Barely Bewitched (21 page)

The wind whipped my cheeks. I shivered, looking around the yard. It had an eerie cast to it, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. The carefully positioned floodlights were all lit, showing off the sculpted flowering bushes and trees. But leaves blew across the path with the skittering sound of insects, and I broke out in goose bumps. Everything looked right, but felt wrong.

When Mr. Jenson opened the door, I nearly fell inside. “What’s happened?” I asked. I braced my weight against the wall, feeling heavy, sluggish, and exhausted.

“Mr. Lyons is—”

My head snapped up, so my eyes could see Mr. Jenson’s face. I had heard something tremble in his voice. Sorrow. Heavy enough to squeeze the air from my lungs.

“What?” I said, clutching his arms.

“Please sit,” Mr. Jenson said, motioning to the settee in the alcove.

“Where is he?” I demanded, my eyes darting around. “Is he worse?”

Mr. Jenson’s gaze slipped to the stairs. “Rest for a moment.” The lack of urgency made my blood run cold.

I’m . . . Am I too late?

No!

He reached for my arm, but I rushed past him as Steve hurried toward us. I flew up the stairs.

“Wait!” Steve shouted, pounding up the stairs behind me.

I didn’t hear what else he yelled. I ran to Bryn’s bedroom door and flung it open. I launched myself inside and would’ve hit the bed, if I hadn’t been yanked back by Steve’s arm.

Bryn lay pale, blue, and very dead.

Chapter 35

“No!” I lost my mind, screaming so loud it hurt my ears.

I pounded on the arms that held me, thrashing and kicking my legs, trying to get free. Trying to reach the bed where he lay.

“Let me go,” I yelled.

“Don’t cross it!” Steve snapped and dragged me out of the room. He slammed the door closed behind us and dropped me. I sank to the floor and sobbed.

“He’s not dead,” Steve said.

“Don’t lie! I saw him.”

“It’s a spell. He said he’d cross over early, and that you could bring him back.”

Tears ran down my face as I leapt up. I tried to get around Steve, but he shoved me back.

“Let me try, then. Get out of my way!”

“Wait!” he shouted.

“What?” I stammered, gulping my sobs down.

“There’s a circle. He said you shouldn’t cross it until you were ready. He said he won’t last long when you pull him back over, that you need to have a cure first or he really will die for good.”

“What cure?”

“I don’t know.” He took a deep breath and steadied himself. “He left you some stuff.” Steve started to step away from the door, but then stopped.

“What?”

“You won’t go in, will you?”

I felt numb, and my voice sounded hollow when I answered. “Not if he said not to.” I leaned against the wall, shaking like tissue paper.

“Miss Tamara, come downstairs. I’ve made you a cup of tea,” Mr. Jenson said.

I walked woodenly down the steps and into the kitchen.

“I didn’t know. I didn’t know he was so bad,” I said, the tears starting to trickle again.

Mr. Jenson didn’t answer. I sat at the table and watched him pour two fingers of whiskey into the tea. I took a gulp.

“I should’ve taken the poison back. I should’ve done it when we had the chance. I was scared and selfish and stupid.” I drained my mug. “It’s all my fault—”

“Miss Tamara,” he said sharply. “Please calm yourself.”

Tears streamed as I set down my cup. “Sorry, Mr. Jenson. I’m just—” I shook my head, and my heart ached like I’d never thought it could for anyone that wasn’t Zach.

“Mr. Lyons noticed the difference in the way the poison affected you. He said he cast a spell to deal with the elf poison, but since he didn’t recover, he felt there must have been a second poison tainting the first. One that affected him more than it affected you.”

I fisted my hands in my hair. If there was a second poison, how was I going to figure out what it was?

Steve walked in and dropped a duffel and a sealed manila envelope on the table. “These are for you.”

I unzipped the duffel and stared down at the gun and crossbow. There were about three dozen arrows and two boxes of ammunition. I opened one of the boxes and saw strangely fancy bullets. They were engraved with magical symbols. I lifted one to get a better look. “Iron,” I said. “They’re made of iron.”

I set the bullet into the box and closed it. I lifted the envelope and ripped it open. There was a folder full of papers. Several sheets contained lists of herbs, metals, stones, crystals, and symbols, along with their exact counterparts. Another page was a copy of the spell he’d cast to suspend himself. Lastly, there was a note to me. At the top, in fancy black script, it read, “From the desk of Bryn Lyons.”

“His penmanship is generally much better, but he was suffering from chills and lethargy when he wrote it,” Mr. Jenson said.

I blinked at Mr. Jenson and gave him a skeptical look that I bet conveyed what I was wondering, namely whether he had lost his mind. As if I’d think less of Bryn because his cursive wasn’t pretty while he was dying.

I raised the note and read it with a thumping heart.

Tamara,

I wanted to talk to you in person, but I couldn’t hold on long enough. I’m certain there’s a second poison that I can’t identify. The faery who shot you will know the ingredients, but she won’t tell you easily. I leave it to you to convince her to part with her secrets.

You’re the only one who’ll be able to pull me back from the Valley of Death spell. Unfortunately, the spell will only suspend me until the sun sets again, so time is, as ever, the enemy.

My life is yours to save,
Bryn

Oh my God.
I felt sick with fear. I put the tip of my thumb in my mouth and chewed on it, staring at the page. Finally, I rattled it.

“What was he thinking? How could he do this? He knows a lot of smart witches and wizards. How could he put something so important in my hands when I never get anything magical right?” I shook the paper hard like I’d shake some sense into it. “It’s crazy,” I hissed.

After a few moments, I dropped the note and smoothed it out. I glanced at Mr. Jenson. “He was so desperate he had to leave things to me. God help him,” I whispered. “Maybe he thought there wasn’t time to call someone in, but he should’ve tried. I’m sure someone can get here. Lennox or—”

“He didn’t want anyone else,” Mr. Jenson said.

I stared at him.

“He chose this plan. I asked him if he was sure. I told him that the police had you and that even if you were released, perhaps you would not be capable of accomplishing all of this, given your lack of experience.”

“You’re right! He was out of his mind with poison when he decided to rely on me. Why didn’t you talk him out of it?”

“I assure you he was quite lucid when I expressed my doubts. And do you know what his response was?”

I shook my head.

Mr. Jenson’s voice was soft and sincere. “He said, ‘I know her, Jenson. She’ll find a way. I have faith in her.’ ”

If it was possible for one sentence to make a heart soar and break at the same time, that one did. I slapped my hands over my eyes and broke down again. I felt too much all at once, overwhelmed that he believed I could save him and scared that I wouldn’t be able to. Lots of people had loved me in my life, but nobody ever believed in me more than I deserved, except Bryn. He had always taken me seriously as a witch.

I just plain couldn’t stand the thought of him leaving the world because of me . . . because he’d taken poison meant for me and because I wasn’t experienced enough to save him. There was a part of me that knew I’d never be the same if he died.

“I need another cup of tea,” I said in a wobbly voice. I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. “Okay. Okay,” I repeated, nodding. “This is no time for us to fall apart.” I slapped my fist in my palm as Mr. Jenson poured more steaming tea in my cup. “Steve, I bet you’re tired of working all these doubles, but you have to be sharper than ever. With him gone, there’s no protective magic on the house. And there are a couple of wizards in town who, if they figure that out, will waltz right in to take advantage of it. Also, make sure that the sprinkler system’s working and that you have fire extinguishers handy. And weapons. Mr. Jenson, you have to guard his body.”

They nodded. I sucked my tea down, burning my tongue something fierce. I stood. “I have to pick up my cat. And I’ll need a car. Mine’s at my house, and there’s no time for me to walk home.”

“I understand from Mr. Lyons that the Mercedes can’t be recovered,” Mr. Jenson said.

Since it was at the bottom of the Amanos River, that was true enough.

“Have you ever driven a limousine?” Steve asked.

“Oh, sure, that’s my second car. I have the Focus for every day, but a limo for state functions and bakery deliveries.”

The three of us looked at one another, and Steve smiled. Then Mr. Jenson did, and finally I managed to. It was that or break down crying again.

A few minutes later, I washed my face and shouldered my duffel full of weapons. I took a deep breath and blew it out as I followed Steve to the side drive where the sleek black limo waited.

He gave me a few tips like “Try not to crash.” Then he handed me the keys.

I shook my head as I tossed my duffel in and sat down in the driver’s seat. My head was swirling with all the impossible stuff I had to do, so the only thing I could focus on were bits of irrelevant details, which I guess is why I asked, “How much does one of these cost?”

“More than you’ll probably make in twenty years.”

“Thought so. The insurance is all paid up, right?”

Steve nodded with a half smile.

“I’m not planning on crashing,” I added.
But you just never know.

Chapter 36

Back in my neighborhood, Imposter Abby’s door was wide open, so I went in. The normally tidy house looked like a twister had hit. There were wrappers for Zingers and Oatmeal Creme Pies everywhere, along with empty chocolate milk cartons. Bits of laundry, magazines, and jewelry littered the floor.

I clutched my loaded crossbow and climbed the stairs, stepping over books, papers, dishes, cookie crumbs, and two half-empty honey bear bottles. I did a thorough search of the upstairs, including under the beds, in the closets, and in the bathtubs. Wherever she was, it wasn’t home. I tried not to let my frustration overwhelm me.

I thought about exchanging Bryn’s limo for my own car when I finished searching my neighborhood, but I didn’t want to leave the limo unattended, since the streets were full of people who seemed to think that Mardi Gras had come early.

At my front door, I had to push back some palm fronds that needed a trim in order to get inside. I found Mercutio sitting in the front hall, waiting for me. I explained about Bryn being mostly dead and depending on me to save him.

I ate a couple of Hershey’s Nuggets and cocked my head as Merc put his paw on the back door. Could Abby be hiding in my very own yard? Like a supernatural purloined letter? I peered out, but it was too dark to see anything. I grabbed my crossbow and readied myself, then slid the door open and was knocked back into my living room by a branch. I landed hard on my backside and banged my head on the couch.

“What the Sam Houston?” I gasped as more foliage spilled in, along with half a dozen hobgoblins who were hanging from wandering vines. A six-inch goblin hit me over the head with a cabbage rose, sending blush-colored petals everywhere.

I regained my feet and leaned out to flip on my backyard light. I gaped. It was like a garden that time forgot. Totally overgrown and stuffed full of flowers, bushes, trees, fallen leaves and branches, sprites, goblins, and a few small bats.

Uh-oh.

“When I said to let the plants prosper, I meant protect them! Let them be healthy and grow normally. C’mon, Earth! You know what I meant,” I complained, huffing with the effort of trying to push out the branches and vines so I could close the door.

My cell phone rang, causing me to give up on the losing battle. How was I going to save Bryn when I couldn’t even handle the plants in my own yard?

I dropped the phone when I realized that more goblins had swarmed over the crossbow and had levered it up against a branch to point it at me.

As I jumped over the end of the couch, I heard the
whump
of the arrow puncturing cushions.

“Hey!” I yelled. “I can’t afford a new couch.” I marched over and yanked the crossbow up and shook it. They fell off and pulled out their spears.

“No, you don’t!” I rushed to the kitchen with the bow tucked under my arm and grabbed my broom. I swept them furiously out the open door.

“And stay out there!” I scrambled to get my phone and flipped it open while still standing guard with the broom. “Hello?”

“Tammy Jo, it’s Johnny. How are you?”

“Kinda busy. How are you?”

The second wave of goblins rushed me, and I had to bobble the phone to sweep them out.

I recovered the phone. “C’mon, Merc, we have to get out of here.” I rushed to the front hall. “Sorry, Johnny. I dropped the phone. What’s going on?”

“Oh, lotta thing, Tammy Jo. First neighbors get into big fight. They bleeding and Rollie bite one or two.”

“Are they alive?”

“Yes.”

“Well then, no real harm done,” I said. Normally, I have strong feelings against vampire bites, but chaos called for different rules. “Maybe try to lock him in the apartment or better yet, maybe he should leave town until things settle down.”

“That the next problem. We try to leave. Can’t go.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Cannot get out of town.”

I stopped at my front door. “What do you mean? What happened?”

“Car just stop at county line. Engine running, but it not go. Other cars and trucks stuck, too. Run off road into ditches and onto grass trying to leave. Cars just can’t—”

For the love of Hershey.

“Rollie say it some kind of magic. It like someone put a big circle around the town.”

I cocked my head. Who would’ve closed a circle around the town? Bryn was incapacitated, so that left only Jordan and Incendio to cast big spells, but why would they? They might trap me or Bryn inside a circle around the town, but the townspeople and a vampire?

“I say to Rollie that I not understand what he talking about. He say it definitely witch magic, and it like somebody closed an invisible door.”

My stomach somersaulted, and I sank to my knees as the blood drained from my head. “Oh my God.”
No one really needs to come or go. Content in their own world, I just know.
My messed-up magic. Again. I clutched the side of my head as my mind reeled.

“So we all trapped. That why I called. Can you come pick us up?”

I shook my head at Mercutio and mouthed, “Big trouble!” To Johnny I asked, “Why don’t you just drive home?”

“Well, that the other problem.”

I put a hand to my sweating forehead. “What other problem?”

“The plants eat my car.”

“What?”

“The bushes and vines wrap around the BMW. All we see now is one tire.”

Holy Lord.
I slid down the rest of the way to the floor.

“Tammy Jo?” Johnny said.

“Uh-huh.”

“You come pick us up?”

I panted and tried to keep from passing out. “Yeah,” I said weakly.

“Okay, hurry. It a real jungle out here.”

The pounding started immediately after I hung up. I grabbed my crossbow and leveled it at the door before I pulled it open.

Jenna Reitgarten glared at me and shoved my crossbow aside, trying to wedge her twiggy body in between me and the door frame to get into my house. I was in no mood to have my home further invaded, especially while spears were still flying at my back from hobgoblins who needed sweeping.

I gave Jenna a good shove and followed her out.

“Aha!” she yelled, pointing at Mercutio, who joined us on the step as I closed the front door.

“I knew it!” she said. “I knew that cat was yours. He was a distraction while you robbed my house. I want my jewelry back.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do! You know damn well. The ruby and the ring.”

I slapped a hand over my mouth in mock shock. “They were stolen? I’m so sorry to hear that. What about the earrings? Did the thief get my aunt’s earrings?”

She raised her chin smugly. “No, as it happens I sold them for three times what they’re worth and got a promise that the buyer would never sell them back to you or your family. He was only too happy to agree to those terms.”

“What buyer? Who was it?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Yes, I would.
I waited a second, thinking she might be overcome with the urge to brag further, but she didn’t let anything slip.

Instead, she ignored me and grabbed my door handle, trying to turn it. As it was locked, it refused to open. She turned and glowered at me with wild, beady eyes.

“Earl arranged the sale. Come to think of it, that’s probably why you killed him,” she said.

I was about to deny that, but a wisp of pale green silk caught my eye as it shimmered under the streetlight. I stepped over the multiplying vines on my steps to get to the sidewalk and narrowed my eyes.

The green silk scarf fluttered behind Imposter Abby as she skipped down the street.

“Merc,” I said, to be sure he saw her. I glanced over and found that he had already darted through the tall grass, which now reached midcalf, and was in pursuit. When she saw him, she screamed and bolted.

I pushed past Jenna and ran like a ten-year-old after an ice cream truck. “Catch her!” I yelled.

I saw her run into Charlie Buckland’s house and slam the door. Merc went up a tree, probably planning to jump through an open window, but there weren’t any. He was back on the ground by the time I got there.

I tried the door, but she’d locked it. I banged on it for a moment and got no answer, so I looked around to see if anyone was watching. Naturally, someone was; Jenna had followed me.

“Merc, go distract Jenna,” I whispered.

He glanced at her and then at me.

“Go on!” I whispered in a hiss.

He sauntered over and snarled at her. She yelled at him and at me, but when he leapt forward, she retreated. I took the opportunity to bash in a window with my crossbow. They sure are handy.

I cleared away enough glass to climb through the window into the dark front room. A musty smell had me wrinkling my nose as I peered around. The shadows swallowed everything, and my heart thumped, telling me light would be good since we knew Imposter Abby was deadly despite being small.

“I know you’re here. Come out. I just want to talk to you.”

She didn’t answer, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck, trying to convince me to go back out the broken window.

Life and death. Bryn. The town. You can’t lose her.

I kept my crossbow in front of me as I slid along the wall, hoping to bump my back into a light switch. My thigh rubbed against a piece of furniture, and I stepped around it. I was getting close to the front door. I was sure there would be a switch there, and I could open the door for Merc.

Just a little farther.

I heard the cracking sound a moment before I felt the pain in my head.