Chapter Twenty-Four – The Hour of the Witch
Danny wobbled as they landed and Ryder caught him as he transformed into his human. Jack yelped to express his dismay at having been left to drop like a sack of potatoes, but it was short-lived. The young clairvoyant had other matters to worry about more pressing than a rough landing.
As did he. Danny's eyes went to Vince, who looked like he was in pain. His clothes were in tatters, burned at the edges, revealing his naked skin to the moon. He was about to hurry to his best friend's side when Ryder stopped him by barring his way with one arm.
"The witch," Ryder growled.
Danny stopped, despite his first instinct to argue with Ryder about how he needed to rush to help Vince. The disheveled woman might appear weak and puny as she stood there, but her power had to lie somewhere else.
Before her, Theodore Pembroke stood erect, his hands balled into fists, his eyes burning. Danny would swear that the hair on his head, usually so neatly styled, appeared as if it was all standing on end. Why was he just standing there? Since he had rushed here to destroy the fairytale witch, what had him hesitating now?
It occurred to him after another moment of watching the scene before him the reason why Theodore was immobile. Cassandra – it had to be her – was holding one arm up, her nails turned inward like claws, and thin threads of silver stretched from her fingers to Vince, who was immobilized on that strange rock.
Could it be that Theodore wasn't moving because of the threat to Vince's life? Danny couldn't reconcile the Theodore Pembroke he knew with his obedience under the pressure of such blackmail. Could it be that he cared about Vince? But he had no reason to.
All around them, the wolf pack was shifting into their human shapes.
"Cassandra," Anthony's sonorous voice boomed, "what is the meaning of this?"
The clairvoyant turned her head toward them, an ugly sneer painting her face. "You are all here. Very good. I can now proceed with destroying you all."
She moved so fast that no one had a chance to react. With her other hand, she sent a ball of blue smoke straight at Ryder's father. The strong wolfshifter took the blow right in the middle of his chest and toppled over. He remained on the ground, unmoving, thin wisps of smoke rising from where it had struck him.
"Witch," Ryder growled and jumped at Cassandra, only to find himself smacking into a huge boulder that had appeared out of thin air or shot up from the ground in the blink of an eye.
"She's not a clairvoyant!" Jack shouted loudly. "Clairvoyants don't do such things!"
Danny watched everything happening around him with growing horror. Harper was by her husband's side, leaning over him, desperately looking for signs of life. Ryder, transformed into his majestic wolf, was growling like a wounded animal, while boulder after boulder of solid granite prevented him from reaching the witch.
And the rest of the wolves, even Harper now, were staring at the moon above as if they were mesmerized by it.
"What is going on?" Danny murmured, blinking hard. Were they under a spell? No one was moving.
"Destroying a pack of wolves is easier than I thought. No challenge whatsoever," a cavernous female voice said in a bored tone.
"I will destroy you," Ryder growled, throwing his entire weight against the boulders in his path.
Danny couldn't quite believe his eyes, but it looked like Ryder was really able to destroy those things, because after several tries they broke in half. The only problem was they were immediately replaced by new ones, since it looked like Cassandra could summon more on a whim.
Quickly, before they even realized what was happening, the boulders menacingly advanced toward them, imprisoning them in the middle. Danny walked backwards, throwing panicked looks everywhere.
"Damn it," Jack moaned. "Damn this hour of the witch!"
His cry seemed to have a strange effect on the advancing blocks of stone. They stopped, and silence fell, so pregnant the drop of a needle would sound like thunder in the unnatural quiet.
"Jack," Danny said fearfully, once he realized that not only the boulders had stopped moving. Ryder was also frozen, his wolf body stretched in mid-air.
"Yeah, Danny, I know," the young clairvoyant said. "This is some pretty effed up shit."
Danny shook his head. "Did you stop time?"
Jack snorted. "I wish. I have no idea what's going on."
"Are we the only ones who can still move?"
He walked over to Jack and touched his arm to reassure himself that the other was real.
"I don't think so," Jack said with an annoyed huff.
A shriek above their heads made Danny's blood turn to ice in his veins. Although he knew he wouldn't like what he was going to see at all, he had to look up. Cassandra was there, on top of one of the boulders, staring down at him and Jack. Her long hair hung around her face, and Danny could swear poisonous snakes slithered around in it.
"Watch it," he cried and pushed Jack out of the way in time.
The snakes from Cassandra's hair smacked against his chest, forcing him to take a step back. Then they fell to the ground and buried themselves in the soil.
"Wow, that's some really awesome fated mate armor right there, Danny," Jack commented.
"What?" Danny mumbled.
Cassandra shrieked like a banshee again, loud enough to pierce his eardrums. Danny covered his ears, groaning at the assault. He fell to one knee, but Jack hurried to pull him back to his feet.
"Jack," Danny said hurriedly, "what the hell is going on?"
Jack held him up, pushing himself under Danny's arm to support his weight. "If I knew, I'd tell you. For now, let's focus on our immediate survival. What do you say?"
He was definitely in favor of that, because Cassandra next launched a wave of insects at them. Jack hissed, groaning curses as he tried to rid himself of the pesky critters by waving one arm since he was still supporting Danny.
Weird. The insects seemed to be avoiding him. Danny straightened up, realizing that he could stand on his own two feet just fine. He pushed Jack behind him. "I have no idea what's going on, Jack, but it looks like my armor, or whatever this is, is pretty good at repelling the witch's attacks."
"Are you sure?" Jack made a spitting noise. "Damn. They got in my mouth. Absolutely disgusting."
"Your cards, did they say anything about this?" Danny asked hurriedly, as he waved repeatedly, without following any rhyme or reason, but successfully making the waves of mosquitoes and bees die in mid-air and drop to the ground.
"They warned me of a great danger, but I thought it would be the kind of thing that powerful wolves like Ryder's pack could easily take care of. Boy, was I wrong."
"I will try to fend off her attacks. You lay out your cards again."
"Do you think that will work?" Jack shouted at him.
"Do you have any other ideas?"
"Nope, I can't say that I have. Okay, Danny, do your best. I believe in you."
The witch was moving round and round, jumping from one rock to the next, so Danny had to move in circles, too, struggling to keep an eye on her at all times. Had he only been lucky until now? It didn't seem so. Like all children, he had believed in magic until a certain age, but now he had to admit that his ability to make Cassandra's attacks seem useless appeared to be magic just as it was described in fairytales.
"Jack," he said urgently. "What do the cards say?"
Cassandra's next attack was a flock of crows, and Danny had to smack his hands left and right to make them drop. They didn't appear to be particularly powerful, but there were so many of them. He needed to ensure Jack's safety, besides protecting himself. At least, as far as he could tell, the witch's attacks weren't aimed at the frozen Ryder or anyone else.
"A-ha," Jack said with satisfaction. "She can't kill you."
"Okay, that sounds awesome, not gonna lie," Danny commented, "but I'm not sure if my frantic waving will do more than thwart her attacks."
"Keep it up while I'm figuring things out."
"Okay," Danny agreed.
Was this enough? Ryder had called him his mate. He wanted to bring Danny into his family, but was he good enough? Vince had always insisted that he needed to have more confidence, that he had no reason to believe that he wasn't enough, and his best friend's words from the past now came to him like a tender touch.
"Jack," he said, believing in himself for the first time in forever, "I have to face her."
"Wait, Danny!" Jack warned. "She might not be able to kill you, but she has ways to force you to obey her."
Danny stopped and looked at the witch. Her eyes burned a sickly green as she made eye contact with him.
"What do you want?" he called out, loud and clear.
"I want you all to die," she growled at him. "All wolves must die, die, die!"
"I'm not a wolf," Danny said. He couldn't explain the calmness washing over him as he stared into the witch's eyes.
"You are an abomination!" she shouted at him. "You should not exist!"
"Hey, lady," Jack protested, "you're the abomination."
It looked like Jack had attracted unwanted attention to himself by intervening.
"Oops," he yelled, as Cassandra sent a fire ball right at him.
Danny acted by instinct alone. His hand went through the fire ball, turning it into a cloud of smoke. His hand was black with soot when he stared at it.
"Ha," he managed, not quite believing his eyes. If he was dreaming, it was better than any other dream he'd ever had. "Jack, did you see that?"
"Sure did," Jack said cheerfully. "Danny, you're awesome!"
"That's great, Jack, but how do I defeat her?"
"You can't defeat me!" Cassandra shrieked, seemingly shaken by her inability to hurt them.
"We only have to hold on until her hour passes," Jack said with delight.
"Hour?" Danny asked, as he turned another fire ball into flaky ashes with his other fist.
"Yeah, it's completely crazy, but Theo did a bad thing like the bad dog he is and went to confront her at her most powerful."
"So is this what she's like at her most powerful?" Danny asked.
"Not quite yet, but it's going to happen in a minute or so."
"Should I get ready for it? How?" Danny shouted.
"Sorry, sorry, my cards are being really lazy," Jack apologized profusely. "Ah, you damn cards, you, tell me more. It really shows that I bought you used and at a discount!"
Danny didn't mind pushing back against Cassandra's attacks, but he began to realize what her true purpose was. Slyly and slowly, she was moving closer to where Ryder's body was suspended in mid-air. Jack had hinted at the possibility of blackmail, so Danny wasn't surprised. Still, his heart squeezed painfully in his chest, and he wished he could be even more powerful than he seemed to be. As much as he'd been a pacifist all his life, now he desired to have the power to hurt this horrible witch who wanted to destroy Ryder and his pack.
"You must believe in yourself, Danny!" Jack shouted at him.
"Really?" Danny exclaimed. "Is that all? Cookie-cutter advice from motivational influencers? Don't you have anything better than that for me?"
He was now moving his fists faster and faster, sending Cassandra's fire balls into oblivion. However, his untrained muscles were beginning to hurt, and now the witch was right above Ryder, while Danny was running around helplessly below.
"Jack, I need some magic, now!" he shouted.
"I don't—oh, wait, I do, I have it. Say this, Danny! Visualize it! Abraca-backpain-hip-hip-replacement!"
"You must be kidding me!"
Cassandra jumped, landing on Ryder's back. She was sinking her long claws into his back, shredding the skin. Danny felt a couple of warm droplets of blood falling on his cheeks. How was he supposed to jump into the air and drag her down from there? He couldn't fly! He didn't even have a magic broom!
"Just say it, Danny!" Jack insisted. "Visualize it! It's an aging spell! Soon, she'll need special ointments just to get out of bed in the morning."
"But it's--"
"Stupid, I know! But it will work! Trust me!"
Danny planted both his feet firmly on the ground. He lifted his hands and watched them silhouetted against the kind silver moon above. He needed to trust Jack. The clairvoyant wouldn't joke while Cassandra was taking Ryder apart. He knew he wouldn't.
His hands jerked, turning into claws. Above him, Cassandra jolted, arching her back at what had to be an impossible angle. Danny murmured the ridiculous curse Jack had insisted on, while his hands molded the empty air. Cassandra jerked to one side, turned her head toward the ground, while her legs seem to tangle themselves in her long dress.
She was folding into herself like a pretzel! Danny gained courage, and this time, he shouted:
"Abraca-backpain-hip-hip-replacement!"
The witch fell from the sky, smacking against the ground with a thump. Danny was breathing hard, not quite believing his eyes.
Jack hurried to his side. "Oh, goodie!" he exclaimed. "It worked!"
"W-what?" Danny stammered. "Wasn't it supposed to?"
Jack patted him on the back. "You're the one who has to believe in himself, not me in my made-up curses."
"Was it made-up?!"
"Yeah, I mean, I know it sounded pretty stupid, but you needed to say something while beating the crap out of this witch, since you didn't want to do it otherwise."
Danny shook his head in disbelief. "Jack, you're--"
"A huge pain in the ass? A sorry excuse for a clairvoyant? A human paperweight?"
"No," Danny whispered, his eyes still on the heap of clothes and disheveled hair that had to be an unconscious Cassandra. "You're pretty awesome."
Jack sniffled. "You and Ryder both, you guys. You're making me cry."
"Don't cry," Danny hurried to comfort the clairvoyant in alarm.
"It's okay, I'm over it already," Jack promised, his face breaking into a grin. "Eek!" He jumped to one side. "She's still moving. Kick her, Danny, kick her right in her… witchcraft!"
So, he could use whatever strange powers he had just by moving his hands and imagining things. It wasn't like him to hurt someone on purpose, though.
"We should tie her up and make her tell us how we can undo the curse on everyone. It's a curse, right, Jack?"
Danny barely had time to finish his sentence, because Cassandra's gnarly hand shot toward him and caught his ankle, taking him down in one fell swoop.
"No, no, you don't!" Jack cried out and jumped on Cassandra's arm with both feet, forcing her to release Danny.
Where she had caught his leg, his skin burned. When he looked down at it, he saw why. The pant leg was no more, up to his knee.
He looked up to warn Jack of the witch's terrible power and stopped dead in his tracks. Apparently, Jack had brought his crystal ball in his backpack and was now using it to pummel Cassandra.
"Tell us how to undo the curse on Ryder's pack," Jack said with a vengeance. "And tell us how to bring Theo's pack to life again. Do I really have to kiss him with tongue? Answer me!"
"Wait, wait, Jack," Danny intervened. "I think you should let her have some time to breathe so she can speak."
"Fair enough," Jack admitted. "Speak, witch!"
"The curse can't be undone," Cassandra wheezed. She kept one hand on her lower back, looking very much in pain. "The blood of alphas must flow on these lands to purify them."
"Why? What did you put in the water?" Jack shouted.
She didn't reply. She was looking at Danny with unconcealed hatred. The slyness in her eyes was hard to miss. How could he see so many details when it was night and pretty dark outside?
Danny looked up and jolted. He fell on his back, looking up. The moon was so close he could swear it was resting on the shoulders of the boulders summoned by Cassandra.
"No, no, you can't," Cassandra wailed.
"Jack, stop hitting her," Danny said.
"I'm not doing anything to her," Jack replied, sounding quite unnerved by what was going on. "Witch, who are you talking to?"
Danny brushed one hand over his face and frowned as he noticed how bloody it came back. It had to be because of Ryder's blood, falling on his face when Cassandra hurt him. Trembling, he tried to wipe his hand on the grass below. As his palm touched the earth, he felt his entire body being pulled downward with the force of amplified gravity.
He had no idea what was going on, but he could hear Cassandra's wails of despair and Jack's exclamations of disbelief. His hand was reaching into the soft soil, kneading it between his fingers, and a cool sensation like a river flowed from them and moved from him into the earth.
Finally, he fell on his back, forced to stare at the moon again. It was moving back to its rightful place in the sky. All was good and right, he thought, as a pleasant exhaustion overtook him.
"Hey, Danny," Jack's voice pulled him back. "I think we did it!"
"We did it? What? And how?"
"I have no idea, but Cassandra went the way of the Wicked Witch of the East. She's no more."
"For real?"
"Yep. In a world of witches and wolfshifters, two humans make the law!" Jack shouted victoriously, throwing one fist into the air.
"Okay, but what about Ryder?"
They both looked to where the wolfshifter lay on one side, seemingly dead to the world. Danny jumped to his feet and started running toward him, with Jack on his heels.
TBC