Free The Witch's Promise by Greg Krehbiel

take her to the bar, and then asked if he could make her a Black Russian. John grinned, wheeled her to the shiny white bar in the corner and started looking for the ingredients, but on the way he was intercepted by Jillian and a pair of women.
     
    John searched his memory for names while hunting for the Kahlua.
     
    "As long as you're back there, do you mind playing bartender for a few more damsels in distress?" one of the women asked in a rather loud tone of voice. John remembered that there was something odd about her. She was married to .... No. She's Rebecca's roommate, and she's ....
     
    No. This can't be. She's a pagan too, he remembered.
     
    "Mrs. Greenbaum has first dibs on my bartending services, but I'll see what I can do," he said.
     
    "John, you forgot to tell me that Mishelle is a Wiccan," Jillian half chided, although John realized she may have been following their arrangement: if he didn't introduce someone, it meant that he'd forgotten the name. He half winked his thanks, and then handed Mrs. Greenbaum her drink.
     
    "Try that and see if it's okay Mrs. Greenbaum," he said. After she took a tentative sip he asked, "So what do you think about this Wiccan business?"
     
    "It's a bunch of damned fool nonsense if you ask me," she said in her deep, crackling voice, "but it sounds like a good excuse for a pretty wild party."
     
    Mishelle and Rebecca roared their hearty approval and ordered two more Black Russians.
     
    "I've never had one," Mishelle said, "but if it's good enough for this delightful lady, it's got to be good."
     
    "And speaking of parties," Jillian added, "Mishelle and Rebecca have invited us to their Halloween party. We don't have anything planned, do we?"
     
    John liked the sound of the "we." It was more intoxicating than anything in a bottle.
     
    "And you too, dear," Rebecca said to Mrs. Greenbaum. "Would you like to see just how damned foolish we pagans really are?" She erupted into a fountain of bubbly mirth at her own joke.
     
    "At my age, one party a month is about all I can manage," Mrs. Greenbaum croaked and winked, taking a somewhat jittery stab at her drink and smearing her red lipstick on the glass.
     
    "Nonsense, you're just being polite and giving us a way out of inviting you," Mishelle said. "But we want to see you there, and we'll send a limo and an escort if we have to."
     
    Rebecca laughed and elbowed Mishelle in the ribs. "And we know some good escort services, don't we girlfriend?"
     
    Mrs. Greenbaum's face couldn't decide whether to look shocked or amused, and the effect was ghastly. John took her drink from her trembling hand and wheeled her closer to an end table.
     
    "More Kahlua?" he asked.
     
    "Hell no. More vodka," she said. "I'm not driving home."
     
    Mishelle and Rebecca howled with laughter again and immediately held out their glasses for similar treatment.
     
    John noticed that Dave was watching from across the room with a half concerned, half relieved look. He had spent the last fifteen years tirelessly caring for his mother. When others would have packed her off to a nursing home, Dave hired a live-in helper and restructured his house -- and his life -- to suit her. John set a hand on the back of Mrs. Greenbaum's chair and smiled reassuringly at Dave.
     
    How many nights do you get to have a good time, he thought, and made up his mind to look into it. Dave deserved a break.
     
    *              *              *
     
    A single card lay in the center of a wooden table in a rather unkempt living room. A man and a woman sat on either side of the table, their arms illuminated by the unsteady flicker of candlelight. He couldn't make out the details of the card, but he knew that it held a special and happy meaning for the couple. Something about a child. A special child, or a child with a special destiny.
     
    A montage of images flickered by quickly, and then the scene changed and he saw a man opening the back of a computer case with