Destiny of the Witch (The Other Witch #4)

1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

High Priestess Liyana was playing games.

Benji, Bastion and I were cooling our heels in reception. We’d had an appointment for 3pm and it was now closer to 3.30. I was sorely tempted to leave and find another seer – any other seer – but if I stormed off Liyana would ensure that no one else would see me. That was the sort of thing I’d done in the past and I was a little ashamed of that behaviour now. I would wait Liyana out; surely I had more patience than she had rudeness?

As time dragged on, however, my impatience boiled over into anger. She was being disrespectful, not just to me but to the Coven Council over which I now – somehow – presided. That disrespect could not stand.

Nell, the seer’s receptionist, kept giving me furtive looks as if she were waiting for me to explode. That was enough to make me rein in my temper, so I was entirely level- headed when I instructed Bastion to kick down the door.

Nell squeaked as Bastion used his combat boots against the flimsy wood. The door banged open and slammed against the wall. We strode in, Bastion taking point, then me, with Benji bringing up the rear. Oscar was in the car ready for a quick getaway – which we might well need to make after the door debacle.

Liyana looked up coolly from her desk. She was hip-deep in paperwork and I knew how that felt, but nothing excused such disgraceful tardiness. People make appointments for a reason; if you can’t keep to them, you shouldn’t offer them.

I narrowed my eyes. ‘Do you intend to sever all ties with the Coven Council?’ I asked calmly.

She looked slightly taken aback. ‘You don’t have the power to—’

‘I do,’ I interrupted firmly. ‘I am the Crone. Let me tell you what will happen if the witches withdraw their services from you. Your homes, your offices, public spaces – none of them would be runed. The vampyrs could slide into your offices and public spaces and kill you where you stood. ’

I saw shock cross her face but she regrouped quickly. ‘And how is that different to what happened to Melva?’ Liyana snarled.

‘Melva removed the protective wards on purpose in order to meet with the vampyrs. She didn’t get them re-activated after the meeting.’

‘If you’re implying she is somehow at fault for her own death, I—’

‘Of course not!’ I snarled back. ‘She was a victim. And if you hadn’t left me cooling my heels for more than half an hour, you’d already know that I came here to tell you that her killer has been found and dealt with.’

She slumped back and gripped the arms of her chair. ‘Taken to the Connection?’ she asked tightly.

‘No. This was a witch matter and it has been dealt with internally.’

‘The necromancer,’ she spat. ‘Who was it?’

I hated having to admit it. ‘A witch from my Coven. Jeb.’

Her eyes narrowed. ‘I want him handed over to me for punishment.’

‘That is not possible,’ I said firmly.

She raised her voice. ‘I demand—’

‘Demand all you want.’ I made my voice louder than hers. ‘He is dead and his body has been burned. There is nothing left to give you.’

‘He’s dead?’ Her hands gripped the edge of her desk in a white-knuckled grip.

‘As dead as a Norwegian Blue parrot,’ I confirmed drily.

A ghost of a smile rippled across Liyana’s face before she got it under control. Evidently she was familiar with Monty Python , which made me like her a little more.

‘Okay.’ She rubbed a hand across her eyes and grimaced. I could tell that the next words were going to be difficult for her to say. ‘I’m sorry that I kept you waiting.’

‘You could have had this news half an hour ago,’ I pointed out huffily.

She closed her eyes and nodded. ‘I appreciate that you attended the office in person to let me know. It will be a great comfort to Melva’s nearest and dearest to learn that she has been avenged.’

Now I was here, I needed two favours from Liyana. I battled with myself, but in the end I asked for the most important first in case she only gave me one. ‘Good. To thank me, you can test these potions. Which of the four will work to cure an illness that resulted from temporal displacement? ’

I pulled out four vials and laid them on her desk. I wasn’t even entertaining the possibility that one of them might not work.

Liyana pressed her lips together but nodded sharply. ‘Fine.’

She pulled out a crystal ball and a white bone dish, then poured a little of the first vial into the receptacle and gazed into the depths of the crystal. A moment later she blinked, cleaned the white dish and began again. She did it twice more until all four potions had been tested.

I knew in my gut which one would work.

‘This one.’ She pointed to the potion that held the claw clippings, hair and blood. I knew it – Indy had known what she was doing. Young as she was, she was already very smart. The potion needed more than a single ingredient from the hellhound to work. All three were needed to unlock the portal to the Third realm.

Liyana continued, ‘All of the potions are safe for consumption, but this is the only one that will have the effect you seek.’

‘Thank you.’ I pocketed the correct vial and shoved the three remaining ones into my tote. You can’t trust anyone other than a witch to do a proper potion disposal.

Liyana cleared her throat a little. ‘Crone. ’

‘Yes?’

‘It won’t work,’ she warned softly.

‘What?’

‘The potion. It won’t work for your mother.’

‘You just said—’

‘I said that the potion will work to cure temporal displacement.’

‘That’s what I need.’

‘Is it?’ she asked pointedly.

‘Yes,’ I said firmly. ‘So thank you.’ My tone wasn’t oozing gratitude.

‘Thank you for finding Melva’s killer so quickly,’ Liyana stated.

‘You’re welcome. While you’re feeling grateful, I have another favour to ask.’ I might as well strike while the iron was hot.

‘Another?’ She arched an elegant eyebrow.

I ignored that. ‘The enchanted cloaks you supply—’

She held up her hand to stop me. ‘There are no records,’ she said firmly. ‘None. It is not the case that I can’t or won’t give them to you, but that they simply don’t exist. There have been times in our history where we have been hounded for proof that X bought Y. These days we simply don’t keep records so we have nothing to give, not an email address, a telephone number – nothing.’

‘That seems imprudent.’

‘Not at all,’ Liyana replied. ‘If we don’t hold information, we can’t be forced to part with it. All of our transactions are anonymous. The seer that made Bastion’s cloak for your little excursion didn’t know for whom she was making it. They never do.’

I refused to give up; there had to be some sort of trail we could follow. ‘So how are orders placed?’

‘Commercial ones are made through this office. Requests and payment are sent by post.’ Before I could ask for any postmarks stamped on the envelopes, she stopped me. ‘All the envelopes are destroyed after payment is verified.’

Sometimes the seers were more than a little annoying. ‘You must have an address, to send the cloak,’ I argued.

‘Once payment is verified, the cloak is sent to one of our many safety deposit boxes. Before the initial request is destroyed, we send a communication to the address it came from confirming the box’s location and giving a pin code to access it. When we’ve sent that, we destroy the request together with anything related to it, including which safety deposit box was used for delivery. We work through the safety boxes on a rolling schedule. The system guarantees anonymity. Deliberately so.’

‘You’re aiding evil witches.’

She shrugged. ‘The perception of evil varies depending on which side you’re on.’

‘You’re wrong. Torturing people – killing people – for magical gain is always evil,’ I argued.

‘What they do with the cloaks is none of my business. If we didn’t sell them, another seer would.’

Things had started rocky, gotten smoother and now were back to rocky again. I was glaring at her with all my might, but before I could say something truly bitchy Liyana spoke again. ‘If that is all, I have another appointment waiting.’

Apparently she didn’t want to leave her next appointment cooling their heels. Not that I was bitter.

‘And Amber?’ she added.

‘Yes?’

‘I apologise if our working relationship has started on the wrong foot. Melva meant a great deal to me.’

I nodded and stood up. At the door I paused. ‘I cared about her, too.’

I wasn’t even surprised when the words felt true.