Would-Be Witch (21 page)

“She a very excellent chef. Makes cakes and pies.”

“So a nice bread pudding with blood sauce at my next soiree then?”

“Oh,” I said, going pale again. “I’ll see what I can do. Does it have to be human blood?”

He laughed. “I guess she’s kind of cute,” he said over his shoulder to Johnny. “Some of my coven mates have human teenage girls for pets. They send them shopping during the daylight hours. I never really wanted one myself, but maybe I could find something for her to do for me.” He looked me over. “I guess you’re as pretty as a love-bird or a Siamese cat. And you don’t shed or have paper to change.”

“What happened to my gun?” I asked, trying to peek around him.

He laughed at my tone. “Spellbook coming up.”

“I’m not a teenager,” I grumbled. I walked out and sat on the edge of the bed. “How in the world did you meet him?” I asked Johnny.

“Oh, I not remember,” Johnny said, blushing.

“Just as well.”

“Well,” Rollie said, sweeping back into the room. He was wearing a lavender chiffon gown that was several inches too short for him, but the train made a lovely swish behind him nonetheless. “This book could stand to be redone. With all the computerized scrapbook-making software, there’s just no excuse for this type of shoddy presentation.”

He held up a worn book with a tattered leather cover. My pulse kicked into high gear. I knew an authentic spellbook when I saw one.

“Gimme,” I said, snatching it and flipping it open. The pages were yellow and stiff with ink that seemed to have come from a fountain pen. There were symbols, etchings, and even dried herbs and flowers tethered with thread to some pages. “Jackpot, Batman.”

“It a good book?”

“I don’t have enough money for this. It was more than five hundred dollars, I’m sure.”

Johnny nodded. “Very expensive.”

“I don’t have that much, but I can give you four hundred, and I’ll bring you goodies three times a week for the rest of the year, if you give me this book.”

Johnny smiled. “No need, Tammy Jo. It a present. Find locket. Save Edie.”

Tears sprung to my eyes. I’m an all-occasion crier, and I was more relieved than I could say. If I didn’t have to buy a spellbook, I wouldn’t have to drive to Austin. Plus, I could get back my family’s jewels from Earl right away. It was like the answer to a prayer.

I set the book aside and gave Johnny a fierce you’re-my-hero hug. “Thank you so much. You’re such a great friend.”

Rollie sniffled above my head. “That settles it. I’m adopting her. My very own redhead!”

I laughed in spite of myself. “I don’t think the lavender suits you. The cloak was real nice though.”

“I knew it!” Rollie said, stalking over to the mirror. “Yes, it’s much too pale with my skin. Makes me look chalky and severe.”

Nobody ever told me how vain vampires are. If I’d had time to sit around and smile, I would have, but I had to get back to my coming-apart-at-the-seams life.

“I’ll see you boys later,” I said, hefting the book into my arms.

Chapter 20

When I got home, there were three messages. One from Kenny saying that Georgia Sue had woken up halfway to Dallas and was doing okay. They were going to Parkland Hospital anyway to have her checked out.

There were also messages from Zach, saying he’d be stopping by, and from Bryn, telling me that the werewolf count in Duvall was up to thirty and asking me to come back to his house for my own protection.

I chewed on my lip as I set the book down on the kitchen table and went through it. There were no spells in it for curing lycanthropy, which made me stand up and pace for a few minutes. I couldn’t help but feel sick about Zach. It was my fault that he’d gotten attacked. But maybe Rollie was wrong about what would happen with that wound.

I poured a glass of milk, ate a handful of Hershey’s miniatures, and sat back down, flipping through the book. I found a complex protection spell, but I didn’t have the right ingredients for it. Where was I supposed to get the blood of a medieval knight and a square inch of scrap metal from a suit of armor? It occurred to me that my new spellbook might be a tad out of date.

I pressed on, still determined to use it. Unfortunately, all the scrying spells had a component of concentration that I wasn’t sure I was up to, but I needed a way to find that locket. I came to an astral-projection spell and paused over it. It didn’t seem to require concentration. There was a recitation portion and then a part where the mind had to wander. I was kind of afraid where my mind might wander to, but if I did some recitation at first about going to Edie, it might just work out. I looked at the list of ingredients, and I had most of them. I’d just have to find some substitutes in the dried herbs in the cupboards.

I lit a vanilla candle and set it next to the counter, then started to scavenge through the cupboards. I was on my knees behind the counter when I heard a loud scratching sound.

I froze for a second, startled, then stood up. There were two men with long narrow faces at the back sliding-glass door. Hell-fires! How had they gotten in the yard?

I ran around the counter and got to my purse just as one of them yanked, and the door lock popped with a horrible cracking sound. They slid the door open. Both of them had shoulder-length hair and beards and creepy yellow eyes. I pointed Earl’s gun at them and shook my head.

“Y’all can just go back out the way you came in.”

The darker-haired one sniffed the air. “It can be painless or it can be agony. Put down the gun.” They took a step forward, and I knew if they got too close I wouldn’t have time, so I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

The sound was so loud it made me jump as the dark-haired one howled and went down.

“Silver,” he growled, grabbing his wounded thigh.

The other held out his arms for a moment and then bent and grabbed his friend. He turned and sprung out into the yard so fast that they disappeared into the darkness almost instantly.

My heart pounded, and I stood like I was glued to the linoleum.

Can’t stay here.

Finally, I rushed to the counter, blew out the candle, and grabbed a plastic grocery bag, throwing in a bunch of herbs and extracts. I put the book in a tote bag and rushed to the front door. Just as I got there, I heard squealing tires.
Now what?

I looked out the front door and saw Astrid’s sports car sideways in my driveway and another car barreling down the street toward the house.

Astrid flung her door open and ran to my front door as I yanked it open for her.

“Oh my God!” I screamed, seeing a whole carload of wolf-men.

“I can’t stop them!” she screamed, shoving the door closed.

“The back is open. We’re not safe here!” I yelled. I only had a few silver bullets left. Not enough when the whole crew came through the door.

“Steel knives and mirrors!” she yelled, running to the counter. She pulled a butcher’s knife free and spun around. “A big mirror and a strong lamp!”

“Upstairs,” I said, rushing toward the steps. She ran after me.

We heard the door splinter.

“Oh, God! They’re going to kill us!” I said, hyperventilating. We rushed to Aunt Mel’s room, and I pointed at the mirror. Astrid dragged it to the doorway, facing it outward. She grabbed a lamp and laid it on its side to light up the mirror.

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing their reflection repels weak-willed werewolves. I’ll add an enchantment. If we’re lucky, this will turn them back.” She panted with the exertion, then cast a quick spell and stood with her knife at the ready.

They growled as they came up the stairs. It was still the worst sound I’d ever heard in my life. My legs were locked stiff as two-by-fours. I widened my stance and pointed the gun at the doorway.

“You don’t have a lot of bullets,” I told myself in a whisper. “Focus. Aim. Just like shooting cans with Zach for fun. You can do this. You can do this.”

They rushed the doorway, but three turned back at the mirror.

I pointed and pulled the trigger. I got one in the chest and another in the shoulder. They fell, scrambling toward us, knocking the mirror onto its side. Astrid stepped forward and slit their throats, making me wince. She stood the mirror back up.

“Good!” she said with a quick glance at me. “The same way when they come again.” She said some words that I guessed were for another spell, but I didn’t even process what she was saying. My whole mind was focused on the doorway. I wanted to live.

There were sirens, shrill and getting louder. And then I heard a car door slam and a motor start.

“Do not move,” Astrid said, walking to the window behind me. “Ha! They go.
Pendejos!
”

My arms burned from holding the gun outstretched, but I couldn’t seem to move. I wasn’t sure they were all gone. I couldn’t let my guard down.

I saw flashes of light from the squad cars reflected off the wall.

“The police.
Bien.
”

I waited with the gun still gripped tight in my hand.

“Tammy Jo!”

I didn’t answer. I just stood where I was until Zach bounded up the stairs and appeared in the doorway. I lowered the gun.

“What the hell?” he said, looking at the pair of dead men on the pale gray carpet. Those stains were never coming out.

“They broke in and tried to kill us,” Astrid said.

Zach looked at the pedestal mirror.

“To block the door and slow them down,” she added.

“Hey,” Zach said softly, stepping over the bodies. “C’mon to me, darlin’. C’mon.”

The other deputies shouted to each other downstairs. They were sweeping through, I guessed. I dropped the gun into the tote bag that was next to my leg.

Zach put his arms around me, and I put my forehead against his chest. “Easy there, baby girl. You did right.”

I didn’t cry. The well had run dry, I guess. I just trembled, and my teeth chattered a little.

“That’s all right. You just lean on me,” Zach said, and I did.

“What the hell! They broke through the front and the back?” someone downstairs shouted to someone else.

“How many were there, Jo?”

“Too many,” I whispered. “They’re crazy psychos, and regular ammunition won’t stop them. You and the other guys need to load your weapons with silver bullets.”

“Easy now. Don’t get yourself more worked up.”

“I’m not kidding,” I said, pulling away. “And you will darn well listen to me.” I poked him in the chest. “I’m not letting any of you get killed.”

He cocked his head to one side.

“Something bad is happening in this town,” I whispered. “Was I right about the special medicine to get those people at Glenfiddle out of their comas?”

He nodded.

“Trust me again. You need
silver
bullets.”

“Well, not having many visits from the Lone Ranger, we don’t keep a supply of them at the station.”

“Bryn Lyons gave me some. He must know a supplier.”

Zach clenched his teeth. “Lyons again.”

“That’s a very good idea. Let’s go to Bryn’s house. He can help us,” Astrid said.

I rubbed my tired eyes. I knew Zach wouldn’t go for that. “How’s that bite doing? Has it been bleeding a lot?”

“Nah, it’s just a scratch. Here, sit down,” he said, maneuvering me to the bed. I sat, trying to figure out what to do. If the wolves were tracking my magic, I didn’t want to cast the astral-projection spell from anyone else’s house. But I couldn’t exactly stay in my house with its busted-in doors either.

“I need help,” I murmured.

“I’m here,” Zach said.

I nodded. I wondered if the wolves would be brazen enough to attack the jail. If the cops had silver ammunition, they wouldn’t get far.

I took a deep breath. “All right, I have a plan.”

“A plan to do what exactly?” Zach asked.

“I have to go to Bryn Lyons’s house. After that I want to stay at the police station. If I meet you there, will you put me in a cell for protective custody?”

“In a cell?” he echoed. “You can stay at my house.”

I shook my head. “They’re killers, Zach. You couldn’t shoot them all fast enough.”

“Who are they, and what do they want with you?”

“Revenge. They tried to kill me, but I didn’t let them, and they’re mad about it. I guess it makes them look bad if a girl like me can get away.” I didn’t even know what I was saying. I was just talking to get us where we needed to be, armed to the teeth and barricaded in the jailhouse.

“Who are they?”

“I’m not really sure.”

“How many are there?”

“I don’t exactly know.”

“Well, we’ll call in backup from the surrounding towns. This ain’t the old West, you know. And if you’re going to Lyons’s house, I’m going with you. I’d like to have a talk with him. Seems like it’s been since you started spending time with him that all this trouble started.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“Good, I’ll join you,” Astrid said. “Let’s go now. You may ride over with me,” she said to me.

I understood her ploy. Bryn had turned her away, and she thought if I was with her she’d have a better chance of getting in. I could’ve been annoyed at being used, but I didn’t blame her for being scared. I was scared, too. And I wasn’t sure why he didn’t want her in his house, but it seemed pretty low to leave her running around town without a place to go.

“We’ll caravan over there,” I said. “But I’m going to ride with Zach.” I stood and reached for my tote bag, but Zach grabbed it and shouldered it.

“Remember when I used to go out shooting with you all the time?” I asked. “I just did it to keep you company because I wanted to be near you.”

“I know.”

“And you used to say it was a good skill for a girl to have, just in case.”

He nodded as we stepped over the bodies in the doorway.

“You can go on and say ‘I told you so’ if you feel like it.”

“I don’t.” He grabbed my hand and held it as we walked down the stairs.

“Sutton, you taking her to the station?” Sheriff Hobbs asked as we passed him in the living room.

“Yes, sir.”

“You go on and let someone else drive her. She’s your ex-wife, and we don’t want it to look irregular in the reports.”