by Cherie Marks
“And leave me completely vulnerable? I can’t do that.”
“You wouldn’t be completely vulnerable. I would be there. I would help you unravel the magical binding.”
Mez crossed her arms and rolled her head back and forth on her shoulders as she thought through the possibilities. She couldn’t deny that Noxy’s plan had possibility. But so much could go wrong.
What if the wolf overpowered them? What if it attacked before they could spring the trap? What if Mez messed everything up? Then, she’d live up to the cruel nickname she’d been given as a kid. Even now, many of her peers called her Mess, deliberately changing the end sound just to annoy and antagonize her. She’d stopped taking the bait years ago, but it haunted her still.
Ugh! Was she just letting her anxieties rule her? In the end, they might be able to do something that would help if they found out who had sent the wolf and why. She just needed to get over her fears and doubts. She needed to believe in her ability to solve her own problems, even if it meant taking risks to do so.
“Okay. Let’s let him in, but I’m not ready to bind my magic just yet. Maybe I can use my disadvantage to my advantage this time. Let’s plan everything out, and we’ll make it happen tomorrow night.”
Noxy punched the air. “Yes! Plotting and planning, just like old times. This is going to be good.”
Mez felt optimistic that they could pull it off, but she couldn’t quite shake a niggling doubt at the back of her mind. Her peers hadn’t called her Mess just to be mean. She had a tendency to be on the wrong side of success.
But it didn’t have to be that way. If only she didn’t let the cruel taunt get to her, she could prove that she was so much more than they ever gave her credit for.
If only...
Chapter 5
The defenses were down. Why were their defenses down? That was just asking for the Secret Army to invade. If they wanted a fight, they should have just sent a formal invitation. The result would have been the same.
But he didn’t alert the Secret Army, and he didn’t wait. He didn’t feel comfortable slipping in, but he needed to figure out what they were looking for. He needed to figure out the intentions of the pretty witch with the clumsy magic that he couldn’t seem to stop watching.
Yet, even as he shifted and placed his paws onto the property, he immediately regretted the decision. Something about his small invasion felt wrong. He felt like he was being watched, and the more he focused on that sensation, the more he realized he was. Clearly, he needed to be on guard. Without a doubt, the ease at which he’d crossed the barrier hadn’t been an accident.
Someone had invited him in. But why?
As he skulked along the fence, his tail swatting the wood, he watched for any sign of attack. He had an idea who had set the trap, but he didn’t see a sign of the woman or her sidekick. Without a doubt, they were there. Not visible to him yet, but they were certainly eyeing him even now.
He reached the place where the fence angled toward the back of the property, and he turned with it, cautiously angling toward the house. Surprisingly, not a single person moved on the property. It was as if where there had been countless workers milling about, there were now only a few in the distance. It was disconcerting, to say the least. Where had everyone gone?
His head on a swivel, he continued toward the house, as he had done every other night. Only this time, he knew someone was expecting him.
Lucian parked himself outside of the living room window, listening intently to the buzz of conversation on the other side of the wall. His keen sense of hearing could pick up the gist of what they were talking about.
He recognized two distinct voices, but the third was missing. It was the voice of the small, female animal familiar. No doubt, she was nearby watching him as he moved about. He needed to keep pretending he didn’t know what was really going on.
As stealthily as he could, he ducked down and crawled toward the closed window, which provided a secretive glance into the main living area where serious plotting was clearly taking place. That was if you could call reading a type of plotting.
He still didn’t quite understand what was so important about this book for which they were searching. From what he could ascertain, the book contained some sort of remedy or unbinding spell, but he still wasn’t quite sure why finding it quickly was so important. All he knew was they did not have it, and they desperately wanted it. That much hadn’t changed in days.
From what he could figure out, the witch had some sort of magic malady—a cursed cold or something, and the book had a possible cure. These were not things that would probably interest the general. It seemed like the last thing he should be worried about, and yet, here he was for his nightly update.
“You know, I was thinking, I haven’t really been in the attic for years. I wonder if I hid the library up there. Of course, the last thing I want to do is face off against the bogart up there, but sometimes, you got to do what you got to do.”
“I am willing to do whatever it takes to find that book. I mean, if you need me to freeze him into a bogart popsicle, just blow a little pepper up my nose, we’ll have no problem pushing past the crazy spirit.”
“Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary. I’m pretty sure my special brownies ought to do the trick. I’ll just have to bake them up and give them time to cool. From what I recall, the weird creature likes them at room temperature.”
Lucian was bored out of his mind with this conversation, but he certainly hoped he got the chance to swipe a brownie later. That didn’t sound too bad.
As they moved to the kitchen, he slunk around to the back of the house, all the while feeling that same heavy gaze from earlier watching him. He glanced around furtively, but he never could find where the creature was hiding. It had to be in the trees, but its ability to camouflage was expert level. He never spotted the familiar once.
I’m just a giant, stray dog, which happened to wander onto the property. Ignore me.
It was possible.
He continued to eavesdrop on their conversation with his wolfy ears, even as he couldn’t see them. The window on this side of the house was too high as the lower level opened up and emerged from the sloped terrain. The kitchen was on the upper level, so he hunkered down in a bush and listened to their every word.
At first, their conversation centered on the baking process, and Lucian nearly took that as his cue to leave. If they weren’t going to reveal anything useful, he didn’t need to take the risk of getting caught.
He stood up, stretching his back before turning to go.
“What are your plans once we cure you?”
Lucian stopped and turned back to listen closer.
“I was told to search the mountains.”
Who had told her to search the mountains?
“What are you searching for?”
“Not what...who.”
“Alright. Who are you searching for?”
Lucian leaned closer to the outside brick wall. Please don’t say husband.
He couldn’t say why he cared, but he felt like he might hate to hear she was attached to another male.
“I’d rather not say, but it’s someone important...at least to me.”
Silence reigned for a few moments before the elder witch said, “The mountains aren’t safe, you know?”
“So I’ve noticed.” He heard her heavy sigh before she said, “But let’s face it. Right now, the world isn’t safe as long as my magic is screwed up.”
“Oh, there are worse things in this world than a magical malady.”
“Such as...?”
“Such as devoting your whole life to the wrong cause, the wrong purpose.”
“That seems somewhat arbitrary. How do you know if your cause is the wrong cause?
“Hand me that container.” It took Lucian a minute to remember they were still baking brownies, but after a moment, the elder witch answered the questions, “If you look at the people around you and notice their mo
tivation is hate for others, you’ve embraced the wrong cause.”
They worked in silence once more, and once Lucian heard the oven open and close, he laid down underneath a bush, pushing beyond the good sense that told him he should get back on the other side of the protections that surrounded the property. They were still down right now, but he had a feeling they wouldn’t be for much longer. Considering they had likely lured him here, they wouldn’t wait much longer to spring their trap.
Yet, he didn’t want to leave yet. He hoped to get a close up look at the pretty witch. It was dangerous, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
As he lay there, the smell of their baked dessert began wafting on the air, and his mouth began to water in anticipation for brownies he would never get to taste. They smelled like sugary sweet, chocolate air, and despite his better judgement, he was considering risking a chance of swiping one for himself. Unfortunately, that would require him entering the house, which was just too much of a chance for him to take.
The minute the timer went off, though, his attention was piqued.
“Oh, my, don’t those look delicious.” The elder witch tittered excitedly. “Let’s put them out on the front porch to cool while I take care of some quick business.”
“On the front porch? What if someone or something comes along and eats them.”
“No one here would dare touch anything without my permission. They’d have to be crazy to do that.”
Suddenly, Lucian was feeling a little crazy. The smell had gotten to him, and he was considering sneaking around to the porch to see if he could get a small nibble from the pan.
He lingered on the side of the house for a few minutes until he heard the door open and close twice. Then, he peeked around the corner to make sure no one was there waiting for him. If it had been him, he would have closed the door while still remaining on the outside to make whoever was hiding confident that they could come out.
Fortunately, they had gone back inside, leaving the delectable-smelling brownies sitting on a decorative, metal table. There was a netting over them. He assumed that was to keep the insects at bay. But with his sweet tooth kicking into full effect, that was the least of their concern.
He had been under cover for so long, he hadn’t had a decent meal for the longest time, and he certainly hadn’t had anything well made. Mostly, he foraged for berries and wild greens. Occasionally, he snagged a rabbit or other small meal. None of it was seasoned or even cooked skillfully. The recipes he used called for cooking over a pit fire or raw. Neither was usually that appetizing.
With quiet footfalls, he slunk along the base of the porch until he made it to the front steps. He eased up them one at a time, listening for any small movement that could possibly be the witches waiting to pounce.
He also hadn’t seen the little familiar in some time. It had never been with the witches once today. It was unusual because familiars were never too far from the witches they served. Somehow, he knew this was a trap, but the steam lifting from the pan of dark dessert and the scent of sweet heaven drew him ever closer.
As he made it to the table, he looked around one final time before lifting the net and breathing in the warm, chocolatey goodness. He dipped in a paw and scooped a small rectangle of the cakey substance. His mouth watered, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw just the slightest bit of movement from the window.
Had the curtains swayed ever so slightly? He watched for a few more moments, but the ooey-gooey dessert filled his paw, and his focus turned back toward it once more. He had probably just imagined that the curtains had moved. His paranoia was just getting to him.
Lifting his paw to his mouth, he lifted his snout and dropped the sticky brownie clump into his waiting jaws. The minute the rich flavor hit as the soft inside rolled onto his tongue, he wanted to howl with pleasure. Chocolate might be bad to feed dogs, but shifter wolves such as himself thrived on it. It was a little known weakness of his kind.
Without pausing, he swallowed his first bite and reached for another. It wasn’t until he’d eaten half the pan that he felt the first stirrings of dizziness. The world around him began to ebb and flow just a little, like waves on the water.
Something was not right, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. Not only had they lured him onto the property, but they’d drugged him with the tasty goodness of dessert. He’d fallen for it...hard.
It was too late now, but he backed away slowly and tripped over his own paws as the front door opened once more and the elder witch stepped out followed closely by the pretty one. He should have trusted his instinct, but his stomach had driven him, and now, in the shape he was in, he wouldn’t be able to get away, and they knew it.
The world spun around him, and he gave a final whimper before keeling over and hitting the boards of the front porch. His final thought before losing consciousness was that he was finally seeing the pretty witch up close, and he couldn’t focus his eyes enough to see anything more than a fuzzy blur.
So unfair...
Chapter 6
“I can’t believe that worked.”
“Well, Mez, as tricksy as shifter wolves are, even they can’t resist a batch of Kresley’s famous brownies. They also work on stray tomcat familiars who come sniffing around my girl Delilah. I especially detest one named Jeff. A pan of strategically placed brownies has saved Delilah some heartbreak on more than one occasion.”
“What do we do with him now?”
Kresley wrinkled her nose and said, “From the smell of him, we need to give him a good bath, but we’ll let him take care of that when he wakes up.”
Mez had liked the way he smelled. With a certain rugged, outdoorsy scent, she thought he smelled like her favorite places to be. As a Wilder witch, she loved traveling and spending time in nature. It was one of the many reasons she’d moved away from the demands of civilization into the wilds on the edge of nowhere. It was kind of a family trait, but for Mez, it was the only time she felt she had any control over her life lately.
“Where will you put him?”
“I’ve got a room in the basement that ought to hold him until we find out who sent him and why.”
“Do you really think he was sent here? Why would anyone send someone here?”
“Uh, because it’s an awesome place to be, owned by the most awesome Span training witch in the kingdom. Oh, and I might have an herb that just happens to be a part of a potion that brings corpses back to life. Specifically, I think they want to reincarnate one evil priestess, and they’ll stop at nothing to do so.”
Mez sucked in a quick breath and looked closer at the beautiful, deep gray coat of the wolf. “Do you really believe he is one of the High Priestess’ devoted?”
“One way to find out.” Kresley bent and touched the rear flank of the shifter with one hand and Mez’s calf with the other. “Hold on to your wig.”
“I don’t wear a...” But, before she could finish her statement, she heard a loud pop and felt herself sucked into nothingness before rematerializing suddenly.
When she looked around, her first impression was a feeling of claustrophobia. She didn’t like being enclosed in any room, but she especially didn’t like this one. It was little bigger than a closet and felt lifeless with little decoration. The walls were bare concrete and the only contents were a bed and a side table. No windows broke the monotony of the gray walls, and only one door led out of the room, but as Mez glanced through the opening, she realized it was a small en suite bathroom instead.
There was no exit from this room.
It was Mez’s complete nightmare. “What is this place?”
“It’s the room in the basement. And, for now, it’s this wolfy shifter’s home.”
“This is creepy. Where’s the door to the outside?”
“Keep up, kid. I can Span in and out. I don’t need a door.”
Chills ran down Mez’s spine at the thought of no way out. It was one of the worst things she could imagine.
>
“Um, question. Do you use this room often?”
Kresley turned her back to Mez and shrugged as she seemed to inspect the room herself. “Occasionally. It comes in handy when I need it.”
“Oookay. That’s not creepy at all.” Mez crossed her arms and hugged them close to her body. She was really uncomfortable here. “It’s probably best if I don’t know about when it comes in handy. So, what do we do now?”
“We wait upstairs until he wakes up, and then we question him until he breaks.” Mez really couldn’t tell by Kresley’s tone if she was excited by the prospect of possible torture or if she was just always so chipper, but she knew one thing for sure. She kind of felt sorry for the shifter.
* * *
Lucian awoke slowly, drifting to consciousness through a hazy fog. His head pounded, and he felt like he’d overindulged in a way he hadn’t since his wild, youthful days when he had first enlisted.
He lifted one eyelid at a time as his memories of scarfing brownies came back to him. What an idiot! He so should have seen that coming. His instinct had been firing at him the moment he’d crossed the protective barrier that he was walking into a trap, but the first time someone throws chocolately gooey goodness in front of him, and he ignores all common sense. Brought down by laced brownies.
Thank goodness his superiors couldn’t see him now. They’d immediately remove him from all duties that didn’t involve a desk.
He opened both eyes fully and began to assess his situation. He was prone in a bed, fully shifted back into his human form. He was under a blanket, and as he lifted it, he realized he was completely naked. This wasn’t unusual after a shift, but he didn’t like the vulnerability. Pushing up onto his elbows, he looked around the tiny space. It was dungeon-like with few creature comforts, such as the bed with sheet, blanket, and pillow and a small, bedside table, on which he was pleased to see were a pair of boxer briefs and what looked like a pair of sweatpants that were going to be a little snug.
He wasted no time in throwing back the blanket and rising from the bed, swaying slightly at the dizziness that overtook him for a few moments. Yeah, definitely something strong in those brownies.
