“How do we stop it?” Beth asked as she slammed her hand down on the table in a surprising display of frustration. “If we don’t reverse it, Cliff is going to kill me. And if you think your karma is bad now, think about how bad it’ll be if that happens.”
“We need to do it in that ugly office house thing of theirs,” Catrin said in a voice that indicated that she’d really given up. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “It’ll work better there. I turned Cliff into a wolf there. But I need some time to gather the ingredients. Meet me there at dusk.” Her defeat was undoubtable, but in all the movies I’d watched and books I’d read, the dark witch was always crafty. They always had something else tucked up their sleeve. Or a go bag.
I stood and walked over to her. “If you don’t meet us, nothing will be able to hide you from Karma. I am everywhere.” I wasn’t. Not really. But she didn’t know that.
Her face which had been red with anger and shame a moment ago paled and her eyes widened. “I’ll be there,” she whispered.
21
Emma
“I can’t believe she came,” Beth said. We sat on the steps of Roger’s office, waiting for Catrin. It was a half-hour after dark and we really didn’t like being out here, but we’d gone inside, and it had felt ominous and uncomfortable. I couldn’t help but remember the reaction of the ghosts the last time I was in there. Thus, the four of us were huddled on the concrete steps outside the front door to the office.
Catrin had pulled up a few seconds ago. She got out, carrying a black bag that appeared to be loaded down with stuff. What on earth she needed that much stuff for I wasn’t sure, but it made my stomach twist with dread. She’d dressed for the occasion in all black.
Her skinny jeans were more than just skinny, they were skintight and had holes in the knees and thighs, while her black t-shirt had the name of a band I didn’t recognize plastered across the front, and she topped the outfit off with a long black duster cardigan. A large silver pendant gleamed at the base of her throat, drawing the eye. Oh, and don’t forget the black combat boots, or maybe they were Doc Martens, it was hard to tell in the dark, though Doc Martens seemed like they were probably too old for her, or not cool enough. Either way they were heeled and ankle height, and… was that an honest to goodness witch’s hat hooked to the side of the duffle bag? Was there a reason to have a witch’s hat? Surely, they didn’t have to wear one when practicing magic, I mean I’d never seen any of my friends in one. What other reason could it have though?
“Okay,” she called as she walked across the gravel of the parking area. “Let’s do this.” She pushed her glasses up on her nose as she came closer, studying me warily. Part of me wondered if she’d done some checking after we’d left earlier and found out that Karma was real and inhabited a person. Whatever had happened, I was glad for the change in her demeanor. If she hadn’t stopped with the snarky teenager routine, even though she was at least in her late twenties, I would have had to smack her upside the head. Someone would have needed to teach her some respect.
We stood as a group and as I was about to turn and open the door something… huge… appeared out of nowhere. This thing towered over us and was walking on two legs, but they were distorted, backward almost. Large arms hung loosely at its sides and it had hands with claws that were more like blades at the end of each fingertip, each one curving outward and ending in a vicious looking point.
Black fur covered most of its body, which I was grateful for as it also appeared to be naked, and it was only when I looked at its head that I realized this must be Cliff. His face was distorted as though he was stuck halfway between changing from a wolf to a man or vice versa. He had an elongated jaw, but it wasn’t full canine, more like an incredibly severe underbite, and the slope of his face made it look like his eyes should be sitting further back than they were.
“No,” I cried. Whirling, I tried to yank the door open, but it had automatically relocked after a certain period and I knew Beth wouldn’t be able to get it open again before he attacked us.
Cliff lunged forward, coming after Beth. She darted across the parking lot and around our car, her eyes wide with fear as she tried to keep something between herself and Cliff. He paced toward her, unhurried in his attack, as though he already knew the outcome and it was inevitable.
And I swear, in that moment. I felt like her fate was sealed.
22
Emma
“Hex bags!” Carol screamed.
My hands trembled as I reached inside my pocket, and I threw the bag. It hit the side of the thing’s head, and he whirled toward me and hissed. Smoke and sparks flew all over his face for a minute, and he snarled and smacked himself, trying to put the sparks out.
“Ignis!” Deva shouted and threw her bag at his feet.
His feet caught fire, and he howled in rage, then began to roll to try to put himself out. He was successful, far too quickly.
Carol shouted. “Glutinum!”
Suddenly, a sticky substance covered the creature. He tried to stand, but he couldn’t.
“Yes!” I shouted.
Beth inched closer from around the side of the car.
And then, he shoved himself up, and we heard his fur tearing from the ground. “Death,” he growled, then launched toward Beth.
My heart stopped. I put my hand out, trying to use my powers, but nothing happened.
Calm down. I commanded myself. Calm down and just focus!
But still, nothing happened.
Carol and Deva threw more hex bags, shouting spells, the beast leaped over the car and onto Beth, knocking her to the ground. We all ran in a panic to see him crushed on top of her, his claws drawn back, ready to strike.
“Stop!” Deva screamed, another hex bag already in her hand that she’d yet to throw. “We’re trying to undo the spell!”
To my surprise, Cliff paused, panting, he tilted his head as though considering Deva’s words. I was honestly shocked he could understand and that the wolf brain hadn’t taken over completely. If it did part of me wondered if we would sound like Charlie Brown’s teachers to him. When he swung his head around to face Deva, I had to fight my instinct to run to her, if I did it might set him off even further and it seemed like he had a hair-trigger to begin with.
“Explain,” he said in a growly voice that sounded mostly animalistic.
It didn’t seem like Cliff had noticed Catrin yet, who stood frozen. Her face had gone even paler than it had in her home when I threatened her. Her eyes were as round as the witch’s saucers as she took in Cliff’s form. Hadn’t she done this? Why did she look so surprised? And so scared?
“She brought what we need to reverse the spell. We can fix this,” Carol said in a loud voice. We instinctively tried to spread out, knowing that the more we did, the more he would have to circle to keep his attention on all of us.
“We’re trying to help you,” I said, so he had to whirl around once more, and those strange eyes looking out from an almost human face were focused on me. I swallowed roughly as I tried to think of what else I could say to keep his attention off Beth.
It turned out I didn’t need to say anything because Catrin’s boot scuffed against the gravel as she took a step backward. I swore if she ran, I’d just let him have at her. Cliff’s head swung toward the sound and his gaze landed on Catrin. I knew in that instant that he recognized her. The very air around us seemed to drop in temperature until I felt like I was standing somewhere in the Arctic Circle. A low, constant rumble seemed to leak from his chest as he growled, “You… You did this, didn’t you?”
Catrin squeaked and held out the bag. “I’m here to undo it.” The sassy, smug, know-it-all witch from earlier was nowhere to be seen on her terrified features.
Cliff’s rage overtook him at her words. In a split second, he was off Beth and running on paws and hands, he galloped toward her before any of us could properly react, moving more like a gorilla than a human or wolf. Lashing out with one hand, those wicked-looking
claws extended toward his target, he slashed Catrin across the throat.
“No,” I whispered as her head flopped backward. Blood sprayed forth, covering him. He’d almost cut through her neck completely, almost beheaded her, and the only reason her head hung on was with some muscles and skin behind her spine, which he hadn’t severed. Nausea rolled through me at the sight. I’d never expected something like that.
Growling and howling in turn, Cliff turned back to Beth. “It’s not over,” he growled.
As he lunged for her, I finally reacted and focused all the Karmic power I could muster on him. I drew the smoke of my power into my lungs, breathing it in, letting it suffuse my entire being before I began shouting nonsense. I tensed every muscle in my body as my power blasted into him. I willed the smoke forth, trying to visualize it forming a cloud around him until he was choking on it and couldn’t breathe without inhaling the karma that was owed to him.
All the bad things he’d done while alive mixed with my power and dosed him everything he deserved. He couldn’t escape it, couldn’t run from it, though he tried, as I watched him stumble about.
A moment later the air around him seemed to shimmer and in the place of the half-wolf, half-man, all monstrous creature that he had been there was instead a small, gray rat that flopped to the ground and squeaked. Its little nose twitched, and his whiskers seemed to shiver for a second before it sneezed. I partly expected him to turn back into the wolf-man creature, but he didn’t. The rat just sat there shaking his head in confusion. Or maybe he needed to sneeze again. Who could say?
Thinking fast, Deva grabbed her purse and dumped its contents on the ground before running over to Cliff and scooping him up in the gray leather bag, then quickly zipping it up before he could fight back. The outraged squeaking filled the night air. The only sound to be heard.
We all stared at each other, chests heaving, then almost in unison our gazes turned to the body of Catrin, bleeding out on the asphalt. As soon as the claws had sliced through her neck, I knew there had been no way to save her. A wound like that? Not a chance in hell. Seeing her body lying there, the blood pooling around her was more than I could stand though, and I had to turn away.
Sure, she’d been a magical mercenary, but she was young, she could have turned her life around. Maybe this would have been the kick in the pants she needed to get on the right track. Now we’d never know though. She was a casualty of her own curse, but one I hadn’t wanted.
“Now what?” Beth whispered.
23
Emma
The police finished their questioning as we all sat together on the sidewalk of Roger’s building. A quiet ambulance took the dark witch away, although there were no sirens, and no lights. There was no reason to rush off when the person was already dead. We gathered as close to Beth as we could to offer her our silent support, but I could see it in her eyes. Maybe this wasn’t how she wanted things with her ex to end, but she was glad there was an ending, at last.
The sheriff closed the book he’d been taking notes in and looked away from his deputy toward us. Very slowly, he headed our way. When he reached us, to my surprise, he removed his hat and crouched down in front of Beth.
“Well, everything seems to be as you said it was,” he said, speaking gentler than he had when he was questioning us. He nodded toward the purse that held Cliff the rat. “You got a plan for him?”
“Yeah,” Deva told him firmly, “we have a plan.”
He nodded again and stared down at his hat. “Beth, you know everyone in town had your back with all that disgusting nonsense with your sister and your ex. I just wanted you to know that we’re still here for you. And us, in the force, are grateful for your business. You’ve helped a lot of people with all this supernatural crap. When we can’t help, it’s good to know that we have someone like you who can. Never underestimate yourself and how much we appreciate you.”
Beth drew herself up a little taller. “Thank you.”
The sheriff seemed like he wanted to say more. He looked at me a couple times, then eventually stood up to his full height with a slight groan. “You ladies need any of us to give you a ride home?”
Carol shook her head. “We’re okay. We’ve actually gotten pretty good at taking care of each other.”
“I’ve noticed that,” he said with a smile.
He turned back, and he and the deputy got back in their car. The sheriff gave a wave out his window before he took off, and then we were left together in the quiet parking lot.
“So, it’s really over?” Beth asked.
I took her hand and squeezed it. “I think it is.”
Carol grinned and leaped to her feet. “No more creepy stalkers! No more death threats! No more weird notes! And, finally, a good night’s rest. Absolutely do not call me before noon tomorrow, because I plan to sleep like the dead.”
“Don’t say that,” Deva said with a wince.
We all laughed.
Then, they looked back at me. “You should bring Daniel the rat.”
I’d been a little surprised no one had called him. I’d been tempted to, but it sort of felt like this case was open and shut. There was no real need to wake the bear shifter late at night, except that I wanted to see him.
“Okay.” I tried not to seem too pleased about having to see Daniel. “I’ll take care of it.”
“There’s one thing though…” Beth began, then stopped.
“What is it?” I coaxed.
“I know we’re still learning about Karma, but I’m not sure if your ex and his girlfriend will remain toads forever.”
My heart raced. “Why?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. That doesn’t seem to be how karma works. Right?”
I thought about it. No, karma only really punished people the way they needed to be punished.
“If they learn their lessons,” Carol began slowly, as if she was thinking, “could they possibly turn back into humans?”
I felt sick. “I think it’s possible.”
“We may want to plan a trip back there,” Deva told me gently. “This seems like the kind of situation we should take care of before it becomes something worse.”
As much as I didn’t want to think about all this right now, they had a point. Besides, my ex being a toad didn’t feel like the end of my story with him. I wanted to fully close the chapter like Beth had, even though I didn’t need Rick to die or anything.
“Let’s plan for it.” Then, I looked at Deva, suddenly remembering a conversation we’d had before. “And have you fully closed the door with Harry?”
She suddenly looked very serious. “This whole thing has made me realize that life is far too short. First thing tomorrow, I’m telling him there is no chance we’ll ever get back together. And then, I might go visit a certain handsome doctor and see if he’ll ask me out.”
“Or you could ask him out?” Carol said, eyes twinkling.
Deva grinned. “Yeah, I might just do that.”
We all stood and headed for the car. Deva carried the rat in her purse, and I knew they’d have to drop me off to get my car and then go to Daniel’s house. As tired as I was, just the thought of visiting him put a little spring in my step.
“So, all the people who stirred up this trouble are gone now,” Carol sounded amused. “Karma really does seem to know how to execute justice on the corrupt. Maybe you should tell karma to help out your friends too.”
I wiggled my fingers at her, not really planning to use magic, but I still felt a strange tingle move down my spine. “As you wish!”
She laughed and shook her head; I was only joking.
We were about to climb into the car when a dark car moved past. It got caught at the light, and I think we all turned to see who was still up in our sleepy town at this hour. The dark windows on the car were all rolled down, and a man turned to look at us. He had dark hair and a chiseled jaw, but when his gaze fell on us, his eyes widened. The light turned green, and he sped off.
> “Who was that?” I asked.
No one answered, so I turned to face them. Carol had gone absolutely sheet white.
“Guys?” I prodded, looking at Deva and Beth.
Beth nibbled her bottom lip. “It probably wasn’t him. It’s been a long time. And it was dark.”
“Him who?” I pressed.
Carol spoke, her tone far too level. “It looked like Bryan. But after disappearing on me all those years ago, I know he’d never have the guts to show his face here again.”
“But--”
“It wasn’t him.” She opened her car door and slammed it shut.
My gaze met Deva’s. “It’s been a long night. Let’s just forget about it,” she said.
But if it was him, I was sure this wasn’t done yet.
They drove me home while an old song we all loved played. At first it was just Beth who sang along, but by the time we reached my house, we were all belting out the words. When the song ended, we all grinned at each other, and awkward hugs were exchanged in the car.
“I’m glad I came back,” I told them.
“We are too,” Deva said. “Now, do you know if it’s going to be permanent?”
I smiled. “Yeah, I just have to wrap up a few things back home.”
“Well, we’re here to help you wrap them up,” Beth said with a laugh.
I got out of my car, and Deva pulled a metal trash can out of the trunk, and we threw the little rat in that too. They watched as I climbed into my car, and then I headed to Daniel’s house. I spent the entire drive smiling. Beth was safe. The creepy creature was caught, and currently, a rat.
Life was good.
And, I had a feeling, it would only get better. Once I saw Daniel...
Karma's Shift (Magical Midlife in Mystic Hollow Book 2) Page 13
