Page 44 of Bewitched By the Wicked Witch
Maybe I was still making mistakes with equally catastrophic potential.
As we huddled together, sharing investigative theories in hushed tones, a sudden commotion drew our attention like a moth to a particularly ominous flame. The crowd parted with the dramatic flair of a badly staged play, revealing Tommy Bishop striding toward us with the confidence of someone who'd never faced real consequences for their actions.
"Well, well, well," he drawled, his nasal voice carrying over the suddenly hushed murmurs of onlookers. "If itisn't the town villain and her bewitched federal lapdog. Plotting your next move in this charming charade, are you?"
I felt Sage stiffen beside me, her fingers tightening around my arm like she was anchoring herself against a storm. I placed my hand over hers in silent support while fighting the urge to introduce Tommy's face to my fist.
What struck me immediately was Tommy's timing, appearing at the exact moment we were discussing our investigation. Either he possessed remarkably convenient luck, or someone had been monitoring our activities more closely than we'd realized.
"Tommy," I acknowledged, keeping my tone carefully neutral while my magic hummed beneath my skin like a caged predator. "How delightful to see you spreading joy and goodwill at a community celebration."
Tommy barked out a harsh laugh that sounded like a hyena with digestive issues. "Oh, I'm spreading something far more valuable than joy tonight. I'm delivering justice."
A ripple of unease moved through the gathered crowd like a slow-spreading infection. Sage and I exchanged a wary glance as my stomach dropped with the kind of dread usually reserved for tax audits and root canals.
Tommy's smile widened with the predatory satisfaction of someone about to reveal their masterpiece of malice. "Citizens of Old Hollows," he called out, his voice carrying the self-righteous authority of someone who'd never been told to shut up. "For too long, we have cowered in fear, plagued by the dark machinations of evil in our midst. But tonight, justice will finally be served!"
He thrust a dramatically accusatory fingertoward Sage like he was directing a particularly overwrought opera. "Sage Blackstone, you stand accused of the disappearance and murder of our innocent young women. What do you say to these charges?"
Gasps and shocked whispers erupted from the gathered townsfolk with all the subtlety of an explosion in a library. Protective fury surged through me as I stepped forward, planting myself between Sage and the increasingly hostile crowd.
"This is absolutely ridiculous," I shouted, my voice trembling with unleashed rage. "Sage has been working tirelessly to find the missing girls and bring them home safely. Where's your proof? Where's even a shred of actual evidence?"
Tommy's expression turned smugly triumphant, his eyes narrowing with malicious glee. "Evidence? Who needs mundane evidence when the truth is obvious to anyone with functioning brain cells? She's a Blackstone, evil runs in her bloodline like a hereditary disease. Darkness and depravity are her birthright."
The crowd's murmurs transformed swiftly into angry shouts and jeers as mob mentality took hold. "Evil witch!" they cried, their voices rising in a frenzied chorus that would have made a medieval inquisition proud. "She's responsible! Make her pay for her crimes!"
I looked around in horrified disbelief as faces I'd met during my investigation contorted with fear and hatred. They surged forward like a living wave, hands grasping at Sage, trying to drag her away from my protective stance.
"No!" I roared, throwing myself toward her while mymagic crackled around me like defensive lightning. "She's innocent!"
"You see?" Tommy announced to the crowd with elaborate flourish. "She has bewitched the very man the High Council sent to investigate her! What more proof do you need of her corrupting influence?"
Before I could respond, rough hands seized my arms while others grabbed Sage. I lunged forward, my fingers closing around Tommy's wrist in a grip designed to leave bruises.
"Listen carefully, you sniveling excuse for a human being," I growled, leaning close enough that he could see exactly how serious I was. "If you think I'll stand by and watch you persecute an innocent woman based on nothing but prejudice and small-minded fear, you are catastrophically mistaken."
Tommy tried to wrench free, his face flushing with rage and humiliation. "Release me, you corrupted fool! You have no authority here! The council will hear about this assault!"
"The council?" I scoffed, allowing my disdain to drip from every syllable. "You mean the same council that's been sitting on their collective hands while girls disappeared and dark magic ran rampant? The same council who is more interested in scapegoating Sage than actually solving murders?"
Doubt flickered across some faces in the crowd, the first cracks in their manufactured certainty. But Tommy wasn't finished with his performance.
He yanked his wrist from my grasp, stumbling backward while rubbing the reddened skin. "You see?" heshouted, pointing at me with renewed fervor. "He's completely under her spell! The evil witch has ensnared his mind, turned him against his own kind!"
"Wicked witch!" the crowd chanted with increasing fervor. "Burn her! Make her pay!"
My heart stopped as I saw several burly men grabbing Sage by the arms, dragging her forward despite her fierce struggles. She fought like a cornered wildcat, but they overwhelmed her with sheer numbers, snapping iron cuffs around her wrists to suppress her magic.
"What proof do you actually have?" I demanded desperately, my voice raw with fury. "What evidence connects Sage to these crimes? You cannot condemn someone without due process!"
But reason had abandoned this crowd entirely. They were too far gone, whipped into hysteria by Tommy's poisonous rhetoric and their own festering resentments.
"Please!" Sage cried out, her voice breaking as the iron cuffs bit into her skin. "I didn't do this!" But then, as the chanting continued, something shifted in her expression, a kind of dark acceptance as she met their hateful stares. "You've spent years trying to turn me into your monster," she said, her voice gaining strength and taking on an edge sharp enough to cut glass. "Congratulations. You've finally succeeded."
"Sage, no," I called out, trying to reach her through the mob. "Look at me."
Her gaze locked onto mine, but her eyes had changed, dark and filled with swirling stars, reflecting the full power she'd kept carefully contained for years. The iron cuffs began to crack under the pressureof her unleashed magic.
