Page 57 of The Accidental Witch

Gary whimpered, the small sound tearing at her heart. Sounds of protest from the group at his treatment rang out.

Without thought, Robbie threw up her left hand and yelled, “Stop, Gwinnifer!”—effectively dousing the flames. She fought to keep her surprise on the inside, but yahoo.

Well, well. Maybe the tables had turned a little.

But the woman only cackled, her eyes zeroing in on Robbie’s face as she stalked toward her. “Look at you, fledgling witch,” she crooned seductively. “Aren’t you clever? I knew my magic would lead the keeper of my powers back to Moonfall eventually. It was just a waiting game. And now, here you are. Pretty, too. It’s almost going to be a shame to have to cut your hand off to get back what’s mine.”

Cut her hand off? Wait. Wait. Wait. There had to be a better way.

But that made her mad. What if she didn’twantto give it back? What if it was in better hands now? What if she didn’t want to give up the chance to be a part of this community because some maniac was on the loose.

What if she simply said so?

Something clicked in Robbie then. Call it years of being pushed around, or shutting her mouth when what she really wanted to do was scream. Rather than cower from Gwinnifer, she met her halfway, her chest heaving, her pulse pounding in her ears.

“If you want it, I guess you should come and get it, huh?” Robbie taunted to the tune of more muffled and squealing protests. Splaying her fingers wide, she focused everything she had on Gwinnifer, unsure what was going to happen but praying it was something useful.

With a twist of her wrist, she flicked her fingers at a fuming Gwinnifer, making a bucketful of water suddenly appear and tip over onto her head.

Okay, so she’d been thinking “make it rain,” but a bucket of gushing water would do. It was enough to distract Gwinnifer and attempt to undo the spell she’d cast over the group.

SAP. Think about SAP, Robbie. Say it, Apply it, Point at it.

But what should she say? Words swirled around inside her head, so many words, none of them making any sense. Closing her eyes, she begged the universe to help her find the right thing to say—to help her do the right thing.

As a wind picked up and Gwinnifer sputtered, wiping the water from her eyes, Robbie experienced a surge of undeniable power. Of energy so powerful, so rich, her veins sizzled. Her lips began to move before she could stop them.

“Undo this wicked injustice, fix it well! Reverse the harm, reverse this spell!”With an outstretched arm, Robbie made a sweeping motion over the group until they all were free of the spell.

Nina was the first to move, heading straight for Gwinnifer, but Grandma had other ideas. Raising her hand high, she slapped the air, knocking Nina to the ground as though she held a life-size fly swatter, sending her skidding across the road toward Greer’s mother’s house.

“Nina!” Robbie screamed as the others ran toward the vampire—and then she saw Gwinnifer eye Tottington.

Oh no. Not Tater Tot. Not on her watch.

Pinching her fingers together, Gwinnifer dragged him over her head, lifting a helpless, dangling Tottington high above her.

If she lived to see the end of this, she’d never forget how powerless he looked—and that enraged Robbie.

Enraged her with a fire burning in her gut like she’d never felt before. “Let him go!” Robbie hollered, flicking her hand with anger in Gwinnifer’s direction.

Clearly, the universe was on her side, because her magic snatched Gwinnifer up like a rag doll, breaking the hold she hadon Tottington. And when Robbie flicked her wrist, it launched Gwinnifer like a cannonball out into the distance, where she could no longer see her.

As the wind whisked the evil witch across the sky, Darnell cheered as he ran to catch Tottington in the basket of his large arms. “Get her, Robbie!”

Seeing that Tottington was safe, she rushed to Greer, who fought to untether Gary. Robbie knelt beside him, instinctively knowing all she had to do was wave her hand over the broom to cut him loose.

Greer’s eyes were wide as his chest heaved. “Way to go!” he praised, pulling Gary upright. “Where in the hell did that come from?”

But she didn’t have the chance to answer.

“Greer…oh, Greer,” Gary sobbed, his cultured words filled with remorse as he coughed. “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t warn you. She held me captive. Please…forgive me.”

Greer held his handle, brushing it off. “But you didn’t give us up, buddy. Man, is it ever good to see?—”

“Greer! Look out!” she heard Marty scream.

As they both turned toward her voice, Gwinnifer reappeared, zooming toward them in the air like an F-14. The wind began to howl, the world tilted—and Robbie watched in almost helpless horror as she aimed directly for Greer.

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