The Most Wanted Witch: Tales of Xest

by Donna Augustine

  Dread moved closer, its approach steady, and I wondered if the rest of the plan would go as Lou had predicted. Just as the doubts started to build, I felt a sensation where my hands were, as if I were on the other end of a force that was trying to pull at me. But the connection I felt to whatever was beneath the mound was stronger.

  A howl erupted in the air and a vague form of a creature came in and out of existence, its outline never completely clear, bits of its form appearing on and off, as if it weren’t quite from this plane. A large sinew of muscle would appear, before disappearing again, only to have jaws or claws come next.

  I looked down, ignoring the sight of what was coming way too close, and focused on the tug of war that had begun.

  My concentration was so fixed on holding my position that Lou’s appearance didn’t register until Hawk moved closer, planting himself in between us. He had one eye on me and one on Lou.

  What was Lou doing here? When he’d laid out the steps, he’d made it clear this was all going to be on me. The intensity of his gaze sent a strange, creeping feeling down my spine, which settled into my gut, right around the spot where I got that stonelike feeling.

  Dread tugged at my control, and I forced Lou out of my mind. Hawk would have to deal with him for now, because if I didn’t put every ounce of what I had left into this battle, Lou wouldn’t be an issue.

  I kept my hands planted on the hill I’d never thought to touch again, feeling the immense power beneath it, letting it flow up and around and through me, feeling the tug it had on me and also Dread. It was as if we were in a three-way tug of war, and I wasn’t a hundred percent sure where the lines were drawn. Would Dread end up in the hill somehow? Would I? Were we both connected by this source?

  Bit by tiny bit, I could feel Dread getting pulled in closer. At the same time, I could feel myself linking deeper to it. Was this how it ended? Would Dread end up absorbed by whatever magic we were upon, and I along with it? Was this my end as well?

  I shifted until my chest was resting on my knees, my hands still firmly on the ground in the exact same place they’d started as the battle I’d thought would take minutes stretched on. Minutes seemed to be dragging out as Dread fought the trap, making me fight for every tiny speck of progress. I dripped sweat in the frigid temperatures. My hands were so warm that they had melted through all the snow and then thawed the ground. They were lodged in mud that had begun to take on the same color of my magic, a rainbow sludge of sorts.

  “Tippi…” Hawk took a hesitant step toward me.

  “I’m good.” I shot a hard look past him to Lou, who was waiting this out as well. With a last glance at Hawk, I said, “I’ve got this.”

  He nodded, letting me know he’d keep up his end, which meant he’d keep Lou from killing me, or whatever his plan might be. Lou was patient if nothing else, standing back and waiting.

  Another hour or so rolled by, my body feeling battered as I stayed in the crumpled position, directing all my energy to the feeling of the hill. Mentally, I was no longer there. I was nowhere, nothing in focus but an internal battle to keep fighting.

  When I did open my eyes again, we’d been joined by Bautere, and another ten of his kind. They’d joined Hawk, forming a circle around me and Dread as we battled, keeping Lou on the outskirts. The air around me was nearly glowing with my magic, lighting the entire hill as it continued to flow from my body.

  Bautere nodded at me. I nodded back, hoping he could see the gratefulness in my gaze.

  I didn’t know if he could, but as I looked at the others of his kind, at Hawk, even at Lou, they all stared upon me with a mix of disbelief and awe in varying degrees.

  I dropped my head to my knees again, concentrating all the energy I had on one sole purpose: Dread.

  There was a gasp and my eyes shot open.

  Dread, still not opaque but not transparent enough to let the sun filter through anymore, writhed forward, casting us all in shadow as it partially sank.

  It got closer and closer to me as I struggled to not give an inch. I wanted to pull back from the approaching creature. The only thing keeping me going was sheer will.

  The closer it got, the more I feared a trap, but not for it, as Lou had promised. It was nearly upon me when one last step set off a roar of agony that nearly shattered my eardrums and blew my hair back. The creature was slowly sucked into the hill, clawing at the air as it was.

  I stayed in place, not sure if I could break contact with the hill or if I should, afraid it would rear up again.

  Suddenly I was blasted from the spot and thrown several feet away.

  Hawk was beside me within seconds, Bautere by him. Hawk took my hand, laying it over my still-bleeding magic.

  “Say the words. Say them,” Hawk demanded, grabbing my shoulders and holding me up.

  “My gift is finished.”

  My hand dropped to my lap and he moved his fingers to my wrist.

  Hawk nodded to Bautere.

  Bautere leaned his head back, raising his arms to the air. “I don’t feel it anymore.”

  “Neither do I,” Hawk said.

  Neither did I.

  There was nothing but silence as I looked around. Bautere’s fighters had all closed ranks around us, protecting us as we regrouped.

  “You did well,” Bautere said, giving me a nod. As I looked past him, his people did the same. One by one, they all nodded to me, a heavy silence filling the air.

  “Is there pain anywhere else?” Hawk asked, feeling the bones of my legs and then arms.

  “No. I’m good.” I tried to sit up on my own but didn’t make it more than a few inches before leaning back into him.

  “You did enough. Rest now. I’ll take care of you.” Hawk bent down and scooped me up into his arms. I didn’t fight him. Couldn’t if I wanted to, and at that moment, I didn’t want to at all. I laid my head on his shoulder, knowing he’d get me home safe, no matter what.

  A gap opened in the fighters’ circle as Lou stepped forward. The fighters barely gave him more than an inch of buffer, making it clear whose side they were on.

  He stepped forward, a smile forced upon his face. “Impressive. I wasn’t sure you would be up to it, but you’ve proven yourself quite capable.”

  “Thank you. It was a good plan.”

  Hawk said nothing, but his arms tensed around me.

  Lou nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again,” he said, before disappearing.

  “You weren’t supposed to survive this,” Hawk said.

  “No, I don’t think I was.”

  34

  “You’re awake.” Bibbi was sitting at the end of my bed, staring at me.

  I nodded, wondering how long she’d been there as I stretched my stiff muscles.

  “Hawk didn’t want me to wake you, but I wanted to make sure you were okay. You were half out of it when you came back, and Hawk told us what happened. You should have told us what you were going to do. I would’ve come with you.” She ran a hand back and forth on the quilted spread.

  Which was the exact reason I hadn’t told her. There was no way I was giving full disclosure so she could get herself killed.

  Shit. Why did that have a familiar feel? Did that mean I was like Hawk?

  No. Definitely not. Wasn’t in the same stratosphere.

  “I’m sorry. I woke up and knew I had to do it right then and there.” It was all I had to offer, and I hoped it was enough.

  She pointed to a tea on my nightstand. “I’ve been keeping it warm for you.”

  “Thank you. This is perfect,” I said, wrapping my hands around the hot cup. A cold, invisible nose pressed against my arm, but I didn’t dare pet Dusty while Bibbi watched. The last time she’d watched him, it had taken an hour to get the bow off his head and the shimmer powder off his fur. I’d woken to some dust bunnies for a few days after.

  “As soon as you’re ready, everyone is downstairs waiting for you,” she said, her eyes narrowing on the indent in the cover where Dusty w
as sitting. He froze.

  “Tell them I’ll be down shortly,” I said, knowing I owed Dusty. I got out of bed, throwing the blanket over where Dusty was.

  “Great, see you in a couple.” She only looked back at the bed a couple more times before she left.

  A poof of dust exploded through a gap in the blanket.

  “I already apologized five times. Was that really called for?”

  There were a few chattering sounds, but no more dust.

  The sound of talking, yelling, laughing, and just being met me as I made my way downstairs. How had I ever disliked this noise? It sounded like happiness and home. It was the best background music I’d ever heard.

  As I headed for the back room, Helen began grinding her wheels until she made a whirring noise I’d never heard before.

  I changed directions and walked across the workspace to lay a hand on her machinery, feeling a little buzz.

  “I’m good. Just glad that day is over,” I reassured her.

  She made a humming noise that reminded me of a cat purring.

  I walked into the back room and a roar went up. When Bibbi had said “they,” I’d expected my roommates, not everyone who’d sweated out every moment of the last few months with us. The place had expanded to full capacity and they still barely fit.

  Hawk walked over and put a glass of wine or something in my hand. Bibbi was right next to me a moment later, smiling and without fisted hands.

  “Everyone is so excited about Dread being gone that they insisted on coming over. Nice, right?” She scanned the room as people began to notice my presence.

  My stomach dropped.

  Was that what they were being told? That it was totally over? I looked around, wondering how I was going to break it to them that it might not hold. We might have a week, or maybe a year, but I believed Lou when he’d said that it could only be temporary.

  Oscar beat the crowd on their way over. “Why is the woman of the hour looking so glum?”

  “She’s afraid you’re all going to be disappointed because we don’t know how long it’ll last,” Hawk said, standing right beside me. He turned to me to me with a smile that shocked me almost more than what he said next: “They already know. They don’t care. They’re happy anyway.”

  Oscar waved a hand in the air. “Are you kidding? Anything is a relief. Plus, you did it once, you’ll do it again.” He shrugged and then topped off my glass with the bottle he was carrying.

  “Yes, you will,” Bertha said, walking over with a plate of my favorite pastries heaped up high. “I made these just for you.”

  I grabbed one off the top. I mean, as long as they all knew, who was I to ruin the party?

  “You got this,” Zab said, squeezing in between Musso and Bertha and stealing a pastry off Bertha’s plate.

  “Heard you were pretty damned impressive,” Musso said, and then was pushed out of the way for Zark and the burned beard guy as they all made their way over to thank me.

  They all made a hole as Mertie walked over, her hooves clopping on the wood floor.

  “Heard you didn’t screw up? Good to hear.” She grinned for a split second. It was the nicest expression she’d ever given me.

  “Thanks, Mertie.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” she said, before walking away. “This place is too damned happy.”

  One by one, it seemed like half of Xest made their way over, either congratulating me or thanking me. Even Gillian nodded in my direction from across the room.

  Several hours later, I dropped onto the couch, only the housemates left, except for Gillian, who’d left the party early to go check on her shop.

  Oscar was playing a game with Zab, who kept losing. For which Hawk and Oscar teased him.

  Bertha and Musso were sitting by the fireplace together, shoulder to shoulder, sipping tea and looking like they’d only been dating a week.

  Bibbi came and sat down beside me.

  “So it’s over—for now, anyway. Are you relieved? Tired? How are you feeling?”

  “At this very second?” I took a moment, letting the setting marinate into my soul. It was hard to put a finger on the exact feeling. “I feel warm and gooey, like the center of an apple pie warmed up.”

  “You’re happy,” Bibbi said.

  “Yeah, I am.” No lies, vague answers, subterfuge—just the unadulterated truth. I was happy.

  She smiled. “I’m glad. You deserve it.”

  “Only a couple things, or people, left to handle and then maybe we can get back to life for a while.” Life? Here? I wasn’t sure what that was like without something crazy going on, someone hunting me down, or trying to kick me out. What would living here be like when it was peaceful for a spell? Would I stay at the broker building, or should I get another place? The idea of leaving here felt alien to me, but there was no reason to remain. I’d have to wait and see what came. It would be foolish to make any hasty decisions.

  “Do you think you’ll stay for a while?” I asked, not wanting to pressure her either way, but I’d come to like the company. I wasn’t sure what had happened to me, but the idea of this place empty made my heart feel like it was chilled. This place was changing me, and as much as I’d resisted it, maybe it was in a good way.

  “I don’t know. Maybe for a while, if I’m not in the way?”

  “You’re definitely not in the way. None of you are. Hawk made all these additions. It would be a shame to waste them.”

  “Do you think he’ll mind?” she asked, her gaze shooting across the room to Hawk, before moving on to settle on Oscar and linger.

  “Hawk? Not at all. Oscar might be staying on too, for a while.” He would if I had anything to do with it. The two of them had meddled in my life enough. Only fitting I return the favor a bit if something was brewing.

  I’d have to talk to Hawk about that. I glanced in his direction, and his gaze shot to mine, as if he knew the second my attention turned to him. And then it froze there as something warm fizzled in my chest.

  Then a puff of smoke entered the room, breaking our connection as it made its way over to me. It shifted into ash next, and then, slowly, parchment, as everyone watched. We all knew what it was, having seen Xazier’s messages before.

  The parchment complete, it floated down and dropped onto my lap.

  My gooey feeling was hardening. I didn’t want to touch it or read it, but that wasn’t an option.

  It would be the last time. I’d meet him and tell him we’d fixed the problem. It would be over. It might ruin this evening, but by tomorrow, I’d wake up without this hanging over my head and be back to gooey pie feelings.

  Hawk walked over, waiting for me to open it. “He wants a meeting, I assume.”

  I felt Bibbi shifting closer, everyone waiting for the inevitable.

  I opened the parchment.

  “Yes, he does.”

  35

  “You don’t need to come with me. I can handle it. You should be resting,” Hawk said, stealing my lines.

  “I rested all day and it’s my meeting, remember? The invite was for me.”

  He was walking beside me toward the square, and for the first time in a long time, things felt like they were getting back to normal. I hadn’t spotted a grouslie since we started out, and the ever-present feeling of Dread that had plagued Xest was gone. Lou had said that the hill we’d trapped it in might not hold, but I was beginning to feel like everyone else. I was going to enjoy the reprieve and revel in the success we did have.

  “After what you did yesterday, most witches wouldn’t be alive.” There was a heavy pause before he added, “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  He spoke in a tone I’d never heard him use, ever.

  “Why, Hawk, you sound surprised. I didn’t realize that was possible.”

  “I’ve known for a long time you were different, but that was an entirely different level.”

  There was that tone again, the one that made my spine feel an inch longer. As much a
s I wanted to thank him coolly, say something suave and sophisticated, I was afraid to speak. I felt like a dog that had just robbed a cupcake off the counter and gotten away with it. That the golden retriever inside of me would end up doing something goofy, like slobbering all over him for giving me praise.

  Plus, the way he was looking at me was beyond words. I’d seen lust in his eyes before, but not this. This was something utterly different. No one had ever looked at me the way he did.

  Had I been the idiot this whole time not believing Bibbi? Had Hawk declared for me? It wouldn’t be my first blunder in judgment. Nor the second, or the hundredth, and definitely not the last.

  My feet slowed as the shock to my system began sucking up all the available energy in order to process what I was sensing.

  I kept slowing until I’d stopped completely.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, stopping not far from me.

  I stared at him for a few seconds, having a hard time believing I was going to rehash this conversation, and right now, of all times. “You did declare. You called it an old wives’ tale, but it wasn’t, was it?”

  His eyes locked on mine. “I don’t think the timing is quite right for this discussion,” he said, before looking the other way.

  Up ahead, Xazier stood, waiting. At that moment, I didn’t care if Xazier waited. But what if Hawk was stalling so he didn’t have to tell me how wrong I was right before this meeting? Did I really want to be rejected right now?

  Hawk was right. This conversation was better off at a later time, or never. Maybe never?

  All that gooeyness was getting to my head. I shoveled it away, focusing on Xazier. It might be an act, but he didn’t look as angry or annoyed as I’d hoped. He had to know that we’d trapped Dread. He had his finger on the pulse of everything here, not to mention you could literally feel its absence.

  “If things go bad, please, for the love of Xest, follow my lead for once in your life,” Hawk said, hearing the same alarm bells I had.

  I opened my mouth to say I would but then had to pause. “I’ll try.” It was the best I could offer. If he did something I disagreed with, I’d end up doing things my way no matter what I said. It was best to set realistic expectations.