“Ugh…” I muttered. I was getting pretty tired of all the lovey-dovey talk. What the hell was wrong with everyone I was in contact with these days?
I stepped back, but not too far away from Penelope and Fredward. With not sure how long it would take the dark witch to show up, I didn’t want to leave the youngsters unprotected. When I glanced at Mrs. Dodd, she looked just as uncomfortable with the sweet talk between her daughter and the cupid as I was.
“Kids…” I mouthed to her. The corner of her mouth twitched.
We didn’t have to wait long for Susan Abernathy. Arriving in a puff of blue smoke, she was there in the center of the hotel room within five minutes of breaking Fredward’s spell.
It’s my experience that most people expect a witch to look beautiful with flowing hair if they’re a “good” witch. By contrast, they expect warts and green skin when they’re a “bad” witch. Rarely is that the case. One of the first things a witch learns to do is affect her looks.
No one knew whether Susan Abernathy had altered her looks or whether she was really so striking. She had long black hair against creamy white skin. Her dark brows arched sharply, making her brown eyes appear keen and intense. I had no idea how old she really was, but by all appearances she could have been thirty-five.
“The Lynlee Lincoln, I presume?” she queried, her voice deep and sultry. Her accent was different and I couldn’t quite place it. German perhaps.
“That’s me,” I shrugged, my tone flat.
“Well, it seems the party is all here then.” She made a slow pirouette so she could see everyone, balancing on the sharp stiletto heel of her boot. “Good to see you again, Mrs. Dodd. Ah, and of course this is the lovely protégé tribal member, Penelope. Your pictures don’t do you justice, my dear.”
I felt the girl’s nervousness even though I couldn’t see her. Her breathing was rapid, a whistling sound escaping her nostrils. Fredward was silent and it occurred to me maybe he’d gone to sleep again.
“You didn’t keep our bargain, Susan. Your spell on the cupid was bad,” Mrs. Dodd informed the witch.
Susan placed her hands on her hips, one of those hands resting inches from a long dagger sheathed at her side. She wore tight leather pants and a black tank top. Her apparel would have been better suited on a biker-chick than a dark witch. “I think the spell I made was much better than the one you had in mind. I meant for it to display to your pretty daughter how silly her beau was. I considered she might perhaps make the choice to return to her pack rather than run off with a winged god-child.”
“You’re horrid,” Penelope squeaked. “Nothing you could do would make me love Fredward any less.”
I rolled my eyes and took a step back to ensure the witch couldn’t get to Penelope.
“That wasn’t what she agreed to,” I advised Susan. “Do you still contend you should be paid?”
She tsked and shook her head. “I most certainly intend to be paid. She received a spell. I want the blood.”
“A discount maybe?”
A red glow beamed from deep behind Susan Abernathy’s eyes. She narrowed them and approached me. I eyed the handle of the dagger just millimeters from her fingers. “Worried about this?” She pulled the knife from its sheath and waved it at me. “I don’t need this to get what I want.” Faster than I could have anticipated, she threw the blade in Mrs. Dodd’s direction. It landed with a thwong, digging into the floor between the werecat’s feet.
Considering we were standing on concrete beneath carpet, I was duly impressed. The blade must have been magical. Penelope gasped and whimpered behind me.
“No discount then?”
I was intentionally making light of things, trying to keep Susan off guard. I could see by her expression that it wasn’t exactly working to my advantage. Her narrowed eyes widened and the red behind the irises shot forth in two rays directly at me. My breath was stolen and I clutched at my abdomen, the pain of a red hot poker digging into my belly.
If I could have drawn in any air, I probably would have cried out. As quickly as she struck, she pulled the energy of her magic away and allowed me to recover. My eyes were closed and I heard her laughing—a wicked, coarse sound.
“Now that we have that settled, let’s get down to business.”
I knew what she meant. She was a powerful dark witch and I was just a young Neutralizer. She had every right to be confident and she wanted me to know it.
When I looked up, I saw that her eyes were no longer focused on me, but on Mrs. Dodd.
From a distance it might have appeared that Susan Abernathy’s actions over the last several weeks were sloppy and poorly planned. I was quick to realize the problem for her was that she was used to using brute force to get what she wanted. Clearly she was strong enough for that. But something like acquiring werecat blood required some manipulating in order to get the were to shift.
Donna Dodd was convinced. There was worry in her eyes as she looked at her daughter, Fredward, and then back to the dark witch. After a few seconds, she glanced at me once to be sure we were still on task. My only response was a nod.
I watched as her eyes changed from human to cat-like. Then her nose began to warp into a snout. She groaned, her body contorting as the bones, muscles, and tissue twisted and elongated. Within just a few moments she stood before us in her mountain lion form, only about three times bigger than the normal mountain lion.
Susan approached her cautiously, reaching one hand for the dagger embedded in the floor of the room. She put her other hand out in front of her and opened her palm. A glass jar appeared. I sniffed when I noticed she didn’t even need a wand. Granny insisted one day I wouldn’t need one either, but I was skeptical.
The werecat Mrs. Dodd growled low but held out one sharp, clawed paw to the dark witch. Susan slashed true, opening up a long wound that bled easily. She didn’t let a drop waste, placing the jar beneath the red flood until it filled to the top.
I’ll admit I was a bit mesmerized at first, watching how stoic the werecat waited, making not a sound of pain at the injury nor a bit of objection about her precious magical blood being stolen. But when I noticed Susan placing the lid of the jar, I knew I was about to miss my chance.
In my hand I held a little spell in the form of a clear pebble. It was only about as big as a bug. With a flick of my wrist I tossed it at Susan Abernathy and watched as it struck her shoulder, sending a wave of sparkles along her back. She tensed a little but didn’t turn. My stomach twisted with worry, wondering if she might be powerful enough to detect the tracker, but she gave no evidence of noticing.
Like a spider moving each limb with individual deliberation, she pulled the jar with Mrs. Dodd’s blood close to her chest, re-sheathed her dagger, and took a step back with one leg.
“Well, this was much more pleasant that I’d have expected. You’re sharper than I was led to believe, Lynlee Lincoln. Good day, ladies, girl, and boy.”
And then in another billow of blue smoke, the dark witch was gone again.
It took a while to assure Mrs. Dodd that I would, one way or another, get the dark witch. After that she finally checked Penelope and Fredward out of the hotel and took them home. I gave the young werecat a reassuring smile as she reached for her boyfriend’s hand and they got into her mother’s car. I imagined there would be a long chat between parents and young lovers tonight.
I was pretty exhausted by the time Rhiannon and I got back to my place. She was starving, of course, but I begged off on dinner and told her she and Sandy should go spend some time alone. My relief was probably evident in my expression when I waved them off.
The stairs up to my bedroom looked terribly high and I got exhausted just looking at them. My sleep patterns were so screwed up that I thought I might just pass out right there against the banister. I decided against a shower and instead turned off to my living area and lay down a moment on my couch. I texted Beck that I’d try to get by in an hour or so.
That was all I remembered
before I fell into a deep sleep. When I awoke it was with a start. My arms flailed out as I heaved myself into a sitting position. The house was dark and quiet, but something felt wrong. Like an animal I sniffed the air and tilted my head left, then right, and then left again.
My phone buzzed once in my pocket—a notification of a text message. When I glanced at the screen I was surprised to see I’d been out for almost two hours.
“Shit.” I hit Beck’s number and waited for him to answer.
“You okay?” were the first words from his mouth and I could hear the worry in his voice.
“Sorry. It’s been a very long day. I lay down for a moment and fell asleep.”
I heard him sigh. “Good, I was a little worried. I wasn’t sure if you were working on something dangerous.”
“Nah, not dangerous. You still want me to come over?”
“If you’re up to it. My bed sleeps much better with you in it.”
My cheeks warmed with his words and I stood. “All right. Let me get some things together…” My words trailed off when the lights in my living area flicked on. I didn’t gasp or display any outward sign of alarm, though my stomach was pretty much filling my throat in those first few seconds of surprise. “Tig.”
There was my mentor standing in the entryway to my living area. He had a bottle in his hand that I figured was some sort of alcohol, though the markings were in a language I didn’t know. He didn’t smile. He just stepped into the room and sat down in the easy chair across from me.
“Beck, I’ve got a visitor. Can I call you back?”
“Is everything okay?”
The concern in his voice returned, and it probably would have been endearing under other circumstances. Now my mind was focused wholly on the goblin before me. “Fine. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ll talk to you later.”
Once I hung up, I tossed the phone on the couch and sat down with a plop. “Just make yourself at home, Tig.”
He grinned, displaying his discolored teeth. “I always have, Lynlee.”
Never once had Tig entered my home without invitation. Certainly his powers allowed him to step through any door he chose, but I’d never caught him in my place unannounced.
A shiver went up my spine. Maybe he’d previously made entrance uninvited, but I just didn’t know it.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on or not?”
He gulped down at least half of the contents of the bottle and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His bulbous nose and puffy cheeks were red. I figured this wasn’t his first bottle of liquor. “You found her?”
“Susan you mean?” He recoiled the same way he had before when I said her name. “Yes, I found her.”
He exhaled a long breath. “Did you Net her?”
“No, I didn’t.” I watched his face closely. He was surprised that I hadn’t used the Net to capture the dark witch. I also detected some relief. “She has an accomplice. I couldn’t take her until I find out who he is.”
Tig’s eyes dropped to the floor and he started rocking back and forth a little, like a child trying to comfort himself. “We were lovers, Lynlee.”
“Lovers? You and Susan Abernathy were lovers?” I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice. The idea of the strikingly gorgeous witch and my short, unattractive mentor together was comical at best.
“Exactly.” His eyes drooped with sadness. “The idea of her with me is almost insane. I was crazy for her. Head over heels in love. She played me like a fiddle and I sang whatever tune she wanted.”
“What happened?”
“They warned me she was trouble. My friends in the House of Goblins knew she was up to no good and they tried to warn me. I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to believe she cared for me.”
The urge to comfort him was welling up inside me. He looked absolutely despondent, tears filling his eyes. He was the MAUC who trained me for over 15 years. He and I had been on hazardous assignments together, and he had saved my butt more times than I could count. I was proud to be able to say I’d saved his a few times too.
And here he sat before me, broken. Is this what love does? Turns us into simpering fools or dejected suckers? I thought of Beck and of our first break up all those years ago. That was the most painful thing I’d ever been through and I swore I’d never do it again, yet here I was back with him. Back in love with him? I didn’t want to think about it right now.
“Perhaps she did. Care for you, I mean.” I remembered the nasty gaze in her eyes as she greedily collected Mrs. Dodd’s blood. Was that a woman capable of caring?
“She stole my changeling.”
My eyes widened and I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees. “Your changeling? You’re gonna have to explain this a little better for me, Tig. I didn’t know you had a changeling.”
He took another drink before speaking again. “Every goblin has a changeling. It’s a part of us, our offspring so to speak. But it isn’t strong enough to exist on its own. It needs a child, a host. So although we each have one, the goblin decides when and who it will exchange to make their changeling born.”
“Whoa! Are you serious? What, do you just carry around this little… little thing until you’re ready to steal some kid to create your own mini-me? That’s really how your species exists?”
“We live for thousands of years, Lynlee.” He raked his stubby fingers through his black hair. “It isn’t as if we’re making changelings right and left. They’re a gift—a treasure— and we only choose to make our goblin child after careful consideration. It isn’t an easily done thing.”
“I guess not, considering the list of ingredients it requires.”
He blinked. “You know about the spell?”
I was still a little pissed about Tig’s duplicity and also appalled by the story of goblin changelings, so when I stood to retrieve the reference book from my office, I stomped my feet all the way there. When I returned, he was finishing off his drink, dropping the bottle with a thud to the floor. I slapped the book onto his lap and fingered the page with the spell.
He glanced at it and nodded. “So you do know.”
“That is an oppressive list of stuff there. Surely she can’t have all of it together already. We need to stop her before she does.”
“She’s been at this for years, Lynlee. And I haven’t been twiddling my thumbs all this time either. I’ve been digging, researching, and I know she’s close. Very, very close. That’s why I asked you to look into this in the first place. I can’t get close to her. She senses me and she would bolt.”
I was frowning so hard the spot between my eyes began to throb. “Senses you? Do you have a bond or something?”
“Something like that. It happens with goblins some times.”
I thought about his words. She’s close. Very, very close.
“How close is she on this spell?”
“We’ve got to find her, Lynlee. It doesn’t matter about her accomplice. We’ve got to stop her before she takes my changeling forever. She’ll make him hers and she’ll control his power. She’s dangerous enough as it is. We can’t let her do this.”
I understood then why he was so worried about it. Goblins, Elves, Gremlins, Fairies, and Dwarves were all related to one another. Their species existed in a secret realm buried deep in the earth, and each group had its own job in maintaining the order of their existence. Goblins were the gatekeepers to their world. If Susan birthed a goblin changeling, she would have a key to the Innerworld.
“Tig, I said I found her today.”
His eyes locked onto mine with an anxious expression.
“She’s got the werecat blood.”
“Oh, hell. That’s it. She has the potion. Now all she needs is a child.”
I swallowed and shook my head. “What kind of child?”
“My changeling is male, so a boy. Younger than thirteen, with a bit of magic in him.”
“Magic?”
“Dormant magic. Not too much or else it
could affect the goblin magic’s ability to surface.”
While I tried to digest my error in letting Susan Abernathy get away today, my phone rang. I hurried over to the couch to retrieve it. “Hey, Beck. Listen I have a little issue here…”
“Justin’s gone, Lynlee. He’s disappeared.”
I was sick. My stomach felt like it was tied in a dozen knots. When I arrived at Beck’s house the police were already there talking to him. Beck was beside himself, worrying a hole in the floor as he related to them about an argument he’d had with his son that evening. Jilly was huddled in a little ball on the couch, her eyes glistening with tears.
I could tell the cops thought Justin was probably just a kid running away to get back at his father. They kept assuring Beck that his son would be home soon and told him just to relax. Beck’s hands shook as he raised them to intertwine them behind his neck in an anxious stretch. I wanted to put my arms around his waist and hold him, but I had bigger concerns.
When I got to Justin’s room, I used a potion my granny had taught me and sprinkled it around the room. If luminal was the key in human forensics to detecting latent blood, this potion was essential for a witch to find residual magic. There were rainbow-colored splotches strewn around the room and yellow footprints circling Justin’s bed. Clearly someone magical had been in Justin’s room.
Justin hadn’t run away. He’d been kidnapped. I texted Tig and gave him an update.
After talking to Beck I demanded a promise from my mentor that if I left him, he would do nothing and wait for me to return. He agreed pretty quickly. Just before I left the house I turned back to him and begged another promise that he’d stop drinking. I knew whatever was going on that I needed him to sober up.
When I got back to the living area, I conjured my wand and waved it in front of the officers’ faces. They froze in place. I turned to Beck and reached out my hands. His face registered confusion, but he took them and I squeezed once to offer some assurance.
“What is it? Did you find something?”
A Bundle of Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Sets Book 1) Page 16