The Witching Hour: 11 Enchanting Novels Featuring Witches, Wizards, Vampires, Shifters, Ghosts, Fae, and More!, page 43
By the time we arrived at the house, easing into the driveway, Aegis was waiting for us. He opened my door, then escorted me to Sandy’s car where he did the same. We said nothing as we silently passed through the backyard until we were through the sliding door and safely inside. Aegis shut the slider and locked the door, then moved to the kitchen island where a pot of tea was steeping, the fragrant scent of raspberry and lemon rising through the air. He had also made sandwiches and soup—grilled cheese and tomato soup, and a batch of gingerbread cookies.
“You work fast.” I stared at the homey scene, feeling my eyes cloud over.
Craig, my ex, had never done anything like this. He had been so threatened by the fact that I was a witch that I had turned into Suzy Homemaker trying to make him happy. In the end, I had lost myself. I thought I had left most of the baggage behind. But when I saw Aegis, wearing an apron over leather pants and bare chest, making soup and sandwiches for me and my best friend, I burst out into tears.
“Are you all right?” Concerned, he reached out for me, but I held up my hand.
“Stop. Yes, I’m okay.” But I wasn’t. I looked at him and he set down the teapot. With a gentle smile, he opened his arms. I buried myself in his embrace as he wrapped me in his love.
“I love you. I do, Maddy. I will do anything to keep you safe.”
“I love you too. It never ceases to amaze me how supportive you are, and how caring. You changed the entire paradigm of my world.” I was talking into his chest, muffled by my tears, but somehow he heard me.
“Don’t lose your suspicion, Maddy. I’m not typical of my kind. Outside of this house, away from me, you’ll find most vampires are deadly predators who wouldn’t think twice about using you as a tasty witchy juice box.”
“He’s right. Maddy, we need to talk about tonight.” Sandy carried over the pot of soup and ladled it into our bowls. “You know, I thought you were nuts, but if Bubba can help, then we need to go that route. Otherwise, everyone in town is in danger.”
That put a stop to the hugging. Aegis let go. “What are you talking about?”
“We found out that Rachel isn’t our biggest problem in the vampire world. And frankly, if we don’t put a stop to this, it could easily destroy Bedlam and everybody who has made a life here.” And with that, I called Bubba in, and we told both of them everything we had discovered.
13
After we finished, Aegis leaned back and set down the cookie he was eating. He rubbed his chin, his dark eyes flashing. “So it’s true. Essie and Rachel are having a pissing contest over Bedlam. I didn’t expect Linda to be caught up in this, but it’s easy to see how Essie engineered it. If you want control over somebody, find their vulnerability, especially if it threatens someone or something they love. People will do anything they can to protect their loved ones, more than they will to protect themselves.”
“We need to figure out how to safely smuggle Patty away from her prison. Neither one of us knows anything like a teleportation spell—only the most powerful among witches and magicians know those.” I looked over at Bubba, who was stretched out on the table, listening.
“Maddy, are you sure about this?” Sandy petted Bubba’s head. “You know what can happen.”
I contemplated Bubba carefully. He stared back at me, just as intently. “I know. I also know that Bubba can be incredibly understanding. When a life hangs in the balance, he’s not likely to mess around.”
“M’rrow.” Bubba rolled over and crouched, his belly low to the table.
Aegis winced but said nothing.
“We can’t let Essie take over Bedlam. Nobody would be safe.” I stared into Bubba’s eyes. “Oh, Bubba. I wish that Patty would be safely reunited with her mother, and that the pair of them make it to a safe haven without endangering anybody who’s innocent in the process.”
Bubba flopped on his back, exposing his belly. Hesitantly, I rubbed the thick orange fur. He let out a trill, purring loudly, then gently licked my hand and sat up. Holding my breath, I looked around. Nothing. A moment later, I shrugged and sat back in my chair as Bubba meandered off to have himself a nosh.
“I guess we wait now. If he decides to help us, we’ll know soon enough.” Turning back to Aegis, I added, “Delia’s watching Ralph.”
Sandy toyed with her sandwich. “Things are a mess. What do we do next?”
“We finish our dinner.” I dipped my sandwich in my soup, then sat back and let out a soft breath. “Relax as much as you can. Eating while stressed isn’t good for you.”
“All right.” Sandy concentrated on her meal, holding out her soup bowl for seconds. As Aegis refilled it for her, she said, “Before I forget, I think we should set some ground rules for the position of High Priestess. No kids. We can’t chance having this happen again.”
“I don’t know if we can make that a requirement.” Talk of children jogged my memory. Blushing, I licked my lips. “Aegis, that reminds me. Vampires can’t sire children, can they?”
He looked confused. “We can turn just about anybody.”
“No, I don’t mean that kind of sire.”
Once again, the blank look.
Sandy let out a laugh. “She means, can you get her pregnant? I heard some rumor that a vampire can spawn a kid, but I’m not sure how accurate that was. Is your sperm up and jumping, or did they die with you?”
Mortified, I covered my face, peeking between my fingers. “Put it any more bluntly, why don’t you?”
With a snort, Sandy leaned across and patted my arm. “He doesn’t mind, do you, Aegis? After all, you weren’t getting anywhere asking your way.”
Aegis placed her soup bowl in front of her. “I don’t mind. I wasn’t expecting that question. I guess it’s not a subject that comes up every day, is it?” He refilled my bowl next, then took his place again. “After all, vampires can eat and drink, even though the food passes through with minimal processing, so to speak. We don’t absorb nutrients from it.”
“Yet another visual I never want to think about again. Brain bleach time.” I tried to shake off the image of what “minimal processing” meant.
“As for getting you pregnant, I never thought about it. I do know that a vampire can father a child, if he rises from being turned before thirty-six hours. Other than that, I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of a child engendered from a union with a vampire, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. Now, I’m wondering.” He looked so freaked that his mood transferred to me.
“So the only way to know at this point is if I get pregnant.” I frowned. “I’ll start using a fertility blocker, because the last thing we need is a vampire-witch baby.” I wasn’t interested in being a mother, and the thought of what such a mix might turn out to be terrified me.
With that settled for the moment, I turned back to my food. We ate in silence for a while, trying to enjoy the downtime, until the doorbell rang. I frowned, wondering who it could be. Aegis went to answer.
“Do you really think Essie would turn Linda’s daughter? It seems like such a cruel thing to do.” Sandy pushed back her dishes. “I know vampires can be nasty. I’m the first to caution people about them. But that’s downright ruthless.”
“I think Essie’s about as ruthless as they come. Sandy, what the hell are we going to do about Linda? Not only is she our High Priestess, she’s also the mayor. I understand her reasoning, but the fact is, she turned traitor to the coven and to Bedlam. This is a lot more complicated than I ever expected it to be.”
I was struggling to sort out my feelings on the subject. We couldn’t just leave things alone. Sure, if we went after Rachel as the main culprit, it would appease Essie, and remove the worry that she might strike out at Linda’s daughter. But that wasn’t an answer. The vampires would increase their control over Bedlam. Being a party to that was as good as actively working with them to destroy the town. Once they got their fangs hooked into running this island, it meant that all the Otherkin would be at their beck and call.
“We can’t let it go,” I said, making up my mind. “I don’t know if Bubba will help us, but one way or another, we have to drive them back. Linda has to resign. She can’t ever approach this objectively. Not with Patty’s life at stake.”
“Accept collateral damage?” Sandy asked. When I gave her a scathing look, she added, “I’m not judging your decision. I agree. But you know as well as I do that we’re going to be blamed for any fallout.”
“We’ve been blamed for far worse in the past.” I quieted down as Aegis returned, Delia following him. “Delia, I’m glad you’re here. We need to talk.”
She glanced at Aegis, who motioned to a chair. He looked about as happy as I felt.
“We have a problem,” she said, sitting down and resting one elbow on the table. “Did either of you know that Linda has a daughter?”
“Yeah, we just found out tonight, in fact. Why?” I shifted, suddenly chilled. Had Essie already gotten to Patty? Was the girl already dead?
“I got the strangest call twenty minutes ago from a police station down in Georgia. They told me that Linda’s daughter is in jail. They tried to contact Linda, but when they dialed the phone number the girl gave them, it rang my private line.”
Bubba meandered by, stopping to stare at us and let out a loud “’Row?”
“Yeah, I see, Bub. Thank you, buddy.” I bent down to rub his ears. “Is she safe? Patty?”
“Pa—oh, the girl. Patricia. Yes, actually. I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to tell them to keep a watch out for vampires.”
“I know why, but I’ll explain in a moment. What happened then?”
“First, I had no idea that Linda had a daughter. But when I went over to her house to tell her about the phone call, she was tossing clothes into a carry-on. She told me she already knew that Patty was in trouble. It seems somebody contacted her shortly before I arrived. Linda is heading to Georgia immediately. When I asked how she was going to get to the airport—I was planning on offering her a ride—she said she didn’t need a plane.” Delia tapped her fingers on the table. “She can’t fly, can she?”
I shook my head. “No witch I know can. Spells like that? Along with teleportation? Those are abilities only the most ancient and powerful witches have. Invisibility is a different matter. I don’t know how she’s planning to get there, but you can bet that she’ll find a way.”
“Did the Georgia police say why Patty was in jail?” Sandy broke in.
“Yes. Somehow the girl managed to get away from her caretaker. Patricia was picked up on the street after a man called the police to report that he was with a confused woman who kept telling him she had been kidnapped and needed to call her mother. But when she gave the cops Linda’s name and phone number, the phone number was mine. I have no idea how the mix up occurred, but I told the cops I’d contact Linda.”
Bubba jumped up on the table and flopped on his side next to one of the empty plates. He started to purr so loudly that the rumble echoed through the air. I reached over to give him another ear rub. Sandy let out a muffled snort.
“I wonder how Linda found out. Do you know?” Aegis began to clear the table.
Delia caught my attention and held it for a moment, her dark eyes flashing. “Actually, yes. She told me that Rachel called her and told her. Now, how would Rachel know about that?”
How indeed, unless Essie had gotten a call from Kali, and Rachel had managed to listen in somehow. As in possibly a bug planted in Essie’s lair? That was my best guess.
I turned to Sandy. “I wonder if Linda can make it before Essie’s goons can get there?”
Sandy rubbed her chin. “Who in Bedlam is capable of casting a teleportation spell? That’s the only way Linda can make it down there that fast. If she can manage that, she can get there faster than Essie can send her hit squad.”
“ ‘Essie’s hit squad’? What’s Essie got to do with this?” Delia cleared her throat. “If you know something about this, I’d appreciate it if you would enlighten me.”
“We’ll tell you in a minute.” I turned to Sandy. “So who in Bedlam is capable of casting that potent a spell? Nobody in our coven, for sure.”
Sandy jumped up. “I know who. You’ve never met her. She moved to Bedlam a few years back and she keeps to herself. I doubt if hardly anybody on the island knows who she is.” She grabbed her coat. “She refuses to even have a telephone in the house, so we’re going to have to drive out there.”
“You’re talking about Auntie Tautau, aren’t you?” Delia asked.
I stared at them. “Auntie? We have an Auntie living in the town?”
Aunties were incredibly powerful witches. In fact, we weren’t even sure if they belonged to our kind. But they were all extremely old, and extremely irreverent, and they belonged to no coven or circle or any other group.
“Right.” Sandy motioned to Aegis and me. “Come on, we need to head over there. Aegis, you come with us. We’ll want the protection in case Essie’s on the prowl tonight. Or Rachel, for that matter.”
“We really need to change clothes first. Aegis, you run out to Sandy’s car and get her other things while we head upstairs to change. Delia, we’ll tell you everything, I promise. But we have to make certain Linda’s safely away first.”
Delia looked ready to grumble, but finally just shrugged. “Hurry up, then.”
Sandy and I dashed upstairs. I was halfway through changing when Aegis peeked in the door and tossed Sandy her tote bag with her regular clothes in it. He vanished again before we could say anything.
“How come you never told me about Auntie Tautau? Since when did an Auntie move to Bedlam?”
Sandy shimmied into her jeans and shirt. “Oh, some time ago. She’s so old that she could have easily known Merlin. I don’t know where she’s originally from, but she’s lived all over. She moved into a cottage on the outskirts of Bedlam and though she makes regular trips into town, she cloaks up. She’s one of those people nobody seems to see unless she’s got a good reason. I’m not sure Essie even knows she exists.”
I had never met an Auntie before, but I had known other people like that during my life. They glided through life, making massive impressions on select groups of people, but to the rest of the world, they remained unknown and uncounted.
“If anybody on the island could cast a teleportation spell, it would be her. And Linda spent a lot of time out at Auntie Tautau’s place.” Sandy buckled her belt and we headed downstairs.
Aegis was waiting, leather jacket on, holding our coats for us.
Delia held up her keys. “We can all fit in the squad car, so let’s take that. I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s safety in numbers and if Essie has anything to do with this—it’s dark, and there are vampires roaming.” Delia paused. “No offense, Aegis. It’s just not all of your kind wish us as much good fortune as you do.”
He shrugged it off. “Not a problem. I’m certainly not going to argue the point with you. Not with Rachel and Essie on the loose.”
When we were in the car and on the way, Sandy and I filled Delia in on everything we had learned about Linda and her daughter.
Delia slammed her hand against the wheel, the car lurching on the ice a moment before she regained control. “Sorry. It’s just that Linda’s our mayor and she’s been selling us out to Essie and her court? Whatever else happens, that needs to stop.”
“Oh, we agree. Linda’s our High Priestess, but she’s compromised the coven. At the same time, any mother worth her salt is going to fight to protect her child. But you see how this makes a difference in the case of Rose’s death? If Essie could pin it on Ralph and Rachel, then Rachel would be up for staking, and Ralph, simply collateral damage. His part was to divert our focus to Rachel, away from the little war that she and Essie have going on.”
“So, Ralph takes the fall, and because we assumed Rachel was behind it, we stake her. And Essie stays queen and goes on controlling Linda and filtering her influence into the island.” Delia let out a sound of disgust. “I can’t believe Linda was playing into this.”
“Sadly, word will spread, and the main temple may vote to strip Linda of her powers.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t want to be her when the Society Magicka catches up with her. Don’t forget, Maddy, the plan was also aimed at taking you out. Linda probably didn’t intend to set you up, but Essie put two and two together when she figured out you were the Mad Maudlin of history. Your skill in hunting both witch finders and vampires makes your presence doubly dangerous.”
Delia shook her head, turning a cautious left onto Blackberry Avenue. The flakes were falling lightly, and the sheen of fresh snow over the ice made the roads slick and dangerous. “I’m just glad all this came to light before Essie got her fangs fully into this island. There’s not much I can do against her, unless she deliberately makes a grab for control, but we stay on alert from now on.”
“There—up ahead, Auntie Tautau’s house.” Sandy pointed at a small cottage to the right, which was partially hidden behind a tangle of vegetation and shrubbery. We eased into the driveway. I didn’t see any cars, but that didn’t mean squat. Not everybody drove.
The lights in the cottage were on. The moment we stepped out of the car, the porch light went on. Obviously, Auntie Tautau knew we were there. As we approached the wraparound porch, the front door opened and a squat, sturdy woman bustled out. She was dressed in a Hawaiian floral muumuu with a very stiff, very wide straw hat that had a bright pink ribbon wrapped around it. Perched on the side, above the bow, was a crow. Auntie Tautau’s gray hair hung down to her waist, pulled back in a thick, expertly plaited braid.
“Come in, come in. I’ve been waiting for you,” she said, opening her front door wide and shooing us all inside off the porch. “It’s a desperately cold night and you’ll be wanting some hot cocoa, I expect. I have shortbread, too. You may cross my threshold too, Aegis, vampire though you may be. You’ll not be able to harm me.”
