Page 92 of Bewicched

I ducked under Uncle John’s arm and ran for the door. Gran was just picking up the teacup. I grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked. Mia and Cat moved in to start some shit with me.

I don’t know what made me do it. I’d never tried anything like it before, but I turned, pulled off my gloves, held up my hands, and yelled “Stop!” with as much magical force as I could muster.

And they did. Everyone froze in place. Spinning, I spelled the door to unlock and tore through it, just as Declan came running around the back side of the house and hit the teacup out of Gran’s hand.

Gran blinked, as though waking from a dream, and then looked down at her lap, where a few drops of tea had fallen. “What’s going on?’ she asked, a strange mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“How did you know?” I asked Declan.

“Smell. The tea smelled different than what everyone else is drinking. It smells like nightshade.” He looked down at Gran. “Sorry about that, but the tea was poisoned.”

I looked back through the picture window at all the frozen people.

“What did you do to them?” Declan asked, awed.

“No idea.”

Gran stood and studied her frozen family. “One of them is the sorcerer?”

“I think so,” I said.

“Well, get in there and touch them. We need to know who it is.” She brushed the beads of tea off her black skirt and then looped an arm through Declan’s. “This young man can be my bodyguard today.”

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

I went back in, picked up my gloves, and started with the ones I trusted least. Could it be my mom? Possible but doubtful. Uncle John? No. I began by relaxing my vision and pushing on my magic so I could see their auras. Most were exactly what I’d assume a white wicche’s to look like. Some, like Uncle John, were so bright and shiny, they hurt to look at. My mother’s was a little gray around the edges. She was a woman who did what had to be done.

Sylvia had said that Abigail had tutored a number of the cousins. I’d start there. As Cat and Mia were right by the door, I started with them. I didn’t want to hit the ground. I just wanted to do a psychic glide over. If anything stood out, I’d go deep. As I had no idea how I’d frozen them, I had no idea how long the spell would last.

I tried something different. Instead of resting my hand on Mia’s skin, I barely brushed a finger over the back of her hand. I needed to check as many people as possible and I didn’t want to know their life stories. I just wanted to know if they were trucking with demons.

While Mia was unpleasant, she wasn’t a sorcerer. On to Cat… And so it went as I grazed over their lives, not wanting to invade their privacy but needing to know who had taken up sorcery. As my work with Detectives Hernández and Osso proved, what the wicche and demon plotted had mundane as well as magical world repercussions and I didn’t want to have to look for any more dead children.

39

Gran Brings the Hammer

“Dec,” I called.

A moment later, he and Gran were at the patio door.

“I don’t know how long this spell is going to last. While I do this, can you sniff around? See if anyone smells like nightshade?”

“I can.” He walked Gran to a chair and helped her sit.

Gran was nowhere near that fragile. She was milking old age for all it was worth now that she had a hot young bodyguard. When he walked away, she winked at me. I knew it.

I’d always hated Colin, so I wasn’t looking forward to this, but I moved to his side and swiped his hand.

“Gran?”

“Yes, dear.”

“The first order of Council business is magically castrating this one. He’s been using his magic to spell women into his bed.” He’d been the main instigator growing up, encouraging everyone to mock and shun me. I knew he was an asshole. I hadn’t realized he was evil.

Gran stood easily and came to me. “A rapist, is he?”

“Yes.”

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