by K E O'Connor
“What’s with that one?” I said to Odessa.
“Oh, ignore Shamrock. He’s lonely. And he’s looking for love.”
My eyebrows shot up. “With a witch?”
“Don’t tell me you’re biased about scarecrows?” Odessa said.
Storm chuckled. “Let’s split. We need to lie low for a while until the dust settles.”
“And figure out our next move,” I said.
Odessa spent a minute giving her scarecrows instructions, so they’d guard the magic users until we were out of range of their spells.
The scarecrows all nodded along as she talked, although Shamrock kept glancing my way. I hoped he wasn’t getting a crush, or he’d be disappointed. I wasn’t into the country boy look, or straw, or pumpkin heads. Although I liked pumpkin pie. No! I wasn’t going there.
“All set,” Odessa said. “I’ll cast the memory wipe spell, and these little darlings won’t recall a thing about this evening.”
“Great.” I adjusted the scarecrow over my shoulders and turned to leave.
Three members of the Magic Council appeared out of the darkness. One stepped forward, his face partially concealed by the broad-brimmed hat he wore.
“Stop right there. None of you are going anywhere but jail.”
Chapter 18
I glanced at Storm and Odessa, who stood either side of me. “Who are you? And why do you think we should go to jail?”
“Because you’re criminals.” The guy who’d spoken walked closer. “I’m Devlin Goody. And you’re in breach of multiple Magic Council regulations.”
Storm groaned and nudged me. “Devlin oversees magical compliance in this region. From what I hear, he’s a stickler for the rules.”
“Help us,” Nash said, his voice an irritating whine. “They’re trying to kill us with these insane scarecrows.”
“Don’t you go telling lies,” Odessa said. “My scarecrows don’t kill unless I tell them to. Usually. Well, almost never.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go saying that out loud,” I whispered.
Odessa lifted her chin and stared at Devlin. “We’re the ones who’ve been wronged. We were drugged, put on top of a witch pyre, and almost killed. When we got away, this group came back and fired spells at us. We’re the innocent parties.”
“If you’re friends with Indigo Ash, there’s nothing innocent about you,” Devlin said. “You’ll all be arrested and questioned. And we already have enough on Indigo to detain her indefinitely.”
“No way,” Storm said. “You’re not taking Indigo. She’s served her time.”
I caught hold of Storm’s arm and gently tugged her back before she used her clenched fists on Devlin. “Storm and Odessa are innocent. They had nothing to do with any of this.”
“I don’t believe that,” Devlin said. “You only have to look around to see how much magic has been used here. The place reeks of spells. And everyone knows these scarecrows come from Odessa’s family farm. They wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t summoned them.”
“You know about my work?”
Devlin nodded at Odessa.
“They’re one-of-a-kind wonder scarecrows,” she said sweetly. “I can fix you up with a real good deal on one if you need anything scaring away. I’ll even throw in a batch of my special spiced pumpkin muffins since I’m in a good mood, being that I didn’t get burned at the stake, and all.”
Devlin glowered at her. “Bribes don’t work on me. You’re all coming with us.”
I stepped forward. “Wait. They had nothing to do with this. It’s all my fault.”
Devlin tilted his head, a gleam in his eye as if he’d just spotted a toy he wanted to steal off someone. “I’m listening. What do you want to confess to?”
I set down the scarecrow I held. I looked at my friends and smiled. They weren’t going down for this. “I used dark magic to compel Storm and Odessa to help me. They wouldn’t have been here for any other reason.”
“What are you saying?” Storm whispered.
“I’m saving you,” I said.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Odessa said. “You know we’ll always help you.”
I turned to face them and kept my voice low. “The Magic Council doesn’t have to know that. If you keep quiet, you’ll be in the clear.” I turned back to Devlin and saw him smirking. Maybe I should let Storm loose on him if he was going to get all smug about this capture.
“We always knew you’d slip up. Now you’ve just confessed in front of three members of the Magic Council about your use of illegal magic. Your time here is over, Indigo Ash. You’re to come with us and be turned into a shadow,” he said.
Odessa gasped. “You can’t do that. Indigo is helping this village. You can’t take her away and strip her of her powers. That’s cruel.”
“And we know our rights,” Storm said. “There needs to be a trial and a judge to decide Indigo’s fate. Not some jumped up little jerk in a too big suit who has an over-inflated opinion of himself.”
Devlin waved a hand in the air. “That would be a waste of time. Indigo’s actions have long been debated by the Magic Council, and we all know what needs to be done. Even if we went through the sham of a trial, the outcome would be the same. Her powers would be taken. It’s the right thing to do.”
I felt a slither of confidence grow as Odessa grasped my hand. Storm pressed against my right side, fury radiating off her. They were great friends, but I had to protect them. They’d stood by me even when I didn’t deserve it, and then I’d gotten them shoved on a witch pyre.
If they kept helping me, they may lose their freedom. And there was no way they were sacrificing themselves for me.
“I could set my scarecrows on them,” Odessa whispered.
“You could, but that would only buy us a little time. We need a more permanent solution,” I said.
“It could be enough. We can get away and figure out how to make this right. Petition the Magic Council to ensure you get a fair hearing, and this idiot has nothing to do with it,” Odessa said.
Something huge crashed through the trees toward us. Nugget leaped out, skidding to a halt beside the Magic Council members. He snarled at them, and they scattered in all directions.
Russell and Hilda were right behind him. Russell took to the air and dived after them, while Hilda growled and rubbed her fangs together.
Nugget’s fur bristled as he stared at the pale faces of the Magic Council members. He turned to me. “What are they doing here?”
“They’re here to arrest us,” I said.
“Do these... these beasts belong to you?” Devlin swiped a hand down the front of his shirt and grabbed his hat, which had fallen off when he’d run away. “They’re not natural. They must have been created by magic.”
“Top marks for pointing out the obvious,” I said. “They’re my familiars, so they’re full of magic.”
“No witch should have familiars this large or this dangerous,” he said. “It’s yet more proof of your illegal use of magic.”
Hilda advanced on Devlin.
He squeaked and backed away, magic sparking on his fingers. “Call it off, or I’ll have no option but to destroy it.”
“Don’t touch a hair on my wonderful familiar’s body,” I said. “Hilda is a loyal and trustworthy familiar. And she’s worth a thousand of you. You hurt her, and you really will see me use illegal magic. It’ll be aimed right at your heart, and I won’t stop using it until you’re no longer moving.”
“Did you hear that?” Devlin turned to his watching colleagues. “I just received a death threat from the Ash witch. She continues to condemn herself.”
They both muttered their agreement, although neither looked comfortable about being here.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “What did you expect me to say? You threatened my familiar. Hurt her, and you hurt me. And Hilda’s done nothing wrong to you. She was protecting me from an attack by the villagers.”
Russell swooped over Devlin’s head s
everal times, making him duck.
“Call them all off, immediately.” Devlin backed away until he was standing by his colleagues.
It was so tempting to let my familiars loose on the Magic Council employees. They wouldn’t stand a chance, and it would give us an opportunity to escape. But what then? I’d be in even more trouble for using my familiars to attack people. And that may lead to them being taken away, too. I couldn’t let that happen. Not when they’d been so loyal to me.
“Get over here, you three,” I said. “They’re not worth it.”
Nugget stalked around the group several times before returning to my side.
“How did you get on with chasing away the villagers?” I stroked a hand through his thick fur.
“No one died, but everyone was terrified. They’ll think twice before shoving us onto a witch pyre again any time soon.”
I gave his side a pet, before stroking Russell, and then giving Hilda a quick tickle under her enormous belly.
“It’s time we destroyed the source of all our troubles,” Devlin said. “Everyone is convinced you’re the reason this village has become unstable. We get rid of you, and life can return to normal.”
“I used to think that could be true, but it’s not so simple,” I said. “If I come with you, will you listen to my side of the story?”
“I’ve no doubt your side of the story is full of lies and deceit,” Devlin said. “And we have enough evidence to charge you with several magical infractions. And you’ve broken the rules of your probation. There’s nothing you can say that’ll make any difference.”
“Don’t be so quick to make assumptions, Devlin.” Olympus stepped out from behind a tree.
Devlin’s mouth opened and closed several times before he snapped to attention. “I didn’t know you were still in the area. I thought you’d gone back to the headquarters.”
“Then you thought wrong. I’ve been monitoring the situation in Witch Haven ever since Indigo’s return.” Olympus strode over.
I tried to get a read on his expression, but his face was blank. He excelled in hiding his emotions.
“We were alerted to a disturbance,” Devlin said. “We arrived to find Indigo and her associates attacking some villagers. We were just about to arrest them.”
“You need to check your facts,” Storm said. “We were defending ourselves.”
“You were being influenced by a powerful force. A force I intend to have destroyed,” Devlin said.
Olympus raised his hand, a flash of annoyance crossing his face. “I’ll make sure a suitable punishment is administered for the crimes committed here.”
“But... I found her,” Devlin stammered. “I mean, we arrived in time to see the crimes happening.”
“You big fibber!” Odessa said. “Unless you were hiding, you were nowhere near the witch pyre.”
Devlin glanced at his colleagues, his cheeks flushing pink. “We observed from a safe distance. But that’s not the point. The evil Ash witch also admitted she wanted to harm me with dark magic.”
“The evil Ash witch is called Indigo,” Olympus said.
“Of course.” Devlin nodded at me, hatred burning in his eyes. “Indigo.”
I raised my eyebrows. Why did Olympus care how I was spoken about? I’d been called a lot worse than evil.
“Your involvement in the arrest will be noted in my report,” Olympus said. “But these matters need to be handled discreetly. And if you were paying attention to your surroundings, you’d have seen we have an audience.”
I looked around, and sure enough, a few villagers had returned and were watching the action from the trees.
Devlin scowled for a second, then nodded. “Of course. As you wish. You’re in charge.”
“It’s important that things are done correctly. If anything goes wrong, I’d hate for it to be a bad mark on your service record,” Olympus said. “I believe you’re up for a promotion. Assistant director of magical compliance? You wouldn’t want anything to tarnish your chances, would you?”
Devlin blinked rapidly. “I didn’t know you were aware of my application. This arrest would help me secure the position.”
“I’m aware of everything that goes on in my area of the Magic Council.” Olympus nodded at him. “This won’t be forgotten, but I’ll take over from here.”
“Is Limpy going to let us go?” Odessa whispered. “You’re buddies now, aren’t you?”
“I really have no idea when it comes to Olympus,” I said.
He looked over at me. “You’re to come with me. The others can go free.”
Devlin looked like he wanted to protest, but clamped his lips together and decided to give me his best scowl instead.
“You’re still arresting Indigo?” Odessa said. “Why?”
Olympus ignored the question and gestured at me. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, but it’s happening. You need to explain what happened here.”
“We can help with that,” Odessa said. “Take us, too.”
“Keep quiet,” I muttered. “This is your chance to get away. We still have to find Luna, and we can’t do that if we’re all locked up.”
“But... what about you? We don’t want you locked up either,” Odessa said.
“It won’t be the first time, and I can handle it.” I glanced at Olympus. At least I hoped I could. I had no way of knowing which direction this would go. I sort of trusted Olympus, but the last time we’d spoken, we’d parted on bad terms. Would he hold that against me?
“We’ll take her,” Devlin said. He nodded at his companions. “She won’t cause us any trouble.”
“No. I’ll deal with Indigo’s transportation. This has been my case from the start, and I intend to finish it,” Olympus said.
Devlin glowered at him. “As you wish.”
“Make a record of events here and send me your report,” he said.
“What about the other witches, and those... things?” Devlin gestured at my familiars.
“Odessa, Storm, and the familiars are to go free. Take their statements, but that’s all. Let’s move,” Olympus said to me.
Odessa wrapped me in a huge hug. “I don’t like this. I wish you’d let us help.”
“You can help by staying free and working on finding Luna.”
Storm leaned over and gave me a fist bump.
I looked at the chaos I was leaving behind. Anyone who stumbled on this scene would see some big magical business had gone down, and I was smack bang in the middle of it. There was no getting away with this.
Nugget growled and head-butted me with his huge, sleek furry head. “I could always bite Olympus’ head off for you. That would stop him.”
Hilda wrapped a heavy, hairy leg around my shoulders. “Don’t do that. I have a good feeling about him. And he won’t be so handsome if he’s missing his head.”
“Take care, you three,” I said. “Hopefully, I’ll be out as soon as possible and we can continue looking for Luna.”
Nugget head-butted me again so hard that I almost fell over. Russell tapped the top of my head and cawed, while Hilda tightened her hold on me.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Just hang out at the house until I get back. And no heroic moves like last time.”
“You just say the word, and we’ll come for you,” Hilda said. “Nothing will stop us from getting you out.”
Olympus loudly cleared his throat.
I patted Hilda before heading over to Olympus.
“I’m glad you’ve seen sense,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”
“I’ll come with you, but I’m not going down quietly. We were attacked. Albert Black drugged us, and the villagers—”
“Just keep quiet. It doesn’t matter what you say to me now. Your fate is sealed.”
I glowered at the smug Devlin as I walked past him. It really seemed like my freedom was gone for good.
Chapter 19
“Since you want this done quickly, and for me to be a quiet, we
ll-behaved witch, why not simply transport us back to the Magic Council?” I trudged alongside Olympus as we headed away from my friends and familiars.
“Why would I waste my magic doing that?” he said. “Dematerializing two people isn’t done with a simple click of the fingers.”
“So you can get that gold star and pat on the head you’ve been wanting so badly for finally putting me back behind bars. Surely, that’s worth one little transportation spell. I’m not walking all the way.”
“You’re right, you’re not.” Olympus didn’t speak again until we were well away from the trees and anyone who might try to listen in. “I’m taking you back to my office, not a Magic Council meeting.”
I shrugged. “I guess you have a lot of paperwork to process after arresting a dark witch.”
“I usually do. Keep walking and hurry. The slower you go, the longer this will take, and the Magic Council hate it when I bill them for too much overtime.”
“I’m messing up your budgets,” I said. “My heart bleeds for you.”
He slid me a glare and picked up the pace.
Unless I wanted to blast my way out of this with more magic, I had no choice but to follow him. And I’d accepted I had to take this punishment, so long as Odessa and Storm went free and my familiars were unharmed. And I knew they’d make sure Luna got home safely. Everyone would be okay. Well, everyone except me.
We reached Olympus’ office fifteen minutes later. He unlocked the door and ushered me in ahead of him.
It was the same blank, soulless little place I’d seen a few days ago. There wasn’t even a pot plant to brighten it up. There was just a desk, a couple of chairs, and a pile of files, no doubt holding the latest information about the criminals he wanted to track down.
I turned to him. “So, what now?”
Olympus paced in front of the large window in the office. “I’ve been investigating.”
“Isn’t that your job?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I’ve been looking at the journal you gave me. I read Magda’s entry. And I read other information in there. She was troubled before she was arrested.”
