Enchantress' Secret (Hemstreet Witches Book 1)

by Rain Trueax

  Denali had dressed and followed him. “We need to find out why he attacked you, and who he’s been talking to.”

  “You watch him while I dress,” Nick said. He had no doubt she could handle him. In his bedroom, he pulled on jeans. Remembering Pete’s seeming threat directed toward Harvey, he looked for his cat and found him still sleeping in the patio—seemingly not disturbed by the commotion.

  In the kitchen, Denali was watching Pete. His eyes were open, but they looked glazed. Nick had seen things like that in combat where a man lost all track of where he was.

  “Should I call the police?” he asked unsure what the right thing was.

  “Before we decide, I want Mom to come and see what she makes of this.”

  He nodded as she punched in the numbers. She’d be waking her mother up. He wondered how she’d take that.

  “Mom, I need you here at Nick’s… Yes, right now.” She turned off the phone and looked at him and then Pete. “She’s on her way.”

  “Can you take him out of whatever’s going on with him?” Nick asked.

  For the first time, he believed everything Denali had told him. She was someone with supernatural powers. Although he had no idea what all that meant, he had seen she could blast a weapon into oblivion as well as throw a man against a wall without touching him. How he felt about that he wasn’t sure. Up until the moment when Pete had attacked, he had thought her witchcraft talk was more psychic skills. This went beyond it. What exactly did it involve? Was a relationship with such a woman possible for a man who was just a man? The fact he was considering such a question left him stunned. He looked at her, but her whole concentration was on Pete.

  “I want Mom to see him first.”

  He expected to hear a car drive up but instead Maria Hemstreet materialized in front of them. “What is this?” she asked. By now, Nick had given up looking for an explanation as to how that could be.

  Denali explained what had happened. “What we need to know,” she finished, “is what led to it.”

  He wondered how Maria would take to Denali having been in his bed, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She turned to Pete who was trying to free his wrists. Lots of luck with that, Nick thought. He’d used a square knot, which always held.

  Pete looked from one of them to the other but still appeared confused.

  Maria put her hands over his forehead and seemed to be concentrating as Denali had earlier. After a few moments, she turned to her daughter. “What did you decide?”

  “I think he was drugged but something more.”

  Maria nodded approvingly. She then looked at Nick. “Tell me about him before this.”

  “When he got here, he acted like a teen-age brat, with snide comments, threats against my cat, mistreatment of horses out at your ranch, but nothing led me to think he’d come at me with a knife.”

  Maria considered and moved to lean against the counter. “From his eyes, I think, you are right. He was drugged, probably Rohypnol but it also could be Ketamine, which veterinary clinics have and is often stolen. Either way, it made him susceptible to what came next. He might’ve voluntarily taken the drug, but I’d guess not because the effects are very unpleasant but made him easy to then put a hex on.”

  “Hex? You know this is all new to me.”

  “A curse. A spell. In this case, I’d say it was accompanied by an order to kill you. If we freed him with it still in place, he’d try again with no idea why he was doing it.”

  “Can you take it off?”

  Maria let out a sigh. “I think it will take my other daughters. My experience with this particular energy is it won’t be easily removed. It will help if your brother didn’t consent to it.”

  “Why would he consent?”

  “It happens when the recipient believes it will make them stronger. They don’t understand all it will mean, but when they agree, it makes the binding more difficult to remove.”

  “Will he be able to tell us who did this to him?” Nick asked still finding it all hard to believe.

  “The drug will complicate it, but we will ask. After we take off the spell… assuming we can.”

  Nick felt sickened. He couldn’t say he loved Pete, but he felt in some strange way responsible for him. He wasn’t his brother and yet he was—his only brother after Adam’s death.

  “Mom has done it before,” Denali said as she obviously recognized his tension.

  “When will you do it?” he asked staring at Pete and wondering if this had all been his fault. Had the obsessive girl and even Jane Elm, also been his fault—all because of his blindness?

  “No, this was not your fault,” Maria said.

  He shook his head. “He wasn’t sure how much he liked being around witches, who could read minds—even if he was falling in love with one of them. Despite having been a highly trained warrior, he was in the end just an ordinary guy. This was way above his paygrade.

  “And I’ll try to quit connecting with your thoughts,” Maria said, “although at the moment, you are thinking loud.” She grinned. “Let me send for my daughters. How about making some coffee?”

  “Even witches need coffee?” he asked as he headed for the grinder and beans.

  “Of course,” Maria said, “we are after all human.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Within fifteen minutes, Nick’s kitchen had five beautiful women in it, all drinking coffee as the sisters were introduced to him and then had to hear the story of what had happened.

  “Do you always travel this way?” he asked trying to get used to what he was seeing but not believing.

  “Jaguars work good too,” Elke said—the wheeled version that is.” They all laughed, but they were also studying Pete. The knock at the door had Nick on edge wondering if the police had arrived but for him. It was John Cordova.

  “John,” Maria said giving him a hug, “it’s been a long time.”

  “Thought you might need me tonight,” he said. “You all arriving like you did said to me something went wrong.” He looked then at Nick. “Glad it wasn’t you getting killed.”

  Nick smiled or tried to. “You and me both.”

  “We could use your help indeed,” Maria said after Denali related what had happened. “Are you willing to combat those who did this? It might make you a target.”

  “Most likely I already am. I do see what we’re up against here and beyond.” He gestured with his thumb to Pete. “So how you want to do this? We could just make him vanish.” His grin had Nick unsure if he meant that literally or was joking.

  “Ideally, we’d like to take the spell off, such that he can tell us who did it, and how it happened,” Maria said. Her smile was cold. “If we find it necessary to eliminate him, we’ll do it afterward.”

  “I thought you were good witches,” Nick said, unsure what that even meant.

  “If your brother has gone deeply into the black arts,” Maria told him, “it might be more merciful to bring his life on earth to an end. Let him try again, and next time have success. There are worse things than dying, you know.”

  He did know that, so said nothing more as he moved to lean against the counter, wishing for a cigarette but suspecting it’d not be appreciated. As the energy went out from the women and John, he saw it physically growing into an aura surrounding Pete. His brother surged against the cords, convulsed and groaned as Maria began speaking in a tongue Nick didn’t recognize. He had no idea how long it went on, but finally Pete slumped forward. Had they killed him?

  “Now, it’s time for you tell us what happened,” Maria said as she lifted Pete’s chin. When his eyes looked upward, they were red-rimmed but lucid.

  “What happened?” he muttered looking around until his gaze met Nick’s

  “You tried to kill me tonight,” Nick said.

  “I wouldn’t do that… I didn’t… Did I?” Pete groaned. “What happened? I don’t remember. I…”

  “What is the last thing you remember?” Maria asked.

  Pete lo
oked into her eyes. “I… I went into a bar and had a drink. Maybe two or more. I didn’t think I was drunk though. A man came in… No, wait two of them. They invited me to have another drink. I’d had enough, but they pushed me to a table. I didn’t want a fight… I… I don’t remember anything after that until now.”

  “Can you describe the men?” Maria asked.

  Pete looked desperate and then shook his head. “Big one but no… I don’t know who they were. I’d never seen them before. I really tried to kill you?” He looked at Nick.

  “You did. I think you need to leave Tucson, Pete.”

  His stepbrother shook his head but then nodded. “I guess I do. Are you going to tell the police?”

  “Did you come to Tucson to kill me?”

  “Hell no.” Nick felt he sounded sincere. “I was mad at you for leaving, mad at Adam for dying, but I just felt lost. With Pop getting ready to marry my girlfriend, I didn’t know what to do. I saw your art in Jackson. That wasn’t a lie. I just came on an impulse.”

  Nick looked at Denali. “What do you think?”

  “Pete,” she said, “will you open your memories to us?”

  He stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “Someone used you. If we can find out who by looking at what you’ve seen, it might help. Could that person have also met you in Jackson?”

  He considered and sighed. “I feel like a total dupe. Maybe. I don’t know. I talked to people there. I was bummed… If you can do it, go ahead. It’s probably empty.” He shook his head with disgust.

  Nick saw Denali, her sisters and mother all begin to concentrate on Pete. It didn’t look like they were doing anything, but they kept at it. John stood back with Nick. “Maybe we should get out of here and let them go at it.”

  “Fine by me. Coffee?”

  John nodded. They took their cups out onto the patio.

  “How did you know what was happening here tonight?” Nick asked. Harvey jumped onto his lap, purring as he petted him. “Don’t you ever sleep?”

  “I woke up and knew. I don’t know how. Maybe the family connection. I hadn’t seen Maria in years, but blood tells.”

  “I guess so.” He wasn’t so sure it had for him. Of course, Pete wasn’t blood kin. By the time, they had finished their coffee, the women and Pete came out.

  “He doesn’t know,” Maria said sitting next to John. “He was wiped before the spell. It’s not something we can break through.”

  Pete looked embarrassed. “I am sorry. Not that that helps much.” He rubbed his hands. “My right hand feels numb. Guess the ropes.”

  “Maybe,” Nick said remembering the blast of whatever Denali had sent that shattered or even dissolved the knife. What had she done? It had to have been what she used on him that night in the gallery. He gave her a speculative look.

  “Pete,” Denali said, “These are my sisters, Elke, Torre, Devi and our mother, Maria.”

  “I imagine you all see me as a real jerk,” he said shaking his head. “I do too. I’ve felt low, but this is the bottom for me… I hope.”

  “So make up your mind to get strong,” Maria said. “That’s your only protection against something like this.”

  “I will leave Tucson. Whatever’s going on here, I can’t help with it and don’t want to be used again… Or can someone do it to me again?” He looked worried.

  “We put some protections over you, but yes, you should leave,” Elke said. “You will be weak for a while.”

  “Can I recommend someone for you go to and build your internal strengths?” Maria asked.

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “He lives in Shasta City. Do you know it?”

  “No.”

  “It’s a special place, strong energy there. It’d be good for you. I will send word to him to expect you.” She wrote down an address and handed it to him. “There are ranches nearby. I think you could get work.”

  “I’d like that.” Pete didn’t look at Nick. “Will my brother be okay?”

  “We will do what we can to make sure he is.”

  Nick had spent his life taking care of himself. Until recently, he’d done fine at it. Well, maybe too close to the edge a few times, but he’d survived. Now he was at risk of being put in jail. And he had to depend on someone else to keep him from ending up in chains. He gritted his teeth.

  “I will head north right away,” Pete said, turning to Nick. “I truly am sorry. Not that that helps. I was such a smart ass.”

  Nick smiled. “You were that.”

  “Maybe someday in the future…”

  “I’d like that too. Good luck.” He put the protesting cat from his lap, rose, and shook Pete’s hand, before giving him a hug. “It will be better.”

  “I sure as hell hope so. I’m tired of being a jerk.”

  “Can you give us a lift to our homes?” Elke asked.

  “Be glad to.”

  “Thanks.”

  In moments, the four were gone. Maria turned to her daughter and Nick. “I will leave you too.”

  “Not leaving him alone, are you?” John asked as he headed for the door.

  “No,” Maria said. “Denali will be with him.” She vanished.

  Nick clenched his jaw. He was being treated as a problem and not someone capable of taking care of himself. He understood and even saw the problem himself, if he was being set up as a patsy. It didn’t make it easier. Besides, was he being helped by these witches-- or their prisoner?

  When he and Denali were alone, he said exactly that.

  She smiled. “Okay, want me to go?”

  “You know I don’t.”

  “Then face it… you might be enchanted, my prisoner, mine to do with whatever I wish.”

  He knew she was teasing, but she hit too close to his concern. He lit the cigarette he’d been craving for hours. “Some night,” he said as he took a long satisfying draw.

  “We didn’t learn much either,” Denali said.

  “I need to understand what you and your family are talking about. I am more willing to believe you now. If the human enemy is this Braddock, do you know the spiritual enemy?” He couldn’t believe he’d just asked that question.

  “You are catching on quick for someone who didn’t believe in any of this a week ago.”

  “A week ago I hadn’t seen the effect of-- what the hell was that?”

  “Plasma bolt, and it can be tempered for the need.”

  “You used it on me at the gallery that night.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I did. You aren’t easy to put down. You surprised me.” She smiled.

  “You and your sisters can all do that?”

  “And Mom. It’s just energy but concentrated and using the elementals to pull power from whatever is handiest. We do ask permission… although quickly when the need is like it was tonight.”

  “I think I was going to stop him without it.”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Your uh plasma bolt obliterated the knife.”

  “Sorry about that. I was scared. You react fast when under fire.”

  “And how I learned to do that I don’t feel proud of.”

  “You should. You served our country.”

  “It has a high cost.”

  She moved to sit on his lap. “I don’t like the stinky cigarette,” she said as she kissed his bristly cheek.”

  “I can take care of that.” He stubbed it out. “I just find this all a lot to take in.”

  “You have a lot to learn. Crash course.”

  “And whoever influenced Pete tonight?”

  “Human but influenced by a level of demon.”

  “Satan?”

  “That’s a human name to explain what is unexplainable. Most cultures find names for them. Some see and recognize them, can talk to them. They give us a name but is it their real one? Who knows. In this case, we are facing a long time enmity from a dark angel, Azaziel. In my bedroom that night, I don’t think it was him nor at the ranch.”
<
br />   “Bedroom?”

  She told him then about her nighttime visitor and how she had at first believed it to be Jane Elm. “Some demons like to play games. I think the one that night goes by the name Ornis.”

  “You thought Jane could have come to you?”

  “I should not have. She hadn’t liked me, so it was probably unlikely. Witches can be fooled. We try not to but it happens.”

  “I am trying to get my head around all this. Ghosts are real too?”

  “There is a culture of the unseen as there is for the seen. There are rules, expectations, but they aren’t always followed there or here. Spirit guides, demons, angels are mostly named based on how they interact with humans.”

  “A God over it all?”

  “I’ve never seen the ultimate being, but I do believe there is. For those who go against the rules, there are consequences.”

  He shook his head and let out a breath. “I have not seen any of this or had any reason to believe it was so until you and even now, I’d doubt except… the plasma bolt. I can’t explain that by logic.”

  “It’s a lot to take in. I grew up with it. It made it easier.”

  “But there are rules,” he repeated.

  “yes, but are sometimes broken.”

  “Why not make at least the spirit world obey?”

  She smiled. “You being a military man obviously believe in order.”

  “As an artist too. There is an order to why a painting works or does not. Order is what allows for inventions, for progress.”

  Her smile broadened. “And is what we call progress truly progress?”

  “You have me there.” He laughed.

  “Back to our immediate problem. What my mother and sisters and I have been wrestling with is whether Azaziel himself is behind this. More confusing is why you? Is someone out to get you or are you a tool aimed at us? And why would anyone think you were connected to us until after Jane’s murder? Just my mother buying your paintings, but she buys many paintings. Braddock visited me not long after the first murder.”

  “I suppose he knew you’d be investigating the murder of Jane since your mother had been friends with her.”