Witch Way

Chapter 14-- Hell Hath No Fury

Chapter 14

The three witches packed the things Amethyst thought they would need in order to subdue Soren as quickly as possible.

"Now, he didn't take the car, so he can't have gotten far. You two track him down and bring him back." Amethyst ordered. "Just remember he's not there right now. You may have to use physical force so that you can use the spell to knock him out."

Shayla shuddered at the thought of having to hurt Soren. Thankfully, and to her suspicion, Dillan came to her rescue there. "Well I'll take care of keeping him busy while you two try and knock him out."

"And we'll just hope that he doesn't meet up with any of that coven before we get there."

Amethyst voiced the thought that they all had on their minds, causing them all to stifle an involuntary shiver. Dillan and Amethyst were both more well versed in magic and spells than Shayla was. Going up against any of the other coven was terrifying for her. What good could she really do?

)O(

The darkness of night surrounding the shop was broken only by a sliver of moon and subtle starlight. The trio were walking along the sidewalk after determining the most likely way Soren would have gone. They were being as quiet as possible and straining their ears for any sound of the missing man.

Dillan, being the only man of the group for the time being, was heading up the group with Shayla behind him and Amethyst bringing up the rear. Shayla knew that it probably wasn't on purpose, but she had to bite back a comment about being able to take care of herself. She just felt that they didn't trust her to watch the front or the back.

But now wasn't the time for her over-inflated pride. Soren's life could be at stake. How many times would her father just let him go before he simply killed him to weaken her or get her to jump the gun and attack when she wasn't ready. She wondered what Lawerence thought he would gain by taking Soren now. Of course she would come for him, but she wouldn't come alone. Even if she tried, her two silent companions would never allow it.

There was the confusion in all of this; what was he hoping to gain by taking Soren now? He didn't even have the element of surprise at this point. Shayla was nearly vibrating with tension and half formed spells she'd been unknowingly putting together in her mind. Something just didn't fit about this, something unexpected was coming, and that, almost more than the worry for Soren, had her on edge.

She whispered a fervent prayer to the Goddess under her breath for her missing beau's safety, before forcing her attention back to listening for any signs of life around them. Being the newest user of the craft had her stumbling several minutes later when the now familiar buzz of power breathed over her skin. It was strange and almost unnatural as opposed to most of the magic she'd been around, but there was a tang that she recognized underneath the strange power.

She rushed off to her right, the others right on her heels, towards the faint feel of Soren's magic. She was always strong and independent, but in that moment her heart clenched in her chest with worry about what that magic was being used for. Was he being tortured? Her heart nearly stopped beating at that thought. Perhaps instead of mentally torturing him, someone had finally upped the stakes and was harming him physically.

With one last burst of speed that she didn't know she had in her, she burst out of the tree line and into a clearing. Her mind barely had a moment to take in the looming shapes of the trees above her, or the shadows of the underbrush that moved back and forth with the power ghosting through the clearing like small beasts ready to pounce. It took her all of thirty seconds to realize how wrong she had been.

No one was being tortured. She and her friends were being lured. She jerked to a halt directly across the wide clearing from the three people lurking in the shadows of the trees. Dillan and Amethyst drew to a stop beside her, gasping in horror as they realized what she already had.