Sharon Karaa - A Familiar Problem (Northern Witches #2)

by Unknown

  Agnes threw the t-towel over her shoulder, leaving both hands free and took a step to her left, her eyes never leaving Abaddon's face. Abaddon took a step to his right. They circled each other slowly then came to a stop.

  "Abaddon," Agnes said at last, her lip curling in a sneer.

  "Agnes," Abaddon replied, arching his eyebrow at her.

  Agnes' eyes dropped quickly to his crotch and then back to his face. "Fried or boiled?" Agnes asked.

  Abaddon lost a little of his colour. His eyes narrowed to slits.

  "Eggs, man, fried or boiled?" Agnes snapped.

  A look of confusion followed by a slow grin crept across Abaddon's face and finally he laughed as Agnes offered him her hand to shake. He reached across to take it and his hand passed straight through her. She thumbed her nose and stuck out her tongue.

  "Nah nah! That'll teach you to call me a harpy, you fuck-wit!"

  I let out the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding and laughed, high-fiving Agnes as she passed.

  "Natalia, make yourself useful and make the coffees," she said, flicking me with the t-towel. I imagine, to her, it was like a Samurai sword; once unsheathed it had to taste blood.

  Abaddon grinned as he took a seat. "It's good to finally meet you, Agnes; Natalia's told me so much about you."

  "Liar," she replied. She winked at me and turned back to the stove. "Well come on girl, the kettle won't boil itself!"

  I proved her wrong, just for the hell of it.

  "Stop showing off and get the cups," she whipped my arse with the t-towel again as I passed her to get to the cupboards. The woman was trigger happy today.

  Agnes dished up the eggs and set the plates down on the table just as I finished making the coffees. Abaddon looked at her, confused.

  "Why aren’t you eating?" he asked.

  "Agnes can't eat," I explained, placing a mug of steaming coffee down in front of him.

  He turned his head and looked at her, a confused expression on his face. He stood up and pulled a third plate from the cupboard, putting it down in front of Agnes and splitting his breakfast between the two plates.

  "I really can't eat," she said, pushing the plate away. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s physically not possible.”

  "Try," he commanded, picking up a fork and passing it to her.

  She grudgingly snatched the fork from his hands and loaded it with food, putting it to her mouth and looking at it wistfully for a second before opening her mouth and putting the food between her lips. Her eyes lit up as though all her Christmases had come at once and she chewed furiously then jumped up and tried to hug Abaddon, almost crying with joy, even as she slipped right through him. Abaddon laughed as I looked on, amazed.

  "How did you do that?" I asked him. He just winked at me and picked up his fork. I pushed my coffee cup towards Agnes and stood up to make another as the two of them happily devoured their food.

  Agnes didn't say another word until her plate was clean, then she sat back in her chair and patted her tummy.

  "All right, now it's time to tell me what's going on," she said. I cringed. "Do you still intend to seek redemption?" She turned to me.

  Abaddon put down his fork and looked at me. His brown eyes bore into me, waiting for my answer and I just sat there like a rabbit caught in headlights.

  "Yes, why would you ask?"

  She shrugged. "Just wondering." She eyeballed Abaddon again and it dawned on me. She thought I was in love with Abaddon and that would change my plans. Abaddon grinned.

  Agnes looked at my plate still half full of eggs and pulled it towards herself. "No sense in this going to waste." She picked up her fork and dug in.

  "So what's going on with the whole being banished from Hell?" She asked Abaddon, in between mouthfuls.

  Abaddon brought her up to speed and told her we had one more spirit to speak to in the hope of finding out who was behind it.

  "We have the name of a woman but I've no idea who she is. Unfortunately, the only person left who can tell me is pretty heavily guarded right now."

  "And who is this woman?" Agnes asked as she spooned in another mouthful.

  "Her name is Sarah Bulmer, that's all we know," Abaddon said, taking a drink if his coffee.

  Agnes' food went shooting through the air and landed on the front of my nightgown.

  "Sarah Bulmer?"

  I turned to her as I wiped the sticky mess off me. "Do you know who she is?"

  "It's Matthew's wife," she said. "We need to get to Daniel's right now." She disappeared, presumably already on her way, and the fork clattered on to the plate.

  Abaddon looked at me, confused. He was doing that a lot lately. I put it down to 'The Agnes Experience'.

  "I'll explain later."

  11 - A plan

  We materialised in Daniel's kitchen and I heard Agnes charging round the house and shouting at the top of her voice.

  "Lauren! Daniel! Where the fuck are you?"

  I listened intently for the tell-tale thump-thump that usually indicated they were at their favourite pass-time of hide the sausage. Nothing. Strange.

  I made my way up the stairs and walked into the bedroom. The bed was neatly made and the curtains were open.

  "Agnes, what day is it?" I shouted over the bannister.

  "Monday!" she replied.

  "They'll be at work!" I shouted back as I made my way back down the stairs, meeting Agnes in the hallway. Abaddon was still in the kitchen, helping himself to a coffee and appearing completely at home and completely unconcerned.

  Agnes looked frazzled, her eyes popping out of her head. She grabbed for my arm and in her state of anxiety her aim was off and her hand went right through me.

  "We have to get them back here, now," she said, frantic.

  "Agnes, why? What's going on?" I asked her gently. I wasn't used to seeing her so wound up and it was a little worrying. I guided her back to the kitchen and helped her in to a chair.

  "Does someone want to tell me who this Sarah is?" Abaddon asked, cup in hand. "And who is Matthew?"

  Agnes sighed a deep sigh and worried her fingers in front of her. She seemed to be lost in thought so I jollied things along a little.

  "Matthew is Agnes' married lover. Sarah is his wife."

  Agnes turned sharply to look at me, tutting and slapped my hand as Abaddon's eyebrows almost shot off his face.

  "It's not like that," she said.

  "Oh? And how would you put it then?" I asked her.

  She blushed. Then she grinned, her eyes twinkling with merriment. "I guess there's no other way to put it."

  Abaddon looked at her with new found respect. "And you got in to heaven? What is the world coming to!" he chuckled as he took a seat next to me. Agnes glared at him.

  "Don't tell me, his wife didn't understand him," Abaddon belly-laughed and I smacked him over the back of the head.

  "Cut her some slack, you're no angel yourself!"

  Agnes explained how Matthew had been hung for being a witch and how Sarah had been the cause. There's truly nothing in heaven or hell like a woman scorned!

  "So, she obviously went to Hell when she died and then teamed up with the witch prickers to get her revenge," Agnes stated.

  "Something still doesn't make sense," Abaddon said, finally, rubbing the five o’clock shadow on his chin. I wanted to lick it. He looked at me and grinned. For once I didn't mind he could read my thoughts.

  "Focus, people, this could be serious! What doesn't make sense?" Agnes snapped.

  "Well, a damned soul is always a damned soul so that means obviously either Sarah has some pretty powerful friends down below or she isn't damned, she's a demon.”

  Abaddon looked at Agnes. "Did she practice the dark arts when she was alive?"

  Agnes cast her mind back. "Not to my knowledge, no.”

  Abaddon frowned and I looked at him, confused. “I don’t see what you’re getting at, what difference does it make if she’s a damned soul or a demon?”
>
  He looked at me. “Power, Nats. She wouldn’t have been strong enough to trap me as a damned soul and probably not even as a demon, but a demon and three damned souls just might. If she is a demon, she’d have enough power to hurt Lauren, now wouldn’t she?”

  “Oh, I guess you’re right.”

  "Well, let's see what we know so far. Kobal sets me up with Martina and arranges for her to take me home at a certain time. I am trapped by this Sarah woman and three damned souls who then try to use me to kill your friend Lauren to end their curse. I can understand why this Sarah would get involved. She obviously wants revenge for you stealing her husband. What doesn't make sense is how come Kobal was in on this in the first place. There’s still something we’re missing.”

  "What if she comes after Lauren again?" asked Agnes. "If she has power now, what's to stop her?"

  Abaddon's eyes lit up. "Do you have anything that belonged to this Sarah?"

  "Only Matthew."

  "Then that's the answer. We have to call her."

  "What?" Agnes looked at him incredulously. "I'm not letting you use my Matthew to trap a demon!"

  Abaddon sighed with frustration. "Agnes, it's the only way we're going to get to the bottom of this. And as you so rightly pointed out, if she is free in Hell and obviously has powers, there's nothing to stop her coming after Lauren."

  I had to agree, but then I was still a demon! For now, at least.

  "No!" said Agnes, stubbornly. "We do this the right way. We bring the family together and we look at all the options.”

  "You…" she pointed at me "…need to get to Lauren right now and make sure she is protected. We bring everyone together here tonight and we have ourselves a pow wow.”

  Abaddon looked at me, confused again.

  "You'll find out soon enough," I sighed.

  When Agnes said she wanted a pow wow, she wasn't kidding. The world and their mother were here. She was obviously taking this very seriously. Daniel's mother and three sisters were here along with Selina, Geordie, Lauren and Daniel. Even Gerwyn had been invited and I was pleased to see his makeup was impeccable. He no longer looked like coco the clown.

  Agnes, as usual, took charge.

  “Lauren, Selina, get the kettle on. Daniel, fetch more chairs from the dining room, would you?”

  As everyone busied themselves following her orders, she turned to me.

  “Where’s Abaddon?” Agnes whispered to me.

  I’d spent the day trailing after Lauren and making sure no demons came to take her whilst Abaddon had gone back to Hell to find out as much as he could about Sarah.

  “I’ll call him now,” I said, concerned that she didn’t appear to have told anyone else that he was coming. This could go wrong on so many levels. I closed my eyes and called him and when I opened them again he was standing in front of me, smiling.

  At that moment, Daniel returned to the kitchen with a chair in his hands and, as his gaze fell on Abaddon, he stopped in his tracks. Agnes quickly introduced him to everyone and Lauren eyed him suspiciously as she came round the table to face him.

  "So you're the demon who infected me?" she said, folding her arms. What was it with the women in this family; did they all have a death wish?

  "Not by design, I promise" Abaddon replied, sheepishly. "I don't hurt pure souls, I give you my word.”

  Daniel placed the chair down by the table and turned to him, his hand extended. Abaddon turned to shake it then turned to Selina. His eyes almost popped out of his sockets and he sucked in a breath as she smiled at him. Ye gods, I knew blondes were his thing. A zing of jealousy sparked right through me. I turned away, not wanting to watch him drool, and walked over to the bench to help make the coffees. Within seconds, he was behind me, taking the cups from my hands and smiling reassuringly at me. I snorted but couldn't help but wonder at the warm little glow settling in my chest.

  Agnes looked around, impatiently.

  "Matthew, where in God's name are you, get your arse here now!" She shouted.

  Matthew and Zerachiel materialised together in the middle of the kitchen floor.

  "I'm here, precious," Matthew said as he walked over and gave Agnes a kiss on the cheek.

  Zerachiel smiled at me then noticed his brother standing to my left. His face like thunder, he walked to within an inch of Abaddon’s face. I looked at them; one devilishly handsome, dark haired demon dressed in black and one angelic, semi-nude angel dressed in a loin cloth. My lady bits tingled as I imagined getting between the two of them. So much for redemption, it didn't stop the dirty thoughts from crashing through my brain.

  "What are you doing here?" Zerachiel demanded, flexing his biceps. Drool escaped down the side of my mouth.

  Agnes jumped in between them, a hand on each chest. Great, now we had The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

  "Look, you two, you can have your differences outside of here. Right now, we have important things to discuss and each of you have a valuable contribution to make. So knock it off or I'll knock your heads together.”

  Selina almost swallowed her tonsils and I smirked. Abaddon raised his eyebrows but said nothing and Zerachiel blushed but took a step back.

  "All right everyone, take a seat, settle down. We need to get this show on the road." Agnes started pushing people towards seats and Matthew looked on proudly. It still made me laugh when I looked at fit young Matthew and aged Agnes. She was a lucky woman.

  Agnes took a seat and waited impatiently for everyone to settle down.

  "I'll sit next to you, Zerachiel, keep you company" Felicity said, smiling demurely at the handsome angel. Agnes glared at her and I was tempted to give her a huge zit on the end of her nose. I refrained and then, startled, I began to chuckle to myself. Maybe this redemption lark didn't stop me from thinking bad thoughts but it sure as Hades was stopping me from acting on them.

  Geordie took centre stage in his chair in the middle of the table and sat there, inspecting his nails and looking bored.

  "Right then, Abaddon, you start and tell everyone what happened to you."

  Abaddon took everyone through the fake date with Martina and how he'd been trapped and then how we'd gone on to discover Sarah was behind it. I watched Matthew's face and realised that none of this was coming as a shock to him. Agnes must have already told him what was happening.

  "So how come Sarah had the power to trap you?" Daniel asked.

  "That's the million dollar question," Abaddon replied, mystified. "I don't know. Unless she was a black witch, there's no way for her to become a demon in Hell and only a really powerful demon would have that kind of power.”

  "There is one other way," said Zerachiel, looking at his brother with disgust. "Satan could grant those kinds of powers, maybe in exchange for something.”

  "You mean she could have done a deal with the devil?" Selina asked, going slightly pale.

  "What would she have that he wanted?" Gerwyn butted in. "By all accounts, she was an evil woman; her soul would have been his anyway.”

  Matthew nodded his head in agreement. "It doesn't surprise me that she ended up damned. To my knowledge, she didn't practice the craft though. That only leaves two options. Either she had something the devil wanted or someone powerful in Hell is using her to get to you, Abaddon."

  "Why would you think she is a threat to Lauren, Agnes? It's been months since the last incident. Surely, if she is a demon and she wanted revenge, she would have shown her hand by now," Megan said, speaking up for the first time.

  "Yes, well, we can't take any chances," Agnes replied, folding here arms and daring anyone to challenge her.

  Zerachiel looked at his brother. "You seem to be at the heart of all this, who have you crossed lately that would want to harm you?"

  Abaddon shrugged. "No one, that I can think of.”

  Zerachiel snorted in disbelief and Abaddon’s eyes changed colour instantly to red. I could see this getting out of hand quickly.

  Lauren jumped up from the table, obviously trying
to divert their attention. "So what can we do? I'm not going back into hiding, I've had enough of that to last me three lifetimes."

  Agnes looked at Abaddon and frowned. As their eyes met, Agnes’ head nodded fractionally. If you blinked you would have missed it but I saw the silent message pass between them. It appeared Agnes had come to the same conclusion.

  "We could call her," Abaddon stated, finally. Beth inhaled sharply, remembering no doubt, the last time we'd called a demon and how it had almost resulted in Daniel's death.

  Abaddon looked at the sea of faces now staring at him in horror. "So far as I can see, it's the only way I can find out who is fucking with me. And it's the only way we're going to be able to trap her and prevent her from harming Lauren.”

  Gerwyn tapped a finger against his chin in contemplation. "So when's the next full moon?" he asked, a glint in his eye.

  "Three days from now," Beth replied.

  "All right then, in three days we call the demon. For now, we need to watch our backs and make sure Lauren is protected," Agnes stated. Daniel hugged Lauren to him, a worried frown marring his handsome face.

  "Natalia needs to continue with her therapy," Zerachiel chimed in, looking at me then at his brother, daring him to challenge.

  Abaddon settled back in his chair, observing Zerachiel silently, his eyes burning hot, red coals in his face. Obviously completely comfortable with that.

  "We'll take watches," Agnes replied. "You in?" She asked Abaddon.

  "Absofuckinglutely!" He replied, winking at her. My signature phrase was being abused to death and I smiled to myself.

  12 - Untold truths

  George looked about the room, filled to brimming with his friends and neighbours, all singing heartily along to "Auld Lang Zine.” He looked down at the pile of money in front of him and was surprised to see a book sitting on top of the dollar bills. He picked it up and inspected the title. It was a copy of Mark Twain's ‘Tom Sawyer’. With Zuzu in one arm, he carefully flipped to the first page and looked in delighted surprise at the inscription.