A Witch's Trial (Witch's Path Series: Book 3) Page 13

  A sigh of relief escaped my lips when I parked in front of the lodge. It was good to be home. Slipping out of the car, I noticed Elron helping a gray-haired fey out of his car. Last time I'd seen Elron, he'd been asleep on my sofa.

  I started over to them but was distracted by a glossy Mercedes-Benz rolling down the driveway. As I watched, it backed into a parking spot and three women emerged. They were as immaculate as the car, in crisp blouses, freshly pressed slacks or pencil skirts, and leather flats. As one of the ladies closed her door, I could see a row of pumps in the floorboard. The ladies had come prepared for the gravel road.

  They gave the area a cursory look and gathered at the front of the car. One of them said something to the others, and they glanced at me before returning their attention to the woman with the carefully arranged hair and steel-gray skirt. She was older than the others with creases at the corners of her eyes and a hint of dark roots showing at the base of her blond hair. A few words later and the group started over to me with Gray Skirt leading the way.

  I stepped back over to my car and deposited my purse inside. This had clan politics written all over it, and I didn't think the purse was going to help me much. After considering the way the letters had been phrased, I walked around my car and met the group in the middle of the gravel parking lot. If this got interesting, I didn't want to injure my car, Elron, or the old man.

  Gray Skirt spoke first. "Ms. Oaks, I presume. I am Tammy Smith."

  She offered her hand, but I didn't take it. I'd had enough of witches interrupting my day because they wanted something, and there were plenty of ways she could spell me upon physical contact. Being polite wasn't worth the risk.

  After a moment, she dropped her hand and cleared her throat. "I'm here to represent the Wapiti."

  I suppressed an eye roll.

  "Since you have not answered our previous communications, I am here to take you to the minister for an interview."

  "No."

  "Beg pardon?" She arched a plucked eyebrow.

  "You heard me. No, I won't go with you. I have no desire to take an unplanned trip at the whim of a clan that can't be bothered to see if I actually want to join its ranks before it starts bossing me around." That settled it; I was going to try to offend the clans to the point that they didn't want anything to do with me.

  "Let's start over."

  "Let's not," I said before she could continue.

  She flashed a smile that had an uncanny resemblance to a dog baring its teeth. "Then we will continue from here. Your grandmother is a very busy woman who has waited a long time to meet you. If you come with us, the two of you can have a long-overdue reunion and discuss your return to the clan." Tammy gave me another toothy smile as she studied my reaction.

  She could try to make this sound like a long-overdue family reunion, but I'd been warned about my grandmother's charming disposition and offended by the rude communication. "That's nice, but I'm busy. If you leave me her number, I'll be sure to give her a call."

  "This isn't optional."

  "Yes, it is, and I'm choosing to continue my life rather than dropping everything to satisfy the whim of a group of people I've never met." I gave her my own smile, the same one I'd used as a teenager when my mom told me to smile.

  "You belong with us. We are your family." She didn't smile this time.

  Behind me, the front door to the lodge opened and closed. I hoped Elron and the old man were getting out of the line of fire, but that wouldn't be like Elron, and the crunch of gravel informed me that an additional person was occupying the parking spaces behind me.

  Her eyes drifted past me. "Oh, dear. That won't do. We can't be having any interruptions."

  I twisted around to see Liam encased in ice on the stairs. A few feet away, Elron and the old man were motionless, trapped by a spell that was glinting purple.

  "Let them go!" I yelled.

  "As soon as we finish our discussion. Where was I?" Tammy tapped a manicured nail against her lips. "Right. You belong with us, your family."

  "You aren't my family. I don't know you. For all I know, you're lying to me about being part of my grandmother's clan." Even if she was telling the truth, the interactions I'd had with the Wapiti left something to be desired.

  I could feel a spell settling over me, a mild compulsion that made want to go with them. My power flared, incinerating the spell and leaving me clearheaded.

  "That wasn't nice. I am staying right here." I stamped my foot, and it sank into the ground. With the four witches ready to drag me off to meet my grandmother, I didn't have time to worry about the mud on my shoe.

  A witch in black slacks stepped up beside Tammy. "You will come with us. We will take you to your true family and home."

  I formed a shield bubble around myself. Tammy and Black Slacks had joined hands, and power was building between them. If I wouldn't go with them, they were planning on taking me.

  "I won't go with you."

  They mouthed a few words, and I was tugged forward. Leaning back, I kept my feet planted, suddenly grateful that my right foot had sunk into the ground. I slashed my hand through the air and sliced through the spell connecting us.

  "No," I shouted. "I will not go with you." The words vibrated through the air, sending a wave of energy at them, much like the concussive force of a bomb.

  Tammy and Black Slacks flew through the air and landed limply ten feet behind their fellow witch. I blinked a few times and snapped my jaw shut, hoping it looked like I'd done that intentionally rather than my temper getting the better of me. When my mom found out, she was going to scold me. I hadn't lost control like that since I was a young child. From experience, I knew that I hadn't hurt them. They would be unconscious for a little while but otherwise unharmed. Oh, except for the bruises from landing on gravel.

  A witch in a cream pencil skirt looked at the two of them and clucked her tongue. "I guess the elders were right about you. I thought they were exaggerating your powers, that this would be an easy job. Drive out to your home, put you in the car, and drive you back to the clan. Well, easy or hard, you will be coming with us."

  "I don't think you understand. I am happy here. This is my home, and I'm not leaving. If you were any sort of family, I would've grown up with you." I snarled.

  "That was a dreadful error, which we are attempting to rectify," she said crisply.

  "Really? What about my mom?"

  "She isn't important in this discussion."

  "I think she is. She's my mom." These witches had a hard time understanding the concept of family. It didn't speak well of them, and I was getting a clear picture of why Mom didn't want them in our lives.

  "Well, that was… unfortunate. However, we need to focus on you right now." She curved her lips. I think it was supposed to be a polite smile, but she was missing the warmth that would've taken the movement from strange to friendly.

  I shoved a puff of wind at her. She swayed but wasn't pushed backward.

  "That was cute, but I feel like you didn't hear me. You are coming with us." With those words, she drew me in, the spell on her voice.

  Swaying forward, I shifted to start walking to her. My foot refused to move. Confused, I looked down to see that both feet had slipped into the earth and vines were creeping across my shoes and up my ankles. Within seconds, the vines had twisted around my lower legs and up to my knees. Even if I wanted to move, I couldn't. As the spell faded, I was happy to be rooted to the spot. Turns out the earth didn't want me to leave either.

  "You're going to have to do better than that," I taunted.

  This was a very bad situation. She'd iced Liam. Elron and the old man were paralyzed under some spell, and I didn't have a way out of this. At this rate, she would spell the entire lodge and carry me away before dinner. Right about now, help would be good.

  A roar shattered the silence, and the ground trembled. Ty charged around the side of the lodge, head down, teeth snapping between deafening growls. From this angle, the pink-and-p
urple body didn't look funny. Several tons of angry dinosaur was frightening, even in those colors.

  I had the pleasure of watching her eyes bulge and her mouth drop open, but it was short-lived. She pulled out a wand, mouthed a few words, and heavy rope encased his legs and snout. Ty toppled over sideways, making the ground tremble, setting off a car alarm, and sending the witch to her knees.

  The vines inching up my thighs kept me upright, and I gave them a grateful pat. Over my shoulder, I could see Elron and the old man. They were still upright too, which was better than the alternative. Liam had fallen, and cracks were spider-webbing across the ice. I didn't know if that was good or bad for him. He'd be better off if he could defrost before permanent harm was done, but if he was cracking along with the ice… Werewolves were as mortal as the rest of us.

  Ty's nostrils fluttered and he thrashed, whipping his tail as he tried to escape. A small pine tree separated from its roots after a collision with his tail and fell on top of him. He snorted and lay still.

  It hurt to see him bound and scared. Knowing he wasn't truly alive was a small comfort at best. Spells might have brought him to life, but he had a personality and feelings. That made him real to me.

  Hearing the lodge door swing open, I twisted around, shouting, "No!" I reached out, trying to deflect the spell, but I missed and a shield bubble swallowed Landa, Mander, Baden, and Julius.

  The witch laughed. "Everything here can go back to normal if you get in the car and come with me to meet your grandmother. This doesn't have to get ugly."

  "Get ugly? What do you mean get ugly? We passed ugly when y'all cast the first compulsion. This is not how you woo a prospective clan member," I yelled, my temper at its breaking point.

  "You misunderstand. We don't need to woo you; we're your clan. We were sent to bring an unruly clan member back home." She smirked.

  "As you can see"—I waved my hands in the direction of my legs—"I'm not going anywhere."

  "Dagaz." She pointed the wand at my feet, and flames danced through the grass and started eating at the vines encasing my feet. "That won't be an issue for long."

  Gravel crunched and a puff of dust blew over the tops of the trees. A car was coming down the driveway, and dollars to donuts it was carrying my parents. Narzel blast it, as if this situation wasn't bad enough, my parents needed to be in the crosshairs too.

  The vines around my feet responded by sprouting thick, moist foliage and doubling their size. As lovely as it was that they were willing to see to their own defense, I had a better solution. "Gebo," I said, and water doused the flames.

  The two witches I'd knocked out twitched and moaned. In a moment I'd be back to facing all three of them, and I was nearly out of power. My hand curled, as if holding a wand, but there was nothing for it to grab. My substitute wand was in the car. In the future, I'd always carry a wand to greet unfamiliar witches, just in case it went badly and I needed the extra boost to my spells.

  "Oh, it looks like we'll be having company. If you come with me now, we can spare them this little scene."

  "Thanks, but no thanks." I gathered the last of my power. "Sowil."

  The containment spell sprang to life around her. If I could hold her, maybe Dad could help me with the other two. Then we could go about our day, with the minor inconvenience of disposing of three witches. That shouldn't cause too much stress. I'm sure Mom would accept three witches trying to haul me off to meet my grandmother as an average day. And later tonight we would see the elusive flying pig.

  She shattered my spell and sparks of light drifted through the air around her. "That was cute."

  I could feel her building a spell, but this time I was out of tricks. The friends who'd rushed to my aid in the past were in desperate need of help themselves, my parents were on the way, and I had nothing.

  The vines curled over my hips, and a tendril twisted around my right wrist, quickly expanding over the back of my hand. Energy surged out of the ground and into me. It flooded my feet and radiated out of the vines. The runner detached from the main plant and snaked up my arm. In an instant, a warm hum filled my body.

  A twister sprang to life beside me. It might have been small, only twelve feet tall, and narrow, but it was strong enough to send my hair dancing in the wind and pull leaves off the vines cradling me.

  Her second spell sped toward me. Raising my right hand, I formed a concave shield, reflecting the spell back at her. The runner on my arm glowed when the spells collided. The spell hit her full force, knocking her down and, if the limp way she fell was any indication, out.

  I pointed at the twister. "That's enough out of you." It dissolved into a gentle breeze, dropping a pile of dust and leaves.

  "Now, for the three of you," I said. The spell was vividly alive in my mind, and I released it upon the three of them. "Go home, tell the clan that I am to be left alone, don't come back, and remember nothing after this moment. Regain enough awareness to travel safely; harm none on your journey back to the clan."

  The three partly conscious witches swayed as they got to their feet. They moved in uncoordinated, jerky motion as they hobbled back to their car. Even the spell couldn't make injured bodies move smoothly. They got in the car and started down the driveway without giving any of us a second look. If you were going to force someone to do your will, this was the way to do it. Too bad I felt dirty. Mucking about with their free will was wrong, and under other circumstances I would have found a different solution, but I needed them gone in a hurry. It was the best I could do under the conditions.

  My guilt was largely erased when I looked at Ty and the others. Those witches were not good people. With a thought, the bonds holding Ty vanished. I turned my attention to the rest of my friends, but the power started to drain back into the earth. As it trickled away, the strain my body had endured became apparent. One of these days, I would learn not to overreach myself.

  "Thank you, and help Elron. Please help Elron and Liam," I whispered as the vines pulled away and the last of the power slipped from me.

  Chapter 12: Elron

  The moment the unnatural bonds on me faded, I leapt forward. If history was any indication, Michelle wouldn't be standing much longer. She smiled at me, reaching out with a hand decorated in a twist of ivy. Her eyes rolled back, and I caught her as she went limp.

  Scooping her up, I cradled her against my chest. There were dirt smudges on her cheek, and thick strands of hair had escaped her braid, but she was still beautiful to me. The pallor of her skin and shadows under her eyes told the story of the how trying the past few weeks had been.

  Her strength was stunning. Not her magic, though it was impressive, but her ability to fix problems and be the rock when things were falling to pieces. Michelle was there, steady and ready to conquer the challenge, no matter how large or small. She was my foundation, the one solid thing I could trust.

  I rested my forehead against hers, not at all surprised by her chilled skin. "You did well. You kept us safe."

  A piece of my heart shifted, finding where it belonged.

  A car slid to a stop, distracting me from the feelings I was beginning to understand. A man and woman leapt out and sprinted for us.

  "What happened? What's wrong with her?" the man shouted.

  Ty made it to his feet, shook himself, and walked over, whining and huffing.

  "Michelle?" the woman asked, brows drawn together and tears forming in her eyes.

  "Michelle is as well as she can be for the moment, though she would benefit from us moving this discussion inside." Under normal circumstances, I would not have discussed her health, but this woman clearly cared for her, and Ty had not offered any violence.

  Overhead, Ty huffed and whistled. If he didn't settle down soon, I would need to have a word with him.

  The woman laid a hand on Michelle's head for a moment, then looked at the man. "She's out cold but otherwise unharmed, even if she is drained of energy."

  That was enough to reaffirm that I needed to
get Michelle inside, and to do that, the bubble of people needed to be dealt with since they were blocking the door. "Sir, ma'am, would you be kind enough to release these people from their constraints? It would benefit them, especially Liam."

  The man looked away from Michelle, seeing the rest of the scene for the first time. His frown deepened, and he hurried over to Liam. Kneeling down, he studied the shifter, trailing a finger over the fracturing ice.

  "Nancy, come look at this fellow," the man said.

  Nancy hurried over and dropped to the ground next to the injured werewolf. She didn't say anything, but her rigid posture wasn't encouraging.

  I adjusted my grip on Michelle and gently addressed the man again. "If you can release the rest of the residents from the shield bubble, we can get more help and I can take Michelle inside. I am sure Varro would appreciate being released as well."

  "Oh, yes, of course." He turned to the group inside the shield, pulled a wand out of a belt holster, and pointed it at the bubble. Four runes later, the bubble popped open, leaving a group of people standing on the porch and sporting expressions that ranged from grateful to grumpy. He turned to Varro, and after six runes the fey was free too.

  I stepped around the frozen werewolf and strode up the steps. Julius and Baden moved back, giving me room. Landa was still standing in my way, eyes pointed in my direction but clearly not seeing me.

  She blinked, and her attention focused on me. "Go down the hall past the parlor. A new room has opened up and it's ready for her."

  I gave her a curt nod and made my way into the lodge. Either Landa had asked for a room to meet our needs or the lodge had reacted to the situation. Brownie's homes were lively, able to sense and respond to change, though their concept of help could be skewed. If you had several bookshelves, a library room might open up, but in gaining the library you could have a smaller bathroom and living room.