by Laura Kirwan
“And you were afraid you couldn’t do this job,” Russ said. “Feeling more confident?”
She smiled. “Yeah. I am. A bit. I think Mr. Wizard here wanted to scare me. Kind of surprised him when I got pissed off instead of quivering like a damsel in distress.”
“Heh.” Russ laughed. “Yeah, I bet. I’ve seen you get mad. It’s not pretty.”
“He tried to hex me too. He was even more surprised when that didn’t work.”
Russ frowned. “He did? The Order know all about Matthew and word’s been out for a while that you’d probably be taking over for him.” He appraised the young wizard. “And there are ways they could have tested whether magic worked on you without tipping their hand like this.” He looked back at Meaghan. “They set this kid up.”
Meaghan glanced at the unconscious wizard and felt the tiniest spark of compassion. He was just a kid. “Why would they do that?”
Nobody answered. They all stared at the wizard for a moment and then Marnie trotted back in.
“What’d I miss?” she asked. “What are we doing?”
“The Order set him up,” Sarah answered. “We’re wondering why.”
Meaghan pulled her eyes away from the wizard. “Is everything okay with Jamie?”
Marnie nodded. “Natalie and Kady are putting up a bunch of protective spells to be safe but no sign of trouble.”
“So, they only came after me and sent someone who didn’t know he couldn’t hex me. Set him up to fail,” Meaghan said. “Although they probably didn’t expect him to fail this badly. What are they up to? Trying to scare me?”
At that moment, as if on cue, the wizard groaned and lifted his head.
He looked around at the assembled witches and Meaghan. His eyes widened. He was visibly shaking.
“Hey, sunshine,” Meaghan said brightly. “Time to wake up. Welcome to my home. Try anything, and I do mean anything and I’ll trade the saucepan for something pointy. My brother buys good knives too.” She pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. “Kid, you’re in the deep shit right now. You don’t like witches? They don’t like you, either. And five of them are staring at you right now. I’m the least of your worries.”
He screwed his eyes shut and began to chant what sounded like Latin in a squeaky voice.
Meaghan gently flicked his broken nose with her index finger. He yelped.
“Knock it off, Merlin. That doesn’t work on me. Remember? And the nice ladies here have hexed the crap out of the airspace around you.” She stared at him, trying to read his face. “The Order set you up, sweetie. They sent you here to fail.”
His eyes flew open, wide with fear, and he jerked against the tape holding him to the chair. Meaghan saw nothing on his face but raw terror. What happened to the smug bastard who blew down the kitchen door?
“How old are you anyway? Sixteen, seventeen?”
He continued chanting.
“You really weren’t top of your class at Hogwarts, were you?” Meaghan sat back. “Keep it up and I’ll give you to the witches. If I could kick your ass this hard without magic, think what they can do to you.”
That seemed to take the fight out of him. He slumped back against the chair and began to cry.
“Look at me,” Meaghan said. He didn’t respond.
“C’mon,” Meaghan continued. “I need to take a look at your pupils and make sure they’re the same size. Make sure I didn’t scramble your brains too hard. The less trouble you give us, the more likely we’ll be to get you medical attention if you need it.”
He finally looked up. His face was chalky white, his eyes red and brimming. Confusion and terror fought for control of his tear-stained face.
Something’s wrong with this, she thought. He seemed like a different person from the wizard who had attacked her. This was a terrified, half-starved kid. The tiny spark of compassion Meaghan had felt for him ignited into a feeble flame. Time for some good cop.
“Tell you what,” Meaghan said. “Let’s at least get that nose fixed up for you. That’s easy enough. Ladies?”
Lynette stepped forward. “I got this.”
Meaghan suspected Lynette was experiencing the same feeling. Something was off. The kid seemed to have no idea what was going on. No defiance, only confused fear.
Lynette placed a hand on the top of his head. He flinched at her touch, as if expecting to be struck. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze with the other hand. “This won’t hurt,” she said in a soft voice. She moved her hand from his shoulder and held his mangled nose delicately between her thumb and middle finger. She breathed a few soft words Meaghan couldn’t make out. With a sigh, the boy slumped in the chair. After a moment he sat back up.
“Better?” Lynette asked.
He nodded at her, his eyes wide with wonder. “Thank you,” he croaked.
Sarah handed her a damp paper towel. Lynette dabbed the blood off the boy’s face and then gave Meaghan a meaningful glance. “Girls,” Lynette said to the other witches, “I need to talk with Meaghan and Russ for a sec. Keep an eye on him.”
She pulled Meaghan into the hallway and Russ followed. In a low voice, so only they would hear, Lynette said, “He was possessed.”
Russ whispered back, “You sure?”
Lynette nodded. “I can feel the residual energy. That boy doesn’t have any power at all. Whoever came after you wore his skin and then abandoned him when the spell didn’t work.”
Russ shook his head. “The bastards sacrificed a pawn.”
“That’s exactly what they did,” Lynette said. “I don’t know how he got mixed up with the Order, but we can’t send him back. Even if he wants to go. Which I don’t think he does. I sensed a lot of fear and pain.”
Meaghan nodded. “He’s not going anywhere until we know what we’re dealing with. Come on. Time for a new strategy.”
Chapter 27
Meaghan stepped back into the kitchen followed by Russ and Lynette. The boy sat slumped in the chair, staring at the floor. Just a kid, Meaghan thought. Another lost boy. This time without Matthew to rescue him.
The boy’s stomach growled.
“You hungry?” Meaghan asked him. “Of course you are. Starved is probably more like it. If you’ll eat, we’ll feed you.”
He shook his head and continued to stare at the floor.
Meaghan shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She looked around the room. “Would you ladies like something? Russ, would you whip something up for our guests?”
Russ stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. “I’d be happy to.”
Without asking the witches what they wanted, Russ began frying bacon. Meaghan smiled. Russ had gotten the message. Threats weren’t going to work. Time to see what basic kindness could do. Bacon was hard to resist even if you weren’t a starving teenage boy.
“Russ, isn’t there some pie left over from dinner? That strawberry pie Natalie made?”
“Yeah, Meg, there is. Damn, that was good stuff,” Russ said.
“Sarah, would you grab the pie out of the fridge?” Meaghan asked. “And grab the bowl of whipped cream. And there should be a jar of fudge sauce right near it. Hot fudge on pie. Sounds weird, but it’s so yummy. Natalie’s kind of a genius.”
“Got it.” Sarah scurried to the fridge.
The young wizard’s stomach growled louder.
Meaghan turned back to him and smiled. “We do like to eat well around here. My brother’s an awesome cook. If you change your mind, let us know.”
“There’s also some leftover burgers in the fridge,” Russ called out from the stove. “I cooked them rare so they’ll still be good reheated. Grass-fed beef from a guy I know up the road. This bacon would be good on top of a burger. Or I could fry some eggs or make pancakes.”
“Ooh, I know,” said Lynette, catching what Russ and Meaghan were up to. “There’s nothing like a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg on top. It’s a messy pile of joy.”
The young wizard whimpered and licked his lips.
“Lynette, you’re as bad as Natalie,” Meaghan said, laughing. “If I hadn’t already had a huge dinner, I’d be right there with you. I’ll have to stick with pie.”
Russ added, “Fried onions would be good on that burger too. Can somebody slice up an onion while I get the burger fixings together? Anybody want me to fry up some hash browns while I’m at it?”
The wizard groaned as his stomach growled even louder. The kitchen was beginning to smell like a gourmet diner.
The witches helped Russ prepare a small mountain of food, while Meaghan swept up broken glass, chattering the whole time about her favorite dishes. What finally shoved the boy over the edge was the smell of Russ’s home-baked hamburger rolls warming in the toaster oven. He began to sob, loudly, uncontrollably, his stomach roaring. Meaghan sat down in front of him and held half a cheeseburger to his mouth and he couldn’t stop himself. He ate it in three ravenous bites. If she hadn’t pulled back in time, he’d have bitten her fingers off.
Lynette took over, feeding him like a baby. A few forkfuls of potatoes followed by a bite of the pie. Meaghan poured him a small glass of milk, the full-fat raw stuff that Russ got from another guy he knew up the road, and held it up to the boy’s lips. He gulped it down.
“Can I have more, please?” he gasped.
“Not yet, honey,” Lynette said, gently wiping his face with a damp paper towel. “You’re so starved you’ll get sick if we give you any more right now.”
Meaghan smiled. She could hear the maternal concern in Lynette’s voice and see the boy respond to it. It was one thing to hate witches in the abstract. It was another thing altogether to hate a kind, motherly woman who called you “honey,” fixed your broken nose, and fed you good food when you were starving.
“See?” Meaghan said. “We’re not so bad.”
He began to cry again. “Hunger is pure, gluttony is a sin,” he gasped.
“Pfft,” Meaghan sputtered. Gluttony? The kid ate half a burger and drank a small glass of milk. No wonder he was so pathetically thin. “Russ, did you hear that?”
“I did,” he answered, his voice grim. “Kid, this isn’t gluttony. This is high-quality food, lovingly raised and produced, and skillfully prepared. This is a sacrament. Every bite is a gift from the earth.”
The wizard sobbed, snot bubbling from his nose. Great, Meaghan thought, they’d scared him again. But he was all softened up. Time to get some answers.
She held a paper towel up to his nose. “Blow,” she said. He obeyed like a child.
“Feel better?” she asked when his sobs had subsided a bit.
He gave a tiny nod.
“There are some things you need to know,” Meaghan said, “before I start asking you questions. First, I’m impervious to magic. It flat out doesn’t work on me. And the Order knows that. Or suspects it. And they could have checked it out for sure without coming near me. Whoever sent you here to hex me wanted you to fall on your face. Do you understand?”
He stared at her, eyes wide. “Nobody told . . . I . . .” He broke down again. “I don’t know why I’m here.”
Meaghan nodded. “That’s what I thought. I don’t want to hurt you. I really don’t. Unless you make me. If you behave, so will I. Deal?”
He nodded again, biting his bottom lip.
She gave him a moment, then helped him blow his nose again before asking, “What’s your name?”
“Caleb,” he said in a tiny voice.
“Caleb what?”
“Just Caleb.”
“You don’t have a last name?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“What are your parents’ names?”
“I don’t know.”
Meaghan raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know? Are they still alive?”
“I don’t know,” he said in a small, timid voice.
This kid is breaking my heart, she thought. “Caleb, how old are you?”
“I’m twenty, I think. About twenty.” He looked at his feet again, his face turning pink.
No name and he doesn’t know his birthdate, she thought. Did these Order freaks kidnap him as a child? Was his face on a milk carton somewhere?
Meaghan nodded. “You’re a little older than I thought. Why did you join the Order?”
“I was raised in it,” he said shyly.
Meaghan raised an eyebrow. “I thought you guys avoided women. How did that work?”
“My parents. My father gave me to them.”
“What did your mother have to say about that?” Meaghan asked, feeling sick. This was even worse than kidnapping. There was no loving family out there searching and hoping. They’d handed their son over to the bastards.
“My mother obeyed him. She didn’t say anything,” he whispered.
“Not anything?”
He shook his head. “A wife must submit to her husband. My father commanded her silence.” His jaw clenched. “He never let her talk,” he said, his voice louder, angrier.
There it was. Even as she felt her eyes prickle with tears, Meaghan knew she’d found a way in.
“And she put up with that?” Sarah asked, shocked.
Caleb blushed darker. “I guess. I don’t know. I don’t remember her very well.”
“How old were you when your father gave you to the Order, Caleb?” Meaghan asked gently.
“I was about five, I think, I don’t really remember.”
Another abused kid torn from his mother and abandoned by his father. He’ll fit right in around here, Meaghan thought. “Do you like being in the Order?”
He met Meaghan’s eyes with a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“You’re an adult now. You get to choose. Do you like being there?”
He looked baffled, utterly confounded, at the idea that he had a choice. “I was pledged. I’m pledged to the . . .” His voice dropped to a whisper. “The Power.”
“The Power?” Meaghan asked, feeling a chill run down her spine. Was this the Big Bad pulling the strings? “Is that where the magic comes from?”
Caleb nodded.
Melanie had been right about that, Meaghan thought. The Order had a patron.
Meaghan continued her questioning. “It’s my understanding that the Order has started using magic only recently. Is that true?”
“No. Well, sort of. The Order is much stronger with the Power.” He yawned deeply, one of those huge yawns that come with extreme fatigue. His eyes were glassy, like he was about to fall asleep.
He must be feeling safer, Meaghan thought. Now what do I do with him? There was a lot more she wanted to learn from him. And she couldn’t throw him back to those coldhearted bastards who’d done this to him.
Crap, she thought. I’ve adopted a damn stray. Just what I need. “Caleb, it’s getting late and we’re tired. I can’t let you leave, you know that, but let me confer with the ladies and see if we can make you more comfortable. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?”
He looked up shyly. “May I use your bathroom?”
Yup, Meaghan thought. He was here to stay.
Chapter 28
Lynette and Meaghan cut Caleb loose from the chair. The resistance had drained out of him. Lynette, in a kind but firm voice, ordered him to behave and reminded him he was surrounded by powerful witches. With a meek nod, he followed her to the hall bathroom and she stood guard outside the door.
While Caleb was in the bathroom, Meaghan and the witches quickly agreed on a plan. Lynette and Marnie would spend the night. Sarah and the other two witches, Anna and Emma, the quiet ones who’d looked after Russ, would check in with Natalie, then recruit more witches to guard the Keeles.
“We can’t let him go to sleep or he’ll go into a coma,” Anna said. “I bet he has a concussion.”
Emma shook her head. “That’s totally a myth. So long as his pupils are the same size and he’s not barfing, he’s fine to go to sleep.”
Anna shrugged. “Well, that’s what I’ve seen on TV.”
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br /> “Is any of the stuff about witches on TV right?” Emma shot back.
“No,” Anna said, staring down at the table.
“The lawyer stuff’s all wrong too,” Meaghan added, trying to make Anna feel better.
Anna and Emma, Meaghan learned, were fraternal twins and, despite the squabbling, inseparable. They borrowed Russ’s car and drove home to pick up their own car and some of their younger brother’s clothes for Caleb. When Meaghan asked why they couldn’t zap themselves home, they told her that materializing out of thin air, like the witches had done on their initial arrival in the kitchen, took a lot of magic. They only traveled that way in dire emergencies.
Meaghan didn’t ask about brooms. In her experience, something that stereotypical had to be wrong.
Meaghan put clean sheets on the guest bed, while Russ scrounged up a new toothbrush and found a T-shirt and gym shorts for Caleb to use as pajamas. By this point, Caleb swayed with weariness. Lynette helped him into the oversized clothes and tucked him into bed. She even kissed him on the forehead.
Within moments he was out cold. Lynette and Marnie put up protective spells. Russ made coffee and Marnie took the first watch.
It was now well past midnight. Meaghan was exhausted, the surge of adrenaline that cleared away the tequila long gone.
And still Matthew slept on.
Meaghan had a few things to wrap up before she could go to bed. She sat around the kitchen table with Russ and Lynette as they assessed their next steps.
“It’s horrible,” Lynette said. “That poor boy. He’s covered in bruises and scars. They did even worse than starve him.” She shook her head. “He is not going back to them.”
“No,” Meaghan said. “Of course he isn’t. And at this point, I’m not sure we could get him to go even if we wanted him to. Between you and the food, I think we made a big impression. I thought you were gonna read him a bedtime story after you tucked him in and kissed him goodnight.”
With a snort of laughter, Russ got up and poured himself a mug of coffee. He could drink the stuff any time day or night and sleep like a baby, Meaghan remembered. If she drank coffee at this hour, even as tired as she was, she’d be awake all night.