Something Wiccan This Way Comes

by Emma Harrison

  Piper smirked. “In this case, but don’t make a habit of it.”

  Chapter

  13

  Leo went off to find a phone and call the police, and Piper and her sisters watched as the kidnapped Wiccans tied up their captors for safekeeping. Christian let out an indignant grunt when Samson, who’d grown some peach fuzz on his normally shaved head since being kidnapped, tied his hands together. Unfortunately for him, his grunting only made Samson tighten the rope. “Is everyone all right?” Piper asked, joining the victims over by the wall where they were dealing with Christian’s coven. “Does anyone need anything?”

  “I just want to make some phone calls,” Clarissa said with a smile. She walked right up to Piper and enveloped her in a firm hug. “Thank you so much for saving us. I was beginning to lose hope.”

  “We were glad we could help,” Piper said as Clarissa released her. She stepped over to Samson and looked up at him, his impressive frame dwarfing her. “Do you mind if I talk to Christian for a second?” she asked, rubbing at the back of her neck.

  “Be my guest,” Samson said. He turned Christian around and backed him up until he was touching the wall, then walked off.

  “What do you want?” Christian spit as Phoebe and Paige joined her.

  “Just want to know what you were thinking,” Piper said flatly. “What was in it for you?”

  Christian ground his teeth together and glared at the sisters. “Why should I tell you?”

  “Well, you’re gonna have to tell the police in a few minutes anyway,” Phoebe said, leaning her elbow against the wall next to him. “May as well get your story straight. I’m guessing Craig talked you into this, am I right?”

  “Yeah, and now he’s not even around to take the fall,” Christian said through his teeth.

  Piper tried to ignore the fact that he was basically saying Craig had left him in the lurch by dying a horrible death. If she wanted to keep him talking, there was no reason to scold the guy for being a major jerk.

  “So…what, Tina offered you guys something in return for helping them kidnap people?” she asked.

  Christian took a deep breath and then tipped his head forward. “Craig and Tina used to go out. She told him that if we helped, we would all be rewarded when she and her sisters took over.”

  “So you didn’t know anything about the Anubi,” Phoebe said.

  “The what?” Christian asked.

  “The things that killed Craig,” Paige clarified.

  “No! That’s why we were all so shocked when he disappeared,” Christian replied. “Tina assured us we were safe, so when Craig was kidnapped, we didn’t know what was going on.”

  Piper’s stomach turned as she looked at her sisters. All that time she had thought that demons had to be responsible for all the kidnappings, but she was wrong. It was three girls—three people she would have dismissed as powerless, fake wanna-bes—who were executing the perfect crime.

  “Well, thanks for your time,” Piper said, turning away from him.

  “Wait! You’ll tell the police it wasn’t my idea, right?” he called after them. “You’ll back me up?”

  “We’ll see what we can do,” Piper said as she walked away, joined by Paige and Phoebe. She didn’t even turn to look at him. She couldn’t. The sight of him and the thought of everything he, Tessa, Taryn, and Tina had done made her ill.

  “So, the Anubi kidnappings and the other kidnappings were totally unrelated,” Paige said as they made their way to the other side of the room. “That’s why Craig’s bed had all the black markings, but none of the other crime scenes did.”

  “Looks that way,” Piper said, blowing out a sigh. She sat down on the floor and leaned up against the cool cinder-block wall. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until that very moment. Her whole body seemed to ache as she let herself relax.

  “The Anubi must have been here just to feed off the convention,” Phoebe said, sitting down next to Piper. “But it was lucky for Tina and her sisters, because it threw the suspicion from them.”

  “Yeah, once the Anubi were vanquished, they could basically do anything they wanted,” Paige said. “God, we even told everyone it was safe to come back to the campground, and meanwhile, we’re hanging out with the psychotic kidnappers at mealtime.”

  “I still can’t believe it was them,” Piper said, pushing her hands into her hair. “It was Christian and Tessa who took me last night. I was so shocked when I saw them I would probably have passed out even if they hadn’t whacked me over the head.”

  She winced as she passed her hand over the lump that had formed where Christian had hit her the night before.

  “Ow! Are you okay?” Phoebe asked, reaching her hand out tenderly toward the bump.

  “Yeah, just don’t touch it!” Piper exclaimed, shrinking away. Phoebe pulled her hand back and frowned apologetically. “I guess I deserve it, anyway,” Piper said. “Here I was spouting about how powerless all these loser Wiccans were and believing the criminals were actually victims.” She looked down at the gritty cement floor.

  “Please!” Paige said, finally dropping to the ground at Piper’s other side. “Tessa and Taryn came to you with this sob story about their little sister, and you believed them because you wanted to help. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “It could’ve happened to any of us,” Phoebe agreed, rubbing Piper’s arm. “Their story fit with everyone else’s, and they seemed like victims to me.”

  At that moment the door on the far side of the room was flung open, and at least twenty armed police officers poured in, followed by Leo. As the cops sorted out the victims from the kidnappers Leo walked over to Piper and her sisters. Piper watched as a few of the policemen handed out blankets and food to the victims, who were all incredibly grateful. Clarissa even shrieked when one of the officers handed her a cell phone. Everyone started to call home and let friends and family know that they were okay. Piper felt a smile start to tug at her lips as Keisha grabbed up one of the policemen in a hug.

  “See?” Phoebe said, slipping her arm around Piper’s shoulders. “We found the kidnapees and they’re all fine, and we vanquished the Anubi, so they won’t be killing any more witches.”

  “It was like an added bonus,” Paige put in.

  “Okay, you’re right,” Piper said, looking at her sisters. “The end result was good.”

  She slipped her hand into Paige’s and gave it a little squeeze. “I just have one small favor to ask,” Piper said.

  “What’s that?” Paige asked, leaning her head on Piper’s shoulder.

  Piper smirked. “No more family vacations for a good, long time.”

  About the Author

  Emma Harrison is an editor-turned-writer who has worked on many series, including Sweet Valley High Senior Year, Roswell High, and Fearless. She never misses an episode of Charmed.