Witch Problems (The Josh Thorne Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  Witch Problems

  by

  Joe Fowler

  Also by this author:

  The Josh Thorne Trilogy

  The Demon Heritage of Josh Thorne (1st book)

  Vampire Outbreak (2nd book)

  Losers vs. Zombies

  Having Fun With Side Effects

  Guarding the Door

  Titan’s Saga

  Titan’s Story (1st book)

  Titan Rising (2nd book)

  Witch Problems

  Copyright© 2015 Joe Fowler

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not

  be used or reproduced in any manner without the express written

  permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or

  dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Prologue

  The wolf patrol of Denver, Colorado were making their rounds like they had for over two and a half years. It had been this way since the vampires went public and the laws were instituted to protect the humans. Werewolf patrols kept the vampires from getting out of line. The only problem was boredom. No vampire who was old enough to be a problem was left, or had chosen to fight on the right side of things. This night would be different, although it was no vampire this time.

  Tara stood with her hands raised. An aura of power long unseen on the earth, surrounded her. She called and the wolves came. One by one her call was heard and the wolves had to obey. Other werewolves who were not on patrol heard her call and were helpless to resist. Tara was building her front line.

  “Are they coming?” Josef asked.

  “Yes. I can feel them. They will be here soon. They can’t stop Seth or Josh, but there presence will keep Seth and Josh from attacking me. We will have our war.” Tara looked over at the tall thin frame of Josef and smiled. Her teacher had done well. She was now the most powerful witch since the angels had intervened.

  “Finally, witches will once again become the true power. It is the way it was supposed to be.” Josef was clearly pleased, which was rare.

  “Don’t get too confident. We haven’t won yet.” Tara reminded him.

  “It is just a matter of time until Josh falls. Then no one will be able to stop us once He is here.” Josef smiled at the thought.

  The first of the wolves came into the clearing behind Josef’s house. Many more soon followed. By night’s end, more than one hundred werewolves were standing guard over Tara, their new master.

  Chapter 1

  “Have fun!” Alicia was teasing me.

  “Oh yeah, cutting the grass is a blast.” I smiled down at the love of my life. She still had on her nightshirt that she slept in. Still, she looked so good I wanted to take her back to bed. Maybe I was just trying to put off cutting the grass, though.

  My riding mower wasn’t a smooth ride but it got the job done. I often wondered why I didn’t just pay someone to do the yardwork for me. Tedious things like cutting grass were one nuisance I could avoid. It just seemed silly to pay for something I could do so easily. Also, Alicia and the girls were already calling me lazy. I didn’t want to give them more things to use against me. It was the middle of spring so I better get used to it.

  Since the Vatican began paying me for helping people who were possessed, money was no longer a problem. I would get a call with a name and address and be expected to go take care of it. The money for each, ten thousand dollars per possession plus expense money, would be direct deposited within two days after the problem was resolved. The girls started going on these trips with me. They couldn’t get enough of the invisible fights. They thought it was hilarious. I didn’t think the exhaustion that followed was very funny though.

  Now, while riding my mower in an ever exciting back and forth journey across my yard, it hit me how long it was since I had received one of those calls. I had been going twice a month or more since the vampires came under control after the war. Sometimes as many as six in a month’s time. Thinking back, I realized it was over two months since my last demon fight. For some reason it worried me.

  As a one of a kind demon werewolf hybrid, my services were in demand for some time now. Fighting vampires, killing demons who were possessing people, and advising the President when Seth wasn’t there to do it, kept me pretty busy. The most exciting thing to happen lately was turning a new pack member…

  Sarah, Crystal, and Alicia talked me into going with them to the mall. I hated shopping but was bored with nothing else to do. We were finally leaving the store when I heard a woman cry for help. I raced over to where the scream came from to see a young man trying to fight off four men. The men had clearly attacked the woman and this boy rushed to defend her. He wasn’t doing a very good job, though.

  “Come on hero! Can’t you do any better than that?” One of the thugs was standing over the boy and laughing at him. The other three were laughing too. One of them had an arm around the woman to keep her from running away.

  “I can.” I said, as I walked up.

  The four of them looked at me in surprise. The two who were not holding the girl or fighting the boy rushed me. I had to remind myself that these were humans. I held back as much as I could but I think I still broke some of their bones when I knocked them unconscious. The other two tried to run only to find themselves surrounded by three beautiful women. When they tried to push past Sarah and Crystal they found themselves lying on their back hurting. Alicia calmly called the police.

  “The police will be here in a few minutes.” Alicia hung up her phone and walked over to the brave young man. “Are you all right?”

  “I think so. How did two women do that to these guys? I can understand him, even though he is a kind of small too. Those men were beating the crap out of me.” The boy got to his feet with Alicia’s help. He was a couple of inches shorter than me, maybe 5’9, and he was thin. He had brown hair and eyes. He might have been considered good looking, I wasn’t really an expert on men’s looks.

  “We are werewolves.” Sarah explained. She was comforting the woman who had been attacked.

  “Wow, really! I always wanted to meet you guys.” He turned and took a closer look at me. Recognition hit him like a brick. “Holy cow, you’re Josh! THE Josh!”

  “That was brave of you to try and stop these men. What is your name?” I asked him. I was accustomed to being recognized now. I, along with Seth, Rosalyn, and Austin, had become known all over the world for our efforts in fighting the vampires after the outbreak. There were posters and t-shirts everywhere.

  “Jonathan.” He managed to say. He was all but bursting at the seams with excitement at meeting me.

  The police arrived and took away the four attackers. We all needed to give statements. The woman was followed home by the police. Jonathan hung around and refused to go to the hospital, saying his injuries weren’t series. I was struck by the courage he displayed. The boy told the police that he simply did what any one would do. He couldn’t stand by and watch a woman get hurt, raped, or robbed if there was something he could do about it. Jonathan sounded like the kind of person I would really like.

  “Jonathan, would you like to come to my house and have dinner with us tonight?” I decided to try to get to know him better.

  “Yes! I would love to.” He said enthusiastically.

  “I will ride with you and show you the way. Alicia can take the girls home.” I began but Crystal interrupted me.

  “No way! It is my turn to drive. I never get to drive the Challenger.” Crystal was standing with her hands on her hips, pouting.

  “Ok then, Crystal can take the
m home.” I said laughing and tossed her my keys.

  Over the course of the ride to my house and dinner, I found out Jonathan was twenty years old, only a year younger than me. With my experiences during the war, I felt like I was a hundred though. I still suffered nightmares of Brazil’s body lined streets. Jonathan grew up in Murfreesboro and moved to Chattanooga when he graduated high school. He seemed to be a good kid all the way around. I waited until we were sitting down at the table to ask him.

  “Jonathan, I want you to think about what I am about to ask you. Don’t answer immediately. I want you to think about the consequences of what it will mean if you say yes.” I paused letting that sink in. “Would you like to join my pack?”

  Alicia smiled when she heard me ask, knowing I had contemplated adding to our pack. Sarah and Crystal got wide eyed, like they were shocked I would consider it. It seemed right with Jonathan. He was brave, kind, and seemed very well behaved. He appeared to be the right sort I had been looking for.

  “Of course I want to. I don’t really know all the consequences you mean though.” He said honestly.

  “There are a lot of things that will change if you become a werewolf. You might still age normally but it is more likely you will age very slowly. Alicia appears to be twenty-two or so, even though she is seventy-six years old.” His eyes showed his shock when I said that. “Some wolves, like Seth, stop aging completely. Being a wolf used to mean moving around a lot and hiding from humans. Now it means you may have to fight vampires to protect the humans. Of course that was there before but only we knew about it. Belonging to my pack has other risks. You may find yourself face to face with a demon one day. That is a long story that I will tell you eventually.”

  “Demons are real?” Jonathan paled at the thought.

  “I am half demon. I look much different when I turn than you will. To make a long story short, demons want to possess me more than they want anything else. They haven’t tried since well before the vampire war, but it doesn’t mean they have given up.” I watched his face as he thought about the things I said. I saw the resolve when he made up his mind. I knew what he would say.

  “I want to become like you guys. I have always wanted to fight the vampires, or any bad guys. You saw what happened tonight. I tried to defend that woman but I have never been big enough or strong enough to fight well. I want to have the chance to make a difference.” Jonathan stated from the heart.

  “Alright.” I moved to stand behind him. I pulled his shirt away from his shoulder and partially changed enough for the bite to turn him. He winced but didn’t cry out.

  “Welcome to the pack.” Alicia said with a smile. The girls gave their approval as well.

  “The next full moon is two weeks away so you have time to get used to things” Sarah told him.

  I began telling him what to expect. The girls added their experiences to help…

  Now, as I was riding my mower, I was really glad I added Jonathan. He turned without any problems. He was more or less the average on his strength and speed for a new wolf. He was acclimating himself to our lifestyle fairly well. He still lived in the city but spent much of his time at my place.

  “Holy shit!” I screamed in shock. Someone had jumped on the back of my mower and put his hands over my eyes! I jumped off and was on the verge of changing when I saw that, whoever this was, he was doubled over laughing his ass off at me. He was tall and ordinary looking. I didn’t recognize him but I somehow knew he meant no harm. My mower was still going, unfortunately it was now driverless. I went and cut it off. “Who are you? How could you sneak up without me hearing or smelling you?”

  “You were close on your first statement. We are old friends, I just had a different body then.” He smiled and stood in a way that was completely familiar to me.

  “Keith-, I mean Gabriel?” I relaxed instantly once recognition sank in.

  “The one and only. Now come give me a hug like an old friend deserves.” He said. I didn’t hesitate. I hugged the archangel.

  Chapter 2

  “I wish I was just here to visit.” Gabriel began ominously. We were heading inside to sit and talk. “I would introduce me as Gabriel to the girls. No need to make something up, just tell them I am something different and you need to speak to me alone. Maybe they will want to go out for breakfast and then shopping or something. This will be a long talk and we will have a couple of guest.”

  “They don’t need much urging to have a shopping day.” I said with a laugh. “It is good to see you again, even if the situation might not be great.”

  “You too, my friend.”

  I met a boy named Keith in the first grade. He saved me from a beating from some bullies. Ok, I probably deserved the beating but he saved me anyway. I was a very mean child, being half-demon will cause that. I enjoyed people’s suffering in a way that was bad by anyone’s standard. Keith spent the next several years teaching me about what was right and eventually, I caught on. We grew up together as best friends. It was only when my eighteenth birthday approached and all hell broke loose in my life that I found out that Keith was really the archangel Gabriel. He had been watching over me knowing my demon father would return to claim my body as his own. That would have been bad for everyone. Believe me, by everyone, I mean it would have been bad for the whole world.

  “Alicia, this is Gabriel. He and I need to talk for a while, alone. Can you and the girls go out for breakfast and have a shopping day or something?” I asked when we entered the kitchen. Alicia was sitting at the table drinking coffee. Her eyes searched Gabriel looking to make sure he had good intentions. The goodness that always radiated from Gabriel put her mind at ease pretty quickly.

  “Sure. It’s nice to meet you, Gabriel.” Alicia seemed to relax the more she was around him. He had that effect on people.

  “Nice to meet you, too. You have a lovely home.” Gabriel said in his unfailingly polite tone. I remembered his mannerisms very well. He had always seemed the perfect human. Incorruptible, always polite, intelligent without being smug, and humorous without resorting to insults were some of his charms. Plus, when you stood near him you felt more relaxed and his goodness seeped into you.

  “Thank you. I need to go tell the girls.” Alicia smiled and went to prepare for her day.

  “Let’s sit and catch up a bit until they leave.” Gabriel suggested.

  “Sounds good.” I led the way to my living room where I took a seat on the couch instead of my comfy chair. I knew he always preferred those kind of chairs himself.

  “To start off, I want to say great move turning Jonathan. He is a really good kid. I was glad to see you add him to your pack.” Gabriel’s endorsement made me feel even better about Jonathan being added.

  “He seemed like the type I was looking for. The girls seem to like him too.” I was about to say more when Austin appeared beside Gabriel’s chair. It surprised me since it had been months since he made an appearance.

  “Hello, Austin.” Gabriel said without even turning around. “I was expecting you to already be here.”

  “I was watching Rosalyn and lost track of time. It is easy to do when you are a ghost.” Austin replied.

  Austin died by my hand. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. I killed one of my greatest friends. Austin fought side by side with me during the war against the vampires. I really thought the world of him, even though he was a vampire himself. To save Rosalyn, the beautiful vampire he loved, he was forced to drink my blood to increase his strength and speed since he would be fighting three vampires that were older and more powerful than him. Unfortunately, drinking my half demon blood also turns even the best people evil. He knew the consequences before he drank but couldn’t risk Rosalyn’s life. His good deeds saved him from hell, a first for vampires. He had killed a human after he was first turned so heaven was not a possibility either. He was given the chance to become a ghost and visited me on many occasions. This was the first visit in months though.

  “It’s been s
ome time since I’ve seen you. Is Rosalyn alright?” I asked.

  “She is getting better, thankfully. She seems to be coming out of her mourning stage.” He smiled a mischievous smile. “She is being almost stalked by a shape-shifter who has fallen in love with her. I have enjoyed watching him fall all over himself trying to win her over. She treats him like comedy relief.”

  “After the girls leave, I will be bringing her and Seth here.” Gabriel informed me. “Austin already knew. That’s why I expected him to be here.”

  “Maybe you wouldn’t have scared the shit out of me if he had given a warning.” I said laughing. Austin looked puzzled so I decided to explain. “I was riding my lawnmower and Gabriel got on the back of it and put his hands over my eyes. The shock of someone sneaking up on me was something new to say the least.”

  “I can imagine.” Austin said smiling. As a former vampire, he knew what having heightened senses were like.

  “I couldn’t resist. It isn’t every day I get to visit my friends so I wanted to make the best of it.” Gabriel smiled but I could see the trouble behind it.

  “I am sensing that this isn’t going to be a fun discussion when everyone gets here. What’s up?” I asked.

  “Let’s wait until the others are here. I don’t want to say this over and over. It is serious though. You were right about that.” Gabriel’s usually cheerful demeanor was gone. That alone was enough to make me worry.

  “It is still very weird to talk to you and not see Keith’s face. I know you were possessing him all those years, but his face is still what I see when I think of you. I make sure to watch all of Alabama’s games to keep track of how he is doing.” I grew up a Crimson Tide fan but now had a much better reason to root for them. My best friend growing up was now the starting quarterback. Granted, it had been Gabriel in control of Keith’s body as we grew up. It was only after my demon father had been killed that Gabriel gave control of Keith’s body back to its rightful owner.