~

I stalked towards that twisted and broken body of the witch, and with each thud of my feet against the ground, I imagined bringing her back to life and killing her all over again. Each death was different, and each one just made me more miffed.

“Remind never to get on your bad side,” Malachi taunted me.

“Stop reading my damn mind.”

The unnatural position of the body over the gravestone didn’t repulse me as it should have. I was glad she was dead. I was going to see who she was and then never give that witch one more moments thought.

I reached out and fisted the thick hood of her robe, with one determined yank I pulled it from her face, and my world came crashing down around my ears once more.

I let go of the material and tossed myself back away from her. I stumbled over my own feet and crashed down to my backside with a startled cry just as Malachi rounded the gravestone. He was on his knees beside me in a heartbeat.

“What the…?” Malachi bit out, looking just as shocked as I felt.

“Who is it?” Gran’s voice snapped me out of it. I fisted Malachi’s torn jacket and used him as leverage to push up to my feet. Then I was headed towards Gran on an intercept course.

“No,” I said, shaking my head, determined that she wasn’t going to witness what I had. I had killed the witch, and it was my nightmare to pay witness to and not hers.

“Margaret?” Gran stopped in her tracks. I hadn’t realised that I was crying until she reached up and brushed my tears away.

“It’s … Aunt Kenzie.”

 

~

 

I’d never seen Gran so withdrawn. Nothing ever knocked the stuffing out of the woman, until now.

She looked her years. There was no get up and go inside of her, it had got up and gone, and I didn’t know what to do to bring it back, none of us did.

It wasn’t like finding out that one of your own was a raving lunatic that was hell-bent on raising pure evil from the earth and was happy to kill you all off to get what she wanted – power – was an everyday occurrence, and you could just shrug and say; whatever.

How do you come back from something like that? There was a big black rain cloud hanging over all of us, but Gran had lost a daughter.

Isla wasn’t talking either. She seemed as shocked to find out what had happened as the rest of us, and she wasn’t opening her front door to anyone, not even my father.

“What do we do about Gran?” Moira asked as we stood in the doorway to the greenhouse and watched her just sitting in a chair staring out at the sunset.

“I don’t know – tell her you’re pregnant?”

“What?” Moira squeaked.

“See, if it shocks the hell out of you, it might just snap her out of it,” I offered back.

“Not even remotely funny.” Moira glared at me.

“Would you like me to bite my tongue?”

“Oh yeah,” she hissed, and I did.

I didn’t wish the patter of tiny feet on Moira just yet because I thought she had enough having Ross’ big stomping ones around, but someday soon I could see her with babies, lots of them.

“Gran, Moira wants to learn the art of matchmaking, and she’s serious this time,” I called and heard my sister squeak again. She offered me a death glare but bit down on her annoyance.

“I am,” she announced, trying to sound like her feet weren’t already running for the hills.

“Soon, maybe,” Gran said absently.

“It’ll be grand,” I declared, and Gran gave a slow nod. “You know it’s not your fault, right? I was the one who…”

“I should never have done the spell,” Gran said as if to herself.

I headed right for her and knelt down in front of her, but she wouldn’t look at me – anywhere but at me. It was only fitting; I had just killed Aunt Kenzie.

“Then Moira and Eileen might not have been here. I would, because, I’m your favourite, and fate would have blessed you with me, but the others?” I teased her and saw the corners of her mouth trying to raise a smile.

“I wronged my own family,” Gran said in a half-whisper. “Be careful what you wish for.”

“You blessed us with life, and the power to defend ourselves, how wrong is that?”

“At what cost, Margaret?” At least it wasn’t my full name, I guess.

“You’ll mourn Kenzie, and then you’ll move on with life because that’s the way of it. You have too much to teach Moira; you can’t leave the girl half-baked.”

I heard my sister mutter something from the doorway.

“Aye, she can’t even speak up for herself,” Gran said, and I caught Moira rolling her eyes.

“She’ll be grand once you’re done with her, and we still have how many more holes in the wall filled with magic to discover in here?”

“Nice try, keep your grubby paws off,” Gran said with a little more steel in her tone.

“That’s Ross, I’m Maggie,” I teased.

“I’m not senile yet, young lady,” she scowled.

“Cool, then let’s go make dinner,” I said, pushing up to my feet and waiting for her to do the same.

“I’ll just be resting here for a while, you go get it started,” she said, and I sighed inwardly. But it was a start, and I wasn’t giving up until Gran was back to her butt-whooping self.

 

~

 

“No, no, no,” Malachi said, but I knew I could get him to cave. It would be like taking candy from a baby – a baby with razor-sharp fangs and a taste for blood.

“Just go in there and be your usual, charming self that should get her blood boiling.” I pointed to the greenhouse, and he scowled.

“And get zapped.”

“Hopefully…”

“Gee, thanks. I think I’ll pass.” He went to turn away.

“Name your price, Chicken Little.” He stopped and turned back towards me, narrowed those sexy eyes on me, and gave it a long hard thought.

“No.” He turned again.

“Blood!” I rushed out without thinking, and he stopped in place, turned and folded his arms across his chest, and considered it.

“Hmm.”

“That’s it? Hmm?” I’d have thought he’d jump at the chance to get his fangs into a live one.

“I can get blood anywhere.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“How about you really make my pain and suffering worthwhile?”

“I’d say tread carefully.” If he was thinking what he looked like he was thinking with that smirk, then he was going down in a blaze of glory, and when I say blaze…

“Dinner,” he said, and I frowned.

“Dinner?” I didn’t know if I should have been insulted or disappointed.

“And…”

“Watch it,” I hissed and felt a rush of stupid excitement within me.

“Turn off your magic, permanently.”

“What?” I must have misheard him. He reached up and tapped his temple. “Oh.” That magic. Hell no. Having him inside my head the first time was bad enough, and I still didn’t know what he’d found out. “Anything else?”

“The rest we can play by ear.” He looked smug, too smug.

“I’ll give you one and three, but two we can play by ear.” I countered, because who folds at the start of a negotiation?

“Deal.” He looked like he’d won the prize and that made me suspicious.

“Huh?”

“You always ask for more than what you’ll get, so the other side gives you what you really want,” he said in a tone that dripped of victory gloating.

I might just have zapped him myself if I didn’t need him to be Gran’s sacrificially lamb. I’d been conned.

“You’ll pay for the smugness.”

“No doubt, but I still won, and we both know that I’m always right, right?”

Yeah, I really wanted to zap him myself, but I’d made a bargain so that Gran could have that pleasure. Now, where did I leave that fork?