The Responsible Witch (The Ward Witches) (17 page)

“
You can do it. You're very clever, and since you're new to magic, you don't have preconceived notions of limitations.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
I see it in a lot of the older witches. They're so used to the way things have always been that they can't move forward. They know their spells, and they limit themselves to just using those. But when Skylar started to learn her fire magic, she did creative things with it that no one had done before. She could do that because no one ever told her it was impossible. Many of those same older witches didn't believe it until they saw her do it. For instance, she used a dog made out of non-burning fire magic to entertain sick children. You have the same advantage in that you've also never been told what your limitations are, so your ability to be creative with magic is unlimited.”

“
Huh. I'd never thought of it like that.”

“
Well now you have. If that thought helps you in the coming fight, it might be important.”

“
I agree.  This whole thing is more dangerous for us than them too because we're fighting to get them unconscious and to the police, and they'll be trying to kill us.”

“
Yes, that's true. But we have pure
elemental
magic. Their magic is from blood, and if they haven't been able to get the human blood to strengthen themselves, they have a finite limitation on their spells. That is if we've stopped them from getting sacrifices. Blood magic is much more powerful that pure magic, though, which is why they turn to it. If they've managed to use human blood or enough animal blood, we may have a problem on our hands.”

“
Then we'll hope that won't happen.”

“
I agree.”

“
We'd better get some sleep. With witches coming and going tomorrow, it'll be a hectic day, followed by more hectic days.”

“
And then, hopefully, the end.”

“
Exactly.”

For the next day and a half, Gage was so busy with the plans that he barely noticed the passing time. But then he started to feel sick and dizzy. His vision was blurred, so he went without argument when Dymphna eased him into a chair. He was barely cognizant of her calling out that Redman was contacting him.

Then he saw no more, and the buzzing stopped.

“
Hello, big brother,” a sickeningly sweet voice drawled. “I've been looking for you. Our father gave you great talents, and now that I'm rebuilding the Order, you should stand by my side.”

“
I don't do blood magic.”
Gage was fierce, even in his own head.

Redman paused. “You don't? I know the paper said you were married to a Ward, but I thought you brought her to the true way of magic. I was pleased we'd be in this together.”

“
No, Eric. My wife and her family purged the blood magic from me. They've been showing me how to use elemental magic, and they've been helping me get rid of my father's legacy.” Gage thought that maybe if he really infuriated Eric, he could push him far enough that he would see red and not reason.

“
Then you're one of them,” he hissed. “Don't you realize that blood magic is so much more powerful? It's exhilarating to hold the ability to do anything you want.”

“
I imagine it is. But I wouldn't kill another person to have that.”

“
They're weak. I am strong. I thought you were strong too, but you have betrayed your father and you have betrayed me.”

“
Be that as it may. I don't want anything to do with you or the Dark Order.”

“
It's that woman that's done this to you!” Eric's voice screamed in Gage's mind. Then, emotional, Eric made a mistake. A thought went through his mind, and after all the work Gage had been doing with his air magic, he heard that thought softly. “If I got rid of her, the real Gage would come back.”

Perfect, Gage thought. He kept his
own
thoughts silent though. Gage made a mental note that when he entered Eric's subconscious later, he should add in a comment on how he needed to personally eliminate Dymphna. As long as Dymphna agreed to never be without a bodyguard, that is. And she packed a serious magic punch of her own if it came to that. He didn't want to put her in danger, but he knew that she'd want to help however she could.

“
That woman is my wife, and I love her very much. I will be staying at her side.”

Eric growled. “You'll come back to us and use those powers my father saw fit to grant your undeserving ass with. Whether you come back as a member or as a sacrifice is your choice. Though I'll admit that sacrificing you and that pretty thing you call your wife would be great fun.”

He cackled and broke the connection.

Gage reeled, and it took a moment or two for his vision to resolve itself. When it did, he saw his wife closely studying his face and everyone else in a semi-circle behind her.

“
What happened?” Dymphna asked. Someone passed her a cold drink, and she gave it to him. “Are you alright?”

“
I'm fine now. But when your brother hears about what I did, I might not be as fine.” He told them what happened, saving the part where he lured Redman using both himself and Dymphna for last.

“
It's perfect!” Dymphna exclaimed while Justin shook his head and said “No way.”

“
Why not?” she asked, rounding on him. “I'm as committed to the cause as anyone else. Like Gage said, I'll stay within the house all the time. I want to help. I also know that Gage would never do anything to endanger me if there wasn't a damn good reason and assurance that I'd be as protected as possible.”

“
You're my sister,” Justin countered. “You're a healer.”

“
And I don't want Redman to hurt anyone else. I can fight, and I know offensive spells. Gage's plan will work. We'll make it work.”

“
I am officially against this, and if anything happens to my sister, I'm holding you personally responsible, Gage.”

“
I would do the same. She won't be harmed if I can help it.”

“
So what happens from here?” the woman in question asked.

“
We go into full readiness,” Justin answered. “He knows where we are now, and he could come at any time.”

“
I'm going to let him stew for the rest of today. Then, while it's still fresh on his mind, I'm going to do my mind tricks. I'll do it in the late evening so that he's at his most relaxed state. If all goes well, he'll be on his way here soon,” Gage continued. “I know all of us are ready to get these guys taken care of and not able to do any more harm. It's finally coming to that time when we'll get them behind bars, but we need to be careful that none of us get hurt in the process.”

“
I agree. Watch your friends' backs here, and they'll watch yours.” Justin met the eyes of each witch gathered around. “Everyone has a copy of the shifts, and everyone has a wooden whistle. Fiona put a spell on those so that if you blow it, all elemental witches in a five hundred foot radius can hear it.” Everyone nodded. “Good. The first shift starts now.”

The witches separated into groups. Some watched TV, some played cards, some surfed the internet, and some listened to music. But all of them radiated their uneasiness. Gage sat down next to Dymphna to watch a movie, but he wasn't paying attention. His mind was wandering, trying to find any flaw in his plan for tonight. He went over every aspect of it, from how he'd enter to what he'd say to how he'd leave. It had to be just perfect. Everyone depended on him.

Around eleven at night, Gage stood up. “I'm going to do it now. Wish me luck.” Everyone's eyes turned from what they were doing to look at him.
He really wanted to do it from the privacy of his and Dymphna's bedroom, but he understood that with the tension in the air, it was important for all of the witches to see him put the plan into motion. After all, they were risking their lives in this plot as well.
Everyone but the people on duty watched him as he settled into the couch to send his mind after his brother's.

He cast about in the Washington D.C. area, looking for Eric's mind. Since they had connected earlier, Gage had the scent of the mind he was looking for. And he found it, about three miles away from the capitol. Before entering, he sniffed around, getting the lay on the land. Eric was sleepy, as Gage had hoped, and he was alone in his office, which was even better.

To avoid being detected, Gage went through one of Redman's regular senses, choosing the sense of smell as the best vector. But instead of those receptors sending information about scents, the same pathways let Gage into Eric's subconscious. Since people didn't usually actively monitor their sense of smell, he was able to get right through. He had no indication that Redman was aware of him at all, which was great. He'd need to work quickly though.

When he had suggested to the Ward air witches that he could enter the subconscious through the smell nerves, they had never heard of such a thing. But he had done it. Eric had gotten into Melanie's mind without her knowing it somehow, so logically, he should be able to do it.

Gage accessed the memory of their earlier conversation while monitoring Redman to see if he noticed his intrusion. From there, he ramped up the emotional portion of the memory to amp the anger and rage. The more emotional he was, the more likely he was to disregard the logical part of his mind that would say it was a bad idea to go to Boston personally.

Once he amplified the negative emotions that were already there, he started to add thoughts. This was the most dangerous part. If he was going to be caught, this is the part where it would come from. He started with an internal dialogue, as if Redman had actually had it with himself.

He made the tie to the conversation with a thought that he'd have to eliminate Gage and Dymphna. From there, he sent the thought process to sending people to Boston to do so. Then the idea that wait, he can't trust just anyone. This was a crucial mission, and it would require finesse to get it done right and not let the other Wards protect his target. So clearly, he'd have to do it himself.

This would be a major blow to the Coven, and it could tip the balance. Eric would need to round up a team of his best blood witches and drive them all to Boston. From there he'd lead the offensive against Dymphna and Gage at Ward Manor.

Gage stayed in the shadows to watch the implanted thoughts take root in Redman's mind. Eric sat up straight in his chair.

“
I need to get to Boston,” he said to himself. “I need to kill Gage and Dymphna. I'll gather a team, and we'll drive to Boston. That will give my Order the advantage it needs over those fanatics in the Coven. From there, I can regroup and kill them all!” Eric got up to go give commands.

Perfect.

Gage slipped right back out the way he came, keeping a light touch on his brother's mind long enough to see if he was aware of the other presence in his subconscious. There was no indication that he had, so Gage withdrew back to his own mind and his own body.

It was like Dymphna had pointed out in so far as without being conscious of any limitations of his magic, Gage could do what no one had thought possible.

He opened his eyes to see everyone in a semi-circle around him again, just like before. Dymphna had a glass of ice water again too, and he gulped it gratefully.

“
How did it go?” she asked hopefully.

“
It went great. As far as I could tell, he had no idea I was there. In fact, as I withdrew, he was going to rally his troops to head here.
I
f all was as it seemed, they'll be on the road here soon.”

“
Good work,” Justin proclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder in a brotherly fashion. “Alright, everyone, you heard the man. The game is on.”

Dymphna thought it was awfully anti-climactic to wait even longer after the high of Gage's success. Of course, if he had succeeded like it seemed, they would still need to gather a team and drive to Boston. They could arrive tonight, or it could be tomorrow.

She wouldn't have thought it possible, but the tension was even thicker than it had been before. Tim dropped a pan in the sink as he was helping Denise with dinner, and most of the witches jumped. One even had a fire ball conjured before they realized it wasn't an attack. They all felt a little silly when they figured it out.

In the late evening, the shift changed and Dymphna was on for patrol. Her assigned spot was in the attic. There was a nice picture window up there that looked out over the front yard. She was able to sit in a chair and see anything that approached. Or anyone.

Gage had the same shift, but he was watching the back.

Dymphna thought about him and their relationship while she waited. She never thought she'd want a romantic relationship, but now that she had him, she needed him and everything he gave her. She had been thinking about it for days, but now she was sure that when she returned to work, she'd lay off some. The firm had a never-ending list of potential clients, but she shouldn't feel the need to represent every one of them. If she cut back, she could have some free time to spend with her husband.
Maybe some day she'd spend that same free time with his children as well.
Free time hadn't been a requirement before they met, but now it was.