Page 53 of Cherish

So, yep. Macy definitely got us into the Witch Court. And she got us to Viola, I realize as I find myself staring directly into the witch’s startled eyes.

The only problem? Viola just happens to be sitting in a drawing room filled with a whole lot of other witches.

So much for not making an entrance.

I contemplate turning around and diving back through the portal before any fresh hell can spring from this, but before I can so much as move, two very different things happen.

Heather comes tumbling through the portal and lands at my feet. And several of the witches jump up, spells flying.

I manage to grab Heather before she’s hit by one, but I’m not so lucky with Flint, who gets stunned as soon as he steps out of the portal and ends up falling flat on his face.

Followed immediately by Eden getting hit by what I’m pretty sure must be a jellification spell, as she turns into a gummy blob right in front of me.

“Wait! Please!” I hold up both hands even as I race to put myself in front of the portal entrance, shifting into my gargoyle form in an instant. The last thing we need right now is for Mekhi to get hit by some random spell that sends his body completely over the edge.

“We’re not here to hurt you! I just need to talk to Viola for a few minutes,” I yell.

But they’re obviously not impressed, as more spells fly my way.

I manage to dodge a couple of them, but then I end up getting hit by three at once. None of them work on me, thankfully, but they do still hurt like hell when they hit.

On the plus side, Jaxon and Mekhi pass through the portal just as the spells hit me, giving Jaxon a couple of seconds’ reprieve before more come bouncing his way. I throw myself in front of one of them even as Eden rolls over in full gelatinous form to try to protect them as well.

As she does, she gets hit with another spell—one that turns her from a blob into a long, skinny snake. Of course, it doesn’t get rid of the first spell, so now she looks an awful lot like a giant purple gummy snake lying there.

Flint has managed to roll himself over. But he’s given up on trying to sit and is instead inching his way along the floor like an upside-down earthworm. In the meantime, Hudson steps through the portal right after Jaxon.

There’s no way I can leave my spot protecting Mekhi to get to him, but before I can shout a warning, Flint yells, “Heads up!”

Hudson looks straight up, like he’s expecting a ball to come shooting down at him from somewhere, and ends up getting hit with a balding spell. Seconds later, all of his perfectly coiffed hair falls out, leaving his head as bald and shiny as a mirror.

On the plus side, he looks surprisingly good bald, though the look on his face says he doesn’t agree.

“What?” he asks archly.

“Never heard the phraseheads up?” I ask as I continue dodging spells.

Several more are speeding toward Jaxon, Mekhi, and me. I manage to take several—and can I just say,ow—but at least I block them from hitting Mekhi. I can’t stop Jaxon from getting hit, though, and he ends up shrinking to the size of a mouse between one blink and the next.

I dive for Mekhi, throwing myself over him as he hits the ground. At the same time, Macy saunters through the portal like she’s got all the time in the world.

Her eyes widen as she sees what’s going on and shouts, “Stop!” while jumping out in front of all of us with her arms raised.

Apparently, it works much better when a witch does it than when a gargoyle does, because the spells stop flying immediately. Thank God.

I crawl off Mekhi, and with Hudson’s help, I roll him over on his back to make sure he’s okay. And find a tiny, tiny Jaxon buried underneath him.

“Looks like someone finally got cut down to size,” Hudson drawls as he scoops his brother up.

Jaxon responds by punching one tiny fist straight at his nose. It doesn’t make much of an impact, though.

“Don’t you dare torture him,” I scold Hudson, even as I turn around to face the witches.

“I’m sorry!” I say, moving to stand next to Macy. “We should have warned you we were coming.”

“That would be the normal thing to do,” Viola tells me tartly. “Then again, when have you ever done what’s expected?”

I feel like I should be insulted, but the truth is, she’s probably right. “We just wanted a few minutes of your time without…” I trail off, not sure how to say what I’m thinking without insulting her family.

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