Chapter 9

Chapter

Nine

R obbie rubbed her eyes, her gloved hand scratching at her skin. Carl, smart, sweet boy that he was, had fashioned a glove out of one of Arch's oven mitts for her.

With her hand being so unpredictable, prone to creating fires and making it rain in the middle of the kitchen, she was terrified she'd hurt someone—or drown them.

So Carl, who admittedly she'd been a little afraid of at first, had gone to work making her a glove. He'd put pink and purple glitter on it and painted World's Best Witch across the back, so whenever she looked at it, she'd remember he was cheering her to success while preventing impending doom.

That was the moment she'd fallen in love with this enchanting pale green boy whose heart was bigger than the galaxy. He'd given her the glove with such pride, she didn't have the heart not to wear it, never thinking it would actually work.

But it did, and as she walked Nina's dog Waffles while she waited for her next lesson with Greer, she smiled. Thinking about Greer made her heart pound in her chest and butterflies erupt in her stomach.

He was one of the more emotionally in-touch men she'd ever met. It was refreshing compared to the men she'd dated in her circle, more concerned with their stock portfolios than cuddling on the couch and watching a movie.

Luckily, she was a logical woman who completely understood the stakes in her life were high right now. She was also vulnerable and easily susceptible to any modicum of praise. That's how things became misinterpreted, and while butterflies and hearts thrashing were all well and good, they weren't sustainable.

Her life was too complicated anyway, and his appeared to be, too. Whatever was going on with him, it had obviously hurt him deeply. It showed when Greer thought no one was looking, leaving her very curious.

Rather than pry—because in all honesty, they didn't really know each other at all—she focused on learning her magic and looking away from him when his beautiful green eyes settled on her.

Her hope was to learn how to live with this crazy turn in her life and somehow make it work to her advantage—minus personal gain, of course. She desperately wanted to belong somewhere again, be a part of something, and if a coven was where she was supposed to belong, then so be it.

With the ladies of OOPS , Darnell, Hervé, and Carl cheering her on every day, she'd found a rhythm she hoped would keep its upward momentum. Her only problem was remembering the words to the spells

Roberta Tisdale had a crappy memory no number of cute limericks and mnemonic devices could ever help. When everyone was learning the planets mnemonically, she was still trying to remember the sentence that should spark her memory.

The ladies had made up a silly phrase to teach her how to remember the order of initiating a spell.

SAP. Like what comes out of a tree, ya know? Nina had said.

Say it, Apply it, Point at it.

Robbie giggled every time she heard them shout the word at her. But she still couldn't always remember what it stood for in the moment.

Either way, it was a struggle but Greer had assured her spells would soon become ingrained and she'd be on the path to Easy Street.

As she was thinking those warm thoughts, silly as they might be, and light snowflakes drifted to the ground and she admired the Halloween decorations Nina, her daughter Charley, and the whole gang had put up, Robbie found herself feeling happier than she had in a long time.

Until everything changed.

As in the landscape.

Gone was the twelve-foot mummy whose eyes blinked. The trio of blow-up pumpkins had completely disappeared, as had Nina's castle and all the orange lights she'd literally leapt up to the roof as though on a trampoline to hang.

In the blink of an eye, she was in a sandy desert, wind kicking up tiny tornadoes of dust, dunes as big as a high-rise in Manhattan all around her.

At first, Robbie couldn't believe it was real. She scrunched her eyes shut and opened them again, only to find she was still in the desert. And the desert was hot , by the by.

God dangit, she hated the heat, but she peeled off her puffy vest and red knit cap, discarding them as the sun shined down on her and she basted like a rotisserie chicken. And Waffles—where was Waffles?

Nina would skin her alive if she lost Waffles!

Yet, she struggled to grasp the reality of where she'd landed.

So where in all of where was she? And were there camels? Because while this was terrifying, camels would make this heat a whole lot better.

Was this really happening? One minute ago she'd been encouraging Waffles to do her potties while she waited for Greer and her next magic lesson, now she felt like a roasting marshmallow on a bonfire.

As she began to call for Waffles, whistling and shouting her name, panic started to set in. It figured. Just as she was adjusting to all the new madness in her life, warming up to the idea that she was going to have a hand possessed by a serial killer witch, she found herself in another situation she didn't know how to handle.

And she was alone. All alone.

"Waffles! C'mere, baby! Where are you?" she called out, whistling, trying to cover her eyes to keep the stinging sand out of them.

Quite suddenly, everything went dark and the whipping wind stilled. So far, that always signaled something bad was going to happen.

What if she'd accidentally resurrected another poor soul? How would she handle it all alone? In the dark? With this ungodly heat?

Swallowing hard, Robbie fought for control of her thoughts and control of her behavior. If this was what she faced as a new witch, then bring it. She had a few spells under her belt, and she'd begun to really perfect a couple of them.

But was a spell necessary? Was a person responsible for this? Or had she run into some whackadoodle glitch in her magic and she'd done this to herself?

For sure, if she'd done this, she wouldn't have landed in the desert. She'd be in Italy or Paris, eating lots of carbs.

There was only way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, Robbie called out, "Hello? Is anyone out there?"

Nothing but the pitch black answered back. That and the sand that managed to be hot beneath her booted feet even though the sun had taken its leave.

So she began to walk—albeit aimlessly. As she trudged through the hot sand, her hands out in front of her on the off chance she might run into someone, she called again, "Helloooo?"

A noise made her stop cold, a whirring noise, a droning that sounded in her ears, growing louder.

What the hell was going on?

Then, like the days when TVs went staticky when the station signed off for the night, a patch of air became fuzzy, then an image appeared in front of her.

Squinting, Robbie looked closer as a woman with ringlets of platinum blonde hair spilling over her shoulders blipped in and out, as though someone kept trying to tune the channel.

Oddly, Robbie wasn't afraid. At least this vision—or whatever it was—wouldn't haunt her dreams the way that skeleton had.

"Who are you?" she asked, getting a better glimpse as the woman faded in and out. She held a hat in her hands, a witch's hat, with a long, tattered tail of tulle and black lace around the band, topped with a dried yellow daisy. Her porcelain skin glowed as her image crackled and snapped, her willowy body wavering, flickering.

Robbie held her breath as the woman opened her crimson mouth and held out a hand, her face stricken with pain—and then she screamed, so loud it made her eardrums shake.

"Ruuuun!" she bellowed, high-pitched and keening, pointing her finger over Robbie's shoulder. "Ruuuunnn, Robbie!"

As in now?

"Ruuuunnnn!" she howled as she began to melt.

Eyes wide, her heart in her throat, Robbie tried to stop her from fading away, reaching her hands out. "Wait!" she cried out, her voice hoarse from the heat and the sand in her mouth. "How do you know who I am? Who are you? What am I running from?"

The final time, she opened her mouth and hurled the words at Robbie so hard it almost felt as if they'd slapped her in the face. Pointing her finger over Robbie's shoulder, she bellowed, "Get out! Ruuuunnn!"

Her form lingered but another moment before she was gone, and then the screech of… something …something that couldn't be of this world, rang out in the dark. The ground beneath her feet vibrated, the heat of this unknown place growing hotter by the second.

So Robbie ran. She ran as fast as she knew how to run, even if she'd always been the first one to tap out in Mrs. Warkowski's fifth-grade gym class when they ran laps.

Sweat poured down her face, pooling between her breasts as she ran into the abyss, still unable to see anything. The origin-unknown, disembodied voice screamed behind her, roaring, the sound of feet crashing against the ground, sending up dust and leaving her coughing and sputtering.

Robbie pumped her legs as hard and as fast as she ever had, tearing forward into the dark until her legs felt as though they weren't even a part of her body anymore.

Gasping for breath, her chest heaving, her hair dripping with sweat, Robbie lost her footing, stumbling over a mound of sand, falling to the ground.

The sand grabbed at her as she rolled down what felt like a huge hill, twisting and turning until she became so dizzy, she gagged.

Unable to stop herself, all she could think to do was wrap her hands around her knees, pulling them up to her chest as she barreled forward.

The screams from whatever chased her, coming from something she still couldn't see, were closer and closer until it was breathing down her neck, it's hot exhales raspy and angry.

It was then she, too, finally screamed, a harsh sound tearing from her throat, a hand reaching behind her to push this monster away…when she realized her mitt was missing.

But Robbie slapped at the fiery breath anyway, the heavy gasps sending spikes of heat along her spine. Now would probably be the time to summon a spell, but in her terror—her complete, all-encompassing terror—she didn't even know what spell would help.

As her mind raced, her left hand took over, bending at the wrist, her fingers coming together and snapping apart. Almost as if she didn't have control of it anymore, as though it belonged to someone else entirely.

Fire shot from her digits like talons, clawing at the invisible beast as it rode her back. Utter revulsion welled in her throat as her fingers raked over its scaly flesh, tearing at it until it hollered in god-awful pain.

Without warning, words shot from her mouth—words she'd never heard before in all the lessons Greer had given her.

"Leave this world, leave me be! Away to whence you came, away now, set me freeee!" As the words flew from her mouth, in a voice she didn't recognize as her own, she felt something nudge her belly, sliding under her.

"Hold onto me, Robbiieee! Hold tight!"

Hervé!

Without thought, she latched onto his handle, wrapping her legs around it and clinging. Scrunching her eyes shut, much the way she did when she was on a plane taking off, she gripped Hervé's handle, her stomach bottoming out as they shot off into the dark with a speed so fierce, her cheeks flapped and stretched.

A small peek told her everything around her had evaporated, the black night swallowing them whole as Hervé burst forward so fast, it felt like they'd been shot through a cannon. She fought a scream, hunching down on the handle until her back screamed, keeping her eyes closed tight.

Hervé came to a screeching halt, sliding to the ground and drifting sideways in the cold snow like he was sliding into home base.

"Bong-bong-bong!" Hervé chimed, mimicking the overhead speakers of a plane when they made an announcement. "Ladieeez and gentleman, Hervé would like to welcome you to ze savage but beautiful beast's home, Castle Statleon, located in ze lovely Long Island. The weather is a crisp thirty-two degrees with the sun recently setting at five-o-four. For your safety, and ze safety of zose around you, please remain seated until we come to ze complete stop." Then he laughed, sounding quite pleased with himself.

Robbie would have laughed but she was too busy grunting from the sudden stop and the jarring of her bones. But she squeezed his handle tight anyway. "Oh, Hervé, you saved me! That was amazing!"

Wiggling out from under her, he bowed, dancing in the snow. "I am useful, no, Robbieee?" he asked teasingly.

Gasping for air, she nodded with a smile when suddenly she heard people calling her name.

"Roberta!"

Tottington. Yes, sir, that was her steady Freddy yelling her name in panic. Cold flecks of water fell on her face and, as opposed to how she'd felt before when she would have sworn she was on fire, now she was freezing.

Shivering, she felt a blanket thrown over her before Nina kneeled down on her haunches and gripped her chin. "What the fuck happened, kiddo?"

Shivering so hard her teeth chattered, she gathered the blanket around her neck. "Waffles!" she pushed the word out. "Where is Waffles?"

"She's fine. She's who tipped us off that something was wrong," Marty said, rubbing her arms to warm her. "She came scrambling back to the castle and scratched on the back door, barking like a loon." Brushing the snow from her face, she cupped Robbie's cheek. "What happened, Robbie, and why did you take off your jacket? It's freezing out here."

Rising to her feet as Tottington and Marty helped her, Robbie'd landed right back where she'd left, by the big skeleton Nina was so proud of, her jacket nowhere in sight. "I took it off because it was so hot."

"Hot?" Wanda said, wrapping her jacket around her shoulders, tucking it under her chin. "But it's freezing, honey."

Robbie nodded, pushing her hair from her eyes. "But I wasn't here anymore. I was somewhere hot, there was sand and…" Realizing she sounded nuts, she stopped talking.

Greer came out of the darkness like a shot, running through the light dusting of snow on the ground. "Robbie! What the hell happened?" He stopped them from going any farther, cupping her cheeks with his hands, his eyes full of concern as they scanned her face.

As she looked up at him, her skin warming beneath his touch, Robbie shook her head. "I don't know. One minute I was walking Waffles, and the next I was somewhere hot and sandy with big dunes as tall as skyscrapers and then…"

"Sand dunes?" He took a step back, letting go of her face to run his hands over his hair. " Shit . The Lost Lands…"

" The what ?" everyone said in unison.

He held up a hand to thwart more questions. "Let's get Robbie inside and warmed up and we'll talk about it there, okay? I'll explain it all."

As they followed Greer back into the castle, the lights burning brightly from the windows, the Halloween decorations shining under the gentle snowfall, Robbie wondered what the Lost Lands were.

But she knew it wasn't good from the look on Greer's face. For sure, it hadn't felt good.

As they trudged back into the castle and Arch came running with towels he'd warmed and hot tea for her to drink, Carl motioned for her to sit in one of the living room chairs by the roaring fire in Nina's eight-foot fireplace.

He pulled off her boots and peeled her wet socks from her freezing feet, wrapping them in a warm towel with a gentle pat and a smile. "Rest…"

"Mistress Robbie!" Arch fussed, reaching out for her hand and pressing it to his round belly. "Dear heavens, you're positively frigid." He handed her a cup of steaming tea before cupping her cheek. "Do drink up. It's herbal and will surely warm you to the core."

Tottington knelt down in front of her, in his perfect suit and all, taking her hand, his eyes worried. "You frightened me half to death, Roberta Tisdale. We were calling you and calling you until we were positively hoarse."

As she began to warm, she smiled at him, unused to seeing him so vulnerable. "You'd better cut it out or I'm going to think you like me, Tater Tot," she said, leaning forward to plant a very uncustomary kiss on his cheek.

He gripped her hand, pressing it to his other cheek. "You worried me so, Miss."

Her heart warmed, as did her fingers and toes. "I'm okay, Tottington. Really."

He smiled before rising, right back into manservant mode. "Let me get you a fresh towel to dry your hair." He escaped before he let too many of his emotions show, which was typical Tottington, but it made her heart clench in her chest.

Greer sat on a chair next to her, grabbing her hand, his eyes roaming over her face. "First, are you all right?"

"You know what? I am. You'll be happy to know I used my magic, Teach, and lived to tell the story," she said on a chuckle.

His eyes went wide, his grin bright, but then it dimmed. "Tell me everything. All of it."

As she relayed what happened, everything from the sudden change of the landscape to the woman with the gorgeous blonde hair and the crazy thing screaming at her while it breathed fire down her neck that she never actually saw, Greer sat quietly, never letting go of her hand.

When Robbie finished, everyone sat in silence, absorbing her words, and it left her surprised.

She stared back at them, slapping her hands on her thighs. "Oh, c'mon, you guys! Out of all the experiences you've had, dragons and mermaids and Hell…literal Hell , for goodness sake, this one has you speechless? What's going on here?"

Greer raked a hand through his hair. "I was right. You were in the Lost Lands…"

"Oh yeah? Well maybe you could tell them to turn the damn air on, because it's hot there," she joked.

But no one laughed.

Sitting up straight, she didn't know how to digest this. Sure, it had been scary AF, and she'd been terrified, but what did this place mean to her in the overall scheme of things?

Nina was the first to speak, her tone as somber as Robbie'd ever heard it. "I've only heard rumors about this place in our circles, kiddo. I didn't know its name until Greer gave it one and you described it, but it ain't a fucking place anyone wants to end up."

Darnell, who stood in the back of the living room doing what he did best, observe, clucked his tongue. "A-yup. It ain't nowhere anybody wants to be, Robbie. I hear demons talk 'bout it all the time. Even they're scared of it, and they're in Hell. That says somethin'."

"Okay, and…? I got out. I lived. So what's the big deal?" She heard herself say the words, cavalier and almost dismissive, but Robbie truly didn't get it.

She'd gotten out, right? Robbie realized that didn't make her some kind of superhero, but she was mostly unharmed. There might be some nightmares for a little while, but she was fine.

Greer looked at her, his eyes like hard granite. "The woman you encountered was likely a witch who's been captured and forcefully taken there. For her, there's no way out. Anyone who lands there is never getting out."

But she had. How'd that happen?

Cocking her head, Robbie asked, "And the thing that was chasing me?"

"The thing that was chasing you was a guardian of the Lost Lands. They're heinous, foul, fire-breathing creatures, their sole purpose to keep everyone there detained, and if it had caught you, it would have…"

"It would have what?"

"Wiped you off the face of the planet. Obliterated you," he answered quietly.

She inhaled on a shudder and asked the burning question. "Any thoughts on how I got there in the first place?"

"Someone…someone with great power…had to send you there. And that's the rub, Robbie. That's why it's such a big deal. Someone snatched you up and took you to the Lost Lands without any warning at all. What if it happens again and you can't get back?"

Oh.

Oh dear.