Gypsy Magic - J.R. Rain Page 0,76

me upright. It was then that I felt strong arms around me and I looked up into Marty’s face as he looked down at me with concern in his eyes.

“You’re going to be fine, Pops,” he whispered.

“Darla,” I started. “Where did she…”

“I don’t know,” Bailey answered, shaking her head.

My heart was pounding, and I felt lightheaded and nauseous. It was all I could do to continue breathing in and out. I couldn’t even speak. Marty picked me up, bride style, and carried me into the restaurant.

Henner and Fifi sauntered through the door next, supporting a sagging Bailey. She looked almost as poorly as I felt. I wasn’t sure when Fifi had arrived and at this point, I didn’t really care. Roy, Stanley, and Lorcan entered last. Roy was carrying Barbra, who was still human and still unconscious.

“Turn her to the left, beast,” Lorcan directed the ten foot tall sasquatch. “Do you want to take her head off on the door frame?”

“Yes.” The voice was so distorted, it hardly sounded human at all.

Lorcan rolled his eyes. “You’re thinking with your hindbrain. You’re not a killer, Osbourne, you never have been. Leave that for Ophelia.”

The sasquatch made a chuffing noise that sounded very like a gorilla and carried Barbra’s limp body through the door, dropping her on the ground as soon as she’d cleared the door frame. Lorcan made an exasperated sound when Barbra’s head struck the tile.

“Barbarians,” he hissed. “Just leave me to do all the work...”

“I need to… make sure… Darla,” I started.

“Shh, Poppy, conserve your strength,” Bailey interrupted.

“We need to call an ambulance for Poppy,” Marty announced.

“Fluff,” Ophelia responded, waving away his concern with a long fingered hand. “She’ll be fine.”

“She can’t walk,” Bailey responded.

“She will in a minute,” Ophelia said as she instructed Marty to set me down on a booth. Then she motioned to a potted plant that stood against the far wall. “Bring me that plant, girl,” she said to Bailey.

Bailey gave her a frown but retrieved the three-foot tall ficus, all the same. As soon as the plant came into contact with Ophelia, the leaves started wilting. When she took hold of one of the leaves, the whole bough turned black. She then took my hand and what felt like heat started to flow up my hand, through my arm and into my body.

“What are…” I started.

“Shhh, I’m healing you, gypsy girl,” Ophelia answered. “Taking the life energy of the tree and using it to heal you.”

Marty looked first at me and then Ophelia with wide, unblinking eyes. It was as though he was still in shock. I couldn’t blame him. The shock of this night was going to take a long time to wear off, if it ever did.

Lorcan continued to mutter darkly, dragging Barbra to the center of the room, before stalking off to find something to bind her with. Or, at least, that’s what he muttered as he walked away. Something about rebar, because apparently rope wouldn’t do.

“You’re all...” Marty began.

“Monsters,” Henner finished calmly.

“You, too, Henner?” Marty asked, looking at his longtime friend in surprise and slight suspicion.

Henner nodded, but then shook his head. “Grandma Tayir was a witch, as you know. But, I’m not exactly a monster.”

“Then what are you?” Bailey asked.

“I’m nothing. Just a human with extra sensitivities. The witchcraft talent skipped me, but I still have connections to the Portland Coven,” Henner explained. “They set me up with my grandmother’s old properties when I came of age. Ophelia was the officiant.”

“Then you aren’t anything?” Marty asked.

Henner looked at him and smiled. “I’m a mundane in the same way Finn is a mundane. We might not possess the level of Poppy’s gifts, but we’re more sensitive than your average human.”

I looked at Marty. “Haven Hollow… is full of monsters. Did… you know?”

“No, I didn’t know!” he almost yelled at me.

“That’s why the town is named what it is,” Stanley added. “It’s a haven to our kind.”

“And it’s against the council’s rules to allow mundanes in on the secret,” Ophelia nearly interrupted. “Another breach of council law that Barbra will have to answer for when the trial rolls around.” She took a breath and looked at me pointedly. “Now that you’re in on the secret, you have to sign a magically binding contract.” Then she looked at Marty. “And you’ll need to delete that audio you recorded of Barbra. We can’t let any of this get out to the human authorities.”

“What sort… of contract?” I eyed her narrowly, even as she