To Catch a Witch [Spells of Seduction 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

What a nice predicament she found herself in, no powers and unable to move, let alone find a means of escape from God knows where. Well, at least she was alive. She had to be grateful for that, didn’t she?

Seeing the window a few feet away from her, she wiggled her way over to it, not daring to attempt standing on her injured leg once more. The friction of the dirty, rough stone floor on her buttocks was unpleasant. Although she wore a coarse linen tunic, the fabric did little to protect her skin from the friction of the scabrous stone. She tried to make her slides less wide, which helped ease the scratching on her legs and buttocks, though it would take her double the time to get there. Soon the tearing sound of the worn linen tunic she wore crept to her ears, and she stopped in midslide. Gazing down, she couldn’t see where the fabric had torn and guessed it was on the back of the tunic.

She lifted her lower body so she could twist the tunic around and try to assess the damage, and then she saw it. The worn fabric had torn halfway across the back.
Lovely.

Holding the fabric so that it wouldn’t tear more than it already had, she wiggled her way to the window. Since they had not given her any undergarments to wear to her execution, just the old tunic, her bare ass cheeks rubbed against the rough stone. She cringed from the discomfort but continued in perseverance to the window.

Once there, she twisted around and, leaning on the wall for support, lifted herself onto her good foot. She stared out the window as she breathed in fresh air. What a contrast from the musty air in the confined room.

She squinted and peered at the landscape, hoping to recognize the area and know where she was. Flat grassland as far as her eyes could see welcomed her gaze. With no landmark as reference, she had no clue of her whereabouts. Wherever this place was, it was isolated, far from civilization.

Her wits of deduction churned in her mind as the cool breeze coming in through the window swooped in on her and enveloped her with a blanket of cold. A shiver crawled up her spine. All the weight of fear and despair that had rained upon her before came crashing down once more. It flooded her instantly making her choke for air.

Whoever brought her here did so through magic, a powerful magic rarely seen, maybe even more powerful than her own. That person was also probably responsible for rendering her magic inert. She knew of only one other person who held such power, a sorceress named Serona who she knew very well in her past life. Her one and only nemesis, who she feared more than death.

Quivering from the cold air enveloping her and the chill of terror that brewed within her, she sank to the stone floor and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth. Sooner or later she knew her nemesis would come to welcome her to her new prison, and Velona was sure it would not be pleasant.

Jacob Wyllt could not believe the spell worked. He gazed at his brother Merlin and noted the glee radiating in his eyes.

Lifting his brow in annoyance, he proclaimed, “Will you wipe that smug smile off your face?”

“Why? Does it irk you, dear brother?” Merlin gave him a sideways glance.

“Yes, quite.”

“Ah, so you would rather that I tell you I was right.”

“Right? How so?” Jacob put his arms at his hips.

“Well, I told you the spell would bring her here. And now she lies powerless in the tower waiting.”

“Yes, she may be waiting, but is she really completely powerless?”

“Why do you always doubt me?” Merlin lifted his hands in the air and stormed out of the room in frustration.

Jacob slumped into the wooden chair behind him and sighed. There was no use. His stubborn brother would never change.

Just once he wished he’d keep a level head and not jump to any assumptions. Many lives depended on it. But as always it was too much to ask.

He thought back to when they were young lads and the sorcerer Orion found them in a village in Caledonia and took them under his wings. Merlin had been impulsive and at times arrogant back then, too. Being the Great Orion’s apprentice and learning all his powerful spells and potions only boosted his ego more and made him a difficult wizard to work with as time went by and they grew into men.

Once Orion had taught them all they needed to know to become full-fledged sorcerers, Jacob decided to move on, to take his powers and knowledge and use them to better the world. Merlin also moved on, though his activities were more selfish rather than giving. Selfish when it came to satisfying his desires and sexual urges and giving whenever someone in need asked for his magical assistance and was willing to show his or her gratitude afterward. Gratification in tangible form for Merlin was a monetary or barter reward for his good deeds rendered.

When Merlin came to him many months ago asking for his help with defeating an evil sorceress who had wreaked havoc on many victims and who would continue to torment others unless she was stopped, Jacob thought his brother had finally turned over a new leaf. The fleeting, hopeful thought that his brother had learned the error of his ways and started to see that the gift of magic bestowed upon him should be cherished and used wisely soon disappeared.

When his brother began to tell him the entire story, that when they vanquished the evil sorceress, they would be seen as heroes and adored by all, it became clear to Jacob that Merlin hadn’t changed at all. His shallowness still remained, only his greed and need for glory had taken on a more challenging route.

But after contemplating the news, Jacob agreed to help him create a spell to stop the sorceress. After all, she had killed hundreds of innocent souls and ruined so many unsuspecting people’s lives by tricking, enchanting, or cursing them. Her reign of terror must come to an end.

But there was a condition, of course, to Jacob’s help, and that was that no one should know he was helping Merlin. Jacob wanted his name to always remain anonymous. Only Merlin could take the credit for her banishment if they succeeded in the quest.

Merlin agreed with no hesitation, and they began their research and work on finding out who she really was and what type of spell was needed to vanquish her. It took months and a lot of hard work, heated discussions, and frustration, but at last they came up with a spell. Actually, it was Merlin’s spell, for he got the idea of melding a modern spell Orion had taught them with an ancient spell he found in a book dated as old as the twelfth century.

He added a few more incantations he conjured himself, and thus the spell was born. Jacob had his doubts it would work. If all Merlin had said and heard about this sorceress was true, then she was capable of magic far beyond his and Merlin’s powers and knowledge. But yet here she was in the abandoned tower up above, powerless and as helpless as a newborn child. Or was she?

A nagging thought in the back of his mind, and his itchy pinkie that always tickled when danger lurked nearby, told Jacob something was amuck. Things hadn’t gone as Merlin planned. It was too easy.

He imagined the sorceress standing in the tower, thinking of a way of regaining her powers, if she had indeed lost them all. She’d probably be also thinking of her escape.

What sent chills up Jacob’s spine, though, was the last thought that entered his mind. He envisioned the sorceress planning her revenge on those responsible for her entrapment—Jacob and Merlin.

Rubbing his itchy pinkie, hoping to stop the prickle and reassure himself imminent danger didn’t lurk up above, he made a hasty exit from the room. He needed to find Merlin, and together they would go to the tower and face the evil and mighty sorceress Pondora together. Even if it was the last stand they’d ever make.

“He is incorrigible!” Merlin cursed as he made his way up the cold, uneven steps to the tower. “Why does he always doubt me?”

Just once, he wished Jacob wouldn’t look down at him. Just once, why couldn’t his twin brother believe in him? Was that too much to ask for? Apparently, it was.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down. He needed to keep a level head when he went into the tower to meet the old hag. She may be powerless, but she was still dangerous. A part of him wanted to just wave his wand and make her explode from the inside out. Be rid of her before she tried to kill him or Jacob. But if he let that inner voice win, then all her victims would have lost. For the incantations, spells, and curses she placed upon her victims would plague them forever even after her death. Contrary to popular belief, powerful curses, spells, or incantations did not end with the sorcerer’s death. They could last forever. No, only she could undo them.

But how could she reverse her spells now that she was powerless? That was a complication he hadn’t yet thought out. Jacob had been hounding him about it for quite some time, almost as long as when he was working on the other spells to remove her powers and to bring her here. Merlin lied to Jacob, saying that he was close to finding the solution and that he was working hard at it. Part of his statement was true, the part of working hard on it. But he was no closer now to finding a way around their dilemma without giving her her powers first. And to do that would bring them back to where they started. Correction, it would bring them ten steps back, for she would be powerful enough to unleash a lethal attack on them and vanquish them forever.

As he placed his foot on the last step on the top of the stairwell, inspiration dawned on him. To find a way around the dilemma, they needed to first get close to her. If they could get to know her better, understand how she thought, uncover her secrets in magic and her weaknesses, then he could find the solution to their problem. It may take time, but sooner or later, the solution would come to him and the Sorceress Pondora would be the one serving the answer to him whether she knew it or not.

Taking a deep breath, he drew forth his sword and slowly pushed down the lever to open the wooden door to the tower. It was time to meet their enemy face-to-face.

Right before he began to push open the door, he mumbled a spell to make its hinges move in silence. He knew the door, just like the tower, had seen years of neglect, and the moment its hinges began to move, squeaks and crackling noises would rebound in the room and alert her of his arrival.

He wanted to make his entrance a surprise. He preferred it actually. As quietly as possible, he slowly opened the door. What he saw then made his jaw fall open in awe—the most beautiful and firm buttocks he had ever seen welcomed his entry. It was stained with dirt and pink, obviously due to friction of some sort, but it was perfect.

As his eyes drew upward then, he saw glistening, long black hair dancing with the breeze coming from the tower’s window. His breath caught in his throat as the outline of an alluring, voluptuous body could be seen through the sun’s rays beaming onto the woven tunic. His cock sprang to attention at the arousing sight. Unable to move, he stood there staring, ogling the view.

Just at that moment, she turned around and sharp, deep blue eyes stared in shock and fright at him. Then the veil finally fell from Merlin’s mind as things became perfectly clear. Pondora was no ugly hag like he had envisioned. No, she was the most stunning, beautiful enchantress that ever lived.

A smile spread on his face at the revelation. He needed to learn more about her, find her Achilles’ heel so that he and Jacob could use it against her and keep her under control when they returned her powers to her.

But in the meanwhile, why couldn’t he have some fun? Playing and hopefully making love with the devil never looked so enticing to Merlin as it did right now.

Licking his lips, he sighed in desire.
Let the games begin.

* * * *

A gasp escaped her lips. Then she limped back up against the cold limestone wall behind her.

Lowering his sword, the tall, handsome, blond-haired stranger smiled at her. “Don’t be afraid.”

She swallowed to loosen the lump in her throat before she spoke. “Who are you?”

“My name is Merlin, my lady.” He bowed, never breaking his fixed stare.

Through narrow eyes, she said, “Merlin.” Rolling the name on her tongue, she liked the sound of it.

She couldn’t help staring at him. He was the epitome of godliness. His gorgeous hazel eyes and handsome face were perfect. And his muscular body shown in his tight-fitting linen tunic had her gawking. His loose-fitting woven tights traced his lower extremities. From his roaming gaze over her body and his cock’s reaction, obvious from the bulge in his tights, he was definitely excited to see her.

She knew the feeling, for she felt a powerful attraction to him, too. Both a sexual attraction and something else she couldn’t identify. No person, especially no mortal, had ever had this effect on her before. Even the Duke of Kent, who she had been madly in love with just the day before, never evoked such a reaction from her. And he was the only man she had ever loved.

When Merlin stepped a foot forward, an alarm rang in her ears as she was overwhelmed with troubling questions. Who was this Merlin? Why did she feel this mysterious attraction to him? What did he intend to do with his sword? Why had the sorceress sent him to greet her instead of facing her herself? And what more surprises had Serona in store for her?

Seeming to sense her fear and apprehension, he stopped his advance. “Don’t be alarmed, my lady. I mean you no harm.”