Witch Way Box Set

by Jane Hinchey

  Adrenaline spiked and with a burst of energy I began commando crawling, ignoring the bite of gravel tearing up my elbows. I was making great progress until a foot pressed down between my shoulder blades, pinning me to the ground.

  “Not so fast.”

  I struggled to identify the voice. Was it Colin? I couldn't be sure. My eyelids were so heavy I couldn't open them, and I was sliding deeper under the effects of the drug. The pressure on my back eased, but I couldn't take advantage, I couldn't move. With a sigh, I gave in and darkness claimed me.

  Urgh. Mother of God, my head hurt. I stirred, the drumming inside my skull relentless. And my mouth was dry, drier than a dessert. Must have been one hell of a bender. I went to roll out of bed and that's when I discovered I couldn't move. A brief flash of panic shot through me. Was I paralyzed? Cracking open an eye I frowned at the corrugated iron filling my vision. I wasn't in my trailer. Where the hell was I? As I blinked my eyes and my vision sharpened, I moved my head to take in more of the room where I was being held. It was slowly coming back. Someone had drugged me.

  “She's waking up.”

  “Mom?” I swung my head too fast and the whole room spun, making me want to hurl. Quickly squeezing my eyes shut, I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and held it, feeling my lungs expand, before slowly releasing it, feeling the nausea abate.

  “It's okay, honey.” Dad's voice. Slowly I opened my eyes again. Sitting next to me, tied to their chairs, were Mom and Dad. I sagged in relief. They were alive.

  “Harper?” My attention zeroed in on my mother and I gave her a weak smile. My happiness at seeing them was tempered with feeling like death thanks to the drugs in my system. “Mom? Dad?” I croaked.

  “Don't talk,” Mom said. “They drugged you. It'll take a while to fully leave your system.”

  I nodded and then wished I hadn't, as another wave of nausea descended. This time I couldn't stem the tide and I hurled all over the floor in front of me. I tried to free my arms, but they were zip tied to the arms of the chair, as were my ankles. I coughed and then spat, hating the taste of vomit in my mouth. “Sorry,” I croaked.

  “Don't be,” Mom soothed. I could hear Mom and Dad softly talking to each other, couldn't make out the words, and I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew water was being poured over my head. I woke with a gasp, coughing and spluttering. Through my dripping hair I saw Kaylee holding a bottle of water over me, a sneer on her face.

  “Awake yet?”

  “Kaylee?” I hated to state the obvious, but in my defense I'd just been drugged and wasn't exactly thinking straight.

  Satisfied I was awake, Kaylee tossed the now empty water bottle and grabbed another one from a table shoved up against the wall. She poured it over the puddle of vomit, and I watched as it washed away between the gaps in the floorboards. My eyes traveled along the floor. How odd. There was a sizeable gap between each board and beneath us, through the gaps, a long way down, was dirt. Looking up, I finally took stock of my surroundings. A shed. A big, shed. It smelled funny. There were pens and a large round table.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “The old Arrowstrand Station shearing shed,” Kaylee replied, rummaging inside the backpack she'd tossed onto the bench next to the lined up water bottles.

  “Is that what I can smell? Sheep?”

  “Probably. Now shut up. No talking.”

  I glanced to Mom and Dad who were frowning at me and jerking their heads toward Kaylee. I raised my brows. What? You want me to shut up or you want me to stop her? Since I wasn't in a position to stop her, I elected to shut up. Keeping one eye on Kaylee, I wriggled my wrists, trying to slide them free from the cable ties, but it was no use, they were on good and tight.

  “Sorry,” I said, not being able to sit in silence, “but I've just got to ask, how did you get my parents here with no one noticing?”

  Kaylee shot me a look over her shoulder. “Same way I got you.”

  “But where did you get the drugs? And what were they, because I feel like shit?”

  She shrugged, placing a black candle on the bench, followed by a silver dagger. “Horse tranquillizers. Don't worry, I didn't give you a full dose. That would've killed you and I need you alive. For now.”

  “So it was you...” Nigel had been talking about Kaylee. Kaylee had stolen the tranquillizers from the vet's bag. He must have been visiting the sheep station when it was still operating, administering to a sick animal, and Kaylee... what? Had the foresight that one day she'd need a powerful tranquilizer?

  Kaylee shrugged, not caring about what I had to say.

  “Did you set fire to the homestead?” I asked.

  That caught her attention. She turned, leaned back against the bench and crossed her arms over her chest. “Aren't you the clever one?” There was such a lack of emotion on her face, it was creepy. Her eyes, that had always seemed so blue, were uncannily dark, although it could have been the light in the shearing shed. A single lantern was dangling overhead. “We wanted out. It was the best way.” She shrugged again and then turned her attention back to her bag of tricks.

  “We?” Was the whole family in on it? Burn down the homestead for the insurance money?

  “Enough talking!” She spun and threw something at me and for a split second I thought it was the dagger, thought I was about to die. It was almost a relief when an apple bounced off my chest and rolled to the floor.

  “Harper,” Mom warned. “Shush.”

  “You'd better listen to mommy dearest.” This time Kaylee picked up the dagger, and I froze, not daring to breathe. She pointed the dagger at me, and I sat there, silent, unable to breathe until she nodded in satisfaction and put the dagger back on the bench. “That's better.”

  “We're almost ready folks!” Suddenly she was animated. The dull, lifeless face was replaced with sparkling eyes and curled lips. “I'll be right back.” I listened as her footfalls faded into the distance, the sound of a metal door sliding open.

  “What's going on?” Mom asked. “What does she have planned?”

  “She didn't tell you?” It surprised me. I was sure Kaylee was sadistic enough to have rubbed it in their faces but seeing their confusion she obviously hadn’t. “She intends to summon the Goddess of Immortality.” I explained. “She's doing a blood ritual, and tonight is her grand finale.”

  “Dark magic,” Mom hissed.

  “Sounds bad,” Dad added.

  “It's very bad. She's already killed?” Mom questioned me, her eyes, so much like mine, were sharp and alert.

  I nodded. “Twice. One male, one female.”

  Mom thought for a second. “I'm guessing she found my ring?”

  “The alexandrite one? Yes. How did she even know about it?”

  “We were talking about marriage and anniversaries in the hotel at dinner one night, Andi and Colin were there too, and your dad was teasing me that he'd bought me this ring for our anniversary, but it never saw the light of day.”

  “And Kaylee overheard.”

  Mom nodded. “She must have. She was working.”

  “How do we stop her? Can you use your magic?”

  Mom was shaking her head. “I don't have my wand, and you know I rarely practice. But Gran tells me you're doing really well with your magic, Harper.” Mom smiled softly at me. “That you don't even need a wand.”

  “Wait,” Dad interrupted, “does Kaylee know you two are witches?”

  “I don't think so,” I said. “It's not something we talk openly about, not amongst strangers. And Remy said that whoever it was that was practicing dark magic was not a witch, but human. Remy has some sort of gadget that reads energy signatures or something.” I couldn’t recall all of the details as most of the explanation that Remy had given me had gone straight over my head.

  “Remy’s here?”

  “Yes. And Dad, Blake Tennant is here too. He got Gran cleared of all charges—well actually, we found the real killer which meant they dropped the charges.�
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  “I knew he would.” There was a level of pride in Dad's voice, which prompted me to ask, “How do you know him? He works for Richards, Jones & Tennant and apparently the Jones is a silent partner. Is that you?”

  Dad was silent for a moment and suddenly the ridiculousness of my question wasn't so ridiculous anymore. “Dad?”

  “Keith, tell her. She deserves to know,” Mom urged him.

  “You're right, of course you're right.” He blew out a breath, cleared his throat then said, “Yes, I'm the silent partner in Richards, Jones & Tennant. I have a law degree but never practiced.”

  “But... why? Why even be a partner if you don't practice? I don't understand.”

  “You mentioned the Bureau,” Dad replied, then paused. “The Tennant family formed the Bureau in Australia after the SIA was formed in America.”

  I nodded. “Blake mentioned something about his sister working for the SIA.”

  “Right. So both organizations work hand in hand in keeping supernaturals legal.”

  “But what does that have to do with you? You're human.”

  “Well, you know Grandpa was a lawyer. And his dad before him. So of course, it was expected that I'd follow in their footsteps and I did, went to law school, graduated. Then I met your mom and for the first time I was exposed to the world of the paranormal.”

  “Riiiiggghhhhtttt.” I had no clue where this was going.

  “And it was then I discovered that my dad had worked with the SIA when they were first founded, helped them establish their infrastructure, their laws and punishments, etc.”

  I sat in silence, my mind slowly turning over what he'd said. I wished like hell I wasn't still feeling the effects of the drug Kaylee had shot into me.

  “What he's saying,” Mom cut in, “is that your dad’s family has been involved in the supernatural world for a long time, and that when Dad got out of law, he still kept a foot in that camp by becoming a silent partner in the law firm.”

  “So why the secrecy? Why couldn't Blake have just told me this? He said you were friends, that you went way back, but he refused to tell me anything else.”

  “Because we have a code of conduct just like everyone else and he couldn't tell you what you wanted to know. It wasn't his secret to tell.”

  We heard movement outside and Mom said in a rush, “Harper, I want you to try to use your power to push the toxins out of your body. I know you feel like crap right now and it's impeding your magic, but you are our only shot to get out of this alive.”

  “Why?” Dad asked. “What's Kaylee going to do?”

  “She's going to sacrifice us,” Mom told him. “She's already killed two people to reach this goal and now that I know what she wants, it makes perfect sense. She'd already targeted us as her final sacrifice—two hearts in love. But she needed to wait until the night of the blood moon to kill us.”

  “Only we would not be around.” Dad nodded, the penny dropping. “We were going home.”

  “Exactly. She couldn't afford to let us go. I don't think there are many residents in Arrowstrand who would qualify as truly being in love.”

  I snorted. “Got that right. Did you know Colin has a second home complete with a younger woman in Darana?”

  “Doesn't surprise me,” Mom said. “I got a vibe from him from day one.”

  A car door slammed outside. “Enough chitchat,” Mom whispered. “Harper, draw on your magic. Close your eyes and focus. She'll think your sleeping and won't suspect.”

  My mind was a blank. “Then what?” I whispered back. “How do I free us? How do I stop her?”

  “A protection spell first. Then break these cable ties. Your dad and I will take care of her if you can get us that far. Do you think you can do that?”

  “I'll try.” Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my magic, but it was sluggish to respond, slow and disobedient. It felt as crappy as I did.

  “Look what I found skulking around outside,” Kaylee crowed.

  My eyes popped open when I recognized the outraged yowl of Archie. No! She couldn't have my cat, could she? I turned my head to see her holding Archie by the scruff of his neck, avoiding the claws he swiped at her. Oh my God, she was going to kill my cat, and I was powerless to stop her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Archie!” I cried, tears welling in my eyes. He howled, long and loud. Kaylee jerked her arm, and he dangled there in the air, his legs kicking but not connecting. His golden eyes were black, his ears flat against his head. She crossed to the bench and picked up the dagger and I couldn't have it.

  I couldn't let her gut my cat. My sluggish magic awoke, sensing the danger of my familiar. It rose within me, ricocheting through my body, burning through my veins. Narrowing my eyes, I focused on Kaylee, on the dagger in her hand. I made the dagger burn hot. It startled Kaylee, and she dropped it, crying out when it slipped through the gaps in the floorboards to fall to the earth below.

  “Damn it!” she yelled, tossing Archie aside. He flew through the air, twisting as he did, to land on his feet, hackles raised. “I'll deal with you later,” she spat at him, rushing back out the door, appearing beneath us minutes later.

  “Archie,” I whispered. “Come here. I need us all to be close if I’m to protect us all.”

  He blinked, then slowly slinked over to sit under my chair, bumping the back of my calf with his head. Having him near helped flush the toxins of the drug from my system even faster. I could only assume my cat had hitched a ride in the car Kaylee had used to bring me out here. Smart cat. I hoped that Bandit noticed Archie was gone and raised the alarm.

  Closing my eyes once more, I concentrated on allowing my magic to increase, for my power to build on itself until I felt I would burst at the seams. I held it for as long as I could, then cast it, like a giant bubble, out and over Mom, Dad, me and Archie. Now I just needed it to hold while I worked on getting our bindings loose. It would be tricky to hold the protection spell while simultaneously working on another. From my peripheral vision I saw Kaylee under the shearing shed swipe up the dagger and then move out of sight. On her way back.

  “Come on, hurry up.” I heard her voice from behind, heard the door sliding open and then closed again. Who was she talking to? Did she have an accomplice?

  “Well, if you didn't waste time messing about with that damn cat we could be done already,” Colin grumbled, coming into my line of sight. He was carrying a red cooler with chains stacked on the lid. My eyes widened at the realization they were working together, but I couldn't let myself get distracted. The protection spell was holding steady—I just needed to get our hands free. I focused on Dad first; he was physically the strongest.

  “Put the Esky there. It'll make a good altar.” She pointed and Colin set the cooler down directly in front of us. Picking up the chains, he eyed the beams above our heads, then with a grunt, tossed one end of the chain up toward the ceiling. It flew over the beam and he caught the other side as it swung by. “Still got it.” He smiled to himself. Kaylee lifted two plastic containers from the cooler and placed them on the bench, then she covered the cooler with a black cloth, placed the dagger, the containers and a small drawstring pouch on top.

  “Which one first?” Colin asked, his face gleeful.

  “The mom.” Kaylee pointed. “The men mourn the women harder. His heart will be full of love when he dies.”

  “His heart will be full of rage,” Mom snapped, “and that'll ruin your spell, stupid girl.”

  “Hey!” Colin straightened and took a threatening step forward. “Don't you be calling my girl stupid! She's brilliant.”

  “Hardly,” Mom scoffed. Good. She was keeping the attention on her, away from Dad, where I was valiantly trying to loosen the zip ties around his wrists. From the corner of my eye, I saw him flex his fingers into a fist and then relax. Was it working? Were they loosening? I didn't have much time. Once they realized they couldn't touch us through the protection spell I'd have to redirect my power back to reinforcing the sp
ell and we'd be at a catch twenty-two. I couldn't divert my magic to loosen our bonds, and with our hands tied we couldn't defeat them.

  “We'll chain them both up at the same time,” Kaylee told her dad. “I'll get the mom, you get the dad.” I noticed how Kaylee didn't refer to mom and dad by their names, as if she were distancing herself from the fact they were people and she was about to murder them. I wondered if growing up on a sheep station where animals were routinely slaughtered had damaged Kaylee's psyche, for I couldn't help but notice the dark-stained wood over a particular spot in the shearing shed. Sheep had died here. She fully intended for us to die here too.

  Well, not today, not if I had anything to do with it.

  Both Kaylee and her dad stepped forward, ran into the power of my protection spell and staggered back, confused.

  “Hey!” Colin protested, stepping forward again only to be forced back. As predicted, I felt the dip in my magic at his attack on the perimeter and I closed my eyes, channeling more energy into the shield, while all the while trying desperately to loosen the zip ties.

  Then it happened. Dad was free, the ties from his hands and ankles fell to the floor and he lunged at Colin with a roar, the two of them toppling to the ground. Taking advantage of the chaos and confusion I let the protection spell drop, just long enough to get Mom and me free, then flinging my arm toward Kaylee, I hit her with a bolt of magic, sending her scooting backwards and pinned to the wall.

  “You all right, Dad?” I asked, feet braced as I kept one arm raised toward Kaylee and the other, pointed toward Dad and Colin where they wrestled on the floor.

  “Do it,” Dad grunted, rolling out of the way. I hit Colin with a bolt and seconds later he was pinned to the wall beside his daughter.

  “Oh my God!” Kaylee cried in delight. “She's got magic! We should have killed her first and drained it. The Goddess would surely love such a sacrifice.”