Something Witchy This Way Comes: A Jolie Wilkins Novel (18 page)

Was Sinjin the one who woke me from my nightmare? Did he somehow force the old Lurker to vacate my dream?

Of course, I couldn’t answer either question and, instead, found myself gazing into the dark sea, watching the way the moonlight sparkled on the waves as they crashed onto the beach.

Sinjin, if you’re out there
, I thought to myself.
I hope you’re safe. And if you really were here tonight, thanks for stopping by
.

I cleared my throat.

I miss you
.

Just before dawn, when the sky was still a dark blue, I reached my breaking point. I’d tried to get back to sleep countless times but couldn’t do it. I’d basically been awake for the past three-plus hours and felt like I might lose my mind if I didn’t find something to occupy it.

But what to do? It wasn’t like there was much going on at this early hour. But I had to imagine there was one person who might actually benefit from being checked on … Bella. Feeling suddenly charitable, I stepped out of my pajamas and magicked myself a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and a thick down
jacket, knowing I’d freeze as soon as I stepped outside in the early Scottish morning.

I tiptoed to the door and smiled at Rand, who was still deeply asleep. I was so happy about everything that had happened between us. Not wanting to lose myself to a mushy moment—I could tell my pregnancy hormones were in full effect—I closed the door behind me and started for the staircase that led to the guesthouse where Bella was currently imprisoned.

As I hurried through the house, it dawned on me that I hadn’t seen the werewolf guards who were usually stationed at my door during daylight hours. But this realization didn’t cause me any sort of disquiet, mainly because Rand had taken it upon himself to be my protector. I had to figure that the weres would get disgruntled at some point and go find something else to keep them busy.

Once I stepped foot outside, the cold assaulted me and I slammed my hands into my coat pockets, forcing myself forward. I scanned the vista of the moors on one side of Kinloch and the craggy shoreline on the other and felt fortunate to have this quiet moment alone. Kinloch was going to be in a frenzy when all the creatures of the Underworld were assembled on my property. While I thought I made the right decision, I couldn’t help but bemoan the loss of peace that would ensue.

I jogged through the courtyard, and when I reached the path that led to the guesthouse, I was suddenly overcome with thoughts of Sinjin. Was he out there somewhere, watching me at this very moment.

Could it really have been Sinjin in my bedroom?
Somehow—and I wasn’t sure why—I desperately wanted to believe it was true and that he really wasn’t that far away from me.

I reached the guesthouse and quickly noticed that only one of the werewolf guards was on duty. He glanced over at me and smiled as he dropped into a low bow. “Good morning, my Queen,” he said.

“Good morning. What’s your name?” I asked, realizing I should have done so long ago. Part of being Queen was earning political points by kissing babies and the like. I had to admit I hadn’t been great in that department.

“Brandon James,” he replied, grinning from ear to ear. He clearly took pride in his position.

I nodded and smiled, extending my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Brandon.” Then I looked at the door, the smile falling off my face as I returned my gaze to him. “How is she?”

He shrugged. “She seems to go up and down. Sometimes she’s real quiet-like, an’ other times she’s a handful.”

I nodded. “How was she last night?”

“Quiet. The most quiet she’s been in a while.”

I tried to exhale my anxiety as I wondered what was happening with Bella. Was her delirium getting worse as the Lurker elder claimed? Was the damage that had been done irreparable? Yes, it was true that Bella and I had never been fond of each other, but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. It just seemed life had been dealing her some pretty nasty cards, including that she’d loved Sinjin and he hadn’t cared for her at all.

“Can I go in?” I asked.

The were just nodded as I started for the door and put my palms up against it to take down Mercedes’ wards. I got the barriers down and opened the door to find Bella seated on the sofa with a book in her lap. She looked up at me with an expression of calculated irritation. If her hair hadn’t been so messy, I might have thought her wits had been restored.

“How are you, Bella?” I asked with trepidation upon entering. I nodded to the werewolf guard that he could shut the door behind me.

Once we were completely alone, Bella responded, “I am well.” Then she jutted her chin out as if to say she had nothing to add to the subject. Or any subject, for that matter.

“What are you reading?”

“None of your business,” she snapped, training her angry glare on me again. “I am a busy woman. Why are you here?”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say. She almost seemed … normal. Her usual persnickety and unfriendly self seemed to be reemerging. “I came to make sure you were okay—” I started.

She shook her head. “I am more than okay. I’m preparing for my inaugural dinner festivities.”

I was surprised, but tried not to show it. I figured it was best to humor her. “What inaugural dinner is that?”

She glowered at me and then lifted her book up, pretending to read it. I might have bought the whole charade if she hadn’t been holding it upside down. And odder still, it was
Curious George
.

“My inaugural party for when I become Queen of
the Underworld,” she answered without looking up at me, her nose held high.

I felt myself swallow hard as I realized she was just as crazy as she had been a day or so ago.

“Oh,” I said, and for lack of anything else to say, started for the door. I figured that Bella was as good as she was going to get.

“He visited me again,” she said in a low voice, still pretending to be wholly absorbed in Curious George’s adventures at the zoo.

“Who?” I asked.

“He calls himself Luce,” she answered. “He’s the Lurker elder.”

I wasn’t sure why, but the thought that the creature who had been plaguing my dreams had a name terrified me. It made him a little too human. What was even more ironic was that
Luce
meant “light.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

She shrugged. “He told me to prepare for my inaugural dinner. He said he’d invited all sorts of people and that I should plan on giving a speech. He also promised me a red satin gown and said I would be stunning in it.”

I swallowed hard as my anger began to supplant my fear. What he had done to Bella was unacceptable. “I don’t think it’s wise to trust him,” I said.

She eyed me and dropped the book. It fell to the ground with a thud. Returning my eyes to hers, I realized she was livid.

“And why not?” she asked, sounding furious. “Because he wants me to rule, not you? Your jealousy is so transparent.”

I shook my head, acknowledging my mistake. I hadn’t wanted to upset her, and without realizing it, I’d done exactly that. “No, that’s not what I meant,” I said.

Bella stood up and her eyes were suddenly wild, wide and bulging. She took a few steps toward me and I watched her hands fisting at her sides. “He warned me about you,” she said, and raised a clenched fist. “He said you’re a liar and a manipulator and that you’re dangerous.”

I shook my head again and backed away, suddenly afraid that she might attack me. “None of those things are true, Bella. I want to be your friend.”

“My friend?!” she railed. “Of course! You want to be my friend because you seek power! You want to befriend the Queen of the Underworld and then steal my throne again!”

“No,” I said, holding up my hands in an attempt to show her that I wasn’t her enemy.

“He always loved you!” she yelled, and it took me a few seconds to realize she was no longer talking about Luce, the Lurker elder. Now I was pretty sure she was referring to Sinjin. “He always promised me that he cared about me and that we would be together. He said you were just a pawn, but I knew better.”

I figured the best way out of this was to try to defuse her anger, and the only way I knew how was to appeal to her vanity. “No, that isn’t true. Sinjin told me he was in love with you.”

She shook her head and her hair flew around her face like Medusa’s snakes. “Lies! He will suffer for
his prevarications, and so will you!” She held up both fists and broke into a nasty laugh, her gaze focusing on something just above my head. Then she looked at me again and her smile got even uglier. “Sinjin is nothing to a Queen, just a mere insect to be trod upon.”

I nodded and took another few steps backward, nervous about the fact that she was still approaching me, her eyes reflecting a complete loss of sanity.

“You will see,” she continued. “Soon they will be here and then I will be back in power, where I belong.”

I didn’t say anything, but I felt my back hit the wall. I needed to make a break for the door. That crazed look in Bella’s eyes wasn’t getting any more endearing. I looked at the door then back at her, suddenly feeling like I was moving in slow motion.

Her eyes went wide again and she vehemently shook her head. “You can’t leave,” she said, opening her hands, palms facing each other.

“Bella, it doesn’t have to come to this,” I replied, realizing what was about to happen.

Instead of answering, she concentrated on her palms. A glimmer of light began to shine between them—a bright white light that quickly became orange-red and then red as a ruby.

“Bella,” I warned again, just as she lifted her hands and launched the glowing ball of light at me. I ducked and it shattered against the wall, exploding into an array of sparks that popped and fizzed into nothing, seemingly impotent. But I knew well enough that if her ball of light had hit me, it would have frozen me
in place and seconds later I would have shattered into a million Jolie Wilkins pieces. I would have disappeared into the ether, never to be heard of or seen again.

“I don’t want to do this, Bella!” I yelled, wondering why the guard wasn’t interrupting us. Then it dawned on me that Bella had probably issued a charm of silence around the room when I wasn’t paying attention.

It was becoming crystal clear that she wanted to destroy me, and in doing so, destroy my unborn baby. That was when I got pissed.

“You are a usurper!” she screamed at me. “I was supposed to be Queen! Luce said so himself, and you stole the throne from me!”

“Bella, drop your hands and step away!” I yelled back, but she made no motion to do anything of the sort, so I was left with no other options.

I immediately surrounded myself with white light, a buffer to ward off any evil energy. My timing was impeccable because two seconds later she flung another orb of glowing red energy that hit me square in the chest. The white light surrounding me swallowed the ball of energy, but I felt my strength wane slightly.

No longer playing games, I held my hands together and imagined a river of electricity raging through me, pouring out of my fingers into the air between my palms. The blue orb glowed powerfully, and not wasting any more time, I hurled it at Bella. It landed in her stomach and she flew about five feet, crashing on her back, after which she was completely still.

Jolie!
It was Rand’s voice in my head, but I couldn’t
respond to him. I didn’t dare take my focus away from Bella. Not when I didn’t know if I should still consider her a threat or if she was … dead.

I approached her and kicked her foot, wondering if I’d charged my orb with too much electricity. I’d just intended to knock her down so that I could buy myself some time and put a spell on her, or get the guard to help me. But maybe my energy was stronger than I realized, because she didn’t look good.

Bella still didn’t respond, so I sent mental feelers her way to see if she was really dead. As soon as I did, I could feel a slight buzz of energy coming from her and breathed a sigh of relief.

My sigh of relief was short-lived, though, because Bella turned on her side and threw her open palm toward me, tiny fragments of light flying from her outstretched fingers. Before I had the chance to respond, the lights started circling me in a frenzy, like I was in the middle of a tornado. Bella sat up, resting on her elbows as she watched me with a wretched smile on her face.

I felt myself fall to the ground as the lights continued to swirl around me, zapping me of my strength. I closed my eyes, imagining the white light of my shield encircling me, but Bella’s power was too much for me, which meant that there was more to this picture than met the eye. Bella was an able witch, but she wasn’t as strong as I was, so her power shouldn’t have immobilized me in this way.

I tried to fight the power by imagining defensive walls, but it was no good.

“Jolie!” I heard Rand’s fists pounding on the door
and I turned to face it. I wanted to reach out and open the door, but I was too weak and just crumpled back onto the floor.

Rand, I need your magic
, I thought in my head.
Bella’s done something to me
.

There was a silence of maybe two seconds, and then I could feel something welling up within me—fear. Rand’s feeling, not my own. There was another set of pounding fists against the door.

I can’t break through, Jolie!
Rand screamed through my head.
I can’t get through whatever spell she’s woven!

Then he pounded on the door again.

“Give me your hand.”

I heard a voice and glanced up from where my cheek was pressed against the floor. I saw the old man with the white hair and beard standing before me. He wasn’t ethereal like you’d imagine an apparition to be. It was like he was standing there beside me, flesh and blood.

I saw Bella gape at him with shock in her eyes, and then something strange happened. She let out a small gasp and fell to the ground, her eyes wide with fright as she stared at nothing. She was dead. It was as obvious as the fact that I was about to join her shortly.

You did this to me
. I thought the words as I glared up at him, too weak to even lift my head from the floor.