by Amy Boyles
“The problem with that is, no full moon,” Cordelia said. “It would have to be someone who could change at will.”
I grimaced. “I would hope not. We don’t need anyone in town who can do that.”
Betty clapped her hands. “Can we stop talking about the giants? I’ll deal with Billy Bob and his kind if I have to. But hopefully there won’t be any other incidents.”
I smiled brightly at my family. “I agree. Us sweet tea witches can only deal with one emergency at a time. This emergency being—let’s find out if Molly was the witch who spelled Axel. If it was her, I’m ready to kick her out of Magnolia Cove. For good.”
Amelia lifted her purse. “I’ve got the glass right here.”
“Good job getting kicked out of the bar,” I said. “It made it easy to sneak away her drink.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to get kicked out of the bar,” Amelia explained, “but Molly was bothering Axel and I just wanted to punch her. So I started the fight.”
Cordelia patted her shoulder. “You did a great job.”
“And it distracted folks enough that I could grab this.” Amelia pulled the glass from her purse. She winked at me. “I used magic so nothing would spill.”
I took the glass and prayed the spell would work. “Betty, this is all yours.”
Betty took the liquid and poured it into the cauldron. Steam rose from the mouth of the pit. The liquid hissed and spat.
“What’s it interacting with?” I asked.
Betty studied the contents with satisfaction. “I threw in some cinnamon, spice and all things nice,” she said sarcastically.
“You don’t have to be smart about it,” I said.
She grabbed a bottle that was clearly labeled CINNAMON. “I’m not.”
“No, she’s not,” Amelia confirmed. “Our grandmother really did throw all that stuff in the cauldron.”
“I’m guessing because Molly is none of those things.”
“That would be correct,” she said. Betty waved some of the smoke toward her face. “Smells just about right.”
She grabbed a ladle and stirred. “Separate,” she murmured. “Go ahead and separate.”
I peered into the bowl and held my breath. I watched as the liquid turned pink. It separated into two blobs. One of the circles turned black and the other one stayed rose.
Betty ladled the black goop from the cauldron and dropped it in a glass. “Here it is,” she said triumphantly. “This is the stuff.”
My jaw dropped. “Are we going to make Axel drink that black goop?”
“Of course not,” Betty snapped. “This is the starter potion.”
“The starter potion?”
“Yes, like a bread starter. But not a bread starter. A potion starter.”
I clicked my tongue. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Betty moved past me. “Well, you haven’t been a witch that long. It’s no surprise.”
Betty stood in front of the everlasting fire. I glanced at my cousins and mouthed, Starter potion? They shrugged in answer.
“Sometimes I think you make things up,” I said to Betty.
“There are times when you have to improvise,” Betty said with a shrug. “Like now. I’m going to improvise a reversal spell based on this.”
My voice was thick with skepticism. “The black goo.”
She winked. “The black goo.”
Betty tossed the orb into the fire and started chanting. The goo itself hovered over the hearth, spinning and whirling as Betty murmured the words of magic.
The flames shot up. Tendrils of magic licked and flicked at it. I thought they would scorch the ball and turn it into a hard nothing. But as I watched, the orb itself shifted and elongated, looking like taffy as it stretched.
Betty wiggled her fingers, and the ball shrank, continuing to shrink until it became a very small pellet. An arm of fire plucked the pellet and reached out, dropping it in Betty’s open palm.
“Ah,” she said with satisfaction. “Here it is. If Molly has spelled Axel, this will do the trick. It’ll fix him right up.”
She offered it to me. “So now I just give it to him?”
Betty nodded. “First thing tomorrow, we’ll ask him and his family over for breakfast. Then we’ll drop it in his coffee.”
“Don’t you think we should tell him?” I said. “Let him know that we might have a reversal?”
“Why?” She shrugged. “So that he can be disappointed if it doesn’t work?”
“She’s got a point,” Amelia said. “What’s the use of getting your hopes up if they’re just going to be dashed?”
“Okay, so y’all are saying I invite Axel over, slip a magic rabbit pellet into his coffee and wait to see if he remembers me? To see if the spell breaks?”
“Exactly.” Betty folded her arms in satisfaction. “That’s exactly what you should do.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know. What if it goes wrong?”
Betty clapped my shoulder and smiled widely at me. “How could it possibly go wrong?”
The next morning I spent twenty minutes on the phone talking to the caterer, who had been storing the wedding meals magically for a couple of days. Now the caterer needed to know what I planned to do with all the food.
I convinced her that there would be a wedding, hopefully by the end of the week.
I prayed that was true because let’s face it, that spell on Axel was holding strong.
But hopefully all of that would change this morning.
“Come over for breakfast,” I said when I called Axel. “Bring your parents. We’d love to see them.”
Axel agreed and we hung up.
“You planning on lyin’ to that man today?” Mattie said.
I slipped into a pair of leggings. “No, I’m not going to lie to him. I’m just going to slip something in his drink.”
Mattie yawned. “Seems about the same thing if you want my opinion.”
“I didn’t ask it.”
“That’s okay. I’m happy to give it anyway.”
“So I see, but since you’re asking, I’ll tell you.” I pulled a sweater over my head. A brown one that complemented my hair and eye color.
“Yes,” I said with finality, “we are planning to drug Axel without his knowledge with a spell that should hopefully break whatever magic Molly has over him.”
“And can you tell me again why you ain’t tellin’ him?”
“So that he doesn’t get upset when it doesn’t work.”
“Makes no sense to me,” Mattie said.
I grabbed a tube of lip gloss off my vanity and applied a thick layer. “It makes sense to me. That’s all that matters.”
“If you say so,” the cat said before making three turns and snuggling back atop the duvet.
I smirked at Mattie, but she didn’t see. We were doing this for Axel’s own good. We absolutely were. He had to remember me. I don’t think I could stand seeing the look of hope in his eyes—hope that he might actually feel something when he gazed at me, only to watch that be dashed as quickly as it flared to life.
I couldn’t handle that. It was hard enough knowing he could barely look at me. Now to be faced with the fact that he didn’t feel anything was crushing.
Yes, slipping the pellet in his drink when he arrived was the best plan.
Then why did I feel so miserable even considering it?
I pushed my doubts aside and headed downstairs.
I made my way to the kitchen, where I grabbed a plate of biscuits. “Is everything ready?”
Betty nodded. “Far as I know. Be sure to hand this cup to Axel.”
I stared into the antique porcelain teacup. “There’s nothing in it.”
Betty winked. “That’s just what it looks like. The pellet is hidden. With magic,” she said in a mysterious voice.
“I gathered that much. Okay, so it’s hidden.”
“So that he can’t see. Just make sure he gets that cup.”
I saluted her. �
�Aye, aye, captain.”
“Don’t be smart. You’re not too big that I can’t throw you over my knees and spank your bottom.”
I shrank back. “Okay. Sorry.”
The doorbell rang. Betty wiped her hands. “That’s them. Places, everyone.”
Amelia smirked. “Places?”
I shrugged. “Apparently we need to take our places.”
I set the cup down and went to the living room to greet our guests. Karen and Roger both gave me big hugs.
“Have you noticed any change?” Karen whispered to me.
I shook my head. “No. Nothing.”
She took my hand and squeezed it. “He’ll remember eventually. He has to. This spell won’t last forever.”
A knot formed in the back of my throat. But what if it did? What if it did last forever? Where would I be then?
“Let’s get everyone some coffee, shall we?” Betty nodded to me. “Pepper, why don’t you bring in some cups?”
“I’ve already beat you to it.” Her face beaming with radiance, Amelia lifted two cups in the air. “I’m on it.”
“I’ll help too.” I entered the kitchen to find the cup I’d left on the counter for Axel.
It was gone.
Panic nearly strangled the air from my lungs. Amelia had it. But which one was it? Did Amelia know I’d placed Axel’s cup in that exact spot?
I had to find out. Had to ask her. I zipped from the kitchen in time to see everyone raising their coffee cups in a toast.
How did everyone suddenly have a cup? Where had they all come from?
I quickly grabbed the coffee from Axel. His eyelids flared in surprise. Betty gaped. Even Karen and Roger stared at me as if I’d gone mad.
“Wait a minute.” I laughed nervously, trying to make light of the fact that I’d practically snatched Axel’s cup away from him. “I was drinking out of one of those cups, Amelia. It was the one on the far, far left. I set it right on the counter.”
As everyone stared at me as if I’d grown three heads, I coughed into my fist. “Sorry, it’s just that I feel a cold coming on. I’d hate to make anyone sick. I mean, no one wants to get sick because of me, right? I mean, for sure y’all don’t want to wind up with pneumonia or something. I know y’all don’t.”
I smiled brightly at Amelia as if all of this was no big deal. “So, did you happen to see my cup? If so, which one is it?”
Amelia grimaced. She pointed to Betty. “I think that’s it.”
I chuckled and handed Axel’s cup back to him. “Okay, well, Betty. Why don’t I just take that from you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yes, why don’t you?”
I took the cup, and the toast commenced. “To memory,” Betty said. “May everyone’s return.”
Axel sipped his drink, and I extended my hand. “Let me get you some more coffee.”
“Thank you.”
I took both cups into the kitchen and poured coffee into the one that I was sure was spelled. Needing a rush of caffeine myself, I took Axel’s cup and finished it off.
Then I went back into the living room and handed the new cup, the one I was positive was the correct one, to Axel.
“Here you go. Ready for some breakfast?”
Axel nodded and smiled. “More than anything.”
He sipped from the coffee. I watched, holding my breath. How long would it take for the potion to work? A few minutes? Maybe an hour?
Would Axel suddenly look at me with love in his eyes and I would know the spell was broken? Was that a possibility?
As we sat at the table to eat, my stomach started gurgling. It roiled. I pressed my hand to my belly, hoping to calm it down, but a wave of nausea overtook me.
Sweat sprouted on my brow, and I grabbed the table, trying to steady myself.
Suddenly a mammoth wave of sickness swelled in me. I rose, unsteady. “Excuse me.”
I rushed from the table, through the kitchen and out the back door, where I vomited every last ounce of coffee I’d drunk.
Hugo watched me curiously.
I heaved a few more times and wiped my mouth.
Betty’s voice sounded beside me. “You drank the potion,” she said.
I groaned. “Did Axel get any of it?”
She patted my shoulder. “I’m not sure, but the good news is I saved half the pellet. Grab another cup. We’ll get it in him.”
I held my stomach and stared at Betty. She lightly tapped me with her fist. “Buck up, kid. Let’s break the spell.”
With that, I straightened my back and strode toward the house. “Just promise me one thing.”
She smiled. “What’s that?”
“That I don’t have to eat.”
Betty cackled. “Don’t worry, kid. I’ll do enough eating for both of us.”
That sounded just about perfect.
Chapter 13
Turned out, the potion didn’t work. At all. Axel drank the reversal, but it didn’t affect him. Which was not only a huge disappointment, but it also made me wonder exactly what had happened to him.
Had Axel been spelled at all or was this some sort of memory loss brought on by stress?
Which could only mean one thing—our wedding was stressful to Axel.
Needless to say, that thought did not make me feel good. In fact, it depressed me to the point that I considered throwing apples at the magical barking dogwood trees.
Trust me, it’s a thing.
After breakfast, once I realized that the spell hadn’t worked, I went outside to sit on the front porch.
I rocked back and forth on the swing, doing the best I could to ignore the biting sting of the cold.
After a few minutes I heard the groan of the screen door and Axel stepped out.
“May I join you?”
I nodded dumbly.
He sat with a huge exhale. “That was some breakfast.”
“Glad you enjoyed it.”
“It’s too bad the potion you gave me didn’t work.”
My eyelids flared in surprise. I tried to quickly cover up my response. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He nudged me with his shoulder. “I know what y’all did. So…it wasn’t Molly who did this to me.”
No point in denying it. I grimaced before shooting him a smile that begged him not to be angry with me. “Apparently not Molly.”
“Then who do you think it is?”
I shrugged. “Maybe Drew. The woman from the venue. She seems like a smart choice.”
He turned to me. “Want me to get some of her saliva for you?”
I narrowed my eyes. “How would you do that?”
“Ask her for it?”
I laughed. “Do you really think she’ll be that stupid?”
But I started to think about it. Maybe Drew would hand it over. She’d practically thrown herself at Axel. Perhaps she’d be happy to give him what he asked for.
“Does this mean you’ll be going on a date with her?” I asked.
“No, it doesn’t mean that. All it means is that I’ll figure out a way to obtain it.” He paused and stared at his hands. “There is another way, you know.”
I perked up, straightening my back. “What way?”
He nodded off toward the distance. “In the hills. There’s supposedly a Memory Mirror.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Just hanging out in the middle of nowhere. Like just propped up against a tree?”
“No, I’m sure the giants have it.”
“The giants are angry at us. Some of their land was destroyed. Looked like a beast did it.”
Axel’s brows pinched in worry. “A werewolf?”
My stomach knotted at the word. I didn’t want to tell him because I didn’t want to see the hurt that would fill his eyes if he knew one of his kind was responsible.
But I was nothing if not honest. Okay, semi-honest, since I hadn’t told him that I was slipping him a magical pellet in his coffee.
“Yes. Possibly a werewolf.”
<
br /> But it wasn’t hurt that stole the expression from Axel’s face. It was fury. Pure, blind fury.
“No one in my family would do that,” he fumed. “Neither would I.”
I reached for him. “You couldn’t have. You were sick that night. It was the night you…”
“Forgot about you?” he asked bitterly.
My gaze cut to the floorboards. “Yes. That night.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. It was like a blanket had wrapped us up in sorrow. Okay, maybe it was just me, not Axel that was experiencing the blanket.
“Why would someone toy with us?” Axel said.
The anger in his voice not only surprised me, but it called to my heart. I glanced up at him and saw Axel’s jaw set firmly in determination, his ocean-blue eyes filled with turbulence and his nostrils flared in anger.
“Is someone toying with us?” he repeated.
“Yes,” I said dumbly. “With you for certain. Or with me. I’m not sure which. But yes, someone is toying with us. They’ve stolen your memory, and now they’re angering the giants. Why?”
Axel slumped down beside me. “I don’t want to sit. I want to act, but seeing as how I won’t get anywhere without thinking, I might as well enjoy sitting by you for a few minutes.”
I nudged his shoulder with mine. “A little thinking never hurt anyone.”
Axel smirked before scratching his chin and burrowing his back into the swing. “Then why do I feel like it’s hurting us right now?”
“Because you want to find whoever has done this and stop them.”
He tilted his head toward me and smiled. A real smile. Not forced because Axel thought that’s what he was supposed to be doing.
Hope swelled in my chest. Hope that he would remember our connection, that he would feel the love for me that I held for him. But disappointment lived in the shadows of my heart. I dropped my gaze back to the floor, afraid that what Axel might be feeling for me was little more than sympathy.
When I felt love for him, to think that the only thing he held in his heart for me was sympathy made me want to break down and cry.
I cleared my throat. “So. Do you think the two things are connected?”
“Why wouldn’t they be? How much sense does it make that we have two major coincidences? The first one being that I’ve lost my memory. Our wedding is on standstill, and yet our town is full of people who are simply waiting for the festivities to begin. The second is that someone is messing with the hillbilly giants, who we both know are short when it comes to having good tempers.”