Chapter 6
L ottie woke up, suddenly unsure where she was.
Relief ran over her when she realized she was back at Flo’s house.
They had found her even though she’d been moved.
Harry had even called in Zorth, who she knew was a powerful witch, even more powerful than Harry.
It had been a dream that woke her, and it had been an awful one.
She was still shaking as she sat up in bed. Maybe a warm shower would help.
After the shower, Lottie got ready and made it to the dining room in time for supper.
She felt awkward after her imprisonment and hoped no one would mention it.
Nothing had happened, beyond being imprisoned, thrown in a dirty cell, not fed, threatened with bodily harm and rape, and sold to a slaver.
She had not been there long, not like many of the other people that had been saved, but she could not deny that she had been scared to death from the moment she'd been taken until the moment she'd been released.
Lottie had always thought she was brave and could handle any situation without falling apart.
It was true that she had not fallen apart, but she had started to crumble more than once, and it hadn't been easy to keep herself pulled together.
It was clear that she was going to have to re-evaluate the way that she looked at herself.
This experience would give her the reason she needed to start working on some of her weaknesses.
Her magic had failed her, and it was clear that in that area she simply wasn't good enough.
Even with the backup of her artifact, she had been easily taken.
The only thing she could be proud of was having protected her charges.
As she entered the dining room, she nodded to everyone as she took her seat and fixed her plate.
Thank goodness no one had asked any questions or made any comments about what had happened, because she was simply not ready to discuss it.
Lottie did notice a distinctly different scent coming from Darren.
He'd made the change, and now he was a wolf. Her own wolf sat up and took notice.
It wasn't that she hadn't noticed him before; it was that, as a wolf, the bond was clearer and stronger.
If there had been any doubt before, it was gone now.
The bond would begin to grow until there was no way to avoid it.
She wasn't sure what she would do because they knew Wolf might not realize what the bond was.
Lottie didn't want to be played with via email by someone who didn't realize they were fated mates.
Darren might believe that it was just lust and attraction that drew him to her.
If she thought that was the case, she would have to leave.
Enough had already gone on without adding a situation like that.
When they arrived here last night, she'd had a big meal, but she was already starving again.
It was hard to tell if it was her wolf or her magic that needed feeding.
She knew she was going to work harder on her magic, and last night Harry had agreed to help if Lottie would help her with her case when she had a day off.
She wondered what she could do that would help Harry with her case.
Harry was so much stronger than she was as far as her magic went.
Maybe that was because Harry relied on her magic and used it every day as much as she could.
Harry had also mentioned that a familiar could add magic to a witch and assist her in situations like the one that she'd been in recently. What kind of familiar could she take that would help her? The little witch’s familiar, Havoc, was cute, but he looked like he could be a lot of trouble.
She didn't need that kind of trouble, but she did need a familiar that could fight if she was attacked.
That limited her choices since a familiar would have to stay with her to be of any use at all.
Havoc had just been found by Harry when she least expected it.
Maybe if Lottie kept her eyes open, she would find a familiar in a similar way.
There was no doubt that a witch and a familiar had to develop a bond quickly.
It was just something else to worry about at a time that she had too much to worry about.
Maybe she just needed to work on the other things, and the familiar problem would deal with itself.
The next morning, she got back to work and went out to the garden with the girls to see if any of the plants were starting to grow.
Some of them were poking their little heads out of the soil and beginning to grow.
When the girls weren't looking, she shot a little growing magic at them, and they doubled in size.
Not bad for a fire witch. She had her own element down, and even had some understanding of wind, but earth and water remained mysteries.
She needed to increase her power overall and work on the other two elements.
Earth was what was needed not only to grow things but to renew her power from plants.
Lottie could claim some energy from the sun, and she needed to work on that, too.
Her desire was to be able to work with all four elements since she had heard some witches could do that.
She wasn’t sure if Harry could or not. She bet Zorth could.
“I think I saw them grow!” Adele declared.
Yeah, of course she did. That was something she hoped the little girls wouldn’t share with their magic-phobic dad.
He wouldn’t be happy about her using magic around his daughters.
At least they hadn’t seen her use magic, and maybe that would be overlooked.
They headed inside since there was no more work in the garden to be done until the weeds started growing.
“What now?” Ellis asked.
“Maybe the two of you should do some schoolwork?” Lottie suggested.
She appreciated that the girls were self-starters and got on with their schoolwork with no issues.
They rarely needed work because they knew just what to do, and they seemed to understand most of what they set out to do.
While they were doing schoolwork, she got on her computer and did what work she could.
The possibility of more attacks worried her, but she hoped they had caused the guy after them enough trouble to at least slow him down.
“Are you two ready for lunch?” Lottie asked.
The aroma of good food filled the house, and it had made her hungry, and she was sure that it was nearly time to eat.
“Yeah!” Adele said, and Ellis seconded.
They all went to the bathroom to wash their hands, and then they headed to the dining room.
There was already food sitting on the table, and Flo and Carlos were setting out the rest. Darren came in as they were sitting down.
Lottie knew that eventually someone would bring up what had recently happened, but she hoped it wouldn't be now.
“Before we eat, I just wanted to let everyone know that the bad guys who attacked us are either in the council prison or are being watched. That is all.” Carlos explained.
At least there were no questions about what had happened or who she'd seen and what she'd done. It was an even bigger relief when Harry flashed in and joined them for the meal.
“I hope I didn't come at a bad time.” Harry wondered.
“You came at a good time because we're having lunch. Join us.” Flo suggested.
Harry immediately got a plate and started filling it. “This is so good. If I could afford a cook, I think I'd steal yours.” Harry giggled.
“I sense that you had a reason for coming,” Flo observed.
“Yes, I wanted to know when Lottie’s next day off is. I was going to invite her to hang out at my house.” Harry explained.
Flo gave Harry a long, hard look. She was no dummy and probably realized it was a witch thing. “She can take off tomorrow if she wants to. We've not really talked about what days she would take off, so it's however it works out.”
“What do you think?” Harry asked.
“You'll come get me?” Lottie asked.
“Sure. I’ll be here around breakfast time.” Harry mentioned.
“You’ll be welcome to eat with us,” Flo said.
“That sounds wonderful.” Harry agreed.
It sounded like it would be an interesting day. She was sure Harry would be working on the case, whatever that happened to be. There would also be the opportunity for her to learn from a witch far ahead of her in ability.
Darren made it to the table just before they started to eat.
“I thought I'd let everyone know that I won't be here tomorrow.
Damon suggested that I try working with the wardens for a day so that I could understand the kind of work that they do.
I'm not sure why it matters if I understand or not, but I appreciate the work that they did in bringing Lottie back, so I agreed.”
“Tomorrow might not be the best day to do that. I'm not going to be available, and magical protection is the best protection you can get.” Harry warned.
“They said that Marissa would be coming with us and that she was a very good witch,” Darren explained.
“She is a very good witch. Marissa just doesn't go out on the job much because they have so many kids.
She'll look out for you and the others. Still, I would worry about you, so here.” Harry handed him a charm with a white and a gold wolf on it.
“This will help protect you to a point, which should make things easier on Marissa.”
“Thank you,” Darren said as he took the artifact.
“Wear it and don't take it off, not even for a moment.” His mother instructed.
“I won't. It's very pretty.” Darren admitted.
“It also has strong protective magic,” Lottie explained.
“That makes me feel better. I'll admit I'm a little nervous about going with the wardens. My job is mentally taxing, and I don't get much physical exercise. I've only begun to learn about self-defense and a little bit of offense.” Darren offered.