How Torie Got Her Hex Back: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel: Singing Falls Witches Book Three

by M. J. Caan

  “Don’t be ridiculous. A familiar can be any sentient being. Granted, most are animals, but in some cases…they can be other.” She waved her hand in the direction of the smoke form standing near her. In response, it lengthened its form and wrapped itself around her playfully. “Wait, do you have familiars?”

  “No,” said Torie, joining the conversation, her eyes glued to the amorphous smoke creature.

  “Well, mine never leaves my side. He may not always be seen, but he’s always close by. Unless I send him on a mission, as I did earlier. Now tell me, my pet, what have you found?”

  The creature hovered next to Opal, audibly whispering to her. The familiar’s voice sounded like the wind sighing across a meadow to Torie as she tried in vain to make out what was being said.

  Opal turned her head and stared hard at Torie, her eyebrows arched.

  “What? What is it?” demanded Jasmin.

  “He says that the people in town are using magic. Magic that smells like…you, Torie.”

  “What? That can’t be.”

  “Oh, it is,” said Elric, his voice low and strained as he struggled to sit up.

  “Easy there, lay back. I have you,” said Torie, rushing to his side and placing an arm around him.

  “I’ll be okay,” he said. “But your smoke monster, or whatever it is, is correct. The humans in town are playing around with magic. Your magic.”

  14

  The fireplace crackled, spreading warmth throughout the first floor of Jasmin’s house as she set about making a large pot of coffee, while Torie started warming leftover lasagne she had found in the refrigerator. She had already cooked an entire pound of bacon and sat it before a starving Elric, who was devouring it unashamedly.

  “Someone forgot to eat,” said Jasmin, playfully.

  Elric looked up sheepishly from the plate of meat.

  “It’s okay,” she said, “I was just teasing you. I know you need the protein to help heal. Eat up.” She turned her attention to Opal as she entered the kitchen. “So, where’s your familiar?”

  “Oh, he’s around. You might not be able to see him, but he doesn’t stray far from my side unless I instruct him to.”

  “So tell us more about what he was able to find out,” said Torie. She had not been able to focus on much since they left her destroyed house. What the familiar told Opal, combined with what Elric had said, had consumed her thoughts on the ride back to Jasmin’s home.

  “Yes,” echoed Jasmin. “Maybe that will give us a clue as to not only what has been going on in town lately, but it may offer some insight into what the…hunter is doing here in Singing Falls.”

  The group caught her hesitation before she said the word hunter, but no one said anything.

  “Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to tell,” said Opal. “Your townsfolk, the non-supernatural ones, have stumbled onto a source of magic and are experimenting with it. Metrian, my familiar, said they were not doing anything mischievous with it; some were enchanting their vacuums to clean automatically, levitating small objects, things like that. All in the comfort of their own homes, so it doesn’t sound like anyone has taken their newfound skills to the public. Yet.

  “As for the hunter, your guess is as good as mine. I thought you said she was here to kill the wolves?”

  “But she didn’t do that,” said Jasmin. “And she had every chance.” She glanced at Elric.

  The wolf nodded. “Jasmin’s right. She could have killed us. Instead, she has Max under her control and was using him to attack his friends.”

  “And how did she do that?” asked Torie. “I thought hunters were fighters, not witches.”

  “Most hunters are,” said Opal. “But this particular hunter has magic in her veins.” She gave her sister a look before continuing. “That’s something no one has seen before.”

  “But it’s magic that she can’t take advantage of,” said Torie. “She’s not of age.”

  Opal nodded. “True. Under normal circumstances I would agree. But thanks to you, there are pockets of wild magic out there. Magic that she may be able to tap into easier than most.”

  “Wild magic?” said Jasmin. “What is that?”

  “I’ve heard of it, but never come across it,” said Opal. “All of our hex magic comes from the ancients on the astral plane. Sometimes, a tear in the veil between our world and that of the ancients can occur. When that happens, magic can seep through and settle in this world. It isn’t anchored to anything, and before you know it, humans and, in some cases animals, can learn to tap into it.”

  “And you think we have one of those leaks around here?” asked Elric.

  “No. I think she is your leak.” Opal pointed to Torie. “Not intentionally of course, but when you gave up your powers, they had to go somewhere.”

  “Of course,” said Jasmin. “Our hex magic is a form of energy; it can neither be created nor destroyed.”

  Opal was nodding. “When you released your magic, it became free-flowing. Now, it’s finding a home.”

  Torie didn’t speak. Brow furrowed, she sat down in a chair next to Elric. “So, all of this is truly my fault. Max being taken, all the craziness that is going on in town. The violence around us.” Her voice trailed off as she radiated sadness and fear.

  “Now that I don’t know about,” said Jasmin. “I mean, both Elric and Opal’s familiar said the magic was being used by humans. But so far, the violence in town has been between the supernaturals. And to my knowledge, supernaturals can’t use magic, even if they wanted to.”

  “Why not?” asked Torie.

  “Because they are created from magic. You’re right,” said Opal. She could see the confusion still present on Torie’s face. “We can wield magic because we are empty at birth. The magic in humans is something that rushes in to fill that space when the time comes. But shifters, vampires, elves…they are born with their own kind of magic; the kind that lets them exist. There is no room for a second type of magic to exist within. It’s just not possible.”

  “Then what’s causing them to turn on each other like we’ve seen?” asked Torie.

  “I don’t know,” said Jasmin. “But there has to be a connection. You giving up your powers, everything going screwy in town, and now a hunter showing up that has somehow been able to bring Max under her control.” She shook her head. “It can’t be a coincidence.”

  Torie and Opal exchanged glances. A look that didn’t escape Jasmin’s notice.

  “What? What is it?”

  “Jasmin, are you sure this is something you want to get involved in?” asked Torie. “I mean, you’re incredibly close to all of this, and maybe you should—”

  “I should what? Sit this one out? Why? Because the daughter I gave up more than a couple of decades ago has come back to haunt me? And by haunt, I mean kill.”

  Torie looked her friend in the eye warmly. “Yes. To all of that. And we don’t know what that hunter has planned. No one is saying she wants to kill you.”

  “No but she wants to kill us, me and Max,” said Elric. “I’m betting she hasn’t killed him yet because she needs both our hides to collect her bounty. She’s using Max to bring me out.”

  “Then why didn’t she do it back at the house?” questioned Torie. “She could have easily killed you. For that matter, she had us all dead to rights. But she didn’t do it. Why?”

  No one spoke as they all contemplated Elric’s words.

  “I have another question. If we all come from a line of witches, why was your daughter born a hunter? Assuming they are born that way, I mean. Or is there some hunter training school out there that she stumbled upon?” asked Torie.

  “Good question,” said Opal. “Think of it like this; hunters came into being to balance the paranormal scales. They ensure balance in the supernatural world. They keep certain elements in check. Think of what it would be like if there were only deer and antelope in the world, and no wolves and lions. Or, more precisely, there were only lions and wolves. Nothing to p
revent them from doing what apex predators are inclined to do. No offense.” She nodded in Elric’s direction.

  “None taken,” he replied. “You are right. The hunters are the boogeyman to supernaturals. But I must confess, until now, I wasn’t sure they really existed. Humans who had the strength and prowess to hunt even the mightiest among us. You can imagine why I would think them fables.”

  Torie nodded slowly. “I could see that. But that doesn’t answer my question. Are they born or created?”

  “Perhaps a little of both. They are born with something that gives them an edge over the rest of humanity; strength, agility, speed, senses. But they have to be trained. Taught how to use those powers to hunt supernatural beings. They have a mentor who finds them at a certain point in their childhood and takes them from their parents. That mentor then teaches them the ways of the hunters. They also teach them the code of the hunters as well,” said Opal.

  “Code? What kind of code?” asked Torie.

  “That you don’t work as a bounty hunter. Your skills are sacred, and the duty of a hunter is to serve mankind. Not their own base needs,” said Jasmin. She had moved over next to one of the large windows that framed her backyard and was staring out.

  “Well, your daughter must have skipped hunter training-school that day,” mumbled Opal. She saw the steely look Torie gave her and shrugged. “All I’m saying is that something is off with this particular hunter. If she’s working for a mob boss who is using her to extract vengeance, then she has broken the hunter’s code.”

  “So is the power they are born with magical in nature?” asked Torie. “If so, wouldn’t that mean she can’t wield magic either?”

  “Wielding and possessing are not the same thing,” said Opal. “She has objects of divinity on her. Those are objects that have been charged with magic of some kind. That rope she wields, for instance, definitely a divinity object. I’m betting that’s how she got control of Max; she slipped one on him that allows her to exert influence.”

  “Elric, why didn’t you and Max stay together?” asked Torie.

  “Because he was convinced we could cover more ground apart than together. Which is true, but neither of us considered we might run into that hunter. When Fionna and Glen got the call to come back here, we figured we’d take one last sweep through town and call it a night. We split up and I headed into town while he checked some of the areas that lay to the west, near the lake.

  “I was passing through town when a woman walked past me, and I caught her scent. It was the same one from the bakery. The one at the table you pointed out. I noticed that there was a man with her. A man with no scent at all.”

  “Just like at the bakery,” said Torie, excitedly. “When the table was obviously set for two, but you said your senses only registered one person sitting there! Same as at the bar where the fight broke out.”

  Elric was nodding. “Exactly. I heard the man call her by name; Myra.”

  “The same woman that Glen recognized as having the dead husband,” said Jasmin.

  “Yep. And get this, she referred to him as ‘husband’ while they were talking as well.”

  “But Glen said she saw her husband die,” added Jasmin.

  “That’s why I decided to follow them. Something didn’t feel right with them. There was nothing tangible about this man at all; if I closed my eyes, it was like he disappeared from the world.”

  “Where did they go?” asked Torie.

  “I followed them back to what I assume was their home. Once they disappeared inside, I crept as close as possible to listen to what was going on. They were in the basement, and I managed to find a small window around back that I could peep through. I couldn’t make out what they were doing, but I could hear them. The man was crying. He was asking the woman why something wasn’t working. She was assuring him everything could be fixed, and that it just took time. Then, he cried more, and she comforted him. But that was it. Before I could make out anything else, Max called. He said he could see the hunter taking a path that led directly to your house. He told me to get there as soon as possible.”

  “We need to figure out how she is controlling Max,” said Torie. “If she can do that to him, then she can do it to Elric as well.”

  “And that means you’re all but useless to us in a fight,” said Jasmin. “She has one wolf at her side; we can’t risk her getting her hands on another. If she hasn’t killed Max yet, then something tells me she’s waiting on you; a matching set.”

  “So where does that leave us?” asked Opal. “Guess it’s down to just you and me, sis.”

  Torie stepped forward. “No, there are three of us.”

  Opal smiled. “No offense, Torie, but you’re down for the count. At this point you’re more a liability than the wolf.”

  Torie tried to ignore the sting of Opal’s words, even though she knew they were true. Still, she wasn’t quite ready to lie down and roll over. A couple of days ago, maybe; but not now.

  “Yeah, you can stop right there with all of that,” replied Torie. “I’m not sitting anything out. Now, it just so happens that I agree with you about Elric. But if you think I’m going to go crawl into a hole somewhere and hide while you solve a problem that I might have caused, you’re crazy. And let’s not forget that it was my house that was just destroyed. Wherever you’re going, I’m going.”

  “And where she goes, I go,” said Elric.

  Torie started to argue but saw the look on his face and knew it would be pointless. Instead, she just smiled and gave him a nod.

  “Well, aren’t we just the bunch?” said Opal. “A witch with no powers, a wolf that’s susceptible to a hunter’s control, and a woman with a super-strong, homicidal daughter that she gave up at birth. All stuck in a town with a bunch of humans playing with magic they don’t understand. Where do we start?”

  Torie laughed. “Oh, please. That’s easy. We start with the only lead we have. Namely, Myra Simms’ house and her maybe-not-so-dead husband.”

  “And the hunter?” Opal asked, giving Jasmin a quick look.

  “One thing at a time,” said Torie. “For all we know this could be tied in with the hunter. We look into this first, then find a way to break Max free of the hunter. Then, we decide what to do about…her.” She didn’t want to look at her friend. Jasmin’s pain was palpable and the thought of a mother having to square off against her own daughter was more than Torie wanted to think about at the moment.

  Whatever came next, she knew she would stand by her friend. She just hoped that any of them would be able to do what had to be done if it came down to making sure their friends, and their town, were safe.

  15

  Even though they protested, Torie made certain that everyone ate something before piling into the car to drive back into town. Jim’s Bakery was still closed without a reopening date in sight, so that meant there would be no option for bagels or muffins if someone were to get hungry before returning to town.

  “And by someone I’m assuming you mean me,” Jasmin had said, pointedly.

  “If the hangry-pains fit…” said Torie.

  “What’s hangry?” asked Opal.

  “It’s what happens to your sister when she gets angry and hungry at the same time. It’s not pretty.”

  Other than Elric, that drew a chuckle from all of them. Torie knew what he was feeling. The thought of someone you cared about being in mortal danger was enough to make you sick; and it drove all other thoughts from your mind. She smiled at him, will strength and support to her lover.

  Elric rode in the front, giving directions to Jasmin, while Torie and Opal sat silently in the back seat. Torie looked around, briefly wondering if Opal’s familiar was in the car with them, or how that worked. She was about to ask, but then thought better of it, preferring to sit and contemplate the things that were better suited to her understanding.

  Like what they would do if they ran into the hunter again. She looked at the back of Jasmin’s head, worried about her friend. As
if she could sense what was happening, Jasmin lifted her eyes momentarily to the rearview mirror and gave Torie a hard look, accompanied by a nod.

  Whatever needed doing, she would be up for the task. At least that’s what her eyes said.

  After twenty minutes of silent driving, other than Elric giving the random turn left or right commands, they pulled into the driveway of a modest brick ranch home situated on a lovely property lined with large, mature trees and beautifully cropped Crepe Myrtles dotting the front lawn.

  Once they walked up to the front door, Elric moved to knock, but Jasmin stopped him.

  “Let me,” she said. “Whatever else we may be dealing with, Myra Simms is a school teacher. She may not even open the door to a stranger with angry eyes.”

  “What? I don’t have angry eyes. Do I, Torie?”

  He turned to his lover only to have her avert her eyes and offer him a slight shrug.

  “Maybe just intense,” she offered. “But either way, let Jasmin knock.”

  Torie found herself holding her breath as Jasmin knocked three times on the door. She had no idea who or what would answer, but if she had learned anything over the past few months living in a town of supernaturals, it was to always be ready. With no magic to draw on, she shoved her hand into her pocket, feeling for the small, white gemstone Jasmin had gifted her.

  They waited patiently before Jasmin knocked again. She leaned forward, her ear close to the door. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Let the big bad wolf listen,” said Opal. She rolled her eyes at the look Jasmin gave her, but smiled as Elric stepped forward, his head cocked to one side.

  “I don’t hear anyone at all in the house.” He gave the air a sniff. “No scents either. The place is empty.”

  “Good,” said Jasmin. She pointed a finger at the door handle and popped the lock in such a way that the door drifted open. “Oh look, the door’s open. Maybe we should go inside to make sure no one broke in.”