The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

Evelyn.  The spider hung in the air for a moment when Evelyn appeared beneath it, thrusting her sword up into the beast's head.  It twitched, and then went still.  Raina pitched it through the air to land near the body of its compatriot.

                The battle was over.  I looked at Vincent as he tossed the remains of the final creature that he had slain on a pile with the others he had killed while I had been busy.  Between the six of us, there were eight bodies of nightmare fuel on the lawn.

                I didn’t doubt that the other four never made it out of the forest.

                “Are you okay?” Vincent asked as he got near.

                “I’m fine.” I answered.

                “Fucking A!” Trevor proclaimed as he and Evelyn rejoined us.  “I’ve fought my share of beasties in my time, but that was straight out of a Ray Haryhausen film!”

                “Someone’s not fooling around, that’s for sure.” Evelyn added.

                “Come, my friends,” Angelique said as she glided by, “let us repair to the lounge to discuss this evening’s events.”

                Vincent and I shrugged and joined her.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                ‘The lounge’ was a home pub, tucked away in a lost corner of the mansion.  We almost never used the room because none of the regular residents were heavy drinkers… of alcohol, anyway.  Since Trevor had joined us, however, it was getting a bit more use.

                It was furnished much like a traditional upper-class British pub, with plenty of dark oak and subdued lighting.  The seats were posh and comfortable, and we had pulled a couple of the tables together so we could all sit in one big circle.  Trevor had hopped behind the bar to fix drinks, but was disappointed when nobody but his sister took him up on it.  The rest of us were more than content to light up our joint of choice, and Vincent put a large ash-tray in the center to accommodate.

                “Fucking potheads." Trevor grumbled when he took his seat.  "You have Guinness… real Guinness, from Ireland, none of that watered-down American crap… on tap, and you sit around smoking instead of partaking of the best commercial stout in existence."  He handed a tall glass of dark beer to his sister.  "It's just such a waste."

                “We don’t normally keep Guinness on tap,” Vincent answered, “because we don’t normally have anything on tap.  I put that in when I found out that you were coming.”

                “Really?” Trevor replied, eyebrows raised.  “Thanks.” He grinned as he raised the glass to his lips, but then stopped.  “You didn’t, uh, put anything extra in there, did you?”

                I looked at Vincent, confused.  “Why would you put anything in his beer?”

                “Trevor and I had a bit of a disagreement a few years ago in Bucharest.” Vincent replied.  “We were on different sides of a conflict.”

                “I said it then and I’ll say it now,” Trevor added, “there was nothing personal going on, I just had a job to do for a very wealthy and influential client, which I was trying to do to the best of my ability.”

                “He was trying to steal an ancient pagan artifact that local farmers depended on to make their lands fertile and to, well, survive." Vincent explained to me.  "This village had always treated Angelique and me with respect, so I decided to give them a hand."

                “Bloody do-gooder made the damned thing inaccessible and it’s defenses impenetrable.” Trevor groused.

                “So why would you hold a grudge against him?” I asked Vincent.  “It seems like it would be the other way around.”

                “I might have told him that if he tried to get at it that I’d slip a potion in his beer that would make him grow...” Vincent grinned as he trailed off.

                “So why don’t you say it?” Trevor challenged.  “Go on, tell them what you threatened me with!”

                Vincent started chuckling and couldn’t stop, so Evelyn spoke up.  “Vincent said that he’d make my dear brother here sprout big, hairy breasts.”

                This made everyone, even Angelique, laugh.  Except for Trevor.  "Go ahead, laugh!" he said, staring at his beer.  "But you can see why I'd be hesitant to drink this!"

                “I didn’t put anything in it.” Vincent finally reassured him.  “Seriously.  I knew that Evie here would drink it too, and I like her.”

                “About bloody time.” Trevor said, finally taking a drink.

                Jack finally joined us, walking in and taking a seat by Raina.  “Well, I’ve finished my sweep.” he said.  “Nothing coming from any direction now.”

                “Awesome.” Vincent replied, wiping his eyes from laughing.

                “So what were those things?” Raina asked.

                “They’re called Aranha, and they’re technically not supposed to exist.” Angelique replied.

                “They were thought exterminated centuries ago.” Vincent added.

                “Well, I did some digging.” Jack said.  “It seems that most wild nests were wiped out, but a few mating pairs were kept by powerful supernatural beings ‘just in case’.  At least if this one hidden online paranormal site is correct.”

                “Which one?” Vincent asked.

                “Gruber’s Journeys.”

                “That one checks out.”

                “So who’s beasties did we fight?” Raina asked next.  “Find that, and we might just find our attacker.”

                “If there’s only one.” Evelyn added.  “After all, my employer is worried about a new Sorceress.  Not to the point of violence, but there are plenty out there who would go there.”

                “My guess is that whoever sent these creatures stole them.” Angelique said.  “A thing that only exists in private collections is a little too traceable for our hidden foe.  They’re more cautious than that.”

                “Then we’re looking for someone powerful enough to steal the prized possession of an ancient supernatural being.”  Jack said, sighing.  “Fantastic.”

                “And control monsters, don’t forget about that.” Raina added.

                “The sensors that I placed on the property worked as they should have.” Trevor said.  “They registered our visitors just as Raina ran in to sound the alarm.  The sensors on surrounding properties, however, were never tripped.