Prelude to a Witch, Amanda Lee [ebook reader web txt] 📗

“Me?”

“Yes. They want to take out the rest of your family, too. They said something about a baby.”

I thought I might fall over. “A baby?”

Landon was suddenly by my side. “What are they saying?”

“They say that dark ghosts have been here, that they want the magic fragments that we can’t seem to get rid of. They’ve specifically mentioned me ... and a baby.”

“Clove’s baby?”

“I don’t know of another.”

He looked to Chief Terry. “Do they know how to stop the dark ghosts?”

Carol emphatically shook her head. She was too fearful to have any ideas regarding a takedown. Carter was more difficult to read.

“Do you know how to end them?” I asked.

“You’re the expert,” he said. “You should know.”

“Maybe you should tell me.”

“Like I said, you’re the expert. You need to take on the mouthy females. That’s your battle. I just want to be left alone.” With that, he disappeared.

“What did he say?” Landon demanded.

“He doesn’t know. He said it’s up to me.”

“Well, that’s just great.” Landon rolled his neck. “Have I mentioned I hate it when things take a turn like this?”

I managed a weak chuckle. “You might’ve mentioned it a few times.”

18

Eighteen

Landon was quiet after the ghosts departed. Chief Terry suggested lunch. We went to the diner and sat at our usual table. I wasn’t hungry but ordered soup because I wanted something to do with my hands.

“So what do we do?” Chief Terry asked when I hadn’t spoken in several minutes.

I shrugged and went back to playing with my napkin. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll tell you what we do, we make a shade trap and blast those things into the next century.” Aunt Tillie, unlike me, wasn’t having trouble talking. “I’ll make the trap.”

Landon turned to study her. “Can you do that?”

“I can do anything.”

“Let me rephrase that. Have you done it before?”

“Of course.”

That stirred me. “You have not. Stop telling tall tales.”

Her look was dark. “Do you want to be on my list?” she challenged.

Landon coughed one word into his hand. “Bacon.” Then he smiled at me. “I can tell you’re upset about what the ghosts told you, Bay, but as you like to remind me, we’ve been through this kind of thing before. We’ll figure it out.”

“I’m not upset,” I argued, surprised at how vehement I sounded. My annoyance was on full display, and I wasn’t proud of it. “I’m just thinking.”

“Well, think out loud.” Landon patted my hand. “I’m going to find the waitress and add a grilled cheese to your order.”

I watched him go to the front counter. He was determined when he wanted to be and there was no chance of talking him down now. He couldn’t fight ghosts for me, or control whatever was to come. He could, however, force me to eat a sandwich with my soup.

“He loves you a great deal,” Hannah noted as she watched me.

“He does. He’s just really bossy when he wants to be.”

“He’s also a glutton,” Aunt Tillie added. “He thinks food solves every problem.”

I thought about the way he’d ignored the burritos in favor of a bath the previous evening. “Actually, he doesn’t think that. He just needs to feel as if he’s doing something.”

“I agree with your assessment.” Hannah’s smile was easy. “Landon is the sort of person who hates when those around him are unhappy. While he could live with other members of your family being unhappy, you’re a different story. When you feel pain, he feels pain.”

“Without a doubt,” I agreed. “He’s feeling pain right now.”

“Then let’s fix it.” Hannah dug inside the bag she’d carried into the restaurant. I’d seen her hitch it over her shoulder when we exited Chief Terry’s vehicle. She pulled out a thick folder.

“What is that?” Aunt Tillie asked, leaning forward. “Is that your list?”

Hannah chuckled. “I don’t have a list. Maybe I should start keeping one. You seem to find true joy in your list.”

“I do.” Aunt Tillie beamed at her. “Do you want to know who’s on my list right now?”

Hannah nodded at the same time I shook my head.

“She doesn’t care about your list,” I said.

“On the contrary.” Hannah’s smile never wavered. I could see why she was so good at her job. “I find stuff like this fascinating. Your great-aunt’s list will tell me a lot about her, and I find her to be an open book in some respects but an enigma in others. Who is at the top of your list, Ms. Winchester?”

“Call me Tillie or you’ll be on the list,” Aunt Tillie warned. “Willa is at the top of it right now. Usually it would be Margaret — she lives at the top — but I’ve moved her down a spot for the time being.”

“So you moved Willa to the top of your list because you consider her a threat,” Hannah prodded.

“I’m better than her,” Aunt Tillie insisted. “She’s no threat to me.”

“Then why did you move her to the top of your list? If you don’t fear her, there must be another reason.”

“There is. I hate her.”

“No.” Hannah shook her head. “There’s another reason.”

“Are you a shrink on top of being a profiler?” Aunt Tillie demanded. “I hate it when people try to shrink me.”

“And yet it’s so much fun.” Hannah winked at her. “I believe you moved Willa to the top because you think she’s a genuine threat, although not to you. You can handle anything. In fact, I’d wager that you have handled almost everything for your family for a long time.

“For example, where is your other sister?” she continued. “Where is your nieces’ mother?”

Aunt Tillie frowned. “Ginger died when they were younger.”

“So you raised them.”

Aunt Tillie hesitated. “I was always around when they were little. My husband and I didn’t have children. We helped raise Winnie, Marnie and Twila. They were like our children anyway.”

Hannah leaned back in her chair. “Were Winnie, Marnie and Twila adults when their mother died?”

“Winnie