The Most Wanted Witch: Tales of Xest

by Donna Augustine

  “It might appear as if I’m doing nothing, but I’m quite busy thinking.” He tapped his head. “Tell me what Mertie said again?”

  I relayed all the information that was pertinent, which excluded her moving in. This was not the day for that conversation. That day would happen when she showed up.

  “I have to say, it’s very strange you were born to a human and a Whimsy witch,” Oscar said. “It doesn’t seem possible.”

  “Why do you think that? Maybe my father was a warlock?”

  “Odds of a warlock of any kind of serious power being born as a pop-up in Rest is very unlikely. And you weren’t conceived here, or immigration wouldn’t have been able to boot you.” He was scratching his jaw as he went back to his heavy thinking.

  “That goes back to conception?” I asked.

  “Yes. Why? Did you think maybe Zark was your long-lost daddy or something?” He laughed even as I threw my wet rag at him.

  “You’re not funny most of the time. I hope you know that,” I said, leaning my head back again.

  “That one was actually pretty funny,” Zab said. No one else disagreed.

  “Can I have my rag back?” I held up a hand, and the wetness smacked me in the palm a second later, all nice and toasty again. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Oscar said. “You should really work on learning some more fundamentals, especially since everyone is looking at you like the savior of Xest. They’d find your lack of basics startling.”

  “For your information, that position has already been taken,” I replied. I didn’t need to say what cocoa-serving pain in the ass had stepped up to fill it. We all knew, evidenced by the lack of follow-up. Gillian was going to change the world, one magnificent cocoa at a time.

  A chair scraped against the floor. “I’m going to need at least two pots of tea to get through all these requests,” Bibbi said, sounding frazzled. “You’d think Marvin had completely closed up shop the way these smaller requests keep piling up lately. Why are they even coming here?”

  “Maybe Marvin is looking to cut back,” Zab said. “Such a greedy jerk that I didn’t think I’d ever see the day, but he’s been getting lazier and lazier every month, it seems.”

  A tingle spread over my skin.

  “How many do you have?” Hawk asked.

  “Oh, I hadn’t realized you were back,” Bibbi said.

  No one probably had. No footsteps, no smell. It was as if he could disguise his entire presence when he wanted, except somehow I still sensed him.

  “Too many to count,” Bibbi said.

  I kept my head back, rag on my eyes, focusing so hard on ignoring his presence that it was nearly all I could think about.

  Stop it. Why do you have to focus only on him if he’s anywhere around? It was embarrassing. I was a pathetic loser, and there were important things to ponder, like angels and demons who seemed equally evil, invisible monsters, and people long dead.

  Dead people. Everyone that had worked with my mother was long gone, and there were very few witches and warlocks that were born in Rest. And pop-ups, as they called them, typically didn’t have a lot of magic.

  So how was Marvin keeping the factory stocked with enough witches and warlocks? Or had he kept it stocked before, when, from all appearances, he was losing ground now?

  I yanked the rag off my eyes, sitting up. “Whimsy witches die young, typically. That’s established. And pop-ups aren’t that common, right?”

  “Yes,” Hawk answered.

  The entire room settled their attention on me, as if they sensed something was coming.

  “How many Whimsy witches and warlocks are typically born in Xest?”

  There were a few head shakes, as no one had an answer.

  “I don’t think that many,” Hawk said, walking closer.

  “So if they aren’t getting imported, and there aren’t that many to begin with, and they die young, how’s he been keeping that factory stocked with enough magic? Has there been an influx of pop-ups, or has Marvin been doing something else?” I asked.

  Everyone was sitting upright.

  “If there’s someone sneaky enough to steal magic somehow, it would be him,” Musso said, walking in the room. “I never did trust that guy.”

  “From what I read, Xest has a certain amount of intrinsic magic that’s inherent to the place, correct?” I asked.

  “Yes, it does.” Hawk was right by the couch now. “And there’s typically been a balance. Dread is not balanced.”

  “Maybe Marvin did something that threw off that balance?” I looked about the room, trying to read the reactions. No one was saying much, and no one looked overly sold.

  “Is he smart enough to pull off something big enough to shift the balance in Xest to create a monster like that?” Zab asked.

  “It’s a long shot, but we don’t have anything else,” Hawk said. “Zab, send out a newsflash to those two idiot brothers. I want them here in the next twenty or else.”

  Hawk walked into the office, Zab right behind him.

  “Who are those two idiot brothers?” I asked Oscar, who was standing and getting ready to follow as well.

  “You call them Spike and Braid—they’re the two that brought you over. They do most of Marvin’s collecting. They’d know how many pop-ups have been coming in. They’re idiots, but they puddle-jump really well for low-level Middlings.”

  Spike and Braid were outside the office nineteen minutes later, arguing with each other.

  “What do you think they’re fighting about?” Zab asked. The two of us stood in front of the plate glass, watching the brothers as they shouted and did a lot of finger pointing.

  “Not sure, but it does give the appearance of guilt. Problem with those two is they might be guilty of so many different things that it could have nothing to do with this.” I sipped some tea, since I didn’t dare drink cocoa within sight of Bibbi these days, even though Gillian was still at work and it was probably poison-free.

  “They better not have screwed us over,” Bibbi said. “I say we leave them out there for a while until one of them freezes and the other cracks.”

  I glanced back at Bibbi, so nice and innocent when I first met her, and saw the glint of rage and steel in her eyes. She might’ve been one of the toughest people in Xest, masquerading as this cute chick I called a friend.

  “She’s a little scary, isn’t she?” Zab whispered, noticing my attention.

  “Just a little, but she likes us, thankfully. We probably don’t want to get on her bad side, though.”

  Bibbi just laughed, thinking we were kidding. Or maybe not.

  Hawk walked back into the offices, scanning the place until his gaze narrowed on the window. “What are those idiots doing?”

  “They don’t appear to want to come in,” Zab said.

  We’d been watching them bickering back and forth for a good five minutes already.

  Hawk walked to the door and held it open for them. They stopped talking the second he did. Braid nodded to Spike; Spike then nodded to Braid, as they silently argued who was going to go inside first.

  “Inside.” Hawk pointed at the bench along the wall.

  Braid lost the fight, walking in first. The two of them took a seat, whispering things to each other that appeared to be a continuation of their argument, if their wrinkled-up faces and jerking movements meant anything.

  Hawk let them continue to fight it out for a minute until Braid turned to Hawk, his eyes scanning the rest of us, as if he were determining how bad their odds were.

  “I don’t know what you were told, but we didn’t do anything. We had nothing to do with her.” Braid pointed to me. “Or the gangs or any of the evil shit happening. We know our place. We stick to the small stuff. This ain’t small stuff.”

  “This is going to be easier than expected,” Zab said.

  “How many Whimsy witches and warlocks have you brought over in the last six months?” Hawk asked.

  “That’s why we’re here?�
� Braid squinted.

  “Answer the question,” Hawk said.

  They went back to looking at each other, as if there was a trap here that they couldn’t spot yet.

  “I don’t care if it’s two or twenty. There is no wrong reply. Just answer,” Hawk said, stepping closer to them.

  I was itching to get into the fray and start interrogating them myself. Their fear seemed to be focused mostly on Hawk, and my instinct told me to let it stay there. There was plenty of talk around Xest about Hawk, not that anyone whispered the rumors to me. There were reasons Hawk cleared the sidewalk like no one else in this place, even if I didn’t know them.

  What the hell was Hawk that he could call anyone in and they’d come running? He wasn’t completely human, as evidenced by the creature he could become. This was a very good reason why I should never have kissed him and enjoyed it. It was always a good idea to know if the person you were clinging to like life depended on it was even a human.

  The two of them were back to the silent debating. Braid shrugged and Spike nodded, as they came to some agreement.

  “Should we count the two times we brought her over?” Braid asked, pointing at me again.

  “No,” Hawk said.

  “Then none.”

  “If you’re looking for more Whimsy witches, it’s not our fault. It’s been slim pickings,” Spike added. “We’ve been trying.”

  Braid nodded, completely missing the point of this conversation. We didn’t care if there weren’t more witches and warlocks, only that nothing was adding up. How had Marvin kept the factory running?

  “What about the last couple of years?” Hawk asked.

  “A handful. Maybe four?” Braid said right away. After they hadn’t gotten beheaded for the first answer, they clearly didn’t feel the need for another debate.

  I didn’t know the math, or how many Whimsy witches were born a year, but that didn’t sound like enough to keep the engine churning at the factory.

  Hawk waved toward the door. “You can go.”

  “We can? That’s it?” Braid asked.

  “That’s it.”

  Instead of running out of the office, they both got up like they’d just finished a marathon and all their energy was depleted. They looked about the room, as if they were stupid enough to think someone was going to fill them in on what was afoot.

  Hawk cleared his throat and then pointedly looked at the door.

  They nodded and headed in that direction with a bit more speed. I followed, smiling as I showed them out.

  I held the door open as they left and then kept it open a few inches as they walked away. They didn’t bother looking back as they started talking.

  Braid turned to Spike. “You know, considering the lack of pop-ups, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marvin gets desperate enough to use the hill again.”

  “I don’t think he’ll do that anymore.”

  I flattened my palm on the door, pushing it wide open. “What’s the hill?” I yelled.

  They turned, their faces stark white and the urge to run in their twitchy gazes. As a former runner myself, I was a master at spotting another.

  “Hawk,” I called inside, grateful I had some backup on hand. Last attempt I’d made at questioning one of them had led to a merry chase first.

  “I’m right here,” Hawk said from behind me. “We need these two still?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well,” Hawk said, “you heard her. We need to talk some more.” He had one hand on the door, holding it open while he waited for them to turn back around.

  They were cursing under their breath as they walked back in.

  Spike turned to Braid. “You call me the stupid one, but you’re the one always gabbing away. Can’t keep your mouth shut for nothing.”

  “Shut up or I’ll shut yours for you.” Braid elbowed him.

  Hawk tilted his head back to the bench. I didn’t wait for anyone to tell me to take the lead. They’d have to fight to take the reins out of my hand.

  “What’s the hill?” I asked.

  “We don’t know.” Braid couldn’t sit still.

  Spike stared at his shoes, saying nothing.

  “You just talked about it,” I said.

  “That doesn’t mean we know.” Spike looked up, even as he kept his head down.

  Braid shook his head. “We really don’t know. We hear shit. No one tells us anything.”

  “And what shit do you hear?” I asked, as Hawk stepped closer.

  “We can’t talk about it. You don’t understand. He’ll kill us.”

  “You think I won’t?” Hawk asked. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumors. Trust me when I tell you that not only will I kill you, but I’ll enjoy it. You two have been nothing but a pain in my ass. I’d be happy to kill you.”

  Bibbi walked over and stood on my other side, a letter opener in her hand. “Let me have a chance at them. We’ll see what they know.”

  I swung an arm out, stopping her from getting too close. “Hang on there. I think we should give them a chance to talk first.”

  “Fine. We can give them a chance. But for the record, I don’t have a lot of patience.” She dropped her hand only enough so it was no longer level with their necks.

  Braid and Spike’s faces were white enough that you couldn’t help but wonder if they had any blood left.

  Braid said, keeping his eyes on Bibbi’s letter opener, “Marvin mentioned in passing once that we either found him more pop-ups, ones who weren’t totally useless—”

  Braid elbowed Spike in the ribs. Braid seemed to catch his error and looked at me, shaking his head. “I didn’t mean to say you were useless. Just most pop-ups are weak as hell, and—”

  “I don’t care. Keep going. What else did he say?” I asked.

  “He’d have to go back to ‘the hill,’ and he didn’t want to do that again. That’s it,” Braid answered, putting up his palms.

  I kept staring at him for another few moments, trying to smell a lie. They squirmed a bit, but nothing worse than what I’d expect with a rabid Bibbi ready to gut them.

  “Don’t move,” I told them.

  “I’ll watch them. They won’t go anywhere,” Bibbi said.

  I walked to the other side of the office. Everyone followed me but Bibbi, who stood in front of them, flipping her letter opener end over end.

  “Do you think they’re telling us everything?” I asked.

  “I do,” Hawk said.

  “Yeah. Me too,” Oscar said.

  Musso and Zab agreed. It was unlikely we were all wrong.

  “Bibbi, cut them loose,” I said.

  She turned toward me. “Really? Do I have to?”

  Braid and Spike took off. Bibbi let out a grunt as she watched their backs. They were lucky she wasn’t giving chase.

  Musso hummed. “What hill could they be talking about? After all my years here, I thought I was aware of every nook and cranny in Xest.”

  “Maybe the hill behind the mailbox?” Zab asked.

  “I think I might have a lead on the hill,” I said, remembering the place Bautere had brought me. It had seemed like nothing, but it might be the only lead.

  Hawk turned back my way. “You do, do you?” There was no need for him to say anything further.

  “I wouldn’t get all judgmental if I were you.” I went and grabbed a jacket, and everyone in the office went to do the same. “Um, I’m not sure if we should all go. It’s in Bautere’s…”

  I didn’t have to finish. They were already putting their coats down. That was easy enough.

  Hawk walked to the stairs, waiting, the only one who didn’t mind going into Bautere’s territory.

  26

  It was more of a mound, and that was a generous description. This thing wouldn’t trigger a deep breath if I ran up it hard and fast. But this was the place Bautere had said seemed odd. It was our one and only lead at the moment.

  Hawk walked cautiously around it, giving it much more respect than I
did. He circled in tighter and tighter rings as he approached.

  “Bautere said there was something off about this place, but…I don’t know.” I took a few steps closer, thinking that a cup of tea in the back room might’ve been more worthwhile than this trip.

  Hawk didn’t lose an inch of intensity. “Don’t judge anything by appearances. The most lethal witch I’ve ever met had a bun and wore an apron. She baked me cookies right before she tried to kill me.”

  Glad he was impressed by this lump of snow. “Were they good?”

  “Best I’ve ever tasted.”

  His wannabe girlfriend would lose her mind if she knew someone had outdone her in the sweets department.

  “Don’t let Gillian hear that.” I let out a half laugh, realizing belatedly that it sounded more like a cackle. Did that sound bitter? What was wrong with me? I didn’t care what happened with him and Gillian. There was a job to do, a hill to find. How Gillian felt about someone else’s cookies was the least of the problems facing all of us.

  After this new perusal, it might not qualify as a mound. I took a few more steps toward the clump of snow.

  “This place seems pretty normal. This doesn’t seem to be the place.” I pulled my collar up as the wind kicked up.

  Hawk kept walking around intently, like a dog on a scent. He didn’t appear to be ready to leave anytime soon.

  Out of sheer boredom, I made my way closer. A weird feeling made my insides tingle. I took another step. The feeling grew. I took another few steps, single-mindedly heading in the direction of the feeling. It was unlike anything I’d felt. Maybe it was because I was closer than last time, but I felt like I was a magnet being pulled toward something much larger than myself.

  The closer I got, the more I felt I couldn’t retreat, until I was nearly glued to one spot on the ground.

  “Hawk?”

  “Yeah?” He was kneeling, laying a hand on the ground.

  “I need…” I crashed to the ground, hitting my knees and then my palms.

  “Tippi?” He headed toward me. “What is it?”

  “There’s something here. I feel…strange. I don’t know if I can move.”

  I didn’t have to say another word before he tossed me over his shoulder and took off. He didn’t stop until we were a good hundred feet from the mound.