A Witch's Rite (Witch's Path Series: Book 5)

by N. E. Conneely

  I nodded.

  He tipped his head in the direction of the hedges. “It is the same as these.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

  “Yes, though the small sample was much more interactive.” Elron stared at the rhododendrons. “It is almost like the bushes are not really here.”

  I eyed them. It was possible, but I was still stuck on a previous point. “I can’t believe I forgot about the medallion. It was around my neck the entire time. I mean, it makes sense. Ned’s magic worked on our minds, not the medallions. I bet that made it harder for them to aid us.”

  “It does more than that,” Burly offered.

  Elron and I swung around.

  Elron sounded tired and angry. “What do you mean does more?”

  “Michelle’s right—it works on your mind, but it’s more than that.” He tipped his head to the side. “It obscures your abilities, almost puts you in a trance, makes it hard to think. What do you see when you look around?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “The maze. Big hedges made of rhododendrons and such. But that’s not real or not all real. I saw a flying squirrel leap from tree to tree, but my eyes couldn’t see the tree.”

  “Right. And the trancelike effect makes it easier for him to guide you. I’m sure it feels like you’ve walked miles and miles, but this whole area isn’t that big—five, maybe ten acres.”

  “Can you see what’s really here?” Elron asked.

  Burly nodded. “It was intermittent before, but now that you fixed me, I just see a wide spot in the trees. There’s a big tree to your left actually.”

  That gave me a brilliant idea. With the spells damaged, I should be able to see the difference between the magic on Burly and Elron. If I could see the spells affecting us, there was a good chance I could remove them. “If I break the magic, can you help us find Ned?”

  Burly considered. “I’ve only ever been to his cabin through the maze. I’m not sure I can find it now.”

  I shrugged. “Once the magic is broken, I might be able to help with that, but I need to know if you’re willing to help us fight Ned.”

  Elron must not have thought I had given Burly ample motivation. “Ned’s holding an officer. We need to rescue him and capture Ned.”

  I didn’t have it in me to argue with him, and Burly was nodding in agreement.

  “We need you,” Elron continued. “Now that you’re free of him, you’ll be the only one his magic doesn’t work on. Will you help us?”

  “Yes.”

  I smiled. Now we were starting to make progress.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  I took a sip of the water Elron had given me and studied the two men. I wasn’t sure if they trusted one another, and after the fight, I couldn’t blame them for that, but they needed to be able to work together. With Burly on our side, we had a real chance to find Wells and Patrick, rescue Gudger—assuming he was still alive—and capture Ned.

  “Burly,” I said softly. “Do you think you could help us find the other two officers?”

  Elron stiffened. “Wells is dead. He fell victim to a nixe.”

  “Oh.” I closed my eyes and said a short prayer. I wanted to mourn, but I couldn’t do that now. “What happened to the nixe?”

  Elron smiled grimly. “She attempted to kill me. I killed her.”

  “You did the world a favor,” Burly said. “She was a rotten one. Loved killing.”

  I gave Elron a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

  “And I am most grateful to find you in good health.”

  Smiling, I leaned my head against his shoulder.

  A long moment later, Burly cleared his throat. “I might be able to help you find the remaining officer. I have some ideas of where he could be, and if you can break the magic on the two of you, we won’t have to follow the maze.”

  “I can try, but I need food and rest first.”

  Elron pulled away from me and dug around in his pack. Turning back, he handed me a bag. “Eat.”

  “What is it?”

  “Jerky.”

  “Thanks.” I pulled a strip out of the bag and started chewing. It was actually pretty good.

  Elron turned to Burly. “Do you think it’s safe to stay here?”

  Burly shrugged. “I don’t see a reason why not. Ned has traps scattered all over the place and a few more creatures too. If he wants to get us that badly, he can find us.”

  That news didn’t really surprise me, though I’d wished for something happier. “Then could we pause the conversation until I can get in a nap? A tired witch is a useless witch.”

  Elron glanced at the area around us. “I’ll keep watch.”

  Burly leaned against the hedge, which I was guessing was actually a tree. “And I too will rest. The earth was not gentle.”

  I curled up, using Elron’s pack for a pillow, with the sleeping bag draped over me. Elron and I agreed that being in the bag would be an issue if we were attacked. It wasn’t as warm this way, but it was good enough.

  I fell asleep with Elron stroking my hair and the knowledge that he would keep me safe. The nap went by all too quickly, and Elron gently shook me awake only an hour later.

  He was quick to apologize. “If we were home, I could let you rest—”

  I finished the thought. “But we’re not, and Ned has to sleep sometime, so we should do as much work as we can when he’s likely to be resting.”

  He nodded.

  With a resigned sigh, I ate another piece of jerky and washed it down with some of the water Elron was carrying. While he’d arrived with plenty, three people could make short work of a couple of canteens. We would need to find a stream soon, or we’d be rationing the supply.

  Burly woke up when we started packing up the sleeping bag.

  Elron offered him a granola bar. “I’m not sure if most of my rations would be suitable for your digestive tract, but I think this would be fine.”

  “Thank you.” Burly took the bar from Elron. “I would’ve offered to take you back to my cave, but I know Ned watches that place, and it may be trapped.”

  Elron shook his head. “You do not need to explain. I understand our situation.”

  When I finished my snack, I turned my attention to the problem of the spells. Having the medallion back was a huge benefit. It might aid my magic, and simply being able to see it told me that some parts of the spells were breaking down. I could find those cracks and use them to completely dismantle the spells.

  Stretching out my power, I gave both Burly and Elron a cursory evaluation. Burly looked to be completely free of spells, which was what I’d expected. Elron, on the other hand, was covered in a sticky mass of magics that had any number of functions. Satisfied that I was once again able to see magic, I pulled my power back into myself.

  It shouldn’t be too difficult to free both myself and Elron, but I didn’t think I could do anything for Patrick from this distance. Unless the spells had created some connection between us that I was unaware of, I simply didn’t have a way to find him and target his magic from this distance.

  “Elron, can you come here? I think it will be easier to remove the spells if we’re in contact.”

  “Of course.” He sat down next to me and offered his hand. “Would it be beneficial for us to link?”

  “Maybe. Let me give both of us a good look before we go any further. I want to be careful with this. If he’s a witch, there’s a good chance that he placed traps in the spells in case someone like me tried to undo them.”

  “Be careful.”

  Nodding, I closed my eyes and let my power explore my body from head to toe, inside and out. As I looked around, the medallion warmed against my chest. I smiled. I could use all the help it had to offer.

  The first spell I found was a heavily damaged perception-obscuring spell that seemed to have been responsible for making me unable to hear Elron’s voice or feel the medallion. It also eased the way for the next spell. That one was the maze spell—it made us
believe we saw the walls and were captured inside this place even when our actual surroundings were very different. The third spell was something else. It was an odd combination of tracking and tethering. The more I examined it, the more it seemed that it both allowed Ned to find us and prevented us from leaving a rather small area. That had to be the one that was keeping us inside the confines of the physically dangerous area where he had planted traps and obstacles to block us.

  Now that I had a good idea what Ned had done to me, I turned my attention to Elron. It was easier to examine him because the perception-obscuring spell was more fractured and therefore less effective. All in all, he had the same spells on him that I had on me. That would make it far easier to remove them.

  Pulling my power back into myself, I started trying to figure out the best way to proceed. There were two primary tactics, and I didn’t know which was the best in this situation. The first was to take the spells off myself, that way it would be easier for me to see what had been done to other people. The second was to remove the spells from Elron first because they weren’t working well anymore and it should give me a bit of a practice run.

  I couldn’t decide if there was a right or wrong choice. Though I did know that I had a better chance of doing a good job on other people if Ned’s spells weren’t playing with my brain. That much decided, I got to work.

  The perception-obscuring spell had to be the first to go, not only because of how it altered my view of the outside world but because it could change how I saw the spells, and that simply wasn’t acceptable. I started unraveling it, picking it apart piece by piece. It was slow work, looking at the tangle of magic and trying to find any traps as I unwound the mess.

  Near the end of the spell, I found the trap I’d been looking for. There was a trigger for another spell tied to the end of this one. It would recast the magic I was working on removing and boost the two remaining spells.

  I looked around the entire spell, trying to figure out the best way to extract it. Finally I decided that I could undo the trigger with the remains of the perception-obscuring spell intact. It was tricky work. I spent more time stabilizing part of the spell to make sure the spells didn’t react than I did actually dismantling them. In the end, I was able to take it down without any ill effects. From there I quickly removed the rest of the perception-obscuring spell.

  Even though I wanted a break, there wasn’t any time to rest. Stretching my neck, I got back to work. I needed to get this done so I could fix Elron and we could find the boys. Bracing myself for what I might find, I reexamined myself. While I’d thought I would find several additional spells or differences in what was left, it looked like everything was as I’d thought. That was a first, and I credited the medallion for helping me.

  I moved onto the next bit of magic. The maze spell was fairly straightforward and came apart rather easily, leaving me with the tracking and tethering enchantment. That was one that might have some benefits to leaving it active since removing it would give Ned a solid basis for suspecting that I’d broken free. However, we would be far more likely to sneak up on him and rescue Gudger if our every move wasn’t tracked.

  In the end I decided to remove it. Any reason for keeping it was outweighed by the benefit of making things more difficult for Ned. As I picked apart the spell, I kept looking for a trap, but I never found one. When I finished, I reexamined myself one last time. As far as I could tell, I was clean of spells.

  Turning my attention to Elron, I began removing the spells from him. It went more quickly, in part because I knew what to expect and in part because the spells had more fractures in them. I didn’t know what he’d been doing, but it had done a number on the spells.

  When he was clear, I squeezed his hands and opened my eyes. “How do you feel?”

  Elron nodded and smiled. “Much improved.”

  I wasn’t really listening to him. Our surroundings were entirely different than what I’d been able to see before. Where I’d seen hedges and paths, there were now towering trees, a few giant rhododendrons, small bushes, and all the things I typically expected to find in the woods. Burly was indeed leaning against a giant oak tree.

  Which reminded me, Elron had taken some abuse when he was fighting Burly. Now that my brain was working better, I did a visual inspection. He was sitting stiffly and unevenly. The corners of his mouth were pinched, and he looked flat-out uncomfortable.

  Twisting around, I grabbed his pack and dragged it over.

  “What are you doing?” Elron asked.

  “Looking for a healing charm. I’m sure we stashed a few in here.” I dug around, trying to find the basic first aid kit.

  “Why?”

  I glared at him over my shoulder. “You’re hurt. I’m a bad healer, and one of those charms will help.”

  Elron shook his head. “We need to save them for Gudger.”

  “Are any of your ribs broken?” My eyes flickered over to Burly. “He hit you pretty hard.”

  “Perhaps a couple of them are cracked,” he finally admitted.

  Grabbing the first aid kit, I pulled it out and removed a minor healing charm. “You are going to use this. There are two more charms in here. We can use them on Gudger, but before we can help Gudger, we need to rescue him. To do that, we need you to be in good shape.” I pressed the healing charm into his hand.

  Frowning, he took it from me. “This is not the best use of resources.”

  “I disagree.” My voice was sharp enough that I saw Burly flinch. “Keeping a fighter, who happens to be my boyfriend, healthy is an excellent use of police resources.”

  Elron narrowed his eyes at me, and for a moment I thought he’d argue, but he just activated the charm, tucked it in the waistband of his pants, and gave a relieved sigh. With cracked or, as I suspected, broken ribs, it wouldn’t completely heal him, but it was better than he was now. That would stabilize and give them a jumpstart in healing. That was the best we could do under the circumstances.

  Burly got to his feet. “We need to get moving. With Ned’s connection to all of us broken, he’s going to be livid. We should expect to encounter a few traps while we look for the rest of your group.”

  Elron nodded, and at the same time I said, “I’ll start packing up.”

  With that we all got another drink of water. As Elron was handing the canteen back to me, he smiled. “Thank you. I feel much better.”

  “Next time don’t argue so much.” I shoved the first aid kit in his backpack. “And you’re welcome.”

  Elron rolled his eyes. I guess people have been doing that since the dawn of time, or he’d been watching too much reality television.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Patrick

  I couldn’t say that either Wells or myself slept well. I think we were both on edge being so close to the river and the nixe. The fire eventually went out, and we huddled between the emergency blanket and sleeping bag, trying to keep one another warm.

  Without the fire, there wasn’t a good way to make food, so we drank water. It was the one thing we had in abundance. While I was having my completely unsatisfying “breakfast,” I kept thinking about Wells’s feet. We needed to keep moving, but he didn’t have any shoes. Those had been lost during his river ordeal.

  Wells was fairly focused on the entrance to the maze and the long hedgerow, but I finally caught his eye. “How tough are your feet?”

  “Not tough enough to be barefoot in this terrain.”

  There was no arguing his point. Not only were there rocks and twigs, but there was the occasional trap. “You need shoes.”

  “I know.” Wells held up a corner of the emergency blanket. “I’ve been thinking that we could cut up this guy and turn it into foot bags. I could line them with moss for cushion. It wouldn’t be great, but it would be better than nothing.”

  I pulled a knife out of my pocket and handed it to him. From the way he’d been looking at the maze, there was something else on his mind. “What is it?”

  �
��Can you find some moss?” He positioned his foot on the blanket. “I’ll tell you when I’m finished making these shoes.”

  “Sure.” I wished he’d simply tell me what was on his mind, but if I knew Wells, he wanted to work through the problem before he commented. Even then, he’d be reluctant to bring up something I might dislike, which meant there was a good chance I wouldn’t enjoy what he was about to say.

  Sighing, I focused on finding plush moss. Branches might have been scarce, but moss was plentiful. I peeled a variety of types off the ground. Some of them were thin and tough, others more springy. When I had what I considered to be enough to fill two booties, I carried the pile back to camp.

  “Thanks.” Wells started layering the moss in two ragged-looking rectangles. Then he positioned his feet on them and started tying the strips on the edges together. When he was finished, he had two very awkward-looking but reasonably secure shoes. I couldn’t say they looked sturdy, but the idea was to get out of here. Hopefully we’d be able to do that before his feet got too torn up.

  “Now.” Wells leaned back and studied me. “What can you tell me about the fire truck you found last night?”

  Oh no, I had a bad feeling about where this was going. “Well, it was old and sitting all alone in a clearing.”

  “Right, but how old?”

  I had a bad feeling about this. “A ’50s model.”

  Wells narrowed his eyes. “Was it in good shape?”

  “It was rusty.” I chewed on my lip. “Hard to say more than that. I didn’t get close to it.”

  Wells nodded thoughtfully. “I think we should go find it. This could be another one of those times that our minds are playing tricks on us. It could be a truck or something that’s in good enough shape that we could drive it.”

  “Or we could be walking into a trap.”

  He shrugged. “It’s a risk, but we need to do something. Bumbling around in this maze isn’t getting us anywhere.”

  Shaking my head, I tried to see the value in the truck. “Run this by me again. You’ve admitted it’s likely a trap. Why would we risk going back there, and why would we think there’s a chance we can use the truck?”