Any Witch Way (The Witch Next Door Book 3)

by Judith Berens

  Yeah, that’s nothing new.

  They stared at each other a few moments longer before she simply nodded curtly. “Will you allow these people the time to gather their things and leave this place?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you.”

  The warlock bowed, his hands still clasped in front of his chest, and floated backward across the jungle floor in the same eerie movement without the natural rhythm of real footsteps. In seconds, his cloaked form disappeared into the darkness of the thicker jungle around them. The other warlocks followed suit, leaving the caravan alone in a beautiful part of the mountainside that now simply felt dirty.

  Finally, she turned and met Romeo’s gaze as she walked toward him. “What was all that about?” he muttered, leaning closer so no one else would hear.

  “Only more misunderstandings and riddles.” She looked up at him. “But I’m totally convinced now that these people traveling with us have no idea what they’re capable of. It’s enough to bring an order of warlocks out of the woodwork. If they don’t learn how to protect themselves, they might not even make it to the temple.”

  “So we’re definitely sticking around.”

  “Yeah. And I think I’m gonna have to start teaching much more advanced magic.”

  Romeo smirked, but it felt tight on his face. “Rosalía’s gonna love that.”

  She glanced at Aluino and Chalina, nodded, and waving them forward so their people could collect the wagons and move off for another few hours of the journey they’d planned to travel tomorrow. Rosalía followed her parents, looking cautious but completely without fear, and she made it a point not to meet the girl’s gaze. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  Twenty-Four

  No one complained about having to walk the extra ten kilometers through thick jungle and muggy, wet terrain. Romeo drove the Winnie behind them, and Lily had to get out three times to blast away a large stone or solidify a particularly sticky mud puddle to get the RV through. A few times, she did the same for the wagons. Though Aluino’s people were generally joyful and easygoing, their run-in with the warlocks had left everyone somber.

  When she got out again to help mend one of the large wagon’s fractured wheels—the villagers in awe of the fact that she could fix something like that so quickly—she didn’t immediately return to the Winnie. Instead, she found Chalina and took her arm gently. “How’s everyone doing?”

  The woman responded with a subdued smile and a resigned shrug. “Tired, mostly. And a little confused, I think. Personally, I do not understand why those sorcerers think our magic is so much a threat.”

  “I understand that.” She nodded. “I think people are generally threatened by things they don’t understand.”

  “Then it was mutual, yes?” The woman’s eyes were wide and unblinking.

  Why does everyone think I have the answers? “I guess so.”

  “Were you threatened by them?”

  She took a breath before she offered the woman a tiny, conspiratorial smile. “Only enough to hold back.”

  Chalina chuckled. “We are fortunate again and again to have you with us, Lily.” She put a hand on the younger witch’s shoulder and nodded.

  “Well, by the time we get to Ichacál, I think your people will have a better understanding of how to be fortunate all on your own.”

  “Without you.”

  Lily nodded. “Yes.”

  “After today, I think this is a better decision.” The woman chuckled. “Maybe do not tell Aluino I have said this.”

  She laughed with her. “I won’t say a word.”

  When she returned to the Winnie, Romeo watched the children climb up into the massive wagon. “It’s the first time since we left Sierras de Órganos that the smoke-bird thing showed up.”

  “I know.” She sat in the passenger seat and sighed. “This time, I swear, it felt like a message. Like I could almost hear the words whispered in my head but they were still too far away.”

  “And you said ‘Mom.’”

  Lily turned to look at him, studied his green eyes flecked with gold, and took a deep breath. “I have no idea why I said that.”

  “But you did dream about her being carried by that bird, right?”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t even thinking about the dream. Obviously, I know my mom’s not a giant bird made of black smoke. But it felt like her for a split second before it was a shadow-bird hurtling toward me.”

  “And through you.” He frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Do you still think it’s trying to help you?”

  She nodded. “I think so. It warned me. At least I think it did. Honestly, the warning could’ve come from anywhere else, but the fact that the bird went right through me and didn’t hurt me at all means something, right? I still won’t rule it out as a threat, though. I dunno if it’s actually a friendly shadow-bird.”

  He chuckled and took her hand. “You’ll find the answers.”

  “Hopefully before it has to blast through me to warn me about any other attacks, from warlocks or otherwise.”

  He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips for a quick kiss. “Whenever it is, it’ll be the right time.” The villagers began to move again at the painfully slow pace the wagons and the mountainous terrain demanded. He slowly eased them forward behind the procession.

  They reached the next passage by midday, all of them weary, exhausted, and still a little shaken by that morning’s surprise warlock visit. Romeo and Lily had offered to drive anyone who didn’t want to walk—or couldn’t—the whole way, but everyone refused. The first half-hour in their new temporary camp was spent seated on fallen logs and beds of moss and drinking from the gourds they’d filled at the river that morning, now kilometers away.

  “We will not need to walk anywhere tomorrow,” one man commented. That brought a few laughs from those sitting closest to him and the mood shifted. Eventually, the villagers rose from their seats to unload the wagons, unhitch the oxen, spread blankets, and raise something as shelters.

  Lily pressed her lips together. “If we get rain, though, the only real shelter anyone will have is the Winnie.”

  “Yep. And something tells me they still wouldn’t take us up on the offer.”

  They were beckoned toward the small gathering circles for another meal and soon, the food brought a new wave of optimism to everyone. Conversation started, laughter appeared, and the villagers smiled at each other again. When they finished, Lily drew Rosalía aside from the others to have the serious conversation the girl had been waiting for.

  “Do you think you can use cast that illusion charm at a moment’s notice?”

  Rosalía grinned and clapped her hands. Immediately, the pink glow stretched between her palms until she’d enveloped herself in a glowing pink bubble. The light faded, and the girl merely stood there, grinning at her and staring with unblinking eyes. About a foot beside the girl, another head of dark hair appeared, seemingly from thin air. Rosalía jumped beside her small illusion and folded her arms with a brisk nod.

  Lily blinked. “Okay.” A laugh escaped her, and she swallowed it quickly. “I want you to practice making that bigger and bigger, right? At least big enough for you to hide all of us, the wagons, and—”

  “The adventuremobile.” The girl nodded sagely. “I know.”

  Okay, I gotta nip that one in the bud. “That’s what Romeo calls it. Like a nickname.” Rosalía frowned. “It’s called an RV. Or a Winnebago. That’s the make. Not adventuremobile.”

  “Do I have to tell Papa?”

  She laughed fully at that and the child joined in with a giggle. “I’ll leave that up to you. Right now, I want to start working on that restraint spell you talked about yesterday.”

  “The one you used?” Her eyes lit up.

  “Yeah, that one. And the shielded wards I used this morning.”

  “Those are good.”

  Lily nodded. “They are. Powerful spells, right? And no one gets hurt.” The girl opened her mouth but Lily
stopped her. “And no, I’m not gonna teach you the blue fire. That was a last resort.”

  Rosalía lowered her gaze and slid one bare foot around on the damp jungle floor. “Okay.”

  “Okay. Ready to start?”

  “I’m always ready, Lily.” She put her hands on her hips and nodded.

  “I know you are, kid.”

  They chose a secluded area for themselves a few yards beyond the new camp. The tree branches hung low and snaked across the ground before they curved up again toward the canopy. There was so much moss and so many vines, Lily was sure that going any farther than this from the others would get anyone instantly lost—herself included.

  Rosalía was as quick a study with the restraint spell as she had been with her first two lessons, if not quicker. “That was good,” Lily said and tried not to fight against the hold on her wrist. “Release it.” The child opened her clenched fist and she was finally able to lower her wrist into her lap, although the spell didn’t feel anything like someone’s hand clamped around her wrist. It’s so weird to have these spells used on me again. Last time that happened was when Mom was teaching me. “So, you’ve gotten past my whole hand and up to my wrist. Try again.”

  The girl squinted, glanced quickly at Lily, and clenched her fist again as her teacher’s hand swung in slow-motion. The force of that restraint spell stopped her arm in mid-swing. “Great. What happens now when the rest of me can still move?” She summoned a ball of light in her other hand as an example of a hypothetical opponent about to cast another attack.

  The minute the white light burst in her palm, Rosalía jerked her fist down and raised her other hand. Lily was yanked to the ground by her wrist as her other palm with the light orb whipped back, spun her onto her back, and pinned her to the jungle floor by both her arms. She grunted and gaped at this tiny, skinny young witch who’d disabled her in two seconds.

  The minute her student realized this, her eyes grew incredibly wide and she jerked both open hands toward her face in surrender. “Are you okay?”

  She snorted. “Oh, yeah. You’d be surprised how many times I landed on my back when I was training.”

  “Someone threw you around like that?”

  “Threw me around?” Smirking, she held the girl’s gaze before she cast the restraint spell again. This time, though, she added a little levitation. With a flick of her fingers and two clenched fists, she’d toppled Rosalía off her feet, lifted her high, and held her suspended there, lying flat like she’d raised the girl out of bed. She expected her eager apprentice to struggle a little or at least look frustrated by the fact that she couldn’t move an inch. Instead, she burst into sharp, pealing laughter. She chuckled and slowly lowered her protégé to her feet.

  “I didn’t think you would use it on me.”

  “That’s part of learning how things work.”

  “Who taught you?”

  Lily raised an eyebrow. “My mom.”

  Rosalía ‘s mouth popped open. “And you listened to her?”

  Careful with this one, Lily. “Well, not always.” She caught the girl’s quick glance at her own mother and added quickly, “But I should have. Mothers and teachers are the two most important people to listen to, okay?”

  “I’m glad you aren’t my mother.” The child grinned. “And I’m really glad she’s not my teacher.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Good. You’re lucky to have one of each. I want you to practice that restraint spell until you think you can pin someone down every single time. Or hold their whole body back. Then go talk to the others who wanted to learn.”

  “I will.” She nodded vigorously and with a wide smile. Lily turned to rejoin the other villagers mending clothes, telling stories, and stoking the temporary cookfire.

  Before she reached the main group, Neron seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Lily. May I speak to you?”

  She paused, caught Romeo’s gaze, and turned her attention to the death witch. “Sure. Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. I think.” He stared at the jungle floor and took a deep breath. “I want to ask you how much you know about the sorcerers.”

  “The warlocks?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, other than what they look like, I know most people have a hard time telling the difference between warlocks and necromancers.”

  The man nodded slowly. “I also know this. I think when we arrived in that place this morning, they were practicing a type of death magic.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

  “And they knew me.”

  “You’ve seen them before?”

  He shook his head briefly and squinted at her. “What I am. The one who spoke saw it in me and recognized it. I do not think they meant harm within their ceremony—or toward us beyond protecting what is rightfully theirs.”

  “I know.”

  “Yes. That is why you chose to speak with them before fighting.”

  “Which thankfully didn’t have to happen.” She nodded.

  “They are like me in some ways, yes? Misunderstood.”

  “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve seen so much of that in the last few weeks.” Werewolves, warlocks, death witches, witches born without magic. And whoever tried to kill me in Charleston obviously misunderstood me.

  “There was also a warning there.” Neron’s brows drew together into a small frown of concern. “I feel the need to…ask deeper about this warning, yes? To use what I was given.”

  “Sure.” He’s gonna be working up some death magic, then.

  “In our village, I have a shrine for this, yes? A place everyone knows is meant for my magic only.”

  She nodded. Why does he look so embarrassed?

  “Will you speak to Romeo for me? Tell him that—”

  “Tell me what?” Neither Lily nor Neron had noticed his approach until he’d almost joined them. Smiling, he glanced from one to the other. “I can handle it, Neron. I promise.”

  The necromancer cocked his head and squinted at Romeo. “Yes. I will…perform one of my own ceremonies tonight, Romeo. It will require certain elements that may be difficult for a wolf-man to resist. Do you understand?”

  “I think so.”

  Neron sighed. “Please do not eat the beasts I have sacrificed. It will hinder my sight and my communion, and I do not think it will sit well within you.”

  “Within—” The werewolf lifted his chin and studied the man over his nose. “Oh. You mean literally.”

  “That too.”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  “Thank you.” He started to turn around.

  “Neron?”

  “Yes.”

  Lily offered him a small smile. “Would you look at something for me tonight too?”

  His eyes widened as if no one had ever asked this of him. “What would you like to see?”

  “Anything you can tell me about that black bird this morning.” She shrugged. “The one that found us before the warlocks.”

  “Ah. Your wings of smoke.”

  “What? No, that bird thing isn’t mine.” She shared a glance with her friend. “Definitely not mine.”

  “But it recognizes you, yes? It knows you enough to find you.” The man’s head tilted slowly like he was trying to study her from slightly different angles all at once.

  She nodded. “That’s part of what I’d like to know.”

  “I see. Yes, Lily. I will ask for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  Finally, Neron left them and headed across their makeshift camp to whatever place he’d carved out for himself behind the wagons.

  Romeo cleared his throat. “You know, I’m not so into the literal translation of werewolf in Spanish.”

  She smirked up at him. “I heard wolf-man.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, see, that sounds so American Werewolf in…well, Mexico, obviously.”

  “Well, you heard the man, right? Don’t eat his sacrifices.” She poked him gently in the chest.

/>   “I wanna say I wouldn’t even dream of it, but I’m honestly really curious now.”

  She laughed. “I choose to believe you’re joking.”

  “Mostly, yeah.”

  Twenty-Five

  When some of the villagers began to prepare the final meal of the day, Lily was drawn aside by a few of the other women. “Come.” Chalina grabbed Lily’s wrist and pulled her farther into the jungle until they could barely hear the others’ voices beyond the drone of all the insects and the squawking birds and whatever other creatures rustled in the lush vegetation during the day.

  “What’s going on?” She smiled and watched the women who gathered around her much like they had the night before, giggling and grinning at her.

  “You will dance again. Practice. Practice.” Chalina waved her forward.

  “But…there isn’t even any music.”

  “That does not matter if you know how to move.” The woman stamped her foot, and the others echoed it with a few laughing shouts.

  “Okay, okay.” Feeling ridiculous, she obliged them and went through the motions and the steps she’d essentially mastered the night before. When she finished, the women clapped and grinned at her and touched her shoulders, her hair, and her bare arms. “Does anyone wanna tell me what this is for?”

  “Oh, you will know when you need to know.” The woman named Pila nodded with wide eyes.

  “Every woman does,” Chalina added. She laughed and headed toward the camp and the cookfire. The others followed and beckoned Lily to join them, but she gave herself a moment simply to stand there and think.

  “I’m missing something really important.”

  Apparently, that night after dinner was when she needed to know. With the food eaten, the cookfire stoked into larger flames, and the sun all but completely set, Lily looked at Romeo and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “Something feels off.” He squinted and gazed around the fire. “They’re waiting for something.”