Dina’s name rippled through the people, all of them having something to say except Georgia. I caught rumour, accusation and more than a few undercurrents of fear. Behind them all the wolves whined in chorus, their throats thrust upwards to the sky. Georgia, however, didn’t even look surprised.
“Dina’s dead,’ Georgia said simply, then, after a moment, “Are you saying Dina is inside Chyler?”
“No, we’re saying she was but we’ve separated them. Chyler isn’t a danger to anyone anymore,” I answered.
Georgia pressed on. “So Dina has gone? You’ve destroyed her?”
It was Evan who answered. “We’ve still got Dina.”
Georgia’s eyebrows perked at that and her eyes flashed. So she could be taken by surprise... “I’d like to see for myself. Stella, relax your wards and let me in. I pose no threat to you.”
And I was a monkey’s uncle. I glanced either side of me. Seren and Étoile weren’t making any moves, but Evan shook his head in such a slight movement that I barely registered it.
“You’ll have to take my word for it,” I said. “Dina possessed Chyler but we’ve separated them. Dina’s still with us, but she doesn’t have a body to move to.”
“Stella, you seem like a clever girl. Put your wards to one side and let me in. I can assure you no harm will come to your house. I’ll take Dina with me.”
If Georgia thought that was supposed to be reassuring, she was wrong. It wasn’t my house I was worried about: it was everyone in it. Everyone except Dina Lawley anyway, as far as I was concerned the sooner we were rid of Dina the better. Georgia just wasn’t the right person for the job.
“No,” I replied firmly, and made to turn away. Evan was by my side in a flash.
“I encourage you to reconsider,” said Georgia, her tone dripping with acid. “I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
In front of me Gage rose to all fours, the wolves flanking him echoing the movement. They looked poised to spring.
“Don’t start anything you’ll regret, Georgia. Remember who you’re dealing with,” said Étoile, stepping to flank my other side.
“The Winterstorm family? I hardly think I need worry about you two. Without your third wheel you’re nothing much,” Georgia scoffed.
“Don’t count on it, bitch,” snapped Seren, in an uncharacteristic burst of anger.
“I’ll be waiting, Stella, but the clock is ticking,” Georgia called as we retreated inside, adjusting her collar. “I’ll play with your... puppies while I wait, shall I?”
I waited until the door was firmly shut before speaking. “So that went... um...” I struggled to think of how it went. We weren’t attacked, so, good. But Georgia wanted Dina. Bad.
“Georgia Thomas wanted Chyler,” Étoile told David and Chyler’s aunts, quickly recapping our conversation. They had pulled Chyler onto my sofa and she was lying with her head in Victoria’s lap, her breath shallow. “But as soon as she heard Dina was still here, she just focused on her.”
“You think Georgia knew Dina had possessed Chyler?” David asked.
“Yes,” said Étoile. “I think she knew the whole time.”
“Then let me go,” said Dina. She was much more real now than I’d seen her before and not quite as translucent, almost solid. She was an attractive woman, um, ghost, with a long swathe of dark hair. Her eyes still didn’t have any colour but were just milky orbs with pinprick black pupils. “You don’t have any reason to keep me.”
“Other than you being a murderer and a nut job?” I asked.
“Hey it was just one time, so it hardly counts.”
“Just once?” Étoile looked sceptical. “And how exactly do you plan on leaving here?”
“Georgia will have a way. She always does.” Dina plastered a self-satisfied expression over her face, sealing our worries that Georgia had been behind her summoning all along. “Georgia said she had a plan.”
“You’re not seriously going to let her go?” I asked the others who were eyeing each other speculatively.
Evan shook his head. “Of course not. She’s got to be sent on. The dead are the dead. There’s no place for them here, no matter what the likes of Georgia Thomas think.”
“Like, sent on to the afterlife?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Who cares so long as she’s not here.”
“No! No!” Dina shouted and she fuzzed out of focus before rippling back into view. ‘I was murdered and I want my revenge. You can’t send me back! Georgia promised. She promised I would live again!”
I felt for her briefly at that moment. I could understand wanting revenge, but then I snapped out of it. Possessing Chyler, killing Andrea, and nearly killing Chyler in the process too, that just wasn’t okay in my book. Plus the thought of unleashing her to Georgia’s custody gave me gooseflesh. I may not know either woman, but my sixth sense was screaming no way.
“So how do we get rid of her?” I asked, just as Dina let out an ear splitting scream: “Georgia!”
The blast that rocked my house was huge. I felt like an earthquake was happening right under my feet and might have lost my balance if Evan hadn’t wrapped an arm around my waist so I could lean in to him for support. “What the hell was that?” I whispered into his chest.
“Georgia Thomas,” he muttered, tightening his hold on me as another blast hit the wards. Through the windows I could see sparks fly back from the barrier. My wards were holding but I’d never tested my own before, so I couldn’t guarantee they would last. Terror edged through me as Evan said, “She’s holding back. That was just a warning.”
“She must want Dina really badly,” I said still confused. There had to be more than friendship in it for Georgia to be so intent on getting Dina.
Evan said, “I’ve got a theory on that. She’s got some support but not enough to stage a coup. I think she’s trying to bring back all the witches that would support her and would be dangerous enough that no one would dare fight back. That would give Georgia absolute control. She could take the council.”
“And you think Dina’s the first? Or do you think there are others?” I looked over at David. He was whispering something and I watched him walk around Dina’s circle three times as she screeched at him. I was just thinking about putting my hands over my ears when her abuse came to an abrupt halt. When I looked, her mouth was still moving but nothing was coming out. David had spelled her into silence. Not only would we get a break from her screaming but she couldn’t call out to Georgia again.
“If Georgia was successful, Dina wouldn’t be the last. We were only lucky that Chyler fought back and came looking for you, otherwise she would probably have gotten away with it. There’s no telling if she’s done it before, but I would make a guess and say Dina was the first, an experiment that went wrong.”
I slipped my arms around Evan’s waist and buried my head in his chest for a moment so I could kill the panic bubbling in me. He stroked my back gently and I had a brief moment of wondering if everything was okay between us. I gulped. Now was not the time to be wondering about my romantic life. Not when there was a homicidal witch outside and her maniac pal inside.
“What’s Georgia doing?” I asked, when I realised the blasts had stopped at two.
Seren had pulled the curtains closed with a sweep of her hand from across the room so I couldn’t see outside anymore. “She just pissed the wolves off,” she answered, hurrying over to look through a chink in the material. “They’re keeping her occupied for the moment.”
“We have to get rid of her now,” said David with urgency in his words as he nodded at Dina. “We can’t risk Georgia breaking through.”
“I can distract Georgia. She won’t be expecting it,” offered Evan. “If there’s one think I know for certain about her, it’s that she’s got an overblown sense of her own importance.”
“How are you going to do that?” I asked but he just winked at me and then a rush of hot air that made me blink told me he’d gone and I was hugging air. I let my ar
ms drop to my sides.
“Everyone gather round. We’re going to form another circle around Dina. Hayley, Victoria, we’re going to need you too.” David seemed to think it was safe to leave Chyler unwatched and no one questioned him as to the wisdom of that. Her breath was still shallow but even. Plus Dina was the more pressing issue.
Hayley scrambled to her feet and Victoria slid out from under Chyler, replacing her lap with a pillow. They joined us in a circle while Dina threw herself against the invisible walls keeping her in place. Her silent screaming and shaking was disturbing. I linked hands with Étoile and Victoria to complete the circle and the strange feeling of our magic mingling and multiplying tickled over my skin.
“Everyone concentrate. When I give the signal, channel your power at Dina and use it to send her back when I perform the spell,” David instructed us, flinching as Dina hurled herself towards him.
“Send her back where?” I asked.
“The afterlife,” said David, his jaw set firmly. His voice lowered, he focused on the vibrating essence, commanding, “Dina Lawley, we send you back. Dina Lawley, we send you back. Dina Lawley, we send you BACK!”
Magic surged through me and I felt the electricity erupt from me. The flash that ripped through Dina blinded me momentarily and I felt the back draft of the enormous volume of magic burn like fire as it tore past me, sucking the oxygen with it. I could hear ringing in my ears and I choked for breath. For a moment I felt like I was in the midst of nothing – my house was gone, the world was gone, then I snapped away like the moment had never happened. The air felt still again and the silence deafening. Slowly, like a newborn child, I opened my eyes. I sank to my knees and reached forward with shaking fingers. The circle was now nothing more than chalk and paste on the ground. Dina, and her terrifying brand of unruly magic, was gone.
“We sent her back?” I asked, looking up at faces gaping at me. “What?”
“She’s gone all right,” said David. “But I didn’t perform the spell.”
“But I heard you. You sent her back,” I mumbled.
“You sent her back yourself. The spell was much more complicated than that and I didn’t finish it.” David’s voice spoke of approval and reverence. “It should have taken all of us to send Dina back to the afterlife, but it was just you. You did it.”
“I did it?” I stammered
Étoile sniggered. “You had a premature magiculation.”
“Pardon?” I asked but the sound of worried voices outside distracted me. I got to my feet and quickly crossed to the window. I inched back the curtains and peeked outside. The assembled witches were staggering around looking confused and shell shocked. I couldn’t see Georgia Thomas anywhere. I turned back to look at our group. “What did Evan do?” I frowned.
“I took Georgia Thomas on a little trip,” said Evan, surprising me into jumping and letting the curtain slip back into place. I wasn’t sure I would get used to him being able to sneak up on me like that. Everyone else didn’t react so I surmised that there must be some kind of early warning system that I was missing. Just something else to learn.
“Where did you take her?” I asked.
“Arizona.”
“Oh.” I thought for a moment, then narrowed my eyes, “Where exactly in Arizona?”
Evan grinned. “The Grand Canyon.”
“Oh, Evan. How will she get out?” chided Étoile, in a not exactly displeased way as she chided him. “You know Georgia can’t teleport herself.”
“Who cares?” he laughed. “She’s going to be very, very cross when someone goes to get her.”
“So basically you just made her a bigger threat to me?” I snapped, leaning against the wall to keep me upright, my legs like jelly. “Evan, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it quite like that. I just meant, now she’s going to be really mad at me.”
“She was already mad at you and she would have been madder when she found out Dina was gone. I’ve just bought us some time.”
“Georgia would have held a grudge anyway, especially as you’re with us,” explained Étoile. “If you’re not with her, you’re against her, in her eyes.”
“It’s the way of witches,” added Seren. “We’re often a clannish bunch. Speaking of which, how do we get rid of the ones outside?”
“I can’t take them all to the Grand Canyon,” said Evan. He dropped in the armchair, crossing one leg over the other. This was his third shimmer in less than a few hours and I didn’t know how much energy it took out of him but he looked weary.
“I’ve got a much easier way than that,” I said, stomping past him to the door feeling stubborn. I threw it open and strode outside until I was stood on the edge of the porch. In front of me the assembled witches argued, fought and shouted at each other, turning my lawn into a sea of chaos. I put my fingers in my mouth and blew an ear splitting whistle that stopped the crowd pushing and shoving at each other. They turned to me, intrigued, confused and angry. The wolves circling them stopped growling a moment later, ears flicking.
“Get lost!” I yelled, my hands on my hips. “Dina Lawley is gone and if anyone even thinks about taking anything out on Chyler Anderson, you’ll have me to deal with. Now, get the hell off my lawn and I don’t want to see any of you here again.” I stomped back inside and slammed the door, leaning against it as my heart pounded. Inside, I was being gawped at again. Evan had jumped to his feet.
“You go, girl,” grinned Seren, surprise etched all over her face.
I put my head in my hands and then forced myself to stand up straight, pushing my hair back from my face. I felt like throwing up. Outside I heard an engine start up. “I just pissed off a whole bunch of people, didn’t I?” I said to the room.
“Yeah, but you just impressed a whole bunch too. They’ll take your warning seriously especially with your demonstration of power when you banished Dina. Whatever happened in here, they felt it. Hell, I felt your magic and I wasn’t even in the state,” said Evan.
And if he thought that was reassuring, he was very, very wrong.
Fourteen
After my outburst I couldn’t help from the window every few minutes to see if my lawn was emptying out. When the last stragglers had eventually gone, a pair of wolves snapping at their heels, I opened my door wide, ready for a few more guests. Four wolves strode over the threshold like they belonged here while the rest stopped by the porch steps, sniffed and circled away in the pack towards the woods. I easily recognised the fine black and grey fur of Gage and Annalise’s smaller frame with her pink flecked coat. Two big wolves flanked them both. Inside they sniffed suspiciously at the circles and then Chyler, whose aunts shrank back and tried to shoo them away like dogs. Gage nudged at my hand with his cold nose but it seemed rude to pet him. Instead I placed a hand on each head in what I hoped was a friendly gesture while resisting the urge to run my fingers through their soft, thick fur, trying to shake the unpleasant image of Georgia’s fur trimmed coat.
I collapsed onto the empty sofa and Annalise curled up on the floor at my feet, her nose on her paws as she watched us. Gage stood next to her, his feet firmly planted on the floor. He growled when Evan took a step towards me and I heard Evan swear lightly under his breath but he took a step back all the same.
One of the other pair of wolves keeled over and for a moment I thought it was hurt until his legs began to stretch and his bones cracked and reshaped themselves. Fur receded and moments later there was a very naked man stretched out in front of the fireplace. I grabbed the coverlet that was still folded over the back of the sofa and tossed it over him. “Thanks,” he said with a grin at me as he wrapped it around his waist.
I leant forward so my head was level with Annalise’s ear. I wasn’t entirely sure if she could understand me in her current form. “If you want to change you can go in my room. The door’s open. Help yourself to clothes.”
She nudged my hand and gave my fingers a quick lick before rising, trotting down the hallway. Gage looked to me with his big black eyes
.
“My clothes aren’t going to fit you,” I said.
I wasn’t sure if wolves could smile, or even laugh but his tongue lolled out from his mouth and his chest heaved in a strange imitation of laughter. He waited until Annalise came back wearing my running pants and top, but barefoot, before he padded into my room. A few minutes later he came back, one of my towels wrapped around his waist, his chest bare and muscular, only a light dusting of hair remaining. I held out my hand and called for clothing from his house, my hands depressing with the sudden weight of jeans, tee and boots.
“Neat trick,” he said reaching out to take them from me. He turned his back on me and padded away and I heard the bathroom door shut a moment later. I thought I saw Étoile crane her head for a longer look.
“What about you?” I asked the naked man by my hearth, my coverlet loose about his waist.
“My clothes are in the Dodge across the street.”
I put one hand on his warm shoulder to get a read on him and called his clothing. “Do you do pizza too?” he asked hopefully, taking the untidy bundle from my outstretched hands and hoisting it under his arm.
“You can change in the spare room,” I replied, pointing the way, averting my eyes as the last wolf began to change in front of us. It seemed like an oddly personal thing to do in front of people. I guessed they were largely used to changing in front of each other and after a while nakedness didn’t bother them so much. Me, I wasn’t so used to it. I called his clothes too and he tugged them on in front of us.
“Jay,” he said, shaking my hand after fastening his shirt, before settling his eyes on Étoile. She arched an eyebrow at him and he grinned back. I rolled my eyes.
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