Sharon Karaa The Last Challenge (Northern Witches Series #1)

by Unknown

  The woman at the front of the queue, who looked remarkably like Betty White from the Golden Girls, was busy having an argument with the poor girl about a coupon that had expired, and the man in front of me looked as though he wanted to tear his hair out.

  “But it’s just a couple of days out, why can’t you accept it?” she asked meekly.

  “It’s against company policy, I’m really sorry but we can’t accept them once they’ve expired,” explained the very patient and very young cashier.

  The old woman blushed and shoved the coupon back in her purse. “So how much is it full price?” she asked.

  “It’s £2.30 without the voucher.”

  “Well how about this one; is that one still in date?” Betty handed over another voucher from her purse.

  “Yes, but you haven’t bought that product so we couldn’t give you a discount for that either,” said the cashier, starting to get a little embarrassed.

  “Look, here’s my coupon book, which ones can I use then?” asked Betty.

  “How much longer is this going to take?” demanded the irate customer in front of me.

  If I had to peg him as a celebrity, I would have said he looked like Basil Fawlty without the moustache. Tall and skinny with a very ruddy complexion, but that could have been down to his stress levels. Or he was a secret drinker. I checked out his purchases for evidence of alcoholism.

  The cashier smiled at him apologetically and turned to Betty. “Your total comes to £17.50.”

  “I don’t think I have enough money,” lamented the old woman, emptying her purse on the counter. As she proceeded to count out her coins, the cashier finished bagging up her items.

  “For fuck’s sake!” screamed the man, kicking his empty trolley then storming off, leaving all of his items on the conveyor belt.

  “Do you want me to…?” I asked the cashier, indicating the empty trolley and the goods. She looked as though she was about to burst into tears and smiled at me gratefully. I proceeded to empty the goods back into the empty trolley just as Mr. Irate and Moody returned, holding a loaf of bread.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he shouted.

  “I’m sorry, I thought you had stormed out of the shop!”

  “No, you were trying to jump the fucking queue, just admit it,” he snapped, looming over me.

  “I asked her to remove your goods, sir, it was my fault.” The cashier’s chin started to wobble.

  “I’m 10p short,” said the old woman. “Can you take something back?”

  Mr. Angry turned on the cashier, his face darkening to a beet red.

  “Call this fucking service? This is fucking shite, that’s what this is! I want to see your manager!”

  “She’s here to serve you, not be your whipping boy!” I instigated myself between the man and the cashier.

  “Look, I’ll put your stuff back on the belt for you; we’ll have you all sorted in no time,” said the cashier, nervously coming round the side of the checkout counter to put the groceries back.

  Mr. Angry reached out to grab the cashier but missed when a muscular arm came out of nowhere and wrapped itself around his chest, pushing him back and wedging him against the far wall.

  “I think you need to calm down,” Daniel said softly.

  Where the hell did he come from? My jaw dropped as I took in the scene before me. The cashier was looking at him as though he was Jesus Christ incarnate, and Betty was fluttering her eyelashes and smiling as she clutched her handbag, clearly enjoying the show.

  Mr Angry took one look at Daniel and looked like he was about to blow a gasket. He opened his mouth to shout, but then stopped in his tracks, his face going white. Without another word, he sprinted out of the doors like a bat out of hell, pushing women and children out of his way.

  Daniel turned and walked back to the cashier, smiling. Her chin had definitely stopped wobbling and her eyes were glassed over, clearly smitten by her hero.

  “Are you ok?” Daniel asked her.

  “Oh, I’m fine but it was such a good job you came when you did,” answered Betty, clearly thinking he was talking to her. “I would have tasered the bastard if he had taken one more step.”

  She dove into her handbag and pulled out what would have been considered a lethal weapon in the hands of anyone strong enough to pull the trigger. Her hands were shaking so much she couldn’t even have lobbed it with any degree of accuracy, and Daniel quickly took it from her and put it back in her bag.

  “Good job I saved him from you then, eh?” He flicked a ten pence coin into the air and caught it, passing it across to the cashier.

  “I believe that’s you all paid up. Would you like me to help you to your car with your shopping?” he asked the old woman kindly. My chin almost hit the floor.

  “You know you don’t find many young people with manners these days, what a wonderful young fellow!” said Betty, hooking his arm as he escorted her out of the shop.

  “Wow he was so masterful!” said the star-struck teenager, watching as Daniel and Betty made their way towards the exit.

  “Ahem.” I looked at the groceries and she snapped to attention and helped me offload Mr. Angry’s goods.

  Amazingly, when I’d finished paying and proceeded to wheel the trolley out of the shop, the dodgy wheel had mysteriously cleared itself up. Daniel had a lot to answer for! And speak of the devil, he was leaning against my car when I got there, smiling broadly.

  I took the keys out of my pocket and popped the lid on the boot.

  “So how long have you been here?” I asked, not looking at him as I struggled to pull the heavy bags out of the trolley and started loading.

  “Oh, since you left the house.” He lifted the remaining bags and placed them into the boot with no effort whatsoever. Show off.

  “You can take the trolley back too,” I said, eyeballing him for the first time and crossing my arms defiantly.

  “Your wish is my command, oh master.” He bowed theatrically, still grinning. I got the last laugh though, watching him struggle with the trolley as it almost smashed into the back of a Toyota Yaris. Amazingly, it now had two dodgy wheels. I chuckled softly as a strong gust of wind almost blew him off track.

  I jumped into the driver’s seat and waited. Within seconds he was at the door and pulling it open. “Hop out!” he demanded. “I’m driving.”

  “No you are not! It’s my car, I drive!”

  “I knew you weren’t going to make this easy,” he said as he grinned evilly and wiggled his eyebrows at me. I lifted out of the seat and floated gently out the door.

  “That’s cheating!”

  He caught me as I cleared the door and carried me round to the passenger side, depositing me unceremoniously into the seat. As soon as he did so, I started climbing back over to the driver’s side, but he was too quick. I glared at him as he grinned.

  “There’s something sexy about you when you’re angry,” he said, laughing. I inhaled sharply. The bastard was reading my mind.

  He started the car and we were out of the car park and heading back towards home.

  “So what did you do to Mr. Angry to get him to leave?” I finally asked.

  “Simple. I convinced his bowels he needed to visit the toilet. Urgently.”

  When we arrived back at the house, Daniel was the perfect gentleman, helping me carry the bags of shopping into a starving kitchen that had become a hive of activity the minute we walked across the threshold. Selina and Agnes were like ravenous wolves, tearing in to the bags and between them, deciding what they would cook for dinner. As I went out to gather the next round of bags Daniel was closing the boot. He raised the last bag in the air and smiled.

  “I’ve got it,” he said, handing me the keys to the car. As he dropped them in my palm, he closed his hand around my wrist and pulled me in to him. “Don’t do that again, Lauren. Next time you need to go anywhere, just call me, I’ve put my number in your phone.” His eyes twinkled at me. “I rather enjoyed our li
ttle shopping trip, you know you aren’t so bad to be around.”

  I couldn’t say or do anything. I didn’t want to move and break the mood, and the way he was looking at me was doing very strange things to my heart.

  He leaned in, almost in slow motion, and pressed his lips to mine, so soft and yet so firm.

  “Where’s the goddamn potatoes?” Agnes shouted from the kitchen, breaking the spell. Daniel pulled away and marched into the house, leaving me staring into space and wondering what the hell I was getting myself into.

  Monday followed Sunday and another full day of training. Selina and I had learned lots of new techniques and even some simple spells. I appeared to have some powers, as I mastered most things Agnes taught us fairly easily. Selina wasn’t having as much luck.

  “Maybe I should just give up,” she huffed, still not being able to get the hang of levitating objects.

  “Don’t be silly girl, you’ll get there in the end,” Agnes had reassured her cheerfully.

  “Yes but I’m not a natural witch, like Lauren, am I? Maybe you have to be born into the craft to have power”.

  Agnes cackled with laughter. “Of course you’d think that. There are so many versions of ‘witches’ today that people wouldn’t know a real one if it came up and bit them on the arse.”

  We frowned at the image but waited for more.

  “It’s more about an openness of mind,” she elaborated. “If it’s in your blood, you’re a full-blown witch no matter what, but for those who are sincerely open to magic… certain skills can develop.”

  She turned to Selina. “What are you?”

  Selina shot me a bewildered glance, before shrugging her shoulders. “Um… I don’t know. I’m a lover, I’m a poet…”

  There was a sharp crack as Agnes’ hand landed sharply on the table. “Not quite so much with the existential dear, I meant more in lines of… what do you do?”

  Selina’s face cleared. “Oh. I’m a pastry chef.”

  “A baker!” Agnes threw up her hands in delight. “Well in that case, it’ll be interesting to see what you can do with potions. You’ve got to at least be better in the kitchen than Fanny Annie here!”

  She had me there. I couldn’t boil water without setting off the fire alarm. It was disconcerting how Cat came as soon as the alarm went off as though it were the bell for dinner. Either that or he really enjoyed watching me dancing around, wafting a tea-towel trying to get the bloody alarm to stop ringing.

  Daniel hadn’t been to see us all day and as much as I hated to admit it, I was missing him. I had promised Agnes I would come out to his cottage on Friday evening to meet the other women who had died with Matthew, then on Saturday Agnes was going to have Daniel teach me how to arc energy the way he had to save my arse in the car park. I groaned as I remembered his taut, muscular thighs, bent as he raised his arms and sent the energy bolt into my captor. At the time, I had been thinking of other things, such as saving my arse, for one. But looking back, the man was sexy as hell. I wondered where he was and then chastised myself for wanting to see him. Jolene and Abigail were still battling it out in my head when Selina finally gave in to her tiredness and decided to call it a night.

  After seeing Selina out and Agnes literally disappearing, I only had enough energy left to change into a nightshirt and crawl in to bed. Cat came into the room and surprisingly, decided he wanted to share the bed with me, instead of his usual position on the chair. He jumped up beside me and did his usual 360 degree turn before settling down in the crook of my arm. I pulled him into me, stroking his soft fur as he purred.

  The rhythmic vibration calmed me and my thoughts turned to the changes my life had undergone in such a short space of time.

  Only four days ago, I was a normal twenty-five year old woman, living the single life and having fun, possibly for the first time in my life. My parents had both died in a car crash when I was just eighteen, and having no surviving relatives (my grandparents having long since passed away on both sides), I lived alone. The house I was living in now was the same house I’d lived in with my parents. It had taken a good five years to come to terms with my loss and the feeling of utter loneliness that had caused me to push any potential friends away. I couldn’t bear to lose anyone else so I refused to let anyone into my life.

  Selina was the first person I’d let get close, but to be honest, she hadn’t really given me much say in the matter. I smiled at the memories of her bossing me around and telling me off for being a mopey arse. She was like the sister I never had.

  In four days, my peaceful existence had been turned upside down and I was now in a fight for my life. I pondered as to why this part hadn’t made more of an impact on me. Perhaps it was because I still couldn’t quite believe what was going on, or maybe because of my past I had already accepted life’s transitory state. Then again, perhaps it was because of Daniel.

  Perhaps there were other kinds of magic in the air.

  5 - The soul that sees beauty

  I awoke to the shrill sound of my alarm clock and groped blindly on the bedside table for the kill switch, fragments of a dream featuring Daniel and some very heavy petting fading from my memory, if not other parts of my anatomy.

  Cat was already gone as I dragged myself out of bed, pulling my hair up and away from my body, stretching and yawning. Sounds coming from the kitchen told me I had supernatural visitors and my heart leapt. As much as I was learning to love Agnes, I truly hoped it was Daniel.

  I ran down to the kitchen and sure enough, Agnes was cooking scrambled eggs and toast. Her version consisted of spiking bread with a fork and holding it over the flaming hob. I shook my head in despair and then walked over to the cupboard to retrieve the toaster, taking the bread out of her hands and putting it into the slot. I added a second slice and switched it on as she watched me, fascinated.

  “Good morning Agnes,” I said when I was done.

  “Good morning, sweet cheeks. I came to make sure you had a good breakfast before you go to work,” she said. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I can’t in all conscience let you go off after a bowl of that fucking rabbit food,” she said as she busied herself stirring the eggs.

  “Agnes, where on earth did you learn to swear?” I asked, dropping into a seat at the table and taking the cup of coffee she handed me.

  “I do like to visit every now and again, you know. Keep up with current affairs,” she said importantly. At that moment, the bread popped up in the toaster and she leapt a mile. I sniggered. She gave me a look then picked up the toaster and turned it upside down, shaking it vigorously to get the toast out. I shook my head in exasperation once more as she transferred the bread onto two plates.

  “Is Daniel coming with me today?” I asked, trying to appear nonchalant. She turned on one foot and looked over at me.

  “Aha!” she grinned. “So, you missed him then!”

  I glared at her. “No, but I thought I wasn’t allowed to leave the house without him,” I responded reasonably. That sounded believable, didn’t it?

  “He’ll be along shortly, don’t you worry.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me and then turned to dish the scrambled eggs up.

  She placed the hot food in front of me and I got to work, making it disappear. Once finished, I left Agnes trying to figure out the dishwasher while I went to the bathroom for my shower, the whole time worrying that Daniel would turn up while I was naked, then wanting him to and wondering what would happen. I was a mass of contradictions. Just in case, I wore the cheese wire underwear he appeared so fond of, this time in a soft pink with matching bra. I dressed in the sexiest skirt suit I owned, matching it with a low cut blouse, and then got cross with myself again. What did I care if he found me attractive?

  Once my hair and makeup were finished, I made my way downstairs, alternating between angry that Daniel still wasn’t here, and worrying that he wouldn’t show up. As I neared the kitchen, I heard Agnes talking to him and sighed in relief.

  That r
elief was short lived.

  “Will you please stop trying to match make! I’ve told you before, she’s not my type,” Daniel said.

  I froze, not knowing whether to walk into the kitchen or stay where I was.

  “Well it doesn’t look that way to me,” I heard Agnes retort. “Flirting with her every five minutes! You’d better not be stringing her along! I promise you this, you hurt her and I will haunt you for the rest of your days. There’ll be no more action for you then, Mr. Lover Man. I’ll make damn sure if it! Lover’s droop will be the least of your worries!”

  “Have you finished?”

  “You can’t keep up this string of affairs, Daniel. You need to settle down with a good woman, and they don’t come any better than a Rutherford. Oh yes, that’s right, run away why don’t you!”

  Daniel’s words hurt more than I cared to admit. If he wasn’t attracted to me then what was he up to? Was I just something to pass the time? Some amusing little game he played?

  I took the bull by the horns and pushed open the door, my face flaming. I needn’t have worried. Daniel was nowhere to be seen.

  Agnes stood in the kitchen alone with the toaster in her hands. “Oh, dear, are you ready for work already?” she asked, turning to the dish washer and trying to fit the toaster into the rack.

  I sighed in exasperation and explained how to clean it without ruining it, before running to the door. As I was about the turn the handle, I changed my mind and walked back to the kitchen. I put my arms around her and hugged her tight.

  “Please don’t break my house or anything in it. And remember that electricity and water don’t like each other. I’ll be home at six, see you then.”

  When I pulled back to look at her, she had tears in her eyes but was smiling from ear to ear, glasses knocked dizzily askew.