Page 49 of Destiny of the Witch

I grimaced. ‘I don’t think it’s that easy. It containshundreds of people’s life forces. It’s not going to be easy to destroy.’

‘Nothing worth having comes easy,’ he shrugged. ‘They won’t be expecting us to return so quickly, so we have the element of surprise.’

I thought of Mack’s throwaway comment. ‘About that… I think theyareexpecting us. Mack said –’

‘Mack?’ Bastion interrupted with a furious growl.

‘He was the one that took me from Mum’s safe house,’ I explained. ‘He’s working with the evil Coven and the Domini.’

‘The Domini?’ Bastion asked.

‘An organisation that takes afterPinky and the Brain,’ Shirdal replied. At our blank stares, he elaborated, ‘They want to take over the world.’ It figured that Shirdal would know something about the shady organisation.

Bastion fixed me with a stare. ‘You’d best start at the beginning, Bambi.’

So I did. I told them everything, from my dad’s audio-astral projection to our chats and my final escape. It had all been just a little too easy; combining that with Mack’s comment made me think that they wanted us to come after them, which meant they’d be prepared for us. Thoughwhythey’d want that, I didn’t know.

‘They might be expecting us,’ Shirdal conceded, ‘but they don’t know that we know that they’re expecting us. So we still have the element of surprise.’

‘I don’t think we do.’ I frowned. ‘It may not be Apollinaire, but we have a spy in our midst.’

‘All the more reason for you to stay with Charlize–’ Bastion began.

‘No,’ I interrupted firmly. ‘This is a family affair. I need to be here.’

‘Amber…’

‘No,’ I repeated. ‘So what’s next? We can’t take Ria with us, nor can we take Kate.’ I didn’t feel comfortable bringing teens into battle.

‘If we don’t, we’ll have to leave men behind to guard them,’ Bastion pointed out. ‘We’re already sparse on the ground. A few witches, a wizard, a handful of griffins… If we have to leave any of them behind, we’re really spreading ourselves thin.’

‘Let’s leave Ria and Kate with Benji,’ I suggested. ‘He’ll keep them safe. And we can see if Meredith or Melrose want in or not.Everyone else, with us.’

Bastion gave my shoulder a squeeze and went to speak to Meredith and Melrose.

Willow sauntered towards me with a triumphant grin on her face. ‘All cleansed, Crone.’ As I reached out to take the pendant from her, my eyes leached to white. My head flung upwards, fixing on the stars above.

The Goddess wrenched me from my body and showed me the future which might be.

Chapter 43

The Goddess showed me Justine and Kate staying behind in the car, unconscious as they sent their everything to help me, guarded by Benji and Ria. She showed me using the glowing white pendant to find where the harkan rested in a library. The crystal glowed malevolently in its box, pulsing with the desire to destroy but hampered by my mum and our bloodline. It needed a bond to be truly unleashed.

The vision shifted and the Goddess showed me Frogmatch slipping silently into my skirt pocket, then she showed me Bastian and Shirdal fighting a chimera. She showed me the truth seeker crying in her cell and Benji pulling her through the walls. The Goddess imbued a sense of trust as I saw the truth seeker, for whatever reason, the Goddess wanted me to trust her. Finally, the Goddess showedme, raising a blade high and sobbing as I brought it down.

I jerked back to my body. Blinking rapidly, I cleared my eyes. Somehow, even though we’d left Benji guarding the others, he would make his way into the building. I grimaced. The vision had hardly been useful, apart from telling me we could trust the truth seeker, I didn’t know what else I’d gleaned from it that we could use.

‘All right, Bambi?’ Bastion murmured, pulling me into his arms. ‘You left us for a moment.’

‘The Goddess sent me a vision, though I’m not sure why. It wasn’t especially helpful. She agreed with us leaving Benji, Ria, the Mother and The Maiden behind though.’

‘At least we know we’re on the right track.’

‘I guess. She showed me you and Shirdal battling the chimera, and Frogmatch hiding in my pocket for some reason. ’ I rested my head against his chest as I struggled to understand what I’d seen. ‘I really just want to go home and read a good book in the bath.’

Bastion’s chest vibrated with silent laughter. ‘Later, witch. I promise I’ll give you your heart’s desire as soon as we have vanquished some evil.’

I mock sighed. ‘You always want to vanquish evil first. Your priorities are all wrong.’

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