The Shifter and the Witch

Lucy

Sunlight is filtering in through the bedroom window when I wake up. It’s probably still early, but it’s morning, and that means I’m calling Zareena.

Grabbing my phone off the bedside table, I check the time.

6:47 AM.

It is early, but I think I’m okay to call Zareena. She opens her store at eight, so I bet she’s either up already or about to get up.

The phone rings twice before she answers.

“Hey. I’m sorry for calling so early. Did I wake you?”

“No. I’ve been up for a little bit.”

I’m not surprised when she guesses the reason for my early call.

“Do you have Hannah?” she asks.

“Yes. Is there any way you could come over today? Can someone else manage the shop for you?” I ask.

If I have to wait all day before trying to help Hannah, I might go crazy.

“I can come over now,” Zareena replies, and I breathe a sigh of relief. “I’ll just put a sign up at the store saying I’m closed for the day for inventory. Give me twenty minutes and come get me. I just have to get dressed and grab a bite.”

“Okay. Thank you, Zareena,” I reply. “I’ll see you soon.”

I end the call, drop my phone on the bed, and grab my clothes off the floor. Deklan stirs as I quickly dress in yesterday’s outfit.

“You’re up,” he murmurs, his eyes opening and finding me.

Having just woken up, his voice is rough and rumbly.

“Did you already call Zareena?” he asks.

“Yeah. I just did,” I reply, and then slip my top over my head.

“Did you get much sleep?” he asks as he sits up.

“Not much,” I reply. “Did you?”

“Some.”

I tuck my phone in my back pocket and then throw my hair back in a ponytail.

“I’m going to get a quick bite and then go get Zareena,” I tell him.

“Alright,” he says. “I’ll keep an eye on Hannah while you’re gone.”

I thank him and go down to the kitchen, where I pour myself a bowl of cereal. I don’t even taste the cereal as it goes down. I’m still chewing my last mouthful when I teleport to Zareena’s.

“Zareena?” I call after I swallow.

“Be right there.”

A second later, Zareena comes out of her kitchen and crosses the living room to me. She’s dressed in yoga pants and a T-shirt. She reaches my side and takes my hand, and I immediately teleport us to her store.

“I’ll just be one sec,” Zareena says and steps away from me.

I follow her over to the check-out counter. She goes behind it and pulls out a pad of paper from a drawer. She scribbles ‘Closed for inventory’ on the top piece of paper, rips that piece off, slaps a piece of scotch tape on it, and then goes and posts the note on the door.

“Alright,” she says, turning to me. “All set.”

“I have to make a quick stop at my place too,” I say as we join hands once more.

I’m going to check on Jinx now. I’m afraid that if I don’t do it now, I’ll forget to do it at all.

I teleport, and the two of us disappear from Zareena’s shop. A second later, we appear in my kitchen. Zareena waits while I refill Jinx’s food and water and refresh his litter. Once he’s taken care of, I teleport us from my place to Deklan’s. We appear in the hallway upstairs, outside the spare room. The door to the room is open, and Deklan, still in his pyjama bottoms, is leaning against the door frame, looking in at Hannah.

He looks over when Zareena and I materialize and pushes off the door frame, and moves over to us.

“She’s still asleep,” he says, tilting his head toward the room, and I nod.

That’s good. I’d rather not have another unpleasant interaction with my sister.

Keeping my voice low, I make introductions. “Deklan, this is Zareena.” I gesture to my friend beside me. “Zareena, Deklan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Deklan murmurs.

“You too,” Zareena replies.

Deklan’s attention returns to me.“I’ll just go,” he gestures down the hall, “get out of your hair so you can do what you’ve got to do,” he says.

Before he goes, he leans down and gives me a peck on the lips.

“So,” Zareena says when we’re alone, “if Hannah’s under a spell, I know a few spells we can try to lift it. If she’s suffered some kind of mind manipulation, we’ll have to do a mind restoration.”

I nod.

“Hello?” Hannah calls out.

Shit.

She’s awake.

“You assholes out there?” she calls.

I share a sober look with Zareena before starting into the spare room. Hannah glares at us as we approach the bed.

“Hi, Hannah,” Zareena says. “I’m Zareena.”

“I don’t care who you are, bitch,” Hannah snaps.

I wince at my sister’s words, but Zareena seems nonplussed.

“Malek is going to kill you,” Hannah hisses at me, her eyes narrowing into slits. “I hope he tortures you first.”

I don’t respond to that.

Zareena ignores Hannah’s words and starts reciting a spell.

Hannah’s demeanour doesn’t improve with the spell. She continues to threaten me and Zareena and curses a blue streak.

When the first spell Zareena tries has no effect on Hannah, she tries another. That one has no effect either. After trying a few other spells, she looks at me and shakes her head.

“I’ve tried all the spells I could,” she says. “We’re going to have to try a mind restoration.”

“How long does a mind restoration usually take?” I ask.

“Usually a few hours,” she replies. “But,” she adds. “The mind restorations I’ve done have only involved restoring memories,” she informs me. “There’s going to be an extra step with your sister’s mind restoration, so I’m not sure how long it will take. Just blocking your sister’s memories wouldn’t have changed Hannah’s behavior,” Zareena continues. “To change your sister’s nature, whoever buried her memories would have had to also put up blocks. They would have had to essentially turn off her moral compass.”

Okay. Alright. That makes sense.

“We’re going to have to remove those blocks first,” Zareena continues. “If we can,” she puts in. “Then search for Hannah’s memories.”

I don’t like that ‘if’ my friend threw in there.

I nod, and Zareena closes her eyes and starts reciting a spell that will knock Hannah unconscious. As soon as she finishes reciting, Hannah promptly falls asleep. Slowly, she collapses out of her seated position to lay flat on her back.

Zareena goes over to a crystal on the floor and shifts it out of alignment, breaking the forcefield. She steps around the head of the bed and stops behind Hannah.

“Come stand beside me,” she requests. “Hold her head like this,” she instructs after I’ve stepped to her side.

I watch as my friend cups the right side of my sister’s head, one hand on top, the other underneath. I follow suit and cup the left side of Hannah’s head the same way, one hand resting on top, the other underneath.

“Okay,” Zareena murmurs. “Close your eyes.”

I quickly obey and immediately get a visual in my mind’s eye of my sister’s brain.

Wow. I didn’t expect such a clear picture. I expected I’d get a magical impression or that maybe I’d have to go by intuition and energy. I didn’t expect to have a freaking detailed map.

“Those black areas?” Zareena asks. “Those are the blocks I told you about.”

Shit. Those black areas are everywhere. There are so many of them.

“I wasn’t expecting this many,” Zareena murmurs. “Focus on one block at a time,” she instructs. “Think of your hand like a magnet. See the block being absorbed into your palm a little at a time.”

“Alright,” I murmur.

“When your hand feels heavy with energy,” Zareena continues. “Cleanse with white light.”

I nod absently at that instruction. That’s basic energy practice.

“Tell me if you come to a block that won’t yield,” Zareena adds after we’ve been working a few minutes. “I’ll focus on it with you, and maybe together we’ll be able to remove it.”

“Okay,” I say absently as I concentrate intently on the task at hand.

The energy I pull from my sister weighs my hand down so quickly that I have to cleanse every couple of minutes. It’s taxing work, but neither I nor Zareena come across a block we can’t clear alone.

When we finish, several hours later, we’re both tired and starving. As eager as I am to move on to the next step and start restoring Hannah’s memories, I know we need to take a break.

“Come on,” I say, and start toward the door. “Let’s go downstairs, and I’ll make us something to eat.”

I don’t bother texting Deklan to say that we’re taking a break since I don’t plan on it being long. Zareena and I just take enough time to refuel, and then we head right back upstairs to the spare room and return to our positions by Hannah. We both lay our hands on her head again and start removing the block that’s kept Hannah locked out of her own memories all these years.

The energy I pull out of Hannah now feels odd. I suppose ‘scrambled’ is the best word for it. Maybe ‘static-y’ is a better description.

I absorb some, clear myself, absorb some more, and then clear again. Finally, the block is gone, and Zareena and I start slowly and carefully restoring Hannah’s memories.

As we restore the memories, we can see them. It’s kinda like watching a movie play back. Hannah’s entire childhood, everything she saw and experienced right up until the night the Zolark attacked our family, scrolls by.

Bile burns the back of my throat when we reach the night my mom was killed.

“I can finish myself,” Zareena murmurs, having obviously sensed my distress. “If you’d rather not -”

I shake my head. “No.”

I appreciate my friend’s offer, but I need to see this for myself.

“Thanks.” I tack on.

“Alright.” Zareena nods.

Bracing myself, I watch that night play out from Hannah’s point of view. I watch through my sister’s eyes as she and I run for the front door.

Suddenly, I see Hannah’s forward motion stop. Her memory shows my younger self flying down the front steps and disappearing down the street while she is pulled back inside the house.

I hear her yell at me to run, and I feel sick to my stomach as I watch her arms flail and her legs kick as she struggles in the Zolark’s arms.

The demon hums gleefully, like a child with a treat, and takes Hannah back into the kitchen. Her eyes fall on our mother, and her vision blurs with tears. Her struggling stops.

The Zolark takes my mother and Hannah to the demon plane, and there he meets up with someone.

“Your witch, mistresses,” he says in English.

It’s clear in his voice that he’s pleased to have fulfilled the wishes of his ‘mistresses’.

“Well done,” a sultry female voice replies.

“Who is this pet?” another female voice asks. This voice sounds just as sensual as the first.

“The witch’s daughter.” I hear the Zolark reply. “I thought to have her as a snack if it pleases my mistresses.”

“The witch’s daughter?” One of his mistresses murmurs, and from the tone of her voice, it’s clear she’s thinking something nefarious.

“What are you thinking, Savina?” the other mistress asks.

When the one named Savina replies, I can hear the smile in her voice.

“I’m thinking, Calia,” she says. “That we could use this daughter.”

Savina and Calia.

I commit those two names to memory.

“How so?” I hear the one named Calia ask.

“What better way to stick it to this murderous bitch than to turn her daughter evil?” Savina explains.

My heart breaks when I hear my mother beg the demons to leave Hannah alone. Her voice is so weak.

Savina laughs. The Zolark growls.

“I did what mistresses asked,” he practically whines. “I want the daughter.”

“Yes, well, now we want her,” Savina replies. “You have our thanks for bringing her to us. You may go,” she says, dismissing her minion.

The Zolark says something in his language that I don’t understand. Savina obviously does understand, though, and doesn’t appreciate what he said.

“End him,” she instructs Calia in a bored voice.

Calia ends the demon promptly. She has to let go of Hannah while she dispatches the Zolark, and Hannah runs to our mother. She doesn’t reach her, though. She’s picked up by the back of her neck before she can reach her and held up facing one of the ‘mistresses’.

The mistress Hannah’s looking at is tall and thin. She’s dressed in tight black pants and a crimson bustier. Her hair’s long and dark, and her face is heavily painted.

I memorize everything about her. If she’s still alive, she won’t be for much longer. I’m going to enjoy killing the bitch that had my mother killed and took my sister.

The demon in Hannah’s sight smiles.

“Well done, Calia,” she says.

Thanks to that comment, I now know the mistress I’m looking at is Savina.

Calia sets Hannah on her feet. My sister immediately tries to run to our mother again. This time she reaches her, and she wraps her little arms around her neck. Our mom tries to hug her back but doesn’t have enough strength to hold her very long.

Calia doesn’t give my mom and sister very long together anyway. The demon pulls Hannah away from our mom and brings her over to Savina, who uses her powers to freeze Hannah in place. Once Calia doesn’t have to hold Hannah any longer, she moves to Savina’s side. And once I can see her, I commit her face to memory too. The bitch has large eyes, a pert nose, an oval face, and long blonde hair. She’s slim, dressed in a dark blue miniskirt and black crop top with black knee-high boots. Her face is just as painted as Savina’s.

Sick to my soul, I watch as the two bitches start to manipulate my sister’s mind. The process must overwhelm Hannah, because my sister faints and the memory ends.

The sudden end of her memories leaves me staring blankly into space.

God. Watching that was horrifying.

“You okay?” Zareena murmurs after a moment.

Hell no. I’m far from okay.

“Mm-hmm.”

Zareena lays a hand lightly on my arm.

“When you’re ready,” she says after giving me a few minutes to collect myself. “... we’ll channel some healing white light to help Hannah’s mind process what we’ve done, and then we’ll seal our energy work.”

It’s still another few moments before I clear my throat and look over at Zareena. “Okay. Let’s do what you said.”

“Alright,” Zareena murmurs.

We return our hands to Hannah and start channelling white light into her mind. The energy moves through every area, dancing and shooting between synapses. It’s kind of beautiful.

The healing and sealing don’t take long, and when we’re finished, I turn to Zareena and pull her into a hug.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she murmurs, squeezing me back.

“She’ll probably be disoriented or foggy when she first wakes up,” Zareena tells me after I've let her go and turned to stare down at my sister.

I nod. I’m sure Hannah’s going to be very disoriented when she wakes up. She’s going to have a lot to process. I don’t know how she’s going to handle remembering what happened to her. To our family. I don’t know how she’s going to cope with whatever she’s done since Savina and Calia altered her mind. Whatever she did, it wasn’t her fault. She never would have hurt a soul if she’d been in her right mind.

“You okay?” Zareena asks. “You want me to go get Deklan?” she offers.

I shake my head. “I’ll text him.”

I pull out my phone and thumb in a message to Deklan.

We’re done. The mind restoration worked.

A few moments after I send that message off to him, I hear his footsteps coming up the stairs. I thought he was still out in the studio, but for him to be there so quickly, I assume he must have been in the living room or kitchen.

When he comes into the room, I walk straight into his arms and press my face to his shoulder, soaking up his warmth and strength.

“You had to do a mind restoration?” he asks, and I nod against his shoulder.

“And it worked?”

I lift my head and look up at him. “It did.”

His eyes travel over my face, and his brows furrow with concern.

“If it worked, how come you don’t look happy?” he asks.

I drop my gaze to his chest. “I saw what happened to Hannah and my mom,” I tell him. I lift my eyes to meet his again. “That night.”

Hearing that, his eyes fill with tenderness. “Come here,” he murmurs, and gently pulls me closer again.

“If you’d like, Lucy, I can make you a potion to help you sleep tonight.” Zareena offers when I finally let go of Deklan.

“That’s okay,” I reply, looking over at her. I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want a potion. “Thank you, though.”

Zareena nods.

“Do you want to crash here?” I ask her.

“Thanks,” she says. “But I’ll sleep better in my own bed.”

I nod at that and then glance at Deklan. “Will you stay here with Hannah until I get back from taking Zareena home?” I ask him.

He nods. “Of course.”

“Thanks.”

Stepping back from him, I go over and take Zareena’s hand, then teleport us from Deklan’s spare room to her living room.

“Call me in a day or two, or whenever you get a chance, and let me know how Hannah’s doing,” she requests.

“I will.”

I already thanked her, but I thank her again. I’ll never be able to thank my friend enough. “Thank you so much. I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for your help.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” she says, “and that it worked.”

Before I teleport back to Deklan’s, I give her one more hug.

“Get some sleep,” she murmurs.

“You too,” I reply with a soft smile, and then I teleport.

When I appear in the spare room, I see that he’s pulled a chair over to Hannah’s bedside while I was gone. He gets up out of the chair as I walk over to him.

“She hasn’t stirred?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

I look down at Hannah. I expect she’ll be out for a while after the energy work Zareena and I did on her. But it’s possible she’ll wake up any time, and I want to be there whenever she wakes up.

“I’m going to stay in here tonight,” I tell Deklan.

He nods. “I figured you would,” he says.

He starts lowering his mouth toward mine, and I lift up to accept his kiss.

“Get some sleep,” he murmurs.

As he leaves, I go and lay down next to Hannah. I don’t bother changing out of my clothes. I’m too tired to care.

I’m so tired, I’m asleep a second after my head hits the pillow.

***

Deklan

After saying goodnight to Lucy, I leave her with Hannah in the spare room and head to my room. A second after I set my phone on my bedside table, it bings with an incoming text. I assume it’s Blake texting me back. I texted him while Lucy took Zareena home and let him know that they did a mind restoration and that it worked.

I pick my phone back up and read my message. It is indeed from Blake.

That’s great news! Lucy must be so happy.

Three dots start bouncing on the screen, letting me know he’s typing more.

I was just about to text you and see if you wanted to go for a run when I got your text. I assume you want to stay in tonight with Lucy?

After not getting much sleep last night, I’m tired, but a run still sounds good.

Actually, Hannah’s out for the night. And Lucy just went to bed. I’ll go check and see if she minds if I go for a run. Hang on.

Phone in hand, I return to the spare room. I peek in the door and find Lucy already asleep, so I retreat quietly and move down the hall.

At the top of the stairs, I pause and text Blake a thumbs-up emoji.

Downstairs, I leave my phone on the kitchen counter and then let myself out the back door. From the porch, I look out over my yard toward the trees beyond and watch for Blake. When I spot him coming out of the woods, I strip down and hang my clothes over the railing, then shift and cross my yard.

“Hey,” I say, ambling up to him.

“Hey,” he replies as the two of us slip into the trees. ”Lucy must be so relieved that the mind restoration worked,” he says.

“I don’t think it’s really hit her yet,” I tell him. “She was so exhausted. She and Zareena were both wiped.”

“How long did it take them to do the mind restoration?” he asks.

“They were at it all day.”

Blake blows out a breath.

“At least their work was worth it, and they were able to do what they needed to do.”

I nod and send out a silent ‘thank you’ to the universe. I’m really glad I don’t have to find out what would have happened if Lucy hadn’t been able to undo what had been done to Hannah.

Silence falls between me and Blake as we continue walking. We keep our pace easy, weaving our way through the trees, following the soft ups and downs of the landscape. After a few minutes, we switch gears. We go from a walk to a loping jog, then graduate to a run.

While we run, a possibility occurs to me. Now that Hannah’s got her mind back, maybe she can help us take down Malek. She was buddies with him, so she might know where he lives.

I disregard this possibility almost as soon as I think of it. I’m not going to ask Hannah if she can help me take Malek down. That would be really selfish of me considering that she’s going to be spending the next while processing everything that’s happened to her.

After covering several miles, Blake and I turn around and start heading back.

“So,” he says when we’re getting close to the spot where we’ll split up. “When are you going to tell Lucy you claimed her as your mate?”

He noticed the mark I made on Lucy’s neck the day she brought the crystals home.

“Whenever it feels right, I guess.”

He dips his head in a nod.

“I’m happy for you two, man,” he says.

“Thanks.”

“And I’m happy that Lucy’s sister is going to be okay.”

“So am I,” I echo. “So am I.”