A Witch Too Hot

by Paula Lester

The fire witch made a tsk tsk noise. “That might be, but it isn’t what kept you alive when I tried to kill you.”

  Cas choked on the air she gulped in an attempt and cool off. “You tried to kill me?”

  “It’s common knowledge that you have zero control over your powers. The rumor is that they’re cycling and you’re in danger of burning up.”

  Cas suddenly realized why she was so hot. It was a power cycle, and a big one.

  “I thought that if you died in a fire, no one would question it. They’d just figure you’d lost control. But you didn’t have the good sense to just die when I tossed a fireball through your window.”

  “My curtains. It was you!”

  “They were lovely curtains,” Lumen taunted. “I almost hated to ruin them. You know, you really should sleep with your window closed. You might catch a cold and die.” She took a step toward Cas, who backed up the same amount of space.

  Cas wiped her forehead with a hand, and it came away wet with sweat.

  Sighing, Lumen twirled a chunk of black hair around her finger. “When I learned about the indicium, I figured calling one would knock you out of the race and get you out of my way, but that didn’t even work. Stupid ghost.”

  Exasperated, Cas raised her voice. “I’m not running for siren! I’ve planned to step down at the debate from the beginning. I was never a threat to you.”

  Lumen barked out a laugh. “I don’t believe you. You’re too much of a bleeding heart. I recognize the signs from living with my half-brother all those years. You wouldn’t want to leave your little shifter friends without proper representation on the High Council. That’s why I asked you to have coffee with me. I thought if I could convince you that the shifters were in good hands with me, maybe you really would step down today.” Lumen reached into her purse and pulled out a lighter. She used her thumb to make it spark. “Too bad you figured things out.”

  She sighed and shrugged, flipping the flame on again. “Luckily, your power surges aren’t under control, so no one will question why you went up in a puff of smoke before you could get back to the debate. You’re having a hot flash now, aren’t you?”

  Cas didn’t respond but took another careful step back. The exit was about five feet away.

  Lumen waved a hand over the flame. It jumped off the lighter and into her hand to form a marble sized ball of fire. She slipped the lighter back into her purse before blowing on the glowing orb.

  It sparked and then doubled in size as Cas watched. Lumen juggled it back and forth between her hands until the thing turned cobalt blue.

  Cas spared a second to feel irritated that Lumen could turn the flame blue with such ease when she’d only managed to create puff-ball volcanoes. But she was in trouble and didn’t have time to spare on such thoughts. She backed up. “You don’t have to do this. You’ll be put away for life once they figure out you killed two people. You should turn yourself in now. Just show remorse for killing Desi, and don’t compound it with a second murder. You could still have a good life after you serve some time.”

  “I never confessed to anything—oh wait, I guess I did. Oops, slip of the tongue.” Lumen dissolved into laughter, holding the fireball off to the side so she could lean forward and hold her side with the other hand. “I’m not going to serve any time, though,” she insisted, straightening back up, her gaze hardening. “And no one’s ever going to know I killed you or Desi.”

  Before Cas could say or do anything else, Lumen drew her arm back and flung the fireball at her head. She screwed her eyes shut and threw her arms up. When the ball hit, it didn’t feel like she thought it would. No searing pain, no blinding light. Instead, a cool prickling sensation flitted over her body. She cracked open one eye. The fireball was gone, and her clothes weren’t smoldering.

  Lumen looked as shocked as Cas felt. The fire-witch stared, open-mouthed.

  “When did you learn defensive magic?” she hissed.

  Chit-chat time was over. Cas spun and sprinted for the door. A sizzling buzz electrified the air before a sink exploded in a hail of white porcelain. Water doused the back of Cas’ pantsuit as she wrenched the restroom’s door open.

  She made the mistake of looking back just in time to see a screaming ball of fire heading for her face. But Lumen’s aim wasn’t true. It smashed just to the left of the door. A mirror exploded and spewed shattered glass.

  Pieces of glass rained off her blue suit jacket, and she left it in a heap on the floor and bolted. The hover pad for the auditorium wasn’t far.

  But a roiling heat pitched in her chest like a wave of lava. It was bad this time. Her tongue tasted like soot. Cas’ vision wavered, as if the world decided it was a good time to tilt to one side.

  “Not now, Cas, don’t pass out.” She gritted her teeth but stumbled. Her best escape was too far away.

  Stall. She had to stall. An auditorium of people waited a floor away. Someone would come looking for them soon.

  She pivoted into the first open doorway. Cas closed the door with a quiet click. With luck, there would be another way out of there. The room was dark but illuminated by evening light filtering in through large windows. Metal shelves filled with books were arranged in a haphazard order. It seemed as if someone had kept shoving more stuff into the room but didn’t care where what landed.

  Cas maneuvered around stacked boxes and shelving. The place looked like it was part library and part supply closet. The odor of cleaning products combined with dust hit her nose.

  She heard the door open and darted behind a bookshelf.

  “This is stupid,” Lumen called. “I need to get back down to the debate. Why would you want to drag this out, anyway?”

  Her voice was getting closer. Cas struggled to stay conscious as sultry waves of white-heat threatened to send her over the edge into oblivion. If she passed out, Lumen would kill her. She’d never wake up. The thought sent a chill through her limbs only to be extinguished by her own surging power.

  Panting, she backpedaled away from the approaching footsteps. Her foot caught on something. She tripped but caught hold of a shelf. The metal tingled under her fingers. Cas snatched her hand away and stared at the spot, alarmed. The imprint of three digits was seared into the shelf. Even in the dim light, she could the outline of her fingers.

  Cas held back a gasp as sweat rolled into her eyes. She grazed a book and watched as it began to smolder too.

  “There you are, sweetie!” Lumen ducked into view. She toyed with a blue fireball that made the shadows do a jittery dance. “Now stay put, okay?”

  Lumen cocked her arm back, but Cas was already on the move. She dodged into another aisle.

  “Aw, c’mon. I have a debate to win!”

  Dead end. Cas rebounded and pivoted down another aisle. She settled in a nook hidden between a bookshelf and stacked cardboard boxes. From the shelf, she grabbed a handful of books. Scooting to the edge of her hiding spot, she peeked out, waiting for Lumen’s expensive shoes to come into view. The acrid stench of smoldered paper reached her nose. The book covers were already turning to grit under Cas’ fingertips.

  “Oh, Cascaadde!” A white stiletto clicked against the floor.

  Cas hesitated for a second, but then a picture of the dark-haired witch flirting with Graham floated into to her mind. She set her jaw and hurled the books as hard as possible. In midair, they burst into flame.

  Lumen shrieked and swatted at the blazing missiles.

  Cas took her chance and sprinted. The door was close. So close she could see light from the hallway from underneath it. But behind Cas, a huge whoosh sent a draft of broiling air at her back. She didn’t stop running but the room was too bright all of a sudden.

  Lumen screamed. If it was in frustration or pain, Cas didn’t care. The distance between her and the door lessened. Finally, she half-slid, half-crashed into it before wrangling the thing open and skidding into the hallway.

  The world shifted again, sending Cas to her knees. She looked up, expecting the fir
e-witch to be there holding a fist of fire. She wasn’t. The door stood ajar, though. A thin trail of smoke escaped from it.

  Cas pushed to her feet and lunged for the door. Inside the room, a fire raged between Lumen and the way out. The woman didn’t look concerned about the fire. But when she saw Cas, the witch snarled.

  Lumen interlaced her fingers and then thrust them out. “Ignis somnuma!”

  The wall of flame froze in place as if someone had hit a pause button. Then, every lick of fire morphed into ash. It hung in the air for a moment before falling to the ground in a huge whoosh.

  Cas slammed the door and leaned on the knob. It melted away at her touch until a goo of bronze puddled on the floor.

  A body smashed into the other side of the door. Lumen pounded on it. “This won’t hold me for long!”

  It wouldn’t and Cas knew it.

  She turned toward the hover pad and for the third time, the world spun. Her belly protested. She panted, desperate for air that didn’t feel like hot coals. Her shirt felt soaked. Dark shapes creeped into the edges of her vision. If she didn’t reach help, this was going to be the end. Lumen wouldn’t need to kill her.

  The hover pad. How close was it? She shuffled down the hall, using the wall to keep her upright.

  She staggered and stopped, weaving and stumbling. The walls seemed to be collapsing in on themselves. She laughed, a perverted manic giggle from a dying woman.

  Yes, she was dying. Something deep within confirmed the truth of it. Cas mashed her teeth. Dying? Maybe. Give up?

  Never.

  Almost there.

  A muffled boom forced Cas to glance over her shoulder. The door to the library shot off its hinges. Ash billowed over the threshold. Lumen stepped out, haloed by a cloud of smoke and cinders.

  Cas turned, tendons tight with fear. Almost there.

  She could see where the hover pad should be. It had to be there. If it wasn’t, she was dead.

  Heels clicked down the hall behind her. Lumen was coming.

  Finally, she reached the edge of the hover pad landing. It wasn’t there!

  Cas didn’t have the energy to cry or cuss. Darkness spotted her vision. She stumbled one last time and crashed to the floor. She willed her body to move, but an inferno raged. It coursed through her veins. Snaked down her spine.

  As if from far away, footsteps approached. Cas rolled onto her back. She’d die fighting.

  The darkness had another idea, however. It showed no mercy as it descended and swallowed Cas whole.

  Chapter 19

  She could hear again before her vision returned. A slow, steady murmuring in one ear helped ground her. An awareness of her body returned. Her back was on the floor. She was facing up. Everything felt cool and normal. The horrible internal firestorm was gone.

  Was she dead?

  She struggled to open her eyes and focus. A face hovered over her.

  “I guess I’m alive.”

  Jack Percy grinned back and nodded. “Yes, you are.”

  “You’ve been out cold for a while. Take it easy.” He helped her to a sitting position. “You’re going to be fine.”

  That’s when the full rush of noise hit Cas. It wasn’t just her and Percy in the hall. A crowd of peacekeepers dressed in oxford blue uniforms huddled nearby. They were only called to police witch business.

  A strangled but familiar voice screeched, “I’ve done nothing wrong!”

  Denzel harrumphed as he departed from the crowd. “Violence toward fellow candidates is forbidden!”

  The peacekeepers parted to reveal Lumen. Her wrists were cuffed.

  Cas took a single look. Relief made her exhale a deep breath. “What happened?”

  The ghost stopped by Cas and Percy. “I’ll tell you what happened, Ms. Lorne. You and Ms. Oak had been gone for so long, I asked security to help me find you. I was disturbed to find an empty restroom. But on our return trip to the hover pad, we came across Lumen Oak ready to hurl a fire orb at your unconscious form. It was appalling. She was detained immediately.”

  “If you think that was appalling, just wait until I tell you the rest of the story.”

  Mr. Percy got to his feet and then pulled Cas to hers. “And I was downstairs waiting for the debate to start again and felt your surge. It took me a few minutes to get oriented and find the hover pad up to this section. I made it just in time, I think.”

  “Yeah, that was close. Too close.” She smoothed down her skirt and looked at Percy. “Thank you.”

  Cas hadn’t been aware a ghost could turn red with frustration. But somehow, Denzel managed it. He ushered everyone downstairs.

  When they got back down to the auditorium, Cas saw the entire backstage was in an uproar. When Albert caught sight of the peacekeepers with Lumen in tow, he gave a loud whistle, drawing everyone’s attention.

  Siren Valencia gave them a sharp look. “What’s going on here?”

  Cas stepped forward. She was dirty and disheveled and smelled of dried sweat. Despite that, she held her head high. “Lumen killed Deciduous Dewman and just tried to kill me for the second time.”

  Valencia narrowed her eyes. Then she turned and beckoned to a young witch off to the side. “Please go find Sheriff Lloyd and the other sirens.”

  The woman nodded and hurried off.

  When the sheriff and all of the sirens were in attendance, Cas relayed everything she’d learned. Lumen wanted to be siren and killed Desi during the Spring Fling. Later, she thought Cascade might ruin her plans and tried to kill Cas—more than once.

  Lloyd fidgeted when Cas got to the part about different shifter groups giving support to different candidates. Sensing it would make relations worse in Crystal Springs if the truth about a coup came to light, she glossed over some of the details.

  Cas met the eyes of each siren. “Seems a lot of this happened because the shifter community wants equal representation.”

  Stu sniffed. “We can’t help if they fight amongst themselves. Everyone can lobby a candidate for support. But Sheriff, you seemed to think Desi was going to be your holy grail or something. What did you think was going to happen if he won?” The siren laughed. “Ludicrous.”

  The sheriff leveled a stare on the siren that could’ve reversed global warming. Stu was oblivious, but Siren Shiloh eyed the sheriff for a long moment.

  Lloyd’s bad eye twitched. “What needs to happen in these parts. That’s what.” It sounded like a threat.

  Shiloh stepped in between them. “Sheriff Lloyd, since the prisoner is a witch, this does fall under the council’s jurisdiction . . . but I’ll defer to you. Do you prefer to house the prisoner at the station house or should our peacekeepers take over?”

  The Sheriff considered. “Keep her. I like to keep my jail cells . . .” he leaned in Stu’s direction, scented the air, and scowled,” . . . free of any stench.” With that, he glared once in Lumen’s direction and left.

  Lumen had quieted down during Cas’ recounting. All the earlier bravado had evaporated. She hung her head low as the peacekeepers lead the fire-witch away.

  Still appearing disgruntled, Denzel turned his attention to his clipboard. After a moment, he stuck his nose closer to it. Then he looked up, appearing surprised, which wasn’t an emotion Cas had thought he was able to feel. “Ms. Oak’s magical contract has broken. She’s no longer on the ballot.” He appeared to gather himself, spinning around and heading for the stage. “Come along, Ms. Lorne,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Denzel,” she exclaimed. “Look at me! I’m a mess. I’m going home!”

  “Nonsense,” he called over a semi-transparent shoulder. “Protocol, Ms. Lorne. Come along.”

  She followed him onto the stage and sat back down in her chair. Then she realized she didn’t have her jacket anymore and her shirt was crumpled and dirty. She brushed a hand over it a few times, but it was pointless.

  “I’m sorry for the delay, folks. There’s been a change, and Ms. Oak’s name will no longer appear on the ele
ction ballot.” A murmur went up from the crowd, but Denzel didn’t appear to be interested in putting up with any further delays. He raised a hand and scowled until everyone fell silent. “Ms. Lorne will speak now, and then we’ll be adjourned. We’ll forgo the questioning due to the lateness of the hour.”

  Cas got up and went to the microphone, her stomach doing flips as she looked at all the faces staring up at her. She pulled the microphone down. Grover was taller than her. When she started speaking, her voice cracked a tiny bit and she stopped, cleared her throat, and searched the crowd for a friendly face. Her eyes fell on Graham. He had a concerned look on his face, and she wondered what he would think about the news that his friend, Lumen, was a killer.

  “I’m Cascade Lorne,” she said, managing to sound stronger. “As many of you know, I only recently acquired my powers. I’m still figuring out exactly what I’m good at and how to control my gift.” She paused. There had been times since she’d blossomed that it hadn’t felt like a gift, but in that moment, she truly believed what she’d said. “I may not be able to do what I should with my magic. Yet. But I’ll get there. And between now and then, I’m going to put everything I have into enjoying my life and my power and into looking forward to the future.”

  A few people shouted cheers of encouragement.

  “So, I want to say thank you for the opportunity to run for siren. It’s not something I ever would have dreamt was even a possibility for me. And, right now, it’s not something I can tackle. I’m stepping down from the race.”

  Several boos rang out, and Cas chuckled. “Thank you for the support. It means so much to me. Even though I’m not going to be running, I wanted to say that it’s important to me that, as a community, we work toward inclusion. When some people don’t feel like they have representation for the decisions that affect them, it can drive them to desperate acts. Everyone in Crystal Springs deserves to have a voice. The prejudices of the past should remain in the past. This community is worth fighting for. Shifters deserve to be heard as well as pixies, and ghosts, and witches, and every supernatural being I haven’t meet yet who resides in this wonderful town. Incorporating diverse voices will only make us stronger. Wiser.” She was gratified to see lots of head-bobbing at her words and even more thoughtful faces. Some faces had gone stone still as well.