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

by M. J. Caan

  “I see a lot of trees,” she said.

  “Well, we live on a mountain in the woods, so that’s helpful,” said Jasmin.

  Opal ignored her, focusing instead on what only she could see. “There’s a structure as well. It looks like a warehouse of some kind, that’s been added onto a wooden and shingle structure. It spans a large creek. On one side is a huge gravel lot and the other, towering trees and darkness.”

  Jasmin snapped her fingers.

  “That’s the old Jensen Mill. Has to be. It’s the only structure in the area that is built across the Stone Throw Creek. It used to be a paper mill back in the day. They built it over the creek because they used a waterwheel to help grind and pulp the wood into paper. It’s so far off the beaten path, someone could hole up in there for months and no one would even suspect anything.”

  Torie leapt to her feet. “So, what are we waiting for?”

  Opal and Jasmin exchanged looks. Torie wagged her finger, recognizing the look in their eyes.

  “No way. I’m not sitting this out. I can’t help but feel responsible for what has been going on, so I’m going to help. And so help me, Jasmin, if you put me to sleep—” Torie said.

  Jasmin held up both hands. “I would never do that to you. I also know there is no way to talk you out of this.” She turned to her sister. “Do you have any ideas? Cos we are only going to get one shot at this; no backup will be coming.”

  Opal grinned. “Of course I have a plan. It might be a bit messy, and you’re probably not going to like it, but it might just be the only way to save our friends and our own lives.”

  21

  The building that sprawled before them looked like a set piece from a made-for-television zombie apocalypse movie. The full moon shone through a cloudless night, illuminating the gravel lot that spread out in front of where they stood. It had been taken over by tall weeds and clumps of crab grass. There was no sign of cars, and Torie wondered where the vehicles the men had taken Elric away in were. The building beyond that was a two-story rectangular warehouse, with the upper level ringed by broken windows encased in rusting iron framework.

  Torie could just make out the shingled form of the original structure grafted to the back of the warehouse. The three of them were quiet enough that they could just hear the whisper of running water from the creek that ran behind the old mill.

  They had parked nearly a half-mile away and walked in on foot, not wanting to give their presence away to anyone inside the building. Opal had told them her plan on the way over, and she was right; no one liked it.

  “Are you sure Fionna is inside?” queried Torie.

  “Yes. According to Metrian, she’s hiding inside the pocket of the golem. She must have shifted and scampered in there when those men with guns showed up,” said Opal.

  “Shhh.” Jasmin held her finger to her lips, inviting them to speak in a whisper.

  “They’re six hundred yards away,” whispered Opal. “What are we shhhing for?”

  “Werewolves can hear a pin drop a half-mile away,” said Jasmin. “I don’t want to alert them to our arrival. She already has Max on her side, and if she’s turned Elric as well…”

  She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t have to. Getting caught in the open like this was not part of the craziness Opal had cooked up.

  “Okay, so are we ready?” said Opal.

  “No,” said Jasmin, “but when has that ever stopped us before?” She gave Torie a friendly nudge with her elbow.

  “Alright then,” said Torie. “Here goes everything. You sure you want to split up like this?”

  Opal nodded. “If they see all three of us, we lose the element of surprise and I may not be able to spring the trap. I can feel Metrian inside. I can make my way around back and come in that way. Warded by spirits I’ll be practically invisible.”

  “Okay. We stick to the plan,” said Torie. She and Jasmin gave Opal a quick hug and then started out across the gravel towards the front of the building.

  “You know, if we were just going to waltz in the front door like this, why didn’t we just drive up here? My knee is killing me from all this traipsing around. I’m too old for this.”

  “Hush. Age is all in the mind,” said Torie.

  “Maybe. But it’s also in my knee and my back.”

  The front of the warehouse had multiple doors that were caving in or had been completely discarded. They picked one that was half ajar and squeezed into the musty space beyond. It smelled of peat moss and rotting wood. The hard floor beneath their feet was damp and slick in places where water had pooled, seeping up through cracks in the poured concrete.

  Jasmin fumbled around in her pocket for a flashlight. While magic light would have been easier, but they didn’t know what they might be dealing with just yet, so she didn’t want to advertise her powers if she didn’t have to. She swung the beam from dark corners to the floor in front of them as they made their way forward, listening for anything that might tell them where the hunter might be holed up.

  “What if Opal was wrong and this isn’t the place?” asked Torie.

  “We have no reason to think she’s wrong. Besides, we literally have no other ideas where to start looking. Plus, she doesn’t live here, how would she have seen this mill before?”

  “But where are the vehicles they were all driving? And this place is very creepy.”

  “Well, it’s a lair for the bad guys. Were you expecting a basket of potpourri and some Dasani at the door?”

  The strained sound of voices floated to their ears, freezing the two of them in place. Torie linked her arm through Jasmin’s and together they headed in the direction the voices were coming from.

  Ahead of them, the corridor they were walking down opened into a space where they could see flickers of light, and the voices became louder. They made out a woman’s laughter, followed by that of several men.

  “—And it doesn’t matter how tough they are, silver always puts them down,” said a voice clearly as they crept closer. It was followed by a crackling sound and then a yelp and a whimper.

  Elric.

  Torie gripped Jasmin’s arm harder as they continued toward the voices.

  “I heard that an alpha and a beta were linked by some kind of supernatural bond,” said the male voice. “Why is that not the case with these two?”

  “Oh they’re linked. But the divinity stones supersede their rapport.”

  It was the hunter speaking. Torie recognized the glee in her voice. They exchanged looks, each taking a deep breath to steel their resolve.

  Back straight, chin up, they walked into the open, dimly lit space like they owned it.

  “Well, hello everyone,” said Torie, her voice strong and confident in the sudden silence. “Fancy seeing you here.”

  The two of them looked around, taking in the scene in a quick glance. The three men with guns were sitting on folding chairs around a small metal table. There were half-empty bottles of clear alcohol and plastic drinking cups scattered around, as well as a few makeshift cigarette ashtrays. The initial shock of seeing the two middle-aged women stroll into their midst wore off quickly, and they snatched up their guns and squared off, facing the women.

  Torie swept her gaze across the open room and froze at what she saw in the center of the space.

  Someone had created a makeshift fighting ring using heavy, yellow sand bags to create a confinement space of roughly twenty feet in circumference. There were pikes with iron chains attached, posted at either end of the ring. The chains were roughly fifteen feet in length, each with an iron, spiked collar at the end of them. The ring was coated in blood and fur, with long gouge marks at various intervals across the concrete surface.

  Someone had been made to fight inside the circle, and Torie had a sinking feeling she knew who that someone was.

  There was a raised platform at one end of the room where the hunter sat, cross-legged. When she saw the women approach, she frowned, giving Jasmin an especially dark l
ook.

  “How did you find me?” she asked.

  “Wasn’t that hard,” said Jasmin. “You’re not as clever as you think you are.”

  The hunter laughed and slipped down from the platform.

  “No, I don’t believe it was that easy. But whatever; it’s all good.”

  Torie hated her cavalier attitude, and she felt her lips draw into a snarl, her voice harsher than she meant it to be. “What does that even mean? It’s all good. How can any of this be good? Where are the werewolves you kidnapped?”

  The men took a step forward in reaction to the threat in Torie’s voice but stopped when the hunter raised a single hand.

  “They, and that golem thing, are locked in the back. They provided us quite the entertainment earlier before we put them back in their cages. But I’m betting you know that already.” She took a few steps closer, keeping an eye on Jasmin. “But what are ya’ll doing here? You—” she pointed at Torie, “—don’t even have any power. Must have taken some guts for you to walk into this place.”

  She stopped and looked to her right at a sliding, steel barn door that was closed.

  “Or are you after what’s behind door number one? Did you come to save your pet?” She stepped closer, moving deliberately to stand in front of Torie. “He must be a better lover than he is a fighter if you came all this way to rescue him. He must really have you dickmatized.”

  She laughed, and the men behind Torie and Jasmin roared at her not-funny joke.

  Torie felt her anger collide with the feelings of helplessness she had endured for the past few weeks, and before she could stop herself, she slapped the hunter hard across the face. The sound of flesh smacking flesh silenced the room. Jasmin looked at her, eyes wide as she called up her magic and held it at the ready.

  The hunter glared at Torie, clenching her fists at her sides. But then, as she noticed Torie shaking her hand and wincing in pain, she laughed uproariously.

  “That literally hurt you more than it did me,” she said. “Man, please don’t ever let me get weak and old like the two of you.”

  She backed away, nodding at Torie. “I admire your spunk, old woman. Tell you what. You want your mutt back, go in there and get him.” She stepped aside, sweeping her arm in a grand gesture towards the steel door behind her.

  Torie didn’t move, looking questioningly at Jasmin. That it was a trap of some kind was obvious. But if Elric was locked behind that door, she was willing to spring it.

  “Torie, wait,” said Jasmin, recognizing the look in her friend’s eyes. “This wasn’t the plan.”

  “Oh, so you did come in here with specific intentions?” said the hunter. “No matter. You won’t be leaving.”

  Torie shrugged off Jasmin and rushed to the door. There was a latch that sprung free when she lifted it, allowing the door to be pushed open.

  “Ah hell,” said Jasmin, rushing to her friend’s side. She gave the hunter a hard look as she passed, moving quickly to stand by Torie’s side at the entrance.

  The light cast from flickering, overhead fluorescent bulbs added an extra hint of grit and seediness to the room. The air was putrid, a mix of years of cigarettes, poor ventilation, and sweat; all with a coppery undertone that Torie recognized as blood.

  The hospital stretcher the golem rested on was in the middle of the floor. Beyond that were two steel cages; Max was in the one closest to them, and Elric sat in the one next to him.

  “Elric!” Torie cried, racing across the room.

  “Torie wait,” said Jasmin, rushing after her. She stopped as she was passing the golem, remembering what her sister had said about Fionna.

  The golem lay there, unmoving, his body strangely rigid. Jasmin reached out, patting his jacket gently.

  “Fi…you in there? It’s me, Jasmin.”

  There was a rustle of fabric and a flash of dark brown as the squirrel shifter leapt from the folds of the golem’s jacket and scurried up Jasmin’s arm to rest on her shoulder. Together, they made their way over to where Torie was looking at Max and Elric. She had knelt next to the cages and was holding onto the bars of Elric’s.

  The two werewolves were in their human form, each naked and battered. There were long gouges in their torsos and bite marks on limbs that were deep enough to show bone. Both were weary and unresponsive, their heads resting back against the bars, eyes closed.

  “Oh my God,” said Torie. “What have they done to you? Jasmin, can you open the doors?”

  “I can try,” she said, summoning a charge of magic to her hand.

  Immediately, Fionna started to squeak and chatter noisily, jumping up and down on Jasmin’s arm.

  “Fionna, what are you doing?” asked Jasmin. “Can you shift back to human form so you can speak to us?”

  Again, they were met with a chorus of chitters and screeches, but the shifter remained in her squirrel form. She vaulted off Jasmin’s arm to land on top of the cage, chittering wildly at them.

  “What is wrong with her?” asked Torie.

  “No idea. It was your magic that allowed you to talk to them in animal form. I can’t understand a word she’s saying. Fionna, before the hunter sees you, get out of here…there’s a window that’s broken out up there—” she motioned to the rafters, “—see if you can get out. Opal is around back waiting for my magical signal. She has a plan to take the hunter out. Go wait with her until we can get these guys out of the line of fire.”

  Fionna screeched at the top of her lungs, looking from the caged wolves to Torie and Jasmin, gnashing her teeth together so hard, Torie was afraid they might break.

  “What in the world?” Torie said.

  But before she could say more, a slight moan escaped Elric’s mouth as he opened his eyes and lifted his head slightly.

  “Elric! Wake up, please. It’s Torie. We’ve come to get you out of here.”

  The wolf looked over at her. One eye was black and nearly swollen shut, and the other was slow to focus on her.

  “Torie?” he said, his voice as ragged and torn as his flesh. “Is that really you? You need to go. Get out of here while you can.”

  “I’m not leaving you. Jasmin is going to get these doors open and then we’re getting you and Max out of here.” She nodded to Jasmin, who raised her hand, pointing her palm at the door hinges.

  “No, Jasmin, don’t,” said Max. He was now sitting up as well, his eyes focused on the blue magic that circled Jasmin’s hand. “It’s a trap, they knew you were coming.”

  “It’s okay, Max,” said Torie. “We have a little surprise of our own planned. Opal is waiting outside to—”

  “No!” Elric barked. The effort caused him to spit blood and wince in pain. “She’s…she’s with them. She’s the one behind this…”

  Torie looked at Jasmin, saw the doubt tinged by unimaginable hurt in her friend’s eyes.

  “What are you talking about, Elric?” said Torie. “That can’t be true.”

  There was a sudden, blinding flash as more overheads flared to life, bathing the room in brightness. A slow clap came from an area somewhere above them.

  Torie looked up and could just make out shapes that appeared to be sitting on the top of bleacher-like rows of steps built into the concrete wall. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness of the light, she could make out the forms of the men from the other room, their long guns slung across their backs.

  Beside them stood the hunter, clapping slowly. She stood, leaning over the steps to look down at them.

  “Damn. She almost opened the doors. That would have been fun to watch, wouldn’t it, Auntie?”

  Next to her, Opal appeared, smiling down at them. She leaned into the hunter, resting her head on her shoulder.

  “Well, Mom,” said the hunter, “this is looking like it’s going to be one hell of a family reunion.”

  22

  Jasmin’s magic flared and then died down as she stared at the two women looking down on them.

  Slowly, she stood and took a couple steps to
ward them.

  “Opal…what is going on here?”

  Torie could hear the hurt and confusion in her friend’s voice as she bent down next to the cage containing Elric. She was examining the locking mechanism that kept her from opening the door.

  “Torie, don’t,” he said. “There is something, some kind of magic, that triggers our rage instinct when we are removed from the cages. I think it’s linked to the divinity objects the hunter has. They’ve been making me and Max fight one another for their enjoyment. I don’t want you to see me like that; and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Torie looked at him and, for the first time, noticed the collar he was still wearing. The gemstone that dangled from it glinted in the light. Glancing over at Max, she saw that he wore the same collar and stone. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Elric cut her off.

  “I’ve tried removing it. It’s sealed with some kind of spell. You have to get out of here, forget about me.”

  “I’m not leaving you to die here, Elric, so you can forget about that happening.”

  He placed a hand against the bars, his fingers entwining with hers.

  “She isn’t going to kill us. She’s turning us in for the money and our old boss is paying her well so that he has the luxury of killing us. But if I leave this cage, I can’t control what I might do to you. I couldn’t bear the thought…”

  “Christ, the both of you,” moaned Max. “If you don’t stop whining, I’m going to save our old boss the pleasure and off myself. Elric is right; you and Jasmin get out of here. And take Fionna with you. She’s starting to look like a Scooby snack to me.”

  The squirrel shifter hissed at the wolf and continued to scamper around the top of the crate.

  “Why isn’t she shifting to human?” Torie asked.