The Dashing Witch (The Ward Witches) (16 page)

Justin shoved his way through the door and gasped. On one wall were four cages, large enough to hold a human, he suspected. It made him feel sick. The center of the room held a pentacle, and even the strong smell of bleach couldn't overpower the smell of blood and sheer wrongness.

“
Oh my lord,” Theresa said behind him.

“
This is the place,” Justin radioed. “It looks like the place Skylar and Leo found before. Find everything you can. I don't care anymore if they know we were here; get it all out and into the SUVs ASAP. We don't want to be caught here. Brian, photos.”

As Brian moved around taking photos of everything, the others bagged and tagged all the evidence they could find behind him. It was the matter of about two hours before they were able to clean out, and by the time they did, everyone felt the evil of the black magic that had been done here seep into their skin. Justin wanted nothing more than a long shower and to hold Melanie until he could feel this place get out of him.

“
Theresa, cancel the hotel reservations. We need to drive hard and get this back to Headquarters today if we can I think. I know it'll be long hours for all of us, but the ones not driving can try to get some sleep.” The others seconded his idea, and they all got back into the SUVs except the two locals, who would continue to keep an eye on the place. “Be careful, you two, and call us if anything comes up.”

On the ride back, he asked Theresa, “It looks like it hasn't been used for a while.”

“
I thought the same. There was some dust and general neglect to the place.”

“
Then I'm not alone in fearing that this is not what we're looking for. We need to find out where they're actively functioning.”

“
That's for sure.”

“
Seb and Leo haven't felt anything since Skylar and Leo found their sacrifice pentagram before. I think they're blocking, and if they are, it worries me that we're so far behind.”

“
We can't worry about that, Justin. We have to work on what we can do and not worry about what we can't.” They left it at that for the rest of the ride.

Earlier, Melanie had woken up around eight. Since she was up before Skylar and Rita usually started the day at their office, she took a nice long shower before getting dressed in some of her new maternity clothes. Imagine! Twin girls! She admired her growing belly in the mirror, knowing that time would only make it bigger. Probably a lot bigger, at that. She may have complained about getting bigger, but secretly, she relished it.

Humming, she brought her bag and cell phone to her office. She was looking for inspiration on something new to try to liven up her campaign. She was examining a large collection of books that she had amassed over the years when she heard someone else come in.

Of all people, it was that bitch who had wanted to get Justin back all those months ago. Melanie stopped and turned around. “Hello. It's Kelsey, isn't it?” She tried to smile and act like it was fine for her to be there. Melanie was confident of Justin's love, and she needed to act on her constant campaign to make a closer Coven. Kelsey was part of the Coven, and Melanie needed to play nice.

“
Yes. It is.” Melanie's air witch feelings were going off that something was wrong when she looked closer at her visitor. “I'm here to get you,” she said calmly. Then, as if remembering something crucial, she turned her attitude. “Justin's been hurt!” Her heart stopped for a moment. Justin? Hurt? She would have sensed it, she was sure. Except that he was in Rhode Island, and her magical senses wouldn't go that far without some special spells. And Melanie was afraid that Kelsey might be lying to her. But besides a general feeling, she couldn't risk assuming anything. She had to believe it.

“
Oh my god. How did it happen?”

“
I'll tell you everything on the way. Hurry!”

Melanie wasted no time in sliding her cell into her bag and taking off with the other woman. She was in shock. How could this have happened? She got into Kelsey's black Mustang, and they were off. Melanie couldn't shake her bad feeling, but she felt like she had no choice but to go forward.

A few miles down the road, Kelsey pulled onto the grass. “What's going on?” Melanie asked as Kelsey rummaged around in her purse, finally pulling out a glass bottle with some kind of white cloth inside.

“
You'll see soon enough.”

Melanie barely had time to realize what was happening when Kelsey shoved the chloroformed rag into her face. Then everything went black.

Melanie woke up in a stainless steel cage, one of four along a stark white wall. She could see three others in the other cages and a large pentagram on the floor.

“
Where am I?” She whispered.

“
Hell,” one of the other prisoners replied. He was probably mid-forties and in a very dirty suit. “I'd guess you're the air witch.”

“
I'm an air witch, yes. What's going on?”

“
We're going to be sacrificed,” another prisoner, a woman around thirty and equally dirty, whispered heatedly. “They said something about the Dark Order rising over all. My coven only recently got warnings about them, and we didn't take it very seriously. Looks like we were wrong.”

“
Can we break out?”

“
These cages are sealed with magic,” the man told her sadly. “Anything but black magic used around them gets reflected back on the caster. We've tried.” He held out his hands, covered in burn marks.

“
What do we do?” Melanie asked.

“
There's nothing to do!” The last prisoner, a teenage boy on the end, cried out. “It's all over for us!”

As Melanie was trying to grapple with the situation she had landed in, Kelsey came in the room. “Ah, Justin's little slut. I wondered when you'd wake. Congratulations on getting knocked up, by the way. Makes you perfect for the sacrifice.”

“
What's going on?”

“
Ah, so you're slow, too. You're going to die soon, my sweet, and Justin will be all mine. You see, we've assembled a special group here today. We have one witch from each element, and one witch with Ward blood. We have a whole complement of spells we'll be using you for. Then, the final spell, the one that ends in your death, will give us the Ward family on a platter. With the Ward blood in you, Melanie, we can use our magic to control the Wards. We can make Seb do what we want him to do, and that would give us access to witches galore for our experiments. And of course, Justin would be mine again.”

“
What? He'd never let that happen! Seb is devoted to the Coven, and Justin will never be yours.”

“
It's not their choice anymore. That baby you're carrying holds Ward blood, and the spell will call to the others, and make them part of our team. Pity we have to wait until the full moon to do it.”

“
But that's tomorrow night!”

“
Indeed. Rest up, for tonight will be your last chance.” She cackled and left. Melanie had known something was wrong, but she hadn't expected this.

“
Does anyone know anything about the sacrifice or the spell?” Melanie asked, and the others shook their heads.

“
Only that it needs one witch of each element. They have a series of spells they're going to work. They'll sap a little blood for each, and then when we're out of usable blood, our death will finalize the last spell,” the teenager said. “I'm water, she's earth, he's fire, and you're air. All I know about magic is pointing to something big if they need that kind of ammunition.”

“
Unfortunately, you're right. Has anyone tried to contact the outside world?”

“
No way to do so,” the fire witch explained.

“
But you're an air witch,” the woman said hopefully. “Maybe you can get outside telepathically.”

“
I'll try.” Melanie crossed her legs and dropped into her meditative trance. She probed and searched for what seemed like forever. “No good. We're in an isolated area, and all the people in my casting area are Dark Order members. There's at least fifteen of them out there now.”

“
Damn,” the man huffed.

Using that power added to the chloroform made Melanie especially tired. “I've got to rest. I'm sorry. But we'll figure something out tomorrow.”

“
We'd better,” she heard the teen say as she passed out.

On the way back to the Coven House, Justin dialed Melanie's number to tell her he'd be home tonight, but likely pulling an all-nighter to sift through the evidence. The phone went straight to voicemail. Perhaps she forgot to charge it or something, though that didn't seem like her. He had gotten a voicemail of his own earlier; maybe it had been from Melanie.

“
Hey Justin, it's Skylar. I haven't heard from Melanie yet, and it's about eleven. I hope you two are up to no good somewhere. I'm going to head home for the day, and I advised Rita to do the same. Just give me a call later.” That wasn't a good sign. Melanie would have told Skylar if something was going on. Justin called Skylar.

“
Hey, have you heard from Melanie?” He opened.

“
No. I thought she was with you. Rita and I waited at the office until eleven.”

“
No. Most of me and Coven Protection were on a mission.”

“
I'm sure it's something harmless,” Skylar ventured, but she didn't sound so sure.

“
I'm calling Seb.”

“
Keep in touch, OK?”

“
You got it.”

A moment later, Seb answered.

“
Melanie's missing. It could be nothing, but she didn't mention anything to me or to Skylar. She had an office day planned, and she never showed. Her cell goes straight to voicemail.”

“
What?” Seb asked. “Let me look for her.” Seb was quiet for a few minutes. “She's not within range.”

Justin cursed a blue streak. “Where could she have gone?”

“
Let me ask around. Surely someone saw something.”

“
Thanks man.”

“
No problem.”

Justin hung up and cursed some more.

“
Hey Justin?” Brian asked tentatively beside him.

“
What?” He snapped. “Sorry, I shouldn't snap. What is it?”

Brian opened the folder he had been looking through that they had taken out of the Rhode Island site. There were about fifty shots of Melanie, apparently taken over the last few months as she grew. Justin saw red.

“
You think they took her?” His voice was full of simmering rage. He hadn't slept in all those miles on the road, and the most valuable part of his life was missing. With Seb's answer, there was no doubt that she was missing, and not of her own free will. He knew she wouldn't leave without saying something to someone. She was just that kind of person.

“
I think it's a distinct possibility. I know Melanie well enough that she wouldn't have just gone without saying something to you or Skylar. Air witches are rare, and they've clearly been watching her for months. You can see that through the stages of her pregnancy.”

“
Keep looking. I'm calling Seb again.” He dialed, and his twin picked up quickly. “I think they took her.”

“
Who? The Dark Order?”

“
Yeah. I've got a distinct sick feeling about this.”

“
Tell the driver to put his foot down. When you get home we'll do a scrying.”

“
We don't have the time.”

“
Try to sleep on the way back,” Seb said gently.

“
What the hell?”

“
If you'll remember, the last time you two were as emotional as this, you were able to get into her dreams. Martin should be able to put you under,” Seb said, naming the air witch on the team.

“
Good idea. But I don't like it. While I do that, tell Rachel,” one of the witches who was manning Coven Protection back at the Coven House, “to do a trace on Melanie's cell phone. I don't know if it'll help, but try it.”

“
I'll tell her.” Seb hung up.

Luckily Martin was in the same SUV and heard Seb's advice. “I'll do my best to point you her direction, but no guarantees.”

“
Just do your best.” Moments later, he was out cold.

Justin felt like he was flying for a long time, and then he settled. Seb was right: he had settled into Melanie's body. He could slightly feel her on the edge of his senses. She recognized the intrusion, but after last time, she must have recognized it for what it was because she didn't push him out like the last time.

He opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a room identical to the one under the barn in Rhode Island. It was another confirmation: his wife had been kidnapped. Justin could see three other people in other cages and could even feel some of their worry. He tried to send calming thoughts to Melanie, but he wasn't sure if he succeeded.