Page 97 of Waltzing With Witches

She crosses her arms. “Yeah, I just…life can seem so unfair. You three have been through so much. I wish I was a witch so I could do something to help.”

Oh. OH.

I wonder if not being a witch is bothering her more than she’s let on.

“Not being a witch doesn’t make you any less,” I remind her. “You’re the best, kindest person I know. Like, literally our favorite.”

“I know,” she says with a huff, even though she grins at the compliment. “You know I’d do anything for you girls, I just…do you want to grab a nightcap and chitchat? I’m kind of dealing with something, and I could use your advice.”

I barely manage to hold back a smile. “Of course! This thing you're struggling with wouldn’t be a certain handsome sylph with flaming blue hair, would it?”

Her cheeks flush bright red, and she looks away.

I whip out a pointer finger and wag it in her face. “Louanna, it is! Oh my God, so all the flirting isn’t really one-sided, is it?”

“Well,” she grumbles, “it’s complicated.”

I guide her around the side of Abe’s truck and open the door, gesturing for her to get in. “If you please, m’lady. Let’s drink and talk blue boys.”

She snorts and clambers up into the truck.

Half an hour later, Ben swings the front doors wide for us. I gesture up the hall. “Lou, honey, why don’t you go pour us a couple of drinks? I’ve got to check the monitoring system.”

I don’t really need to check it, but now that Abe’s taught me a little bit about how it works, I feel compelled to see for myself that nothing’s amiss.

She rubs at the back of her elbow, looking sheepish. “Actually, can I see it?” A tiny laugh rumbles from her throat. “I’ve never been in a Keeper’s comm room, and I’m kind of fascinated. I’ll never be part of a protector team, but you know I’m nosy as hell.”

Laughing, I pull her along with me to the comm room. When I swing the door open, spinning her around the small space, her mouth drops open.

“Holy shit,” she breathes. “This is incredible. So much information in one place. You know how to work all of this?” She turns shocked brown eyes on me, taking a step back.

“No.” I shake my head, flopping down in Abe’s seat. I punch in the code he taught me, pointing at the screen. “This code tells the wards to compile a cohesive report of what’s going on and spit out a notification of anything amiss.”

Lou doesn’t answer, and something about her silence lifts the hair on my neck. I turn slowly in my seat, eyes springing wide as my aunt glares with hate-filled eyes.

“Thank you, witch,” she says in a voice I don’t recognize. It’s deeper, rough, masculine. My body tenses, ready to spring out of the chair. Lou’s face shimmers and morphs as if something’s trying to claw its way out of her, overlaying a diaphanous glamour on top of her more feminine features.

“Morgan, help!” she screams, and the plea sounds like her, but, the next moment, the Lou I know is gone. A dark, ghostly figure is transposed over her terrified face. Elegant, hawkish features form into a cruel sneer.

Alarms begin to blare inside the castle as realization hits me.

The dark magic.

Posing as something familiar.

Wasn’t trying to kill Leighton.

Oh my God.

“Wesley,” I croak.

“Hello, witch,” the dark figure singsongs, Lou’s face a visible mask of pain beneath his transparent smile. “Her physical body has been so helpful in carrying out my plans.”

I smash the face of my comm watch. “Call Abe!” I shriek before Wesley forces Lou’s arm out, tossing me across the room as magic burns over my skin. Fire dances within me, scorching from the inside out with invisible flames. When I open my mouth to scream, nothing happens.

Lou’s body is forced into a seated position in Abe’s chair. She seems to fight Wesley, clawing and screaming, but his ghostly black figure lifts her hands and begins mashing buttons with clinical efficiency. He knew what he’d find when he came in here. Lou’s body is nothing but a puppet to him.

“Stop!” I manage. He doesn’t bother to turn as he punches in a series of commands I don’t recognize.

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