Witch for Hire (21 page)

With my spare hand I fumbled through my duffel until I reached one of the strongest healing charms. I yanked it out of the bag, leaned over, and pressed it into her hands. The healing charm would work on all of Mr. Abernathy, letting the witch focus her energy on the worst injuries.

A minute later, I felt her relax and limit the energy she was receiving. I slowed down the flow to a trickle, letting her choose when to cut it off. Breaking contact with her I rocked back on my heels, needing a moment to adjust. Where the people around us had come from I didn't know, but paramedics had rushed over at some point and were pulling Mr. Abernathy onto a gurney, and loading him into the ambulance that had managed to back between the trees and flower beds.
 

Someone cleared their throat behind me, and I twisted around to see Rodriguez staring at me.
 

"What?" I'm sure I sounded annoyed; I hated being watched.
 

"If you're up to it, we still need to deal with the lions."
 

"Crap. Alright, help me up." He pulled me up, grabbed the duffel, and guided me back in front of the lions. They were cute, and I doubted they'd cause any trouble in the right hands. Guards like this weren't effective if they tried to eat everyone.
 

"Could you turn them over to me?"

"What are you thinking, Michelle?"

"These guys aren't really dangerous; they just need to be told boundaries. I can do that." Besides, I could use door guards right now.
 

He rocked back and forth, thinking it over. "I can sign them over to you, and put in the registration paperwork, but they have to be documented."
 

"Most of the magical things I own need to be documented. I'm not worried about paperwork." Seriously, I had to be registered as a practicing magic user, and more than a few spell components were regulated.
 

"Fine, do you need help getting them in your car?"
 

"Nope." I had a plan.
 

"Then I'm out of here. See ya later."
 

"See ya."

He was rolling down the driveway when I approached the lions, which were still stuck in a shield bubble. I snapped my fingers; their eyes focused on me. "The two of you are in my possession now. I'm going to shrink you so I can move you more easily, and you're going to do exactly what I say, ok?" They nodded. "Jera," I said as I circled them with my wand. Stopping the power closed the spell, leaving them knee high. With a flick of my wand, the shield around them vanished. "Nazid." I poked a surge of power to them, and they floated above the ground. With my wand, I shooed them into the back seat of my car where I broke the spell.
 

On the drive home I cheerfully belted out a few tunes. Now, I had door guards. The lions would be living outside my bedroom door. No more satyrs would be sneaking in for a look. I wished I'd had them when he'd tried, but it was nice to know nothing else was creeping into my room.

At home, I levitated them back to my apartment, and examined them closer. The lions were a basic physical guardian. I enlarged them until they could barely fit on each side of the door. I gave them a few instructions, but prevented them from leaving the area right around the door, feeling far more secure in my apartment defense.
 

Lunch was fun, and my after lunch e-mail check revealed a few more registrations for the class. I needed to gather supplies and finalize the details. Before I could focus on the classes, I needed to clear up the troll problem. I went back to my research, slowly picking through a pile of books as the afternoon waned.
 

By dinner I had a short list of ideas to try when I drove up to Forsyth tomorrow. Jones and I had arranged to spend the day trying to find the trolls, since they were threatening both of our jobs.
 

Heading down to dinner, I was still stumped. There wasn't a good reason why these trolls were so hard to find. None of the trolls had been discovered unless something tragic had occurred; they'd revealed themselves. It was troubling, because trolls weren't subtle creatures. I pushed the issue away, my stomach reminding me that I should be focused on dinner.

Nearing the dining room, I realized I'd yet to tell Landa about my new door guards. I was working on a way to casually mention the lions, but I was distracted by a silver head at the sideboard. "What are you doing back?"

He wasn't supposed to be here. He had left, for good I'd hoped. Why was that Narzel-loving man back?
 

Elron looked up. "I take it you weren't expecting me?" He said mildly.
 

"Why do you keep coming back?"

"Haven't you heard of old elves and wanderlust?"

"Then why haven't you wandered far, far away?" Seriously, the man wouldn't leave.

"I'm old. I move slowly. I need a place to stay while I explore."
 

He winked, and turned back to finish loading his plate. I stood there, my mouth slightly agape. A second or two later I fumbled forward to collect my dinner. By the time I set my food down, I'd collected a small plate of mushroom, spinach, and ricotta pasta salad, as well as a large gingerbread cookie and hunk of chocolate cake.
 

"Michelle, was there something you wanted to tell me?" Landa glared at me.

"I've acquired two guardians; they're sitting outside my bedroom door." She hadn't stopped glaring. I sighed, "My apologies, Elron. I was rude to have addressed you thusly."
 

He smiled from next to me. "Accepted, fair one, though I had hoped you would be happy to see me."
 

I didn't know how he did it, but he was always next to me. It left me wanting to know if he liked being next to me, or if he enjoyed being annoying. "How am I a fair lady? My hair is brown."

The corner of his mouth tilted up. "You misunderstand. Fair wasn't referring to your hair. It's a poor translation of an Elvish term."
 

"Again, my apologies." I didn't know what else to say.
 

"No need. The young are often rude."
 

"I'd prefer to say honest. Is that not a trait valued in young elves?"

"Valued? Yes, but civility is also prized. It's such a shame others don't value common courtesy as well."

"We value civility. We value honestly as well, and don't have as much time to bat words back and forth. You long-lived races make every discussion take ages."

"The young are often foolish, not understanding the value words may have."

"Understanding the value and realizing the impact are different, and not always equal. It's far easier to say words than know their impact."
 

"Perhaps you are wiser than I'd credited."
 

I let the conversation drop. I'd had far too much excitement in the past few days, I didn't want to argue. We both munched, and I continued to marvel over my new door guards, and the effectiveness I expected from them.

"Elron, when do you start work?" Landa picked up the lagging conversation.
 

"Tomorrow. I expect it will be a long day."
 

"Where are you working?" No one had mentioned this to me. I'd have liked to know what the elf was doing, not because I liked him, but to help me avoid him.
 

"I'm helping out at a garden. They have several exotic species that need special care." When he didn't elaborate I was at a loss for a legitimate question.

Landa returned to an earlier statement of mine, "What guardians?"

"The lions that are outside my bedroom door."
 

She glared at me. I dropped my gaze to my plate, knowing I deserved it for being difficult. "Where did you get the guardians? What limitations did you give them?"

"I had a call from the police this morning where a couple had picked these up at an estate sale. One of the lions had bitten the husband, and they were both on guard. They needed some direction, nothing more. I've only allowed them in the doorway of my bedroom and they can't seriously hurt anyone." As far as it went it was true, not the full truth, but true.
 

"Make sure you didn't leave any loop holes in those orders."
 

"I'm not careless, Landa." I sighed, "I didn't want a repeat of last night."

Elron nearly swiveled around in his chair. "What happened?"

"I'd rather not discuss it." The last thing I needed was for him to get any bright ideas.
 

"A former guest broke in to her room. He will not be staying here again." Landa was a wealth of information tonight.

"Many thanks. It's always good to know recent happenings."
 

I tried not to stab my food viciously as I fumed. He didn't need to know about my problems. The satyr was gone, and wouldn't be returning. There wasn't any reason in the world that little incident should be required gossip.

Finishing my food was the only polite way to get out of this. Eating quickly wasn't something I did much, making it more difficult to be discreet about my escape plan. The conversation flowed around me while I shoveled food into my mouth.
 

"Michelle, you've been quiet." Elron was annoyingly perceptive.
 

"Nothing to say." I stuffed another bite in my mouth.

"Before you run away, I want to give you something." He reached into the pocket of the jacket hanging on the back of his chair and pulled out a small flower. It was lavender, with pointy leaves, blue stripes running down the petals, and a short stem. He set it next to my plate. "It will bloom for weeks if you leave it somewhere moist."
 

Stunned, I gently stroked a petal. "Thank you."

I was still stunned when I meandered back to my apartment. The little flower was a lovely addition to my bathroom, where it would have steam from the shower. Looking at the contrast between the flower and my mostly white bathroom, I felt like I was missing something important.
 

Research was slow, especially with the breaks I took to stay awake and the flower to distract me, but through the afternoon I learned a few things. The books left me with a short, potential-filled list. Tomorrow I could put together supplies and outline several spells.
 

After microwaving my dinner, I sat in front of the television, ready to lose myself in pretend troubles. Halfway through a show about humans who passed off illusions as magic, I realized tomorrow was girls' night out and I couldn't leave for Forsyth until I'd seen them. I couldn't skip—girls' night kept me sane.

Michelle

The clothes were easy to pack. Fitting all the magical supplies in two small bags and a box was more challenging. I flipped on the television for background noise while I shoved the important books in a backpack. The forecast caught my attention.
 

"Snow is expected over most of northern Georgia tonight. Six inches could fall between midnight and four in the morning."
 

"Narzel fart," I swore. The last thing I needed was to miss my deadline because of snow. Nothing filled me with as much dread as arguing for my job because of weather. I wanted a chance to prove myself, show my skills.
 

Contrary to popular belief, witches couldn't change the weather. On a good day I couldn't even influence it much. The best I could do was urge a breeze or cloud along. Moving a storm system or preventing snow was beyond my capabilities.
 

I muttered all the way down to the dining room, relieved Elron wasn't at the table. If I was lucky, he was at work and wouldn't make an appearance. Landa, on the other hand, was waiting for me.
 

"I'll get a plate for you, child."
 

Like a good little girl, I sat down, and waited on her. If she was going through this much trouble there was something she wanted to say to me.
 

"Here you go."

Sliding in front of me was a lovely plate of pita with hummus and a side of roasted vegetables. The food looked delicious so I started on it, ensuring a full mouth to buy me a few seconds when I had to answer a question.
 

"Child, what's your problem with Elron?" She was sitting across from me with a cup of hot chocolate.
 

I slowly chewed what was in my mouth. I had a lot of problems with Elron. "He bothers me."
 

She glared at me.
 

I sighed. "For two people who don't get along, he spends a lot of time trying to be close to me."

"Why would you think the two of you don't get along?"
 

"We argue, bicker, and disagree on almost everything. We've had one civil conversation since we met." Really, what did she think I was going to say?

Her lips tightened into one thin line. "Bickering and disliking one another are different."

"We do both."
 

"Give it some time. You might change your mind."

Between the stress, worry, and this conversation, my small quantity of patience had been exhausted. "What do you want, Landa?"

"Give him a chance?"

"To do what?"

"Be, live, get to know you."

"What good could that do?" I didn't want to know him better. I wanted him to leave me alone.
 

"The old have defenses, child. Give them a chance to come down. There is more to him than biting words. It'll take time to see those parts of him." There was a pleading look in her eyes.
 

Pushing my empty plate away, I looked her in the eye. "I just want him to leave me alone. If I can't have that, I want peace. We found peace last night. I just want to keep that. I need to finish packing." With that I nearly ran out of the dining room. The past few weeks had included far more emotional conversations than I'd want to have in a month or six.

The grandfather clock in the hall chimed as I walked past, reminding me that I should fit a run in before meeting with the girls. The dreary sky, cold weather, and possibility of rain didn't bother me. If snow was coming, I wanted to run while I could.