Brewing Trouble Page 13

  19

  Sarah ducked to the side to give Marcus more room to move, and kept her attention on Angela. For her part, the woman was glaring at the men. Marcus was one of those spirits that wasn’t obviously inhuman. Sarah didn’t understand everything about how he was created— apparently it took a fair amount of energy and a number of fairly specific items to create a lidérc— but whatever the process was, it left Marcus able to pass as a regular person at casual glance. Even when the person doing the looking is well aware of spirits and magic. Angela seemed to be only about half aware of spirits which was somewhat surprising for someone who aspired to power as strongly as she did.

  “What is that thing?” she muttered.

  “That thing is my friend. Much like Doc is my friend,” Sarah answered the rhetorical question. She ignored the struggle and concentrated on the threat she was here to neutralize. “You’re not going to hurt any of my friends— or anyone else— ever again.” Sarah’s bracelet charm was useless, damaged in that blast a moment ago, but she still put herself between Angela and where Marcus had Davey wrapped up, struggling to free himself. Marcus was far stronger than his slim frame made him seem.

  “Well, you and your friends bit off more than they can chew this time. Susan—” Angela paused and sneered. “I mean Doc— will die soon enough, and I’ll have her power flowing to me instead. And you won’t be far behind her now that you’ve come here. I’ll get something of yours to anchor my spell against you, and with your magic added to all the others’, I’ll be the top magic user around here!” Angela flung another spell at Sarah, who batted it away. It was easy now that she’d seen how thoughtless she was with these attacks. The spells were only about half-formed and not at all well aimed. The loose ball of magic bounced away to splinter the cozy breakfast table.

  “What is wrong with you?” Sarah asked. She was surprised by the venom, but stunned at the complete lack of skill. Not to mention that Angela was well into crazy raving territory now. “You should know better than to just fling magic like that! I’ve only been learning about this stuff since January and even I know that much! You’re capable of focusing, your horrible voodoo doll bullshit and that bracelet that got crabby over there through our wards is proof of that. What’s going on with you now?”

  “The power belongs to me! I’m the one from the family line that stretches back into antiquity! I’m the one who should be reaping the rewards of my ancestors’ abilities! I should be able to do as I please!” Angela had officially started raving. “Who are you? An upstart! A witchling! A babe in the cradle playing with powers you can’t even begin to understand on your own! And Susan? Her family has only just risen past the hedge witches they’ve been since the beginning. She doesn’t deserve this power, it’s mine by right!”

  Sarah had to think for a moment before she remembered that Susan was Doc’s real name.

  “It’s not about who’s family has had more power longer, you lunatic!” She was shouting herself now. Sarah couldn’t even believe that she was having this conversation. She mentally flailed, trying to figure out a way to stop Angela before she threw another blast of magic out. It’s not like she and Doc spent a lot of time on offensive magic, after all. She was learning to help people, to heal with her magic. She could purify and cleanse evil, but that was about as much as…

  Sarah blinked. An idea formed. A completely half-baked, probably-not-going-to-work sort of idea. She started to slide her hand down toward her hip, where her bag rested. It wasn’t going to be much, but it might give her enough wiggle room that someone could restrain Angela safely. As it was, she’d just be sparking off dangerous bursts of magic like a live power line.

  “Susan thought she could just stroll in and take what was rightfully mine, well I’ve learned better! A goddess appeared to me and I understand so much more now! I’ve learned all about who I should be, and how to best use my birthright! She taught me how to reclaim what is rightfully mine!” Angela was ranting away. Sarah nudged the flap of the bag, trying to slip her hand in without catching Angela’s notice, but luck was against her.

  “What do you think you’re doing?!” Angela shrieked. Magic swirled, pulling in toward the angry woman. Her hair stirred with it and her skirt swung around her ankles. The air in the rom started to crackle and felt like a heavy fog was rolling into the room, though Sarah’s vision was sharpening instead. It was almost too much visual information now, and she had to close her eyes.

  “I’m trying to stop you before you hurt someone else!” Sarah shouted to be heard over the pressure of the magic flooding the room. It made her senses go entirely haywire, and the only thing she could do was hope Angela hadn’t moved, and that their relative positions were the same as they had been a moment past.

  “See if your oh so benevolent and gentle wards can protect you from this!” Angela’s voice seemed to come from everywhere, including inside Sarah’s own head. She chanted her spell as quickly as she could, digging her fingers into what she’d been looking for in the satchel. She dipped her own will into the thick miasma of power that Angela had pulled and used the wildness to strengthen her own magic, taming it by giving it a purpose and a direction.

  Sarah’s arm tingled and quickly started going numb with the current of power running down it. She pulled her hand from the bag and threw the handful of black salt out in as tight an arc as she could, right at where she thought Angela was. Almost the second she opened her hand, something heavy hit her from the side, knocking her to the ground and covering her with a heavy, dark weight.

  The room seemed to explode. The bamboo and the didgeridoo clattered to the ground while the vase that had held them shattered. The sound of pots and pans and tableware clattering to the tile floor in the kitchen was strangely counterpointed by the whumping sound of what Sarah guessed must be pillows and soft furniture tumbling and hitting walls. Wind battered at the exposed skin of her hands and arms and stung like hornets where they’d landed free of the body on top of her, but her face was tucked carefully into what must be Marcus’ chest.

  Above all the noise of breaking household goods was Angela’s scream. It started in rage as the wind released, but as it spun out of what little control she’d had over it, it turned into a sound of shock, then anguish and ended in a whimper of fear.

  When quiet hit Sarah’s ears like a drumbeat after the pressure and noise, she nudged Marcus’ hip. He slowly rolled off her and the sat up to look around at the destruction. It was like a tornado had blown itself out inside Angela’s first floor. Nothing was left where it had been save them and Angela. Although, she had collapsed to the floor, staring without understanding at the corner where one of the bamboo poles stuck out of the wall at a jaunty angle.

  “What happened? Is everyone okay” Kai and Sebastian came hurtling down the stairs in the hallway and jumped over Davy’s unconscious body which stretched across the doorway.

  “I’m not completely sure what happened, but Marcus and I are fine,” Sarah said, still blinking her eyes back into focus. “I think”

  “Nothing that a day or so of rest won’t cure.” Marcus assured the brothers. He stretched his arm back and rolled his shoulder where Sarah guessed something heavy had bounced in the chaos. “Davy will need more than a few days of rest, but he should recover. Assuming that nothing happened to him just now, at any rate.”

  Kai walked over to Angela, who didn’t react much past a whimper. Her shoulders were slumped, and there were tiny specks of black covering her chest and across part of her skirt. Her arms, hands, neck and jaw were similarly covered.

  “What is all this?” Kai brushed his fingers over her wrist, which only provoked a whimper. Sebastian righted the sofa and grabbed the cushions, then helped Kai lift the woman onto it.

  “Black salt. Well, burns from it, I guess,” Sarah said. She came over and looked carefully at Angela’s skin. “She’ll be okay. Physically at least. She was pretty worked up, and I used the salt to neutralize her magic. She had so much evil int
ent poured into it, that I guessed I could just purify all her magic and it would slow her down. I didn’t anticipate it’d make her catatonic.”

  Sarah felt awful. She’d done to Angela exactly what Angela was doing to Doc, and how could she ever forgive herself for that?

  A hand pressed lightly against her shoulder.

  “She should be okay, Sarah.” Kai’s voice was gentle. “I’d say that she’s in shock more than anything else. Her spell not only backfired, but then washed back over her. She’s dazed, but she’ll be fine.”

  Sarah slumped over, her forehead almost resting against Angela’s arm. “Oh thank goodness.”

  “We found the dolls. And Meg, who was locked into a spare room upstairs. I think she’s been drugged.”

  “Oh no! But…” Sarah looked up at him, her forehead wrinkling. “Why drug Meg?”

  “Hopefully we’ll find out eventually, when Meg wakes up.” Kai shook his head.

  “So what do we do with her? She’s still dangerous, and still determined to make Doc and Sarah pay for daring to exist.” Sebastian snarled at the thought, and Marcus joined him. It was a little too close to home after all the adventures they’d had with Hunters recently. Sarah frowned again, trying to think. The purification should hold for a while, but not forever.

  “Hey, Kai?” She looked up at him. She was hesitant and hated to ask him to do this, but if left on her own, Angela would only try again with a new plan. “You remember what you did to that warlock?”

  “You mean when I cut off his access to magic use? Yeah, that could work,” he said slowly. He stared at Angela for a long moment, then sighed and shook his head. “I don’t like it, but it’s probably the best option really. She was doing okay for herself before all this kicked up, if this house is any indication. It’s not cheap up here.”

  “But won’t that hurt her like it’s hurting Doc?” Sarah asked.

  “It shouldn’t. The magic will still be there, flowing through her. She just won’t be able to use it for anything,” Kai said. He didn’t look completely convinced, but he met her eyes when he spoke, and she believed him.

  Kai took a deep breath and Sarah could feel the power start to swirl around her again, but this time it was controlled, carefully and deliberately winding around around Kai. There was no thickening of the air, no wild, destructive release of energy. It was the difference between a firehose turned up to full and let go, and one deliberately aimed.

  After a moment the magic dissipated and Kai sighed sadly. “It’s done.”

  “If this keeps up, we’re going to get a name for ourselves,” Sebastian said quietly. Sarah and Kai nodded. None of them liked this solution, but what was the alternative? If someone was going to attack them magically, it’s not like there was a legal option for them to pursue. There were no special laws, no shadow governments, nothing to protect someone from being harmed by something that ninety percent of the world didn’t even believe existed.

  “We should get on out of here,” Marcus said. “I have no doubt that the noise was heard by someone who likely called the police. Do we want to be involved in another investigation?”

  “God no, that damn reporter will start nosing around again,” Kai groaned.

  “Not to mention we’re going to start looking like the hub of some sort of illegal activity. I mean, two kidnappings in what, four months, all involving the same group of people?” Sebastian added.

  “And the vandalism we’ve reported, and the attack at the Apothecary which will come back to us anyway with that yahoo over there involved and all,” Sarah added. “Do you have the fetishes?”

  “All the ones we could find, yeah. And Meg is still out cold upstairs, so if someone’s coming that would be good,” Kai handed Sarah a bag and Sebastian ushered them all down the hallway to where a back door stood open.

  “I’ll stay here and keep an eye out from the tree line, and if nobody shows up soon, I’ll call the disturbance in myself. I’ll catch up with you all in a bit.” Kai nodded and then with a quick burst of magic became a coyote and trotted off to the side of the patio.

  “Come on, let’s go. I think I hear sirens,” Sebastian led them out the back and into the woods for the relatively short walk back to the car. Sarah had to go slow since with merely human senses, she couldn’t see all the roots that reached up to grab at her feet. Sebastian reached over and took her hand and steered her around the worst of it until they got to the car.

  “Well? Are you ready for our next stop?” Marcus asked as he slid into he driver’s seat. Sebastian helped Sarah into the back and climbed in with her.

  “I’ll rest up on the way. Maybe we could stop somewhere to have a snack? I’ll bet I’m not the only one of us feeling the effects of all that magic whirling around that place.” Sarah shivered and snuggled into Sebastian’s side.

  20

  Kai caught up with them at the diner they stopped at and confirmed that the police they passed on the road had, indeed, been heading to Angela’s house. The diner wasn’t anything close to fancy with laminate tables, plastic booths, and harsh fluorescent lighting, but it was open at three am and had coffee so nobody was inclined to complain. After coffee and breakfast, and more coffee, they piled back into the car and headed towards Wilder Ranch State Park. They had spent some time earlier that afternoon, while they waited for the sun to set and Marcus to join them, staring at maps and decided that if they could hike a little into the park and make their way to the beach.

  They got parked at little after four in the morning and piled out. They had to park a ways off, but managed to make it down to the beach fairly quickly. It took them a bit longer to find a patch of beach that was secluded enough they were fairly sure not to be interrupted by either nosy nellies or by the police chasing them off state property or arresting them for setting a fire. None of wanted to deal with the police again. Sarah was not used to staying up all night and was starting to feel it. She had to be able to concentrate for just a little longer, though.

  “Okay, so we set up here, I think,” she said. “Marcus, the hibachi can go right here just below the high water line. Could you go ahead and light it, please?”

  Marcus did as she told him and Sarah started rummaging in her own bag to pull out what she needed.

  “Here are the fetish voodoo doll things.” Kai handed her a shoebox and she set it beside where she knelt in the sand. The bag of salt— less the handful she’d thrown at Angela— sat next to a bundle of sage and a paper she’d written a short prayer on, surrounded by a few sigils.

  Once he had the small bundle of kindling lit, Marcus glanced at her and stepped back. “We’re ready for whatever you need from us, Sarah. Go ahead and end it.”

  “Thanks,” she answered. She closed her eyes and drew a big breath, then let it out slowly while she reached for the local energies. The first time she’d done any magic, it had been a huge spell and she’d used her own well of power rather than reaching out to draw on any wild energy. She hadn’t had any real training at that point, and she understood full well how bad an idea that was to do again. She’d been exhausted for days after that.

  Standing, she poured the salt in a circle, carefully surrounding the grill and the shoebox. The sage was wrapped in the prayer paper and set in the grill to catch fire. The light warmed the faces of those that watched, and Sarah started chanting as she slowly placed each of the five fetishes into the fire.

  Each doll placed in the hibachi made the flame leap up and turn green, hissing with malice for a moment before it died back down to its natural yellow flicker. The smell of burning hair started to drift in the smoke with the third doll. Lastly, the doll that was harming Doc. Sarah took a moment to look at it, and saw a used paper napkin poking out of the stitching on the chest of the doll. She picked at the loose thread and tugged a bit more of the stuffing out to see it better, and the brown stains across it made her frown.

  “Is that blood?” Sebastian murmured his question and Sarah just nodded before placing t
his final doll onto the pyre. The fire spit and blew green sparks out while the bloody napkin turned black and fell away into the ashes among the coals. Sarah shuddered but kept on with her spell. She put another bunch of sage on top and poured her magic into the purification of everything in the ashes of the fire.

  Finally, she sat back and sighed. “It’s done. We just need to let the fire burn out now, and we can scoop up the salt and let the ocean wash it all away.”

  The four sat in the sand, watching the fire flicker down into coals. Sarah leaned against Sebastian who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She snuggled into his warmth and hoped that Doc was already starting to feel better. It had been just over a week that Doc had been affected by the hex, and Sarah couldn’t begin to guess at the long-term effects that being cut off from her magic would have on a witch.

  “Hey, what was that napkin thing you were looking at?” Sebastian asked after a long while.

  “I think it was from the other day when Doc was knocked over. Did we tell you about that?” Sarah answered without turning.

  “No, what happened?” Kai asked.

  “Not much, really. Some jerk tried to mug Doc on her way in to the shop. She fell over and scraped up her arm,” Sarah shrugged, which made Sebastian squirm when her shoulder dug into his ribs. “Meg was cleaning her up when I got there, and I’d guess she stuck the napkin in her pocket like she does. How Angela got it and knew it was Doc’s blood is anyone’s guess.”

  “Bet the mugger is at the hospital right now with cops waiting to ask him a few questions about a domestic disturbance,” Kai grimaced.