For Witch's Sake (Bless Your Witch Book Five)

by Amy Boyles

  "She was the black sheep," I said.

  "Exactly. But she and my mother were close. Mom believed that Eliza had turned her back on dark magic. That's why we were willed to my aunt on the off chance that something happened to my parents—which it did." He sighed. "I didn't want to talk about LaRue, but Eliza went to see her. I don't know how deep Eliza fell into black magic back in her youth, and I don't want her tempted to return to it."

  I squeezed his hand and thought about it all for a moment. "But what about now? What your aunt said about LaRue's daughter seems right. She may hold the key we need in all this."

  Roman clenched his fists to his face. "I was so close. Always so close."

  "You may still be. Don't lose hope. We'll figure this out together."

  He shook his head. "You're right. It's just—I'm tired of having hope for it only to be stamped out."

  I chewed my bottom lip. "I can't image what you're going through—what all of this has done to you—but I know it can be solved. We'll find out who killed your family, and we'll put them away for the rest of their lives. LaRue was going to tell you. Its' probably what got her killed."

  Roman cracked his knuckles. "I'm sure it's what got her killed. She said her daughter's coma was a warning not to talk to anyone, remember? LaRue may have escaped so she could get the cure, save her daughter and then disappear." He exhaled deeply. "I don't know."

  "She's dead," I said. "That's the only thing for certain."

  Roman nodded his head. "Ever since she was murdered, all I've been thinking about is how I got screwed again. I haven't had my head on straight." He turned to me, his expression softening. Roman cupped my cheek, drew me close and kissed me. I sighed into him and let my body collapse against his.

  When we parted, he said, "What would I do without you?"

  "Become a used-car salesman?"

  "Very funny." Roman rose. "Okay. Time for bed. You coming with us in the morning?"

  I pointed to the dead cuff on the floor. "Heck yes. I'm not trapped in this house now."

  He smiled; then his expression soured.

  "What?" I said.

  He glanced at the door. "There's still something that bothers me about what my aunt said."

  "What do you mean?"

  Roman rubbed his chin. "The reason why she said she went to visit Wanda LaRue."

  "Yeah, to see why you had visited her in prison. What about it?"

  He gave me a long look before answering, "There's something about it that doesn't sit right."

  I stopped gnawing the inside of my bottom lip. "What do you mean?"

  Roman's jaw clenched. "Something tells me she's lying."

  ELEVEN

  We arrived at LaRue's house early the next morning. I felt a little weird being out of the house, you know, ’cause I wasn't supposed to be. This eerie feeling that Pearbottom was going to swoop down out of the sky and snatch me up kept creeping into my thoughts.

  Yes, I know I was being paranoid, but you have to admit the guy had a penchant for showing up at the absolute worst of times.

  Me, Roman and his aunt Eliza sat in his SUV. Last night I'd asked Roman how he knew his aunt was lying about why she'd visited Wanda LaRue in prison. The only answer he gave was that it was a feeling.

  I wondered if he was ever going to ask her about that feeling.

  "Everyone ready?" Eliza asked.

  "I've never been readier," I said.

  "Good. We can't stay long. There's no telling who's watching the place."

  "We're watching it," I said. "My grandmother's bodyguard, Nan, has been on patrol for a couple of days."

  Eliza peered through the window of the front seat. "Where is she? I don't see her."

  Roman nodded. "She's in that pile of bushes by the front door."

  I craned my neck. Yep. Sure enough, Nan crouched in the shrubs. She'd smeared camouflage paint on her face and strapped a camo helmet to her head. But that wasn't all. She'd secured twigs and leaves to the helmet. I nearly choked on a ball of laughter in my throat.

  "It looks safe enough," I said, pushing open the door.

  Nan rose from her position. "Dylan, did they release you from your house arrest?"

  "Um. Not exactly."

  Nan took on a defensive stance with her spear. "Do you need me to protect you?"

  I shook my head. "I'll be okay. We're going inside to cure Chasity. Has anyone been by?"

  "There's a nurse who stops by in the evenings to check on her. She usually stays an hour or two and then leaves. Don't worry. I've already checked the nurse out. She's a nonmagic who happens to come from a family of witches, so she's on the up and up."

  I thought about that for a minute. "Why isn't the girl in the hospital? Doesn't she need to be on an IV or a feeding tube to keep her alive?"

  Roman placed his hands on his hips. "No, and you'll see why in a minute. Nan, do you want to come inside with us or stay out here?"

  She saluted him. "I've been charged to guard the outside, so that is where I will stay. I need to be ready at all times to fight. I don't want to be caught off guard."

  "We'll call you if we need anything," Roman said.

  We reached the front door, and Eliza said, "Allow me." She waved her hand over the surface constructed of wood and glass. I heard the lock snick.

  Roman turned the knob, and we stepped inside. Sunlight streamed through the windows, gleaming off the surfaces. Everything was neat, tidy and in immaculate order. We walked quietly through the house as if we didn't want to break the sanctity of the silence.

  Everyone but me, of course. "Where is she?" I asked.

  "Let's head to the back," Roman said.

  We stepped into a hallway. All the doors on both sides were open. Roman peered into every one until we reached the last.

  "There she is," he said, ducking inside.

  Eliza followed next, and I was last. I tiptoed into the room and nearly gasped when I saw the figure lying on the bed.

  It was a young woman. She was maybe nineteen or twenty with long, golden hair that draped over the sides of the bed. She had porcelain skin and pink rosebud lips that I swear reminded me of Sleeping Beauty. I nearly moved to one side of the room wanting to wait for her prince to show up and kiss her.

  "This is LaRue's daughter?" I said.

  Eliza nodded. "That's her. That's Chasity. I've never met her, but I've heard people say she's a powerful witch. A real natural. She's also a bit of a whirlwind."

  "Is that good or bad?" I said.

  Eliza smiled. "I'm not sure. We'll see what happens."

  I glanced at Roman. "So is this what the coma does? Just puts you in a deep sleep?"

  He nodded. "She doesn't need food; that's why she's not in a hospital. The nurse who visits was hired by Wanda LaRue herself."

  "You can do that sort of thing from prison?" I asked.

  "Apparently," he replied.

  "She's lovely," I said.

  Eliza stepped forward. "Hmm. You're wondering how something as ugly as Wanda LaRue could've made a girl so beautiful?"

  I slowly nodded.

  "Sometimes children take after their parents, and sometimes all they want is to be as different from them as possible—especially when your parent is evil." She shrugged. "Remember, we're only seeing the outside. There's no telling what lies beneath."

  That was true. She could be awful once we woke her. I opened my purse and pulled out the bag that Titus had given me.

  Roman placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "You ready?"

  "I guess so." I glanced at Eliza. "What do I do?"

  "Take what the unicorn gave you from the pouch and place it on her forehead."

  I bit my lip, hesitating as I dipped my hand into the bag. My fingers skimmed something soft. I curled them around the object and pulled it out.

  I held a feather in my palm. Glitter dusted every inch of it, giving the thing weight. I took a deep breath and walked over to Chasity. I tipped my hand over. The feather floated from my h
and, suspended in the air briefly before drifting onto her forehead.

  I brushed excess glitter from my palm and peered inside the pouch. A teaspoon or so of the stuff had sprinkled off the feather and onto the bottom of the bag. I tucked the pouch back inside my purse and watched, holding my breath for a miracle.

  And a miracle is what I got. Chasity inhaled a deep shot of air and rolled her head side to side as she roused. Her toes curled, her back arched and her arms stretched out.

  I threw Roman a worried glance. The three of us took a collective step back. I didn't know how this was going to play out. I was pretty sure no one else did, either.

  Chasity swallowed, blinked a few times and stared up at the ceiling.

  "You saved me from the coma," she said quietly.

  "Do you want some water?" Eliza asked.

  Chasity shook her head and pushed herself up to a sitting position. She swiveled her legs over the side of the bed and studied us.

  "Wanda's dead," she said.

  I wasn't sure how to answer that. Was it a question? A statement?

  Eliza nodded. "She is."

  "Someone murdered her," Chasity said.

  "Yes," Roman said.

  "And you're here because you want to know what happened to your family," she said.

  Whoa. Could this girl read minds or something?

  "Yes, I can read minds," she said.

  Well, that answered that. Better not think bad thoughts.

  She sat for a minute as if thinking about what we'd told her. Tears swelled in her eyes, and then she cried for about ten minutes. Eliza held her while she sobbed.

  After a time Chasity wiggled from Eliza, knuckled her eyes and straightened her gown. She sniffled a few times and rose. She had penetratingly eerie blue eyes. The kind of eyes that could see right into your soul.

  Not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  She smacked her lips. "I'm thirsty. Anyone want something to drink?"

  We all shook our heads.

  Chasity jumped up off the bed and said, "Well, I'm starving. I'm going to make a peanut butter sandwich and drink a whole bunch of water. Last one in the kitchen's a rotten egg!"

  She sprinted out of the room. I looked at Roman and Eliza.

  "A whirlwind," I said. "Looks like you were right."

  "You heard her," Eliza said. "Let's go. I don't want to be a rotten egg."

  Three peanut butter sandwiches and four glasses of water later, Chasity sat in a chair, her belly extended. She released a huge burp that made me wince.

  "Thank you for helping me," she said.

  "We promised your mother that we would," I said.

  "Yes, but she died. You didn't have to keep your promise."

  Roman, who'd been staring at the walls, turned to her. "We need your help."

  Chasity shrugged. "I can't help you with your family. My mother didn't tell me about the bad things she did. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

  "We're also trying to figure out who killed your mother."

  She shrugged. "Could've been anybody. Could've been the person who put me in that state."

  "Do you know who that was?" Roman said.

  She shook her head. "No, I don't."

  Roman folded his arms. "If you don't want to talk about this right now, we don't have to."

  Chasity nodded. "It's okay."

  Roman rolled his shoulders. "We think she may have gotten help escaping. Can you think of anyone who might've helped her only to betray her later?"

  Chasity shrugged. "Thank you for helping me, but I don't have the answers you're looking for."

  I glanced from Roman to Eliza. The whole trip seemed wasted. I sighed. I guess not really. We'd saved Chasity, who couldn't help us but who could read minds.

  I rose. "Thank you for your help."

  We moved to leave.

  "Wait," Chasity said. "I want to see where she was murdered."

  We exchanged glances. Roman answered first. "Come on. You can ride with us."

  Chasity raised her fingers. They twitched as she said, "Don't you want to make a dummy of me?"

  I frowned. "A dummy?"

  Eliza nodded to Roman. "It's a good idea."

  He shifted his weight from one hip to the other. "Yeah. If someone comes looking for her, we don't need them to know she's been awakened." He nodded to her. "We've got someone watching the house in case the person who killed your mother comes after you."

  Chasity clapped her hands with glee. "Great. Let's make a dummy." She tore through the kitchen until she found a cookie sheet. "This is a good start. What else?"

  Eliza grabbed salt and pepper shakers. "These too."

  Chasity found a round cookie cutter and slid it onto the sheet. "This will do."

  Roman returned from her bedroom with a shirt and pants. "And these."

  Since I didn't know what the heck we were looking for, I simply took the entire scene in, amazed and a little confused.

  We returned to the bedroom. Chasity laid the metal sheet on the bed. At the top of it, where her head had been, she strategically placed the salt, pepper, and cookie cutter. Then she laid the clothes on top of it.

  "It kinda looks like a face," I murmured.

  "Exactly," she said.

  Chasity waived her hands over the whole thing. The metal shimmered from existence, and in a few seconds the entire thing was replaced with an exact replica of her.

  A lightbulb burst in my brain. "Oh! So this is what you meant by a dummy."

  "Right," Eliza said. "If anyone comes looking for her, they will find Chasity in a deep, deep slumber."

  "Okay," Roman said. "Let's go."

  We all piled into the SUV. Nan was staying, of course, to guard the place. I asked her if she needed any food or rest, and she replied that she existed on the sustenance of the world.

  Whatever that meant.

  Chasity didn't say much as we drove back to my house. When we got out of the car, she was immediately drawn to the exact spot where I found LaRue. Roman stepped off to the side, leaving me alone with Eliza.

  I decided to take the opportunity to find out what the heck was going on with her. I mean, she finds out Boo, Roman's father, is back and heads to see Wanda LaRue.

  "LaRue was one scary lady," I said.

  Eliza nodded. "She was. Strange bird, that one. It's not really a surprise that she was murdered."

  I totally played innocent. "Why?" In fact, I batted my eyelashes a little bit.

  "Because she was evil," Eliza whispered. "Pure evil. To think she knew what had happened to my sister. She may have even been one of the people who killed her."

  "She said she wasn't."

  Eliza flashed me a look of pure anger. "You think she told the truth? Why would she bother?"

  I shrugged. "LaRue only had one week to live before the execution. She was going to die regardless. What would it matter if she confessed to one more murder?"

  "It wouldn't. That's why I went."

  Oh yeah, here we go. We're finally getting to the good stuff. "Really?"

  "As soon as I discovered Roman had gone to see her, I wanted to know why. She told me everything. Told me that she'd bargained the information about my sister—a Queen Witch—for the price of her daughter's life."

  "Pretty stout stuff, there."

  Eliza flipped a lock of iron-gray hair from her shoulder to her back. "I can't tell you how angry it made me. Infuriating. What was she thinking, exchanging tit for tat? I couldn't believe it."

  "So what'd you do?" I almost rubbed my hands together, this was so good. Here it was. It was about to come out. I couldn't wait.

  "I told her I'd kill her myself if she didn't tell me what happened that night."

  Holy crap. I did not see that one coming. Pretty sure my jaw dropped to the ground.

  "You did what?"

  Eliza smirked. "LaRue laughed in my face. Told me I'd dabbled in dark magic, that I was a wannabe witch. That's what those people who steal magic and perfo
rm dark rituals think—that they're the true witches, and the rest of us are nothing because we don't channel all the power that we have available. She laughed at me, told me I was nothing, and so I told her I'd see her dead."

  "You did," I said. "She's dead."

  Eliza eyed me. "I wasn't the one who did it, though. I didn't kill her."

  I cocked a brow.

  "I was angry and I wanted to, believe me. But that wouldn't bring Catherine or my nieces back. It wouldn't."

  "That's true," I said. I believed Eliza had loved her sister, and I also believed her feelings about wanting to kill LaRue herself. Had she, though? Probably not. Someone had helped free LaRue from prison. If that person had been Eliza, why would she wait until now to free her friend? It didn't make sense. What did make sense was that Eliza had an angry exchange with a witch in an attempt to find out what exactly Roman had wanted with LaRue.

  To put it simply—I didn't think she'd killed the witch, though she may have wanted to.

  Chasity bounded up to us. She was interesting, sort of a fountain of limitless childlike energy.

  Her blonde hair billowed up like a cloud behind her. "I found the spot where my mother was murdered."

  I nodded. "Yes. It was right there."

  Her eye narrowed to wedges. "Who's Milly?"

  I balked. That, I hadn't expected. "She's my grandmother."

  "I want to see her."

  "Sure. Okay. Why?"

  Chasity leaned in close, peered into my eyes so hard I swore she was trying to see all the way to my brain. "You think she's hiding something."

  I glanced at the ground and started toeing a pebble. "Oh, well, maybe. But it's not something important."

  She raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you think she might have murdered my mother?"

  Well, she kinda had me there.

  TWELVE

  My new ragtag team of investigators drove over to Milly's. Yeah, I'll be honest, it was weird being with Roman's aunt and a woman who'd just woken up from the coma chipper as a bird. My life was weird already. How it had managed to get even weirder was beyond me.

  Chasity was like no other witch I'd ever met before. She was bubbly and acted young, very innocent, not at all like the nineteen or so years I expected her to be. Perhaps being a witch had broken her brain. I mean, witches were a strange bunch. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the strain of living among them had screwed her up for life.