He walked to it, a lump forming in his stomach.
Something was definitely wrong here. He could feel it in the thick air as it tried to smother him.
He bent down at the stump and fingered the wax remnants. Red, blue, green, yellow, and black. Was this Anisa’s altar? When he had found out that she was a witch, he had done some researching on the Internet about witches. He read about consecrated altars, and some harmless spells, and the colors associated with those spells. As he picked up a piece of black wax, he knew that something harmful had been conjured here.
He let the wax drop. A warm scent wafted to his nose. He bent down and sniffed the red cloth.
Cinnamon. He had smelled it on Anisa. Inside her, even. And didn’t Jean say she had smelled cinnamon at Stan Hart’s home, in the bathroom where he had drowned?
Alex scanned the surrounding ground. He spotted a piece of white paper. He dug in the dirt and uncovered a Polaroid picture. He picked it up as bile rose in his throat, knowing whom it was. Stan Hart’s chubby face smiled back at him.
“What are you doing?”
Alex jumped at the cool clipped voice. He turned and looked up at Anisa standing over him, dressed in a black silk robe and with a frown on her face. Alex stood, his knees shaking. He felt very cold. A sense of dread swept over him.
“I thought I saw someone in your yard.”
“So you came all the way out here? This isn’t my yard.”
He heard the anger in her voice, and her face was cold and hard in the moonlight. This was not the warm, languid woman he had bedded earlier.
“I followed my instincts. And they led me here.”
He held up her amulet. “And I found this hanging on a tree.”
Anisa put a hand up to her neck. Her throat was bare. “I took it off before we went to sleep.”
“Why is it here, then?”
“I don’t know.”
He raised the picture of Stan and held it out in front of him. “I also found this. Buried in front of your altar.”
Anisa looked down at the picture and back up at Alex. Her facial expression did not change. She still looked apathetic and impenetrable.
“You did a spell on Stan.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you could do no harm.”
Anisa flinched, and dropped her gaze to her altar.
“If you knew about spells, you could see that I used pink candles and a red altar cloth. I was doing a love spell.”
“A love spell?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you hated Stan.”
“It wasn’t for me.”
Alex dropped the picture and grabbed Anisa by the arms. He dug his fingers in and shook her. “Who was it for?”
“Ron Blaine.”
“Who?” The name shocked him. He was not expected a man’s name.
“Ron Blaine. He runs the gas station in town. He’s been in love with Stan for years.”
“Stan Hart is gay?”
“Yes. Except he likes to keep it hidden. No one knows. I thought if I gave him a little nudge in accepting himself, maybe he would leave me alone.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not, it’s the truth.”
“What were the black candles for then?”
Anisa flinched and narrowed her eyes. “What? I don’t use black candles. I never use them.”
“There’s black candle wax on your sacred altar.”
Anisa looked down at the altar and scanned the area. Her eyes widened when she spotted the dark remnants.
“Can’t be. Someone else must have used my altar.”
“Who else? There are no other witches in Raven’s Bay.”
“I don’t know, but it wasn’t me,” she yelled. Alex thought he saw a spark in her eyes, the same flash he'd witnessed in the back of her store. He knew then that she did not need her tools of witchcraft to conjure spells. She possessed more power than he ever thought possible.
He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, and his vision blurred. He dropped his hands from Anisa and swayed on his feet. He watched as she looked at him with shock, then beyond him at something else, something behind him.
“Why?” He heard her ask. But the sound was muffled, like he was under water. He reached for her, but fell to his knees before he could grab her. He fell onto his hands and rolled over onto his side. The world spun violently before him and he felt something hot and wet trickle over his ear.
“Hello, coz.”
Alex blinked back stinging tears. He recognized that voice. He turned his head slowly and looked up.
Jill Banks hovered over him, a shovel in her hands.
She leered down at him and chuckled.
“Not very smart, is he?”
“What are you doing, Jill?”
“Saving you.”
“Saving me from what?” Anisa bent down next to Alex. She touched the back of his head. Her fingers came away sticky with blood.
“From him.” Jill said as he kicked Alex in the leg.
“He would have found out, Ani, about us and Nick…”
“What about Nick?” Anisa stood up and faced Jill.
“That you killed him.”
“I didn’t kill Nick, Jill.”
“But I saw you, here in the clearing. I saw the spell you performed on him. It was a binding spell. You made him helpless, so he drowned in the river.”
“It was a binding spell, Jill, but I did it to stop him from hurting himself. He was suicidal. Nick wanted to end his life because he was afraid of his powers. He thought his parents would reject him if they found out he was a witch. But I couldn’t stop him. Someone broke the spell.” Anisa spoke the last four words slowly as she stepped closer to Jill.
“I…I thought you were trying to hurt him. I thought you were angry because he rejected you, rejected the coven, that’s why I reversed the spell.”
“I loved him, Jill. I would never have hurt him.”
Anisa stepped closer to her.
Alex shook his head, trying to clear his vision. He felt nauseous from the blow to his head, but he was still conscious. He tried to sit up.
Jill raised the shovel over her head. Anisa stepped in front of Alex. A cool breeze picked up and swirled around her. Her hair blew around her head like a gilded cloud.
“Stop.”
Jill froze
“What were you trying to do with Stan, Jill? I know you weren’t trying to undo my spell.”
Jill lowered the shovel. “No, I meant to kill him.”
“Why?”
“He knew about the coven. He was going to expose us.”
“So? What harm would that have done? It is no crime to practice the natural ways.”
“No crime? What do you think would have happened to my job if the townspeople found out I was a witch? Do you think they would open their arms to a Deputy witch? You should know better than I the persecution of our people.”
“That is no excuse to kill Stan. The people would have had to accept you. The department could not fire you for being a witch. Our ways are protected under religious beliefs.”
“You don’t understand, Ani. I wanted to be Sheriff.
And then this cowboy comes waltzing into town and takes my job.”
Alex groaned and tried to move again. Anisa glanced over her shoulder at him. He saw a faint green glow in her eyes. She turned back to Jill.
“He is no threat.”
“He would have found out everything, don’t you see? He would have to expose us to do his job.”
“Jill, this has to end. You are no longer fit to govern the coven. You must confess and accept your punishment.”
“No, I won’t. I will not relinquish the coven.
Especially not to you.”
Anisa took a step toward her. “You must. You have used your magic for harm. You have gone against all that we hold sacred.”
Jill chuckled. “You’re just jealous that I am more powerful than you. You’ve always been jealous.”
Anisa raised her hands out in front of her; her palms open toward Jill. She mumbled a binding spell upon Jill.
“Stop it!” Jill raised the shovel over Anisa, but stopped with it in mid-air. She grunted as she struggled to bring the shovel down. She could not move. It was as if she was frozen in ice.
Anisa continued to conjure the spell, chanting the words repeatedly under her breath.
Jill sucked in a deep breath and let out an ear-piercing scream.
Anisa flinched, stumbled over her words and dropped her hands.
The spell broke, and the momentum of Jill’s swing allowed the shovel to continue its deadly arc.
Anisa sidestepped just in time to avoid the head-splitting swing. She turned quickly and kicked out at Jill’s hands, trying to relinquish her hold on the handle of the shovel. Her foot met solidly with Jill’s fingers. She yelped and let it drop to the ground.
Jill shrieked and turned to attack Anisa. But she was already in motion. Her fist connected with a resounding crack with Jill’s nose. Blood spewed from her nostrils. She screamed and went down to her knees, grasping her face.
Alex was finally able to sit up as Jill went down.
He shut his eyes as they swam in and out of focus. He raised his head and looked at Anisa as she stood over Jill, hands still clenched into fists.
“Whoa. She may have better magic, but damn, girl, you have one hell of a punch.”
She turned to him and grinned mischievously. Her eyes sparkled again, and he could clearly see a faint green glow. Cold shivers erupted all over his body.
He felt like he was going to get sick.
Anisa’s eyes bulged and her hands came up to her throat. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.
Alex tried to stand, but dropped back to his ass, dizzy and nauseous. He watched as Anisa dropped to her knees, still clutching at her neck. He glanced over at Jill. She was looking at Anisa, blood still dripping from her nose. Alex could see her lips moving. He couldn’t hear her words, but knew she was invoking a spell. One, by the looks of it, that could kill.