Chapter 83

“You try it.” Leland motioned to the door.

Wes glanced over to see Mitch still babying his hand and shook his head. When they’d gotten to Mitch’s penthouse, touching the door had burned his hand. Not bad enough to warrant a hospital trip, but enough to let them know that the women had done something to the door and there was no way Mitch was going inside his own place without Kat to let him in. All three of them had tried to reverse what was done, but no one wanted to try the door a second time to see if it worked. He shook his head. “Maybe we should try knocking on it.”

Leland nodded and then stepped back. “Go ahead.”

Wes looked at the door and lifted his hand to knock and then hovered a few inches from it.

Mitch sighed and then stepped in front of him. He leaned down, pulled off his shoe, and then beat it on the door. Putting his shoe back on, he moved out of the way. “If they’d answer their phone…”

The door flew open. Kat stood in it. She looked at Mitch, like he was the only one standing there. Wes couldn’t be sure if that was an angry look or something else.

“Hi.” Mitch jammed his glasses back up. He lifted his burned hand. “Message received.”

Kat stared at his hand and then sighed. “If you weren’t so stupid, that wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“She’s right.” Leland nodded. “The three of us shouldn’t have been so easily spelled.”

Teegan came over and stood beside Kat. She didn’t look mad, but wasn’t happy either.

“How did you break it?”

Wes wouldn’t have asked that question. In fact, he was going to take the ‘only speak when spoken to’ approach to this whole situation.

Teegan glanced over her shoulder and then looked back at Leland. “A few fancy words and a lot of anger.”

Leland wisely just nodded in response.

“If you still want to work out…”

“No.” Kat stepped back and then walked into the warehouse. “We have to go home and pack.”

“Pack?” Mitch hurried after her.

“Oh.” Teegan gave Wes a hard look as he stepped inside the building. “We won’t be at work tomorrow.”

Wes glanced at Leland and then turned to follow her. “You won’t?”

“We’re going to the lake.” Kat turned and went over to the cushions.

“The lake?” Mitch turned around and looked at Wes and then Leland. “Why?”

“Celia and company are meeting us there Sunday at dusk.” Ann was putting books into one of the bags.

“You called them?” Wes wasn’t able to stay quiet now.

“We contacted them.” Kat picked up a box and carried it over to the door. “It was like some kind of mind connection.”

Wes gave Leland a wide-eyed look. “All of you would still be connected because of your ancestors.”

Leland went over to Teegan. “We’ll head there in the…”

Teegan shook her head. “No. The three of you need to stay at the office tomorrow. You can come to the lake after work.” She went over and started helping Ann pick up the books.

Leland jammed his hand in his pockets and looked at Wes. His expression said, ‘Do something.’ Wes would have loved to, but he had no idea what he should do. Clearing his throat, he started walking toward the women. “We should…”

Ann spun around and looked at him. She held her hand up, and lightning flashed and hit the floor right in front of his foot. He heard a few light bulbs pop and held his breath. She immediately had regret on her face, but there was still a lot of anger in her eyes.

“Whoa. Can you do that again?” Mitch stood there with his mouth hanging open.

Ann jerked her chin and looked at him. “No. That was petty. I’m sorry.” She turned back to Wes. “Did you know?” She waved her hand around, and he found himself watching it, just in case she wasn’t finished expressing her anger. “Did the three of you realize what she had done to you?”

“No,” Leland said abruptly. “It was like a fog. We were still functioning, but…”

“I don’t remember what happened. One minute, I’m getting off the elevator, and the next, we’re in some restaurant, and Aiysha was there.” Mitch turned and looked at Kat. “That was a smart move. Keeping the penthouse sealed off.” He brushed the hair off his glasses. “All those notes…”

“That’s why I did it.” Kat looked at Wes. “I don’t know where you live, so your place is fine.”

Leland looked from her to Teegan. “My hotel…”

Teegan nodded. “She did yours too.”

Leland gave Wes a quick side-eye. “I’m glad we didn’t go there so I could change.”

Wes had insisted they come to the warehouse after Mitch tried to get into his place.

Teegan scoffed. “You guys are ride-sharing?”

Wes sighed. “We aren’t sure where our cars are.”

“Wow. That chick really got you guys.” Kat went over to Mitch, grabbed his hand, and looked at it. “I didn’t know it would do that.” She sighed.

Wes continued to watch Ann. She was carrying the bags of books over to the door. Her movements were brisk. He blew out a breath and went over to her. She stopped and looked at him, her hands clasped together in front of her. “I’m sorry Aiysha messed up our plans.” He watched her shoulders relax.

“I guess it wasn’t your fault.”

Wes put his hands in his pockets. “She—” He looked over to see the others talking quietly. “—It had to be quite the spell to take out all three of us.”

Her brows furrowed. “You mean it took more than one person to do it?”

He nodded. “At least three others had to be involved to get all of us at the same time.”

“I am so going to kick some magical butt on Sunday,” Kat said loudly.

Ann was watching Kat. She nodded.

“Look—” Wes turned so he could speak to the others as well. “—we’ll keep the office under control while you go to the lake—” He glanced at Leland. “We’ll let Brother Kale know you’re coming.” He turned back to Ann. “The three of you need to do some quiet workings at the lake so you can be in tune with each other and…”

“The energy at that lake is off the charts,” Teegan said with a serious look on her face. “That’s why we chose there. It wasn’t just symbolism.”

“It’s sweet justice that you end it where it began.” Mitch nodded. “There’s always been incredible energy in that area.”

Leland shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”

“Good.” Ann went over to her bag. “We’re going to need it.” She gave Kat and Teegan a brief look. “We discussed the outcome we’d like, and now we just need to figure out how to accomplish it.”

Wes wanted to ask what exactly they hoped to achieve, but they’d more or less forgiven them, and he didn’t want to undo that. “Can I get a ride to the office to see if my car is there?”

Leland moaned. “I need a ride too.”

Teegan looked at Kat and nodded. “We’ll take you to find your car.”

Mitch grinned. “I’m going to go grab those notes and bring them to Kat, so you have them tomorrow.” He frowned. “Uh, how do I reverse what you did to the penthouse?”

Kat chuckled. “The doorknob. I only did it to the doorknobs.”

“Really?” Mitch grinned. “Makes sense. It’s not like anyone is coming through a window.”

“I wouldn’t mind knowing what was used so I can reverse it.” Leland held up his hand.

Kat laughed. “Any of the three from three can undo it. We just have to open the door.”

“Really?” Leland glanced at Wes. This evening had been full of surprises, and Aiysha wasn’t the biggest one. The women had shown a lot of control with their magic—and they’d missed it.

“That’s so cool.” Mitch grinned.

“I’ll take you to find your car.” Ann was putting her jacket on.

“Oh.” Wes quickly went toward the door. “Thank you.”

She pointed to the box. “Grab that.”

He went over and looked at it. She had brought enough magical supplies to do any number of workings. Bending, he picked it up. After the lightning indoors, he wasn’t sure she’d need anything physical to pull off any spells. Her mind was a powerful magical encyclopedia.