I’m sorry, really I am. I don’t mean to laugh; I agree that it doesn’t seem very well hidden. The contempt in that room for her was pretty palpable.”

  “She’s not a talented witch. Some of us are afraid she only participates because of Michael, that he only lets her stay because it’s his girlfriend. She doesn’t have any special talent and some of the comments she makes, it’s like she’s making fun of us. I’m always afraid one of our spells will backfire because she isn’t putting her all into it.”

  “That’s a damn shame. But Michael, for what it’s worth, is a great witch and coven leader. If he really thought she could damage the circle, I don’t think he’d allow it. I know my judgment was a bit off about him,” Ruby said as Cooper hid a snort, “but I don’t think he’d put the coven at risk.”

  “You always had such great focus. I wondered…” Lacy trailed off, looking at Ruby nervously. Ruby waited patiently for her question; Lacy had always been a little hesitant in her assertiveness. “Well, I wondered if maybe you’d like to get together to practice sometime? Without the coven, I mean?”

  Ruby hid her surprise. It had been months since she’d done witchcraft with anyone else other than Courtney; once she left the coven, she’d kept to herself, too full of self-pity to look for another group. Now that Courtney was gone, however, perhaps she should branch out to keep pushing herself.

  “Sure, Lace. You’ve got my number, right? Text me with a few nights that work best for you and we’ll work something out. That would be great.” Ruby gave her a big smile, genuinely pleased at the idea.

  Lacy nodded and gave them a small wave as she went to catch up with another witch and walk to their cars.

  Ruby watched her walk away, pleased that she might be able to practice magic again with friends. Cooper caught her expression.

  “Two down, eleven to go,” he said in a low voice.

  She jumped, gave him with a confused look. “What?”

  He smiled at her as though it were obvious. “You need thirteen to make a great coven. Looks like you’re already on your way.”

  Ruby waved the suggestion off. “I’m not leading any covens. It’s only so she can practice without Rebecca whispering nasty things in her ear.”

  “Uh huh. Something tells me once word gets out you’re helping others with the craft, you’ll have a few more inquiries.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  As Ruby and Cooper stood there talking, they noticed Michael had come downstairs to see everyone off. He and Rebecca stood at the doorway of the building, him waving to the coven with Rebecca clutched to his side. She practically oozed arrogant satisfaction, as though she’d made the point to Ruby and everyone there that Michael was hers. Ruby bit back a snort at the sheer stupidity. Rebecca could definitely have him; it could only be a matter of time before Michael treated her as he’d treated Ruby.

  Ruby didn’t miss the curious look Michael gave her and Cooper standing together at the motorcycle. She ignored Michael and Rebecca both, turned her back on them. Cooper stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and cleared his throat.

  “I’m thinking about grabbing that beer now,” he said. “If you don’t mind putting up with me for a while longer.”

  Without even thinking, Ruby’s face lit up with a smile. Cooper returned it, relieved that he had company.

  “I could use a beer,” she said. “Lucky’s Bar okay with you?”

  “Sure, that’s only a couple blocks away. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.” They began the walk over.

  “Me, too. After I moved out, I stopped hanging out there. The last time Courtney and I tried to go, we saw Michael and Rebecca. It was easier to avoid all the drama.”

  “Well, you’ve already dealt with them once tonight. I think we can have a drink without any of that crap. And even if they came by, so what?”

  “Agreed. The hard part’s definitely over for the night.”

  He casually draped an arm around her and her stomach gave a nervous little jolt. She shook it off; this was Cooper, practically a big brother to her. She had no reason to feel awkward around him.

  They arrived at the bar, brightly lit and busy with the Saturday night crowd. The guy at the door checked their licenses and allowed them passage. The small bar was packed to standing room only and Ruby practically smacked her face into Cooper's back when he stopped. He grabbed her hand.

  “Hang on,” he ordered. “I’m about to drag you through this to the bar.”

  She didn’t even have time to nod before Cooper yanked her through the crowd. She apologized her way through as she bumped and stumbled into people, but within a minute they had a tiny space against the wall at the bar to themselves. Cooper raised his hand to the bartender, who ignored them and went to wait on the bachelorette party that had squeezed their way through the line.

  “Oh, c’mon,” Cooper grumbled.

  “I had no idea it would be this busy,” Ruby marveled.

  “Saturday night, I’m not surprised. You’re a girl, maybe you can work your magic on him?”

  “I assume you mean T&A and not actual magic,” Ruby said to him. He laughed while she adjusted her jacket and leaned over the bar, making sure her sweater was just right. “Excuse me! I would love a drink please.”

  She managed to catch the bartender’s eye and he gave her an interested look. He began to walk over to her but a
loud, drunken customer managed to intercept him. Ruby looked at Cooper, frustrated. He gave a half-shrug.

  “Well, you clearly had his attention, if that counts for anything.”

  “Yeah, now I’m determined on principle,” Ruby mumbled. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her and deemed it far too busy for anyone to notice something out of the ordinary.

  She focused her gaze on the drunk guy who’d caught the bartender and let a wave of energy roll off her towards him. She narrowed her eyes, mentally suggested the man get a cab. A second later, the man paused mid-conversation, blinked as though waking up from a nap. He cut off the bartender, shaking his head, and walked out the door without another word. Ruby could see him through the window as he hailed the first banana yellow taxi down the block.

  Then she turned her eyes on the bartender, who’d taken the opportunity to grab a sip of water. As soon as he felt Ruby’s eyes on him, he dropped what he was doing and looked around the area until he found her. Like a moth to a flame, he headed straight over, ignoring all the others who tried to flag him down for a drink.

  Witch magic was powerful, but not nearly what the movies made it out to be. Humans could explain away most of their subtle magic. A witch’s magic was more natural with potions and rituals, no wands required. Each witch’s strength was different. Ruby could make lights flicker or west winds pick up, but lots of witches could do that. One of her specialties was mind control, usually reserved for telepaths. While rare, it wasn’t as powerful as some thought. Most with the gift could only give suggestions in a thought or give people headaches. This occasion aside, Ruby couldn’t remember the last time she’d tried it; Michael had hated worrying she’d use it on him when they were dating.

  “And what can I get for you?” The bartender’s silver lip ring winked in the light when he grinned at her.

  She leaned in a little, quite aware of her current posture. Hey, she figured, whatever it took at this point, or they’d be there all night. “Two beers, please.”

  He quickly retrieved her drinks; she made sure to tip well when she paid. When she returned it, his gaze became a little more interested in her than the money.

  “I get off at midnight if you’re still around,” he said.

  Whoops. Ruby hadn’t meant for her little trick to get that far. Before she could speak, Cooper leaned in to grab his bottle that sat on the wooden bar.

  “Sorry, man, she’s spoken for tonight,” he said with a good-natured smile. “But I can totally understand why you’d speak up.”

  The bartender backed away with a chuckle, his hands up in defeat. “Sorry, bro. Enjoy your night. Let me know when I can bring you another drink, gorgeous.”

  He returned to his bar crowd as Ruby turned to Cooper. “I swear I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

  “Oh, Ruby, you sweet, naïve thing. That was no spell; you got him over here with one, but he stayed for you. He was plain interested in you.”

  Ruby blushed, shrugging it off. Cooper grinned at her but took the hint to change the topic. He leaned in close to be heard over the crowd’s conversations.

  “Thanks for making me go to the meeting tonight. It was…enlightening.”

  “I hope Michael didn’t say anything you didn’t want to hear.”

  “I can handle Michael, don’t you worry about that. On the same page, are you okay with everything tonight? Having to deal with the ex and his girl?” He swigged his beer casually, but Ruby could tell he was watching her reaction.

  Ruby shrugged. “My worries aren’t about him or Rebecca. I think she’s a stupid, spoiled little girl who’s messing with things she doesn’t understand only because she wants to belong. Lacy has every right to be concerned for the group. Rebecca could cause damage to a spell if it’s not done correctly and it worries me for the rest of them. I don’t want anyone to get hurt from a spell backfiring because she was busy rolling her eyes.”

  “Seems like Michael has an inkling of that, too.”

  “You think so?”

  “You saw how he is with her. He never lets her talk because she comes off as a bitch. She’s basically there to look good and suck his…” he trailed off at Ruby's wince. “Sorry. I only mean that Michael seems different around her than he did with you. You had a voice. He didn’t try to control you. With Rebecca, it’s almost like he’s got someone to mold to his own purposes. She’s so eager to please him she’ll do whatever he needs.”

  “I don’t know if she was Wiccan before she met him. She was pretty new to it when she needed all those coffee meetings for study lessons. Lacy said she doesn’t have any special gifts, so it leads me to believe that she got involved out of curiosity and decided she wanted Michael, so she learned more and forced her way into the circle.”

  Cooper nodded, taking a tip of his beer. “Concerns me for the others. Bad things happen when someone doesn’t believe or has a short attention span. Or worse yet, throws tantrums when things don’t go her way. You put the circle ahead of yourself and left when Michael did what he did. If he did that to her, I think she’d stay and do some awful things to spite him.”

  “Sadly, I agree with you there. I hate it for the group, though.”

  “He sure was complimentary to you, though,” Cooper noted with another sip of beer. “He hung onto every word you said.”

  “He was only playing nice for the coven’s sake. He wants to prove he can be friends with exes or whatever.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe he was trying to show you he could still listen to you. Maybe he even thinks by doing everything he did and said tonight, it might convince you to fall back in love with him if he tries hard enough.”

  Ruby almost spit out her beer. “Good lord, Cooper. That’s a little involved, especially for Michael. He doesn’t think that far ahead or on that many levels. He’s too self-obsessed to be that smart.”

  Cooper laughed. “Maybe, but you also don’t think like a guy.”

  “Whatever. Agree to disagree.”

  He nodded and clinked his beer bottle against hers. “No problem.”

  Conversation flowed easily between them for the next couple of hours. They discussed everything from music and books to what they’d do if they won the lottery. Neither mentioned Michael, Rebecca, or Courtney for the rest of the evening. Around one, they decided to call it a night.

  Cooper and Ruby hopped on his bike and drove back to her place. She even managed to peek out from beneath her helmet to see the city whip past her in a blur. When they finally came to a stop, she untangled herself from him - albeit a tad regretful about it - and handed him back the helmet.

  “Thanks again for everything tonight. I know it wasn’t the most fun you could have, but I want everyone to be safe,” she said.

  “I understand. I’m glad I went, too. I don’t want anyone else in danger. Plus, you’re good company.” He stood up as he said it, hooking the helmets on his bike.

  “You don’t have walk me in or anything. I don’t want to keep you any longer than you need.”

  He snorted. “You’re not keeping me from anything. I want to do it, but especially because I want to make sure you’re safe.”

  Ruby bit her bottom lip. Her nerves fluttered a bit at the thought of a possible goodnight kiss. She could hardly believe how immature she sounded in her head.

  It’s your best friend’s brother. This is Cooper we’re talking about, a voice in her head screamed at her.

  Another voice spoke up. Yeah. It’s Cooper. And your thoughts about him have never been exactly brotherly.

  Shaking both voices away, she swiped her key fob by the entrance door and Cooper held it open for her. They took the stairs up to the second floor and walked around the corner to her apartment. Ruby stopped as soon as she saw her door.

  “Something’s wrong,” she said.

  “What? How can you tell?” He looked up and down the hallway.

  “There was a barrier when I left. Remember I checked, put my hand on the door when we left? My sp
ell was in place.”

  “There was a soft glow on the door,” he said absentmindedly, as though remembering. His eyes narrowed and Ruby could see his veins throb in his neck as his jaw tightened.

  “Only witches would be able to see it, but it’s not there.” Ruby took a few steps forward, placing her hand on the door, which was now simply cool and wooden. She retrieved her key and turned the lock, but Cooper stopped her.

  “I’ll go in first.”

  He swung the door wide open; he held his hands up in case of a fight or a spell, but silence greeted them. Cooper did a quick sweep of the apartment while Ruby waited in the entryway. He returned with Aziza in one arm and a letter in his hand.

  “This was on your coffee table,” he said grimly. “Aziza was hiding behind the couch. She hissed until she realized it was me.”

  Ruby took the note from him. As she opened it, Cooper stood beside her to read over her shoulder.

  “Not all witches are equal. Some are born with extraordinary gifts; anyone can practice, but few are truly powerful. You are one of the lucky ones, Ruby. I apologize about your friend Courtney. She was powerful, but nowhere near your capabilities. I’m afraid that in order for my powers to thrive, yours must come to an end. I’ll be seeing you very soon. -X”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Neither of them spoke for over a full minute. Ruby reread the letter a dozen times, her stomach twisting more with each read. Cooper seethed with anger, his lips set in a snarl. Finally, Ruby broke the awful silence.

  “He was here. He knows where I live?” She gripped the letter, crumpling it in her hands as she stared at it in horror. The lights flickered once before cutting off. Ruby took a breath and tried to calm down. It took another thirty seconds before the lights buzzed and came back to life.

  “How the hell did he get past your security wards?” Cooper set Aziza down; she rubbed against Ruby before padding off to the kitchen.

  “I have no idea.” Ruby's mind spun as she took off to her bedroom. She barely heard Cooper shut the front door as she raced to the armoire that contained her most precious Wiccan materials. She stared at the small double doors; it was still locked, but there it was, the tiniest scratch by the lock. Courtney's murderer had not only gotten around her protection spell, but had been in her apartment, touched her things.