A Charmed Cauldron

by Rose Pressey

  I raced for the front door and stepped out onto the front porch. I knew I had to be brave, but nonetheless I was still nervous. I stepped off the porch and headed around the manor to the side where Annabelle had seen the man. Just before I turned the corner I paused. What would I say or do if this was the werewolf? I hadn’t fully prepared a statement or anything. What if he was really mean? As soon as I turned the corner I spotted the man.

  “Stop right there,” I called out.

  Liam turned and placed his hands up. “Don’t zap me with your magic.” A lopsided grin appeared on his face.

  “What are you doing out here?” I asked. “You’re lucky I didn’t hit you with a spell right away.”

  “Can I put my hands down now?” he asked.

  “Oh, don’t be silly. Put your hands down and get over here,” I said.

  He placed his hands down and walked closer to me. “You really know how to make a guy feel welcome.”

  “You really know how to freak women out.”

  He frowned. “Thanks, I think.”

  I gestured toward the window beside us. My mother and Annabelle had their faces pressed against the glass.

  Liam looked over. “I didn’t know we had an audience.”

  “You still haven’t told me what you are doing out here,” I said.

  Liam gestured behind him. “I thought I saw a wolf. You said you thought you saw one hanging around.”

  “It’s not a wolf,” I said.

  His eyes widened. “It sure looked like a wolf to me.”

  “It’s a werewolf,” I said.

  Liam nodded. “Now I see. He’s here for the Book of Mystics?”

  “I hope not,” I said.

  “What other reason does he have for sneaking around the manor?”

  “He wants to learn how to run a bed-and-breakfast?” I asked.

  “Hmm. Possible, but highly unlikely. I think he’d knock on the door and tell you about that,” Liam said.

  “Come on inside and I’ll tell you all about them,” I said.

  “Them?” Liam asked.

  “Yes, I saw two werewolves. Okay, I only know for sure that one is a werewolf. I have my suspicions that they are both werewolves,” I said.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Well, what are the odds that a wolf is just hanging out and then a werewolf stops by? I think they are in cahoots,” I said.

  “Cahoots? Actually, I knew this werewolf and he said wolves came around his house all the time. I guess they heard him when he was howling at the moon.”

  “Interesting,” I said.

  My mother knocked on the window and motioned for us to come inside.

  “I guess we should go inside. It’s probably driving her crazy not knowing what we’re talking about.”

  Liam waved at my mother and Annabelle. We walked around the side of the manor to head inside.

  “So you’re looking for this werewolf?” Liam asked.

  “Yes, I want to ask him what he’s doing.”

  “I doubt he will be honest with you,” Liam said.

  We walked up the steps to the front door. “No, probably not. We caught him inside. When he left we found him out back in human form with no clothes on.”

  “Nothing, huh?”

  “Yes, my mother was the one who found him.”

  Liam held the door open for me. Annabelle and my mother rushed over.

  “What is going on out there?” my mother asked.

  Chapter 10

  We had just settled down onto the sofa in the parlor to discuss the latest happenings when another noise sounded from outside.

  “It must be that werewolf again,” I said, jumping up from the sofa and storming over to the window for a look.

  I gasped when I saw that there were not just one, but two werewolves.

  “I don’t understand why they’re here. And how do I tell the difference between werewolves and wolves?” I asked.

  “I don’t think you can.” Liam joined me at the window.

  “I think that’s the one I saw earlier,” I said.

  “That’s not the one I saw earlier. It looks as if werewolves or wolves are invading the manor,” my mother said.

  “Like I said, the wolves can come if they know werewolves are around. I don’t think they know the difference either,” Liam said.

  “This is all so confusing,” my mother said, massaging her temples.

  “I have to say that the leader of the werewolves around here wasn’t much help either,” I said. “Jessica wanted to take care of the situation herself. She wanted to come over and round up the werewolf, but when I told her no, she was very unhappy. I got a strange vibe from her.”

  “Yeah, I’ve met her before. She’s not a very good dancer.”

  “Liam, really? I’m trying to be serious here.”

  “I am too. She has two left feet.”

  “Enough of that. What are we going do?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not the leader of the Underworld,” Liam said.

  “Okay, now you’re starting to really get on my last nerve.”

  He laughed. This was his way of having fun. He was teasing me but now was not the time. I didn’t think the werewolves outside knew that we were watching them from the front windows of the manor. Actually, it looked as if they were having some sort of communication with each other. Maybe planning their next move. One of them then looked toward the manor.

  “Okay, the way I see it we have two options. One, I go out there, talk to them, and try to get them to come in here and confess. Only if they’re in human form. No big huge werewolves are allowed in the manor because the kitty cat doesn’t like it. Anyway, number two. I put a spell on the entire area and they can’t come around here. It’ll last a good amount of time until we can figure out what else to do,” I said.

  “Are you asking for my opinion?” Liam asked.

  “Well, yes, that’s why I gave you two options.”

  “You didn’t say you wanted my opinion.”

  “Okay, do you want to stay here in the manor today or do you want me to banish you?”

  He laughed again and held up his hands. “All right, I’ll stop. I promise. Let’s see, decisions, decisions, which one would be better?”

  That was the thing with Liam, I never knew if he was teasing me or he was being completely serious and contemplating the choices.

  “Well, if you want my opinion I’m right over here,” my mother said. “But don’t mind me. I’ve only been a witch for longer than you.”

  I shook my head. “Okay, I do want your opinion, Mother. Which one should I choose?”

  “I’d do the spell. Get them out of here. They’re coming here looking for trouble.”

  “All right, we have one vote for kicking them out of here right now.”

  “What about me?” Annabelle asked. “I know I’m not a witch, and I’m not paranormal, but I do have an opinion.”

  “Absolutely we want your opinion,” Liam said.

  I smiled. “Yes, I do want your opinion.”

  “Oh, you want her opinion, but not mine?” my mother asked.

  “What is with everyone today? Is it something in the air?”

  Just as I said that I wondered if maybe there really was something in the air. There could be a witch working with the werewolves and trying to do something to us. I’d have to look into that.

  “I guess I have to go with casting a spell and getting rid of them as well. Because I don’t want them out there when I go to get in my car and go home.”

  “Okay, good opinion. Thank you. Annabelle is for casting a spell as well,” I said.

  “You know, you don’t have to call that out every time. We all are here and know who voted for a spell,” Liam said.

  I quirked an eyebrow. “Yes, but it seems more official if I call it out.”

  “Yeah, I give you that. It does seem very official-like.”

  “In the meantime, we’re still in here talking and the
werewolves are still out there plotting to attack,” I said.

  “We don’t know they want to attack,” Liam said.

  “Well, why else are they here? Like you said, I don’t think they’re getting tips on running a bed-and-breakfast.”

  “They’re certainly not here for your cooking,” my mother said.

  “Thank you for that vote of confidence,” I said.

  I turned my attention back to the window and the werewolves were gone. “Where did they go?” I asked, scanning the area. There was no sign of them now. “Now we have to do another spell just to find out where the werewolves went.”

  “Wait a minute. I didn’t cast my vote for a spell. I say we confront them,” Liam said.

  “Okay, with that we have two for casting a spell, and one for confronting them. I’m the tiebreaker here.”

  “Yes, I suppose you are,” he said.

  “The whole point was to get an opinion so that I don’t have to make a choice.”

  “That’s not the way this works,” my mother said.

  “It doesn’t matter what the better option is since it appears they’re gone. We’ll just have to wait until they come back. You know they’ll return,” I said.

  My mother got up from the chair and headed for the kitchen. I supposed she was finished with this conversation.

  “Well, if you’re going to choose to do the spell, then you should just go ahead and do it now.”

  “But if I do the spell then I stand a chance that if there are werewolves on the property right now that will lock them in place. And then I’ll be in here with them and can’t get rid of them until I do another spell to get them out of here. That defeats the purpose and uses a lot of my energy. It’s just a whole big thing.”

  “This is exhausting,” Annabelle said, leaning back in the chair and releasing a deep breath.

  “Being the leader of the Underworld isn’t easy,” Liam said with a wink.

  Sometimes I thought about just handing over the Book of Mystics and just not dealing with it anymore. Then again, I felt as if I’d found the book for a reason and I needed to stay put. So I was torn.

  My mother walked back into the parlor with a huge sandwich in her hand.

  “Where did you get all of that?” I asked. “I didn’t even know I had that food.”

  “I just used a little bit of magic to help out what you had, which, trust me, your pantry needs a lot of work. How do you eat in there? Oh, that’s right. You’re not eating much. Look at you. You need to put on some pounds.”

  I shook my head. “I’m eating just fine, thank you very much.”

  “That sandwich looks like it could feed several people,” Annabelle said. “Can I have some of it?”

  My mother tore off half of the sandwich and handed it to Annabelle. We hadn’t had a chance to go for lunch.

  “By the way, you didn’t tell me why you stopped by.” I looked at Liam.

  “Oh, yes, I suppose I didn’t, did I?”

  “So are you going to tell me now?” I asked.

  Liam moved over to the chair and sat back down. He studied my face for a moment. “Have you heard from him?”

  Chapter 11

  The “him” Liam was referring to was my fiancé Nicolas Marcos. He’d taken off last week and said he had a few things he needed to take care of. Unfortunately, he hadn’t elaborated on what those things were. Of course, everyone had speculated that he’d gotten cold feet about the upcoming wedding and had taken off. I had to admit I was leaning in the direction as well. He’d sent a few texts since he’d been gone, but still provided no explanation for his sudden departure.

  I wouldn’t say that his actions didn’t hurt me, but what could I do? I had responsibilities and I had to keep myself together. I couldn’t lie in bed, sobbing between bites of chocolate.

  “No, I haven’t heard anything today,” I said.

  Liam gave me another pitying look, one that said, You poor thing, you must be devastated. I received that look from my mother and Annabelle hourly.

  “He doesn’t answer my calls or texts.” Liam ran his hand through his hair.

  Liam and Nicolas were half-brothers, but they had had a strained relationship in the past. I knew that Liam was a bit hurt that Nicolas had taken off, though he would never admit it.

  “I’m sure he will as soon as he gets a chance,” I said.

  Liam didn’t look convinced.

  My mother stood from the chair and brushed the crumbs from her shirt. I quirked an eyebrow.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll sweep them up,” she said with a wave of her hand. “We can’t let Halloween sit around and mope. Besides, she has a crisis on her hands.”

  “I don’t know that I’d call it a crisis,” I said.

  My mother sighed. “Okay, a very bad situation. Is that better?”

  “Peachy.” I rolled my eyes.

  My phone dinged and alerted me to a text message. Maybe it was Nicolas. Normally I would have been excited at the thought of receiving a text from him. Not now. How dare he leave like that and just expect to text me whenever he felt like it? We had a wedding coming up. Plus, he’d left his position as Enchantment Pointe coven leader. That put me in a bind. I’d had to appoint a temporary leader. Luckily Mallory was good at the job. Perhaps I would make her the new leader permanently. That would teach Nicolas to take off like that.

  I checked my phone, but the text said it was from an unknown number.

  Meet me at the Bubbling Cauldron at ten p.m. tonight.

  I typed back a response.

  Who is this?

  A reply came through quickly. You’ll find out.

  “Is everything all right?” Liam asked.

  “Someone wants me to meet them tonight at the Bubbling Cauldron,” I said.

  Liam frowned. “Who is it?”

  I shrugged. “The number says unknown.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this,” my mother said.

  “Neither do I, but nonetheless, I suppose I’ll have to go and see what this is all about.”

  “Just don’t forget to cast a spell of protection before you get there,” Liam said.

  I had a tendency always to forget something like that. I just went into things blindly without thinking of the dangers. The Bubbling Cauldron was a nightclub where all the witches hung out for dancing and drinks. I didn’t like to go much because I didn’t really drink, and it usually just ended up being some kind of drama when I went.

  “In the meantime, I need to cast that spell to keep the werewolves out. The only problem is I don’t know if they’re around,” I said.

  “How about you check the backyard and I’ll check the front,” Liam said. “If we don’t find them then we can cast a spell around the perimeter of the house. Not all the way into the wooded area since they could be hiding easily in there.”

  I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

  “What should we do?” Annabelle asked.

  My mother waved her hand and the crumbs on the floor were gone.

  “You could have used the broom, you know?”

  She shrugged. “This was easier.”

  “Just wait here for Liam and me to check the outside,” I said.

  Annabelle nodded. My mother sat back down and pouted.

  Liam and I headed for outside. I went toward the kitchen and he headed for the front door. I cast a small spell on my way so that if I encountered one of the werewolves I wouldn’t be totally unprepared. I paused as I stepped out the back door. Scanning the area, I saw no signs of the werewolves. They could be hiding and watching me, but as long as they weren’t directly in my line of sight I could cast the spell.

  Stepping into the backyard, I walked all the way out to the edge of the river. The water flowed steadily along. I thought back to the time when I’d battled witches and found myself in the water. I’d had some close calls ever since I’d taken over as the leader, but somehow, I’d made it. The small graveyard was on the right. When I looked at that area I
always wondered if a ghost would appear. For all I knew one of the werewolves could be hiding over there behind one of the trees.

  Since it didn’t appear that any of the werewolves were in the back, I decided to meet up with Liam. As I started back toward the house I spotted him coming around the side to meet me.

  “Did you find anything?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Nothing. So I guess we can cast the spell?”

  “Your mother will be upset if we do it without her,” Liam said.

  “We can just say we forgot to get her,” I said with a wave of my hand.

  Liam scoffed. “You’re just asking for trouble.”

  It felt strange to be out here casting a spell with just Liam. He was the rebellious one. If anyone was going to take off I would have guessed it would have been him. He was always there for me though. If I needed anything I always knew I could count on Liam. We stood in front of each other. Our eyes met and we held hands. Energy ran through my body from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. I’d never felt the magic so strong. Liam’s blue eyes widened as he stared at me. Apparently, he felt it too.

  “Protect the manor from all who want to cause harm. Allow no one to cross the perimeters we set.” I nodded.

  Liam and I released hands and headed away from each other. We would walk the length of the yard. It would be the areas that didn’t have any hiding spots. If the werewolves tried to cross, the spell would stop them. A magical barrier now blocked the manor.

  The energy stayed with me with each step. At least I knew we’d cast the spell correctly. Though I wasn’t sure exactly how long it would last. We’d have to work fast on finding an answer about the werewolves. Though I had the added delay now of going to the Bubbling Cauldron tonight. My anxiety increased at the thought. I didn’t like the element of surprise. I hadn’t asked, but I hoped that Liam was going with me tonight. I knew my mother would insist on going too. Though I wished she wouldn’t go in case things got dangerous.

  Chapter 12

  Before we left for the Bubbling Cauldron, I wanted to check on Mrs. Whitmore. What if the werewolf had done something to her? Liam and I were going to the door while my mother and Annabelle waited in the car.