Witchful Thinking

by Kristen Painter

  Chapter Eighteen

  A kitchen window had provided Walker with the access he’d needed into Honeycutt’s, but it took only a few minutes of searching to tell him no one was in the house or the cellar. And even though the search had only taken a few minutes, he’d wasted time, and that amped up his anger. It almost felt like he’d been set up. Or deliberately waylaid. He didn’t think Lola was that clever, but as he stood in her kitchen doing one last scan of the place, his irritation grew.

  Time to find Charlotte. He climbed out the same window he’d come in through, shifting into leopard form as he dropped to the ground, and took off again, focusing on Charlotte’s sweet scent. It was easy to pick up in the crisp evening air now that he’d compartmentalized the sourness of the dark magic.

  No more distractions. He wasn’t stopping again until he was sure he’d found her. Even if that meant temporarily leaving the book behind. Besides, in less than an hour, the book would be back at the library, and provided he was the first one there to nab it, everything would be fine.

  So long as Charlotte’s expiration date didn’t come sooner. And so long as the book didn’t return to her. Which was why he had to find her immediately.

  The chilly night air whistled past as he loped through the hibernating gardens of Everlasting’s backyards. Leaves and dead grass crunched under his paws. He startled a few housecats out on their nightly wilds, and nearly gave one elderly woman a heart attack while she was walking her dog.

  Couldn’t be helped. But his instincts told him that any reported leopard sightings in this town would get less attention than they might elsewhere. Especially because he’d crossed the scent path of another shifter, this one wolf.

  Everlasting’s supernatural population must be bigger than he’d originally suspected.

  He ran on, going as fast as he could while holding on to Charlotte’s scent. The houses around him were becoming grander. The yards bigger. The neighborhoods quieter. But the bitterness of the dark magic, the thing he’d been tuning out to keep her scent at the forefront, was once again becoming harder and harder to ignore.

  It was a good sign and a bad one. If there was that much dark magic present where Charlotte was being held, experience told him that this evening’s outcome was not going to be pretty. He was prepared for that. Always was on an FOL mission. But this was the first time someone he cared about was stuck in the middle of it.

  That changed things. And it would color his decision making. Maybe even his reaction times. It made him feel off-kilter in a way he didn’t like at all. The last time he’d been so unsure, he’d been a newly appointed agent on his first mission.

  He’d managed that one without things getting too ugly. But again, there’d been no one in the mix to protect, just an object to obtain.

  Before he could worry about it a second longer, the lemony-summery perfume he’d come to recognize as uniquely Charlotte hit him hard. He stopped.

  He was here. Outside a big manor house that looked like old money. The stench of dark magic wafted through the air with the same power as rotting fish on an August afternoon. There was also the much heavier tang of liniment and one other faint smell. The one that had unlocked this whole thing for him. The faintest whiff of cat, specifically Edgar Allan.

  This was the place. Charlotte was here. The book, too.

  Walker returned to his human form and flattened himself against the side of the house. He needed to do some recon, figure out where Charlotte was and how many foes he was up against. That would give him the biggest advantage going in.

  Then it was time to light this candle.

  * * *

  Charlotte couldn’t believe it. Her mentor, the woman she looked up to, was not at all who Charlotte had thought she was. She felt deceived. And very, very angry. “You’re out for yourself. After everything you told me about the coven being family and how the sacred circle was a sisterhood. Lies. All of it lies.”

  Lola’s eyes narrowed and all traces of amusement vanished. “I did what I had to. Middian’s should have been mine. If you hadn’t interfered…” She shook her head like she’d been about to say too much.

  But Charlotte was too rocked by the betrayal to think about much else. “I’m done. I won’t do the bonding spell. I won’t help you.”

  Lola stretched out her hand toward Millie. The air shivered with magic, moving like a heat wave in the summer, and suddenly Millie jerked against the duct tape, crying out in pain as she went taut with whatever power Lola was using against her.

  “Stop,” Charlotte cried out.

  Lola dropped her hand and Millie relaxed, moaning softly. Lola looked at Charlotte. “You’ll do it. Or Ms. Merriweather will pay the price. Is that what you want?”

  It really wasn’t.

  “Please,” Millie whispered. “Do what they want. Save me. Please. It’s just a book. Who cares?”

  Except it wasn’t just a book. It was a dangerous tool. And filled with the kind of power that could destroy. But Millie didn’t deserve to suffer. Or possibly lose her life. Charlotte could not stand by and watch someone die because of a decision she’d made. Her belly went cold with helpless resignation. “I’ll help you. But leave Millie alone.”

  “Done.” Lola snapped her fingers. “Turnbury, the book.”

  He scampered over and handed her the copy of Middian’s, cowering slightly. She put the book on the shelf in front of Charlotte. “Open it to the binding ritual, then start reading.”

  Reluctantly, Charlotte opened the book, deliberately picking a spot near the back to see if she could stall. “I don’t know where the—”

  The pages started turning on their own. They stopped after a few moments and the paper floated down to lie flat.

  Lola smiled. “The book knows what needs to happen. Now read.”

  Stupid book. Charlotte huffed out a breath and read through the words as fast as she could to get them over with. “With my blood, I make my solemn promise. With my blood, I bind these precious pages. With my blood, I accept this powerful gift.” She looked at Lola. “There, happy?”

  From the belt at her waist, Lola unsheathed her ceremonial dagger and held the point of the athame up. She pricked her finger on it and squeezed until a drop of blood appeared. “Read it again. Slower. Phrase by phrase.”

  Charlotte frowned. Millie nodded at her, her gaze full of pleading. Charlotte sighed. “With my blood, I make my solemn promise.”

  Lola tipped her finger so that a drop of blood hit the page. The blood was absorbed instantly. “Keep going.”

  “With my blood, I bind these precious pages.”

  The second drop disappeared just as quickly.

  “And now the last phrase,” Lola commanded.

  Charlotte forced herself to finish. “With my blood, I accept this powerful gift.”

  The third drop touched the page and a spark of magic burned over the book, covering the book in bewitched fire for a second, then vanishing to leave the grimoire transformed. Every last tattered section was restored. The leather turned a rich, supple brown. The fragile, yellowing paper thickened and became creamy, pristine sheets with distinct black ink instead of the faded gray that had been there. Every bit of gold gleamed.

  “Perfect,” Lola breathed.

  “I told you it would work,” Millie said. She stood up from the chair as if she’d never been restrained to it.

  “You were right,” Lola said.

  Charlotte stared at the head librarian, once again knocked back by a sharp sense of disbelief. “You’re in on this? How did you do that?”

  Millie’s mouth thinned to her usual disapproving expression. “Do you really not know?” She waved her hand through the air. A trail of brilliantly colored sparks followed behind it. “Magic.”

  Charlotte shook her head. “How did I not know you’re a witch?”

  “She was hiding that part of herself.” Lola snorted. “An easy enough feat for a witch as powerful as she is. In fact, she’s the most powerful one in t
his town. She’s also my mentor and my—”

  “You’re a witch too? And a dark one.” Charlotte’s lip curled in disgust. “How long have you been planning all this?” Not once had Charlotte ever suspected her boss had an inkling of magical ability. “I’ve never seen you at any of the meetings. You never seemed the least bit magical at work.” Charlotte had thought by now she could sense other witches. Clearly, she’d been wrong. “But you using magic to hide your magic?”

  “Look at you, figuring things out.” Millie offered her a patronizing smile. “Now, I understand you have questions, but there’s work to be done and I’m not going to interrupt what’s begun. You can learn as we go. On to business.” Millie pointed a finger at Gilbert and muttered a few words in Latin.

  With a loud squeak, he shriveled down to a mouse and ran off into a hole in the wall, his little rodent tail quivering.

  Charlotte sucked in a breath. “How did you do that? I tried to zap him earlier and the spell bounced right off him.”

  Millie smoothed a hand over her hair, which still hadn’t budged. “Lola designed the spell so that my magic would still work on him. That’s how we do things, Charlotte. You’ll see.”

  No, she wouldn’t. Not if it resulted in such awful things. Granted, the judge had sort of deserved that. A little. Except he hadn’t actually hurt Millie. Or had he? Charlotte was getting more confused. And starting to freak out. She really didn’t want to be a rodent of any kind.

  That would not go over well with Edgar Allan. Oh. That was an awful thought. To be eaten by her own cat. She figured it was better to know what lay ahead, so she faced Millie. “Are you going to do that to me too?”

  Millie shook her head, lips pursed in her usual dour face. “You’re too valuable. We’re going to give you the opportunity to join us.”

  “To join you in what?”

  Lola inched forward. “In taking over, that’s what. For starters, we’re going to turn Everlasting into a haven for witches, then we’re moving on to the rest of the state. Then the country.” Her voice deepened, edged with ambition. “Then the world.”

  “All in good time,” Millie snapped before addressing Charlotte. “What Lola said is essentially true. We’re going to take witches public. No more hiding what we are. It’s time witches got the respect they deserve. The book will give us the kind of power that demands that respect.”

  She spread her hand like she was clearing the way for her words. “I envision a world where we rule like empresses. Any ordinary who tries to stop us will be punished. We will control everything. Magic will become the new currency. And thanks to Middian’s, every spell we need to accomplish this is at our fingertips.”

  Millie was freaking nuts. But Charlotte felt like keeping her talking was also keeping her from using the book, so she asked more questions. “Why give control of Middian’s to Lola then? Why not take it for yourself?” That really didn’t make sense.

  Millie cracked a rare, genuine smile. It was a small one, but a smile nonetheless. “I have as much control over it as she does. The book will read my touch as if it is hers.”

  Charlotte found that hard to believe. “How is that possible?”

  Millie went to stand beside Charlotte’s former mentor. “Lola is my daughter.”

  The ability to speak left Charlotte for a moment. But now that Millie had said it, Charlotte could sort of see the family resemblance. They both had the height. And if Millie put some makeup on, dyed her hair and released it from its hairspray prison, lost the glasses…wow. An older Lola. Scary.

  “Didn’t see that coming, did you?” Lola said.

  “I didn’t. At all.” Charlotte thought about how the judge had said she was gullible. Apparently he’d been right. It saddened her. And made her realize she had a lot to learn. “I still don’t understand how I didn’t know Millie was a witch. What kind of magic covers up magic?”

  Millie shrugged. “Simple diffusion spell with a more complex blinding spell on top of that.”

  Charlotte couldn’t have done either of those if she’d tried. “And you pretended to be the judge’s victim because…?”

  Millie’s eyes took on a self-satisfied glimmer. “Because you’re too much of a Goody-Two-shoes. You had to be standing right there when I found the book. Had to take it out of the trash before I could retrieve it.” She hmphed. “I should have found a reason to stash it in my office. Be that as it may, when the book didn’t return itself to the library, we knew it had chosen you. We had to come up with a good reason to make you do what we told you to. We didn’t think you’d give the book up any other way.”

  “You’re right,” Charlotte said. “I wouldn’t have.”

  Lola tucked her athame back into its sheath on her belt. “Well, kiddo, don’t feel bad. Now you can join us and finally get somewhere in life.”

  The comment created a new surge of anger in Charlotte. “My life is getting somewhere already. Maybe not as fast as I’d like, but I’m doing it honestly.”

  Lola rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother.” She looked at Millie. “I knew she wouldn’t come to our side.”

  “You’re right.” Charlotte was so mad she wanted to hex them both into oblivion. If she knew how. “I will never join you. Never. So if you’re going to kill me or turn me into a mouse or whatever, just do it already, because nothing you say is ever going to sway me to use my gifts for evil.”

  “She had her chance.” Millie hmphed. “Now we have to eradicate her.”

  “Get it over with, then,” Lola said. “I want to use the book already. I get a wish, you know.”

  “I know.” Millie eyed her sternly. “And you already promised to use it to fill our bank accounts.”

  Lola sighed loudly. “I am.”

  “Good. Now let me wrap this up.” Millie raised her hands to cast the killing spell (or possibly another mousing spell, although based on the word eradicate, things felt more fatal this time), but a loud crash upstairs interrupted her.

  A second later, the cellar door came flying down the steps. It hit the wall and splintered as a huge leopard bounded after it. The beast snarled at them, its lips curling back to show teeth the size of the dagger on Lola’s hip.

  The two witches screeched and retreated behind Charlotte, using her as a shield. Lola whimpered, making Charlotte like her even less. If you were going to act like an all-powerful badass witch, the sudden sight of a giant leopard shouldn’t turn you into a sniveling, spineless mess.

  Charlotte said a little prayer that this would turn out to be Walker and not some other random leopard. In this town, you just never knew, but there was something familiar about the leopard’s gaze. Please let it be him. Although, if it wasn’t and she was about to die, she didn’t want to see it coming. She wanted to remember that kiss. She closed her eyes and braced for whatever happened next, all while imagining Walker’s mouth on hers.

  Another loud snarl ripped through the room, then the softest fur brushed past Charlotte’s cheek with a whoosh of air.

  Two shrieks filled her ears. She opened her eyes.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Walker barely contained his rage as he stood over top of the women, growling his heart out. Millie fainted immediately. Kind of surprising for a witch who should have been used to the odd and unusual, but he’d seen stranger things. Lola seemed to be unconscious from hitting her head on the dirt floor. He shifted back into his human form and turned to Charlotte. “You okay?”

  “Much better now. I’m so glad it’s you.” She leaned against the wooden racks.

  He laughed. “Do you know another leopard shifter?”

  “Actually, I’ve heard the guy who runs the—” Her eyes went wide. “Lola!”

  Walker dodged as a thin blade whipped past his face. He grabbed Lola’s wrist and bent it up behind her back, taking the blade away from her and tucking it into his own belt.

  She let out a rasp of pain. “You’re hurting me.”

  “Be glad that’s all I’m doing to you.”
He shoved her into the racks and held her there easily. “Still feeling that bite of energy? Or would you rather I shift and let you feel a different kind of bite?”

  “Get off me, witch hunter.”

  “Here.” Charlotte held out a handful of zip ties.

  He reached out to grab them. “Just what I needed.”

  He bound Lola’s wrists, then attached her to the racks like Charlotte was. He used his thumb to draw the Mobius strip on her forehead while he uttered the FOL’s binding incantation. “Magicae non tenetur omnia.”

  She jerked against the restraint. “What are you doing?”

  “Binding your magic. You can still cast spells, but they’ll only affect you, so proceed with caution.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  He stepped back, smiling. “This should be fun.”

  She raised her hand and threw a bolt of lightning at him. It never left her fingers. Instead, it traveled back over her hand and sizzled across her body. She twitched and moaned until it died out, leaving her limp and subdued.

  “Ouch,” Charlotte said.

  Walker shook his head. “I warned her.”

  While Lola muttered angrily at him, he repeated the binding process on Millie. Then he pulled Lola’s knife from his belt and twirled it through his fingers while he walked back to Charlotte. “Let’s get you free.”

  “Thanks.”

  He sliced through the plastic then tucked the knife away. “You sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded as she rubbed her wrist. “Shaken up. But okay. They turned the judge into a mouse. Not sure we’ll ever see him again.”

  He turned her hands over to look at her wrists himself. “That’s one way to tie up a loose end. Or we could bring Edgar Allan in on the job.”

  “I don’t think I want him eating people.”

  Walker snorted. “No, probably not a good precedent to set.”

  “By the way, I think the judge was the only one working with the Collective. Apparently, they promised him he could use a spell from the book to raise his wife from the dead.”