KISS THE WITCH (25 page)

“
Perhaps thou wilt tell
me.”

“
Touché. Then yes. It
worked. So, you really wanted to make love to me.”

She pulled her hands free and clasped them
to her heart. “Nay. Fair blessings. The love I make will be not
with thee, but with he whom I love.”

“
Dominic.”

“
Of course.”

“
But aren’t you…. I mean,
you never––”

She gathered the folds of her dress around
her cleavage and hiked it higher. “I am of vestal modesty,” she
said. “If that is thy question.”

“
It is, Ursula. Exactly.
You know that being a virgin is something special, don’t you? Why
would you rob Dominic of that gift?”

I watched her brows gather in a furrow.
“Gift?”

“
Yes. It is a gift when a
young woman saves herself for the man she loves. It is something
one can only share once, so why not share it with someone special?
Do you understand?”

“
Aye, but Lilith
said––”

“
Lilith? Oh here we go. I
should have known. Don’t tell me this was her idea.”

“
Not so, exactly. She said
a man likes it when a woman knows how to please him. That is how
she keeps you to herself.”

“
Well, sure that’s true,
but….”

“
And she said of thee,
thou art a good specimen on which to practice.”

“
She said
that?”

She smiled shyly. “So she tells me.”

“
Ursula, I’m sure she
didn’t mean that
you
should practice on me. She was simply using me an
example.”

Her face grew noticeably whiter. She drew
her fingers to her lips and gasped softly. “Oh, dear.” Her hands
began to tremble. “What have I done? I have brought shame upon the
coven and thee.”

“
No, no.” I reached for
her hands and cupped them gently. “You did no such
thing.”

“
But I kissed
thee.”

“
Yes. You kissed me, and I
kissed you. But that was all.” I assured eye contact. “That
was
all.
Right?”

Her panic retreated. “Of course. That and
naught.”

I gave a sigh. “Good.”

“
Dost thou remember
more?”

“
No. It is just that I was
worried because I had a dream the other night that seemed so real.
I thought you came to me in my room and you ahm….”

“
Yes?”

I shook my head. “Forget it. Look. You have
to know that Dominic loves you and wants you just the way you are.
You don’t need to practice anything before marrying him. Just be
yourself and I assure you, your wedding night will be magical.”

“
Oh, what great relief,
Master Tony.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Aye. `Tis a burden shed
that I most dreaded, that of copulating with thee.”

“
Come again.” I admit I
felt offended by that. “Are you saying you were not looking forward
to having sex with me?”

She shook her head. “No more than any
chore.”

“
Chore?” I laughed to
deflate my defensive posture. “Why would you think it a
chore?”

“
`Tis something Lilith
said, is all.”

“
What did Lilith
say?”

She turned away bashfully. “I should say but
not.”

“
No. You should say. Tell
me.”

Her eyes came back to me through a side
glance. “Do not hate me.”

“
I won’t hate
you.”

“
Lilith said you are the
bomb in bed.”

“
The bomb?”

“
Aye. Her words, not mine.
`Tis a bad thing, I know. I am sorry.”

I reached across the table and gave her a
hug. “That’s all right,” I told her, smiling. “Lilith has said
worse things about me.”

As I backed away, she said, “Thou art a good
kisser, though. I shall tell her that.”

“
What? No. No, you mustn’t
tell her that. You will tell her no such thing. You understand? And
you must never tell Dominic either. Tell no one what happened here
this morning. If anyone asks, we did not kiss. I didn’t see your
ass and you didn’t grind your pelvis into my crotch so hard I
popped the stitching in my shorts.”

Her eyes grew frightfully wide. “That was
thee?”

I settled into my chair a bit uneasily.
“Yes. What did you think?”

Her eyes fell to my lap. “I thought it was
thy gun.”

I let it go at that. Later, when I was about
to leave, I returned into the kitchen. Ursula was back at the sink,
finishing the dishes she started earlier. I said to her, “Ursula,
can I ask you something?”

“
Aye?”

“
When I came home this
morning and we talked, you sounded like Lilith. In fact, you had no
old English accent at all. How did you do that?”

She looked over her shoulder at me, her lips
drawn thin and turned up slightly at the corners. “`Twas a deal we
had. Was it not?”

“
A deal”

“
Aye.”

“
What deal was
that?”

In perfect modern speak, she said, “The deal
was, if you practiced your witchcraft more often, I would practice
modern English.”

“
Uh…. That’s amazing,” I
said. “You nailed it.”

She shrugged lightly. “It’s not so hard. You
displace a verb here and there, toss in a few contractions. I do it
all the time now.”

“
Wait. You talk like
Lilith all the time?”

“
Shaah.”

I approached her, studying her expression,
waiting for her to flinch. “Have you ever led me to believe you
were Lilith before?”

“
What? Pah-leeese. Why
would I do that?”

My jaw dropped. My heart sank to my stomach.
My pulse began racing. “Lilith?”

She smiled devilishly. “Excuse me?”

I reached for the hemline of her dress and
lifted it high enough to see her left cheek. She slapped my hand
away with a wet dishcloth.

“
Master Tony.”

I sprang back. My hands held in surrender.
“Sorry. Had to check.”

“
Hath thou gone
mad?”

“
No. I have not gone mad.
I was just making sure. It’s okay. No tattoo. Listen.” I grabbed
the car keys off the table and headed for the door. “Remember. What
happened here this morning is just between you and me, Ursula. Just
you and me. You got that?”

As I opened the door and started out, I
heard her say in a strikingly sarcastic tone, “What––ever.”

I called Carlos the minute I left the house.
He and Dominic had already checked into some of New Castle’s
less-refined motels looking for Howard Snow. They investigated the
Sun Valley Suites, the Clark and Brookbend Motels on Jefferson and
the Fairview on Monroe and Baker. They were just pulling into the
parking lot of the Minuteman Motel when I called.

“
Nothing yet,” said
Carlos. “Dominic downloaded a picture of Snow on his iphone. Showed
it to four clerks and a wino so far, but nothing.”

“
He showed it to a
wino?”

“
Sure. Hey, winos and bums
are a great source of Intel. You remember that time we dressed up
as bums to work the hobo camps along the railroad
tracks?”

“
Yes. I
remember.”

“
Yeah, that’s when you
thought Lilith was Gypsy, and that girl with the tramp stamp at the
hospice––”

“
Carlos. I remember. Now
please, can we focus?”

He paused just long enough to let me know he
was displeased with me snapping at him. “Sure, Tony.” He sounded
very matter-of-fact. “We can focus. What do you want to focus
on?”

I pretended I did not hear the sarcasm in
his voice. “I think we ought to split up. If the three of us break
the city up into sections we can cover more––”

“
Tony, wait. Something’s
happening.”

I could hear Spinelli in the background
saying, “That’s him. That’s him.”

“
What is it?” I
asked.

Carlos returned, “It’s him, Tony. Snow. We
see him. He’s right in front of us.”

“
What’s he
doing?”

“
He’s chasing someone. A
woman.”

“
It’s his wife.” Spinelli
exclaimed.

“
Tony, it’s his wife. Snow
just ran out of his hotel room chasing his wife. She’s alive. Damn!
What do you want us to do?”

“
Get him,” I said. “Get
him now.”

Spinelli said, “Let’s get him.”

I heard the car door open and shut. Carlos
opened his door. “We’re going after him, Tony. Get here as quick as
you can.”

The phone went out before the second car
door shut. I flipped the switch on the running lights and hit the
siren. I was only a couple of miles from the Minuteman by then, and
made it there in less than three minutes. Carlos and Spinelli were
standing outside one of the rooms with weapons drawn, their backs
against the wall flanking either side of the door. I swung the
cruiser around the pool and parallel parked along the curb several
doors down.

“
What do we have?” I
asked, pressing my back to the wall on Carlos’ side of the
door.

“
He’s in there. Snow and
his wife. We saw them both go in.”

“
I assume you
knocked?”

“
We did,” Spinelli
answered. “He won’t come out. Said we would have to kill him
first.”

“
Is he armed?”

“
Don’t think so. He’s
still in his underwear. If he’s packing, it’s small.”

Carlos laughed at that. “Could be a pee
shooter.”

I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing
back. It only encourages him otherwise. “So, you saw his wife, did
you?”

Carlos said, “Yeah. She looks awful. Like
death warmed over.”

I checked the lockbox on the door. It
appeared to be the electronic kind requiring a magnetic keycard.
“Anyone working on getting us a key?”

Spinelli answered, “Tried.
There’s a sign on the office door that reads,
BE BACK IN FIFTEEN MINUTES
. One of
the guests said it’s been there an hour already.”

“
Did you call for
backup?”

“
Got black and whites on
the way. ETA two minutes.”

I checked my watch. “Okay look, We’re not
waiting. We’re going in.”

Carlos said, “You can’t break down the door,
Tony. It’s solid steel. We’ll need a battering ram.”

“
Not going to.” I
holstered my weapon and stepped out in front of the
door.”

“
What are you
doing?”

“
Lilith is always telling
me I need to use more witchcraft.” I pointed at the door with both
hands and parted the way with a sweeping gestured to each side.
“So, I’m using witchcraft. Step back. This could go
badly.”

“
Cool,” said
Dominic.

Carlos echoed the sentiment.

I adjusted my stance. Legs spread. Knees
bent slightly. My palms were sweaty, so I wiped them against my
pant legs. I saw Carlos and Spinelli do the same. I held my right
hand out, palm up and steady. “You guys ready for this?” I
asked.

The two only nodded. Never blinking.

I focused intently on the energy building in
my hand, remembering keenly the lesson learned when Ursula lost
control of her zip ball in the living room.

“
This takes some
concentration,” I told them. “If it gets away, it can
hurt.”

“
Should we step back
further?” Carlos asked.

I nodded. “You might want to.”

Neither did.

I puckered my lips and blew into my hand
softly, as if fanning the smoldering ambers of a dying flame. At
once, a small blue energy sphere appeared. It sparkled in nervous
flickers with snaps of white lightning like tiny flash bulbs
dancing in my palm. I blew again and the sphere began to spin.
After it got going, I was able to keep it moving by pushing it
along with just my finger. Soon it was spinning in a blur,
crackling and throwing off electric blue sparks like tiny shooting
stars. I rolled my hand back over my shoulder and positioned it as
if carrying a serving tray.

“
Get ready,” I said. “I’m
going to launch it.

This time Carlos and Spinelli did step back.
Spinelli about four steps. Carlos six. I eased away from the door
myself, suggesting the two have their weapons drawn and ready to
charge. Then I hauled back and let the zip ball fly. It hit the
lock box in a shower of sparks. A white light as bright as a
wielder’s arc discharged with a bang, destroying the box and
sending shredded bits of burnt metal everywhere.

I fell back, stunned by a shard of hot
shrapnel that caught my face below my eye, tearing a gash in my
cheek two inches long. Carlos and Spinelli pushed passed me in
their rush for the door, spinning me around and knocking me to the
ground.

“
You all right,
Detective?” I heard someone say.

I looked up and saw Corporal Olson. She
stopped to help me to my feet while her partner ran in to back up
Carlos and Spinelli.

“
I’m fine,” I told her. “I
lost my balance. Go on. I’ll catch up.”

She brushed my cheek with a clean hanky.
“You always say that, Tony.” And then she gave it to me. “After all
these years, you still say that.”