Putting on the Witch (30 page)

We only had about twenty minutes to go before the doors would open. We'd gone back to our rooms and picked up what few things of our own were there.

“Can we keep the spell book?” Elsie asked.

“We can,” I said. “Even though the council didn't officially rule on whether or not it could stay out of the library, it's out now with Abdon's help. I think I should return Makaleigh's book. It's not ours. I'll be right back.”

“Do you think you should go alone?” Elsie asked.

“I'll be fine. Not even Drago wants to mess around with the Bone Man.”

Elsie giggled. “I'd like to see that fight actually—Drago vs. the Bone Man. Sounds like a thriller, doesn't it?”

“Oh, go on, Molly,” Olivia said. “I want to be out that door the minute it opens.”

I smiled and left Olivia and Elsie together as they argued the merits of a fight between the Bone Man of Oak Island and Drago. I followed the hall and came to the outside of
the library. There was so much in there yet that I would have loved to explore. The chances were they'd never invite me back again, and if they did, I wasn't sure I'd go.

Sylvia Rose Gold was at the front desk. She glared at me when I gave her Makaleigh's book. “And the spell book? Where is that?”

“The spell book belongs to us and our families. It's not coming back here again. And I hope if I find out you were to blame for it being here in the first place that I won't hurt you. I can't think why anyone took it from us.”

“It was stolen.” She sniffed. “You said so yourself. Books that contain witchcraft will always find their way back to the library where they belong. What would've happened if a non–magic user had found it and tried some of the spells? Disaster. That's what would have happened.”

I leaned closer to her and felt my amulet glowing. “Times are changing. Be sure that you don't get rolled over by them.”

She sniffed again, trying to appear as though what I'd said didn't matter. But her glasses fell on the floor and she hit her head on the desk getting them. I added a few dozen books that had been on the desk to the pile on the floor. She got a few good lumps before it was all over.

Leaving with a satisfied smile on my face, I nearly ran into the witchfinder as I went out the door. “Antonio.”

“Molly.” He took my hand and kissed it. “I was hoping to see you before Abdon put me back in the wall. I still have a few precious moments while the remaining council bickers and fights about what happened and what they should do.”

“What will they do?” I asked, sitting beside him in a shadowed window seat.

“Find new members to keep the council going.” He shrugged. “This has happened before and doubtless will happen again.”

“Maybe you should leave now before they notice,” I
suggested. “In my eyes you've paid your dues. When the door opens, leave the castle before they trap you again.”

“You are a dear, kindhearted woman.” He smiled and took my hand again. “They have given me part of each of their magic. They did this with the idea that I could do what needed to be done without their interference or possible hope of stopping me.”

His hands were cold, and that shouldn't have impacted me. Yet I shivered near him when I looked into his icy dead eyes. Suddenly, I knew the truth. “You killed Hedyle, didn't you?”

A pause. Maybe a minute or two in the quiet hall. No one was interested in the library when it was so close to escaping from the castle. We were completely alone.

“Yes. I killed her.” He bent his head but not before I saw the triumph in his eyes. “It was the only way I could be truly free. As long as she held the council magic and could decide my fate, there was no way out of the castle for me.”

“So you decided to take advantage of the situation.”

There was no response, but I had my answer.

He got slowly to his feet, joints cracking. “I am fortunate to have met you, Molly Renard. I shall always cherish that memory.”

“The words of power.” I stopped him. “What did they really mean?”

“They were words for the runes that trapped me in the castle wall. They are no longer viable with Hedyle's death. Only she and Makaleigh had worked them through.”

“So it was a call for help from her.” I stared up at him. “She wanted to make sure we knew to summon you to solve the murder and then put you back again.”

“Yes. And that idea was done intentionally by Hedyle herself.” He smiled at me grimly. “Now I take my leave. I wonder what the world is like now.”

I tasted the three words on my lips. With Hedyle and Makaleigh gone, they had no power. They were only three simple words. At one time they had held a killer in the castle so that the council could use him however they saw fit as punishment for his terrible crimes.

A loud chime from the inner workings of the castle told me the magic that had held us all there was over. We could leave anytime—and so could Antonio.

He was already gone as I got to my feet. Should I bother telling Abdon or someone else on the council? There was nothing they could do to get him back. Someday when things had calmed down, they'd recall that they hadn't put their genie back where he belonged.

Dozens of excited witches came toward me. I made room for them to escape the prison that had been created for us. I made my way back to our room and joined my friends to go.

But there was another surprise waiting for me before we could depart.

Abdon was joined by Arleigh Burke at the bottom of the stone stairs. I saw them there as we left the upper floors accompanied by dozens more witches who were eager to reach the front door.

“If we might have a moment,” Abdon said in a polite voice. He almost had a smile on his face.

“Please,” Arleigh added. “You are free to leave when we're finished.”

We stepped off the stairs and followed them to an empty alcove. Things looked dingy and empty now that the party was over. Brian's large pile of gifts was still in one corner, never opened.

“I'm not leaving here without you,” Elsie said, sticking close to me as we walked toward the council members.

“Me either.” Olivia's voice was mostly captured by the silver in Dorothy's bracelet again. We were trying not to make a fuss on our way out.

“That's it for us too,” Brian added with Dorothy's hand in his.

“All right.” I smiled at them. “Let's see what they want.”

Arleigh broke the silence once we were all gathered around. “Molly, because you have shown to be a witch worth remembering, and because of the excellent family line you come from, on behalf of the Grand Council of Witches, I ask that you take Hedyle's seat at the council table.”

Elsie's mouth dropped open. “Oh my stars!”

“Oh, Molly!” Dorothy said.

Abdon smiled in a way people do when they know they are offering you something extraordinary that you can't possibly pass up. It's a mixture of pride and sure knowledge that this is what you will do.

“Of course you'll be joining Brian on the council with the rest of us. We haven't yet decided on someone to take Bairne's place for his part in this plot, but that will be one of the first things up for discussion at the next council meeting,” he said.

“Think of all the good you can do on the council,” Arleigh added. “You and Brian can make a big difference in every witch's life.”

“You have only to accept for now,” Abdon said. “The rest will come later after we've all had a chance to grieve and catch up with ourselves again.”

Everyone was staring at me. My heart was pounding and my hands shook. I knew what my answer was, but I was dreading saying it aloud.

“I appreciate the offer,” I said, “but I'm truly not council material.”

Brian grinned at Elsie, and they slapped hands.

“What are you talking about?” Arleigh demanded. “You come from a wonderful family of witches. You are young compared to most of us. You're exactly what we need.”

“I'm not convinced witches need a council at all.” I spoke
my mind. When would there be a better time? “People fear you and hide their lives from you. I can't think of a single thing that the council has done to make my life better.”

“You're at least safer,” Abdon snarled. “Who do you think protects witches from the dangers around them?”

“We protect ourselves. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be part of a group that isn't needed.” I glanced at Brian. “I'm sure he'll do more than enough for both of us.”

“Wait.” He glanced around. “What? I'm not going to be on the council. I was only going along with all that until we could get out of the castle. You guys know me. Am I a council person?”

“Brian!” Abdon yelled, making departing guests look back at us.

“Sorry. But my dad would really enjoy being part of the council,” Brian told them. “I'm with Molly. The council has never done a thing for me. Maybe you need to take stock and revamp what the council actually is. Until then, I don't want anything to do with it.”

“I think that means we can go,” Elsie said triumphantly. “I need to see my honey-bunny. And we have witches to train.”

Arleigh appeared angry and uncertain. Abdon was just angry as we gathered ourselves and our spell book and left the castle.

“Oscar,” Brian said to him as we walked by him on the castle steps. “Can you send those birthday presents to my apartment?”

“Of course.” The manager smiled as he held the door for me and Elsie. “I hope you enjoyed your party.”

“Yeah. About that—let's plan something small next year, huh?” Brian grinned as he got in the car.

“With pleasure.”

We were in the cave beneath Smuggler's Arcane the next day. We'd all gone home and changed clothes then tried to put our lives back in order after the long party.

I was showing Brian and Dorothy how to use scrying as a way of looking for things and people. They would always be handicapped by not being water witches, but they both had strong magic and would do well at anything they decided to accomplish.

“What about accusing Hedyle of fighting with Makaleigh over a man?” Elsie demanded as we continued going over everything that had happened to us.

“It was just a guess,” I replied. “What else could happen between two women that couldn't be forgiven? And Drago had told us that he'd been asked to join the witches' council before being tossed aside as they grew in strength. It just made sense to me.”

“Lucky guess!” Elsie slapped her thigh. “And good
theater with Olivia! I think we could have figured it all out if we'd been able to get Bairne's real fingerprints.”

“I don't know if it would have mattered, but I agree.”

The water in the crystal bowl I used for scrying began to form images. Brian and Dorothy glanced into it.

“What's that?” Brian asked.

“It looks like a cat to me,” Elsie said. Olivia agreed with her.

“You didn't get me another cat, did you?” Brian asked Dorothy.

“I did,” she admitted. “But this one is different. Now that I know about shifters pretending to be cats, that won't happen to me again.”

She brought a small carrier down from the shop and handed it to him. “Happy birthday. Don't ever ask me to your party again.”

He laughed. “I won't. So what is this one's name?”

“You'll have to hold her and find out.”

Brian took the small black-and-white cat out of the carrier and stared into her pretty blue eyes. “Hey! She says her name is Laue. Awesome! Is she going to try to kill me now?”

Dorothy tried to take the cat from him, but she scratched her just like Kalyna had.

“Oh no. I think this is where I came in,” Elsie complained. “I'm going upstairs for tea, and maybe a chocolate cake.”

“I would think you'd have had enough sweets at the party.” Olivia preceded her up the stairs.

“You're just jealous that you can't have them anymore,” Elsie accused.

“It's good to have a svelte figure as a ghost,” Olivia said. “I noticed Drago and Oscar staring at me.”

It was good to be home.