The Witch's Key, Book 1

by Sarra Cannon

  Oh well. I shrugged and just rolled with it. These people were family, anyway, right?

  But then I caught sight of Kai standing in one corner talking to Darius.

  Oh my God.

  I quickly ran a few fingers through my hair, wincing as I tried to pull a few tangles apart. This was not going to work.

  “I’ll, uh, be right back,” I whispered, hoping no one had really noticed me yet.

  Gianna grabbed my arm, though, and tugged me toward her. “Oh, no you don’t,” she said. “I was just about to come get you, anyway. We need to get out to the training grounds pretty soon. How did you sleep?”

  I shook my head and pointed to my hair.

  “I can’t be here like this,” I said. “I didn’t think anyone would be up.”

  “You’re fine,” she said. “No one here cares what you look like.”

  I gave her a pointed look and moved my eyes toward Kai. “Cute angel witch guy in the corner,” I said very softly. “I care what I look like right now.”

  She turned, and I squeezed her arm.

  “Don’t look. Come on,” I said, hiding behind her.

  Gianna laughed. “Here. I’ll help.”

  She took my shoulders in her hands to straighten my body in front of her. Then, she took strands of my hair on either side of my head into her fingertips.

  “Bellus.”

  My tangled hair fell across my shoulders and down my back in waves as it completely untangled itself.

  “Whoa. What just happened?”

  I turned to stare at my reflection in the stainless steel refrigerator and gasped. My hair was the most beautiful I’d ever seen it. Thick and falling just right, with a little bit of body and wave to it that I could have never achieved on my own.

  “Simple,” Gianna said, tossing her own beautiful red hair back. “That will save you some time getting ready in the mornings.”

  “Thanks.”

  It didn’t exactly help the fact that I was still in my pjs, but at least I wasn’t wearing anything too embarrassing. Just a pair of old sweats and a tank top.

  She’d helped just in time, too, because Kai and Darius had finished their conversation and had joined Asher and Gowan at the table. Everyone turned to a discussion of how the day would go.

  There were potions and remedies to be made. Reagents to pack up and take with us, just in case. We still needed to have a training session for the morning, and Martin said he planned to see what he could do to speed up that location spell.

  “I may not be able to determine Algrath’s exact location before tonight, but I may be able to get an idea of the general area of his hiding place,” Martin said.

  I suddenly remembered the conversation with Olive the night before.

  “Julie Peterson has a cabin,” I said. “Olive didn’t say where, exactly, but somewhere out near the lake.”

  Asher nodded. “I can find that pretty easily with a records search, I think. We might as well check it out.”

  “I have a few more questions for our friend Bates this morning, too,” Darius said, a slight smile on his lips. “We’ll see how he liked being in the basement with the—”

  Martin cleared his throat, and Darius stopped abruptly, rethinking his words.

  “I mean, we’ll see if he has any more information for us.”

  “Wait, there’s a basement in this house?” I asked, turning to my great-uncle. “What’s down there.”

  He gave Darius a look, and Darius raised his hands in apology.

  “We will discuss that another time,” Martin said. “For now, it’s none of your concern.”

  A man of many secrets.

  That’s what the Slayers had called him. This week, I was learning just how true that was.

  “Okay, so we’ll do what we can to locate the missing girls and figure out who Algrath is before nightfall, but if all else fails, we wait for the tracking spell to tell us exactly where he is,” Gowan said. “We just need to be ready to go as soon as it comes through. There won't be a second to waste.”

  Nerves buzzed through me. We were cutting it close. I felt stupid for even wasting a minute caring about my hair. The morning conversation really put things into perspective for me, and I was ready to get back out to the training grounds.

  By the time the sun started to rise, we were back in the clearing working on defensive spells.

  Today, Gowan and Gianna both worked together to show Kai and me what to do if the fighting got too intense later.

  “You’ve both shown that you can handle yourselves among a large group of lesser demons,” Gianna said. “So, that’s good work. Kai, you’ve obviously got your wings to use for protection if it comes to that, so part of your job tonight will be making sure Lenny never leaves your sight. Not even for a minute.”

  Kai nodded, and my face grew warm. I was grateful we would be together, whatever we would have to face.

  “But the wings won’t save you from everything, and they won’t work forever,” Gianna said.

  “Wait, why not?” I asked. I guess I still didn’t know enough about how angels worked and what his abilities were.

  “The way I used my wings earlier was a type of shielding,” Kai said. “It works just like any physical shield. It doesn’t block every type of attack, and the power of the shield breaks down the more it’s hit. Since I’m only half angel, I don’t have the stamina or protection power of a full angel.”

  “Save that for an emergency, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Gianna said. “Instead, I want to teach you a few defensive moves. If there’s time left, we’ll work on more of your attacks.”

  Over the next several hours, Gianna and Gowan both trained us in several types of defensive magic. We learned to manipulate air to create a temporary shield against fire spells. We also learned how to use a clump of dirt to harden a section of skin like a stoneskin effect.

  When they were satisfied that we’d learned enough to protect ourselves, they moved onto new attacks.

  I thought I already knew quite a bit of offensive magic, but there were a few tricks I hadn’t seen before, like creating a small dagger of ice out of a single drop of holy water.

  Tonight, we would all be carrying a variety of reagents and potions, so Gowan went through them all, training us in how to use them.

  It was so much to remember, and I had a feeling this was just the tip of the iceberg. For all that I’d believed my parents had taught me, I knew nothing.

  And still, all of this was only what was available to a witch with her first key.

  “Don’t get discouraged,” Gowan said, patting my arm. “Most Slayers spend a full year learning what you’ve just learned in two days. It isn’t easy, I know, but you’re doing a great job. You should be proud of yourself.”

  “I’ll be proud if we’re returning those girls to their families later tonight,” I said. “That’s all that matters to me right now.”

  “I promise, we’ll do everything we can to make sure that’s what happens,” he said. “Why don’t you two take a break, and Gianna and I will talk about anything else we should go through before we head back to the house.”

  Kai’s eyes met mine, and he smiled. “Walk with me.”

  I moved up beside him, and we walked deeper into the woods, away from the car and the others.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I want to show you something,” he said. “It won’t take long.”

  We walked in silence, and I wondered if we both were feeling the same way about tonight.

  “Kai, what happened to your father?” I asked. “You really don’t know at all?”

  He sucked in a breath and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I haven’t really talked about this to anyone,” he said. “I was sure he was here in Newcastle, but I didn’t know why. I still don’t know if his coming here was tied to Algrath, and no, I don’t know what happened to him. But the fact that I haven’t been able to connect to his energy scares
the crap out of me.”

  “The not-knowing would be really tough,” I said. “What about your mother, though? Where is she? Or is that too personal to ask?”

  Kai nodded ahead, and I looked up to see a strange tree about six feet in front of us. It was a normal pine tree, but it had grown in such a way that about three feet off the ground, it shifted to one side and created a little seat before it headed back up toward the forest’s canopy.

  “How odd,” I said. “It’s like a little tree chair.”

  “Isn’t it cool?” he asked, taking a seat.

  He patted the area next to him, and I sat down. There was just barely enough room for both of us to sit. It was more comfortable than I’d expected it to be.

  “What would make a tree do this?” I asked.

  “A long time ago, the Native Americans would often bend trees to mark trails or other locations,” he said. “I’m guessing this tree was a way to mark the lake ahead.”

  “Wow,” I said, leaning against him as he put an arm around me. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “When I was younger, my dad would sometimes come to visit Martin and train with him here in this area,” Kai said. “Mostly, dad wanted to learn about human magic and how to fight the types of creatures and beings that Slayers fought. I was too young to learn about it, so I would sometimes roam the woods. Once I found this tree, it became my little piece of the forest. I always came back here to read and play.”

  We sat together quietly, and I tried to imagine him as a small child, playing around here in the forest alone. After what felt like a long time, he finally spoke again.

  “My mother would sometimes come with us to the training grounds back then,” Kai said, his voice filled with sadness. “She was originally from Hawaii, and her coven there used a very different kind of magic than your coven, but she wanted to learn more. Sometimes, though, instead of hanging out with dad and Martin, she would come back here with me to this tree and tell me stories or teach me her family’s magic. It feels like a lifetime ago now.”

  I slowly reached over and put my hand on top of his.

  “It’s easy to tell how much you love her,” I said. I wanted very badly to ask him again where she was now, but his voice sounded so far away that I had a terrible feeling I already knew.

  “She’s actually the reason my father became friends with your parents,” Kai said. “They saved her from a demon much like Algrath. He had captured her and taken on her appearance. He’d planned to kill her when he was done with his work, but your parents found her first and saved her. The demon hadn’t known it, but she was pregnant with me at the time. So, really, they saved my life, too.”

  My heart started racing. “Wow, I had no idea,” I said. “That’s incredible.”

  “After that, my father felt he owed them everything,” Kai said. “He vowed to protect them, always. That’s part of what I don’t understand, Lenny. Why wasn’t he there when they died?”

  His words hit hard. I certainly didn’t have the answer to that, but I could hear the guilt in Kai’s voice. I suddenly understood why he felt so strongly about protecting me.

  “You feel like it’s your job to keep me safe, because he didn’t follow through on his promise to protect my parents,” I said.

  I couldn’t explain why that was so disappointing to me. I was grateful he wanted to protect me, but I’d hoped it was due to some connection he felt to me, not some debt he felt he owed to my parents.

  “Oh, Lenny, that’s—”

  “Lenny, Kai, we need to get moving,” Gowan said, interrupting. “There’s no more time for training now. Martin and Asher have uncovered a huge lead. They want us home right away.”

  The loss of the rest of that conversation was like a punch in the gut, but there would hopefully be time to discuss it later. Right now, saving the girls and finding Algrath were the most important things.

  Gowan talked the entire way home, and Kai just looked out the window. I wondered if I’d upset him by bringing up his parents. Man, that was really poor timing on my part, but then again, when was it ever a good time to talk about dead or missing parents?

  I hoped we would get another chance to finish our conversation, but when we got back to the house, we were immediately brought back to Martin’s study. Everyone had gathered there and was talking frantically about the plan for tonight.

  “What’s the breakthrough?” I asked.

  Martin stood up from behind his desk, and everyone got quiet.

  “It turns out your investigative skills are quite impressive, Lenora. The girls might actually be at Julie Peterson’s cabin near the lake, after all,” Martin said.

  My eyes widened. I could hardly believe it. It almost seemed too easy. Too careless.

  “What makes you think that?” I asked.

  “Asher located the cabin by digging through some county records. It was left to Julie Peterson by her father some years ago,” Martin said. “He made a quick trip out there this morning to check it out, and there are wards set up all around it.”

  I glanced at Kai. More traps like the one we’d walked into yesterday.

  “From my research, there doesn’t seem to be any magical blood in the Peterson family, so I highly doubt Julie or her father would have the knowledge or skill to place such wards themselves. This matches up with the trap on her house, as well.”

  At this, Darius stepped forward.

  “Bates was a little more forthcoming this morning, as I expected,” he said with a sly smile. “He met Julie Peterson at a holiday expo where they were both selling cupcakes. His were made with moondust, so he sold out fast. Apparently, she struck up a conversation with him and finally convinced him to move here to Newcastle and help her build what he called a cupcake empire.”

  I held back a smile. This was serious stuff, but come on. A cupcake empire?

  “I believe this connection with Bates may be why Algrath chose Julie Peterson as his target. As a trickster of sorts, I think it was his way of making fun of the Council. Showing his power in manipulating the brother of a Keeper.”

  “What?” I asked. “Brother?”

  Martin nodded. “Yes, didn’t you know? Bates is Ms. Greer’s half-brother.”

  I opened my mouth in shock. No wonder Blythe had been in town visiting him. She must have been trying to convince him to stop dealing Moondust. Wow. I had not seen that one coming.

  Darius paced the floor in front of the desk.

  “It’s my suspicion that Bates is being set up to take the fall for all of this once the girls are dead,” Darius said. “Once I explained that to him, he was more than willing to rat out Julie Peterson. It turns out they’d spent some time together in that cabin over the past few months. Bates said there was a door inside that had been padlocked and warded with a strange type of magic. He said he could feel it from the moment he entered that cabin. Said it freaked him out, and he told her he didn’t want to meet her out there anymore.”

  “I take it she didn’t tell him what was locked inside?” Gowan asked.

  “Apparently, she said it was her dad’s fishing stuff,” Darius said, snorting. “We all know that’s a lie.”

  So, Olive’s mom really was hiding something all this time. I hadn’t wanted to believe it.

  Except it wasn’t Olive’s mom at all. It was Algrath. In fact, it was probably Julie Peterson who was locked up in that closet in the cabin.

  I shuddered. Was she even still alive?

  Poor Olive. She would be heartbroken.

  “As my tracking spell spreads through Algrath’s body, his location becomes easier for me to pinpoint,” Martin said. “I can’t see his exact location yet, but all signs point to the same area. Julie Peterson’s cabin in the woods.”

  “There’s something else,” Asher said. “When I was walking around the property, I saw a clearing about sixty feet behind the main house. I couldn’t get close enough to be sure without tripping one of the wards, but I’m fairly certain it was
a ritual circle.”

  I took several deep breaths. Could we be right? Had we really put all of this together so fast?

  We knew who Algrath was. We knew where the girls were being held and where the ritual would take place.

  Now, all we had to do was put a stop to it and get the girls out of there before Algrath could even get them to the circle.

  We spent the next two hours going over strategy for our raid.

  Everyone in the room knew Algrath was a trickster. There had been Slayers in the past who thought they knew exactly where he was and what he was doing only to storm in and find him already gone. Or standing behind them.

  Slayers had died at his hands. Too many to count.

  Tonight, we needed to be smarter than he was, which meant we couldn’t assume we knew anything until it was confirmed with our eyes.

  In the end, the plan we settled on was risky but smart.

  We would surround the cabin with wards and shields of our own, designed to keep Algrath in if he tried to run. That wouldn’t help us against portals, but it would at least give us some boundaries within the woods.

  We couldn’t put the boundaries too close, or Algrath might sense them too early. We settled on half a mile on all sides, and Martin seemed pleased with that number.

  Then, we would wait for Martin’s tracking spell to zero in on our target, confirming once and for all that he was inside that house. Once confirmed, we would rush in, locate the girls, and get them to safety.

  That was where Kai and I came in.

  Our job was to get the girls into the car and bring them back to Martin’s house until Algrath was either contained or banished. Apparently, there were certain protection spells on this house that would keep Algrath from entering.

  Then, everyone would join us back at the house, care for any injuries the girls may have suffered, wipe their memories of the events since their kidnappings, and return them to their families anonymously during the night.

  No one could ever know who had saved them, but that wouldn’t matter. As long as they were alive and safe, that was all that mattered to any of us.