“Water?” I looked at Tony, and again at Leona. “What, like a lake?”
“No. I do not think so. I believe it was a poodle.”
“What?”
“She means puddle,” said Tony. “Leona, listen to me. Do you remember anything that might tell us where that puddle is?”
“I know when we came out, I thought the doctor smelled like manure.”
“The stables!” said Carlos. “I saw water out behind the stables earlier.”
Jerome turned quickly and yelled, “Alphadyte come. You run now!”
“How many?”
“One.”
“Just one?”
“One. More follow. You go now!”
We scattered and ran to the back of the stables. To our dismay, we found not one, but dozens of various sized mud puddles. Some were as small as trashcan lids; others were pond-sized, twenty feet across and several feet deep.
“Which one?” said Tony, holding Leona by the shoulders and shaking her lightly. “Tell us. Was it a big one? A small one?”
Carlos said, “They’re coming. Hurry.”
“Leona!” Tony turned her towards the field of puddles. “Which one?”
“It is that one,” she said, pointing at the largest of the bunch.
“That one? Are you sure?”
“Yes. I am sure, I think. That is the one.”
“Okay. Go!”
Tony palmed Leona in the small of her back and pushed her into the muddy water. She stumbled forward several steps and then disappeared entirely.
“That’s it,” he said. “Next.” He grabbed Ursula by the hand and yanked her to the water’s edge. “Go!” He pushed her in. She slipped into the invisible hole like a breath of wind.
“Carlos?”
“No, Tony. Not before Lilith.”
“I know that. I’m going to need you to help me toss Lilith in. She won’t go before me, otherwise.”
“Damn straight,” I said, and I began telling him all the reasons why I should go last when the two of them grabbed my arms and pitched me into the puddle.
I remember little about the actual transit through the portal, except for that gut-wrenching sensation of falling. I popped out of the portal back at the research center, up on the second floor where it all started. Dominic was there to help me back up.
“Come on, Lilith.” He lifted me to my feet. “Make room for Carlos and Tony.”
He ushered me aside to where Leona and Ursula were waiting. Their eyes, like mine, were still adjusting to the bright workmen lights that Dominic had set up on a generator.
“You girls all right?” I asked.
“Aye,” said Ursula. “But for bumps on our bumps, we fare well, and thee?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Coming through!” said Dominic. “Stand back!”
I turned around to see Dominic poised in front of the mirror ready to catch the next traveler. It was Carlos. I recognized him by his warrior uniform. He appeared tiny at first, just a dot in the distance, tumbling blindly towards us and growing larger by the second.
We stood back and watched him pop out of the glass, rippling the image ever so slightly before spilling out onto the floor. He landed with a heavy thump and unfolded like a rolled-up carpet.
“Carlos!” I ran to him. Dominic was there already, helping him to his feet. “Are you okay?”
He looked great, not a day older. Oddly, he still sported a week-old beard.
“Damn!” he said. “Why is it so bright in here?”
I laughed. “It’s the magic of halogen. Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Halogen. Right. I love halogen.”
“I know. Me, too. Come on. We have to make room for Tony. Where is he?”
“He’s coming. He and Jerome were concocting a plan to throw off the alphadytes.”
“Jerome?” said Dominic. “Alphadytes? Just what exactly happened to you guys in there? And what are you wearing?”
Carlos laughed. “You wouldn’t believe the half of it, Dom. I tell you, these past few days I––”
“Days?”
“Yeah, why? Don’t tell me it’s been weeks.”
“Weeks? Carlos, you’ve only been gone a few hours.”
“What?”
“I only now just got back with the explosives and got them all set up.”
“You have the place rigged to blow?” I asked.
“Sky high. Just like you told me.”
“That’s good, because you need to light the fuse the instant Tony comes through that portal.”
“Why?”
Carlos said, “Because there’s a dozen bad-ass alphadytes behind him that are just smart enough to figure out what happened to us, and angry enough to follow Tony back here.”
“And we don’t want that,” I said. “Trust me.”
Just as I said that, Tony rolled out of the mirror onto his ass. He appeared dazed, but none the worse for the wear and tear.
“Tony! Tony, talk to me. Are you all right?”
“I’m good. Damn. Why is it so bright in here?”
“Never mind. You’ll get use to it. Is anyone following you?”
“Yes! Yes. The whole damn town is coming. Lilith, we have to do something.”
“We got it under control. Dominic. How long is that fuse of yours?”
“It’s about ninety seconds.”
“Light it. Carlos. Give me a hand with Tony.”
Tony waved off the help. “I’m all right.” He managed to get to his feet on his own. “Come on, everybody. Get outside, now. Don’t stop until I say so.”
“You heard the man,” I said. “Everyone. Vamoose. Dominic. I told you to light that fuse!”
Dominic lit a match and put it to the fuse.
We all bugged out like scared rabbits. I had never run down those old oak stairs so fast in my life. Even still, I wasn’t as quick as Carlos and Dominic, who nearly bowled me over once I reached the bottom.
Out in the parking lot, Tony took a head count. “Okay, everyone’s here,” he said. “Let’s move it to the back of the lot. Get as far away as––”
“Damnit!” I said. “My key.”
“What?”
I patted myself down to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. “I dropped the witch’s key. Must have been when I rolled out of the portal.”
“I’ll get it.”
“Tony, no!” I grabbed his sleeve, but the material slipped from my hand.
He started in a backwards trot. “Don’t worry, Lilith. I can do this. Just make sure you get everyone back.”
Carlos yelled out, “Tony! Don’t!”
Dominic yelled, “It’s just a ninety second fuse!” By then, he was yelling at the back of Tony’s head.
I started after him. Carlos pulled me back.
“Lilith. He can do this.”
“But Carlos, I...”
“I said get back. Everyone!”
Ursula and Leona retreated to the street. I couldn’t go with them. Instead, I tugged against Carlos’ hold to move forward again, drawn to the building as if pulled by magnets.
“Lilith.” I felt a yank on my collar. Another on my arm. It was Carlos and Dominic, both reeling me in. Seconds later, I saw Tony in the window up on the second floor. He’d found the witch’s key. He held it to the window and smiled triumphantly.
“Good,” I screamed. “Now run, you idiot! RUN!”
I tugged again against the pull on my collar and shirtsleeve. Carlos and Dominic would not let me go. Tony faded back from the window.
Just then, a tremendous explosion and fireball ripped through the entire second floor, blowing out the windows and blasting half the roof off the building.
The concussion from the blast knocked us all to the ground. The heat wave that followed singed the hairs on my arms and scorched the trees lining the parking lot.
Bits of brownstone, glass and burning timbers rained down all around us. I stood, cut and gashed, numb to the pain of my wou
nds. My knees were shaking; my eyes red from the broken blood vessels in them and blood from the lesions in my head running down my face.
I started toward the building in a zombie-like gait, deaf to Carlos’s call, but not the incessant ringing in my ears. “Tony,” I said, so softly that the syllables barely parted my lips.
The heavy shroud of smoke began lifting from the facade of the building, as the thickest pack of dust began to settle. I could see the devastation. The entire second floor was gone. Only three of the old oak step treads remained as a ghostly reminder that the staircase was ever there.
“Tony?” I heard myself choke. The syllables came out louder. Stronger. Yet the name sounded strange to my ears.
I felt a hand upon my shoulder. A big hand, soft and gentle.
“Lilith.”
It was Carlos. I rolled my shoulder to shake it off me and started toward the building at a faster clip.
“Tony,” I said.
Carlos stopped me again. “Lilith.”
“Tony.”
“Lilith, please.”
“TONY!”
Carlos spun me around and held me in a bear hug so tightly I could hardly breathe. Or maybe it was the compounding weight of grief crushing my chest. I surrendered to Carlos and collapsed in his arms.
“Carlos, please tell me he...”
“Shhh...” He placed his hand behind my head and pressed my cheek to his shoulder. “Lilith.” His mighty arms were shaking. His voice was soft. Tender. Compassionate. It wooed the ringing in my ears like a whispered dream. “I’m so sorry, Lilith.”
“Don’t say it,” I said, or maybe I thought it.
He stiffened his arms and his embrace, lifting my feet off the ground. I felt his staggered breath on my neck. He cleared his throat and tried to swallow. Couldn’t. Still, the words came out. “Lilith, I’m sorry.”
“Carlos. Don’t say it.”
He squeezed me tighter. My tears rolled heavily on his shoulder and would not stop. “Tony’s––”
“Carlos. Don’t say it! Please, please… don’t say it.”
“Gone.”
Author’s note:
Thank you for reading Gone is The Witch. Your continued support is what keeps this author writing. I love hearing from you all. Your kind words have contributed immensely to making this series what it is today. Your affection for Tony, Lilith, Carlos and the others warms me greatly.
Oh, and regarding Tony, I know some of you may speculate that the ending of this book signals the end of the series. It doesn’t. That is not to say that Tony will be back, however. After all, there are some things that even a witch cannot do. Still, as with any mystery, it’s the not knowing that keeps things interesting, so stay tuned and we’ll see what happens.
Also, if you leave a review for this book (and I sincerely hope you do), please remember not to include any spoilers. It would not be fair to those who have not yet read it.
As for book nine in the series, I have already begun writing it. I anticipate its release sometime in the fall of 2013. You can follow its progress on my facebook page. Just click like and I’ll keep you up to date.
Author Dana E. Donovan on facebook
Table of Contents
Copyright
Other books
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Twenty-six
Author’s note:
8 Gone is the Witch Page 32