Dr. Emerson smiled. “Ordinarily, it would be, but this is no ordinary book. Assigning human characteristics to it may not be as foolish as you’d think.”
Lioness raised her hand. “May I ask a question?”
“Of course,” Bas said.
“I’d like to know more about what came out of that anomaly. You said it was an arm… Was it big and hairy with pointed spikes all over it?”
The group couldn’t help but chuckle. Lioness always knew how to lighten the mood. But the question was relevant. Rayna shook her head. “No, it was slender, pale, and there was a gold bracelet with some kind of amulet hanging from it.”
“Maybe it was a magical amulet, and that’s how it got through?” Victoria speculated.
“Maybe,” Rayna said. “I don’t know what I would have done if Brianna hadn’t been able to turn back time…”
“It was only for a minute or two. I know I’m not supposed to do that, but…” She shrugged.
“Don’t apologize for saving the day, Bri,” Chad said.
Bas tipped her head. “I indeed told you not to go back and change anything, but in this case, I can’t really see an alternative.”
“Could I have made a difference if I’d been there?” Chad asked.
“How?” Joell asked. “Would you have duct-taped the rupture?”
The other witches chuckled or downright laughed out loud.
Chad simply rolled his eyes, apparently getting used to their teasing. “No. But doesn’t she get an atta girl? Or a commendation or something?” he asked.
All the witches burst out laughing.
“What?” he asked.
“We do covert ops all the time, Chad. This is just your first one,” Rayna explained. “We don’t get awards. We’ve saved the world, or at least our corner of it, dozens of times, and nobody knows about it.”
“And Goddess willing, we’ll do it dozens more,” Bas said. “But no one must ever know how close they came to disaster.”
“So, how do you drum up business?” Chad asked.
Bas smiled slyly. “That’s my job, and you need not worry about it—yet.”
As the group discussed what to do next, the mansion started to rumble. The floor beneath them began to vibrate, and the chandeliers swayed ominously overhead.
"Oh no... Not now!" Brianna exclaimed.
Before anyone could react, the world outside the windows blurred into a dizzying swirl of colors. The rumbling intensified, and Chad felt his stomach lurch as if he were on a roller coaster. Brianna gripped his hand tightly as the other witches braced themselves against furniture or each other.
The sensation lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. When the shaking finally subsided, an eerie silence fell over the group.
Chad stumbled to the nearest window, and his jaw dropped at the sight that greeted him. Gone were the familiar manicured lawns and in-ground pool. Instead, a panorama of woods and rolling hills greeted his gaze.
“What just happened?” he asked.
The witches hemmed and hawed; some avoided his gaze, as if denying anything unusual had happened at all.
Finally, Bas rose and placed her hands on her hips. “Well, if none of you are going to explain, I guess I will. He’s a big boy, and I bet he’ll understand.”
“Understand what?” He cocked his head.
“When the mansion senses the women of the L.A.W. are about to experience certain womanly functions, it shifts location to a remote part of the Smoky Mountains. We lock up all the weapons and take a week off.”
