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

by Amy Boyles

  I know it's screwed me up.

  Just kidding.

  Kinda.

  Milly answered the door. "Eliza," she said. "What brings you out of your hole?"

  Eliza was not the sort of woman who lived in a cave or hole or anything of that nature. I'm fairly certain that in her community Roman's aunt was one of the socialites. I grimaced at my grandmother's barb.

  But Eliza didn't seem to notice Milly's sour greeting. "I've come to see my nephew. Milly, it's good to see your temperament hasn't improved one bit."

  Milly grinned. "Got me there."

  I introduced Chasity. Milly's eyes landed on her and hovered there for a long moment. "You got the sight, girl."

  Chasity nodded.

  "Better get in here before anyone sees you." Milly ushered us inside.

  "Are any of Brock's men still guarding the place?" Roman asked when he stepped inside. I swear, Milly's house was big, but Roman nearly swallowed it with his six-two Thor-like frame.

  Milly waved her hand in dismissal. "There's one or two of the monkey guards hanging around, but I told the rest to go home. I didn't need them all here. Besides, Brock might need them in Fairyland. Might have a skirmish he needs to squash or something."

  She squatted down into her floral recliner and studied us. She magicked up a service of sweet tea. The glasses floated to us on invisible hands, ice clinking as they made their way around the room.

  Milly took a long sip and smacked her lips. "What's going on? Why's everyone looking at me like I committed murder?"

  Um, yeah. I wasn't going to answer that.

  Chasity poked me in the ribs.

  "We're interested in the thread I found at the crime scene." Okay, so maybe I was going there. "Chasity, what did one of your mother's magical threads look like?"

  "Her threads were green."

  I met Milly's gaze. "That was the color of the one we found." I described it in detail to Chasity, who listened quietly.

  "Yes, that sounds like one of her threads."

  Milly rolled her eyes. "See? It's like I said. Someone used Wanda's own magic against her, or Wanda was shielding herself; that's how the thread ended up so close to her body. I see everyone knows about that now. Great. I hope the killer doesn't find out."

  Roman pushed off the door frame he was leaning against. "Why?"

  She smiled. "Because I've been doing a little digging into folks who may be connected to LaRue but who also have a penchant for using a person's own magic against them."

  Roman's eyes flared with interest. "Tell me more."

  "There are only a handful of witches who've been known to do this, but I found a name you might find very interesting."

  "Who's that?" I asked.

  Milly puckered up her lips and said, "Smiley Martin."

  "No way," I said.

  "Yes," she replied.

  That was real interesting, y'all. Let me tell you why—in our last big witchy adventure, Smiley Martin, aka Froggy Prince, had tried to kill me and Reid. Well, he had some help from his horrible niece, Dewy Dewberry—yes, girl, that was her real name. Anyhoo, Dewy had been dealt with, but Smiley disappeared into Fairyland. The fact that he may have resurfaced to kill Wanda LaRue was not only interesting, it was spine-tingling—and not in a curl-up-your-toes-in-pleasure sort of way.

  This was bad.

  "If it's Smiley Martin," Milly said, "and he knows that we know about the thread—saw us with it or suspects that we know he may be involved, my guess is he will come for us. For any of us."

  "So what you're saying is—" I said.

  Milly thumbed her nose. "None of us are safe."

  ***

  Eliza went back to her hotel, and Chasity returned to the house with Roman and me. We decided my home was safer for her—yes, even with Nan doing double duty as a bodyguard.

  I took Chasity inside. My grandma, Reid and Sera were sitting in the living room. Sera and Reid shot me looks of death. I wasn't exactly sure where that was coming from, so I did what any sister would do—I ignored it.

  "Everyone, this is Chasity. Wanda LaRue's daughter." Their jaws fell in unison. They all sat there, waiting for me to, I guess, tell them an atomic bomb had dropped somewhere—I don't know. "She's going to be staying with us until we get this whole thing straightened out."

  No one said anything. I rolled my eyes. "Y'all. She's cool. Nothing like her mother."

  Grandma practically jumped from the recliner. She extended her hand. "Well then, dear. It's wonderful to meet you. I was, of course, worried that we'd have someone trying to murder us under our roof, but if Dylan says you're okay, I believe her."

  "Thanks, Grandma," I said, not at all embarrassed.

  Kidding. I was totally embarrassed.

  Sera flashed her a kind smile. "Nice to meet you."

  "Yeah," Reid said. "Don't mind the baby unicorn. Just don't let him get too close. He may try to eat your clothes."

  Chasity's eyes sparkled. "A baby unicorn. Where?"

  As if on cue, Adonis kicked over a side table. We'd gotten smart. We'd stopped leaving antiques and other knickknacks on top of things he could kick.

  Chasity crossed to him and leaned down. She whispered something in his ear. Next thing I knew, Adonis was curled up beside her eating hay that had appeared by magic from her hand.

  "What the heck?" Reid said. Her head snapped in my direction. "Dylan, why didn't you bring her out of the coma sooner?"

  "Well, I'm sorry," I said, not sure what to say.

  "She's a unicorn whisperer," Sera said. "Grandma, why couldn't you do that?"

  Grandma adjusted her strand of pearls. "There's a difference between speaking unicorn and being able to tame a unicorn. I can only speak a little of the language. I've got too much wild blood running through these veins to tame them."

  Okay. Sure. Whatever you say.

  Roman crossed to me. "Got a second?"

  I nodded.

  He smirked. "You're supposed to say—for you, I've got the world."

  I giggled. "Oh, is that right? Thank you for showing me the error of my ways."

  "Don't mention it."

  We walked into the kitchen. "What's up?"

  Roman gave me a hug. "I'm going to Fairyland."

  I pushed out of it immediately. "What? Why?"

  "To find Smiley Martin."

  "But he's not there. He's here."

  He threaded his fingers through his sun-streaked locks. "But someone there may know where he's living. That's the last place you and I saw him, so it's the first place to start."

  I stamped my foot on the ground. "No. Absolutely not. It's dangerous. Fairies hate us. Hate us. They'll kill you if they find you."

  Roman gave me a crooked smile that made him look ridiculously handsome. "I'll be fine."

  I shook my head. "Can I forbid this?"

  "No. Sorry, darlin', not this time."

  "How are you even going to get there?"

  He swiped a finger over his bottom lip. "With this." He pulled an amulet from his pocket. It was a circular piece of gold inscribed with characters. Gold prongs secured a ruby in the center.

  "What's that?"

  "An amulet that gets me to Castle Witch. I got it years ago. From Castle Witch, Em will transport me to Fairyland."

  I frowned. "I didn't know you had that. Why haven't you used it before?"

  He shrugged. "Never needed to. There was always a witch around to take me to the castle."

  I bit down on my lip. I didn't have magic, so I couldn't protect Roman even if I went. Let's face it—the six-two walking pillar of testosterone didn't really need help from me anyway. He could protect himself. Still—

  "Take this with you," I said, pulling the magical pouch from my purse.

  "We already used the feather."

  "There's dust on the bottom. I bet it has healing power. If you get hurt, promise me you'll use it."

  "I won't get hu—"

  "Promise me." I jabbed my finger in his chest.
/>
  He rolled his eyes. "Will it make you feel better?"

  "Like a million bucks."

  "Then I'll take it." He fisted the bag and wrapped me up in a bear hug. "I'll be back soon. I love you."

  "Love you to infinity,"

  "Love you to infinity plus one," he countered.

  "Had to beat me, didn't you?"

  He shrugged. "It wouldn't be any fun otherwise."

  Roman gave me one last kiss and left. My stomach knotted as I thought about him all alone in Fairyland, but I knew he could take care of himself. Out of all the people I knew, Roman would have earned the picture in his high school yearbook that read MOST LIKELY TO SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, if such a category had existed.

  I moseyed on back to the living room, where I watched Chasity hovering over Reid, showing her knitting techniques.

  "And if you add an extra line here, then the sweater will have a higher neck. It'll make it look much more chic."

  Reid licked her lips. "Can I do that with my bodysuits, too?"

  "Of course! I'll show you how to make them faster, too."

  Great. Just what we needed—more knitted bodysuits.

  "Chasity, I love this new recipe idea you gave me," Sera said. She sat in the recliner, jotting down some notes. "I think I'm going to make this right now."

  I cocked a brow. "What is it?"

  "It's a ridiculously easy lemon cookie idea."

  "Sounds good," I said, unimpressed.

  Sera pulsed her eyebrows. "You should see the recipe. I think it's going to be fabulous."

  I headed toward the hallway. "Call me when supper's ready. I'm going to my room."

  I found Grandma in my room, sitting on my bed. "I didn't realize I had a new roommate."

  "When did you get a new roommate?" Grandma said. "Someone should really start telling me what's going on around here."

  I kicked off my sneakers. "I didn't. I'm kidding. What's going on?"

  She fluffed the bottom of her hair. "I was wondering if you had that photo album of your parents. The one we got at Castle Witch."

  "Oh, yeah." I opened the trunk at the foot of my bed and pulled it out. "Right here."

  I heaved the thickly bound tome onto the bed. Grandma peeled back the cover and smiled. "I haven't looked at these since we've been back. I love seeing pictures of your parents, don't you?"

  "Yeah. I've only brought it out a couple of times since we got back."

  I studied the pictures taken of my parents before they had us girls. My parents were so vibrant, so full of life—so in love.

  There were rumors that the car crash that had taken their lives hadn't been accidental. It was suggested that my parents were working undercover for the witch police on something seriously top secret.

  For a long time I hadn't believed that to be true. But then a few months back Milly had shown us the Unofficial Registry of Witches. It was a registry created to house all the witches who'd done bad things. Most importantly, my father had created it.

  "Grandma," I said, "do you think they were killed intentionally? Because they got too close to something? To someone?"

  Grandma pressed her lips into a thin line. "I don't know. All the official paperwork stated that it was raining, the car hit a curve at high speed, then it veered off the road and hit a tree. I've never had a reason to think otherwise."

  I traced my fingers over the edge of a black-and-white photo of my parents sitting in a shiny new convertible. "Then why do people think they were killed?"

  She shrugged. "Because people like a good mystery."

  I stretched out on my bed, crossed my ankles and hooked my hands behind my head. "If someone wanted to know if it was true, if there was ever any kind of possibility that the truth was out there somewhere—where would you go?"

  "Witch police headquarters. Floor number two. That's where they keep all the files. It's a big room."

  "Are those files public?" I asked eagerly.

  "No," she said. "But if you wanted to break in, I can help you."

  My eyes widened. "Seriously?"

  She nodded. "Seriously."

  Grandma spent the next hour or so looking through the book while I fired up my computer and glanced at the online orders for my shop. There were ten. I shot an email over to Jenny, explaining what she needed to do to fill them and ship them out. She'd told me her cousin was filling in at her store, so she could help me out for a little while. Boy, I really liked having someone working at Perfect Fit for me. Maybe I needed a new assistant.

  Of course, the last one had tried to kill me, so maybe I'd rethink that.

  Grandma closed the book and pushed off the bed. "I need supper. Got to keep some strength in these old bones." She patted my hand. "Come on. Let's see if Sera's got food ready."

  Sera did have supper ready. Grandma, my sisters and Chasity sat at the table.

  "Where's Adonis?" I asked.

  "Chasity sent him home," Reid said.

  I stared at her in disbelief. "Seriously? How?"

  Chasity poured herself a glass of tea. "He was ready, so I talked him into it. Unicorns are very easygoing."

  "Tell that to our furniture." I glanced around at patches of chewed curtains, splintered wood where the baby unicorn had kicked furniture. "He wasn't the easiest baby to watch."

  Chasity laughed. "That's just because you don't speak unicorn."

  Reid pointed her fork at our grandmother. "Grandma does, and she didn't stop him from running amok."

  Grandma sniffed. "That's because I'm trying to teach you girls a lesson."

  "What lesson is that?" Sera asked.

  Grandma shook her head. "I'm still trying to figure that out. Ask me later."

  We laughed and ate a fabulous dinner. Sera had whipped up the lemon cookie recipe that Chasity had told her about. When I tasted the goods, I swear it crumbled into a pile of crisp, buttery crumbs on my tongue.

  It was sensational.

  "Oh, Sera, these are divine," I said, shoving cookie number three in my mouth.

  "I know," she said. "They're addictive. I could eat these all night."

  "Forget that," Reid said. "I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

  Grandma laughed. "Reid, show us your latest bodysuit."

  Reid jumped from her chair and rushed into the living room. She returned holding a crocheted body wrap. She'd turned it into sort of a wrap dress.

  It was fabulous.

  Reid watched the expression on my face. She grinned. "You like it, don't you?"

  I rose. I rubbed the fabric between my fingers. "Reid, it's beautiful."

  "Chasity showed me how to do it. She helped me."

  "Wow," I said.

  "I know.” She beamed. "Chasity, thank you so much."

  Chasity shrugged playfully. "You're welcome."

  "You're the first witch we've ever met who's helped us like this."

  "Excuse me," Grandma said.

  Reid rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean, Grandma."

  Grandma fluffed her hair and mumbled, "I suppose so."

  "That's just amazing," I said. "Now, all I need is for you to show me how to get my powers back and I think we'll be done here."

  Chasity frowned. "I can't show you how to get your powers back."

  "Yeah, Dylan," Reid said. She rolled the dress up and placed it on an empty chair. "Pearbottom has it locked up somewhere. Only he can get it for you."

  Chasity shook her head. "That's not what I mean."

  Sera tucked a strand of glossy chocolate-colored hair behind one ear. "Yeah, she means you're screwed."

  "No, it's not that either."

  I sighed. "I know. I can't get my power back until Pearbottom gives it back to me."

  Chasity gnawed her bottom lip. "He could never take what was yours to begin with. Pearbottom doesn't have your power."

  "He doesn't?"

  "He can't. The only way to steal someone's power is to skin them. When you block someone's power, that's differen
t. That's what he's done—blocked it."

  I shrugged. "Okay. He's blocked it. How do I get it back?"

  "So you want it?"

  I sighed. "Yes, I want it."

  Chasity observed me with that soul-searching gaze of hers. I tried not to squirm out of my chair. "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, I'm sure. Why does everyone act like I don't like my powers?"

  "Because you don't like witches," Chasity said.

  Was it that obvious?

  "Anyway," she continued. "He never took your powers from you."

  "Then where are they?" I said.

  "Locked inside you."

  "How do I unlock them?"

  "Easy," Chasity said. "We cut out your heart."

  THIRTEEN

  "Cut my heart out," I shrieked.

  Chasity cocked her head to one side. "It's an option. Not the best one."

  "What's the best one?"

  "You unlock it yourself."

  "How do I do that?"

  Chasity smiled. "Only you can figure that out."

  "That doesn't help."

  She flashed me an innocent smile. "Best option I have for you."

  I blew a strand of hair from my eyes. "Okay. I'll work on it."

  We cleaned up dinner, and I made up the pull-out couch for Chasity. Once I had her all settled in, I went and found my sisters. They were focused on the laptop in Reid's bedroom.

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  "Chasity told us about an online forum for witches."

  I sat down. "A forum?"

  "Yeah," Sera said. "Where we can meet other witches. Nice witches. Ones who won't try to hurt us."

  I cocked a brow. "Is there such a thing?"

  "According to Chasity there is," Reid said. "And she's nice. She hasn't tried to hurt us."

  "Not yet," I said.

  They both threw me scathing looks.

  "Don't you think it's time we became friends with other witches?" Sera said.

  "Not really," I said.

  "Your own prejudice will come back to bite you in the rear end," Reid said.