by Kate Danley
I pushed all the thoughts away, tied my hat in place, and grabbed the vampire vial for when I needed a recharge. I sat gently on the broom, and we headed out into the night.
We flew out over the buildings and I tried to keep my mind fixed on my goal. I spotted the first place and didn't even need to consult a map. It shone with energy. It would not have been visible to the naked eye, but with my new glasses perched on my nose, it was like an airport runway.
And as I got closer, my ankle began telling me what it thought about this place, too.
I slowly directed the broom to head in the downward direction. My feet touched the earth. Now, usually a natural witch like myself feels a little "hello" from the ground whenever her feet touches new soil.
But not here.
It was like a black vortex sucking all the happiness and joy out of the world. A spot of dark energy. And do you know where you get dark energy from?
The Dark Dimension.
I had no idea why someone would open a hole to that place, but realized I was going to have to figure it out right quick if I didn't want my hotel to get sucked into the void like a hero in the quicksand of a 1950s cowboy movie.
Speaking of, I suddenly felt my foot go cold. I looked down. The darkness was spreading. Moving. It was reaching up my leg like a hand out of the mire.
With a snap, it yanked me off my feet. The vial of vampire blood fell out of my cloak and rolled out of my reach. I could see my foot disappear as the shadow creature tried to pull me into the Dark Dimension.
I gasped, too terrified to scream as I found the strength to pull up on one knee. I clutched at the grass. It ripped in my hands. With another jerk, I was flat on the ground again, being dragged inexorably toward the hole.
I turned, trying to zap it with some power, but fear had taken over and I couldn't remember my spells.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, my trusty broom came sweeping in. It turned upside down and, handle first, began walloping my captor. I felt the grip on my ankle loosen. I desperately crawled away, knowing I needed to get out of the darkness and into the light by the road. My broom jerked as the shadow hands tried to grasp it.
With the flight and my fear, Broomie wasn't going to last much longer.
It was already slowing down.
And that's when something inside me said, Enough.
That silly, ugly, useless broom had sacrificed itself to protect me. And sure, maybe it was just an object animated through the power of my stone with no sentience, but by golly, I liked that broom. And I was tired of having things I liked ripped away from me.
If I tapped into my gem's power, I'd be stealing the power from my broom, so coven be damned, I wasn't going to do it. I picked up a small branch. I reached deep into my soul, into that walled off place that had been blocked to me, and pushed past it in a moment of survivalist desperation. I snapped my fingers and lit the end of the dry wood on fire.
A searing pain threatened to crack my skull in two, but I had no time for that nonsense. Gasping, I held the branch, swiping at the shadow creature.
"Get back!" I shouted. "That's my Broomie!"
The shadow retreated as my light struck its darkness. It had to bend around the flickering flames as they cast the monster in different directions. I caught Broomie as the shadow's grip failed. Seeing we weren't going to be an easy prey, the shadow started to retreat to the dimension where it belonged. But, being a mean and spiteful witch, I tossed my lit torch down the rift as a final parting gift. I hope it obliterated any shadows it hit.
As if exhausted, my broom shuttered and jerked toward me and then fell on the grass. I stroked its straw. "That'll do, broom. That'll do."
Its magic spent, it stilled to just another inanimate object.
Heart still pounding, I regarded the portal to the Dark Dimension. I thought of the shape on the map. With connection points all over town, it would form an opening the size of a city, fed by a web of ley lines and all the energy found on Earth and the Other Side.
And me without my magic.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The window to my ritual room was closed. Precious must have come in to make sure no creatures of the night decided my cauldron was a place to roost. Someday we'd have gargoyles again, and keeping our windows shut after darkness fell would be a thing of the past.
I had found the vampire vial and used almost half of my supply getting Broomie recharged. That shadow had taken a lot out of it.
Broomie was working, but a little sluggish. It was more than a little awkward as I maneuvered into a good position to jam my fingertips into the windowpanes to open it. We floated inside and I stepped off, gently putting my broom away. Broomie had served me well tonight and deserved a little peace.
And then I froze.
I was not alone.
I turned as the flames from all the candles flared and illuminated the room.
"I am so sorry," Precious cringed apologetically. "I tried to stop her, Miss Spell. I really did."
Miss Trudy, that head witch of a witch, was standing in the middle of my ritual room. Her bony arms were folded in judgment and her pinched face was screwed in disgust.
"You were not invited here," I stated.
She held up a warrant. "You worked magic."
Of all the... If she even had a clue how much magic I was working and actually cared, she would have shut me down weeks ago. But that was external magic. Lighting the twig was tapping into my own source, and I guess that controlling that which was mine was all she cared about. "It was self-defense!"
"It is always self-defense with you!" she snapped. She then motioned around my workshop in horror. "And this? What is this? This room was locked and sealed! Explain yourself!"
"I have no idea how that happened," I replied, trying to pretend I was just as shocked as she was. "Someone must have broken in while I was gone."
"I broke into it!" shouted Precious. She then backed off beneath Miss Trudy's death glare. "I mean... I was looking for something... and I came in here..."
"Don't get yourself into any more trouble than you already are," Miss Trudy spat. She turned her attention back to me. "Corrupting a minor, Miss Spell?"
"I'll have you know she is doing vocational training with us here at the No Spell."
"Magical training?"
"There is no magic here."
"You flew in the window on a BROOMSTICK," she hissed. "Did you really think no one would notice? Do you think that no one would glance out their window and see you flying across the full moon?"
"I thought maybe everyone would be busy."
She reached out and grabbed my arm. I'm pretty sure she would have liked to have given me a shake, but she stopped herself. "I have been out there fighting for you, advocating for the return of your powers, and I come here and find out that you have been disobeying our command?"
I jerked away from her. "Save me your martyrdom. You know and I know you haven't advocated a blessed thing."
She glared at me, but she didn't deny it. Instead, she turned the conversation back on me. "I felt a spark of fire. What did you set on fire?"
"A branch," I replied, trying to infuse my voice with the ridiculousness of it all.
"You heard her!" exclaimed Precious. "A branch! Is that worth all of this? I know she only would have done it if she didn't have any other choice!"
I gave my apprentice a grateful smile, but also tried to indicate that this was my fight. The last thing I needed was Precious being stripped of her powers because I had screwed up.
Miss Trudy was just getting fired up, though. She stalked toward Precious. "I didn't give her a choice? Me? She was the one who brought all this down on her head. She slayed an innocent vampire! She didn't give that vampire a choice."
This time Precious did not shrink. "I'm kind of okay with that. I'm pretty sure he started it by attacking her—" Precious began.
Miss Trudy tsked. "Young ladies are better seen and not heard."
Out of nowhere,
Precious's lips suddenly sealed closed. Horrified, she tried to peel them apart.
"You release her!" I roared.
"Or what?" Miss Trudy seemed so smug and proud of herself.
"There are warlocks and monsters working for the World Walkers who are using magic against innocent creatures here on the Other Side. And you attack my apprentice?"
"Of all the ridiculous accusations—" Her pinched face screwed as if she was fighting back all the things she actually wanted to say to me. Instead, she informed me, "I don't make the rules, I just have to live within them. As do you." She held up the warrant. "I am going to have to report your illegal activity. The coven will make their decision and, most likely, will be here to strip you of your powers permanently," she stated primly.
A cold wash of fear poured itself down my spine. Precious tried to shout out her muffled opposition.
Miss Trudy spared a glance her way, as if she had forgotten she was the one who had gagged Precious. She snapped her fingers and Precious's mouth opened.
Precious didn't waste a moment. Undeterred by the time out, she stepped forward practically swinging. "For what crime?"
"She knows what she has done."
"What? Tried to save us? We are in danger!" Precious pressed, outraged by the injustice. "I just discovered there are ley lines all through the Other Side and someone in the World Walking association has been causing people to sign over all their assets, and then is murdering them."
"I think that sounds like you have quite the imagination, young lady."
Precious threw up her hands in disgust. "Fine! Don't believe me! But when the evidence comes down, I want you to remember I told you so. Or tried to tell you. But you took away my voice. And don't think I'm not going to report that as a violation of your powers!"
Miss Trudy rolled her eyes, as if she couldn't believe she had to deal with my nonsense AND a mouthy young witch. She pointed at me and then at my workshop. "We'll be in to clean this out. Don't touch anything. Your tribunal will be soon."
"Aw, stick a fork in it, turkey," I snapped. "I’m done with all of you."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
"We have to work fast," I explained to Precious as I started gathering up herbs I wanted her to take home. No way in Hades I was going to let those bats get their taloned fingers into my stash.
"Wait, we're still going to do this?" asked Precious. "But... the head of your coven..."
I turned with my hand on my hip. "What? You think we're going to just sit here and let them destroy the world over a burned twig? If I'm going to hang for committing a crime, let's make sure it is for a crime worth committing. Now, go downstairs and grab Ajax. I'll fill you in on everything I discovered."
She turned and ran down the steps, her uniform skirt flying and hard-soled penny loafers smacking the stone.
I was furious. Why was my coven hell-bent on squashing me? It was like they were monitoring my every move, waiting for me to make a mistake. Maybe whoever had made the girls disappear was whispering encouragement in their ear. There was no way that Miss Trudy could have felt one little spark catch one little branch on fire.
I sat on my bed.
And that's when my eyes fell on my nightstand.
There was a folded piece of paper with my name written on it in Ajax's delicate handwriting. Listen, the man could silversmith works of art. Penmanship was child's play.
But he never came into my room. He would have left it in the office or handed it over when we switched shifts.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and broke the seal.
Dear Miss Spell,
I must leave immediately. It is a family matter in need of urgent attention. I must return to the dwarf kingdom immediately. I'll be back. I'm so sorry I could not stay to deliver this in person.
-Ajax
I sat there staring at that note, shocked and stunned.
What a load of baloney.
Precious came racing up. She paused, clutching the doorframe as her breath heaved. "Miss Spell! Something's wrong. I can't find Ajax anywhere!"
I stormed across my room and flung open the door to my workshop. I put the note in my cauldron and pulled out my mortar and pedestal. "Thinking you can just leave a note and I swallow this nonsense hook, line, and sinker?" I shouted at it.
"Is everything all right?" asked Precious, peeking her head around.
"Ajax has been kidnapped."
Her eyes became wide with fear and then filled with tears. "When? How? Is he going to be okay?"
I stopped, remembering that despite a maturity beyond her years and a brain smarter and wiser than every single witch in my old coven, she was just a kid. I needed to be the grownup in the room. I calmed myself, walked over to her and took both her hands. "That's what I'm going to try and find out. But I need your help. Think you're up for it?"
She nodded bravely.
"Good girl," I said. I pointed at the door. "Go find something from his room. Bring it to me. I'll prep this spell, but I'm going to need you to make the magic work. I'm running low on power."
I could hear her feet pounding down the stairs once more, and just a few minutes later, come pounding back up.
I couldn't believe her choice.
"It felt like it would have the most of his essence," she explained as I wrinkled my nose.
"Well... essence is a good word for it. Well done." I took the dirty sock with the tip of my wand and then dumped it into the pedestal. I steeled my courage and pounded it into the wet mixture, trying to ignore the smell, and poured it into the cauldron. I stirred it and said, "Now, can you give this mixture a little juice?"
Precious nodded and joined me at my side. She spread her feet and centered herself. She held her hands over the cauldron and closed her eyes.
"Just a little power to get the reaction going..." I encouraged.
Her hands started to glow as she fed the mixture her essence.
"Gentle! Gentle!" I cautioned. She wanted so bad to find Ajax, she was about to tap out all of her inner resources into this one little spell. "We're just confirming that we're getting our story straight. Save some for the big stuff for what we're going to have to do later."
I peered inside. Just as I thought.
If the letter had been written by Ajax, it would have stayed the same color. Mix the color yellow with yellow and you get yellow. But my mixture was a lurid green, which means that someone else had added something to the mix.
"Oh, Ajax, I just hope that you are safe..." I murmured.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Welcome to the No Spell Hotel," I said to the werewolf. He was new. Carefully targeted. And for now, still in human form. "I have the silver-free room reserved for you, safe from all allergens."
"And you got my note about the cage?" he asked.
"A lovely suite with all the amenities needed for a gentleman such as yourself on a shift."
He exhaled a deep breath of relief. "I had heard that your hotel specialized in pampering during this time of the month."
"We like to think of it as a night spa for the lunar inclined," I replied. I motioned with my arm toward his suite on the ground floor. "Right this way."
We entered. The walls were made of river stone. A bed and soft armchair sat to one side, Persian rugs dotted the floor. A steel cage took over the middle of the room. Precious and I did our best to make it appealing, filling it with red velvet cushions and blankets.
"No security deposit?" he asked. He pointed at the cage. "Everything in there will be destroyed."
"All a part of our Moon Shifter's package," I replied with a winning smile. "Better to tear the skin off a pillow than your own arm, as my mama used to say."
"A wise woman," he replied. He walked around the cage and tested the bars. "And you swear that if I get out for some reason, I won't be held culpable?"
"It is all a part of our Other Side promise," I replied. "Now, make yourself at home. Can I help you with your things? I'll be back with midnight room se
rvice."
He raised his eyebrows.
"Steak tartar?"
He scratched his belly. "The rarer, the better."
"It will be practically mooing." I stopped myself and checked his reservation. "Actually, it may be mooing."
He took off his jacket and draped it across the bed. He rolled up his white sleeves and took off his shoes. "And what time is check out?"
"Whenever you are ready," I answered with a smile. I opened the door to the cage. "Now, in with you. Music? Wine?"
"All I need is a little time," he replied, walking in. He reclined on his elbow and looked at me, dare I say with a wolfish grin. "If we didn't know exactly where things would lead, I'd invite you in with me."
And it was that little comment that eased any compulsions I had about what we were about to do to him. "You may find the evening is full of surprises," I replied sweetly.
And I shut the door with a clang.
Chapter Thirty
The hall clock struck midnight. I could hear the howls of the guest in room 1D. I walked into the kitchen and pulled out the ground monster for my monster.
But rather than bring it into him, I propped open the front door to the No Spell. I made a pile of the meat in the street, knowing it would be as appealing to a hungry werewolf as a free ice cream sundae to six-year-old. I topped it with Ajax's unwashed clothes. I then laid a trail from it to my guest's room.
I grabbed a silver serving tray in case I was in need of a shield and loaded it up with another wad of ground monster. One hopes they will not have to resort to such tactics, but as mama always said, a Monster Scout is always prepared. Then, steeling my courage, I pulled out my key and opened room 1D.
I was met with a snarling, furious wolf who threw himself at the bars of the cage.