Witchin' Impossible, page 14
Keir raced ahead of Iris, both of them looking as if they’d been run through the spin cycle before coming to an abrupt halt. The snotgurgle was caught between them and the archdruids.
Freya stood with Thomas and the others, each with a man or a woman by their side, hands joined.
“Power of air,” I heard Thomas call out. “I bind thee to mine and thine, my kin to call and summon. Obey my will.”
“Power of fire,” a tall brunette with straight dark hair said, “I bind thee to mine and thine, my kin to call and summon. Obey my will.”
A curvy woman wearing a bright red rockabilly dress covered in white polka dots shouted, “Power of earth. I bind thee to mine and thine, my kin to call and summon. Obey my will.”
“Why isn’t anything happening?” I demanded of Carver.
“Just wait,” he answered without looking at me. His eyes were glued to the action… or rather lack thereof. “They’re not done.”
A petite blonde in a long white maxi dress voiced clearly, “Power of water, I bind thee to mine and thine, my kin to call and summon. Obey my will.”
That was four elements from four out of the six druid groves.
Another woman with dark hair intoned, “Power of Air, I bind thee to mine and thine, my kin to call and summon. Obey my will.”
That left only the Bezoar Grove to join in, and I wondered if Mathias Easton, the Ichabod Crane-looking leader of the grove, would allow old scars to see this assault on Iron Grove as an opportunity.
Easton’s coven leader, a guy who was just as skinny and tall as he was, hesitated only a moment before adding his own command, “Power of Fire, I bind thee to mine and thine, my kin to call and summon. Obey my will.”
Why wasn’t anything happening? The snotgurgle had stopped his death dance and scratched his head as he stared at the group of druids and witches.
A sonic boom struck the center of the field. Carver and I were slammed to the ground. I scrambled to my feet to watch the horror unfold as glowing mucus exploded from the snotgurgle, followed by shouts of alarm.
The giant troll roared as it threw back his head and sneezed, sending the largest loogie I’ve ever seen toward Archdruid Freya. Carver lurched forward, and then I watched helplessly as Zev jumped in front of Freya to take the hit.
A scream of anguish ripped my throat as I watched him crumple to the ground. “Zev!” Without thinking, I hiked up my skirt and sprinted toward the fallen ifrit.
I heard other roars, shouts, and screams, but I couldn’t focus on them. I had to get to Zev. He hadn’t moved since the rotting slime had hit him in the chest.
Let him be alive, I prayed. Don’t let him die. I’d been flirting with the fiery ifrit for only a couple of months, but as the possibility of losing him forever loomed, I realized that my feelings for him went beyond a crush. He was a creature of fire, and I was a human. We couldn’t be together. He’d told me that from the start, but the reality hadn’t stopped my heart from opening and letting him in.
People were going down around me, but I was almost there. Twenty more yards. I can make it, I told myself. I high-stepped around several piles of goo. I was almost there!
I heard Iris’s voice shouting above the fray, but I couldn’t worry about what she was doing. Zev had risked his life to save everyone, and no one was trying to save him.
“Zev,” I yelled as I slid to a halt and dropped to the ground beside him. The slime had burned through his leather jacket and was eating a hole into his chest. Flames swirled inside the wounds.
He turned to look at me, his eyes wide and his face a picture of pain. “No, libbu ša, you cannot be here,” he managed to say. “Run, my beautiful love. Run.”
“No,” I told him. “I’m not leaving without you.” I grabbed his arm to drag him away from the fight, and the skin on my hands and arms began to blister.
He yanked his body away, muttering in a language I couldn’t understand, but it didn’t stop me from getting the gist. He didn’t want me to touch him. “I can’t control the fire,” he said. “You can’t help me. You must go.’
Scalding tears burned my eyes. “I won’t. I won’t leave you.”
A burst of colorful lights lit the night sky. I glanced away from Zev to see my sister floating in the air. Numbly, I asked, “What is she doing?”
My question was sort of answered when she bellowed, “I am Macha, earth mother and destroyer of men. You will come to heel!”
Who in the world was Macha? Had everyone lost their damned minds? Witches and most of the druids dropped to the ground as her light washed over the battlefield. The snotgurgle bellowed, beating his chest. His slimy coating grew even thicker over his skin.
My sister chanted some jibber-jabber words that I didn’t understand. “Addlebyörn Bulbusbilgerbiersven of Höga Kusten.”
But the troll responded with his own string of garbled words. “Du vet mitt namn?”
It shot a hot glob at her, and I shuddered as she swiped it away as if she were shooing a fly. “You cannot defeat me, creature,” she told it. “I am your undoing.”
I felt a cold slap of putrid droplets as the snotgurgle shook his body like a dog after a bath. Searing pain burrowed into my side, and the left side of my face felt as if it were on fire. I looked down at Zev, my mouth open to scream, but I couldn’t breathe, let alone make a sound.
“Marigold,” he rasped.
“Iris!” someone near me yelled.
I collapsed to the ground, sucking to take in air. It must’ve taken all his will, and maybe some magic, but Zev managed to crawl to me. He wrapped me in his arms, his heated embrace a welcome respite to the cold chill consuming me. Flaming tears rolled down his cheeks as he cradled me in his lap.
“Don’t try to move,” he said when I reached up to touch his face. “Save your strength.”
I mouthed, “We are together.”
His eyes burned blue with the brightest flame. “Hush, my darling.”
“We can’t save what she is,” I heard Iris say, but her voice sounded different. “There is a cost….”
Was Zev getting less hot, or was death finally taking me?
“We’re losing her!” Keir shouted. “Iris! The rot is making it impossible to heal her. We can’t stop it. Every time Zev tries, it takes more from her and more from him. It’s like it’s feeding on the magic, and they’re both dying.”
“I will fix the woman, as you say, Iris Everlee,” Iris said. “Olwen, who faced thirteen harrowing trials to win the heart of her love, your line runs true in this one. She is strong, a warrior’s heart.” Her hands glowed as she touched my forehead. “Transform, daughter,” she commanded. “Transform and live.”
I drew in a welcome breath as the agony disappeared. I could feel my muscles and bones shifting beneath my skin, and I blinked at Zev.
He let out a heaving sigh and then let me go as he fell over. Whatever was happening in my body made it impossible to move, speak, or help.
I tensed as Iris touched Zev’s face. “Your time is not over, Za’fir of Mesopotamia. This is just the first trial on your path to love.” Her hand glowed again and Zev’s entire body bathed in her light. “Transform and live. Live to fulfill your path.”
I let out a sob as Zev’s cavernous chest wound knitted together, and his eyes opened. Flames shot out of his mouth and into the sky. When the stream of fire subsided, he collapsed back and passed out.
“Marigold,” I heard Iris say as the world turned blissfully floaty. “What’s wrong with her?”
“It's probably a side effect of Macha’s magic,” Keir replied. “She’ll be okay. Zev, too.”
As I awakened, my head swam with momentary confusion, and then I remembered. Zev had cried as he’d held me in his arms. He’d been in rough shape—we both had—but Iris had healed us. I squinted as I opened my eyes. “Zev?”
“I am here.” His rich amber-brown eyes were framed by thick, dark lashes as his gaze met mine.
I was lying on a narrow mattress, and the small area around us was encircled by a white curtain. “Where are we?”
“The ballroom has been turned into a medical ward,” he replied.
I frowned. There was something different about him. It wasn’t the lustrous dark brown hair full of loose curls that made me want to run my fingers through them or his olive-tone skin, high cheekbones, and sharp jawline that made me want to take up sculpting.
“Zev,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper as I studied him, the familiar leather jacket draped over his shoulder as he stood there.
“Marigold,” he replied, his voice a low, rumbling murmur that sent a jolt of electricity coursing through me. “I feared I’d lost you forever.”
I reached out, my fingers trembling as they brushed against his hand, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath my touch. Only, he was less warm than usual. Strange.
“Zev,” I murmured, my heart pounding in my chest. “Are you ... are you okay? Why in the world did you jump in front of that nuclear snot rocket?”
“I owed Freya,” he replied. With his other hand, he turned a flat circular stone across his knuckles like a coin. He flipped his hand over, and the stone was nestled in his hand. “My debt has been paid.” He pressed the stone into my palm. It was smooth, shiny, and black with red veins. Etched in the top were a series of pointy triangles going in many directions.
“What’s this?”
“It’s sebtusiptu.” Zev smiled. “A token.”
The stone felt warm against my skin, and the longer I held it, the warmer it got. “A token for what?”
His brow raised as his smile turned sly. He closed my fingers around the token until my hand was a fist, and then he raised my knuckles to his lips and kissed them.
I shivered at the brush of his mouth against my skin. “A token of my esteem.”
An unholy, schoolgirl giggle tittered from my lips. Ugh. How embarrassing.
His eyes, that’s what was different. “Where are your flames?”
“They’re no more,” he answered quietly. “The goddess Macha has removed my fire.”
I tried to punch down the hope surging inside me. “For good?” I sat up and slung my legs over the side of the gurney. Without his flames, we could be together. Was it really possible?
“For now,” he replied.
My legs felt strange as they dangled off the edge like they weren’t my own. Then I stood up. My brow furrowed. “Did taking your fire make you shorter?” At five-eight, I was a tall woman, but Zev had been a few inches taller than me. Now, I towered over him.
The corners of his mouth tugged into a smile. “You have also been changed by Macha.”
There was a mirror on the wall behind him. I studied my reflection. My straight, dark brown, almost black hair hung loose around my shoulders. My skin had the same kiss of honey that it always did, and my brown eyes hadn’t changed colors. Iris used to tell me that I looked like Catherine Zeta-Jones. Other than our coloring, I didn’t really see it. “How have I been changed?”
Zev chuckled. “You’ve grown five inches for one.”
“No.” I shook my head and scoffed. “That’s not a real thing.” I looked at my hands. “Where are my rings?”
He gestured to a small side table. A chewed-up mess of metal and stones that vaguely resembled my rings littered a metal tray.
My eyes went wide. “What the hell happened to my jewelry?”
“You grew too big for them. The metal was cutting off the blood supply. It was the rings or your fingers.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “Are you saying I have fat fingers?”
“You have lovely, long fingers, Libbu ša, and I would drip them in jewels if that were your wish.”
“So, you’re granting wishes now, huh? I thought you said genies didn’t do that kind of thing.”
“I would make an exception for you, my beautiful flower.” His dark gaze met mine, and I shivered. “For you, I would grant your every heart’s desire.”
“Oh, darling, I have a whole laundry list of requests,” I smirked. “The first one involves you getting naked.”
His grin grew wide. “Naked?”
“In the extreme,” I said.
I laughed when he instantly dropped his jacket onto the floor. I set the stone down, and Zev paused his striptease. He picked up the stone and put it with my rings. “This is yours now. Keep it close to you.”
I gave him a crooked smile. “As a token of your esteem.”
“So a part of me will always be with you.”
Present day…
A part of me will always be with you.... Zev’s words lingered in my head as I looked around the room, orienting myself back to the present. The walls were covered in macrame art, boho chic straw plates and jars of crystals littering the freestanding shelves. In other words, I was in my own bedroom and no longer at Iron Grove with the fireless ifrit who had metaphorically scorched my panties off.
Even though it had been seven months ago, it felt like yesterday.
I sat up and stretched my back. “Big day,” I reminded myself as I picked up Zev’s token from the selenite bowl on my nightstand. Holding on to a rock from an ex-lover was silly, but it was tangible evidence that our relationship had been real. It had meant something, and I wasn’t ready to give it up. I’d laid my clothes out the night before. A chocolate-tiered maxi skirt with pockets, a yellow and blue floral peasant blouse, and a tan bra and panty set that I loved so much I’d bought them in all the colors. I grabbed up the garments and trekked down the hall to the bathroom.
Carver and the boys would be here soon for our magic lessons and to help me stir a complicated potion—with a few modifications I’d read about on an internet forum for witches. Should I tell him? Probably. Would he try to stop me? Definitely. Which meant I wasn’t going to loop him in.
I’d lost Zev, and I worried I’d never get him back.
Not if I didn’t take matters into my own hands.
Get Burning Djinn of Fire today!
PARANORMAL MYSTERIES & ROMANCES
BY RENEE GEORGE
Witchin’ Impossible Paranormal Mysteries
Witchin’ Impossible (Book 1)
Rogue Coven (Book 2)
Familiar Protocol (Booke 3)
Mr & Mrs. Shift (Book 4)
FurOut (Book 5)
Barkside of the Moon Paranormal Mysteries
Pit Perfect Murder (Book 1)
Murder & The Money Pit (Book 2)
The Pit List Murders (Book 3)
Pit & Miss Murder (Book 4)
The Prune Pit Murder (Book 5)
Two Pits and A Little Murder (Book 6)
Pits and Pieces of Murder (Book 7)
Pittie Party Murder (Book 8)
Peculiar Mysteries & Romances
You’ve Got Tail (Book 1)
My Furry Valentine (Book 2)
Thank You For Not Shifting (Book 3)
My Hairy Halloween (Book 4)
In the Midnight Howl (Book 5)
Furred Lines (Book 6)
My Wolfy Wedding (Book 7)
Who Let The Wolves Out? (Book 8)
My Thanksgiving Faux Paw (Book 9)
Grimoires of a Middle-aged Witch
Earth Spells Are Easy (Book 1)
Spell On Fire (Book 2)
When the Spells Blows (Book 3)
Spell Over Troubled Water (Book 4)
Ghost in the Spell (Book 5)
Destiny of a Middle-aged Witch
Burning Djinn of Fire (Book 1)
Djinn Bottle Blues (Book 2)
Stand By Your Djinn (Book 3)
Nora Black Midlife Psychic Mysteries
Sense & Scent Ability (Book 1)
For Whom the Smell Tolls (Book 2)
War of the Noses (Book 3)
Aroma With A View (Book 4)
Spice and Prejudice (Book 5)
Age of Inno-Scents (Book 6)
Aroma Holiday (Book 7)
Vapes of Wrath (Book 8)
The Scented Cipher (Book 9)
Of Spice and Men (Book 10)
Hex Drive
Hex Me, Baby, One More Time (Book 1)
Oops, I Hexed It Again (Book 2)
I Want Your Hex (Book 3)
Hex Me With Your Best Shot (Book 4)
Hex Me All Night Long (Book 5)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today Bestselling Author, Renee George writes paranormal mysteries and romances because she loves all things whodunit, Otherworldly, and weird. Also, she wishes her pittie, the adorable Kona, could talk. Or at least be more like Scooby-Doo and help her unmask villains at the haunted house up the street.
When she’s not writing about mystery-solving werecougars or the adventures of a hapless psychic living among shapeshifters, she dons her superhero cape and rescues kittens. Okay, the kitten totally showed up one day and suddenly she’s got a new pet named Simon.
She lives in Missouri with her family and spends her non-writing time doing really cool stuff…like watching TV and cleaning up dog poop.
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Did you love Witchin' Impossible? Then you should read Burning Djinn of Fire by Renee George!
In a supernatural world pulsing with magic, Marigold Everlee's determination burns bright as she embarks on a perilous journey to rewrite fate and rescue her vanished ifrit lover, Zev
