A Witch’s Demons (Witch's Path Series: Book 6)

by N. E. Conneely

  She shrugged. “Depends on the individual in question, but typically no. But right now I need help and can’t pay.”

  “Right. You know Landa’s Lodge?” When she nodded, I continued. “Good. Show up around seven, or a little before. Ask for Burly. If you want to be prepared, read up on the exploited individual’s reintegration program.”

  She gave me a wary look. “What?”

  “If you want help, I recommend being at Landa’s Lodge at seven. Ask for Burly, and mention that you’re a dairy farmer who needs help. That’s all I can do for you.” Well, she didn’t need to know it, but I’d prep Landa and Burly for her arrival. After that it was up to her. If she could accept that a minotaur was a nice guy who wanted a dairy farm, well, they could have a good partnership.

  “All right. Thanks.” She shook my hand. “And thanks for fixing my field.”

  “No problem. Good luck tonight.”

  She watched me drive off like she couldn’t decide if getting rid of me was the best thing that had ever happened to her or the worst. I really hoped she came to the lodge because I could see real potential for her and Burly, but in the end it was up to them. I couldn’t make it happen.

  When I got back to the lodge, I quickly searched out Landa. She was in the parlor, dusting. When I was a child, I’d loved watching her dust. At four feet tall, she couldn’t physically reach most of the areas that needed cleaning. Being a brownie, her height made little difference. Knickknacks, clocks, and coasters floated off the surface, and a duster scooted under them. The next group of items rose up into the air, and the previous ones set down. Her process hadn’t changed a bit over the years, but now I didn’t spend all day with her while my mom worked.

  I had to call her name twice, but once I got her attention, the conversation went rather well. Since I wasn’t willing to lie to her, I had to explain how I’d ended up in the farmer’s field. She took that better than I’d expected, but we still spent nearly an hour talking. Not only would Landa keep an eye on Becca during her meeting with Burly, but she would add additional protections to the lodge. The more I talked through things, the more this felt like last time. A demon on the loose and attacks that could be random but weren’t. She would do her best to ensure the residents of the lodge were safe.

  When I finally escaped, I deposited my things in my apartment and went looking for Burly. My first guess turned out to be right. The minotaur, with his large bovine head, deep brown fur, and hoofed feet, was in the back garden with Ty. Even though Ty looked alive, if oddly colored for a T. rex, he was a magical construct that had taken a liking to me. The feeling was very mutual. He’d saved my butt on several occasions, and he was really fun to be around.

  Ty nosed the giant ball back at Burly and trotted over. He gently nudged my chest.

  “You are such a good boy.” I scratched his cheek and he rumbled contentedly. “Hey, Burly. How are you?”

  Burly walked over, dark brown fur shining in the sunlight. He looked at me with chocolate eyes. “As well as can be expected.”

  “How are the reintegration classes going?” I was rather sure I knew the answer, but I didn’t want to force the issue.

  He scraped a hoof on the ground. “Few people are accepting of a minotaur, especially one with my history.”

  “Your history?” I objected. “You were a slave who risked his life to help not only me but a group of police officers.”

  His nostrils flared. “The places I have tried to obtain work see a monster. If minotaurs were more common here, it might be different…”

  Ty nosed me, and I quickly resumed scratching him. “I might have a job for you. It would depend on the reintegration group doing their part and paying some of your wages, but it’s a start.”

  “I don’t want charity,” he rumbled.

  “It’s not,” I said firmly. “There’s a farmer who lives just down the road. She got a lemon of a property and needs help managing her herds. She’s got beef and dairy cows. She wants to be a dairy farmer. She can’t pay, or at least not much, which is where the reintegration group comes in.”

  “Human?”

  I nodded.

  He shook his head. “Humans are afraid of me.”

  “Not all of them.” I held up a hand to stop further protest. “She’ll be here at seven tonight. Meet her, see what you think.”

  “Fine. But I don’t expect anything to come of it.”

  “Of course.” I kept my true feelings to myself. Becca had impressed me, and I had a feeling she and Burly would find themselves in a case of mutual admiration. However, Becca was only one of the reasons I’d come to see Burly. “Do you know if Ned was working with anyone, anyone I didn’t see while I was there?”

  Burly scratched his chin. “Well, I had the feeling he had a benefactor. Don’t know who. I heard him mutter about a guy named Hayato once. No idea who that is though.”

  “Anything else?”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Michelle. I’d help if I could. He kept me in the maze. He never liked it if I was around his home or the snails.”

  I could understand Ned’s concern—an area with a lot of snails and big feet made it difficult to move around without injuring the little creatures. However, Ned’s pet snails had been big. Really big, like a foot long. No one was going to casually step on them, not even a minotaur of Burly’s size.

  “Thanks. Good luck meeting Becca.”

  Burly nodded. “I appreciate the help.”

  “Anytime.” I rubbed Ty’s nose, and Burly clomped back to the lodge. I really hoped his meeting with Becca went well. It would be good for both of them. Giving Ty a kiss on the cheek and a promise to come play soon, I headed inside.

  Thanks to Burly, I had a name that could help with the investigation. I wasn’t really sure what to do with the information though. Usually I’d call Wells, give him the tip, and he’d give me something in return, like information on this Hayato and if Tiffany had any dealings with him. But with people at the department suspicious of my involvement, I wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. I trusted Wells, but he had a job to do, and that could very well include investigating me.

  I flopped onto my couch and wished for more information. Anything I told Wells could get back to the medical examiner who suspected me, and I wasn’t in a position to request that Wells keep secrets. For one thing, it was generally a bad policy. For another, the more it looked like I didn’t want the medical examiner to know something, the more guilty I looked. The best thing I could do to combat any rumors the medical examiner had spread was to be honest, open, and generally live my life.

  Thinking through this over and over wasn’t doing me any good. Closing my eyes, I took a couple of steadying breaths and tried to clear my head. I couldn’t say it was totally successful, but it helped calm the swirling mess in my head. I refocused on the things I could do. I could disenchant more items. I sure had plenty of them. I could keep going through the books Ethel had lent me. I had lots of reading too. I could go through Varro’s notes for the umpteenth time and look for an answer there.

  The most useful of the options, and the one that kept this lovely roof over my head, was to get back to my actual job and deal with everything else in its own time. Even if I wanted to do everything now, it simply wasn’t possible.

  Opening my eyes, I saw the wall ripple. Leaping off the sofa, I twisted my wrist, the familiar weight of my wand settling into my hand.

  The wall ripped again and started to move.

  This was it. I’d spent so much time being reasonable, I’d lost my chance to get a jump on the demon. It was here, and it was going to kill me.

  Chapter Ten

  The wall rippled, then slid away from me. A haze replaced the place where the wall had been. It did funny things to my eyes, and I couldn’t look at it for long. The only thing I was sure of was that I couldn’t see through the haze. I knew the wall was moving because it almost seemed to be rotating, leaving part of it where it had been as the rest wen
t… Well, I didn’t know that part.

  I was ready to cast a spell, but I didn’t know what would fix the wall. I did the next best thing and put a shield around myself. Shields were always good, right?

  The hazy area started moving, edging forward until it was almost touching my dining room table. Pointing my wand, I put a shield around the table and chairs. Whatever the haze did in response to the shield would give me more information than I had now.

  The haze pressed against the shield but didn’t penetrate it. I started to feel better about my chances. Then in one gulp my table was gone, shield and all.

  I reached for the shield around the dining room table. I could still feel it, but it was a tenuous connection. My real concern was the haze. Swallowing the table had put it dangerously close to the front door. I could try to run for the door, but that would put me near enough that the haze could swallow me too. I glanced at the windows. Not only was I a lot closer to them, but the haze was on the other side of the room. The window exit was looking better and better.

  I started edging that way, keeping an eye on the moving wall and the haze. Wood-colored shapes were still shifting around, but they weren’t getting any closer. I seemed to be at a safe distance for the moment. I had to dismiss the shield to pull back the drapes, which was when a new set of ripples caught my eye. Only moments ago, bushes and flowers had been outside this window. Now there was a mound of hazy, moving green stuff.

  Great. I could stay in here and get swallowed by the haze, or I could risk going outside and be swallowed up by wavering greenery. I started swearing. Was it really too much for one day to go right? One day. That was all I was asking for. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable request.

  The haze started inching toward my couch. That was it. I was going out the window.

  My front door burst open, and Landa charged in, anger etched in every line of her face and fists clenched. She slid to a stop in the middle of the living room, braced her hands on her hips and snarled. “I told you to stop that nonsense!”

  The haze pulled back a couple of inches. The wall stopped moving, but I could still see it rippling, although more slowly. The strange ripples outside had decreased in frequency too.

  “Landa, what the hell is going on?”

  She ignored me. “You put it all back right now. I’ll tell you when you can move things, but not today, and not while Michelle is in here. You’ve frightened her, you daft pile of logs.”

  With an audible pop, everything was back where it should be. The bedroom wall was there again, and there wasn’t a ripple in sight. My dining room table, still encased in the shield, had returned, and the strange wavering outside was gone.

  “This is the third time,” Landa scolded. I had the feeling she was addressing the lodge, but other than the fact that the danger was over, I was still rather confused. “When I tell you, you can make a home for the two of them. When I tell you, and not one second sooner. I don’t care how nested they feel to you, it’s not your place. Do we understand each other?”

  The floor shivered.

  “Delightful. I expect we will not have this conversation again.”

  This time the lodge didn’t move.

  Landa gave a satisfied nod and turned to face me. “Oh, child, you’re white as a sheet.” She took my hand in hers. “Come to the kitchen with me. I’ll make you some tea—I think I have lemon scones—and I’ll explain.”

  “All right,” I muttered before dismissing the shield around the dining room table. Looking over my shoulder, I thought I saw the door to my bedroom slide six inches to the right. I blinked, trying to make sure this wasn’t all some strange trick of my eyes. The apartment door closed behind me, and I decided that after what I’d seen, it really didn’t matter if my bedroom door had moved.

  Before long I was settled in a chair at the island in the kitchen, a big pot of chamomile tea steeping, and two scones on a plate in front of me. When Landa was satisfied with how the tea had brewed, she poured me a cup. I grabbed it and let the warmth slide right over me. A good cup of tea had its own healing magic.

  I set down the cup. “Are you going to explain?”

  She cocked her head to the side, tips of her ears twitching, and held up a finger.

  Rather than asking what we were waiting on, I started eating a scone. Fresh, lemony, and the best part was nothing in the kitchen was moving in peculiar ways.

  Elron strode through the door. “Landa, why is the lodge upset? Was Michelle…” He changed course and swept me up in a bone-crushing hug. “Were you injured?”

  “I’m fine,” I wheezed.

  He loosened his grip. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” I said firmly. “And I’ll be even better when Landa explains what happened in my room.”

  After one more squeeze, he let me go and settled in the chair to my right.

  Landa’s gaze lingered on Elron before she focused on me. “The lodge is more interactive than most people believe.”

  I hastily swallowed the bite of scone that was in my mouth. “I’m listening.” And thinking about stories I’d heard as a child. Brownie buildings that looked to be a single room on the outside but held a castle’s worth of rooms inside.

  “It can tell that the two of you are preparing to settle down, and it’s trying to make a space for both of you.”

  “And how does it know that?” I raised an eyebrow.

  Landa flapped a hand. “Hardly important.”

  “While I disagree”—Elron grabbed one of my scones—“that is a topic we can revisit at a later date.”

  “Time to make space?” I asked. “Like moving rooms?”

  Landa sighed. “The lodge is nesting for you. Twice now I’ve caught it trying to rearrange Elron’s apartment. I told it to stop, but it didn’t listen. I’ll have another chat with it later tonight.”

  Elron had a thoughtful look on his face. “I have felt some frustration from the lodge while I was in my apartment, but nothing that would indicate it had moved anything.”

  “It is my lodge. No elf will get more information from it than I do.” Landa glared at him.

  Elron opened his mouth, but I interrupted. “Elron, I recommend abandoning this topic. You’re unlikely to succeed and very likely to irritate her.” I turned to Landa. “Thank you for the answers.”

  “Of course, child.” She smiled softly. “I can assure you the lodge will not attempt to alter your apartment again without permission from me.”

  “Thanks.” I glanced at my fiancé. “We haven’t talked about where we’ll live after the wedding.”

  Landa’s eyes darted between Elron and me. “Well, there’s a place here for the both of you if you wish to stay.”

  I leaned down and gave her a hug. “Thank you.”

  “Anytime, child.” Smiling, she stepped back.

  As I left the kitchen, I could hear Elron thanking Landa for the information before following me all the way back to my apartment. I walked in slowly. All the walls looked right, but that didn’t mean the rest of the apartment had been put back together properly. After checking on all the rooms, I had to admit everything was where it should be.

  The floor creaked as Elron approached me. I sighed heavily. “Hopefully your day was better than mine.”

  The look he gave me was full of concern. “It had its moments, but overall, as nothing attacked me, I cannot complain.”

  “Well, that makes one of us.” I headed for the kitchen. “I’m making hot chocolate. Would you like some?”

  “No, thank you.” His voice was carefully neutral.

  I couldn’t tell if I was more irritated at myself for being unable to cope with everything or him. “My day sucked. After you left for work, I found out the teapot is a morinji-no-okama, like the one that attacked me a while back. And the tree has been saturated with negative energy. Then I got to destroy Amber’s day. She’s going to see if I can attend the funeral. Then someone ran me off the road. And, to top off my day, when I got home and sim
ply wanted to relax, my apartment started rearranging itself.” I shoved a glass measuring cup full of water into the microwave.

  “You were run off the road?” Elron’s voice deepened.

  “But I’m fine. The car is fine. A police report has been filed. I’ve done everything I can.” The reassurances didn’t fix the worry in his eyes. “It happened so fast. I couldn’t get much information on the car. I hope they catch him.”

  Elron leaned forward. “Are you sure you were not injured?”

  “I’m fine.” This time there was an edge to my voice. “Just tired, and tired of being alone when these things happen.”

  The microwave beeped. I pulled out the cup of hot water and dumped in the chocolate mix. I might have stirred it a little too vigorously, but it didn’t bother the marshmallows cheerfully bobbing around.

  Elron came up beside me, took the mug from my hands, and turned me to face him. “You were alone in the car, but you are not alone. You are not facing all these things alone.”

  “But—”

  He set his finger across my lips. “No. There are no exceptions. I am here, with you, and I will never be anywhere else.”

  I wanted to say he didn’t understand, but I knew better. He’d lost his first wife to a demon. He’d lived through pain I couldn’t imagine. So I stood there, not knowing what to say, feeling lost and overwhelmed.

  My feelings didn’t even make sense to me. I knew what needed to be done, and I even had an idea of how to accomplish finding and killing the demon. But it didn’t matter. I kept thinking about Tiffany’s body, Amber’s tears, and my car flying through the air.

  “Come with me.” Elron took my hand and started walking out of the kitchen.

  I gave my hot chocolate a longing look. “Where are we going?”

  “Outside.”

  That wasn’t really the answer I’d been looking for, but I didn’t bother to ask another question. Elron enjoyed being the mysterious elf a little too much.

  He guided me through the door to the back garden. The wind cut through my shirt, and I glared at his back. Had I been given the option, I would’ve grabbed a jacket, but I’d have to make do.