The Queen of Witches

by Brandi Elledge

  Wes winked. “You forgot about vampires, werewolves, fairies, and—”

  “Just stop.” I held up a hand. “First things first. Let’s make a plan for this under lord.”

  Wes stood up. “I need to grab something. I’ll be right back.”

  “We need a containment circle. It will enable us to call him and keep him right where we want him until he lifts the curse. He won’t lift the curse until he has the key,” Jamison explained.

  “So, someone will have to be in the circle with him to snag the key back. He won’t expect much from me, so I’m the one who should be in the circle.”

  “No,” Jamison said.

  I turned away from the fireplace. “Excuse me?”

  “I said no. That’s dangerous. You would be nothing more than bait. I can’t just sit back and let you go in that circle alone.”

  “Jamison, Wes already said that I wasn’t going to die.”

  “There are some things worse than death, Charlie,” Jamison said.

  Wes strolled into the living room. “There are underground passages that allow non-demons to go below. If the demon takes you to the Underworld, we will get to you, but who knows what he’ll do to you before we find you,” Wes said. “Demons are sadistic creatures and the shadows… They’re enough to break an immortal, much less a human, even if you are a powerful witch.”

  “Well, then don’t let him take me, boys.”

  Wes said, “There’s something I want to show you before we start. I think it’ll help you.” He handed me an old book fraying around the edges. It smelled dusty, and the fabric had unidentifiable stains on it. “Here, take it. I would have given it to you a lot sooner, but you weren’t ready.”

  “What is this old thing?”

  “I was up in the attic where all my canvases are, and as I was moving some empty boxes around, I found this old book laying on top of a memento box—basically, our christening blankets and some other things that only a mother would treasure. This book—”

  “Was Mom’s?” I knew that it was. I could feel an immediate attachment to the old, dusty thing.

  “Yeah. Before we call this demon, I wanted you to have it.” My eyes rounded. “No, not because I think you’re going to die, and I want you to have something special before you kick the bucket, but I just thought you would want to know more. More about her. More about you.”

  Jamison nodded at Wes. “That was kind of you.”

  I curled up on the couch with the book in my lap. “Aww, a bromance in the making. Love it. Now, both of you go somewhere else while I skim through this.”

  Jamison nodded. “I'll get your brother to help me with the circle, and we’ll call you when we’re ready.”

  I was already opening my mother’s book, so I ignored them both as they headed towards the kitchen. As my hands touched the pages, my gut tightened. Tears welled in my eyes, and I could feel power. My mother’s power. It was as if my fingers were touching a piece of her. As the edges of the book started to ice, I made myself take some deep, calming breaths. I flipped the pages until I got to page one hundred thirty-nine. That page called to me. After a short paragraph explaining that every powerful witch needed a familiar, it went on like a recipe. It even had the degree of difficulty it would take to make the spell.

  It seemed like a simple spell, really. I needed to put the book down and focus on the task at hand. We had so much to prepare for, but my intuition was telling me I needed this spell, and I needed it now. Looking at the directions, it called for a personal item from me and a lock of my hair. I took off the ruby ring my brother had given me on my seventeenth birthday and placed it on the coffee table. After locating a pair of scissors on an old bookshelf, I cut a small lock of my hair from the underneath. I grabbed a bowl and then set both items in it and placed the bowl on the coffee table. As I gathered the book back into my arms, I got chill bumps. This was crazy. I should be in the kitchen with the boys, asking them how they planned on lifting my curse and scoring the key. But no, I was trying to cast my first spell for a cat. At least, I guessed it would be a cat. Weren’t all witch’s familiars a cat? I began to read. There were a couple of seconds of an inner war with myself… Did I perform the spell knowing I would be heavily tied to it? A spell that I had no clue how it would turn out? I closed the book with frustration and immediately felt saddened. I needed that familiar! Oh, what the hell. I grabbed the book again, flipping back to the page I was looking for.

  My lips started moving as I chanted the words, and an intense feeling I could only describe as intoxicating started to bubble up within me, and as quickly as that seeded power came, it swiftly exited. Now, I was to light the lock of hair on fire. With a wave of my hand—I was getting so good at that—I set my hair on fire. Not wanting to ruin my ring, I contained the fire just to my lock of hair. After the thickness in the air dissipated, I looked around the room for my familiar. There was nothing. Hmm, maybe I short-circuited or got the spell wrong?

  Minutes went by and nothing. Well, so much for that. Disappointment flooded me. I would try again after we summoned the demon. I went to stand when all of a sudden, a two-foot leprechaun jumped on my lap, as in a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow freakin’ leprechaun. Before I could gather my wits and scream, he sprinkled some dust, sealing my lips together.

  “Unh, unh, unh. I’m not here to hurt you, so no bloody screaming. It hurts my delicate ears. Agree?”

  I nodded, and he waved his arm, freeing my lips. I studied the man, or thing, sitting on my lap. He was cute in a uniquely striking way with his wavy, whitish-blond locks that touched his shoulders and sparkling gray eyes. He was eerie, but his chubby little cheeks softened the creep factor.

  After finally finding my voice, I asked, “Are you a… a leprechaun?”

  His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Do I sound like I come from Ireland, girly? And don’t let my short stature throw you for a loop. This is the image I choose to project. It’s the one I’m most comfortable with. Leprechaun, my butt.”

  This was what happened when exhaustion finally took over: I started hallucinating. “I am… I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m just so new to all of this, and it was my best guess. Honest to goodness, I apologize for upsetting you.”

  If I thought he was upset a second ago, I was about to be in for a real treat. His whole body twitched with anger, and his face turned the color of a beet. Hallucination or not, this midget scared the bejeebies out of me. I started eyeing the distance to the door. Could I somehow alert the boys before this creature silenced me again?

  “Don’t even think about it, witch. Your powers are immense, but it’s apparent that you don’t know squat about who you are or what you’re capable of, so until then, I trump you. Upset me? First, you call me one of those lying, cheating scoundrels who would stab their own mother in the back if the pay was good enough, then you apologize for upsetting me. What am I, a twelve-year-old girl?” He hopped off my lap and began to pace in front of me with his short little legs. “Just think of me as your more than awesome familiar. I’ve been created to guard you, guide you, and to help you in any way I can. Obviously, we’ll need to start training you right away on how to use your abilities.” He stroked his baby face. “The spell bringing me here was a complicated one, and yet you did it within mere minutes. With that kind of power, you could accidentally blow up the whole South if you didn’t know how to harness it properly.”

  “Oh, well, I definitely wouldn’t want to do that.”

  “Well, of course not.” He stopped pacing to give me a befuddled look. “I can tell some big magic is happening in the next room. You planning on summoning a demon, girly?”

  “It’s kind of a long story—”

  “Well, we don’t really have time for long stories, do we?” He jumped up on my lap again. If he had issues with crossing personal boundaries, he wasn’t showing it. “Sorry, girly. It’s a tad uncomfortable when your familiar reads your mind for t
he first time.”

  Before I could say anything, his thick fingers were cupping my face, and I sucked in a breath as my head started to ache. Just when I didn’t think I could take any more, he pulled back.

  “Just as I feared. We’re in deep muck, and you’re as clueless as a newborn babe.”

  Starting to take offense with this small Keebler elf, I said, “Whoa, I’m not completely clueless. I can call fire, wind, fog, and ice, and if you really are here to help me, how about you pony up and show me a way I can get un-cursed and maintain possession of the key, so I can help save the world, instead of telling me how inadequate I am?”

  “You’re right. Apologies. The things you listed as your attributes could be considered awesome if you weren’t the queen of the freaking witches! Bugger it all.” He took a couple of deep breaths. “Girly, you’ve got so much more up your sleeve. Would you like to see what your ancestors were capable of?”

  I looked towards the kitchen. Why hadn’t Jamison or Wes come in yet?

  “Oh, you don’t know what you’ve done do you?”

  “Um…”

  His chubby hands patted my cheeks. “You can freeze things. Now that you’ve got your amazingly awesome familiar, you’ve unlocked more power.” At my confused expression, he waved a hand. “You literally froze time.”

  “What?” I shouted. Pushing him off my lap, I ran to the kitchen. Jamison was frozen in place, even the salt he was using to make a circle stilled in the air. My brother’s eyes were moving, but his feet were planted.

  The little man came up beside me. “Well, that bloke will be unfrozen soon. No one can really freeze death.”

  What had I done? This was bad. “How do I undo this?”

  “Simple. You will them to unfreeze.” I concentrated but nothing happened. “Yeah, okay, how about you think of them moving once again?”

  I did as he asked. Jamison and Wes immediately moved, and both looked at me.

  “What just happened,” Jamison asked, “and who the hell are you?”

  The small man’s bushy, pale eyebrows drew together. “Hello, rudeness. I’m Samuel. My friends call me Sammy. I, unlike you, need no introductions, considering I operate at a higher level of thinking.” He pointed at Wes, then Jamison. “Brother, and you, golden boy, are her—”

  Jamison all but growled, “Familiar, is it? Do you have a death wish?”

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked.

  “Yeah, what’s he talking about?” Wes said with enough menace in his voice to make me swallow hard.

  Samuel’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Oops. Dear me. What have I done? Unfortunately, we don’t have time for Days of Our Sucky Lives; our girl here only has hours to live. I’m sure you both can smell the poison running through her now. May I suggest a plan? One that will cure the curse, help you to obtain the key, and give you the blade to have in your possession, so this doesn’t happen again?”

  I wanted to know why Jamison looked like he was about to hurt my new familiar, and why my brother was glaring at Jamison. But the need to hear Sammy’s plan outweighed any drama. I would figure it all out as soon as I dealt with this demon.

  As Sammy explained, I felt my mood lightening. This was a plan I could roll with. Sammy finally turned to me with a question in his eyes, and my only answer was a smile. The most powerful demon was coming here to my brother’s house, and I was more afraid for him than me. He might hold the key momentarily, but in the end, we would have ownership of it. We were definitely going to win this war.

  Chapter Twenty

  After Sammy explained to the three of us what I was truly capable of, we all had more confidence in summoning the demon. An intricate symbol covered the kitchen floor. Candles were lit all around. Tandi, unfortunately, woke up. I was hoping we could be rid of the demon and secure the key while she slept, but fate had decided otherwise. My friend was yawning as she entered the kitchen still looking exhausted, despite the long nap she took. Squeezing her hand, I explained to her about the demon that was about to give us a house call and how I had acquired a familiar.

  Sammy came up behind Tandi and lightly pinched her on the bottom. She yelped and swatted him upside his head. There she stood, nostrils flaring, taking in every tiny inch of Sammy before she turned to me. “One of two things are going to happen in my future, and no, I didn’t have to talk to a soothsayer to find out. I’m either going to need intensive therapy, or I’m turning to drugs, and I mean like hardcore drugs because I don’t do anything half-ass.”

  Totally understanding her feelings, I nodded sympathetically. “So Sammy, this is my best friend, Tandi, and if you value your man parts, you should probably keep your hands to yourself from here on out. Tandi, this is Sammy, my familiar.”

  One blonde eyebrow arched. “So, he’s like your personal assistant? Awesome, go get me some sweet tea, little man.”

  I prepared myself for the indignation Sammy was inevitably going to rain down on Tandi, but instead, he said, “Sure thing, my beautiful queen.”

  Sammy handed Tandi her glass of tea, and she didn’t bother to thank him. She yawned loudly. Even rumpled from sleep, she still looked like a diva. She put a hand on a curvy hip. “I’m assuming as long as I’m outside of this circle, I’ll be good?”

  Jamison nodded. “Yes.”

  I rubbed my hands together with excitement. “Let’s do this.”

  Wes leaned up against a wall. “If I didn't know better, little sister, I would say you’re almost eager to summon François.”

  Jamison pulled me into him and rested his chin on top of my head. “Just don’t forget that he is a demon wielding a mighty blade.”

  “I know, I know. He’s big, bad, and scary. And if he takes me with him, he’ll probably do unthinkable things to me before you can rescue me. I understand.”

  Jamison shook his head. “If he’s able to take you to the Underworld with him, I swear to you that I will find you.”

  “That’s a big promise,” Wes said. “If he takes her to his kingdom, it will be like breaking into Fort Knox. You would have to kill thousands of demons just to reach her.”

  “Totally doable.” Jamison stared straight at me. “It’s a promise I aim to keep. Let’s get this over with.”

  Sammy made a noise between a snort and hiccup. “You might be the strongest of your kind, wolf, but she’s the strongest of her kind. She might just surprise you.”

  “Hey, nothing Charlie does surprises me anymore,” Tandi said. “Not even when I wake up to find her own version of a Smurf following her around.”

  Sammy wiggled his white eyebrows. “Baby, I could turn blue for you if you wanted me to. You could even call me Papa.”

  My familiar got all out of sorts when I called him a leprechaun, but Tandi can call him a Smurf, and he’s totally okay with that. Whatever.

  “Nice.” Tandi took a sip of tea. “He’s a perv. He’ll fit right in with our inner circle, and by that, I mean you and me.”

  Laughing, I hugged Tandi and patted Sammy on the head before stepping into the circle. Sniffles came from behind me. “Don’t cry, Tandi. I’ll make it out in one piece.”

  Tandi dried her eyes. “If you don’t, I’m killing your brother and Jamison. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.” She sobbed the last part.

  Wes snorted. “If you actually found a way to kill me, you would inherit my line of work, and that would definitely interfere with your shopping schedule.”

  “Okay, okay. Let’s begin,” I intervened before Tandi could give us a list of the people she would kill first if she was the Undertaker.

  After receiving a nod from Wes, I stepped into the middle of the circle. I never broke eye contact with Jamison while I listened to Wes summon the demon. Jamison looked like he wanted to prevent me from going through with this, but there was something else in his eyes too… pride. Gradually, the air pressure started to change, and the room temperature rose to a sweltering degree. It slowly got harder and harder to breathe.

/>   I heard the demon’s deep laughter before I saw him. This time around, François decided to forgo the appearance of the middle-aged man and came to us in full-blown demon form, horns and all. He took a moment to observe his surroundings before grabbing hold of my elbow, pulling me to him.

  The demon eyed the key in Wes’s hand. “I assume that’s my key?”

  Wes lightly tossed the key toward Jamison, who snagged it in midair.

  “Remove her curse, and I vow to you that I will throw you the key,” Jamison said.

  “I have heard stories of you, Prince, and I am beyond flabbergasted that you would so easily allow me to have the key.” The demon smiled. “So I will say this, no harm will come to her by my hand as long as I have the key.”

  “Touching. Remove the curse,” Wes snarled.

  François spoke in a foreign language before his blade turned burnt orange. Smoke started to rise from the blade. I knew what he intended a moment before he pressed the hot blade to my skin, but it still didn’t prepare me for the intense, searing pain. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. Finally, the blade cooled as he finished speaking.

  “There, I vow that she is curse-free. Now, toss me the key.”

  Jamison threw the key to the demon, who caught it one handed.

  The air pressure started to change again, and before our eyes, another demon appeared to the right of François.

  The smaller demon bowed his head before François. “Massster, you called?”

  François shoved me towards the other demon. “I made a vow, Prince, that I wouldn’t hurt your little dove if you gave me the key, but I made no promises of what my minions would do.”

  Tandi screamed at Wes to do something, but he was already running towards me, as if he could get to me before the demon disappeared with me into the Underworld. Big brother didn’t have faith or so it would seem. I glanced over to Jamison who stood stock still. He gave me a small nod.

  Sammy shouted, “Now or never, girl!”

  I took a deep breath and prayed I didn’t botch this plan. Our only plan. I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw the people I love frozen in place, including Wes, although his thumb was twitching. Both demons stood frozen in time, wearing sneers.