Witch Ball - BK 3 by Linda Joy Singleton Page B

prison?I
am free to go between worlds, while you are trapped
in a hell ofyour own making. Freedom is yours ifyou
go forward with me and find joy away from this chosen exile.
    "You seek to lure me away from my ball."
    Earthly possessions have no lasting value.
    "Lies! I watched them come, peeking into my
home and calling for me to come out, but I would
not be fooled. They were tools of the devil and conjured magic against me, only no harm would befall
me as long as my witch ball offered protection."
    You need no protection if you go into the light.
Come with me-
    "Your feeble attempt at trickery will not work.
I recognize you for your sins when you lived on
earth."
    My past was a trial on a path leading to wisdom.
That was hundreds of earth years ago and has no relevance. I do not fathom how you even know these
things.

    "I know that and much more. Leave before I
show the full force of my powers."
    Let go of your anger and trust me-
    "Trust a woman who took her own life, leaving her children alone? I would have given my life
for my child, yet even that was denied me. I will
not place my trust in someone such as you," she
sneered. "Begone!"
    Turbulent seas rose up around my glassedin house, then swept me back to reality. My eyes
opened and I gasped, feeling as if I was drowning
in black waters. But I was back in the shed-and
the witch ball was back in the chest.
    "Opal!" I called out. "What just happened?"
    I honestly do not know.
    "Hortense must be crazy. You tried to help her
and she wouldn't even listen. Those things she said
about you were horrible."
    Horrible ... but not untrue.
    "You can't mean ... you couldn't!" I stopped,
unable to finish.
    Opal had been my closest friend, my companion since I was a little girl. She never spoke of
her past, and when I asked she said that watching
over me was all that mattered. I didn't care what happened in her past. I just loved having her with
me always, my best friend forever.

    What I did while on earth has nothing to do
with you, she said softly. The unfortunate details of
my earth life are long buried.
    "So how did Hortense find out?"
    That is something I do not know, but I shall look
into this situation. I clearly underestimated her, and
realize now she is a great danger. I never thought it
possible to feel anything but peace here, but for the
first time I feel fear for you. Dearest Sabine, be safe
until I return.
    Then she was gone and I was alone-with the
witch ball.

    How could a bunch of glass look so pretty yet be
so dangerous? It was hard to believe it was connected to evil-but I had no doubt of this and
made sure the ball was locked securely in the chest
before leaving the shed.
    When I stepped outside, the clouds had passed
and sunny rays shone down like a golden mist. I
heard a squawk and saw Dagger circling overhead
as Dominic strode over.

    "What's going on?" Dominic furrowed his
brow as he gestured to the building. "Were you in
there?"
    I nodded, guessing that Dagger squealed on me.
    "You're shaking. You okay?"
    "Define okay," I said with an attempt at a joke.
But he didn't laugh, and gave me a deep look.
    "We better talk," he said.
    "I don't know ... it's all really confusing."
    "No rush. I've got to check the fence line for
breaks. Walk with me."
    "Well ... all right." I wasn't sure why I went
with him. Somehow it felt disloyal to Josh. All Dominic and I had in common was our desire to help
Nona. So what if he had muscular shoulders, wavy
hair that smelled fresh like woods, and amazingly
gentle blue eyes? He wasn't a bad kisser either ...
    We walked along the edges of the pasture, and
the silence stretched longer than the fence line.
Without planning to, I found myself telling Dominic about my ghostly encounter in the shed. He
never interrupted and I could tell he believed me.
It felt good to share the weird part of my life with
someone who understood. If only I could be as
honest with josh ...

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