Witch Trippin' Read online

  “No, but Clara may stay. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself. They can both leave when he convinces you it is perfectly safe to return to the Earth realm, where we belong.”

  “It isn’t, my love. You know my going back could change things that shouldn’t be changed,” she said. “I will never agree to it.”

  Clara turned to Nathan and asked how he had managed to go back in time and save Sally.

  “I figured out how to use a wrinkle with precision, and we went in just minutes before Sally was attacked. Taggard scooped her up and I brought them both here,” Nathan said. “But...she can’t leave, at least...not for a very long time.”

  “I love it here,” Sally said. “We have this beautiful home...and it is so peaceful, but Taggard wants to go back. He put an enchantment on Nathan that only he can remove, and Nathan put an enchantment on me that only Nathan can remove.”

  “Holy shit!” I said.

  “Language, my dear,” my great-grandmother chided.

  I smirked and wiggled my brows at her. She laughed out loud.

  “You know you shouldn’t return, right, Sally?” Clara said gravely.

  “Of course.” Sally had my waist. Jace had my hand. She turned and said, “And is this your mate, my dear? A shifter wolf?”

  I nodded. “Jace Tomlin.”

  “Ah, we knew your parents, wonderful people,” my great-grandmother told Jace.

  I went to Clara and said, “Bloodline...enchantments can be broken by another in the immediate bloodline.”

  Clara’s eyes glittered. “Very true, my dear, very true. The words...I need to remember the words.”

  In my head, Boney said, Fuasgail! Out loud, and as I pointed at Nathan, I said, “Fuasgail!”

  “Time to go,” Clara said.

  I walked right up to my great-grandfather and said, “You have a son and a grandson, my father, in fact. You have me and we are a family. We will come and visit you over the years...often. Be content in that until you can return to the realm you love. Giving her the elixir changes things. She is now immortal. You bought time, didn’t you?”

  Sally hugged me again. “Oh, do bring my son and grandson. It would be so good for all of us to be together.”

  Taggard turned to her and took her hand to his lips. “And will it be enough?”

  “More than,” she answered.

  Jace had my shoulders, and we followed Nathan and Clara to the mouth of the portal that appeared when Clara called it to order.

  “Oh, boy,” I said, glancing back at my family. “Jace...I have to make things right for them.”

  “We will, baby, we will. What’s a bumpy ride when you know at its end, you will have your family?”

  Oh, hot damn, I loved this wolf.

  * * * * *

  We did have a bumpy landing, but this time, I managed to stay upright. Clara and Nathan went inside and I walked Jace to his car.

  “Come with me. I’ll get my business meeting over with and then we will have free time together.”

  “Need a walk. Need some calm down time,” I told him.

  He kissed me long and sweet and I watched him pull away. I started off toward the field and didn’t get far when I sensed something was off, like something wicked was in the air...coming for me.

  All at once, I heard a swoosh in the atmosphere, like someone stepping out of a transport, and before I had a chance to turn, I was grabbed under the neck by a strong arm and a dagger was put to my neck.

  “Beheading is what you deserve!” Marvin screamed into my ear, making me wince. “I won’t be humiliated by you, Bennie. I won’t.”

  I had to think. The tip of the dagger was already in my flesh and blood was trailing down my neck. “Marvin, this will only land you in the warlock pokey. You have your whole life ahead of you. Why not forget about me and go and live it?” There, that was a calm and reasonable suggestion, wasn’t it?

  It seemed to enrage him. “Forget you? You are in every dream, and every nightmare. As long as you exist, I will be in hell.”

  “I can help you with that,” I said.

  “How? You are mated to that wolf. You bitch, you turned me down for a wolf. You can help me by dying, and I can help you with that!” The dagger dug deeper.

  I could use magic. Would it be quicker than his hand?

  The decision was taken away from me as I heard Zelda’s voice say, “Naughty, naughty, Marvin the goon.”

  Two wolf pups attacked his ankles, along with a ferocious series of growls. As he tried to shake them off, he released me and started screaming obscenities at the pups. I sent his dagger to perdition.

  Sassy was laughing and clapping, but Marvin bent and picked up his hand as though to slap the pups off.

  Sassy and Zelda gasped, and one of them, not sure which, sent him flying back a few feet, whereupon Sassy landed on his stomach and gave him an old-fashioned punch to the gut.

  Zelda pulled him to his feet and said, “Well, now, I’m thinking it is time for a trial.”

  “Trial?” I said, holding my hand to the blood pouring out of my neck wound. It was healing even as I spoke. “Take the wombatshitz and put him straight into the warlock pokey!”

  “Wombatshitz?” Sassy asked gleefully. “Is that Chinese?”

  “Yes,” Zelda said, and grinned at me. “Pokey time for the wombatshitz.”

  So saying, Zelda and Sassy each had a piece of Marvin as they transported with the twins, presumably to lock Marvin away.

  “Bennie!” Jace shouted as he drove at me with a jeep. I like jeeps. I didn’t know he had one. He jumped out and took me in his arms. Saw the now dried blood at my neck and growled so hard I thought it would turn into a howl. “I’ll kill him!” Jace looked as though he would.

  “Nah, we’ll leave him to Zelda. How did you know?”

  “Our link, I knew you were in trouble,” he said, and kissed me long and hard. “You are staying with me.” He lifted me up and deposited me in his jeep. I was about to object, called myself an idiot and nixed that notion. Yes, staying with him.

  Besides, Nathan and Clara deserved some real long, lone time.

  ~ Epilogue ~

  MARVIN WAS GIVEN A TRIAL and found guilty of offenses against a witch. He would serve some time in a warlock prison, and Roger, the rabbit shifter, therapist extraordinaire, would try and rehabilitate him.

  Jace and I took a little trip, via transport, to tell my parents the news about us, and Taggard and Sally.

  My mom insisted on a wedding with the white dress and all the trimmings. Jace insisted it be in Tomlin. They all agreed.

  I am still getting training from Clara, and am nearly done. I am up to step ten, but she said she found a few more I need to perfect. I adore Clara and love training with her, so that was a plus for me. New Orleans no longer has the draw it once had for me.

  Sophie is seeing a shifter from a nearby pack. They met quite by accident and bonded almost immediately. She is leaving Tomlin to join her mate’s pack, and Jace says it is for the best. All I want is that she be happy, because damn, I so am.

  My grandparents, parents, and Jace and I went to visit with my great-grandparents in Andromedia, and it was an absolutely joyful experience.

  Clara created the portal, but I think I have the knack now as well.

  Next visit, Jace and I will be wed and will bring them some of our wedding cake!

  Oh, and Jace still calls me Trouble, but ya know, I don’t think I am...much!

  To check out all the side splitting books in the Magic and Mayhem Universe, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/

  About Claudy

  Claudy Conn, a native New Yorker, now lives with her husband, Bob; their wolf, Cherokee; and Cherokee’s son, Rocky Man, who weighs in presently at 190 pounds.

  She loves horses and riding and raised her spirited gelding Southern Pride from the moment he was born. She also loves gardening, swimming, skiing, hiking, and travel—and of course, reading, and writing, but no, she says, no a
rithmetic!

  To get her monthly news, her reviews for all her new paranormal romances, and excerpts, come on and visit her at her website!

  www.claudyconn.com

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