My Favorite Witch

by Lisa Plumley

  “Hold on. I’ve got you.” Lily was there, warm and surprisingly sturdy. Apparently creating artisanal baked goods made a witch stronger than usual. “There. Is that better?”

  Dayna fought to open her eyes. Her throat tightened, then began to close up. The feeling made her panic. Wide-eyed, Dayna grabbed Lily’s sweater. Soft witchmade cashmere met her grasp. She needed to hold on. She needed to fight against…this.

  Lily chuckled. “I doubt Deuce told you everything.”

  Dayna thought she might have imagined those words. She couldn’t be sure. The lights overhead tilted; Lily’s face loomed over hers, filled with concern. Then everything went black.

  With his back against the cold wall of an enchanted IAB holding room, T.J. closed his eyes. Blissful darkness pulled at him. He welcomed it. It promised relief from the squeezing hand that gripped his chest. Each heartbeat brought new pain. Drawing in a breath was agony; thinking about losing Dayna was worse.

  With a fierce scowl, he let himself drift. Chaotic images chased through his head, coupled with events he didn’t want to remember and feelings he didn’t want to feel. In the darkness, he saw Dayna, staring at him with accusing eyes. He saw Dayna, standing beside Garmin as though he were the warlock she trusted. He saw Dayna, leaving him without a backward glance.

  “Hey.” Deuce’s voice shattered the stillness, interrupting T.J.’s dark escape. His partner snapped his fingers. “What do you call a witch who won’t put out on the first date?”

  Not this again. Eyes still closed, T.J. ignored him.

  “You don’t call her. Get it?” Deuce elbowed him. “You don’t call her, because she won’t get freaky with you.” He laughed.

  Desolately, T.J. turned his face away. The wall felt rough against his cheek. For an instant, he attributed the sensation to magical pixilation. Hopefulness fluttered to life inside him.

  Then reason returned, hard and cold. Garmin would never place them in a holding room that was so easy to escape from.

  “Not going for that one? Okay.” Still on the floor where he’d been since T.J. had awakened to find a cadre of IAB agents locking them in, Deuce sighed. “How about this: What do you call a warlock who acts like a complete asshole, even to the extent of locking up his two best freaking agents?” In a flurry of motion, Deuce got to his feet. He moved under the autoshadowing memory flicker affixed to the ceiling, then punched his fist toward it. “You call him Leo Garmin! That’s right! King Asshat of the InterAllied Bureau. I hope you hear this, you jerk—”

  “Knock it off.” Blearily, T.J. opened his eyes. “Garmin’s charges won’t stick to you. This is all on me. So shut up.”

  “Oh. You’re awake then.” Eyes narrowed, Deuce whirled around. “Howdy.” He stalked closer. “I’ve only been wiping your forehead and holding your fucking hand for the past hour while you did your best impression of a heart attack victim. Very convincing. Really scared the shit out of me. Nice work.”

  “Sorry.” T.J. gave a halfhearted wave. “It’s a Patayan thing. I don’t think it’s fatal. It just feels like it is.”

  Deuce’s gaze softened. “Is it because of Dayna?”

  T.J.’s throat closed up. His heart clenched. He nodded.

  “Aww.” Deuce shook his head. “Good. Maybe that will teach you not to make such a boneheaded move again, you idiot!”

  His scathing tone washed over T.J. He closed his eyes.

  But Deuce wasn’t finished. “You can wallow in misery all you want, but the plain truth is, you made Dayna leave.”

  Scowling in response, T.J. lifted his middle finger.

  “Hell, you practically pushed her out the door,” Deuce went on, his tirade unabated. “She begged you to let her come with us to fight the Followers, but what did you do? You shot her down. It was like kicking a puppy. A hot, sexy, capable vixen puppy.”

  T.J. opened his eyes again. “It was necessary.”

  “Why? So you could feel like a big shot and save the day?” His partner paced across the room, oblivious now to its security features. “You heard Dayna. She’s a vixen witch! Not a bad asset to have on our side in the big showdown. You should have trusted her. Maybe then she would have told you about being a vixen before it was too late.”

  “She betrayed me!” T.J. roared, fully alert now. “She turned me in.” He sobered long enough to glare at Deuce. “In case you haven’t noticed, she turned you in, too, jackass.”

  Prudishly, his partner crossed his arms. “She didn’t do it. She told you that. Am I the only one with eyes and ears around here?” He stared at T.J. in blatant disgust. “I heard Dayna swear she was innocent. I heard her beg you to trust her.”

  “I did trust her.” T.J. winced as his heart gave another spasm. He panted for breath. “Now it’s killing me. Happy?”

  “Not until we find a way to stop the Followers.”

  “Your concern for my welfare is really touching.”

  This time, Deuce flipped him the finger. “We finally know what’s happening in this town. Just like your magus said, it’s not good. Really not good. And we’re stuck in here.” He wheeled around, ruffling his hair in frustration. “Do you think Garmin is on top of this thing with the Followers, like he said?”

  T.J. shook his head. “I don’t trust him.”

  “Oooh. Big surprise there. The lone wolf is suspicious.”

  T.J. ignored Deuce’s sarcasm. “Think about it. We should be in a regular holding cell, with regular agents watching us.” He gestured at the holding room with its various IAB enchantments. He nodded in the direction of the guards outside the door. “Instead, we’re secreted in a magically enhanced back room with Garmin’s private foragers on the watch. This goes way beyond flouting an IAB suspension.”

  “You think Garmin is corrupt?”

  “I think everyone is corrupt.” With a ragged exhalation, T.J. leaned his head against the wall again. “But I’m magically useless and you’re…chronically magically useless. Unless that changes between now and tomorrow morning, we’re screwed.”

  Deuce frowned. “I don’t accept that.”

  “Too bad.” T.J. closed his eyes, surrendering to the darkness again. “Because I do. It’s over, Deuce. We’re done.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Dayna awakened in the Janus lobby. Muzzy-headed and confused, she squinted at the glittering chandelier overhead. She patted her hands. A sleek leather settee met her palms.

  It looked as though Lily had moved her to a more comfortable spot. Dayna couldn’t remember exactly what had happened. She had a vague recollection of hurrying inside the resort’s lobby, following Lily…confronting her. Deuce.

  She sat up. Her head swam. Voices surged toward her.

  “You can’t put her in the penthouse.” Sumner’s petulant tone came first. “You promised me that suite, Francesca!”

  “Don’t be such a baby, Sumner.” This, from Lily. “We have more important things to worry about right now.”

  “Lily is right,” Francesca said. “If we don’t hurry—”

  “Of course she’s right!” Sumner interrupted in a caustic voice. “That’s just great. Not only have I been replaced by a nobody like Dayna Sterling, but now Lily is runner-up, not me.”

  Runner-up for what? Dayna wondered fuzzily. She was used to being the subject of Sumner’s insults—but the rest of what Sumner had said didn’t make sense. Confused, she peered toward the other end of the lobby. Near the concierge desk, her fellow vixen witches stood with rigid posture, clearly arguing.

  “This isn’t the time for your competitive streak to raise its ugly head, Sumner.” Francesca turned her face toward Dayna. She smiled. “The important thing is, Dayna is our friend now. She needs us. I’m not going to send her out into the night all alone. What if she keels over on the trolley? Or in a taxi?” Francesca shook her head, her expression filled with certainty. “Dayna is taking the penthouse suite, and that’s that.”

  “But Francesca!” Sumner wailed. “You can’t give her
the—”

  “I just did.” On a wave of unassailable charm, Francesca moved across the lobby. Murmuring with concern, she sat beside Dayna on the settee. “How are you? Are you feeling better?”

  Dayna frowned. “I think so. What happened?”

  “Lily says you passed out. You still look pretty pale. Fortunately, she was here to take care of you. And when the two of you didn’t come back to the ballroom right away, I knew something must have happened. Sumner and I came at a run.”

  Behind Francesca, Sumner crossed her arms. She glared.

  It didn’t take T.J.’s special blend of Patayan sensitivity to recognize the animosity flowing from Sumner to Dayna. The realization bothered her, but Dayna had more important issues to deal with tonight. Biting her lip, she leaned toward Francesca.

  “I have to tell you something. But it’s sensitive.”

  Led by Dayna’s pointed gaze, Francesca glanced over her shoulder. Now Lily waited beside Sumner, too, wearing a peevish expression. Both the vixen witches’ auras shimmered darkly.

  “We still have a lot to do before tomorrow,” Lily reminded Francesca with a look at her watch. “We’d better get back.”

  “Thanks, Lily.” Pursing her lips in displeasure, Francesca turned to Dayna again. “We don’t have any secrets between us vixens. Whatever you have to say, you can say to all of us.”

  Doubtfully, Dayna glanced at the vixen duo behind her.

  “But tonight…I’m afraid your news is going to have to wait.” Francesca gave a weary exhale. Even frazzled, she looked beautiful and in command. “Lily is right. We are way behind on the preparations for tomorrow. The festival and graduation will be here before we know it. I’m going to have to pull an all-nighter just to get ready. This event could make or break Janus. I really can’t afford to blow it.”

  Uncertainly, Dayna hesitated. She didn’t want to blurt out the whole scheme that T.J. had laid out about the Followers’ conversion plans—at least not in front of Lily and Sumner. It was still possible that Lily had masterminded the whole thing.

  After all, she was the one who’d dosed Deuce tonight.

  I doubt Deuce told you everything.

  And Dayna didn’t trust Sumner. Not even a little bit. But she couldn’t wait too long to deal with the Followers. If T.J. was right, they’d set their conversion plans in motion tomorrow.

  Maybe Francesca, with her influence, could help get T.J. and Deuce released from the IAB? It was clear she knew Garmin…

  “Besides, you look positively ghastly,” Francesca told her, “and I’m not saying that to be mean. I’m saying it as a friend.” Warmly, she urged Dayna to her feet. “You’ve been through a lot today. You had a big shock earlier. Plus, you’re probably still feeling the effects of the cocktails you drank. After a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel so much better, I promise.”

  “Well…” Gazing into Francesca’s face, Dayna wavered. It was nice to know that someone cared about her well-being. The night had definitely taken its toll on her. Finding out she was a vixen, seeing that gardener die, worrying about Deuce, arguing with T.J., being tricked by Garmin, losing T.J…. “You do have a point. I am pretty wiped out.” If she explained the Followers’ conversion scheme in this state, it would sound like something out of a Scooby Doo cartoon. Francesca was right—she did need a chance to rest and regroup. “Maybe just a short nap. But after that, I’ve really got to talk to you. It’s important.”

  “I’ll put in a request for a wake-up call in an hour. Whatever you want.” With easy agility, Francesca walked Dayna to the elevator bank. She magiked a key card, then inserted it in the private express elevator slot. Silently, the doors whooshed open. “After you’re feeling better, if you still want to talk, I’ll be down in the ballroom. I’m sure I’ll be there all night.”

  “Okay.” Suddenly overcome by a wave of fatigue, Dayna yawned. She was so tired. Maybe her earlier dizzy spell was still affecting her. “I’ll tell you all about it then.”

  If she was lucky, Sumner and Lily would be busy elsewhere.

  “Sounds good. If you need anything—anything at all—just call me, okay?” Francesca beamed at her, as though accepting a luxury penthouse suite for the night were a tremendous personal favor. She slipped a card in Dayna’s hand. It tingled as it struck her palm, imprinted with Francesca’s charismatic witchy identity. “You can reach me here anytime, day or night.”

  “Thanks, Francesca. This is really kind of you.”

  “I could tell you needed a friend tonight.” Francesca gave her a hug. “Just don’t give that card to anyone else,” she warned. “That’s my special line, for close friends only.”

  Warmed by the glow of Francesca’s friendship, Dayna nodded. When the queen bee of Covenhaven decided to appoint you a member of the in crowd, she definitely went all the way. If Dayna hadn’t felt so heartbroken just then, she would have been jubilant. As it was, she could only offer Francesca a wan smile. She’d wanted to fit in. Now, beyond a doubt, she finally did.

  “Now shoo!” Waving her arms, Francesca urged her into the elevator. Its sleek paneled walls hugged Dayna close, leaving her feeling cosseted and cared for. Francesca pulled out a second gold keycard, then gave it to Sumner. “Sumner, why don’t you show Dayna which way the penthouse suite is?”

  It wasn’t a suggestion; Sumner’s irate expression said that she realized as much. Her aura turned from dim to murky.

  Then she smiled. Ruthlessly. “All right. Let’s go, Dayna.”

  Dayna took a step back as the vixen witch entered the elevator. With enviable poise, Sumner inserted the keycard, then pressed the P button. Soundlessly, the doors began to slide closed. Suddenly alarmed, Dayna stuck her hand between them.

  They bounced apart.

  “That’s all right, Sumner. I’ve got it from here.”

  “Nonsense.” With relish, Sumner pressed the P button again. She wiggled her fingers in a cheerful wave to her fellow vixens. “I’ll make sure you get properly settled in. Here we go!”

  The doors closed all the way. Feeling a distinct sense of menace infiltrate the elevator’s tiny space, Dayna watched as the numbers lit up. The car set itself in motion, taking her to the penthouse suite.

  When the elevator reached the penthouse level, the doors slid open again. Sumner stared resentfully at the luxurious hallway that lay beyond the elevator bank. She didn’t move.

  Warily, Dayna looked at her. “Thanks, Sumner. Good night.”

  Sumner’s expression remained fixed and sullen…except for the tiniest wobble of her chin. Was übercool Sumner Jacobs actually about to cry? Dayna could hardly believe it.

  “Listen, Sumner…” Awkwardly, Dayna gestured toward the penthouse. “I didn’t come here for any of this. If it helps, I’m really not trying to wreck your plans. This night has not gone the way I wanted it to. I found out some major news, and then I broke up with my”—she paused, unsure what to call her bonded warlock/Patayan guardian—“boyfriend, and then I had that weird dizzy spell, and now I don’t know what to believe anymore. So—”

  “It wasn’t a dizzy spell. Lily hexed you.”

  Surprised, Dayna stared at her. “Come on,” she blurted out. “That can’t be true.” Lily had obviously done the wrong thing when she’d dosed Deuce. But Dayna still believed that might have been an accident. Lily had honestly cared about Deuce; if she’d stolen that conversion potion in a misguided attempt to keep them together…Well, what witch hadn’t done something crazy in the name of love? “Why in the world would Lily—”

  “You’d better watch your back. Lily is devious. She goes after whatever she wants full force. And she never loses.”

  Dayna thought about Deuce—about almost losing him tonight. She thought about what Lily had said to her earlier, as she’d collapsed in the lobby. I doubt Deuce told you everything.

  “I don’t have anything Lily would want,” Dayna argued.

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Sumner’s eyes glittered with a pecul
iar brightness. “From where I sit, you have everything.”

  “Then I need a seat near you, because I can’t see it.”

  Her joke didn’t faze Sumner. Feeling goose bumps prickle along her skin, Dayna rubbed her hands over her arms. “Well, thanks again.” She made an awkward grab at the keycard. “If I could just have the keycard, I’ll be on my way to—”

  “Oh, this?” Sumner held up the keycard. “Sure. You can have it.” She tossed it toward the penthouse. It skidded to a stop on the glossy marble floor, then clinked against the suite’s double doors. “You can have it now, and later, and later!”

  Laughing, she swept her hands toward the keycard. A peculiar popping sound erupted. Dayna turned to see what it was.

  At the same moment, Sumner shoved her. Dayna fell into the hallway, wobbling in surprise. She stepped on something hard and slick. It skated along beneath her foot, nearly making her fall.

  She looked down. A keycard.

  Sumner had spelled them into multiplying. The floor was already littered with them. Even as Dayna watched, the keycard she’d stepped on split itself in two. Each of the halves divided as well. She had no idea which card was the original.

  “Enjoy the penthouse suite!” Nastily, Sumner waved.

  The elevator doors closed on her laughter. Dayna had the crazy thought that Sumner would be a perfect partner for Leo Garmin. They were both equally maniacal. Then she dropped to her knees and scrambled to pick up the keycards before they filled the hallway to the penthouse suite and buried her completely.

  Frowning with fatigue, Dayna inserted a keycard into the electronic lock on the penthouse door. Unlike the fifty-two other keycards she’d already tried over the past half hour, this one actually worked. The lock clicked open.

  “Finally.” Weak with weariness and heartache, she opened the door. She’d already been upset when she’d arrived at Janus. Downstairs with Francesca, Lily, and Sumner, she’d battled to remain upright under a weird wave of exhaustion. The last thing she’d wanted after that was to battle with Sumner’s spiteful keycard trick. But she’d persevered. Now she was in.