Witch's Spirit (The Hemlock Chronicles Book 3)

by Emma L. Adams

  “Ivy and Isabel were with me,” I said, holding my tongue about the obnoxious apprentice. “Uh, do you need me to take notes at the council meeting tomorrow? It’s going ahead, right?”

  “I haven’t heard any different.” She paused for a long moment, her expression unreadable. “You aren’t on the patrol rota for today. Please try to stay out of trouble in the meantime.”

  No patrols? Maybe she really was concerned about me. But her pause carried a weight that landed squarely on my shoulders. Did she think the shifter attacks would lead to the mages shunning their allies, even the guild? Surely not.

  I walked out of her office to find Lloyd waiting with Ivy Lane, of all people.

  “Hey,” Ivy said. “You owe me for this.”

  She handed me a wristband, turned on her heel, and left.

  “Where in hell did she come from?” Quickly, I stuck the wristband in my pocket before the boss came out and saw it.

  “She just strode in,” said Lloyd, in half strangled tones. “She asked if I knew whereabouts you were, and when I said the boss was probably reading you the riot act, she kind of… invited herself upstairs.”

  I walked away from the boss’s office. “Sounds like Ivy. I thought the mages would kick up a fuss, but I guess they gave her what she wanted after all.”

  “Huh?” said Lloyd, still looking dazed. “I’m lost.”

  “She was supposed to be sweet-talking the mages into handing over the witch spells the shifter was carrying on him when he shifted and attacked,” I explained.

  “Sweet-talking?”

  I gave him a look. “I didn’t know your type was fierce warrior women, but you’re wasting your time. She’s engaged to Mage Lord Colton.”

  He blinked. “I’m not… attracted to her. She took me by surprise.”

  “She does that. I should take the spell back to Isabel.” I stuck my hand in my pocket to ensure it was still there, and my Hemlock magic tingled in response. Oh, it’s a witch spell, all right.

  “I’ll come with you,” he said. “I don’t like the idea of you going back to the hotel alone.”

  “Sure it’s not because Ivy’s staying there, too?” I quipped.

  “No!” he said, more vehemently than I expected. “I’m not accustomed to women covered in blood and carrying giant swords marching into the guild without the boss’s permission.”

  “You should have seen what she said to the stuck-up twat the mages had guarding their gates.” I grinned despite myself. Thanks to Ivy, I had the shifter’s mysterious spell. One problem solved, a million more to go. “C’mon. Isabel will want to see this.”

  8

  “Nice going,” said Isabel, taking the spell with an eager expression as Lloyd and I entered her hotel room. She’d drawn even more chalk circles since I’d last been in here, filled with half-dissolved ingredients. It was a good job witch chalk cleaned off easily, otherwise she’d have racked up one hell of a bill from the hotel.

  “Any luck with the other spell?” I asked her, pulling out a chair so Lloyd had somewhere to sit without accidentally treading in a spell circle. “I don’t know why Ivy came to the guild to give this one to me rather than heading back here. I think she freaked out a few novices.”

  “The guild was closer, I’d guess. Anyway, I’m almost done.” Isabel put the spell down on the desk and indicated the chalk circle she’d been working on, which simmered with transparent flames. “Just needs a bit of fine-tuning and I’ll have our witch’s signature.”

  “Nice.” Lloyd reached forwards to pick up the wristband I’d put down on the desk. “This is shinier than any witch spell I’ve seen before.”

  “Shiny?” I leaned to look closer. While the band shape was familiar, one edge was fused with what appeared to be some kind of luminescent white material. Lloyd tapped the edge with his fingernail and it made a hollow ringing noise. I’d never seen a stone embedded in a witch spell before. Most ingredients were herbs, powders and plants.

  “Don’t blow anything up until I’m done with this,” Isabel said.

  “Relax, I’ll use my own circle.” I dug out my stick of chalk, clearing a space to sketch out a spell circle. “Lloyd, can you pass me the spell?”

  He did so, and I turned it over, running my own fingernail along the edge. “Pretty sure it has some sort of precious stone embedded in it.”

  “Stone?” Isabel echoed. “Not iron?”

  “I don’t think it’s a ward.” I put the spell in the chalked circle and re-drew the lines, while Lloyd watched.

  “That thing doesn’t look like it’s gonna come apart easily,” he observed.

  “We’ll see.” I waved a hand over the circle. Resistance pressed back, and the spell remained in one piece. “Ah. I think it’s glued together. I’ll need a stronger force.”

  “I’ll keep my distance,” Lloyd said.

  “Come on, I haven’t blown anything up in weeks.”

  “That’s a sign that you’re not being inventive enough, then.” Lloyd ducked when I threw a handful of leaves at him. “I joke.”

  “All right, duck.” I plunged my hands into the spell circle and tapped into my Hemlock magic.

  A blast like a firecracker went off, bouncing from the circle up to the ceiling. Isabel ducked her head, somehow managing to keep her hands inside her own spell circle without letting go of whatever spell she was casting. Lloyd dove underneath the desk, while I fell backwards, my hands aglow with Hemlock magic.

  “What the hell, Jas?” Lloyd yelped from under the desk.

  “What he said.” Isabel withdrew from her own circle, her hands glowing green. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” I said, nonplussed. “I don’t think Evelyn liked that stone very much.”

  “How’d I guess it was her?” Lloyd unfolded his lanky frame from underneath the desk. “What’s she trying to do, blow the ceiling off?”

  “I was only trying to pull it apart.” I scanned the floor for the wristband, which had been thrown from the circle when it’d burned out. “Damn. That was one hell of a reaction. It doesn’t even have a scratch on it.”

  Isabel glanced at me. “A reaction to what, exactly?”

  “All I did was turn on my Hemlock magic,” I said. “I just wanted to pull it apart, but I think it might be super-glued.”

  “Let me see that in a second.” Isabel peered into her own circle. “I think I got the signature.”

  “Whose is it?” I asked.

  “I’d need to show it to a witch who knows the local covens.” She stood and walked to the wristband on the floor, picking it up. “Huh, you’re right. It’s unmarked. Feels pretty heavy for a witch charm, too.”

  “Hmm.” I frowned at the wristband, not quite daring to tap into my magic again in case Evelyn really did blow the roof off this time. “Evelyn’s magic’s never reacted to any other witch charm. Any idea what type it is?”

  “Nope,” Isabel said. “I’ll see if I can break whatever’s holding it together, provided you keep Evelyn at a safe distance.”

  Isabel sketched out another circle and put the wristband into it, while Lloyd and I watched. Leaning over the circle, she whispered under her breath, occasionally tossing handfuls of powder into it. The wristband, however, remained intact.

  “It really is like superglue,” she said. “I think I’ve got it, though.”

  “Tell me when to duck,” Lloyd said.

  There was a flash of light, and I grabbed his arm, pulling both our heads down. A crackling noise sounded, and dark flames licked at the edges of the circle but didn’t spill over. Isabel lowered her hands. “Not to worry. It’s done.”

  I coughed as smoke billowed out from the circle. “You did it?”

  Isabel picked up the shard of white stone gingerly. “I can identify the other ingredients, but I haven’t the faintest idea what this is.”

  “I wonder if the mages know?” I asked. “I assume Ivy got their permission before swiping it, but maybe not.”

  “W
ith Ivy, who knows,” Isabel said, turning the gleaming shard over in her hand. “I’ll check with her when she gets back.”

  I moved over to the slightly singed bit of carpet where she’d set up her circle. “The other ingredients… looks like a binding spell. Binding what, exactly? Just the spell, or…”

  Isabel’s eyes met mine and I knew she’d had the same thought—maybe the binding hadn’t been for the spell to use, but so that the wearer couldn’t get it off. If nothing else, that fact alone proved the shifter hadn’t been the one to voluntarily pick up the spell. Someone had forced it on him.

  “I’ll tell the mages,” Isabel said, laying the stone down on the desk. “The market hits rush hour at noon and I’d rather not be there when it’s too packed.”

  “You’re not taking that with you?” Lloyd asked.

  “Best not risk it,” Isabel said. “Not until we know for sure what it is.”

  As much as it pained me to admit it, we’d be better off handing the stone to the mages. They had way more experience with rare magical artefacts than we did. As for Evelyn’s reaction… was that what she’d reacted to in the room where the shifter had killed the mage? I hadn’t seen if he’d been wearing a similar wristband, but if he had, the mages would have confiscated it when they’d hauled him off.

  “I can head upstairs and ask Drake and Wanda,” I suggested. “If you wanted to go to the market alone.”

  “I probably should,” Isabel said. “And in disguise, too. The fewer people who know I’m staying at the same hotel where the attack happened, the better.”

  “All right,” I said. “Maybe I should ask the Hemlocks if they know what that stone is. Anything that sets Evelyn off is worth asking them about.”

  Lloyd got to his feet from the desk chair. “Wait, you’re gonna introduce me to your creepy relatives?”

  “Pretty sure I can’t bring anyone else with me into the forest who isn’t a witch,” I said. “They’re totally disinterested in anything that happens in this city, besides. Maybe I’ll try to find Ivy.”

  “I’ll text her,” said Isabel. “I don’t think she’ll have taken that thing from the mages without permission, but it’s worth checking with Drake or Wanda.”

  “Not much left of it,” said Lloyd, picking it up. Without the rest of the wristband, it looked smaller, barely the length of my little finger. “Wonder if it’s worth a lot?”

  “Hang on,” I said, and tapped into the spirit realm. The stone’s glow didn’t follow me there, so I blinked the grey away. “Never mind. I wondered if it reacted to Evelyn because it’s linked to the spirit realm, but it’s not. We should leave it behind, warded.” As much as I wanted to take it with me, I didn’t trust Evelyn not to react again.

  “You bet.” Isabel activated a protective spell over the piece of stone, hiding it under the desk. “I’ll let you know if I need you.”

  “Give me a call if you see anything suspicious at the market,” I said to her. “Ivy hasn’t texted you, has she? Has she run into trouble?”

  “Honestly, trouble is probably running from Ivy.” Isabel rolled her eyes. “I’ll see what the other witches have to say about this signature.”

  Lloyd and I left her room and made for the stairs to the second floor. “You know, it’s a good job the boss isn’t keeping tabs on you today,” he commented. “When’s the next patrol, tomorrow?”

  “After the council meeting. Evening shift. Don’t look at me like that, it was the best I could get. Besides, we won’t be with Mackie this time. How is she, anyway?”

  “Back on her feet and giving the Lynns grief, same as usual,” he said.

  “I’m glad.” I took the lead, climbing the stairs. “Those hellhounds… we never did find out where they came from. Did the boss mention any theories? I forgot to ask her. She didn’t even bring up the mission when we spoke this morning.” That seemed odd, now I thought about it.

  “Nope,” he said. “Honestly, I’m surprised there’s another council meeting tomorrow. What’s this one about?”

  “Pretty sure it’ll be about the future of the Council of Twelve, considering an ambassador tried to murder one of their representatives.” I heaved a sigh. “I’m barely on the council, but Lady Harper was, and I don’t think she planned for everything to fall apart barely a month after her death. I just wish I knew if she wanted me to take her place or not. She left nothing behind to give me directions.”

  Lloyd placed a hand on my arm comfortingly. “Don’t worry, Jas. It’s not all your responsibility. It’s up to her next of kin to figure it all out, right?”

  “That’ll be Wanda.” I reached the top of the stairs and turned left. “Lady Harper didn’t leave her any instructions, either. But maybe you’re right.”

  “Sometimes I surprise myself,” he said, with a grin.

  “Don’t let it go to your head.” I paced down the corridor in search of the right room. “Not sure if they’ll know about that stone either, including whether or not Ivy got hold of it legally—"

  There was a sudden blast of air, and Lloyd and I jumped away from a spray of rainwater as Ivy and Vance materialised right in front of us.

  “Sorry, Jas,” said Ivy. “Told you you should have looked before jumping.”

  Vance scowled. “The wards on this place confuse my mage power.”

  Oops. “Where’ve you been?” I said, shaking rainwater off my sleeves.

  “The Highlands.” Ivy sneezed.

  “Back to Lady Harper’s place.” Vance activated a drying spell, and the rainwater vanished from all of us. “I moved some more boxes to Wanda’s room.”

  “She’s going to love that.” I found the right door and knocked.

  “Hey.” Wanda waved us in. “Drake’s out. Come on in.”

  While Ivy and Vance strode in, Lloyd lurked awkwardly by the door as though not sure if he was welcome or not. I grabbed his sleeve and tugged him into the room behind me, closing the door.

  “I thought you’d gone back to the mages’ place,” I said to Ivy.

  “Nah, if I had, I’d have hit that snot-nosed apprentice over the head.” She leaned her sword against the desk. “Besides, how could I miss the opportunity to search more of Lady Harper’s worthless priceless junk?”

  “These new boxes are from the basement,” said Vance. “Jas, what were you saying about a stone?”

  Ah, crap. He’d caught the tail end of our conversation when he’d teleported in. “Huh?”

  “I distinctly heard a sentence involving the word ‘Ivy’ and the word ‘legally’.”

  Oops.

  “Don’t worry,” Ivy said. “I just borrowed a spell that the mages confiscated from the shifter who attacked us this morning, since they were done with it.”

  “And you handed it to Jas?” His tone was sceptical.

  “She and Isabel are good at pulling spells to pieces,” Ivy said. “Right?”

  “It nearly blew up in my face,” I admitted. “That’s what I wanted to ask—is there such a thing as a binding spell with a piece of stone as the base? I figured you guys would know more than I did.”

  “What did the spell do?” Vance asked.

  “Uh…” I hesitated. “I’m not absolutely certain, but when Isabel and I watched a replay of the attack through a tracking spell, there was a bright flash before the shifter transformed. I saw a similar light when I tried to work out what the stone was.”

  Vance’s brow furrowed. “I’ll see what the other mages have to say. I’m heading over there now.”

  “Again?” said Ivy. “All right, but don’t tell them Jas nearly blew up the stone. And warn me if you run into trouble.”

  “Of course.” Vance briefly touched his hand to hers, then disappeared.

  “He’s off again?” asked Wanda, rolling her eyes. “Doesn’t really get the concept of a holiday, does he?”

  “No, but the council’s giving both of us crap,” Ivy said. “Where’s Drake?”

  Wanda walked through the maze of boxes
on the floor. “He was going to take me sightseeing again, but he said he has a hot date at Arthur’s Seat.”

  Ivy blinked. “In the rain?”

  “You know what he’s like,” said Wanda. “Er, hi, Jas’s friend. I don’t think we’ve met?”

  “No, I’m Lloyd,” he said. “Hi.”

  “He’s come to help us go through Lady Harper’s crap while Isabel’s at the market.” I moved to the newest box, not feeling optimistic. You’d think, given the important role of the Hemlock heir, that she might have left me a little more direction. Maybe she thought the other Hemlocks would tell me everything eventually.

  I lifted a heavy, leather-bound book out of the box and opened it to find yellowed pages of spidery handwriting. “Whoa. I think this is Lady Harper’s journal.”

  “Damn, that handwriting is something else,” Ivy said. “Looks like a piskie got into a fight with a fountain pen.”

  Lloyd snorted. “She’s not wrong. What’s that, a tome of your mentor’s secrets?”

  “Let’s see.” I turned the page. “Monday. Terrorised a group of five-year-olds, jabbed someone with my walking stick, complained about country scenery from the windows of my lakeside mansion… I’m joking, I can’t read a word of this.”

  But it was her journal, all right. My skin tingled, my heart rate kicking up. Finally, a clue.

  “I can’t read it,” whispered Evelyn.

  I glanced sideways, seeing her through the spirit realm. “Can’t you?”

  “Can’t I what?” Wanda blinked at me. Oh, bugger.

  “Can you read this?” I said clumsily. “It’s not much use if it’s indecipherable. I can’t even read the date.”

  “Thirty-one years ago,” Wanda said, leaning over. “Nine years before the invasion. I wonder why she hid it in the basement.”

  “Paranoia,” I said. “Maybe she and Lord Sutherland had a passionate affair a few years ago and she didn’t want anyone to know.”