Page 98 of Witches of Dubious Origin
“Stop!” I slid across the dirt floor to stand in front of her. “Stop! I’ll give you the book. I’ll be yours to command. Just stop!”
“Zoe, no!” Jasper yelled at the same time Mamie cried, “Mon chaton, no!”
Ariana heldEl Corazónin one hand and with the sweep of her other arm, blasted a shot of green fire at everyone but me, which spread to the far corners of the barn. Then she threw up a shield much like the one Miles had used at the maze.
“I’m listening.” Ariana tipped her head to the side. Her green eyes were glowing with unchecked power. I swallowed, trying to steady my nerves.
“The Donadieu grimoire. You can have it and me as your servant. Just don’t hurt them.” I didn’t have to manufacture the wobble in my voice.
“Now, why would I let them go when I can trap their powers in my book?” Ariana asked. “I can be what I was supposed to be before your grandmother ruined everything.”
I felt a trembling start in my legs. I wasn’t going to be able to outmaneuver her. She was going to steal all of our magic. A thrum of power rippled against my side. I knew without looking that it was the grimoire. A trickle of warmth, the same feeling I had when I used magic, was pouring from the book into me, giving me its strength and power.
How had I ever resisted this world, this book, and my ancestry? I would not let Ariana take it from me when I had just discovered it. And there was no way in hell I was going to let her get away with murdering Mamie and my mom.
Newly resolved, I clutched the book closer. I made my voice quake as if I were afraid. “That’s not the bargain.” I lowered my head, pretending to sob. “You have to set them free.”
“Do I?” Ariana reached out with her free hand and cupped my chin, pulling me in close as she forced me to meet her gaze. “Do I really?”
I blinked, forcing some blood tears to fall. When Ariana reached out to catch a tear on her fingertip, I thrust the Dagger of Death straight into the faintly clenching heart of the book she held.
Ariana staggered back. The shield she had placed around us vanished, and my friends raced forward just in time to see Ariana’s form turn to ash and fall to the ground. The book with the dagger in it dropped to the ground with a thud.
“You did it, Zoe!” Miles snatched up the book. “You have vanquished Ariana Darkwood once and for all.”
“Mon chaton!” Mamie stood outside the group, looking around as if she couldn’t see. “Are you all right?”
“Mamie, I’m here!” I rushed to her. When I grabbed her hand in mine, she blinked and then smiled. “There you are. You look so much like your mother, even she thinks so.”
My heart thumped against my chest and I scanned the dark barn. “Is she—?”
Mamie turned her head as if she was listening to a conversation only she could hear.
“Mamie?”
“I have to go, mon chaton.”
“But why?” I cried. “You just got here and I haven’t seen you in decades. I have so many questions.”
“I know, but you have discovered the most important part of being a witch…belief,” Mamie said, but her voice sounded more like an echo and when I looked at her, she was less substantial, as if she was fading.
“Are you leaving me?” I asked. My throat was tight and tears burned my eyes. I couldn’t believe that I had her back only to lose her in a matter of minutes. “Please don’t leave.”
“I can’t stay,” she said. “Your magic is not yet strong enough to hold me.”
“But will you come back?”
“You know how to call for me,” she said. “Practice, mon chaton. Practice very hard and we will see each other again.”
Her hand in mine faded, feeling as insubstantial as mist.
“Don’t go, Mamie.” I couldn’t keep the pleading out of my voice. I went for a plea of help, hoping that could anchor her. “We have ghost pirates circling the island waiting for us. What do we do?”
Her laugh was a soft chuckle. “Before I died, I tasked the pirates with protecting the island and you, should you ever return, from Ariana. They were quite peeved that you showed up with her in disguise, which is why they tried to overtake you but couldn’t risk harming you. They aren’t there to hurt you but to watch over you. Have no fear.”
Well, hell, there went my last argument. “I need you, Mamie.”
“I’m always with you,” she said. She was glittery mist shimmering on the air now, barely visible. I wanted to cry and wail and demand that she stay, but I didn’t. And then she was gone.
