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  WITCH WITH AN ENEMY

  WITCH WARRIOR™ BOOK 3

  TR CAMERON

  MARTHA CARR

  MICHAEL ANDERLE

  This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2022 LMBPN Publishing

  Cover by Fantasy Book Design

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  Version 1.00, July 2022

  ebook ISBN: 979-8-88541-197-4

  Print ISBN: 979-8-88541-721-1

  The Oriceran Universe (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2017-22 by Martha Carr and LMBPN Publishing.

  DEDICATION

  Dedication: For those who seek wonder around every corner and in each turning page. Thank you choosing to share the adventure with me. And, as always, for Dylan and Laurel, my reasons for existing.

  — TR Cameron

  THE WITCH WITH AN ENEMY TEAM

  Thanks to our JIT Readers:

  Wendy L Bonell

  Dorothy Lloyd

  Dave Hicks

  Diane L. Smith

  Christopher Gilliard

  If we’ve missed anyone, please let us know!

  Editor

  SkyFyre Editing Team

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Author Notes - TR Cameron

  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  Other series in the Oriceran Universe:

  Connect with The Authors

  Books By Michael Anderle

  CHAPTER ONE

  Cait Keane's mind was disconnected from her body and separate from the surrounding world. Her thoughts spiraled through the universe as she meditated and rested on the summit of Croagh Patrick, rejuvenating herself in preparation for the week ahead. She’d never shared the existence of this ritual with anyone in Columbus or her new US Marshals branch in Boston.

  The only person who knew she could replace sleep with meditation—other than her family, coven, and dragon partner Aza, who nestled on the ground beside her—was Angel, her frequent battle buddy in the Marshals’ Special Operations Group. The ability was her ace in the hole, the thing that allowed her to accomplish more than someone without it could. Goodness knows there’s enough to do that I need every minute I can get.

  The realization that her thoughts were taking the form of a mental voice was an internal signal that she was nearing the conclusion of her meditation, meaning her nine nines, or eighty-one minutes, were coming to a close.

  She didn’t shift from inner focus to alertness in a single moment of change, however. The transition was akin to surfacing from a deep dive, slowly coming up toward the light glimmering above. For no apparent reason, her sense of smell returned first with the scents of flourishing trees, the salt water nearby, and the burning fire in the center of the warded ring she inhabited filling her nostrils. Something else was present, barely noticeable on the edge of awareness, familiar but unexpected in this place. Specific knowledge didn’t come though, which was common at moments like these.

  Next to arrive was her sense of touch. Her hands were resting on her denim-clad thighs. She was kneeling, her weight settled back on her heels, with the solidity of the earth beneath her. Taste didn’t offer much other than the memory of the revitalizing tea she’d had before making it up to the mountain.

  Hearing, though, held an abundance of information. The crackle of the fire, the whistle of the breeze, muffled slightly by her wards but still present. Aza’s sudden growl, which started at concern and moved to hostile in a matter of seconds. And, most notably, the scuffs of footfalls nearby.

  Her eyes snapped open, and she launched herself to her feet, confident the ring would protect her but never willing to depend entirely on one defensive option. Four wolves prowled the mountaintop, dark shapes conveying “predator” through each sinuous movement they made. Cait turned in a circle within the ring of ward stones, noting their positioning surrounding her. Clearly, they’re here for me. Likely, shifters. “Hey, buddy. Are those who I think they are?”

  In her mind, for the dragon’s only outward speech was roaring, Aza replied, “We’ve met them before.”

  “When I fought that one.”

  He corrected, “When you killed that one.”

  She winced at the comment, even though she knew she’d had no other alternative. “It’s not my fault he wouldn’t stop as we agreed.”

  “No.” The word held satisfaction. Her understanding of her new partner was still growing, but he appeared to believe that violence was an ordinary part of life and she should treat it as such. Not indulged in casually, but neither something to be deliberately avoided. Not sure I’m on board with that. Although, against these jerks, I might be.

  She touched her left arm to be sure the branch of the Oriceran tree she’d secured to use as her new wand was still in its holder, then shook her right wrist to verify the presence of her wand bracelet. Her voice was steady as she called, “This is a sacred place. Be gone from it.”

  One of the two wolves standing in her line of sight laughed, the sound something between a chuff and a growl. The words that came out of his mouth were in human speech but slurred, presumably by the physical limitations of being a werewolf in wolf form. “Come out from your hiding place, witchling. Let’s see how you handle yourself in a real fight.”

  Cait cursed herself inwardly for not having brought her daggers or gun along. She had her shillelagh, which was useful as both club and walking stick, but against four wolves, more firepower would have been welcome. “Any issue that stands between us is resolved. If you were there, you know I tried to stop the fight.”

  Another one snarled, “Irrelevant. Doesn’t matter. Come out and play, witch.”

  Cait waved the wards to silence and told Aza, “I won’t fight here. I can’t. It would be wrong. We’ll have to run for it.”

  Aza replied, “I could fight here.”

  She turned, looking for the best route off the mountain, orienting herself to the side that faced her village since that was the path she knew best. “I know you coul
d, but we’re choosing not to. The psychic damage of doing such a thing in this place would be tremendous.”

  The dragon snorted. “I have no idea what that means.”

  She offered him a grim chuckle. “Yeah. I know. Not sure I do either, but I’m relying on instinct here.”

  “That, I understand.”

  “So, I’m going to release the wards and run toward the path leading home. When one of them tries to block me, which they surely will, I’m going up and over. You stay with me. Once we’re on the forest trail and get some distance from here, we’ll find a way to turn the tables on them. Sound good?”

  He chuckled, which always sounded strange coming out of his reptilian throat. “Sounds inefficient. But, as you wish.”

  Cait cautioned, “Do not, under any circumstances, light the forest on fire.”

  He expelled a long-suffering sigh. “Just because I prefer flames doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

  She ran a hand down his scaly back. “No, only enthusiastic.”

  She set her mind into readiness, pushing everything other than the need for survival and the desire to defeat her enemies out of it. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  With a word, she caused the fire to blaze upward, feeding it with her magic. Using the action as a momentary distraction, she dropped the wards and ran, her shillelagh held reversed along her left forearm, her hand near the knob at the top, ready to be used for defense. Only two wolves were in a position to act, one closer to her, the other nearer Aza. The dragon hissed and snapped, and his wolf retreated. Wise choice.

  The one facing her had no such respect and bared its teeth as it lunged forward. She slammed force magic into the dirt, propelling herself up and over her attacker with enough height and velocity to sneak her past its drooling fangs. Her feet hit the ground running on the far side and spent only a dozen steps on the path before cutting into the trees that bordered it. She sensed Aza taking to the air and trusted he could get back down into the thick of things at need.

  Cait opened her magic, allowing information to pour into her senses, which she amplified using a few words to gather her intent and a gesture from her bracelet wand. It let her mind guide her path without conscious thought, ensuring her feet would land where she wouldn’t slip and guiding her through the trees she could squeeze between and around the ones she needed to circle.

  As she ran, she focused her will on finding a place that would give her an advantage in the fight to come. She allowed instinct to drive her since thinking would only slow her down, perhaps fatally, and reveled in the feeling of trusting her skills and self to preserve her. She broke into a clearing created by a long-ago fire, the blackened and rotting stump in the center of the area the only remaining marker of the earlier damage, and spun to face her pursuers. Aza landed beside her with a thump as the wolves emerged from the tree line into the clearing.

  For a moment, the two sides stared at one another, the only sound pants of exertion. Then, the wolves howled and threw themselves forward in an attack.

  CHAPTER TWO

  When three of the pursuing wolves split off toward her and only one veered to engage Aza, who was the greater threat to them if one was judging by pure ferocity, it proved to Cait that the attack was motivated by revenge. It’s personal for them. She backpedaled and curved away, aiming to position the enemy between her and Aza. When her partner defeated the wolf foolish enough to choose him, he’d have a clean shot at their backs. “So, who was he? Friend? Lover? Brother?”

  The ones facing her had separated, two circling to her left and right and one padding directly toward her. The last answered, “Family.”

  “I can respect that. Still, bad call on your part.” Cait whispered the words to cover herself in a second layer of force magic, atop the first she’d donned the moment she’d hit the path to evade the wolves. The barriers would be invisible to anyone without magical senses, although she had no idea if the shifters’ fundamentally supernatural nature would allow them to spot the shields. If it does, so much the better. Maybe they’ll give this up before one of them dies for their cause.

  The wolf in front of her darted forward, but she anticipated it would be a feint based on what she’d seen of the werewolves. She used her right hand to send a blast of force magic at the foe on that side and raised the shillelagh defensively to her left. Her assumption was correct. The middle enemy stopped as she began to move.

  The one on her right met her magic and flew backward into the trees, slamming into a thick trunk with a thump and a yelp. Not enough pain in that to have broken anything. He’s angry. He’ll be back. She couldn’t help but think the last words in a deep-voiced Austrian accent.

  The left wolf was different from the others, a little smaller, with a distinct pattern in its coat. Maybe female? I need to brush up on my knowledge of these chuckleheads. The wolf’s teeth were for rending flesh and bone, and they skidded off her inner force shield as the wolf latched onto the shillelagh. The weight of its body on the stick pulled her arm downward, and she didn’t resist the motion, resetting her feet to keep her balance. When the wolf’s feet met the earth, Cait connected with a kick that caused it to growl around the weapon in its mouth, but it doggedly kept the shillelagh in its jaws.

  As she drew her leg back for another strike, the first wolf who’d started the attack with its feint slammed into her and drove her to the ground.

  Aza went through several emotions when only one of the wolves came for him. First and foremost was concern for Cait. He pushed that away. His partner could handle herself, especially when operating at full strength as they were after their nice rest on top of the mountain.

  His second emotional instinct was to feel insulted that the enemy thought a dragon could be anything more than a slight inconvenience for a single wolf. That it was the biggest one, with a large scar running down its chest, made the situation a little more tolerable. Only a little.

  He roared, and the wolf snarled back. Despite Cait's warning, he’d use fire if it was a case of life or death. He didn’t think it would come to that.

  His foe ramped up its speed for the attack. The beast was only slightly larger than he was at the moment, and Aza was reserving his ability to grow larger as a backup tactic. He whipped his tail around to intercept the leaping creature, and the wolf made a deft twist in midair, wrenching its body to avoid the strike.

  It landed at his side, forced off target by the defensive move, and slashed claws along his scales. Aza felt the pressure from the scrape but no penetration. He spun in the opposite direction, bringing his teeth around for a snap at the wolf’s leg.

  The wolf was a canny fighter. Instead of backpedaling, which would’ve set up another tail strike, it leapt over him, forcing Aza to throw himself into a roll to avoid whatever attack would be coming next. He scrambled to his feet, alarmed at the realization that his foe was now between him and his partner—all the wolves were. Positioning didn’t appear to have been his foe’s intent, only a result of its desire to kill him. The wolf stalked toward him with a wary measure of respect in his eyes.

  Aza figured his gaze showed the same. Aside from tussling with his brothers and sisters and hunting prey from above, Aza wasn’t much of a claw and tooth fighter. I’ll need to work on that.

  The wolf dashed in, and Aza snapped at him, forcing it to veer off to the side. The redirection turned out to be a feint. As Aza moved to engage the beast on the new trajectory, it switched angles again and launched itself at Aza’s throat.

  Aza threw himself forward onto the ground, protecting his slightly-more-vulnerable underside and giving the wolf only hardened scales. It snarled and attacked but failed to penetrate the tough outer protection. Aza waited as his opponent tried different angles and when the wolf put a foot in the wrong place, he made his move.

  He lurched up, whipping into a turn and grabbing the leg closest to him. His fangs closed on the wolf’s thigh, and he bit down hard enough
to secure his grip. Then, with a ripple of muscles, he snapped his neck sideways, hurling the shifter into the nearest tree. It struck with a crack and whimpered in pain. Satisfied, Aza shifted his attention to assisting his partner.

  Cait rolled with the wolf’s attack, using its momentum to get it off her. She’d been tackled by Brianna enough times to know how to handle such a move, and the wolf didn’t outweigh her by as much as her sister did. The teeth that tried to close on the nape of her neck would’ve been a problem if not for her shields. He probably hoped I’d get distracted and drop the protection. Too bad for him. I’m getting lots of practice at maintaining my defenses against unexpected attacks.

  She slammed a forearm down onto the back of the wolf’s neck as she rolled on top of it, then repeated the strike on its skull, knocking it unconscious. Probably good I don’t have my daggers. I might not have let it live. She threw herself to the side in another roll toward the center of the clearing to avoid any attack of opportunity that sought to take advantage of her distraction.