Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches) (17 page)

“Oh my gosh, Caroline, what is your obsession with me jumping into bed?” Jilly said in exasperation.

“I’m not getting any, nor will I be for the foreseeable future, so someone should. And that someone is you, my darling sister.”

Jilly laughed and splashed her sister with water and bubbles. “Don’t rush me.”

“Fine, fine, prolong your agony,” Caroline said as she backed away from the tub. “Enjoy your bath, sister dear,” she said as she threw a wash cloth at Jilly and scurried out the door. Jilly groaned and sank beneath the water.

An hour later, William and Jilly were watching TV in Jilly’s bed.

“So, we’ve got one more day to prepare. Do you think we’re ready?” Jilly asked.

“I do. I think we’re as ready as we can be. We really don’t know what we’re up against. I’m assuming she’ll have a few of my kind and yours with her. I believe we have all of our bases covered.” William tipped her chin up to kiss her lips. The magic that had been bubbling right below the surface broke free, and Jilly’s skin glowed brightly in the dimly lit room. William felt the call of his own magic deep within. “Jilly,” he whispered into her lips.

“Ok, we need to stop this,” she said with a laugh.

“Hey, you started it,” he said.

“I did not,” she shot back. “You kissed me first.”

William smiled and ruffled her hair, hugging her close to him. “I’ll be good from now on, I promise.” He crossed his heart with his finger.

Jilly shot him a look and scooted away from him a bit. “I think we should sleep solo tonight. I don’t trust myself to be good,” she said with a wink. He looked at her with a pouty expression on his face. “Oh no, don’t give me those puppy dog eyes,” she said as she jumped up from the bed. “Scoot out,” she scolded as she held open the door.

“Fine, fine, I know when I’m not wanted.” He slowly walked to the door, and smacked her in the butt on his way out. She yelped and slammed the door behind him.

“Goodnight, my darling,” he called from the hall.

Jilly laughed and hopped back into bed. She watched TV for another twenty minutes before her eyelids started drooping. She turned the TV off and drifted off to sleep.

Jilly opened her eyes and she was once again in Sabine’s house. This time she was in a parlor of sorts, but thankfully she was fully clothed. She quickly recited the spell under her breath and felt a ripping sort of feeling deep in her core. She stepped back and Sabine was standing in front of her and she was once again herself.

“Hello, Jillian. It’s so lovely of you to come,” Sabine purred. Her anger at being thwarted showed in her blue eyes.

“I’m not going to play your games anymore, so you may as well stop trying.” Jilly sat down, glaring at Sabine.

“Well, well, look who finally decided to play.” Sabine walked over and sat across from Jilly.

“Tell me, what makes you think William would ever love you?” Jilly asked, genuinely curious.

Sabine’s beautiful face contorted with barely suppressed rage. “He will be mine once again, Jillian. You’re a child, and he will tire of you soon enough. Did you enjoy my memories?”

Jilly smiled wickedly. “Did I enjoy the feel of William’s lips against my skin? Yes, I did, but I have to say, it’s better when I’m awake.”

Sabine howled and leaned across and slapped Jilly across the face. Jilly just smiled, enjoying the reaction she was getting from Sabine.

“Are we done here?” she asked, feigning boredom.

Sabine shrieked and shoved Jilly out of her chair. Everything went black, and she heard Sabine’s voice; “Don’t think this is finished.”

Jilly woke up in her own bed smiling. Today was a good day.

Jilly woke up to Caroline sitting on her legs. “Ow, get off,” Jilly moaned as she tried to roll over.

“I’ll get off when you wake up. I’ve already been in here twice to wake you up.”

Jilly’s eyes popped open. “Really?”

“Yes, really, now get up,” Caroline said in a voice tinged with irritation. “Everyone’s already here and ready, so get up and get dressed.” She stalked out of the room, leaving Jilly to get ready.

Jilly got up quickly and rushed to get ready. Five minutes later she was stepping into the kitchen, where everyone was waiting.

“Sorry, sorry, I guess I couldn’t wake up this morning,” she said as she snagged a mug from the cupboard.

“Don’t worry, we only just got her fifteen minutes ago,” Katya said.

Jilly shot Caroline an irritated look for making her think she’d kept everyone waiting for hours. She filled up her mug with coffee and joined everyone at the table.

“Ok, so what should our plan be for tomorrow?” she asked.

“Maybe Kat and I could follow behind you when you go? That way if you guys got into trouble, we’ll be there,” Nikolai replied.

“You don’t think we should all just stay together?” Caroline asked.

Nikolai shook his head. “This way we can catch them by surprise. They won’t even know we’re coming.”

Caroline nodded. “That makes sense. What about me?”

“You’ll be with me and Jilly,” William said. “I’ll feel a lot more comfortable knowing you’re safely by our side.” He lightly patted Caroline’s hand. Jilly smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

“Do we know who Sabine’s going to have working for her besides Liam?” Katya asked.

“Not specifically, no, but we should be ready for both witches and amaranthine. We’ve trained enough the past few days to be able to take on anything they might throw at us,” William said.

“I think we should get one more training session in this morning, and then relax the rest of the day,” Jilly said as she got up to put her mug in the sink.

Everyone nodded and filed out the back door and down the stairs.

Jilly decided to pair up with her sister for a while, wanting to see for herself just what Caroline had learned. “Ready?” she called.

“Bring it on,” Caroline yelled back.

Jilly laughed wickedly and threw three energy balls in rapid succession at her sister. Caroline didn’t even flinch; she threw up her bubble in record time.

“Good,” Jilly yelled before shooting out flames and directing them at the bubble. It took a full ten minutes straight before the bubble finally burst.

“That was great, Caroline. I’m really proud of you,” Jilly said as she ran over to her sister, pulling her into a fierce hug. “Now let’s see what you can do to me,” she said as she backed up to where she had been standing before.

Caroline smiled and conjured up a fireball in each hand and threw them at her sister. Jilly raised her hand and the fire dissipated.

“You need to really mean it when you make those, Car. If you don’t, they’re easy to get rid of. Go again.”

For the next hour, Jilly had Caroline throw every spell she had learned in the last two days. Finally she was feeling better about her sister coming with them.

“You should spar with the others for a bit. I’m going to practice by myself for a while,” Jilly said as she walked a little ways away from everyone else.

She closed her eyes, and concentrated on calling the elements to her. This time, it was water that stepped forward; she could feel a surge of power in her veins. She opened her eyes, and they swirled like a green whirlpool. She held up her palms and water shot up from the ground high into the air. It formed the shape of a tornado, sucking everything around it into the giant cone. After a few minutes, Jilly waved her hands, and the water shot back into the earth; only a fine mist remained in the air. She turned around to find everyone watching her.

“Alright, show’s over, get back to work,” she called out before turning around again.

Jilly and William were curled up on the couch together, watching TV. “I wish tomorrow never had to come,” she said wistfully. “I feel like I used to feel in high school the night before a big test.”

William chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Everything’s going to be fine, Jill.”

“I know it is, whatever is going to happen will happen. I can’t do anything to change that. I just don’t like the not knowing. I keep wondering about who Sabine’s working for.”

William nodded. “I know how you feel, but let’s not think about that anymore tonight. I’m sure I can find something to occupy your attention for a while.” He raised an eyebrow and Jilly giggled.

Jilly hopped into his lap and ran her hands through his hair. “I wish tonight could last forever,” she whispered.

William smiled up at her, taking her face in his hands. “My darling, forever isn’t long enough with you.”

He brought her mouth down to his own and kissed her, making her feel the emotion behind the words he had spoken. She twined his hair in her fingers, pinning his face against her own.

They kissed for a while, finally breaking apart when William’s phone rang. “It’s Nik. I should take this,” he said as Jilly slid off his lap. He got up and went into the kitchen while he talked on the phone. Jilly leaned back into the cushions.

Caroline came down the stairs in her pajamas. “I half expected to find you guys making out,” she said with a laugh.

“We do other things,” Jilly said in mock irritation.

“Sure you do, although I don’t see why you would. He’s sex on a stick, Jill.”

Jilly covered her face with a pillow. “Don’t I know it. It’s so hard not to just rip his clothes off and have my way with him.”

Caroline shot her a wry look. “You know my opinion; you’re only prolonging your agony.”

“Don’t start with that again,” Jilly said with a laugh. She was saved from further discussion by William coming back into the room.

“Am I interrupting?”

“No, you aren’t interrupting anything. Caroline was just leaving,” Jilly said quickly. Caroline laughed and sauntered into the kitchen.

“Did I miss something?” William asked.

“No, she’s just giving me a hard time.”

Something in her expression made William want to ask more, but he didn’t. “Want to head up to bed?” he asked.

“Sure, we could use the extra sleep, right?”

They headed upstairs and William stopped at his door. “Sleeping alone tonight?” Jilly asked.

“No, I want to shower and change into pajamas. I’ll be in soon.”

Jilly nodded and went into her room to do the same. Fifteen minutes later, William joined her in bed. He leaned in and kissed her softly before wrapping her in his arms. Jilly was smiling as she drifted off to sleep.

Jilly woke up feeling supremely rested. She reached for William, but he was already up and gone. She lay for a moment, trying to mentally prepare for what was going to happen this day. Finally, she got up and dressed, grabbed some shoes, and headed downstairs.

Caroline and William were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading the paper. The bags under Caroline’s eyes spoke volumes. Jilly hugged her before grabbing some coffee and joining them.

“Nik and Kat will be here soon,” William said, setting his paper down.

“Ok, what time are we leaving?” Jilly asked.

“In an hour, maybe sooner.”

Jilly’s face lost some color. “Ok,” she said softly. “I guess it’s better to just get it over with, right?” she said with a small laugh.

Caroline was silent; she just drank her coffee.

“You don’t have to come, Car,” Jilly said gently.

“I know, but I’m coming all the same,” Caroline said, steeling herself to her task.

“Alright, I thought I’d give you one last chance to change your mind. I’m not going to ask again.”

They finished their coffee and Caroline went upstairs.

“Just because she’s coming, doesn’t mean she’s not scared,” William said softly.

“I know. I just wish she would change her mind.”

William nodded. “Let’s sit out back while we wait.”

He led Jilly out back and they sat on the bench.

“It feels like forever ago that we sat here together, when it’s really only been a few days.”

“I know. A lot has happened this week,” William replied.

“I feel less nervous than I thought I would be.”

“It’s probably all of the training we’ve done this week.”

They sat quietly for a while. Jilly rested her head on William’s shoulder, just listening to the wind.

Nikolai and Katya pulled up twenty minutes later. Jilly and William followed them into the house. “I’m going to go get Caroline,” Jilly said as she started up the stairs.

She found her sister lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. “Car, it’s time to go,” Jilly said softly.

“Let’s do this then,” Caroline said, and they went down to join the others.

Everyone but Jilly and William were already outside. Jilly was buttoning up her coat when William stopped her.

“Whatever happens today, know that I am truly blessed to have known you, Jillian Elizabeth Proctor.” He released her and strode out the door.

She joined him on the porch a minute later, feeling flushed. “Well, here goes nothing,” she said as they walked down the stairs.

Nikolai and Katya faded into the trees as the trio set off into the forest.

They walked quickly through the trees, all on alert for any whiff of danger. They came to the small clearing where they were supposed to meet Sabine, and stopped. They looked around, but apparently they were the first to arrive.

William turned to Jilly and pulled her close. “Be on alert today. If something feels wrong, grab my hand. That goes for you as well, Caroline; you’ll be stronger connected with either Jilly or myself.”

Caroline nodded, not feeling much better about the situation.

“I’m nervous. Not so much about Sabine anymore, but more about this mystery person she works for. I don’t like not knowing what they want from me.”

The sound of twigs snapping behind brought them to attention and they spun around to face the threat. Liam and Sabine approached them slowly; they came to a stop about ten feet away from them.

Sabine spoke first. “It’s good to see your face again, William. How long has it been, one hundred years?”

He nodded his head toward her in acknowledgement. Jilly could feel the tension rolling off him in waves and shivered slightly.