A Witch's Trial (Witch's Path Series: Book 3) Page 7

  He shook his head. "I looked. If there are any further mysteries on its pages, they have not yet revealed themselves to me. You are more than welcome to examine the book."

  "I will. It's worth looking for more information." I didn't mention having a copy. The spell I'd used to make my copy didn't make an exact duplicate, but rather replicated the text on the pages of a different book. If there were hidden clues, the original was the place to look.

  The conversation hadn't helped Elron. The corners of his mouth were pinched and his brow wrinkled. He tossed an arm over his eyes and sighed. From the careful way he held himself to the tension in his body, he looked alone and pained.

  "Elron," I said, and he lifted up his arm and looked at me with watery eyes. "Come here."

  He scooted around until he was sitting next to me and froze. His eyes darted between his previous spot and me. I patted my leg, and he slowly lay down, head on my thigh. A few strands of hair draped over his cheek. I set my fingers against his temple and brushed the strands back, tucking them behind his ear.

  "Thank you," Elron said, his body softening as he relaxed.

  "It's what friends do."

  Minutes ticked by as he rested, and I pondered the new information. There had to be more to it than a story. As nice as it was to have some confirmation that demons were real, it wasn't the most useful information. There wasn't a single word in the tale about how the Hunters had killed demons.

  The reference to their attrition rate was hardly remarkable. I'd seen how easily this demon killed, and there was little doubt in my mind that it would become more violent if confronted. Given the little I knew about Gremory, it was surprising that there'd been so few deaths. A soft voice in the back of my mind suggested there could be many more bodies hidden in the woods.

  "Elron?"

  "Yes?"

  "What happened to the Hunters who retired?"

  "I do not know." He frowned.

  "What would you do in their situation?" Please let him have the same idea.

  "Hmmm. I would try to disappear. Whether I moved to a village or lived in seclusion, I would want to be unremarkable. Perhaps I would start a family or pick up a trade. I would not demonstrate any special skill that could identify me."

  Picking up where he left off, I said, "And I'd want to prepare my children. Not to follow in my footsteps, but to protect themselves. Even if the Hunters didn't record their secrets as a group, the individuals would want to protect the ones they loved. Some of their knowledge had to be passed along, maybe even written down."

  "It will be next to impossible to find that information, Michelle."

  "I know." As I thought, my hand traced circles on his arm. Some races were exceptionally long-lived, and any group hunting something as dangerous as demons would prefer the anonymity of myth.

  "Do you think there's any chance some of the Hunters are still alive?" I asked.

  Elron shook his head. "Everyone dies, Michelle. For the truth of the stories to be all but forgotten in my parent's time, the Hunters could not have been active for many thousands of years."

  I sighed. It had been a long shot. "I'm out of ideas until I look through the diary again."

  "I will get it." Elron was off the couch and out the door before I could say anything.

  While he was gone, I went into my workroom and slipped the copy in a drawer. Moving over to the cabinet where I'd stored the materials for the hedge-practitioner class I would be teaching, I opened the door and pulled out the basket of wands. Running my hands over them, I felt the wood: oak, ash, cherry, and pine. A smooth cherry wand slipped into my palm, my fingers curled around it, and I could feel a slight warmth to the wood. After returning the rest of the wands to the cabinet, I went to the kitchen and put the kettle on. If Elron and I were going to be examining the book, I needed tea.

  Elron slipped back into the room just as the kettle whistled and said, "Can I have a cup?"

  "Sure. What would you like?"

  "A green or herbal."

  "How about a hibiscus-and-peach green tea?"

  "Yes, thank you." Elron set the book on the table, walked into the kitchen, and leaned against the counter, watching me measure out the tea and pour the water.

  I handed him a mug and watched as he slowly walked to the table and settled into a chair. His hands shook ever so slightly as he set down the tea. I followed him, snagging my new wand off the counter. Elron's gaze was fixed on me as I covered the short distance between the counter and table. He didn't look away until I was sitting next to him.

  "Are you okay?" I asked. When he'd said he needed me, my first thought had been that he remembered our dream. That didn't seem to be the case, because if that memory had resurfaced, he would've said something. Whatever had had happened over the past few days, that dream wasn't the primary event.

  "I am better than I have been of late." Elron took a sip of tea.

  I didn't bother to reply. He knew that wasn't an answer. We sat there, tea in hand, book and wand sitting on the table. It didn't take long for me to stop watching the book and start focusing on Elron.

  "This is the second time a single moment has changed everything. What I knew as truth was a lie. Hundreds of years and every action was predicated on an untruth. My thoughts, beliefs, were all misguided." Elron kept his eyes fixed on the book.

  "This time I find naught of importance had changed. I am the same man with the same scars and pains. For all of that, I am more myself than I have ever been. Beyond the lies were truths that were badly in need of sun."

  He took a deep breath and looked up at me. "I loved Sylvia, but she was not the love of my life. Part of me was relieved when she died. The rest of me was lost to grief and guilt. None of what has befallen her was good, and if I could, I would go back in time and prevent her from leaving that day. However, if those events had not occurred, I would be a different man, and I like the man I am today. I have gained things I would not trade for anything."

  "That's good, because you can't go back in time."

  "Make no mistake, Michelle, the past still haunts me. I have merely won enough distance to try."

  His gaze dropped to my hands, which had a white-knuckled grip on the mug. As usual, Elron couldn't be simple. In front of me was a man who had fought his demons and won but was fragile enough to need shelter and strength. This man was healed enough to live but yet delicate enough to break under a stiff wind.

  I licked my lips. "Try what?"

  "Try to live."

  Chapter 6: Michelle

  At hour four, the book had yet to divulge a secret. My hand was beginning to cramp from holding the wand, and the legal pad was teeming with notes, not a one of which held useful information.

  Elron had collapsed on the sofa two hours ago and was snoring intermittently. Any other day, I'd tease him for turning into a barbarian, but if he'd done half the crying I suspected… Well, elves could get plugged noses too.

  Dropping the wand, I rubbed my hand and wrist. If this book had any secrets, it wasn't willing to share them with me.

  "Perhaps it is time for a break."

  I yelped and leapt out of the chair, knocking it over in the process.

  Elron caught it before it could hit the ground and set it back on four feet as a slight blush crept over his cheeks. "My apologies. I did not intend to startle you."

  Deep breath in, hold, and let it out, I told myself. "I didn't hear you move." One of these days my heart would return to a normal rhythm.

  "I am sorry." He shifted from foot to foot.

  "It's okay." Elves who startled people should be forced to wear bells.

  "Did you find anything?"

  "No. That book contains nothing but words for me. All I can say is what I already knew from the last time I read this thing. Gremory has a fondness for trolls, can be killed, possession can be prevented—though how isn't explained—and that she doesn't expect to outlive him." I started rubbing my hand again.

  "I read that as well. We
can discuss it later."

  He hardly acknowledged that I'd said his wife would be dying shortly. It was as if it hadn't really hit him as a possibility.

  Elron brushed my fingers away from my hand and began massaging it himself. "You need to take a break, and I know just the thing to take your mind off this."

  My eyes narrowed and I finally asked, "What?"

  Elron looked me up and down, taking in my sneakers, jeans, and polo. I glared at him, but he didn't notice. "Those clothes shall do. Come with me?"

  "Why? Where?" Earlier he had been all for poring over the book until we found the clues he was sure were there, and now he was telling me to stop.

  His silver hair rippled as he shook his head. "You are tired. Any secrets inside that text will be there when we return."

  "Return from what?"

  "What happened to the girl who enjoyed being surprised by the greenhouse?" Elron tugged on my ponytail. "That girl had a sense of adventure."

  "That girl is taking a much-needed day off. In her place you have Miss Suspicious."

  "Well, Miss Suspicious, what would it take to get you to come with me?" The twinkle was back in his eyes.

  "Answers."

  "Ah, yes. You did ask deep questions. I do believe I have answered why, which leaves what and where. We will not leave the lodge. Normally, I would take you outside, but I do not have the energy to deal with Ty. As for what, why not leave that a surprise." Elron held out his hand. "Now, will you come with me?"

  I reluctantly set my hand in his. No matter how strange he'd been acting, Elron would never hurt me. "Yes."

  His smile was genuine, but it didn't chase the shadows from his eyes. "This way."

  Elron tugged me out the door, past his apartment, and came to a halt in front of a narrow door. It was a door I'd never opened. Not only was Landa firm about residents and guests leaving things alone, but the door looked exactly like several that guarded supplies and linen.

  After flicking on a light switch, he pulled open the door, revealing a landing and stairs that traveled down. Elron motioned for me to go first, and I stepped into the stairwell. He pulled the door shut behind us, and we started down the stairs. Stairs leading into basements were often creepy, but the walls were the same wood as the rest of the lodge, the wall sconces provided plenty of light and, thanks to the carpet, our footsteps didn't echo.

  We turned a corner and the wall dropped away, leaving a banister and a clear view of a room that was easily three times the size of my apartment. Mirrors lined one long wall while the adjoining short wall had a door, racks of items I couldn't identify at this distance, and a pile of gymnastic mats taller than me.

  "Elron, what is this?" I asked as my feet touched the wooden floor. Part of me knew, but another part of me was hoping the fourteen-foot ceilings, mats, and pointy objects on the wall meant something else.

  "It's a weapons room." He turned and gestured to the room.

  Nope, my eyes hadn't been playing tricks on me. The racks on the far wall held armor, swords, staffs, and other sharp, pointy, and blunt objects designed to inflict maximum damage. "That's good, but why are we here?"

  Elron turned back to me, frowning. "You need to be able to defend yourself."

  "I'm a witch. Trust me, I am perfectly capable of defending myself."

  He shook his head.

  I just glared. "Hey, I've captured trolls, a werewolf, sorceress, and a clurichaun. Don't tell me I can't defend myself."

  His eyes narrowed. "When did you cross paths with a clurichaun?"

  I swallowed. "Um, yesterday."

  Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back and took a deep breath before returning his gaze to me. "Clurichauns are dangerous."

  "That's why the police called me."

  "Of course it is. All right, if you are going to continue putting yourself in dangerous situations, you must learn to defend yourself."

  "Magic, remember?" I wiggled my fingers and made the air sparkle. Maybe a visual would reinforce the words.

  "Yes, magic. If I recall, magic failed to keep the werewolf contained."

  "That was a freak event. Who knew there would be a demon, exploding house, and magical backlash?" I grumbled.

  "You cannot know what the situation will involve, which is why you must be prepared." He silenced me with a look when I opened my mouth. "A method of physical defense is necessary if you continue this work. Do not again tell me of your magic. I am aware of your gifts, but no single skill works in every situation. There will be creatures that are immune to magic or attack you physically when you are unable to summon a magical defense."

  "Fine, let's say you're right. I'll get a gun." I'd used a gun before, and I was more comfortable with that than with any of the things he had stashed in here.

  Elron shook his head. "You may, but it will not get you out of these lessons. My fear is not what will happen if your adversary is far away, but what will occur if they are near." He stepped closer to me, leaving only inches between our bodies. "If you are within this proximity, a gun is not ideal. If your opponent is farther away, I trust you are a resourceful witch who has the police there to protect you."

  I knew right then that I wasn't getting out of this. He was dead set, and his logic was sound. "What do you think I need in a weapon?"

  He stepped back and started across the room, and I trailed along behind him. This wasn't how I'd pictured my afternoon. My plan had been to pore over that book until I found something and then do some paperwork. It should've been a low-key and lazy day.

  Up close, I realized I'd underestimated the scope of the weaponry. The storage couldn't really be called a rack as all but six feet of the wall was taken up with armor for every body part, with varying levels of padding and weapons of every shape and size. There were long swords, short swords, claymores, rapiers, sabers, and swords I couldn't identity. Next to the swords was a collection of staffs, glaives, and halberds that flowed into an assortment of smaller things like axes, tomahawks, brass knuckles, batons, maces, and trays of knives.

  Elron walked along the wall, touching and picking up different weapons. "You need to be able to hold off a stronger, faster, more skilled opponent. This must be done at close range, where their strength and size will be a disadvantage for you. Ideally, you'll be able to break bones or otherwise disable your attacker with minimum effort on your part."

  He was going to hand me a sword, I just knew it, and I didn't want to learn the sword. There were so many different techniques and types of swords, and carrying one around would be a colossal pain. I'd rather pick up the brass knuckles and get in a brawl with a vampire.

  With his back to me, he stopped between the swords and staffs. After plucking something off the wall, he turned around, twirling whatever it was in his hands so quickly that it was unidentifiable.

  "With that in mind, I think the staff is a good choice for you." He finished whipping it through the air, and one end hit the floor with a thump.

  "Staff?" If I'd thought the sword would be annoying to tote around, it had nothing on a staff.

  "Yes, you will acquire a passing acquaintance with the polearm." He handed me a staff that was slightly longer than I am tall and took a second one off the wall for himself.

  "Elron," I said nervously, "this is a bad idea. I'm a perfectly competent witch, but I'm not known for being overly coordinated in other areas."

  He shot me a withering look. "I am aware, Miss Dances-with-Mud."

  "Not all of us can be as graceful as elves," I muttered.

  "Clearly." He slipped a hand behind my elbow and guided me away from the rack, positioning me so I was facing the plain wood-paneled wall. Stepping in front of me, he held the staff with both hands and said, "This is the basic stance. Look at where my hands are and how I have placed my feet. Now you."

  Fumbling, I grabbed the staff and stuck my feet to the floor. Elron broke the pose, set down his staff, and walked over. He gently repositioned my feet and corrected my hip and spine alignm
ent with gentle fingers. Lastly, he adjusted my hands and poked at my shoulders.

  "This is how you should stand. Can you feel it?"

  "Yes."

  "Good," he said. "Now, set down the staff." After I did so, he continued, "Pick it up and find the stance."

  I shot him an incredulous look and did as I was told, praying for the patience to make it through the lesson.

  *******

  Trudging up the stairs, I tried to figure out how spending an hour picking up a stick and swinging it a few times could exhaust me. It shouldn't have been tiring; we hadn't even exchanged blows. Over and over I'd dropped the staff, picked it up, and found my stance. It wasn't until the last twenty minutes that I'd been allowed to do anything else, and even then it was gentle movements under his watchful eyes.

  We emerged from the basement, and I took a right to go back to my place and clean up. I was sticky. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Elron turn the other way. "Where are you going?"

  He spun around and tried to cover up the dark eyes and sadness with a smile, but it was too late. With that look, I knew he was hiding his pain around me, trying to act normal. Underneath the facade there were emotions that I couldn't begin to understand. How could I relate to the reappearance of a lost love when I'd never loved that deeply?

  "I was going to retrieve food for us and bathe at my place. I thought it would be better if we had dinner in your apartment, considering the topics we need to discuss." There was a plea in his voice, as if he needed to do those things.

  "Thank you, that sounds good," I said, keeping my voice light.

  Elron smiled, this one real, and headed down the hall.

  I slowly walked back to my place, my thoughts churning. In the shower with water cascading over my shoulders, I let go. My tears joined the water as I grieved for Elron, for his pain, uncertainty, frustration, regret, and guilt. And in those tears, I cried a few for me and what might have been if only things had been different.

  Elron deserved a chance at happiness, at a life where he could put the baggage aside and find joy. He couldn't have that until the demon was dead and things with Sylvia were settled, be that with her alive or dead.