Hannah (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #2) (17 page)

Dominic smiled at the redhead. “I suppose.”

“C’mon, man. Don’t tell me you’re that far gone—”

“You obviously didn’t see what happened out in the forest,” Dominic interrupted.

“I didn’t see anything either, Dominic,” Nathan chimed in. “Maybe you’ve lost a little too much blood. We need to find a place to hide or—”

“I saw it.” This time it was Nancy who interrupted. “Clear as day, I saw it. We wait until they’re finished.”

Hannah could feel the tension raise. She wasn’t sure who would snap first, but it wouldn’t be long now. Normal people never responded well to seeing magic. She redoubled her efforts. Rhea chanted a few words as Hannah mixed.

The creaking of floorboards overhead warned of people approaching.

“That’s it,” Monica stated. “I’m hidin’.” She got up, and started toward the back of the room.

“Done!” Hannah held aloft a vial in triumph.

Monica paused to glare at the bubbling, blue liquid.

With a satisfied grin Hannah asked, “Who’s first?”

No one moved.

“Fine,” Hannah said with an exasperated sigh. She chugged the beaker to no ill effect. “See, it’s not poison.”

Rhea hurriedly passed one out to everyone, and then drank one of her own. Dominic and Nancy, with some hesitation, were the first of their crew to drink.

“This is ridiculous,” Monica moaned. “I’m not drinkin’ that shit.”

Nathan looked at Dominic and then Nancy. He shrugged his shoulders, and downed his potion. “Now, can we hide?”

“Idiot,” Monica stomped back over to Nathan, and smacked him on the back of the head. “You have no idea what you just drank.”

Nathan held up his hands in defense. “We can trust them—”

Hannah pulled up her shirt.

“Holy shit!” Nancy pointed at Hannah. “It’s working!”

Hannah’s midsection had completely disappeared, which was no surprise as the heaviest concentration of the potion sat in her stomach. The process was rapidly expanding down her hips and up to her shoulders. The potion had taken effect much more quickly than she’d anticipated.
Finally, something goes my way
. “You guys will need to take your clothes off.”

Nathan gawked. “I don’t freakin’ believe it.”

Monica didn’t say anything; she just stared in wide-eyed disbelief.

Rhea stripped out of her clothes to reveal a similar lack of torso. Dominic and Nancy started taking their clothes off as well, showing signs of transparency.

“Fuck this,” Monica finally blurted. She dropped the potion, and bolted for the stairs.

Hannah dove for the vial without thinking. She flew through the air, and landed flat on her stomach. She managed to catch the falling beaker before it hit the floor, but the air in her lungs rushed out on impact. She rolled over, desperately trying to catch her breath.

Rhea’s disembodied head and arms intercepted Monica at the foot of the stairs. The panicked redhead didn’t even try to dodge the attack. Rhea’s floating fist connected with Monica’s jaw, and she went down like a wet sack of grain.

Dominic’s now floating head came into view. He looked down at Hannah’s discarded pants. “Hannah, are you okay?”

Hannah nodded, unable to speak.

“Hannah?” Dominic asked, as he continued to scan the floor.

Realization dawned. He couldn’t see her. She had turned completely invisible. Hannah held up the vial, and wheezed, “Here.”

Dominic focused in on the beaker, and his head floated over.

“Give,” Hannah croaked. “To Monica.”

“Okay.” Dominic’s mostly invisible arm reached out and took the vial. Just as he did, the door upstairs opened with a low creaking sound.

“Hello?” a man’s voice called down.

Rhea dragged the unconscious Monica away from the stairs, and began ripping her clothes off. Dominic rushed over and poured the bubbling concoction down Monica’s throat.

They weren’t going to make it.

Hannah hauled herself from the floor, and staggered toward the back of the basement.

The shuffle of feet on the landing upstairs intensified. “Hey! This is the police. Come out with your hands up!”

“Easy, Bud,” another man’s voice said. This one sounded a little older, and much more calm. “Ms. Baris said no one was here but the three of them. Let’s not go blowing holes in everything.”

“Something moved down there, detective,” Bud said, with an edge. “Didn’t you hear it?”

“I’m not sayin’ be reckless, just keep cool.”

That was the last thing Hannah heard before she was out of earshot. She continued to the very back of the room, and leaned against the wall. Her breath was coming easier now, but it still felt as if she’d run a fifty-yard sprint.

The others had completely disappeared. Only Monica’s naked form would give away the fact that Miranda had lied to the police, and screw them all.

Shiny, black shoes slowly came down the steps. The familiar dark blue uniform of a police officer followed. “If someone’s down there, you need to come out with your hands where I can see ’em.” Bud was a brawny fellow with the typical buzz-cut hairstyle. He was on full alert, gun drawn at the ready.

Hannah glanced at a small, tin bucket filled with sheetrock nails. It was sitting on a stepstool, not two feet from her. She had to time this right... and not get shot.

As Bud came off the stairs, Hannah stepped to the stool and kicked it over. Nails showered across the floor, and the bucket clanged on the pavement in a cacophony of ear-drumming chaos.

Officer Bud instantly shined his flashlight at the offending spot and fired.

The bullet ricocheted off the wall, and whizzed by Hannah’s ear. She fell to the ground, cursing herself for a fool.
What the hell did you think he was going to do, use harsh language?

A second light scanned the back wall of the basement. “Why don’t you put your gun away?” the detective stated.

“But I heard—”

“Put it away, Bud.” This time there was no doubt of the commanding tone in the detective’s voice. Bud’s mutter was too far away to understand, but he holstered his weapon without further complaint.

The sound of footsteps came closer, as the beams of light continued to float across the various building materials.

Hannah crawled to the side of the room, and flattened herself against the wall. The invisibility potion made her transparent for certain, but she could still be touched and heard. Some of the greatest witches in history had made the mistake of overlooking those two facts, and Hannah considered herself the kind of person who learned from other’s mistakes.

The detective had to have been in his mid-to-late thirties. As he approached, it became apparent there was no gray in his hair, but his hard features spoke of experience that only came from years on the job. He wore a white button-up shirt, which was tucked into a pair of worn blue jeans, and black cowboy boots. His hand rested on his holstered gun while the other shined the flashlight around. “See, Bud. Nothin’ to worry about.”

“I’m tellin’ ya I heard something moving around back here,” Bud said defensively.

“I’m not sayin’ you didn’t.” The detective pointed his light on the ground where all the nails were scattered. “Probably a cat.”

There was a commotion at the top of the stairs, and then Miranda called down, “Is everything all right? I thought I heard a gunshot.”

“Everything’s fine, Ms. Baris. Just a little misunderstanding is all,” the detective answered, as he started back toward the stairs.

Hannah sighed in relief, then immediately slapped a hand over her mouth.
So much for learning from other’s mistakes,
she chided herself.

If the officers noticed, they didn’t do anything about it. The pair continued walking away.

Hannah glanced at Monica, and saw that the redhead had fully disappeared. She leaned her head against the concrete wall.
That was close
.

D
ominic slipped on the last of his clothes, his body still somewhat transparent. He couldn’t believe that such a thing was possible, even after experiencing it first hand. The fact that witches and magic truly existed, opened a door in his mind that could never be closed. The possibilities of what Hannah could do were far too great to fathom, and the thought of what other fairytale creatures might be out there was almost too fearful to comprehend. A shiver went down his spine as he stood and asked, “Everyone okay?”

Nathan had already finished putting his clothes on, and was currently helping Nancy dress Monica. Neither of them had said anything since taking the potion. They just moved about like drones, not making eye contact with anyone, even each other. Nathan nodded at Dominic, but Nancy ignored his question completely, busying herself with Monica’s shirt.

Rhea grunted an acknowledgement, and Hannah came over to him, pulling her shirt down over her slightly transparent belly. She looked up at him. “Yeah. You?”

“I’m good.” He glanced over at his crew. “We should probably talk.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Hannah agreed. She took his hand and squeezed it. “We need to clear the air, for everyone.”

He nodded and returned the squeeze. “I’m with you on that.”

Once Monica was fully dressed, Nathan smoothed back her hair and gently patted her cheek. “C’mon, Trouble. Wake up.”

She moaned and blinked her eyes open. “What happened?”

Rhea stepped over to them with the jug of water she’d brought down with the other stuff they’d used to make the potion. She offered it to Monica and said, “Sorry about that.” She gestured to the growing bruise on Monica’s chin. “There was no time to argue.”

The redhead squinted at Rhea for a moment, and then her eyes widened in recognition. “Oh, shit.” Her panicked gaze darted around the room and landed on Nathan. “All that stuff was real?!”

Nathan chuckled. “Yeah, and you flipped out.”

Monica looked on the verge of hopping up and sprinting for the stairs again.

“The police are gone, and everything is okay,” Dominic said hastily. “We need to talk about what just happened and get some answers. You game for that?”

Monica’s breathing settled a bit, and the panic in her eyes lessened. She gulped as if swallowing her fear, and nodded.

“Good. Let’s go upstairs.” Dominic helped Nathan pull the rattled woman to her feet.

As out of character as Monica seemed at the moment, her reaction was only natural. Over time, she would be able to come to terms with what she’d seen, but whether that would be denial or acceptance no one could say. In any case, it wasn’t the redhead Dominic was truly concerned about. He glanced over at Nancy. “You good?”

Her eyes were still red-rimmed and swollen from all of the crying. Nancy’s usual bubbly nature was absent, as if crushed under the weight of Kevin’s death and the discovery that magic was real. Her gaze was distant, but she gave a quick nod.

Dominic feared that Nancy had been pushed over the edge. Some might consider her sudden withdrawal to be as natural a reaction as Monica’s had been, but something was different. Something had changed, and he wouldn’t know what until she resurfaced from the safety of her mind. For now, he would have to be thankful for her calm demeanor, and hope for the best.

The door to the basement opened as they climbed the stairs. Alix, the tattooed girl, poked her head through the doorway. “Did anyone get hurt? Was anyone shot?”

“No,” Hannah replied. “We’re okay.”

Alix sighed in relief. “That’s good. I was sure somebody got blasted.”

“No blasting,” Hannah said, as she walked by Alix and patted her on the shoulder. “But it was close.”

They all filed back into the living room they’d started in. The outside of the mansion had impressed Dominic, but, after getting a glimpse of the architecture and furnishings on the inside, he was downright flabbergasted. The place was a warehouse filled with antiquities. Ancient vases, paintings from centuries ago, and ironworks that looked older than civilization itself hung from the walls. And, in the middle of it all, stood the woman he had fallen for, and she’d turned out to be a witch.
Why are you even surprised?