Page 56 of His Whispered Witch

She told the raccoon to wake up and ordered it to turn on the water. It leaped out of the tree and scrambled toward the house like she’d lit its tail on fire. She tried not to order her charges around, but she didn't have time to explain to the tiny mammal why he was the only one who could do this job that required opposable thumbs.

Something whooshed through the air, and the wolf whimpered. She spun to see its fur coated in a potion that slicked down its fur.

Then the wolf growled.

Thirty seconds!she thought desperately, though they weren’t touching anymore. She pulled the hose through her hands until she could grab the high-pressure nozzle. Perfect. She squeezed the handle and held it down with the little clip meant for that purpose and got ready.

She called to Ducky, infusing her magic with joy and welcome, hating that she was pitting the loyal dog against its masters, but there wasn’t anything else close and big. Just as the raccoon succeeded in turning the crank, Ducky burst out of the door behind her and dashed toward her.

“Ducky!” witches cried from the lawn.

“Here boy!”

“Don’t, she’s an animal witch!”

Penn sighed. At least one of them had caught on. Just as the hose filled in her hands, she put the end in Ducky’s mouth and told him how much he needed to go say hi to the rest of his family.

He dashed joyfully toward the witches as water started spurting. Women scattered.

She dove toward Asher. They had seconds.

She got a vivid picture of sitting on his back.

“I’m way too… Okay, fine!” she amended as the wolf snarled at her.

She lay across its back and looped her arms around its neck. Her feet dangled on the grass, but that didn’t seem to bother the wolf. They leaped through the air, barreled past Tori, who was dripping wet and trying to get to her feet, then jumped past the tree that warded the land and ran for the truck.

The wolf stopped, and she kept going, tumbling off the front and slamming her shoulder into the pavement. She rolled until she bumped into the truck’s front tire and lay there dazed for half a second until she heard feet running toward her.

Resolutely, she stood and shouted at the wolf, “Get the hell in the truck!”

It leaped into the back, and she wrenched open the driver’s side door. Her heart stopped as she realized she’d need a damn key, then sagged when she saw it in the ignition. He’d thought this might happen. He’d thought it might and had prepared.

“You are banished!” Siobhan’s sonorous voice declared as Penn turned the key and floored it.

She held her breath until she saw they weren’t trying to come after her.

As she took the corner too fast and prayed the trailer wouldn’t overturn, she said, “You could have had all the power in the world.”

13

Asher heard something in the far distance. He was dreaming, but that wasn’t right. He wasn’t asleep.

“Asher, you have to come back.”

He loved that voice. Maybe he was dead, and the angels were speaking to him.

“Asher!”

Slowly, he realized he was not dead or sleeping. He was awake, but he was a wolf. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Why was he a wolf?

He felt something alive brush against his fur, the first physical sensation he could discern, and scrambled for control as the wolf rose within him, ready to do battle.

“Okay, not that! I’m taking the lizard far away.”

There was a lizard? Why was there a lizard, and why did his wolf want to kill it?

You hate eating reptiles.

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