Page 28 of Air Of Mystery (Witches On The Hill #4)

It should have been ridiculous. My cousin and I, standing on the curb and her demonstrating the workings of a Super Soaker-type of kid’s water gun to me.

But I wasn’t laughing and neither was she.

The energy coming from the house across the street was terrifying, and a high-powered blaster filled with holy water seemed like an excellent idea.

“These have instant fill tanks so we can reload if needed,” Sunny explained.

“No kidding?” I brushed my hair from my eyes. The breeze seemed determined to get my attention today.

I know, I thought to my element. I know that you are trying to warn me of danger.

“Remember to keep pumping up the water gun,” she said, as I familiarized myself with it. “It’ll have more pressure that way and the stream will go farther.”

I did so immediately and took a practice shot. A stream of water blasted out, going several feet in front of me. After re-pumping the water gun, I accepted the holy water filled back-up cartridge.

Once I’d placed the cartridge in the top left pocket of my cargo pants, I added the water gun on top and left the pocket unfastened.

“Follow my lead,” I told her. And together Sunny and I crossed the street heading at an angle for the old Victorian.

“So...we’re just going to walk up and knock on the door?” Sunny whispered as we stepped onto the house’s new lawn.

“Yeah,” I said out of the corner of my mouth. “Trust me. The neighbor from across the street, Corrine Thompson, thinks the woman living in this house is being abused. She told me that she had bruises all over and especially on her throat—”

“Like a vampire attack,” Sunny finished for me.

I nodded. “Exactly.”

Putting a pleasant expression on my face, I strolled right up to the front porch. As I stepped onto it with my cousin, I noticed that the flowers in the pots on the porch were all dying. A wind chime hung on the far end of the porch yet despite the breeze I’d felt earlier, it was silent.

Nothing was moving in this yard. The air was heavy and still...almost suffocating.

I knocked on the door, and to my surprise it swung open. I did not take that as a good omen. In fact, I moved back from the door and pulled Sunny with me.

“Uh-oh,” Sunny whispered. “That’s not good.”

“Hello?” I called out. “Is anyone home?” I waited a moment and pitched my voice to carry. “Is everything okay in there?”

Now that the door was open, I could see into the living room.

The television was on, yet the sound was off.

The house was disordered and messy, with plates, mail, and blankets tossed around the room.

I couldn’t see all of the floor as a large sectional sofa was blocking the view, but what I could see was dirty with random shoes, clothes, and trash lying around.

“Hello?” I called out again, and then I heard it—a whimpering sound coming from the room.

Automatically, I moved forward, but Sunny hooked my arm and yanked me back.

“Skye!” she hissed under her breath. “You can’t just walk in their house.”

“Wanna bet?” I replied, speaking as quietly as she was.

“Help me...” The plea was soft but we both heard it. “ Please .”

And that changed everything.

“I’m coming in,” I said, stepping over the threshold. “Where are you?”

I walked into the living room, got as far as the sofa, and discovered a young woman sprawled on the floor in front of it. I rushed to her side.

“Are you hurt?” I asked her.

The woman had long brown hair and she was pale and drawn looking. She was shockingly thin under her clothes, and my first thought was that she was on drugs. But when she lifted her head so she could look at me, her blue eyes were clear, and more importantly she was absolutely terrified .

“Help me.” She whispered the words.

“What’s your name?” I asked, taking one of her arms to help her sit up.

“Mary. My name is Mary. Get me out,” she begged. “ Please get me out of this house.”

“Is anyone else in the house with you, Mary?” I asked, easing her back against the sofa to help prop her up. Her arms were covered in wounds. I didn’t think it was needle tracks because the punctures were too large.

“My boyfriend, Dave, is here,” she said, starting to cry. “I told him to stay out of the basement. That it would only make him mad...but he didn’t listen.”

The basement. Something unnatural was still in the basement, I realized, despite Kenna blasting the shit out of whatever entity had attacked Tyler earlier this year.

“Make who mad?” Sunny asked gently.

“Don,” Mary said, crying harder. “He’s Dave’s friend. He’s not…normal.”

Sunny’s hand was gentle as she laid it on Mary’s arm. “Did this Don did this to you?” my cousin asked. “Did he put all of these bruises and wounds on you?”

The woman nodded her head in the affirmative and started to sob.

“We need to get the hell out of here,” Sunny said urgently.

“We will,” I agreed. “Grab her arm and let’s get her outside.”

Sunny nodded, looped her arm under the woman’s shoulders, and together we lifted and half-carried, half-walked the woman to the front door.

“Don’t stop at the porch,” I said to Sunny as we hit the threshold. “We’ll keep going. Across the street. To the pretty brick house with the ash tree in the yard—”

My words were cut off when something grabbed me from behind and yanked me backward.

I heard Sunny scream my name even as the door slammed shut. I was suddenly airborne, hurtling back with so much force that I hit the sofa and flipped over it. I landed on my back against the hardwood floor with a loud thump.

The breath was knocked from my lungs, but I managed to get up on my hands and knees. As soon as I did, I discovered a tall man standing in the center of the living room. He was wearing dark clothes, and his hair was long and spilled over his shoulders.

“Dave?” I asked, although I didn’t believe for a second that this was Mary’s boyfriend.

The man smiled and my heart sank.

“Hello, Skye,” he said. “How delightful to finally meet you in person.”

I knew that voice, I’d been talking to him on the phone off and on for years. “Hello, Don,” I said, climbing unsteadily to my feet. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d sold the house to flippers.”

“You literally can’t help yourself, can you?” he asked, and began to move, slowly edging his way around the sectional. “I’ve found your investigation attempts amusing over the years. It’s been very entertaining for me, in a way...”

As he spoke, I took in his appearance. He was slender and moved with a sort of fluid grace that honestly made me think of watching a tiger walking across its enclosure at the zoo.

This was a true predator, I realized, and we were alone.

I had a couple of options here. Stall and hope that Sunny would call the cops and they would arrive quickly…or defend myself and fight.

Throwing a glamour wouldn’t work. For starters it would take way too much of my personal energy, and I was already unsteady from being tossed across the room. Pulling up power from the earth, I tried to ground and steady myself to prepare for what was to come.

“Aw,” he said. “That’s adorable. Magick won’t work against me, Witch.”

I didn’t respond to him, but instead shifted my position in an attempt to keep the sectional sofa between me and him. He realized it of course, and that only made him smile more. The bastard was enjoying this.

Reaching for the expandable baton in the sheath at my side, I pulled it free and braced myself.

“I’ve admired your tenacity, Skye...” he continued. “But unfortunately, that curiosity will be the death of you.”

Easing farther away from him, I backed toward the hallway. If I could make the kitchen, I had a slim chance to get out the back door. Flicking my wrist and snapping my arm out to one side, the baton telescoped out with a loud click.

Abruptly he threw back his head and laughed. “You think that little toy will stop me?”

“Maybe not,” I said lifting the baton. “But I bet it will hurt like hell when I smash your nose with it.”

I never saw him move. One second, he was across the room, laughing at me, and the next he was right up in my face.

I managed to land one solid hit—right across his nose—before his hands shot out.

His palms struck me in the chest, and the blow knocked me backwards.

I shot through the air again and landed hard on my right arm.

My head cracked against the hardwood floor a moment later.

My ears were ringing, and my arm went numb. I couldn’t hold the baton anymore. Despite that, I rolled over and gripped a doorframe one-handed and managed to gain my feet. The camera that had been clipped to my shirt fell in pieces to the hardwood.

“You’ll pay for that,” he said, walking closer.

“How B-movie super villain.” I tried to sound belligerent, but it felt like the damn floor was tilting beneath me. “Next you should say, ‘I’d have gotten away with it too...if it weren’t for you darn kids.’”

Don hissed, flashing some long yellow stained fangs. Which was pretty damn horrifying. It made me recoil, but there was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t outrun him. Fumbling for the taser sheath hooked on my belt, I managed to grab it with my left hand.

He didn’t seem to notice…because he was too busy telling me all the horrible things he was about to do to me.

Bracing my back against the wall of the hallway I waited. I would only get one shot at this, and I needed him close to use the taser against him.

When he rushed at me this time, I pushed the taser in the middle of his chest and fired. It didn’t take him to the ground, but it did knock him away from me.

Unfortunately, it also really pissed him off.

“How dare you?” he roared.

Before I could blink, he lashed out. His backhanded strike had my head snapping to one side, sending me sprawling to my knees. He grabbed me before I could face plant, and his arms encircled mine. He clamped down, trapping my hands at my side, and the taser dropped to the floor with a thud.