Witch's Potion

by Laura Greenwood

  “I can’t touch my mate. I don’t want anyone else to touch me, so it kind of leaves me lonely.”

  “Oh Faye,” Bex said, rushing forward and pulling her youngest sister towards her, wrapping her up in her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You had your own things going on. You were with Robert, and planning the wedding, and really it’s not new that I can’t touch Reese. We’re kind of used to it by now.”

  “That doesn’t mean that you needed to have gone through that alone. We would have been there for you the moment you needed us.” Bex smoothed a hand along Faye’s back and the blonde woman let out a sob before regaining her composure.

  “Can we talk about this later?” she asked, sniffing. “Let’s figure out where Mia’s got to first.” The worry in the pit of Felix’s stomach took hold again now that the focus was back on his mate.

  “We need to find her,” he said, a finality in his tone that really couldn’t be denied. Or it could be, but it wouldn’t end very well for anyone that tried. Which surprised him, he wasn’t normally so bloody minded, but this time he was.

  “I agree. Something is really not right,” Reagan added.

  “I thought you said I’d stop this by marrying Robert?” Bex probably should have sounded angry at that, but she didn’t. Instead, it just sounded like she was sad.

  “I think it will help, I just don’t know how,” Reagan tried to explain. “But for now, I think we need to follow Felix.” All three women looked at him, and he was suddenly rather self-conscious about himself.

  “Why me?” he whispered.

  “You’re her mate, you feel a bond right?” He nodded. He wasn’t quite sure what he felt was a bond, but there was definitely something, and he was pretty sure it connected him to Mia.

  “I can follow it?”

  “You should be able to,” Reagan answered. “Just focus inwards on it and let instinct do the rest.” He did what she suggested, and honed in on a slightly glowing centre within himself. To his surprise, he found a pale blue ball of sparks marking up a lattice of willow leaves. Outwardly, he smiled. He supposed that was the perfect combination of him and Mia. It made sense that that was what their bond looked like. Guess there was no doubt that they were truly meant to be.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mia tried to kick Skyler in the shins but struggled. While she may have agreed to go with him, she hadn’t expected for him to grab her around the waist and all but hoist her over his shoulder, it was a wonder that no one had noticed him doing it. Then again, there were other things about him that made her think that he had some kind of magic of his own, or at least access to someone that did. It probably wasn’t too difficult to have someone else making potions for him, but the other stuff seemed little more implausible. Yet he gave off no sense of magic, and she’d certainly not seen anything that looked like him using it.

  “Let me go, Skyler.” She tried to draw on her magic, but something was blocking it, confusing her all the more. No one had the power to do that as far as she knew. Not even necromancers, and their magic worked differently than witches and other paranormals, something to do with the life and death magic, she didn’t really understand if she was honest.

  “You said you’d come with me, Amelia.” Eurgh, she hated that he was using her full name. Why was he doing that? She hardly ever used it herself, her friends definitely called her Mia, as did her family unless she was in trouble.

  “Where are you even taking me?” She was still trying to kick his shins, and started wriggling around in order to try and loosen his grip too. Not that it was working, he was surprisingly strong.

  “Nowhere that concerns you.” She shivered, not liking the sound of that at all, and began chanting Felix’s name in her head. She knew it wouldn’t do anything. Not even mates could communicate telepathically between themselves, never mind ones that had only known each other less than twenty-four hours. Even so, the sound of his name in her head was helping her cope with the situation, and giving her a little bit more strength to carry on. Not that it was doing anything to solve the magic issue. She still couldn’t access it, which was increasing her worry by the second.

  He bundled her into the trunk of a car, her arms and legs scrunching up in the small space, and she struggled against him more, failing miserably as her magic refused to come yet again. Without it, there was no way that she could fight against his larger size and strength. As the trunk slammed shut, leaving her with a lingering view of Skyler’s sadistic grin branded in her head, Mia tried to avoid the panic that was about to set in. She couldn’t let it. If she did, then she was as good as dead. Or drained. Or whatever the hell else Sklyer wanted with her. At this rate, he’d be tying her to a stake and preparing to burn her. Well that was a cheery thought. Mia scolded herself, hating that she was having such dark musings. A tear began to slide down her face as she considered her sisters, and Felix, who’d she’d left behind. What if she never saw them again? No. She wasn’t going to go there. She couldn’t go there. No way was she one of those people who found and lost their mate within a day. She refused to be that helpless.

  She breathed in and out slowly, trying to regain her composure. Mia was not a damsel in distress. It wasn’t a role that suited her in the slightest. The car started to move, the low rumbling of the engine vibrating through Mia. She crossed her fingers and hoped that he wouldn’t go far. She’d heard that mates could follow the bond between them, but didn’t know how far that bond would stretch. And she definitely didn’t want to test it. She’d just have to hope Felix wasn’t far behind. If he even knew that she was in trouble. No. Stop it. She couldn’t think like that if she was going to get through this.

  The journey seemed to last forever, but it was probably only a matter of ten minutes, probably even less. She had no way of telling without her phone, which was abandoned in the clutch bag she’d left somewhere at the reception along with her Grandma’s necklaces. Horror filled her as she realised that she hadn’t put hers on yet. And now that she was sure that it had something to do with meeting her mate, she really wanted to be wearing it, she thought that it might make her feel closer to Felix and the bond that the two of them already shared. Well, hopefully already shared. Weird how she’d gone from not recognising what was between them, to wanting the bond to be real enough that she could touch it.

  At a complete loss for what else to do, Mia focused inwards, trying to centre herself on the place that her magic lived, or at the very least where she imagined it lived. It was all very complex and, for some reason that completely baffled her, witches just didn’t talk about their magic. Just like they didn’t talk about their familiars, the loss of which was really stinging Mia at the moment. She was alone, and she was in trouble, Squeak should be here and yet he wasn’t. A sure sign that something was very very wrong.

  The trunk of the car opened, letting the cold night air surround Mia and chilling her to the bone. She shivered, and it was enough to distract her as Skyler hoisted her into his arms. Once she was there, she began to struggle again, but like before, Skyler had to upper body strength not to be fazed by it. Though she did wonder where he got it from. Maybe he wasn’t as human as she thought.

  He carried her through the corrugated iron door that led into what looked like a warehouse. A warehouse that looked worryingly like the ones that always seemed to show up in horror movies whenever someone was kidnapped. Great, she was going to end up murdered in a warehouse on the day of her sister’s fake wedding. Not the end that she’d ever had in mind.

  The interior was dim, lit only by a few waning light bulbs that seemed not to be getting enough electricity to actually be making any light. All it did was add to the ominous feel of the place. She really hoped that Felix came soon. Or that her magic returned. Either of those possibilities would make her feel less alone and more like she could get out of this alive.

  From her position in Skyler’s arms, she could make out desks, and even what looked like an operating table, no
t a good sign. He turned left, his footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent warehouse. Don’t panic. Panicking would get no one anywhere.

  One of Skyler’s arms loosened, and she considered making a break for it, but not knowing where she was, and wearing a bridesmaid dress and high heels, she didn’t imagine that she’d get very far. It was better to wait for a more convenient moment to make her escape. Plus, if she was where she thought she was, then she might be able to find out what had happened to Robert’s daughter.

  With his spare hand, Skyler opened a solid looking metal door, much like the ones that Mia saw on TV whenever a character was unlucky enough to end up visiting prison. He threw her into the room, and he sprawled to the floor, scraping her knees as she did, a sharp ripping sound letting her know that her dress was also ruined. It was a shame, but she guessed that tonight wouldn’t be one she wanted to remember anyway.

  “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, Amelia. Sleep well.” His voice was cold, chilling her even more. He slammed the metal door slammed shut behind him, leaving her alone in the gloom.

  Or at least she thought she was alone. Mia looked up slowly and her eyes met the wide brown ones of a frightened child. Guess she’d just discovered what they’d done with Robert’s daughter. She scrambled to her feet, kicking off her heels, she didn’t need them here anyway, and made her way slowly towards the frightened little girl. She crouched down slowly and looked into her eyes, holding out her hands to show that she wasn’t anyone to be scared of.

  “Hi, I’m Mia,” she said softly, trying not to spook her. “What’s your name?”

  “Fiona,” the little girl said.

  “I’m here to keep you safe now, Fiona, is that okay?” The little girl nodded her head, and Mia held out her arms. Without a second thought, Fiona buried into them, and Mia closed her arms around her. They’d made a grave mistake in putting her in the same room as the child; now she had even more reason to get free.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Felix slammed on the breaks of the car as he passed a small dirt track off to the left. He wasn’t sure what it was that made him certain he needed to turn down it, but now wasn’t the time to question that. Now was the time to act first, then think about it later and hope to God that he got to Mia before anything too bad happened. Whatever too bad might be.

  A warehouse loomed up ahead and he brought the car to an abrupt stop, causing Faye to press her hands against the dashboard in an attempt to keep herself steady.

  “You need to calm down,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Would you be any different if Reese was in trouble?” he threw back, the silence on her part being enough to tell him that she knew he was telling the truth. She’d be exactly the same, if not worse because their bond had had longer to form itself, even if they couldn’t touch.

  He opened his door, and jumped from the car, vaguely aware that Faye was doing the same on her side. It was just the two of them, Bex and Reagan had stayed at the wedding to hold down the fort, and to try and extract Robert from whatever trouble he’d managed to get himself into. Felix had tried to get Faye to stay too, not wanting to put her in danger, but she’d soon pointed out that he had no combative powers of his own, and would probably need a witch with him if he stood a chance of getting Mia back.

  “Fancy giving us a light?” he asked. He didn’t mind the dark, but this was kind of eerie, and he hated the thought of Mia being here, especially if she was alone. He was freaked out enough, and he hadn’t been carted off by a crazy witch hunter.

  “I can’t.” She sounded as if she was almost in pain, and he glanced back at her to dimly make out the shape of her clicking her fingers.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know, something’s blocking me.” Her attention wavered from her fingers, and her eyes met Felix’s. Even in the dark he could see them widen, as if she’d had the same thought that he had. If Faye couldn’t use her magic, then Mia wouldn’t be able to use hers either. And if she couldn’t, then chances were she had no way of defending herself. He knew full well that she didn’t have any weapons stashed under her bridesmaid’s dress, and he doubted that Faye did either.

  In the same instant, they broke eye contact and began running towards the warehouse.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Something was about to change, and she didn’t quite know what. But the tingle in the air, and at her fingertips, had her pushing Fiona behind her in a weak attempt to protect her. It likely wouldn’t do much if it was Sklyer coming, and it definitely wouldn’t if he wasn’t alone. But she had to at least try. If not, then she’d blame herself for as long as she lived. Not that she was going to live long if where she was now was any indication. The medical tables worried her, especially the fact that they were out in the open and not closed off by curtains like they would be in a hospital. She shivered. Hopefully whatever was blocking her magic would fail and she’d be able to use it again. Maybe then she’d stand a chance of saving herself and Fiona. Though maybe not. Her magic was hardly worthy of the name after all.

  “What’s happening?” The little girl’s voice shook, sounding even more panicked because of the childish lisp that she seemed to have. If Mia had to guess, she’d probably say Fiona was four or five, but she’d never really had much to do with children before, so had no way of knowing. But however old she was, she was still too young to be away from her parents. Or to have seen the horrors that she clearly had by being locked in a cell.

  Anger bubbled up inside Mia, building up in a way that wasn’t completely dissimilar than how it had with Felix earlier. Except that this wasn’t fuelled by desire. This was fuelled by the knowledge that Skyler not only wasn’t what he seemed, but that he also didn’t have any sense of human decency. He couldn’t have if this was what he did to a child.

  She glanced down and noticed a lone blue spark leaping off one of her fingers. Now that was more like it. She focused on her magic, and more sparks joined the first, her hands now almost dancing with them. She didn’t think she’d ever felt this powerful before. Taking care that she wouldn’t accidentally catch the little girl, she sent the sparks towards the door, instructing them to unlock. Not that that was what happened. Instead, the door flew off it’s hinges, crashing into the wall opposite the prison she’d been kept in. If being kept there for less than a few hours actually counted as being locked in. Whatever the logistics of it, there was now an open doorway for Mia and the little girl to go through. Which might not be the best plan if there were other people waiting on the other side, but anything was better than staying here in the dark.

  With her magic buzzing, Mia lit a ball of light, making the dark room glow an eerie blue. Mia shivered. If she hadn’t already been unnerved then she would be now. She held her free hand out to Fiona, who took it in hers, and walked slowly towards the door. She peered each way, trying to check for anyone that might be lurking, but saw no one. It didn’t surprise her much. There hadn’t been anyone about when Skyler had brought her here and left again, and it hadn’t been that long really.

  “Mia?” the little girl asked, sounding like she was about to cry. Mia squeezed her hand, but shook her head, hoping that was enough to offer some comfort, but also the need to stay quiet. Fiona nodded her head and held a finger to her lips in an exaggerated move.

  The two of them crept forward, surprisingly quietly to say that one of them was a small child. Mia looked around her again, trying to keep up on whether there was anyone about to take them off guard. Her magic seemed to be holding for the moment, but knowing her, it could short out at any point. It wasn’t like she’d ever managed to use it for this long before without something going wrong.

  A shadow crossed the open door of the warehouse, and Mia tugged sharply on Fiona’s hand, making the little girl cry out in surprise before clapping one of her pudgy hands over her mouth.

  “It’s okay,” Mia whispered, knowing that she needed to keep the girl quiet, and that panic over the one sound wasn’t the way to do
that. “We just have to be even quieter now. I need to turn out the light, okay?” The little girl nodded, and with a large amount of regret, Mia extinguished her ball of magic, hoping that she’d be able to get it back when she needed it. If this was a one time occurrence, then she was going to be kicking herself later.

  Mia crouched down, and gestured for the two of them to creep from one desk to another. Maybe if they could get to the front door, they could sneak out around the back. She supposed that then they’d have the problem of actually getting back to her sister’s wedding, and the even bigger problem of explaining a dirty and withdrawn child, but she’d worry about that when the time came.

  The shadow moved forward, splitting into two and dread filled Mia’s stomach. No way could she take two of them, especially with her untrained magic. And even more so while she had a child to keep safe. Which meant that really she needed to confront them while Fiona wasn’t close.

  “Stay here,” she whispered, and Fiona nodded, slipping one of her thumbs into her mouth. Damn, being around a child was making Mia kind of broody. But no way was she ready for parenthood. Though maybe now she’d met Felix it wouldn’t be as far off as she first thought.

  She stood up, walking as quietly as she could towards the two figures. When she was a few metres away from where Fiona was hiding, she summoned her magic again, not trying to form it into a ball this time, but instead letting the sparks crackle out like lightening, filling the room with pale blue flashes. There was a feminine squeal, which surprised her, there’d been no women around when Skyler had arrived with her.

  She cracked her magic again, letting the room light up, but this time something caught her attention and didn’t let go. There was a familiar sent in the air, like an autumn breeze coming in through the trees. Something about it soothed her, and her magic began to wane. Which couldn’t be happening. How the hell was Mia going to get out of here if her magic failed? It wasn’t as if she had any self defence skills to fall back on. Maybe she should do something about that.