Mathilda, SuperWitch (Mathilda's Book of Shadows #1)(103)

The protection spell on the house in Baker was mature and they were expanding it in a nice square from Broadway to Alameda to Santa Fe to Eighth.

The plane tickets were purchased (I could kiss Me&Ro good-bye).

And Viv had conjured cloaking spells for us from Somerset to Dover, across the channel and up to the outskirts of Orly Airport in Paris.

We figured Bristol, Gatwick and Heathrow would all be staked out so best to leave the country in order to flee the continent.

We were ostensibly having Girl’s Night In at Lucy’s house.

I knew both Aidan and Ash checked in on us during Girl’s Night In.

I considered giving them a sleeping draught but figured I’d rather not suffer the consequences if a) it didn’t work or b) it did and I was anywhere near either of them when they woke up.

Viv, Su and I worked together in the bathroom to create the cloaking spell that got us out the backdoor and into the waiting car that Gabriel was driving.

(Get this: a new, sleek, black Bentley. Yikes! Where did these boys find their cars?)

Althea met us on Castle Road, standing alone in her cloak next to The Corners (a fabulous old house where I would live if I didn’t already live in the oldest most fabulous house in town).

“All set?” I asked her when she shoved her way in with the rest of us.

“You know, girl, you could kill me if this doesn’t work.”

Ack!

“I know, don’t worry Althea, have a little faith,” I assured her.

Yeesh!

She grumbled but shut up and thus began the most sinister and alluring night of my life.

Dark Magic is seductive, everyone knows that.

It is warm and enthralling.

And it’s powerful.

And it’s dangerous.

White or Light Magic is from nature, from the earth and seas, the trees and flowers, the winds and rains, the sun and moon. It is night and day. It is a soft summer shower and a fierce hurricane. It is the gazelle and the lion. It comes from the pureness deep within you, your head, heart and womb. It is always good. But it can be perilous if used by those who are foolhardy or unschooled.

Dark Magic is also natural but human-bound.

Dark Magic is made of the things not of the earth or its precious populace. It is made from the weakness of woman and man.

Take Light Magic and twist it with the power of murder, the power of deception, the power of pain, the power of oppression, the power of fanaticism, the power of corruption, the power of greed, the power of decadence, the power of lust, the power of fear – all of which is all around us, all the time and one can succumb to it and let it overwhelm them or one can absorb it into oneself – then harness it and control it.

That is Dark Magic.

And that is what we used to get Althea’s magic back.

When we completed the ceremony, we were naked, sweating, panting and spent.

And can I say, a little grossed out yet turned on at the same time.

Ack!

And we watched in fascinated horror as Althea’s body regressed in age to that of a little, wee, innocent, weak babe and then she grew again, in mere moments and she became Althea again.

Then she exploded, or at least her aura did (which is kinda the same thing), shooting violent sparks of lime green and robin’s egg blue so brutally we all dove for cover.

Then it was over.

And we pulled ourselves up out of the grass, weakly circling her, depleted of energy and magic while she calmly took out her wand, zapped my cloak which lay several feet behind me so that it danced through the chill night air and wrapped itself around me, snug and warm. She did that for Viv then Su and with Lucy’s fleece and Josie’s trench coat.

She helped us to dress, gently, even lovingly. With swift blue and green flashes from her wand, she obliterated our tools and ingredients, our potions and vials, sending them, I’ve no doubt, to a plane where they will never be used again.

She then led us to the car where Gabriel was waiting (he’d given us privacy to perform the ceremony).

Gabriel and Althea helped us into the car.

When Althea got in last and buckled her belt, she said quietly, “Go gently, lad, you’ve got some delicate magic in this vehicle.”

And we went home.

* * * * *

I led the group to the house as Gabriel left us on Old Church Road for fear Ash or Aidan would see us. He was to take Lucy home.

Viv and Su split from us toward the footpath to come into The Gables from the greenhouse side. Josie and I took the driveway but split so she went in the front door and I headed to the back by the conservatory.

We were trying to divide attention so Ash and Aidan might find one or the other of us, but not all and most importantly not me.

But, as my luck would have it, Aidan was waiting for me in the conservatory.

Not… good… news.

I was exhausted, shattered, spent, drained and just plain old worn out.

I was dead on my feet, physically and emotionally and I didn’t have enough magic in me to extinguish a candle.

“Jesus,” was Aidan’s word when he saw me.

I was pretty sure my makeup had worn off too but that just proved it.

I offered a weak wave.

“Hey.”

But there he was, stalking me again. I couldn’t be bothered to back away so I didn’t. He grabbed me by my upper arms and it looked a lot like he was trying to stop himself from shaking me or something worse.