Son of a Witch

by K. J. Emrick

  Then she remembered another property of skullcap lichen. A very potent, and very unique property. It is currently being studied by the United States government because of its cryogenic properties. Ground up leaves of the plant could preserve living tissue in a state near death for several weeks. Its sap was even more potent. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, it was a potion of skullcap that Juliet drank to fake her death. It was extremely effective.

  Witches had known about it for centuries, of course. No one knew who had clued Shakespeare in, but it wouldn’t be the first amazing property of plant life on this planet that Typics knew nothing about. Addie hadn’t realized that any of it grew so close to Stonecrest, though. Certainly not this much of it. Was it enough to hide Alan from them, and to keep him in suspended animation right here in this clearing?

  She scratched at the dirt with the toe of her sneaker, and sure enough, there it was. A blackish plant growing across the rocks, spreading tendrils that put down roots and grew little bud-like leaves. She could smell it now that it was exposed. Something like pus, mixed with dead insects. Well. If enough of this really was spreading out through this clearing, it could have happened just like Domovyk had said.

  For now, it was as good an explanation as any.

  “This was what you were doing all this time?” Addie asked him. “You were trying to find the same answer we were?”

  “Tak. I try, and I find it, too,” Dom said, full of cat pride.

  “Good work. I don’t think any of us would have thought to look here, literally in our own back yard.”

  Dom preened under the compliment, shifting from one of his front feet to the other.

  Doyle sniffed at the ground where the lichen was exposed. After a few deep snuffs, he sneezed. “Well. I guess this means the new guy can stay.”

  Addie rolled her eyes. “I told you already. Alan isn’t the new guy.”

  “He’s a new addition to our family,” Doyle pointed out. “Sounds like a new guy to me.”

  Instead of arguing, Addie knelt on the ground next to the dirt she had turned over. She put her hand over the lichen, careful not to touch it, and used a part of her magic she rarely ever tapped into. It was one thing to call upon her Life Essence to create, or to move things around, but calling on her magic to kill always left a sour taste in her mouth.

  Under her fingers, the leaves of the lichen curled and smoked. Sure enough, she could feel it all through the ground around them. Her magic withered its wide-spread roots until there was nothing left. It was dead.

  They would have to find the time to search the woods for other patches of this stuff. Having any sort of blind spot around their home was a serious problem. This time it was Alan who had been hiding on their land. A human who had no intentions of hurting them. Next time it could be something far worse. Like the entity that had possessed Darla at the Hot Cauldron. Or like Alan’s father, Mephistopheles Smith.

  One thing was for certain. Life with the Kilorian sisters was never dull.

  Epilogue

  In the dark of the night, Domovyk slipped quietly through the halls of Stonecrest.

  The sisters were upstairs, sleeping. That other cat, Doyle, was skulking around somewhere, but for the moment Domovyk was alone.

  He supposed that he didn’t absolutely hate Doyle. He was all right, for a domesticated shorthair from Ireland. He claimed to be descended from feline royalty but Domovyk had his doubts. Either way, it gave them common ground to talk to each other. His own ancestors had been the royal sages to the house of Genghis Khan. What the cats whispered in the Khan’s ears became law. That’s why the Empire had a law that no one could bathe in a river during a thunderstorm. Cats can’t stand thunder.

  Domovyk stopped in the middle of the entrance hall. Just the thought of thunder and lightning made his tail swish. Seriously. What was the point to all that noise and bright light?

  Doyle’s cat door was locked, but it was an easy thing to get it open. For witches who knew all about the bad things roaming loose out there, the Kilorian sisters didn’t have great security on their house. They were under the assumption that the magical barrier around Stonecrest would keep anything malevolent out.

  They were wrong.

  Outside, the air was crisp and had that smell that always means snow is coming. Just a few days ago, Addie had still been fiddling about in the garden. Halloween would be soon, too, a night of high expectations and power for witches. Domovyk wondered how different the holy day would be celebrated at Stonecrest. When he had still been with Belladonna Nightshade, Halloween had often been… deadly. He was glad that he was here now. Even if it would only be for a little while.

  The driveway led to the road, and the road led him away from the house. What he needed to do he couldn’t do within the boundaries of Stonecrest. He needed to be away from that magical barrier. And, he needed to be away from the sisters, too. He didn’t want them to see this.

  At the prearranged meeting spot Domovyk slowed his steps, and checked the position of the moon in the sky. Perfect. He was right on time. This had been almost a nightly thing for him ever since arriving at the Kilorian sister’s front steps. He knew exactly how long it took him to get here, down to the second.

  He jumped up onto the park bench, and waited.

  Before long the air in front of him began to shimmer, and then spin with colors that resolved into an image of a stunningly beautiful woman with a narrow chin and an upturned nose, almond eyes, and long midnight-black hair.

  Belladonna Nightshade.

  She smiled down at him, her lipstick too dark and her eyes too eager. “Well?” she asked him.

  “I did as you asked,” he said. “I showed spot in woods to the sisters, and now they do not suspect anything. They will never be knowing that you had Alan prisoner for a week.”

  “Good, good,” she hummed. “You’re really quite the double agent, aren’t you?”

  Domovyk didn’t answer. He didn’t feel good about what he was doing. He didn’t feel bad about it, either. This was just the way things were. Like his ancestors used to say, there was no sense in cursing the snow when you had to step in it. The snow didn’t have a choice to be cold or not. It was just the way things were.

  “I’ll have more for you to do in a few days, Domovyk.” Belladonna’s image blurred and faded, but didn’t disappear just yet. “For now, go back to Stonecrest. Watch over Alan, and those meddling sisters. Oh, I almost forgot. Word around the broomstick is that there’s a fallen angel in Shadow Lake. Know anything about that?”

  Domovyk concentrated on keeping his tail from twitching. “I have not seen a fallen angel.”

  Which was true, even if it left out the part where he’d overheard the sisters talking about Alan’s father, and how he was one of the Fallen, and how that son of a witch had inherited magic from either Kiera, or his angel-daddy.

  Quite the secret to keep from Belladonna. If she ever found out what he’d done it would be his tail in a noose, but somehow Domovyk felt it was worth the risk. The Kilorian sisters were good people, from what he’d seen. They had treated him well. There had been tuna treats and his own fluffy bed and more attention than he could really stand. They had welcomed him into their house with open arms. Especially Willow. The least he could do was keep some of their secrets safe from Belladonna Nightshade.

  She peered at him now through the scrying vision, like she knew he was holding something back. He didn’t blink. He held his ground, and waited her out, and then she was nodding like they were only discussing the weather. “All right. Well. If you happen to see him, or learn anything about him, I need to hear about it. Immediately.”

  “Why?” he dared to ask. “There is no room for angels in our plan, no?”

  Her fuzzy image went paler by degrees. “The Fallen are wild cards I don’t want to deal with. I want to find the Well of Essence, and drain it dry without any interference from one of their kind. If they found out what I was up to, they could—”

 
“Stop you?”

  Her image snapped back into clarity, eyes huge and glaring. “No, you stupid feline! They could turn around and steal the Essence for themselves. Just do as I say, and you won’t have to wake up with your fur turned inside out or your tail wrapped around your ears. Do we understand each other?”

  She smiled again when she said it, in that same false way, and Domovyk had no choice but to answer. “Tak.”

  “What? What is that? What does that mean?”

  Addie would have known, Domovyk thought to himself. “I said, yes. Understand perfectly.”

  “Good boy. Now run along.”

  The image disappeared entirely, leaving only Domovyk behind. He stared through the empty space where Belladonna had been just a moment ago. He’d managed to put himself between a rock and a hard place, and if one of them didn’t crush his tail the other was going to.

  If he was going to walk away with all of his nine lives intact, he was going to have to answer one simple question.

  Whose side was he on?

  The End (For Now)

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  Acknowledgments

  Edited by Adam C-S

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  Formatted by L.E. Crase

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  Cover Design by Melody Simmons

  About the Authors

  K.J. Emrick

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  Kathrine Emrick writing as K.J. Emrick is the author of the popular Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery series and the Pine Lake Inn Cozy Mystery series.

  Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick dreamed of being an author for the majority of her life.

  She never quite gave up on the idea of being a published author and at the age of 51, thanks to the self-publishing explosion, she finally realized her dream. Her maturity allows her to bring a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.

  She lives in beautiful South Australia with her family, including several animals. Kathrine can always be found jotting down daily notes in a journal and like many authors, she loves to be surrounded by books and is a voracious reader. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at the local library.

  Her goal is to regularly produce entertaining and noteworthy content and engaging in a community of readers and writers.

  To find out more please visit the Kathrine's website at kathrineemrick.com

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  S. Joseph Wells

  S. Joseph Wells is a native of Northern New York, where his gift for writing was born and raised not far from the Canadian border. He spent several years there working in law enforcement before returning to his true passion…writing.

  It seems his imagination has always run on a short leash, bringing him to places where fantasy and reality mix, places where the most interesting characters live and love and play and tell him their stories with a cheeky grin or a malevolent smirk.

  When he isn’t completely losing track of time while walking down the twisted pathways of plotline and prose he is hanging out with his family, nurturing the imaginations of his three sons and repeating every Canadian joke he hears to his very patient and very beautiful wife (who happens to be from Canada).