The Dashing Witch (The Ward Witches) (18 page)

“
I certainly hope so,” Justin said. He couldn't contemplate the alternative.

Dymphna made a quick phone call to Seb, telling him to send down a powerful witch of each element, before turning back to their guests. “Do you all need to make some calls?”

“
We got a chance in the car,” the woman said. “One of your men said we'd be given an escort home when we're done here.”

“
Good. I hope you don't mind staying a little longer while we put together some pieces of what happened to you.”

“
No, I think we'll be fine,” the woman said. The other two nodded, though a little reluctantly on the part of the older man.

Her reinforcements arrived, and Dymphna explained how they were going to share some of their magic with the ex-hostages. Skylar helped as a fire witch, Dymphna helped the water witch, and a nice older lady helped as an earth witch. Seb came down last, and he turned to Melanie.

Seb examined Melanie with his magic for quite a while then turned to Justin. “She left me a message.”

“
What?”

“
It's hard to describe how she did it, but as soon as I touched her, I felt her intent. She was already low on energy from the pregnancy and from trying to contact someone for help. Melanie wove a spell to lock her babies' magic inside her where no one could siphon it, but at a huge risk to herself. It's some complex spell work she's got going on here. If we don't figure something out to counteract her spell, the babies will be able to access all of her magic so they'll be fine, but she'll be in a coma until they're born, and perhaps after. She had no plan in place for breaking the spell. It made it strong enough that no one could hurt the babies, but like I said, she may never come out of it.”

Justin sank down into a chair. “What do we do?”

“
First we get as much magical energy in the twins as we can. We need to make sure they don't need Melanie's energy at all right now. Do you have anything left?”

“
A little.”

Dymphna chimed in, “I've still got some too.”

“
Then work together.”

Justin grabbed his sister's hand, and they both went mentally flying into Melanie's womb, leaving as much magic there for the babies as possible. Luckily, what Justin had done earlier seemed to have revived the twins somewhat since they were moving again. He felt a great sense of relief at that.

“
That should take care of them for now,” Dymphna said. “But especially with Melanie unconscious, they'll need as much help as they can get.”

Justin guessed that his brother saw the pain on his face or something, because Seb touched his arm lightly. “No sense keeping her down here if the main injuries we need to heal are in her mind and magic. Let's get her up to your room.”

“
Thank you.”

Justin was too worn down, so without a word, Seb lifted her and carried her upstairs. Dymphna followed. Seb lay Melanie on the bed, and Dymphna arranged the pillows under her head for comfort.

“
Now I'm going to try to give her some of my air magic.”

Justin could feel the ripples of Seb's considerable magical talent rearing its head to help Melanie. But she didn't move.

“
No good?”

“
I don't know if she picked anything up or not from the sheer magical assault. But then again, I'm not as powerful as she is, so I wouldn't have much chance of forcing through if she didn't want me to. I've got an idea for a spell that might help, but I've got to go research the details. Stay here with her, but get some sleep. I will need you for the spell, and you're no good to us if you've got no energy. I know you probably can't fall asleep by yourself, so lay down and I'll help you.”

Justin nodded. He got in bed next to her, held her hand, and felt Seb's magic sweep over him and put him to sleep. He had half expected and hoped to see her dreams, but got nothing.

It was late evening when Seb returned to the suite and roused Justin.

“
You have an idea?”

“
I do. We're going to call her spirit.”

“
Like a séance?”

“
Yeah, rather like a séance, but for the living. That's why I had to do so much research.” Seb placed and lit candles around the room. “I'm going to delve into her mind, seeking out where she's hid her spirit. She hid herself so her spell couldn't be broken, so it'll be hard going to find her. I'll be taking your spirit with me as a kind of inducement. The ideal outcome is that we'll find her, and you'll be able to remind her why she needs to come back to this plane with us. You'll tell her that the babies are going to be fine, and have her break the spell.”

“
I understand.”

“
Don't take too long either. We don't want either one of us to get trapped with her.”

“
I understand.”

“
Then give me your hand and we'll begin.”

“
Wait!” A voice hollered at the door. “Let me in before you do something irreversibly stupid.” The brothers looked at each other for a while, but then Seb went to answer the door.

The witch who stood there was short with shockingly white hair and violet eyes. She looked almost supernatural. “And who are you?” Justin asked, Seb seeming to have lost his voice.

“
I'm Fiona, and I'm here to protect you.” She shook her head. “Impulsive air witches, thinking they know everything,” she grumbled. Undeterred by his position within the Coven or the about eight inches he had on her, the visitor poked Seb in the chest. “Do you realize,” poke, “that if you had gone off half-cocked like that,” poke, “you would have for sure stayed in that other plane?” Poke. “You didn't even think to set a grounding spell, did you?” Poke.

Finally Seb moved her insistent finger away from his chest. “Alright, so I didn't set a grounding spell. We'll be bringing her back with us, so it'll be fine.”

“
Idiot. It's possible to bring her back but not be able to get back yourselves. Well, nothing to be done for it. I'll be your ground. Get your spell ready again, and I'll make the protective circle.”

Sure enough, while Seb prepared himself mentally, again, the woman made a neat circle of some kind of sweet-smelling powder around the three of them. When finished, she crossed her arms and glared at Seb. “You two can go now, but don't do anything else stupid or I'll call you back. Don't doubt that I can.”

Seb growled, but tugged Justin mentally with him as they went into the recesses of his wife's mind.

It seemed like an eternity had gone by, flashing colors, twists and turns, before Seb stopped. Justin saw an image of Melanie crouched on the ground, looking like she was putting together a puzzle. He didn't need Seb's nod to urge his spirit over to hers. He crouched next to her, looking down at her work.

“
Hey. What are you doing?”

“
No matter how I twist this piece, it just doesn't fit.”

He examined the puzzle then pulled a different piece out of the stack. “That's because this piece goes there.” Triumphantly, he placed the correct piece and smiled at his work.

“
You're good.”

“
I like puzzles. And I love you, Mel. You're a strong woman.”

“
Not strong enough to prevent my children from being hurt.”

“
Yes, quite strong enough to prevent them being hurt. The Order witches weren't able to get to them. Even now, fed by Dymphna and me, they're doing well within you. But we can't do it alone. We need you to be healthy to be their mother. You have to come back.”

“
It's safe now? You're sure? You're not a hallucination?”

“
It's all true. You're lying in our bed at home, and Seb is here with us, making this possible. The babies are fine. You have saved the twins, and saved our family.”

“
Thank you for coming after me. Seb, can you get us out of here?”

“
Consider it done.”

With one big tug, they all landed back in Justin's bedroom, both of the men on their backs. The newcomer witch glared at them. “Men,” she scoffed, and turned to Melanie. She passed her a note with a phone number on it. “Call me, because I know how to help you. Babies need more than a water witch, no matter how powerful he is.”

“
Thank you.” Melanie gratefully placed the paper on the side table.

“
Now I've got to go.” She dismissed herself, and left in a rush of billowing purple cloak.

“
I should go too,” Seb said, backing away. “I think you two need some time alone”

“
I think so too,” Justin said, looking his wife dead in the eye. He waited until the door closed behind his twin to say anything more. “I let you down, and I'm sorry. I wasn't there when you needed me, and I can't forgive myself for that. I was so worried I had lost you. I don't know what I'd do without you anymore, and I don't want to find out.”

“
You won't need to. You didn't let me down; you found me as soon as you could. You saved my life twice over: once in Maine, and back here, in my mind. You'll never lose me, Justin. I'm going to love you and keep you forever.”

Her eyes overflowed with tears, and she reached across the bed to hug him tight They kissed, and to Justin at least, all seemed right with the world again.

“
Come on, let's go watch a documentary and not listen to what they're saying.”

“
Sounds like a great plan.”

The next day, while Justin still slept, Melanie called the mysterious witch who had been there when she woke up with Seb and Justin.

“
Fiona,” the other woman answered.

“
It's Melanie. You helped me yesterday, and told me to call you.”

“
I'm glad you did. I know you've been having a water witch help you with your pregnancy, but I have a way that mixes earth magic with water magic to do even better. Would you like to try it?”

“
I would. When would you like to see me?”

“
As soon as possible.”

“
Can you come by in about an hour so I can shower and get dressed?”

“
I'll meet you downstairs.”

“
Thank you.”

“
I'm happy to help.”

Melanie sent a mental message to Seb to tell him that Fiona was coming back. Then she jumped in the shower.

When she did get downstairs, she saw Seb facing off against the petite witch. “And how do we know we can trust you?” He was yelling, right in the middle of the hallway.

“
Come on, let's all go in my office where we can talk,” Melanie said calmly. “Stop yelling, Seb.”

Reluctantly, he followed Melanie and Fiona. When she had shut the door, she rounded on her brother-in-law. “What was that for? She's here to help.”

“
How do we know that?”

“
You're an air witch!” Melanie exclaimed. “Didn't you ask her permission to see the truth of her statement? Never mind, I'll do it. Fiona, can I take a quick assessment of your intentions?”

Seb was fuming as Fiona assented with a wave. Melanie checked, and found that truly, the other witch wanted to help. There was something in there about wanting to be accepted, but Melanie wasn't going to push the limits of her permission to search Fiona's mind so she withdrew,

“
She's clear. She really does just want to help.”

“
Fine.” He stormed out of the office.

“
Please, have a seat.” Melanie indicated one of the chairs in front of the desk and sat down in the other one herself. “All I know about you is your name.”

“
I've got a special ability with earth magic. I can mix a potion, or rather, a series of potions, that will let your husband's magic be more potent.”

“
How do you know all this?”

“
I scry daily. I was called here, and I came. I've been around plenty of pregnant witches, and I've been a midwife for more than a few. As I said, I was called. If you could use some extra help or a midwife who isn't related to you, I'm here for you.”

“
I do believe I could use some help. And you're right; Justin or Dymphna would be a terrible acting midwife for me.”

“
Then it's settled. Try this potion,” and she brought something out from under her cape, “And tell me how you feel.”

Melanie took it. It tasted awful, but she drank the whole thing. She immediately felt better, too, much like after Justin gave her magic, but without the side effect of needing to sleep. “That's amazing. Really amazing.”

Justin came in right then. “Seb said there was a problem.” He looked like he was still half asleep.