The third time I bounced up from the mat, things changed. Big time. The gloating look on Missy’s face didn’t last long after that.
I couldn’t afford her the same opportunity she’d given me to learn how I fight. I took her to the mat. Hard. She didn’t bounce up as quickly as she should have, and it didn’t take long to get her into a fierce hold.
There were three ways to win a cage fight. One was to knock the other opponent out. A clear win there. Another was if the opponents were more suitably matched and a knockout didn’t happen in the allotted time frame. Then it was a matter for the referees to decide with the number of strikes and takedowns by each fighter. The third was something else altogether.
A tap out. An admission of defeat. In my experience, it was the loss that every cage fighter dreaded the most. That was the one I was going for here.
With her in an unbreakable and highly uncomfortable hold, she really had no choice in the matter. She could tap out and end this, or she could wait until the time ran out. Either way, under the circumstances, I’d be the clear winner.
Still, it took her a good three minutes of trying before making the tap. Another few seconds and a final small squeeze before I released her.
When she got up, the smile was gone. Her green eyes flashed for just a second as she glared at me. Where had I seen that before? That sudden animalistic flash. She didn’t give me much time to place the other occurrence before it was gone.
Missy pushed by me without shaking my hand as custom usually dictates and made for her car. A low rumble started among the men. Hopefully, that meant they saw her for what she really was. A sore loser among other things.
I ducked out of the cage and stood outside. I wasn’t happy to see that Opie had followed Missy to her car. Another point against him in my opinion. If I’d known where in the heck I was, I would have called for a ride home.
As it was, Opie was my only option.
That didn’t mean I had to actually talk to him.
The ride home was a very silent one. After a minute of trying to explain, Opie finally gave up. He knew me as well as any other person on the face of the earth. When I was this mad, which didn’t happen often, it was far better for the person who caused my anger to just shut the heck up.
I’d get over it. Eventually. Maybe. I was still really ticked that he had followed her to her car. Kind of a camel and straw kind of thing to me.
He barely stopped the car out in front of my house when I opened the door and popped out. He was ready for that. Maybe he wasn’t as smart as I’d given him credit for, because he caught up to me before I made it to the outside stairs.
Grabbing my arm, he whirled me around to face him and his lips hit mine with a pent-up passion of years. It startled the hell out of me. Not what I was expecting at all.
But it did the trick. It broke my cycle of anger.
Within seconds, I was responding to him, pressing against him for more.
When we finally pulled apart, he smiled down at me. “I just couldn’t leave you without showing you how much you mean to me. I love you, Amie. And you’re the only witch for me.”
Then he turned and left. I hugged myself and watched him go.
Maybe there was hope yet.
I just wish he’d said girl instead of witch.
Chapter 22
THE NEXT MORNING MY anger was still there, right along with the pain and the beginnings of several bruises. Perhaps giving her three opportunities to land her punches and kicks hadn’t been such a great idea after all. At least, that was what my body was telling me now. My brain, however, was still really happy with the final outcome of that tap out.
Now she knew exactly what I was capable of. And she had to know that Opie was my boyfriend. He was mine, dang it. And yes, I would fight for him. In my heart, that was what that fight had been about. Even if she hadn’t known it at the time. If she had any brains, she should be able to figure it out.
I allowed myself a little extra time in bed, just wondering how to spend my day. I needed something to do to take my mind off things. Then an idea started forming in my head, and I felt a smile coming on.
If I could catch this killer before the sheriff and his gang did, that would pretty much seal my investigative reputation. And show little Miss Missy that I was truly a woman to be reckoned with on several levels. Maybe she had a nice little sheriff’s department hat, but I had my own little career. I wasn’t bound to the rules and regulations like she would be.
Okay, so maybe I was. But there were ways I could bend things to suit my needs that an officer of the law couldn’t. Not without major risk, anyway.
I figured they had their own line of reasoning on who the culprit was, and truthfully, I had absolutely no idea where to start even thinking about putting the blame. Who did it was a mystery to me still.
But even with that being the case, I had a place to start. The cigar club. Both deaths so far had somehow been tied to that place. Both men went there regularly. If it was a vigilante we were dealing with, that might just make the club itself a target. Or perhaps that was how he was picking his victims? Either way, staking out the club with any available time on my hands just sounded like a good idea.
This time, I’d be taking my bike. It would be a long ride in the heat, but it would be much easier to hide in the woods. I didn’t want my car giving me away again.
Besides, I could use the exercise to loosen up my muscles. They needed it.
The only question now was what to do with my time until my planned stakeout tonight at the club.
When I walked out of my bedroom, the first thing I noticed was Mabel’s note on the kitchen table and the lack of her bag by the couch.
I really appreciate you letting me stay here while I worked things out in my head, Amie. I’ll be going home after work tonight. It’s time to restart my life for good. Hopefully, you and the sheriff can catch whoever did this and make that a little easier for me too. Mabel.
Sure thing, Mabel. I’ll do my best to make that happen.
Then I walked into my sitting room. What the...? Destiny had somehow managed to open my little cabinet that held my board game collection and had then dragged every last one of them out and onto the floor. Several of them had opened and game pieces and dice littered the floor.
“Destiny! What the blazes has gotten into you?”
It took me a minute to find her in all the mess. She was tiny, even for a kitten. When I finally located her, I could tell from her smug look that she wasn’t in the least bit sorry for her actions. In fact, she looked quite proud of herself.
I glanced down at her frowning. “If this becomes the new normal, you’ll be sleeping in a kennel at night. You know that, right?”
She hissed at me while slashing her tail back and forth. What the heck had gotten into my sweet little kitten?
Then she reached out one tiny little delicate paw and tapped the floor in front of her. Paying a bit more attention, I noticed that the box she was sitting on was my Scrabble game and in front of her were four letter tiles.
H-E-L-P.
I swooped her up, looking her over. “What’s wrong, are you okay? Do I need to take you to the vet? What happened?”
See, here’s the thing. Most people might think the spelling of a four-letter word was just a happy coincidence. I wasn’t one of them. I knew that this was the Goddess’ way of telling me something. Or rather asking me for something.
Destiny’s tale was still slashing even as she meowed at me. Like that wasn’t confusing as all get out. Then I realized I had kind of piled on the questions a little thick.
I took a deep breath and looked down at the kitten in my arms. First things first. “Are you okay?”
“Meow.”
“Do I need to take you to the vet for some reason?”
Destiny threw her tale about with gusto. That was a definite no.
I looked at the tiles and then back to her. “So, what do you need help with?”
; She squirmed, and I let her down. She ran over to the window that looked down into the backyard. I could see Billy already hard at work down there. With any luck, he would finish up the job today. Especially as it seemed he had a helper. Nancy was there too, handing him tools and even hammering in a nail or two.
I smiled looking down at them. Billy could be a good male influence in her life. She really needed one, and the Ravenswind household was strictly female. If you didn’t count the occasional visit from the Minehearts or Opie.
Who I was still more than a little angry with by the way.
Destiny jumped up on the window sill, pressing her nose against the glass. “Meow.”
“You want me to go help them?” It didn’t really look like they needed help. To me, it looked like they were doing just fine all on their own.
“Meow.” This one was more insistent.
I frowned at her. What did she want me to do? Then I shook my head and turned back to the bedroom to get dressed. No matter. I kind of had the feeling that maybe the Goddess was more like me than I’d ever imagined. It was quite possible she was making things up as she went along too.
Even if that were true, spending the morning with my potential new cousin wasn’t such a bad idea. She needed to know that we all had her back here. If we had anything to say about it, her life would be far different from here on out.
The rest of the morning passed by in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. Nancy was rather shy around me at first, but after watching me and Billy tease each other for a half-hour or so, she got into the game of things. For those few short hours, she got to be a kid. It was encouraging to know that part of her hadn’t died long ago. That happens sometimes when kids have it as hard as Nancy had.
I was kind of sad to see noon roll around and Opal come out with a platter of sandwiches and lemonade. As we ate, she announced that Billy and I would be on our own for the afternoon as she and Nancy were going to collect the girl’s things from her school.
The cloud came down over Nancy and the change was startling. The little girl of the morning was gone, just like that.
After they left, Billy turned to me.
“Her dad getting killed was the best thing that could have happened to her, wasn’t it?”
I thought for a minute. “I’d like to say so, Billy, but until things shake out, no one really knows if that will be the case. Opal is trying to become a foster parent so she can take her in for good, but that might not go through.” I shrugged. “Not everyone in town approves of us, you know.”
He frowned at me. “Then what will happen to her?”
“She’ll go to another foster home or an orphanage somewhere. Hopefully, a good one. But what really needs to happen first is for the sheriff to catch her dad’s killer. I don’t think she’ll be able to move on until that happens.”
Billy took a deep breath. “I guess that’s true with Mabel and Tommy too, isn’t it? They can’t really get on with their lives and be together until this is finished.”
“I just hope that doesn’t take too long.”
He nodded, then turned back to the gazebo. “I just have to do the trim work at the top now. That won’t take long. I’ll be done and out of your hair in a couple of hours.”
“You’re not in our hair, Billy. It’s been kind of nice having you here.” On an impulse, I reached over and hugged him. “Thanks for letting us help you this morning. I know you probably could have been done already if we’d just left you alone.”
Billy blushed. “But I wouldn’t have had near as much fun doing it.”
I gave him a little extra squeeze and then let him go and headed back upstairs. If he really did get done soon, I might be able to use the meditation garden for a while this afternoon before I headed to the cigar club.
There was a definite feeling growing in my heart that I would need all the peace and strength I could get tonight.
Chapter 23
BILLY WAS TRUE TO HIS word, and I got to be the very first one of us to use the meditation gazebo. It was absolutely perfect. Especially after I dragged my furry bean bag chair into the center of it.
After an hour of peace and quiet—and perhaps the smallest of naps—in my sanctuary, I felt strong enough to take on the world. Which was a very good thing, because tonight I was on my own.
Normally, I might call Opie to join me, but I wasn’t quite ready to forgive him for last night yet. And my second choice of Ruby as a partner in staking out the club was a bust because she had dropped off Opal’s car sometime last night and taken back off again with Arc. I had a feeling we would not be seeing much of her for a while. Not until the heat of passion cooled off a little.
With Ruby, that could take quite some time. She was a passionate kind of person.
Unfortunately, the fact that they were now a couple also took my third and final choice of a partner away too. My brother Arc.
So, yeah. I was doing this alone. And on my bicycle too.
Opal and Nancy must have returned while I was in my trance, or sleep, whatever you want to call it. I called down to tell her I’d be going out for dinner. She didn’t seem too upset about it. I think that was partly because her mind was dedicated right now to helping Nancy adjust to her new normal.
At least I hoped it was her new normal. The last thing in the world she needed right now was another change. Besides, I was beginning to think Opal needed her as much as she needed Opal.
I really didn’t think there would be much need to get to the club before dark, as I just couldn’t see the killer making a move in broad daylight. That hadn’t been their way of doing things up to this point, and I couldn’t think they’d go changing that now.
It would have helped if I’d known what I was looking for. Truthfully, all I was going on was a hunch and a growing feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.
Something was going to happen tonight. Something big. And my witchy senses were telling me it would go down at the club.
As I still had a couple of hours before dark, I planned my trip so that I could stop in town for a bite to eat. Not Carney’s, even though my stomach wasn’t happy with me for that refusal. Instead, I went to the new chicken buffet and tried to temper down my appetite to that of a normal person. It wasn’t easy, but I didn’t want to be weighed down with a heavy meal.
Then I realized that Opie still had my binoculars from the day before. Crapsnackles. If I went by his place and asked for them back, he’d know where I was going. Plus, I wasn’t ready to see him yet. He needed to stew in his own juices for a bit longer.
I ended up purchasing a cheap pair at the thrift store and then pedaling my way the rest of the way to the club. It was a little farther out of town then I’d thought it was. I was getting soft with all the car usage. What I’d thought was only a mile or two ended up being almost triple that.
It was past hard dark when I finally leaned my bike against a tree and made my way to my stakeout spot. Or I least, I started in that direction. I had chosen a place for my bike off the beaten path. And I wasn’t the only one that had done so.
When I spotted Billy Myers’ truck, my heart sunk into the pit of my stomach.
Oh, Goddess, no. But my heart and brain were telling me yes.
When the hand landed on my shoulder, I almost screamed.
“You need to leave,” Opie said. “Billy went in a few minutes ago and we’re...” He stopped talking because the front door of the club opened and Billy came jogging out.
A red-haired female sheriff’s deputy tackled him down to the ground. Opie pointed to the ground and then took off toward them.
Sod that. I ran after him.
Billy’s eyes were wild when he saw me. “Run, Ms. Amie! Run! The bomb’s gonna off in less than a minute!”
“Bomb?” And Opie and his dad were running all right, right into the building that was about to blow up.
I ran too. After them.
One thing with most witches is that to do a spell you need to prepare.
Work out a rhyme, learn the finger manipulations, gather ingredients, all of that. That isn’t so very true with Light Witches. Once we work a spell, or our power is used to fuel one worked by another, that spell becomes instantly available in a kind of spell bank.
As I ran through the threshold, I was making a withdrawal. I needed that Mineheart shield spell. But I needed to know where the blast would be coming from. Turning back to Billy, I yelled. “Where is it, Billy?”
From what I could tell he was crying but Missy shouted out. “He says it’s in the cellar!”
Sheriff Taylor and Opie had the door yanked open in a heartbeat and after yelling a warning to the men down there, the great exodus began. Men came flooding past me, but I stood firm.
Until Opie saw me in the crowd. “Get out!”
I shook my head, drawing the spell out and into my arms and hands. It was almost here. It felt like the bomb’s timer was matching my heartbeat. My hands went forward, and I screamed. “Everyone get behind me!”
The sheriff took one look at me and one quick glance at the door much farther away, and then he grabbed Opie and pulled him behind me, taking him to the floor.
Good thing too, because that’s when the blast hit.
Chapter 24
I WAS TRUSTING TO THE hope that this explosion would have much less force to it than the one at the warehouse had.
There, I had the help of three very powerful Earth witches—well known for their protective powers. Now, it was just me. My life and the lives of my love, friend, and others depended on my power alone.
The thought was daunting. But not quite as daunting as the force from that single bomb’s blast. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Knocking me and the ones behind me back by a good three feet.
But my shield held. Once the shock wave had passed, it got a trace easier to hold, but it was draining my magic fast.
“Get everyone out. I can’t keep the fire back for long. This whole place is going to go.”
Un-Familiar Magic (Accidental Familiar Book 3) Page 14
