Page 55 of Glow

Harrison screamed, and bullets went everywhere as he tried to fight. Dan and the others stayed flattened against the dirt.

The wurm shook Harrison, and the bounty hunter screamed once more before going limp clutched in the Tatzelwurm’s jaws.

“Now!” Amy shouted and dropped the dragon scale into the flames. The fire in the brazier leaped high into the air as Amy and the other witches clasped hands, speaking an incantation in unison. “Go back to the darkness and be bound by sleep until you are called forth,” Amy ordered, fixing her attention on the blood-covered wurm that still held Harrison’s motionless corpse in its teeth. “By the power of blood and bone, scale and skeleton, we command you to withdraw and trouble us no more!” she finished.

The air around the fire shimmered as the scale disintegrated in a shower of blue sparks. The three ghosts flickered and vanished, avenged. When Dan looked toward the cave again, Harrison’s body lay in the entrance, but the wurm had vanished.

“Is it gone?” Armel’s gruff voice sounded incredulous at the sight.

Amy and her fellow witches conferred, and then she met the sheriff’s gaze and nodded. “It’s bound. Once everyone leaves, we’ll also put a seal on the cave so no one finds him and wakes him up again.”

Two officers went to retrieve Harrison’s body. Dan tried not to look when they returned, but the wurm’s teeth had bitten clear through.

“There are more bodies over there that might be the missing hikers,” Dan told the sheriff.

“There was a third ghost who showed up just now,” Amy said after conferring with her companions. “His body must be near here, too. We think it was Doran Roberts, an unprincipled witch known for causing trouble. If he was the one who freed the wurm, it got the last laugh.”

“We’ll finish the paperwork,” Amell told them as the officers secured Harrison’s body on a stretcher. Two more went in the direction Dan pointed to find the other corpses.

“No one’s going to miss Harrison, but with the list of warrants for his arrest, a lot of people will be glad to close the files on him,” the sheriff said. “And if those are the bodies of the missing hikers, at least their families will get closure. As for the witch that caused all the problems, I hope there’s justice in the afterlife.”

He looked toward the caves once more with an unreadable expression. “Nice work, ladies,” he said to Amy and the other witches. The sheriff turned toward Quinn and Dan. “I’ll need your statements, eventually.” With that, Armel headed after the other officers toward where the bodies lay.

“Will the binding spell hold?” Quinn asked Amy.

“It should. Indefinitely if no one messes with it. The Tatzelwurm is an immortal creature, so it can’t die, to the best of our knowledge. But the spell should at least last long enough that when it wakes again, it won’t be our problem anymore,” Amy replied.

She and the other witches carefully put the ash from the burned dragon scale in a rune-marked box and cleaned up the ritual space, leaving nothing behind.

“With the bounty hunter and the wurm taken care of, you should be safe now,” Amy said to Dan. “Welcome to Fox Hollow.”

“Thank you so much,” Dan said, nearly dizzy with relief.

“Just let me know how I can return the favor,” Quinn added.

“We’ll be in touch,” Amy assured him.

Dan and Quinn followed the witches to their car and saw them off. He was surprised at how close they were to a trail and access road, and how much worse it could have gone if the wurm had happened upon more victims. They got into Quinn’s truck and sat for a moment as the events of the past hour sank in.

“It’s over.” Quinn put his hand on Dan’s thigh and turned to him. “You’re safe, Fox Hollow is safe. All the other creatures Harrison was hunting are safe. And to be honest, the wurm is safer in a spelled sleep than causing trouble and being blasted. The hiker case can be closed, and we don’t have to worry about bringing the rogue witch who caused all this to account. Not a bad day’s work.”

Now that the danger was over, Dan fought the urge to throw up. “It’s going to take a while before I quit looking over my shoulder.”

“And Fox Hollow will help get you past all that.” Quinn pulled Dan into his arms. “Harrison was a danger to all the other shifters and magic users, as well as cryptids. He’s a supernatural creature serial killer. The whole community is safer with him gone.”

Dan knew he was shaking with a mix of fear, relief, and being overwhelmed. Quinn didn’t mention it, although he had to feel the vibration with Dan snug in his arms against his chest.

“Come on,” Quinn said as Dan pulled back and snapped his seat belt. “That’s plenty of excitement for today.”

CHAPTER 10

QUINN

If he had expected things to calm down when the Tatzelwurm and bounty hunter were no longer a threat, Quinn would have been disappointed. The next week flew by in a jumble.

Most importantly, from his viewpoint, was getting Dan fully moved in and officially settled in Fox Hollow. After that, Quinn had to come up with a plausible explanation for the Park Service reports about why there had been police and gunshots fired.

“Do you think they’ll believe it was a rogue bear?” he asked Dan when he emailed his report. “We don’t have a body to show for it.”