“Mom, do you have a phone?”
Her mother paused. “There is a phone, in the other room. But who would we call?
All of our supporters are here with us?”
Elizabeth got up and walked to the door where the rest of their group waited.
“You’re thinking too much like a witch. We have no power. We have to think like humans.”
“I don’t understand; you still have to explain this mating Rex Kane thing to me.” She nodded. Hopefully, there would be time for all of it, later. “I will. But right now I have to save Rex Kane so I have a mate to introduce you to.” Elizabeth didn’t want to mention to her mother if Rex died she would most likely perish too. Or, at the very least, she would want to. Life without Rex would be unbearable. She could never live without his soul tucked safely inside of her. The loss would be like losing an internal organ she needed to exist.
Purpose helped to make her footsteps fast and steady. She swung open the door to the room and smiled at the faces she had thought she might never see again. Fifteen witches were seated around the room. Only fifteen out of the fifty who made up their coven.
She nodded. These were the people she would have expected to stand by them. The others could take a hike. She was sure her mother would oust them once things got back to the way they should be.
Some of her friends looked away and others groaned. Steeling herself, she walked toward the phone. There was no point in addressing their problems viewing her. She might look slightly better than she had earlier, but it was still enough to make most people disgusted. The curse would lift, one way or another. Then she could go back to being normal to regard. However, she would never forget what this felt like, ever.
“I’m going to do something to get us out of here. I realize when I left here, I was, for all intents and purposes, a child, but I’m going to need all of you to trust me now. I know what I’m doing.”
She hoped. Around her, the men and women of her mother’s coven whispered amongst themselves. Forcing herself to tune them out, she picked up the phone. It was an old-fashioned model. Brown and large, it still had a large cord connecting the receiver to the base. As long as it still dialed, she wasn’t going to complain. “Where are we, exactly?” Having never been in the house where they were being held before, she had no idea how to describe their current location.
Her mother’s best friend, Beth, stood up and crossed to her, putting her arm around Elizabeth’s shoulder. Liz couldn’t help but notice the woman couldn’t look her directly in the eyes, but at least she made an effort.
“Right around the corner from the Ritz Carlton. If I’m not mistaken, this house we’re in is actually part of the Ritz’s property, dear.” Beth squeezed her shoulder. “How does knowing this information help you?”
Elizabeth placed the phone receiver against her ear, glad to hear the dial tone.
Maybe, at last, something might finally go her way. Taking a deep breath, she punched in the numbers they all should have used a long time ago. 9-1-1.
The phone rang once before a female voice answered on the other end. “9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
Tears welled up in Liz’s eyes. She could have sobbed from the relief. There was life on the other end of the phone, someone unaffiliated with what was happening around them. A human who could come and get them out. Or at least create enough of a distraction she could get to Rex. That was all she needed.
“My name is Elizabeth Willow. I am being held against my will. I am not alone.
There are seventeen of us being held in a house on the Ritz Carlton property. Please can you come and rescue us?”
Her mother walked into the room, regarding her silently. The woman on the other end of the phone asked her some questions, and she did her best to answer them, but all she could really focus on was the look in her mother’s eyes. Was it pride?
Her mother gave her a slight nod, and in the distance Elizabeth could hear the faint sounds of police sirens approaching. Thanking the dispatcher, she placed the receiver back down on the cradle. This was only the first part of the plan. Drea would most likely perform a spell on the police to send them away. There was no way the human law enforcement would ever make it through the door. But, boy, would the coven leader be really pissed off. In a rage, she’d storm down to the rooms where they were held prisoner and that was when Elizabeth intended to make her move. “Mom, the little bit of magic you have, does anyone else have any or are you it?”
“A few of them can do what I did. Little things, like a relaxation spell. No one has any real magic except Drea and her daughters. They’ve drained it all out of us.” Elizabeth darted forward, grabbing on to her mom’s cheeks. “Little magic?