These Lying Eyes

by Allen, Amanda A.

  Mina kicked. Missed again. She turned, sat up, and the doctor slapped her full across the face.

  “I knew it was you. I said it was you stopping her.”

  Mina tasted blood in her mouth, and Doctor Seal grabbed Mina by the mop of her hair.

  But, Mina’s hair didn’t matter; her calf didn’t matter; her bruises didn’t matter. All that mattered was that this stupid cow plotted against her sister. Mina didn’t even register the scream in her scalp. The witch balled her fist and hit Mina again and again in the stomach.

  Mina tightened her abs. Her hand flopped out, fingers spread, trying to find something. Anything.

  She came up empty. A bird flew past Mina’s face.

  She flinched, clawed her fingers and went for the other woman. A second bird flew by, but this one dove at the witch’s eyes. It pecked, and blood spewed. And the doctor wailed, letting Mina go to clutch at the blood spewing from the gouge.

  Mina scrambled back into a chair. Using it, she pulled herself to her feet, found a fooc, and swung the book at the witch’s face.

  The witch flew back with the force of the blow, into the wall, and slid back to the ground.

  Doctor Seal opened her eyes through the blood, pushed back her hair, and said softly, “Naughty, naughty.”

  She chuckled, and the noise made the hair on Mina’s arms rise. Fear crawled up Mina’s spine as the doctor began to laugh.

  Mina threw the book. It banged into the witch’s face, against her wound, but she brushed it off. She rose, snarling, “Do you think you can come in here and ruin all our plans?”

  Mina grabbed a glass ball and threw it at the witch. Doctor Seal batted it to the side, and it fell, breaking. A gray smoke clouded the room.

  “Do you think you have a chance?” The words were a weapon as they’d never been a help. They were an attempt at distraction.

  It didn’t matter. Mina didn’t expect to win. She had only wanted to stall.

  The witch lifted her hands over her head, and a wind wailed through the cabin.

  It passed Mina, swirled around her, lifted her, and slammed her against the wall.

  Mina’s head slammed; black edged at her vision, and she struggled but couldn’t move. The wind pushed her along the wall, released her, and knocked her back again. This time Mina hit the brick fireplace.

  The room became a blur of shapes.

  The doctor pummeled Mina with the wind. She felt her ribs crack. She tried to cry out, but she couldn’t breathe.

  Hopefully she’d given Max enough time.

  Mina cracked her eyes, searched the corner for Sarah. She was gone, so Mina let her eyes drift shut.

  Sarah was gone.

  Max would take care of her. The sprites would protect them both. That was all that mattered.

  Mina was done now.

  “No!” Poppy yelled.

  The witch struck out again. The wind sending objects flying at Mina. One hit her stomach, and she lost what little air she had left. Something heavy and sharp hit Mina’s arm. And with a loud crack, it snapped. Mina didn’t have the breath to scream like she needed to.

  Mina cracked her eyes to see the end. To face it. She barely registered what she was seeing. Poppy swinging a broom at the doctor’s head.

  The wind stopped; Mina slid to her knees next to the cage of a tiny black puppy. The witch’s howl filled the room. The puppy cowered at the back of the cage. Mina fumbled at the latch, arm useless, body numb.

  They’d probably die together. She and the puppy.

  It whined and pawed at her through the wire of the cage. Except, the paw had been cut off. Her eyes met the sweet eyes of the puppy. It adored her through the wires. Mina growled, flopped over, and found the latch with her good hand. Maybe it would run.

  The witch rose to her feet. Poppy flew in front of Mina, a tiny shield. The puppy dartd out of the cage, rushing forward to stand in front of Mina just below where Poppy hovered.

  It snarled and bit at the witch. Edging forward only to rush back to Mina. Again and again.

  “Go.” Mina moaned through a mouthful of blood. She coughed, gagged, and her ribs stabbed her.

  The witch built a ball of fire. Bigger than the ones Mina had thrown earlier. Poppy cocked her head, like a bird, watching.

  Calculating.

  “Oh yeah.” Mina thought. “I’m a Fire Witch.”

  The doctor threw the fire bomb at them, laughing as she did. An unholy cackle that filled the room and rolled along their backs. The fire ball was several feet across, even taller, a great oval of flame burning blue with the heat.

  Mina found her last reserves of energy to take hold of all her magic, the magic Max had given her everything, and she took hold of that fire ball. It paused, surrounding Mina, Poppy, and the little black dog. It wrapped around them, never burning.

  Poppy let loose her own menacing laugh.

  Mina gave it all to Poppy. Inside the shield of fire, the dog licked Mina’s hand; she felt a sudden resolve coming from it.

  Light flickered. Mina tried to push herself to her hands and knees but collapsed. She felt the dog lick Mina’s face, and it burrowed into her mind.

  There was a growl. The dog’s terror at being captured, tortured. Its need for vengeance rushed through Mina, blinding her to anything but the dog’s instinctive frenzy. Mina growled deep and low in her throat. The dog echoed her.

  She heard a terrorized scream. And just before everything went dark Mina tasted blood as if her teeth were digging into the doctor’s throat.

  * * *

  A hand was in her hair, and a dog was growling.

  “Shut up, you stupid mutt.” Max’s voice said.

  Mina frowned.

  She heard Sarah crying, and Mina took a breath. Pain rolled up her like an old friend, and Mina forced her eyes to open.

  She was hot, so hot.

  “Be nice to the dog.” Poppy whispered, “It saved us. And it’s Mina’s familiar.”

  “Mina?” Sarah whispered.

  Mina felt the press of Sarah’s lips on her forehead.

  “Hurts.” Mina whispered, and then coughed tasting blood in her throat. She felt Max’s hand on her forehead. Firm, gentle, careful.

  “Lived.” Mina told him, closing her eyes. She’d kept her promise, not to die.

  For now.

  “We did.” Max agreed, and then all was darkness.

  * * *

  When she woke again, it was dark. She was lying on her back in a clearing; she could hear a bird, and it scared her for now reason. But, red eyes watched them from a perch of the smoldering ruin of the cabin. Mina tried to keep track of it, but her eyelids pressed down, down, down, and all was gone.

  * * *

  “Drink.” Someone ordered. Mina tried to shake her head, but they wouldn’t let her. Someone held her forehead and jaw, forcing her mouth open. She heard the growl of something and then water flooded her mouth. Mina choked, coughed, and tried to grab her ribs.

  “Swallow.” The voice said gently, and Mina tried.

  She coughed. A tear leaked from her face, and a hand gently wiped it away.

  “What are we going to do?” Mina heard Sarah ask, and Mina could tell her sister was crying. She wanted to get up; she tried and couldn’t move.

  Darkness stole over her. But just before she passed out, she heard Max say, “We wait until Hitch gets here with help.

  And, everything was gone.

  But hope.

  * * *

  She woke to the sound of her sister’s laugh. Mina cracked her eyes and found Grace leaning over her.

  Mina tried to speak and only produced a husky caw.

  Grace smoothed Mina’s hair back.

  “My sister’s hurt.” Mina coughed, tasting a bit of blood.

  “I’m going to take care of everything.” Grace promised, and Mina stopped worrying.

  Grace’s hand pressed into Mina’s chest, and the librarian’s voice became a storm. It rushed over Mina, arching her off the gro
und until it seemed lightning struck her, and once again, she passed out.

  * * *

  This time, when she woke, she was on a stretcher with her sister curled next to her. The puppy lay between them, and they were checkered with sprites. She felt a squeeze on her hand and turned her head to see Max walking beside her.

  “Almost there.” A voice she didn’t know chirped. Mina turned her head and saw a girl with long, long blonde hair and a friendly face.

  “You’re going back to the normal world now.” Grace said, with a forceful voice, “You were lost in the woods. We found you and carried you out. You were lost. That’s all you need to say.”

  Mina tried to push her mop of hair from her face, and the movement sent a shot of agony down her. She smoothed her sister’s hair anyway. The blood was still caked; Sarah was still covered in blood, but Sarah blinked up at her, smiled, and everything was ok.

  Darkness beckoned.

  Mina stopped fighting the sleep that lured her like an old, sweet friend.

  Everything was going to be all right.

  Some Time Later

  Mina sat in the turret of her room, staring out towards the trees. Towards the Cascadia. Always there. But always out of sight.

  It had been months since she’d seen it. Months since she’d been well enough to attend the inquiry into what happened. Months since the leaders of the haven told her not to worry about the witch who’d attacked them. Even though they hadn’t found Doctor Seal’s partners. They would take care of it, they said.

  And with the liberal use of their potions and spells, her wounds had healed. Her scars had faded.

  But she was not better.

  Sure, the leaders of the haven visited Mina’s home, laying protections over Mina, her siblings, and their home. If whoever had been helping the Doctor Seal tried again, they’d fail.

  But they hadn’t fixed everything.

  Sarah refused to speak to them or have anything to do with magic. But she read their families Books of Shadows. Even now, Sarah was angry. It covered her like a second skin. But Mina wasn’t sure how long that would last; because sometimes, she sensed Sarah trying to learn spells alone.

  Only, that couldn’t be.

  Max was ok. Hailey was ok. Even Charlie, Charlie was ok.

  Everyone was ok.

  Except Mina.

  She used every ounce of magic, every thread of it, pushed it into that last fireball, saving their lives. She’d burned Dr. Seal, the cabin, everything to ash.

  Including her well of magic.

  Grace said it would come back, but Mina…she wasn’t so sure.

  Author’s Note

  This is where the author pipes in at the end of her book and is all…this wouldn’t have been possible without XX and XX and XX. And I’ve always skimmed over those pieces. But the truth is, now that it’s my turn, that this book really wouldn’t have been possible without the kindness and generosity of my family and friends.

  Mom, how can I say thank you for all that you’ve done to make this possible? Telling me to finish when I thought about graduate school. Watching my babies, so I could write. Sitting on my couch and making me write when I couldn’t find my focus. Never, ever, ever doubting that this could happen. But it did happen. Because of you.

  Dad, thank you for letting me have mom these last years. Thank you for teaching me I could do anything. Thank you for your counsel, your wisdom, and your support. I love you both.

  And so very much thanks to Christina, Taryn, Pam, Auburn, Kristyn, Becky, and Alex. You guys read it when it was crap and gave me the confidence to carry on. That’s pretty much priceless. Let alone reading it again and again like a weird combination of friend and stalwart trooper. You’re the best a girl could wish for.

  Thanks also to my editor Tamson Weston. You gave me the advice I needed; I hope you think I made good choices with it.

  Love,

  Amanda

  Amanda Allen spends most of her time in a fantasy land where she wears pajamas every day, lives in a castle, and her dogs talk. When she isn’t being ruled by those tiny beasts, she tells herself stories of which These Lying Eyes is the first to make the jump to book form.

  Web Page:

  amandaaallen.com