Prelude to a Witch by Amanda Lee (free novel reading sites TXT) 📕

I caught her before she could register how close I was, slamming both hands to either side of her head and freezing her in place. “Congelo!”

Her body went rigid as I searched through the dark corners of her mind. I was looking for one thing.

I found Rosemary — the real Rosemary — sitting in a library when I started kicking down doors. She seemed surprised to see me.

“What are you doing here?”

“Helping you.” I felt sorry for her, but I didn’t like her. “You’ve got to fight your way free. I can’t do it on my own.”

Rosemary hesitated. “I ... don’t know what you mean.”

“I’m going to expel her,” I replied, grimacing when I felt the shade fighting back. “I’m going to force her out. When I do, you need to take control. Whatever happens, you can’t let her back in.”

Rosemary’s lower lip quivered. “I didn’t realize what was happening. Brian said ... .” She trailed off.

“Brian knew what was going to happen. He took advantage of you. But now you have to take control when I say it’s time. Do you understand?”

For a moment, Rosemary looked so conflicted that I thought she might turn me down and continue hiding. But she nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. Get ready.” I sucked in a breath and increased my magic. “Now!”

I slammed back into the real world and tightened my grip on the flailing shade. “Apage!”

It took everything I had to shove the shade out of Rosemary’s body, and when the dark apparition took shape on the other side of Rosemary’s limp body, there was rage in her eyes.

“I’m not done with you!” she roared as she tore in my direction. She never made it. A magical net landed on her before she rushed more than a few feet.

Instinctively, I threw up my hands to protect myself, but when she didn’t touch me I turned to see who had stopped her.

Days from now I would wonder if Aunt Tillie’s appearance at that moment was destined. Her magical grip on the shade, her fingers squeezing the life out of the ghost even as the dark soul tried to escape, seemed meant to be.

“Where did you come from?” I demanded, watching with grim detachment as the shade started fraying at the edges. “What are you doing to her?”

“What has to be done.” Aunt Tillie narrowed her eyes and glared at the shade. “I need to put an end to this, and you’re going to help.”

I was resigned. “What do you want me to do?”

“What your instincts tell you to do. You’re a necromancer, Bay. You can end this once and for all. You just need to call on the right form of magic. And you need a poppet.”

I’d forgotten about that. A quick glance at the bushes told me I had more than a few to work with. Thistle had been making garden gnomes on and off the last few years and I’d taken to placing them outside the building as decorations.

I set my jaw and nodded. Aunt Tillie was right. I did know what to do. “Okay, but then we have to find Brian. He’s infected, too.”

“No need to worry about that.” Aunt Tillie’s lips curved in evil delight. “Your boy toy has him on the lawn in front of the newspaper. Landon keeps losing control of his fist. It’s kind of funny.”

“How did you know?”

“Viola. You told her to find shades. She found them ... and then warned us what was happening.”

“I guess I owe her.”

“No, you owe me. Now, let’s finish this. I have some games I still want to play with Willa.”

Only Aunt Tillie would think this was the appropriate time for torture.

“I’m coming.” I stepped toward them, raising my hands. Aunt Tillie was right. I did know what to do. Thistle’s art would live on forever now, just in a different way than any of us had foreseen.

29

Twenty-Nine

We left Rosemary unconscious on the ground — really, what else could we do? — and headed toward the front of the building. Sure enough, Landon had Brian on the ground, and the fury in my fiancé’s eyes made me cringe.

“Landon?”

He jerked up his head. “Bay.” He let out a relieved breath. “You’re all right.”

“Yeah.” I smiled as I moved closer to him, dropping to my knees and cupping his chin with my hands. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better. I was afraid for you, but when I saw Kelly coming out of the newspaper ... .” He trailed off.

“You had to stop him.”

“I was going to kill him.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because that’s not my job.” His eyes were brimming. Despite that, he didn’t let go of Brian’s wrists even as the other man bucked beneath him. “Give me a kiss.”

“Do you think this is the right time?”

“I need it.”

I leaned in and smacked a loud kiss against his lips and then pulled back to stare at a furious Brian. “It’s good you didn’t kill him. He’s possessed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. We just knocked a shade out of Rosemary and destroyed it. She was possessed as well.”

“Are you planning on doing the same to him?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“We could lock him up and charge him with Paisley Gilmore’s murder.”

It was an intriguing option, but I shook my head. “I don’t think we can do that.”

“Why not?”

“He may be a tool, but he’s no murderer.”

“He might not have been in control of his faculties, but his hands wielded the weapon that killed Paisley Gilmore.”

“And Rosemary’s, which killed her parents. They’re out in the woods behind the Dragonfly, by the way. She admitted that before I entombed the shade in one of Thistle’s garden gnomes. It’s the one that looks like Gene Simmons from KISS. They were following Paisley because they thought something was up with her. Turns out they were right. They tried to intervene when Brian was killing her, but Rosemary ended them ... and then fed on their blood.”

Landon made a face of disgust. “Lovely.” He shook his head.