“Careful. You just used an incredible amount of magic,” he said, his voice low, and his eyes full of… admiration? Or disgust? His warm arms were around me, steadying me, and I didn’t want him to let go. The air in the room crackled with magical energy, like static electricity times a thousand. My wild copper hair flew up in all directions. I probably looked like a hot mess but the way Jaden regarded me, I suddenly didn’t feel like it mattered.
“What on earth happened?” Jaden whispered.
“We need to get out of here. Then I’ll explain.”
He let go of me, cold rushing in to replace his warmth. I wanted to cling to him. My heart still pounded and I was so scared that I might have clung to anyone, but Jaden made me feel safe. Ironic, since not that long ago I’d been sure he’d helped his father try to set me up for murder. But if Byron Blackmore wasn’t guilty, then that whole theory fell apart. Besides, looking at him with his deep green eyes and worried expression, it was impossible to believe he wasn’t on my side.
I stumbled out of the bedroom. Jaden reached for me but I put a hand up. “I’m fine. Just tapped out.”
He nodded and we headed down a long hall, for the stairs.
“How did you find me?” I whispered. Every noise, creak, and sound jarred me but I tried to focus on getting to the front door.
“Claremont was acting funny at the meeting. Twitchy, nervous, eager to get the meeting over with. That’s not like him. Usually he’ll happily keep a meeting going for three hours if he can find a reason and sometimes that reason is to hear himself talk.” He stopped to make sure I could navigate the stairs on my own and then fell into step with me. “And then our housekeeper sent a crow to the meeting. The note said he’d been vacuuming but looked out of the third story window to see you go with Claremont. He wanted me to know because I’d told him to alert me if you ever came by.”
“You did?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. “I had my reasons.”
“Good reasons?” I asked, because honestly I wasn’t sure.
Jaden smirked. “I did not want to miss you.”
I smiled. But my joy was short lived. The front door opened and a second later, Claremont appeared at the bottom of the staircase, blocking our path to the door.
Ice filled my veins.
Claremont’s face was a mask of shock. He clearly hadn’t expected to see me walking down the stairs and I doubted he’d planned on finding someone with me.
“Jaden Blackmore,” he said, words dripping with derision. “You know better than to snoop around another witch’s home.”
“Your wards weren’t set,” Jaden said casually. “I assumed that meant I was welcome to enter. And look what I found.” He gestured to me, red lines on my wrists from where the metal had scorched them.
Rage flashed on Claremont’s face and he flared his nostrils. “Well, I’m sorry you made that decision.” He reached into a pocket. I screamed and jumped toward Claremont. The stone came hurtling toward me glowing red. I changed direction, reaching up to catch the spell but missed. It flew past me and landed at Jaden’s feet, exploding. Jaden was thrown backward against the stairs.
I ran back up to him. He lay against the steps, unmoving. There was a bump on the back of his head but no blood. He was breathing but unconscious. Ash from the explosion streaked his face and dotted his clothes. It had probably been a powerful smoke bomb, enough to cause some damage but not fatal. That wasn’t much comfort.
I stood, furious, and felt my magic buzz in my veins. I’d depleted a lot of my reserves but anger seemed to recharge them quickly.
“You could have killed him!” I shouted. I didn’t think Claremont gave a damn about me, but surely he didn’t want to hurt such a prominent member of the council. Then again, he’d killed Felix.
“I will have to kill him, unfortunately.” He sounded vaguely disappointed. “I cannot allow him or you to identify me. How did you escape your bonds?”
I gathered as much magic I could into my palm. Blue light flared into my palm. Claremont’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “Magic,” I said, and threw the magic at him. He ducked and rolled out of the way, quite a bit more agile than he looked.
He flung a stone at me. I jumped out of the way, hitting the ground as marble cracked behind me. A blast of heat hit my back.
“So you know what you are, warlock.” He spat the word. “That won’t save you.”
I tried to throw another spell at him but all I got was a puff of blue smoke.
Out of juice. Crap.
I didn’t actually know how much magic I had for freehand use, because I’d never tested it. I hadn’t even used it this way until today.
I scanned the room for something I could use to focus my magic. Harmless palm trees in pots flanked the door way. The pots contained soil. That might help. I spotted a vase on a sideboard in the hall that led to the living room. Sticks of pink flowers formed an arc coming out of the white vase. Bleeding hearts. They were poisonous, sharp-leafed flowers. That could work.
But to get to the flowers, I’d have to get past Claremont, who had pockets full of spells ready to throw my way. All he had to do was knock me out again and it would be over. He’d kill Jaden and I without a second thought.
“I’m going to blame this on you, you know,” he said, digging through his pockets. “Tell the council you attacked young Mr. Blackmore and I because we’d discovered you murdered Felix. It’s a blessing, really. With two spots open on the council, I can make sure to promote those who will work to keep the proper traditions of witches in place, instead of advocating for changes.”
“Changes?” I asked as I edged slowly down the stairs, blood rushing so loudly in my ears that it was hard to hear him. I just wanted him distracted.
“Someone always wants to loosen the rules or change the laws to allow more people in. Shall we accept kitchen witches into the fold?” He barked it out like it was hilarious. Kitchen witches was what real witches often called some of the Pagans who had little or no witch blood but still did rituals and spells. Sometimes, their spells even worked. Humans were capable of a lot more than they realized. But the council barred such “witches” from the coven.
“Maybe we should,” I said. I didn’t know if that was a good idea, because letting any humans to have too much knowledge of the supernatural world was usually dangerous but I wanted to keep him talking.
He glanced up at me and I froze on the stairs, not wanting him to know what I was doing. “You disgusting half-breed. You’re just like your mother. She wanted to allow warlocks into our ranks, so long as they were part witch.” He scoffed. “I suppose we can both guess why.”
“I suppose we can,” I said, the words ash in my throat. I didn’t want him to speak about my mother.
He turned away from me and stepped up to the coat rack, rifling through the pockets of a black trench coat, no doubt searching for attack spells to throw my way. “Like we need witches consorting with demons because they know their abominable offspring will be cheerfully accepted! Absolutely not!”
I reached the landing but clung to the railing, afraid to move away from the stairs lest he attack again. He seemed to find what he was looking for and pulled a potion out of one of the coat’s pockets. “That’s why I had to kill her, you know. I wasn’t happy about it but she left me no choice.”
My vision narrowed and then swam. I swayed, dizzy, and was glad I had the railing for support. “What?”
“Your mother.” He smiled so viciously that it almost cut me to the core. “I killed her because of the ridiculous policies she advocated. She was gaining support in the council and I had to nip that in the bud. Shame. She was a good witch.” He seemed to take pleasure in watching the words land. My stomach curled up into a ball. “And then I did the same to Felix. They both forced my hand, you see.”
“You monster,” I whispered. Tears pricked my eyes.
He shrugged. Like it was no big deal he’d just confessed to the murder of two p
eople. “I did not enjoy ending their lives. But you are a vile creature and I will take pleasure in ending yours.” He raised his hand to throw the potion. I ran for the hall. The potion bottle broke open on the marble floor. Red smoke swirled up in the air and then came toward me.
I tore the bleeding heart flowers from the vase. It crashed to the floor and shattered at my feet. The smoke approached lazily but the stink of sulfur filled the room.
Jaden screamed. A rock landed at my feet. A transparent shield flew up in front of me, just in time for the smoke to curl against it and retreat. It dissipated mid-air, the spell unable to complete its magical orders.
Claremont hissed. Jaden stood on the stairs, awake. He panted, his face drawn. He’d had a protection spell in his pocket after all and had used it to save me. Which meant he probably had nothing left. Claremont pulled some other trick out of his coat pocket. I didn’t wait to see what it was.
I ran my hand down the branch and swept the pink petals into my palm. I held them in my fist and infused them with magic. I pulled every ounce of magic I could muster from deep down inside of me. The petals tingled against my hand. I took the sharpest bit of branch I could find and jabbed my finger, pressing the droplet of blood into the petals. There was a pop! as my spell formed in my hand.
Claremont raised his arm to throw whatever new potion or charm he had at Jaden. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I took two steps toward him and, shouting, flung the magic-infused petals in his direction. Claremont turned at my shout. The petals flew at him like darts, smacking into his chest with the force of a heavy kick. He stumbled and slipped on some of the potion he’d dropped earlier. He hit the marble floor with a thud. The potion he’d held, the one he’d meant to throw, landed with a clink! and the vial remained unbroken.
The final petal smacked him in the forehead, knocking his head backward against the marble with a loud crack. Claremont stopped moving. The petal slid from his face, leaving a bright red petal-shaped welt in his skin.
I took long, ragged breaths as I watched his prone, still form, expecting him to jump back up any second and throw something else my way. When what felt like ten minutes (but was probably only a minute) passed, I felt my shoulders relax slightly. I edged closer. Claremont was out cold. His chest rose and fell, so he was still alive, but his breathing sounded shallow.
Jaden came down the stairs and studied the petals that had stuck to his shirt and face. It looked like he’d been attacked by a plant.
“You’re really something,” Jaden said.
“Yeah, well, use what you’ve got on hand to make magic. That’s what I always say.”
Jaden stepped close to me, touching my face as if examining me for wounds. “You’re all right,” he announced.
“I know,” I said. “Are you?”
He swallowed uneasily. “My head is hazy but I’ll survive.” He bent to collect the vial and held it up. Blood red liquid sloshed around inside it. “Doubt that would be the case if he’d managed to throw this at me. It looks like a death potion.” I shuddered. Death potions were illegal magic filled with poisons that would smoke out and kill anyone near enough to get a whiff. “You saved me.”
I smiled faintly. “I did what I had to. And you saved me, too.” I looked down at Claremont. He was out for now but I wanted to make sure he was locked up somewhere he couldn’t hurt anyone before that changed. “What now?” I asked.
Jaden stood impossibly close. I could see every one of his long eyelashes and feel his heat beside me. “I’d like to kiss you but I’d rather our first kiss not be over the body of our enemy.”
I laughed, probably more from shock than humor. “Doesn’t bother me.”
Jaden leaned in. His lips met mine. His lips were softer than I expected and the kiss was hot and full of desire. He pulled me closer but after a minute, I pulled away. I could kiss him all night but first, we had our would-be killer to deal with.
Jaden understood and nodded as if I’d spoken my thoughts aloud. He opened the door and whistled. A crow flew inside and did a circle around Jaden’s head.
“Go alert father he’s needed,” he told the crow, which flew off as ordered.
“He’s not your familiar or anything, is he?” I asked.
“As I’ve said, I don’t agree with such magic,” he said, taking my hand in his and squeezing it. “But I feed him and he seems to understand me.”
Claremont moaned. I gathered magic in my free palm but he didn’t stir again. I let out a sigh of relief. Moments later, Byron Blackmore and Renee Saito came charging down the road. Byron took one look at Claremont on the ground and immediately glared at me, but Jaden was quick to finger Claremont as the bad guy. Byron got him restrained until the rest of the council arrived. He showed no signs of waking up any time soon.
Once the whole council had gathered in Claremont’s living room, with the unconscious Claremont tied up in a corner, Jaden and I explained what had happened and told them all how Claremont had killed Felix and my mother in order to protect his ideas of what the coven should allow.
Chapter 23
“I can’t believe Claremont murdered Felix,” Valerie said. We were sitting at our table in the Underground Market. Felix’s funeral had been earlier in the afternoon and I felt emotionally worn out. I’d only come to the Market because I needed the distraction. But business was slow and now, after midnight, we were mostly sitting around twiddling our thumbs.
It had been two days since Claremont attacked and tried to kill me. Claremont had been arrested and locked away in a dungeon in the bowels of Blackmore Manor for the time being. He’d be given a hearing and Jaden and I would both have to testify, and then he’d be sentenced. Judging by the reaction after I told the council what happened, I doubt he’d ever see the sky again.
Valerie had been shocked and appalled to hear my story. She was relieved that I was alive. But it hadn’t escaped her notice that the whole debacle left two vacant positions on the council and she was now actively vying for a spot. She’d chatted up Byron Blackmore, Lani Reed, and Tara Rodriquez at the funeral today, hoping to impress them.
For now, we still had to make rent.
“He killed my mother,” I said.
Valerie blinked. I’d left that part out of the story when I’d told it to her, though I had made sure to tell Byron and the council so that when it came time for his trial, Claremont could pay for her death as well.
“He told me,” I explained, when Val seemed at a loss for words. “She wanted to allow warlocks with witch blood into the coven, since technically we’re witches, too.”
Valerie considered that for a long moment. I’d hoped she would jump to my defense and agree that was a sensible idea but she ruminated on it instead. And then a customer came up and bought her last luck potion. When he left, she sat back down and said, “She got her way.”
“What?” I stared at her, not comprehending.
“Your mom. You’re in the coven, warlock blood and all,” Valerie pointed out.
“Yeah, but almost no one knows…”
“Blackmore knows. Claremont knows. I know. You know.” Valerie shrugged. “You’re still one of us.”
Warmth swelled inside me. I’d been afraid Valerie would demand I leave the house and find a new place to live or pretend I wasn’t a warlock after all. Instead, she seemed happy to accept me for what I was, even if I couldn’t sell as many potions.
Looking at my unsold pile of charms, she said, “Maybe once you learn how to hone your magic, you can find other ways to use your skills for profit.”
I smiled. That was Valerie, always looking for ways to make magic work for her. She might even be right, but I didn’t know where to begin learning my skills.
Well, I did.
But I was scared to face Demon Alley just yet. For now, I’d decided to test my warlock powers when I had time, but otherwise keep doing what I was doing.
The night stretched on and by five am, I was ready to go. I pack
ed up my stuff since almost none of it had sold. Valerie had very little left to pack, but that was par for the course. Seth, who’d spent the night sleeping on my cooler, crawled into his soft carrier.
Jaden stood at the entrance to the Market. He wore a black sweater and jeans, not his council uniform, and he grabbed my cooler for me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I thought perhaps you’d like to get breakfast,” he said.
“Like a date?” I asked.
Valerie rolled her eyes. I shot her a look.
“Valerie is welcome to join us,” he said, which was an answer, just not the one I wanted.
“So not a date.”
“Pass,” Valerie said. She held out her hand for Seth’s carrier. “I’ll take your cat and go home. I’m ready for bed.”
“Only if you feed him.”
She wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t a fan of the way canned cat food smelled. But she agreed.
Jaden and I went to the diner in Fremont. We both ordered the eggs Benedict. While we waited for our food, an awkward silence descended over the table.
I played with the creamer containers, stacking them into little houses until they fell over and I had to start again. Jaden sat across the table, his expression inscrutable. His inky hair was neatly combed, though one strand kept falling in his eyes.
I wore my red leather jacket, my coppery hair a hot mess around my head. I’d worn a dress to the funeral but changed into jeans and a white t-shirt with a black cat on it before heading to the market, and that was what I wore now.
My newest creamer tower collapsed.
“You seem well,” Jaden said.
I looked up at him, one of my eyebrows flying up. “Um, thanks. So do you.”
Jaden’s lips twitched into a tiny smile. “I meant that after everything you’ve learned, you look like you’re coping.”
Risky Magic: A Trash Witch Novel Page 15
