by Cadie Snow
Kenan moved back yet didn’t take his eyes off her. “We’re going to the car in a bit. I’m waiting until dark. Then it will be over for you.”
Jaime mentally prepared, then leaned forward. “I lied about making it easier for you. Unless you have a way to kill me now, it’s over for you.”
Leaping from the chair, Jaime lurched at Kenan, expecting him to retaliate. As she lifted her hands, Kenan shot a bolt of electricity at her heart. But her hands blocked it, reflecting the energy back.
Kenan jerked as the electricity hit his chest. His eyes widened then he fell over, hitting his head on the stone hearth. He didn’t move.
Jaime stepped close then felt his pulse. The reaper would be back shortly; Kenan was dead. Her bet had paid off. Andrew must have inherited telekinesis from her bloodline—which meant she could access the ability under duress.
She certainly didn’t feel bad to see a murderer die.
Ghosts hovered, examining the body. Then the forms vanished, free at last. The same was true for Jaime. She could get out of this stinking cabin. Maybe that amulet was good for something. She was supposed to be able to find her way without getting lost. Once she was outside, it could guide her.
Jaime would get to safety, then notify the authorities.
But when she turned, a man stood in front of the door. Elijah.
“How did you find me? How did you know I was here?”
Elijah stood, unmoving.
“You can help me,” Jaime said, stepping closer. “You can drive me back to town.”
Elijah’s eyes were as black as coal, and as lifeless.
“That man almost killed me.”
“I know,” Elijah said.
“Then why are you just standing there?” Jaime panicked. “What’s the matter? Don’t you understand that I was in danger?”
“Perfectly.”
“How did you…?” Jaime stepped back, a sudden realization nearly buckling her knees.
“I hired him,” Elijah said.
“You?” Jaime’s heart pounded. “Why would you do that? And he… I found out he was using skill bestowed by black magic.”
“Not bad, I’d say.”
Jaime was dizzy. It couldn’t be. “But you…”
“Yes, I was married to you,” Elijah said. “It seemed advantageous at the time. Yet you’ve been nothing but trouble.”
Thoughts flooded Jaime’s mind—the regular meetings, staying away from home, the tirades about powers. “You belong to Nefarious?” Elijah was a sorcerer.
“I not only belong,” Elijah said, “I run the organization.”
Jaime felt faint, but couldn’t afford to give in. If she didn’t snap out of it, there was no telling what Elijah would do. “You’re evil.”
“I beg to differ,” Elijah said. “I’d say that I’m profitable. Nefarious is a prosperous organization…or they were. I’m the strength of the group, the backbone. I have revitalized the best of the sorcerer world and given them new purpose.”
Jaime froze, the implications sinking in.
“So you see,” Elijah said, “you haven’t escaped at all. You merely killed one of my employees. But there are plenty more where he came from. It won’t even be a setback. He’d served his purpose anyway.”
The room started to spin, so Jaime wrapped her arms around her waist.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Elijah said. “If the man I married was part of Nefarious, then anyone could be. And you are so right. That’s the beauty of it. A sorcerer looks like a normal man—almost too normal. Yet each of us has power beyond belief.”
“That’s not what I was thinking,” Jaime said, shaking her head. “All I was thinking was…why?”
CHAPTER 16
Elijah’s haughty attitude irked Jaime. As terrified as she was, anger overpowered her fear. “Can’t you see that using magic for good is more beneficial?”
“That’s funny,” Elijah said, “even from you. Magic is used to gain power, wealth, and control. It’s really very simple.”
“I take it that you married me knowing that I was a witch?”
“Very much so,” Elijah said. “I was after something you had.”
“What was that?”
Elijah walked over to the fireplace and stood next to the dead man as if he wasn’t even there. “What was I after? Oh, surely you must have figured that out—your daughter.”
Terror consumed Jaime. That explained so much.
“First, I had to get Iris out of the way,” Elijah said. “She was an old woman, so that wasn’t too difficult.”
“You’re insane.”
“But you stood in the way,” Elijah said. “You tried to keep me away from my daughter.”
“Abigail does not belong to you.”
“She will,” Elijah said. “Her powers will far exceed yours.” He gave Jaime a pitying look. “I’m sorry to have to tell you, but Abigail will cooperate. She’s young and inexperienced, so she can be controlled. I almost had her already, except you had to butt in.”
“No…”
“There is no way for you to stop me,” Elijah said. “I think that you’ll agree you’re at a distinct disadvantage right now.”
“Why now?” Jaime said, finding her voice. “What changed that woke Nefarious up, brought the evil back?”
“It was time,” Elijah said. “At Iris’s birthday party, I decided that her term as leader of the coven should draw to a close. And Abigail was old enough; she will soon be thirteen—the ideal age for mentoring.”
“You’re forgetting about me.”
“You wouldn’t let me forget about you,” Elijah said. “If you’d cooperated, it would have been easier for you. But as it is, I have to kill you.”
“You won’t get away with it.”
“Quite the contrary,” Elijah said. “You won’t leave this cabin alive. But even if you did, it wouldn’t matter. You forget…you’re the witchy one. No one would believe you if you tried to tell them what…your ex-husband was really an evil sorcerer?”
The reverberation of Elijah’s evil laugh cut to Jaime’s very soul. He had it all figured out; he’d been plotting since the day she’d met him.
“No wonder you ignored the boys.”
Elijah rolled his shoulder. “They might be of some value. But it’s Abigail I want. She is the key.”
“You can’t have her.”
“I give you credit for toughness,” Elijah said. “But that is all bluff and bluster. You don’t have any choice.”
Realization dawned for Jaime. “You’re after the coven’s power. When I go, leadership passes to Abigail.”
“And she will fall into my hands.”
Jaime felt sick. She floundered for an answer, reaching deep for a solution. Elijah had put a block on her psychic ability. He’d been the originator of the barrier wavelength. That meant he could do it again. If she tried to use her power against him, it was likely he’d block her.
As much as Jaime hated it, sorcery was powerful. She’d heard the stories, knew the abilities. It wasn’t fair that using magic for good wasn’t enough. Despite the evil committed by Nefarious, the crimes hadn’t depleted their power—it had only strengthened it.
Elijah stood by the hearth, calm, waiting.
Jaime looked into his eyes, her back to the door. No plea for mercy would be heard. And no options in the form of magic were available. She couldn’t read the minds of witches or sorcerers, so there was no help there.
For a few painful seconds, Jaime’s thoughts went to those she loved. Sacrificing herself would do no good, as it would only serve to bring evil closer to her family. Love, not hatred, filled her heart as she focused on what was truly valuable—viewing Elijah as the monster he was.
There was a noise outside then the door burst open. Olivia and Harper rushed in, stopping beside her. Jaime was sure that she’d conjured them from the depths of her heart. But they were very real.
A glance at the fireplace told the story.
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br /> The murderer lay dead against the stone.
Elijah stood, tense and glaring.
Jaime blurted out, “Elijah is a sorcerer.”
With his arms extended, Elijah shot energy across the room. But Olivia held up a mirror to reflect the evil back to its source.
Yet before the energy bounced back and hit its mark, Elijah whirled so fast that he was a blur. Then he was gone.
The energy sped through the air where Elijah had been and crashed into the mantel, shattering the stone into dust. Jaime stared in awe, hardly daring to believe that it was over.
Elijah said from the distance, “You escaped this time…but there will be another.”
Jaime fell against Harper, sobbing with relief. “I thought all was lost.” The she looked over at Olivia, still holding the mirror. “How in the world did you find me?”
“Before we get to that,” Olivia said, “Elijah is part of Nefarious?”
Jaime told the short version: “He is a sorcerer, one of the most powerful. And…it seems he can teleport.”
“That’s not playing fair,” Harper said. “He can disappear and reappear at will. What are we supposed to do with that?”
“I’m just glad that he’s gone,” Jaime said. “And that dead man was the murderer.”
“At least one killer is out of action,” Olivia said.
Jaime sank into a chair. “I need to catch my breath.” She looked up. “Okay, tell me everything.”
Olivia and Harper began to talk at the same time.
Jaime held up her hand. “You first, Olivia. What are you doing lugging a mirror out to the woods?”
“I had a hunch we would need it,” Olivia said. “I’ve learned that when one of us is in life-threatening danger, our powers—all of our powers—intensify. Or that happened for Harper and for me.”
“I can confirm that,” Jaime said.
“As an empath, I feel the emotions of those around me,” Olivia said. “Apparently, I can read emotions at a distance, in an urgent situation. When the murderer was near you, I picked up his intent.”
“Amazing.”
“When you didn’t answer my text,” Olivia said, “I had Harper meet me in town. We found your car parked in the lot, then your purse in an alley down the street.”
“My phone was inside.”
“So we discovered,” Harper said. “And that amulet I gave you…”
“Yes, what about that?” Jaime said. “I kept wondering if it was going to work.”
“I told you that I created it so you could find your way,” Harper said. “But I didn’t tell you everything. Its magic was so that I could find you, if you were in trouble.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t keep it with you,” Harper said. “You’d want to protect me, to avoid a chance that I’d get pulled into the danger.”
“Since when do you know me so well?”
“I’m your sister,” Harper said with a smile. “There’s more. In certain circumstances, my telepathy works from quite a long distance. From town, I could pick up the killer’s thoughts, so we had an idea what you faced.”
“That’s why I brought the mirror,” Olivia said. “I expected to use it for reflecting the killer’s electricity.”
“Yeah, well…I took care of him,” Jaime said. “I’ll tell you about that later.”
“Together we have more power than we do individually,” Olivia said.
“Yes, three sisters as one unbeatable force,” Harper said. “But as for the increased abilities…I sure hope we won’t have access to those strengths only when one of our lives is in danger.”
“We will have to see,” Jaime said. “Right now, we need to call the authorities then drive back to town.” She grinned. “Please tell me that you drove out here and didn’t fly in on broomsticks.”
The sheriff was glad to resolve a longstanding murder investigation and put the case to rest. Plus, he was admired by his constituents for protecting them from harm. He shared what he could about the threat to Jaime’s life and how she’d avoided being a victim. That seemed to go a long way within the community; there wouldn’t be any more maligning of her family, at least for a while.
After a few days, things settled down, so Jaime took the opportunity to walk in the forest. She wanted to tell her mother how the danger had resolved. Sitting on her favorite rock, she told the story, covering everything that she could remember. “You don’t have to worry, Mama. The threat has passed for now. Aunt Iris can go to the spirit world with peace of mind. You’ll see her soon, if you haven’t already.”
A motion caught Jaime’s attention. A long white dress flowed over the carpet of leaves on the forest floor. She looked up to see Dahlia. “You’re here. I wasn’t sure whether I’d see you again.”
Dahlia smiled. “I love the forest too much to leave, you know that. Rushing to warn you exhausted me, but I’m reinvigorated. I’m relieved to hear that you and your family are safe.”
It was good to see her friend. Jaime wished her well then headed back to the house. Ian was in the kitchen, grilling hot dogs—his specialty. As she approached, she heard laughter. The kids were back to normal—still magic, but otherwise normal. They were glad to see Ian, and she would be too. Jaime had protected her family, just as she’d intended. She jogged toward the back door with a joyful heart.
The tales of Jaime and her Natural Witches family continues!
Click to Download: Spirit Whispers (Natural Witches Book 2)
Jaime is deep into another adventure. In this suspenseful ghost tale, Jaime and her witchy relatives must respond to supernatural messages to save a friend's life. You won’t want to miss this one!
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Ghostly Curse by Cadie Snow ©2019 All Rights Reserved
Published By Camden Lee Press
