Better Than Hex (Spellbound Paranormal Cozy Mystery Book 5)

by Annabel Chase

  “Probably not since I don't know her,” he said. He kicked the leg of the chair with his heel in a nervous gesture.

  “You really don't want to tell me where you got the nightshade, do you?” It was one thing not to want to rat out your dealer. Usually that was because you were more scared of the dealer than you were of going to prison. Will didn’t seem scared to me, though. It was something I couldn’t pinpoint.

  “Will, I really want to help you. The only way I can do that is if I know the whole story. I would like it if you trusted me.”

  Will fidgeted in his seat. “I can't tell you.”

  “Why not? Are you protecting someone?” I mentally reviewed his file. He had two younger siblings. Maybe he was protecting one of them. “Did one of your younger brothers give you the nightshade? They’re both minors. If it was one of them, they wouldn't face any prison time.”

  Will chewed his lip. “It wasn't my brothers.” He clamped his mouth shut, unwilling to say more.

  “Can you at least tell me what you planned to do with it? If I can convince the judge and the prosecutor that your intentions were good, that will go a long way toward a light sentence.”

  “My intentions were good. That's all I can tell you without saying too much.”

  “So you didn't intend to kill anyone with it?”

  His fingers gripped the arms of the chair so tightly that I thought the wood would split. So he did intend to kill someone? Now I was completely baffled.

  “Were you seeking revenge? Was this a pride thing?” I knew that the shifters in town had special rules that didn't necessarily jive with human rules. A perceived slight in the pack or pride was more serious than it would be in Lemon Grove, Pennsylvania.

  “I wasn't seeking revenge,” he said. “Any problems like that, I would go to the pride leader.”

  “Who is the pride leader for werelions?” I asked. Lorenzo Mancini was the alpha of the werewolf pack and a member of the town council. As the main shifter group in Spellbound, they wielded the most influence over the other shifters.

  “His name is Anthony Shoostack.”

  “What has Anthony had to say about the charges against you?”

  Will stared at his shoes again. “He's disappointed. It makes him look bad when one of us is in trouble.”

  “That's the pride mentality, isn't it?” It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Social pressure was often a useful tool for keeping people in line.

  “Where's the best place to find Anthony?” I asked.

  Will's eyes popped open. “Why?”

  “Because I’d like to talk to him,” I said. “Is that a problem?”

  He shook his head, his shaggy hair blowing every which way. “Not a problem. I just…Why?”

  I leaned forward. “Because I'm trying to help you, Will, but you are not helping me. Maybe Anthony can shed some light on the situation.”

  “He can't,” Will said quickly. Too quickly, in fact. Now I was more determined than ever to visit Anthony Shoostack.

  “Where can I find him, Will?” I repeated, my voice firm and unyielding.

  “He lives in the Glades,” Will mumbled. “The house with the big garden gnome display.”

  Okay, that was not the description I was expecting. “Thanks, Will.” I opened my file. “Now we may as well review the facts we have in the file, sparse they may be.”

  I needed to make a visit to Anthony Shoostack a priority. I hoped whatever secret Will was hiding, I could uncover it before his trial.

  Chapter 9

  “Today we would like to welcome Sophie's mother, Ariel, for a taster session on advanced mixology.” Lady Weatherby stood in front of the long, wooden table and gestured toward the array of colorful beakers and bottles. “Ariel is one of the most experienced mixologists in the coven. Should you have any particular interests or curiosities, she is the witch to direct them to.”

  Ariel looked at Lady Weatherby and smiled. “Thank you for the kind introduction. Because this is an introductory class, I’ll try to keep the terminology and explanations as simple as possible. If you’d like me to elaborate on anything, just let me know. I know that my Sophie often has follow-up questions.” She winked at her daughter.

  Millie's hand shot up. “Will we be able to try any of the potions today?”

  “The word taster does imply trying it out, doesn't it? I do think we will be able to experiment a bit—under my close supervision, of course.”

  Millie looked pleased.

  “I've brought the necessary ingredients for a number of advanced potions. I thought I would let you choose the ones that you’re most interested in.” She touched a bottle in front of her. “We have ingredients for the Gibberish potion. Is anyone familiar with that one?”

  Sophie raised her hand and her mother laughed softly. “Anyone other than my daughter?”

  Sophie's hand dropped back to the table.

  Millie was only too happy to step in. “It makes the speaker talk nonsense?”

  Ariel nodded. “Yes. Ingesting this potion will cause the person to spew complete and utter nonsense.”

  I raised my hand. “Under what circumstances would you use a Gibberish potion?” Other than trying to make fun of someone, I couldn’t see the point of it.

  “One of the reasons these potions are part of advanced mixology is because they’re not ones that you would encounter on a daily basis. These are magical cocktails you’d only want to mix under special circumstances.”

  Laurel frowned. “So it isn't advanced because it's hard to make? It's advanced because we’d rarely want to make it?”

  “A little of both, I think,” Ariel said.

  “Can you give us an example of why someone would use the Gibberish potion?” Begonia asked.

  Ariel looked thoughtful and then held up a finger. “I’ve got one. Someone I know used it on one of her children.” She glanced at her daughter. “Mrs. Rhodes. You remember her, don’t you? Anyway, this particular child of hers was getting into trouble for lying…”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Kevin?”

  “Yes, Kevin. This child refused to own up to it, no matter how many times he was caught. My friend mixed Gibberish potion into his lime fizz is one day and Kevin ended up speaking gibberish until he agreed in writing to mend his ways.”

  Gibberish as a form of punishment. I couldn't decide whether that was better than being banned from electronics like in the human word. Her example reminded me a little bit of Pinocchio and his growing nose.

  “Another option for today is the Relax potion. One teaspoon of this in a person's drink and she will instantly turn to jelly.” She paused. “Not literally, though. That's a different spell all together.”

  I raised my hand. “So is it similar to an anti-anxiety potion?” I took my dose every day to help me sleep and get through the day without vomiting, especially when I had to fly on a broom. I wasn’t a fan of heights.

  “This is more potent than anti-anxiety potion,” Ariel said. “Relax might be used when someone is hysterical to calm them.”

  “How would we experiment with that one today if no one is hysterical?” Millie asked.

  Without hesitation, Ariel whipped out her wand and said, “Them's the breaks/bring on the snakes.” A nest of bright green snakes appeared at Millie's feet. She screamed and scrambled onto her chair as the snakes wrapped themselves around the base.

  “Snakes,” Millie screamed at a pitch high enough for every werewolf in town to hear. “They're going to kill me.” Her face turned beet red as she began to hyperventilate.

  I watched in awe as Ariel quickly mixed together three of the bubbling liquids on the table, uttered a magic word, and shoved a spoonful into Millie's mouth. She sucked it down without protest and dropped back into her chair, her head lolling to the side.

  “Never fear/snakes disappear,” Ariel said. The snakes vanished while Millie remained slumped in her chair, seemingly comatose.

  Ariel chuckled. “It turns out someone was hys
terical. Good thing we had a Relax potion on hand to help.” She winked at Millie.

  No need to experiment with that one now.

  “Let's move on,” Ariel continued. “Another option is the Idealization potion. Can anyone tell me what that might be?”

  Laurel raised her hand. “I read about this one in a story. It's when the drinker sees the best version of everyone around them.”

  “Very good, Laurel. Do you remember which story you read?”

  Laurel drummed her fingers on the table. “It was a collection of short stories by Arabella St. Simon.”

  “Yes, our academy's namesake was a prolific writer as well as an exceptional witch.”

  “I think the story was called The Gift,” Laurel said. “Does that sound right?”

  Ariel nodded. “I know the story well. There once was an old hag who lived separate and apart from the rest of her coven. She didn't have a nice word to say about anyone or anything and preferred solitude. Sometimes other members of the coven would visit her and bring news from the community, but the old hag was never interested. She only wanted to see the bitter, not the better. Do you know the rest, Laurel?”

  Laurel nodded. “One of the witches decided to brew her an Idealization potion. She mixed it into a cup of tea and the old hag began to see her visitors in a new light. Instead of viewing them as nosy neighbors, she saw them as caring witches who only wanted the best for her. It helped her realize that the world wasn’t as negative as she perceived it to be.”

  The Idealization potion reminded me of rose-colored glasses. I raised my hand. “But if it's only an illusion, how is that a good thing?”

  “No one said it was an illusion, Emma,” Ariel said. “Think of it as a half-empty glass versus a half-full glass scenario. The old hag was choosing to view the world in a negative light, but the potion helped her to see the positive. When it finally wore off, she was able to mentally adjust her way of thinking. She welcomed visitors from then on and was able to see the best version of others and, as a result, became the best version of herself.”

  I studied the colorful beakers in front of me. “Maybe they should think about putting the Idealization potion in the pudding at the Spellbound Care Home,” I suggested, only partially joking. I volunteered there fairly regularly with Daniel, so I was privy to a lot of the bitter attitudes of the residents. Not everyone, of course. There were plenty of charming and upbeat senior citizens, like Silas and Estella. Even former head of the coven Agnes was lively in her own crazy way.

  “The next potion to consider is the Anti-Obsession potion,” Ariel said. “Can anyone hazard a guess?”

  Begonia raised her hand. “I guess it's to stop someone from obsessing about another person. Sort of like the opposite of a love spell.”

  “In part, yes. It doesn't necessarily need to be in relation to people, though. It can also be used to cure an obsession with a thing or a belief.”

  If only I could get my hands on something like that for Daniel, I thought to myself.

  If there is an Anti-Obsession potion, Sedgwick's voice broke into my thoughts, can't there be an Obsession potion?

  Normally I would be annoyed with Sedgwick for interrupting my thoughts during class, but, in this case, he raised a good point.

  “Ariel,” I interrupted. “Is there an opposite potion for all of the ones you've mentioned. For example, if you have an Anti-Obsession potion, does that mean that there’s an Obsession potion? Can you make someone obsessed with someone or something?”

  “That is often the case,” she said. “But an Anti-Obsession potion is generally more useful than an Obsession potion. If you think about it, an Obsession potion would only be for selfish purposes whereas an Anti-Obsession potion is more likely to be used to help someone overcome a mental obstacle.”

  An idea began to take shape. Was it possible that Daniel was under some kind of Obsession potion? Could that be why he was suddenly so smitten with Elsa again? Or was it just wishful thinking on my part?

  “The final spell I brought ingredients for today is the Confusion potion,” Ariel said. “A drop of this concoction will render the drinker completely and utterly confused. Sometimes, if you give too high of a dose, they won't even remember their own name. So you have to be careful with the dosage. The good news is that it does wear off.”

  My thoughts drifted back to the Obsession potion. “Do all of these potions you’ve mentioned wear off on their own? Do you have to keep giving them the potion in order for it to stay effective? Like if the person wasn't cured of their obsession with the first dose, would you give them more doses until you got the desired effect? Or if it wore off and they went right back to their obsession, would you keep giving it to them?”

  Ariel regarded me carefully. “Those are very good questions, Emma. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that your mind is digging a little deeper. Yes, you would need to continue to give the potion to get the desired results. They all wear off after a certain amount of time. The amount of time, of course, depends on the dosage given and the size of the individual.”

  Like modern medicine. So if Elsa had given Daniel some kind of Obsession potion, then she would need to keep giving it to him or it would wear off.

  Thanks, Sedgwick. Sometimes that little birdbrain of yours comes in handy.

  I think someone needs a dose of an Anti-Insult potion, he said.

  What do you mean? I just gave you a compliment.

  If you say so, he replied. You’re too good to me. I promise not to get used to it.

  “So witches, which potion are we going to experiment with today?” Ariel asked. “Majority rules.”

  “I vote for the Idealization potion,” Millie said, straightening her shoulders. “I'd like to know what the best version of me looks like to other people.”

  I stifled a laugh. Naturally she wanted to know how good the potion made her look. Typical Millie.

  “I would like to try to the Relax potion,” Begonia said. “Only because my noisy brothers kept me up last night. I'm really tired.”

  “Would the Idealization potion work on someone who wasn't bitter?” Laurel asked.

  “Good question, Laurel,” Ariel said. “Typically, the potions can only impact what isn't already there. So if you already see someone in a positive light, then nothing will change. But, for example, if you love the sunshine but hate the rain, then the potion might help you to see the positive attributes of the rain. It will mellow your negativity. Does that make sense?”

  Laurel nodded. “I think it would be fun to try the Gibberish potion. I'd like to hear everyone's version of nonsense.”

  “Sophie?” her mother said. “Any preference?”

  Sophie shook her head. “I see all of these at work at home. I'm happy to do what everyone else wants to do.”

  Ariel turned her attention to me. “That leaves you, Emma. Time to break the tie.”

  I couldn't decide. They all sounded interesting in their own way. “I wouldn't mind trying the Gibberish potion. It might be fun.”

  It took twenty minutes for our speech to return to normal once the potion wore off.

  “I’m afraid I’ve taken us past your usual time,” Ariel said. “My apologies. You’re free to go.”

  I lingered while the other girls gathered their belongings and left.

  “Can I help you pack up the ingredients?” I asked.

  “That’s kind, Emma,” she said. “It’s really just a flick of my wand.” She tapped her wand on the table and the bottles and beakers shrank to a size small enough to fit in her travel bag.

  “This never gets old,” I said, admiring the bare table.

  “Is something else on your mind?”

  I cleared my throat. “We’ve talked about love potions in class before. Ginger said they work, but they’re fairly complicated.”

  “They are,” Ariel agreed. “That’s why we don’t run into too many issues with them, especially among the younger set.”

  “Is an Obsession potio
n easier?”

  “Well, it’s advanced mixology, but yes,” Ariel said. “It’s the next best thing to a love potion. The Obsession potion doesn’t create love, only the illusion of love. It's an obsession rather than a deep and true emotion. There’s no respect, no true devotion. It's more of a blind driving force. Does that make sense?”

  I nodded. It made a lot of sense.

  “How would you stop an Obsession potion from working?”

  “Like I said, the potions wear off,” Ariel said. “So if the person stops taking it, then the Obsession will cease to exist.”

  The gears were clicking away in my mind. “So you couldn't combat it with an Anti-Obsession potion?”

  “I suppose you could. That might break the spell faster.” She scrutinized me. “What’s this about, Emma? Remember, this is advanced mixology we’re talking about. I don’t want you five girls running off to your secret lair and experimenting without supervision.”

  She knew about the secret lair? I wondered how many other witches in the coven knew. I hoped it was only because she was Sophie’s mother.

  “No, of course not. I just like to understand how these things work. It must be my lawyer brain.”

  Ariel smiled. “Yes, I must admit, it is nice to have an inquisitive mind in the class.” She glanced around the room. “Not that the rest of them aren't inquisitive. They’re all lovely.” She blew kisses at the imaginary remedial witches. “Is my answer helpful at all?”

  “Yes, Ariel,” I told her. “More than you know.”

  Chapter 10

  After class I drove to the Glades, where the werelion pride lived. There weren’t nearly as many werelions as werewolves, so the community was more tight-knit. I could tell by Will’s reaction that he didn’t want me to visit Anthony Shoostack, which only made me more determined to speak with him.

  I recognized the house right away thanks to the generous collection of garden gnomes in the front yard. I wondered if Amanda, Althea’s younger sister, had made them.