"Witches of The Lost Souls, do you come in peace?" Astra's voice cut through the voices like a knife. It was powerful, sharp. Everyone else around the trio stopped to watch.
"That depends," Jen called back. "Are you psychos leaving in peace?"
They were still ten yards away from them, but all nine could see, smell, and feel Astra's flash of anger. Her dark eyes narrowed.
"Crystal, surely you know what is at stake here," she said.
"I do." Today Crystal was donned in a black cape and flowing diaphanous pants showed the long slender legs of a woman who had marched through years of adversity. Now they carried her to within three yards of the witches before she stopped. "Do you?"
Astra considered her for a moment before her half-smile broke out. "I heard about you, you know. Margaret had big accolades to say about the great Crystal. But the more greatness," she raised her arms, her green cape following in a large verdant wingspan, "the greater the fall." Her arms sliced down to her side in a dramatic pull of fabric.
Betrayal is no defeat. There is no honor in it. But she didn't say that out loud. The wrong people are unwilling to hear the right thing.
Astra laughed at Crystal's calm silence. The other two behind her smiled.
"We will run you out of this town, bind your magic, and return Salem to nothing but a tourist trap where mortal women who wish that they could summon magic come every year in the hope of being something more than their boring, earthly selves."
"Such vitriol, Astra," Crystal chided gently.
"She's so cool. And calm," Bess whispered.
"There are nine of you." Astra's scoff was more visible than audible.
"Ten!"
Everyone swiveled their heads and no one was more surprised than Tilly to see Freida march up behind where they were standing off.
"Freida?"
The woman nodded at Tilly, her hair pulled back into a banana clip creating a fantastic pouf of blonde curls. She had on a clear visor, her glasses hanging around her neck, her faithful jug of water in one hand.
And she had what looked like thirty or so women behind her. Women from the town. Carmen freaking Frederick stood in the crowd, her head high and her look of righteousness for once not aimed at them.
"Thought we shouldn't sit this one out," was Freida's hello.
Tilly and the others looked cautiously around.
"Sorry, you're here for us? Or like FOR us?" Tilly asked.
"Whichever one is for women's rights and against whatever the heck those three crazies are trying to stir up." She shook her head, a flash of raw anger filling her middle-aged face. "And him," She said pointing an aggressive finger at Rob. "You made a mistake ripping a woman out of a peaceful town hall."
"She disturbed-"
"She disturbed nothin'!" Freida yelled.
No one was more shocked at the rage than Tilly as she stood next to a woman who had treated her like a flea.
"I ain't sittin around for other people you deem less than yourself to be thrown out of this town. You're a joke."
Everyone behind Freida raised their arms, holding their own signs, loud cheers, shouts so shrill that everyone behind Astra and Rob shuffled back a step.
Rob's face turned red at the words and Jessica's calm smile turned regally feral.
"She was a disrupterofpeace," he accused again, his hand pointed toward Jessica.
"These women have been nothing but excellent citizens," came a new voice.
Jen winked at Cora who nodded at her friend as she stood tall, her black suit pristine, the lines clean and showing off a demanding woman inside of it. She wore red high heels that looked lethal.
