“Overrated, clothing is,” Lyra said with a crude smile.
I shot her a quizzical look before turning to Daniel. “Start with the jacket and tie. The rest can go later.”
We followed Lyra back to the main area of the cave where a fire burned low. I noticed holes in the stone above for ventilation.
Daniel tossed the jacket and tie into the flames and together we watched them burn.
“I’m sorry for what she did to you,” I said.
“Why are you sorry, Emma? You’re not responsible for her actions.” He continued to stare at the flames as they licked the remnants of fabric.
“I just wish I could have done more to help you, so that things didn’t go as far as they did. I made so many attempts to…to make things right.” Emotions bubbled up in my throat. All of the feelings I’d been repressing began pushing their way to the surface.
“I know you did,” he said softly. “And I would have done the same for you.”
Despite the massive size, the cave was beginning to feel claustrophobic. As if sensing my distress, Daniel extended his hand. “Why don’t we go for a walk? Fresh air might do us both some good.”
“Bring back a rabbit, you will,” Lyra said from beside the crackling fire.
I cast a sidelong glance at Daniel. “That one’s all you.”
We walked in companionable silence until I recognized the path to Curse Cliff.
“We should probably turn back before it gets dark,” I said. Although I didn’t share the fear that some residents had about the cliff, I didn’t love the idea of wandering around out here in the pitch black.
“In a minute,” Daniel said. “There’s something I need to say first.”
“Okay.” I slowed my walk.
“I lied to you,” he said.
My feet ground to a halt. I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. “Lied to me? What do you mean?”
He inhaled deeply and focused on me. “When you asked me what else I remembered, I pretended that you meant the bachelor party.”
I blinked in confusion. “Why? Are you embarrassed about your time with Elsa? Because you don’t need to be. Everyone knows it was a magic potion.”
“I’m not talking about Elsa. Ever again.” He took my hand. “I meant my time with you. At the Spellbound Care Home.”
Oh no. He remembered.
My heart thundered in my chest. “You mean when I told you…” Spell’s bells. When I told him…
“That you loved me.”
My throat became dry and I couldn’t swallow. “Did I?”
His features softened. “You did.”
“Maybe it was the potion…”
He shook his head slowly. “Not a potion.”
My body was on fire. I couldn’t tell whether it was from desire or embarrassment or both.
“Daniel, I…”
Before I could finish, he lowered his lips to mine and kissed me. It started softly and slowly and my hands drifted to his back where his wings were tucked behind him. The feathers felt like silk beneath my fingertips. As the kiss intensified, a gentle moan escaped my lips and he pulled me closer. When we finally broke apart for air, I noticed that he was grinning.
“What’s so funny?” I demanded.
“I’m not smiling because anything’s funny,” he said. “I’m smiling because I’m happy.”
My legs were ready to slide out from under me. “Are you sure I haven’t done some wacky sorcery and transferred your obsession to me?”
He wrapped his arms around me. “I love you, Emma Hart. There’s no wacky sorcery. No potion. Only you.”
I couldn’t quite believe my ears. “You love me?”
“Of course I love you.”
“Why?” My love for him made sense. He was…Daniel. A perfect angelic specimen.
He gripped me by the shoulders and gazed into my eyes. “I’ll tell you why. You’re the sweetest, most compassionate, bravest person I’ve ever known, and I’ve known a lot of people. You make me laugh. You humble me. I’m a better version of myself with you than I ever was without you.”
I tried to process the words. I wasn’t very adept at accepting compliments. “What about pretty?” I finally asked. “You didn’t say I was pretty.”
He howled with laughter. “I didn’t think superficial compliments were your thing. Yes, Emma. I think you’re very pretty.”
I smiled and hugged him. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel this happy.”
Daniel sighed and stroked my hair. “Me neither.”
Unfortunately, our moment of happiness was short-lived. I heard a dull roar in the distance. At first I mistook the sound for an incoming thunderstorm until I remembered that this was Spellbound.
“What is that?” I asked.
Beside me, Daniel straightened. “I hear hoofbeats.” He paused to listen. “And feet. Many feet. I think our location has been discovered.”
Uh oh. An angry mob was headed our way and we had nowhere to run.
Daniel placed a protective arm around my waist. “We can fly somewhere else. Just say the word.”
I drew a deep breath. “Let’s give them a chance. Maybe they’ve come to apologize.”
Chapter 21
They didn’t come to apologize.
I sensed their anger and frustration as they approached, a giant, fast-moving cloud of frowns and fists.
“There she is,” a voice shouted.
A wave of nausea slammed into me as they moved closer, shouting and gesticulating angrily. All of this over magic I didn’t even understand.
I clasped Daniel’s hand in mine and he glanced down at me, a question in his turquoise eyes. They asked me if I wanted to flee. I wasn’t sure.
The crowd pressed toward us, and Daniel and I backed slowly onto Curse Cliff. I glanced behind me to see the steep drop below. Were they really going to run me off the side and into oblivion like the wicked stepmother in Disney’s Snow White? For some reason, Daniel’s wings were a small consolation. It was the betrayal that hurt the most. These residents had become my friends. My family. But now I was a known sorceress and they looked at me with only fear in their eyes.
Fear.
My heart thawed a little. I understood fear—empathized with it, even when misdirected at me.
“Grab them,” a woman’s voice cried out. Myra, the church administrator, pushed her way to the front of the group. “We can’t let them get away.”
“Get away?” I queried. “We’re all trapped here. Where do you think we’re going to go, except to plunge to our deaths?”
“He won’t,” Myra said, jerking a thumb toward Daniel. “It’s whether he’s with us or against us. If he flies off and carries you with him, then he’s against us.”
“This is ridiculous.” Laurel appeared next to Myra. “Many of us know Emma. She’s not evil. Far from it. She’s done nothing but help people since she got here.”
“Maybe that’s part of her master plan,” Myra said. “Lull us into a false sense of security.”
“She didn’t know she was a witch…or a sorceress before she came,” Begonia objected, joining Laurel at the front of the crowd.
“But when she found out she was a sorceress, she didn’t tell anyone.” Hugo said. “If that doesn’t smack of guilt, then I don’t know what does.”
Daniel stepped in front of me, putting himself between the angry mob and me.
“It was my idea to keep it secret,” he admitted. “Because this was exactly what I feared would happen.”
“Hand her over,” a voice shouted.
“So you can do what?” Daniel replied. “Throw her in Swan Lake and see if she floats? We already know what she is. More importantly, we already know who she is.”
“Do we?” Myra asked. “Or has it been an act? I always thought her sweet nature was suspicious. Nobody is that nice.”
“Maybe in your mirror that’s true,” Begonia snapped. “Emma is genuine. She has been from the moment she stepped inside Spel
lbound.”
“She wants the criminals to run free,” Hugo said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. “She’s been begging for this committee to revise the sentencing guidelines so that she can make sure proven criminals get off without serving their time.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Sentencing in Spellbound is draconian. It…”
“Dracula had nothing to do with drafting laws here,” someone interjected.
I resisted the urge to smack my forehead.
The shape of an enormous minotaur moving through the crowd caught everyone’s attention, including mine. Markos moved to the front to address the mob.
“I cannot believe we are standing on Curse Cliff, trying to persecute one of our own.” His deep voice reverberated across the desolate landscape. Even the ground seemed to shake beneath my feet.
“She’s not one of our own,” Myra cried. “That’s the point. She’ll kill us all before we ever have a chance to break the curse.”
“The fact that she’s standing on Curse Cliff speaks volumes.” Fabio, the werelion, stepped forward. “That ground is as evil as the woman who created the curse.”
Daniel turned back to me. “Your date with him really did not go well, did it?”
I shrugged.
I recognized the twisted antlers of Lady Weatherby’s headdress as she maneuvered through the crowd. Residents moved aside to make a path for her. Her stony features gave nothing away.
She raised her wand in the air and signaled for the mob’s attention. “Residents of Spellbound. Hear me now.”
The crowd fell silent. When I realized I was holding my breath, I gently exhaled.
“I assume I need no introduction. As the head of the coven that agreed to take custody of Miss Hart, I take full responsibility for her presence here. The spell we used to determine her true nature would not have made a distinction between witch, sorceress, and enchantress. As you already know, these three are closely aligned. It would be like trying to identify whether someone is of Norwegian ancestry versus that of a Swede using only DNA.”
“What’s a Swede?” someone called.
“I think it’s a type of potato,” someone else replied.
“No one blames you, Lady Weatherby,” Hugo said, ever the butt kisser.
“I’m not asking for absolution,” she said coolly and I bit back a smile. Take that grumpy centaur.
“What’s your solution?” Myra asked. “What do we do with her?”
“I do not understand the need to do anything,” Lady Weatherby replied. “My witches are correct. Miss Hart has proven herself time and time again to be a productive member of our community. Am I pleased with this turn of events? No, I am most certainly not. But a sorceress with unchecked and unmastered power is far more dangerous. I propose that we continue as before. The coven accepts responsibility for the continued training of Miss Hart.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd.
“Train her?” Fabio repeated. “So that she can curse us worse than the enchantress one day?”
“Continue to treat her with such hostility and maybe she will,” Lady Weatherby said. “And maybe I will approve of her actions.”
Mike, the wereweasel I spent an unlucky evening with at Shamrock Casino, raised his hand. “What makes you think you can control her? What if she grows more powerful than even you?”
Lady Weatherby turned to give me an appraising look. “If she does, then perhaps she can break the curse that has long kept us prisoner here. Why do we not look past the fear and see the value in her potential power?”
Her mention of breaking the curse got their attention.
“Break the curse?” someone echoed. “Do you think she can?”
Lady Weatherby lowered her head slightly. “That I cannot say for certain, but the coven has made efforts for years to no avail. Perhaps a sorceress would be better equipped.”
Me? Break the curse? I couldn’t even do a simple defensive spell without screwing it up. That seemed like an awfully bold statement.
“Lady Weatherby,” I dared to say. “I don’t think…”
“Do not think at all right now, child,” she said. “I have the mob’s attention. Now is a time to move.” She lowered her voice. “To safety, if possible.”
Wait a second. Lady Weatherby was…on my side? To say I was stunned was an understatement.
“Where do I take her?” Daniel asked quietly. “Where’s safe? We can’t go back to the Grey sisters now that we’ve been discovered.”
Nor did I want to. That cave was more depressing than a vampire without fangs.
A thought occurred to me. “I know where we can go that no one will follow.”
“Where?” Daniel asked.
“Take me in your arms and I’ll show you.”
Raisa’s cottage was just as eerie as the last time I’d been here. The bone fence and the skull above the door of the small cottage set my teeth on edge. Smoke billowed from the chimney. Once again, Raisa seemed to be expecting me.
“Are you sure about this?” Daniel asked.
“It’ll be fine,” I said. “She’s a ghost. Just don’t let her bite you. Her teeth are iron. Nasty little suckers.”
“If she’s a ghost, then I won’t be able to see her.”
Good point.
The door creaked open and I ushered Daniel inside. I glanced around the familiar sparse interior for signs of Raisa. She stood in front of the bubbling cauldron in the Inglenook-style fireplace. Her skeletal frame was as unsettling as I remembered. Her legs were like two knitting needles and her skin was covered in brown spots. With her bald patches and stringy grey and white hair, Raisa wasn’t going to win any beauty competitions.
“She’s a looker, isn’t she?” Daniel whispered.
“You can see her?” I asked quietly.
“And I can hear both of you,” Raisa said, setting aside the pot stirrer.
“Why can he see you?” I asked. I thought seeing ghosts was my special ability.
“I’m not like your vampire roommate,” Raisa said. “My afterlife is…unique. I am tied to the land in a way that your vampire is not.”
Well, I guess that explained why I could see Raisa. Everyone could see Raisa. They just didn't know it because residents were too afraid to come to the old bone cottage. Even in death, Raisa was one of the most intimidating members of the Spellbound community.
"So they’ve thrown you to the wolves," Raisa said, clicking her iron teeth together. "Not surprised. Not surprised at all."
“I am,” I said. “I thought…”
She peered at me. “You thought what? That you would be any different? Ah, that’s the whole problem. You are different and it terrifies them. The unknown terrifies most creatures.“
"I don't think it's that I’m different," I countered. "Spellbound is all about diversity. I think it's because of the town's history. The curse."
"I agree," Daniel said. “There’s an unconscious bias.”
"No one asked to hear from you, lost angel," Raisa snapped. "You give them too much credit, sorceress. They have turned on you and yet you still give them the benefit of the doubt."
"Because I know them, may be better than they know themselves." I thought about all of the acts of kindness and support I'd seen since my arrival. The residents of Spellbound weren’t bad or malicious. They cared about each other. They cared about me. They were just scared right now. A knee-jerk reaction that hopefully would fade once reason took hold.
"The potion doesn't lie," Raisa said. "You truly are pure of heart, aren't you?"
Daniel snaked an arm around my waist and squeezed. "She really is. I would be lost without her."
Raisa glared at him. "You are lost. She has only found herself.”
“We thought maybe we could stay here until everyone calmed down,” I said.
She cackled. “Because no one would dare come here in search of you. Is that it?”
Pretty much. “We tried to stay with the Grey sisters…”
Raisa flicked a dismissive bony finger. “The Grey sisters. Those cave dwellers are useless. You’ll stay with me until you’re ready to return.” She gave me a pointed look. “If you’re ever ready to return.”
“I’ll be ready,” I said. I certainly wasn’t making plans to redecorate the bone cottage. Talk about lipstick on a pig.
“Now who's ready for a nice cup of tea?" she asked.
"I would love one," I said. "But no secret potions this time. Promise?"
Raisa cackled. "Where's the fun in that? You need to give an old witch her chance for amusement.” Somehow I knew Raisa and I differed on what constituted amusement.
A knock on the door startled everyone, including Raisa.
"Who's that?" I asked, stiffening.
"How should I know?" Raisa said. "I'm staring at the closed door same as you."
"But you know things," I said. "You can see beyond the veil."
Raisa suppressed a smile. "You learn well, pet. Open the door and let us see our surprise guest.”
Insistent tapping continued on the door. Finally a familiar voice rang out, “Let me in, you foolish nincompoops. I'm freezing my butt off out here. This gown doesn't close in the back."
Spell’s bells. "Agnes?"
I raced to the door and yanked it open. Sure enough, Agnes stood on the doorstep wearing nothing except what appeared to be a black hospital gown that tied in the back. Stars and stones. Was her butt exposed to the elements all the way from the Spellbound Care Home?
"Invite me in," Agnes insisted.
"Get in here," I said. "You're not a vampire." And I knew that wasn't even true for vampires.
Agnes stepped over the threshold and her gaze went straight to Raisa. “Raisa. As I live and breathe. Unlike you."
"Agnes of the coven. We meet again."
I moved to stand between them. "You two be nice. Agnes, how did you get here?"
Agnes flashed me a mischievous smile. "I heard all about the kerfuffle. I waited until my afternoon appointment. Boyd came to give me my monthly exam. The room they use is right by the entrance so I knew it was my best shot of getting out."
"The Spellbound Care Home is all the way across town," I said. "You couldn't possibly have walked all the way here."
Cast Away Page 14
