Kiss My Witch (Bless Your Witch Book 2)

by Amy Boyles

  I glanced at the line of shops. Sumi! As casual as could be, the gossip queen meandered down the row of stores, glancing this way and that. She headed straight for the chorus of bad witches, who pivoted toward her.

  I shot forward, running (and probably looking like an idiot) down the road until I caught up with Sumi. I grasped her gently by the arm.

  "Sumi, you're in danger. You need to come with me."

  She twisted. "What to do you mean?" Her fingers flew to her mouth. "No! Not again. Does someone want to hurt me?"

  The small, meek woman stared with wild fright in her eyes. "It'll be okay," I soothed. "We'll find Roman and get you someplace safe." I started to walk her into the crowd, but the bad witches stood staring at us. "Come with me." I steered Sumi toward Perfect Fit. I guided her through the front door and nudged her inside.

  I shut the door, turned the latch and pressed my back against the smooth glass. I exhaled, hoping it would calm my thundering heart.

  "We made it," I said.

  She took a turn around the room, fluffing the collar of her white button-down shirt. An iridescent flash around her neck caught my eye. I peered closer.

  And gasped.

  I crimped my lips together, praying to all that was good in the world that she hadn't heard me. Sumi gave me a bashful smile and took a seat on the couch. "Thank you for helping me, Dylan."

  I gulped. "You're welcome." I edged my hand up along my back, reaching for the lock. My fingers slipped over it, fumbling. It wouldn't budge.

  "Oh, I don't think you need to go outside, do you?" She offered me an innocent smile.

  I tittered. "You know, I wanted to make sure the coast was clear. See that everything was safe for us to go out. I need to get you to Roman, after all. I think those women want to do something bad to you."

  She fingered the oval opal at her neck. "Even if they wanted to, I don't think they could. Do you?"

  I cleared the knot of nerves from my throat. "I do. I think they want to play a nasty trick, perhaps even do enough damage to kill you. Like you—" The words closed up my throat.

  "You mean, like I did to Loretta and Margaret? Is that what you were going to say?"

  I laughed. "Don't be silly, Sumi. You couldn't hurt a fly."

  She zipped the opal along the gold chain it hung from. "You know what this is, though, don't you?"

  "I have no idea what you're talking about."

  She rolled her eyes. "You heard the rumors. I know you did. That Loretta was stealing magic?"

  "I may have heard a whisper of such a thing."

  "Loretta would never have done anything like that. She never would have stolen any magic."

  I mean, why fake that I hadn't figured out a few things? "But you would."

  She gave me a sweet smile. "Of course. When you're small, like I am, you need every advantage you can get. I was reviled, Dylan. Hated for being a gossipmonger. I couldn't stop that, of course."

  "You didn't have to ruin people's lives."

  She slammed a hand against her thigh. "But they had ruined mine, you see. Taunted me as a child, told me I was nothing. Spat on me. But I got them. I published their dirty laundry. Hurt them where I could, and I made a fortune doing it."

  "So why steal magic? Why kill an innocent unicorn to do it?"

  She shivered as if I'd thrown cold water on her. "Because they were going to kill me first. Don't you see? I'd made so many enemies, I needed more power to protect myself, to stay safe. I've been doing this for years. Years. At first, I only bought magic, but I needed more than what was being sold, so I took it myself. Loretta hated it. Said she was going to turn me in."

  I tried the lock again. No good. "So you killed her."

  Sumi shook her head. "Of course not. She was my sister. Margaret killed her. Margaret had been stealing magic longer than I had. She's the one who turned me on to it. Loretta was going to expose us, and Margaret couldn't have that, so she killed her."

  "How?"

  Sumi sighed. "It doesn't matter now, does it? But she poisoned her, of course. Unfortunately, then Margaret's brain went haywire from the guilt, and she decided to tell you everything. What a fool."

  What a meanie. Who calls their aunt a fool? "So you killed Margaret."

  "Sure as sunshine, I did."

  "What about Jean? What about Stormy?"

  Sumi shrugged. "I gave each of them false memories. I made Jean think she'd poisoned Loretta."

  It dawned on me. "You even made a vial of trollop potion and gave it to her."

  She nodded. "Only it wasn't quite right. There was very little left after Margaret used it. I knew she'd be released, so I got Stormy to confess to both murders." Sumi laughed. "Those two women can barely butter a piece of bread much less kill someone." She sighed. "It's amazing what the power of a unicorn can do when you possess it."

  The truth hit me. "It allowed you to break through Em's barrier and return to Fairyland."

  She smiled like a snake. "Exactly. Though I wasn't there for very long."

  "Thank goodness for small miracles," I mumbled. Then it hit me. "A unicorn's power could also allow someone to see through glamours, like Margaret could see through Roman's."

  "Among other things." Her gaze rested on the table in front of her; then it flitted to me. "So you know what this means?"

  "You're going to kill me, I assume?"

  She sighed. "Assumption correct. All this killing isn't the best thing for my blood pressure, but a woman's work is never finished." Sumi rose. "Now. If you'll come here, I can kill you and we will be done with this."

  Girlfriend had to be living in the Twilight Zone if she thought I was going to walk quietly to my death.

  "I see you're going to make this difficult. Very well." Sumi waved a hand over her opal. At the same time I palmed the stone in my pocket and thought of steel. A drizzle of magic flew from her hands toward me. I closed my eyes and focused hard.

  I opened them at a loud thump. The thread of magic that Sumi had unleashed bounced off the bubble of steel surrounding me and fizzled out onto the floor. My heart fluttered into my throat as both elation and absolute fear rocked my body.

  Her eyes narrowed. "Learned how to do some magic, huh? It's not going to be enough to save you."

  I shrugged. "Looks like it's doing a mighty fine job at the moment."

  Sumi took a step forward. I retreated, pounding my back against the door. That was locked. That I couldn't get out of. "Nowhere for you to go, you sad, pathetic little witch? Don't worry, the magic of a unicorn is strong. With it, I can do just about anything. Even break someone's protection bubble."

  Blood thundered in my temples. What did she mean, break the bubble? "That would be some feat." I inched away from the door, trying to figure out a plan. What magic did I know that would save me?

  Sumi took a menacing step forward. "Of course, I don't need to break the barrier to kill you." She crossed the room until she only stood a couple of feet from me. Sweat lined my brow and trickled into my eyes. I blinked away the stinging liquid. Sumi extended her hand toward me. I leaned back, trying to put as much distance between the two of us as I could. Her fingers caressed the ball. Electric sparks ignited where her skin touched it. I hoped beyond all hope it would hold against her power.

  Her fingers poked the barrier. Once, twice, then her hand slid inside. Her arm appeared next, and then the rest of her slipped past the ball that was supposed to be made of steel.

  She grinned wickedly. "See? Your piddly power is no match for mine."

  I pulled the opal from my pocket and rubbed it between my fingers. I wasn't supposed to do it. I knew I wasn't, but I had no other choice. I crossed my fingers and prayed I wouldn't die in the next couple of seconds. "I may not be any match for you, but you're no match for this."

  I held my breath, leaped forward and pressed my opal against hers. A force of magic exploded from the center of the stones, throwing me back against the wall.

  I blinked. Lighting flashed. Thunder r
olled. Wind ripped through the store, whipping my clothes and hair into a frenzy. It slammed into the racks of dresses, pounded against the windows and rocked the walls. After a few seconds it died down.

  The front door burst open. Roman entered, twisting right and left. Relief washed over his face when he saw me lying in a heap on the floor. He strode over and knelt down, touching my body as if feeling for broken bones.

  "Are you hurt?" he asked.

  "I'm okay," I said weakly. The gale had felt like a sledgehammer against my body. It had taken more out of me than I realized. I looked around until I saw Sumi lying crumpled on the other side of the room.

  "I know everything," I said. "Margaret Duncan killed Loretta because she was going to rat out Margaret and Sumi for stealing magic. Margaret later felt guilty and was going to confess, so Sumi killed her. You'll find an opal like mine around Sumi's neck, so she's murdered at least one unicorn for their magic. She also used her power to make both Stormy and Jean Noir think they were guilty."

  Roman took me by the chin. "As long as you're okay, that's all that matters."

  "Help me up," I said. Roman wrapped his thick arms around me and pulled me to my feet. Sumi's head swayed side to side groggily. "Better get Em, Gladiolas, and every other witch you can think of in here to contain her. She's one powerful witch."

  Roman shook his head. "Something tells me she won't put up too much of a fight. Even when I tell her this. Sumi Umi, you're under arrest for the murder of Misty Evers."

  I gaped at him. "Misty Evers?"

  He nodded. "She killed Misty. Gladiolas just got the signed confession, but we have something else."

  "Which is?"

  "The box with the stone. Only it wasn't a stone. It was a message from Loretta attesting that the murder was committed by Sumi and Margaret."

  "But I thought it was only a stone."

  "That didn't make sense to me, so I sent it off to be investigated. Turned out there was one more layer of magic beneath it, and in it was a message from Loretta confessing to all the details."

  "How'd she know?"

  He raked his fingers through his hair. "She was there and saw the whole thing. She'd stayed silent for years but was finished covering for her family, and they knew it. Loretta must have realized her sister or aunt was going to kill her at the summit, so she made her diary point to Stormy so that Stormy's room would be checked. Apparently we missed the box on the first sweep."

  "Then it was stolen."

  He nodded. "My guess is Margaret or Sumi knew about it. One of them stole it."

  "Then it ended up back at your door," I said. "Who did that?"

  Roman shook his head. "I don't know. That's the one thing left that can't be explained."

  "Hmm, weird. It's almost as if Loretta acted from beyond the grave."

  He shrugged. "I've heard of stranger things."

  "Either way”—I threw my arms around him—"you're off the hook. Now Sumi can lead you to the rest of the magic-stealing ring! You can find out who else is guilty."

  "I hope," he said.

  "The magic," Sumi mumbled. "Killed Margaret. Kill the unicorn. Oooh." She slumped farther down onto the floor and started snoring.

  "Maybe not," I said.

  "It might just be the force of the blow," he said. "Once she sleeps a little, her right mind may come back." He took my hand. "Come on," Roman said, smiling. "I'll get the medics to check you out while I send that one to witch jail."

  I smiled back. "Sounds like a plan to me."

  The witch police arrived five minutes later. Jonathan Pearbottom, brown tweed cape draped over his shoulders and bowler hat squarely atop his head, surveyed the scene as if the odor of garbage clung to the air.

  I nearly jumped in front of Roman to guard him from the stalwart inspector, but when I saw Pearbottom give Roman a slight nod of the head, I knew what Gladiolas had said was true—Sumi Umi had killed Misty Evers and Roman was now off the witch police's Most Wanted list.

  "Bane," Pearbottom sneered.

  "Pearbottom," Roman said, extending his hand. "Good to see you here. Let's get to work."

  Pearbottom stiffened but did shake the hand Roman offered. "All right," he said.

  I smiled. Thank goodness for small victories. Actually a huge victory, because now I wouldn't have to worry about Roman being carted off by the witch police for a crime he didn't commit. Instead, I watched Sumi being carted away.

  Em sauntered up to me, arms crossed, a sour expression marring her face. "Glad to see you're all right," she said.

  "Thank you. Glad to be all right."

  "That's about the only good thing that's come of this nonsense."

  "What do you mean?" I asked, wrapping the blanket the medics had given me tight around my shoulders.

  She sighed. "Do you know how much work it's goin' to be to wipe all the memories of these nonmagics? They saw the explosion in your store."

  I smiled. "Why don't we tell them something happened with the gas? Say it got contained quickly so there was minimal damage. That way you don't have to wipe any memories."

  Em gave me a smile fit for a cat. "You know, you might be pretty good at this witchcraft business after all."

  I returned the smile. "You know from you, I'll take that as a compliment."

  TWENTY-SIX

  The next day, as much as I wanted to take some time off, I need to clean up the mess that crossing the opal streams (for lack of a better phrase) had caused. I strolled around, hanging up clothes and brushing dust off shirts.

  The bell tinkled. "Good morning," I said. "Sorry if things are a bit of a mess."

  "It's no bother."

  I froze. I knew that voice. Turning around, I was met by Councilwoman Gladiolas herself.

  She yanked a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed perspiration from her neck. "Good morning, Dylan. I'm surprised to see you here."

  I dusted off a silk blouse and hooked it on the rack. "This is my store."

  She gave me a stiff smile. "I'm aware of that. I hope your encounter with Sumi didn't do too much damage."

  I shrugged. "I was hoping the fashion show would give me a little bump in business. Didn't turn out that way."

  Gladiolas filtered through a rack of blouses. "I think you'll be surprised. Lots of women loved the clothes. They'll turn up soon, I'm sure. But that's not why I'm here."

  I quirked an intrigued eyebrow. "Oh? Now I'm interested."

  Gladiolas fingered a locket around her neck. "Dylan, you showed extreme bravery last night."

  My cheeks heated. I had to admit, I was flattered that the councilwoman had bothered to notice. "Thank you," I said.

  "Because of that, I wanted to let you off the hook about something."

  "Yes?"

  She cleared her throat. "From now on, if you or your sister make a mistake and happen to perform magic in front of nonmagics, the council will overlook it."

  My stomach dropped to my feet. "Seriously?"

  She grinned. "I'm happy to do it. You've shown courage that few people have. You've earned it, Dylan. So don't worry. The threat of being boiled alive doesn't hang over your head anymore."

  "Whew," I said, wiping an imaginary line of sweat from my forehead. "That's about the best news I've heard all year."

  She gave me a wink. "Glad to hear it." Gladiolas moved to the door and opened it. "Hopefully we won't be seeing much more of each other, other than in friendly social situations."

  "Take care."

  She lingered in the door for one more second. "Looks like the ladies are coming to see your wares. Good luck." Gladiolas flashed me a smile and disappeared out the door just as a flock of witches entered in a bustle, hopefully ready to spend wads of cash on my clothes.

  Later that day I met up with Sera at home and relayed Gladiolas's news.

  "That's a relief," she said, "'cause I was beginning to lose all hope that we'd ever be able to work magic successfully."

  "That reminds me," I said, glancing at Grandma. "D
id any of you hear people talking about the supposed gas fire in my shop? I mean, did our lie work?"

  Grandma sat in the recliner, crocheting what looked like a scarf. She must have been working on her Christmas presents early. "Oh, people will believe most whatever you tell them. I think it worked." She wagged a finger at me. "And a good thing, too, or else there would have been loads of memory wiping to do and you'd have been in hot water. Gladiolas might not have given you the protection she just offered."

  "Yes, thanks for bringing up that I might have been in hot water," I said.

  "Not me," Reid said, sailing in from the kitchen. "I wouldn't be in hot water at all, since I don't have powers."

  "Thanks for rubbing it in," Sera said.

  "Don't be so grumpy," she said, poking Sera in the head. "I'd love to have powers."

  I picked a piece of lint off my pants. "Trust me; it's not all it's cracked up to be."

  Nan popped out of the kitchen. "Everybody ready for taco potato night?"

  I fisted the air with my hand. "Yes! Taco potato night!"

  Sera threw me a challenging look. "Bet I can beat you to the kitchen."

  "Bet you can't."

  Reid raced across the floor. "I'll beat you both!"

  I shook my head. "Never compete with a teenager."

  Sera grinned. She rose from the couch and stretched. "Wiser words never spoken." She crossed to me and poked me in the head. "Last one in's a rotten egg." She dashed off, clearly winning by a mile.

  Grandma set her crochet down and pushed herself up from the recliner. "Well? I don't want to be a rotten egg, either."

  I smiled as my grandmother beat me to dinner. Clearly I was the rotten egg, and it made me perfectly happy to be so.

  EPILOGUE

  "Dylan! It's almost time. Are you ready?"

  I hooked a gold hoop into my ear and smoothed my hair with a brush one last time. I flashed myself a smile. Nothing in my teeth. Perfect. My dark hair lay in thick tendrils, framing both sides of my face. Though the humidity was soup-thick outside, I'd managed to tame my hair. Victory!