A Witch's Concern (A Witch's Path Book 4)

by N. E. Conneely

  Landa came out of the kitchen, pitchers of water and tea floating beside her. They landed on the table, and the covered dish floating by her shoulder went at the end of the sideboard. She took the top off to show off the pile of gingerbread cookies before re-covering them.

  We got our plates and went through the buffet line, greedily grabbing slices of pizza. I ended up with one slice of eggplant and two slices of the olive and mushroom. On the way to my seat, I collected a cup of water.

  Mom and Dad sat across from me, which wasn't a surprise, and I was lucky enough to be sandwiched by Elron and Landa. Liam walked into the dining room with a scowl on his face and Priscele on his heels.

  Liam was the new alpha of the local pack of werewolves, and Priscele was a wood nymph who'd lived at the lodge before deciding to be one with nature. Landa had predicted that she'd be back after the first frost, and from the look of things, that's about what had happened. Her presence also explained Liam's look. Priscele wasn't shy about her desires, and anything male, handsome, and alive usually qualified as something she desired.

  Liam walked past the sideboard and over to me, squatting down next to my chair. He gave me an assessing look. "Lass, you had me worried. It's good to have you back."

  "Thanks. It's good to be back."

  He stood up and gave me a one-armed hug before going to get food.

  Priscele dawdled at the drink table long enough that Liam went ahead and sat down. As soon as he was in a seat, she claimed the spot next to him.

  I figured I could save him some grief if I could keep the conversation going in this direction so he didn't have to look at her. "Liam, how much longer will you be staying here?"

  "This is my last night. The wolves are settled down, and the pack's house is ready for me." They'd had a rough go lately, and Liam hadn't wanted to stay in the home with them until they understood that he wasn't crazy like their last alpha.

  I wished the pack could know Liam the way I did, because that would solve their doubts. Liam was an all-around good guy. He'd volunteered to help me out on more than one occasion, and he'd killed the last alpha when we rescued my friend, Amber, from him. Adder had abducted her after killing his father to take over the pack. It turned out that Adder had been feeding power to Gremory, and when Liam had killed Adder, he'd also weakened the demon.

  "I'll miss having you around," I said, "but it'll be good for them to see how you behave on a day-to-day basis."

  Liam nodded. "They aren't used to a stable leadership that enforces the rules. It won't be half-bad to live there, but after what Adder did, many of them cringe if I stub my toe or get a paper cut."

  "Do you think some of them would do better in a different pack?" Elron asked.

  "I do, but I won't force them. I've mentioned it and left some handouts, but I doubt I'll get many takers. They may not trust me, but I'm a known entity and I haven't proven to be violent. They can't be sure what they'll be getting into if they switch packs." There was plenty of frustration in his voice, but there was also sorrow.

  "Are there any pack members who would do well with some distance from the rest of the pack? We could house one or two at a time and give them a change of scenery," Landa said.

  "Hmm. That's a thought. Can I get back to you?"

  Landa smiled and nodded.

  As I ate, the conversation shifted. Dad started discussing the regulatory-body structure of different shifters species with Liam, and Mander asked Priscele about her time in the woods.

  "Mom, what did you guys end up doing about the wedding?"

  She looked at Dad, who shrugged, before turning back to me. "We canceled it because we didn't want to get married without you."

  "But what about the guests? Or the officiator, or reception? That isn't going to be easy to reschedule."

  "Michelle," Dad said, "we were planning on having a small ceremony with my clan. They understood the situation and, schedules allowing, will be at the wedding when it does happen. As for the reception, we were doing a potluck, so it hardly matters."

  "All right," I said slowly. When they'd talked about the wedding, they'd mentioned it being at Dad's house, but I hadn't realized that most of the guests would be friends from his clan. It made sense, but I'd had a demon to deal with, so my attention hadn't been focused on the ceremony's details.

  "Now that you're safe, we'll reschedule." Mom reached across the table and patted my hand.

  We concentrated on our food, having abandoned it during the discussion. From the other end of the table, I heard Priscele say, "Surely you'd welcome company on this cold winter night."

  Rolling my eyes, I glanced at Elron. We'd heard something similar on one of his first nights here. Elron winked before saying, "Liam, I have an electric blanket you may borrow."

  The corner of Liam's mouth twitched. "I may take you up on that."

  Priscele leaned against Liam's shoulder. "Surely you want a natural warmth."

  "My room has a fireplace," Liam commented as he tore into a slice of pepperoni pizza.

  Priscele scooted closer to him, and he promptly angled his chair so the back was to her. That didn't slow her down; she simply leaned over his shoulder and whispered in his ear. I don't know what she said, but Liam's head whipped around and he gave an honest-to-God growl. "Get off of me."

  Priscele slowly slid back into her own seat.

  Liam wasn't done. His voice was rough with anger. "I told you to leave me alone once before. Next time you do this, I'm taking a bite out of you. I may start with your hand."

  Her mouth formed an O, and she scooted her chair away from him.

  "I told you that you were welcome to return as long as you didn't harass the other guests," Landa said in a stern voice. "If you do this one more time, you'll be evicted and won't be allowed on the property again."

  Priscele nodded and squeaked, "Sorry."

  Liam didn't acknowledge her, but Landa gave her a curt nod.

  It might've gotten awkward at that point, but the dish of gingerbread cookies floated over. Landa removed the lid, took out a cookie, and started passing them around the table. I took a cookie shaped like a woman and bit off the head. It was soft, warm, and spicy, just the way I liked it.

  As dinner wound down, I did my best to stay out of the conversation and avoid any discussion about my adventures. All I wanted to do was go up to my apartment, relax, and go to bed. A few minutes later, after hugs, promises to talk tomorrow, and more than a few assessing looks, I was able to make my escape.

  Elron caught up with me at the door to my apartment. "Are you sure you want to be alone?"

  I turned to face him. "I don't want to be alone, but I can't do another conversation about what happened and what might happen."

  "There's a special on about magical items and stories unique to Japan. We could put that on."

  "Come on in." It was the best offer I'd heard in hours. Unlike earlier, when the TV had been an excuse to hold off conversation and still spend time together, this was an interesting program front and center.

  Inside my apartment, I closed the door and flipped on the lights. Elron went to the kitchen to brew some tea, and I made my way from window to window, closing the blinds. I hadn't had good luck with windows lately, and I didn't want to wake up and have another message on my window, or a ghoul outside it, be the first thing I saw in the morning.

  I flipped on the TV and found the show. Elron came over and handed me a mug of hot chocolate. He sat down next to me, and I scooted over until I was leaning against his shoulder.

  We'd missed the introduction, but that didn't distract from the rest of the program. They showed ancient drawings of heads detached from bodies, items that became animated after one hundred years, and women who could turn into spiders. One of the animated items they showed was a simple clay teapot. As many times as they showed it, I never could figure out how to tell that it was animated because it wasn't doing anything. Maybe if I saw it in person I would feel something that couldn't be experienced
through a television.

  The animated items were of special interest to the two of us. According to legend, they had to be with a demon for a hundred years, at which point they would develop something of a personality. According to the show, that was a rumor that couldn't be confirmed since demons didn't exist and these things still showed up from time to time.

  Elron and I exchanged at look at the bit about demons not existing. Evidently news of Gremory hadn't gotten around yet, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. You couldn't protect against a danger you didn't know existed. On the other hand, widespread knowledge could spark a panic, and I didn't need anyone tracking the information back to me. The demons looking for me didn't need any help.

  I fell asleep on the couch with Elron's arm over my shoulders and my head resting on his chest. When I woke up the next morning, I was alone on the sofa, but from the sounds of breathing, I could tell I wasn't alone in the room. I sat up, and sure enough, Elron was sleeping on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

  If I was a decent cook, I'd have made him breakfast as a thank-you. Since I was as likely to burn the eggs as I was to prepare them properly, I decided to make tea instead. His eyes fluttered as I tiptoed by, but I didn't stop until I was in the kitchen. I put a pot of water on the stove and set out two mugs with tea bags.

  Before the water got to a boil, he was leaning against the fridge, hair mussed but otherwise wide-awake. When the water was hot enough, I poured it, handed him a mug, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered, "Thank you."

  Elron smiled. "Anything for a lady."

  "I'm going to shower. You can stay if you'd like." I returned his smile.

  "I'll be here when you're finished."

  I gently clacked our mugs and headed out of the kitchen.

  As I was dressing after my shower, I picked up the circular bronze medallion with a hole in the middle that had been given to me by Leshy Apalchen. Before the forest spirit had given the medallions to Elron and me, they had been worn by Varro, a fey who'd been the last of the Hunters, a group devoted to killing demons. He'd died teaching Elron and me how to kill demons, and other than the few things he'd managed to write down, any knowledge he hadn't communicated directly to us had died with him.

  He'd been frank in most of his conversations, which had made his depiction of the medallions all the more frustrating. He'd made it sound like the medallions were only meant for Hunters and their fellows who fought evil and injustice, and the medallions' abilities depended on the bearer, so we should be attentive to any signs they gave us.

  Since my medallion hadn't been wedding attire, I'd left it at home. Maybe things would've turned out different if it'd been with me, but I was glad the witches hadn't gotten a look at it. I clipped the necklace on and settled the cold metal against my chest. It would be staying with me from now on.

  I went back into the main room of my apartment. Elron was there, and from his damp hair, it looked like he'd taken a quick shower. There was a cart carrying enough food for a small group of people. The door opened after a cursory knock, and Nana came in, followed by my parents.

  "Nana, such a good surprise." I rushed over to give her a hug. She smiled, green eyes sparkling, and held me tight. She'd changed her hair color from neon green to a cobalt blue.

  "Oh, you had me worried."

  "I'm sor—"

  "Did you whack Gretchen?"

  "I did my best."

  "Good." Nana pushed me toward Mom and Dad.

  "It's good to see you. Though I wasn't expecting you." I sent Elron a look. He shrugged.

  Mom looked sheepish. "Elron invited us. I hope you don't mind."

  I did mind, but only because I knew what we would end up discussing, but I didn't say that. We would be having these conversations one way or another. "I don't mind at all. Make yourself at home."

  From the side, Elron nodded approvingly. Sometimes he acted like an old man who knew best. Problem was I couldn't tease him for this one, because he was right.

  Everyone helped set the table while making idle chitchat. We'd all slept well. It was nice and sunny today, even if it was cold. When we finally sat down to breakfast, I knew that somewhere between the quiche and muffins we'd end up talking about clans.

  "Nancy and I were thinking about doing the wedding the day after tomorrow."

  "I don't have anything planned," I answered. We needed to do this before they found a reason to postpone it for another quarter century.

  Mom beamed. "Good, and we want you to bring Elron."

  "Elron, do you want to be my plus one to a wedding?" I asked. There was nothing subtle about their invitation. I'm sure they thought I had a better chance of making it to their house in one piece if I had someone like Elron with me.

  "It would be my pleasure to participate in the happy event," he said warmly, smiling at my parents. Since he'd invited them over, that was the answer I expected.

  Mom tried not to look too happy, and Dad nodded, but I could tell he was satisfied. I couldn't tell what Nana was thinking, but she liked Elron.

  "Do any of you know why Gretchen is so focused on having me be minister?" I asked.

  "She's fixated on keeping our family in power. We're one of the few clans who have a"—she searched for right phrase—"quasi-hereditary ministry, and if it passes out of the family, there's no guarantee that our family will ever return to the ministry. I think the status has gotten to her head and she thinks of herself as a queen."

  That sounded about right, but it reminded me of another question. "Gretchen tried to bait me with a vague reference to our family history. What was that about?"

  "I assume she was referring to the story of our ancestor saving the clan from vampires and being given the ministry for her efforts. Her daughter then uncovered a sorcerer and a plot to destroy the clan. They changed the clan laws so she could inherit the ministry."

  "Oh." That was a story I'd like to hear in more detail, but this didn't seem like the right time. "Did that story mention a clan scar that looked like mine?"

  "No," Mom said. "Did Mom ask about your clan scar?"

  I nodded.

  "What did she say?" Nana asked.

  "She wanted to know what it looked like. We weren't getting along at the time, so there wasn't any elaboration."

  "I don't know why she would ask," Mom said.

  "You said they have a large library. Maybe she found something," Dad said.

  "That's possible, but we aren't likely to get our hands on that information," I said.

  "Some of those books are one of a kind," Mom said.

  "There could be some relevant text in our library," Nana offered.

  "Okay, so we don't know." I sighed. "Figures."

  After a long pause, Nana redirected the conversation. "I have a care package for you."

  "Oh?"

  Nana passed a box to Elron, who handed it to me. It was wrapped in gaudily flowered paper and held together with a white bow. I slid the bow off, pried open the top, and started pulling things out. The first thing was a pair of gloves. They would get some use this winter since my favorite pair had gotten lost during the abduction. I smiled at Nana and kept pulling things out of the box. "Just-add-milk cookie mix? And a massage? It's too much."

  "I heard how banged up you were. Even after a healing, nothing makes you feel better than a massage. You have one more."

  The only thing left was an unmarked rectangular box. I opened it to see a rolled-up mat and eight flat-nosed darts. When the mat unrolled, Gretchen's face was looking back at me. There were rings on her face, each one with a number in them. I picked up the dart and dropped it onto the mat. Yup, Nana had gotten me a magnetic dart set with Gretchen as the target.

  Elron started laughing.

  "That isn't appropriate," Dad protested.

  "What?"

  "Encouraging violence? Did you think this through?"

  "Michelle needs an outlet. I made it years ago after dealing with Gretchen at several conferen
ces." Nana turned to me. "The scratches on the darts were honestly earned. My aim was dreadful in the beginning, but I got better." She winked.

  Mom patted Dad's arm. "Don't be offended on my account. I may have done something similar with crayons and coloring paper when Michelle was young."

  "Am I the only one who hasn't used Gretchen for target practice?" Dad demanded.

  "I haven't used it yet."

  "Men deal directly with what upsets us," Elron said. "Women are trickier creatures, making dart boards."

  "So you haven't turned a picture of Gretchen into an archery target?"

  "Of course not. I put her picture on a practice dummy, to which I've dealt nineteen deathblows."

  Even Dad laughed that time.

  Chapter 11: Michelle

  Two seconds after the door clicked shut behind them, Elron asked, "Are you mad at me?"

  "Mad? No, I was surprised and worried when we sat down to eat, but we needed to talk." I paused. "Are you sure you want to come to the wedding?"

  "I am sure. It will be interesting to see what type of ceremony Greg's clan does, and you seem to need a bodyguard."

  I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Don't start."

  Elron tapped my nose with a finger. "You seem to need an elf in shining armor."

  "Most girls get Prince Charming. I get a geriatric elf."

  "Mature, not geriatric."

  I carried a stack of plates to the sink. "All you need are spectacles and a cane to complete the look."

  He snorted. "This from the girl who cannot walk through woods without kissing dirt."

  "Hey, it's not every day I'm running for my life through a forest."

  "In all my years, I have never seen a person so favored by nature who was so hopeless."

  "I'm a witch not a deer."

  "Perhaps we should practice your woodland abilities."

  Oh no, not another set of lessons. "Thank you, but that was the last time I'll be bumbling around the woods. Besides, not all of us are as naturally gifted as elves."

  "That is clear, but practice would improve your skills."

  "But life is calming down. Or it will as soon as this mess with my grandmother is settled."