Witch Trippin' Read online

  He stood his ground. I stood mine. I didn’t feel threatened as the wolf made a low throttled growl, turned and took off.

  I realized then I had gone quite a distance away from the house. Maybe I should return? I didn’t want any confrontation with the neighbors. I turned and headed back when a rustle of leaves and a scent, one that I had picked up on in Clara’s kitchen, came to me. Musky and masculine. Earthy and tantalizingly seductive. I looked over my shoulder, stopped, and turned. I was looking into golden eyes and they were locked on me.

  Jace Tomlin still wore the white T-shirt and tight jeans. He didn’t smile as he approached me and said, “Well, Trouble, living up to your name, are you?”

  “What do you mean?” I was surprised. I had been good, so good, all afternoon. “And the name is Bennie.”

  “You are trespassing in Tomlin territory, and your name, as far as I am concerned, for now, like the tattoo on your pretty thigh, is Trouble.”

  I have an intricate and circular rune tat on my left thigh with a devil’s face at its center. My dad calls me a she-devil from time to time. So I chose the devil face for fun.

  Well, so he and his pack were touchy about their land. Okay, big deal, so I’m walking on his earth...ooooh, I trespassed...bad girl. The thing is, I need to get along while I am here, so I tried a dash of politeness and said, “Oh, I am sorry...I didn’t realize.” I frowned as I added, “I didn’t see any markers, and had no way of knowing where Clara’s property ended.”

  “Now you know,” he said uncompromisingly.

  Ohh, he was annoying. “Yeah, now I know.” I turned away from him and started off again.

  He caught up to me and said, “Why are you here?”

  “I was only taking a walk, geez,” I snapped.

  “No, not here on Tomlin land, why are you in Assjacket...with Clara? Clara told me a little about what she needs to do in your regards, but why have you accepted to come here and leave New Orleans. What have you done to be sent here to Assjacket, because that is it, isn’t it?”

  “I could give you the obvious answer.”

  “Which is?”

  “None of your business,” I managed to say, and cocked a look at him, giving him some of his own.

  “Clara is almost like a mother to me. I don’t want her any more hurt than she already is.”

  “What makes you think I would hurt Clara?” I shook my head. “And it wasn’t my idea to come to Assjacket and have Clara take over my life!”

  “Whose idea was it?” he asked, not at all put off.

  “Like I said, none of your business,” I grumbled.

  “I am making it my business,” he snapped.

  “Cocky SOB, aren’t you? Won’t do you any good. My business is my own.”

  “And Clara’s,” he said with meaning.

  “Oh, then if you are hinting that she will tell you...go ahead, ask her, but stay the hell away from me!”

  The super hunk and I were not getting off to a good start.

  I stomped off. He didn’t follow. This had to be one of the worst days I have ever had!

  ~ Three ~

  ANOTHER MORNING OF GRUELING LESSONS with Clara. Close your eyes, not like that, not so tightly. Easy, Bennie, think, Bennie...feel the dark fill your lungs, Clara said, over and over, until I got it right.

  I have had four mornings like this, and it ain’t been easy!

  One hour before breakfast, with Clara telling me, Just feel it, know it, claim it, and contain it. Damn, but I needed to get outside and breathe. I needed something more than training and television in the evenings with Clara, although, I already adored her. She is good fun, so much more than I thought she would be.

  “I think I’ll go and check out the town, Clara. I’m curious and I need a change of routine,” I said as I headed out the door. She surprised me with a wide smile.

  “Good, have fun, be back in two hours for another session, and then perhaps we’ll try something new. I think you are up for it,” Clara called back.

  I decided to walk down the country road that would take me to town, changed my mind after twenty minutes and transported in a mist of blue onto Main Street.

  I went stock still as I stared in disbelief.

  How was I going to survive this nowhere, nothing town? From what I could see, there was a barbershop, a hardware store, a gas station, and a little grocery shop—which looked like a mom and pop store. Everything looked run down and ready to fall apart.

  None of the shops looked as though they were prospering. I walked up to the mom and pop styled grocery store and could smell the decaying veggies in wooden boxes displayed outside.

  Every single fruit and vegetable was going to rot. How could they sell anything in such condition? What was going on here? I stepped up to the creaky front porch, opened the weathered door and took a peek.

  It was then that I realized what the rot and decrepit look was all about.

  The façade of this store was obviously created to keep humans away. Hence, the rotting veggies and fruits. Inside, the front of the store had only a few supplies, but I could hear people chatting away through a partially open door to the back.

  I made my way there and opened it wide to see fresh food, delectable meats, even some exotic fruits. Certainly everything a shifter or witch could want for their pantry. This part of the store was full with shoppers.

  Shifters and witches were milling about, talking, laughing, and then suddenly, everything stopped as they turned in group formation and looked me over.

  Ah, checking out the new witch in town.

  I got it.

  Still, when I heard them whispering Dark Magic, and out of control, I felt a wave of annoyance and gave them a half smile and said, “Not so out of control.”

  No one answered, so I transported out of the store and back outside.

  I made my way down Main Street past a statue of a bear prominently featured, however, what was notable and creepy was the fact that the bear was missing one side of its head. I stood staring at it when a strong male hand took my elbow. I picked up on a sexy and familiar male scent.

  “Clara sent me to show you around,” Jace the Arrogant said.

  “You mean, watch over me, and make sure I don’t screw up, don’t you?” I pulled out of his elbow hold.

  “Look, we got off to a bad start. Can we begin again?” He smiled, and damn if that smile didn’t make my knees wobble.

  “Jace Tomlin at your service, and you are?”

  “Bennie Wey,” I said, and got another one of his drop-dead smiles.

  “Assjacket is a complicated village here in West Virginia. The residents might be standoffish at first...suspicious of newcomers.”

  “And gossipy. Yeah, I noticed...in the grocery shop,” I said.

  He laughed. “And did you also go into the hardware store?”

  “No, why?”

  “It serves Assjacket as the local bar.” He grinned and eyed me. “Want to go do a couple of shots?”

  “You’re on! Just lead me to it,” I said, and giggled. Things were suddenly looking up. Then I remembered and frowned. “Oh, but no, I promised Clara I would be back soon for more training.”

  “And you are a promise keeper?” he asked curiously.

  “I try,” I said. “I don’t give a promise lightly.”

  “Right, so then, there is only one thing left to do,” he said, and grinned like a boy.

  “And that is?”

  “Why don’t I see you home now, and pick you up tonight for those shots?”

  “Oh, now, that is brilliant. I like the way you think, Jace Tomlin,” I said, and put up my palm for a high five.

  He gave me one and laughed. “Even so, you still have time for something to eat, don’t you? Let’s go into Wanda and Dee Dee’s diner. Breaking bread, a nice way to start a new friendship.”

  I was going to have to put up shields around myself. The wolf now looked like a sex god with an angel’s smile. “Sure, I’m starving...always s
tarving,” I answered, and tried to think of food instead of his hot body!

  * * * * *

  As he led me into the old fashioned-styled diner, he said something that made me laugh, and I nearly tripped up the steps. He caught me, and for a minute, a very long minute, he held me as I steadied myself. His arms...so strong and around me felt good—too good.

  As I straightened up, something caught the corner of my eye, and I turned a bit to stare down the wide avenue.

  There, in the middle of the quiet street, in brown leather boots that reached her very fine knees, wearing a short denim skirt and a coffee colored sweater, was an attractive woman with short, auburn colored hair.

  I knew at once she was a wolf shifter, and not one who wanted to be friends.

  Her eyes were amber, and at that moment, she was staring at me with something close to hatred in their depths.

  Jace glanced her way and I saw a hardness enter his golden eyes. Was Jace spoken for? Was I encroaching? I don’t do that. I have my own rigid set of rules when it comes to dating. One of them is never, ever even flirt with someone else’s partner.

  I looked up at Jace as he almost willed the female shifter to leave. “Wait. I don’t want to step on any toes. Are you...involved?”

  He scoffed. “First of all, no. Not involved. I don’t do involved. Second of all...I am only taking you in for a bite to eat.”

  “Hmmm,” I said, and looked back. The woman was gone. I reminded myself to be careful with Jace. This wolf was probably a heartbreaker, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

  A woman with a soft smile and hazel eyes led us to a table.

  As we followed, he said, “This is Benita Wey, Dee Dee. She is staying with Clara.”

  “Oh, I know, we all know,” Dee Dee said, and gave me a welcoming smile, saw us seated, and put a couple of menus down on the table.

  I leaned in across the table to whisper, “She isn’t a wolf shifter...what is she?”

  “Deer, she is a deer shifter. She owns the diner with Wanda, who you are bound to meet sooner or later.”

  Conversation proved to be easier than I had imagined it would be. He asked me about my life in New Orleans and I was only too happy to tell him, right up to the part when he interrupted my tale about Marvin to ask, “So, this guy, this Marvin warlock you sent into the next county...what did he do, besides trying to steal a kiss?”

  I laughed. “I sound like a bitch, and I suppose that is how it turned out, but the thing is, I didn’t mean to do it. As to the rest, him...I guess you would have had to be there to understand. It wasn’t only the kiss because...I actually let him kiss me a week or so earlier. Here is the thing...I let him kiss me, but I didn’t feel we clicked. I avoided him after that and...he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He wouldn’t back down. I told him we weren’t an item. I told him to stop. I pushed him...not once, but twice, and I honestly only meant to make a point, but something horrible exploded inside of me, and the next thing I knew, he was flying through the air...backward. I had no idea I could do that. I had no idea my magic could send him off that far. I didn’t know it would tie him to a tree, upside down, in a park.” I shrugged. “The only thing I can figure is when I lost control, my dark side picked up on a thought in my mind. The thing that worries me is I don’t feel remorse, at least, not much, partly because, in truth, the guy is a creep and a control freak...maybe I am bad at bottom?”

  “You are not bad at bottom.” He chuckled. “But I’ll remember to keep my hands to myself,” he teased.

  “As well you should,” I agreed, and laughed. Oh, he was a charmer. Those eyes—that smile, those perfect lips, the combination was certainly making my insides squeal.

  I concentrated on my food and that wasn’t hard. It was great.

  I was sorry when our lunch date was over. I prolonged it by eating my dessert as slowly as I could when I suddenly realized Jace was watching me. I gave him an appreciative smile. “I have a healthy appetite.”

  “I like that.” He took out a fifty dollar bill and put it on the table. It occurred to me that even with a generous tip, the bill was nowhere near that. So the wolf shifter was either showing off or was just a good guy. Time would tell. We got up, and he offered me his hand as he gently said, “I promised Clara to have you back by three.”

  “Did you? Did you really? And since when am I your charge?”

  He laughed. “Since never. But you said you keep your promises, so actually, I am just helping you do that.”

  “And how do we get back together? Do I teleport us?” I bantered.

  “No, my chariot awaits,” he said, and inclined his head toward the window before I let him have my hand. He didn’t hold it as I expected, but linked it through his arm, old world style.

  As we approached his chariot, a hot looking silver Jaguar, I wondered just how old he was. Then I wondered what he did for a living.

  ~ Four ~

  “OUTSIDE,” CLARA SAID SHARPLY. “NOW!”

  “But I was doing so well.” Yeah, up until I let go and trashed an entire shelf of lovely china teacups.

  It wasn’t my fault. Clara had told me to suck it up and hold onto it, referring to a tumultuous force of energy I was controlling within myself. Then she said, “Let go.”

  So I did, and boom!

  We went outside and Clara took my shoulders and positioned me. “We will do that again. Now, close your eyes. Draw in the darkness from inside of you where it incites and grows within itself. That’s right, in that secret compartment in your brain that no one but you can get to.” She touched my forehead. “When I say let go, it means I want you to release it from its closet, but catch it on its way out and hold it at bay. I want you to take it in and control it. I want you to allow the darkness to seep out of you in small degrees, and in colors that we, you and I, can see. I want you to manipulate your darkness, not the other way around. Got it?”

  I didn’t open my eyes, but I said, “Got it.”

  “Good. Start now, pull it up, all the way, and grab onto it. Grab all the Dark Magic that rises. Grab it, make it your slave. You are the master. Now...do it. Get a hold of it. Feel it grow. Do you feel it?”

  “Yes, I feel it,” I told her as I locked onto an electrical pulse that was wildly vibrating inside of me. It felt as though I were being shaken apart inside, and then all at once, I was in charge. The shaking stopped, and though there was a low impact power play, I was its master.

  “Tone it down, even more. You have the power to tone it down. That’s right. Oh, Bennie, I can feel your power. Such power. Somehow...it is even greater than my own. Now, hold it, keep it in a submissive state. It must know you as its master.”

  “Got it, toning it, holding it,” I told her.

  “Now, slowly, in gentle degrees, let it out, give it color so we can see the various levels of Dark Magic you have called up,” Clara said, and I could hear the excitement in her voice.

  I did as she asked, surprised, and a little proud of myself as well. I was in control. My magic was submissive to my will. I let the mana seep out, and opened my eyes to watch.

  I was surrounded in waves of color. Most of the colors were in shades of gray, but there was red and warm pink as well. It was beautiful.

  “Good girl, now, call it all back inside yourself,” Clara said.

  It wasn’t easy. My magic wanted to be used. I could feel it shudder with a will of its own. I subdued it and called it inside myself. It was mine and I let it know.

  Done.

  Another major training session accomplished, and I felt fantastic for the first time in a long time. For the last year, especially after I turned twenty-one, Dark Magic had been forcing itself on me. It wanted out, and when it escaped, there was always an incident of some sort. My Dark Mana wanted me to use it, and holding back had been a horrific trial of wills. When I lost my temper, or was distressed, the dark seemed to gain on me. Not any longer!

  Clara had taught me to recognize where the dark inside of me lived. She
taught me how to see it, grab it, and master it. I had learned the knack of it all. It now seemed so easy, so completely easy. I never imagined I had that kind of power. Leashing it was a mere whisper, as was unleashing it.

  Clara embraced me and said, “My darling girl. Your first steps accomplished with an A+.”

  “First steps, huh? Oh, frigging hell. How many more steps are there left?”

  “Oh, perhaps ten...maybe more, maybe less...”

  I had thought I was done. I had come to think, wow, I’m on my way home to New Orleans, but I have to admit, I was looking forward to the evening with Mr. Wolfman.

  It was just about then the sound of someone approaching across the lawn from the driveway had us turning in that direction.

  Clara said, “Roger, what are you doing here?” She looked at me, and before he could answer, she told me, “Roger is a rabbit shifter.”

  My eyebrows went up.

  “Came to meet your houseguest. Zelda told me she is here to learn how to use her Dark Magic, and I heard from quite a few of the shifters that she is quite a looker. Came to see for myself, and I must say, they didn’t exaggerate,” Roger said, openly looking me over. “I want to offer my services while you are here, my dear, as getting control over your darkside can be mind-bending, and you may need someone to talk to.”

  “Roger is not only a rabbit shifter, but a therapist as well, and quite a good one I am told,” Clara explained. “Though, how he can be successful, and he is, with his own porno problem plaguing him, is unfathomable to me.”

  I tried to think of something to say. Nothing. A rabbit shifter addicted to porno. I laughed and covered my mouth. I suppose he viewed my speechlessness as funny because he laughed as well.

  I eyed him, wondering if there was more.

  He slapped his thigh, laughed again, and said, “Oh, Clara, you have amused and frightened her, though, in truth, I should be the one afraid. I never want to be in the same room with anyone who wields Dark Magic. When Zelda lost control of her Dark Magic and tried to heal me, she gave me five penises. Even I wasn’t happy about that.”