Witching Time Read online

  “Hey, Da? Can you help Kipa bring in my pumpkins and other stuff from the car?”

  Curikan jumped out of his chair. “Sure, honey.”

  Raj was sitting on a bench that they had pulled over to the table so he could avoid trying to fit himself into a chair. The cards were laid out, and judging by the pile of potato chips in front of Raj, he had been winning.

  He flashed me a self-satisfied grin. “Raj is winning. Raj is wiping both of them out.”

  “That’s great, buddy, but Raj needs to make sure that he doesn’t get overconfident. Raj needs to remain sneaky and alert if he wants to be a poker pro.” I gave him a hug. “I’ll put away the groceries.”

  As I began stowing the pastries and vegetables, Raj meandered into the kitchen, his nose in the air, wriggling as quick as a rabbit’s. “Raj smells cookies.”

  “Yes, and croissants and pie too.” I glanced down at him where he stood by my side, gazing wistfully at the bags. “Does Raj want a cookie?”

  “Raj can’t have treats. Raj is still being punished for taking a bath.”

  I stared at him, sighing. “Well, if Raj promises on his honor to be good and obey the rules, he can have two cookies.”

  “Raj promises!” He squirmed like a happy little kid as I handed him two chocolate chip cookies and shooed him out of the kitchen.

  Holding a cookie between my teeth, I finished unloading the last bag, just as Kipa brought in the sacks with the honey and preserves in them.

  “You bought out the fair. How was it? Did you have fun?” he asked.

  I frowned, finishing the cookie before speaking. “Wait till we’re done putting everything away and then I’ll tell both you and Curikan what happened.” I put away the honey and jams.

  “Where do you want me to put the pumpkins?” Curikan called from the front door.

  “Set them against the dining room wall, if you would. I’ll carve them later, but for now, they can stay there.” I wrapped my arm around Kipa’s waist and we returned to the dining room, where Raj was sitting on the bench, looking guilty. The pile of chips was gone from in front of him.

  “Raj ate his winnings,” he said. “Is that bad?”

  Curikan laughed. “If they had been real poker chips, yes. You would have a nasty bellyache. But no, that’s fine. Listen, let’s wrap up the game for the night. We can play again tomorrow if you like.”

  Raj jumped off the bench while Curikan arranged the pumpkins where I asked him to, and Kipa folded the cards back together. I took off my boots and shrugged out of my jacket, making certain that both the wards and the security system were set. We gathered in the living room, Raj curling up on the ottoman next to Curikan. He had taken a real shine to my father.

  “So, a thing happened while I was out there at Dream Circle Farms,” I said. I told them everything that had happened. “I’m pretty sure it was a woman’s ghost. Though I doubt it was what called to Dray while he was out in the fields, I can’t think that the farm is all that safe.”

  Kipa shook his head. “You want me to come with you tomorrow? I can take a look around while you’re reading the cards.”

  I nodded. “I think that might be a good idea. Da, do you mind hanging out here with Raj?”

  I felt so guilty about not being able to spend the day with him, but he didn’t dare come with me. The fair would have a lot of people milling about, including children, and he’d be bound to cross paths with someone more than once. It was just a logistical probability. And even if only ten minutes had passed since they first saw him, the second time would be tragic. And that was a risk neither he nor I were willing to take.

  “The fair’s only through Sunday, right?”

  I shook my head. “It’s all week long, but I’m only going to read the cards Saturday and Sunday. I won’t be there the rest of the week. I think Llew has hired someone to man the booth during the week, and Jordan—Llew’s husband—is sending one of his baristas to set up a coffee and pastry booth there.”

  “Well, I plan on being here for at least a week, so no worries. I’ll spend the day mending anything around the house that you need fixed, and Raj and I will have a fine time together, won’t we, Raj?” Curikan reached down and patted Raj’s head.

  Raj grunted, but it was a satisfied grunt. He liked attention and he liked having company willing to do what he wanted—which was mostly play games and go for walks.

  “All right, then Kipa, if you wouldn’t mind taking Raj for a walk tonight, then tomorrow morning we can head over to the farm at around ten. It opens at eleven.” I leaned back against the arm of the sofa and propped my feet up on the cushions. “So, how’s life in Hanging Hills? Same as always?”

  A dark look crossed my father’s face. “Not really. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. The area’s being built up at a fantastic rate. I can barely leave my home anymore. I actually thought I might move.”

  I perked up. “You mean, maybe move here?” I loved my parents, even though they could be giant pain in the asses, and the thought of Curikan living nearby made me happy. But he dashed my hopes the next moment.

  “No, actually. I am thinking of moving to Annwn. It’s safer over there, and there’s far more room for me to move about without putting anybody at risk. I’m thinking of moving to Y’Bain.”

  Y’Bain, the forest of the Autumn’s Bane—or Autumn Stalkers. The offshoot of the Dark Fae could be ruthless, but they tended to stay away from Old TirNaNog—the ancient Fae city-state on which the Earthside TirNaNog had been founded. But that meant my father might as well be half a world away. While there were ways cell phones could manage the portal jump, it was mostly with the gods.

  I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t want him to stay in a place that was growing too populated—it wasn’t fair to him or the people around him. But I couldn’t put my heart into saying, “Go.” I stared at my hands for a moment.

  “Raven? Child? What are you thinking?” Curikan asked.

  I stayed focused on my hands, not wanting to meet his eyes. “I think…I think you should do what makes you happiest. If you think moving to Y’Bain would make you happy, then you should do it. But…are you sure you couldn’t find a good spot here? We’ve got the Cascade mountains. There are places where people never go. You could find an isolated space and still be close to me.” I wasn’t sure why him moving to Y’Bain felt like the end of our connection, but it did.

  Curikan furrowed his brow. “Child, do you really need me around? You haven’t been home in over a decade. I thought you were happy being out on your own.”

  I bit my lip, glancing at Kipa, who was wisely keeping out of it. But he gave me a concerned look, and I could tell he wished he could help. Kipa might have a checkered past, but he had a heart of gold and he helped a lot more people than others gave him credit for.

  “It’s just…with Typhon and everything, the world is a far scarier place. Are you leaving because of him?” I already knew that my father couldn’t join the fight, but I wanted him to be around when I returned from the coming battles sore and wounded. My mother—and the Wild Hunt Agency—had both made it clear that I was out on the front lines with them. I had already been called out a number of times to deal with vrykos, zombies, skeletal walkers, and other forms of the dead who were rising.

  Curikan scooted over to where he could pull me into a hug. “Raven, my girl. I didn’t know you still needed me. Perhaps I can take a trip up to the mountains and see if I can find a place that would be solitary enough for me. But think for a moment—if I go to Y’Bain, I can set up a home so easily, and I can warn people to stay away. They know about the Black Dogs there, and nobody save for a fool would purposely visit me. Also…if things go south here, you’ll have a place to come, should you have to leave Earth.”

  When he said the last bit, I froze. I hadn’t even thought about things getting that bad, but when I looked at the overall danger we were facing, he could well be right.

  Kipa cleared his throat. “I probably
shouldn’t mention this, but Herne and I have talked with Morgana and Cernunnos. If things do go south, we plan on moving the entire agency to Annwn. We’ll stay here and do what we can, as long as we can, but—” he paused, glancing at Curikan. “I can’t talk about this part in front of you, and even Raven doesn’t even fully know about our plans because there’s a need for absolute secrecy. However, if what we’re planning fails, then we may well have to pull back.”

  My stomach churned. “You mean, leave the world to Typhon?”

  “If we can’t defeat him, we’ll have to regroup and make other plans and we couldn’t do that if we’re constantly running to put out fires. And there’s no way we’d leave the members of the Wild Hunt to take their chances here. I know that Mielikki’s Arrow is also making plans to withdraw to Kalevala if need be, and Diana’s Hounds, to Olympus. Odin’s Chase would withdraw to Asgard and so on. We’ve been networking as much as possible.” He shrugged. “So much is up in the air.”

  Curikan frowned. “Typhon is really so powerful?”

  I nodded. “He was—is—a Titan. They preceded the gods, remember. They gave birth to the gods.” Pausing, I pulled a throw off the back of the sofa and wrapped myself in it. “I still think you should move here.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Curikan said, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

  “Good. I don’t want to be worrying about trying to find you over there.”

  Curikan nodded. “Given how dangerous times are becoming, I’ll decide sooner than later. I promise, I’ll give your idea some thought. Meanwhile, I may ask your mother to go home and pack my things for me. She’s efficient and will know what to keep and what to get rid of. If I move to Y’Bain, I’ll contact the bank, get my money transferred to jewels or gold, and then cross over to Annwn from here.”

  I paled. “You can’t carry that much on you. I’ll ask Herne if he can take your money to a safe place in Cernunnos’s palace.”

  “I’ll need some of it in order to buy supplies, though I suppose I can buy axes and nails and all I need to build a house here and have it transferred over. Do you think Herne would have the time to assist me in making such a huge move?” He shook his head. “I don’t want to impose on his time.”

  “I can ask, though I’m not happy about the thought.” I jumped as a sudden gust of wind hit the side of the house, and the rain started to pour. It was raining so heavily I could see the heavy drops splatter against the windowpane. That was an actual phenomenon in the Pacific Northwest, and anybody who lived in western Washington would immediately know what you meant when you said it was raining sideways.

  I draped the throw around my shoulders and walked over to the window, staring out into the darkness. The night felt alive, and active, and my alarms were whispering that there were things out there in the dark that were waiting for us—dragons and ghosts and all sorts of beasties. For the first time in a while, I closed the curtains to shut out the night.

  Chapter Six

  The next morning, I fed the ferrets and cleaned their cages. Curikan helped me. I explained what had happened with them.

  “You say they’re under a curse?” he said, staring at Elise.

  “Yes, and it’s one that I can’t seem to break. If I can break it, they’ll be free to move on. But I have no idea what kind of curse it was that locked them up in the tree to begin with, and then my own magic just made things go awry.”

  “I’ll do some research for you. Maybe I can find something you missed.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the top of my head. “Have I told you how proud I am of you? You’ve made a life for yourself here. You have friends, love, good work. All that anyone could ask for.”

  My heart welled up. I wanted to make him proud, wanted to make him feel like I was doing my best. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “We need to get moving if we’re going to make it there by ten,” Kipa said, peeking in the room. “I’ve fed Raj and made us breakfast to go. Curikan, would you mind loading the dishwasher? I left your breakfast on the counter where Raj can’t get to it. Otherwise, you’d probably have to forage.”

  Curikan laughed. “No problem. That’s one thing I’d miss over in Annwn. Technology like dishwashers and washing machines. But magic is plentiful enough that I’m pretty sure I could rig something up.”

  Again, the thought of him moving made my stomach knot up, but I said nothing, merely gave him a hug and hustled to the door. I was wearing my favorite autumn dress—a black lace overlay covering a black undersheath beneath, and the sheath was embellished with brilliant autumn leaves. The lace made it look like I was wearing a dress covered with spiderwebs.

  Beneath the dress, I wore sheer black tights and black leather granny boots. I fastened a black cloak with a rust-colored lining around my shoulders. It was raining, but at least the booth was covered with a waterproof awning. Slipping my dagger into my inner cloak pocket, I picked up my tote bag containing my cards, a battery-operated candle, and the cloth for the table.

  “I’m ready,” I said. “You want to drive?”

  Kipa nodded. “Sure. Give me the keys.”

  I tossed him my car keys and we headed out.

  The parking lot was still mostly empty by the time we got there, but the fair didn’t open until eleven and we had made good time, arriving at nine forty-five. Given it was a Saturday and the rain was intermittent, I expected the grounds to be packed by noon.

  Llew was already arranging his charms and incenses and oils on the long folding table. He waved as Kipa and I wandered up.

  “Hey, you got here on time.”

  “Traffic was light.” I glanced around. The fairgrounds felt…expectant. The fairway was empty but other vendors were bustling around, setting up. I spotted Marigold and Rain peeking in the tents containing the exhibits and contests. Part of me wanted to go over and talk to Marigold about what had happened the night before, but I forced myself to hold off and see how things shook out during the day.

  I pointed out the ravine to Kipa and he excused himself, heading over to check it out. Llew watched him go.

  “You brought reinforcements, I see.” He nodded toward where Rain and Marigold were standing. “I saw Marigold arguing with Evie this morning. I’m not sure what it was over, but Evie looked really frustrated.”

  “Could be a mother–daughter thing, or maybe something to do with whatever that thing was last night. The more I thought about it, the more I decided we should really look into it, so I asked Kipa to come with me. He can poke around while I’m working here.”

  “What will you tell Marigold if she asks why he’s snooping around their land?”

  I shrugged. “I’ll deal with that if it happens.”

  I finished setting up, then glanced at the clock on the table. Neither Llew nor I could wear a watch—they broke the moment we put them on, thanks to our respective magical energies. It was only ten-twenty.

  “I think I’ll go take a walk through the corn maze to see what I can find.” I pulled my hood up to cover my hair. The cloak was velveteen, but I had found a good waterproof spray. It altered the soft feel of the material some, but the benefits outweighed the downside.

  “Just be careful,” Llew said. “I’d come with you, but I still have a few things to set out.”

  “If Kipa comes over and asks where I am, tell him.” I took off then, glancing at the booths as I walked along the path leading to the maze. Two thick ropes tied to portable posts ran parallel to the path, creating a walkway. Gravel was spread out along the path to keep it from turning to mud.

  “Raven! Can you wait up?” Evie ran up, carrying an umbrella and looking mildly perturbed.

  “Am I not supposed to try out the maze yet? I’m sorry if—”

  “No,” she said, “That’s not it. I wanted to talk to you, if you don’t mind. We can talk on the way into the maze.”

  I nodded. “Sure.” The path was only a hundred yards long or so, leading into the corn patch. They had creat
ed a maze out of it, selling the corn they cut away. “So, will you be able to sell the rest of the corn?”

  She nodded. “Once the fair is over, yes. That’s the plan. Hey, I wanted to ask you something. Dray told me what happened last night.”

  I worried my lip, wondering what to say. “Yeah, it was disconcerting to say the least. I keep feeling like I should talk to your mothers about it, but Dray told me Marigold got after him about mentioning other things that happened.”

  Evie nodded. “Yeah, she did. Rain isn’t nearly so freaked by paranormal things, but Marigold… Mom’s just…the past few years she’s been afraid of things like that.”

  “And yet she’s pagan?” That didn’t make sense to me. Human pagans believed in magic and were often witches.

  “Well, she’s changed over the past couple of years. What Dray didn’t tell you—because I don’t think he knows—is that this land has some really odd things that happened here. I think our parents tried to keep it from him, but I know because I’m the one who first found out about it.”

  That caught my attention. “What are you talking about?”

  “This land was owned by a family of earth witches, but they weren’t the best of neighbors.”

  “Earth witches? That makes sense, given it’s a farm. Tell me more.”

  Evie glanced over her shoulder. “Marigold would smack me if she knew I was telling you this. Well, she wouldn’t hit me but she’d be really pissed. She’s afraid that if word gets out, it would stir up old rumors and ruin the farm.”

  “That sounds ominous. I promise I won’t tell her you told me.” I was getting more and more intrigued by the moment.

  “I don’t know a lot, but I do know that the daughter of the family disappeared and was never heard from again. And the father also vanished several years later. The girl was a teenager and there were a lot of questions, but the police never found anything definite, so they just labeled her as a probable runaway.”

  “Two missing people and the cops never did anything? That sounds about right.”