Hex And Chocolate: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel: Singing Falls Witches Book Four

by M. J. Caan

  Torie felt a flutter in her mind and knew that Leo had sensed her in the house. She mentally commanded him to remain where he was so as to remain safe and smiled to herself when she felt him settle back down.

  Both she and Jasmin called up their magic, holding it at the ready to strike out with if needed. As they crossed through the living room to head towards the study, Jasmin stopped to pick up an iron fire poker from beside the fireplace.

  “Iron,” she whispered. “It helps disrupt black magic. Hopefully, that’s all we’ll be dealing with.”

  “Good to know,” said Torie, arming herself with the ash shovel.

  Together the two witches crept down the hall, eyes on the light that shone from the doorway to the study.

  “Why is it so quiet?” asked Torie. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Boo!” came a voice from behind them.

  Jasmin spun just as Hattie swung a large stone from Torie’s patio. She struck Jasmin in the head with a sickening crunch, dropping the witch where she stood.

  Torie immediately raised her hands, blue fire swirling about them.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t,” said Hattie, a dark grin splitting her face. “You might get me, but I’m betting Effie can end at least one of your friends before you can get in there. Hmm, now I wonder which one she will go after first?”

  Torie dropped her magic and her hands, looking from the old woman to her best friend lying at her feet. Jasmin was so still that Torie couldn’t tell if she was even breathing. The thought turned fear to barely contained rage, and she wanted nothing more than to blast this grinning woman into oblivion. But she also knew Hattie was right. No way she could take them both out in separate rooms.

  “What do you want?” demanded Torie.

  “Just to finish what we started. You’ll see,” said Hattie. “But first, put these on.”

  She tossed a pair of handcuffs in Torie’s direction and watched as the witch slipped them onto her wrists.

  “They’re coated with a dead man’s blood and an enchantment that should hold you long enough,” said Hattie.

  She was right. Torie felt weak as soon as she locked them in place. Her magic was still there, but it had faded far into the recesses of her being, just out of touch. She looked down again at Jasmin’s still form.

  “Leave her there,” said Hattie. “Come on in. We’ve been waiting for you.”

  Torie walked ahead of her and entered the study. Effie was sitting on the chair at the far end of the room. In one hand, she held a fistful of Fionna’s hair, holding the still-groggy shifter’s head upright. In the other, she held a large butcher knife, the blade at Fionna’s throat.

  Her unfocused, gray eyes searched in Torie’s direction, and she smiled.

  “Well, well, well. Looks like the gang’s all here.”

  “What do you want?” seethed Torie, trying to sound braver than she felt.

  “What do I want?” repeated Effie. “I want your powers. But first, I want my eyes back.”

  22

  “Now, sister,” said Hattie, entering the room. She dropped the blood-stained rock on the floor with a thud. “You’re going to get your eye. And soon we’ll have more power than these witches could have ever dreamed of.”

  “If it’s something you want from me, then let my friends go. I won’t go anywhere. You have my word.”

  “Oh no, witch, there is nothing we need from you,” said Hattie. “We have everything we need. Well, almost everything.” She glanced over at Max who was slumped on the floor.

  “What did you do to them?” asked Torie.

  “A special strain of wolfsbane,” the old woman replied. “It’s deadly to them, you know. I laced their coffee with it. Not quite enough to kill them; just keep them docile long enough.” She laughed and looked over at her sister. “And you thought their sense of smell would warn them. I told you it would work. This strain is undetectable. Now your friend there, the squirrel girl, she got the same sedative your friend Jasmin got. Sometimes, brute force works best.”

  “What took you so long to get back?” asked Effie. “I was thinking we were going to have to do this without you.”

  “You were expecting us?”

  “Of course. As a matter of fact, I watched the two of you sneaking around back on your security system here. Sweet setup.” Hattie nodded in the direction of the camera monitor on Torie’s desk. “And sweet spell you used to get through the fence; I’m definitely going to add that one to our request.”

  Torie had no idea what she was talking about, but before she could say anything, Max groaned and began to move around on the floor.

  “Oh no, we can’t have that,” said Hattie. She moved faster than Torie would have given a woman her age credit for. Scooping up a canvas bag off the desk chair, she reached in and took out a handful of black powder. Moving to stand next to Max and Elric, she threw it into the air, scattering it in their direction.

  Instantly, Max dropped back to the floor, unconscious.

  “Where’s Elion?” asked Torie, looking around the room.

  Hattie’s eyes grew dark and hard. “Oh, that one. He was entirely too dangerous to fool with. We weren’t taking any chances, so we bound him in the same black chains that I placed around Effie to fool you. And then, we sat him outside in the sun to roast for a bit. I doubt it will kill him, but who knows…maybe.” She laughed again. “You and your friend walked right by him. He was bound to the far side of the fencing. Too weak to even call out to you. And you were so focused on getting in here that you never noticed him.”

  Torie’s mind was racing. She remembered just how tough Elion was and she had to believe that he could survive whatever these two had thrown at him. Still, she feigned hurt at the woman’s words, hoping it might goad her into talking even more.

  “Oh, does it hurt you knowing that you weren’t able to help such a disgusting creature like that? You should be ashamed of yourself, keeping company with these animals. Still—” she looked at Max, “—at least they will be put to good use.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Torie needed time to think. And the fact that this woman was in love with her own voice might just give her the time she needed to think of something. “And why here? Why my house?”

  “Wouldn’t you just like to know?” taunted Effie. “Don’t tell her anything, Hattie.”

  “Be quiet,” said Hattie, her tone forceful and tinged with warning. “I don’t care if she knows; she can’t do anything to stop it at this point.” She faced Torie with a hateful sneer on her face. “We needed this house because it is steeped in lore. Like most witches, the first thing you do when moving into a place is erect wards and spells all around it. Magic that seeps into every nook and cranny. Well, what we are doing requires a space that has been mystically sanctified to work. Our old house just wouldn’t cut it for the final big bang.”

  Torie closed her eyes, pretending to shake her head in horror at the witch’s words. She was concentrating, reaching out to her unconscious friend in the hallway, probing at the recesses of her mind, imploring her to wake up.

  “Jasmin, please. Wake up. We need you.”

  Unabated, the elderly woman continued, this time moving around to stand behind Max.

  “You’re not witches,” said Torie quickly, drawing attention away from the unconscious werewolf.

  “Oh, that’s the beauty of sacrifices, dear; we don’t have to be.”

  “It never works out. Whoever you are sacrificing to will want something in return. Something you probably won’t be able to pay.”

  Hattie threw back her head in laughter. “We made a trade that the powers that be had not seen before.”

  She focused her eyes, and Torie watched in horror as they grew large and black; shiny, dark orbs that seemed impossibly big for her face. Her body shimmered then, seeming to go in and out of focus. One minute it was there, the next it became hazy and black, more shadow than physical form, and Torie recognized it from the brief glimpse she had at t
he mayor’s house. But this time, the shadow was solid, and it maintained its grip on Max. Torie made a mental note; if it was solid, maybe she could hurt the creature.

  “What have you done?” Torie said.

  The shadowy figure that was Hattie laughed, the voice deep and scratchy.

  “We offered our physical bodies up to the demons in exchange for the power of magic. We will be as powerful as you are, but without the limitation of the physical body. And in order to make that deal, all we had to give them were certain organs from some of those disgusting animal creatures.” She waved her hand at the open boxes that were arranged on Torie’s desk. “We were nearly complete, with the exception of the last, most important one they requested.”

  “You murdered shifters; and for what? To use their organs, along with your own bodies, as money to purchase some magical abilities. What is wrong with you?” spat Torie.

  “Oh, not just shifters. We had a couple of humans in the mix as well. Certain ones that they pointed out to us, and of course the dragon heart. That one was tricky, but they showed us a spell to make an old one shift into human form. After that, she didn’t put up much of a fight.

  “The last piece was the eye of an alpha supernatural. The dragon had a wee baby and we figured that would work. But that damned son of Effie’s stole it away before we could complete the sacrifice. But luckily, this mutt is an alpha, with two eyes; one for the sacrifice and one for my sister.”

  “Mama, what are you doing?”

  Tilda had come into the room, holding one side of the wall for support. Her face a mask of horror and disgust as she looked around the room.

  “Tilda? What are you doing here? I should have known you’d be skulking around. Were you working with Terry? Where is our dragon pet?”

  “I…I have no idea what you’re talking about. But please…stop this, whatever it is you’re doing.”

  Hattie waved an arm and Tilda was tossed through the air to crash in a heap on the floor.

  It distracted the old women just enough for Torie to focus on the knife Effie held to Fionna’s throat.

  “Knife,” she said, pulling the blade to her hand and away from Effie. It would do no good getting the cuffs off her, but it also wasn’t pressed against Fionna’s neck anymore. Just in time, because the squirrel shifter was conscious now, and in the blink of an eye shifted into her squirrel form, scampered behind Effie before shifting back to her human form, arm crooked around the old woman’s neck.

  “Step away from Max or I swear I will snap her neck,” Fionna said.

  “You will do nothing of the sort,” said Effie. “Get your pervert hands off me!”

  The old woman moved with unnatural speed and strength, driving her body backwards to slam Fionna into the wall, knocking the breath out of her as she slid down onto her bottom. Effie’s own figure began to shimmer as she took on a similar look as her sister. This time, her hand elongated, fingers stiffening with razor-sharp, black talons that erupted through the skin. She drove her hand in the direction of Fionna’s head with enough force to penetrate her skull.

  But the killing blow never connected as her hand stopped in midair, trapped in a bubble of blue magic.

  Torie turned to see Jasmin braced against the doorjamb, holding herself up with one arm as she extended the other, her hex power crackling around her. Blood poured from the gash on her head, mixing with sweat as the exertion of using power was taking its toll on her injured body.

  With one final heave, Jasmin threw her arm back, using the power that encircled Effie’s hand to fling the old woman across the room to crash at her sister’s feet. The effort proved too much for her, and Jasmin dropped to the floor, unconscious. Tilda ran over to her, bending down to attend the witch in any way she could.

  Hattie laughed as Effie scampered to her feet, unharmed by the attack.

  “Time to finish this and get our final reward,” said Hattie.

  With that, she grabbed the unconscious form of Max and held him up.

  Effie stood over him and spoke.

  “In darkness’ name I offer you this,

  a gift from a body that twists and shifts.

  Take these gifts and build anew,

  a body that is equal among the few.”

  With that, she watched as Effie drove her long, pointed fingers into Max’s eye, pulling it free and throwing it into the one empty box. The shock roused Max out of his stupor, and the wolf howled with pain, grabbing at his mangled eye as he writhed on the floor.

  As soon as the eye hit the box, all of them erupted in a blast of light and smoke as the organs disintegrated in a blinding flash.

  Torie was mortified and screamed in horror at the carnage. She channeled her anger into action, calling on her hex power. The knife she held in her hand glowed white-hot as she sent it screaming at the women. It struck Hattie, burying itself hilt-deep into the woman’s shoulder.

  Torie’s eyes glowed with power as she felt a click behind her back and the handcuffs dropped off her wrists. She looked over to see Tilda cradling Jasmin’s head in her lap. The witch was awake but barely able to focus her eyes. She held one finger aloft, having summoned enough power to set Torie free.

  Torie raced across the room reaching to grab the knife from Hattie’s shoulder to use as a weapon, only to find herself in Effie’s steely grip as the old demon held her from behind.

  “We really were going to let you live, you know?” said Effie, her breath hot and fetid against Torie’s cheek.

  “I opened my home to you, and this is what I get in return,” said Torie. “You are a terrible houseguest. Luckily you aren’t my only one.”

  “What?” said Effie, just as Hattie pulled the knife out of her arm and moved to stand by her sister, her face ablaze with anger and hate.

  Torie looked down in front of her, and Hattie’s eyes followed.

  “What is it? What do you see, sister?” demanded Effie.

  “It’s just her damned cat. It can watch as we finish her.”

  Torie laughed and spoke.

  “Lady of Light heed my call,

  and let that which is hidden be seen by all.”

  At the same time, she lifted her leg and stamped down on Effie’s instep, while driving the back of her head into the demon’s nose, causing her to release her grip. Torie spun, facing Effie and drove the side of her hand into Effie’s throat. The old woman gasped, grabbing at her neck in pain just as Torie threw herself to the side, away from the two women.

  She watched, seeing the look of shock and recognition on Hattie’s face as she saw Leo for what he truly was.

  Leo drew himself up onto his hind legs, his little wings flapping furiously as he rose into the air until he hovered a foot above the two old women. His eyes gleamed as he drew in a deep breath and exhaled, belching lava-hot fire at the two of them.

  Torie shielded her eyes from the brightness as the conflagration engulfed the two screaming women, turning skin and bone to ash.

  Once done, the little dragon settled onto the floor next to Torie, licking lightly at her bruised form.

  “It’s okay, I’m alright,” she said.

  She clamored to her feet and moved over towards Jasmin to check on her friend.

  “I’m okay,” Jasmin said, waving her off. “Go check on Max.”

  Torie limped over to the still writhing werewolf and tried to console him. She held his head and placed a hand over his eye, pouring forth warmth and magic. When it did nothing, she turned her magic to a more calming effect that acted as a pain killer, sedating him long enough for her to get to Fionna.

  Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she dialed a couple of numbers, spoke quickly and headed back to where Jasmin and Tilda were sitting on the floor.

  “Glen’s on her way with some help. Just hold on.”

  She watched as her best friend tried to smile, before closing her eyes once again.

  “So other than Max, everyone is going to be fine,” Glen said, as she dabbed some antibio
tic ointment onto the gash on Jasmin’s head. “But you’re going to have to take it easy for a few days. Nothing strenuous at all, deal?”

  Jasmin nodded, looking over at her friends. Torie, Fionna and Elric were attending to Max. The big wolf sat on the arm of a couch as one of Glen’s trusted co-workers took one more set of vitals on the Sheriff. There was a white bandage around his head securing a gauze pad over his ruined eye.

  “Will it grow back?” asked Jasmin, nodding in his direction.

  “No idea,” said Glen. “From what I know, shifters, wolves in particular, have amazing regenerative abilities. But this was a bad one, so he may well be maimed for life.”

  Jasmin looked over at Elion, who was seated alone in the room. She got up and walked carefully over to him.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  The vampire nodded. “I will be.”

  His skin was dark and sloughing off in places, deep blisters and pustules had formed on his cheeks and chest where he had suffered direct exposure to the sunlight.

  “Elion, this should have killed you. I’ve never heard of a vampire surviving this kind of exposure to sunlight.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing I’m not like most vampires then, isn’t it?”

  Jasmin didn’t say anything as Torie walked over to them and gave her friend a gentle hug.

  “So, I know you wanted to have a memorable housewarming party, but that was just a little over the top,” said Jasmin. “I am so glad that is over.”

  Torie sighed deeply. “I hope it’s over.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Jasmin.

  “I’m still trying to figure out just what Hattie and Effie did. Sure, they gave their bodies up for possession, but…there was something else. Something about the last part of that incantation. She said something about creating a body that was equal among the few; one that was built anew. What did that mean?”

  Jasmin shook her head. “Who knows? Right now, I’m just glad they are both gone, thanks to little Leo there.” She looked over at the dragon, who seemed content to curl up under the desk and nap throughout the commotion. “Whatever comes next, we will deal with that too. But for now, let’s enjoy this small victory that we made it through unscathed. Well, most of us anyway.” Her eyes softened as they settled on Max, who was thanking the paramedic for his help and assuring him he needed no more care.