“Well, wasn’t that nice of you? I didn’t realize you’d noticed. I’d fancied myself to be pretty good at sleight-of-hand stealing back then, but my pickpocketing skills have improved immensely since. Too bad I can’t take mercy on you now to repay that kindness.” Christian reached into his pocket. Issy took the opportunity to inch back a little bit more. With each centimeter she was feeling stronger. The flicker of hope flared. If she could make it far enough away, she might have a chance to hit him with some sort of disabling spell. But her optimism was extinguished when he pulled out a mirror. Any spell she cast could be reflected back on her with just a tilt of the mirror.
“What are you waiting for? Whammy her!” Brittany stood outside the circle, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.
Christian scowled over his shoulder at her. “All in due time. I have to wear her down slowly so she will be too weak to run when the committee and the FBPI arrive.”
If Issy couldn’t fight him with magic, maybe she could outsmart him. “That’s your plan? You’re going to summon them here and tell them you caught me doing dark magic? I’ll simply tell them what you’ve done. What makes you think they’d believe you over me?”
“Because I won’t be here, and you’ll be caught red handed. I’ve got everything planned down to the second so that the FBPI, the committee, and even the police arrive to find you alone here in the woods with this.” Christian gestured to the ingredients for the transformation spell. “And your friend over there, sleeping in wolf form.”
“What makes you think I would even stay here after you left?” Issy inched back another centimeter.
“After I get done with you, you’ll be too weak to leave. Everyone knows the transformation spell takes an enormous amount of energy, so the committee will simply think you were drained casting the spell. Especially after poor Brittany here, a mere human, reports to the police on what she saw you doing out here. Alone.”
Brittany cackled gleefully. Issy’s gut clenched. The committee would know Brittany was not a paranormal, and as such, her testimony would carry weight. But in order to pull off his plan, Christian had to weaken her, and he hadn’t done that yet. She still had a chance.
“So you’re the one that killed Louella. Why?”
“Meddlesome old biddy. If she hadn’t stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong, she’d still be alive. But noooo. She came out and found the salamanders and was gonna tell everyone. I couldn’t let that happen. I need them for my spells.”
Issy remembered how Christian’s father was embarrassed that Christian had gone to another town to buy fish tanks instead of shopping at her local shop. Her eyes flicked to his feet. Black boots. “You bought the fish tanks to keep the salamanders in. You were taking them from the forest.”
“I liked to keep them close by, but once Louella found them, I had to step up my efforts. Their blood amplifies spells, you know.” Christian reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny little vial filled with red liquid. Salamander blood? No doubt he intended to use it to amplify whatever spells he meant to use to weaken her.
“But why kill her in front of my shop? Were you planning on framing me from the beginning?”
Christian laughed, a disturbing sound that echoed through the woods. “No. That was just dumb luck. I meant to kill her at her office in the planning-board building so that there would be an investigation involving the planning board, which would put any rezoning issues on hold. By then, I’d have figured out how to build the appropriate terrariums for the salamanders, and since Hans Geller wanted to pay a tidy sum for my father’s land, I figured I could have the salamanders for myself and put a lot of money in the bank. But she got a last-minute meeting with the board of health to go visit your store that I didn’t know about. Turns out her threat to your livelihood worked out even better for me and gave you a motive to kill her. I actually didn’t even know where she was when I cast the spell from my basement. Was as surprised as anyone to find out she died in front of your store.”
Issy’s blood chilled. To cast the shut-up spell remotely required a lot of power… among other things.
“But you couldn’t have killed her remotely. You would have needed…” Issy’s voice trailed off as she tried to remember the ingredients Karen had said one would have needed. The common items, lemon, salt, and pepper, were easy to get. The other items not so much.
Her eyes jerked to Brittany. According to Gray, Brittany had insisted on a haircut on Tuesday. He’d said she’d acted as if she were fainting. Gray thought it was to get his attention, but now Issy realized Brittany had had a more sinister reason for falling to the floor. Tuesday was the day Louella had gotten her haircut at Gray’s. Brittany wasn’t falling so that Gray would catch her. She had fallen so she could scoop up a lock of Louella’s hair that Christian needed for the shut-up spell.
Christian’s eyes gleamed. “That’s right. I had a lock of her hair thanks to Brittany…” He nodded over his shoulder, where Brittany beamed at his approval. “And I simply got a cow tongue from the butcher.”
“The organs that your father thought you were feeding to your pet snakes,” Issy said.
“That’s right.” Christian’s eyes narrowed, and he glanced down at the mirror, angling it in front of them as a shield, as if he were getting ready to do battle. Issy knew she needed to keep him talking so she could get a little farther away. She could feel her power growing but still didn’t feel strong enough to take him on.
“But your father didn’t want to sell the land.” Issy inched back again, risking an even larger move and coming up on her haunches, ready to spring if needed. She couldn’t keep him talking forever. And she didn’t like the way he was dangling that vial of salamander blood. Sooner or later he was going to take action, and she needed to be ready to evade it or counter-cast whatever spell he hurtled at her.
“Who cares what my father wanted? A little change-of-mind spell, and he’d be happy to sell the place.” Christian narrowed his eyes. “Stop trying to distract me. I have work to do.”
Without warning he pushed his palm out toward her. A lightning bolt of energy hit the ground beside her. Issy’s hair stood on end, her left side went numb, and she slumped back to the ground. Her right hand instinctively shot out, looking for her purse, which normally sat beside her, the talisman nestled in an easy-to-reach pocket.
Christian noticed the movement. “Looking for your talisman? It’s at the police station. It can’t help you now.”
“You took it?” Issy cradled her left arm, grimacing at the sharp sting of pins and needles. She could really use her talisman now. Too bad the only thing she had was Dee Dee’s amulet, and that wouldn’t help her, would it?
A smug smile spread across Christian’s face. “Yes. I took it the day you visited my father.” His eyes narrowed at her, then he brought the vial up in front of his face, flicking it with his finger. The dark-red blood inside sloshed around ominously. “Maybe if you hadn’t been so nosey, you wouldn’t be in this predicament. But when I saw you at my house, I had a feeling that you may have to be dealt with. And I could sense the magical vibration of the talisman inside your purse. So I simply utilized my old pickpocket skills and nabbed it. Turns out it came in handy. So now Owen has the physical evidence of the talisman and the jack-in-the-pulpit plant that link you to Louella, along with his suspicions that you poisoned her.”
“You put the plant on my patio and planted the talisman at Louella’s? Did you also plant Gray’s knife?”
“You’re smarter than you look—pity you have to be turned over to the committee… or sacrificed to the FBPI.” Christian looked almost regretful for a second, then he shrugged and continued. “I was out there the night Louella was taking pictures. I saw your cousin in his full-moon ritual. But when Louella snapped the picture, he ran after her, leaving his knife and Dee Dee’s cheap acorn amulet in the circle. Naturally, I took both items, figuring the opportunity to use them would present itself later.”
�
��The acorn amulet was in Gray’s ritual circle? What was that doing there?”
Christian shrugged. “You tell me. It was a stroke of luck, because putting it under Cosmo’s cage is what lured you here.”
Issy’s hand went to her pocket. So Dee Dee and Gray had been up to something that night, but what? It really didn’t matter now, though. If Issy didn’t get herself out of this situation, what Gray and Dee Dee had done would be the least of her problems.
“But why frame both me and Gray?”
“Hedging my bets. I figured having two people to make look guilty would up the odds. Turns out you were the best choice. Sorry.”
Christian took a step forward and flung his hand out at her. Crystals formed in the air, racing toward her.
A freeze-in-place spell!
Issy’s instincts took over, and she curled into a ball and rolled to the right. The frigid air skimmed past her, the full impact of the spell narrowly missing her.
But in the time they’d been talking, she’d regained some of her energy and was full of adrenaline. She fisted her right hand and conjured up the words for a wallop spell. She was fully aware that Christian still had the mirror, holding it out as a shield, but from her perspective on the ground she thought she could direct the spell up underneath the mirror and hit him where it counted.
If she was wrong, though, he’d use the mirror to boomerang the spell back in her direction, so she didn’t dare try anything more lethal. The wallop spell would only stop him momentarily, but it would be a start. She’d have to chip away at him a little at a time until she’d worn him down and then go in for the kill.
Issy held her breath, playing possum for a second, waiting for Christian to step forward. He did, and she unfurled her hand. The orange sparks from her fingertips flew through the air like racing fireflies up under the mirror and hit him in the crotch.
“Arghhh!” Christian’s face turned red. He doubled over and stumbled back two steps.
Issy sprang to her feet, ready to fight.
But he was quick to recover. “You’ll pay for that!”
He pulled his hand back, twirled his index finger in the air, and let loose. The force of the spell spun Issy around. It must have been some sort of dizzy spell, because the forest was spinning. Issy felt as if she’d just gotten off a carnival ride. The world tilted, and she fell to the ground just as thunder boomed overhead.
She tried to shake the spell free, but it was no use. She’d been weakened. The look of triumph on Christian’s face chilled her blood, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet. She just needed to create a distraction to give herself a few seconds to recover.
Christian stepped toward her, and their auras collided. The resulting charge of energy caused another loud clap of thunder followed by a jolt of white lightning that hit a tree just outside the circle.
Crack! A limb crashed to the ground.
Brittany squealed and jumped away.
Issy managed to roll away from Christian. She hit the edge of the circle, bouncing off the magic force field.
Her eyes darted around the circle, searching frantically for something she could use as a weapon. To her right sat the shaker full of salt.
Christian glared down at her. The look of triumph on his face told her that he knew how weak she was. Defenseless. Or so he thought.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Issy said in a weak voice. She didn’t see any compassion in his eyes, but she wasn’t expecting it—she was merely playing for time.
“Hurt her!” Brittany squealed from outside the circle, distracting Christian for a split second.
That split second was all Issy needed. She rolled to her right and grabbed the saltshaker. One good shake, and she had a pile in her palm. She flung it at Christian’s face, managing to charm the crystals with a bull’s-eye charm headed straight for his eyes.
Christian’s hands flew up to his eyes. “Ouch!” Unfortunately he didn’t drop the mirror or the vial of salamander blood.
Issy staggered to her feet, calling on all of her magical energy to wield a spell that would weaken him so that she could get the upper hand.
Christian raised the mirror in a defensive gesture, his red-rimmed eyes glaring at her with a look of hatred that chilled her blood.
Slowly, he raised the vial of salamander blood in front of his face. The red blood inside glowed in the moonlight. With one quick movement of his thumb, he flicked the sterling-silver top off the glass vial. A tendril of red mist floated upward.
It was now or never. If Christian used the blood to amplify whatever evil spell he had in store for her, Issy would be a goner.
Issy sucked in a breath and conjured up the words for a muscle-weakening spell.
Christian watched her closely, his eyes drilling into hers as his body tensed. He must have been busy conjuring up his own spell.
She would have to be faster than him.
He was holding the mirror in his left hand up near his heart. Issy focused on his right foot, the farthest spot away from the mirror. If she was fast enough, she’d be able to disable him before he could get the mirror down to reflect the spell.
She flung her fingers outward. “Attenuati!”
Her heart stopped as she watched the magic sparks fly toward Christian’s foot as if in slow motion.
In one deft movement Christian swooped the mirror down to his foot and at the same time tipped the vial.
The sparks hit the mirror and bounced off, bursting through the stream of salamander blood as they ricocheted back toward Issy.
A loud boom of thunder started Issy’s heart back up, and she dived out of the way of the sparks, barely registering the bolts of lightning that were hitting the ground around the edges of the circle.
She didn’t dive far enough. Pinpoints of hot pain peppered her left side. Her muscles turned to jelly, and she wobbled to the ground like her aunt Edna’s cranberry mold.
She lay on the ground, unable to move a muscle. Even though she’d been only partially hit, the amplification of the salamander blood had frozen every major muscle in her body. Only her thumbs and eyelids seemed to be working.
A shadow loomed over her, and she glanced upward to see him looking down at her.
He laughed. The unpleasant sound bounced off trees and mingled with Brittany’s squeals of victory and Bella’s terrified yips.
Issy’s heart sank.
She was done for.
25
Issy could feel the pine needles, pebbles, and cold earth pressing into her as she lay on her side. At least she still had feeling, even though she couldn’t move. Or maybe that was a bad thing, depending on what Christian planned to do to her—maybe she didn’t want to feel it.
She screwed her eyes shut, not wanting to see what was coming. With her eyes closed, her other senses went into overdrive. She could hear the thunder, which had sounded as if it was right overhead only minutes ago, far off now and the grating sound of Brittany’s cackling laugh outside the circle. She could smell damp earth and the ozone from the lightning.
“Yipe!”
Issy’s eyes flew open. Bella!
Bella’s panicked cry had come from behind her. She tried to roll over, but the only thing she could move was her neck. Wait… she could move her neck! She hadn’t been able to move that a few seconds ago. Was the spell wearing off already?
She twisted her neck to face the sound, her pulse skittering in her chest when she saw Brittany had snatched Bella up and was holding her out away from her body. The dog wriggled violently in an attempt to get away.
“Hand her over through here.” Christian walked to one section of the circle. He still held the vial in his hand, and he stopped at the edge and tilted it. The last drop of blood fell on the barely visible outline of the circle.
Snick.
The air shimmered, and an invisible door opened. Brittany handed Bella through to Christian and quickly withdrew her hands, the air shimmering in their wake as the circle completed itself again.
Christian held Bella awkwardly. Panic clawed at Issy when she saw the look of sheer terror on the dog’s face.
“What are you going to do to Bella? Put her down!” Issy yelled.
Her brain instinctively gave the command to run over and grab the dog out of his hands, but her muscles didn’t obey. All she could do was raise her head a few inches off the ground.
“Yipe!” Bella turned to give Issy another heartbreaking look.
Christian laughed. “Everyone knows you need a beating heart for the spell to work, and it sure isn’t going to be mine. I need to time it so the authorities get here while the heart is still warm so there is no mistaking your intentions.”
Issy’s blood froze. He was going to kill Bella for her heart. Painful memories of her first familiar surfaced. She’d been too weak to fight dark magic back then, and today was no different. Her worst fears had come true. She should never have adopted Bella—it was her fault now that the innocent little dog was going to die.
“Grr…” Bella’s low growl snapped her out of her thoughts. This wasn’t just about her now. She couldn’t just lie here and wallow in self-pity because of what she’d failed to do in the past. She had to at least try to help Bella.
But how? Her muscles were like Jell-O. Wait. She could move more now than just a few seconds ago. Instead of just her neck, thumbs, and eyelids, now she could move her hands, even one arm and a big toe.
The spell was wearing off. The thought didn’t make her feel any better, because it was her own spell that had been amplified by the salamander blood. Was her magic that weak, and if so, did she have any chance of fighting Christian even if she could regain movement?
Then again, it couldn’t hurt to try, but she needed to buy some more time.
“Sic him, Bella!” Issy said the words out loud and telegraphed her thoughts to the Pomeranian, willing the dog to sink her little teeth into Christian’s arm.
A Spell Of Trouble (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) Page 16