Witch Tease

by Cindy Keen Reynders

  “Aboon,” he called and Iolar’s shining silver form pushed up through the water. Pumping his fist gleefully in the air, Kincaid smiled.

  “You are a beautiful, loyal girl,” he told the ship as he waded toward it. “As a reward, I’ll give your circuitry a good cleaning once I get the chance.”

  Climbing aboard, he programmed Iolar to return to Wysteria. Elated that he’d managed to escape the catacombs and Queen Dana, he began to whistle a bright Scottish tune.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Like a giant canvas, the dark sky arched over the hilly landscape, bursting with glittering diamond points of light. A huge yellow moon rode in the cloudy heavens, casting illumination across the scenery.

  A breeze brushed past Lizzie’s face and combed her hair with wild disarray. She patted Wren’s handle and pointed toward the coastline.

  “See that small sandy cove scattered with the large rocks?”

  “Which one? They all look the same,” Wren said.

  Lizzie turned the broom toward the area where she’d left Kincaid’s ship. “Let me do the driving for a second,” she told Wren.

  “Watch out for those wicked-looking cliffs, Devochka,” Wren said. “You haven’t been feeling well and I don’t trust your sense of direction. Not yet, anyway.”

  “Hey, I saved you from banshees today. I’m not going to run you into the rocks.”

  “You forget, darling, I was there when you learned to drive a car. Goddess have mercy, you were scarier than a vampire in heat!”

  “That was a long time ago. And how do you know vampires go into heat?” Lizzie asked.

  “I’ve heard they do. Haven’t actually met one, though.”

  Lizzie tilted the handle downward when they flew above the cove where she’d left Iolar. The shiny metal vessel should have been visible, but she couldn’t spot it anywhere.

  “This is the place,” she told Wren.

  “I’ll take it from here,” the broom instructed as she zoomed toward the sand and parked above a boulder. Lizzie stepped off Wren and jumped down into the sand. As she peered around, Wren came to stand beside her.

  “So, where is the Spirit Wulver’s ship that you were all ga-ga about?”

  “I don’t know,” Lizzie said, uncertainty gripping her. “I’m positive this is where I left it.”

  Carrying Wren, Lizzie searched the beach, wondering why Iolar had disappeared. Or if she’d landed Wren on the wrong strip of beach.

  “Are you certain Iolar was real, Devochka?”

  “Seriously?” Lizzie snorted with exasperation. “How in the blazing witch balls do you think Kincaid and I traveled to the Land of the Fae?”

  “I’m just trying to play the devil’s advocate here,” Wren protested. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

  “Forgive me,” Lizzie said, realizing she’d overreacted. “I’m anxious, and you’re right. I don’t feel good.”

  “No kidding, especially after you lost your—”

  “Don’t…don’t say it.” Lizzie’s stomach gurgled as she remembered worshipping the porcelain god. Fighting nausea, she sloshed through mucky sand at the water’s edge. She remembered how the ship had risen out of the water when Kincaid first summoned it. Maybe he’d programmed Iolar to submerge itself whenever possible. That way, no rubberneckers would find it and start snooping.

  Glancing out toward the deeper water, Lizzie said, “Aboon.”

  As ocean scents drifted past her nose, she watched the dark, undulating waves rising and dipping, rising and dipping. Iolar did not burst from the watery depths. Lizzie’s heart squeezed with disappointment.

  “What does aboon mean?” Wren asked.

  “It’s the word Kincaid uses to call forth his vessel.” Lizzie frowned. “I don’t understand why it’s not working for me.”

  “Maybe you need to say it louder,” Wren suggested.

  “Maybe.” Lizzie cleared her throat and called, “Aboon!”

  After staring at the gently lapping cove water for several minutes, she realized nothing was going to happen. Iolar either wasn’t out there, or for some reason, the ship wouldn’t respond to her summons.

  “Do you have the wrong cove?” Wren shivered. “There are so many around here, I can’t fathom how you could remember one in particular.”

  Self-doubt drained Lizzie of her conviction. She’d been so certain, so sure of herself.

  “I hate to admit it, Wren. But it’s possible.”

  “Let’s try searching again tomorrow,” Wren said. “The sun will be out and we can see better. Plus, it will be warmer. Fall is giving the temperature a slight chill.”

  “I hate giving up,” Lizzie said as tears prickled her eyes.

  “We’re not giving up,” Wren insisted. “We’re waiting until we have optimum conditions.”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Devochka, I’m always right.”

  “That isn’t so,” Lizzie said as she settled on Wren, who sailed into the sky and began the return trip to the Rose mansion. The cool wind made her shiver, so she snuggled deeper into her cape and secured the hood.

  The harvest moon’s mocking face reminded her she needed to make haste to find Iolar. Weather this time of year could turn quickly and bring early snow.

  “Why you argue with me is a mystery, Devochka. Remember the time I saved you from that island of giant rats in the Caribbean? When they stormed over that mountain, I warned you we needed to skedaddle, but you wouldn’t listen. When we did leave, we almost didn’t fly high enough to avoid being caught between their slobbering fangs. Who knew rats could jump so high?”

  Wren obviously refused to give up on her claim she always made the right choices. Lizzie decided she might as well let her boast.

  “True,” Lizzie said. “I’ll give you that much.”

  “You were like, ‘Oh, look at the pretty palm trees and sugary white beaches! Let’s stop here!’”

  “It was a beautiful place,” Lizzie said, aware Wren’s thread of conversation was meant to distract her from thinking about Kincaid. Still upset about not finding Iolar, she appreciated the broom’s attempts to lift her mood.

  Wren continued regaling stories about their close calls with danger and the experiences they had shared, with Wren always being the hero who saved the day. Lizzie chuckled a few times, noting Wren knew exactly how to cheer her.

  Nevertheless, her soul still ached. She was determined to find Iolar and return to Kincaid.

  What if you can’t find the ship?

  “I’ll find another way to rescue him,” she murmured. “Even if it’s the last thing I do in this world.”

  ***

  At about four o’clock the next morning, Lizzie woke up, feeling sick to her stomach. Her first thought was to get up and arrange her altar to request healing from the Goddess.

  No time for that.

  Everything she’d eaten threatened to spew. She ran to the bathroom and once again found herself on her knees in front of the toilet. When she felt like herself again, she hopped in the shower, soaking in the hot water.

  Squeezing bath gel on a pink bath pouf, she ran it over her arms and legs, then over her stomach.

  “What?” Lizzie looked down, noting how much her stomach protruded. Pressing her hand against the mound, she frantically considered all the illnesses she may have contracted.

  Mind swirling, she got out of the shower, dried off and hurried to her bedroom to put on clothes. None of her jeans or other pants fit, so she searched for something looser. Sliding hangers back and forth in her closet, she decided on a paisley print dress that featured an elastic waist.

  At the knock on her door, she crossed the room and opened it.

  “Devochka.” Wren bounced back and forth on her straw bottom. “On behalf of all the other household brooms trying to sleep in the closet downstairs, what in the name of birchdom is going on up here? We haven’t been able to sleep a wink with all the racket you’re making.”

  �
��Look!” Lizzie pressed her hands on her stomach. “Something’s wrong with me.”

  “Devochka! Maybe it’s like your mother thought—you caught some sort of crazy disease while you were running around in the Land of the Fae.”

  Wearing a robe and fuzzy slippers, Dendera walked out of her bedroom and shut the door. “What in the seven moons is going on?”

  “Mom, I think I did catch some terrible disease while I was with Kincaid.” Once again, Lizzie pressed on the abdomen area of her dress, emphasizing her expanding tummy.

  Dendera wiped her eyes and blinked. “Hmm. You haven’t told us a lot about what happened while you were with him, Lizzie.”

  Aunt Aggie wandered from her room wearing a long black flowing blouse and matching trousers. “No, she hasn’t,” she chimed in, running her hands through her hair.

  “I didn’t want to bore everyone with details,” Lizzie said.

  “I think it’s time to share more.” Dendera folded her arms across her chest and tapped one foot.

  Lizzie felt herself blush. “It’s kind of personal.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Dendera said. “I know you two were in love at one point in time. What happened while you were with him?”

  Lizzie nodded slowly. She had a good idea what her mother was thinking and she saw flashes of the lovemaking she and Kincaid had shared.

  “We got married, too.”

  “Lizzie! You married a wulver? And you didn’t even think to tell us this after you got home?” Dendera began to pace. “What’s most important is that you are all right and you rescued the coven. Still, what’s your father going to think? What will the Supreme Witch’s Council think?”

  “That’s why I didn’t tell you,” Lizzie said and jutted her chin defiantly. “I knew you’d be upset. And I don’t care what the council thinks. I’m sorry if Father doesn’t understand. But we had to get married in order to be able to get Uaithne. King Aedh’s old soothsayer said it was necessary for us to be one in purpose and mind.”

  “Faeries!” Aunt Aggie rolled her eyes. “Always so dramatic.”

  “I agree, Aunt Aggie. But I didn’t feel like I had any choice. I had to do whatever it took to get rid of Sorcha.”

  “Do you love Kincaid?” Aunt Aggie asked.

  Lizzie glanced at her mother, then back at her aunt. “I do love him. Because of his loyalty to all of us, he is trapped in the Hag’s Mountain. Queen Dana, who guards the Faery catacombs there, needed a sacrifice. Kincaid offered himself, and she turned him into a gold statue. Only then, would she release Uaithne to me.”

  “I’m sorry for everything you went through.” Dendera walked over and put her arm around Lizzie’s shoulders. “You are so brave and strong.”

  “I’ve got to go back to free Kincaid,” Lizzie said.

  “You’re right. He must be freed because we owe him our lives,” Dendera said. “We’ll talk with your father about how to do it.”

  “We? You mean—”

  “You are not alone in this,” Dendera said in a solemn tone.

  Aunt Aggie hugged her. “We’ll all work toward Kincaid’s release, my dear. If it weren’t for him, you, and Ursula, we’d all still be wrapped in banshee slime.”

  “Thank you.” Lizzie smiled at her mother and then Aunt Aggie.

  Dendera sighed. “First, I need to get dressed and have some coffee. Then we’ll consult Ursula to help us determine what’s going on with you, Lizzie.”

  “Caffeine to the rescue!” Aunt Aggie said.

  Lizzie laughed, then quickly sobered. How she wished coffee could solve everything. That would be too easy.

  ***

  Sunshine sparkled on the rose garden’s autumn glory of colorful blooms as Lizzie, her sister Samantha, Dendera, and Aunt Aggie walked past them. The flowers seemed to be displaying their final brilliance before frost arrived.

  The vast greenery was surrounded by tall hedges and featured various marble statues, benches, gazing balls on pillars, and a small pool surrounded by mossy stones and colorful pebbles.

  Dendera opened a gate and stood aside. One by one, the ladies passed through and entered the forest featuring tall fir trees and cool silence. In a clearing, Aunt Aggie, Dendera, and Samantha formed a circle around Lizzie and clasped hands, preparing for the ceremony of the charmed woods.

  “Aunt Aggie, will you send up the request to the Great Beyond?”

  “Certainly, dear.” She cleared her throat and chanted, “Spirit circle thrice around, we call on those who’ve gone before to impart the wisdom of the ages. We seek Ursula, the blood of our blood.”

  In the trees, birds chirped. A couple of butterflies flitted past.

  But Ursula didn’t appear.

  “Stinking bat’s breath, we probably need more energy to summon her,” Lizzie said. “All Hallows Eve is only a couple of days away. She’s probably off celebrating in some exotic location and can’t hear us.”

  “More likely she’s ignoring us,” Aunt Aggie said.

  “It would be nice if your other sisters were here,” Dendera said. “But everyone’s busy working.”

  “So, you’re stuck with me,” Samantha said, her burnished gold hair falling across her shoulders as she met everyone’s gaze. “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “Please Ursula,” Lizzie said as she looked around, hoping for some sign of her ancestor witch. “I know I’ve been a pest with all this banshee business, but I need you.”

  A breeze rustled tree branches, then the air crackled and sizzled. Bursts of blue light flickered in the grove. Ursula’s plump form appeared near a tall pine tree, her long hair falling like silver frost across her shoulders. She wore khaki shorts, a matching shirt, boots, and a brown leather hat.

  “Holy spider legs boiled in sesame oil!” She stomped toward Lizzie, her craggy old face a mask of irritation. “I was on safari with a very studly guide who looks and talks just like Crocodile Dundee. What in Hades do you want?”

  The sound of thundering feet filled the air and an elephant crashed through the foliage toward them. Trunk raised, it thundered a terrible sound.

  The ladies squeaked with alarm.

  Ursula held up a hand and said, “Desino consto.”

  The elephant froze, one foreleg held high, its trunk held sideways.

  “See what I mean? And I was just about to shoot it.” Ursula held up her camera. “Good times, you know. Gotta document them so I can share the fun with my coven in the Great Beyond.”

  “Our apologies, great spirit,” Aggie said. “My niece needs help.”

  “Mother of witches, where have I heard that before?” Ursula rolled her eyes. “You remind me of a broken record. What now?”

  “Lizzie visited the Land of the Fae, and now she’s been quite ill,” Dendera said. “Can you take a look at her and let us know if she’s contracted some exotic disease?”

  “Oh, all right.” Ursula rubbed her chin with her thumb and forefinger and narrowed her gaze. “I want all of you to stand on one foot, jump up and down, and rub your tummies.”

  “All at the same time?” Lizzie asked.

  “What do you think, curly?”

  Lizzie dutifully began jumping and rubbing her tummy. So did the others.

  After some time had passed, Lizzie asked, “How long do we have to keep doing this, Ursula?”

  “Until I’ve had my fill of watching you all make fools of yourselves.”

  “Ursula!” Aunt Aggie stopped, as did the others. “That’s not nice.”

  “It’s also not nice to interrupt me so cursed much.” Ursula harrumphed, then walked closer to Lizzie and narrowed her gaze. She looked her up and down, then said, “Stick out your tongue.”

  Lizzie complied.

  Ursula nodded, then said, “Hold out your right palm.”

  Again, Lizzie did as Ursula asked.

  “I see. There is a blessed event in your future. Quite soon, as a matter of fact,” Ursula said.

  “You think I’m pregnant,” Lizzie said,
letting the words sink into her brain. “But it doesn’t make sense. At this point, I shouldn’t even be showing yet.”

  Ursula patted her shoulder. “Your baby’s father is a wulver. Your pregnancy will progress differently than we witches are accustomed to.”

  “How did you know it was Kincaid?”

  “Oh, puh-leeze! I’m a wise old crone. I know things. Besides, who else could it be?”

  “Holy stars,” Lizzie muttered as a cold dose of reality washed over her. “I hope that doesn’t mean I’ll give birth to a child with fur and claws.”

  “Goddess have mercy!” Wren shivered. “The little dickens will probably try to teethe on my handle. Just wait and see!”

  “Every child is a miracle,” Ursula reminded them. “The Goddess teaches us that. Toodle-oo ladies. I’m headed back to the jungle!”

  Ursula snapped. She and the elephant disappeared in a shower of sparks.

  “Let’s pay a visit to Dr. Sprinklebright,” Dendera said as she rested her hands on her hips. “She delivered all of you girls. She’ll know what to expect with a wulver pregnancy.”

  “I sure hope so,” Lizzie said. She looked down at her stomach, thinking it had expanded even since this morning.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “I don’t know what to expect,” Millificent Sprinklebright informed Lizzie. “I’ve never treated a witch carrying a wulver child.”

  Seated on the examining table in the doctor’s office, Lizzie rested her forehead in her hands. Even though Aunt Aggie and her mother were out in the waiting room, she’d never felt so alone.

  Kincaid would be so excited to know he was going to be a father. And she was thrilled to be having his baby, albeit overwhelmed. It didn’t seem right that they weren’t together.

  Somehow, she had to find a way to return to the Land of the Fae and free him. Things had gotten so crazy lately she hadn’t had a chance to find a way to accomplish that.

  “Now, now, don’t be upset with me.” Dr. Sprinklebright removed her stethoscope and placed it on a counter. She brushed off her white coat and folded her arms across her chest.

  “What am I going to do? The baby’s father isn’t around and I have no idea what to do with a child, let alone a wulver baby.”