Dances With Witches (A Hannah Hickok Witchy Mystery Book 5)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “It was,” Abigail confirmed. “Josette spent her days trying to drain the girls to enhance her own power base. The girls figured it out. They fought back ... and won. In the aftermath, they warned Clement what would and wouldn’t be allowed and the three of them moved forward together, although they were hardly a happy family.”

  “I can’t believe this.” Hannah rubbed her forehead and glanced at the creek. “Those girls never had a chance.”

  “They didn’t,” Abigail said. “They were ... victims of their parents but predatory all on their own. Amelia came to this world determined to take it over. Her magic infected Bettina. With the two of them together like they were, there always had to be a counterbalance.”

  “And Amelia wasn’t fair-haired,” Hannah volunteered. “She lacked pigmentation, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, awesome.” Hannah made a popping sound with her lips. “What part of the story you told was true?”

  “Everything was true. I simply omitted certain arcs. The girls killed Josette as part of a demonstration. They refused to allow anyone to threaten their standing on the mountain. They frightened Clement into submission and lived their lives as they wished until the final battle.

  “Their nature made it so they only knew right from wrong fifty percent of the time,” she continued. “They didn’t care the other fifty percent. Bettina was the one who ultimately figured it out and sacrificed herself to seal the land. That door that Josette opened allowed evil into this world, more powerful creatures than Amelia. When Bettina closed the door, sacrificed herself, she created the nexus ... and ensured that power-hungry monsters the world over would always try to tap into the source.”

  “And how does that explain you?” Hannah focused on Angel. “Are you even a real girl?”

  “I was.” Angel’s smile was benign. “I was a real girl up until a few days ago. Now I am more.”

  “She’s Bettina,” Abigail offered on a whisper. “She has an old soul now.”

  Hannah went cold all over. “How? Bettina died centuries ago.”

  “And during your battle with the furies, the magic that kept my sister and me locked away was cracked,” the thing that looked like Angel replied. “She escaped. That meant I had to follow.”

  Hannah thought about the furies, what happened to Becky when her body was taken over. “Is Angel’s soul gone?”

  “No.” Bettina had a quiet way of speaking, very little inflection. There was nothing inherently good or evil about the way she spoke and yet Hannah sensed danger all the same. “It is not my intention to kill the girl. I will have to kill my sister again, though, and this body might be damaged in the process.”

  “Why did you pick that body?”

  “It wasn’t my intention. I needed a shared blood line, though. My mother’s line died out long ago. My father, philanderer that he was, didn’t have that problem.”

  Realization dawned on Hannah. “And Angel was part of your bloodline.”

  “She was.” Bettina nodded. “I sensed the blood the night the monsters collided.”

  It took Hannah a moment to work out the statement. “You mean the crash. Those weren’t monsters. They’re technology.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I sensed her ... and went for her ... and missed. I didn’t understand the rules of this new world. I thought I had lost my chance to fight Amelia in a capable body and retreated back to the place I knew. That’s when I ran into ... her.” Bettina’s eyes flashed with malevolence as she focused on Abigail. “She tried to talk to me in my basest form. When I told her what I needed, she threatened to get in my way.”

  “Because she thought you were going after me,” Hannah surmised. “She thought you wanted to take over my body.”

  “And I did once I sensed you,” Bettina confirmed. “I even tried to get to you through your dreams. All you had to do was recognize my plight and let me in ... but you wouldn’t do it.”

  “Why would I willingly let you take me over?”

  “You would be surprised how weak people can be. You’re not weak, though. You won’t play the game correctly. I knew that after that first night and went back to looking for another body. I hadn’t seen Amelia in all that time, although I knew she was here ... somewhere. I thought it likely she would try to take you over, too, but I figured she would have no better luck than I did.”

  “Does the fact that you have knowledge from both planes explain why you talk the way you do? I noticed in the dreams that your language choices weren’t dated. Why is that?”

  “Our stream of conscience can stretch to the past and future. We spoke how we wished given the time we spent looking for answers in the future. It made the workers on the mountain uneasy, which is something we enjoyed. And look, it worked out for the better. We can easily hide in your world without standing out.”

  “Because you saw the future?”

  “We saw ... possibilities,” Bettina replied. “Nothing is set in stone. Things can always change.”

  “You knew, though.” Hannah’s tone was accusatory. “You knew that it was likely your plan all those years ago wouldn’t solve the problem forever. You had to realize that another fight was coming.”

  “I knew it was likely. I was tired at the time, though. All I needed was sleep.”

  “Well, you got your sleep ... and now we’re in a world of hurt. I want you to get out of that body. That girl has been through enough.”

  Bettina slowly shook her head. “I can’t do that. I need this body until Amelia has been sent back again.”

  “So you can sleep a little longer and come back again in another few centuries?”

  “If that is my fate, I will deal with it.”

  “And what about the rest of us?” Hannah was beside herself. “I’m assuming we don’t matter in this twisted little plan of yours.”

  “I already told you that I wanted to make you a part of this. You wouldn’t let me, though. Your mind was strong, even in sleep. I had to take what I could get ... and that was this girl. She was fragile, broken really. If all goes as planned, I will return her to her life ... although why she would want to live with such crushing insecurity is beyond me.”

  “She’s a teenager,” Hannah snapped. “She can’t help herself. Humans don’t live in a world without fear. They’re always going to doubt themselves because that’s what makes them human.”

  “Weak,” Bettina corrected. “Humans are weak. This argument continues to circle, though, and gets us nowhere. I am only here to make you aware that you cannot get involved. This fight is between my sister and me.”

  “And where is your sister?” Abigail queried, speaking for the first time in what felt like a very long stretch. “You said she came through before you. Does that mean she’s in somebody’s body, too?”

  “Yes. I haven’t figured out where she is yet, but I will find her.”

  “And it has to be a descendent of Clement, right?” Hannah pressed.

  “It does.”

  “Well, then I guess that’s our next order of business. We have to find the other descendants. If she can’t use me, then she’ll find someone else. Maybe if we can stop her from finding a body at all, it will weaken her so we can destroy her.”

  “That’s a nice thought, but it’s already too late,” Bettina countered. “The fact that I can’t feel her means that she’s already found a body. She can hide behind the soul of another. If that soul is black, there will be no finding her until she’s ready to show herself.”

  “And when will that be?”

  “When she’s ready.”

  “Right.” Hannah blew out a sigh and rubbed her forehead, weariness threatening to take her over. Then, unbidden, a horrified thought invaded her busy brain. “Lindsey? She came out here. Would Amelia take over her body?”

  “I don’t know who that is.”

  “The other girl.” Hannah was insistent. “The day you took over Angel in the barn, the day of the dust storm, there was another girl her
e. She was the same age.”

  “The girl in the place with the spirits.”

  It took Hannah a moment to translate. “The saloon, yes. Nobody calls them spirits any longer, though. It’s liquor ... or alcohol ... or drinks … or cocktails.”

  “Thank you for the lesson. It’s not necessary, though.”

  “It feels necessary to me.” Hannah’s patience was wearing thin. “Would your sister take over her body? She’s the entire reason I’m out here.” The thought was horrifying. What would she say to Boone? Bettina’s emphatic head shake had the vise of fear gripping her heart lessening, though. “You don’t think your sister is in her?”

  “She’s not of the line,” Bettina replied. “I checked all of you. You and this girl fit my needs. The others didn’t. I’d settled on you, but you wouldn’t open yourself. That’s why I had to infiltrate the child.”

  “And you’re going to release her once you take out your sister again.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we have to find your sister.” Slowly, Hannah shifted her eyes to Abigail. “Do you have any ideas on who else might fit the genetic glass shoe for Amelia? You lived here longer than everybody else. You must have some idea.”

  “Just one.” Abigail’s expression looked as if it had been carved out of granite, which only served to fill Hannah with dread.

  “Well, don’t leave us in suspense,” Hannah prodded. “Who?”

  “There’s another descendent who lacks pigmentation in this area.”

  “Who?” Hannah wrinkled her nose. “I don’t ....” She trailed off, realization dawning. “Astra.”

  Abigail nodded. “It makes sense.”

  “Which is why you took her under your wing,” Hannah realized. She was mostly talking to herself, but the look on Abigail’s face served as confirmation. “Astra betrayed you, but you only took her on because you wanted to watch her. You always knew this was going to happen.”

  “No.” Abigail fervently shook her head. “Absolutely not.” She was insistent. “I thought there was a possibility that this might happen one day. I did research on the property, starting when I was a child. I wanted to make sure that evil could never overtake the land again. That was my main goal.”

  “Well, good job.” Hannah loved her grandmother, well and truly, which was why her disappointment was so rampant. “I can’t believe you hid this from me.”

  “I didn’t have a choice.” Abigail didn’t make apologies for her behavior. She couldn’t. “I wanted you to have a chance to settle into your new life. I wanted you to be able to grow into your powers in your own time. I most certainly didn’t want this foisted upon you. I just didn’t realize that the battle with the furies would break the seal.”

  “The seal you put on the land with your sacrifice?” Hannah said, her eyes landing on Bettina. Even though she knew it was no longer Angel residing behind the contemplative eyes, it was difficult thinking of her as Bettina. It was necessary to separate the two, though. Otherwise she would twist and turn without accomplishing a single thing.

  “It held a long time,” Bettina confirmed. “It was only a matter of time, though.”

  “So, we need to resurrect the seal.”

  “We need to find Amelia,” Bettina countered. “That is our priority.”

  “It has to be Astra.” Hannah didn’t have a single doubt. “She was out here last night ... with this one.” She jerked her thumb in Stormy’s direction. “She might know where we can find her.”

  Bettina was grim. “Then let’s ask.” She trudged in Stormy’s direction, satisfaction filling her features when she registered the fear on the frozen woman’s face. “This one has a dark soul.”

  “I have no doubt,” Hannah said. “She’ll squeal on Astra to protect herself, though.”

  “That is the coward’s way,” Bettina agreed.

  Hannah hesitated before moving closer to Bettina. She didn’t trust her — even though she understood that Bettina was the only one equipped to take on her sister — but she had another question. “Did you raise the barrier keeping Abigail out of Casper Creek?”

  “She was being a nuisance. I needed to keep her away from you lest she warn you of my intentions. It turned out not to matter.”

  “So ... maybe you should drop the barrier, huh? I mean, I don’t want to tell you your business or anything, but Casper Creek is still Abigail’s home.”

  “She lied to you.” Bettina’s eyes filled with confusion. “She didn’t tell you what was necessary and you were vulnerable.”

  “Yes, and we’ll have to talk about that.” Hannah held out her hands. “She’s still my grandmother. I believe she had my best interests at heart, even if she went about things in the worst possible way.”

  “Hannah ....” Abigail looked pained.

  “We’ll talk about it later,” Hannah warned. “Now is not the time for this conversation.”

  Abigail nodded in agreement, her eyes dark when they landed on Bettina. It was obvious she didn’t trust her either.

  “As for you ....” Bettina used her magic to release Stormy, her lips curving when Stormy sucked in gasping mouthfuls of oxygen.

  “You could’ve killed me!” Stormy railed, rubbing her throat. “I almost died.”

  “Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” Bettina admonished. “You were in no danger ... until now. I want to know where my sister is.”

  Stormy was the cagey sort and she was leery as she continued to rub at her vulnerable neck. “I have no idea who your sister is.”

  “I rendered you mute, not deaf,” Bettina argued. “You heard everything that was said. Pretending you have no idea what we’re talking about will only anger me.”

  “I’m guessing you don’t want that,” Hannah prodded.

  “Fine.” Stormy threw up her hands. “I know what you’re talking about … vaguely. I don’t know who your sister is.”

  “It’s Astra,” Hannah snapped. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “She has been extra bitchy the last few days,” Stormy admitted. “Maybe this is why. You’re right. If she’s not at her store, though, I don’t know where she is. I haven’t seen her since last night.”

  The response troubled Hannah. “You were together when I saw you.”

  “Yes, and then she got really angry. I took off and hid because she threatened to kill me. Why else do you think I spent the night out here? I was over that way.” She gestured toward the north. “I slept under a tree and woke up about thirty minutes before you found me. I was trying to make my escape ... but that obviously didn’t happen.”

  “Obviously,” Hannah agreed dryly. “Well ... we’ll have to find her.” She was about to suggest to Bettina that they head in the direction of the store when a hint of movement caught her attention across the way. There, the woman in question stood, equally as disheveled as Stormy, and she didn’t look happy.

  “Well, well, well. What have we here?”

  19

  Nineteen

  “Astra.” Hannah took a deliberate step toward the woman. The creek separated them, but she had no intention of allowing the white-haired witch to escape. There was a chance, if she worked with Angel — er, Bettina — that they would be able to lock both souls away again and free Angel to resume her life. There was nothing she wanted more than that.

  “This is a very odd meeting of the minds,” Astra noted, glancing from face to face. “I wondered if you were working against me, Stormy. Actually, I knew you were. I have to admit that I didn’t imagine you would be working with this one, though. I guess it makes sense in an odd way.”

  She didn’t sound any different, Hannah mused. It wasn’t like with Bettina and Angel. The girl’s demeanor was noticeably different when she popped up at the creek. Astra seemed exactly the same.

  “We’re not working together,” Hannah supplied. “We’re simply ... having a discussion.”

  “About me?”

  “Oddly enough, yeah. We’re talking about you ...
Amelia.”

  Absolute shock registered on Astra’s face – more confusion than surprise – as Bettina moved in her direction. Hannah only had a split second to make a decision. Something felt very wrong about this situation and she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what. “Wait.” She extended her hand in front of Bettina but had it roughly slapped away.

  “Waiting is a mistake,” Bettina shot back. “I cannot wait.”

  Hannah was determined to stop her and was halfway into the creek, still grappling with Bettina, when a voice rang out.

  “Hannah!”

  Instinct had Hannah turning toward the hill, to where Cooper was racing in her direction. He looked panicked.

  The world moved in slow motion at that point for Hannah. Cooper waved his hands in the air, wildly gesturing toward something she couldn’t quite make out. He wasn’t alone. Tyler flanked him on one side, Boone on the other ... and Boone had his gun raised.

  “Don’t!” She shook her head even as she realized she didn’t know what they had planned. “Just ... don’t!” Lindsey was still missing. That’s all Hannah could think about. Somehow, the means to find her were tangled between the witches facing off with one another. If she could just have a few more minutes, she could figure things out.

  And then she saw her. Lindsey. The girl wasn’t being held captive somewhere. She wasn’t being tortured or used as leverage. She was trailing behind her father with a morose look on her face, perfectly fine.

  “What the ....?”

  “Hannah!” Cooper roared her name and pointed again.

  Slowly, Hannah turned toward the spot where he was gesturing ... and found Stormy moving toward her with glowing hands and absolute hatred lurking in the depths of her dark eyes. Instinct had Hannah reacting, throwing up her hands and unleashing a torrent of magic.

  She didn’t aim so the magic exploded around her, knocking Bettina to her knees in the water and Astra against the tree across the way. Stormy staggered, the magic she’d been gathering errantly flying into the sky. That wasn’t enough to dissuade Stormy, though. She recovered remarkably fast and launched a second attack.