Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

W elp, that explained how her magic was still alive, didn't it? All the talk of it's impossible and seeing her body? Just bullshit. She should have known when magic was involved, anything was possible. And something told Robbie, Gwinnifer was gonna want that magic back.

Oh. Shit .

Robbie let her eyes roam over this sultry woman's form. So this was Gwinnifer. The dead, serial-killing essence sucker.

As she slinked up to Robbie, seductive and gorgeous in a tight-fitting ruby-red dress, assessing her from head to toe, Robbie gulped—but did that keep her big mouth from opening? Nah. She went straight to the elephant in the room and gave it a little pat on the back.

"But you're dead."

What else did you say to someone who'd risen from the dead?

She winked, as beautiful and young as she'd been in the casket they'd unearthed. "I suppose you want to know how that's possible?" she asked, her tone bored.

Robbie nodded dumbly as Tottington rushed to her side, gripping her arm. She tucked her left hand to her chest in a protective manner.

"Uh-huh. Yep. I sure do."

Heaving a sigh, she smiled like the cat who ate the canary, her green eyes, so like Greer's, glittering. "In due time. For now, let's get you all settled."

Nina was in her face in a heartbeat, her jaw tight as she flashed her fangs. "The fuck you will, lady. Tell us what the hell is going on or I'll wring your wannabe Gen Z?—"

Gwinnifer lifted her fingers in a flash, stabbing them at Nina's mouth, pushing her backward with an invisible hand.

Nina's instant silence made Robbie gape at her in horror.

Oh, sweet pepperoni pizza. She'd sewn Nina's mouth shut. Sewn it shut .

There was a spell for that?

Why hadn't Greer taught her how to do that? There was a time or two when Hervé could have used a couple of stitches in his big yap.

Nina's eyes went wide when she pressed her fingers to her lips before clear anger took over and she ran at Gwinnifer, who, with another flick of her long, graceful fingers, glued the vampire in place.

As Nina struggled to move, her face a mask of fury, Darnell ran to her side, standing protectively in front of her.

"Dang!" Marty shouted with an evil grin. "Where've you been all this time, Gwinnifer, and can you teach me how to do that?"

Pulling her blonde curls into a bun atop her head, Marty rolled the sleeves of her shirt up, which seemed strange, until Robbie remembered why she was doing it. She was preparing to go after Gwinnifer and she hated when her hair was in her face.

"Maybe you should ask Greer's apprentice to help you?" she suggested seductively, her gaze hot.

Marty planted her hands on her hips, a saucy expression on her face. "Do you know how many times I've wanted to sew that foul-mouthed vampire's mouth shut?" she asked, before she rushed at Gwinnifer, only to find herself knocked to her backside.

She hit the debris-littered ground with a grunt, a look of surprise on her face.

"Marty!" Wanda yelped, rushing to help her up, her eyes glittering with anger in Gwinnifer's direction.

Gwinnifer swept her hand over everyone but Robbie and Greer, instantly freezing them all in place, their eyes wide with surprise.

"Gwinnifer, stop!" Greer bellowed. "Leave them alone!"

"Make me," she demanded with an ugly cackle, her perfectly plucked eyebrow rising in challenge.

Robbie didn't know what to do. Yeah, she had magic, but no one had prepared her to fight off a serial killer witch with it. What the hell was she going to do? She was the only one standing who had even a slim chance of stopping this madwoman.

So Robbie did what she was good at—she decided to try to manage Gwinnifer the way she'd done with the media and the press, when she had to spin and cajole to keep her mother's misdeeds at bay.

Putting her hands behind her back, she warily approached Gwinnifer, careful to watch her surroundings. "I feel like you've been waiting for us."

"It feels like absolute ages," she drawled, twirling her beautiful whiskey-colored locks around her finger. "What took you so long?"

Robbie forced a smile, preparing to snap back at her, but Greer stepped in front of her. "What do you want, Gwinnifer? What have you done with the coven?"

She looked at him thoughtfully, her almond-shaped eyes cold and hard as she drew a red-tipped finger down Greer's cheek. "I did what they deserved for expunging me."

Robbie didn't want to think about what Gwinnifer thought they deserved . Instead, she held up her hand. If there was one thing she knew about a big ego, she knew they liked to talk about themselves. If Greer would just let her do her thing…

"First, maybe we should get acquainted. I'm Roberta Tisdale and the frozen people? They're my friends, Nina, Marty, Wanda, Darnell and Tottington. I already know who you are, so no need to waste your breath."

"You brought the calvary, I see. Totally unnecessary. They can't help you. No one can."

That suggested Gwinnifer had plans to harm her—harm them .

Talk fast, Roberta .

"Let's talk about where we're at now," she said reasonably. "I'm sure you want to tell us how you're alive. I mean, that's pretty amazing, letting everyone believe you were dead all this time. How'd ya do it?"

She pressed a hand to her long throat, wrapping her graceful fingers around it, but then she laughed. "It was easy enough to arrange with the proper help."

As Robbie's stomach did backflips, and her mind raced with every spell she'd been taught to get them out of this, she calmly said, "Cool-cool. Very clever. How did you manage that?"

She grinned a grin Robbie knew well. Her mother had grinned that grin a thousand times when she bested someone. "I created a doppelganger to take my place, of course. They executed an image of me, a stand-in if you will. They buried a hollow shell, the fools."

Holy crumb cake. Gwinnifer could create doppelgangers? Did that mean she could, too?

The wind had begun to pick up, leaves skittering across the ground and the once-bright day went dismally dark, making Robbie's heart begin to thump in her ears. Everyone was still frozen in place, leaving her terrified she wasn't equipped to help them.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

So she kept talking, playing to Gwinnifer's ego. "Who helped you pull this off? I thought Greer told me you were locked up in a jail cell, covered in magic until your execution?"

She tipped her head back and laughed, her long hair spilling down her back before she glared at them. "Some imbecile fledgling who thought I'd share my riches with her once I got loose. Someone who no longer exists because she had the audacity to take something from me."

Siobhan… Oh, dear God. "Siobhan?" she squeaked.

Gwinnifer stabbed her finger in the air. "That sounds right. Neither here nor there now, of course. She's nothing but a husk, and that's what the little bitch gets for helping to steal my magic!"

Greer, clearly becoming impatient, asked, "How did she steal your magic, Gwinnifer? The same way you stole mine ?"

"Still angry about that, darling? Poor, sweet boy. It's been so long. Surely you're over it by now?" she asked sweetly, blowing him a kiss.

Greer's jaw went hard, his eyes chips of ice. "How did she steal your magic and how did it end up in a planchette at Robbie's apartment?"

Gwinnifer looked to Robbie. "Is that where it's been? I wondered how you'd gotten your greedy little hands on it."

Robbie licked her dry lips. "It was an accident… I swear. Funny story, here's what happened, we were playing a game of Twister and?—"

"Quiet!" Gwinnifer shouted, her eyes ablaze, her hand high in the air, the threat of another spell imminent. "I don't give a fig how you found it. I only care that you have it and now, I'm going to take it back."

"How did Siobhan steal your magic?" Greer persisted with an angry holler. "Did you get careless? Did you trust the wrong person?"

Gwinnifer smiled, a lewd, evil affirmation of her dirty deeds. "You were always such a smart boy. I admit, I did trust the wrong person. I guess that's my penance for being a naughty, naughty witch."

Greer's stare was hard, dripping with hatred, clearly refusing to let her off the hook. "Answer the question, Gwinnifer."

She rolled her gorgeous eyes and sighed dramatically. "Susie?—"

"Siobhan," Robbie corrected, to the tune of Nina making noises she was sure meant "shut up, dummy."

Gwinnifer flapped a hand. "Yes. Her. So easy to manipulate when they're young. She helped me sneak out of that horrendous jail cell. Oh, I can't tell you how filthy it was, Greer." She shook her head with a shudder as if to ward off the ugly memory. "Anyway, she snuck me out, and of course, I couldn't have someone running around who might betray me in the future. So I let her go with the belief I'd teach her all my secrets…"

Robbie licked her lips, clenching her hands together. "But?"

Gwinnifer grinned. "But I put a spell on her, one that wouldn't activate until she was safely at home, all tucked away in her bed. Silly girl. I imagine she had big dreams of becoming a powerhouse…until I drained her dry."

Robbie's chest began to rise and fall in rapid succession. Her panic rising like the tide. God, Greer hadn't been kidding when he'd said she was horrible.

"So you killed her," Greer said almost casually. "Not a surprise. It's actually pretty predictable. That doesn't explain how she got her hands on your magic."

Planting her palms on her slender hips, Gwinnifer tossed her hair over her shoulder, her razor-sharp cheekbones turning crimson. "This is the part where I stupidly trusted someone. I allowed myself to be lulled, if you will, into a false sense of security."

Greer's impatience grew, if the sound of his sigh was any indication. "Who, Gwinnifer? Who did you trust?"

She suddenly snapped her fingers, the sound sharp in the dark still of the night. In the silkiness that surrounded them, a silhouette appeared, wrapped in a sparkling rope, bound in magic Robbie smelled.

Greer had taught her to sniff for the scent of magic. The rope tethering the form was positively doused with it.

As the image became clearer, Greer huffed out, " Gary? "