Chapter 23
“WHAT?” Victoria screamed. “Duke just gave up?” She slammed her phone on the kitchen counter and disconnected the call.
Lioness, who had been sitting at the kitchen island, rushed over to her. “I heard the entire thing. Bas said that he had done all he could think of to do.”
“That’s it then.”
Lioness put her arms around a trembling Rosa-looking Victoria and held her tightly.
“I can’t believe he would do that…” She broke away from Lioness and paced around the room. “Men! As soon as things get difficult, they bail! I hate them!” Her French accent had returned as her face reddened, and she clenched her fists.
Magda, Joell, and Crystal heard her shouts and rushed into the mansion’s kitchen. No one tried to argue with her. They simply waited for her to get it all out.
“Merde! Merde! Merde!”
Eventually, Victoria crumpled to the ground and wailed.
Then she seemed to pull herself together.
“Maybe if we pay him extra to continue… Or perhaps Bas can intervene and compel him to keep trying… Oh, it’s no use!
” She burst into tears, lay on the floor in a fetal position, and covered her face with her hands while she wept.
The four other witches in attendance gathered around her. Lioness grabbed her and pulled her up to a sitting position. “We’re not going to desert you, Victoria. We will help you figure this out, if it’s the last thing we do.”
“Yes,” Crystal agreed. “Who needs a man, anyway?”
“Easy for you to say,” Victoria grumbled. “You have Mason.”
“Yes, but I’ve been where you are. Remember Stan?” Crystal said.
“No one has been where I am!” Victoria wailed.
“When inner strength and compassion are required, it’s women who are better equipped to handle it,” Magda added. “You must be gentle with yourself.”
Joell jammed her hands on her hips. “Fuck compassion. Get up, woman!”
Victoria let out a deep breath and struggled to her feet. She swayed slightly, then planted her feet shoulder-width apart and crossed her arms. “You’re right. If Duke wants out, so be it. I’m not giving up on me.”
Joell nodded. “Yes! And we won’t give up on you either.”
Magda smiled. “Atta girl.”
A sly smile stole across Crystal’s face. “You know, I think that’s the fastest I’ve seen someone go through all five stages of grief.”
Duke went back and forth on his decision to involve the witches in his latest attempt or go it alone.
The sorceress was incredibly powerful. Simply the fact that she could make herself invisible and transport him out of her house before he could blink was something he’d probably never master.
If he involved the witches, they might have a full-on war with the powerful entity.
Because they were not at full strength without Victoria, one or more of them might not survive.
On the other hand, if he went up against her alone, he might not survive, either.
He wished he could be more confident that he had found the correct spell to reverse. If it were something else, and he missed a key component, he could do more harm than good. Perhaps, switching bodies with the sorceress himself! That would be incredibly awkward.
Wait a minute!
This is what the witches do! They go up against powerful paranormal entities every day. They’d be insulted if I didn’t come to them for help. What were you thinking, Duke?
The wall phone in the mansion’s kitchen rang. Yes, they had an antiquated landline as a backup.
Lioness answered. “You have the L.A.W., whaddaya want?” she growled, then giggled. Lioness could always be counted on to provide a little silly or inappropriate humor.
He heard a few chortles in the background. “Lioness, I assume that’s you… Don’t let Victoria know it’s me, if she’s there.”
“Oh, Hi, Duke! You wanted to speak to Victoria? You want to apologize for sleazing out of telling her in person that you wouldn’t help her?”
“No! I—”
“Duke?”
Victoria’s voice came over the line. Lioness must have handed her the phone.
Duke plopped down on his makeshift jungle swing; two long vines connected to a strong mat, tied to an overhanging branch.
“Uh… Yes. I—I do want to apologize, but I didn’t give up.
I may have found the spell I need, and I found the sorceress who cast it, but I need to be sure I can control her.
I was hoping your L.A.W. sisters could help me interrogate the sorceress.
I tried, but I can almost guarantee she’s hiding something. ”
“Merveilleux! That’s wonderful!”
A voice in the background called out, “Did he finally solve this bitch of a conundrum?”
“Was that Rosa?” Duke asked
“That’s Rosa, the dry cleaner. She’s still in my body, so she’s on house arrest, but we don’t have to tie her to the bed anymore. I think she wants out of this mess as much as the real me does.”
“Seriously? She wants to go back to her old life?”
“I don’t know about her life, but she misses her old body. She says she feels like a giraffe.”
Duke laughed. He couldn’t help it, after spending time with Victoria, who’d had several mishaps trying to get her short legs to stretch as far as her real legs would have.
Once she landed in a river while trying to jump from rock to rock to cross it.
Another time, she couldn’t stretch from one rung of a primitive ladder to the next, and he’d had to haul her up.
“Okay, let’s try this last-ditch effort. I know the L.A.W. isn’t at full strength without you, but how many do you have who aren’t on assignment right now?”
“Chad has been holding off any non-emergencies, so we can give you all 7 witches and non-magical me.”
“You’re still a witch. You might not have any supernatural powers right now, but you know how to help cast a spell. I might need you to activate a trapping spell if the rest of the women can occupy the sorceress long enough.”
“You set it up, and all I have to do is push a button or something?”
“Something like that. I’ll set it to activate if you say the magic words.”
“Which are?”
“Think it over and come up with something you’ll remember and she won’t guess.”
“I’m sure I can do something simple like that. How dangerous is this woman?”
“I’m pretty sure she has the power of invisibility. Not only that, but she also transported me from inside her cabin to the outside, instantly, without opening a door or using a Star Trek transporter.”
“Wow! I don’t think any of us can pull that off. Laws of physics, and all…”
“Yes, well, the predicament you’re in defies the laws of physics too.”
“You’re right about that. So, we really need this woman, or entity, or whatever she is…”
“I’m afraid so. The good news is I know where she lives, and I’m coming for her.”
Duke didn’t pace. He prowled. Back and forth across the jungle floor, fingers flexing, jaw tight, as if his thoughts might catch up and tackle him if he stopped moving.
A sorceress who could vanish mid-step. Slip through space like it had an invisible revolving door. Probably a few more party tricks she hadn’t bothered to show yet.
Great.
“Say it out loud,” Joell called from the table, not looking up from the map she’d stabbed full of pins. “You’re thinking so hard it’s distracting to the psychics.”
Duke dragged his hand through his hair. “We need everyone.”
That got their attention.
“The witches,” he said. “All of you. Battle-ready.”
Lioness’s mouth curved. “Finally. I was getting bored.”
Victoria folded her arms. “You think she’s that strong?” she asked.
“I think,” Duke said, “we’ve only seen the demo version.”
Magda pushed off the wall. “Well, I didn’t bring my good boots for nothing.”
That was that. No need to vote or debate. Just the quiet, collective shift from theory to war.
Duke exhaled sharply. “We hit her at the cabin.”
“And your brilliant double body-swap idea?” Crystal asked, eyes sparkling with trouble.
Lioness snorted. “Oh, please say we’re doing that.”
“Absolutely not,” Victoria said flatly. “The Sorceress and the dry cleaner don’t need to go through what I’ve gone through. I just want this to end.”
“Keep it in your back pocket,” Lioness added helpfully.
“Sit on it,” Victoria snapped.
Duke held up his hand. “Noted. Back pocket. Sat on. Buried. Moving on.”
But he could sense they were smiling. Even now.
That was the thing about the League. Apocalypse on the menu, and they still found time to heckle. He’d take that over fear any day.
The cabin looked exactly like it had before. Small. Dark. Like it might sell homemade jam and cause seasonal depression.
Duke didn’t slow as they approached. The witches spread naturally, forming a loose arc behind him. No one said it out loud, but they all felt it.
Something was wrong. The air didn’t move. Not a breeze. Not a whisper. Like the world had been paused and forgotten.
“Barrier,” Sahara murmured.
Duke nodded. “Stay sharp.”
They took another step, and the world snapped.
The cabin vanished. The trees vanished. The sky didn’t vanish so much as change its demeanor.
Heat slammed into them. Dry, brutal, ancient.
Duke blinked. Then blinked again. “Holy shit…”
The ground beneath them was cracked and red, like it had been thirsty for a century. Rusted armor littered the field. Bodies lay where they’d fallen, half-buried in dust and time. Above them, vultures circled.
“Okay,” Crystal said. “This is different.”
Across the battlefield, the sorceress stood waiting. Her long black and white hair was whipping in a wind that hadn’t existed seconds ago. Black eyes locked on them like she’d been expecting guests.
She rested both hands on her staff, leaning casually. “I am feared for a reason,” she called. “Turn away.”
No one moved.
Joell rolled her shoulders. “We don’t do that.”
“Didn’t think so,” the sorceress said, almost pleased.
Then she lifted her staff.
Fire erupted from nothing—hot, hungry, and screaming toward them.
Crystal’s hands were already up, dragging a gust of wet wind out of thin air. The fireball sputtered, losing momentum as it passed them and dropped feebly somewhere behind them.