Witch for Hire (27 page)

Shaking my head, I dismissed the thoughts. I'd taken a long road to recovery, but I was recovered. Wasting the rest of my life wishing for my wife wouldn't bring her back. I needed to let her rest, she was gone. She'd have wanted me to be happy, but I wasn't following the Call for her. I was doing it for me.

In the grove where Michelle prayed, she had invigorated the trees. I would find a way in to her good graces. I wanted to see the side of her that had invigorated these plants. "Keep her safe," I whispered.

Stars twinkled down at me, as mysterious as ever. Trees creaked and moaned in the wind. Sounds of home, of years spent with nature, slowed my troubled thoughts. Hours later, when I lay in bed, it was with the window open, allowing nature's lullaby to sing me to sleep.
 

Michelle

"Done!" I exclaimed, pushing myself off the pavement. "How are we doing on time?"
 

Jones twisted the corner of his mouth up. "Eh, not great. This took a bit longer than we'd planned."
 

"Darn. Can you clean this up while I start on the next project?" We'd trashed the area.
 

"Sure. It looks worse than it is. I'll catch up with you soon."
 

"Thanks."
 

I jogged back to the magic workroom. I still had to write all the runes on blessed wood. I dumped a stack of valuable books on a chair, pulled over the wood, ink, and plans. Luckily, Jones could help me with this, because I'd never have time to finish if I was working on my own. It took us nearly an hour to write out the runes on glorified paint stirrers. Silly, but that's what they'd always looked like to me.
 

Reluctantly, I took a break, gulping down energy-boosting tea and munching down a granola bar. Jones opted for a donut. I may have been a natural, healthy food person, but Jones liked his junk food.

We didn't talk, focusing on the hours ahead. It was going to be hectic. Several little things needed to happen in exactly the right order. We'd planned it out, but plans seldom lasted past the first engagement. I shuddered to think what would happen if we failed.
 

Jerking my mind away from negative thoughts, I questioned Jones, "How long until the spells need to be up?"

"Not long now, but you have a few minutes before you need to start casting." He bit down on another donut, chocolate-covered this time.
 

"Are you worried?"

"No." His voice was steady.
 

"Why not?" I was starting to shake in my boots.

"Because you're more likely to make a mistake, miscalculate, or mess up when you're nervous. Give your nerves the mental equivalent of a Valium. Pretend they can't affect you and that nothing can go wrong. Thinking positive helps." He slurped down a calming tea.
 

Eyeing my energizing tea, I wasn't sure another was the best idea. This would be my fourth, and it might make me jittery. On the other hand, jittery was better than tired. I took a drink. "Any other sage advice?"
 

"Yah, don't mess up." He picked up a box before leaving the room.
 

"Thanks a lot!" I yelled after him, chuckling under my breath.
 

The laughter made me realize I wasn't as scared anymore. Narzel fart; I hated it when he was right. Still smiling, I picked up a box, following him outside.
 

Tonight was warmer than expected, for which I was grateful. I didn't want to face the bitter cold while performing complex magic. The cold might amplify the spells, but it wouldn't do me any good.
 

Jones and I enlisted the help of two other officers to bring out the heavy table holding the map. Another officer cleared the halls and opened the doors. Setting it down under the lights was surreal. I'd been preparing myself for this moment all day, but hadn't thought about what it would be like. The reality of what I was doing hit me. A sorcerer and trolls were coming, and I was on the front line.

"Michelle!"
 

"Sorry, Jones. What do you need?"
 

"It's time to start."
 

"Oh."
 

It wasn't dark yet, but it would be soon. Ideally, I'd finish casting as the sun set, giving us the maximum time to take care of everything. I didn't want to finish the spell any earlier since trolls turned to stone in sun. We didn't want to be playing hide and seek with stoned trolls; they needed to be gathered up and sent back to the preserve.

I breathed in, out, and in again, steadying myself. For a moment my heart stopped racing, my respiration returned to normal, and I could focus. Before the clarity left, I grabbed the first stick, drew the last part of a symbol, and sent a tingle of magic through it before placing it on the perimeter of the map. Focusing all my attention on the task at hand, I pushed my doubts aside. I repeated the procedure with the second stick, and connected it to the first one.
 

I continued through the parts of the spell, finishing them, pulsing power through the runes, and weaving them through each other and the map. More slowly than I liked, they became part of the map, changing the spell. Each added section tied new magic to the previous spells. It was slow to build, but two-thirds of the way through, the spell started to brush across my skin, tasting me, telling me what it wanted.
 

Another witch had once asked me why I was so determined to practice magic when I couldn't get a job with a firm. I'd told her nothing compared to power flowing through you, over you, around you. It was alluring, sensual as it wound through my hair, cuddled with my skin. It wanted me to swirl the power, to tickle it with light and sound, and it sang to me of spells long lost. She'd looked so confused; I had to ask how magic felt to her. Hard work was all she'd said. I'd tucked away my feelings and agreed it was difficult.

Simple spells were light and fun, like a good joke. This spell was as simple as a symphony, and as splendid.
 

After adding the last runes, I swirled power through the old spells, ensuring they merged with the new spells. The entire castle of spells flexed with the added power, my sign to retreat and hope it worked. Watching the spells bend and move was captivating. One moment they were crawling over each other, looking for structure, and the next they had formed a fortress of magic, seeking targets, calling them home.
 

Disconnecting myself from all but the faintest touch of the spell was difficult. It felt so good, but I'd never finish the rest of the preparations if I let myself bask in the power. Blinking, I realized it had fallen dark while I'd been casting.
 

"Jones?"

"Right behind you." He walked around to my left. "How'd it go?"

"Good, really good."

"I can tell, you're glowing."
 

I thought he was joking until I glanced at my hand. I had to look like a giant firefly. "Narzel fart."
 

He laughed. "Don't worry about it. It's kinda cute, besides, those boys," He jerked his head to indicate the younger cops, "aren't ever going to forget this power show."
 

"Power show?" I asked.

Jones nodded. "Everyone could see the energy, the power weaving. And—it clung to you."

I groaned. Half the people here would be terrified of me, the other half enchanted. I much preferred being ignored, but no good deed goes unpunished. "Can we finish up?"
 

"You wanted the lights gone, and barricades around this pavilion?"

"Yup. I'll take the lights in." I scooped up one, making a hasty retreat.

"Slacker!" He yelled.
 

I giggled all the way in, stress making me a tad hysterical. On the way back, I detoured to the bathroom, overcome by the nervous need to pee. I returned to see a three-sided box of orange highway barricades protecting the pavilion. They formed a solid looking barrier, but I'd thought they were too heavy to move by hand.
 

Spying Jones near the map, I dodged cops carrying cinderblocks to get within speaking distance. "How did you get those things here? I thought they weighed a ton."
 

"We had them around the back. They do when they're filled with water or sand, but these are mostly empty. Two guys can carry them. I had them stacked nearby while you worked."

"Ah, I feel silly. Will they stop the trolls?"

"I doubt it, but it'll look intimidating. I've got them bracing the joints with cinderblocks, but that's all we can do with the materials on hand."
 

"Michelle, look at this. I think you may need to prepare for the next step," Jones said.
 

"What?"
 

He pointed to the map.
 

I leaned over, seeing the dots had refined to fifteen or so, all of them moving in this direction. Tying the taste of the sorcerer to the spell had helped refine the parameters, letting the spell find the trolls, and anyone tainted by the sorcerer's power. The calling spell should deliver all of them to us.
 

"The sorcerer has to feel that. We've got to clear this place out." No self-respecting sorcerer would march up to a police station with twenty people outside.
 

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."
 

He herded everyone away, like we'd planned. Watching them leave, I noticed how alone I was in this dark parking lot. Removing most of the lights had been the smart decision, but the empty parking lot was eerie.
 

Jones and I had discussed this part of the plan in great detail. We didn't have a good way to know when the sorcerer would come. I'd told him the sorcerer would confront me, but I couldn't guarantee it. At first, we thought the sorcerer would follow the trolls, but that was a tame, passive action. After some consideration, I'd decided he'd use the trolls as an army, trying to capture or kill people, including me. With that in mind, we'd altered the plan, and I was praying this worked because I didn't want to be dinner.
 

The police station was empty, because the trolls would walk in if I summoned them, but the sorcerer wouldn't. An intelligent sorcerer would do anything to stay away from a building of police, so we'd emptied the building. Sirens had been sounding all over the city for fake emergencies, forming a ring around this area. Using the cameras on the outside of the building, they were going to monitor the fight and come to my rescue. That was the plan anyway.
 

I stood alone while the minutes ticked by. Wand strapped to my right hip, a few packets of herbs, seeds, and oils in a belt around my waist. I let the breeze wash over me while I gazed at the stars. It was beautiful night; starry, crisp, but not frigid, and with the faint smell of spring. Behind me was a dark, empty brick building. The empty parking lot stretched before me, street lamps illuminating the far end. It was just me and whatever was headed this way.

Michelle

Something was here. My eyes roamed the ground, trying to find the catalyst for the change. A shadow moved near the lights. Tensing, my hand crept down my leg. The shadow solidified, and a scrawny black cat trotted across the last parking space and out of the lot.
 

Breathing deeply, I relaxed, releasing the grip on my wand. False alarm, it was nothing but a false alarm.
 

"Fancy seeing you here."
 

Jumping, I jerked around to my right. She wasn't as close as her voice sounded, a simple trick. The woman was at the end of the parking lot. I relaxed, but still palmed my wand. She was shadowed, I couldn't see who she was, but I knew that voice. I'd heard it before. "Who were you expecting?"
 

"Someone . . . powerful," Her voice shivered in the air.
 

"I'm not?"

"Well, we've met before, and you didn't think anything of me." She slowly moved closer.
 

I stepped to my left. "Can't see what you don't look for."
 

"Yes, how silly of you, knowing there was someone with magic around, but not searching for them."
 

"I think you're a bit misinformed. I only recently learned that I should be looking for a sorceress." If only I could remember where I'd heard that voice.
 

"That just makes you silly. I'd never be so foolish." She giggled.

The giggle told me she was young; only young girls giggled that way. The only girls I'd seen recently had been at the chicken farm. She had to be from the group of kids keeping the troll at the chicken farm, which one didn't really matter. "How have I been foolish?"

"You called all of us to you—while you're alone." She paused her forward progress. I needed her to keep moving. "I didn't come alone. I know better than that. Boys, kill her."
 

"Of course not. You'd never have been that silly." I muttered as I scanned the area for her boys. Six big shapes loomed up around the edge of the parking lot, arranged to herd me against the police station. At least all the trolls were here.
 

"What was that? I want to hear everything you say."
 

"Your mother was newt, and your father disowned you!" What did she think I was going to say, 'Please kill me?'

"You Witch!" she shrieked.

"Thank you." The trolls had continued to advance, but she hadn't. I moved back, suddenly unsure of the wisdom of this plan. Being someone's dinner was really low on my list of ways to die.
 

One of the trolls to my left, the closest one, stepped forward, drooling as he eyed me. My heart beat faster. Nope, I didn't want him to eat me, especially while I was alive (being killed by a troll was bad enough, but I didn't want to know it was snacking on me). The troll shambled forward. Jerking the wand up, I pointed at the ground, forcing power into the circle we'd constructed earlier. It sprang to life around him, imprisoning him inside. I darted closer to the now imprisoned troll as the sorceress screeched with rage. Her yowl served as a rallying call; the trolls lumbered forward. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted another troll near a circle. Another rush of power and I captured him near the edge of the parking lot.