Would-Be Witch

by Kimberly Frost

  “She asked to speak to me?” Lennox asked.

  Bryn nodded. “I don’t want her here tonight.”

  “So you’ll leave her to the wolves?” Lennox said.

  Bryn’s eyes were hard as sapphires as he stared at Lennox. Bryn said something in a weird language, and Lennox looked away. I held Georgia’s limp hand. What had happened to my happy little town? Once upon a time, there were only four people with magic in town, my momma and aunt, and Bryn and Lennox. And they were all real quiet about the other world. No normal people in town ever had reason to suspect it existed. Now we had corpses rising from graves, werewolves in our bars, and vampires in our parks. Crime sprees and the occult in Duvall. This wasn’t going to look good in the visitor’s brochure.

  Chapter 18

  Bryn put Georgia Sue in the back of the Mercedes, and I climbed in next to her. It was the second time that night I’d had to cuddle someone I loved and hope they didn’t die. A person could go on and get an ulcer from so much stress, and I know from the one or two hangovers I’ve had in my life that I can’t even swallow Alka Seltzer.

  Bryn leaned into the open window. “If she comes around, don’t let her sit up. She’ll be better off lying down so the blood doesn’t have to travel against gravity.”

  “Nearly bled to death before?”

  “No, but I’ve been dehydrated a few times.”

  Lennox cleared his throat as he slid into the driver’s seat. “Shall we continue to have social hour? Or are you interested in saving your friend’s life?” he asked, looking at me in the rearview mirror.

  “We were waiting for you,” I said, making a face at him like I’d just started sucking on a lemon drop.

  “Bring Tamara back with you when you’ve gotten help for her friend,” Bryn said to Lennox as he stood and took a step back from the car.

  “It’s not up to him,” I called over the sound of the motor starting.

  If Bryn heard me, he didn’t let on. He walked back to the house as Lennox swung the car around and headed down the drive. I smoothed back Georgia Sue’s damp hair. She was still pale and sweaty.

  “So, Bryn said that you had an amulet stolen during the robbery at Georgia Sue’s house.”

  “Not an amulet. A locket.”

  “Valuable?”

  “To me it is.”

  He nodded, eyeing me in the mirror. “Was it yours or a family piece?”

  “Why are you interested?”

  “I’m good at location spells. If the locket has any magical properties, I might be able to help you locate it.”

  “Why would you do that?” I didn’t like to sound suspicious, but Lennox hadn’t exactly been a goodwill ambassador to me and my family in the past.

  Lennox coughed, and I could hear a slight wheeze. He took a couple of deep breaths and turned left on Sandstone Street toward the park.

  “Bryn mentioned that you helped him work a healing spell.”

  “Uh-huh? And you were thinking maybe I could let him steal some more energy from me to heal you?”

  “Would it really be considered theft if you gave him permission?” he asked, tone light as a soufflé.

  I didn’t answer. I was still kind of sore about that stolen power incident.

  “But if the locket isn’t important enough for you to engage in that sort of bargain, it’s understandable.”

  I pursed my lips, annoyed. Lennox was a Lyons, so also on the list, and spoiled milk’s got a sweeter disposition than he does, so I wasn’t at all tempted to make a deal with this particular devil.

  “I have a good idea who was behind the robbery, and I’m going to handle it myself.”

  “Solved the crime, have you? Let’s hear it.”

  It was none of his beeswax. Lennox hadn’t had anything stolen since he hadn’t been at the party, so he didn’t have a stake in seeing the case solved. And I might still be negotiating with Johnny. I didn’t want to blab it around town that he was guilty.

  “Here’s the park,” I said.

  “So it is. If your theory proves wrong, my offer stands.”

  Sure, I’ll take you up on that when the devil invests in long underwear . “Well, I’ll sure keep that in mind, if things don’t work out.”

  Lennox and I got out of the car and worked together to get Georgia out without jostling her too much. We laid her down on the top of a picnic table.

  “You wait with her while I call emergency services and look around. We’ll leave when we hear the sirens.”

  “Leave? I’m not going anywhere except on an ambulance ride with Georgia Sue. Now hurry up, and go call.”

  “We’ll discuss this in a moment,” he said, walking briskly across the street. I sat in the dark, listening to Georgia Sue breathe quick, shallow breaths. I looked around at the trees. Boy, they looked sinister with only one streetlight casting shadows off them.

  I fished Earl’s gun out of my purse and let it rest in my right hand. With my left hand, I stroked Georgia’s hair, which was stiff with gel and pointing at crazy angles.

  “We’re going to be all right. With all the hairspray you wear, you wouldn’t taste good to any dumb werewolves. Nope, you’re going to be just fine sitting here with me.” I untangled her curls to give myself something to do besides shaking. “What they ought to be doing is shopping for some breath mints. Ugh. You would not believe how those muzzles stank.”

  A few minutes later, Lennox strolled back up.

  “You called?”

  He nodded.

  “And did you find your friend?”

  He sighed and shook his head. “Not a friend. A blood-and-bones witch’s apprentice.”

  “What’s a blood-and-bones witch?”

  “One who specializes in magic of the flesh, life-and-death magic, usually healing spells. It’s an exceptionally rare talent. I spent a fortune in money and promised power to get one here, but it looks like the ongoing wolf attacks have scared him off.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “So am I. Now, why don’t you come and sit with me in the car while we wait for the ambulance to pick Georgia up?”

  “Not going to happen. I go where she goes.”

  “Are you aware that ninety-eight percent of werewolves drive trucks and SUVs? It wouldn’t take many of them to surround and stop one ambulance.”

  My heart kicked up a fuss in my chest, but I stuck my chin out stubbornly. “There’s something you might have heard about,” I said with false sweetness. “It’s called loyalty. My friend is not going to die, but if she was going to die, she wouldn’t be doing it alone on a beat-up picnic table. Wherever she’s going, I’m going with her. So you can just run along because my ride will be here in a minute.”

  “Remember the Alamo,” he murmured.

  “Got that right.”

  “Good night then. I sincerely hope you don’t get ripped to pieces, because I look forward to seeing how my son plans to handle you in the future.”

  I frowned. “Your son’s not going to be handling anything.”

  “I’ll pass that along to him. Good night.” He walked away, and I was left sitting in the dark, hoping I could live up to all my tough talk.

  The ambulance siren was still so faint I could barely hear it when Kenny’s black Trans Am screeched to a halt at the edge of the park.

  Kenny’s door jerked open, and he scrambled out and ran across the park, stumbling once and getting a huge grass stain on his jeans.

  “What happened?” he stammered, dropping to his knees on the bench of the picnic table and gathering Georgia in his arms.

  “I don’t know. I found her,” I mumbled.

  Kenny’s face was so full of anguish that the bubble of shock and disbelief I’d been in popped like it’d been made of soap. My eyes welled up, and tears spilled down my face again.

  He rocked her in his arms. “Wake up now, Georgia. C’mon.”

  I put my head in my hands and sobbed.

  “What happened? She said she was going to s
ee about your necklace. What the hell happened, Tammy Jo? What were you girls up to?”

  I gulped back another sob and garbled out, “My necklace?”

  He nodded, looking at me and then back down at her.

  “She didn’t call me. I don’t know what she was doing,” I said, rubbing the heel of my hand over my cheek.

  The ambulance pulled up, and the guys hopped out with an orange rolling stretcher. They rushed over to us and knelt down with their special equipment to check her vital signs.

  “Her heart’s racing, but she’s got a good pulse,” Marty, one of the EMTs, said. “Let’s package her up and take her to Dallas.”

  “Dallas?” I croaked.

  “Sure, you think Doc Padovny can handle this at the urgent care center?” Marty asked as they put Georgia on the stretcher.

  I shrugged. I hadn’t thought. She probably would be better off in a big city hospital, but would she survive the drive? Well, they were going in an ambulance, so it would be as fast as possible. Yeah, she would definitely make it, I told myself.

  “Okay,” I said, following them.

  “There’s no room for you in the ambulance, Tammy Jo, if Kenny comes.”

  “I’m coming,” Kenny said.

  “I’ll follow you,” I said.

  “No,” Kenny said, turning to me. “I need you to go back to the bar. I didn’t lock anything up. I just ran out of there.” He pressed his keys into my hand.

  “I’ll take care of it. Will you call me as soon as she wakes up?”

  He nodded, gave me a fierce hug, then climbed into the ambulance.

  I didn’t hesitate. I hopped into Kenny’s Trans Am and peeled away from the curb and drove to Jammers. I was on a mission, and God help anyone who tried to so much as steal a bowl of wings while Kenny and Georgia Sue were on their way to Dallas. I was loaded for werewolf, but that didn’t have to stop me from firing a couple of warning shots if people got rowdy.

  When I hurried into Jammers, I found that there was no mayhem at all. Zach had rolled up his shirtsleeves and was behind the bar. I was sure glad to see him looking okay, given the werewolf bite.

  “What happened?” he asked as soon as I got close enough. “Kenny said Georgia Sue had an accident, but the station didn’t get the call. I talked to dispatch and heard it was a medical emergency, not a wreck.”

  “I’ll tell you about it later,” I said, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving me shaky yet again.

  “She’ll be all right?”

  I nodded, hoping that was true. “What happened with the wolf?”

  “Dogs lost the scent. I came to return the flashlights when Kenny got the call about Georgia Sue.”

  “So you took over the bar?”

  “Seemed like the best way for me to help. He left here at a dead run without leaving anyone in charge. Didn’t even answer me when I asked if he wanted me to drive him.”

  Georgia Sue and Kenny were my friends, not really Zach’s. Zach and Kenny had even had a couple shouting matches when Zach acted like a jerk during the divorce. Zach wasn’t too fond of people passing judgment on him, so it was more comfortable plucking my eyebrows than hanging around together as a foursome anymore. Yet here Zach was, keeping things orderly for my friends who were in trouble.

  I flipped up the flap and walked behind the bar, straight to him. I flung my arms around his neck, kissing him full on the lips. “Some days I do love you, Zachary Taylor Sutton.”

  He grinned at me. “Likewise.”

  “How are you though? How’s that bite?”

  “Fine.”

  “Really?” I asked.

  “Smarts a little. Ain’t no big thing,” he said.

  I studied Zach for a minute, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. Right after he’d ruined his knee playing football, I met him in the locker room and asked him how bad it was. He’d just gotten through throwing up from the pain and had gotten a shot of morphine from the trainer, but Zach said his knee wasn’t too bad and he’d be ready to play in the next week’s game against A&M. Turned out the MRI showed he’d ripped most of the ligaments off the bone, and the joint was full of blood. Turned out there would never be any more college football games for him, and, two surgeries later, I could tell it still hurt him by the way he wrapped it and ate a couple aspirins some mornings, but Zach never complained.

  “You sure you’re okay?” I asked.

  He nodded, and I decided to believe him since he didn’t look pale or sick.

  “Can you close this place up for them? Here’s Kenny’s keys,” I said, pulling the bar keys off the ring.

  “Why? Where are you going?”

  “I need to go by Georgia’s momma’s house to tell her what’s going on. You know how she gets the wheezes. I don’t want her to hear the news alone.” That was true enough, but not my first stop. Georgia’s momma sleeps like the dead and would never wake up at the phone ringing after midnight. I’d be able to take care of one or two things before going to hammer on her back door.

  I marched out and flung myself back behind the wheel of Kenny’s car. I liked the leather bucket seats, the roar of the engine, and the squeal of the tires. The only thing it needed was a kitty cat companion in the passenger seat, and it would have been perfect.

  I thought about swinging by Bryn’s to pick up Mercutio, but the way my night was going, some other big catastrophe would happen and put me off from getting to the locket. Time was running short; everything else could wait until I got Edie back.

  I got to Johnny’s house in record time, thinking I really did have to get me a Trans Am. I shook my head at the hour. I don’t normally drop in on people so late, but I think anyone would agree that these were special circumstances.

  I knocked very loudly on the door and contemplated whether I wanted to waste one of my silver bullets shooting his door lock.

  Finally, the door swung open, and what I saw next would have knocked me right out of my pantyhose if I’d been wearing any. A lanky, black-haired, six-and-a-half-feet-tall man in four-inch stilettos, a black kimono, and three-alarm-fire-red lipstick stood with his hands on his hips.

  “Settle down, Miss Thing, or I may have to drink a couple pints of that rudeness right out of you.” With that he flashed a smile that showed off pearly white fangs.

  Chapter 19

  I squeaked in alarm and took a step back, fumbling through my purse for Earl’s .38. The vampire’s gaze swept over me, and he rolled his eyes, looked bored, and turned and walked into the Moroccan oasis.

  I got the gun in my hand, gripped it firmly and walked in behind him. “Where’s Johnny?”

  He kept walking, not bothering to answer me. I followed him to the bedroom where Johnny was leaning heavily on a dresser, barely standing.

  “It’s just Pippi Longstocking here for a visit. Now, let’s get you back to bed.” The vampire picked up the diminutive hairdresser and tucked him under the covers.

  “Rollie, be pleasant. Tammy Jo my good friend.”

  “Rollie?” I echoed.

  “Roland Spears. No relation.” He walked to a stack of clothes that were piled on the edge of the bed and flung a swirled green-beaded cape around his shoulders. “This is fabulous,” he said as he walked over to the full-length mirror in the corner to admire himself. “Hard to pull off with jeans unless you’re totally fierce, but fortunately for me, I am.” He puckered his lips and blew himself a kiss and then turned and blew one to Johnny.

  “Did you bite Georgia Sue?” I demanded, pointing the gun at him.

  “Was that her name?”

  “Rollie!” Johnny snapped. “You say you only going to get cough medicine for me.”

  “I was, but I got hungry.”

  “You only supposed to bite me when you in town.”

  “I can’t bite you. You’re too weak. Drink some more of that echinacea tea.”

  “Such a disobedient vampire. You not welcome in my house anymore. Get out.”

  Rollie thrust his lip ou
t in a pout.

  “Tammy Jo, how is Miss Georgia?”

  “Real sick. She lost so much blood she’s in a coma, and she might die.” My voice cracked, and I blinked back tears.