Page 26 of Witch Bound and Down

"I don't want her arrested, Daddy! I want her back! Maybe if we just talked to her, explained how sorry we are—"

"WE ain't sorry about nothing! SHE'S the one who turned our kitchen into a frog convention and embarrassed this family in front of half the county!"

"The frogs were kind of cute though," Smokie said wistfully. "Very... nature-y. Hazel always did love nature. Remember that time she tried to domesticate those wild raccoons?"

"I remember the time you had to get rabies shots because of those damn raccoons!"

"They were probably fine, Daddy. The vet said the chances of actual rabies were very low."

"You needed fourteen shots, boy! Fourteen!"

"Should we wait them out?" one of the federal agents asked, clearly trying to get the conversation back on track.

"No point," Sheriff Lawman replied. "Concealment spells don't last long. We'll sweep the area again in twenty minutes, after whatever they're using wears off. Nobody makes a fool out of the Lawman family and gets away with it."

"I still think if we just brought Mr. Snuggles, Hazel would listen to reason," Smokie said hopefully. "He has a very calming presence."

"I swear, boy, sometimes I wonder if you were switched at birth with someone else's cub."

"That's hurtful, Daddy. Mr. Snuggles says you should use more positive reinforcement in our relationship."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Hopper muttered so quietly only Hazel could hear. "The teddy bear is giving relationship advice now? And they wonder why you ran."

The group climbed back into their vehicles and roared off, leaving nothing but dust and the lingering scent of sage and righteous fury.

Hazel slumped against him as the invisibility spell dissolved, leaving them visible again but apparently undetected.

"Well," she said breathlessly, "that was terrifying."

"You did great," Bullseye said, his arms still around her. She hadn't moved away, and he wasn't in any hurry to let go. "How did you know they'd assume we were using concealment magic?"

"Because that's what any sensible witch would do in our situation." She turned in his arms to face him, which put them very close together in the confined space of the car. "Most people don't think to look for actual invisibility—it's much harder to maintain and requires more power."

"Good thing you're not most people."

"No," she agreed softly, her green eyes meeting his, "I'm definitely not."

"Also good thing they left before I sneezed," Hopper added helpfully. "Because I was about to blow that spell sky-high. Dust makes me twitchy."

The moment stretched between them, charged with the same electricity that had led to their kiss earlier. But before either of them could act on it, Bullseye's CB radio crackled to life.

"Breaker one-nine, this is Snowman with an urgent message for Bullseye. Do you copy?"

Bullseye reluctantly released Hazel and grabbed the radio. "Go ahead, Snowman."

"I've got some bad news and some worse news. Which do you want first?"

"Hit me with the bad news."

"Those witch types? They're not just looking for you. They're setting up roadblocks on every major route between here and our delivery point. I counted at least six checkpoint positions, all with some serious magical firepower."

"And the worse news?"

"They've got magical tracking equipment. High-grade stuff that can follow a signature through most concealment spells. Whatever they want to stop about our cargo, they want it stopped real bad."

Hazel paled. "High-grade tracking? That's... that's not legal for civilian use."

"When has legality ever stopped people with enough money and righteous fury?" Bullseye asked grimly. "Snowman, what's your current status?"

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