“How are you holding up?” she asked me, and I shrugged.
“I don’t know. I mean, I know I didn’t kill her, but I seem to be the only one who believes that.”
“Yeah, that’s rough. It’s all anyone is talking about today. Four different people have asked me if you’ve admitted to me that you killed her.”
“And here I thought yesterday’s giant squirrels were going to be the bane of my week. Look, if this isn’t solved, I need to get in on it.”
Willow raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Last time you tried to solve a murder you were almost killed yourself.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t, was I? And besides, what’s the point of even being alive if I’m going to be framed for a murder I didn’t commit?”
This time Willow crossed her arms. “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, don’t you? Sure, a few people think you’re the killer, but that’s because this is a small town and they finally have something to talk about. Wait a few days, and this will all blow over.”
“In all the years you’ve known me, have you ever seen me wait for something successfully?” I asked, and Willow laughed.
“Fair enough. But this is important. I don’t want you to get killed trying to solve a murder.”
“And I don’t want to go to jail because I happened to pick the worst day ever to hex a bully. I’m being proactive. I’m not going to sit around and wait for Chief Enforcer Loeb to arrest me for murder.”
“Right, you’re going to involve yourself in this investigation and get yourself arrested for obstruction, instead. This is a great plan that you’ve obviously completely thought through.”
“I won’t get arrested for obstruction if I don’t obstruct,” I shot back. “Chief Enforcer Loeb won’t even know I’m involved.”
“You know, when I think of you, I don’t immediately think of subtlety.”
Ok, Willow had a point there, but I wasn’t about to admit it.
“I won’t get arrested for getting in the way. I promise. I didn’t get arrested last time.”
“Only because Jack was nice enough not to report you when he caught you sneaking around the enforcers’ office.”
“Jack owed me. Besides, I wasn’t going to go sneaking around the office this time.” I hoped, anyway.
Willow still gave me a look that said this was a very bad idea. “You know, there is a healthy middle ground between day drinking and hunting down killers. When I said you should get a hobby, I was thinking something along the lines of volunteer work. Maybe taking up gardening.”
“Yeah, gardening, that sounds exactly like me.”
“Keith said you needed to learn patience.”
“And what better way to do it than to investigate a murder without being discovered?”
Willow sighed. “I swear, being friends with you is like being friends with a brick wall sometimes. You’re going to do this regardless of what I say, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, in that case, I guess I might as well do my best to make sure you don’t end up dead. But I’m warning you, I am absolutely not doing anything illegal. I’ll happily be your sounding board, though.”
“Thanks,” I said to her with a grin. “That works for me.”
The two of us made our way into town, where we had dinner at a local Thai Bistro, Thairannosaurus Rex. It was a small place, run by a couple who were obsessed with dinosaurs, and the walls were decorated with magically enhanced scenes of dinosaurs moving around an ancient landscape, eating grass and swimming in the water hole. I had always loved coming here as a kid, and while the dinosaur scenes seemed a little bit kitschy to me as an adult, a part of me still got a kick out of it. Besides, the food was amazing, and cheap.
As soon as we walked in, Malee led us to a table at the back. “Trust me, with what I hear today, you want this table,” she said to me, and my heart sank.
“You can leave the knives on the table. I promise not to stab anyone,” I replied.
“I know, I know. Sit, sit. I will bring you a menu.”
Willow and I sat down, and I couldn’t help but let out a little bit of a sigh. Looking around, there were only a handful of other diners in the room, but they all seemed to be super interested in their food all of a sudden.
“See?” I said to Willow. “This is my life now. Everyone either gawking at me like I’m a caged animal at the zoo or doing their best to pretend I don’t exist in the hopes that I don’t stab them.” I casually picked the knife up off the table and saw a woman eating with her two kids glance toward the door, like she was coming up with an escape plan.
Willow shot me a sympathetic look. “We can get takeout, if you want.”
I shook my head. “No, I’ve been stuck inside all day, now. I feel like a pariah. I don’t want to live my life trapped inside the shed just because everyone in town thinks I’m a murderer.”
“Fair enough. Well, in that case, you can always try and ignore them.”
“Yeah,” I said sadly. “I’m going to focus on the food. Food always makes me feel better.”
Sure enough, between the chicken lo mein and watching a dilophosaurus stampede when a T-Rex made his way along the walls, I definitely felt a little bit better as we left the restaurant. It even appeared the other diners relaxed a little bit when it became obvious I wasn’t about to go on a murderous rampage.
“So what’s your first step?” Willow asked as we walked along in rhythm. “How are you going to find a killer?”
“I’m going to find out everything I can about Danielle Dashwood. Do you know anything about her?”
Willow smiled. “Apart from the fact that I knew she wanted to get her revenge on you? No.”
“I know she has a few friends who are also her age. I was thinking I might stop by the Academy tomorrow and have a chat with them. See if they can tell me anything.”
“Let me get this straight: you think the best friends of the girl you hexed, who now probably think you’re a murderer, are going to let you get anywhere near them, let alone ask you questions?”
I bit my lip. “Right. It does sound a little bit unlikely, doesn’t it?”
“You’re not going to be able to charge in like an elephant and just demand what you want the way you normally do,” Willow said. “Actually, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it might actually be good for you. If you don’t get yourself murdered, that is. It might actually teach you a bit of patience.”
“We’ll see,” I replied. “But I’ll come up with a plan.”
“Try and make it one that keeps you out of the crosshairs,” Willow warned. “You’re infuriating, but I love you, and I don’t want to see you get killed.”
“I’m not infuriating, I’m lovably independent,” I replied with a grin.
And this lovingly independent witch was going to solve this murder, no matter what it took.
Chapter 7
Willow and I separated, and I made my way back home, running into my sister Leda on the way. Whereas I was an impulsive, bossy bigmouth with a habit of losing jobs as quickly as I lost boyfriends, Leda was the literal opposite. She had always lived her life doing everything perfectly, according to the rules dictated by society. She had graduated from the Academy with good but not perfect marks, gotten a job working at a local manufacturer, and I was fairly certain she was going to wait exactly five more years before finding a wizard, getting married after a one-year engagement, and having two-and-a-half children.
Plus, because the company she worked at manufactured bath bombs and the like, she always smelled amazing. Leda was so well-adjusted that sometimes I wondered if we were even related.
“Ali, how are you holding up?” Leda asked me, falling into stride with me. “I’m just going over to visit Mom.”
“Oh, thank Rhea. Hopefully you can knock some sense into her and let her know the world isn’t going to end because one of her daughters is a murder suspect.”
Led
a gave me a small smile. “That bad, is it?”
“That bad. At least Grandma Rosie has embraced it all. She was out and about, probably declaring to anyone who would listen that I got my murderous streak from her side of the family.”
Leda giggled. “Sorry. I know the situation isn’t funny, but I can absolutely imagine Grandma Rosie doing that.”
“She’s insane. And she’s driving me insane. What about you? It’s not affecting you at all, is it?”
“No,” Leda said, shaking her head. “A few people asked me about you at work today, but I said it’s obviously just a misunderstanding and that Chief Enforcer Loeb is going to do her job and clear it all up.”
“Thanks,” I said, shooting her a grateful smile. Of course Leda would handle the situation perfectly.
“How about you? Are you doing alright?”
“I am, thanks. It’s been a bit rough, I’m not going to lie. People think I’m a murderer, and when I walk down the street it’s like I’m some sort of cobra, getting ready to strike at them. But I’m sure things will settle down.”
“They will, absolutely,” Leda said, nodding. “Though I did hear that you hexed the victim the day before.”
“Well, I did, but she deserved it,” I replied. “If I’d known she was going to get murdered a few hours later, I might have held off, but no one told me ahead of time.”
Leda gave me a small smile. “Perhaps this is the universe giving you a sign that hexing people in general is a bad idea.”
“No, I don’t think that’s what it is. I think it’s a murderer with bad timing.”
We reached the house just then. “Did you know Danielle Dashwood?” I asked Leda, and she nodded. “Yes. She’s only a few years younger than me, after all. When I was in my last year at the Academy, she was about thirteen, fourteen. I work with her mother, and she and her friends visit the place regularly to get free samples of soaps and bath bombs.”
“Oh,” I said, my eyebrows rising. I hadn’t realized that my sister had known her so well. “Can you think of anyone who might have wanted her dead?”
Leda shook her head. “I didn’t know her that well.” She gave me a hard look. “You’re not thinking of solving this yourself, are you?”
“What? Me? No, of course not. What could have given you that idea?” I lied, opening my eyes wide and doing my best to look shocked that Leda would even consider that option.
“Your entire personality, for one,” she replied, obviously not believing me. “Seriously, it’s a bad idea. Don’t do it.”
“I’m not!” I argued. “I promise.”
“Good. Chief Enforcer Loeb is good at her job. She’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“I know,” I said. She might get to the bottom of it even faster if I helped the investigation along, but my sister obviously didn’t want to hear that.
“You could come in for dinner,” Leda said, motioning to the cottage invitingly, but I shook my head.
“Thanks, but I already ate with Willow. I might come in later for dessert, though.”
Leda grinned. “I heard Mom made a pie.”
“Oooh, well, I’ll definitely come in for pie. Save me a piece and text me when it’s time for me to come over.”
“Sure.” Leda made her way to the front door and I watched her go in. If only I could be my sister for a day, I could definitely get access to Danielle’s friends and find out what I needed to know. But there was no way to do that.
Or was there?
I rushed into the shed and pulled out my giant book of potions, flipping through it until I found the spot I wanted. “That’s the one,” I said to myself, planting my finger directly on top of the ingredients list for a body swap potion. I scanned the ingredients and directions carefully. It was an instant potion, which meant that once I gathered up the ingredients and cast a quick spell over them, the potion would be made. There was no waiting for six, twelve, or twenty-four hours, like many other potions required.
“Perfect,” I muttered as I made my way to my small panty and began collecting ingredients.
Four maraschino cherries, seventeen pine needles, two ounces of melted snow—regular rainwater didn’t work—one pinch of wood shavings, and six hairs from a black cat.
Luckily, I had all of those ingredients in the cupboard. The maraschino cherries were the only one that wasn’t all that common in potions, but my love for sundaes meant I had them around for eating, so that worked out well.
I pulled out a cauldron and placed it on the small counter, then got all of the ingredients ready. I added them to the cauldron in order, then went through the instructions. Taking out my wand, I stirred the mixture one dozen times counter-clockwise, then four times clockwise, and six times counter-clockwise again.
Then, leaving my wand inside the mixture, I closed my eyes and said the chant that would turn the whole mixture into a body swapping potion.
“Mother Earth, Mother Rhea, swap the bodies of the drinkers of this potion for a single rotation of the earth.”
There was a whooshing sound and a puff of dark blue smoke. When it cleared, the random mixture of ingredients had turned into a completely clear, transparent liquid. It had a slightly thicker consistency than water, a little bit more like maple syrup, but I figured it could be easily slipped into a glass without being recognized.
I immediately poured the mixture into two different vials. I drank one of them and found the fluid was completely tasteless. Good. That meant I wasn’t going to have to put effort into masking the taste when I gave my sister the other half unknowingly.
Was it wrong to sneak a potion to your sister to swap bodies with her and interrogate the friends of a murder victim? Probably, but it was for a good cause, so I figured it would all be ok. Besides, it wasn’t like anything bad was going to happen to Leda in that time. She was never even going to know it happened.
She texted me a few minutes later, telling me it was time for pie, and I made my way over to the cottage, the vial of potion in my pocket. The first two paranormals to drink the potion would have their bodies swapped for twenty-four hours, starting at the time that the second paranormal took the potion. I had already drunk my half, and so now, I needed Leda to drink some of it as well. That would make our bodies swap, and I’d have twenty-four hours to pretend to be my sister and get as much information from Danielle’s friends as I could.
I certainly wasn’t going to do anything bad. This was all for a good cause.
Chapter 8
“Well, look who’s joining us for dessert,” Grandma Rosie said when I walked through the back door and into the kitchen of Mom’s cottage. “What, you’re not good enough to eat dinner with us?”
“I had Thai food with Willow,” I explained. “But I always have an extra stomach for dessert.”
“Good. It’s pumpkin, which I know is your favorite. Not that you deserve pie, mind you. I still can’t believe a daughter of mine is the main suspect in a murder investigation.”
“It’s not Ali’s fault, mom,” Leda said. “She couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”
“No, but if she hadn’t hexed that girl to begin with, no one would have thought she had a reason to do it.”
“Well, that girl was bullying someone, so I don’t regret what I did, even if the timing wasn’t fantastic,” I said, taking a piece of pie and topping it with way more whipped cream than I probably needed. What? It had been a stressful day. I deserved whipped cream.
“Well, let me tell you, old Kenneth Johnstone down at the grocery store decided to give me a hard time because I asked the checkout lady to cast the spell to bag my groceries for me. I told him everything he had heard about my family was true, and it all came from my side, and that shut him up real quick.”
“Grandma! You can’t go around telling people I am the murderer,” I said. “That’s not helpful!”
“It’s helpful to me. You have no idea what people are willing to do for you when they think murder runs in your fam
ily.”
“Well, great, I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I had to eat dinner with all the other patrons in the place making exit plans in case I decided to go crazy.”
“You have the wrong attitude, dear. That’s the problem. Embrace your new reputation.”
“I’d rather go back to my old one, thanks,” I replied. “I didn’t murder anyone, and I’d rather no one in town think I was capable of it. It’s easy for you. You’re retired and crazy to begin with. I have to convince Keith I’ll make a good magical fixer in just over five months. I can’t have him thinking I solve all my problems by killing people. I’m not that kind of magical fixer.”
Mom’s grip on her fork was so tight her knuckles were turning white. “Can’t we talk about something else? Leda, how are things going in your life?”
“Great, thanks, Mom,” she replied. Of course they were great. Leda’s entire life was perfect. “I’m up for a promotion at work, but I’m not sure I’m going to get it. The company needs a new manager, since the current one has decided to stay at home and be with her children, and my boss Anne has made it clear they want to hire the replacement from inside the company. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that kind of responsibility just yet, but I’m hoping they’ll give me a shot. That said, making manager is part of my five-year career plan, but I’d still be two years ahead of schedule, so if it’s not my time, that’s alright.”
Of course Leda would have a five-year career plan. I didn’t even have a five-day career plan. At the moment, I didn’t even have a career. Whatever.
I actually didn’t resent Leda at all for her success, as much as it sounded like I did. She worked hard, and I knew it. But I was jealous of how easy her life seemed, when all I ever seemed to do was stick my foot in my mouth and go backward in life. How was it possible for me to be related to someone who had her whole life figured out when I just seemed to be the person spinning around on the merry-go-round of life, occasionally falling off it and throwing up from dizziness?
It would have been easier to resent Leda if she wasn’t the sweetest, most amazing sister of all time. So while I wished I had my life together like she did, I really hoped she was going to get that promotion she was after.
Get with the Potion Page 4