Page 60 of Bewitched By the Headless Horseman
“Oh right!” Lucia lifted Stevie from the shelf and placed her on the floor.
Stevie’s muscles twitched again, her feet becoming larger, and she sprouted up like a weed until she was back to her normal, not-so-tall, height.
“Well, that whole situation was completely uncalled for.” Stevie glanced down at her body that no longer wore the costume shop gown, the tiny ripped fabric resting near her bare foot. She would just have to pay for that. “Why am Inaked?”
“Reversal spells can’t solve everything, especially when the original spell wasn’t my own. But at least you have all your fingers and toes, right? There’s always the possibility not everything lines up correctly.” Lucia shrugged.
Horrified, Stevie counted her toes and fingers to double-check they were all there as Ginger wrapped a knitted blanket around her. And thank the witches they were!
“We need to find Levi and Clara,” Stevie said.
“I do have another trick up my sleeve.” Lucia smiled. “One good thing I learned from my Crowned Witch training before it went kaput is the secret location of the gate to the Hollow.I should’ve told you yesterday when I saw you, but I wasn’t supposed to until today.”
“It’s best to make sure it’s out of other’s hands when truth spells are a slippery tactic these days anyway. Where is it?” Stevie asked, hope bouncing in her chest.
“It’s at the edge of the creek near the Headless Horseman’s bridge.” Lucia ran a hand over her messy bun.
Stevie furrowed her brow as she mulled something over. “Wait, you’re sure it was Adelia inside of her body, or could it have been Clara giving you a false location?”
“Pretty sure it was Adelia. The training had been non-stop that day. Also, I never felt Inferno in the library, so everything must’ve happened with Adelia before Clara sent me the forged letter.”
“So let’s believe it was, but on the negative side, even if we show up there, the sketchy duo will be prepared for you to come since I’d wager both my eyes Clara knows Adelia told you about the location, whichmeansshe’s planning on it so she can steal your body tonight!” Stevie hissed. “They didn’t want to make people suspicious by taking out Adelia beforehand. It’s their perfect little plot.”
Lucia’s forehead crinkled. “So we have Clara, who is a mediocre witch, inside of a powerful Crowned Witch that isn’t quite double the power but still a lot. And then you have a warlock, who is a step below a Crowned Witch, inside of a seer. They both dabble in the dark arts, a challenging magic to fight against, but one I can easily make a barrier for that will hold if I stay concentrated on it. Clara is the one I’ll have to keep my eye on the most since she has Adelia’s power.”
“Do you want me to call on more witches?” Ginger asked. “No one’s taking my niece’s body.”
“Have them make sure every house in town is warded.” Lucia tapped the end of her chin. “If only we had Kit’s bones.”
Kit’sbones. Stevie gasped. “I still have one if they didn’t find it! His finger bone is in my purse on the counter.”
“Now that was an answer I needed.” Lucia grinned. “So, before we retrieve Kit’s bone.” Lucia clapped her hands together. “The original plan I had for tonight has to be tweaked somewhat, but this might be even better. Let’s start with Roxy. Go back to Stevie’s parents and watch over them.”
“Listen to her.” Stevie nodded toward the fox when she didn’t budge from her spot. Roxy nuzzled through Stevie’s leg and took off up the basement stairs.
“Oh, Auntie,” Lucia called. “You’re next. This one will be a bit risky, a dangerous game we might not survive, but I want you to pretend you’re Stevie. It won’t distract them for long—however, it might catch them off guard.
“Hmm.” Ginger clucked her tongue. “Look young again for an evening, feel the youth pulse within me, bones not creaking—I say it sounds like a good night. If we don’t do something, then we will be a lovely dinner for demons crawling about the earth, tearing bodies in half and lapping up their blood before drinking their ghosts up as an everlasting snack.”
Stevie’s lips parted, clutching her blanket tighter. “I think I just pissed myself.”
“I’m sure most of Sleepy Hollow will be,” Lucia said, grabbing a glass from the shelf and filling it with liquid from the first cauldron. “Stevie, I need three drops of blood.”
Ginger handed Stevie a needle—she pricked her finger, then squeezed the droplets into the brew. She ignored the slight sting and watched as Lucia stirred the liquid. The brew bubbled, a light red smoke curling up from the glass. Lucia blew on the contents, chanting a few words, before passing it to her aunt.
“Bottoms up,” Ginger announced as she drank the brew down. “It’s a bit tangy. You’ll have to show me what I did wrong with mine sometime.”
As Lucia continued the chant, Stevie felt a sharp tug at her body, her skin growing wrinkled, hugging her bones, while Ginger’s flesh tightened, smoothed.
Stevie knew this rodeo from when she’d first learned all of Lucia’s spells, so she wasn’t going to curl up and rock somewhere in the corner. Her muscles turned heavy, and in the reflection of a glass jar, her hair became limp and gray. Then, as if a balloon were filling with air inside her, Stevie’s flesh plumped back up, her strength and everyday appearance returning.
Ginger stood in front of her, a perfect carbon copy of Stevie from the orange hair to her shorter legs.
“Miraculous, dear niece,” Ginger exclaimed, even her voice sounding like Stevie’s.
Lucia faced Stevie and scanned her over. “For you, we will start with a cloaking spell.”
“And what if they performed a cloaking spell on themselves?” Stevie asked.
