Like a glass collapsing under the pressure of vibrations, the truck did the same. It exploded, flying away from her. Celia felt nothing of the impact of the explosion. It was as if she was untouchable. Debris repelled away from her in all directions, scattering the road, ditch and even implanting into some of the trees that lined the road nearby. She felt a brief sadness for that part, since she did love trees and all living things. And then, she was free, sitting on the warm asphalt on the deserted road. That is, all except for three SUVs that sat at a safe distance, idling and watching.
Celia closed her eyes, concentrating on the insides of those vehicles. There would be no more surprises today. When she’d locked on the inhabitants, instead of fear, she experienced elation. She was in that kind of mood. She would fuck some things up today!
Standing and facing the cars, she refused to lift her voice. Instead she spoke at a normal range, ignoring the hoarseness as she said, “Get out and come here.”
As if obeying her, all doors of the vehicles opened. She watched in boredom as every single one of them stepped out wearing some form of cliché’-ish black with boots. They really needed to do better. Celia stood there, refusing to even dust herself off as Deidra Amos and the twelve other members of her coven strode toward her.
When they were within twenty feet of her, all but Deidra stopped approaching. Celia wanted to laugh at their expressions, trying to look fierce and intimidating. With her new abilities unlocked, she instantly knew their power levels, weaknesses and how to disable them with a thought. It was as if every lesson, piece of knowledge or database repository of her family and ancestral knowledge was hers to command.
The closer Deidra got, Celia could see she knew it too. Celia was the head witch out here—no questions asked.
“I see you finally got a clue, you knucklehead,” Deidra said, as she approached.
That wasn’t what Celia was expecting as the first words of greeting.
“What? I’m having a pissy day, so don’t fuck with me the wrong way Deidra. Let’s get whatever beef you got with me over with. I have a mate to find and a little bitch, who thinks she’s a big bad witch, to kill.”
Deidra wasn’t inclined to make any hurried moves or conversation. She continued to chew and pop her gum, looking at Celia in a way she’d never done before. When Celia was about to blast them all to Kingdom come for wasting her time and keeping her from her mate, Deidra said, “Look, we’re here to help you. Not hurt you.” As if sensing her disbelief, Deidra added, “Your mom would have come too, but she couldn’t bear it if you’d gotten hurt.”
“I don’t believe you. Start explaining and make it fast. I’ve got something else to take care of.”
“Yeah, we know. That crazy wannabe bitch, Mandy. We got you covered on that one too. How do you think we knew where to find you? Yo, that one—she crazy like I haven’t seen in a while.”
“Deidra, you’re working on catching an ass whupping. Get to the point.”
“Ah, I see better. Someone finally gets their powers and still don’t learn their lesson about shooting off at the mouth. Baby girl, you might be more powerful, but I still got more experience. You need me. So, shut the hell up and listen, before you go off and get that gorgeous-assed mate of yours killed.” Deidra grinned at Celia’s expression of surprise. “Yeah, we know about him too. And before I forget, you Ma wants both of you home for Christmas.”
“What? Deidra, I swear to God if you’re fucking with my head, I’m going—”
“Hey now, stop getting all pissy about it. Yep, we got to catch you up real fast. I don’t want you doing something unnecessary, because you couldn’t wait another five minutes to catch the update. So, turn that off and I’ll start.”
Celia stared at the other woman dumbfounded. What was she referring to? When Deidra pointed to her chest, Celia looked down to see a concentration of energy hovering a few inches away from the center of her chest, like a spinning top ready to be released.
“Oh—I don’t know how that got there. How do I make it go away?”
“Exactly. You don’t know what you know. Honey, you’re like an atomic bomb, who also happens to be a curious toddler, bumbling around. You’re bound to explode at the most unfortunate time. I will say your mating was way more powerful than any of us expected. That wolf is kissed of the Moon and has powers I don’t think he even knows about when it comes to witches. Which brings me to why we’re all here at this point in time.” Deidra held out a hand toward Celia and said, “Come, get out of the middle of the road, so we can open it back up. We’ve been detouring traffic to take another route for the last few hours and need to replenish that energy before we meet up with Mandy the cuckoo witch.”
Celia walked toward her, surprised her body only had faint aches where there’d been major, cutting pain just a few moments before. She followed Deidra back to their set of SUVs. Deidra directed her to get into the front seat of hers. As they drove off, she watched as some of the other witches finished cleaning up the mess she’d left of the truck. When they were done, it looked like nothing had ever happened.
“What happened to all that carnage of the truck?” she asked Deidra.
“Let’s just say they sent it off to truck heaven.”
Deidra’s smile was warm and non-threatening, something Celia wasn’t expecting. They were in the SUV by themselves, with the others all crammed into the other two.
“So, get to talking. I need to know what’s really going on. And, I have to find my mate.”
“Your mate—don’t worry—we know where he is. And he’s fine by the way. So, I’m going to get you up to speed. Sit back, relax, listen and don’t interrupt me until I say you can.”
Celia gave the woman side eye so fierce, her eyeballs hurt.
“Uh-uh, I see that little mama and that ain’t going to do nothing to faze me. Chill out.”
Celia slumped back into the seat and huffed in exasperation. This drama of stretching this out was killing her. “Spill already!”
“I will.” Deidra clicked her teeth at Celia. “That’s just one more thing on the long list of stuff you need to learn. Witches—well those with half their chops—can hear thoughts when we want to. As a witch, you’ll have to learn how to shut down your inner voice from others. Right now, you might as well be a radio station with the strongest signal around. Your volume is insanely loud. There’s no way we’re going to be able to get close to Mandy with you thinking so damn loud.”
Deidra looked over at Celia. She refused to look at the woman. She wanted to wrap her head around all of this. At this moment, she felt like the person who was conned and everyone else was in on the con. Yep, she was P-I-S-S-E-D. And her mother, ooh, she was so mad with her!
Deidra continued, “When you were born, your mother’s mother, babysat you while she worked. It was soon that she learned how powerful you were. When you turned five, you had more power than some of the adult witches, but you didn’t understand how to control it. Your mother and grandmother decided it was best for you and, well the world, for them to suppress your power and knowledge of it.”
“Your grandmother was supposed to lift the spell when you turned sixteen, but as you know, she died when you were fourteen. Your mother and aunts tried everything they could to release the spell, but it was useless. Then your mother remembered that you would naturally grow out of your grandmother’s spell or find your mate. Either one would release your power and knowledge of it back to you. So, everyone waited. When you turned twenty-eight, twelve years after your power was supposed to be returned and showed no signs of lifting, your family resorted to drastic measures and brought me in to help.”
“I always had a fondness for you and could still see that power simmering just under the surface. You always reminded me of a little sister I’d take care of and watch over.”
“So why were you trying to kill me?”
“Heifer please. I was never trying to kill you. But, you know you were totally wrong for that privacy
thing. I thought you’d try to blackmail me with it, but you zagged when I thought you’d zig. Lesson learned about you.”
“I’m sorry about that, by the way.”
“I knew you were from the get go. But, we had to find a way for you to overcome that spell. It tore your mom up to see you so scared and on the road by yourself. It had to be done. You would have never left her house otherwise.” Deidra stopped talking for a moment to allow Celia to absorb what she’d said. “Are you all right?”
“Yes and, in hindsight, it makes sense. I guess I would have preferred it if you’d simply told me.”
“Lord above. You are the stubbornness woman I know. You would have never believed any of us. And, it may have set you back even farther. No, it was decided by the family that this was the best course of action. And you see, it worked. You were led straight to your mate—who, might I add is a fine specimen—”
“Hey—don’t get cut!” Celia said, laughing in spite of the absolute upheaval of her entire world.
Deidra held up a hand saying, “You just better be glad your mom was able to cast a spell strong enough to undo what you’d done with that whole Herpes thing. Or I would have never met my Donald.”
“Wait—my mom did what?”
“She erased folks’ memories to undo that little stunt you pulled.”
“She can do that?”
“Yeah, and a lot more. Your mom is pretty badass as a witch herself. But her power pales in comparison to yours. Where we’re like the best in our region, you’re like on an Olympic Gold Medal level of play. Now do you see why we had to give you a little nudge to get your power back?”
Celia didn’t want to admit it, but they’d been right. But she’d think about that later. Their SUVs had stopped.
“Where are we?” Celia asked, looking at the rows and rows of storage units.
“Why, we’re off to free your mate and catch us a crazy bitch.”
And with that Deidra hopped out the car and started walking, with the others down the rows.
Chapter 12
“You know this isn’t going to work. I don’t love you, I already have a mate and you’re crazy,” Owain said to a pacing Mandy.
“Yes, it will. You owe me.”
“I don’t owe you anything. You kidnapped me and possibly killed my mate. So, you might as well go on and try to kill me too, because if I get free from these,” he said, motioning to the silver cuffs that were encased in plastic as to render a wolf weak, but not kill him, “You’d better run and hope I don’t catch you.”
“Look, you have to keep quiet. I’m trying to listen and think. They should have been here by now,” Mandy said, continuing to pace.
“And you! Did I mention how fired you are?”
“Yep, like about a hundred times so far,” Jimmy said in a lazy drawl that made Owain quake with anger.
Celia and the others watched from the back of the large room, gathering as much information and forming a plan as they could. Deidra and the others had helped her cloak herself, as they walked in the back of the huge storage unit. None of the other three had noticed. But, as a safety precaution, they currently squatted low far away, behind a row of storage shelves. Listening to Mandy go on and on, made Celia want to strike her dead with a thought.
Deidra had been the one to talk her out of it just as many times as Owain had fired his foreman, Jimmy.
She felt a hard tap on her shoulder.
“Ow! Mating mark there, remember?” she said to one of the witches she’d never bothered to learn the name of.
She motioned that they were on the move and for Celia to follow.
Deidra grabbed her, pulling her to the front. “Top witches always lead their covens, into battle and anything else. You stay in front with me.”
Celia nodded, not wanting to waste time arguing about that stupid point. When they were positioned in a circle around Mandy and the men, Deidra made sure her coven knew their roles. Celia was still a little fuzzy on just how she’d cast a containment spell, but Deidra was sure she’d “just know” how to do it.
Before she was ready, Deidra said, “Uncloak!”
Celia watched in disbelief as Mandy, Jimmy and Owain blinked in surprise at the sight of fourteen women forming a circle around them. It only took a moment for Mandy to regroup though. Celia watched in what seemed like slow motion, as the woman marched over to her mate and cut his wrist as if to let his blood.
“No!” Celia yelled.
Mandy paused for a moment, seeming to struggle, but then she was free and on the move again. In the center of the room, she had a copper bowl and some twine where she took the knife with Owain’s blood and wiped it on the twine.
“Stop her. If she mixes her blood with his, I’m not sure what will happen to him,” Deidra said to Celia.
“What? Why me? I don’t know what to do but kill her and you said I couldn’t.”
“You can’t or you might injure Owain in the process or face murder charges. We’re good, but not that good. The universe has a way of always evening the score. So, no killing her—got me? Plus, I had no way of knowing if she’d gotten to this part yet.”
“So now you tell me. Deidra, your communication skills suck dirty-ass balls.”
“Tell me about that later. For now, concentrate on stopping the bitch and saving your mate.”
“And what are you and your coven going to be doing? Huh?”
“Oh nothing—we’re just standing here holding up a force field that contains everything inside that circle. Haven’t you notice Jimmy over there bouncing off it as he tries to run, like the little fucker ass he is?”
Celia didn’t have time to carry out a conversation with Deidra. Mandy had successfully made the cut on her own wrist and was about to apply it to the twine that held Owain’s blood. Celia cut a look over to her mate to see him watching her in what looked like complete calm.
It won’t work. You’re my mate.
“Whoa!” Celia reeled from the sound of his booming deep voice in her head. She focused on him again and saw his slight nod that he’d been the one to say it. Their eyes locked and she realized that he wanted her to leave. “No, I won’t do it,” she said talking to only him. His eyes continued to plead with her.
Then the oxygen evaporated from the room as the coven and Jimmy collapsed to the floor and Celia struggled to breathe.
Mandy stood there, wearing that bloody twine bracelet over her fresh wound and chanting some gibberish. She started to approach Celia. The closer she came the more Celia felt like she was being strangled. With no air, she couldn’t form words and with no words, she couldn’t cast a spell. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
Mandy laughed.
“Oh what’s wrong, you little black bitch. Can’t figure out how I’m doing this? Oh well, I guess you’ll go to your grave wondering.”
Celia watched as Mandy changed course, walking toward Owain who could still breathe. Owain never took his gaze off her. She could hear his faint voice in her head, saying it wouldn’t work because he was hers and she was his.
I love you and you love me. He intoned in her inner ear. Tears fell down her cheeks as the ability to stand left her and she crumpled to the floor.
Mandy looked over to the crumpled form of Celia and made it to stand in front of Owain as she said, “Finally. She’s dead. Owain Colfer, I claim you as my mate. You belong to me!”
The words swirled up, taking on a visible tint, as they wrapped themselves around Mandy and Owain. Celia managed to open her eyes to see the spectacle and mouthed “Stop—Enough.” Frenetic movement of the words ceased, suspended in midair.
Mandy looked up, screaming, “No! I command you to finish.” Running back to Owain, she repeated, “Owain Colfer, I claim you as my mate. You belong to me!”
The words refused to move as they’d done before. Instead they rumbled and contorted, forming a compacted object as they bubbled and vibrated.
Celia felt a break in the air as fresh air
began to pierce the barrier to reach her. Getting to her feet, she concentrated on the hovering mass that had been kinetic words. Then she knew what to do. “Come to me,” she commanded the words as Mandy’s face contorted into a visage of rage and disbelief.
“No, you can’t do that. You’re supposed to be dead. Die!” Mandy screamed and ran toward Celia. When she made it to the boundary of the circle, a force stronger than the impact of the truck accident earlier, seemed to propel her back. She landed close to the center of the circle on her ass.
“You were saying?” Celia asked, trying to figure out how to free Owain.
“That’s not your task,” Deidra said, regaining her footing and post. She looked over at Celia and said, “Finish your task.”
Celia looked up to the hovering blob. “Return to your creator. Never to another”
The blob moved back toward Mandy as she struggled to get back up. Jimmy had since stopped trying and was sitting on the floor in the middle of the circle, as if waiting for his number to be called.
Mandy got to her feet and sneered. “You stupid bitch. I’m the creator. You’re going to die like you should have in the car accident and here.” She looked up at the blob and said, “Form as a sword of unbreakable strength and run her through the heart!”
Celia’s heart leaped to her throat, as the blob formed into a magnificent iridescent sword and started to spin in slow motion.”
Mandy spoke again. “I said run her through!”
To Celia and Owain’s shock and horror, the sword stopped spinning and ran Mandy through the heart. Mandy sank to her knees as life began to ebb out of her.
She looked over to Celia and said with the faintest of volume, “I don’t understand. I tried so hard to make it work. I just wanted to be loved.” Mandy looked down at the magical instrument embedded into her chest cavity and then up to the roof of the space as she said, “Me-Maw, you were right.” Continuing to look up, she looked as if she gave up a breath in defeat. Then she died, slumping to the floor.
Sassy Ever After: A Witchingly Sassy Seduction (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 8