I made it to the street corner before Jared caught up with me.
“She owns me, Ellie.” He stepped in front of me. “The store, the building, everything. I sold her a fake relic and she bought out my entire life.”
“So, you thought, what? You’d trade your life for mine?” I bumped him with my shoulder as I brushed past. “You’re a real gentleman, Adams. A regular fucking hero.”
“I had plenty of opportunities to hand you over. She’d already have you if that’s what I wanted.” Jared called after me but didn’t give chase. “You can’t run. You can’t hide. Not on your own. She’ll find you.”
“Good.” I hitched my backpack up on my shoulder and kept walking.
Jared flashed in front of me, blocking my route of escape. “Good?”
“At least then I’ll have a shot at saving Pru. Now move.” I tried to push him out of the way with little success.
Jared let out a sarcastic laugh. “You have no idea who she is or what she’s capable of. You’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.”
“You’re right. I don’t. That might have something to do with the fact you’ve been lying and working against me this whole time.” I shoved him again, putting what little magic I had behind it.
Which turned out, for once, to be quite a lot.
Jared flew backward, tumbling into the dumpster on the other side of the parking lot. The result was unexpected but rather than question the power surge, I seized the opportunity and got the hell out of there. Cauldron Crafts was only a few blocks away. Which meant I was only a few blocks away from my truck.
I’m not big on running – unless it was from my problems. My lungs and muscles burned but I kept pushing. I ran like my life depended on it because for once it actually did. Cutting through Crescent Park shortened the trip by a quarter mile. The old carousel came in to view as I rounded the last corner. A large swath of grass, half a dozen picnic tables, and several city trash cans were all that separated me from my truck. I slowed to a jog, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention from the park’s nighttime inhabitants. For the most part my neighbors left me alone and I was all too happy to return the favor.
But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t rat you out for a hot meal or a quick fix.
The park benches were deserted. Not entirely unusual given the average nighttime temperature but my senses were on high alert. Something felt off. I reached around and unzipped the small pocket on my backpack and fished out my keys, clenching my fist around all but one key. With the ignition key between my index and middle finger, I had a makeshift dagger and a small amount of confidence. I widened my stride, cutting across the park on a diagonal, and hopped the small boxwood hedge lining the sidewalk to shave precious seconds off my time.
No one jumped out of the shadows but I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was watching, waiting for the right time to grab me and hand me over to Helene. Landing in her clutches now would end any chance I had of saving Pru. The next time I saw the witch I wanted it to be on my terms, when I was ready.
But I was far from ready and the clock was ticking.
A single lane of asphalt was all that separated me from my truck. “Your rust and bald tires never looked so good.” I ran a hand along the faded paint. “You’re going to start on the first try and we’re going to drive out of here, okay?” The pep talk was as much for me as it was my truck.
“You missed our appointment.” A man’s voice came from behind a tree by the parking pace two spots over.
“Shit.” Startled, I dropped the keys while trying to unlock the truck door. I’d never coveted a key fob more than in that moment.
“You never miss an appointment.” Shadows from the tree’s canopy blocked his face as he stepped out onto the sidewalk but I recognized his voice.
“Sam? What are you doing here?” I bent down to grab my keys.
That was a classic b-horror movie mistake.
Sam closed the distance between us and backed me up against the driver’s side door. “You missed our appointment. I waited.”
“Our appointment isn’t until Friday. It’s only Tues....” I looked up at the brightening sky. “It’s Wednesday. How long have you been here? Is something wrong?”
Of course, something’s wrong. There is nothing right about a man you barely know waiting in the dark for you to show up. I noticed Sam’s eyes, glazed over with a white film typical of someone being ridden by dark magic about the same time I decided it was time for my least favorite exercise – running.
But it was too late for that.
Sam grabbed me by the neck and squeezed. The pressure built from my esophagus to the back of my eyes. I sucked in what little air I could and prayed to the Goddess I had enough energy to zap his ass like I had Jared.
It would have been a great plan if my magic wasn’t hit or miss.
I came up empty in the magical department but I wasn’t emptyhanded. Jabbing a client in the neck with your car keys isn’t good for business but desperate times called for desperate measures. I stabbed him once behind the collar bone and once in the neck before he loosened his grip. After the third puncture in the shoulder he let me go. The white haze over his eyes melted away, along with the black magic that had been cast on him.
I slid down the truck, still gasping for air, until I my ass hit the pavement and broke my fall. Fueled by adrenaline, I dropped to my stomach, rolled under the truck, and popped out the other side.
“Where am I?” Sam’s brow was furrowed, his fingers coming away covered in blood as he touched the spot on his neck where I stabbed him. “What’s going on? Ellie? Is that you?”
I nodded, raising my arms slowly as if held at gun point and stepping under the streetlight. “It’s okay, Sam.”
“What are you doing? Were you trying to rob me?” He started to pat himself down, checking for his personal items when he noticed the red marks on my neck. His gaze shifted from me to his hands and back again. “I did that to you.”
“It’s okay.” I lied. Again. None of it was okay. “I won’t press charges. Just... just go home, Sam. I’m not going to call the cops. Just go home.”
Taking care not to startle him, I kept my movements slow, unlocking the passenger side door and climbing inside. After locking the door behind me, I slid across the bench seat, started the truck and shifted into reverse. Still in a fog from the spell, Sam didn’t move. I tried one last time to get him to move.
“Sam, I will back this truck right over your feet. Go home.” I didn’t know what or who Sam had waiting at home for him or what would happen when he got there for that matter but I didn’t care. We all had our problems.
Mine started with a capital h – Helene.
Most witches would have cast a spell and wiped his memory of the whole thing. I wasn’t most witches. I was barely a witch by most witches’ standards. So, instead of bewitching him, Sam and I had a hellish two minutes neither of us would forget.
“I... I’m sorry.” For once, he actually heeded my advice and hauled ass.
So did I.
With no destination in mind, I made a right on Arbor Street and drove until the engine sputtered, the arrow pointing at the E of the gas gauge mocking me. After shifting into neutral, I drifted into a truck stop parking lot off Highway 9 and pushed my old rust bucket the rest of the way to the fuel pump.
Out of gas and out of time, I needed a plan – and fast. Pru didn’t have long and if Helene’s actions were any indication, neither did I.
Chapter Nine
After grabbing a spare tarot deck from the glove compartment, I sat on the tailgate and shuffled the cards while my truck guzzled down gasoline. I never read my cards. Ever. It was an unwritten reader’s rule. Knowing your future clouded your judgment and the ability to see the future of others.
But rules were meant to be broken.
A traditional Celtic Cross was the go-to for my regular readings but I wasn’t looking to shed light on all of my problems. I had way too many iss
ues for that. Specific situations call for specific spreads and in my case I needed the Star Guide.
Eight cards.
Not one of them had the answer I needed. I reshuffled the deck and tried again with the same results. So, I tried again and again, hoping for a different reading, but nothing changed. Present situation – sucked. Cause of conflict or obstacle – obvious. Helene. Changes needed in order to overcome obstacles – me. Strength – magic. Doubtful. Other challenges – Jared.
Final outcome – completely screwed.
The gas pump beeped, alerting me that the tank was full just in time to prevent gas from overflowing. I scooped up my cards, wrapped them back up in the swath of crushed velvet, and shoved them in my jacket pocket for safekeeping until I got back in the truck.
“Isn’t there a rule about reading your own cards?” Jared stepped out from behind the adjoining gas pump. “Not that I’ve ever cared about playing by the rules.”
How did he find me so fast? Not that it mattered. If Jared was there, Helene wasn’t far behind. Jared was right – and so were the cards. I couldn’t beat her. Not at her own game. I had one card left to play if I wanted to get my sister back.
“Drop the flirty, bad boy act, Jared. We both know why you’re here.” Resigned to my fate, I steeled my spine and made an offer. “I have something your boss wants and I’m willing to trade it for Prudence.”
“There’s only one thing Helen wants.” Jared shook his head. “Don’t play dumb, Ellie. It doesn’t suit you. You want to get Prudence back? Handing yourself over isn’t going to accomplish that.”
“She turned Sam into some sort of zombie looking thing and sent him after me. He tried to strangle me in front of your store. So, yeah, trading myself for Pru seems like the best option.” I pulled the lock of hair out of my pocket. “You should have held on to this. You can’t make me do anything. Not anymore. You’ve been working for her this whole time. Why should I listen to you?”
“I don’t want you to do anything accept listen.” Jared rubbed his jaw. “You throw a hell of a punch by the way. Wait—who the hell is Sam?”
“A regular. He gets a reading every week. She sent him to kill me.” I pointed to the bruises on my neck.
“But he didn’t.” One corner of Jared’s mouth turned up in a wry grin. “Oh, I bet Helene is pissed. That little spell cost her.”
“Little spell? Maybe I hit you harder than I thought.” I shook my head. “I had to stab him with my keys, Jared. More than once. I can’t fight murderous mind control spells with a right hook. I can’t trust you. Which shouldn’t have come as a surprise but it did. So, there you go. Would you just make the call so I can make the trade?”
“She’ll kill you and keep Prudence.” Jared’s tone brooked no argument.
Not that I’ve ever let that stop me.
“You don’t know that.” I walked around to the driver’s side of the truck. “If you won’t call her, I’ll just head back to Crescent Park. One of Helene’s goons is bound to show up looking for me. Maybe they’ll take me to her.”
“Maybe they’ll finish what your friend Sam started.” Jared opened the passenger side door and climbed in without waiting for an invitation.
Which made sense because I had no intention of offering one.
“He’s a client. Not a friend.” I snapped, mocking the emphasis Jared put on the word. “Now get out of my truck.”
“Defiant right to the end. And it will be your end, Ellie.” Jared got out and slammed the door. “By the way, Helene is your cousin. Twice removed or something. Your family tree has a lot of branches. Oh, and she killed your mother.”
“Playing on the foster kid’s desperation for information about her family? That’s low, Jared, even for you. For the record, I outgrew that dream years ago.” I got in the truck and started the engine, keeping one eye on Jared in the side mirror as I drove off in the direction of Highway 9.
He’s lying. He has to be lying. But oh, Goddess, what if he isn’t?
I cut the wheel, bald tires squealing against the pavement in protest as I turned around in the middle of the road and headed back to the truck stop for Jared. I pulled up to the same pump where I’d left him and rolled the window down. “Get in.”
“Glad you came to your senses.” Jared settled into the passenger seat, pulling the seatbelt across his chest and fastening it into place like it would permanently secure his position by my side.
“Worried we’ll get down the road and I’ll try to toss you out of a moving vehicle?” I asked, only half joking.
“The thought crossed my mind.” He leaned forward and fiddled with the heat.
“Jared, I swear to the Goddess, stop messing with my truck and tell me what you know about Helene or I will show you exactly what I did to Sam – and I actually liked him.”
“Calm down—.”
“In your experience, when has telling a woman to calm down actually helped the situation?” I asked, jerking the wheel to the right as I tore out of the parking lot and headed back toward the highway.
“Probably never.” Jared laughed as he turned in the seat to face me. “Like I was saying, you and Helene are related. You’re both named after the same ancestor. Well, some variation of Ellen’s name anyway. A true family of witches. That’s pretty rare. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but over the last three centuries we’ve become a solitary bunch.”
“Witch hunts will do that to you.” I muttered. “I thought you said people brought their kids to you for lessons?”
One corner of his mouth upturned in a lopsided grin at my offhand comment. “They do but that’s not the same as a coven. Now, I’m not indoctrinated in coven culture, having never been in one myself, but from what I’ve read, magic is evenly distributed between members. It’s all about the balance, the order of things.” He paused a beat, waiting to see if I was following along. Accepting my nod as confirmation, he continued with his story. “Communal witches. It sounds great, right?” Jared shook his head as if the exact opposite were true. “I’m sure it was for a while but that’s too much power in one place. Inquisitions weren’t the only thing destroying covens. Witches were doing it to themselves.”
“Not that this isn’t a fascinating history lesson but what does this have to do with me and Helene?” I flicked the turn signal on and merged into traffic with no destination in mind.
“I’m getting to that. Where are we going?” Jared asked as he reached down and pulled an old leather-bound book out of his backpack.
“Nowhere in particular. I just thought it would be better not to stay in one place until we had a plan.” I spared a glance in his direction before focusing on the road again.
“Good idea.” He set the book between us on the bench seat, resting a hand on its cover. “A few years ago, I came across an old grimoire. It was filled with spells – old ones. Even the margins had scribblings in them. Most of them were variations of spell and curses I was already familiar with but there was one I’d never seen before.”
“And?” I prompted when he seemed to drift off in his own thoughts.
“It’s black magic, Ellie.” Jared’s shudder sent chills up my spine. He practiced black magic and the spell gave him pause. That wasn’t a good sign. “It wasn’t crafted with ill intent but in the wrong hands, in Helene’s hands, it is the most dangerous spell I’ve ever seen.”
I was almost too afraid to ask. “What does it do?”
“Takes the power from one witch and gives it to another.” He picked up the tome and opened the front cover. “That’s not the worst part.”
“How is that not the worst part? I didn’t know someone could do that. Why would you do that?” The stream of consciousness poured from my mouth as I tried to process what he said.
“It’s part of a funeral rite. When a witch died the coven would perform the ritual and the magic would be redistributed within the community.”
“Like a magical recycling program?” I asked.
“Yeah
, exactly. Except Helene didn’t want to wait for Mother Nature to take her course.” Jared rested a hand on the open grimoire.
“Holy Hecate. She’s killing witches and consuming their power.” I checked the side mirrors to be sure we weren’t followed as a wave of paranoia washed over me.
“But that’s not the worst—.”
“Goddess, Jared. How much worse does it get? Quit dragging it out and get to the damned point.” Nerves and a healthy dose of fear made my palms sweat and driving difficult.
“You’re the last witch she needs to kill.” Jared braced against the dash as I slammed on the brakes. “We’re in the middle of the highway, Ellie.”
My breaths came in quick shallow bursts as I bordered on hyperventilating. “Prudence?”
“I think Prudence was dreamwalking, stumbled onto something about you, and chased it. Helene found her first.” Jared cleared his throat. “Ellie, we’re still in the middle of the road.”
A tractor trailer blew by on the right with his air horn blaring. I moved my foot from the brake to the gas and veered us off to the shoulder.
“And my... mother?” I choked on the word, terrified he would confirm what I knew in my heart – Helene killed her.
“It’s just a theory but I think she gave you up before Helene...” Jared noticed the color draining from my face, grabbed a half empty bottle of water that rolled out from under the seat and made me drink it. “The stuff we were working on back at my shop, it was more than just teaching you rudimentary magic. I needed to see if I was right.”
“Right about what?” I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth, catching an errant drop of water.
“You’re in a bind.” Jared took the empty bottle of water and shoved it in the door pocket.
“Um, I’m not the only one.” I waved a finger between us and chuckled. “If I’m in a bind so are you.”
“Not in a bind, like bad situation, although technically that does apply here, in a bind.” Jared emphasized the words, slowing his speech down as if that would help me decode. At my blank expression he sighed. “Your magic is blocked. Someone, I can only assume it was your mother, cast a spell to put a knot in your aura choking off your power. Except in your case it was more of a kink than a knot since you’ve been leaking magic.”
Any Witch Way You Can Page 6