Reality Bites by Nicola Rhodes Page B

silly, that he was biased, and it was not Denny’s fault that he had got the girl, even though he was no Johnny Depp.  Because of this, he was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt; after all, he had been suspicious of Tamar at first. Also, it had been Denny’s suggestion that he go, citing his own lack of powers.  Stiles would be safer with her, he had said.  This was indisputable, and it was unfair to suspect him of trying to get rid of them, even though Stiles was sure that he was.
    As soon as they had gone, Denny switched off the computer and wandered over to the bookcase.  Without even looking, he drew out a large book entitled “Summoning Spells & Incantations”.  He flipped over the pages. ‘Summoning a Deity,’ he read. ‘Blah, blah, blah, insert name of deity, etc, etc.’ He closed the book and grinned.  He felt only the slightest pang of guilt as he snapped his fingers and created a small safe in the air, put the book in and snapped his fingers again, the safe disappeared.
     
     

~ Chapter Fifteen ~
     
    B y the most remarkable co-incidence, possibly ever, they found a witch almost immediately. Almost! – Five WI meetings had turned up zilch, and Tamar was disgruntled and Stiles was wishing he had not come. The WI-ers had given him some very curious looks, of course he was used to this, and his first instinct, had been to whip out his badge, until Tamar told him not to.
    It was getting dark; they were in Staines; the daylight blackout evidently had not reached this area yet. The sun appeared to be setting in the usual manner.  They had decided to call it a day and were wandering along dispiritedly. 
    ‘Why isn’t it ever easy?’ complained Tamar, looking for a private place to teleport from.  She stopped suddenly and raised her head, almost as if she were sniffing the air.
    ‘What is it?’ Stiles asked.
    ‘Magic,’ she said, ‘there.’ She pointed to a house. ‘Witch magic.’
    ‘How do you know?’
    She shrugged.  ‘How do you know when it’s cold?  I just feel it.’
    ‘So, what are we doing, are we going in?’
    ‘Um – no, we know where she is; let’s just leave it for now.  We may not need her at all, and if we burst in on her now, she may not be here when we come back.  Denny was right; witches tend to be afraid of me.  Let’s just take a note of the address.’  She glanced at the sign and laughed.  ‘Look at this – Mrs. C Pittencherry, Chiropractor.  Good cover, there’s even a phone number.’
    ‘What’s funny about that?’
    ‘Witches don’t need phones.’
    ‘They do if they want to blend in, I suppose.’
    ‘Good point.  Well, I suppose we should go back and see if Denny’s had any luck.’
     
    When they got back, Denny was not there.  Tamar panicked. ‘Oh my God, we led them straight here, no wonder they let us out, they took him.’
    ‘Calm down, what would they want with him ?  I thought it was me they were after?’
    ‘Who knows? Maybe it was all just misdirection, who knows what’s really going on.’
    ‘That’s been my point all along.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I said we should try to find out what’s behind all this, and you shut me down, or rather he did, and you agreed with him.’
    ‘Oh God, you’re right! And now they’ve taken him, and it’s all my fault.’
    ‘Look, you don’t know that they took him, there’s no sign of a struggle, besides how did they get in? He wouldn’t invite them, would he?  He’s not stupid.’
    ‘Mind control – remember?  Isn’t that how they got you?  Anyway, the door’s off its hinges, look.’
    ‘It was like that before.’
    ‘It was ? Are you sure?’
    ‘Positive!  Anyway, I thought you knew about vampires, the mind control doesn’t kick in until after you invite them in.’
    ‘So, where the hell is he? And how did they get into your home?’
    ‘Who said they did?’
    ‘Oh, I just assumed.’
    ‘You do that a lot don’t you?  Anyway, about Denny, can’t you find him,