A huge shudder shook the ground from above. She worried the small outcropping she’d landed on would fall apart and toss her down below to her death. Another shudder, closer this time, had her scrambling to move, her breath sawing in and out of her. Goddess, she wondered what happened to her friends and Ridge. She wouldn’t allow herself to think they weren’t alright.
“She flew this way.”
Noelle froze at the familiar voice of her sister.
A grunt and chuff came next as the ground shuddered. Noelle held her breath, keeping completely still.
“Can’t you smell her or something? I can’t keep those idiots away for much longer. I stole this amulet from Baba Yaga’s house. She’ll kill me if she finds out. Come on, do your sniff thing,” Merry whined.
Noelle wanted to punch her sister in the face. Whoever, or whatever she was bossing around was obviously some kind of shifter, yet Merry was treating it like an animal.
The ground shook and shook then dirt fell on top of her head. She worked to make herself invisible, amazed when she couldn’t see her own hand. Garbled words were spoken in a deep voice and then her sister was speaking again.
“Yes, you did very good making that girl go flying and her ATV go boom. Now we just need to find my stupid sister so I can suck her powers into this necklace you and me can be powerful like that stupid heifer Zelda. Come on, do your sniff thing,” she coaxed.
Fear for Marjo and the others had her nearly losing her concentration. More grunting and garbled words, but this time she understood the thing. She also got the courage to look up, nearly screaming in fright at the hulking beast too close for her comfort. He resembled the thing from the eighties movie about swamp monsters. Wet greenery hung from his massive arms and...the rest of his body as well. Did her sister actually have a thing, with that thing? Was that Carlton? So many questions ran through her mind while she did her best to stay hidden.
Zelda had been working with her on reaching through a link to her and Sassy. However, she didn’t think she could do that and keep herself invisible. Gah, she hated feeling weak and useless. Power infused her at the memories of the years she’d been locked in the glass-and-concrete cage. A sliver of hope entered her being. With a little bit of magic, she sent a bubble out to the Goddess, praying it would reach either of the two witches in time. Her sister would see just how much of a heifer Zelda was if she popped in and zapped her and the ugly creature she was with.
More dirt farther down the way brought her attention back to her dire situation.
“Come on, Carlton, you can do better. If you don’t, your daddy’s friends will figure out you’re still alive and well. They think you died along with him. We can’t have that, can we? Of course, we could always offer up my sister to them. She’s the real prize,” Merry muttered.
A growl-grunt had Noelle’s hair rising on her arms. Why was Merry talking as if Carlton’s father was deceased, when she was pretty sure she’d met his mom and dad at the festivities before and after the wedding? Not that anything was making any sense right now with Merry. She’d thought her sister loved her, in her own selfish way.
She heard the angry sound of a leopard, followed by several more. Shit, Ridge and his Crew were on the prowl. While that made her tingle in excitement, it also frightened her to think of the danger they could face with the creature above her. “Time to put on your big-witch panties,” she whispered.
Noelle created a bubble around her, floating herself up until she was back on solid ground. Her body finished healing as she did so. Dang, witchy powers on point.
“Ah, so good of you to come out of hiding, Noelle.” Merry and her swamp man spun to face her.
She kept her bubble of protection around her, making it small so she didn’t expend too much energy. “Why?”
Merry’s eyes narrowed, anger like a living, breathing thing seemed to vibrate off her. “Why? Are you for fucking real? You get kidnapped, and for the next ten motherfucking years, all our lives are like a mourning for you. I don’t get a day for me. We get up, we check the website created for poor little Noelle. Nobody gave two shits about me. I earned all As in school and what do I get? Good job, Merry, and then they tear up and wonder if you are getting any schooling and then they cry and say how smart you were. You, not me. I become a cheerleader, and they say how you were always tumbling and would’ve been a wonderful cheerleader. You, you little bitch. Always, you. No matter what I did, you were always better. Then I was taken, and I had to be saved by you. Couldn’t you have let me save you for once? Oh no, not the perfect little Noelle, she had to go and save us all. Well, guess what, little sis, I found what makes you special when that sick fuck had me.” Merry held up a necklace.
Noelle shook her head, every word her sister said like a dagger to her heart. She’d thought of all the time she’d lost with Merry and her family, had made up stories in her mind as if they were actually real. Never had she imagined Merry hated her. “I don’t understand.”
“Ah, the great Noelle, she’s confused. You see, I can take
