Witch Hunt (The Hayle Coven Novels: Book Two)

by Patti Larsen

  “Be safe,” Mom finished. “And good luck.”

  Mom left the twins to watch the house. Of course she did. The little old ladies glared at me when I tried to argue. Mom left with a quick hug and a kiss for me and Meira and I had to just watch her go.

  How much did that suck?

  I considered defying her and going anyway, but figured it wasn’t worth it. Especially when I saw Meira’s trembling lower lip. She needed me.

  I led her upstairs to her bedroom and read her a book, Sassy curled up next to us. It took three stories for her to fall asleep, but she finally did. As I crept out of her room, Sassy stopped me.

  “Syd,” he said, amber eyes glowing in the dark. “Don’t do anything stupid.” His silver tail thrashed against the comforter once.

  “Mind your own business, fuzz ball.” I returned long enough to bury my face in his fur and give him a loving scratch to his mane. “Just keep her safe.”

  His heavy purr made me smile. “Of course,” he said. I left him there, chin on paws, glaring after me.

  I spent the next hour pacing around my room, down the stairs to the kitchen, back upstairs, et cetera, ad naseum. Because of the wards around the house, I couldn’t feel a thing. My family marched to battle with vampires at their side and I was stuck at home with my baby sister, my crazy grandmother and two old biddy witches who smelled like cat litter.

  I was beginning to sink into serious resentment when the phone rang.

  Caller ID said Brad. I was so surprised, I answered it.

  “Syd.” He sounded awful. “Hi.”

  “Brad,” I said. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Just the flu. I’m finally over it.”

  “I was worried.” Lie. Honestly I hadn’t thought about him since his dad mentioned it. Bad girlfriend.

  “Can I come over?”

  Um. Not the best timing.

  “It’s important. I really want to see you.”

  I hesitated one more moment and sighed. “I’ll meet you out back.”

  “See you in five.”

  I dug out a coat and crept downstairs. The twins were in the living room in matching recliners, their identical sweaters pulled up to their chins, a game show blinking its happy message at them.

  They snored in tandem. Some guardians.

  Still, the wards were up and that was all that mattered. But they were built to keep the creature out, not me in. It probably never occurred to them I might disobey my coven leader. Thing was, she wasn’t just my coven leader. And I had no intention of disobeying her. As far as I was concerned, I was following orders. And planned to keep Brad as far from that thing as I could.

  Swearing this was for the best, I made it out the back door and waited in the warming air. I needed to get this over with anyway. No time like the present. If I was going to break up with him, I might as well cut him loose and round off a truly perfect week.

  When his black truck slowed in front of the neighbors, I ran for it.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Brad looked as bad as he sounded. His normally tanned and handsome face shone pale in the bright light of the overhead, eyes sunken with dark circles making it worse. He looked like he’d just come down off a drug binge and was detoxing.

  I immediately grabbed him and hugged him. When I did, I felt something at my throat warm and tingle as power passed between us. I heard him sigh and when I pulled away he looked instantly better.

  “It’s great to see you,” he said.

  I reached up and touched the necklace, his birthday present to me, and finally understood what was going on.

  The jolt I felt, the one that ran through me when he put the heart on me, was the same as when I hugged him just now. Something about the necklace linked us together. And was keeping Quaid and I apart.

  Before I could explore the understanding any further, Brad put the truck in gear and drove off, leaving me scrambling for my seatbelt. I was so enraptured by my realization I didn’t pay attention to the direction we were headed.

  “Brad,” I said, “we really need to talk.” Even more now, I knew I had to end our relationship. I was making him sick. After feeling around inside him I saw the truth. The energy he had, the thin and weak power of his latent talent, poured into the bond between us with the necklace as its focus. Why hadn’t I seen it before? I guess I was just too wrapped up in what was going on with the family. And his touch was so light it took me looking for it to find it there.

  “I know,” he said. “I’ve been thinking. About Notre Dame. You were right.”

  Thank goodness. He was coming to the realization on his own.

  “I’m going to take the scholarship,” he said, “and you can come with me.”

  Um. What?

  “You can finish high school in South Bend,” he said. “I was offered housing as part of my scholarship. It means we could have an apartment together. It’s perfect!”

  What?

  “I talked to Dad,” he went on, rushing over his words. He sounded a little feverish, even. “He’s cool with it. Especially after meeting you and your mother.”

  Oh dear. I just bet he was.

  “Brad,” I said. “This is crazy.”

  “No!” He spun around to look at me, the truck swerving into the next lane. Thank goodness no one was coming. I shrieked and he looked back, jerking the truck into the right direction. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Syd, look, I can’t explain it, but I need to be with you. I don’t want to lose you. And you coming with me to school… solves some problems.”

  “What problems?” I wanted to be angry. Should have felt my fury rising. But even my demon felt sorry for him. I should have listened to my instincts in the beginning.

  “Moromond.” Brad said it like Quaid was the Devil and planned to steal my soul. Or me away from him. Of course. Paranoia made total sense.

  “Quaid has nothing to do with this,” I said.

  “I see how he looks at you,” Brad said. “The way he watches you all the time.” He did? He does? Quaid? “It makes me sick.” Brad looked at me again, but kept the truck under control so I didn’t argue. “I want to protect you, keep you safe. And I can do that if you come with me.”

  This was so out of hand. And as much as Mom warned me to be gentle, I knew the only way Brad would let me go at this point was to rip the bandage off and see if the wound bled.

  I counted on a gushing river, but I’m a pessimist.

  It wasn’t until then I realized where we were. Brad pulled into a dark lane, down to the end and under the trees. I knew this place. Alison said the kids used it for a particular kind of privacy. It was quiet and dark and far too familiar.

  It may have been the local lover’s lane, but it was also within yards of the entrance to the party site.

  This was definitely not good. I slammed up a shield around us and hoped I was in time to avoid detection. The last thing I needed was my mother showing up and adding to the mess. Or the creature. Not sure which would be worse.

  Before I could tell Brad we had to go, he turned off the ignition and pulled the keys free, tossing them out his open window. He turned to face me, seatbelt unbuckled, face hidden in darkness. I knew he would never hurt me, but he was so creepy my guard went all the way up and my demon shrieked her fury.

  “I love you, Syd.” His voice sank low in the quiet of the cab. “I want to show you how much.”

  I couldn’t use my power to hold him off, but my hands worked really well. At least, to a point. He may have been weaker than normal, but he was still heavy and stronger than me. I snuck some magic in to reinforce my position and looked in his eyes.

  They weren’t angry or crazy. Just desperate and full of love. My heart broke as I crushed his hopes.

  “No,” I said. “I’m sorry, Brad. But I don’t love you.”

  He cried out like I punched him in the guts and fell back away from me. I let go of my clenched power and tried to figure out the right thing to say while stumbling
over words tumbling out of my mouth.

  “You’re so sweet and handsome and I really like you. Ever since I met you. But we can’t be together anymore. It’s not right for either of us and you have university to look forward to. Football. Cheerleaders.” I forced a smile even though tears coursed down my face. “Thank you for loving me,” I whispered. “But this has to be over.”

  “Why?” There was so much anguish in him I wanted to hug him and cradle his head in my lap and take it all back, but I needed to be strong. “We belong together, Syd.”

  “I’m not good for you,” I said. “My family could up and leave any time. We move a lot. And you need stability. You have such a great future ahead of you. You deserve more than I can give.”

  Wow. I sounded so adult in my own ears. And hated myself for every word. It was getting harder to say no to him and I knew it was because of the necklace.

  “This is because of that bastard, isn’t it?” Brad slammed both hands against the steering wheel. His rage was horrible partly because I’d never seen him angry and partly because it was my fault. “I’ll kill him!”

  “This has nothing to do with Quaid.” I had to end this. And get us the hell out of there. I poured more power into the shield, worried his intense emotion might break through. My control wasn’t the greatest even yet so I knew we were on limited time. Sooner or later the protection would collapse and we’d be exposed.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You don’t have to.” His attitude wore on me all of a sudden. Maybe because I was sweating from the concentration it took to protect his sorry ass. “But it’s final.” I reached up and undid the clasp of the necklace and pulled it free. The line of power stretched out toward it from me, thin and wavering as I held it up to him. “I’m done.” I set the chain on the seat between us and let go.

  The power stretched further and snapped. My own recoiled back to me, but I was ready for it. Brad wasn’t so lucky. I felt the truck rock as he slammed back against his door.

  “No!” He reached for it, held it out to me. “Please, Syd! I need you!”

  It was so hard to say no. So hard. I forced my arms across my chest and looked away from him.

  And jerked my head around as the truck door slammed. Brad ran off into the darkness, puncturing my shield as he went, the necklace clutched in his hand.

  Oh crap. What did I expect? He’d just drive me home and it would be done with? I hesitated one more moment. I had to go after him, but my family was out there. The vampires. And the creature. For all I knew, he was running right toward it.

  Damn. Damn! Mom was going to kill me.

  I jumped out of the truck and went after him. It was hard to see, the path he took at least clear of stumps and roots, but I finally had to augment my vision a little so I wouldn’t fall. Why didn’t I practice more? It kept flickering in and out like a flashing light and I rapidly developed a headache from it.

  “Brad!” I hissed into the dark. “Stop!”

  I found him at a bend in the path, bent over, hands on his knees. “Brad!”

  He looked up at me. Straightened. Took a hesitant step in my direction.

  The creature rose up behind him and snarled at me over Brad’s shoulder.

  He was gone in a breath, swept away by the evil being, dragged off into the black. I reached for him, tried to follow, but I was way too late.

  Brad was gone.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty

  This was not happening. Was not. I did not just lose my ex-boyfriend to the very creature my family hunted in a place I wasn’t supposed to be on threat of violent and probably amphibious punishment by my mother.

  Oh. My. Swearword.

  I couldn’t think or breathe or move. I stood there on the path in the dark, my focus so shot my limited night vision magic was gone, my shields a puddled mess dissipating at my feet. Everything wavered and wobbled around me and my chest rose and fell faster and faster as I gulped air into me, my lungs squeezing together like a steel band tightened around them, squeezing my life away.

  My demon howled and I jerked out of my hysteria. I gulped a giant gasp of air and bent over in half, keeping my head down so I wouldn’t pass out from my anxiety-fueled hyperventilation. I had to get it together. Had to. There was no one else to save him but me.

  I turned and ran back toward the car, reaching out for my mother and found nothing. No one. They were all shielding as much as I had been. I was exposed and alone and had no one to turn to.

  Stop it, I thought. Syd, stop! The truck was just up ahead. I could see the glint of moonlight on the chrome. My desperate mind reached out one last time.

  And found Quaid.

  He grasped onto me and held me tight, my demon reaching for him as much as I did. I stopped on the path just outside the clearing, sobbing in relief as he wrapped his mind around me and held me close.

  What happened. Not a question. He wanted me to focus.

  I shot him the images, still panting and hugging myself.

  I’m on my way. He was gone. I wanted him back so badly I whimpered.

  But I wasn’t alone. My demon was with me. She purred in my mind, finally there for me like I was never there for her.

  Together then, I thought. And ran into the clearing for the truck and where Brad threw his keys.

  Someone was in my way. I shrieked at the top of my lungs and slammed up my shields, power pulsing in my hands, ready to attack. But it wasn’t the creature or my mother.

  It was Demitrius Strong.

  “Hello, Syd,” he said. “We need to talk.”

  He obviously had no idea what I just went through.

  “I can’t right now,” I dodged to go around him, but he wasn’t alone. A tall man stood behind him. And another behind him. And more on the other side, both men and women. They all looked stern and determined and were dressed in long white robes.

  What the…? I glanced back at Demitrius. He wore one, too.

  I was surrounded.

  “I don’t have time for this.” I considered using my magic on them, but we had rules about that kind of thing. Still, they were in my way and giving me the serious creeps and I had to find Brad.

  “I’m very disappointed,” Demitrius said in his mild voice, as though chastising me for being a bad girl. “You and your family have brought great evil upon us.”

  Whatever. “Take it up with my mother.”

  “I fully intend to,” Demitrius said. “She will join you in the cleansing. Your whole unholy family will.”

  Cleansing? What the hell was his problem?

  “Listen, there is a creature out there that just took my friend,” I dropped the boy part of friend just in time before I said it, “and I have to save him. So whatever you’re babbling about can wait until later.”

  “You are fornicating with the undead, partnering with the sons and daughters of evil.” He would not let up. Wait a second. Was he talking about the vampires?

  Was it Demitrius I felt at the site the night we met Sebastian? If so, how had he hidden from me? Because I wasn’t looking for normals. I searched for magic. And he had none.

  All of this triggered my full panic mode again.

  “I don’t give a crap what you think of us.” I drew in my power and felt my demon grumble it was about time. “But you’re going to move, one way or another.”

  “Child of the demon,” he droned like it was an accusation of something, “you have been tainted by the Devil and his taint must be cast out.” He gestured at someone behind me and I felt the white robes closing in. This was not good. Why couldn’t I catch a break? “You must be cleansed so your human half can find peace.”

  Cleansed. There was that word again. I suddenly had an image, one Mom planted in my head, and my heart flopped over.

  Didn’t she say they burned witches at the stake?

  Oh crap. Time to cut and run.

  I raised my hands to attack him. Rules or no rules, I was not sticking around to let him ti
e me to a post and set me on fire like a good little girl. No way. But as I focused on him, he gestured again and white powder flew from his hand. It drifted through my shield easily, meant to block paranormal energy, not physical matter. It clouded around my head, forming a shimmering haze I had no choice but to inhale.

  I sneezed once, the smell of dandelions mixed with diesel fuel making me sick, but try as I might to move away from it, I was frozen, stuck by a tingling numbness muffling everything.

  I couldn’t move.

  My blood pressure rose as I struggled against the effects of whatever it was.

  “You will be saved,” Demitrius said. As if those words freed my body, I slumped to the ground, a boneless mass, helpless.

  Darkness enveloped me completely as he bent over, his cherubic face smiling down.

  ***

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Where was I? I vaguely recalled running. Brad. The necklace. But it was so dark and I was so very tired…

  I wasn’t alone. Was it the family out there? I tried to go to them, but something held me back. I struggled with what little strength I had. My hands wouldn’t move. Or my feet. Even my chest felt weighted down. And I was elevated, standing higher than everyone else. I looked down, my chin hitting my chest, the weight of my head too much. I blinked slowly once. What was with the firewood? Why was I standing on a pile of it? And why did I smell kerosene? Wow, it stank.

  I managed to lift my head again and noticed the people. Not the family. Wrong color. The coven wore black and these people were all dressed in—

  I was suddenly and terrifyingly awake. My hands ached from the ropes knotted around them and I whimpered as I pulled and yanked. I had to get away. There was only one reason I could be tied to a post on a pile of a cord of wood.

  Ohmygod. They were going to burn me alive.

  I reached for my demon, screamed for her in the vaults of my mind, but she wasn’t there. No. She was. But her presence was dim and very calm.

  How could she sleep at a time like this?