Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County)

by Heidi R. Kling

Voodoo’s Doll

  Logan

  Logan found Chance on the edge of the grounds. “I need to talk to you,” he said. The urgency in his voice lilted into amusement when he glanced down at his friend’s hands. “That is, if you can part with your toy.”

  “You know, if this whole dark magic thing doesn’t work out, you should take your routine on the road,” Chance said, but the strain in his voice flattened the joke.

  On closer examination of the “toy” Logan frowned. “Is that a doll?”

  Chance quickly shoved the lumpy thing into his pocket. “Why are you wet?”

  “Why are you changing the subject?” Logan grabbed a knotty arm, staring at the yellow yarn hanging off the hand-sewn head like limp spaghetti. Black-eyed peas where eyes should be. Glue still wet. He waved the doll in Chance’s face. “What is this?”

  “Nothing.”

  “This is a voodoo doll.”

  “Don’t shake it!”

  “Why not?”

  “You could hurt her.”

  Logan sneered. “This is Lily.”

  Holding up his palms, Chance insisted, “It’s not mine, Cheese—I found it here.”

  “Why were you hunched over it then like you were performing some ritual?”

  “I wasn’t trying to hurt her. I swear!”

  Pacing in front of the boulder, Logan scratched the back of his neck. “Help me understand. Quickly.”

  He didn’t want to hurt his best friend but the fury boiling in his gut was practically impossible to contain. The eerie doll stared at him: beady eyes, pink button nose, X-crossed mouth, replacing everything beautiful and alive about Lily.

  “When I found it, this was sticking out of its arm.” A long, sharp needle—evidence—lay flat in Chance’s palm.

  Logan’s eyes narrowed. “Which arm?”

  “Left. Why? Was Lily hurt there?”

  The wound on Logan’s left arm burned, as if the bite happened mere seconds ago. His mind felt like it would implode. Who was behind this? Had to be one of the lox. But who? Father? Jude? But what would they want with a voodoo doll of Lily? And why was he so quick to humor Chance’s lame excuse? He was the one caught red-handed with the doll. Not Jude. Not Father.

  “The serpents were sent.”

  “Slow down. Serpents?”

  Chance’s eyes were honest. Of all the warlocks, Logan trusted him the most. Always had. Plus, he’d kept his secrets about Lily this far. What choice did he have but to trust him?

  Cradling the doll in his hand like an injured bird, Logan said, “If you aren’t lying, prove it. Tell me everything you know about voodoo dolls. And don’t leave anything out, Chance. I swear. You better be telling the truth.”

  Lily

  “Mom! Mom!” I threw open my mom’s door, bursting into her dark room. She sat straight up in bed as if she’d never been asleep at all.

  “Lily, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  Feeling like I’d explode if I didn’t, I confessed everything. About meeting Logan, then meeting him again. And again. Not to mention losing my amulet. Again.

  “I had to, Mom, I couldn’t sit by and let our magic disappear without at least trying to find a warlock, trying to make peace. And then, well, it wasn’t even about that anymore. I have real feelings for him, scary feelings. He’s not…There’s good in him. We have… Well, we had…” I let my voice trail off.

  She stared at me like she was in shock. Then she folded me into her arms. “You are your mother’s daughter,” she said.

  “What does that mean?”

  Instead of elaborating, she flipped on the lamp on her nightstand, a dim light fighting the room’s shadows. “Did you…see anything on this boy? A mark on his crest?”

  “No. Not yet anyway.”

  “I need to consult Camellia. Excuse me.”

  Iris went inward, pacing as she spoke to Camellia. It was weird watching her nod like she was on a phone no one but she could see. My initial sobs had subsided. Her presence was soothing, especially compared to how I’d felt down at the beach. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t more upset with me, it was almost as if…she’d known all along. Or maybe she knew I’d try?

  When she finished her conversation, she looked at me.

  “We need to enchant you,” she said. “We need to find out if this boy is the chosen. If he wears the mark. You are the only one who can find out.”

  “I’m not going to trick him. I’ll talk to him again. Just ask him...”

  Her eyes fell upon me hard, deep. She looked at me like I’d never seen her look at me before. Not like I was her child, but like I was her only hope and I was screwing up.

  “Your mistake was not going in search of this warlock, but allowing yourself to feel something for him.”

  “I…” When I started to protest, her look stopped my words.

  “I don’t think you understand. If you can’t push your feelings aside, channel them for good. Bring out the mark in him. Trust that he wears it and that you will find it.”

  “Bring out the mark in him? What do you…”

  Her hand was heavy on my shoulder. “When you were a little girl, you’d rather hold your ground in the rising tide than listen to my calls to come to the shore. You’d rather tumble to the sand than yield to the fact that I may be right. That the wave might be too big for you to handle.” She smiled sadly in that nostalgic way only moms can. Her voice softened. “You were the most beautiful and brightest thing I’d ever seen, but you had the stubborn heart of a bull. And still do.”

  “It’s not my fault I’m a Taurus,” I said weakly, knowing part of her was right.

  “Honey, you’re so busy questioning the truth that you sometimes miss what’s right in front of you. And I’m afraid if you continue on like that, you’ll miss the most important moments. Sometimes you must recede to the rising tide even if it’s not always comfortable. Or what you planned.”

  I nodded, a lump in my throat.

  “You know what must be done here, honey. This is your chance to prove to everyone once and for all we were right to choose you to lead the Daughters of Light. And even if you want to ignore my meant-to-be inspirational diatribe at least hear this. For once in my life I’m not exaggerating a mono-syllable when I say that you, Lily—you’re our coven’s final hope.”

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  Jealousies

  Logan sprung to his feet, glaring at Jonah.

  “Look, dude. Is Lily your sister?”

  Jonah squirmed under Logan’s challenging gaze. “No.”

  “Your daughter?”

  “Course not.”

  “Your girlfriend?”

  Jonah didn’t answer.

  “Logan, come on,” I said.

  He ignored me, continuing to poke at Jonah. “Then, technically what she’s doing down here at the beach with me is none of your business.”

  “Well, technically, since she came with me here to the beach, it IS.”

  “If I was in any way harming her, then yes, it would be. And I appreciate your concern for her. I do. But I got this.”

  This was mortifying. I’d never had two guys fight over me, like ever. I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to sink into the sand and disappear.

  “You’re making her feel uncomfortable,” Jonah said.

  “She was perfectly comfortable until you interrupted us. Believe me.”

  “Come on, Lily, let’s get you home,” Jonah said and tugged on my forearm. Logan glared at him so hard, Jonah’s hand glowed red.

  “Le
t her go.”

  “Lily, come on,” Jonah insisted.

  Jonah was so intent on getting me away from Logan that he didn’t notice the orb of light orbiting his skin.

  “Jonah, really. I’m fine. It’s fine, just…”

  I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he was in this protective zone mode. I knew he wouldn’t let go without some sort of interference. “Jonah, please.”

  The red glow orbiting his skin sparked to life, a series of sparks illuminated around his hand, stinging flesh. Immediately he released his grip and I stepped back from him. Shouting expletives, he crouched into the sand, shoving his palm into the cool sand.

  Logan didn’t say anything, but I could feel his contentment over watching Jonah squirm.

  “Here, let me see it,” I fell onto my knees next to him in the sand.

  His hand was burned, but not badly.

  “How in the world…?”

  Jonah stared at his hand incredulous.

  “It was a sparkler,” I said, totally pulling that out of thin air. “We brought some down to the beach.”

  “A sparkler?” He glared from me to Logan and back to me.

  The air smelled like burnt hair.

  I shrugged.

  “Where is it then?”

  I glanced over at Logan, who had turned away from us and was obviously working on calming himself down.

  “What?”

  “The sparkler?”

  “Here,” Logan said, pulling a thin stick out of the air. The end of it glowed like a sparkler, but I knew it had been lit by Logan’s magic.

  “But you didn’t throw that at me.”

  Logan shrugged.

  “You totally deserved it, bro. You can’t manhandle a girl like that.”

  “Manhandle! I was trying to get her away from YOU.”

  Logan shrugged again. His iridescent eyes shone crimson through the air like the eyes of a demon. Could Jonah not see it?

  I felt the energy in the air, dangerous and threatening. Logan hated Jonah. If I wasn’t here, who knows what he would’ve done to him. Then again, if I weren’t here, there wouldn’t have been a problem to begin with.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have walked down here with Logan. Of course I shouldn’t have!

  I came with Jonah and Daisy. We were playing guitar by the bonfire like normal teenagers. We were happy. It all came rushing back and then was replaced by the darker, deeper, much more emotional connection with Logan moments ago on the sand. His skin on mine, his heart against mine. His lips on mine like we were melting into each other; the absence of his touch —the sweetest sort of suffering.

  I should be furious at him for hurting Jonah. But then again, Jonah wouldn’t let me go. Logan was protecting me. Imagine that. My enemy protecting me from my friend.

  Still I had to fix the burn. He didn’t have to burn him.

  Don’t fix it.

  What? Of course I’m going to fix it! How could you burn him?

  He was pulling you, Lily. I was protecting you.

  He’s my friend, Logan. You were out of line.

  I turned away from his glaring blue eyes and asked Jonah in a soothing voice, “So how was Daisy on the way home? What did you guys talk about?”

  Jonah’s voice changed as he started in on the story. While he was distracted I flipped over his palm and ran a cooling spell. The tiny blisters that had started to form faded and smoothed back into normal skin.

  When he was finished talking and I’d let enough time pass, I pointed out the change. “See? It was nothing.”

  He stared at his skin, shining the flashlight at it.

  I’d left a faded pink mark just so he didn’t feel crazy.

  “Oh.”

  Now he felt like a douche for being so melodramatic about the injury.

  I could feel his insecurity like I could feel Logan’s confidence.

  I hated being in the middle, as I cared about them both.

  “Come on, Jonah, let’s go.”

  “If you go, I won’t be here when you get back.” Logan said it out loud so Jonah would hear his threat too.

  I spun around on my heels, exasperated. “Logan!”

  This was ridiculous. Why was he being such a jerk?

  “I’m serious, Lily. Leave with that moron, and I’m gone.”

  Tears burned in my eyes. “Go then.” My voice warbled as I called his bluff.

  He held my eyes for a moment, before saying in a deadly serious voice, “Goodbye then.”

  Goodbye then?

  After all that? After all the star-talk and the kissing and the heartbeats in unison?? Goodbye then?!

  I grabbed Jonah’s wrist and stormed down the beach.

  How could I be falling so hard for a warlock? What if he wasn’t special or chosen or would do anything at all to help me bridge the gap and bring peace? What if I was just a silly teenager with a crush on a jerk? A user creep. The kind of guy all girls are warned about. Well, I’m not some dupe. I wasn’t going to take this crap from a boy. Or anyone.

  I would prove to Logan he couldn’t treat me like this without consequences.

  I stopped short and cupped Jonah’s startled face in my hands and, right when I was standing up on my tiptoes about to kiss him full on the lips, I was pulled back with a huge force, like a sudden shift in the current.

  I landed with a hard thud in the sand and spun my head around. My amulet. It was gone.

  Logan was standing back, watching me with half-amused half apologetic eyes. I glared at him.

  Only stopped you from doing something you’d regret, that’s all. You should be thanking me.

  You’re an ass.

  That may as well be true, but who’s the one sitting on theirs?

  I grabbed a handful of sand and hurled it toward him. The grains of sand sprang into sparks. He deflected them from his face, and they fell around him like sparklers.

  He raised an eyebrow. We even now?

  My swordfinger flashed and his legs flew out from under him.

  Now we are. I couldn’t help the smile creeping into my tone. It felt great to knock him off his high horse.

  But I felt terrible about Jonah.

  I stood up and started to apologize, but he was gone. Great. Now I’d hurt Jonah for no reason. I needed to handle my frustration better. Learn to control it.

  In time. Logan’s voice intruding in my mind.

  “So not cool. Where’d he go?” I asked Logan, out loud. He was back on his feet and sauntering toward me.

  He shrugged. Guess he couldn’t take the heat.

  Logan. Where did Jonah go? Which DIRECTION?

  That way. He pointed up the shore toward the parking lot.

  I have to go find him and apologize on your behalf.

  From the looks of your little exchange, I’d say you owe him an apology as well.

  I rolled my eyes, but of course he was right.

  “I really am sorry for that back there.” He gestured toward where we were standing. “I guess, I guess I was jealous.”

  “Ah, so you admit it?”

  “Of course. But I was still right to stop you from kissing him. Though I doubt you’d have gone through with it.”

  “I—” I sighed, wanting to say more but couldn’t. Of course I didn’t want to kiss Jonah, I wanted to kiss Logan. Right now even. But I couldn’t give in like that. He was being a total jerk before.

  Suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. So I did what I did when I couldn’t deal. I ran.

  Black sand of night shot behind me, twisting into tiny, angry cyclones in my wake. I ran and ran and ran, and then, when I couldn’t run one more step, I slowed into a walk, and then, when I couldn’t walk one more step, I slowed into a crawl, fell onto the sand and cried. And when the tears were gone, I knew what I had to do.

  Voodoo’s Doll

  Logan

  Logan found Chance on the edge of the grounds. “I need to talk to you,” he said. The urgency in his voice lilted into amusement when he g
lanced down at his friend’s hands. “That is, if you can part with your toy.”

  “You know, if this whole dark magic thing doesn’t work out, you should take your routine on the road,” Chance said, but the strain in his voice flattened the joke.

  On closer examination of the “toy” Logan frowned. “Is that a doll?”

  Chance quickly shoved the lumpy thing into his pocket. “Why are you wet?”

  “Why are you changing the subject?” Logan grabbed a knotty arm staring at the yellow yarn hanging off the hand-sewn head like limp spaghetti. Black-eyed peas where eyes should be. Glue still wet. He waved the doll in Chance’s face. “What is this?”

  “Nothing.”

  “This is a voodoo doll.”

  “Don’t shake it!”

  “Why not?”

  “You could hurt her.”

  Logan sneered. “This is Lily?”

  Holding up his palms, Chance insisted, “It’s not mine, Cheese—I found it here.”

  “Why were you hunched over it then like you were performing some ritual?”

  “I wasn’t trying to hurt her. I swear!”

  Pacing in front of the boulder, Logan scratched the back of his neck. “Help me understand. Quickly.”

  He didn’t want to hurt his best friend—but the fury boiling in his gut was practically impossible to contain. The eerie doll stared at him: beady eyes, pink button nose, X-crossed mouth, replacing everything beautiful and alive about Lily.

  Who was behind this? Had to be one of the lox. But who? Father? Jude? But what would they want with a voodoo doll of Lily? And why was he so quick to humor Chance’s lame excuse? He was the one caught red-handed with the doll. Not Jude. Not Father.

  Chance’s eyes were honest. Of all the warlocks, Logan trusted him the most. Always had. Plus, he’d kept his secrets about Lily this far. What choice did he have but to trust him?

  Cradling the doll in his hand like an injured bird, Logan said, “If you aren’t lying, prove it. Tell me everything you know about voodoo dolls. And don’t leave anything out, Chance. I swear. You better be telling the truth.”

  Lily

  “Mom! Mom!” I threw open the door, bursting into her dark room. She sat straight up in bed as if she’d never been asleep at all.