A Witch Too Late

by Paula Lester

  What now? What now? Cas fell onto her side and pushed against the floor to scoot away. It was a futile gesture. A moment later, a hand latched onto her foot and yanked Cas back.

  “Cute... and impressive. You’ve learned some tricks. Maybe you’re more like me than I realized.” But Dustin flinched when he saw her cold, hard stare. He let out a nervous laugh and squared his shoulders. “I’m not afraid of you.” But his body language told another story. He leaned ever-so-slightly away from Cas.

  Cas didn’t care what he thought. She only cared about making it out of this room and telling everyone about what he had done. Her breath came in heaving gasps as she struggled to push the pain down to a manageable level. Then she lifted her head and stared straight at Dustin.

  Undeterred, the fake witch grabbed her arm and tried to haul her upright. But the way she was trussed wouldn’t allow Cas to stand. She fell over onto her side, and Dustin swore. “Enough of this.”

  He pulled a knife from the inside of his jacket. It was a double-edged blade about half a foot long with a brass cross piece.

  Cas gasped and shrank away.

  “Tsk. It’s an athame for ceremonies, dearie. Relax. I can’t have you squirming about like a fish.” He called for a chair, and just like the first time Cas had visited chambers, one materialized out of the wall and slid to the center of the room.

  Dustin severed the length of rope that connected her feet and hands. The other knots didn’t loosen. He pulled Cas to her feet with a grunt.

  At least she could stand upright now. Dustin spun Cas about until she faced him. She stared into the turtle-dove brown eyes that had seemed so lovely a few days ago.

  Dustin said, “Now—”

  And Cas smashed her forehead into his. Dustin dropped like a stone tossed in a river. But Cas paid the price and went down with him. Her brain felt like it was bouncing around in her skull.

  Despite the pain, she rolled to her knees. That move worked all the time in the movies. But the hero never looked close to tossing his cookies afterward, like how Cas felt now. Dustin’s eyes fluttered, but he wasn’t moving. She might not have much time before he woke up. She scooted toward him, but it was slow, painful going.

  “Where is it? Where is it?” Cas cried out in a hoarse whisper as she searched around Dustin for the blade. She leaned over his torso and searched the floor until her fingers brushed it.

  She didn’t know how long it took to cut through the material around her ankles but then it was done. Cas kept a grip on the blade, staggered to her feet, and ran.

  Cas darted toward the door. She stumbled once—her feet were numb from being bound for so long. But she made it into the hallway and ran as fast as she could for the reception area. She heard a crash in the council chamber. Dustin was coming.

  Once she was through the waiting room and down the hall, she paused for a moment to consider whether she should take the hover pad or find some stairs. She decided on the hover pad. Even though she’d be a sitting duck while riding, it would give her a moment to rest.

  As soon as she stepped off the pad onto the marble floor of the Courthouse’s lobby, it streaked upward again. Dustin must have called it back. He was right behind her.

  Cas raced for the front door. Once outside, she could blend in with the parade revelers. Her head pounded from the outside in, and her vision blurred for a second. She lumbered sideways and crashed into a wall. The blade bounced and slid across the marble floor out of reach. Cas rubbed at her eyes and forced herself to move again. But Dustin was off the hover pad and running full tilt.

  Cas ran in a way she never knew was possible. She crashed into the front door and fumbled with the lock. The door yielded and her heart leapt. She was going to make it.

  The street outside had emptied out of all but a few devoted parade goers.

  “Cas!” Graham waved from about a block away. At first, he appeared happy to see her but then his features clouded.

  She turned, preparing to bolt in his direction. But just then, a hand buried itself in her hair and yanked. Then she was falling.

  Cas hit the floor hard enough to knock the breath out of her lungs. For the moment, she could only watch as Dustin closed, locked, and then shoved the door’s additional bolts into place. He turned and towered over her. His face contorted into a grimace, and he spat onto the floor.

  A door opened across the lobby. Two people in dark green robes edged into her view and stood next to Dustin. Hoods hid their faces. Cas couldn’t determine if they were heavy or thin or discern any other basic body features.

  “You sure took your time,” Dustin growled at them. There was no response. “Whatever. Let’s get this over with.

  The two robed figures moved to stand on either side of Dustin so they formed a rough triangle around Cas. Dustin pulled the perpetuity stone out of his jacket and handed it to one of the others. “Are you positive you won’t need a third person to cast the spell?”

  Cas heard one of the robed people scoff before snatching the stone and passing it to the other figure. Together, they bowed their heads and began to chant in a low, monotone hum.

  Cas tried to sit up, but Dustin pinned her shoulders down to the ground. She fought to stay conscious and struggled to think. She wriggled her body but couldn’t move. Then she did the only thing possible. Cas bit Dustin hard on the forearm.

  Dustin swore and backhanded Cas hard. For a minute, the edges of her vision went black. It was literally do or die time, and she refused to go out like this.

  Someone pounded on the front door of the Courthouse. It shook and rattled. One of the bolts clattered to the floor, and the door parted a fraction and held. Cas heard Graham shouting on the other side.

  From the corner of her eye, Cas saw something squeeze through the parted doorway. It darted around the legs of her captors.

  Dustin cackled. “Ah, what do we have here? A failed experiment standing up for a freak of nature?”

  Echo’s hair stood on end, and he looked twice as big as usual. He hissed. “Let her go.”

  “Why? I’m about to get everything I ever wanted,” Dustin said. He stood and planted a foot in the center of Cas’ chest. He withdrew the athame blade Cas had dropped.

  Echo prepared to leap, but before he could, one of the robed figures lashed out. The cat didn’t see it coming in time. The kick caught him in the ribs.

  It was enough of a distraction for Dustin to pick Echo up by the scruff. He held the blade over the cat’s chest.

  “Echo! No! Let him go!” Cas cried out from the floor.

  The chanting grew in intensity. “Drain her. Now!” Dustin hollered at his companions as he cast worried glances at the front doors. “Hurry!”

  One of the figures held the stone out toward Cas. As he did so, she saw a wisp of pink smoke emanate from her chest. It weaved from side to side like a cobra being called by a snake charmer.

  No. This couldn’t happen.

  “Now be a good girl and just let them finish, Cascade.” Dustin gave Echo a shake, but the cat dangled limp.

  Cas moved, but Dustin hissed another warning and put the blade to Echo’s throat. “Make a move and he’ll go first.”

  The chant was changing, evolving, as if the spell was becoming more complicated with every syllable. And as it did, Cas could feel her essence ebbing away. The pink, ethereal filament still weaved. It stretched to cross the expanse between Cas and the stone.

  Cas looked at Dustin. He had won. She was going to die.

  Echo’s body hung lifeless. Cas didn’t know if he was actually gone, but it didn’t matter. Soon, they both would be. Both of them innocents caught up in plots based on greed and power lust.

  She was innocent. And so was Echo. She levelled a look at Dustin and he...smiled. It was an expression of pure smug satisfaction and glee. He’d won and knew it.

  The pain didn’t come this time, but the fury did. It exploded up from a place within her that held every buried truth, every rejection, every moment of shee
r confusion and doubt and hurt. And most of all, the pure rage of her friend being threatened pushed it all over the top.

  The wisp was almost to the rock now.

  “Put. Him. Down.” Her voice held only a hint of menace.

  Dustin laughed.

  Cas let the door containing all the hurt burst free. And it did. The magical bindings that attempted to restrain the most powerful part of her being fell away, scorched and smoking.

  She didn’t have to visualize anything this time. Cas was an all-consuming giant. A powerful being with one intention.

  A single word slipped from behind her clenched teeth. “Hot.”

  Dustin smirked. “Really? Did you think that would work? The spell on you is so strong, nothing could break—”

  He didn’t finish as his eyes snapped to the arm holding Echo. The fabric of Dustin’s jacket smoldered. Swaths of it began to fall away like ash. He dropped the cat just before his screams started.

  Cas dove and caught Echo just before his limp body struck the floor.

  Dustin’s shirt sleeves disintegrated to dust as if being consumed by invisible flames. The skin of his forearm smoked. Frantic, he howled and slapped at it, only to snatch back his hand like it had caught fire too.

  The chanting faltered as he screamed. Cas shifted Echo to the crook of one arm and struggled to her feet. As she rose, Dustin dropped. Inhuman sounds escaped his mouth as he made a feeble attempt to crawl away.

  The robed figure holding the stone stopped chanting and took a defensive step backward. The other person grabbed at the sleeve of the first one’s cloak. “We still need her.” But the other one wasn’t having it.

  The one who had spoken growled in frustration and lifted a hand, performing the first gestures of a spell.

  Cas flung up a hand, ready to fight, to defend...

  The front door of the Courthouse crashed open. A deafening roar filled the lobby.

  Everyone in the room froze.

  The threshold of the Courthouse was barely large enough to contain what stood there. A black bear, as wide across the shoulders as three adult men standing side by side, blocked the moonlight coming in from the street.

  The bear bellowed, baring curved incisors and dripping spittle. It stopped and moved its head from side to side to take in the scene.

  With a cry, the robed figures broke ranks. They sprinted across the lobby, heading for a side door. The bear cast a glance at Cas as it went by. She stared after it, open-mouthed.

  Movement in her arms drew Cas’ attention. Echo’s green-gold eyes peered up. He croaked, “He’s a friend. No worries.”

  Cas stumbled toward Dustin. He lay whimpering on the floor, wisps of smoke rising from his clothes. Areas of his forearm resembled rivulets of melted wax. “How did you do that?” he panted, peering up into her face.

  Cas knew she must look like a wild woman. Her clothes were torn, and her hair felt like it was a giant, wavy mass. A half dozen scrapes stung her face and arms. Yet she smiled and was rewarded with a look of fear on Dustin’s sooty face.

  Cas had never felt so powerful, so alive, or so relieved.

  She snorted and sneered at Dustin the way he’d grimaced at her so many times in the last hour. Then she barked out an answer, feeling the powerful satisfaction of it in her bones. “I’m a witch—what did you expect?”

  Chapter 16

  Cascade wiped her hands on a paint-stained rag. She looked around and smiled, satisfied. Her coral-colored entryway had two coats of paint. It was done, and it looked just the way she’d hoped.

  A loud purr caught Cas’ attention, and she grinned at Echo. He was lying on his back, kicking and batting at a hanging vine from a spider plant on the entryway’s table. “Paint fumes making you frisky, cat?” she asked him, laughing. He purred in response, his eyes half closed.

  Cas busied herself tidying up the paint can and brushes in the big washtub in the laundry room. A knock at the front door brought her back out to the entryway. “Don’t touch the walls—they’re wet,” she told Graham as she gestured for him to come in.

  They made their way to the living room, and Cas noticed he had one hand behind him. “What do you have back there?” she asked, sticking her neck out to try and see.

  He laughed and whipped his hand around. It held a white-frosted cupcake with a single candle protruding from its top. “Happy birthday,” he said.

  Cas clapped her hands like a child. “Ooh! A cupcake—my favorite,” she said. “Thank you.” She cocked her head and examined his face. “Your chin is bruised,” she said.

  Graham set the cupcake on the table and touched his chin. “Yeah. I guess I ran into something.”

  Cas pursed her lips and smirked. Two days had passed since her altercation with Dustin in the Courthouse. Graham had jogged into the lobby right after a peacekeeper squad showed up, cuffed Dustin, and took him away. Her gorgeous neighbor brought her home later, and this was the first time she’d seen him since then.

  Cas made some tea while they chatted. Echo got tired of playing with the plant and curled up on a chair in the living room for a nap.

  “Have you heard anything about Dustin?” Cas asked. She set two cups of tea on the table and sat down across from Graham.

  He grinned. “He’s real busted up. You did a number on him, for sure. The Council plans to punish him pretty severely, but they’re backlogged right now. Lots of mischief cases for them to make their way through, between the ADSB conference and Founder’s Day shenanigans. Plus, they’re short an Archsiren, and they’ll have to gear up for a sit-in to appoint a new one within the next thirty days.” At Cas’ questioning look, he explained, “It’s sort of like a conclave to choose a new pope. Plus, they’re still hoping to track down Dustin’s robed companions so they can bring them all to justice.” He paused for a drink of tea. “So he’s sitting in a cell, bandaged from top to bottom, thinking about what life is like at Sitegard.”

  Cas tilted her head. “Well, I hope justice is served. I feel kind of bad for Dustin, but he went off the rails, and he’s a danger now.”

  A knock sounded at the front door. Cas opened it to find Mr. Percy standing there, staring at the ground. He looked gaunt and a little ill. Cas was silent as she waited for him to explain why he was there. She felt Graham come up behind her. Percy glanced up at him and then back down again.

  “I came to tell you that the Council has contacted me and let me know they’ll be hearing my case in a few months. In the meantime, they levied some fines.”

  “Okay. Thanks for letting me know,” Cas said. She started to close the door.

  Percy leaned forward and spoke quickly. “I was thinking about things, and I would really like the chance to try and make some amends.”

  Cas shook her head. “I don’t see how . . .” she began.

  “I have an idea about it.” Percy shifted his feet and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Um, you’re still really strong, right? Magically, I mean. And dampening bindings help some, but they’re so restrictive that you can’t really practice controlling your magic at all while they’re in place. . .”

  He paused for her reaction, so she nodded.

  “I can help,” he said. “I can siphon a bit of your energy off every day—no, no, just enough to keep you from being dangerous!” He spoke faster as Cas shook her head. “It will be painless, and because of your abundance now, it won’t even make you feel tired anymore.”

  Cas glanced over her shoulder at Graham and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged in return. “It sounds like it could work,” he said.

  “I’m in a lot of trouble for having possession of a forbidden magical item,” Percy said. “I can’t go out of town, and I need to stay far away from trouble. I’m not going to do anything other than try to help with controlling your power.”

  Cas was quiet for a moment. The peacekeeper squad at the Courthouse had tried to patch Tempeste’s bindings, but they weren’t strong. She’d caused a small rainstorm in the laundry room the day bef
ore. “I’ll give it some thought, Mr. Percy. I’ll let you know.” The incubus nodded and retreated off the porch.

  She watched him go. Some neighborhood kids raced by on their bikes while screaming with laughter. Their glee was contagious, and it made Cas grin despite the unease she’d felt after Percy’s suggestion. Then she noticed a woman strolling down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.

  The woman walked with a skip in her step. And though Cas couldn’t hear it, the woman’s mouth moved as if she whistled. When she was opposite Cas’ house, the woman turned.

  Cas waited a beat and then waved.

  Violaine waved back. Then she continued on her way, whistling.

  Much to Cas’ relief, she didn’t go—poof—and disappear. Instead, Violaine sauntered to the end of the block and rounded the corner.

  “Speaking of controlling your power,” Graham said after Cas closed the door. “Siren Shiloh told me the Council will deliberate about who might be able help you learn magic. They’re making that issue a priority. I told them what you said about Violette offering to help, and they’ll take that under consideration.”

  “Thank you. I also want to talk with them about assigning someone to help Aunt Petunia. I think she needs someone to look after her.”

  Graham nodded.

  Cas felt a small smile playing on her lips. “And I want to ask them about something I saw the other day,” she said.

  Graham’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh really? What’s that?”

  “Well, I suffered a big bump on the head, but the peacekeeper medics said it wasn’t a concussion, so I don’t think I was seeing things.” Cas feigned puzzlement.

  Graham chuckled. “Yes?”

  “I could have sworn I heard you banging on the door to the Courthouse and shouting while I was in there with Dustin. But when the door crashed open, it was an enormous bear that barreled in, not you.”

  “Huh. Strange,” Graham said, looking at his fingernails and fighting back a smile.

  “Yeah. Strange. Gorgeous, though. Very strong and brave.” Cas stepped a little closer to Graham. “And masculine.”