Page 9 of Bewicched

I hadn’t responded, but she nodded, knowing. “Come tonight. Let your Gran explain.” She opened her bag and slid on a glove before cupping my face. “My darling girl, we’re not going to force you. If you refuse, we’ll need to find another to take your place. Either way, we need our third. We’ve been weakened for too long.” She air-kissed me. “Come tonight, have dinner, and make your decision. All right?”

I nodded. “I’ll be there.”

“Good,” she said on a nod, pulling the glove off and returning it to her bag.

The crash of the door closing as my Mother left had me wincing, not because she’d slammed it, but because my sensitivity was heightened. Another one was coming.Damn it!

I’d already had one vision today. When they came this hard and sudden, I knew I’d be down before I could make it to my studio. My head pounded painfully and the vision hadn’t even started yet. I sat where I stood and lay back. If I didn’t do it myself, the vision would drop me and I’d have a lot more bruises.

Staring up at the ceiling, blackness encroached, my eyesight contracting to a pinprick as the pressure had my head in a vice. The pain was excruciating. And then I was in it.

A child screams, his little voice like a nail to my skull. Lost and scared, he tries to run. He’s scared of the dark. Footprints in mud, leading into the forest. A shadow emerges, beckoning the child forward. Terror overwhelms me.

A woman in the moonlight, laughing, staring up into familiar eyes that turn distant and cold. The smile drops from her face as she starts to run. Cold. Freezing cold. Hands push her down, keep her under. My lungs burn as she chokes on seawater.

A dark mansion looms in the fog. Faint light flickers in empty windows. I shiver, my breath escaping like a fog. Black eyes bore into me, a hypnotic voice in my head pulses and persuades. Blood drips from the walls and cascades down the stairs. A wolf howls in pain as a courtyard fills with blood.

A man, vaguely familiar, hunches over a great leather tome. A shadow comes to him and whispers in his ear. The man looks up from his book, maniacal grin on his face as the darkness invades him, laying claim to his soul.

Fire. An inferno roars to life and consumes my heart. I’m gasping in pain, a voyeur to my own immolation. A towering wave of black water rises, breaking over a wall, washing away my ashes.

Wolves tear at one another, claws rending flesh and sinew. Howling, terrible howling pierces the silent night. A shot rings out, tearing through flesh. Blood soaks the forest floor as a predator hunts his prey.

A woman barely clings to life in a hospital. I can’t see her face, but I know her. I love her, but I can’t get to her, can’t find her through the fog. A familiar voice summons a demon. No! Following the voice, I run into the hospital bed and see the foul thing crouching on her chest, sucking out her soul and gobbling it down. I’m the one screaming now as a silhouette stands in the corner, gold dripping from its mouth as it gleefully watches the horror.

The demon turns his head, his eyes piercing what’s left of me as he stares into my soul. I throw my hands up, cast a spell he waves off. Leering, he springs, knocking me to the hospital room floor. A ton of rocks lay on my chest as he leans forward, inhaling my life.

5

It Doesn’t Pay to Piss Me Off

Istartled awake to a deep voice.

“Shhh. You’re okay.”

Blinking, I looked up into concerned brown eyes above a thick, dark beard. I started to get up, but he held me in place. I was still on the floor, but Declan had pulled my head onto his lap.

“Take a minute. You’re safe.” He glanced around the big empty gallery. “Do you have somebody here who can take care of you?” He tilted his head a moment. “I’m picking up three or four distinct wicche scents. Four. I think four.” He looked down, studying me again. “Do you take any meds for these seizures?”

“What?” My head pounded horribly from the lack of oxygen. That demon sitting on my chest, crushing me, left me breathless.

He gestured to my back door. “I was on the deck, making some changes to the plan, when I heard you whimpering. I came in and found you here. I was afraid you’d bash your head against the floor or something.”

“I’m fine, really.” I sat up and my head swam. I only had a second before my stomach rebelled.Shit!I hopped up and almost lost it, listing to the right like I was trying unsuccessfully to keep my feet under me on the deck of a ship in a storm, but Declan was there, holding me steady.

Hand over my mouth, I ran to the studio and barely made it to the toilet in the far corner before my stomach contents came hurtling up. I tried to hold my own hair back, but there’s so damn much of it. I grabbed at stray curls falling forward, unable to stop the cramp and reflex, the bile.

Two big, warm hands pushed mine away and pulled my hair back.

“Go away,” I gasped between heaves. My stomach was empty, but my body couldn’t stop trying to rid itself of that vision.

“It’s okay,” he soothed, going down on one knee beside me. He still had my hair clasped in one hand but placed the other one on my stomach. Like a heating pad, it helped to settle my spasming muscles. “Slow, deep breaths. You’re okay now.”

I wiped the tears from my face and held my head in my hands. What had happened? I’d had nightmares and visions for as long as I could remember, but none had even been so vivid. Caused sleepless nights? You bet. Caused retching? Nope. First time. My body felt like it had been in a car accident. Everything hurt. The vision had reached down my throat and throttled me from the inside.

I closed the lid, flushed the toilet, and pushed up to my feet, ignoring the hands on my hips holding me steady. “Sorry you had to see that, but thanks for helping.” I went to the sink, removed my gloves, cupped a hand under the water, and then brought it to my lips, swishing it around my mouth. My stomach was still unsettled, but I thought I was safe for the moment. Rather than drying my hands, I brought them to my face, closing my eyes against the cool wetness.

Dropping my arms, I stepped around Declan and went back into the studio. “Listen, I can’t talk about the deck now. Show me your plans tomorrow. I need to shower and”—I checked my phone for the time—“and go to my grandmother’s for dinner.”

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