A Tail of Two Squirrels: A Wildwood Witch Mystery Book 9 (Paperback)

“Hello again, Robin Wildwood.” 

Linnea’s wide smile was betrayed by the coldness in her eyes as we stared one another out. The Reaper and the Head Witch. Or rather, the former Reaper who’d gained her title by murdering her own boss and the barely qualified Head Witch who’d gained her own position due to being chosen by an inanimate stick. Technicalities.

Though Linnea didn’t exactly look the part of an ex-Reaper who’d just broken out of jail with the aid of an army of monsters. She was a short woman with pale skin and a cloud of black hair. She wore her usual petite black dress, and the only hint of the power she possessed was the shadowy haze around her body that made her look as if someone had outlined her in Sharpie.

“Not going to reply?” she said to me. “I thought you’d have something to say. You usually do.”

I peeled my tongue from the roof of my mouth. “I have a few things to say, but nothing suitable for polite company.”

She gave a laugh. “Still playing the coven’s games, are you, Robin?”

Her gaze panned over my equally silent companions. Even my mother, who always held it together in a crisis, and my usually uptight brother—the head of law enforcement—were rendered speechless. So were the Wardens, who’d been called to investigate a jailbreak at one of their high-security prisons just a few minutes earlier only to find the person who’d broken out of jail had come straight here to Wildwood Heath.

Tansy, my squirrel familiar, broke the silence with a stream of expletives. Unfortunately, since nobody outside my family could understand a word she said, Linnea likely heard nothing but squeaking, which kind of ruined the effect a little.

“No, and I’m not playing your games, either,” I said to Linnea. “When you tag-team with man-eating monsters from the afterworld to intimidate me, you don’t deserve a minute of my attention. Now get out of my town.”

“I don’t think so.” She gave me a flat stare. “I have a job to do here.”

That can’t be good. 

The last time we’d met face-to-face, I’d had no idea Linnea’s mother had been killed by the same demons who’d developed a powerful grudge against my family after my grandmother banished them to the depths of the afterworld. Why she blamed me for that was as much a mystery as why she’d seemingly allied with those very demons herself.

“Does that job involve those demons?” I asked. “The ones that killed your family?”

Her mouth twisted, no longer smiling. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know the truth, Linnea.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the others reaching for their wands, and I raised my voice to keep Linnea’s attention on my face. “I know what really happened all those years ago.”

“Do you now?” she said. “I highly doubt it.”

“Everyone knows,” I went on. “My aunt is in jail because of her role in your family’s deaths. I’m the one who got her arrested for it. I’m not your enemy.”

She laughed again, this time without any humour. “This is all the fault of your family, Robin. It’s too late to turn back.”

“My grandmother banished the demons,” I pointed out. “She saved everyone. I’m sorry she didn’t get there in time to stop them from killing your mother, but—” 

But your mother summoned the demon in the first place. 

I didn’t say that part out loud, but from the tightening of her jaw, I could tell she’d heard my unspoken words all the same. It was hard not to mention it, given that summoning a demon on purpose wasn’t the sort of mistake one typically walked away from unscathed. Regardless, Grandma was hardly at fault, not compared to my Aunt Shannon. She was the one who locked Linnea’s mother and her coven inside a house with the demons—the ones they’d summoned—when she discovered her husband was having an affair with one of said coven members.

And to think I was supposed to be the family screwup.

Linnea surveyed me through narrowed eyes. “I wouldn’t push me, Robin.”

“Or what?” 

She was outnumbered—or so it seemed. In addition to my mother and Ramsey, Perry and Farley were witches, Maurice was a vampire, Callum was a werewolf, and I wasn’t entirely sure what Tam was, to be honest. But none of them had a Reaper’s skills, and my only Reaper contact was on the other side of the country.

“Or else I’ll have to call my friends.”

The darkness outlining her body thickened, and as the shadows expanded, shapes began to emerge—giant shaggy monsters as dark as the blackness from which they appeared. Ghasts, perhaps the same ones my family and I had trapped in the forest earlier that day, were now free to obey her command. Two emerged, then four, then six, fanning out behind her into a threatening line.

Oh boy. 

Not only were the ghasts a considerable threat on their own, but the two demons we’d recently banished weren’t deep enough into the afterworld to stop a Reaper like her from calling them back with ease. 

The knowing smile on her face told me that precise thought was on her mind. “Last chance to surrender,” she said. “If you and your family members come with me quietly, Robin, I’ll leave the rest of your town alone.”

“A likely story,” I said. 

I kept an eye on my mother—Linnea would pick her out as the obvious weak link, given her recent awakening from a coma caused by a stint in the afterworld, courtesy of Linnea herself. Not that anyone else in the coven was in great shape either. Linnea had trapped everyone inside the coven headquarters—where they remained—including all the council members and my assistant, Chloe. With my Aunt Shannon on her way to jail—deserved though it might be—we lacked firepower, to say the least.

Time to improvise. 

I lifted the sceptre and cast a freeze-frame spell. Though Linnea didn’t so much as twitch, darkness swept over her body like a shield, and my spell bounced clean off her. 

My family leapt into action as the ghasts closed in around us. My mother and brother lifted their wands, as did Perry and Farley, while Callum shifted into his wolf form and ran to confront the monsters alongside Maurice, his vampire teammate. Together, they drove two of the ghasts into retreat while Tam engaged a third with a pair of sticks that he wielded with expert precision. Whatever kind of paranormal he was, he moved fast enough that the ghasts couldn’t land a hit on him.

Linnea stood amid the chaos with a knowing smile on her face as she watched the ghasts advance on my family. My freeze-frame spell hit two of the monsters and turned them into monster-shaped statues, but a third ghast leapt at my brother, claws outstretched. My mother waved her wand and sent the beast flying head over heels. Exhaustion lined her face, and I felt a prickle of alarm. She’d barely survived her last encounter with Linnea, and she was in no shape to weather another attack.

As I ran to my mother’s side, two more ghasts appeared. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a handful of sage, then I waved the sceptre in the motion for a levitation spell to guide the sage into a circle on the ground. I couldn’t banish every creature at once, but one or two at a time would be doable, and a circle of sage was an effective measure to keep them contained.

In a sweep of the sceptre, I sent the two newcomers flying back into the sage circle and cast a banishing spell.

Hot breath seared my neck. Another ghast had appeared at my back, teeth bared, ready for the kill.

The sceptre ignited. Purple light flared, blasting the creature full in the face, and another sweep of the instrument sent the monster stumbling into the sage circle. As I readied myself to cast the banishing spell for a second time, Linnea laughed.

“Impressive, Robin… but too late. Look.”

I couldn’t help myself. I looked—at Linnea and the dozen or more ghasts that now surrounded the coven headquarters.

The people inside couldn’t defend themselves. Thanks to Linnea, they were trapped, completely at her mercy. 

“Stop that at once!” My mother ran towards them, lifting her wand. 

What is she doing?

“Mum!” I began to run, too, but one of the ghasts had already lifted a claw to strike her. 

“Get out!” The scream came from inside the building, loud enough to make my eardrums burn. 

Grandma’s ghost popped up in a whirlwind that sent me staggering sideways, off balance. All the ghasts retreated, pushed back from the witches’ headquarters and from my mother, and two of the monsters vanished outright. A third, too, fled into the afterworld. My mother was also knocked sideways but recovered quickly, getting swiftly out of the way of the oncoming claw.

The only person unaffected was Linnea, whose eyes narrowed. “You.”

With her attention fixed on Grandma, I moved closer to my mother and whispered, “You can’t take them on alone.”

Perry limped over, her hair plastered to her face with sweat. “None of us can. We’re surrounded.”

The other Wardens were in a bad way too. Farley was on her knees, her hands over her head, while Callum lay on his side, groaning, back in his human form again. Maurice stood defensively in front of them, but even the vampire appeared small when faced with the two giant oncoming shaggy monsters. Two more had Tam engaged in a deadly dance, and though the Wardens’ leader was swift on his feet and adept with those stick-like weapons, how long would he last if Linnea kept summoning more monsters to take the place of each one he brought down?

“Tam says we have to get out,” Perry said in an undertone. “But we’ll have to go through the forest.”

“What?” My heart sank. “We can’t leave. We live here. Also, the forest is where those monsters are coming from.”

“The town is bound,” she said. “Transportation spells can’t be used. I tried.”

My heart plunged even further. “She put another shielding spell around the forest?”

I’d used a similar spell myself to prevent anyone with bad intentions from getting into the town, except when applied in reverse, this spell meant none of us could get out of the town. Calling for backup from outside was out of the question. They’d arrive too late.

Linnea, by contrast, could use the afterworld to step from one place to another with ease—no matter how far apart. Nowhere was out-of-bounds for a Reaper. 

“Give it up, Robin,” Linnea called. “I don’t want to harm the people of this town. If you surrender, I won’t harm another soul.”

“I’ll die first.”

I’d gladly trade my life for those of my family members and friends, but I didn’t believe for a minute that complying with her requests would win my loved ones anything other than a tiny bit of time before she changed her mind and killed them all anyway. Linnea was unpredictable as hell, with a grudge as deep as the darkest corner of the afterworld. Moreover, I was Head Witch. It was my job to defend the people of Wildwood Heath against people like her.

And yet—I couldn’t protect them all. That was the truth of the matter, an insidious voice whispered in the back of my mind no matter how I tried to suppress it. 

The sceptre can’t beat her. If I keep fighting, my family will die.

“We can run into the forest,” Perry murmured in my ear. “You know it better than she does, don’t you?”

I did, and the forest would also be an ideal way to lure those monsters of hers away from the town. Whether leaving was cowardly or not, I’d never forgive myself if innocent people paid the price for Linnea’s grudge.

Dammit. 

Perry was already backing away, an apology in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Robin, but Tam said there’ll be backup waiting on the other side of the forest. It’s the only way we’ll get out of this alive.”

A warning growl came from the ghasts, which had begun to shake off the effects of Grandma’s shout. It was now or never.

I leaned closer to Mum and whispered, “The Wardens are going to try to lure the monsters away. The town’s boundaries are locked, so we can’t use transportation spells.”

“Out of the question—” Mum’s reply was cut off when one of the beasts swiped at her, knocking her flat onto her back. 

“Hey!” I retaliated with a knockback spell that sent the beast flying into the path of Perry’s wand. As it froze into a block of ice, Ramsey ran to help Mum to her feet. 

I moved to his side and hissed, “The Wardens have backup on the other side of the forest. We’re the ones she wants dead. If we lure the monsters away, they’ll leave the town alone.”

“I…” Ramsey’s weary gaze went to Mum, who staggered against him, hardly able to stay on her feet. “You’d better be right.”

“I’ll distract her,” I added. “You get Mum out of here.”

Mum leaned on Ramsey, her breathing shallow. Neither argued. They followed Perry’s lead while I ran towards Linnea and raised my sceptre to the sky.

“Come and get me!” I shouted.

Then I ran full tilt past her, casting a flight spell as I did. My feet left the ground in an inelegant swoop that would have made a Sky Hopper player cringe to watch, but since I hadn’t used a transportation spell, Linnea’s shield had no effect on me. 

I took off like a rocket and flew in a lopsided circuit that kept Linnea’s attention off Mum and Ramsey long enough for them to reach the forest path safely. Once I was sure they were out of Linnea’s line of sight, I flew at the mass of trees marking the boundary between the Wildwood and the road.

I picked up speed, pursued by Linnea’s scream of rage and the growls of rampaging ghasts plunging into the woods after me. I’d deliberately aimed in the direction opposite the path Mum and Ramsey had taken and flew in a wild zigzag motion that caused the ghasts to swiftly find themselves tangled in thorns and briars. My own cloak kept snagging on branches, too, but I continued to weave amid the trees like an amateur flier caught in a storm.

Then, in similar fashion, I crashed straight into a tree.

Birds flew around my head—literally, as I’d disturbed a nest—and I rubbed my forehead dizzily, trying to figure out where I’d landed. Then I spied a red blot with a fluffy tail making its stealthy way through the trees too. Tansy.

“She’s behind me!” she squeaked, pointing with her tail. “So is your brother.”

My heart plummeted. I could see Ramsey nearby, running as fast as he could while supporting my mother, but a ghast was swift on their heels. Behind walked Linnea, her gaze roving over the treetops—searching for me.

“Leave them alone!” I leapt out of the tree, casting a spell as I fell. The ghast was sent flying back into its summoner, who vanished in a swirl of shadow.

Another sweep of my wand broke my fall. My knees buckled on landing, and I looked up to see Linnea stepping out from behind a tree, unhurt. 

“Running away, are you?” she asked.

“No, running for help. Did you forget you angered all the local Wardens when you pulled off your jailbreak?”

“Now, I did tell you that I’ll avoid harming the citizens of the town if you cooperate, didn’t I?”

“I don’t think so.” 

I launched into a sprint—the best I could with branches, leaves, and panicking birds blocking my path. Ordinarily, I’d have used my magic and commanded the birds to attack Linnea, but most animals were terrified of the dead. Tansy was certainly no exception. She ran across the treetops, her paws skimming the branches so rapidly she might as well have been flying.

I flung a freeze-frame spell over my shoulder, my arms screaming from the effort of holding the sceptre up as I ran. As my route steepened, I overtook the Wardens, who had been slowed by their injured teammates, and burst out of the trees onto the hillside.

Gasping for breath, I braced my hands on my knees. Behind me, the Wardens emerged with Tam in the lead.

“I thought,” I wheezed, “you called for backup.”

“I did.” Tam raised his stick-like weapons in both hands as the shadow of a ghast appeared amid the trees, then a second one.

Mum and Ramsey came staggering out first, with the two ghasts fast on their heels. I pointed my sceptre at them and cast a freeze-frame spell, wondering where in hell the rest of the Wardens were.

“Where’s your backup?” Linnea sidled out of the trees, behind her monsters. “You really should have made sure they weren’t already occupied.”

Perry’s eyes widened. “What have you done?”

“I may have caused a little diversion at the jail when I escaped.”

There’s no backup. 

Half of us were injured, more than a dozen ghasts were on our tail, and if the shadows growing around Linnea were any indication, she was gearing up to summon far worse. Like those demons.

“I told you to give up, Robin.” She lifted a hand to point to my mother. “I think I’ll finish her off first.” 

I threw the sceptre into the air.

It was not my best idea—I freely admit that, but the sceptre’s vibrant glow distracted the monsters and drew Linnea’s eye too. In that heartbeat of her hesitation, I ran in front, placing myself between her and my family. The sceptre tumbled in midair, and as I caught the end between my fingertips, I turned the motion into a transportation spell.

Everything seemed to slow down.

As Wildwood Heath began to fade, Linnea flickered out of sight and reappeared at my back, her fingers closing over the sceptre. She screamed as if in pain, and I shook it, trying to break her grip.

In another heartbeat, we were swept away—the town vanished and, in the same instant, was replaced by a hillside. My knees buckled as the world tilted sideways, my brain trying to adjust to the sudden change of scenery.

A groan pointed me to Ramsey, who was flat on his back next to my mother with Tansy sitting on his chest. A loud thump sounded nearby, followed by a series of growls, thuds, and animal noises. Alarmed, I moved that way and found the Wardens had had an equally rough landing and seemed to have brought one of the ghasts along for the ride. 

Luckily, the ghast was equally disorientated. With the practised ease of those used to fighting monsters, Maurice and Tam soon had the beast pinned down. Perry and Farley moved in with their wands raised to cast a banishment spell, and the chorus of snarls dissipated as the beast vanished back into the darkness from which it had come.

Perry turned to me with a sheepish look on her face. “Sorry. I’m really bad at transportation spells, and I think you and I cast them at the same time. I don’t know where we are, to be honest.”

“Nor me.” I rubbed my forehead and looked for the others. “Mum? Ramsey?”

Both were on their feet, staring at me—or more specifically, at my hands and at the object that should have been there but very much wasn’t.

I scanned the hillside, searching for a spark, a glimmer of purple light. Nothing. 

We’d escaped… but I’d lost the sceptre.