Storm Witch

by Alys West

  Zoe turned to Finn. “Do you think he’ll remember to come back for us?”

  “In the end. I’ll ring him again in a minute or two if we don’t hear from him.”

  The fire was burning down. Zoe zipped her hoodie up and wrapped her arms around her middle.

  “Cold?” Finn asked.

  “A bit.”

  He crossed the sand, returned with the bag of firewood and tossed split logs onto the fire. The flames quickly engulfed the white wood, dancing and flickering, bright against the dying light. He came to stand behind her, wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “Better?”

  “Yes.” He smelt of wood smoke and something more aromatic, probably from the herbs they’d thrown on the fire. It couldn’t have been easy for him this evening but he’d never faltered. Did that mean he was putting Maeve and the Nine Maidens behind him? She couldn’t ask. Not now. Maybe later, when they were finally in bed.

  Finn’s mobile rang. He let go of her and pulled it out. “What’s happened? Is she alright?” He listened for a second and then turned. She didn’t need to see the thumbs up. His smile had already told her it’d worked.

  ***

  Winston was holding her hand. As the nurse droned on about the side effects of the painkillers, he kept her hand in his. He’d only let go to drive Finn’s car the short distance to the hospital. She’d craved the contact as he’d explained that the spell had worked because the mirror got broken. She’d tried asking more, asking who’d cast it, what kind of spell was it, why she couldn’t remember? To each question he’d said, “Let’s get you patched up first, shall we?” And she had to admit, when she was worrying about bleeding on the upholstery of a car owned by a man she’d never met, it was pretty hard to argue with that. Not that she hadn’t tried but the five-minute journey to the Balfour wasn’t long enough to really get started and her head ached evilly.

  He was still holding his staff. When they’d arrived the nurse had made a pointed comment about not needing sticks like that in the examination room and he’d promptly put on a comically pronounced limp as if he needed it. He’d winked at her as he did it and for a second, she’d seen the cocky bastard she’d first met. Although the blisters across his nose and cheekbones did rather mar the effect.

  Boyfriend. She’d not seen that coming. If he really meant it. He could have just said it to piss Hal off. But not the rest. Not what he said when he came back on Thursday night. Not what he’d said as he’d held her hand on the sofa.

  The tingle of awen was dissipating now. He’d let it flow into her as the nurse dug fragments of glass out of her arm and then stitched up the wound above her elbow. It’d helped, far more than the local anaesthetic.

  “If there’s any problems then give us a ring or come back in,” the nurse finished.

  “Right, let’s get you out of here.” Winston took the bag of pills from the nurse and turned to Jenna.

  She levered herself out of the chair. Her legs felt like jelly and she was grateful when his hand wrapped around her waist. As he pushed the curtain aside and they headed down the corridor, she said, “What happened to your nose?”

  “Disagreement with a door.”

  “But you’ve got blisters.”

  “It was a very angry door.”

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “When I’ve got you home. Then I’ve got to dash off to South Ronaldsay to pick up Finn, Zoe and Grace.”

  “Grace is here? I thought she came round earlier but then it seemed so unlikely that I told myself I must have dreamed it or something.”

  “When I told her what’d happened, she got on a plane and came.”

  “That was good of her. Really good of her considering…”

  “Don’t go there. She wanted to come.”

  “I…”

  “I’ll tell you everything later. Can I come back when I’ve fetched the others?”

  “To mine?” No matter how much her head hurt, she’d never sleep until she had answers. And she didn’t want to be alone. “Yes. But I don’t want… That is I’m not…”

  “I don’t have to stay.” He pushed open the hospital door, held it for her to walk through. “But if you want me to, you’ve got a perfectly good sofa.”

  She stopped and turned to him. “Why are you being so nice?”

  He sighed. “Do we have to do this now?”

  It was a good question. Was she really going to do this when her legs could barely hold her and it felt like there was a bass drum inside her head? But she needed to know.

  “Yes.” Her chin came up. “Because if you’re doing this out of guilt or something then I’ll get a taxi home and—”

  His arm tightened around her waist. “Do you remember what I said to you on Thursday night before we went to bed?”

  It was the last thing she did remember, the last thing that fell into proper chronological order. Except for the kissing and the sex and the laughing about the sex. “Yes.”

  “That’s why. But I’m not one for big romantic scenes, especially outside hospitals, so can you walk to Finn’s car or do you want me to bring it over?”

  “I’ll walk.”

  “Good girl.”

  Chapter 45

  Winston flopped onto his back. He should give it up. He’d about as much chance of getting to sleep tonight as he had of not punching Andrew Stewart in the face tomorrow. Exactly zero for both.

  Because the bastard deserved everything he got. He’d a good mind not to stop Rachel tomorrow. If she wanted to blast Andrew’s house to smithereens then she should get on with it. Preferably with Andrew in it, flattened like a cartoon character with a huge splinter of wood through what passed for his heart.

  She’d taken it pretty calmly. It’d probably have been easier if she hadn’t. When he’d got back after dropping Finn & Zoe at their B&B and Grace at the guest house near the hospital, she’d changed into pyjamas with a heavy jumper over the top. Her hair was wet from the shower. He got that. Wash the whole bloody experience away.

  Until he told her what he knew. And that was only part of it. There were huge gaps of time that neither of them could fill. But she knew she’d resigned. Could remember handing the letter to her boss and explaining what a great opportunity it was for her to return to Edinburgh. She’d nearly cried then. It’d probably have been better if she had. He could have done something then, instead of sitting next to her feeling bloody useless.

  He still felt bloody useless. He’d nearly not stayed. He’d had his jacket on, his hand on the front door when she’d said, “Would you mind staying? Just in case.” He’d not asked what the ‘in case’ was. Simply slipped his jacket off and taken the pillow and duvet she found him into the living room. And now he was wide awake, lying on Jenna’s sofa with nothing to keep his mind off how much it hurt that she’d been hurt.

  ‘Caring hurts.’ Zoe wasn’t wrong. He needed to do something. Anything. Ideally riding over to Andrew Stewart’s house and pounding him to a bloody pulp, but even he could see that turning up at this time of night was only likely to result in a non-harassment order. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to be at the party tomorrow.

  He rolled onto his side and grabbed his mobile, scrabbled through the pockets of his jacket looking for pen and paper. If he couldn’t sleep, he could plan. They needed a bloody good plan.

  ***

  “We did it,” Zoe said.

  “I didn’t think we would.” Finn stood by the edge of the bed in the old boxers and washed-out Guinness t-shirt he slept in. As he tugged the leather thong over his head, his t-shirt rode up, exposing the muscles of his stomach.

  “How was it? Helping Grace?”

  “Not as weird as I thought it was going to be.” Finn tapped the staff on the floor and it returned to its full size. He propped it against the bedside cabinet. She’d never seen him do that before. He must be more worried than she’d thought. “But that was down to Grace. She’s completely different to Maeve. It even
felt different being in the circle with her. There’s no bad in her and that comes through in her magic.”

  “You think? She can be pretty stubborn.”

  “But that’s all it is. She’s not evil.” He threw back the duvet and slipped into bed next to her. “Not like Maeve was evil.”

  “And what about Rachel? You’ve not had chance to tell me about her. Do you think she’s evil?”

  “Honestly?” Finn propped himself up on his elbow. “She just seemed like a really confused kid. But she’s got some power on her. That spell on the door was nasty.”

  “Winston’s nose.” A latent giggle popped out and Zoe clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I nearly wet myself trying not to laugh when you got back.”

  “Yes, I saw that.” Finn kissed her lightly on the nose. “Not subtle.”

  She let her hair fall forwards over her face and peered up at him. “Did he notice?”

  “I don’t think so but he can handle ridicule. He dishes out enough.”

  “Do you think he’ll be back tonight?”

  Finn pushed strands of hair away from her face. “Normally I’d say no way but with Jenna, I honestly don’t know. I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “Me too. The real Jenna, that is. Not the weird version I met today.”

  “And we will. Tomorrow.”

  A stubborn weight settled in her stomach whenever she thought about it. “A lot’s going to happen tomorrow.” She hesitated and then realised she didn’t want to keep it from him. “I’m scared, Finn. That drawing was awful. Really bloody awful. People dying kind of awful.”

  His arms came round her, pulling her against his chest. “I know, sweetheart. But we’ve done all we can. We’ve warned Rachel. Perhaps she won’t come. Or because we’ve warned her, it won’t happen like you drew it.”

  “But what if it does? What if it’s the carnage I drew? We’ll be in that. Winston wants us there.”

  “Winston wants me there.” Finn drew back to look at her. “You don’t need to come.”

  She pushed him away, folded her arms. “No way. You go, I go.”

  “Zo, that’s crazy. I can defend myself.”

  “Against a storm witch? What’s awen got against that?” She saw the tension in his jaw, knew what was coming. “And don’t tell me that you’ve got broom or some other druid thing brewing? She can create storms, storms that hurt people.”

  “Which is why I want you a safe distance away. If I need to fight then I need to know you’re safe.”

  “No. You go, I go. Deal with it.” She’d never said this but the words were battling their way out and she didn’t think she could stop them. “I can’t watch and wait while you fight for your life again. I’m not going to hide on a hill like I did last time. I’ve done that once and I’m not doing it again.”

  Finn blew out a long breath. “She’s not Maeve, you know. It won’t be like last time.”

  “In some ways she’s scarier than Maeve. Maeve was coolly, coldly calculated. She knew what she wanted and she went all out to get it. If Winston’s right, Rachel’s totally out of control. Anything could set her off.”

  “Which is why I want you out of the way.”

  Zoe turned over so her back was to him. “No.”

  The light went out and she felt Finn’s weight settle behind her. “I’m not changing my mind, Zo.”

  “That’s too bad because neither am I.”

  She hated going to sleep on an argument but this was too important to back down. They had to be in this together. Whatever this turned out to be. Because nothing could be worse than watching from the side-lines, terrified that his next move would mean his death.

  ***

  Jenna came in almost silently. It was only the creak of the door that made Winston raise his head. Seeing him, she paused, one bare foot half-raised in the doorway.

  “Can’t sleep either?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well as you’re up, I could use some help. I’m trying to figure out a plan for tomorrow.”

  “What kind of plan?” She crossed the room and perched on the edge of the sofa beside him.

  “First of all, how to get us all into the party.”

  She cleared her throat before she spoke. “All?”

  “I’m not sure Zoe will be there. Finn’s dead set against it. But Grace isn’t going to sit quietly at home while we sort this out. She’s got things to say to your uncle. Only she’s going to have to wait her turn. I get first shot at Andrew Stewart.”

  “Why?” The word was so quiet he barely heard it.

  “Because he hurt you.”

  She picked a cushion up and hugged it to her. “No.”

  “What do you mean, no?”

  “I mean it’s my battle and I’m going to fight it. Not you. Not anyone else. But me.”

  “But you’ve got no magic.”

  “There are other ways. I haven’t figured it out yet but it’s up to me. Whatever’s going on between us, doesn’t mean you get to do it for me.”

  “I’m not—” He stood, paced away from her because calmly sitting next to her talking about this wasn’t an option. “Oh fuck, what if I am? Why is that so bad?”

  “Because he took control from me. And now you want to do the same.”

  “The two are not the same. In no universe are they anything like the same.” Four paces brought him back to her. He glanced at her for a moment before he strode away. “He took over your mind to he make you do what he wanted. All I want is to punch the bastard for doing it to you.”

  “But he did it to me. Not to you. That means I’m the one who gets to hurt him back.”

  There was a logic there. An implacable logic he didn’t want to hear. “How?”

  “I don’t know yet. I just know I have to do it myself. And—” her voice got very quiet and he knew he wasn’t going to like what came next “—if you’re not okay with it then I think you shouldn’t come to the party tomorrow.”

  “No way.” He had to keep moving. When he reached the opposite wall, he turned and looked at her. “Absolutely no fucking way are you going to that party without me.”

  “Then you have to promise.”

  He moved to the window, leaned over the stack of boxes and threw the curtains open. The grey light before dawn filtered in. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks stained with tears. But she wasn’t crying now. She was staring at him with a determination that made her look a whole lot like Nina.

  “I see what you’re saying. I see why you need it to be your decision. But you’re forgetting what I bring to this. Use me. I can be your sword arm, your hammer, your Drake.”

  “My what?”

  “Your Francis Drake. Defeated the Armada and all that.” He sank into the sofa next to her and risked a grin. “Too English?”

  “No. I just didn’t know where you were going with it.”

  “So?”

  “So what?”

  “Will you do that? Let me be your sword arm, hammer—”

  “Drake. Yes, I get it.” She hugged the cushion tighter. “Do you think he killed Mum?”

  So this was where she was going with it. He let his head fall back against the sofa cushions and looked at her for a long moment before he spoke. “I honestly don’t know. There’s no evidence and however much I hate him for what he did to you, I won’t judge a man without evidence. I do think it was extremely convenient that Nina died when she did but that’s not enough to convict him.”

  She let the cushion drop onto her lap. “I need to know.”

  “Then we’ll find out.” Once they’d survived what Rachel was going to throw at them tomorrow. “I don’t know how yet but we’ll find a way.”

  “And if he did then yes, you can be my sword arm, my Drake, my, what’s the other thing?”

  “Hammer.”

  “Right.” She pushed the cushion behind her back, leaned against it. “Only you don’t do anything until I say?”

  He held her gaze for a lo
ng moment. “Alright.”

  “Okay then. We’ve got a deal.”

  Her face was inches from his now. “To be clear, I am allowed to use awen when I do this?”

  “Can you hit harder with awen?”

  “Much harder. Way, way harder.”

  “Then yes.” She reached down, found his hand and laced her fingers through his. “Thanks for staying.”

  “No need to thank me. I offered.”

  “Just before you told me you weren’t one for big romantic scenes.”

  It felt good, touching her. A hand wasn’t enough, of course, but it was infinitely better than not touching her. “I’m not.”

  “But you’ll be my sword arm, my hammer, my Drake.” There was the ghost of a smile at her lips. “Some might say that was pretty romantic.”

  “Not if they knew me.”

  Her smile widened. “Idiot.”

  She held his gaze and he drank her in, searching her face, committing it to memory because he’d nearly lost her. Then her face creased and tears fell. He gathered her to him and held her as she cried.

  PART FOUR

  ELEMENTS

  When a spellworker works with the elements, she (or he) becomes attuned to the sacred power of those elements. This can bring wisdom but also great responsibility.

  The Spiral Path by Nina Stewart (unpublished)

  Chapter 46

  Jenna spun the steering wheel to reverse the car into the space. Pain shot up her arm and she winced. She’d taken more ibuprofen before she left but they hadn’t kicked in yet. They weren’t really strong enough but the ones from the hospital left her woolly headed and exhausted which wasn’t going to cut it today. She needed all her wits about her if she was going to pull this off.

  And it was a big if. Winston thought it was a stupid idea and had told her so repeatedly. But she had to try. She’d lost two days. Two days which had turned her life upside down and the only way to start to pull that back was to use Andrew’s spell against him. Plus a bit of extra lying thrown in for good measure.