Witch Cursed in Westerham

by Dionne Lister

  When I returned, the door was shut, and I needed both hands, so I knocked with my forehead. Gus happened to be wandering past. “Hello, Miss Lily. Using your head, I see.” He chuckled. “Would you like some help?”

  “Oh, hey, Gus. That would be great, thanks.” But just before he could open the door, Liv answered it.

  “Looks like someone beat me to it.” He gave Liv a nod. “Hello, Miss Olivia.”

  “Hi, Gus.” Her brow furrowed as she looked from Gus, to me, to Gus.

  “He was about to open the door for me, but you beat him to it.”

  “Ah, I see.” She stepped aside. As I walked through to Ma’am’s office, Liv said, “So, how’s the family?” I walked faster. There was no way I wanted to hear any of Gus’s stories right before eating.

  I placed the tray on the table and gave Ma’am her tea and shortbread. “I got some biscuits for you. I know you didn’t ask for any, but I figured you might be hungry.”

  “Thank you, dear.” She brought the cup to her lips, shut her eyes, and took a sip. “Ahh, I needed that.”

  I took the other stuff off the tray and put the tray on the floor, then tucked into my coffee, and my cheese-and-tomato toasted sandwich. Liv’s conversation with Gus over, she’d shut the door, and was pulling her chair out to sit. Now that she was here for support—just in case Ma’am got irritated with me—I could ask about what was going on. “Um… what happened at the meeting? You don’t look very happy.” I sat lower in my chair, anticipating an annoyed brush-off.

  She carefully placed her teacup on the saucer. “I can’t say much because I can’t”—she waved a hand in the air to indicate the lack of a bubble of silence—“but let’s just say that we’re being blamed for some money going missing and leave it at that, shall we?” She smoothed her hair back from her forehead.

  Liv gave me a grim nod. “How’d you go with that lot?” She tipped her head towards the folders strewn across the desk.

  “Yes, dear, and could you have been a bit neater about it?”

  Yes, I was messy, but I couldn’t be perfect… and that comment was totally tongue-in-cheek. “You know it’s all part of my charm.” I grinned. Hmm, I didn’t think I’d ever seen Ma’am look so unimpressed. I hurried on. “The mess is part of my order. It would probably be easier if I had a whiteboard or something where I could pin the profiles and draw lines between them, like they do on TV crime shows.” The files on the desk had a paper clip attaching a mugshot of the criminal plus a brief rundown of their crime, time in jail, threat, date/s of threat/s made, and level of power, both magical and in terms of support on the outside. “I’ve arranged them from most likely to be a problem to least likely, but some of them have connections to each other, either after meeting inside or they knew each other before going to jail.”

  “Thank you, dear. That’s very helpful. I’ll go through these with James later.” She picked up her phone and asked someone to come and fit a large whiteboard to her wall. It was nice to be taken seriously for a change. As soon as she hung up, her phone rang. Her voice, when she answered, was accommodating. I’d never heard her be so friendly. Unease breathed creepily down my nape, raising the hairs. “Yes, sir. Of course. Immediately.” She hung up, shut her eyes for a moment, then opened them, and stood. This couldn’t be good.

  “Is everything okay?” I figured she’d say yes because she wasn’t one to spill her worries on others, but you never knew.

  She ran a hand down her tie, smoothing it against her shirt. “Of course. I’ll be back later. And, Olivia, you have work to do. Maybe get Lily to help you.” Without waiting for an answer, she strode out.

  Liv and I looked at each other. I bit my lip. “That doesn’t seem good.”

  “No, it doesn’t. And before you ask, I don’t know what it’s about, but I can guess.”

  I waited for a moment, but Liv didn’t continue. “You can’t hint and then leave me hanging. What’s your guess?”

  “I can’t say.”

  “What the hell?” I was about to say more, but she held up her hand in a stop gesture.

  As she spoke, she sat at Ma’am’s desk, opened her notebook, and wrote. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. Anyway, we need to work on the stuff Ma’am gave me before.” She turned the note she’d written around so I could read it.

  The PIB big bosses will probably have heard about the money. Oh, crap. They weren’t exactly supportive, from what I’d heard. Was it because they didn’t like Ma’am, and they didn’t have anyone else to fill her shoes at the moment? Or were they frustrated at their lack of government funding? I wasn’t even sure how that all worked. Maybe the PIB was privately funded?

  “I’d love to help. I’m stuck here all day, so I might as well.”

  Liv quietly closed the notebook and stood. “Let’s go to Mill’s office.”

  As we travelled along the corridor, I wondered if we’d ever be able to trust anyone who wasn’t part of our group. “Liv, why does everything have to be so hard?”

  She sighed. “I wish I knew, Lily. I wish I knew.”

  Chapter 8

  While Angelica, Will, and James bumbled along without proper magic and tried to deal with the fallout from the bank theft, the day had arrived for me to visit Millicent’s dad. Because I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere by myself, Imani drove me to Millicent and James’s place. We didn’t know how tired her dad would be after mucking around with my tattoo, so we thought it best to just drive.

  Millicent answered the door, the baby in her arms. When we were inside, I gave her a hug. “Can I hold my niece, pretty please?”

  “You sure can.” She happily handed her over, and I cradled her to me, getting a good sniff of her baldish head. Babies, when they were clean, had the sweetest smell. Once I’d cooed over her for a few minutes, Millicent’s dad arrived via the reception room. After Millicent let him in, I reluctantly handed my niece to Imani, who was also eager for a cuddle.

  Her dad smiled reassuringly. “We’ll do this in the living room, where it’s more comfortable.”

  My stomach fluttered with nerves. If this worked, I’d be overjoyed, but if it didn’t…. I’d had enough experience with disappointment that I’d be fine either way, eventually. I sat on the couch, my “bad” arm next to him. “Do you think the curse will interfere with what you’re going to do?”

  “No. It’s only a problem if you cast a spell, but I won’t be asking you to do that.”

  Millicent gave me a gentle smile. “He’s really good at what he does, Lily. Don’t worry; you’re in the best of hands. Now I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, Imani and I will be in the kitchen.”

  “Thanks.” I sat on the edge of the couch and tapped my foot on the ground.

  “Relax, Lily. The first part won’t hurt, and if I’m going to do anything that might surprise you, I’ll let you know beforehand, and you can say yay or nay. Okay?”

  I giggled at the rhyme. Ordinarily, I might be able to hide that, but being nervous put a serious chink in my self-control. “Um, okay.” I didn’t really have a choice.

  He chuckled. “You can sit back. That’s what I meant by relax. You’re making me nervous.” Gah, I didn’t want that. I wanted things to go as smoothly as possible.

  I settled back and held out my arm. He took it in gentle but firm fingers. “I’m going to start by having another look at things. You’ll feel a bit of warmth, but that’s all.” As he got to work, I stared at the blank TV screen on the wall opposite. The TV was bookended by white shelves filled with, you guessed it, books. I wasn’t sure how long this was going to take, but if it was a while, maybe I should’ve grabbed one of those first.

  After about ten minutes, he released my arm, and the subtle warmth of his magic dissipated. His face, like others before him when they looked at me, was carefully devoid of expression. Great. Not. “Is it bad news?”

  “Not exactly. I know how to disable the tracking spell. But it’s booby-trapped. I know the spell, so I can tak
e measures to avoid the repercussions, but it still poses some danger. Whoever did this definitely has an army background.”

  “That’s actually a positive. Well, not positive about the army background, but maybe we can figure out who did this now that we have extra information.”

  “True, but it also means you’re not dealing with an amateur. Anyway, I’m sure we can save that discussion for another time. Right now, I’m going to attempt to remove the spell. It could take a while, and the heat might become almost unbearable. Do you still want me to try?”

  “Yes.” There was no hesitation in my answer. Maybe if we could disable the tracking part of the tattoo, the other spells would be easier to get rid of too. I just wanted the damn tattoo gone. I scowled at it. “Do we need a safe word for if it gets too much?”

  His forehead creased. “No. Once I start pulling the threads apart, I can’t stop. If I break my magic connection, I’ll set off the booby trap. What the result will be, I can’t say, but we could both end up dead. Once you’re in, Lily, you’re in, no matter how painful it becomes.”

  Oh, crap. Did I still want to do this? I swallowed. Yes, yes I did. I wouldn’t let the snake group have any more power over me than I could help. For that, I could suffer for an afternoon. Whatever pain I went through would be a small price to pay—it was only one afternoon after all. I met Robert’s enquiring gaze. “Yes, I’d like to go ahead. Don’t worry if I cry or scream or whatever. I’ll try not to make any noise, but if I can’t help it, I’ll just have to let it out, but I can cope. Just don’t stop.”

  He gave a curt nod. “Understood.”

  My heart ratcheted up a notch as he took my wrist again, and his magic unfurled over my scalp, neck, and down my arm. Robert’s familiar magic wasn’t painful at first. Five minutes passed. Maybe I could do this without any dramas. What a lovely change.

  While he worked, I glanced from his hand on the tattoo to his face and around the room. I wanted to know how he thought it was going, but I dared not break his concentration, and I didn’t want to stare at him the whole time because he’d think I was a weirdo.

  I estimated another five minutes had passed. Feeling quite smug that this was going more easily than I’d thought, I settled further into the couch, and the tension in my jaw went away.

  And that’s when it hit.

  The motherload of all pain.

  I had just enough time to take in Robert scrunching his eyes shut and gritting his teeth before scalding heat ripped through my arm. It was as if my arm was on fire and my wrist was melting. I screamed and shut my eyes. It was all I could do not to rip my arm out of his hold. I knew I was crying, but I couldn’t stop it, and all I could feel was burning. I leaned away, did my best not to go too far, but it was unbearable. Robert grunted, likely his way of reminding me what might happen if I disengaged.

  And still, my arm was being seared from the inside out.

  I hadn’t thought it possible to hate RP any more than I already did, but it was, indeed, possible. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be living through hell right now.

  I sobbed and groaned, and I didn’t even care who heard. My eyes were still closed—not that it did much, but it was easier to retreat into myself, and it helped conserve a tiny bit of energy. Maybe that minuscule amount of energy would be what got me over the line.

  Time lost meaning as I endured the searing barrage.

  At some point, Robert’s whispered chants broke through. My shallow breathing rasped loudly. Stabbing pain lanced my stomach, even more excruciating than the all-encompassing fire. Dizziness swirled. Was I about to pass out?

  And then it was done. Robert released my wrist, and the pain was gone, leaving me tender and raw. I was so afraid to move, in case it came back, that I kept my eyes closed.

  “Lily, can you hear me? It’s done. You can open your eyes.” Exhaustion dripped from his words.

  I braced myself and did as he asked.

  Wow, the pain really was gone, and boy did Millicent’s dad look like he hadn’t slept for two weeks while simultaneously wrestling crocodiles. Millicent and Imani stood in the middle of the room, staring at us, their gazes expectant.

  “Did it work?” My voice came out in an unintentional whisper.

  He smiled. “I’m pleased to announce that it was a resounding success.”

  “Thank you so, so, so, so, so much!” Joy skipped through me. I surprised myself by giving him a hug. “You’re incredible.” I released him and sat back, my cheeks heating. The English weren’t known for their spontaneous and enthusiastic displays of affection. And I wasn’t normally like that, so I hoped he hadn’t been too put out.

  He laughed. “It’s fine, Lily. I’ve risked my life for far less worthy causes than yours before. I have a feeling that whoever did this is a threat we want neutralised as quickly as possible. So now you’ll be free to roam without being tracked. The other two spells aren’t clear to me yet, but we’ll set another session for next week, if that’s okay. I’m not as young as I used to be. I think I could sleep until then and not stir.”

  Millicent bent and gave her dad a hug. “I’ll get you some tea, coffee, and sandwiches. That was a real marathon.” She turned and left, while Imani sat next to me.

  “How long did that take?” I asked her.

  “A tad over three hours, love. And the screams.” She grimaced. “I wanted to come in and stop it, but Mill forbade me. You really know how to take it, Lily. I knew you were tough, but….”

  My heart wriggled with happiness at the compliment, weird as that compliment was. “It was the most painful experience I’ve ever been through. Can’t say I’m in a hurry to do it again.”

  Robert raised his brows. “But, Lily, if you want to disable the other spells, you’ll have to. You may not have a choice.”

  “Can I be knocked out for it? Like under general anaesthetic?”

  He rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure. It might be possible, but it would make it a riskier proposition. I’ll think about it and consult with Beren. He’s a clever lad, especially when it comes to medicine. I’ll get back to you.”

  He was right: there was no way I could avoid it. We needed to banish the RP spells from my system. We didn’t even know what they could do. A little burst of happiness filled me at the thought they were livid at being thwarted now they could no longer track my movements. It was definitely worth the suffering. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” I glared at the stupid tattoo. Oh, hang on a minute. I squinted, although why people squinted to see better was beyond me. I could see less of what I was looking at when I did that, not more. I held my wrist in front of Imani. “Tell me I’m not imagining things.”

  She held my arm steady while she perused the tattoo. She gasped. “You’re not imagining anything. The tail has disappeared!” She stared at Robert. “You sure have some strong magic. Impressive. Ma’am could use someone like you at the PIB.”

  He smiled. “I’m afraid I plan on staying retired. I’ll help family when they need it, but I’ve spent too many years coming and going, and now I just want to spend time with my loved ones. Millicent’s mother and I have a holiday planned for spring. We’re off to Spain.”

  “That sounds lovely,” I said. “I wish I could go to Spain.”

  Millicent came in. “Food’s ready. Let’s adjourn to the family room.”

  Although I was tired, a small amount of marzipan had been removed from the huge container I’d been lugging around. That was one more horrific piece I didn’t have to eat, so my load felt lighter. The problem was, sometimes there were worse things than marzipan. I just hoped the universe wouldn’t send them my way.

  Chapter 9

  The next day, I tagged along to headquarters with Ma’am and Will. Unfortunately, we didn’t take the quackmobile—it might have gone some way to making the journey more cheerful. In the afternoon, I was supposed to visit two crime scenes with them and take photos in a bid to uncover more clues.

  Ma’am hardly said a word the whole
way into work, and once I was safely ensconced in Millicent’s office, Ma’am and Will had hurried off to meetings. So I was more than a little surprised as I bit into my chocolate cake—from the cafeteria—when only thirty minutes after they left, Will blew into the room like a hungry dog who’d just heard the rustle of a chip packet.

  I halted, the fork halfway to my mouth. Liv looked up from her computer. “Did you forget something?”

  “Lily, we need your help pronto. You brought your camera today, didn’t you?”

  “Of course I did. You told me I’d need it.” Men. “What’s up?”

  “I’ll tell you in the car. We have to get going.” He ran a hand through his hair, his body half turned to leave.

  “Right. Okay.” I stood, put my coat on, and grabbed my camera from my bag. “See ya, Liv. I guess I’ll be back later.” Whatever was going on must be major—as much as Will was known for his cranky demeanour, I’d hardly ever seen him agitated.

  “Bye, guys. Stay safe.”

  We didn’t talk on the jog to the car. Will was preoccupied with whatever was going on, and I could be patient and wait till we got in the car to ask questions… believe it or not. In the basement car park, Will led me to a black BMW SUV. Such an obvious spy car, but black was a cool colour, or non-colour for those fanatics who had to say black and white weren’t colours whenever an unsuspecting person called them such.

  He opened the back door for me, and I climbed in. Will went around and got into the back seat via the other side. Ma’am sat in the front passenger seat, and an agent I’d never met before was driving. Ma’am turned to look at me. “Lily, I’d like you to meet Agent Lyon.”