Don't Give a Witch (Bless Your Witch Book Six)

by Amy Boyles

  I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Where was Roman when I needed him? Seriously. I needed Roman, and he’d gone and gotten himself arrested.

  Wait. There was a possibility that all of this was just a huge misunderstanding. Like a giant misunderstanding.

  I thanked Nan for helping me with the information. I waited as she put the tome back, and then I headed toward my room.

  Em would wake me if something serious had happened. That was the first thing she would do. I was certain of it.

  Heck with it. I wasn’t going to wait on Em. I would find her now. The only place I knew to look was her room. Instead I found her walking down the hall, heading toward my room.

  Em gave me a nod of recognition. Her hand locked on my arm. Her frigid fingers sent a shiver racing up my skin.

  “What’d you find out?” I said.

  “Not here,” she whispered.

  The acrid smell of cigarette smoke drifted off her. I scrunched up my nose. “Em, I didn’t know you smoked.”

  “Tryin’ to quit. It’s been a rough day.”

  “You could say that again.”

  She led me down to the kitchen and into the pantry. Em softly closed the door behind her.

  “Why are we standing in a closet surrounded by Lucky Charms and Raisin Bran?”

  Three sides of the room were stocked to the ceiling with dry goods. Cans and boxes filled every inch of square space. They were even organized by shelf. It was impressive.

  “No one will think to look for us here to listen in.”

  I gulped down the knot in my throat. “Listen in?”

  She nodded. “Just in case. You never know. If you hadn’t noticed, Dylan Apel, there’s lots of witches here.”

  I leaned my head back on a shelf. “This is not the time to start insulting each other. What’d you find out?”

  Em’s gaze flickered around the room.

  “There’s no one else here, Em.”

  She scowled at me. “I know. Just feeling the place for outside magic.” She paused a moment. “All clear. This is what I discovered. Someone left Castle Witch.”

  My stomach rolled. “I was afraid of that. When?”

  “Several hours ago.” She dusted a shelf with her hand and brushed the dirt from her fingers. “After Roman and Pearbottom left.”

  “So they figured they wouldn’t be detected.”

  “Right.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  She tapped her toe. “Well? What’re we supposed to do? Am I supposed to get Roman and Pearbottom back?”

  I shook my head. “No. Wait on that. I’m thinking of a plan, and I need a little more time to put it together.”

  Em shook out her head of crimson and cinnamon curls. “Don’t you need Roman for that?”

  “Roman doesn’t want to be out of jail. As soon as he’s out and Never Forget is found, Pearbottom’s going to start working on Roman’s dad.”

  “So it’s a catch-22.”

  I scratched my head. “Pretty much. No easy answer.” I plastered on my fakest smile. “I’ll figure something out and tell you in the morning. Thanks, Em.”

  I drifted slowly back to my room. I had to work things out, but how?

  When I got back, Sera and Reid were both asleep. But that didn’t last long thanks to an ottoman planted in the middle of the floor.

  “Ouch!” I rubbed my bruised shin. “Who the heck put this here?” I hissed.

  Reid flipped on a light. “We were trying to catch burglars.”

  “Why is the light on?” Sera groaned. “Turn it back off.”

  “Hold on a second.” I ignored the sharp pain radiating down my leg as I crossed to the dresser. I pulled open the drawer and searched through the clothes.

  “Where is it?” I mumbled.

  “Where’s what?” Reid said.

  I threw a pile of panties on the floor. “The pact ring.” I threw everything out until the entire drawer was empty.

  “Haven’t seen it,” Reid said.

  “I thought you found it in my jeans,” I said.

  She shook her head, a flutter of curls cascaded over her shoulders. “Nope. I don’t know where it is.”

  “Me neither,” Sera grumbled. “Now can we go to bed?”

  I ran my hand over the velvet surface of the drawer, trying to make sure I wasn’t overlooking anything. But I wasn’t. The pact ring was gone. That could only mean one thing.

  Someone had stolen it.

  TWENTY-ONE

  I didn’t sleep much that night. I tossed and turned, trying to sort out everything I’d learned. Gosh, I wished Roman was here. I’d have given anything for him to help me, or at least offer advice. I texted him several times, but he never replied. The police must’ve taken his phone, which meant I had only one choice.

  I called an emergency meeting of my family the very next morning to tell them my plan.

  “You’re insane,” Sera said.

  “I know, but I don’t know what else to do.”

  Grandma tapped a severely silver-ringed finger on her mouth. “This may be even crazier than the time I had to negotiate the war terms between a colony of dust mites and their evil counterparts.”

  I gripped the sides of my head. “Right. So is everyone in?”

  Milly chewed some invisible substance in her mouth. “You’ve told me all I need to know, toots. I think you play your cards right and everything will go as planned.”

  A bubble of relief washed out of me. “Thank you. So you believe me?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve heard of crazier things.”

  “I haven’t,” Reid said. “Not one thing. This could get you killed.”

  I shook my head. “If everything goes right, Roman and Pearbottom will be released. I won’t get hurt.”

  My grandmothers shot each other concerned looks.

  “I’ll be fine. If y’all will just do everything I laid out, we should be good.” I clapped my hands together. “Now. Who’s coming with me?”

  Grandma raised a hand. “Let me just strap on my goggles.”

  “Goggles?” I said.

  She pulled a pair of steampunk-looking aviator goggles from her cardigan pocket and strapped them on. The magnified lenses made her eyes look about three times bigger than they actually were.

  “How do I look?” she asked.

  A slow smile crept across my face. “Perfect.”

  “Umm…can I help you?”

  Damon Devlin blinked rapidly as he glanced from my grandmother to me.

  “Yeah,” I said, smacking on some gum for an affect that I thought was cool. “The castle is going to be swept for magical pests today.” I thumbed from me to my grandmother. “We’re going around telling everyone.”

  Devlin narrowed his eyes to slitty little wedges. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the competition?”

  I tapped a pen against the clipboard I held. “Duty calls first. You know how it is. When the queen needs you, you do what she asks.”

  He curled his fingers around the lip of the door. “What sort of pests are being exterminated?”

  Grandma adjusted her goggles. “Oh, the usual. Diggory worms and dormat mouses. The kitchen got a shipment of squash from Fairyland just the other day and some of those little suckers were in it. Been messing with the magic in the castle. Short-circuited some of the councilors’ powers.”

  Devlin sniffed. “I haven’t had any trouble.”

  I shrugged. “We’re not here to ask questions. I’m only telling you what’s going to happen. The rooms are being swept today. We’re just the bearers of this news. Ready to go, Grandma?”

  “You bet your top dollar I am.”

  “That’s bottom dollar,” Devlin corrected.

  “I like my dollars to be on top, not the bottom,” Grandma said in her most snobbish voice. “Otherwise what’s the point?”

  Devlin opened his mouth. I gestured for him to stop. “Don’t even try to argue. You won’t win.” I grabbed Grandma by the sleeve
. “You ready?”

  “Yes. We’ve got all the other rooms to hit.”

  He watched us as we moved on to the next door. When he shut his door, I turned to Grandma. “Great job. Let’s get ready for phase two.”

  “What’s phase two?”

  “Oh. I can’t tell you.”

  She adjusted the strand of pearls that dipped down to her belly. “Some granddaughter you are.”

  I smiled. “That’s just how this is going to go.”

  I left Grandma at the breakfast table with the rest of my family and sneaked back upstairs. Well, I didn’t exactly sneak. I walked slowly back up the stairs until I reached Roman’s room. Em had given me a key to get in.

  The locked snicked, and I pushed open the door quickly and quietly. I found what I needed—and something else that I didn’t realize I’d left there, and he hadn’t bothered to tell me.

  Great. Everything was in place. Everything. Now all I had to do was compete in the Magical Abilities contest and I’d be killing two birds with one stone.

  I’d have the person who stole Never Forget, and I’d also reveal the Master.

  Because I knew who both of them were, and I was about to set the witching world on fire.

  TWENTY-TWO

  The morning crawled as fast as slugs race. So, it went slowly. Like, very slowly. I tried texting Roman a few times but still got nothing.

  I wasn’t worried, though. I knew he’d be set free soon enough. I sat in the greenroom of the theater, my stomach a jumble of nerves. I was the only one left. The next to the last contestant, Fawna Merriweather, had taken the stage.

  Sera walked in. “You ready for this?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  She smiled at me. “You’ll be fine. You can do it.”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  She slicked a hand over her glossy chocolate-colored bob. “You know this was your idea.”

  “I know.” I expelled a shot of air. “I’ll be fine.”

  The stage manager’s head appeared in the doorway. “You’re on, Dylan.”

  I rose and kicked some blood back into my legs. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

  Sera wrapped me in her long-armed hug. “Don’t get yourself hurt.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  I followed the stage manager to the wings. One of the judges announce my name, and I crossed the floor. My steps were slow and deliberate. They had to be because my legs were shaking so much I was afraid I was going to fall flat on my face.

  Do witches have a magical anti-anxiety pill? I could really use one right about now.

  I reached center stage and glanced out into the darkness. The ferocity of the white spotlight stung my eyes. I took a deep breath.

  From behind the blurring cone of light I could see the judges. Gladiolas flashed me a warm smile. The audience surrounding her coughed into their hands and adjusted their legs. They’d been sitting for two days in this theater, and I was the last contestant. The final person of the night.

  “Show us,” Gladiolas said, “what is your greatest fear. Then overcome it.”

  I cleared my throat. “I’ve thought long and hard about this.”

  Folks leaned forward in their chairs. I gathered they weren’t expecting to hear me speak. I guess every other contestant had simply produced a fear and vanquished it.

  Ha-ha, not so fast there, audience.

  But the intense interest in their faces caused the words to clench in my throat. I twisted my fingers and tried to put myself somewhere else, tried my best to calm my mind.

  “Like I said, I’ve thought long and hard about what I’m afraid of the most. When I tell you my actual fear, it may surprise you, but there’s something I need to explain first. Criminals, no matter who they are, should always be caught. Always. But when an innocent soul goes to jail for a crime they didn’t commit, that’s infuriating. Right now, Roman Bane and Jonathan Pearbottom are sitting in a cell not knowing when they’re going to get out. The worst thing is, they’re in that cell because of a crime they didn’t commit. Neither of them. That’s injustice, people, and that’s what scares me.”

  I couple of folks looked away, probably bored. They didn’t come here for my social take on life. They came to see magic. Well, time to give them some.

  I dug my hand in my pocket and held it at eye level.

  “This may look like an ordinary Tempus frog, but it’s not.” A few eyebrows rose at that comment. Good. I had their attention. “This creature doesn’t allow you to go back in time. Instead it gives the person holding it psychic abilities. I will focus on a crime that’s recently been committed, and then this frog will tell me who committed said crime.”

  I traced a finger down the amphibian’s spine and hoped the thing did not choose to relieve itself in my palm because that would be gross and I didn’t have a tissue.

  “For the past few days we’ve all been obsessed with Never Forget. It was stolen, and then it was recovered, but it wasn’t actually recovered, was it? Ladies and gentlemen, Never Forget is still missing and the perpetrator is in this very room.”

  A few gasps echoed in the theater. Good. That was what I wanted.

  “In a moment I’m going to reveal who took Never Forget, but before I explain that, I need to tell you something. The only reason I’m going to reveal that thief is so that I gain your trust. I need you to trust me because after I hand you the perpetrator of Never Forget, I’m going to reveal a deeper, darker mystery—one that’s been unsolved for twenty years!”

  Oh, now I had them. Every eye was on me. “I’m now going to consult this frog on who stole Never Forget. Give me a moment.”

  I closed my eyes and licked its back. I’d put a thin film over its flesh to stop any more visions. I didn’t need them for what I was about to do.

  “The frog has revealed the culprit. Hazel Horton, I believe if you search the pockets and belongings of Damon Devlin, you will find Never Forget.”

  My grandma rose. “You dare accuse a judge and councilman?”

  “The frog has spoken. Please do what I ask.”

  Grandma started to pat down Devlin. He shooed her away. “Are we going to believe this frog? I’ve been a leader in this community for years!”

  I pointed at him. “A leader who saw his beloved Magical Abilities contest die. A leader who knew that if more people didn’t show up this year and become interested in the contest, then next year you’d be out of a job.”

  While Devlin gaped at me, Grandma dug her fingers into his coat pocket. She produced a vial of liquid. I snapped my fingers, and the vial drifted over to me.

  “I don’t know what that is,” Devlin shouted.

  “We’ll find out.” I took the dewdrop-shaped glass in my free hand and magicked the stopper off. I took a strong whiff and said, “It smells of peaches and roses.”

  The crowd gasped. “Never Forget,” someone said.

  “Can someone please corroborate this? Councilwoman Gladiolas?” I floated the vial over to her.

  She took a deep sniff and nodded. “It is Never Forget.”

  I raised a hand. “Will someone please put Councilman Devlin in handcuffs and release our inspectors?”

  Gladiolas passed the vial off to another council member, who smelled the liquid and confirmed its identity. The room settled down as Devlin was dragged off. I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to wait for Roman to arrive, but it appeared I didn’t have to wait long.

  He poofed into existence about five seconds later. He leaned against the aisle wall, a toothpick in his mouth and his dark sunglasses on, making it impossible to read his expression. Though if I had to guess, I was pretty sure he’d be mad at me for something—probably for what I was about to do next.

  “Behold the power of the frog,” I announced. “If any of you were nonbelievers before, see what I can do.” I almost added a cackle at the end just to prove my awesome power.

  Or my insanity. I wasn’t sure which.

  “I know you’
re probably wondering how this is my fear. But I fear the unsolved and those put away for crimes they didn’t commit.”

  Jonathan Pearbottom poofed into existence. “Inspector Pearbottom wants to pull the memories from a man who’s mentally fragile in an attempt to discover Queen Catherine’s murderer. The technique would crack the brain of that man. I can’t allow that to happen. Since I know someone is innocent, and because I fear that, what I’m about to do is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. I’m about to solve the question that’s been asked for twenty years: who killed Queen Catherine and her daughters?”

  The room went silent. Seriously. I had them hook, line and sinker.

  “Through the power of the frog I will know who committed the crime, and I will then do the unthinkable—I will announce the killer here, live, in front of you.”

  Roman whipped off his glasses and glared at me.

  I ignored him. I mean, I couldn’t exactly stop now, could I? I’d promised the impossible. I was the Harry Houdini of the witching world, and I was bound and determined to deliver on that promise.

  I held the frog high and said, “Frog, tell me who killed Queen Catherine and her daughters. Show me the truth that I seek. Before all these people, lead me to the facts.”

  I closed my eyes and licked it again. After a few seconds—I made this last longer than the last time—I rapid fire blinked my eyes open.

  “Y’all will be blessed to know that the creature has shown me the truth. It has shown me that in this very room, the killer of Queen Catherine is hiding. This witch is using their power to stay under the radar, to stay in the clear. But that is no longer. I know who you are. Justice will be done. You’ve hidden for too long, but now that’s over. You can’t pretend to be something you’re not any longer.”

  I put the frog back in my pocket and rubbed my palms together. This was it. My big moment.

  “The person who murdered Queen Catherine and her daughters twenty years ago is—”

  I brought my hand to my forehead and stopped. I stared out into the audience and swayed left, then right. My legs shook. I sank down to the floor on my knees. I tumbled over onto one hip. My head rolled over to one side, and I closed my eyes.