The War on Witches by Paul Ruditis Page A

shot out from Paige’s hand, revealing itself as an expandable baton. Paige gave a sly smile as she examined the weapon. “I
like
her.”
    The girl tensed on her bed, but didn’t move. “You can’t be too careful.”
    â€œWe’re not going to hurt you,” Phoebe said. “We just need to know about your attacker. The one that may have had a book with him? We think the guy with the gun might have been there to stop him.”
    Alysha looked them over one last time like she was determining whether or not to trust them. “No, that’s not it,” she finally said. “It was the other way around. The guy with the book was trying to stop the one with the gun. That’s when it went off. The gun, not the book.”
    â€œOkay, now I’m confused,” Paige said. “Could you walk us through the story?”
    Alysha described the events at the museum, beginning with the moment she first heard the younger guy. She’d figured he was just trying to pick her up, but then he got all weird with his book and tried to act like he was about to do her some kind of favor. It wasn’t long after that she saw the dark-haired guy with the gun approach and suddenly she was telling them how she dove into the next room and hid inside a hollowed-out egg sculpture representing a woman’s womb.
    â€œInteresting,” Piper said to her sisters. “Nat mentioned how that Jacob guy also acted like he was doing her a favor when he took her powers.”
    â€œNat?” Alysha asked. “Took her powers?”
    â€œIt’s okay,” Phoebe assured her. “We don’t think they’ll be coming back now that this incident made the news.”
    Piper eyed the sketchbook. “You didn’t happen to draw any pictures of the men?”
    Alysha clutched the book tighter. “I made one of the armed guy for the police since they couldn’t get a picture of him off the security tapes.”
    â€œAnd the younger guy?” Piper asked.
    Alysha flipped the sketchbook open and handed it over to Piper. “I thought he was kind of cute. In a goofy way. I know, I’m setting women back decades, getting a crush on my attacker, but I don’t think he was there to hurt me.”
    â€œOh, honey, we’ve all been there,” Phoebe said.
    â€œSome of us are still there,” Paige replied, earning herself a glare from Phoebe.
    â€œJust because he wasn’t aiming a gun at you doesn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous,” Piper said as she looked over the picture. She understood what Alysha meant by “goofy cute.” He was slight and a little awkward looking, how she drew him, with light, mussed hair, ears that stuck out a bit, and a scruff of stubble on his chin. The shy smile on his face said a lot about Alysha’s interpretation of him. He was the kind of guy Piper would hire to mow her lawn, only to have to go over the yard herself after he left to fix what he’d done. “That book he had with him could have done a lot of damage.”
    â€œNo, that’s not it,” Alysha said. “He was more worried about what I thought he was doing than what he was actually doing. I still don’t know what he was there to do, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to do it. Like, the guy with the gun was forcing him.”
    Piper held up the page. “Can we take this?”
    â€œSure.” Alysha looked down at the ground and mumbled, “I have another one.”
    Piper let Alysha tear the page out of the book for her as she bit her tongue. It wasn’t her place to make speeches about developing crushes on potentially dangerous men. The Charmed Ones did give Alysha some instructions to help keep her safe in case either of the men came back. They also gave her their phone numbers so they’d be the first call in case of emergency. “Call Paige before you do anything else,” Piper instructed. “She