To Love A Witch (A Novel Nibbles title)

by Debora Geary

  Carla grabbed her things. “I’ll go to your house and monitor the Sentinel system. I’ll call you if there’s an alert.”

  “Does Jolie know anything else?” Romy took Jake’s hand and climbed on behind him.

  “I don’t know. That’s our first stop. Hang on.”

  She didn’t have much choice.

  Chapter 13

  Jake held the bike tight, flew like a madman, and prayed this wouldn’t end badly. He thought of himself as a good guy to have around in an emergency, but he wasn’t at all certain this was his crisis to solve.

  If Jolie was right, that was going to be the job of the woman clinging to his back.

  He slammed the bike down in Molly’s back yard and turned to grip Romy’s shoulders. “You okay? I had to pull some pretty serious magic to get us here fast, but I didn’t see you sparking. I’m so sorry—for earlier, and for pulling you in like this.”

  She reached out and touched his cheek, just once.

  Her voice was quiet, but certain. “There’s a little girl who needs us. I don’t know how I can help, but let’s go see what we can find out.”

  Jolie came out of the house, followed by Molly carrying a plate of sandwiches.

  “Thanks, Molly,” said Jake. “We may have a long night coming.”

  Jolie tugged on Romy’s hand. “Do you know where to find the little girl?”

  “Not yet, sweetie.” Romy squatted down. “I need you to tell me a little more about what you see.”

  “It’s kind of confusing. I think I’m seeing some now stuff, and some future stuff. She’s in a dark room, and her belly really hurts. I don’t think she’s hungry, though; maybe she’s sick. There’s a big fire in the room, but you come and save her, so that must be a future thing.”

  “Okay, that’s a really good start. Can you tell me more about the little girl? How old she is, or what she’s thinking about?”

  Jolie frowned. “I heard her talking to her dolly a little. She said ‘baby, don’t be afraid’. Maybe she’s been bad, and somebody put her in a closet, like me, only Molly says little girls can’t be that bad.”

  Jake glanced at Molly in approval, and then bent down beside Romy. “Indeed, they can’t. Is she scared?”

  “Yeah.” Jolie thought a moment. “But excited, too. Like she’s waiting for something.”

  None of this was getting them any closer to finding a little girl about to start a fire. He tried to think about the details his mother tended to pick up in her visions of the future. Emotions, stray thoughts, odd environmental details. “Can you see her at all, Jolie? Her face, or does she maybe call herself a name?”

  “No. But I think she’s kind of big. When Romy comes to rescue her, she can’t carry her by herself, and you have to come help.”

  Great, he got to be the muscles.

  Jolie frowned, confused. “That doesn’t make sense. She’s as big as Romy when you pick her up, but she’s a little girl, just like me.”

  Jake grabbed Jolie as her eyes suddenly dilated. He’d seen that countless times from his mother. Jolie clutched her belly and moaned.

  “What’s going on, Jake?” Romy looked close to panic.

  He wasn’t very happy himself. “She’s sharing sensations with the other little girl.”

  Jake tried not to imagine what Jolie would go through if she stayed linked to a small girl in a room full of fire. They needed to find the child, and now.

  “It happened once before,” Molly said. “About ten minutes ago. It lasted for almost a minute, and then stopped.” As if on cue, Jolie stopped clutching her belly and looked up.

  Romy turned white and grabbed Jake’s arm. “Jolie. How long have you been feeling these belly aches?”

  “Since just before dinner, but they hurt more now.”

  Jake could see Romy connecting the dots as he watched. She turned to him with big eyes. “It’s not a girl, Jake. I think it’s a woman, and she’s in labor.”

  “What’s labor?” Jolie asked.

  Molly answered. “It’s when a woman has a baby in her belly, and it’s time for the baby to come out.”

  Romy clutched his arm harder. “Carla said her magic hit hard when she gave birth to her babies. If this woman is a fire witch, that could be what triggers the fire Jolie sees. Jake, we have to find her.”

  Her urgency exploded against his frustration. “We still have no idea who she is, or where she is.”

  “Think, Jake. You said I set off the Sentinel alarms four times as a kid.”

  Now he saw it. “And there’s no way she’s a grown fire witch and never set off an alert. She’ll be in Alvin’s files.”

  He turned to Molly. “You have a laptop, right? I need to use it.”

  Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he called home. “Carla, we think the girl might be one of the ones Asshole Alvin gave up on. I need you to log into my private files so I can pull that data faster.” He quickly walked her through his four-step login. “Thanks, Carla. Love you. We’ll let you know as soon as we find her.”

  He hung up. Action felt really, really good. “I already researched where all the girls ended up. We can narrow that down to ages likely to be pregnant and start checking the names out.”

  Molly flew out of the house, computer in hand. It was old and clunky compared to his baby, but anything with a keyboard would get the job done.

  He brute-forced a connection to his home computer and grabbed the data file. Eighty-one girls. Sixty-two still living.

  He looked up at Romy. “Let’s assume for now that Jolie’s picking up on someone close by; that gets us to thirty-one names. What’s a reasonable age range for pregnant women?”

  “Could be thirteen to fifty, Jake. She’s alone and scared—that doesn’t suggest a husband in the picture.”

  His fingers flew. “Okay, that gets us down to nineteen. I have known addresses for half.”

  She grabbed his arm. “Wait. If she’s pregnant, she’d have seen a doctor.” Her face collapsed. “Never mind, there’s no way we could figure that out.”

  There sure as hell was. “All healthcare visits get run through a billing system. There’s only two big ones in this state. If I cross their records with our nineteen names, maybe we get a match.”

  She looked at him like he’d gone totally insane. “Jake, we need to find her tonight. Requesting access to that data would take weeks.”

  Jolie doubled over in pain again. Molly held her tight and frowned at Jake. “The contractions are coming faster.”

  He shot Romy a look. “We’re not going to ask permission.”

  Billing systems had pretty good security. It took him four-and-a-half minutes to hack into the first. He’d picked the system that fed state Medicaid; they covered lots of pregnant women.

  He looked up in victory. “I’m in.” Romy, who had been watching over his shoulder, stared at him in utter shock. “You hacked into Medicaid?”

  “You weren’t the only one with a misspent youth.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and ported the list of names over. “Here, I need you to read me the names off one at a time. Molly’s computer isn’t fast enough to pull down a lot of data, so I’m going to stay in their system and look up the names.”

  Romy still looked stupefied. “This is illegal.”

  “Totally. And I have about three minutes before their system locks me out or gets Molly in a lot of trouble, so start reading.”

  They got a hit on name number five. Aylen Windwalker, twenty-two. Nine months pregnant and the address on record was three blocks away.

  Romy ran for Jake’s bike. “I’ll go. You call the fire department and paramedics.”

  It was a reasonable plan. Bullshit. The woman he loved was riding off into action without him while he played secretary. Not very damn likely.

  Jake finished backing out of the system he’d hacked and grabbed a tree branch. Normally, he preferred motorbikes to broomsticks, but this was an emergency. Dialing 911, he lifted off and cursed; he cou
ld already see flames in the distance.

  …

  Romy turned the corner toward Aylen’s address and knew she was too late. Flames spurted from the window of a house halfway down the street. Neighbors were already gathering.

  She skidded to a halt and ran for the door.

  “There’s no one in there, lady,” a bystander yelled. “The woman that lives there moved out weeks ago.”

  Romy thought of Jolie doubled over in pain, pulled her shirt over her face, and opened the door. She could see flames licking across the hallway, and a terrified, very pregnant woman behind them.

  She could also feel the power inside her, clawing to get loose. Fire was calling to fire.

  Jake charged up, pulling on a leather jacket. “I’ll go get her. You get out of here.”

  She grabbed his arm. He wasn’t going to burn again on her watch, not if she could help it. “Let me try to move the fire away. Let me try, Jake.”

  If the fire called to her, then she could call to the fire. She ran outside the house to the broken living room window and pulled with all the magic inside her. Here I am. Come to me.

  Flames exploded out of the living room window. She shoved her hands up and pushed a stream of power toward the sky. The fire followed, delighting in the new fuel source.

  She heard the sound of cheers and the clang of arriving fire trucks. Thank God. She couldn’t hold it much longer.

  Jake grabbed her shoulders. “Romy, we’re out. You can let go now.”

  Tears streamed down her face. “I can’t. I don’t know where to put the magic. It’s going to blow soon. Get the people back.”

  He grabbed her arms. “You can. Send it to me. I’ll put it down into the earth.”

  No way. Never.

  Then he put his hands on her face. “I love you, Romy. Now trust me. I’m going to call the power, and I want you to let it come.”

  Jake threw his hands wide and reached for magic.

  “I ask the power of earth and land,

  Come on out, give me a hand.

  Take her magic, make it mine

  Two into one, by love’s design.

  Gotta do what must be done,

  Make it so, Number One.”

  Romy felt the fire shifting and trembled. It knew he was there, now, and power called to power. She felt the first helpless fraying of magic headed out of control.

  And then the truth of Carla’s words hit her, and she knew what to do. She reached for love, and let it go along with the magic. Power sang out of her and down Jake’s fingers into the ground. Love sang out of her into his heart.

  It was a relatively small earthquake, all things considered.

  Chapter 14

  Romy stepped out of Jake’s shower and smelled the ends of her hair. Much better. She didn’t smell quite so fire-roasted any more. Wrapping a red terrycloth robe around herself twice, she walked out into the hallway. A glorious smell was calling her name.

  Jake grinned as she came into the kitchen. “Carla delivered a care package. She figured you’d be hungry after playing with that kind of power.”

  Hungry didn’t begin to describe it. For food, first, but she had more than one screaming need in her belly. “Thanks for the robe.”

  “Please keep it. My mother sends one every Christmas. She swears I’ll need it one day.”

  She didn’t really want to think about his mother’s ability to see the future right now. Every hormone in her body was singing.

  Jake carried two plates to the table. “Carla also left a message. She said to tell you ‘totally normal’. She said you’d understand.”

  Romy tried not to blush. If the way her insides felt right now was the totally normal result of working magic, Franco was a very lucky man. She scooped up some of the linguine as her stomach growled loud enough for Jake to hear.

  He just grinned and handed her a slice of warm garlic bread.

  “I called the hospital while you were showering. Aylen is fine, and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Molly and Jolie are with her.”

  Romy grimaced. “Did Jolie experience all the labor? I’ve heard that can be pretty intense.”

  Jake shook his head. “Molly says no; the connection shut off right after the rescue. And she says Jolie’s already angling to bring Aylen and the new baby home with them.”

  Oh, boy. Jolie was a force to be reckoned with. “How does Molly feel about that?”

  “She has a heart bigger than Tabletop Rock. I’d imagine Jolie just managed to procure herself a baby sister.”

  Romy could feel a soft, goopy glow sinking into her belly that was more than just good food. Jolie was one small witch who wouldn’t fall through the cracks. And whatever Aylen’s past, a friend like Molly seemed like a pretty good turn for anyone’s life to take.

  “You do good, important work, Jake.”

  She saw him start to shake his head, and then stop. “Yeah. I do. And I don’t work alone.”

  No. He knew an awful lot of people, from Molly and Carla to people on the end of a phone, willing to do whatever he asked. He was the kind of guy that made a lot of lives better.

  Even if he bent a few rules. “So when were you going to tell me about your career as a teenage computer hacker?”

  He spoke around his linguine. “It’s a longer career than you think.”

  “People go to jail for that kind of thing.” And no one like Jake should ever have to spend a moment in lock-up.

  He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Only if they get caught. In my young and stupid days, that was a distinct possibility. It isn’t any more. Sometimes what’s right and what’s legal aren’t the same thing.”

  She could hardly argue with that. Several lives had been on the line tonight.

  Including hers. She knew that now. Calling the fire had been an act of sheer, stupid bravery.

  She suspected, however, that her bravery couldn’t hold a candle to his. “What was that spell you cast? Sounded like a rap song.”

  He shrugged. “I always thought old-fashioned rhyming was boring.”

  She closed her eyes and tried to pull the words up. He reached for her hands and saved her the trouble.

  “Take her magic, make it mine

  Two into one, by love’s design.”

  Romy was a novice with spells, but she was pretty sure she had this one worked out. “You weren’t just calling my power, were you.”

  He shook his head. “It wouldn’t have been enough.”

  Reaching inside, Romy pulled magic to her fingertips until they glowed softly. She stood up and held out her hands. “Love me, Jake.”

  He got up from the table and touched his fingertips to hers, moving their hands up until they stood, palms touching. She could feel the magic pulsing. This time it was she who spoke the words.

  “Take our magic, his and mine

  Two into one, by love’s design.”

  She felt the buzz run through her. His grin lit. “Not bad for an amateur.”

  The needs she’d managed to quiet down over dinner were back and screaming for an outlet. What was she, a teenage boy?

  Her magic might be under control, but her hormones definitely weren’t. “I need you to know two things. One, you matter to me. A lot. And two, I’m fighting a really big need to rip your clothes off. Carla says it’s a side effect of the magic.”

  He put his hands on her face. “One. I love you. A lot.” He kissed her gently.

  “Two—Franco seems to be a very happy man, so I’d suggest you stop fighting with yourself.”

  She ran her hands up under his T-shirt and felt the earth rumble, just a little. He pulled the shirt over his head and sent whatever self-control she had left careening into the ditch. Her shirt followed moments after.

  He swooped her up and started walking. When cool air hit her skin, she stopped kissing him long enough to look around. “This isn’t your bedroom.”

  He shook his head. “The back yard’s private. And given the tenuous control I have
right now, I’d say we’re likely to float sometime this evening. I’ll bang my head on the ceiling if we stay inside.”

  It took Romy a moment to figure out what he was saying. “You fly during sex?”

  He grinned. “I was sixteen the last time it happened. If it does, don’t let go.”

  She couldn’t stop the giggles as he plunked her feet on the ground and pulled her down to the cool grass. His eyes darkened. “Don’t let go.”

  Then her need to touch and claim blew all words away. She reached for him with magic, need, and the love she wasn’t quite yet ready to speak.

  His hands ran over her body, peeling clothes and leaving her screaming for more. When he finally slid a hand between her legs, she wasn’t sure whether the quaking started inside or out.

  Rolling on top of him, she reached for his hands and laced their fingers. Then she rode and fed the fire in both of them.

  Chapter 15

  Jake rolled over in bed and saw sunlight streaming in the windows. Romy lay beside him, quietly snoring.

  He picked up the covers gingerly and peeked down at his body. Yup, certain important parts were still attached. And yup, he had a couple of red hand marks on his chest. He knew exactly when those had happened; it was a particularly fond memory from the wee hours of the morning.

  The essentials checked out, she was still snoring, and he was starving. After last night, they’d both need some breakfast. His culinary skills extended to bacon and eggs.

  Resisting the urge to wake her, he slipped out of bed and headed to the kitchen, pulling on a shirt and shorts on the way. He could get really used to this.

  In the kitchen, he started the bacon and checked his phone messages. Carla had called at the crack of dawn with status updates on everyone and an invite to Sunday dinner. His buddy Duncan had sent a text—Sentinel had approved Jake’s personnel request.

  Excellent. The New Mexico zone was a mess, and he needed help to clean it up. He hoped a certain redhead might be interested.