Page 41 of Reluctant Witch (A Course in Magic #2)

41

Prospero

When Walt himself appeared at her door a day later, Prospero stayed in the doorway, not inviting him in. She liked him, but that didn’t mean she was going to start inviting anyone into her house. When she looked down, she realized he had a badger sitting beside him.

“Cassandra would like you to know she requested badgering for going to the Barbarian Lands and putting cattle in the way of your wife’s car,” Walt said solemnly.

“I didn’t turn her in for it.” Prospero folded her arms, but it was hard to look stern when she was wearing pajamas and a robe at almost midday.

Walt nodded, the corner of his mouth starting to curve like a twitch. “Can we come in?”

“No.” Ellie’s voice preceded her presence, but her arms wrapped around Prospero’s middle in the next moment. “We aren’t entertaining guests.”

“I see.” Walter tilted his head as if to see her, but she was well snug gled against Prospero’s back. “Well, we’ll wait here while you dress. Aggie is due to be causing trouble any moment, according to the seer.”

“You speak badger?” Ellie asked from behind Prospero.

“She told me before the badgering,” Walt corrected. He paused then as Grish popped up behind him with Dan and his boyfriend. “Ah, we’re all here. I will converse with the others while you find your clothing, Lady Prospero.”

Prospero closed the door before she or Ellie could say something inflammatory. She turned within the circle of Ellie’s arms and met her gaze. “I can do this without you or with you. It’s up to you.”

“Look at you. Not even trying to tell me to stay home…” Ellie stretched up and kissed her briefly. “Thank you, but I will go where you are. Not because I doubt you, but because I want to be at your side. You’re mine, and I protect what’s mine.”

Prospero felt like swooning. There was no other word for it. She wasn’t the sort who was used to being protected. She protected Crenshaw—obviously not alone, but she was there. Always. She shook her head. “I want to argue and also to kiss you senseless.”

“Good.” Ellie released her. “I’ll look forward to that kiss. First though, maybe trousers if we are traveling?”

“Fine.” Prospero glared at the door, thinking of the witches outside it. She had issues with Walt right now. And she wasn’t entirely at ease with Monahan. He’d almost killed her, and his magic was uncontrolled. Add that to his fear of her, and it could go poorly.

Ellie can stop his heart or lungs, she reminded herself as she went to get dressed in something less comfortable.

By the time they were dressed and outside, Prospero felt the pull of magic in the other world. The last escaped witch. The one who had left Sondre in the hospital. The one who had convinced her that Ellie was dead.

“I’m ready,” Prospero announced, half telling herself.

Walt gave her a look that said he understood both meanings. “I would have been helping you more of late if I hadn’t been trying not to die.”

“You should’ve told me you were so ill.” Prospero gave him a surly look.

“I did, once it was resolved. Would you do differently? You’re so much like me that I have trouble thinking that.” He gave her a look that was far younger and more confrontational than he’d been in decades.

“Save your attitude for the enemy.” She took Ellie’s hand and teleported. They had no more than shown up when she heard the sound of feet landing behind her. The three other witches had arrived.

They stood in a park, and that at least was a comfort. There were few nonmagical folk here. A few people in tiny boats on a river, a few people at tents on the bank and edge of the wood, but it was not a crowded venue. That was a comfort. Wherever they were, it was more nature than city.

“What a wonderful party,” Aggie said with an exaggerated cheer. “Are you here for me ?”

“Agnes.” Walter let out a long sigh. “Must we make this difficult?”

“Look at this land. Unclaimed. Fertile. We could rule all of this.” Aggie stilled then. She pointed to the side. “What’s that child doing with my staff?”

“You tossed it away,” Prospero reminded her, not looking back. All she needed was to see Agnes’ eyes. One slip of the glasses would be enough.

Maybe if I shoved her. Tackling her was not the sort of thing Prospero would typically do, but the memory of the horrible visions last time was enough to make her try new things. Unprecedented things.

“Tossed it… Did I kill Sondre then?” Aggie sounded positively gleeful. “That worked out nicely. I do hope he suffered as payment for spying for you. Tell me he and that other one are both dead.”

“They’re well and toasting your absence,” Walt said mildly.

“Let’s settle this like adults,” Monahan started, drawing her attention. “You broke the rules and—”

“Fuck you.” Aggie looked around at them. “Look at the lot of you. Such powerful witches. All I need is to be over here and add a pair of cheap sunglasses, and you’re helpless. ‘No magic around the barbarians.’ Bah.” She opened her arms wide. “This world could be ours. No limited space. No hovels.”

“And what cost?” the Norwegian— Axell —asked. He was there at risk to himself to steady Monahan, so the new House Grendel head didn’t drain everyone of their magic. It was either courage or idiocy. Prospero wasn’t sure which, though.

“Did you see what Allan did?” Prospero asked, stepping forward to block the two youngest witches and the chief witch from Aggie’s gaze.

Ellie stepped up and stood at Prospero’s side. It made sense, as they were two of the only ones who could use magic to stop Aggie.

“So a few people can’t handle our presence. Why is that reason enough to stay over there in Crenshaw?” Agnes shook her head.

They’d had these arguments for years, and at the center of it all was a quandary over the good of the few or the good of the many. Prospero believed that harming fewer people made sense. Aggie was of the “you have to crack a few eggs” mindset. There was no middle ground on this, and that was the sum of it.

“Monahan,” she said. “It’s you or Ellie.”

Everyone was silent, and Prospero hated that this was where the situation had evolved. One way or the other Aggie would die here, a victim of her own beliefs. And from the look on Agnes’ face, she knew it.

Walt’s hand landed on Prospero’s shoulder. “Give me one moment.”

He stepped forward, steadily walking toward Agnes, who eyed him warily. Then he launched himself at her, knocking her to the ground. In the next moment, they vanished.

“So…” Monahan looked around.

Axell shrugged.

Ellie met Prospero’s eyes. “Should we go home?”

Prospero was at a loss. She’d been dreading this since Aggie shot Scylla, but here they were, facing her nemesis, and Walt simply grabbed her and disappeared. “I honestly don’t know what to do. I suppose we—”

Her words were lost under a noise that was somewhere between a hiss and a growl.