Almost Charmed

by Rose Pressey

  Paul made a left turn and headed out of town.

  “He’s going back to the manor,” I said.

  “Good,” Liam said. “Then we can ask him some questions.”

  “Are you really going to ask him questions?” I asked.

  “Absolutely,” Liam said. “We’ll get them inside and we’ll question him. He won’t be able to get away, he’ll have to answer. If he knows anything about this woman then we’ll get it out of him.”

  “He already denied it so I doubt he’ll change his answer,” I said.

  “Maybe if we put enough pressure on him,” Thomas said.

  “I suppose we can give it a shot.”

  What was I saying? Of course we would give it a shot. I was the leader of the Underworld and I needed to take charge of this. If there was anything bad going on then I needed to deal with it and be firm. None of this being nice and putting up with it. I would tell this guy there was no way that he was getting away with anything sketchy.

  The lights from town faded as we drove down the dark, winding road toward the manor. I assumed that Paul was going to the manor—if not, then he was headed maybe toward New Orleans. We were the only cars on the road. The manor was coming up soon. Paul turned on his signal that he would be making a left.

  “He turned that on too soon. We still have a bit to go before we reach the manor,” Thomas said.

  “There’s only one other driveway before the manor,” I said.

  Liam and I exchanged a look. “The neighbor’s house,” Thomas said in an ominous voice.

  “Exactly,” I said. “Should we follow him in there?”

  Paul made a left turn into the neighbor’s driveway.

  “Oh, this is getting creepy,” Thomas said.

  Liam pulled to the side of the road over onto the gravel shoulder.

  “If we follow him in there and he knows then whatever activity they’re into they could postpone it. We want to catch them in the act,” Liam said.

  “That’s probably true,” Thomas said.

  Liam cut off the headlights. “After we think he’s had time to get out of the car we’ll turn into the driveway. With the headlights off he’ll never know we’re there.”

  “Or better yet, we can get out now and just walk from here,” I said.

  “See, that’s why you’re the leader,” Liam said with a wink.

  “That is a good idea, unless of course we need to get away quickly,” Thomas said. “Then it’ll be a bad idea again.”

  “Thanks for the reminder,” I said. “Let’s not think that anything bad is going to happen that will require a speedy getaway.”

  “Now that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen,” Thomas said.

  “Are you using my own words against me?” I asked.

  “Nevertheless, let’s go,” Liam said as he opened the car door.

  Thomas and I opened the car doors at the same time, getting out and following Liam to the front of the car.

  “Do we have a plan for when we get up there?” I asked.

  “I say we look in the windows,” Thomas said.

  “Well, I suppose that’ll tell us what Paul is doing in there and if he’s talking to anyone, but we wouldn’t be able to hear.”

  “But we can’t exactly walk inside,” Liam said.

  “No, I suppose we can’t do that either. Plus, the house is so big I don’t even know if I could look in the windows. I’m too short.”

  “You can from the front porch,” Liam pointed out.

  “True, that would give me a view of the front rooms. Maybe we should split up,” I said.

  “Or maybe we can find a door open and I can sneak in again like I did in cat form,” Thomas said.

  “Now we’re talking,” I said.

  “I just need to shift,” Thomas said.

  Liam and I stared at Thomas.

  “Well, I can’t do it with y’all watching.”

  Liam and I turned around, waiting for Thomas.

  “Oh, never mind, I’ll just go behind one of these trees. I can’t do it when I know you guys are waiting.”

  “He’s very weird about people watching him,” I said.

  “Understandable,” Liam said.

  When the rustling noise caught my attention, I looked to the left. Thomas strolled down the side of the road toward us.

  “Here he is now, my favorite feline.”

  Thomas meowed loudly.

  “All right, let’s go,” I said.

  Liam and I headed off down the driveway side by side with Thomas right by my feet. Actually, I couldn’t believe we were doing this. But then again, I couldn’t believe Paul had betrayed me like that by going to the neighbor’s house. There was no other explanation than that he was involved with the woman trying to take the book. I mean, he had spoken with her earlier—that wasn’t a coincidence. I’d known I had a bad feeling about him. And to think that I had danced with him. I supposed I was a terrible judge of character.

  It was just as creepy walking down this driveway as it had been when I walked down the manor’s driveway, dark with trees surrounding us. And every little noise increased my anxiety. The house was large and seemed as if it was staring at us, waiting for our arrival. Almost as if it knew we were coming.

  “What are you thinking?” Liam asked as we walked along.

  “Just nervous about what we might find out or what might happen,” I said.

  “If you don’t want to do this we don’t have to,” Liam said.

  “No, I have to do this. I’m the leader and I’m not going to let him get away with this.”

  Thomas meowed loudly again. I supposed that meant he was agreeing with me. With each step my nervousness grew.

  “Well, don’t worry, I’m here with you,” Liam said. “I won’t let anything happen.”

  I liked that he never abandoned me. He never left even when he knew my life might be in danger. Liam was willing to step forward.

  Chapter 27

  We reached the front of the house now. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t nervous.

  “All right, Thomas,” I whispered. “What should I do? Go around trying to find an open door or window?”

  He strolled to the edge of the house and then paused, looking back at us. I took that as a cue that we were supposed to follow him.

  Liam shrugged. “I guess we’re supposed to follow him.”

  We took off after Thomas, surely looking like a bunch of cat burglars, which was kind of funny since we were being led by a cat. We moved all the way around the side of the house and had now reached the back. Thomas stopped at the back door.

  “There’s a cat door,” I said.

  He meowed.

  “Is there another cat?”

  Then I remembered the dog. That little door was way too small for the dog. Was he around somewhere? That was a scary thought. He had looked like he wanted to rip us apart. Now I was extremely antsy and just wanted to get back to the car.

  “Maybe this is a bad idea,” I said. “We should just go back to the car.”

  “But we’re already here now. We might as well finish this,” Liam said.

  Thomas disappeared through the little door. I was about to hyperventilate. What if something happened to him in there? How would I save him? I’d have to bust the door down. I sifted through these spells in my mind, trying to figure out which one would be best if I needed to break down the door.

  I wouldn’t use magic unless I absolutely had to because that wouldn’t be right to just go in. I wasn’t like the other crazies around who were always trying to just come in the manor. I had a special spell that would allow me to do that and that was all thanks to the Book of Mystics.

  “Are you all right?” Liam asked.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said.

  I was still unsure of what to do next. Nevertheless, we had to do something.

  “I think we should go around to the front and try to look in the windows like our original idea. I just can’t stand waiting ba
ck here for Thomas,” I said. “I have to know what’s going on in there.”

  “All right. Let’s go around to the front,” Liam said.

  We slipped around the side of the house again, which took a long time considering the size of the house. When we reached the front, we rushed up the steps. Liam motioned that he would go to the left and I nodded that I would go to the right. Luckily, the lights were on in the rooms and I hoped that would keep whoever was inside from seeing us peeking in. Of course, I leaned against the brick house, preparing myself to peek around the edge and peer into the window. I figured I would do it on the count of three. Maybe three would be my lucky number.

  I peeked over just a bit so that I could see into the window, but I hoped to remain mostly out of view. Paul was actually in the room, but he was by himself, sitting in the large wingback leather chair. He appeared to be waiting for someone else to arrive. He had no idea I was watching him. He was looking straight ahead and tapping his fingers against the chair’s arm.

  Movement caught my attention. When I looked to the left, I spotted Thomas strolling in. Oh, dear. He was supposed to go unnoticed. I’d thought maybe he would sneak around and try to hide. They would wonder where the strange black cat came from. Maybe even kick him out. A couple of seconds later Thomas looked right at me. He knew I was standing out there watching. Somehow, he knew. I wished I could tell him to get out of there. Not that he would listen.

  So far Paul hadn’t noticed the cat was in the room either. Thomas strutted right behind Paul’s chair and sat down. He looked over at me and I swear he had a smile on his face.

  “Quit goofing off, Thomas,” I whispered.

  “What’s that?”

  I jumped. Liam had left the other window and joined me. He had whispered in my ear.

  “Did you see anything over there?” I asked.

  “Nobody’s in that room.”

  “Paul is there,” I said. “And so is Thomas. Take a look for yourself.”

  I moved back so Liam could stand in my spot.

  “What is he doing in there?” Liam asked.

  “I don’t know, trying to get us caught.”

  “Well, what is Paul doing in there?”

  “Looks like he’s waiting on someone,” I said.

  Liam moved to the other side of the window so that we could both peek in on Paul at the same time.

  “I hope he doesn’t see us,” I said.

  Just then Thomas got up and moved around in front of Paul’s chair. Paul glanced down as if he might recognize the cat. I wouldn’t be surprised if he recognized Thomas. He had seen him in cat form already. Though there were other black cats around. Was Thomas going to hang around and wait until the other person showed up?

  “I sense that Paul is having a meeting. Why else would he be sitting in that room all alone?”

  Liam seemed extremely frustrated and losing patience. I supposed we would just have to wait here until something happened.

  “Surely he won’t wait much longer,” I said.

  “I’ll go back to the other window and see if there’s any change,” Liam said.

  He got down on his hands and knees, crawling across the floor until he was past the window. He stood again and headed toward the other side of the porch. He had barely gotten over there when movement caught my attention again.

  The woman who answered the door walked into the room. This was so creepy. She moved around Paul and sat in a chair across from him. Now they were talking. Thomas had moved and was hiding behind a chair. I wondered if she noticed him? Paul didn’t even look over at Thomas, which I thought was odd. Since she didn’t look over at Thomas I assumed she hadn’t even noticed. To Paul it was just a regular cat and nothing out of the ordinary, I supposed. I wished I could hear what they were talking about. Paul gestured with his hands as the woman nodded.

  “What do you think this is about?” Liam asked.

  “I don’t know, but I think I should probably knock on the door and find out what’s going on. It’s just too suspicious. I have to know.”

  “Yes, I guess that’s the only way. Though I doubt they’ll tell the truth.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, you’re right about that. So what’s the point of asking?”

  Just as I was about to make the move to go to the door another person arrived. This time it wasn’t someone of the living world. It was the ghost. The one who had been in the manor. What was he doing here? Almost all the key players were in one room. Now if the women who wanted the book came in everyone would be around. This had to be connected somehow.

  Paul and the other woman didn’t act as if they even noticed the ghost. They couldn’t see the ghost. When I looked at Liam he nodded that he saw the ghost too. How could we see him and they couldn’t? Even Thomas had spotted the ghost. I watched as the ghost walked across the room, looked at the woman before turning and heading back across the room. At least he hadn’t noticed us outside the window. Okay, now I had spoken too soon.

  The ghost looked over at us. He knew we were there. I wanted to tell him to get lost. After a few seconds of staring at us he just walked out of the room. Liam and I must have had the same thought because we hurried over to the other window. I expected to see the ghost in that room, but he wasn’t inside.

  “Where do you think he went?” Liam asked.

  “Probably back to the manor. I can’t wait to cast a spell to get rid of him. But then again, I want to know what he’s up to and why he’s over here.”

  “First you need to maybe get a spell that will give you proof of his identity.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I said. “But we’ll need a lot of magic energy for that.”

  “We could call the coven members over.”

  “Yes, I suppose that’s what we’ll have to do. Then I’ll have to explain all this chaos. It’s always something,” I said.

  My phone sent an alert again. I pulled it out of my pocket and checked the screen. I was shocked by what I saw. A strange anomaly darted across the front porch of the manor. The streak of pastel colors looked like wings flapping, but it had happened in the blink of an eye, so it was hard to make out. Was there a malfunction with the camera? Nevertheless, this seemed off. I had a bad feeling about this.

  “I think someone’s trying to get in the manor right now,” I said. “We have to go.”

  “Are you sure? What makes you say that?” Liam asked.

  “I saw something weird on the camera.”

  Liam and I took off down the front porch steps.

  “It’s faster if we go through the wooded area.”

  “Are you sure you know your way around that place? It’s awfully dark,” Liam said.

  “Yeah, I know what I’m doing.”

  I tried to sound confident, but I really wasn’t. I’d been through there several times but it was uneven ground and a lot of fallen branches, so it was dangerous. But I didn’t want to take the chance of losing them by going the long way around. Whoever was trying to get into the manor would be long gone by then.

  “If you know the way, then I trust you,” Liam said.

  That made me feel even worse. He was putting his life in my hands. No pressure there. Liam and I ran across the yard as fast as we could over to the tree line. I sure hoped he knew what he was getting himself into. The smell of musty earth surrounded us as we ran into the area. Liam was behind me. Trees surrounded us and the branches crunched underfoot as we made our way through. We’d definitely slowed down our pace. One wrong step and I would be flat on the ground.

  Thomas would probably wonder what had happened. I hoped he would be okay there until I got back. Or else he would get out of there and come back to the manor right away. He would probably think we left because of the ghost. He didn’t like going through the treed area anyway, much less at night. Maybe he would play it safe and go the long way around. I hoped he shifted back before he tried anything.

  Chapter 28

  The growling stopped me in my tracks. A huge dog
stood about twenty feet in front of me. His white teeth glowed in the dark of night along with orange eyes like embers from a fire.

  “Don’t move,” Liam said.

  He didn’t have to worry about telling me twice.

  “Nice doggie,” I said.

  As if the words would actually stop the dog from attacking us. This dog didn’t want us to get through the woods.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked.

  I really didn’t want to be this dog’s midnight snack.

  “I’ll cause a distraction and you run,” Liam said.

  “What? So that he can stay and eat you? I can’t do that.”

  “It’s our only chance,” Liam said. “He can’t get both of us at once.”

  “I don’t think I want to let you sacrifice yourself to save me.”

  “Part of my job is to save you,” he said.

  “It is?” I asked.

  “Yes, and if you run away, I’ll grab one of these branches. Then maybe I can fend him off that way.”

  The more I stared at the dog the more I realized it didn’t look like a normal dog. I realized this was a werewolf. Now I knew we were in much more serious trouble than I’d imagined. I didn’t like Liam’s idea, but I had no other options. What was I thinking? My other option was clear. I had to cast a spell right here to try to fight off the werewolf. It was doubtful I could do anything that quickly, but I had to try. My magic wasn’t instant. I didn’t have a wand to wave that would make things better in a split second. It just didn’t work that way.

  “It’s a werewolf,” I said. “I’m sure he understands what we’re saying.”

  “You’re probably right about that,” Liam said.

  “What do you want?” I yelled. “I’m not going to be intimidated by you.”

  Absolutely I was intimidated by him, but it wasn’t like I was going to admit it out loud. I was a leader and I had to be tough. However, I felt like I was a Chihuahua fighting a grizzly bear. But hey, Chihuahuas could be tough if put in dangerous situations. Of course, he couldn’t answer me. I wasn’t sure why I was waiting for an answer.

  “We can’t wait any longer,” Liam said.

  “He’s a werewolf,” I said. “I think he can hear us. He knows our plan.”