Witches and Witnesses Read online

  “You enchanted it?” I asked, too stunned to acknowledge her joke. The last time I’d seen Grandma, she’d barely been able to use her magic at all. The fairies must’ve been working hard with her.

  Grandma beamed and raised her chin proudly. “You bet your keister I did. You didn’t think I’ve just been sittin’ around on my hands while I was gone, did ya?”

  I laughed and pulled her in for another hug. “Thank you, I love it.”

  “You’re welcome, Sugar. This way you’ll always have a part of me and your mother with you.”

  Heath cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t think any of us can compete with a gift like that, so maybe we should just leave ours and let these two catch up?” he suggested, reminding me that there were other people present.

  “Oh, Lilith, I’m sorry, everyone! No, you don’t have to go,” I insisted. “Beau has games for us to play too, so please, have a seat.”

  “She’s right! Don’t go scurryin’ away like scared bugs on account of me. I ain’t goin’ nowhere for a while. Zoe and I will have plenty of time to talk,” she said and paused. “Er, assumin’ it’s all right with you and Beau if I stay with y’all for a while?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said and reached for her hand.

  Grandma smiled and nodded. “Well all right then, let’s get our game on!” she said and headed to the table where Beau had placed all the supplies. “Oh, I know this one. Who Knows Mommy Best is a classic,” she said and picked up a stack of clipboards equipped with pens and sheets of paper and passed one to everyone but me. “It’s easy enough. I’ll ask y’all a question about Zoe, you write your answer on the paper, and whoever gets the most answers right wins.”

  Everyone pulled up a chair to form a circle around me, and Grandma sat right next to me. We started the game, but I couldn’t focus on any of the questions or answers. The only thing I could see and think about was Grandma.

  I reached for her hand, determined never to let her leave me again, no matter what. She’d raised me from the time I was five after my parents died, and I wanted my kids to have the same gift of her presence in their lives.

  “Well, this one oughta be easy,” Grandma said as she held up the piece of paper with all the questions. “Who’s Zoe’s favorite person in the world? Besides Beau, of course.” She winked at Beau and his face flushed.

  A chorus of voices screamed the answer: “Grandma Elle!”

  They had no idea how right they were.

  Chapter Two

  By the time we finished several rounds of games, most of which I didn’t have the energy to focus on, a fog of exhaustion had clouded everything — but we hadn’t even gotten to the rest of the gifts yet, and I would’ve been the world’s worst witch if I sent everyone home before they got to watch me open the things they’d carefully selected for me and the twins.

  As in tune with my feelings as ever, Beau appeared at my side and bent over to whisper in my ear. “You okay? You’re looking droopy.”

  I nodded. “That’s because I am. Today has been, well, draining,” I said and stole a glance over at Grandma just to make sure she was still there, that she hadn’t disappeared as abruptly as she’d re-entered my life. She offered me her crooked, devious smile to reassure me.

  “I can tell everyone you need to rest,” Beau said.

  “No, no. Let’s at least get to the gifts first.”

  “Sure,” Beau said and kissed my cheek. When he stood straight, everyone looked to him — he had that effect on people, probably from years spent in front of a camera on PV. He cleared his throat. “Well, as I’m sure you can all imagine, today’s been long for Zoe so I think we should probably start unwrapping some of those presents before she falls asleep at the table. What do you say?”

  Applause and cheers answered, the greatest sound in the world, and one of the twins kicked in my stomach as if they were clapping along. Raina noticed my grimace from where she sat directly across from me.

  “I know that look. I suppose the babies are as ready as we are,” she said with a warm smile.

  I mouthed a “Thank you” to her for her help in covering up my discomfort, and she stood and stepped to the nearby table piled three feet high with all the gifts everyone had brought. She reached for one and brought it to me in a swish of robes. With her auburn hair pulled into a meticulous bun on top of her head, she looked as beautiful yet serious as she always did.

  “These are from me and the rest of the staff at Veilside,” she said as she handed me two small boxes, one sea-foam green and the other pastel yellow, tied together with a single golden bow.

  “Thank you,” I said as I began untying the bow. Raina watched with a twinkle in her eye as I removed the bow and lifted the lid off both boxes. Inside each box, a tiny pacifier rested on equally small cushioned pillows, each matching the color of their container. The yellow one sported a cutesy, stylized drawing of a wand with a sparkling tip on its round grip, and the green had a drawing of a puppy sitting on its haunches.

  “Since we weren’t sure whether the babies would be boys, girls, witches, or shifters, we figured we’d cover all the bases,” Raina said.

  Tears tingled at the corners of my eyes. “They’re so cute! Thank you.”

  “They aren’t just for looks. I charmed them to soothe the babies when they use them, so I have a feeling you’ll be thanking us for them a lot more later.”

  “I’m sure they’ll get more than their fair share of usage then,” I said and reached up to hug her.

  “All right, who’s next?” Beau said as he rubbed his hands together over the pile of presents. He reached for one at random, and Mallory’s eyes lit up when he picked up the square-shaped disaster she’d brought with her.

  “Oh, that one’s mine!” she shouted and jumped out of her chair to take it from him and bring it to me. She pushed her coke-bottle glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Sorry about the wrapping job, I’ve been busy since graduation working on my new app and I kinda forgot about the shower until, um, today…”

  I laughed and waved her away. “Who cares? It’s the gift that matters, not the presentation.”

  “Right,” she said and gestured toward it. “Open it.”

  It didn’t take much effort at all to tear off the wrapping paper, and it didn’t surprise me in the slightest to find the title of a book staring back at me from a leather cover: Babies on Broomsticks: A Practical Guide for New Parents of Magical Children by Dr. Miranda De Vil, PhD.

  Mallory shrugged. “I haven’t read it myself, but I’ve heard it’s one of the best books out there, and considering your record of taking care of yourself, I figured you’d need some help.”

  I knew she meant no harm, so I burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re probably right — especially since I’m gonna have two little magical monsters to watch.”

  “Dr. De Vil is an alum of Veilside, where she got her Doctor of Paranormality in Paranormal Childhood Development, so she’s the real deal,” Mallory said and tapped the author’s name on the cover for emphasis.

  “Thanks, Mallory. I’m sure it’ll be helpful.”

  “Sure thing. And you know I’m always willing to babysit if you need a break.”

  I winked at her. “Don’t go making promises with your wand that your magic can’t cast.”

  “No, I’m serious. Besides, it’ll give me an excuse to see you more often.”

  I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Thanks. I’d like that too.”

  Mallory beamed, and Beau took the book and the boxes containing the pacifiers from me and set them on the table in favor of the next present. He examined the small card taped to its exterior and smiled. “Looks like this one is from all your old colleagues at the Messenger. Oh, and Ewan.”

  He passed me the large box, and its contents rolled and rattled. Mitch, Flora, and Ewan pulled their chairs closer to watch, each of them smirking at whatever secret they were all in on together.

  “The staff couldn’t come to con
sensus on what to get, so everyone pitched in something small,” Mitch said as I pulled off the wrapping paper. When I lifted the lid off the box, I found a mishmash of various baby toys inside — rattles, toy wands, balls with trinkets inside that chimed when they moved — and several teething rings, all of which looked a little more durable than the ones I’d seen outside Moon Grove. I lifted one out of the box and held it up to laughter.

  “Trust me, if one or both of your youngins turn out to have fangs, you’ll be glad to have them around. I chewed on everything I could get in my mouth when I was a pup,” Mitch said.

  “So did Beau, so you’ll definitely need those if either of the kids are anything like him,” Sam said, and Beau’s face caught fire.

  “Thanks, Dad,” he grumbled to laughter. To change the subject, he quickly reached for the next — and last — present. “Dear Lilith, this one’s heavy,” he said as he lifted it.

  “That’s from Michelle and I,” Sam said. I took the box from Beau and realized he wasn’t kidding. It must’ve weighed at least ten pounds.

  “Goodness, did you guys box up a boulder or something?” I asked.

  “Open it and find out,” Sam said, though he seemed more eager for me to open it than anyone else. I pulled off layers of meticulously taped paper — Michelle must’ve wrapped it — and gasped when I finally got to the box underneath.

  “Is this…?” I asked, unable to finish the sentence until I tore off the rest of the paper. It was a fancy camera from Seeing Eye, one of the top electronic brands in the paranormal world. I didn’t know for sure what a camera like that would cost, but it had to be somewhere in the thousands of dollars — not to mention the package of lenses they’d included along with it.

  “This is too much, I can’t take this,” I whispered.

  “Please, we insist,” Michelle said. “You‘ll want to capture every little moment of your kids’ lives, and what better way to do it than with a camera like this?”

  “Besides, we had a few extras lying around at the Channel 666 offices, so it’s not as audacious as it seems,” Sam added.

  “Why don’t we break into it now and give it a shot?” Beau suggested as he lifted the box out of my lap and began tearing into it.

  “You’re just excited to have a new toy to play with,” I said to laughter and Beau didn’t argue. I’d known him long enough to realize there wasn’t anything more tempting for him than a new piece of technology, and I could already tell that he’d be a more than willing cameraman for our new family — for better or worse.

  It only took him a matter of seconds to get the camera unboxed and ready to shoot. He equipped it with the middle-sized of the three lenses Sam and Michelle had included. “Okay, everyone, crowd around Zoe! We want pictures of you all.”

  “What about you? Don’t you wanna be in the picture too?” Grandma asked.

  “No need to worry. It has a magically activated switch that a witch or warlock among us can trip at will,” Beau said and set about stacking the boxes of presents to use as a makeshift tripod.

  My family and friends pressed in around me, Grandma on my left, Mallory on my right. Beau fiddled with the camera to line up the shot and make sure no one got cut off. While I waited, I realized that I’d never felt more belonging than I did in that moment.

  When Beau finished fiddling with the angle, he darted out from behind the camera and weaseled his way between Mallory and me to kneel and wrap his arms around both our shoulders.

  “Zoe, do you wanna do the honors?” he asked.

  “I don’t have my wand with me.”

  “Not to worry, I’ve got it,” Heath said from behind me and I heard rustling as he rummaged in his robes for his wand. “Okay, everyone, at the count of three. One, two, three!” he said, and the camera clicked several times.

  Beau dashed from the group to check the results, and when he held both his thumbs up, everyone dispersed. “They turned out great! Thanks, Heath.”

  “My pleasure,” Heath said, and as he tucked his wand back in his robes, someone’s phone started ringing. “Oh, Lilith, that’s mine. Please excuse me for a second,” Heath said and abruptly trotted out of the backyard with his phone in hand.

  I followed him with my eyes until he disappeared, and noticed Raina had been watching him too, which couldn’t have been a good sign. All at once, the too familiar feeling of dread I’d forgotten about during the party returned with a vengeance. It coiled around and squeezed my ribcage, making it difficult to breathe.

  Against all hope, I prayed the other shoe hadn’t finally dropped.

  No one seemed to know what to do or say after Heath’s departure, as if they’d picked up on my reaction — and they almost certainly had. We sat in an uncomfortable silence until Heath returned wearing a too-bright smile.

  “Ah, there wasn’t any need to put the festivities on hold for my sake. It wasn’t anything to worry about,” Heath said, trying to put all of us at ease. I couldn’t speak for the rest of the guests, but it hadn’t worked on me. In fact, it’d had the opposite effect.

  “Who wants some cake?” Beau asked, and if I could’ve kissed him, I would. He had the rare ability to paper over awkward moments, something I couldn’t claim for myself. “I left it inside to keep it from melting, but if you’ll follow me in, I can slice a piece up for everyone.”

  “Y’all know I ain’t ever gonna say no to some cake,” Grandma said and led the charge into the house. I couldn’t tell if she realized what was going on, but thankfully everyone followed her — except me and Heath. Beau winked at me from the backdoor before he closed it behind Ewan, the last of the guests to make it inside.

  As soon as the door clicked shut, Heath let out a long, deep sigh. I whirled on him.

  “What is it? I know something’s wrong, I can tell from the way you’re acting, so just tell me.”

  He flashed me a sad smile and came to sit down next to me in the chair Grandma had previously occupied. “I’m sorry to rain on your baby shower like this, Zoe, but I suppose we don’t always get to choose the best timing for things like this.”

  He straightened his robes. “I’m sure you remember the two masked individuals connected to the Black Brotherhood who attacked you in the dungeon beneath Derwin Moriarty’s home?”

  “Yeah. What about them? They’re both dead.”

  Heath stared me straight in the eye. “One of them is, yes.”

  The floor seemed to fall out from beneath me, and I had to grip the arms of my chair to keep from plummeting into the depths below. I choked down the fear building at the back of my throat. “What about the other one?”

  “He’s been in a coma since you shoved a column over on him, something we discovered when I sent the gargoyles to clean up the mess. I assigned a team of Healers and experts to tend to him in secret so we could question him when he awoke, but he remained unconscious — until today. That’s what the call was about.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this? Don’t you think I’d want to know?”

  Heath’s expression fell. “Trust me, I wanted to, but I didn’t think it was prudent. The attacker isn’t who you think he is, Zoe, and I didn’t want any of the wrong people finding out about him.”

  “Then who is he, and why is he worth protecting?”

  Heath broke eye contact with me and sighed. “He’s my son, Adam Highmore.”

  The ground beneath me that had already opened up and threatened to swallow me seemed to crack further open, such that I swore I could feel the flames of the abyss licking at my toes. I’d always known in some abstract way that Heath had a family and children — I’d attended Veilside briefly with his grandson, Seth, after all — but for whatever reason, I never thought to ask about his son.

  Now, I realized he probably wouldn’t have told me anything about Adam even if I had, and for good reason. How in Lilith’s name could the Head Warlock of Moon Grove possibly tell anyone that his son was a member of the Black Brotherhood, the same group working to und
ermine everything Heath and his Council had been trying to accomplish for years?

  “I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me for keeping this from you, but I hope now that you have your own children on the way you can empathize with why I did it,” Heath said, but his words barely registered. “Adam hasn’t been well for a long time, and he and I haven’t had contact for years. Believe me, I had no idea that this is where life had led him until I saw him lying in a hospital bed.”

  “So, what happens now? You can’t keep this a secret forever.”

  Heath hung his head and sighed. “I’m painfully aware of that fact, but I also can’t protect Adam from the consequences of his actions. He’ll answer for what he’s done, but I’m prepared to offer him immunity from exile and having his wand snapped — if he’ll agree to make a public statement condemning the Brotherhood and provides us insider information on the organization.”

  “And you think he’ll sign up for that? I don’t know much about the Brotherhood, but if they’re like any other gang, I’m willing to bet they won’t tolerate rats. Adam will know that too. Won’t they come after him for this?”

  Heath shook his head. “He’ll have no choice. This is his last remaining choice to redeem himself. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get him to see that, but I‘ll certainly try. Before I do that, however, I want your permission.”

  “What?”

  Heath raised his eyebrows. “Don’t sound so shocked, Zoe. You and I are the leaders of the Council. I would never do something like this without your knowledge and consent. I owe you and the other members that level of respect.”

  “How could I say no? For Lilith’s sake, he’s your son,” I said and instinctively massaged my stomach. My own children hadn’t yet been born, but I couldn’t imagine facing a choice like the one before Heath.

  He breathed a sigh of relief and rested his hand on mine. “Thank you, Zoe. You have no idea how much it means to me.”