He had to give it to Fabio, the man had excellent taste in clothes when it came to his daughters. Too bad his fashion sense didn’t always apply to himself, as Nicolai flashed back to the first time they had met. It was hard to not chuckle, so he didn’t even try.
“Why are you laughing? Do I look that bad?” Zoe asked in a panic and now looking unsure of herself.
“No, sweetheart. I meant what I said. You look stunning. I just couldn’t help thinking about the first time I met your father and wonder how a man who has excellent taste in picking out designer clothes for his daughters, ends up in women’s leotards and an Elvis costume for Goddess’s sake.”
“He is an acquired taste,” they all laughed in agreement.
“You look beautiful, dear.”
“Thanks, Aunt Viola. Are you positive you’re going to be okay here tonight?”
“For the ump-teenth time, I’ll be fine. Go have some fun. You deserve it. I’ll see you when you get home.”
“Fine! But for the record, I don’t like leaving you alone when that maniac is still on the loose.”
“Duly noted, dear.”
Realizing Aunt Viola wasn’t going to change her mind, Zoe sighed in defeat and gave her aunt a hug before grabbing her wrap and accepting Nicolai’s extended arm
“Shall we?”
“Yes, we shall.”
* * * * * *
Viola had just finished putting the last of her dinner dishes into the dishwasher, when she realized something wrong.
“Well. Well. Well. We meet again lover, but don’t fret. I promise this will be the last time,” Alaric said in a taunting voice.
Instead of falling for his antics, she closed her eyes, kept her back to him and slowly put the whistle in her mouth as she placed the last dish in the rack. When she finally turned to face her enemy, no one was the wiser, least of all her scumbag of an ex-lover.
“What’s the matter, lovey? Cat got your tongue?”
Unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her all riled up, Viola simply stared at the soon-to-be-dead warlock.
“Oh! It’s no fun when you don’t retaliate with that sharp tongue of yours. A tongue I used to enjoy immensely,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down several times. “Hmm. Riddle me this! Riddle me that! Who’s ready for Viola to get her voice back? Oh! I know. Meeeeee!”
Winds of the East,
Winds of the West,
Unzip this witch’s lips,
So I can hear her beeeggggg.
Viola instantly felt the moment she had her voice back, but did her best to ignore Alaric’s jibes. Unfortunately, her best wasn’t good enough.
“Come on! Let it out! I know you want to,” Alaric said, as he continued to taunt her.
“I swear to the Goddess, on my witch’s honor, before this night is over, you’ll reap what you sow,” Viola sneered in a raspy voice.
“Ah! There she is… that annoying voice that’s music to my ears.”
“Enough of this farting around, Alaric. Let’s get down to business. Find out where the witch is so we can be done with it,” Jackal yelled, annoyed by the entire situation. He had better things to do than watch this douchebag get off on torturing his ex. He was more of a beat the crap out of them kind of guy until he got what he needed. Then, he usually killed them and disposed of the body.
“Didn’t your mother teach you that patience is a virtue,” you jackass of all trades.
“Watch your tongue ass-wipe or I’ll be having it for supper.”
“Dream on muzzle face! Why don’t you and your posse make yourselves useful and go take a dump around the perimeter? Isn’t that how you boys get off on marking your territory?”
“I told Sire we should have killed you weeks ago. I could’ve dealt with the witches myself.”
While everyone was focused on the two idiots in the room trading insults, Viola blew the whistle one more time for good measure. All she could do now was wait and hope that Nicolai and his family would get there in time.
* * * * * *
The dinner had been fabulous and Zoe had convinced Nicolai to watch the latest chick flick with her instead of the action movie she could tell he really wanted to see. Although she didn’t have an aversion to action movies, she had experienced enough real life action in the last couple of days to last her a lifetime.
Nicolai could have cared less about what movie they were about to watch. He just wanted to spend some quality time with his woman. While there hadn’t been any further discussion about them being mates and what all that entailed, he wanted to make sure that when the time came, she wouldn’t run away because if she did, he wasn’t sure at this point in the game if his heart could take the loss.
Settling in with their milk duds, Twizzlers, jumbo cokes and a huge tub of popcorn that could easily feed a family of four instead of two, they enjoyed the previews. Zoe was so busy laughing at the one currently showing on the screen that she hadn’t noticed the change in Nicolai’s demeanor.
Grabbing her hand and literally yanking her out of her seat, Nicolai urgently whispered, “We need to go. NOW!”
It wasn’t difficult for Zoe to figure out trouble was brewing at home. Instead of bombarding him with a million questions, she simply got in the truck and remained quite the entire ride home. Thank goodness Bass Ackwards was a small town and they were only fifteen minutes from the house. But she had to admit, it was the longest fifteen minute ride of her life.
Instead of pulling into the driveway, they parked at the gate of her farm house. A few minutes later, Stefano, an older couple who was obviously his parents and a mirage of Shifters that consisted of several lions, a few panthers, two hell hounds, and a small pack of wolves pulled up in several vehicles. Fabio was next to arrive, followed shortly by Hildy and Chuck, who had already scoped out the scene to Zoe’s relief.
“Listen up kiddos because I’m only going to say this once and then we’re going in there and kicking some warlock and hyena ass. I can’t believe those dick-wads took a dump around the house. I’m going to smite their funky asses just for stinking up the nice country air, I was immensely enjoying.”
“While that was an impressive battle cry, even for a long-winded old hag like you, get to the point. How many are in there? Where are they located? Where’s Viola?” Fabio whispered, furiously.
“If you had let me finish, I was getting to that you leotard-wearing douche knocker. Viola is alive, but tied up in the rocking chair we keep blowing up. In addition to that traitorous son-of-a humper, Alaric, there’s a pack of hyenas and the leader is a nasty, fowled mouth mother-of-a-skunk. The gist of the matter is they want Zoe. More importantly, they want her to watch them kill Viola.”
“Noooo!” Zoe cried out. I won’t let them hurt her, even if it means my life.
“Zoe. Sweetheart, you need to calm down and focus. Remember the plan?” her father asked.
“I am calm and yes, I remember the plan. It won’t work, so one of you better damn well come up with a Plan B, and fast, or I’m going in alone and blowing all those fart faces up.”
Ten minutes later, Zoe and Nicolai stumbled through the front door in a passionate kiss that left nothing to the imagination all while pretending they were unaware of the vermin who had invaded the house.
“Well, look who we have here. It’s good to see you again, darling. I hope you don’t mind that me and the boys just dropped in. We thought it was time for you to surrender your magic to me or your sweet, old, decrepit aunt’s gonna take one for the team if you know what I mean.”
It took everything Zoe had to restrain her anger and not zap that smug smile off of Alaric’s face. He was an asshole of massive proportions and before this night was done, she would see him dead.
However, instead of acting on her true feelings, she gasped, feigned shock, and said, “How in the Hades did you get in here and why is my Aunt Viola tied up? Release her NOW!”
“Ooooh! You are a feisty one. The red haired ones always are
. I LIKE IT!” Alaric exclaimed. “Now listen up sugar plum because we don’t have much time. This is how it’s going to go down. You and your boy toy are going to take a seat on the sofa next to your auntie. I’m going to use this nice little syringe here and drain you of your powers. Then, I’m going to let Jackal and his posse kill you. If you do as I say, I promise that he’ll make it quick. Maybe not painless, but quick.”
Hearts racing with fear and hands trembling with rage, Zoe and Nicolai did as they were told all the while waiting for Stefano’s signal to let them know they had taken out the muzzle guard dogs outside and were now entering through the back of the house. Oh, how she couldn’t wait for the green light, so she could kick Alaric’s ass back to the black hole he had slithered out of for good.
“Now, don’t try anything stupid while my men tie up your boy toy. We wouldn’t want him to do something stupid and get himself killed before I’m ready for him to die now would we.”
Nicolai wanted to bitch slap Alaric from here to Hades, but he had to play it cool. It suddenly occurred to him that the sleazebag didn’t know he was also a Shifter, which he would definitely be using to their advantage.
“Now that that’s settled, I need you to slowly walk over here so that I can relieve you of your powers.”
The more Zoe hesitated, the more Alaric became frustrated. Just as she stood and started walking toward him, she got the green light from Stefano, which stopped her dead in her tracks. “Alaric, I have one and only one response to your request and that is, “Eat. Shit. And. Die.” Zoe said as she zinged several fireballs toward his head, causing him to take cover.
The moment Stefano and the rest of the gang heard the explosion, all hell broke loose. Dillen and Ariel, the two lion shifters, came crashing through the side windows to the left of Zoe. Loud, ferocious growls and spine chilling squeals reverberated throughout the room as the two hyenas took their last breath. Although blood splattered everywhere, Zoe would not be deterred from her mission, which was to kill Alaric.
Fabio had barely managed to encase Viola in a protective bubble before one of the hyenas lunged for her neck. Understanding that it was a drain on his power, Zeva maneuvered herself in place to act as a shield between Fabio and the bad guys, which made it much easier for him to protect Viola.
Jasper, one of the wolves was down and in danger of being out. Fortunately, Ariel came to the rescue and pounced on the hyena, breaking his back before he had a chance to sink his deadly claws into the wolf’s neck.
Stefano and his father Mikhail had two hyenas in the corner, whimpering with their tails between their legs and flat against their bellies. It was obvious they had no idea what they had volunteered for, but mercy wasn’t in their deck of cards tonight. Zoe didn’t care if they all died, especially Alaric.
Nicolai had shifted and protected her back as she continued throwing fireballs at Alaric. When she singed his shoulder and abdomen, Nicolai was afraid she would kill him before they restored Viola’s powers; therefore, he tried to connect with her mentally in an effort to help her contain some of her blood lust.
We need him alive, Zoe. If you kill him, your aunt will never get her powers back. Is that what you want?
Yes… No… I just want him to go away forever.
I know, sweetheart, but we have to stick to the plan. You need to get close enough to steal the syringe and drain him of his powers.
Oh-kay! But for the record, this sucks ass.
Nicolai couldn’t help but chuckle. Zoe concentrated and then astral projected, which freaked out several in the room. Alaric’s eyes were big as saucers, but his surprise didn’t deter Zoe one bit.
“What in the Hades are you?”
“I’m your worst nightmare,” Zoe replied.
Lungs surging, brow sweating, and desperate to survive, Zoe was completely in the zone as she went jab for jab with Alaric… that is… until she heard and felt her aunt scream out in pain. Fabio could no longer hold the protective bubble around her. Although Hildy had frozen the hyena, who dared attack Viola, Zoe was momentarily distracted by the blood seeping from her abdomen, which was exactly the moment Alaric had been waiting for to escape.
“Nooooo!” Zoe yelled in horror, scared to death, her aunt was no longer breathing. When she took a good look around, it seemed as though Fabio and her aunt weren’t the only ones who weren’t faring well in the battle. They needed help and fast. She just didn’t know where it was going to come from.
“Zoe!” her Aunt Hildy yelled. “To save Viola, you’ll need to restore her powers now.”
When Zoe turned to confront Alaric, he had fled, so she did the only thing she could…
There’s a time for everything,
And to everything its place.
Return the powers to the witch whom they were stolen,
Through time and space.
Zoe dropped down on her knees and continued to say that chant as Nicolai watched over her. The longer nothing happened, the more distraught she became as tears welled in her eyes. Just when she thought all was lost, a beautiful redhead and wolf appeared before her. She kneeled down beside Zoe, took her hands without a word and joined in the chant.
There’s a time for everything,
And to everything its place.
Return the powers to the witch whom they were stolen,
Through time and space.
There’s a time for everything,
And to everything its place.
Return the powers to the witch whom they were stolen,
Through time and space.
There’s a time for everything,
And to everything its place.
Return the powers to the witch whom they were stolen,
Through time and space.
The shooting pain in Viola’s side and blurred vision started to subside as Zoe and Zelda continued to chant. When Zoe heard Alaric scream out in pain, she knew they had released her aunt’s magic. If all of the emotions she was juggling weren’t a clue, then the orange cloud-like burst of magic re-entering her aunt’s body was a dead giveaway.
When they were done, both sisters stood, nodded and began kicking ass and taking names. Everyone in the room was mesmerized and a little terrified by how quickly they were able to sweep out the trash. Alaric and Jackal were the only two left to deal with since the rest of the hyenas had been taken out.
“You picked the wrong sisters to cross, asshole,” Zelda said as she blew Jackal to smithereens with the wave of her hand. “Damn hyenas! I’ve always hated those mangy mutts. The other one’s all yours, sister dear.”
Body quaking in fear, Alaric huddled in the corner whimpering like the sorry excuse for a man he was. Zoe was exhausted and just wanted it to be over, so she could check on her aunt.
You’ve got this, sweetheart and we’re all here to support you, Nicolai said through their telepathic connection.
Nodding, Zoe said…
Lavender, Mimosa, Holy thistle,
Cleanse this evil from our midst.
Scatter itself throughout time,
Let Alaric no longer exist.
Alaric began spinning and screaming until he exploded into tiny pieces. Where he went, Zoe didn’t know, nor did she care.
“Remind me never to piss you off,” Stefano said, astonished by what had just happened.
“What? You know and I know that rabid dog should have been put down a long time ago. Now he has and we can get on with our lives.”
“Damn, sis! And everyone thinks I have a mean streak. I’m Zelda by the way. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Hi! I’m Zoe. It’s nice to finally meet you too. Thanks for saving my Aunt Viola.”
“No worries, it’s all in a day’s work. Daddy-O, will you clean up this mess, please? Zoe and I have a lot of catching up to do,” Zelda said with a wink and a wicked smile.
“Goddess, help us all,” Hildy said with a mischievous grin of her own.
EPILOGUE
One Month Later<
br />
Zoe was the happiest she had ever been. Aunt Viola had her magic back and had made a full and speedy recovery after Alaric and the hyenas’ attack. She was mated to a hot, sexy panther slash warlock; she had finally gotten her wish to meet her biological dad; and she had a kick ass twin sister to boot. What more could a witch ask for?
“Are you having a good time today, sweetheart?” Viola asked as she gave Zoe a warm hug.
“I have to admit, it’s pretty freaking awesome. If someone had told me two months ago that my father would be walking me down the aisle and my twin sister would be my Maid of Honor as I say ‘I do” to the love of my life, I would have laughed in their face.”
“Life’s funny like that. You never know what surprises are just around the corner.”
“I think if I get any more surprises today, I might overflow with joy.”
“That’s not necessarily a bad thing given everything we’ve been through lately.”
“Aunt Viola, I just want to make it clear that no one will ever be able to replace you. He may be my biological parent, but you’re my heart and soul. You made me the person I am today, and I will love you to the ends of the Earth and beyond.”
“You say the sweetest things, child. You are, and will always be my greatest joy and accomplishment. I love you with everything in my being. Not only am I proud of you, but I’m also proud for you. Nicolai is a good man and I know that together, you two will be spectacular. Now, finish getting dressed before you make me cry even more than I already am,” Viola said as she left the dressing room.
“Okay,” Zoe said as her eyes filled with tears. She was so full of joy and happiness, she didn’t even try to stop them when they began running down her cheeks.
“Oh, dear! Is everything alright in here?” Aunt Hildy asked in a concerned voice.
Magic and Mayhem: A Witch Possessed (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 10