Page 20 of Sweetwater and the Witch

She was staring at Willis’s crumpled form, trying to process what had just happened, when she caught the first wisp of smoke. The firestorm she had created was starting to move into the normal end of the spectrum. If she didn’t get control, it would set the cottage ablaze.

She shut down her senses. It wasn’t easy because she was rezzed on adrenaline and the bio-cocktail generated by the use of her talent. For a moment she stood, barefoot, in the hallway, and tried to catch her breath while she gazed, stunned, at the unmoving man sprawled on the floor.

Harriet chortled, closed her amber hunting eyes, and fluffed her fur. The danger was past as far as she was concerned. Time to party.

But the danger was not past, Ravenna thought. It was barreling toward her. Full comprehension of what had just happened and the realization of what might happen next chilled her to the bone.

“Harriet, we’ve got a problem,” she said, her voice shaky. “And if he’s dead, it will be a much bigger problem.”

She crouched beside Willis. The scent of a flowery cologne or aftershave made her wrinkle her nose. Ignoring the cloying fragrance, she checked for a pulse.

“Good news and bad news,” she announced. “He’s alive.”

Harriet chortled and studied Willis with an intent expression. Ravenna followed her gaze and saw that Garrett’s evening jacket had fallen open, revealing a pocket designed to carry a few necessities—a phone and a Lucky Quartz–branded pen.

“No, you can’t take the pen, not even as a trophy. Talk about evidence that could land me in prison. Besides, you’ve already got a Lucky Quartz pen in your collection.” She checked the time. “Oh, shit. We’ve got ten minutes, max, assuming Sweetwater is the right-on-time type. We’ll have to take Willis down into the basement and dump him in the tunnels. There’s no way to know how long he’ll be out, but he’s got tuned amber. He’ll find his way back to the surface.”

She tried to think of a way to maneuver Willis down the basementstairs. If she dragged him by his feet, his head would bounce on every concrete step. Even if he didn’t die from the combined effects of whatever drug he had used and what she had just done to him with her talent, he would definitely be dead by the time she got him to the bottom of the stairs.

She did not have time to figure out how to maneuver Willis into the basement.

“I’ll stash him in the hall closet,” she told Harriet. “With luck he won’t wake up until I get home from the reception. I can deal with him then.”

She opened the closet door, bent down, wrapped a hand around each of Willis’s ankles, and hauled with all of her might.

Nothing happened. He wasn’t dead, but he was dead weight.

Sensing a new game, Harriet chortled, cheering her on.

“Shit,” Ravenna whispered.

She tightened her grip, gritted her teeth, and tried again. This time Willis slid a few inches across the floor. Progress. If only she had a little more time.

Ethan spoke from the hallway behind her. “Can I be of assistance?”

Chapter Ten

Ravenna yelped in surprise. She dropped Willis’s ankles, straightened, and spun around. Ethan was dressed for the evening in a sleek black evening jacket and trousers, white shirt, and black bow tie. Her high-heeled pumps dangled from the fingers of his left hand. He examined the scene in the hallway with deep interest but not horror. He didn’t even look mildly shocked.

Harriet chortled and fluttered across the floor to greet him. Ethan leaned down and gave her a pat on the head.

“Looks like you two have been busy,” Ethan commented.

Ravenna couldn’t tell if he was talking to Harriet or her. She tried to think of something intelligent to say.

“You’re early,” she blurted.

Ethan checked his chunky, multifunction watch. “Six minutes. I apologize.” He studied the scorch marks on the wall. “I thought I smelled smoke. Jeff mentioned that you were probably a fire witch.”

Ravenna stared at him. “Uh.”

“Is he dead?”

“No.” She pulled herself together. “Unconscious.”

“Things would be simpler if he were dead, but we can work with this,” Ethan said.

His cool certainty and casual demeanor unnerved her as no amount of horror, shock, or accusation could have done. She was literally speechless. Maybe she was hallucinating. In an attempt to recover her composure, she squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her hands into fists. She took a deep breath and held it for a few beats.Release.

---