Witch of All Witches: Tales of Xest #4

by Donna Augustine

  “I think we’re done here,” Hawk said, bristling beside me.

  Xazier nodded and rose. He walked out of the room, and I hadn’t asked the one question that truly terrified me: did his bosses know about me? Was I looking at a whole new set of problems soon?

  I rubbed my palms over my pants, trying to look like I wasn’t agitated. Hawk probably knew anyway. He had some predatory skills that made me wonder how long ago his kind had started walking upright.

  “Could’ve gone worse,” I said with a shrug as I eyed up Hawk. His lack of words during the meeting, and now, wasn’t giving me a lot to go on.

  “Could’ve gone better,” he said flatly.

  “Obviously he could’ve offered to help, but he’s not blocking us, either.” That was a positive, right? It was more than I’d had ten minutes ago. At least this would be a single-front war. Maybe… It was hard to count how many fronts you’d be fighting on when you didn’t know how deep into the fray you were.

  “I wouldn’t trust anything that came out of Xazier’s mouth,” Hawk said, leaning back as he eyed me up.

  “I’ve never been accused of being too optimistic before.”

  “First for everything.” Hawk shrugged.

  “Yeah, taking anything that one says at face value is insane,” Mertie said, collapsing on the couch in the same spot Xazier had vacated. Clearly there was no shame in her game when it came to eavesdropping.

  “How well do you know Xazier, exactly? Or know of him?” I asked. “What do you know of their weaknesses? Do you know of any way that we could lure Lou into that hill?”

  Once upon a time, Mertie had, for all intents and purposes, ruled the roost at the wish factory. Before I started to warm to her, I’d disliked her from our very first interaction. But between the cocoa trips and her possible knowledge of heaven and hell, I’d tackle her to the ground if she tried to leave here.

  “I said I wasn’t doing everything. You remember that, right?” Mertie asked with her predictable grumble.

  Her hand was moving over something invisible in a petting motion. Even Dusty had warmed to her.

  “I do, but if you know something useful, I need to be pointed in the right direction,” I said, not at all deterred. Mertie might say she liked her space, say she didn’t want to help, complain about every one of us from dawn to dusk, but she was the only person who never missed dinner. Was always lingering nearby, waiting to get pulled into the group. The girl clearly had some commitment and intimacy issues. Sitting in a glass house as I was, the only thing I’d be slinging her way was a foam ball.

  Hawk leaned forward in Mertie’s direction, his forearms resting on his knees, his voice deep as he said, “Let me put this bluntly. If they try to kill her, I will kill them. There will be a very long, bloody war that follows, and this place may or may not remain standing. Do you have other options I’m unaware of? Because the way I’m seeing it, you’re either with us or homeless.”

  No way would that happen. I couldn’t believe he was trying this ploy with Mertie, of all people. The man might want me, might like me, even, but it was like the way people wanted a piece of cake, or how I wanted Bertha’s old food back. No one in their right mind started a war with heaven and hell for some chick they hadn’t even banged. She’d never fall for it. She was born sniffing out better-smelling bullshit than this.

  A little stream of smoke left Mertie’s nose as she glared at him. “You always have to make things epic, don’t you, Hawk?” Mertie said, huffing a bit.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Hawk said, without any gloating, like he’d closed a business deal.

  “Fine. That’s a yes.”

  She probably thought he’d kick her out if she didn’t agree, but he wouldn’t. Hawk, like the rest of us, was secretly fond of Mertie.

  “Then you’re going to help?” I asked, wanting to nail her down before she figured out she’d been conned.

  “I’ll help, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m not sure what I can do. I might go there and instantly know what’s going on, or I might have to call in some favors. I might not have anyone that can help. But I’m a demon of my word. I said I’d try, and I will.”

  “That’s all I can ask for,” I said, wanting to hug the cranky demon across from me.

  She must have sensed it, because she leaned back, as if I’d reached for her.

  “Don’t get all weird about it. This isn’t because I like it here. I just have nowhere else to go. After all the shit you two did, you muddied my good name by association. If we’re doing this, I want to go see the hill tomorrow. I like to get unpleasant favors over as fast as possible.” She stood up, and I noticed the way she was cupping her arm. She was taking Dusty with her. He seemed to like the plan, because there weren’t any clouds of dust kicking up in their wake.

  Hawk stood, and I glanced up at him as he made his way to the back door. He wasn’t going to try to take up where we’d left off? I’d mentally lined up all sorts of excuses to get out of there and he was leaving me? Had it already started? Had our last kiss already turned him off?

  “Where are you going?” I asked before I thought better of it. “Not that I care. Just curious, is all.”

  “I’ve got some things to do,” he said, smirking, as if he knew he was beating me to the escape. “Figured this was about when you like to have some time to yourself.”

  He smiled as he walked out.

  8

  Hawk walked around the area, kneeling every so often, putting his hand to the ground and staying like that, as if trying to read the magic. Oscar was surveying the areas that Hawk hadn’t gotten to yet, but he had more of a hovering technique. Bibbi wasn’t doing anything as subtle as either of them. Hands fisted, she was stalking the perimeter, as if ready to take on some invisible monster. She had a ten-inch dagger strapped to her pink, velvet-clad leg. She’d opted for a sparkly sheath so as to not completely wreck her outfit. It was quite endearing how she tried to coordinate her weapons.

  All I was doing was standing still, trying to keep my breathing calm, afraid to make a move one way or another. I had a good excuse for it, as everyone in our small group seemed to have the same plan: keep me at a safe distance away from the hill. They’d obviously had a chat about it before we came, judging by the way they all seemed to block me the second we got here. I was surprised I’d been allowed along in the first place and they hadn’t locked me up in the office, while Bertha tried to stuff me with healthy fare just for fun.

  I wasn’t sure what they thought might happen, but something was definitely strange. Even standing back here, it didn’t matter. I could feel a strange draw, pulling at me, pulsing in the air. Last time I was here, I’d been luring Dread into a trap, bleeding magic out of a self-inflicted wound over my chest. Maybe I’d been too foggy or distracted to remember correctly, but something seemed different about this place, or different about me. I didn’t know which, and it could easily be either.

  I hadn’t felt quite the same since I’d been thrown from the hill. That day, the hill had tinkered with me somehow. It wasn’t like I could get an X-ray of my magic and find a broken, pointy finger throwing things out of whack. I didn’t even know if it was bad or good. I just knew something was different. Or maybe it was the hill that was different now that it had the magic that comprised Dread trapped within it. That would make anything different. Except would that increase the lure of the hill? I’d think it would decrease it, repel me a bit.

  I took another look around, trying to size up everyone else’s reactions, visually chasing down all moving targets. If this place was different, wouldn’t one of them sense it too? Maybe they did feel it and that was why it was taking them so long to walk the place?

  Hanging back was both a blessing and a curse. The only other person standing still was Mertie beside me, as if she had all the information she needed already. Could she feel it the way I did? The magic that was seeded here was partially from her realm. If someone would recognize it, or sense something
wrong with it, it would be her, right?

  “Not much of a hill,” Mertie said, looking over the grounds. “I guess they didn’t want to plant a flag on it, but still, I would think they could’ve risked something a little bit more majestic. Shit, even a big boulder or something. Even a nice, grand tree in the center might’ve been a good touch. I don’t know how you people even call it a hill. It’s more like a mound, and not much of that.”

  All very valid points. Considering what it was, the heart of all the magic in Xest, it was a bit lackluster and anticlimactic.

  “You think we’ll be able to figure something out? Any suggestions on what we were talking about?” I asked Mertie vaguely, hoping she’d have an answer and maybe shed a little light on the weird vibe I was picking up.

  “On my own? Definitely not. What I’m feeling, the level of magic here, is beyond my capabilities to alter in any way. I’d never be able to do what you want to the person in question, and it’s beyond my knowledge base.” She scanned the area, shaking her head as she did. “Considering the last trap you set was based on information he laid out for you, it’s not like you can use that trick again. Although he wouldn’t fall for that anyway. Something elemental like Dread, all magic and raw emotion, it makes sense it would work, but not the other. He’s too smart. No, I’m going to have to call in some favors, see what tricks they might know, and we’ll see how well this goes. We need to find out the things he doesn’t know about.”

  “Are your friends discreet?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said, shrugging, her tone not very inspiring of confidence. “As long as you threaten them, which is what I plan on doing.”

  “So you’ve never been up here before?” I asked, trying to draw out the subject.

  “No. I don’t typically wander around in the forest for no reason.” She raised a brow, as if she wondered how I’d come up with such a stupid question.

  “It’s plausible that you heard what went down here and got curious,” I said. The only reason I asked was to find out if she’d sensed a change, but that was impossible, since she was clearly the least curious person in Xest.

  “Why would I care to visit the place that had Dread trapped? If I did get some stupid desire to freeze my ass off, this is not the place I’d come. You humans are so weird.” She crossed her arms, as if even now the cold was getting to her.

  Bibbi bopped around, circling back toward us. “I think the place is clear,” she said, still trying to find something—anything—she could justify punching.

  “You don’t feel anything strange?” I asked.

  Mertie’s gaze shifted to me, suspicion growing in her eyes.

  “Then same as always?” I added, trying to sound nonchalant. Mertie was technically on our team at this point, but even within our team, there were little teams. The only person definitely on my little team was Bibbi. Zab was a switch hitter. I never knew who he was going to bat for. Oscar was always Team Hawk, even when he didn’t appear to be. Musso and Bertha were their own little team, but more likely to fall on the side of Hawk than me. As far as Mertie, she was still a wild card. She might be on my team for one second and then switch directions as fast as the fifth wind.

  “All good as far, as I can tell,” Bibbi said.

  As much as I wanted that to mean something, as much as Bibbi impressed me in so many ways I hadn’t expected, if there was something wrong with the hill, she might be the last person to pick up on it.

  Mertie, on the other hand, was staring hard in my direction. “Are you feeling anything strange?” Her chin tilted up as she looked me over. The only thing she was missing was a small magnifier as she scanned me.

  “I wasn’t myself the last time I was here, so I’m not a good judge, which is why I’m curious.” If she didn’t pick up on the hint to go sniff around for her mystery somewhere else, my tone of voice spelled it out.

  Mertie continued looking for only a few more seconds before relenting and shifting her attention to Hawk and Oscar, who appeared to be finishing up as well.

  Hawk walked toward us, with Oscar not far behind.

  “Let’s talk back at the office,” he said.

  I flicked a hand toward the fireplace in the back room, and it was instantly roaring before I dropped onto the couch.

  “You’re getting really good at that,” Bibbi said.

  “Thanks.” Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing I was getting good at. “Well? Any idea about how to suck Lou into that hill?” I asked, looking about the room. Everyone fell silent, no one offering up anything.

  “Mertie?” Hawk asked, knowing she’d have to be prompted. He glared at her from where he was leaning an arm on the mantel.

  She huffed, shaking her head. “I told you, I’m an idea person. I can’t do everything. I don’t have all the answers.”

  “What do you think?” Hawk asked.

  “If you pulled in Dread, it should be equally able to absorb Lou, hence your balance would be back.”

  “But how to trap him is the question,” Oscar said, and then shot a hesitant glance over at Mertie, not quite as comfortable bullying the demon.

  “I’m not sure you people realize this, although you’d have to be slow not to, but I’m from the other side of the tracks. I don’t know what would make someone like Lou tick, other than annoying someone like me.” She shrugged and sat there for a few seconds in silence.

  We all let her, having come to know Mertie’s ways. First, she huffed, then sometimes you got silence, and then…

  “I’ll check around, though. I might know some people who know some people who might have answers, but I’m not making any promises.”

  A few more minutes went by before Bibbi said, “I’m going to go help Zab and Musso. Those two shouldn’t be on their own all day. My piles are going to be a mess.”

  Oscar followed her out, but not before Mertie cut him off, announcing she was going for cocoa for herself.

  I moved to leave and found Hawk’s hand wrapped around my wrist, tugging me back.

  “How did the hill feel to you?”

  I suddenly knew I was being tested but didn’t know the right answer. I went with my gut. Evade.

  I glanced around as if I needed to think about my answer and take in the setting. All I was really doing was evading his intensity. When his focus was fixed on me, the way it was now, that was enough to string up my nerves nice and tight. Add the strange hangover I got from the hill and it was going to be hard to play this one cool and make it believable.

  “Who could know? I wasn’t quite right last time I was there.”

  He nodded, his stare still on me. He lifted a hand to my neck, and I didn’t shirk away, didn’t want to do anything that would raise his antenna. He wouldn’t understand that I had some strange connection to that place. Even if I swore that there was something good there, something that might want to help me, he wouldn’t trust it.

  “I don’t want you going back there alone,” he said, his voice soft, as if that disguised his high-handedness.

  “Wasn’t planning on it.”

  He seemed to take my acceptance of his statement as his due. Maybe he thought he’d finally gotten me under control. He should’ve realized my easy agreement was the biggest red flag going. The fact that he hadn’t seen past my lie was near amazing. I’d mastered quite a few things in these last few months, but I never thought I’d pull that feat off.

  9

  “I know I said we were having the honeydew darling stew, but I’ve made some real strides with this new dish. I know you’ll all love it.” Bertha placed a big pot in the center of the table with a smile so wide she could’ve been putting the Hope Diamond in front of us.

  It wasn’t Bertha’s normal fare that we all craved. She’d been thinking of reopening her meal delivery business, but instead of Hearty Brews on Brooms, she had a new angle. This time she wanted to supply meals for the health-conscious witch and warlock. Her new business was going to be called Healthy Brews on Brooms. Swit
ching over from hearty to healthy wasn’t going so smoothly, especially with her lower-calorie subcategory. Although that was my name for it. No one around here referred to calories. I wasn’t sure if people in Xest knew what a calorie was. They referred to how much you ate as watts, and if you didn’t burn enough, that wattage was going to add up.

  Everyone was so quiet that I could nearly hear the steam coming off the bowl.

  “That’s great. I’m sure it’s going to be just…” My words died off as I caught a whiff of an odd smell. Or maybe the odd smell killed them.

  “Great?” Oscar asked.

  “Yes, exactly,” I said. “Everything Bertha makes is always great,” I added, kicking Zab, who was sitting beside me.

  “Yeah, can’t want to dig in,” he said, his voice unnaturally high.

  There were a couple of other mumbled encouragements, but my attention had shifted to Mertie, who was sitting on my other side. She was muttering under her breath. Even though it was hard to make out the words, the sentiment was clear.

  “Mertie, are you feeling ill?” I asked, nailing her with my best cut the shit stare.

  She glanced at me, scrunched up her face as she came to terms with dinner getting ruined, and then forced the frown from her brow.

  “A little, but I’ll make it,” she replied in a tone that made it painfully clear that all the niceness and pleasantries were a struggle beyond words.

  There was another pause as no one made a move to grab the ladle. Finally, a low sigh escaped Musso as he took the lead. He dipped the ladle, taking only half a spoonful.

  Before he could get his share, Bertha cleared her throat. “No need for half portions. I’ve got more of it,” she said, watching expectantly.

  Musso feigned a smile and filled it to the top.

  The smell kicked up as the brew was agitated. It was going to be a battle to get this stuff down, but if I filled my plate with buttered buns, I could make it.