For Liberty's Sake

Liberty stared at the bands magically stuck to her wrists, the bands that kept her from using her magic. She had been pacing the small room her aunt stuck her in yesterday after telling her about the relationship with her father. Now she merely sat on the edge of her bed and stared at her aunt, who wore a smug smile as she sat in a recliner, her legs crossed at the knees. None of it made sense. How could she go her entire life and not know that her father had been in a relationship with Imogene? There’s no way it was true. There would be some kind of sign, something, anything, that revealed the history there. And why would her mother keep that from her? They shared everything, and knowing about Imogene would have explained her anger toward shifters back in New Orleans. She sighed as she leaned back on the bed, her back against the wall. “You do know people break up all the time, right? I mean, making it the basis for your mission to wipe out shifters worldwide is kind of drastic, don’t you think?” Imogene leaned back in her chair, bouncing her foot as she stared across the room at Liberty. “I think shifters are… Well, animals, and I think they all need to be put down. Your father merely proved it.” Liberty could hear the growl in her aunt’s voice, saw the anger behind her eyes. Her aunt had always been a bitter woman, snapping at everyone, always critical of those around her no matter how hard they tried to please her. When she was younger, Liberty tried to make Imogene like her, but nothing seemed to work no matter how hard she tried. She shook her head. “No, it only proved that he was human.” Imogene scoffed as she leaned forward in her chair slightly. “Human? Oh, dear. That man was far from anything resembling human. He was a beast. Vulgar. Brutal. He was a shifter. They’re animals, sweetie. They lick their own asses, s**t outdoors, walk around nude, and think of nothing but fulfilling their carnal desires.” She nodded once as she said, “Animals.” “My father was a good man,” Liberty said, feeling the tears well up within her. “I’m sorry he hurt you, but you can’t take it out on every shifter in the world. The paranormal world should work together to make people accept us, not against each other.” “Shifters were never meant to be a part of this world,” her aunt said. “They’re an abomination created out of anger. The witches’ one great mistake in all of our glorious history, and I intend to correct that mistake. It starts here. Now.” “These people did nothing to you,” Liberty said, suddenly feeling extremely tired. “You’re hurting them because someone hurt you. It’s not right.” “You care for these people,” her aunt said. “I get it. However, your mother should have taught you better, rather than allowing you to get bogged down in their depravity. But I guarantee you, they’re beasts, and I can prove it.” She pushed herself out of her chair and turned toward the door. “Follow me.” Liberty watched as her aunt disappeared, turning down the hallway toward the living room. She sat there for a moment, contemplating whether or not she should follow Imogene, knowing it was more or less an attempt to manipulate her. However, she couldn’t stop the curiosity that forced her off the bed and out of the room. When she reached the living room, she came to a stop as she stared down at an unconscious panther in the middle of the floor. At first, she worried the animal was dead, but then she noticed the panther’s chest rising and falling slowly. She blew out a breath of relief as she stepped further into the room. Imogene walked over to a recliner and sat on the arm, crossing her arms over her chest. Liberty moved to the opposite side of the room, casting a quick glance at her stoic aunt and then down to the sleeping panther before checking out the rest of the room. Around the kitchen table sat three men, playing cards, who stopped the moment she walked into the room. She recognized one as Darius Prescott from Global Technologies, Bobby Pearson’s boss. Against the back wall stood another woman, petite, about her age, with dark hair. Liberty studied her for another moment, but didn’t recognize her. More than likely, she was one of Imogene’s witches from New Orleans she brought as backup. Imogene did nothing without someone else to help her carry the load and do the dirty work. Liberty turned to Imogene. “I assume that’s a shifter down there. What did you do to him?” Imogene pointed to the woman standing along the back wall. “Not me. Paige took him out all by herself. Seems she agrees with my way of thinking.” She shrugged. “Kind of why I sent her ahead of me. So she could scope things out. And he’s not just a shifter; he’s the Alpha, and was quite easily dispatched.” Liberty turned, staring at Paige through narrowed eyes. “Ahead of you? She’s from Bull Creek?” “Yes,” Imogene said. “She actually helped your mother become High Priestess of their newly formed coven.” She turned toward the smaller woman. “You never said whether or not you guys named your coven. I could suggest a few. Maybe Coven of the Palm Fronds? Ladies of the Swamp? The Gravel Path of Misfits?” She giggled as she reached for a teacup on the end table beside her chair. “I really am surprised your mother ran away to such a desolate place.” Dropping her gaze to the panther in the middle of the floor, she c****d her head a bit as she studied the animal. “But then again, she always did have a soft spot for animals. Did you know she left that lab of hers because she was conducting her own experiments at one time?” She glanced back up at Liberty, ridicule in her eyes. “Seemed she wanted to prolong a shifter’s lifespan. Funny, considering they live longer than most humans, anyway, even witches. Of course, your father’s death seemed to have spurred her obsession. I doubt she got far, though. Good thing, too.” She pointed down at the panther. “I’m thinking of making a rug out of this one. Now, an Alpha skin would make a fairly decent trophy, even if I say so myself.” “I just wish I would have gotten his friend,” Paige said, crossing her arms over her chest. She glanced over at Imogene, one brow c****d. “You know he’ll go running back to that backwoods town for help. We can’t stay here.” “And with that Para-Force group sniffing around, it’s going to be harder to hold off until the Fourth,” Darius said as he turned to face them better. He was an older man with short dark hair and an aura of dark power around him; although Liberty couldn’t detect magic on anyone except her aunt and Paige. “We need to get this done now.” Imogene looked bored as she kept her eyes focused on Liberty. “Relax, Darius. Everything will go as it’s supposed to go. You and Trayton just need to be ready to carry out your part of the plan.” “We’ll be ready,” one of the other men said, this one younger, thinner, and with more attitude than Darius, who merely seemed skittish. “Ignore my cousin. You just need to keep your witches in line so the riffraff don’t find us before we launch the weapons.” “Which is why I think we need to move to the next location,” a gruffer looking man said as he ran his hand through his hair. “Darius and Trayton are right. They’ll come for us now that they know where we are.” Paige giggled as she pointed to a pile of clothes on the floor. “It’s going to be hard for Josh to get help when he’s n***d. He’ll have to shift so he doesn’t freak people out with his mindspeech, and then he’ll be prancing around in the buff. If we’re lucky, he’ll get himself arrested.” “Or shot,” Darius said with a shrug. “Just one less beast to put down.” Liberty stared over at the older man, trying to recall anything in their few encounters that would have tipped her off to his hatred toward paranormals. Nothing, however, came to mind. There wasn’t even an inkling that he knew anything about the supernatural, so what had caused him to despise them so much? Imogene pushed herself off the arm of her chair and set her teacup back on the table. “I agree with Paige, though. The other one will return to Bull Creek with our location, and soon, we’ll have visitors. It’s time to move to the next house. My coven already waits there for us.” She brushed off her slacks and straightened her shirt, but it was pointless. There was nothing on her, not even a wrinkle. Liberty remembered the gesture as being a dismissal of sorts from her aunt, as if bored with whoever she spoke with at the moment. “In the meantime, I think I’ll reach out to my sister and reminisce. I’ll catch up with you later.” She turned to Liberty. “Any message for dear ol’ Mommy?” “Oh, I’m sure she’ll have her own message for you,” Liberty said. “It’ll speak for both of us.” Imogene shook her head as she took in a slow breath. “Your mother and that sissy husband of yours have failed you in so many ways. It pains me to see how far you’ve fallen that you would turn against your own kind.” She smirked as she gestured to the bands around her wrists with an uplift of her chin. “If you had kept up with your magic, you would have busted out of those a long time ago.” She gave Liberty a look of pity. “You truly only have yourself to blame for this.” She gave another shake of her head as she opened the door. “It truly is sad.” And then she slipped outside, closing the door behind her. Liberty stood there, watching as the door shut on her aunt, the woman’s words replaying in her head. If you had kept up with your magic, you would have busted out of those a long time ago. Was she right? Could she get out of her bindings? She had tried. She reached out to the elements, called to the White Goddess, but nothing happened. So what was she missing? Darius stood, tossing his cards down onto the table. “Come on. It’s time to go. Jasper, load the truck. Trayton,” he paused and glanced over at Liberty with a smirk, “get our guest ready for travel.” He crossed the floor, standing in front of her, a sneer on his face. “You know, I never did like that sniveling little husband of yours. However, he had one thing right. There’s no place for the supernatural in this world.” Liberty stared at him, feeling the anger ripple through her. “Oliver didn’t hate the paranormal world; he merely wanted away from the fighting that happened within factions. His solution was to move away from it, not destroy it. He never tried to kill anyone. Only a coward would do that.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Not a coward. Rather, someone with the means to even the playing field between them and us.” He turned and walked away. “Let’s get out of here. Leave nothing the witches can use to find us.” Paige left her spot by the wall as Jasper moved toward the front door and Trayton stood, raking up the cards into a pile. Liberty stood there, watching them, still confused what her aunt meant about freeing herself. Reaching down within herself, she searched out her core, the well of magic that resided within each witch for when they needed it. She felt the power, felt the elements that made up her core, the power of earth, air, water, and fire, felt the magic swirling inside of her. So why couldn’t she use it? What blocked her? As Jasper opened the door, a tawny blur hit him in the chest and knocked him backward into the house, the two tumbling over one another. Everyone jerked their gazes at the commotion as a panther clamped down on the man’s arm and yanked. Trayton cried out as Darius darted to the door. Jasper screamed, reaching behind him for something to grip and use as a weapon, but nothing was within reach. Out of the corner of her eye, Liberty noticed Paige lifting her arms, pointing her palms at the animal on top of Jasper. The faint sizzle of magic sliced the air, making Liberty panic. With a knee-jerk reaction, she threw her arms up in the air, calling out to the power within, felt the elements combine inside of her, growing, and then hurled it at the smaller witch, the shackles on her wrist falling to the floor. The magic hit the other witch in the side, shoving her up off her feet and into the wall beside her. Paige’s head hit the wall, and then she slid down to a lump on the floor, unconscious. The panther lifted his head from Jasper’s arm, hissing at the other two men. Liberty, we need to get out of here, she heard the shifter say, recognizing Josh’s voice. “What about Dimitri?” I’m fine. The other panther lifted his head, his voice sounding more of a groan than anything. Although I could use some aspirin. He lumbered to his feet, causing Darius to cry out. The older man lunged for Dimitri. Liberty lashed out with her power, tossing Trayton and Darius across the room. One landed on the kitchen table, rolling off the other side, while the other slammed into a wall. Aspirin’s in the truck, Josh sent. Let’s go. Liberty dropped her gaze down to the witch on the floor. She moved over to the petite woman, squatting down beside her and placing her hand on the woman’s arm. Closing her eyes, she chanted a few words of power and sent her magic into the young witch, a spell that would keep the witch asleep for a while longer. Opening her eyes, she sighed as she stood to her feet. “I hate to be you when my mother gets her hands on you.” With another quick glance around the living room, Liberty took a deep breath and followed the panthers outside to the truck. She needed to get to her mother before Imogene did.