A Witch's Concern (A Witch's Path Book 4)

by N. E. Conneely

  Now that was an uptick in aggression. Until now they'd been trying to capture, not injure, me.

  "Leave," I shouted, using the remains of the compulsion spell. It didn't even slow them down.

  I held out my hand and blasted them with raw energy. They flew back, and it looked like one of them landed on an arm.

  Looking around, I saw that the first witch I'd used the compulsion spell on was turning onto the main road, and another witch was still trapped in the ground. Down the driveway, Ty could use a hand. They'd gotten magical ropes on him, and he was starting to fall.

  Sprinting in that direction, I shredded the ropes spell and hastily sank one of them into the ground. The other hit me with blast of power, and what air the magic didn't force out of me, the impact with the ground did.

  Rolling to the side, I shook my head, trying to clear it enough to cast. My wand was still in my hand, but my eyes were blurry. Blinking rapidly, I got them to focus just in time to see her fling a stun spell in my direction. I deflected it, barely, and popped her in a basic shield bubble. "Sowil."

  Ty got to his feet and shook himself like a dog.

  Gravel crunched, and I remembered the other two witches. Scrambling around, I saw another tree branch coming at me. The magical nudge was enough for it to go flying past me, but that didn't stop the man behind it from flinging himself at me along with another spell, and this time I didn't have time to do anything.

  Ty lunged forward, grabbed the guy, and tossed him into the air. The spell never hit, so Ty must've gotten close enough to absorb it.

  The witch screamed as he flew through the air, and I hoped he had a couple of spells in reserve or he wasn't going to survive the sudden deceleration at the end of his flight.

  "Good boy, Ty. Good boy."

  The sound of sirens reached my ears, and help was almost here… just in time to clean up the mess.

  Chapter 12: Michelle

  "Lord have mercy, Michelle. How do you get into these messes?" Rodriguez asked as the third ambulance left the area.

  I sighed rather than attempting to voice an answer. Besides, what could I say? Oh, this was clearly my fault. I was driving home, minding my own business, when they decided to practice guerrilla warfare on me.

  "It doesn't look like he's going to make it," Rodriguez continued.

  "Self-defense." Not only for me, but for the witch species. Anyone stupid enough to mess with a girl and her dinosaur didn't deserve to breed. Of course, by that standard, most of the Wapiti should be removed from the gene pool.

  "I'm not sure how plausible that is since your pet T. rex is invulnerable to harm, but he was defending you." He sighed. "Considering the documentation we have on the Wapiti's continued harassment of you, it shouldn't raise too many eyebrows."

  Nodding, I asked, "How are you going to do the investigation and free my car?"

  "Working on that," he said before walking off.

  It was a valid question. If anyone else had been the victim, they would've called me in to investigate the magical aspect of the crime. With the current circumstances, that didn't seem a likely solution. Rodriguez wasn't powerful enough to free my car, and using a different witch would cost them a lot of money.

  I wanted to feel bad about the two witches I'd injured—one had a broken arm and the other was getting head X-rays—but I couldn't. I should have felt worse about the witch who was likely to die because Ty had tossed him in the air, but I was too busy being grateful that I wasn't hurt. Maybe if I'd hurt a few of them when they were holding me captive, they would've understood how far I would go to defend myself. When you attacked someone, injury or death was an understood risk.

  Gretchen was to blame for all of this. If she hadn't been so determined to have me join the clan, all of us would have much happier lives. I hoped my grandmother and her followers went to jail for a long time. Years would be good; decades would be better. For all the nonsense I'd heard from other people about how there was nothing better than family, and how families stick together, that wasn't my experience so far. Though Nana was doing her best to prove that there were good families out there, and that was something I had to remember.

  Mom and Dad had taken the news rather well when I'd called them. They could be getting numb to Gretchen's antics, but I had a feeling they were so relieved that I hadn't been recaptured or harmed that other emotions had been dulled. It had taken some fast talking, but after multiple assurances from Landa, me, and even Rodriguez, they were convinced that I was fine and would be at the wedding tomorrow. I'd warned them that Gretchen could lay a trap for them too, and they'd assured me they would be on guard. I hoped it was enough.

  I still needed to tell Elron, but if I told him now, he'd rush home from work and I would spend the afternoon with him hovering over me rather than having lunch with the girls. However, if I waited, it would hurt his feelings, and lunch with my friends wasn't worth that.

  The phone was at my ear and ringing before I could think better of it. When it rang over to voice mail, I considered hanging up, but it would be worse if he heard about it from the news.

  "Hey, it's Michelle. There was an incident with the Wapiti. Don't worry, I'm fine. Really, I'm fine. I'm meeting Tiffany and Amber for lunch. Keep an eye out in case the Wapiti try to do something to you."

  Elron had a tendency to leave his phone in the office when he was in his greenhouses, but I'd hear from him. Even if he didn't call, he'd ask about it tonight.

  "I got the okay for you to free your car as long as we're linked while you undo the spells," Rodriguez said.

  I got up and dusted off my backside. "I'm ready when you are."

  "Let's do it."

  We moved closer to the car and just looked at it. All four of the brick walls were still there, just as sturdy as they'd been when they appeared. I really wanted to get a closer look at the cardboard box that had started this, but Rodriguez had taken it into custody, and I had a feeling it was getting sent to a crime lab or off to another witch. It was the right thing to do, even if it didn't satisfy my curiosity.

  "Ready?" I asked.

  He nodded.

  Opening my shields, I extended something between a tendril of magic and a thought. It took a couple of tries for us to get in sync, but when we did, it was like he was holding my hand and looking over my shoulder. We hadn't linked before, but it typically got easier the more frequently you linked with someone.

  The benefit of the link in this case was that it allowed me to disassemble the spells, something Rodriguez couldn't do, while allowing him to see what I did so that he could document the spells and how they were dismantled. He was a good hedge-practitioner, but the humans couldn't move energy like a witch, and he was out of his depth with these spells.

  I spent more time than necessary checking to make sure the spells weren't connected because I really wanted to take them down in one go. When I couldn't find anything, I set about unraveling the closest one. It didn't take long for me to find a weakness that I could exploit, and with a few well-placed tugs, the spell disintegrated. I repeated the process with the next three. When they were gone, I gave my car a once-over before breaking the link between Rodriguez and me.

  "Nicely done," he said.

  Nodding, I asked, "Do you need anything else, or can I go?"

  "You're free to go. We'll be clearing out of here soon. Let me know if you find anything we might've missed."

  "No problem." I got in my car and slowly rolled the rest of the way down the drive, finally pulling into the lodge. Before the Wapiti invaded my day, I'd had plenty of time, but now I had to rush if I wanted to get to lunch.

  I gathered up as much as I could and hauled it up to my apartment. Checking the clock again, I muttered something unkind about the Wapiti, hurried through cleaning myself up, and pelted out the door. There were still a couple of cops along the driveway when I headed back to town. The drive went well enough, and I arrived only a couple of minutes late.

  Purse in hand, I headed in
to the cafe. Amber and Tiffany waved at me from a corner booth, and I waved back. As I slid onto the bench across from them, they looked me over. Yup, they had a lot of questions and weren't going to leave without answers.

  "We have a rule: when you're abducted, you owe us a long phone call as soon as you get back." Amber glared at me.

  Tiffany's look wasn't much better. "I didn't get a phone call either."

  "Sorry?" The looks didn't improve. "Guys, I'm sorry. Next time I'm kidnapped, I'll call you as soon as I get home." I sent them a pleading look.

  Amber patted my hand. "Tell us what happened, and we'll forgive you this time."

  "Deal." I sighed.

  The waitress came over, and the conversation died while we ordered. We came here often enough that I knew my favorites and could order without the menu.

  Tiffany waited until the waitress was occupied at the next table before saying, "This kidnapping trend has me worried."

  "Trend?" Amber asked.

  Tiffany wagged a finger between Amber and me before pointing at herself.

  "You'll be fine," I hurried to reassure her. "You don't have a crazy werewolf stalker or an insane grandmother."

  She cocked an eyebrow.

  "Why are you worried?" Amber asked.

  "My two best friends have been abducted. Why wouldn't I be concerned?"

  "I get the worry, but there were specific things that led to our abductions. Unless you have something like that going on, you shouldn't have anything to worry about," I said.

  "I'm worried because the odds of my best friends being abducted within weeks of each other are pretty slim, and two out of three is a pattern."

  Shaking my head, I replied, "No, two is a coincidence. Three is a pattern."

  Amber cut in before Tiffany could reply. "No one is going to take you. There's no reason for anyone to take you, and if by some strange turn of events they do, the two of us will get you back."

  She gave Tiffany an awkward one-armed hug before forcing a grin. "Besides, you're stuck with us."

  Tiffany smiled. "I'm stuck with you? At least the food's good here. We'd starve if Michelle was cooking."

  I snorted. "Starve? That's being melodramatic."

  "You forget, I've had your cooking."

  The waitress returned and distributed our food and drinks. My order of hot tea came on a tray with a cup, pot of hot water, tea bag, sugar container, and small pitcher of half-and-half. A lump of sugar and a cup of hot water later, my tea was brewing.

  My vegetable-and-cheese soup was hot enough that I ended up doing most of the talking while the two of them ate. I told them an abbreviated version of my adventures, starting with my abduction and ending with this morning's attack.

  "You're cursed," Tiffany said. "No one can attract that many dangerous situations naturally."

  "That's mean," Amber said.

  "No, it's true. Look at her. Ty squished a town before taking a liking to her, the two of us fought a werewolf to rescue you, then Gremory came along, and now her own family is attacking her. Who has that kind of misfortune?"

  "I do." I paused. "But I wouldn't call it misfortune. It's just life. Mine happens to be overly exciting. I'm looking forward to it settling down as much as the next person."

  "How do you do it? How do you hold it together?" Tiffany pressed.

  "I don't know. I just do. What other choice is there?" I said with a shrug.

  Amber gave Tiffany a look before asking, "Why does Gretchen want you to join the clan?"

  "She said it was to give me better educational opportunities and because being minister was my birthright. Some of what she said was tempting. I could learn a lot from them, but… I'm scared. Attacking me like this? I don't know if I would be safe once I joined the clan or if I would be allowed to make my own choices."

  "Sounds like a cult," Tiffany said.

  "Feels like one too. It's like I'm some sort of symbol to Gretchen, and it doesn't matter how she gets her hands on me as long as she does." Not to mention her questions about my clan scar. I still didn't know why that had been interesting to her, but it meant something or she wouldn't have asked about it.

  "Do you want to be a minister?" Amber asked.

  "No, not really. I'm not sure." I sighed. "Maybe if I'd been introduced to the clans under different circumstances, it would seem like an interesting job, but I don't know those people, their way of life, and I don't want to. Gretchen wants what I represent, not me. And I like my job."

  "This morning made the third?"—Tiffany waited for me to nod before continuing—"act of violence against you. Run. Run and don't look back."

  "That's what I want to do, but I can't get away from everything clan related. Nana's awesome, and Mom's joining Dad as a member of the Docga soon. I'm stuck with some of it, and that would be fine if it didn't include Gretchen or additional responsibilities."

  By the time the questions turned into debates, my soup was cool enough that I could focus on eating while the two of them talked at me. It didn't matter if I could reply, because they didn't give me enough time to swallow my food and answer their questions before launching into another lengthy dialogue.

  "She did the right thing," Amber said stubbornly.

  "Elron's been teaching her the staff, she could've fought them," Tiffany exclaimed.

  I broke into the debate. "Anyone want pie? They have key lime today."

  They gave me sheepish looks.

  "Give it a rest. We can continue reviewing every move I made at a later date. For now, I'd like to enjoy the rest of lunch and talk about something, anything, else."

  Amber signaled the waitress. We ordered dessert, and I asked for another pot of tea.

  The waitress slipped her order pad and pen into her apron and picked up the used cup and pot. "I'll be right back."

  "Thanks," I said. When she'd moved off, I looked at my friends. They were well-meaning, but the endless conversations about my misadventures had gotten old, and it was fresh enough that constantly talking about it wasn't helping my state of mind.

  Picking a new topic, I focused my attention on Amber. "How are you and Mark doing?"

  "As good as I could hope, I guess. He's patient and kind when I have a bad day, and he isn't bothered by me turning feathery," Amber answered softly.

  "That's good," I said. Amber had dealt with her abduction better than anyone had expected, including me, but that didn't change the fact that it had happened and it was easy for her to see danger where there wasn't any. Liam had taken the time to sit down with her and talk on a couple of occasions, and she was no longer frightened by the existence of werewolves. I'd be lucky to recover half as well.

  Mark being able to handle her on a feathery day was just as important. Amber was a werepeacock, one of the few in the area. Technically she was a peahen since she was female, but that confused everyone, so she called herself a peacock.

  Humans like Mark weren't always willing to date shifters, and it had taken Amber a while to fess up to her true nature. It wasn't the most honest way to date, but she had more in common with humans than most shifters. Unlike werebears, werewolves, or wereowls, Amber wasn't a big, bad predator. She was soft and gentle.

  "I had doubts about him, but he's really proven himself," Tiffany commented.

  "I'm lucky to have him," Amber admitted with a small smile.

  The waitress returned, handed out the desserts, and set a new cup and pot of water on my tea tray. The new teacup and pot were of a matching Japanese design. The cup was short, handleless, and white with blue flowers and shapes decorating the outside. The matching teapot was tall, with a bamboo handle arching over the top. I smiled and thanked the waitress as she left, trying not to look irritated since Varro's medallion had gotten warm and was making my skin prickle with what felt like discharges of static electricity.

  I shifted in my seat and reached up to adjust the medallion. It zapped my finger through my shirt, and I bit my lip to keep from making a noise. The shock was its last a
ct of rebellion. I scooted it around, and the warmth and static electricity died down.

  "Are you okay?" Amber asked.

  "I'm fine," I answered.

  Amber nodded, as if she wasn't sure she believed me, before turning to Tiffany and asking, "Have you had any dates lately?"

  I didn't pay much attention to her answer. Varro's directions about the medallion had been vague, but he'd specifically mentioned paying attention to it. This seemed like the type of thing that deserved attention, but I didn't know what I was looking for.

  I scanned the room, but everything looked normal. People were eating lunch, drinking coffee, talking to their friends, working on their computers, or reading books. A lady in the corner was people watching, but that wasn't unusual.

  "What do you think, Michelle? Should Tiffany go out with this guy?" Amber asked.

  I jerked my attention back to my friends and knew I'd missed a vital part of the conversation. Stammering, I answered, "Um, yes. You haven't been on a date in ages. A fun night out would be good for you."

  "Told you so," Amber said.

  Tiffany glared at both of us. "I don't know."

  "Do it," I said. "You're overdue for a date."

  "Fine. I'll call him tonight."

  "Good," Amber said with a smile.

  I nodded my agreement. Unwrapping my tea bag, I set it in the cup and added a sugar cube. The medallion warmed, and I ignored it, reaching for the teapot. When my hand grabbed the handle, the medallion started zapping me with little static discharges. Gritting my teeth, I poured the water into the cup and set the teapot back on the tray. When my hand was free of the teapot, the medallion calmed down.

  I looked around the room again, but I didn't see anything suspicious. If I had less faith in Varro's abilities, I'd say the medallion was broken. However, Varro wouldn't keep a dysfunctional item, so it had to do something well and reliably. Until I could figure out what it was doing, all the warmth and shocks in the world wouldn't do any good.

  Picking up my fork, I stabbed my pie and took a big bite.

  "Michelle, how are things going with Elron?"