Gone Witch

by Nova Nelson

  He glanced over at me. “I’m not sure. But I’d be up for giving it a shot.”

  “Maybe after we make sure neither of us dies, we can get started on it.”

  “Deal,” he said, nudging me with a shoulder.

  “Shouldn’t we shake on it?” I said.

  “Not if we want to stick to it. Remember the last time we grasped hands?”

  I cleared my throat quickly. “Yes. Um, right. Good call.”

  I spent the rest of the time catching up Donovan on the details of our plan, and major credit to him, because he nodded along without protest.

  Grim trotted ahead the last few yards to a small shack that was actually the entrance to the Catacombs, at least the entrance I knew about, though I assumed there were multiple ones. Eastwind might not have unions, but anyone with a brain could see that having only one entrance and exit, and a tiny one at that, for a place as big as the Catacombs was a huge fire hazard.

  “Grim, no! Bad boy!” I hustled after him, clapping my hands when I saw his back leg hike. “Not on the entrance. For fang’s sake …”

  “Oh, come on. It would be so good. Everyone would know who owned it.”

  “That’s not how it works.” I paused, shutting my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose. “Why don’t you go own a bush? And make sure we’re not downwind of it when you do.”

  “Killjoy.” But he did as I’d suggested anyway, finding some greenery twenty feet off.

  “Just so we’re clear,” Donovan said, pausing at the dark entrance to the shack, “my job is to do nothing until you give the word. Just hide in the shadows.”

  “Yep.”

  He inhaled deeply, scanning our surroundings. “Okay, I can do that.”

  The torch that usually burned from a sconce on the wall above the stairway leading down into the Catacombs had been extinguished, probably at the end of the work day. That made the small space a dark pit, which I was more than happy to let Donovan enter ahead of me.

  The door to the catacombs that Landon would need to unlock for us was at the bottom of the stairs. Supposedly he would be waiting to hear our knock. I didn’t like to think about waiting at the bottom of the long, dark tunnel for more than a few minutes.

  Donovan drew his wand and lit the end so we didn’t have to travel down the spiraling stairs in pitch blackness.

  I stared down into the abyss. “Should we wait for Eva?”

  “She might already be down there. If she’s not, I’ll come back up and wait for her.”

  Grim’s hulking silhouette appeared in the doorway, just as Donovan took the first step down onto the worn stone stairs.

  Donovan paused. “This is a little bit of deja vu. You, me, and Grim entering a dark tunnel …”

  “Don’t get any big ideas,” I said, nudging him with a closed fist to keep going.

  “Big ideas? You think I want to repeat getting attacked by hellhounds? Or maybe I want the water sucked out of me by a drought demon?”

  I followed closely behind him so I could see where to place each step.

  “Oh wait,” he continued. “You mean the part where we kissed and you almost couldn’t stop yourself. Or are you talking about the part where you most definitely kissed me in the bridge between the realms?”

  “Sweet baby jackalope, Donovan. Shut up. Didn’t we just agree to be friends?”

  “Is this not what friends do? Reminisce about the good times?”

  “He’s got you there,” said Grim.

  “Nobody asked you.”

  “Just like nobody asked me before the two of you rolled around on that cliff right before my very eyes.”

  “We weren’t rolling!”

  “You were rolling.”

  “Fine,” I said to Donovan. “You’re right. But could you stop talking about it?”

  He glanced back at me, smirking. One of his hands felt the inside wall to keep his balance while the other held his wand out for light. “Why?” He arched an eyebrow at me. “Secret’s out already about that. We might as well own our truths and— Oof!”

  I chuckled. “Watch out for that door. It’ll jump out at you.”

  There was a slight tick in his jaw after he stumbled back and regained his footing just in time.

  I knocked on the door and waited.

  When I heard footsteps approaching they didn’t sound like they were coming from behind the door. Instead, they were coming from above us.

  “Donovan,” I whispered. He shot me a sharp glance, probably expecting me to continue laughing at him for walking into a door, but instead, I pointed upward. We listened for a moment and agreed with a nod that there was definitely someone coming down after us. Eva? Or had Grace’s circle come early?

  He tapped quietly four times on the thick wooden door. I was worried no one would hear it, but a moment later, it opened and light from the entry hall of the Parchment Catacombs flooded out.

  As soon as I saw Landon open his mouth, I put a finger to my lips, and the three of us hurried by.

  As we entered and my eyes adjusted to the dim light that felt overwhelming by comparison, I saw that Eva was already there, her mountain lion familiar by her side.

  Zola lowered to the ground in a stalking position as she spotted Grim, and his hackles stood straight up.

  I could deal with that in a minute, though. “Shut the door quick,” I whispered at Landon. “Quietly.”

  He followed orders and then I said, “I think they got here early. We just heard footsteps at the top of the stairs when we reached the bottom.”

  Landon’s gaped. “What? They shouldn’t be here for another half hour!”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” I replied. “They’re here.”

  Donovan crossed quickly to Eva, and I could have sworn I heard him whisper, “Hey, babe,” before leading her past the reception desk toward the tunnels.

  I met Landon’s eyes and the two of us headed after them, but I paused when I realized we were missing a member of our party. “Grim,” I hissed. “Let’s go.”

  “You really can’t hear worth a bone, can you?”

  “Yes, I can. And I hear the footsteps, so we—”

  “Two footsteps. Not six.”

  “What?” I said aloud.

  “What is it?” Landon asked. “Does he sense something?”

  “Bet your hide I sense something. Specifically, my sense of smell. I’d recognize that scent anywhere.”

  “Whose scent, Grim?”

  The door swung open then, and when I saw who was standing there and the expression on his face, I was speechless.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Did you follow me here?” I demanded.

  Tanner took in the scene slowly. “What the spell is going on? Landon?” He blinked quickly. “But I saw you come down here with Donovan.”

  “Yep,” echoed a voice from behind me. I twisted to see Donovan emerge from the shadows of the tunnel. “Right here. Long time no chat.”

  Tanner wandered the first few steps into the entry hall, looking back and forth from me to Landon to Donovan. Then he shot me a sharp and puzzled look. “Both of them?”

  “What? No! Tanner!”

  He snapped out of jealousy mode instantly, shaking his head slightly and backtracking. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just … what’s going on here? Why are you sneaking into the Catacombs with Donovan and Landon?”

  “And Eva,” said Eva’s voice as she stepped forward.

  Tanner’s mouth fell open for a moment before he recovered. “Anyone else hiding back there?”

  Eva shook her head. “Nope. This is the extent of it.”

  “Seriously, what is going on?” Tanner demanded.

  “It’s complicated,” I said. “I’ll explain everything to you tomorrow if you just turn around and head back home. Now.”

  “Too late. I just heard more footsteps at the top.”

  “Fangs and claws!” I turned to Landon. “They’re early after all. We gotta go.” I ran up to
Tanner and gabbed the front of his black shirt. “You’re in this now.”

  “In what now? Nora, what’s going on?”

  I pulled him after me as we took up the rear of the group, heading to cavern sixteen where we would set up. “Grace. She’s alive, but we need to get the people who staged the murder to confess.”

  “Holy smokes … how many are there?”

  “Three, we think.”

  He groaned. “That explains the back-up. But why didn’t you just call Manchester?”

  “Manchester already has his guy for the murder. Besides, this may not be entirely legal. Entrapment laws are a little iffy, and technically we’re all trespassing on government property.”

  “Oh, Nora,” he said. “You’re gonna get me fired before I’ve even started.”

  “That’s why I didn’t invite you, genius.”

  We had to jog to get ahead of Grace’s circle and leave ourselves time to set up. It wouldn’t require much, and Landon had done the majority of the work already while he waited for us to arrive, but there was also the mental component of being caught off-guard. That was probably why they’d shown up early in the first place. They wanted the element of surprise.

  What they didn’t know was that we had that on our side, since Grace wouldn’t be here, at least not in the way they suspected.

  “What’s the plan?” Tanner asked. “Whatever it is, I’m in. Just let me know what to do.”

  We entered into another large cavern and Landon said, “This is it.”

  Eva waved her wand and a circle of candles lit at the center.

  “All you need to do is stay hidden,” I told Tanner. “And if things go south, try not to get yourself killed, okay?”

  “What about you?”

  I conceded with a nod. “Sure, try not to let me get killed, either. I’d appreciate that.”

  He steadied his jaw and nodded, then he joined the rest as they disappeared into the shadows of the dark catacomb tunnels leading off of the cavern.

  I took my seat in the center of the candles and waited.

  The whole setup was silly, of course. I didn’t need these candles to do what I claimed to be doing. That was the benefit of being one of the only Fifth Wind witches in town, though—no one had a clue how anything I could do actually worked.

  And because of that, I could use the candles as a distraction to draw their focus and create effect without them thinking twice about it.

  I waited and shut my eyes, trying to steady myself.

  That’s when I felt the cold air on my left arm.

  I tell you, there was bad timing, and then there was Roland’s timing.

  “What do you want?” I whispered, hoping the others were far enough away that they couldn’t hear. He sat on the cold stone beside me, staring straight at me.

  “I believe I’ve found a way for us to be together, my love.”

  “Now’s not the best time for this.”

  “I disagree. Now might be the perfect time.”

  I snuck a glance at him and if I hadn’t already been sitting, my knees might have gone out from under me. The draw of his rugged and masculine face was overpowering, even in such a bleak setting.

  Or maybe especially in such a bleak setting. He glowed so bright, I had a hard time believing no one else could see him, but of course they couldn’t.

  Well, except Grim.

  “Tell lover boy to scram. He’s gonna distract you, get you killed, and then I’ll have to go live in Zoe Clementine’s sunshine and giggles sanctuary until I can find a way to kill myself.”

  “Elaborate,” I whispered to Roland.

  “You’re in grave danger, my love. I’ve been watching the ones who are on their way to meet you, and I have my doubts your friends are up to the task of handling them.”

  “Remind me never to ask you for reassurance.”

  “Death,” he said quickly, and the sound of it crossed the space between us, brushing against my face like a feather. “If you die while I’m here with you, I believe we can cross into the afterlife together. We could spend eternity on that green hillside or wherever else you’d like to go. We could hide ourselves away, lose ourselves in each other’s bodies, emerging from each other’s embrace only for sustenance.”

  Except we wouldn’t have bodies, I wanted to say. Or would we? We seemed to have bodies in that in-between place I could visit. Maybe …

  “Focus, Nora!” Grim hollered at me. “They’re here. I’m not going to the sanctuary! I will tear every one of you to shreds if it means I don’t end up there.”

  “Get lost, Roland” I whispered.

  “Aye. There’ll be plenty of time to decide. After all, you have the rest of your life to die.”

  “Please let me focus.” I shut my eyes.

  “As you wish, my love.”

  The footsteps grew louder and then stopped.

  I opened my eyes. Roland was gone, but ahead of me stood three figures.

  Hunter was at the front with Annabel and Jackie behind him on either side.

  “You?” he said, chuckling confidently. “Where’s Grace?” He marched forward and the women trailed behind him.

  “She’s here,” I said.

  He paused and looked around.

  I held my breath, hoping everyone was properly hidden.

  “You can’t see her,” I said. “Only I can.”

  “Only …” I saw his gaze drop to the candles.

  “I suggest you stay outside the circle. It won’t be good for anyone if you enter while I’m in the middle of a seance.”

  He chuckled bitterly. “A seance? Are you telling me you’re speaking to Grace’s ghost?”

  “Now you’re getting it.”

  He shook his head. “Not possible.”

  “Why not? They found her body, didn’t they?”

  He paused, cocking his head to the side. I could tell he was trying to gauge how much I actually knew. “Indeed, they did.”

  “She’s told me everything she knows, too. Some really interesting stuff going on in the Coven lately.” I smiled, lips pressed together, jaw clenched. I hoped he couldn’t spot my nervousness.

  “Not sure what you’re talking about,” he said airily.

  “Let me ask you this: you received a letter from Grace asking you to meet her here. If you really thought she was dead, why did you come?”

  He didn’t answer immediately, but from only a few feet away from him now, I could see that my question had rattled him.

  There were plenty of legitimate answers to it that might have sprung to mind, had the real answer, that he knew she wasn’t dead, not been blocking their path. If I had gotten a letter from a deceased relative (back before the psychic stuff kicked in, of course), I would have investigated it further, if for no other reason than to figure out who had forged it.

  But sometimes it’s hard to see past our truth to make up a viable lie, and that seemed to be the case for Hunter.

  His silence opened the door for Jackie to speak up.

  She stepped forward. “Is it the money? You’re trying to trick us into paying you? Guess what, you freak, we didn’t bring a single copper with us. You’re not getting a thing.”

  “I didn’t expect you to bring money,” I said.

  Jackie paused, and when she did, Annabel stepped forward to fill the silence. “Obviously, you already know she’s not dead. Stop wasting our time, necro, and tell us why we’re here.”

  “Why do you think she’s not dead?” I asked.

  “Because she left town. We watched her leave, bought her ticket so—”

  Quick as lightning, Hunter’s wand was out and with a flick of it, Annabel’s mouth closed. Strange muffled noises came from her, but her lips didn’t part.

  “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” I said, “but she’s definitely dead.”

  “Is she here with us now?” Hunter asked, moving all the way to the edge of the candle circle. The relaxed boredom he’d worn at Necro Coffee was gone, repla
ced by a pointed and dangerous acuity reflecting from the flickering light in his eyes.

  “Yes,” I said. “And from what she’s telling me, you’re the reason she’s dead.”

  He snarled at me and Jackie lurched forward, grabbing the sleeve of Hunter’s jacket, shouting, “What did you do? We talked about this! Killing her wasn’t part of the plan. Did you—”

  Another snap of the wrist and her mouth closed, too. She stumbled backward, trying to pry open her lips with her fingertips.

  “I don’t know what you’re playing at, necromancer, but I’m tired of the game.”

  “Was it for the Werewolf Protection Act?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Of course it was for the werewolf act! And who cares? If we hadn’t run her out of town, he would have killed her anyway. We were helping her by forcing her to leave. And when we staged the murder, that was a mercy, too. We were showing Eastwind what would have happened, reminding them who werewolves really are without anyone getting hurt.”

  I suddenly found myself in dangerous territory. The fact that Hunter had confessed, even if he did attempt to justify it, meant he didn’t think it would cause him a problem later on. And the most likely reason he might think that was that he didn’t foresee me being around much longer to tell the tale.

  I wasn’t ready to bail, though. Not yet.

  “Except Fritz,” I said. “He’ll spend the rest of his life in Ironhelm for this. I would say that’s getting hurt.”

  “It’s more than he deserves after what he did to Grace.”

  I laughed. “You mean get her pregnant? Oh, Hunter, your North Wind pet wanted to be pregnant. Let’s not kid ourselves. As far as I can tell, she’d been trying at it for months.”

  His nostrils flared, a spring of hatred bubbling up from depths I didn’t know he had.

  And then something new occurred to me. I chuckled. “Wow. I didn’t see this coming. You wanted her for yourself. You were jealous. Is that why you hate werewolves? I thought it was just because your family was mixed and maybe you weren’t the golden child. But now I get it. Your former student fell for one instead of being hot for teacher, and you can’t get over it. Sweet baby jackalope, that’s sad.”