Forgotten Witch : A Lia Miller Series

by Sara Stone

  I grabbed his hand but avoided all eye contact. Hattie walked next to me with her arm linked through mine like I was going to run away at any moment. She kept trying to apologize, but I wouldn’t even let her get it out before telling her not to worry about it.

  I plopped myself onto the couch and fiddled with my amulet. I couldn’t look Judson in the eye, and everyone seemed to be intent on staring at me. Rose put the jar of pouches onto the coffee table.

  “Lia was smart enough to ask for help. You three had been cursed.” She just jumped right into it. No pussyfooting around on this one.

  They all stared at the jar like it would hop up any moment and grab them. The pouches looked unassuming, but each one of us had dealt with the effects of them. No one spoke for a long time as we took in what had happened over the past couple of days. I didn’t want any credit. It was Aldon who brought this to my attention. If he had not come over, I would have just been basking in my misery of everything.

  “How did you figure this out?” Judson asked softly. He didn’t look away from the jar. So it seemed I wasn’t the only one affected by our little kiss, now that I even capable of being affected.

  “She let Aldon Goroff into her house,” Ronan grumbled from his seat next to Hattie. He was able to pry her off me. He sat holding her hand, stroking it occasionally. They looked good together.

  Judson didn’t even say anything. He just stood there like he couldn’t process what Ronan had just said. I couldn’t see the big deal of it. Here I was, still feeling physically exhausted from having my soul temporarily extracted, and they wanted to get on me about who I let into my house. I wasn’t having it.

  “Ugh. If I hadn’t let Aldon over, you all would be dead!” I didn’t yell it, but I wasn’t quiet about it either. He had essentially saved them all by showing me what he had found.

  They all just stared at me for a moment.

  “Do you realize what could have happened?” Judson asked through gritted teeth.

  “He was having his own issues and yet he came, in the sun no less,” I said, still not looking directly at him. I couldn’t let my embarrassment sidetrack me.

  “That’s even worse!” he said, throwing his arms down in a huff. “He could have easily killed you!”

  “Could’ve is the key word in that sentence. He helped me! He didn’t act out of place. He had already been to my house before, when Gram was alive!”

  “Before your wards had been remade, Lia,” Ulric said quietly.

  “What does that have to do with it?” I asked, slightly thankful that this was no longer a one-on-one conversation with Judson.

  “He can come and go now. You let him in. That’s how vampires work,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Like in movies, really? How am I supposed to know what is fact or fiction anymore? Better yet, can you explain how you all would be sitting here if I hadn’t?” I asked. I didn’t want to keep throwing that around, but I was starting to feel personally attacked for my lack of knowledge and, not to mention, I had just put my soul on the line for all of them.

  Ulric hung his head for a moment. I thought I had insulted him, but then he spoke up.

  “You’re right. Whether we like it or not, Lia saved us by letting him in. He obviously didn’t hurt her, so we can’t go off what we think could have happened,” he said looking around at everyone.

  “Anyway, where do we go from here?” I asked, leaning back, and letting my head rest against the seat. My body was tired. I needed a good pick-me-up, or a stiff drink.

  “We can try to do a search spell on the pouches. They could lead up to the witch,” Rose added.

  I was looking down at the carpet. I couldn’t watch their reactions. I had no answers as to why this was happening or how to keep them safe. I saved my friends, but how long would I have them if this continued?

  No one wanted to think about the possibility of it getting worse. If they had gotten to us once, what stopped them from trying again? We needed to find the one responsible. I knew that I wasn’t prepared for it. There was no way to get prepared. I barely knew what I was doing, even when someone was explaining it to me.

  Judson motioned me out to Rose’s front porch. He stood there off to the side not saying anything at first. His cheeks turned red when he looked up and saw me staring at him. He shuffled his feet a bit before he stepped up to me. I leaned on the banister waiting for him to speak.

  “Lia...I... I want to apologize for...” He stammered over his words before I cut him off.

  “It wasn’t you saying those things. It was the curse,” I said, waving it away, as if it hadn’t hurt me to hear him say those things. He grabbed my shoulders lightly and leaned in to look me in the eye.

  “No, Lia. I am sorry any of those things crossed my lips,” he said, drawing my attention from his deep stare to his mouth. I gulped down the rushing anxiety of our closeness along with a wave of relief. It had been so empty not having my soul and feeling such things.

  I went to pull away, but he held me where I was. We were so close I could feel his breath tickle my face.

  “Now that I’ve apologized, assuming you have accepted it, I owe you something.”

  “What could you owe me?”

  Before anything snarky could leave my mouth, he kissed me. I leaned into him, breathing in his spicy scent. He slowly walked me backwards until I was against the handrail. He picked me up without breaking us apart. Growling into my mouth as I pushed my fingers into his hair, he positioned himself in between my legs, causing heat to rush through me. His tongue teased against mine, exploring my mouth as I did his. A thought popped into my head, and I slowly pushed against his chest until he reluctantly pulled away.

  “I…I can’t,” I said breathlessly. I shook my head to clear the lust-filled fog his kiss had brought on.

  “What? I know you just felt that as much as I did.” He ran a hand through his hair as he backed away at my words. The confusion was written on his face. I wanted to be mad, but I was more hurt that he even took it this far.

  “Come on Judson, don’t act like you think this is a good idea.”

  “Is this because of that Brad guy?” he scoffed.

  “No, I can’t even believe you’re going to make me say it. You’re taken, and Ronan had to be the one to tell me.” I felt the hot sting of tears, so I quickly pushed past him before he could see them.

  I walked into the living room to see Ulric and Rose readying a spell. Their sympathy smacking me as I realized everyone had witnessed the kiss through her front window. I hung my head to hide the embarrassment as I mumbled about wanting to help. She walked us through the steps of casting a location spell on the cursed pouches. It didn’t require much, so that was a relief. Who knew a piece of your essence pulled out could be so exhausting? Ulric walked over and placed a warming hand on me. Taking a breath, I felt the healing wash over me.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I followed Rose around her kitchen like a lost puppy until she shooed me away. We needed a few things to put in the jar with the cursed stones before we could set a circle. I was buzzing with tension. My lips felt like they would forever hold what his kiss felt like, sending the replay of it to my brain over and over. While that thought consumed me, I couldn’t help the slow build of adrenaline with being this close to finding who was behind all of it.

  “Lia, can I talk to you?” Judson stood off to the side of the kitchen. He kept clenching his fists. That alone told me I didn’t want to hear it. At least not while he was upset about it.

  I busied myself with a random book to feign helping Rose. She lifted an eyebrow at me, but said nothing until he walked off grumbling about needing to talk to Ronan.

  “You should cut that boy some slack,” Rose said, with her back turned to me. She didn’t see the face of surprise I made. I didn’t think she would be one to give relationship advice, but she had known him longer than I did.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, walking up and leaning on the co
unter, watching her work. She looked up at me as she wiped her hands off on a kitchen towel. It reminded me of Gram, who wore aprons and often used them to dry her hands.

  “It’s not my story to tell, but I know it would be foolish not to give him a chance to explain. What you think is going on and what’s really going on are two different things.” She gave me a pointed look before leading me out of the kitchen.

  “Let’s get to work.” We all turned to follow her outside to her circle.

  Ulric set a map into the circle while Ronan set the jar of cursed stones next to it. Hattie and I took our places opposite of Rose, but spaced apart enough to place Ulric between us. Rose then took a pendant from her pocket. The chain looked like something that would hang from an old pocket watch, while the pendant end was a carved crystal that came to a point. Its pinkish hue gave away that it was rose quartz. I wasn’t sure if that type of gemstone was significant to Rose, or to the spell. Its glossy finish stood out against the brassy chain.

  “I am going to invoke a location spell. Lia, you’re only going to act as filler for our circle. Don’t push for your spark.” That was a relief. I took a deep breath of the grassy scent around us and let it calm me. This was simple compared to what I had just done, and I didn’t have to worry about anything, as I wasn’t an actual part of the spell. I looked around and noticed Judson and Ronan were standing just inside the glass door of the house. Judson seemed to be yelling at Ronan. Ronan was standing there staring back, not saying anything. Whatever was going on, it had to be about Ronan’s comment to me. I wanted to march over and demand an explanation, but Rose asked me to pay attention.

  Rose awoke the circle and blessed it with a prayer to Hekate, bringing chills to my arms, causing the hairs to rise. I still couldn’t believe that I had actually seen in person the goddess to whom we were praying. How did a forgotten witch with no history or knowledge of magic get that blessing? I sighed, questions for another time. She started to chant about locating the black magic witch. One by one we started to chant with her. Instead of reaching for my spark, I willed myself to be a conduit of my friend’s magic, helping enhance the spell without pulling my own magic into the slurry. I felt their power trickle over me as it built up in the circle, the stones rattling in the jar. I started to worry they would vibrate so hard they would end up crushing through the glass. Rose’s pendulum started spinning in circle, sending the chain whipping around after it.

  When the chanting stopped, so did the spinning and the rattling. The pendulum chain slowly rose in the air like someone was lifting it up until the point barely grazed the paper; it moved to a spot on the map before falling to the paper. The address it was pointing to was mine. I looked up to Rose, my eyebrows touching my hairline with my shock. Why would it be pointing to my house?

  “There has to be a mistake.” Ulric shook his head as Hattie reached out to grab my hand.

  “Something went wrong. Let’s begin anew.” She nodded as if trying to tell herself that’s what we should do. I wanted to ask how this result was even possible, but no one seemed to want to answer questions before starting over.

  She went through the same steps again. Praying to Hekate after setting the circle and proceeding with the spell. I wasn’t sure why this spell was a bit different than the one we had done when we were looking for Hattie, but it was. This time the pendulum circled an empty spot on the map before slashing over to my address again.

  “Why does it keep doing that?” I asked, my voice sounding small.

  “Could it be because the first stone was given to her here?” Ulric was asking Rose. No one was paying attention to my question. At the two failed attempts, Judson and Ronan came out to see what was going on.

  Rose turned to consult the men, both looking at me, shocked when she explained what had transpired. A tiny part of me was scared they would think I had something to do with it. I was quickly reassured otherwise.

  “They will get to the bottom of this, Lia,” Ulric said, giving me a reassuring pat on the back before getting back into place for another spell.

  “We will try this one more time, but this time, Lia, I need you to help. I know that you are still not fully healed, but we don’t have a choice.” I felt the sag in my shoulders. Would I see the dark beings again? I hadn’t told Rose about them yet. Would she believe me? I wasn’t even sure I believed me.

  She started the circle again as I centered myself, calling my magic. I felt the tug and static rise as I joined hands with Ulric and Hattie. Their magic mingling with mine made the static crackle along our hands before spreading between us until it reached Rose.

  She seemed to amplify the magic as it burst from her, lighting up the circle. The stones in the jar were buzzing as the map fluttered with a breeze before she started chanting. The magic reacted to her words, glowing with a golden hue, lifting the chain straight from the pendulum. The stone circled around until it seemed pulled between the two spots it was drawn to earlier. This time it ultimately avoided my house, went to the empty spot, and halted with an eerie stillness. With a pop, the magic released into the night and the spell was over. Again.

  “What would be out there in the middle of nowhere?” Hattie asked, picking up the map and taking it over to Ronan. He took out his phone, looking up the area on a map app. I hoped he could answer what would be there. I hoped that if we knew, we would understand why it was pointing us out there. While they hunched over to read more into it, I helped Rose clean up. Occasionally, I caught her mumbling out loud about the spell. I tried to ignore the dread growing in my belly, the fear that something had changed. Ulric came over and laid his hand on my arm suddenly, making me jump. He was sending me some energy, but it wasn’t enough. The combination of the day’s spells had my body feeling like I couldn’t wait to get home and lie down. I was overwhelmed by too many emotions brought about by all the things I had seen and undergone, along with the added stress of simultaneously experiencing what everyone else was feeling. I hugged Hattie and halfheartedly waved at everyone before walking out. I didn’t wait for Judson to try to catch up or see if Rose needed anything else. I could just feel everything within me slowing down. I needed a long rest. My mind and body felt pushed to limits I didn’t know they had.

  Halfway home my phone rang, making me jump. I blindly searched the passenger seat for it, knocking my purse down in the process. I caught it on the last ring.

  “Hello?” I had just left Rose’s in a hurry. I hoped that it wasn’t Judson wanting to talk about the kiss. I couldn’t quite take hearing from him that it had been tainted—by him already being in a relationship.

  “Hi Beautiful, how are you?” Brad cooed through the phone. Instead of his voice making me feel better, it was grating on my last nerve.

  “Let me call you later.” I went to click the button, thinking he would take my hint and leave it be.

  “What’s the rush? Did you have a bad day?” He was sounded like he was patronizing me.

  “Yeah, an awfully long day. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Before I could hang up on him, he kept talking.

  “How are your friends feeling?” He sounded sincere, but his question had my heart sputtering in my chest as I wondered how he could have known anything was wrong with them.

  “What did you just say?” I asked. My voice came out even, but I was feeling anything but calm.

  “No need for me to repeat myself. I’ll see you when you get here.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Before I could register what he said, the line had gone dead. He was at my house. I sped up—I couldn’t go into this blindly, but if I didn’t show up, he might guess that I would go to Rose. I couldn’t do that to them. As my car crept into my driveway, I sent a last text off to Judson and Ulric. It held only one word.

  I was being paranoid and deleted the messages, turning off my phone before throwing it to the floor of my car with everything else. I wondered what I was walking into.

  My strides to the house were short and by the time
my hand turned the doorknob it was shaking. I walked in and saw that everything was in its place. It looked exactly as I had left it. My stomach felt like it held every nerve in my body, all of them ready to spring at the slightest movement. I tried hard to control my shaky breathing, but failed as I clicked the door shut behind me, not taking my eyes off the room. I feared if I looked away, he would pop up behind me like in a horror movie, except I was living it.

  “There you are,” he said, his voice echoing down the stairs. He stood at the top, dressed to the nines. His suit looked impeccable and it made me even more upset. Who turned up to a fight looking like that?

  “I trusted you!” I yelled, fighting back the tears that were stinging my eyes. It made me even angrier that he would get to see me cry.

  "You really shouldn't be so trusting," he sneered as he sauntered slowly down the stairs, "The world is not all sunshine and rainbows, Lia. Shadows lurk in the dark and the things that go bump in the night…they work for me."

  “You acted like you cared about me! Why would you do this?” I asked, wanting to scream and yell at him. The betrayal was just too raw. It formed a ball in my throat as I fought back the tears.

  “I’m not the puny human you believe me to be. Your need to be wanted was just too sweet to resist. I simply used it to my advantage.” He shrugged slightly.

  “What did you get out of this? I don’t understand!” I held my hands between us, feeling my power itching to be released, as it grew with my anger. It sparked along my fingertips. It took every ounce of self-control not to release it. I wanted to hear his motive. I needed to know why.

  “You. What better way to bring hell to its knees than by kidnapping a white witch and sucking her power away? You have been on hell’s radar for a long time. It’s really a shame you’ll never know your full potential. Your grandmother tried to do everything she could to hide you. Even faced with her own mortality, she didn’t give you up,” he tilted his head to the side, waiting for all the pieces to click into place, putting on a fake pout.