Chapter 20
As Rayna and Brianna raced through the darkened streets of Washington D.C., the Codex Temporis pulsed with an otherworldly energy in Brianna's arms. The night air crackled with tension, as if the very fabric of reality was straining around them.
Suddenly, a shimmering portal opened up in their path. Rayna skidded to a halt, pulling Brianna back. "Another anomaly!" she hissed.
From the swirling vortex, tendrils of darkness reached out, grasping at the air. A low, rumbling voice echoed from within: "Give us the Codex, and your world may yet be spared."
Brianna clutched the book tighter, her heart pounding. "Never!"
Rayna raised her hands, muttering a quick incantation. A shimmering barrier sprang up between them and the portal, momentarily halting the dark tendrils' advance.
"We need to get out of here," Brianna said urgently. "Can you teleport us back to the mansion?"
Rayna shook her head, strain evident on her face as she maintained the barrier. "Too risky with the anomalies distorting space-time. We could end up anywhere - or anywhen."
The voice from the portal grew louder, more insistent. "Foolish witches. You cannot hope to contain the power of the Codex. Surrender it now or watch your reality crumble."
Brianna felt the Codex pulse against her heart. An idea struck her. "Rayna, can you hold the barrier a bit longer?" she asked urgently.
Rayna nodded, sweat beading on her brow as she poured more energy into the shimmering shield. "Make it quick, whatever you're planning."
Brianna took a deep breath and focused on the Codex in her arms. She could feel its ancient power thrumming through her, connecting her to the very fabric of time itself.
She closed her eyes, reaching out with her magical senses to connect with the ancient tome's power.
As a time manipulator herself, she hoped she could tap into the book's temporal energy.
Grasping Rayna’s wrist, she concentrated on a single concept: Safe. Home. NOW.
The world around them blurred and twisted. Brianna felt a wrenching sensation, as if she was being pulled in a thousand directions at once. For a terrifying moment, she thought she had made a terrible mistake.
Then, with a thunderous crack, they materialized in the middle of the L.A.W. mansion's grand foyer.
As if sensing a sudden intrusion, all the remaining witches poured out of the mansion’s rooms and down the stairs. Bas rushed out of her office and skidded to a stop in front of the two panting, disheveled witches.
Brianna held out the codex and gasped, “Got it!”
Bas took the tome from her carefully. She held up a hand and waited for them to catch their breath before allowing the other witches to pepper them with questions. “Everyone, go to the lounge and sit down. I want to call in Dr. Emerson and Chad. I’ll be there in a moment.”
Bas retreated to her office as the other witches escorted Rayna and Brianna into the living room, each with a hand on their backs or shoulders—a show of silent solidarity.
“We should wait for Bas before sharing anything,” Rayna said to Brianna.
“I agree.” Brianna wasn’t going to balk. She knew there was a lot to cover, and she’d rather not do it more than once. Besides, she wondered if Rayna was going to admit to tearing a hole in the fabric of reality, allowing someone to almost come through the Aether.
When everyone was present and had heard Rayna's detailed explanation without interruption, Bas looked over at Brianna. “Does that correspond with what you experienced?”
Brianna winced. “Um, yes?”
Sitting next to her on one of the velvet couches, Chad covered her hand with his. A comforting gesture she desperately needed.
Bas raised her eyebrows. “Is that a question?”
“I think Rayna covered everything. The only thing she couldn’t tell you was how the Codex Temporis felt in my arms.”
Bas nodded, clearly a signal to continue.
“It was pulsing. When my heart rate sped up on our dash through D.C., the Codex’s pulse seemed to keep pace. I felt an unusual kinship with the book. It was as if…” At a loss for words to describe the feeling, she shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Dr. Emerson’s brows rose. “As if it were yours? As if it had been waiting for you to discover it? As if it wanted you to rescue it?”
“Yeah. It was as if it knew there was a threat, and it wanted to get out of there as badly as I did.”
Chad was biting his lip. At last, he said, “Isn’t that anthropomorphizing?”
Dr. Emerson smiled. “Ordinarily, it would be, but this is no ordinary book. Assigning human characteristics to it may not be as foolish as you’d think.”
Lioness raised her hand. “May I ask a question?”
“Of course,” Bas said.
“I’d like to know more about what came out of that anomaly. You said it was an arm… Was it big and hairy with pointed spikes all over it?”
The group couldn’t help but chuckle. Lioness always knew how to lighten the mood. But the question was relevant. Rayna shook her head. “No, it was slender, pale, and there was a gold bracelet with some kind of amulet hanging from it.”
“Maybe it was a magical amulet, and that’s how it got through?” Victoria speculated.
“Maybe,” Rayna said. “I don’t know what I would have done if Brianna hadn’t been able to turn back time…”
“It was only for a minute or two. I know I’m not supposed to do that, but…” She shrugged.
“Don’t apologize for saving the day, Bri,” Chad said.
Bas tipped her head. “I indeed told you not to go back and change anything, but in this case, I can’t really see an alternative.”
“Could I have made a difference if I’d been there?” Chad asked.
“How?” Joell asked. “Would you have duct-taped the rupture?”
The other witches chuckled or downright laughed out loud.
Chad simply rolled his eyes, apparently getting used to their teasing. “No. But doesn’t she get an atta girl? Or a commendation or something?” he asked.
All the witches burst out laughing.
“What?” he asked.
“We do covert ops all the time, Chad. This is just your first one,” Rayna explained. “We don’t get awards. We’ve saved the world, or at least our corner of it, dozens of times, and nobody knows about it.”
“And Goddess willing, we’ll do it dozens more,” Bas said. “But no one must ever know how close they came to disaster.”
“So, how do you drum up business?” Chad asked.
Bas smiled slyly. “That’s my job, and you need not worry about it—yet.”
As the group discussed what to do next, the mansion started to rumble. The floor beneath them began to vibrate, and the chandeliers swayed ominously overhead.
"Oh no... Not now!" Brianna exclaimed.
Before anyone could react, the world outside the windows blurred into a dizzying swirl of colors. The rumbling intensified, and Chad felt his stomach lurch as if he were on a roller coaster. Brianna gripped his hand tightly as the other witches braced themselves against furniture or each other.
The sensation lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. When the shaking finally subsided, an eerie silence fell over the group.
Chad stumbled to the nearest window, and his jaw dropped at the sight that greeted him. Gone were the familiar manicured lawns and in-ground pool. Instead, a panorama of woods and rolling hills greeted his gaze.
“What just happened?” he asked.
The witches hemmed and hawed; some avoided his gaze, as if denying anything unusual had happened at all.
Finally, Bas rose and placed her hands on her hips. “Well, if none of you are going to explain, I guess I will. He’s a big boy, and I bet he’ll understand.”
“Understand what?” He cocked his head.
“When the mansion senses the women of the L.A.W. are about to experience certain womanly functions, it shifts location to a remote part of the Smoky Mountains. We lock up all the weapons and take a week off.”
“That’s when most of us write our steamy novels,” Magda added proudly.
“Wait,” Chad said. “Are you telling me they can’t be trusted with weapons during that time of the month, due to PMS?”
Bas smiled. “See? I knew you’d understand.”
Rayna slapped her hand over her eyes. “I forgot to gather the weapons and give them to my pets.”
Bas nodded. “You’ve been a little busy. Don’t worry, I took the liberty of locking them up.”
“Here? In the mansion? You know most of us can open any door…”
“No, dear. I gave them to your pets right after you and Brianna left for Washington.”
“Oh, thank goodness.”
Chad raised his hand. “Excuse me? Are you saying Rayna’s dogs or cats are babysitting dangerous weapons?”
Everyone laughed. “No, Professor Patterson,” Rayna explained.
“I have man-pets. They’re ex-military friends who live with me and are completely loyal to me and to the L.A.W.
, and before you assume the worst, no, I’m not a dominatrix or a reverse chauvinist. I love them, platonically, and treat them very well. ”
“Oh,” he said. Everyone waited for that to sink in or for follow-up questions. Instead, Chad just shrugged. “Whatever floats your boat.”
As the group was breaking up, Chad pulled Brianna aside. “When you took this job, did you know that you’d be getting a week’s vacation every month?”
She chuckled. “No. It’s actually four times per year. We’re all on Seasonale, a medicine that fixes it, so we all have our periods once every three months. Magical rhythms make sure we’re all on the same schedule.”
“Oh, so you only get a week off every three months… Well, I guess four weeks per year isn’t that unusual. Still, wouldn’t it be great to have 3 weeks on and a week off every month?”
“Not really. We need to be in top fighting shape as much as possible. We may be powerful witches, but we’re women too. Frankly, I’m happy to only be ‘on the rag’ four times a year.”
“So, what happens if—”
Brianna cut him off with an energetic kiss.