A Ghoulish Midlife (Witching After Forty #1) - Lia Davis Page 0,53

flew backwards and slammed into the table holding the poor, bloated, abused body of Betty Knolls.

Betty’s body slid off the table with a sickening squelch. She slammed on the floor, liquid spreading out in all directions. Including under Carmen’s feet.

I stopped and watched in awe as Sam scrambled away from her. She danced, trying to get her balance, sliding in the goo that was part Betty, part ocean water.

A giggle slid up my throat, the sort of giggle that made me feel like I was going to take a one-way train straight to Hell for laughing. But Betty was long gone and watching Carmen glide and skid over that goop hit me funny. Maybe it was the stress of the situation. I just couldn’t help it.

Olivia hissed as Carmen got her balance. “I’m so glad you laughed,” she said. “Because I was about to lose it.”

Owen shot us a glance. “Those kinds of blades don’t work on humans,” he explained as Carmen held the knife out, pointed at us, and stood in a defensive position.

“Okay, so don’t get near the blade,” I said. “On it!” Olivia yelled. She rushed forward as I yelled.

“Olivia, no!” I threw out my magic, trying to throw up a shield around Olivia, but nothing happened. I kept trying to no avail. My magic wasn’t working.

Carmen jerked back and looked at Olivia in amused confusion as my new best friend tried to slap at her. Carmen grabbed Olivia’s wrists, somehow maneuvered them into one hand, and then turned her around to press the blade to her throat. “You forgot that it’s still a sharp knife,” Carmen said. She raised her hand to plunge it into Olivia’s throat, but Sam and Drew moved. Sam blocked her hand, and the knife flew out of it, and Drew jerked Olivia out of Carmen’s arms.

Carmen dropped to the floor, then surged back upward with a scream. Both Drew and Olivia went flying. Sam didn’t go as far. He slammed into Carmen from behind, and somehow, she had the knife again. We all tried to get to her, but Sam was holding his own, avoiding the knife and getting some blows in. They fought around the room, crashing into cabinets, and knocking over tables, and got closer to Olivia.

Olivia saw an opportunity and grabbed Carmen’s wrist. She leaned forward with a shrill shriek and bit her wrist.

Carmen jerked away from both of them, dropping the knife and retreating. “Olivia, get the knife out of here,” I yelled. “It’s stopping my magic.”

It had to be. That was the only thing that could be crippling my powers. Olivia darted out the door into the hallway. My magic flooded back into me with a rush.

“Carmen, you can’t stop my magic now. It’s time to give up.”

Carmen looked around with wide eyes, assessing the situation. Olivia darted back into the room, stopping right in front of Carmen. Carmen wrapped her arms around Olivia’s throat and squeezed.

“No,” I screamed, but it was drowned in everyone else’s screams.

My magic exploded out of me like a bomb. I sent it all out, all the power I could muster. My necromancer power opened up and I welcomed the flow of dark magic in my veins. If there were any dead bodies in this morgue, I wanted their help.

Betty sat up with a squelch, scaring Carmen and causing her to drop Olivia. Sam rushed forward and grabbed her arms, pulling her out of danger. I kept up the flow of magic, somehow, I’d managed to press Carmen into the wall and hold her there, so I didn’t stop.

As Sam pulled Olivia into the back room, the body we’d seen earlier in the day lurched through the doorway and into the room. “Get her!” I yelled. “Sam, stay in there with Olivia! Owen, get Drew out.”

Carmen held out her hand, and that damn knife materialized in it. Having it in the room was like a punch to the gut of my magic, but it didn’t stop, thankfully. It did weaken, though. As Carmen fought against it, she swung the knife out and sliced Betty.

Betty’s body shuddered, then erupted into a shower of dust, all the liquid and squelching, swollen mass disappearing.

The corpse from the back room shuffled forward, faster than I would’ve expected.

As the corpse fought Carmen, I noticed something out the window on the door to the hallway. Blinking, I split my focus between keeping my magic going, and scooting over to see who was walking down the hall.

When I