Sweaty Nights & Gator Bites (Twisted Sisters Midlife Maelstrom #12)

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

DAHLIA

“ W e need to destroy these relics,” Kaitlyn replied to Xinar’s announcement. “They’re feeding power from the bayou directly to Garrick. As long as these exist, he’s stronger. Without these, he will weaken.”

My eyes widened. “And whatever big thing that is happening stops.”

Kaitlyn lifted a shoulder. “That’s the goal. I can’t guarantee it. Magic isn’t always predictable.”

Dani tilted her head from side to side. “It’s our best shot at this point. We can’t afford to give him any more advantage.”

I watched as Kaitlyn and her coven began to set up a ritual circle. Their movements were precise and practiced. The rest of us formed a protective ring around them. The others scanned the swamp for any signs of danger while my sisters and I did a salt circle for Kaitlyn. The relics began to hum as if they’d become aware of their impending doom .

The six of us formed a circle with the coven inside of it. Kaitlyn held up the first artifact. It was a twisted, gnarled piece of wood that seemed to writhe in her hands. The coven began chanting, and Kaitlyn poured a potion on the thing. My sisters and I joined the chanting, and with a final, powerful incantation. Kaitlyn smashed the relic against a rock. The relic shattered with a deafening crack. A surge of Dark magic rippled through the air like a shockwave.

The power rushing past me was cold and malevolent. Thankfully it dissipated in the night before it escaped the barriers the witches had erected earlier. There was no doubt the bayou sighed in relief after that and the oppressive atmosphere lightened slightly.

“One down,” Dre muttered, her eyes never leaving the surrounding shadows.

Kaitlyn moved on to the next artifact. It was a rusted metal charm that glowed with an eerie green light. As she destroyed it, the same surge of dark energy erupted. This time, it felt weaker and less potent. The bayou’s power was slowly being freed from Garrick’s grasp. I wanted to pump my fists in the air.

Phi stepped forward taking the next relic. It was a small, intricately carved bone. She looked at it with disgust before crushing it under her boot. The dark energy it released was barely a whisper compared to the previous artifacts. A sure sign that our efforts were working.

With each relic destroyed, I could feel the balance of power shifting. The swamp, once heavy with Garrick’s influence, began to feel more like itself again. It was wild and unpredictable, but no longer leaning toward malevolent.

As we destroyed the final artifact, a large stone etched with dark runes, the ground beneath us trembled. The release of energy was massive. A final desperate gasp of power reverberated through the swamp. The air was filled with a cacophony of whispers and screams and then fell silent.

Kaitlyn looked around, her eyes meeting each of us. “We’ve done what we can to weaken him.”

Dani turned to me. “We need to move now. While he’s vulnerable.”

I nodded, feeling a surge of determination. “No time like the present to finish this.”

“Who’s there?” Lucas called out. I ran to his side and gathered my magic.

A group of gator shifters stumbled into the small cluster of trees where we were. Remy stepped forward. “We felt a disturbance and thought it was you fighting Garrick. We rushed to help,” he said in his deep, gravelly voice. “But we discovered another body instead.”

My heart sank. Another victim of Garrick’s madness. “Show us,” I said.

Remy turned and led us through the dense foliage. The air grew colder as we walked and the smell of decay stronger. We reached a small clearing without incident. A vice tightened around my chest when I saw the body lying partially submerged in the water. The sight was gruesome. Another life had been senselessly taken.

“We need to call the coroner,” I said, pulling out my phone. We had one now and needed to use her. No one objected. The call was brief and tense. Dr. Grey agreed to come out immediately.

While we waited, Dea knelt beside the body. She closed her eyes in concentration. She was calling forth the spirit of the victim. Her power always made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Her lips moved in silent incantation. A faint, ethereal glow began to form above the body. The ghost of a young woman appeared and my heart went out to her. Her eyes were wide with fear and pain .

Dea opened her eyes and addressed the victim gently. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“He... he killed me. And then... he put something inside me. After I was dead.” The ghost’s voice was a whisper and barely audible.

A chill ran down my spine. “What did he put inside you?” I blurted.

“I don’t know,” she replied, her voice trembling. “But it felt evil.”

The night air was thick with tension as we gathered around the body. “We need to cut into her and find whatever he put in her,” Xinar insisted. “We can safely assume it’s a Dark object. That means we need to understand and neutralize it before it has a chance to unleash its evil.”

My sisters and I exchanged uneasy glances. The thought of cutting into the victim was deeply unsettling. “There has to be another way,” I murmured, but even as I said it, I knew Xinar was right.

Before we could come to a reluctant agreement, the sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence. Dr. Grey stepped into the clearing. “I’ll do it,” she said, walking over to us. “You don’t have to.”

“That was fast,” Dre told her. I could hear the relief in my sister’s voice.

Dr, Grey pursed her lips as she looked around the clearing. “I was in the area. After we heard about the earlier attack, I figured the culprit was going to try again since his victim got away.” She wasted no time, moving swiftly to examine the body.

Dre proceeded to tell her what the ghost had shared and then said, “We need to find whatever he planted. It could be important.”

Dr. Grey nodded. “I’ll perform a preliminary examination here. Given that information, it’s too risky to move the body without knowing what we’re dealing with.”

As Dr. Grey worked, the rest of us formed a protective circle around her. It was hard to block out the sound of her cutting into her flesh and rummaging around in her abdomen. My hand went to my stomach when it roiled ominously.

After a few grotesque minutes, Dr. Grey looked up. She had a grim expression on her face. “There’s something here. It's embedded deep in the chest cavity. I need to remove it carefully.” We watched in silence as she skillfully extracted what looked like a child’s top. It was covered in blood and gave off a faint, ominous energy.

“What is that?” Phi asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

Dr. Grey held the object up to the light. “It looks like some kind of charm or talisman. Whatever it is, it’s not natural.”

“ This has Garrick’s energy signature all over it ," Adèle informed us. “ We need to analyze it immediately. ”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Or we could just destroy it.”

Before anyone could answer, the whirligig shot out of Dr. Grey’s hand and began spinning wildly. It hovered for a moment and then sped toward my sisters and me. It was twirling like a miniature tornado. We barely had time to react before it was upon us.

“Protective barriers!” Dani shouted.

We were all thinking the same thing because we were casting spells as she shouted the directions. A shimmering dome of energy formed around us. The top collided with the barrier, sending sparks of dark energy crackling through the air. It hovered and started moving faster and faster as its force grew stronger.

Kaitlyn stepped forward and narrowed her eyes. She began to chant in a loud voice. The top’s movements slowed and the wild energy around it started to stabilize. “Keep your barriers strong!” Kaitlyn urged us. She continued her chant, making the relic slow further until it finally came to a stop in mid-air. It hung there, frozen by Kaitlyn’s stasis spell.

"We have to destroy it,” she informed us. It won’t stop going after you six. It was enchanted to continue until it tasted your blood.”

I swallowed hard and didn’t think twice before I started gathering energy and intent to destroy the thing. Together, we focused our magic on the whirligig. The air around us crackled with power as we chanted and directed the intensity at the enchanted object. It hit the wood, creating a blinding flash of light. The top shattered into a thousand pieces and the dark energy dissipated into the night.

Dr. Grey stood up and removed her gloves as she gave us a funny look. “That was close,” she told us. “Do you guys experience this shit all the time?”

Dre clapped her on the shoulder and said, “Put it this way. Your life will never be boring again.”