Witch's Spark

by Laura Greenwood

  “True.”

  “What are the Councils?” Penny asked, looking confused, and more than a little ill.

  “Our ruling bodies,” Faye answered, looking away from her and back at the man. She contemplated trying to use her magic to heal him, but she wasn’t sure she trusted herself to do something like that. Not without practice on less serious injuries first. “It’s okay, you’re safe now,” she told the man, despite knowing the words might not be true.

  “I’ll get Mia,” Reese said, transforming into a bird in front of them. Faye didn’t even bat an eyelid, she’d seen him transform enough times by now for it not to affect her. Penny, on the other hand, stood transfixed.

  “I need a hand moving him,” she said to the other woman after Reese had flown off. Penny nodded, and lifted the man’s shoulders. Between them, they moved him slowly back into the slightly cleaner area. It wasn’t much, but anything that helped was better than chained to the wall.

  Faye just wished they could move faster, but there was no chance of that, not without injuring the people that were down here. In total, the two of them found six people, one of whom seemed to be on just about their last breath, Faye hoped they could hold on for just a little longer. But the worst one, was the teenage girl. She was probably about fifteen, and far too young to be subjected to whatever torture had left so many long slices along her skin. It was disgusting what they’d done to these people.

  “What do we do now?” Penny whispered. She’d pulled Faye off to the side, out of earshot of the people they’d found in the dungeon. Not that any of them were conscious enough to be paying any attention. “We can’t sneak them all past the guards, we’re just not going to have enough time.”

  “You’re right.” Faye pushed a hand over her face, trying to work out what the best solution was. “We just need to stall, I guess.” She swallowed a lump in her throat.

  “Do you think you can do it?” Penny asked.

  “I’m not so sure,” Faye responded. She could try, but if she failed, then she’d already tipped their hand. Which was definitely no good.

  “I think I can.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “You know I said I’d never tried any of my other powers?”

  Faye nodded. “Yes.”

  “Well, that’s not entirely true. I once came across a man with a young girl. And I screamed to paralyse him.”

  “Did it work?” Faye asked, curious and just a little intimidated by her mate.

  “Yes, but it felt awful. I’d hoped never to do it again.”

  “Then don’t,” Faye insisted, placing a hand on the other woman’s arm. “Don’t put yourself through that.”

  “This is a worthwhile cause, and you know it. Just, do me a favour?”

  “Anything,” she promised instantly.

  “Cover your ears, and keep them that way until I come back.”

  Faye nodded. And Penny smiled weakly, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  She watched as the red-head left, and quickly checked on each of the people they’d found. Thankfully, they all seemed to be hanging on, even the one who seemed close to death. “Just a little longer,” Faye promised. She clamped her hands over her ears just as a piercing scream rang out through the building.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Penny nestled into Reese’s arms even more. She was shaking with the exertion her scream had taken. She’d never practiced with her powers, which meant she didn’t know how to do it without having to expend a lot of power. Which definitely wasn’t ideal, but the plan had worked. The guards had been frozen, and even now, were being taken away by the Council, who finally seemed to be taking the hunter problem seriously.

  From what Reese and Faye had told her, it had seemed to be going on for a while. Though she supposed it was still going on technically. There was almost certainly no one important at the mill, which meant they were all still at large, including the man who’d kidnapped Faye’s older sister. It was a shame no one had seemed to be able to do anything about tracking him down. Though maybe with the Council involved, it might be easier now.

  “Are you okay?” Faye asked, reaching out and stroking Penny’s hair slightly.

  It didn’t stop the shivering, but having both of her mates touching her, was making a difference. There was something special about the two of them, that was for certain.

  “B-b-been better,” she stammered through her chattering teeth.

  “Is there anything we can do to help?”

  “Name it, and we’ll do it, Penny,” Reese added.

  “I-is everyone okay?” That was the most important thought in Penny’s head. The people they’d found really weren’t in a good way, and she needed to know they’d been in time to save them.

  “We think so. A couple of people are still unconscious. The man with the leg has been seen to by Mia. He might need to lose it, but that’s going to depend on what he is. He might be lucky and be a paranormal that can grow it back after the infections been cleared.”

  “I thought paranormals weren’t supposed to get infections.” Reese frowned.

  “I guess we can if the situation is particularly dire?” Faye grimaced.

  “And the others?” Penny prompted, starting to feel a bit stronger already.

  “The teenager isn’t awake yet. But one of the women is. I think she’s a banshee.”

  “You do?” Penny perked up at that. She’d never met another of her kind before. And even if she was in bad shape, if it meant she could get to know her soon, it would be worth it.

  “Yes, she’s giving off the same vibe as you do. Her name is Carmen too.” Faye and Reese’s eyes met, and understanding dawned on Penny.

  “You mean...”

  “I hope so. But we’ll worry about that later. The Council’s here now, there’s very little else we can do.” Faye trailed her hand down Penny’s cheek, and she leaned into the blonde’s touch.

  “Can we go home?” Penny asked weakly.

  “Did you just call ours, home?” A wide smile spread over Faye’s face.

  “Erm...”

  “You did! I heard it. Didn’t you, Reese?”

  “I sure did, yes.” He kissed the top of Penny’s head.

  “I think it’s a great idea. Let’s go home.”

  The End

  If you don’t know how it all started, then hop back to Witch’s Potion for Mia’s story. If you want to know what happens next, Witch’s Web is available for pre-order now!

  Ho Ho Hocus

  by Gina Wynn

  Blurb

  An inept witch, her childhood tormenter renovating his cottage next door, a band of mischievous elves, and a love potion that doesn't work as planned.

  When her attempt at impressing her family literally goes bad and her new neighbour looks unexpectedly good, Addison Weller learns she should have listened to her mother. Or at least read the entire spell...because now she's turned Ben into a dog.

  A bit of ho ho hocus and a dash of Christmas magic could be Addison's only hope for saving him.

  Sneak Peek…

  T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house…

  “For the love of all that is magical, just quit your infernal racket!” Addison Weller grabbed a broom and pounded the rounded wooden end of it against the wall she shared with her—unwelcome, unexpected and completely unwanted—neighbour, Ben Rawlins.

  Arriving to her quiet hidey hole to find her childhood adversary already ensconced in the previously dilapidated conjoined twin to her cottage had rasped across every single nerve she owned. She’d lost count of the hideous things he’d done to her – from the moment a photograph showed his podgy baby finger exploring her left eye, right up into their teen years, when he tormented her every day of school. Of course, their history contained the yawn-worthy amount of pulling on her pigtails and putting toads in her shoes, then progressed to flat-out teenage warfare.

  When they
were fourteen, he’d used a permanent marker to write the name of the headmaster on her arm while she slept through another boring French class. Worse, he’d drawn a heart around it and shown everyone before he told the teacher—in perfect French—of her untimely snooze. The last time she’d the misfortune to share the same oxygen as him, he’d stood behind her at their secondary school leaving ceremony and not once mentioned she had her skirt tucked into her underwear and toilet paper attached to the heel of her shoe.

  Yep. There was no love lost between them, and Addison intended to keep it that way. Even catching a glimpse of his face peering from the window earlier, and ignoring the brief flicker of his hand—possibly a wave in greeting, possibly flipping her the bird—set her blood fizzing and a low buzz of frustration humming in her brain. Potentially, he’d already ruined her Christmas. Not just by moving in and uprooting the decades old ‘For Sale’ sign, but by the mere crime of existing in the first place.

  She bowed her head and drew a deep breath of concentration. If the man would just shut up for a couple of hours…minutes…seconds. She needed some quiet. With her arms folded, she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, then allowed a small smile of satisfaction to creep up her cheeks as the whirring of a saw...vacuum cleaner…vibrator…something…died away.

  She couldn’t possibly study without the appropriate level of peace, and being aware of Ben on the other side of their shared wall…well, it really put a big old hornet in her brew. Maybe she’d get lucky and he’d knock himself out on a crumbling beam in the following few minutes. What kind of man started a renovation a few days before Christmas, anyway? She paused, and waited. The clock on her kitchen wall ticked in the background.

  Nothing.

  Not one peep, creak, or squeak from next door. All was quiet…just as it should have been since the moment she pulled her clapped-out old banger into its final back fire on the sloping gravel driveway.

  Humming a short burst of fa-la-la-la-la to herself, she dusted her hands across each other at the power of positive thinking. And her mother said she couldn’t do it.

  Read Ho Ho Hocus

  You can buy Ho Ho Hocus for 0.99 or read it in Kindle Unlimited at the following link:

  https://books2read.com/Hohohocus

  A Note from Laura Greenwood

  Thank you so much for reading Witch’s Spark, I hope you enjoyed it! If you’re up to date with the Thornheart Coven series, why not try one of my other paranormal romance series, which interlink with this one! For shifters (and the background on what’s going on with the necromancers) start with The Dryad’s Pawprint.

  For reverse harem, and a fae centred story line (as well as finding out about Josh and Eira) start with Saving Eira. The next book in the Thornheart Coven, Witch’s Web, focused on Damien and Enya, and a little bit of a battle of the enforcers! They’re already a lot of fun!

  About Laura Greenwood

  Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Paranormal Romance Author. Whether it’s witches, shifters or princesses, she writes the stories that just won’t leave her head.

  While she’s not writing, Laura loves to read, bake and cook…apparently successfully!

  You can find her books on her website:

  http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/

  Laura is also a member of the Flock Author Collective, a group of six European paranormal romance, reverse harem & LBGT authors. You can find out more about the Flock here:

  http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/the-flock.html