Sassy Ever After: A Witchingly Sassy Seduction (Kindle Worlds Novella) (9 page)

Chapter 12

“You know this isn’t going to work. I don’t love you, I already have a mate and you’re crazy,” Owain said to a pacing Mandy.

“Yes, it will. You owe me.”

“I don’t owe you anything. You kidnapped me and possibly killed my mate. So, you might as well go on and try to kill me too, because if I get free from these,” he said, motioning to the silver cuffs that were encased in plastic as to render a wolf weak, but not kill him, “You’d better run and hope I don’t catch you.”

“Look, you have to keep quiet. I’m trying to listen and think. They should have been here by now,” Mandy said, continuing to pace.

“And you! Did I mention how fired you are?”

“Yep, like about a hundred times so far,” Jimmy said in a lazy drawl that made Owain quake with anger.

Celia and the others watched from the back of the large room, gathering as much information and forming a plan as they could. Deidra and the others had helped her cloak herself, as they walked in the back of the huge storage unit. None of the other three had noticed. But, as a safety precaution, they currently squatted low far away, behind a row of storage shelves. Listening to Mandy go on and on, made Celia want to strike her dead with a thought.

Deidra had been the one to talk her out of it just as many times as Owain had fired his foreman, Jimmy.

She felt a hard tap on her shoulder.

“Ow! Mating mark there, remember?” she said to one of the witches she’d never bothered to learn the name of.

She motioned that they were on the move and for Celia to follow.

Deidra grabbed her, pulling her to the front. “Top witches always lead their covens, into battle and anything else. You stay in front with me.”

Celia nodded, not wanting to waste time arguing about that stupid point. When they were positioned in a circle around Mandy and the men, Deidra made sure her coven knew their roles. Celia was still a little fuzzy on just how she’d cast a containment spell, but Deidra was sure she’d “just know” how to do it.

Before she was ready, Deidra said, “Uncloak!”

Celia watched in disbelief as Mandy, Jimmy and Owain blinked in surprise at the sight of fourteen women forming a circle around them. It only took a moment for Mandy to regroup though. Celia watched in what seemed like slow motion, as the woman marched over to her mate and cut his wrist as if to let his blood.

“No!” Celia yelled.

Mandy paused for a moment, seeming to struggle, but then she was free and on the move again. In the center of the room, she had a copper bowl and some twine where she took the knife with Owain’s blood and wiped it on the twine.

“Stop her. If she mixes her blood with his, I’m not sure what will happen to him,” Deidra said to Celia.

“What? Why me? I don’t know what to do but kill her and you said I couldn’t.”

“You can’t or you might injure Owain in the process or face murder charges. We’re good, but not that good. The universe has a way of always evening the score. So, no killing her—got me? Plus, I had no way of knowing if she’d gotten to this part yet.”

“So now you tell me. Deidra, your communication skills suck dirty-ass balls.”

“Tell me about that later. For now, concentrate on stopping the bitch and saving your mate.”

“And what are you and your coven going to be doing? Huh?”

“Oh nothing—we’re just standing here holding up a force field that contains everything inside that circle. Haven’t you notice Jimmy over there bouncing off it as he tries to run, like the little fucker ass he is?”

Celia didn’t have time to carry out a conversation with Deidra. Mandy had successfully made the cut on her own wrist and was about to apply it to the twine that held Owain’s blood. Celia cut a look over to her mate to see him watching her in what looked like complete calm.

It won’t work. You’re my mate
.

“Whoa!” Celia reeled from the sound of his booming deep voice in her head. She focused on him again and saw his slight nod that he’d been the one to say it. Their eyes locked and she realized that he wanted her to leave. “No, I won’t do it,” she said talking to only him. His eyes continued to plead with her.

Then the oxygen evaporated from the room as the coven and Jimmy collapsed to the floor and Celia struggled to breathe.

Mandy stood there, wearing that bloody twine bracelet over her fresh wound and chanting some gibberish. She started to approach Celia. The closer she came the more Celia felt like she was being strangled. With no air, she couldn’t form words and with no words, she couldn’t cast a spell. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Mandy laughed.

“Oh what’s wrong, you little black bitch. Can’t figure out how I’m doing this? Oh well, I guess you’ll go to your grave wondering.”

Celia watched as Mandy changed course, walking toward Owain who could still breathe. Owain never took his gaze off her. She could hear his faint voice in her head, saying it wouldn’t work because he was hers and she was his.

I love you and you love me
. He intoned in her inner ear. Tears fell down her cheeks as the ability to stand left her and she crumpled to the floor.

Mandy looked over to the crumpled form of Celia and made it to stand in front of Owain as she said, “Finally. She’s dead. Owain Colfer, I claim you as my mate. You belong to me!”

The words swirled up, taking on a visible tint, as they wrapped themselves around Mandy and Owain. Celia managed to open her eyes to see the spectacle and mouthed “Stop—Enough.” Frenetic movement of the words ceased, suspended in midair.

Mandy looked up, screaming, “No! I command you to finish.” Running back to Owain, she repeated, “Owain Colfer, I claim you as my mate. You belong to me!”

The words refused to move as they’d done before. Instead they rumbled and contorted, forming a compacted object as they bubbled and vibrated.

Celia felt a break in the air as fresh air began to pierce the barrier to reach her. Getting to her feet, she concentrated on the hovering mass that had been kinetic words. Then she knew what to do. “Come to me,” she commanded the words as Mandy’s face contorted into a visage of rage and disbelief.

“No, you can’t do that. You’re supposed to be dead. Die!” Mandy screamed and ran toward Celia. When she made it to the boundary of the circle, a force stronger than the impact of the truck accident earlier, seemed to propel her back. She landed close to the center of the circle on her ass.

“You were saying?” Celia asked, trying to figure out how to free Owain.

“That’s not your task,” Deidra said, regaining her footing and post. She looked over at Celia and said, “Finish your task.”

Celia looked up to the hovering blob. “Return to your creator. Never to another”

The blob moved back toward Mandy as she struggled to get back up. Jimmy had since stopped trying and was sitting on the floor in the middle of the circle, as if waiting for his number to be called.

Mandy got to her feet and sneered. “You stupid bitch. I’m the creator. You’re going to die like you should have in the car accident and here.” She looked up at the blob and said, “Form as a sword of unbreakable strength and run her through the heart!”

Celia’s heart leaped to her throat, as the blob formed into a magnificent iridescent sword and started to spin in slow motion.”

Mandy spoke again. “I said run her through!”

To Celia and Owain’s shock and horror, the sword stopped spinning and ran Mandy through the heart. Mandy sank to her knees as life began to ebb out of her.

She looked over to Celia and said with the faintest of volume, “I don’t understand. I tried so hard to make it work. I just wanted to be loved.” Mandy looked down at the magical instrument embedded into her chest cavity and then up to the roof of the space as she said, “Me-Maw, you were right.” Continuing to look up, she looked as if she gave up a breath in defeat. Then she died, slumping to the floor.

Celia understood so much more about this woman and could see everything clearly. Mandy wanted redemption, but went about it the wrong way. But it was Owain who had given her the clue to closing this crazy show down. Sensing the power of the circle, she looked over to Deidra, who in turned released and broke it. Celia ran over to her mate, dive bombing into him.

“Oh my God! I didn’t know what to do. You saved me!” she said, between smothering him with kisses and hugs.

He laughed, allowing her to get her fill of him before he dare speak a word.

Celia only had eyes for her mate but could hear Deidra and her crew wrangling Jimmy.

When Owain was free of the cuffs and Jimmy secured in the back of one of the SUVs with a tidy spell, Deidra asked, “Celia, how did you manage to pull off that little diddy with Mandy?”

“Oh I didn’t. She did it. You told me not to kill her, but Owain showed me how to trap her.”

“Huh? I was right here. Owain stopped talking when we showed up,” Deidra said, allowing a little confusion to season her tone.

“I did stop talking outwardly. Then I started talking to my mate. I figured Mandy wouldn’t know that once a wolf mates, the pair share a telepathic bond. I knew Celia would be able to hear me, because she was my true mate.”

“Oh yeah, now I remember that about you shifters,” Deidra said nodding. “But that still doesn’t explain how that thing killed her.”

Celia spoke up. “Owain showed me that Mandy was trying to steal my claim on him as my mate. When I didn’t die—thank you for that everyone—I felt your collective power funneling to me, her claim became confused and formless. Spells need structure, form and purpose. Hers had none of them.”

“I see your grandmother’s training is coming back to you.”

“Yep, but what was blaring was that she didn’t know this. The very way she went about setting up her spell was sloppy and had too many ways for it to go wrong. I mean come on, using blood, twine, and a vow was overkill and asking for trouble. I decided to go with the low hanging fruit—the vow. Once it became a blob with no purpose, I just repurposed it and sent it back to her. Since my power was stronger than hers, I knew the command she gave it to act against me would backfire. Any woman should know to never come between true mates. It’s bad form and could end up getting you killed.”

“Amen sister,” Deidra said, high fiving her. “How about we get you and your fine ass mate back home.”

“Hey, that’s the last time I warn you about ogling my mate. Next time I start cutting.” Celia had to laugh at her own fake threat. She’d come to realize Deidra and her coven had always had her back and never meant her any harm. What these women did to save her and Owain today would be something she’d never forget. “But seriously, Deidra,” she paused to look around at all of the coven as she said, “And all of you. I owe you a life debt. I know what all of you did to save Owain’s and my life here today. From today on, I call you sisters.” Then she thought about it and didn’t want emotions to wrap her up in any promises she didn’t want to deliver on. So she amended it by saying, “And as all good sisters know, there are some rules and boundaries. Listen up! No, you cannot come crash with Owain and me. No, you cannot borrow Owain to make your man or mate jealous—she got a few curses for that one. No, you will not drop by anytime you feel like it without calling first. But yes, you will help me find a way to file a claim or make a claim against that bitch’s estate to replace Owain’s truck.”

“Wait—the truck—is it totaled?” Owain asked, not understanding that last part.

Celia looked at him with a smile so big her cheeks hurt and said, “Baby, I’ll explain it in detail later. Just know that your truck is sharing a piece of car heaven with Holly now.”

“Oh,” was all he could manage.

Celia looked around at everyone and with a nod from Deidra said, “Let’s roll bitches! I got a mate to get home and take care of. Peace!” With that, she threw up a peace sign and headed out, with the entire coven following behind her and Owain.

Driving down the road back to Blue Creek, she and Owain watched as a procession of cops raced back to the storage facility.

After being interrogated and realizing there was never an on-site accident. Jimmy confessed that he’d falling for Mandy. She’d promised to make him powerful and marry him. Once she taught him that little destruction spell, he’d used it to destroy Holly and the seat belt in Owain’s truck. This was enough for Celia to demand he be left at the storage facility to fend for himself.

Knowing that the coven had erased all evidence from the site and knowledge of them from Jimmy’s memory, they left him sitting next to the very dead Mandy.

***

At home that night, sharing a bath, Owain said, “Have I told you how proud I am of you?”

“Ah yeah, like a hundred times so far.”

“Not funny,” he said, frowning at how she kept using Jimmy’s phrase. “I almost lost you today and I don’t know what I would have done if that had happened.”

“Hey buddy, that went both ways. You don’t know how volatile those spells were Mandy was using. You could have died as collateral damage. I wasn’t kidding when I told Deidra and her coven how grateful I was to them.”

“See, I told you I was so very proud of you. You all worked it out like I knew you would.”