Witch for Hire

by Conneely, N. E.

  "Yes, I did, but I've been up since three, Jones, I can't do games today." Sighing, I plopped down in the chair sitting beside the table. The room looked a lot like a chemistry lab, with tables lining the walls, and cabinets overflowing with supplies. There were several types of fire extinguishers, a safety shower, an eye wash, and a giant first aid kit strapped to a wall.

  "Sorry." He settled into the chair next to mine. "We've been collecting these from across the county. Some old lady died, natural causes, and her kids held a yard sale to get rid of her stuff. Apparently, the old lady was a bit of a tinkerer and hedge-witch. I don't think we've gotten everything, but with her dead, and her kids ignorant of the old woman's hobby, we didn't have a crime that anyone was willing to prosecute. I just need to find the stuff she charmed."

  Items like this were tricky. I could undo or cleanse most of these spells, but it's hard to be sure they're clean. "I can fix these, but I would still send them through the plasma gun. If you atomize these things nothing will survive. It's not like the department can make much money selling them."

  "Nope, but it sure cost money to send things through the gun." He sighed, his bushy brows scrunching. "I think we still have some of the free space they gave us left, but I hate to use it for these. Would the crusher be good enough?"

  I mentally slapped myself. The lack of sleep was showing. None of these had the tenacity or danger that would require the plasma gun. The crusher would be fine and much more affordable for the department. They needed to save that free space for something really dangerous. "I don't know what I was thinking. Send them to the crusher."

  "Alright. I'm going to go do paperwork while you deal with this. "

  I waved my acknowledgment as he left. Removing magic was tricky. There were several ways to do it, each with different risks and benefits. You could unknit the spells, over load them with energy, or rip the magic off of the object. None of these spells had seemed powerful, but I was going to check them more closely before I tried to remove the magic. I really wasn't in a good frame of mind to delicately unknit the spells; I was just going to yank them apart and disperse the energy.

  It took two hours because some of them had been stubborn, but by nine thirty all of the spells had been removed. I handed Jones my notes as I left. It was a two hour drive home, where I could grab some lunch, nap, and then clear up some paper work before heading to bed early if nothing else came up.

  I kept switching the music and I stopped every thirty minutes on the way home. I could feel my eyes falling closed and my body relaxing into sleep when I neared the thirty minute mark. Four hours of sleep just wasn't enough. I'd been up and moving for six hours now and was ready for a rest. A trip that usually took two hours lasted nearly three.

  After coasting into my parking spot, I sat for a moment, letting the tranquility of the house soak into me. The land was covered with elegant decorations and charming gardens that begged to be explored. The house, more of a lodge really, was built of roughhewn logs. Two wings sheltered the sides of the covered porch, protecting it from the weather. It was four steps up to the porch and eight feet to the oak door.

  It wasn't my house. It was owned by a brownie couple who maintained it and rented out suites. There were a few long term renters like me, but it also functioned as a bed and breakfast to people and magical creatures passing through. A renter, like myself, was entitled to two meals a day, which made up for the microscopic kitchen. Being something of an indifferent or terrible cook, those kept me from eating fast food every day.

  I walked inside, barely pausing to wipe my feet on the mat. I swung to the right and stumbled into the dining room. Hardly looking at the long table or who might be at it, I made a beeline for the tea and slurped down half a mug. The hot, caffeinated beverage forced my eyes open and gave my movement some energy. While topping off my mug, I looked around and saw two unicorns, a dwarf, and five shifters. I forked out a salad at the buffet and joined the group.

  "I don't understand why President Ederin hasn't put a stop to these reparations lawsuits. The humans have been free and mostly equal for the past three hundred years. There isn't a human alive that remembers slavery," the dwarf finished with a flourish of his fork.

  I munched down a bite of lettuce. President Ederin was a bit of a mystery, but that was true of all dragons. To be fair to the humans, there wasn't a country in the world that was ruled by them, or viewed them as equals. Every country was ruled by dragons, vampires, witches, elves, dwarves, dark elves, orcs, fey, shifters, goblins, or giants. As for the humans, they were short lived and had been enslaved, but equality was a relative term. Yes, they had all the same rights, but they didn't have magic. They tried to compensate with technology and innovation. Regardless of their legal state they were still the dumb younger race to most of the world.

  "You know dragons see time differently. Ederin is old, even for that exceptionally long lived race. He has a soft spot for hopeless causes and new races. Why do you think he agreed to rule this land for the humans and others? No one else who was here wanted to, and they needed protection." The unicorn with the longer horn snorted into his oats. Unicorns couldn't speak with words, but they did speak mind to mind with anyone they pleased.

  Deciding this was a great time to shift the conversation I interrupted, "How long are all of you here for? I'm Michelle, by the way."

  The smaller unicorn, who looked pregnant, nodded her understanding. The first unicorn answered, "I'm Enethre. This is Elise. We came to make arrangements to stay here next week. Elise is close to term. We are staying close because we do not want to be caught without shelter when the time comes." He gently nuzzled his wife.

  After a stare down between two of the men, the older one spoke. "We are of the Manachar pack." From their interaction, I gathered they were werewolves because few other groups had dominance struggles, or were so pack oriented. "We are staying here for a few days, but are waiting for the right time to perform a ritual." Werewolves were a secretive bunch, but from the group dynamics I could lay my money on an alpha trial, coming of age ritual, or mating call.

  The dwarf pulled a bread crumb from his beard. "Well, I'm staying here while I attend a conference in Kennesaw about smelting. I am called Aksi. How 'bout you lass?"

  I quickly swallowed my mouthful of food. "I live here, but if you're asking what I do, I'm a witch. I work with the police to provide magical assistance." Now, we were in danger of straying into territory that I didn't want to explore. "I saw a 'Free the Trolls' billboard today. Do any of you know what group is behind it now? I thought the movement had died out a few years ago when a few members of the last group, I think it was Trolls Today, tried to live with them and were eaten."

  With a glance at the first werewolf who had spoken, one of the other wolves commented. "I heard it's a group of humans, HATE, Humans Against Troll Enclosures. Apparently, the past seven years has been enough time for them to forget why trolls are in the preserves to being with."

  "I don't want them to do anything stupid. There's a preserve in Forsyth that I'd rather not have to visit," I said.

  "Lass, I still remember when my fifth cousin, Tharish, was eaten by a troll. I have no sympathy for those beasts, but I haven't heard that this new group would use illegal means to free the trolls." Aksi stuffed the last of a cranberry muffin in his mouth, brushing crumbs off his beard as he chewed.

  "It is not unknown for one of their kind to eat one of ours. We find the world to be less dangerous for the young with the trolls removed from society." Enethre had a valid point; unicorns were fragile until they hit puberty, and even then they weren't the sturdiest things around. I finished off my salad and grabbed a muffin off the buffet. I hadn't realized they were there until I saw Aksi finish his.

  "I would worry less about the trolls, young one. I heard someone has a few of us more magical creatures and was experimenting."

  "Really? Did any of these experiments use mundane creatures as well?" Another reason I liked this place, good
information was easy to find.

  "The earth has whispered such things to me. I have also heard that this individual resides at the southern edge of Cherokee County."

  I gave him a half bow, the best I could do at the table. Unicorns rarely give out information. This person must have harmed a unicorn for them to help me. "I have heard and I will investigate."

  Enethre dipped his head in acknowledgment; they weren't the traditional words but the meaning was conveyed.

  I caught myself yawning and realized I was past due for a nap. I excused myself from the table and headed to my room. I loved being on the ground floor, especially the last room on the hall. I didn't have anyone to my left and the world was to my right. I even had a nice door at the end of the hall that spilled into the most beautifully canopied garden that was perfect for my ceremonies and rituals. No one else spent as much time in that garden as I did, and I loved that it was mine; I even had a small altar.

  I let myself in to my room, dumping my purse on the counter before heading back to my bedroom. The apartment was small, with a tiny kitchen and dining room to the left of the door, and the living room straight ahead. To the right of the door was a coat closet and just past that was the door to my bedroom. I pried off my shoes and slipped under the covers without undressing.

  Chapter Two

  Elron

  These were happy woods. The entire place was happy, from the house to the gardens to the woods, but this one little garden had something extra. It was excited, something odd for plants and trees. They were prone to joy, happiness, sorrow, and tranquility, but not something as active as excitement. Someone had spent a lot of time here and a bit of their personality had seeped in to the place. That someone was excited about life, and probably young. Strange, few youth of any race knew enough to transmit their feelings.

  The trees whispered about a person, moving and bending with change. The plants gossiped about tenderness shown to them, but the air breathed words of rage and despair into my ear. The plants didn't know gender, but I got the impression of a woman, a young woman. The altar indicated she was a witch, a good witch. What all of them said, was that she wasn't trying to influence them; they just liked her.

  I settled cross legged on the ground, found the quiet spot inside my mind, and simply existed. Meditation was difficult to learn, but once learned it was soothing to simply be, or focus on a single problem. It was one of the few things that had brought me peace since I lost my wife. I hadn't valued the lessons in meditation until I had reason to escape from my thoughts.

  At one thousand, five hundred years, I was middle-aged to old. Elves rarely lived past three thousand, not because of old age, but because we became, dissatisfied with the world, or saddened by the loss we had experienced. Health-wise, I was still in my prime, but I had lost my mate two hundred years ago. The years without her had not been happy or fun. My friends had done their best to help me, mostly ensuring I lived, but I wasn't sure if I was thankful to my friends for keeping me in this world.

  Those were choices made long ago and not why I was settled in this garden. I turned my mind back to cities; unsure if I could live in a city, but I need to reconnect with the world and the job nearby was a good opportunity. Elves were creatures of the woods. The woods I'd lived in were seldom touched by foreign hands. Elven forests were a sanctuary for creatures that wanted to live in harmony with nature. For many years I had believed cities were unnatural parasitic creatures on the beautiful facade of nature. The last time I lived in a city, brief as the time may have been, was before the industrial revolution.

  Cities were different then. They were still unclean, with many people in an area much too small, but they were more connected to nature than modern cities. Today, even this far from the city, I could still feel the alteration it had imposed upon the world. There was concrete, asphalt, metal, smog, fog, and very little connection with the earth.

  Realizing I would reach a more informed decision after the interview, I stood up and let my eyes soak in one last view of the garden for the evening. Behind me a door clicked open, quickly clicking shut again. I pivoted to see who it was, pleasantly surprised to see a young woman, with wavy brown hair swirling just below her shoulders. She had an athletic build, and lovely curves. Walking, she studied the path in front of her feet. A fraction of a second before she would have hit me I grabbed her shoulders. "Slow down." The woman jerked backwards, gasping. "No reason to fear, darling, I'm just keeping you from colliding with me." Her eyes were the most striking green, accenting her small nose, perfectly sized mouth and curving brows.

  She stumbled back, fumbling for words. "My apologies, I didn't realize anyone else was here." She rubbed her hands down her hips and thighs. "I'm Michelle. Are you just here for a few days or are you leasing?"

  "Don't worry, you didn't do any harm. I only plan to be a here a few days." I smiled at her.

  "If you will excuse me, mister . . . ?" I didn't answer. "I would like to go to the altar." She pointed behind me.

  "You're the witch?" I wanted to know who had influenced this piece of the earth.

  "Yes." She sounded tentative.

  "What clan are you from?" Witch clans were funny. Some of them were very open and friendly to other races, others were more traditional.

  "It's not important." Michelle started to edge around me.

  "It was just a simple question. What clan are you from?" Most witches loved to brag about their clans.

  "What's your name? It's just a simple question." She glared at me as she asked.

  "You may call me Elron. Now you can answer my question." I was amused; few questioned me this way.

  She stiffened. "I don't have a clan."

  Michelle tried to dodge past me and I let her slide by. "How did you come to be without a clan?"

  "That, Elron, is none of your business." She turned her back to me and settled in front of the altar.

  "I'll see you at dinner," I called out behind me as I returned to the lodge. Reaching my room I realized I was whistling. I didn't know the last time I had whistled.

  Michelle

  The dratted elf walked into the dining room seconds after I sat down. What business of his was it if I didn't have a clan? It wasn't often I regretted my upbringing, but being questioned about clans stirred unhappy feelings.

  I'm a witch, but a witch without a clan. Mom had been expelled from her clan before I was born because she wouldn't say who my father was. The clan elders had ruled that he must have been human. Unfortunately for my mom, she wasn't much of a witch, and breeding with a human was against clan law. I'm not sure who my dad was, but he wasn't around. I've always thought he was from a clan hers didn't favor, because I sure had magic, and lots of it. I'd always wondered if the clan would have kept us around if they'd known how much magic I would have.

  Regardless, without a clan I couldn't have a job working with other witches, since I didn't know which clans might have a grudge against the clanless, my mother, or father. Most witches don't want to do police work, so I was in luck. All the departments need witches, or someone with active magic, but few had more than a hedge-practitioner on staff. I didn't want to be a police officer so I set up a consulting firm and hired myself out to several departments. Some departments paid a retainer, some a case-to-case fee, but enough departments paid.

  His annoying-self had interrupted me every time I tried to work during the two hours between being in the garden and dinner. I eyed him as he gathered food. He had one night written all over him. If I ate breakfast in my room tomorrow, I probably wouldn't have to see him except very quickly over lunch. I could even grab an early lunch and eat it in my room. He'd be gone by dinner.

  "Excuse me. Michelle, is it?"

  I jerked up from staring into my lasagna, eyes focusing on a werewolf who had tried several times to get my attention. "Oh, sorry, what did I miss?"

  "We were hoping to purchase an injury charm from you. Would you have any we could buy?"

  "How power
ful of one do you need?" I had several of those, all different strengths, but I didn't want to part with some of my better ones. I liked to keep them for personal use. Fortunately, I hadn't needed to use a powerful one yet.

  "Small broken bone, bad bruising, that type of a thing." The werewolf was looking at me intently. I understood. Fights between their kind could get ugly, and accidents happened when they were fighting. Injury while hunting was common as well, and no one wanted to see someone die because of one misstep. With their natural healing abilities, a small boost would go a long way.

  "Sure. I'll bring it down after I eat. No charge." That type of a charm wasn't hard to make or material intensive.

  I kept eating, trying very hard not to end up in a conversation with the elf. The unicorns, true to their word, had left, but I thought I would see them again. The dwarf was missing, but I figured he was at the smelting conference. Priscele, a wood nymph, had come in for dinner. She was another long-term resident, but had a very small room, more of a space with a bed, opening into the woods. She didn't spend much time in the lodge, but she said she enjoyed it in the winter. In her words, winter is for creatures with thick furry coats, not luscious ladies like herself. Right now, she was trying to tempt one of the quieter wolves in to spending some time with her.

  "I would love to spend more time with one who has become so attuned to the creatures of the woods." Priscele leaned towards the wolf and batted her pretty green eyes. I rolled mine.

  "I'm not sure I'm attuned to them, so much as I hunt and eat them." The werewolf was starting to looked panicked. His packmates were shouldering each other and chuckling, clear signs of enjoying his discomfort.

  "Surely one must be attuned to the creatures to hunt them so effectively." She stroked his arm.

  Narzel, this was sickening, but amusing at the same time. The elf caught my eye. He was a pretty elf. His ears came to a delicate point, as if someone had pinched a human's ears and they had stayed that way. His hair was silver, a straight shining sheet all the way to his waist. He was slender, like all elves, but he had muscle on him.