Page 49 of Gone Hunting

Koda frowns. “Just so I’m clear, this light witch was out-matched, but she still went after the dark ones?”

“Not exactly,” I say. “I think she knew she couldn’t take them in a fight. That didn’t stop her from trying to help Celia. The dark one, though . . .” I shudder, remembering the feel of her kind of evil. “The dark one was too much for both of them.

“Both meaning the light witch and Celia?” Gemini asks.

It’s hard for those who have inner beasts not to feel superior to all other supernaturals. Gemini has seen first-hand how tough and smart Celia is. But what I felt was deadly and beyond Celia’s abilities.

Celia doesn’t possess what it takes to make a kill, make it count, and walk away without it affecting her. The dark witch who shadowed us was all about death and suffering, taking pleasure in the malice she inflicts.

“Neither stood a chance,” I confess.

I don’t like admitting what I do, especially to Celia. “I’m not certain what happened to the other two dark witches. I think they were close, but only the strongest presented herself,” I explain. “As Celia mentioned before, this dark figure appeared at the end of the alley. But then the light materialized immediately behind her.”

Mimi agrees. She didn’t mention taking that journey with us, but whatever she saw was enough. “The light couldn’t vanquish the dark,” she says. “Not this time. So, she sent Celia where she would be safe.” She shakes her head. “But it cost the light dearly. She paid the ultimate price for interfering with those who seek to kill Celia.”

“She’s dead,” Celia guesses. “The person who helped me?”

Mimi tucks her tea and saucer back into the sleeve of her cloak. “Nothing can help her now.”

We all quiet. If not for another closer screech of thunder I think more time would have passed in silence. “Why did the light witch send me here?” Celia asks. “Until now, I didn’t know anyone in Colorado.”

Mimi smiles. “Did you not hear her words, child?Salvala. ‘Save her,’ she said.” She turns from Celia and looks me dead in the eyes. “The light sent you to the safest place you could be.”

“Colorado?” Liam asks, confused.

“No,” Mimi replies, her voice lowering. “With Aric.”

Celia and I look at each other. I think I should say something, but something isn’t coming.

“I need to get back to my sisters,” Celia says.

“No,” Mimi says. “If you survive what’s coming, you’ll only lead the dark ones to those you love.” Mimi puckers her wrinkled brow. “Oh. Looks like the dark ones are already here.”

She shuffles to the door and opens it. A torrent of power detonates above us and thousands of mini-lightning bolts blast into the soil, rocking the earth and knocking everyone over.

Mimi brushes herself off as she rises. “Humpf,” she says. “This is worse than I thought.”

If Mimi is trying to piss me off, it’s working.

We scramble to our feet, stopping in front of the door. From each pocket of broken soil, something stirs. Lots of little somethings. A small pointy spike, covered in armor, pokes through the ground. It swings back and forth, feeling its surroundings before scurrying out.

“Okay. Scorpions,” Liam says. “That’s not so bad. Hey, they’re kind of cute.”

The scorpion is tiny. Just a baby. It shakes off the dirt covering it, each shift causing him to grow and his body to expand. Beside it, another scorpion emerges, only for the first scorpion to sting it with its now much longer tail.

The smaller scorpion flips upside down,screaming, its legs thrashing wildly and the pinchers making a high-pitched clicking sound. As we watch with our jaws on the ground, it turns a sickly gray and begins to decompose, splitting open and exposing its sticky innards.

The bigger scorpion devours it piece by piece, each swallow doubling its size, until he reaches the diameter of a full-grown tortoise.

“Well,” Mimi says. “That’s disturbing.”

And then she giggles.

More scorpions appear, growing in size and devouring those too slow to grow or get out of the way. “All right,” Liam concedes. “We might have a small problem.”

At the sound of Liam’s voice, one of the larger scorpions throws itself at the opening to the cave. It bangs against Mimi’s invisible ward. The scorpion shrieks, the power of Mimi’s magic sizzling through its armor.

An army of smaller scorpions don’t waste time, crawling over their brethren and eating him alive.

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