Page 14 of Hex You

“No, no, nothing like that. It was Mrs. Stoll. She was killed out at Goode Lake. I don’t know how. She might have drowned. Or, well, something worse might have happened to her.”

“What do you mean?” asked Mercy.

Jax shrugged. “My mom found her and when I got to Goode Lake she was still pretty upset. I don’t know exactly how Mrs. Stoll died. I did hear people say that she was drained of blood.”

“Oh, bloody buggering hell!” Mercy said. “Something else has gotten through one of the other gates!”

“It kinda looks like that,” said Jax.

“You mean a demon from one of the other realms?” Khenti asked.

Mercy blew out a long breath and said, “Yes. Unfortunately.”

“Then I must remain here in your realm with you until we track this new monster,” said Khenti.

“That’s really nice, Khenti, but you don’t have to do that,” said Mercy.

“Of course I do. It is part of being a Gatekeeper. And as none of you are demi-gods you will need me,” he said.

“What does that mean?” Emily asked.

“Demons or monsters from other realms can only be vanquished by a demi-god or a god,” said Khenti.

Jax shook his head. “No, Hunter killed Polyphemus and she’s just a kick-ass witch, not a demi-god.”

Hunter cleared her throat and they turned to look at her. “Well, I had help, which is also how Amphitrite got all into our business. Khenti is right. I couldn’t have gotten rid of Polyphemus by myself.”

“Will you remain with us long enough to dispatch any demon that has escaped into our realm, Khenti kitten?” Xena asked.

Khenti’s smile was fierce. “I would consider it an honor.”

Mercy took his hand and squeezed it, smiling her thanks to him.

“That’s awesome,” said Jax. “But there’s more about the new body situation that you should all know.” He took a deep breath and then in a burst of words said, “Hunter, Mercy, I gotta tell you that there were a lot of people out at the lake after Mrs. Stoll’s body was discovered, and they were saying a bunch of crap about you two—like the fact that you’re witches and that you could be hexing people, which is why there have been so many deaths recently.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Emily said.

“Why would the witches who protect this realm hex it?” asked Khenti.

“We wouldn’t,” said Hunter. “But there will always be people who blame witches for things they don’t understand. It’s why only people we trust know about the gates and the fact that we have real magic. It’s better that way.” She didn’t look at Jax, but everyone else did.

“Your mom was spreading a bunch of the rumors, right?” Mercy asked gently.

Jax nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat and continued. “Also, I didn’t think much of it then, but now it makes a lot more sense. When I was out at the lake getting Mom I swear I smelled the ocean—a lot. Like, with salt and everything. It was definitelynota normal Goode Lake smell.”

“Fucking Amphitrite!” Hunter said quickly.

Jax nodded. “Yeah. It was the same smell as when she showed up at the park.”

“She was probably whispering about us to the people at the lake,” said Hunter. “At least she’s gone now.”

“I wonder how much damage she did before you got rid of her?” Em asked around a yawn.

“I’m sure we’ll find out at school tomorrow,” said Hunter.

“I guess that means there’s no taking Khenti to school as an out-of-town visitor,” added Mercy.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” agreed Jax.