Page 68 of Spelling Disaster

The voice is a whisper in the wind.

“We’re coming for you.”

They speak with one voice and my stomach drops.

My numb fingers fumble on the zipper to the bag, dragging it down far enough to get my hand inside. I grab a bag of herbs and crystals I’ve charmed to start a small burning fire wherever it lands.

“Stay back!” I warn.

I toss it over my shoulder and the heat of the fire burns my back for a second before I dart forward and leave my pursuers in the dust.

The footsteps keep coming. The small fire does nothing to slow down the possessed coven members. The bottles in my bag clink together while I grab for something else to distract them. A spell and careful aim send tree limbs from the giant oak on my right crashing down to the ground.

They’re fast, ruthless.

“Leave me alone!”

I mutter the words for the invisibility spell, turning a corner around the courthouse and stopping to see if they’ll continue. The footsteps slow but they don’t stop.

I’m trying my best and making no headway.

I glance down at my arm. There isn’t enough light to reflect off me, so even though the spell has worked, I’m still here. Still visible. Blowing out a breath, I keep walking, purposely slowing my steps to make less noise. It’s a risk, a pointed and calculated one. And I’m not sure how it will pay off given the Horned God’s powers. His worshippers might be able to see past elementary cloaking magic.

What else do I have?

Crouching over my bag, I dig into the depths, rooting around for a crystal to absorb negativity. I grab the Evil Eye, looping the rope around my wrist to keep it in place.

“Come out, little witch, come out!” one of the coven members calls.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” adds another.

They have the same cloyingly sweet tone I don’t trust for a single second. The footsteps grow closer until they stop. Directly in front of me.

The cloaking spell fails, guttering out, and I feel it disintegrating before I stand, pointing out with the amethyst crystal wand in my hand.

Magic words.

Good intent.

I know my Latin and I know the spells. I’m ahead in my class even though I came in late. I’m not going to let this fear stand in the way of my survival.

A blank gaze lands on me as I finish the spell and the magic ripples out toward them, a dark tendril of fog lifting from the woman’s chest.

And the magic keeping the coven member trapped under the Horned God’s spell disappears for a moment. Blankness shifts away into sheer terror and we lock eyes, rightbefore my power flickers away andhisspell snaps back into place.

“Oh, shit.”

Wand still in hand, I bolt again. I’ve got a potion in the bag that is supposed to clear the mind. Don’t I? I made it up on a whim right after Theo and I met at the statue, thinking it might help him even if I didn’t agree to help him.

If I managed to get through to the witch for one second with the wand absorbing the negativity, then maybe the potion will go the extra mile. Okay, the amethyst and my intention. I want them to be free.

I want my mom back. I want my coven back.

The potion is in my bag somewhere but stopping again is stupid. I shuffle through the depths as I jog, looking for the slender blue glass bottle with the cork top. And when I turn around a second time, it’s not just any coven member behind me, it’s Lark.

Her eyes are glazed but her lips lift in a feral grin.

“Found you,” she murmurs.

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