Hedge Witch Diaries Complete Series Boxed Set, page 18
“It started that way. You mean, like, two days ago? And you’ve suddenly fallen for him? Give me a break, Sydney.”
Sydney stared at me dumbly. “You’re one to talk.”
Dorian scratched his head. “I suppose she has a point.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. I know my brother. He’s going after Jim Bob Anderson.”
“If he’s working with the Réminians, they’ll kill him, Briar!” Sydney shouted. “We have to do something.”
I nodded and turned to Dorian. “I know we can’t trust the Morai, but we’re talking about my brother here. We have to stop him before something happens.”
Dorian nodded. “Agreed. Let’s hope we aren’t too late.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Where exactly is this bastard’s hideout?” Dorian asked, his voice tight with urgency. “If I know where to go, I can teleport us there.”
“Here.” I pulled up a map on my phone and thrust the glowing screen toward Dorian. “Lives in a trailer off Oak Bend.”
Dorian nodded. “Got it. Everyone hold hands.”
Sydney reluctantly grabbed Dorian’s hand, as if she thought if she touched a hedge witch, she’d get cooties. I don’t think she was much happier to hold mine, but in her mind, I wasn’t supposed to be a hedge witch. I was supposed to be Gareth’s.
One of Dorian’s tattoos activated, and a surge of golden energy illuminated the complex pattern in his skin. The spell surged around us, and it felt like we were about to be whisked away. Then, the energy dissipated as quickly as it had come, leaving us standing in the same spot, our hearts pounding with adrenaline and disappointment.
“Shit,” Dorian muttered. “It’s not working.”
Sydney shook her head. “That’s because it’s the Réminians. They’ve warded off the place with their charms. Magic won’t work there. I’m telling you, they’re working with that hillbilly.”
Dorian and Sydney exchanged tense glances, both realizing the gravity of the situation. “You’re right,” Dorian admitted, his voice strained. “The Réminians must be involved.”
“Damn it,” I murmured. My heart felt like it was lodged in my throat as fear for Aiden’s safety gripped me. “I thought you were immune to the Réminians’ charms. That’s why the Grand Coven told Gareth to recruit you to begin with. Shouldn’t your spell work?”
Dorian sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I am immune to their charms and wards, but I was trying to bring two witches to break through the barrier. Their wards won’t let you two through by magical means.”
“Then go alone!” Sydney urged, her voice tense.
“Wait,” I interjected, gripping Dorian’s arm tighter. “You can’t go in there by yourself! It’s too dangerous!”
Dorian looked at me, his eyes filled with determination. “Briar, I have to. If we don’t do something soon, Aiden could be in real danger. And if the Réminians really are involved, we can’t afford to waste any more time.”
I gritted my teeth, frustration and fear welling up inside me. “Damn it, Dorian, you can’t—”
“Trust me,” he interrupted, placing a hand on my shoulder. His voice was steady, but concern filled his eyes. “I’ll find Aiden and get him out of there. Stay here and wait for me to return.”
Before I could argue any further, Dorian’s tattoo lit up again. This time, the golden energy enveloped him completely. In the blink of an eye, he vanished, leaving Sydney and me standing there, our hands still linked together.
“Shit,” I whispered. Then, noticing I was still holding the Morai witch’s hand, I pulled mine free and wiped it on my dress.
The weight of helplessness pressed down on me, making it difficult to breathe. I couldn’t stand here and do nothing. My foster brother and my…whatever the hell Dorian was to me, they were both in danger. Every second I wasted felt like an eternity.
“Come on.” Sydney’s voice softened with understanding. “We need to find another way to get to Jim Bob’s place. We can’t sit here and wait.”
“Right,” I agreed, taking a deep breath to steady myself. My hands were shaking, but all I could think about was getting to Aiden and Dorian in time. “Let’s go.”
Sydney climbed into my truck, and I hopped in on the driver’s side. The engine roared to life, the sound echoing through the quiet night. My heart pounded, a mix of fear and anger bubbling beneath the surface.
“Listen, Briar,” Sydney began as tires screeched against gravel, “I know you’re worried about Aiden and Dorian, but trust me when I say Gareth is on our side.”
“Fuck Gareth,” I spat, my gaze fixed on the dark road ahead. “He has nothing to do with this. Right now, my brother and Dorian are the ones in danger, not him.”
“The point is that we might be in over our heads here. We should maybe stop and get him on the way.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Like Gareth cares about Dorian and Aiden? Dorian is doing exactly what Gareth wanted all along. He’s going after those bastards and might be tempted to use that dark spell again to take them out.”
“You realize, Briar, we can’t use magic in their wards. What do you expect us to do? Gareth might have other means. More conventional weapons he could access.”
“The Morai have guns?” I raised an eyebrow.
“We have a lot of things. For situations like this.”
I shook my head. “We don’t have time for that. If I get there, Dorian can access my power. We have a connection. He can use it to call the spirits out. That’s why we have to get there fast.”
The wind whipped through my hair as we sped down the narrow backroads, each turn and bump jarring my anxious thoughts. I couldn’t lose them. Not like I lost my parents. Never again.
My breath caught in my throat as we pulled up to Jim Bob’s trailer. The moon cast eerie shadows over the scene before us. Aiden stood defiantly in front of a group of hooded men, their robes adorned with that damned sigil. The same one painted on my trailer. And there was Jim Bob, flanked by the Honeycuts, smirking like he held all the cards.
“Sydney,” I whispered, my voice shaking with anger. “You go around back. I’ll confront them head-on.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, hesitating.
“Positive. Now go!” I demanded, my eyes locked on Aiden and the looming threat surrounding him.
I slid from the truck and stalked forward, the crunch of gravel beneath my boots sending shivers down my spine. I looked around for any sign of Dorian. He should have gotten there ten or fifteen minutes before us, given the length of the drive.
The tension in the air was palpable, thick enough to suffocate. I could taste the bitterness of hatred on my tongue, and it fueled me.
“Get the hell away from my brother!” I yelled, my voice carrying across the clearing. The hooded figures turned to face me, their faces hidden in shadow. Jim Bob’s smirk widened, giving me a clear view of the giant gap between the few teeth he had left.
“Ah, Briar Bloom,” he drawled, stepping forward. “We were discussing your…witch fuckery.”
“Leave her out of this, you bastard!” Aiden shouted, his face a mask of fury.
“Shut up, Aiden,” I snapped through gritted teeth, taking another step closer. “Jim Bob, what do you want?”
“Why don’t you come sit on Daddy’s lap, and I’ll show you.”
“Fuck off.”
Jim Bob laughed. “It doesn’t matter what I want. The question is, what are you willing to give up to get him back?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Jim Bob laughed, a cruel, mocking sound that echoed through the clearing. Then, two more hooded figures stepped from Jim Bob’s trailer. They had a man in their grip, his hands tied behind his back. His black shirt, the tattoos on his arm, the black cargo shorts he’d borrowed from my brother.
“Dorian!” I screamed.
“Briar!” Dorian shouted from beneath his hood. “Get out of here!”
One of the hooded men struck the back of Dorian’s legs with a strange scepter, and he fell to his knees.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Jim Bob asked, gesturing to Dorian. “We got ourselves a warlock here. I hear them ‘locks are good eatin’!”
“Let him go!” I demanded, fighting to keep my voice steady. “If you don’t, I swear, you’ll regret it!”
One of the hooded men stepped forward. He lowered his hood. His head was shaved bald. His skin was pale, and his eyes were like two coals. “We’ve been searching for this one for many years. In exchange for the warlock, the boy can go free. He’s no witch.”
“Don’t listen to them!” Dorian screamed. “Run!”
The Réminian leader, or at least the spokesman for the group, raised his hand. “On account of this offering, I’m willing to allow you to leave. But if we encounter you again, I will not show the same mercy a second time.”
“Get out of here, Briar!” Dorian screamed.
“Silence him!” the Réminian shouted as they dragged Dorian back into Jim Bob’s trailer. “I’ll make it simple for you. You leave us now and take the boy with you or all of you die, including the warlock.”
I clenched my fists. “Next time you come at me, come without your damned wards and see what happens.”
The man laughed. “Release the boy. I’m a man of my word.”
One of the hooded Réminians released Aiden, and he came running over.
“Come on, Briar.” Aiden grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the scene. “We need to go. Now!”
I turned, and Sydney was standing by the truck. Apparently, she’d gone around back and figured the situation was helpless. I was a little pissed for a minute before I realized it wasn’t her fault. She was paddleless up the same shit creek I was.
Sydney made eye contact with me. “Get in the truck. Listen to what he said. Let’s go.”
Something about her tone was off. Did I trust Sydney, or didn’t I? I wished I could, but she was Morai. Then again, what had the Morai really done to me? At least the chapter here, not counting Gareth’s parents.
They healed me, for one. They preserved my father’s old spell book, which I took away without permission. Compared to the Réminians and the local asshats they’d recruited, they weren’t nearly so bad. The biggest beef I had with them was Gareth and his attempt to separate Dorian and me.
Yet something in Sydney’s glance told me she had a plan. Something better than what we were facing—leaving Dorian to become a Réminian sacrifice. If they could even figure out how to kill him. Dorian said he was difficult to kill, not impossible. The Réminians were expert witch murderers. They’d killed thousands, their founder having murdered nine hundred himself. Dorian might have healed from a bullet wound, but could he endure burning at the stake or a beheading? I couldn’t let myself go there.
Aiden glanced at Sydney. “We still need to talk.”
Sydney nodded, and he climbed back in his truck and took off, spraying gravel behind his wheels.
“Wait,” I whispered, turning to Sydney as she slid into the passenger seat beside me. “You’re up to something. What is it?”
“They’re not going to let us go,” Sydney told me. “When I went around back, I overheard them talking.”
“Well, we’d best get a head start anyway.”
Sydney nodded. “Pedal to the metal. Get a good distance away from this trailer. Somewhere outside the wards.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
“Probably not exactly,” Sydney replied. “We aren’t done with these bastards, though. They think we’re weak little girl witches. They think they can track us down and take us out without their wards. I’ll say this. They’re in for a rude awakening.”
“How powerful are you, anyway?” I asked.
“Average. That’s not what I mean, though. Just keep driving.”
I took off down the road. Sydney kept looking back over her shoulder. I checked the rearview mirror. We hadn’t gotten half a mile away, and Jim Bob’s rusty old truck was in hot pursuit, the Honeycuts in the back with rifles.
Two black sports cars buzzed up behind them. Looked like new model Dodge Chargers.
“Holy crap,” I blurted. “We’ve got hillbillies and Réminians on our ass.”
Sydney grinned widely. “Wait for it.”
“What for what?”
Out of the blue, on the road between my truck and Jim Bob’s, a blast of violet light appeared.
The truck and the two cars flew off the road with a concussive force that seemed to blast out of nowhere.
I slammed my brakes. Gareth stood in the middle of the road, dusting off his hands.
“So, ladies? Mind if I climb in the back?”
“Gareth?” I asked. “How did you…”
“Don’t get mad at me,” Gareth returned. “When you were unconscious before, I placed a small tracking spell on you. I was going to show up earlier, but the sigils there blocked me. Sydney called me a few minutes ago and explained what was going on.”
“Gareth, I’m not saying I’m not grateful. Your timing was perfect. But…”
“But they have Dorian. We’ll get him back.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Gareth nodded. “Look, I still think he’s dangerous, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get mixed up with him. I’m not giving up anything here. But if the Réminians figure out how to kill Dorian, as old and as powerful as he is, they’ll have enough power to wipe out every witch in a hundred-mile radius.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Well, we don’t want that happening.”
“Besides,” Gareth added. “I know he means something to you. I hope, in time, you’ll move on from him. I’m doing this for you, Briar. Believe me or don’t.”
I chuckled. “You’re doing it for self-preservation, but I don’t give a rat’s ass what your motives are. We have to get him out of there.”
Gareth nodded. “And we will, but it’s going to be tricky. We may need your magic to pull it off. Do you have your father’s spell book?”
I nodded. “It’s back home.”
Sydney tilted her head. “They already know where you live.”
“Where is it?” Gareth asked. “I’ll zap in there and grab it, then meet you back at the Morai HQ.”
I sighed. “Probably not a good idea. I’d hate for Aiden to show up while you’re in our living room. He’s been through enough.”
Gareth nodded. “Then find a place to park. I’ll teleport the three of us there together.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The grocery store parking lot was a mess. Abandoned shopping carts littered the landscape like corpses on a battlefield, and the scent of rain-soaked asphalt lingered in the air. I pulled my truck into an empty space beneath the flickering glow of a streetlight, hoping it would be enough to deter any potential vandals. I figured, given it was a 24-hour grocery store, the chances of getting towed away were less than if I left the truck anywhere else.
No sooner had I turned off the engine than Gareth leaped from the back of the truck. Sydney and I both got out.
Gareth stood tall and extended his hands.
“Hold onto me, both of you.”
Gareth’s hand was warm, as though still radiating heat from the massive spell he’d used to knock Jim Bob and the Réminians off the road a few minutes before.
An electric thrill surged through me as a flash of light forced me to squeeze my eyes shut.
When I opened them, the three of us were standing in my living room. Aiden wasn’t there. At least not yet. He was probably drinking at Charlie’s. After all he’d witnessed and endured over the last few hours, I couldn’t blame him. He needed space and time. Frankly, we didn’t have the time to deal with him. Not if we were going to save Dorian.
My gaze swept over the room, and I felt a surge of relief when I spotted my father’s spell book and the Daemonolatreiae on the coffee table. I didn’t have any reason to suspect they wouldn’t be there, but after the incident with the flaming cross, I couldn’t be sure.
Now that the Réminians had Dorian, and Jim Bob was probably trying to recuperate from the accident he’d endured courtesy of Gareth, it made sense that none of them had broken into my place. The Réminians were all about burning witches and probably their books. For now, though, the books were safe.
Gareth picked up my father’s spell book and began thumbing through it. He paused, frowning at the several torn-out pages.
“Did you do this, Briar?” he asked, his voice tinged with suspicion.
“Me? No, I would never.” I shook my head vehemently. “I’ve treated that book like it’s sacred ever since you gave it to me.”
Gareth raised an eyebrow. “You mean since you absconded with it?”
“It’s not like I stole it. It was my dad’s. The way I see it, it was mine all along.”
Gareth chuckled. “Fair enough. I haven’t spent much time with the book since it deals with your peculiar specialty. Still, I wonder what your father removed from it.”
“Maybe you tore those pages out. Something there you didn’t want me to see?”
“I understand why you suspect as much. Believe me, Briar, I had nothing to do with it. There must have been a good reason for your father to remove them. Some spells can have side effects. Perhaps they were dangerous, whatever they were.”
“Whatever the reason, we need to find a way to save Dorian.” The anxiety bubbled in my chest like a witch’s cauldron, threatening to boil over. “There must be something else in there we can use.”
Gareth nodded and continued flipping through the pages, pausing every now and then to study the spells. Eventually, he stopped on a particular page, his eyes widening with interest.
“Listen to this.” He pointed at the text. “The top of the page reads ‘countering wards and charms.’”
“That sounds like what we need.” My heart raced at the thrill of possibly having a way to get to Dorian. “Is it something we can do?”
