"Yesssssssss," I hissed in triumph as I zapped several badgers headed for Roger and Simon. "Chuck I think I love you!"
"Love you more, little witch," he grunted and went back to killing shit.
The battle was getting uglier and I was losing people. Badger popsicles littered the lawn. Hildy had frozen at least ten and was looking weak and more transparent. Damn it, I needed Mac, but he was with the vamp. Please, please, please let him be okay.
This had been going well. The syringe was gone as well as the solution. The tools of the lurking fucking evil had been eliminated. Problem was that part of the lurking fucking evil was still in my front yard. My job was to protect my people. Where in the hell was the orange magic Hildy mentioned? I knew if I could summon it I could end the fighting.
I didn't think it could get any clusterfuckier, but I was wrong—very wrong.
Mac and the vampire were entwined like lovers in a death grip and flew like a cannonball being shot off into the front yard. I had no clue who was winning and my heart lodged in my throat. Chuck's roar pulled me away from the horror of Mac and Hugo.
The badgers had clearly gotten a second wind and were advancing like bats out of hell. They were winning. Fucking unacceptable.
My fury consumed me and my entire body lit up like a Christmas tree on fire. With my arms over my head I chanted like I'd never chanted before. A wind mixed with the blood of the dead lying in my yard whipped up and swirled violently through the battle. The sound was deafening and my insides burned like a furnace.
Dropping to my knees, I started to chant. My pain was nothing compared to the wounded and fallen. I was still here and I could make a difference to the ones who lived. I would. I believed in myself. I still hadn't found the orange, but what I had found inside me might just be enough.
The magical tornado blasted across the lawn, lifting the remaining badgers and tearing them to shreds. The bile in my stomach rose to my throat, but I kept chanting. The lives of my people were at stake and I could stop the madness. I had to stop the madness. It was my fate.
The Shifters froze and watched me cause the destruction of the enemy with both admiration and fear. I'd have done the same in their shoes. I prayed they'd still like me after they'd seen the havoc I could wreak.
I hoped I could live with myself…
Then it ended.
It was over. Every single badger was dead.
The clapping took me by surprise and the kneeling was a shock.
"Whisperer, whisperer, whisperer," they chanted.
I scanned the yard frantically for Mac. He stood apart from the crowd in his wolf form with the head of the vampire in his teeth. He was torn up and bleeding, but he was alive. I tried to breathe a huge sigh of relief, but the vise like hold around my neck prohibited me.
"Come a step closer and I kill her," my mother hissed, completely unhinged.
Her face was over my right shoulder and I knew she could see the detached head of her lover now lying at my wolf's feet. Her body trembled as she shot small knife like daggers of magic into my back. The pain was intense, but the lack of breathing was more of a problem at the moment.
I prayed to the Goddess for Hildy's help, but she lay on the ground barely visible only feet away. If my mother succeeded in killing me, I knew she wouldn't make it out alive. She was far too out numbered even with her magic.
But if I was going down, she was coming with me.
Where in the fuck was the orange?
"Here's how this will work," she barked as she tightened her grasp on my neck. "I'm going to take a little drive with my daughter and no one is going to stop me. If you do, she dies."
"And if we don't, she dies," Chuck growled. "I really don't see that as a fair option, lady."
"Shut up," she snarled and zapped me with a volt that made me convulse and see stars.
She was fucking serious and her grip blocked my magic. She had clearly been studying with someone.
"Don't underestimate stupidity," Fat Bastard croaked as he and the other two cats waddled into the clearing.
They looked like shit on a stick, but thankfully they were alive. Jango was missing most of his fur and Boba seemed to be sporting a few less teeth. However the advice was outstanding.
I lifted my foot and came down on her instep with a vengeance, causing her grip to loosen for a brief second. It was all I needed.
"Everyone back up," I commanded. "She's mine."
As she hopped around and regained her balance, I shoved her away. It was time for a witch smack down. I only hoped Simon would be able to keep his butt shut. I didn't need to throw up during a crucial moment.
"May the best witch win," my mother sneered with wild eyes as she hurled a blue fireball at my head, missing me but setting the porch on fire.
Goddess, she really wanted to kill me. A secret part of my heart that I had kept for her finally died. I could no longer pretend she would change. I needed to defend myself and stop her from her megalomaniac quest.
I countered with an explosion that singed off most of her hair. My stupid misplaced allegiance kept me from going for kill spots or popping her. Her demented wail of fury went straight to my toes as I wondered just how strong she was.
Blast after blast and zap after zap were traded. I was burned and bleeding, but I was still standing. The Shifters took me at my word and had backed away. Mac stood at the front of the group and looked ready to blow a gasket. This was my fight, not his or theirs. Mac's respect for me was humbling.
The porch was now in flames and I felt the blazing heat at my back.
"Is there anyone in the house?" she demanded as she raised her hands and aimed.
Wanda, Bo, Daaaaad, Sassy, older Shifters, the children and the warlocks were in my house. The look of horror on my face answered her question and she winked.
Time slowed and I raised my hands to deflect her fireball with my own magic, but I was too slow. It was enormous and flew from her hands as she shrieked like a wounded animal. I watched in shock as it headed toward the house to incinerate it and I screamed.
I was knocked to the ground as a huge mass dove through the air and took the brunt of her evil magic in his chest. Hildy's weak moan confirmed it was Chuck. He was on fire and I couldn't even see his body through the flames.
But that didn't satisfy my mother. She threw another as I crawled to my feet and the house exploded behind me.
I swung to gape at it in shock. Flames licked hundreds of feet into the sky. The inferno that had been my home mocked me. I didn't belong anywhere now. She'd taken my father and she'd taken my home.
The sound that left my mouth was inhuman. With Chuck dying a foot away from me and my dad and friends burning to death in my basement, I found the orange—or maybe it found me.
My vision blurred and my skin grew hot. The orange magic rose up inside me with a frightening rage I'd never know. I was no longer just a witch who healed. I was a fucking magical maniac who was able to fly without a broom.
I dove for my mother like a bullet flying out of a gun and gut punched her with my head, flinging her across the lawn. But that was just the appetizer.
Again I flew and landed a non-magical punch to her face that broke her lovely nose. I winced as blood spurted all over the two of us. She had destroyed my life, killed my friend and murdered my father. She would die by my hand in honor of my dad.
My tears almost blinded me. I hated what I was doing, but I couldn't stop.
"Die bitch," she hissed as she pulled up her magic and threw me off of her. "I was meant to rule, not you."
The wave of magic she threw was painful, but I was beyond feeling it. I never even got to call Naked Dude, Dad. He wanted me to call him Dad. I screwed that up too. The panic inside me was so real my breathing came in short uneven spurts. Spots danced in front of my eyes and I simply wanted to curl up in a ball and block out the world.
"I never should have had you," she screeched and laughed. It was a brittle sound and so very cruel. "Y
ou're worthless."
Energy from a place deeply hidden inside me burst free. I flew at her again, knocking her to the ground with a sickening thud. I had her exactly where I wanted her. She was helpless and I pinned her down with both my hands and my magic. It would be within my rights as a witch to kill her, but I couldn't. She killed my friends and my father. She wanted me dead and I still couldn't do it. I was a healer not a killer. I already had so much blood on my hands I was unsure how I would fare after all was said and done.
"You can't do it," she hissed and spat at me.
"You’re right, I can’t," I said as I wiped her spit from my cheek. I propped her still magically trapped body into a sitting position under a tree.
"You're weak," she said with disgusted snort. "You'll never be a Baba Yaga."
All she ever really wanted was power—absolute power and nothing else. She didn't want me or my father or any kind of love. She was incapable of feeling anything at all. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. In that moment, I realized I didn't have to kill her physically to kill her.
"I don't want to be a Baba Yaga," I told her. "Never even aspired to that."
I didn't bother to add I'd only realized it was merely a title this morning…
I straddled her legs and kissed her gently on her forehead head. "I love you even though you don't love me. You’re right. I can't kill you. However, it's not because I can't. It's because I won't. I wasn't made that way. But what I can do to you is far worse."
"Stupid girl, get off of me and let me go. I knew you'd amount to nothing."
"That's where you're wrong, mother. I am something. I'm something wonderful."
Her eyes grew wide with terror as I reared back my fist and aimed at her chest.
"No!" she wailed, but it was too late to bargain. The store was closed.
The feeling of my fist deep in her chest was horrifying. It was squishy and bloody, but I knew what I was searching for. It came to me quickly—I was thankful for that. I didn't want it, but she was no longer allowed to have it. She'd lost her right.
Her power floated to my hand, crawled up my arm and entered my body. I shuddered as I realized it was laced with black magic. Fuck. I now had my own magic, my aunt's and my mother's dark shit. This was surely a very bad thing, but what else was there to do?
I stood on shaky legs and stepped away. I was tired. I was done. She was bad and had worn out her welcome.
With a flick of my hand, I closed the gaping wound I'd made in her chest. My mother would live, but she would live as a mortal. It was a destiny worse than death for any witch.
I didn't kill her, but actually I had. That's when I threw up.
And after that little display of gross, I fell to my knees and sobbed.
Chapter 18
Mac's strong arms engulfed me and I found myself surrounded by Shifters. Tears clouded my vision, but I felt safe for a moment.
And then I remembered… Dad and Chuck and Wanda and Bo and Sassy. Gone. My sobbing renewed and I knew my heartbreak would last for eternity.
I'd only found my father a little over a month ago. It wasn't fair that he was taken from me so soon. Was it me? Was it my fault somehow? The panic bubbled up inside me and I buried my head in Mac's chest.
"I need gum," I whispered brokenly.
"What, baby?" he asked as he raised my chin.
I quickly pulled away. My breath could kill. Throw up breath was not something I wanted to share.
"Here you go," Roger said as he handed me five pieces.
I nodded my thanks. He looked bad, but he was still here.
"How many did we lose?" I asked and closed my eyes.
"Fifteen," DeeDee said gravely. "And Chuck."
I was silent as I digested this. Had no one died in the battle? There had to be at least fifteen in the basement not counting the warlocks. I idly wondered if the Baba Yaga would be angry about her posse being blown up.
I began to cough the smoke up from my lungs and couldn't stop. Mac loosened his hold and rubbed my back.
"Get her some water," he instructed.
"The kind from the toilet or the sink?" Sassy asked.
"Oh my hell… from the sink," I choked out between coughs.
"The toilet is better," she informed me clearly in the know. "It's colder and has sparkly stuff in it."
"I do not drink from…Wait," I croaked as I whipped my head around. "You're dead."
"Now that's just rude," Sassy said with a huge smile. "I mean I might be dead later when you see what accidentally happened to your Prada boots. Oh snap…I’m sorry, but they blew up. Why did I tattle on myself? I'm such a doucheweasel."
"You're supposed to be dead," I stuttered as a sob burst from my lips. "The house—the fire—the basement."
I was choking and crying. There was no way she could have lived through the blast and fire, unless she'd left the basement. Had they all left the basement? Please, please, please…
"The fire. It didn't kill you?" I asked, terrified to ask about the others.
"Hell no, those little warlock fuckers conjured up some kind of impenetrable explosion proof bubble and we all got under it."
"Them bastards saved your life," Jango Fett said with admiration for the same little dudes who had tried to burn him alive yesterday.
"All?" I whispered hopefully.
"Yes, all," my dad said as he broke through the crowd of concerned Shifters. He lifted me from Mac's arms and held me tight.
My body shook violently and my crying reached what could politely be called snotty hysteria.
"I love you, Dad," I blubbered. "I will call you Dad everyday for the rest of my years. I promise. No more Daaaaad, Nadudio, Naked Dude, Dudio or Fabio—just Dad."
"I love you too," he whispered against my hair. "And I don't care what you call me as long as you love me."
"I took her magic," I told him and waited for his reaction.
"You were kind," he said with steel in his voice as he stared at the passed out body of my mother with hatred. "I would have tortured her for hours and then killed her."
"I couldn't do it. I'm not made that way."
"You actually did something far worse than death," Baba Yaga sang as she poofed in along with a burst of rainbow glitter.
"You," I hissed as I disengaged from my dad and marched over to her. "You are a real assmonkey, Carol."
The gasps from the peanut gallery were loud and alarmed. I didn't care. Baba Yopoopy was on my shit list.
"Hello to you too," she said with a grin as she adjusted her silver unitard and fluffed her hot pink fuzzy leg warmers.
Her outfit threw me for a loop, but I was on a fucking mission. However, the fashion talk was coming soon—especially if she was going to date my dad.
"Some of my people died today. What the hell were you thinking by leaving?" I demanded all up in her face.
"I left you to your fate, dear child," she said with slightly narrowed eyes. "And you learned my name how?"
"Fate," I snapped. "It was my fate to know your name, Carol."
"I suppose you're right," she said and sighed dramatically. "You completed your mission… as did you, Sassy."
"I'm not going anywhere else, Carol. No more dumbass screw ball missions for me," Sassy threatened. "I like it here and I'm staying. Jeeves is hot and likes horses. Zelda's house rocks…Whoops, I mean rocked."
We all turned and took in the still smoldering pile of ash that used to be my beautiful home. There was a lump in my throat, but I didn't cry. The house was simply a house. People mattered, not stuff. Holy hell, I was growing up.
"And Chuck died nobly," Baba Yaga said with a delighted smile as she clapped her hands.
That was fucking it.
I didn't care if she was the leader of all witches. She was crazy and cruel. How could she be joyous over the death of my friend?
"What the hell is wrong with you," I shouted. "Chuck was my friend. I loved him."
"You certainly love a lot of people now," sh
e commented with raised eyebrows.
"Figure of speech," I mumbled as her tinkling giggle made me grind my teeth.
I was pretty sure I did love all these people and I was beginning to believe that they loved me too.
"Chuck is happy," she said softly. "Turn around and see for yourself."
Slowly I turned and gasped as tears filled my eyes for the umpteenth time today. Chuck and Hildy floated together hand in hand. Their love was so evident it made me cry harder.
Witch Glitch Page 15