The Responsible Witch (The Ward Witches) (2 page)

“
I'm doing an Internet search for recipes. I'm looking for more inspiration for my cookbook.”

Skylar had published a cookbook with recipes specifically designed for witches to make using their magic. It was wildly popular in the witch community, and she was working on a sequel, among other projects. She had lost her high-pressure job before she even met Leo, and these days she put all that energy into writing projects or working for the Coven. And that meant that she spent a lot of time on that computer reading, researching, or writing.

“
Ah. How's it going?”

“
It's going. I haven't found precisely what I'm looking for, but I do have some new ideas. I'm sure I can incorporate some of this into some kind of project.”

“
Excellent. So, what do you say to trying to show me how to play on that new machine?”

Skylar swiveled around in her office chair. “It's called a console. And I'm totally ready. I noticed you got Street Fighter 4, and I think that would be a great place to start.”

“
Fire it up.”

They played around with the game, with Skylar teaching Dymphna how to play. Dymphna was failing miserably at anything but easy mode. But she was having a great time failing, which was odd for her. Dymphna was big on winning, but she was figuring out how to lose gracefully. Around two, Rita came by and joined in.

They would play one on one, the other person eating ice cream, and Dymphna enjoyed herself more than she had in a long time. As Skylar and Rita fought each other, Dymphna thought about what she'd been missing. She realized that Skylar had always been available as a friend, and had put herself out to make a friendship, but Dymphna hadn't done the same and taken advantage of the offer. Rita, too, come to think of it. Rita didn't live in Ward Manor, but she had often called on Dymphna to trade magical advice. Rita wasn't as strong as Dymphna in terms of raw power, but Rita had a lot more experience using her magic as a healer and a lot of clever spells to use her magic more efficiently. And effectively.

So, all things considered, she hadn't needed to take a sabbatical like this to relax with friends. Dymphna hadn't really thought about it, but she had friends outside of work. Or at least, she had the potential for friends that she hadn't been working on to make it so.

“
So how is everything at the Coven House?” Skylar asked.

“
Everyone's doing something, or being recruited to do something. Between Justin running his investigations into the Dark Order and Melanie and Fiona preparing that big dinner, there's always something to do.”

“
How
di
d you get out early?” Dymphna wondered.

“
I took my lunch break and slipped out the back.” Rita laughed. “I know that if Fiona found out I was done with my Healer duties for the day, she'd have me doing something, so I ran. Both Melanie and Fiona are perfectionists, and I'm just fine with things being mostly good.”

“
Fair enough. How did you get so good at Street Fighter?”

“
I've got t
hree older brothers. One way to not get totally dismissed by them was to be as good as they were in so
-
called manly things. Street Fighter was one I could totally beat them at.”

“
I'll take full advantage of your skills if you'll teach me,” Dymphna said.

“
Of course. Here, let's go into the practice mode, and I'll show you how to use the special moves.”

Rita was invited to stay for dinner, and she gladly took them up on it. The Coven House's resident cook Mona was good, but Skylar was a miracle worker in the kitchen. She also never objected to making a little extra for visitors. She was one of the many advantages of not living at the Coven House, though to be honest, Skylar came years after she and Leo had decided to get their own place. Still, revisionist history could work sometimes.

With his usual sense of perfect dinner timing, Leo came in the door just as Skylar was plating the food. Dymphna wasn't sure whether it was his air magic that let him know when to get there or if he had some kind of other internal timer, but it worked. Tonight they were having salmon with lemon and dill with a Caesar salad on the side. Skylar had also made a carrot cake from scratch to celebrate Dymphna's first full day of sabbatical.

“
How was work?” Dymphna asked between bites. One thing that was for sure was that before Skylar, she had never eaten this good regularly. They had existed on mostly drive thru and delivery food.

“
It was fine. I was in the clinic all day, so I got to talk to people. I had a few come back for their first follow-up, and it's good to see how much they like the work. Positive follow-ups are always good, but there's something about that first time they come back feeling better that makes it special.”

“
As an air witch, don't you feel people's pain when you're working on them?” Rita asked. “Wouldn't that dissuade you from doing what you do?”

“
It did, at first. But as an air witch, I also can feel what people want. Being able to see their ideal self-image makes me one of the most sought-after plastic surgeons in the area. I can put that extra effort into giving them what they want when they can't necessarily put it into words.”

“
That makes sense,” she said, nodding.

“
But more importantly, how was not working?” Leo asked, turning to Dymphna. “How did the workaholic like her first day off?”

“
It was weird. I'm so used to working all the time, even on the weekends. Knowing that there was nothing for me to do was a really odd sensation. I'm glad Skylar and Rita were here to help me not be bored or restless.”

“
We're going to have to teach you how to do that all by yourself so that you can continue this even after you go back to work,” Skylar commented. “And if you'd like, I'll teach you how to cook and do some of the other things around here I'm having trouble doing while I'm big as a house.”

“
I'd like that, yes. I do remember that your and Fiona's pregnancies were a
supposed
reason
for
why I needed to take a sabbatical. I can help you more on your infusions, and maybe take some of the work of Justin and Rita by doing Fiona's as well.”

“
I'll be more than willing to give that over to you,” Rita said. “That woman doesn't know how to keep still. Even while I'm trying to help her, she's trying to do her Duchess work. She should be on bed rest, but she doesn't seem to understand that bed rest means no laptop that allows her to sneak in work.”

They all laughed. Since Fiona had married Seb and become his Duchess, she put everything into the job. Being pregnant wasn't dissuading her from working hard. She was further along than Skylar, due in about a month.

“
It certainly runs in the family,” Leo managed to get out.

“
We're going to have a lot of babies around,” Dymphna observed. “Melanie's twins, Skylar's twins, and Fiona's one will all be under a year old. It's going to be a crazy time for the family that has survived so many years without any children.”

“
I think you're going to love it,” Skylar predicted. “As long as you don't scare them away, I really think you'll enjoy being an aunt.”

“
Better an aunt than a mother,” she retorted.

“
I think you'll change your tune when you meet the right man,” Skylar added softly.

“
Marriage and bonding is fine for all of you,” Dymphna said. “But it's not for me. I've never even had a boyfriend, and I don't miss it. I'm happy for all of you, but that doesn't mean I'm ever going to bond or have kids.” Her tone was so deadly serious that no one responded.

“
This is great,” Leo changed the subject, indicating the salmon.

“
Thanks. Dymphna says I need my Omega 3s.”

After dinner, Dymphna showed off her Street Fighter skills, much to Leo's amusement. Apparently one day was not nearly enough practice to be very good, or even enough to beat Skylar. He called off, content to watch the three women battle it out from the sidelines.

It didn't take long before Skylar's pregnancy caught up with her, and she and Leo went to bed. Rita went home, but Dymphna stayed up late to practice her moves. After all, she didn't have to go to work tomorrow, so why not?

1

CHAPTER TWO

The next morning, or rather, early afternoon, Dymphna woke up with a start. She wasn't sure why she woke up, besides that it was getting late. She quickly put on jeans and a t-shirt and left the room.

When Dymphna came downstairs, she knew something was wrong. Skylar was merrily clattering along on her keyboard, oblivious to whatever was going on. That must mean it was Dymphna's magic giving her the warning.

Dymphna quietly went into the living room and gave Skylar the quiet signal. Skylar's eyes looked confused, but she stopped typing, crouched, and silently came over to meet Dymphna.

“
What's wrong?” Skylar whispered

“
I don't know what it is, but I can feel it. I think my magic is warning me,” Dymphna whispered back.

“
Do we need to call Justin?”

Unspoken was that if there was a threat outside, they'd want Justin and his Coven Protection team to take care of it. They both knew that there was a price on the head of the Ward family, and Dymphna's magic could be warning them that there was a need for protection. It wasn't that long ago that Fiona had been kidnapped, and Melanie before her, and the Dark Order had been given even more reason to hate the Wards since then.

“
Not until I know if it's a threat. We'll search the house, room by room, and then go look outside. You take the north wing, and I'll take the south. Meet back here.”

“
Alright.” Skylar cast a ball of fire magic that hovered above her hands in case she needed it. Smart woman. Dymphna prepared one of her own offensive spells, though it would need to be cast in the moment and not as effective as Skylar's fireball.

Ward Manor was a large place, and it took them a while to search every room thoroughly. Dymphna arrived back first because they didn't use the south wing, so it didn't take long to check for danger. Skylar was still holding her fireball when she got back and shook her head.

“
Outside it is. We go together for this one.”

There were no windows looking out onto the front step, so they had to open the door blind. Dymphna opened it, Skylar right behind her with the fireball, ready to strike. The door only opened partway when it was caught on something soft that moaned.

“
What the hell?” Dymphna asked, squeezing out to see what she had hit. Laying on the step was a man, but he was badly beaten, and his clothes were little more than torn rags. He was shivering in the cold, and she couldn't believe he wasn't gone to frostbite. “It's a man, and he's hurt.” Skylar's fireball went out as she bent to check on him as well. “Don't stop now. I'll assess him, you go check the rest of the grounds in case this is a diversion.”

Skylar nodded, and the fireball reappeared. There was a thick coating of snow on the ground, so it shouldn't take long to see if anything was disturbed.

Dymphna checked for a pulse. Alive, but just barely. She cast her magic on him, getting a quick read of his injuries. They were numerous, and spanned from bruises to broken bones and a bruised kidney and liver. His head had taken a mighty whack as well, and that was what was most troubling. She couldn't do anything on the porch out in the open like this. She moved to pick him up, but he was heavy, and all dead weight. When Skylar returned, she didn't even need to ask before helping Dymphna get him inside.

“
We need to get him to the spare bedroom,” Dymphna said, heading toward the stairs.

“
Man I wish I had air magic now,” Skylar responded, looking at how many steps there were between them and the spare bedroom. With air magic, she could have levitated him up the stairs.

“
You're right. Couch it is.” Dymphna paused, holding the man on her own while Skylar got a sheet to lay over the couch. Not that it would do much good based on the amount of blood he had on him, but it was a good effort. “Get a pillow too; he's got head injuries.”

As Skylar went to comply, Dymphna laid her hands on either side of his head, getting ready to go into a healing trance. His skin tingled, like there was an electric contact between them, but Dymphna dismissed it.

“
Should you wait for Leo to make sure you don't hurt yourself?”

Dymphna had a tendency to overdo her healing efforts, which could wind up with her among the injured as well.

“
He needs help now, Skylar. By not finding him immediately, we've wasted enough time. Watch the clock. Give me one hour, and then shake my shoulder to get me to come back. And if it looks like something weird is happening, get me back before then. But do call Rita, she may be able to help.”

Skylar situated the pillow, then went to grab her cell phone. Dymphna relaxed, and let the calm of her healing meditation wash over her. She hated healing people with injuries like this. To completely heal the injury, and not just mitigate the pain, she had to force her magic through her hands and into his body. It had the potential for the water witch to drain themselves, and could result in serious damage to the healer. Not to mention the pain. The act of forcing magic through to another person can hurt. A lot. After all, Dymphna would be draining the magic out of herself in an almost-violent manner. Most healers wouldn't do it, and theywould just speed the body's natural healing process without hurting themselves in the process. But Dymphna was worried that this man wouldn't make it, and if she could help, she'd do everything she could. That was the kind of healer she was.

Dymphna psychically examined the head injury first, since it was worst. Unfortunately, it was near some key elements of the brain. She didn't feel comfortable with meddling too much in that. If she started forcing things to move around in there, it could damage or mess with whatever wasn't already hurt. So she took the easier way with that one, and put a considerable amount of healing magic into accelerating the body's self-healing abilities. The body knew how to heal itself better than she could in most cases. If this wasn't one of them, she'd get back to that later.

She knew she wouldn't have long before Skylar came back to wake her, so she went after the second worst injury-a shattered fibia and tibia in his right forearm. Dymphna screamed because it took a lot of magic to force those bones out of the puzzle they were in, put them in the right order, and meld them together into a strong bone once again. She was grateful Skylar knew enough not to wake her yet, despite the scream. She doused the rest of the wounds with accelerating healing magic. She had already over-exerted herself, and she needed to be careful. Then she came back from her trance. Dymphna didn't have much left, and she was aware enough to bring herself back rather than wait on Skylar as her safety net.

“
Are you alright?” Skylar asked, ashen.

“
I'm fine. Well, I'll be fine soon. But I'm really tired and hungry.”

“
I can imagine. You only had five minutes left on the clock, and you were making some awful noises. I know that that much magic will make you tired and hungry. Why don't you lay down on the other couch and I'll prepare you a large snack?”

“
You're awesome.”

“
Rita's on her way too, so she can take a look at what's going on with him as well.”

“
Thanks.”

Dymphna passed out as soon as she lay her head down.

With not nearly enough rest under her belt, Dymphna woke up to Skylar calling her name gently. She was holding a bowl of ice cream, which Dymphna ate in an unladylike haste, and peanut butter on celery sticks. She then left Dymphna to eat while she went and answered the door for Rita.

“
You wore yourself out again, didn't you?” Rita asked, looking at the black circles under Dymphna's eyes.

“
I tend to do that. Take a look at our patient and tell me what you see.”

She waited while Rita examined the man. She whistled. “That man's lucky to be alive after the beating he took. Skylar said you found him on the front porch?”

“
Yes, we did. I don't know how he got there. But he had a bad head injury that I worked on, and a shattered right forearm that I healed.”

“
And nice work you did on those too. I'm not skilled like you in forceful healing. But I've got some great skills on progressing natural healing. I'll work those while you rest.”

“
Thanks.” Dymphna fell asleep again on the couch.

“
Can't stop getting into trouble, huh D?” Leo asked, standing over her as she woke the second time. Her twin was the only one who could get away with calling her D. Or rather, the only one who had ever tried it. She'd developed a way of keeping people from getting too close as a child, and most people were still wary around her.

“
It's not my fault. He showed up on the doorstep.”

“
And you didn't call me?” Justin fumed, right beside Leo. “You know how dangerous that was.”

“
I can take care of myself. And Skylar was right there with me.”

“
You still could have been hurt.” Seb showed up too.

“
I didn't feel any danger, just wrongness.”

“
It doesn't matter. You call us,” Justin had his jaw set and looked mad. He didn't get mad often, either.

“
Oh calm down,” Melanie chided from the kitchen. She walked in holding Jasmine. Skylar, holding Jasmine's twin Rose, was right behind. “Do we know anything about him?”

“
Dymphna's work on his head wound extended his unconsciousness,” Rita said, one hand on the stranger's head. “He needed it to get more time to heal, but it also means we can't question him. From his injuries and his clothes, he's been through a hell of a beating. But has no ID or anything like that.”

“
Is Fiona among this little entourage?” Dymphna asked, sitting up.

Fiona waved from behind Melanie. “What's up?”

“
When I was working on him, I felt that he was a witch. But I couldn't figure out what type. In fact, his magic felt rather like yours: all mixed up. I wonder if there's some connection.” Due to a powerful black magic spell when she was an infant, Fiona had earth and water magic under her control, something that had never been heard of before.

“
I'll take a look.” Rita moved aside and Fiona put her hands on the man's head. She recoiled almost instantly, but kept looking. When she pulled back, her expression was grim. “We'll have to wake him to confirm, but it looks like he's had a lot of the black magic experimentation done on him. The same kind done on me, and then a lot of it that's more advanced. It's spanned for years, too, unlike mine.” She looked quite green, and she didn't get that way often. The spell that freed Fiona from the blood magic had the unintended consequence of leaving her hair brightly white and turning her eyes violet. That kind of coloring and her current pallor didn't match well.

“
Is he from the Dark Order?” Justin asked with daggers in his eyes.

“
I don't think so. From what I can tell, which isn't much, he doesn't have the stink of a dark magic user. But be careful.  Like me, it's been used on him, and he's more than likely addicted to it whether by choice or not.”

“
What are you saying?” Dymphna asked.

“
I can't be sure until I can talk to him. But I know that after black magic was used on me, I got addicted to it, like a drug, even though I never used it myself.”

“
How do we help him?”

“
A better question is whether he even wants help. Can you wake him, Dymphna?”

“
Yeah, I'll do it. Rita, can you provide pain relief while I revive him? He's still got a lot of injuries, and they're sure to hurt.”

“
Sure thing.”

Dymphna got up and crouched next to the couch. Rita put a hand on one of his bare shoulders, Fiona put her hand on his wrist, and Dymphna put her hands on his forehead. She used her magic to gently urge him awake while being aware of Rita's pain killer spell and Fiona's magical probing.

The man's eyes flickered open. He looked around in confusion, then tried to get up.

“
I don't think so,” Dymphna said, increasing the pressure on his forehead to keep him down.

“
Where am I?”

“
You're at Ward Manor, a little outside Boston. Now your turn: who are you?”

“
My name is Gage. Or at least, I think it's Gage.”

“
What do you mean, you think?” Justin demanded.

“
I don't remember much.” He started talking as if he couldn't stop himself. “I spent about two weeks in some kind of hellish institution. It was like a jail, but they pretended everything was normal. They did things... terrible things.... And I ran. But all the while I was there, they called me Gage. They kept saying that I'd see the truth soon. That I'd wake up to the truth, and I could come back. But I didn't want a part in any of what they were doing. I swear, they forced me. Oh god... I feel sick just thinking about it.”