Page 8 of Witch

The spells lay dark and dormant—invisible to the naked eye—and would remain that way until Kana activated them.

Beth was just pulling a pen out of the spiral spine of her notebook when Kana refocused on his guests.

“What are you doing here, Kana?” Beth asked as she flipped her notebook to an empty page.

Kana shrugged. “Lucky coincidence,” he lied, giving her the canned story he had prepared in case anyone from his old job discovered where he now worked. Beth didn’t know he was a witch, and Kana saw no reason to tell her. “The hunters found out I was fired because they had deleted the interview footage at the same time they were looking for a media consultant for their new office. They hired me.”

Beth grinned happily at him. “I’m glad you found a new job so quickly. Also, I’m glad I don’t have to explain why we’re here. When can we set up the interview?”

“The Hunters Association does not conduct interviews,” Kana said formally. “Sorry, Beth, but we have to decline.”

“I know that’s what they said on the phone, but I’m sure we can work something out,” Beth insisted. She smiled her patented “I’m cute and you want to listen to me” smile.

Battle lines drawn, Beth wasn’t going to back down, and neither was Kana.

“Beth, I promise you, any footage or interview material you try to generate about hunters or their association will mysteriously vanish before you have a chance to release it. We are not willing to agree to an interview.”

“I’m sure there’s someone here who would be happy to be interviewed,” Beth tried again.

Kana just shook his head. Beth’s chin was set and her eyes blazing as she tried to think of some way to convince Kana to change his mind. Lyra, on the other hand, was leaning back in her chair with her cheek resting on one fist as if she were incredibly bored by the entire process. Except her eyes were blazing too as she watched Beth and Kana speak.

Something bad is happening, Mika said, his voice a mere whisper as if even in mind to mind he didn’t want to be loud enough to be noticed.

Kana reached out with his magic, tentatively feeling through the air for whatever Mika was sensing. He found it almost immediately—what could only be described as a black miasma dripping from Lyra. It was hidden from physical sight, but his magic could detect it pooled on the floor underneath her where her feet were planted on the ground. Two lines going in two different directions stretched from that pool.

One line had a loop around Beth’s ankle, and as Beth exclaimed, “Kana, work with me here!” the line flared as if it was backlit by a blue light. The second line was creeping its way under the desk, heading toward Kana.

“Why are you really here?” Kana asked, his voice sharp as he cut Beth off. He was looking at Lyra as he spoke.

What is she? he added to Mika.

Mika shuddered in Kana’s lap. A summoned creature of some kind. Something from the demonic realm, I think, although it’s not a demon. Either way, it’s bad news.

Beth gasped and the line around her ankle flared again. “What do you mean? We’re here to set up an interview!”

Kana had to stop this before it escalated. Lyra was controlling Beth, and there was no telling what she might have Beth do if Kana kept denying her. He reached out with his magic, past the room to the hunter’s alarm system. The system could be tripped by hand and by magic, and Kana zapped it. The silent alarm immediately went off, letting everyone know there was a problem in the building. That done, Kana focused on forming his magic into a sharp knife, one that would cut the line controlling Beth. At the same time, he connected to the spell circles he had already drawn.

Kana slashed the knife through the black miasma, slicing it neatly. Beth let out a soft gasp. Her eyes rolled back and her body slid to the floor. Kana’s circles lit up with blinding flares, and Lyra let out an ear-piercing screech.

“Why are you really here?” Kana asked again, but this time his voice echoed with the power he was using to keep both circles running.

Lyra screeched again and flailed her arms, beating at the simple containment circle holding her captive in her chair. The circle was cracking under just the pressure of her fists. Kana needed to reinforce it, but even then, he wasn’t sure it would hold. He ought to let it drop and catch her in another, more complex circle instead.

Kana built the more complex circle just outside of the first, but this time he made it a layered protection circle, much like the one blazing on the walls of the room. He set the runes for the three levels, then spun the two upper circles so they were slightly offset from each other before activating the spell. The upper levels dropped into the base layer, and together they formed a fifteen-pointed star. Each point of the star where it intersected with the circle glowed in another pinprick of light.

The initial circle collapsed and Lyra let out a shriek of triumph that made Kana’s ears ring. She let out another shriek when she immediately ran into Kana’s new circle.

“Please, please, Mother Diana,” Sora said, his voice somehow breaking through the ringing in Kana’s ears. It took Kana a moment to realize he was hearing Sora through their shared channel.

“Kana’s locked himself in and none of us are strong enough to breach it to help him. His familiar can’t even reach him,” Ary’s voice said next.

“But you were powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Kana yesterday,” Ember continued.

A feminine snort sounded next. “I hate seeing cats and dogs cry, and being owed a favor from the hunter who threatened to censure us is a boon I particularly like. Show me the way.”

The voices faded as Lyra let out another piercing screech. She pounded her fists into Kana’s circle, her knuckles bloody, and the miasma around her flailed, trying to pound the circle as well, yet backing away as if the light pained it every time it dared to come close.

“Why are you here?” Kana asked again. Lyra only shrieked again in reply. Perhaps she wasn’t capable of speech? She had been using her miasma earlier to force Beth to speak for her, and Kana suspected the second line of miasma heading in his direction was meant to force him to do her bidding as well. She wouldn’t have had to say anything aloud with that sort of power at her disposal.

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