Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [46]
I watched from my crouching position on the floor as they faded into the house’s shadows. When I could no longer see them, I closed my eyes and tried to follow them with my senses. I felt them moving around the perimeter of the house slowly, pausing here and there. Would they try to come in? My fingers tightened on the bat, even though I knew it would be of zero use against witches in full possession of their powers. And Sky and Hunter were blood witches.
What did they want? What were they doing?
And then it came to me: of course. They were putting a spell on my house, on me. I remembered reading about how Maeve and her mother, Mackenna Riordan, had put spells on people. They had often needed to walk around a house or a person or a place. To surround something with magick is to change it.
Sky and Hunter were surrounding me.
They were circling my house, and I couldn’t stop them—I didn’t even have any idea what they were doing. It must have been one of them who had called earlier, to make sure I was home. And maybe they had blocked my call to Cal somehow. He might not be coming at all. . . .
I looked at Dagda to see if he was nervous or upset, if his senses had picked up on the vibrations of danger and magick.
He was asleep: tiny mouth slightly open, blue eyes shut, ribby little side rising and falling with sleep-slowed breaths. So much for the power of animals. I scowled, then looked out the window again. The shadowy figures were no longer visible but still present. Feeling terribly alone, I sat on my floor and waited. It was all I could do.
Three times Hunter and Sky moved around the house. I heard nothing and saw nothing, but I sensed them. They were there.
Almost half an hour later they left. I felt them leave, felt them close a circle behind them . . . felt them send one last line of magick out toward the house and toward me. Soon after that I heard the quiet purr of an engine as it faded down the street. The outside lights all flickered back on. But there was no way I was going outside to see what they had done. No. I was going to stay put.
With my baseball bat at my side, I went back downstairs and watched television until the tow truck driver showed up with Das Boot. Mom and Dad came home a few minutes later. I hurried upstairs to my room before they walked through the front door. I was too wrung out to act normal around them.
Cal never came.
“Hi, honey,” Mom said when I stumbled into the kitchen the next morning. “Sleep well?”
“Uh-huh,” I said, moving purposefully toward the refrigerator for a Diet Coke. But I was lying. The truth was, I hadn’t slept well at all. I’d dozed fitfully, my fleeting dreams filled with images from the fire and the silhouettes of Sky and whoever else had been on our lawn. Finally I’d given up on sleep altogether. I glanced at the kitchen clock. Only eight-thirty. I wanted to call Cal, but it was too early, especially for a Saturday morning.
“Does anyone have plans for today?” Dad asked, folding back the newspaper.
“Jaycee and I are going to Northgate Mall,” said Mary K. She fiddled with a box of Pop-Tarts, still in her pajamas. “The pre-Thanksgiving sales are starting.”
“I’m going to be getting ready for tomorrow,” said Mom. She flashed a meaningful smile at me. “Morgan, do you want an ice-cream cake this year?”
Suddenly I remembered that the next day was my birthday. Wow. Until this year I’d always eagerly looked forward to my birthday, anticipating it for months and months. Of course, until this year I’d had no idea that I was an adopted blood witch from the Woodbane clan. Nor, in previous years, was I being stalked by other witches. Things had changed a little.
I nodded and sipped my Diet Coke. “Chocolate cake on the bottom, mint-chip ice cream on top,” I instructed, summoning up a smile.
“And what do you want for dinner tomorrow night?” Mom asked, starting to make a list.
“Lamb chops, mint jelly, roasted potatoes, fresh peas, salad,” I rattled off. The same birthday dinner I always wanted. It was comforting somehow. This was my house, my family, and we were going