Page 45 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman
“I have no regrets about that day. I’ll send you a picture though.” Stevie smiled, and an instant later it fell from her face. “What about the weird stuff going on around town with the fog and it getting darker earlier? Are you feeling okay? More customers than usual are asking for protection spells, and I just want to make sure you’re all right.”
“You mean that myheartis all right,” her mom said gently. “And it is. A little extra fog and darkness isn’t going to make it leap out of my chest, sweetie.”
She was right of course, but the more of it that came, the closer the second Eye was to opening. Kit only had so much time in the hourglass he was currently standing in before it covered him completely. And the question she had was, when had Levi spelled her? Was it before or after the last new moon? What if the satchel he carried held Kit’s ghost head? Could he use a seer’s eyes as his own? With magic,darkmagic, she bet he could.
“Earth to Stevie,” her mom chimed.
Stevie blinked, snapping herself out of her thoughts. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked if Kit was being a gentleman, or do I need to kick his ass?”
“He’s been a good little Horseman, Mom.” It was her who hadn’t acted in a veryladylikefashion.
Chapter Seventeen
Stevie found Roxy curled up on the rug beneath the coffee table after she got home from the costume shop. “Has Kit been here at all?” she asked, resting her dress on the back of the couch.
The fox shook her head, then barked.
“Fine. I’ll go look for him.” She had to know if there was a possible way that Levi could’ve been a seer all this time by using the Horseman’s ghost head. It had to be the reason Kit never felt it, not just the dark spells. As for his actual skull, Levi’s magic had to have hidden it extremely well when he was part of the living world.
She stepped out into the fog, and Roxy took off for the woods. Stevie whistled, causing the fox to still, her ears perking up as she trotted back toward their home.
“I know it’s not ideal, but I don’t want you going into the woods alone right now. You can ride with me though.” Stevie patted her seat and the fox hopped up.
As Stevie drove through town, the fog grew thicker, sliding up just past her waist. She went down a quiet street where a ghost walked beside a middle-aged woman, most likely anticipating the Eye opening. Unless he was a pervert as Stevie’s mom would’ve said.
She pulled up near the woods, and before she trekked down the trail to look for Kit, a horse’s hooves filled the air, coming in her direction. A second later, a broad white form on horseback broke through the trees.
Stevie waved, and as Kit slowed, her heart pounded like heavy drums in her ears. And it wasn’t from nervousness, only the comfortable sight of seeing him.
Kit tugged on Inferno’s reins, and the horse’s gaze met Stevie’s. The stallion let out a low whinny, puffs of smoke escaping his nostrils.
Kit easily slid down from his horse, his feet striking the earth. “I heard your ride. You were planning to traipse in here alone?”
“I wasn’t alone,” she said. “Roxy’s here. Besides, aren’tyoualone?”
“I’ve been taking care of myself for centuries, Pumpkin.”
“So that means we’re both stubborn.” Stevie smiled. “Anyway, when I was with Lucia earlier, I thought of something.” She told him about the brew Lucia had given her, the spell her sister-in-law would soon perform at the bonfire, and then Stevie’s theory about Levi. “Do you think that maybe he’s been using your eyes to see things over the years, and that’s why you can’t feel them? Possibly even why your head vanished so quickly when Lucia used the wishbone? Not just because of dark magic? It’s possible that your ghost head was in the satchel Rainier saw Levi with.”
Kit’s fists tightened at his sides, flexing and unflexing his fingers. “That has to be the case. He’s planning something, and I know he’s been using my eyes all along. But I don’t know where he is or why he would do something to you. I will tear his ghost apart before he gets near you again.”
Stevie bit her lip, mulling over more. “The council library book mentioned that his grandson was a seer. I think they might’ve had contact.”
“He could’ve.” Kit paused, his shoulders pulling back as he studied something above him. “There’s certainly more to it than sending me to the Hollow. Clara once told me that Levi wanted to learn more about the demons’ home, and she had me help her make a few spells to make him forget about it.”
“So a Hollow obsesser… The council weeds those people out whenever possible. An illness took him a year after your death,but somehow he still had your ghost head hidden during that time. He knows something about the Eye that we don’t, and it would have to be from dark magic. Tonight we’re coming back here for the bonfire and we’ll see if Lucia’s spell helps find your head. And if it’s not here, then we’ll just continue looking for it and Levi. The Crowned Witch got the letter and is coming soon, and I know she’ll help us uncover something.”
“This bastard is tricky,” Kit ground out. “If I’ve been riding every night for over two hundred years and have never spotted him while sweeping up and down every square inch of Sleepy Hollow, then he must be using a cloaking spell.”
“We’re getting somewhere. Little by little.” Stevie frowned, a chill racing up her spine as she peered around, wondering if Levi was watching them right then. If he did use that spell, he could’ve been around her at any time, any moment.
“Slowly but surely. Time is truly of the essence now.”
Kit was right. A little over a week was left until the second Eye opened, and if nothing happened in Sleepy Hollow besides the living getting to visit the dead, and their theory was wrong, Kit would still spend eternity in the Hollow regardless. Before she met him, she would’ve sworn on her life that he was a demon and was meant for the Hollow. But one visit to an abandoned house had changed everything.
She let out a long sigh. “Let’s go home and get ready for the bonfire. Lucia and Gideon will be meeting us soon.”
