Page 57 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman
“Get away from thatlying bitch,” Kit roared. “Run, Stevie! Now!”
Stevie bolted toward the open door, but Levi was quicker, yanking her back by the shoulders and shoving her down into one of the chairs.
“Do stay,” he snarled. “We have a conversation to finish.”
Stevie thought that maybe Kit had made it out until her gaze found him writhing against the floor. Translucent chains bound his ankles and wrists, and a rope was in what had to be his mouth, knotted at the back of his invisible head.
“Let him go!” Stevie shrieked, balling her hands into tight fists and twisting from Levi’s firm hold. She hardly stood when a brown rope flew through the room and wound itself around her, trapping her to the chair by her chest.
“No, I believe the Horseman will stay.” Adelia laughed, bending her knees in front of Stevie so they were at eye level. “My husband and I have been apart for far too long, and now, at last, we’re together again.”
Stevie arched a brow. “I’m sorry,what? You’re like ninety years old! But I guess the age gap leans more toward him since, technically, he’s older.”
“You foolish girl.” Adelia laughed again. This time though, a white glow separated from Adelia’s face, displaying another head. A ghost wasinsidethe Crowned Witch. Stevie should’ve suspected this as soon as herhusbandhad revealed himself. The witch hadn’t betrayed them at all—she was possessed.
Stevie gasped, unable to take her unblinking stare from the ghost’s face. “Clara! How? We saw you pass on in the cemetery.”
“No, youthoughtyou saw me pass on.” The witch’s lip curled into a sneer.
Stevie rattled her chair, screaming, hoping for any other witch in Sleepy Hollow to hear her.
“No one will hear you.” Levi waved a hand in the air, and her words became mute, even as she shouted louder. Terror washedover her when Levi lifted her chin. “You know, Erik wasn’t really Magneto’s name either. It was just an alias for the time being.”
If Gideon were there, he would’ve told her that she should’ve brushed up on her comic book history. Her silent curses at Levi became more frequent as he fished out her phone from her satchel.
He cocked his head and smirked. “I do believe Lucia should know you will be remaining here and running errands forAdelia. We don’t need that pesky witch getting involved more than she already has.”
“When I’m finished with this body, her time will come soon enough,” Clara cooed. “As for you, Stevie, I think it’s time for you to be sent to your sleeping quarters.” In Clara’s grasp now rested an open glass box.
Stevie frowned, but as her muscles twitched, she peered down at her hands. Her heart skyrocketed in her chest when they shrunk to the size of a doll’s, thetiniestof dolls. It wasn’t just her hands though—her entire body was turning smaller. She screeched, still mute, but when the ropes fell from her, she ran toward the chair’s edge. Before she reached it, Clara’s large fingers snaked around Stevie, swiping her up.
“Did you want to die? A fall from your height to the floor would have ended in a bloody delight.” Clara cackled while placing Stevie inside the glass box. “There you go. You’re protected now.” With a pleased smile, she studied her like a prized pet. “Don’t you worry, seer, this will only be temporary until I need to tear out your eyes to open the Hollow’s next six gates.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Clara wanted Stevie’s eyes so that the witch could open the six other gates? Stevie struck the glass in horror, whistling and screaming for Roxy, but her voice remained gone. Her sidekick would never hear her.
Stevie whirled around, finding Levi and Kit no longer in the room. But then Levi sauntered out from the shadows of the hallway, a ruthless smirk on his face. “The Horseman is confined now.”
With a vicious laugh, Clara placed a lid over the box and carried Stevie down the hallway, the glass prison jostling her the entire way to an antique table in the middle of the library. The table wasn’t empty though—a large snake rested inside a bare terrarium atop it. The reptile’s head perked up, hisses escaping its two-fanged mouth while Stevie’s box was lowered into the terrarium. The snake’s red gaze remained latched on Stevie, and her heart rocketed when Clara replaced the lid on the snake’s home and left without so much as a glance back at her.
Stevie stood, waiting for the dizzy feeling to subside. Her hand flew to her mouth as she focused on what rested before her.
Across the room were two more glass prisons just like her own, only much larger. In the first, Kit sat on his knees, chained at the wrists, his fists banging against the clear wall. And in the second, Kit’s horse stomped his hooves, his glowing eyes glazed over with fear. Stevie imagined Inferno’s distressed whinnies, but no noises escaped either prison.
Shelves of books from floor to ceiling surrounded them. Nothing else.
A set of heavy boots sounded before Julian entered the room. Stevie backed into a corner as he lifted the terrarium lid, then hers, and tossed breadcrumbs at her. She cursed silent words athim while he thrust a thimble of water in the opposite corner, the liquid sloshing over the sides.
Once he left, Stevie ran up to the wall, attempting to spell out words to Kit until her fingers grew numb.
The next day was no different than the last—Stevie was still trapped in a stuffy glass nightmare that allowed claustrophobia to set in. Time had crept by at a snail’s pace, and no matter how persistent she was to not nod off, it was unavoidable.
Stevie held her hand up to the clear wall as Kit continued to relentlessly pound his fists against his clear prison. “It’s all right,” she called out, but knowing he couldn’t read her itty-bitty mouth. “We’ll escape these death traps.” They had way less than twenty-four hours to Houdini their way out of there. They knew where Levi was—she just needed to somehow get to Lucia, to warn her that Clara would try and possess her sometime after the Hollow opened. Except now Stevie’s family would think she was running errands for the Crowned Witch. And then there was Reese… Or Levi… How long had the warlock been inside Reese?
The door burst open and Clara stormed toward her, lifting the lid off the terrarium. She took Stevie’s box out and removed that lid too. “Where are Kit’s bones, pet?” she snapped. “They are no longer in the house where Levi hid them, and I know you broke the spell with your blood.”
Stevie shrugged and mimed her hands in front of her, signaling she couldn’t speak.
