Something Witchy This Way Comes

  After what seemed an eternity, a well-dressed man, Boris’s butler I assumed, announced that dinner was served. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief at the lowered expectation of conversation while eating.

  Diane and Kyle, who Boris had introduced us to at the park, sat at the long table with us while ten guards inconspicuously lined the walls of the room. The topics of discussions remained light and everyone laughed at the appropriate times.

  The food was to die for. I was spearing the last bite of chicken when Boris dabbed the sides of his mouth with the white linen retrieved from his lap. “You’re probably anxious to meet with Kyle,” he said.

  Hayden lit up and took my hand as he stood. “You have no idea.”

  I couldn’t wait either. Anything Kyle had to offer, I’d take. Things would heat up soon and I needed any skills I could possibly learn. Besides, working off the tension from our visit with Boris didn’t sound like a bad idea to me.

  Flanked by his usual goons, our host led us through the labyrinth of tastefully decorated rooms and hallways to the spacious training area. Weapons of every sort lined two of the walls; mirrors covered the other two.

  Hayden grinned as his eyes devoured the shapes and metals. “From now on, you should bring all your recruits straight to this room and bypass the ‘getting to know each other’ crap. They see all this and you own them. No real man can resist this kind of temptation.”

  I remembered Chait’s stories about his mentor and seeing those fancy bullets. I wondered what else Chait had. I suspected that once Hayden spent some time at Chait’s house, Boris’s toys would be long forgotten.

  “Kyle, work with Tessa first. But be careful. She’s much stronger than the average newbie.”

  My head whipped around. Why would he say something like that? “What do you mean?”

  Boris smiled. “Just assuming you’re like your sister.”

  I blinked, too taken aback to say more. “Oh.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Hayden

  Boris watched from a spot in the far corner of the room, probably keeping his distance so he wouldn’t distract us. But his presence still weighed heavily on me, even after the thirtieth time Kyle knocked me down. Why such an interest in us?

  Even with my back to him, I knew when Boris approached.

  “You’re going about it all wrong, Hayden,” he said. Kyle backed away and Boris took his place. “Martial arts, especially aikido, can be very spiritual compared to, say, boxing or wrestling. As a sorcerer, you can take it to the next level. Let me give you a demonstration.” He dropped his arms to his side, feet together. “You try to take me down.”

  I struggled to get past the fact that he knew which of the martial arts I used. He clearly knew his stuff. He also knew I had zero chance of getting the better of him on the mat. A guy like Boris only took bets he would win. But if I didn’t put myself out there, I’d never learn.

  In an attempt to fool him, my arm shot out, but I put the real power behind my favorite kick. With a grunt, I ended up face down on the mat. I hadn’t gone down so quickly in years. But then I’d never sparred with a guy like Boris.

  A week ago, the concept of protecting Tessa seemed as easy as making coffee. Now, the idea of failing at that scared the hell out of me. And the possibility of losing her was all too real. If I didn’t improve by leaps and bounds quickly, Tessa could die. And I would be at fault — because I couldn’t protect her.

  “That should give you something to think about. I’d like to work with Tessa now.” He nodded and I knew I’d been dismissed. I stepped off the mat as Tessa replaced me.

  “Now you try it,” Boris told her.

  She backed up. “Seriously? Spar with you? Maybe we should start off a little lighter. Like on a day when all my energy isn’t being funneled off to digest my dinner.”

  He chuckled. “I understand you don’t have Hayden’s experience and I will spar accordingly. I want you to come at me with all your strength, but don’t forget that the result will be in direct proportion to what you do here.” Boris pointed to his head. “You haven’t even begun to tap into your abilities. And while you’re concentrating on your physical skills, don’t forget that most of your battles will be won by out-powering your opponent mentally and spiritually.”

  Watching Boris knock Tessa around the next half hour made me want to pummel him. I concentrated on gauging his powers and looking for weaknesses. I didn’t find any.

  * * * *

  Tessa had warned me about Chait’s collection of weapons but I couldn’t imagine, even in my wildest dreams, anything like it.

  “This…” Chait gingerly lifted a sword from its place on the wall. “Is a Scottish basket-hilted broadsword, circa seventeen hundred. The baskets were designed to protect your hands in battle. This particular sword belonged to my mentor.”

  I ran a finger reverently along the blade. “I’m speechless.”

  “Hey.” Tessa squeezed between Chait and me. “Enough with the foreplay. I want to see the modern technologically advanced stuff. Like those bullets. Let’s hurry though because it’s getting late and I want to make sure I have time to see your library.”

  “Hey.” I held her hand a moment. “Guess you’re not getting much time with Bree, huh?”

  She shook her head. “No. But in the long run, maybe I’ll have more. I can hope.”

  “You know,” Chait began, “our records are meticulously updated. Well, every few years anyway. We’d have everything from ten years ago, for sure. We log everyone by their original name and whatever they used later. Everyone changes their name eventually and since your grandmother is older, she’d have to be there somewhere.”

  “Your grandmother?” I asked. “Why would she be in their record books?”

  “Oh, yeah. Uhm…” Tessa squeezed her eyes shut a moment. “She was a witch. With everything that’s been going on, I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”

  “Your grandmother was a witch and you forgot to tell me?” I shook my head, remembering that she’d also forgotten to tell me she’d quit her job. “But you found time to tell him?”

  “Hayden,” she said, resting a hand on my wrist. “Chait and I had lot of time to talk on the way to the cemetery last night.”

  My mouth dropped open. “And all the rest of the time, you’ve been with me.” I held my hands up in surrender. “You know what? Forget it. I don’t want to get into it.”

  “Can we have a minute, Chait?” she asked.

  “Sure.”

  The door closed and Tessa draped her arms around my neck. “It doesn’t have to do with anything, Hayden. You and I have been doing other things like playing with Bree and… kissing. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you. I swear. In this whole mess, you’re the one I trust most.”

  I nodded. Of course, I believed her sincerity, but it still bothered me how Chait had been getting so much quality time with her lately.

  “Okay.” It wasn’t okay, not really. But I knew she meant what she said. I buried my face in her hair and tried to forget how screwed I was. I’d never before worried about my relationship with a girl or been jealous. Because the other girls never truly mattered. “How do you know she was a witch?”

  Tessa grinned, then pressed closer and whispered in my ear. “Actually, was isn’t accurate. Grandma visited me the other night, but it’s supposed to be a secret. I left that part out when I told Chait that she was a witch. And she’s insisting on helping me financially, so I can spend more time with Bree. That’s why I quit Delia’s.”

  “Hey.” Chait cracked the door open and peeked his head through. “All safe?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Why don’t you show me to the library, then you and Hayden can go crazy on each other?”

  Chait came inside the rest of the way, then ducked his head back out. “The thing is,” he whispered, “you’re not supposed to be in the library. Not until you’re one of us. I’m going to get in trouble if I get caught. We have to be careful.”
br />   “Let’s go,” Tessa said.

  I kissed her goodbye, then returned to the wall of joy and fondled a thirteenth century poignard. Of course, I’d never have known what the dagger was called if not for the plaque below telling its history. Over six hundred years old, complete with a jeweled sheath. I sighed in longing for the dagger, then returned it to the display case on the wall.

  “David would kill me if he knew I let you touch that stuff,” Chait told me, reappearing.

  “Then why’d you let me?”

  He laughed. “You would’ve done it anyway once I left. Same thing I did as a recruit.”

  As much as I disliked Chait… oh, hell, I didn’t dislike him at all. If I were going to be honest, I’d admit — at least to myself — that Tessa wouldn’t be doing badly if she hooked up with a guy like him. She’d probably be better off with him than me.

  Christ, I needed to beat the hell out of him. I was in the perfect place to do it, too.

  It took me only five minutes to learn that I had a ways to go before kicking his ass. He gave me bruises to prove it.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Tessa

  I’d been through so many old, dusty books, I’d almost lost count. No record of my grandmother and nothing about sorcerers that I didn’t already know. I leaned forward and rested my chin in my palms. Where would I find the information? In all the centuries past, we couldn’t be the only family that had inherited powers.

  Closing my eyes a moment, I listened to approaching steps beyond the door. In front of me sat a pile of books. Except for my legs, I was completely hidden from anyone standing at the door. The knob turned and I raised my feet then put up a shield around myself, blocking the intruder from sensing me. I didn’t know if it would work, but it was my best shot.

  “See? No one’s here. Must have been your imagination,” a female said with a trace of a Spanish accent.

  “Strange,” another woman said then the door shut.

  It had worked. I could block. What else could I do?

  I’d been about to resume my search when I spotted the bottom of a thick, ancient-looking volume lying flat at the very top of the bookshelf, the end partially obscured by another book.

  With the utmost care, I retrieved it and laid it on the table. A Brief History of Vampires, Witches and Shifters. Brief. Yeah, right. The book weighed a ton.

  I started at the beginning, since I didn’t want to miss anything that could be helpful. I learned about vampires and werewolves, as well as other shifters who could change into any form at all. I came to the next section of the book covering sorcerers and scanned each page:

  Divine sorcerers were a different breed with almost god-like powers that far surpassed those of other sorcerers. They preferred a quiet life, due to their propensity to reproduce girls and because of their love of family. Although the divine sorcerers were capable of giving birth to males, it was rare, and their children’s power remained pure whether the father was a sorcerer or human.

  Dark forces feared divine sorcerers and sought their dominion. Legends told of divine sorcerers’ powers successfully transferred to other life forms. This gave the dark forces license to kill any sorcerer they encountered, in hopes of acquiring the powers of their victims. By the time that theory was proved false in the early nineteenth century, it was too late. They had been hunted to assumed extinction.

  Propensity to reproduce, meaning they had children. I flipped the pages to see if the author had included any pictures or renditions. My eyes halted at a photograph of what looked like a very old painting. Two women stood side by side, both with blond hair. My family didn’t look exactly like them, but we were eerily similar — straight nose and narrow, high cheekbones, almond shaped eyes. The caption read, Mother and daughter share their blond hair, so common among these powerful sorcerers.

  I flipped back to where I’d left off before hunting for pictures.

  It is believed that many divine sorcerers migrated from Europe and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. Easily identified by their coloring and aristocratic features, many were captured and accused of being witches.

  I wondered if the less powerful sorcerers were the ones doing the accusing as a way of eliminating anyone more powerful than them. But what other powers did the divine sorcerers have? I wasn’t sure how much time I had in the library or if I’d get another chance to read that book. I continued skimming the pages. If my suspicions proved right, any powers were shared by my grandmother and me. And our group would soon include Bree.

  While sorcerers had only one special ability, divine sorcerers had many, including physical strength beyond any other superhuman species in history. Moving a boulder was as easy for them as taking a breath.

  Boris knows. That’s why he made comments on my strength. That’s why he’d taken such an interest in me. He either wanted to kill me for being a threat or he intended to use my powers to his advantage. Chills tickled my arms and my stomach lurched. I was in deeper than I’d thought possible. And I’d dragged Hayden right smack into the middle of it.

  With that much power, they couldn’t be allowed to live. But killing a divine sorcerer proved to be more difficult than anyone imagined. When it was discovered that cutting off their heads eliminated them permanently, swords were sharpened and men trained vigorously to rid the world of what they deemed the greatest threat to plague the earth since the ice age.

  No!

  In horror, I swallowed to keep from vomiting, my eyes blurring. I blinked tears away and wiped my wet cheeks, then dug out my phone to text grandma with simply, Get 2 the cemetery now. She’d know I wouldn’t demand it unless it was an emergency.

  Finding Hayden to alert him would waste time. And what if he tried to talk me out of going? I bolted from Chait’s library, then slowed my pace, so I didn’t attract attention.

  Outside, the car’s top was down. But the keys weren’t in the ignition. Hayden had them, but I couldn’t wait. I jumped in, not bothering to open the door. Laying my hands on the steering wheel, I closed my eyes and took in a long, deep breath. In my mind, I saw the car start. A moment later, the Viper vibrated beneath me and I guided it down the driveway. I waved to the security guard and smiled. The red and white gate lifted.

  Once on the street and out of view, I raced toward the sorcerer burial ground, the pressure against my heart and lungs straining my every breath. My hands trembled as I barreled down the street, praying a cop wouldn’t spot me.

  The red light ahead commanded me to stop and I took a moment to wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans. The light turned green and I gunned the engine. The car all but peeled out. If I kept hitting red lights, it would be another twenty minutes before I met with Grandma. She’d wonder where I was. She might panic and come looking for me.

  At last, I was freed by a green light and my foot stomped on the accelerator. When another light flashed red, I whimpered involuntarily. I whipped out my cell and quickly texted her again. I’m on my way.

  I’d put Grandma at risk by sending her there. Oh, God, of all the magical abilities, why couldn’t teleporting be one of them?

  The silver sedan was following me. Lila. I had to lose her — quickly. At yet another red light, I dialed her phone. “I want some privacy. It’s not as if I’m going anywhere. You know I couldn’t desert my little sister.”

  “But Tessa, we want to keep you safe,” Lila’s tinny voice tried to soothe me.

  “You’ve done such a great job of that so far.” I made a right when I needed to make a left. I couldn’t give her a clue to my destination. “You guys expect me to trust you and yet you can’t do the same for me. Just this once, I want to be alone.”

  “Tessa, be reasonable. At least tell me where you’re going.”

  “It’s none of your business. But if you must know, Hayden and I had a huge fight,” I lied. “And I’m going someplace where I can get a little space and think. Where people aren’t hovering over me and constantly kissing my ass. Get off me, Lila. If you’re
still following me in five seconds, I’m turning around and coming after you.” I growled and hung up. In my rearview mirror, the silver car slowed and turned at the corner.

  I’d wasted time. But I couldn’t afford to head in the right direction yet, in case Lila had somehow out-smarted me. I needed an open road where any cars behind me would stick out like one of Boris’s lies. But there was no such thing in Scottsdale. They had deserted roads on the way to Gilbert, but I couldn’t lead them that far. I made several more turns and hit a main thoroughfare.

  Time was ticking by. I’d have to take my chances and run for it. Several minutes later, I entered Gilbert. The small town looked easy and inviting with dirt roads winding off in the distance. An open road lay before me and I checked all my mirrors. Behind me looked clear, not a car in site. I stepped on the gas and sped to the cemetery.

  When I pulled over, I searched the vicinity and spotted Grandma right away. Four more sorcerers surrounded her. Thank God, she’d brought help. If Frank or Lila’s people managed to stay with me…

  I bolted to Grandma and leaped into her arms.

  “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” She stroked my hair. “What happened?”

  My eyes found each of her people and noted how far away they were. I didn’t want anyone to overhear. “Centuries ago, there were these people, like witches, but more powerful. They were truly magical, not just extra strong or perceptive.” My throat thickened and I wanted desperately to begin digging. But Grandma needed to know. And I needed her help. “Back then, it was believed that their powers could be stolen. So they were hunted for that and, also, because other species considered them a threat.”

  I swallowed, my voice rising with the urgency to spit it all out. I made an effort to lower it again. “They were eventually assumed extinct. But they weren’t, really. Any left alive must have hidden by blending in with the only species they could — sorcerers. They had the same sort of energy, so a Detector could easily mistake them for their own.” I held her hands. “I came across an ancient book that talked about Divine Sorcerers, which are essentially very powerful witches. It showed drawings of them. In every picture I saw, they were blondes and resembled us an awful lot.” A short sob escaped me. “And they were very fertile and only gave birth to girls.”