A Spell Of Trouble (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (14 page)

“I told you I was summoned. He was already here when I got here, so I thought you—” Dee Dee must have known Issy was gearing up to cast a spell. Her eyes drifted over Issy’s left shoulder. But Issy wasn’t going to fall for that old trick. She sucked in a breath and scrunched her hands into a tight fist.

“Look out!” Dee Dee yelled.

But Issy would not be distracted. She could see Dee Dee’s aura sparking from purple to bright orange.

She was getting ready to shift!

There was no way she could fight or outrun Dee Dee in her wolf form. Summoning all her energy, she thrust her fist out in front of her, flinging her fingers wide.

“
Somnumia!
” White sparks flew from her fingertips as she willed the sleep spell toward Dee Dee.

A poof of blue vapor surrounded Dee Dee, and then she was a wolf, leaning back on her haunches and getting ready to spring. Issy braced herself to fend off the attack, but instead of hurtling toward her, Dee Dee let out one anguished growl and then collapsed onto the ground.

The spell had worked just in the nick of time!

“Wonderful job! You’ve just sealed your own fate.”

Issy’s heart jerked. Someone really had been behind her!

She whirled around to see the satisfied smirk on the face of the dark witch.

Brittany Chase.

I
ssy stepped back
, shoving the acorn amulet into her pocket so as to leave her hands free. She knew better than to get within ten feet of the dark witch. If she got too close, she would be in Brittany’s aura, and that would give the strongest witch power over the magical energy of the other. Maybe Issy was stronger than Brittany, but she couldn’t take that chance. Not with the lives of Cosmo and Bella at stake. Not to mention her own.

She felt the vibrating thrum in her veins of another paranormal presence. But something was off about it. It might’ve been interference from Dee Dee, or there might be something magical cloaked from sight. Probably placed here by Brittany. A magic circle, perhaps? Issy glanced around, trying to locate the telltale shimmer of cloaked magic, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off Brittany for long.

“What do you want? What is this all about?” Issy gestured toward Dee Dee and Cosmo.

Brittany gave her a fake wide-eyed look. “To prove to the authorities that you killed Louella, of course.”

Brittany advanced, and Issy scrambled backward. Every muscle in her body was screaming at her to run, but she couldn’t leave Dee Dee, Cosmo, and Bella. She tried to telegraph a run thought to the little Pomeranian, but the dog had turned her interest to an oak tree, sniffing wildly and then glancing up at Issy excitedly, her tail jerking back and forth. Guess she needed a little more work in the communication department. Issy’s heart twisted at the thought that they might never get the chance.

“And how do you plan to do that?” Issy was curious but also needed to buy time. Somehow she had to get them all safely away from Brittany. Too bad she had no idea how powerful the other woman was, but the mere fact that she hadn’t sensed that she was a paranormal when they’d met outside the bathroom at Hans’s office seemed to indicate her powers were very strong. Did she dare try magic on her? Terrifying thoughts of her earlier failure in fighting dark magic caused panic to bubble in her chest.

“Easy. Caught in the act. Practicing dark magic to turn your werewolf friend into a human.” Brittany looked at Dee Dee pointedly. “And you played into the plan beautifully by giving your friend a nice little nap.”

Issy glanced over at Dee Dee, her stomach swooping. Dee Dee hadn’t been lying. She wasn’t working with the dark witch. She’d been lured out here just like Issy. It had all been part of Brittany’s plan.

Brittany took another step forward, causing Issy to retreat. She was moving farther away from Dee Dee. She needed to get closer to distract Brittany somehow and grab Dee Dee and make a run for it. But how could she do that? There was no way she could lift Dee Dee. Even in her wolf form she weighed eighty pounds.

If only she could communicate with Bella, maybe she could send the dog for help.

As if sensing her thoughts about Bella, Brittany squatted down, holding her hand out to the little dog. “Come here, puppy.”

Bella glanced at Brittany’s outstretched hand and then looked up at Issy uncertainly.

“No, Bella! Run!”

Bella backed away from Brittany and growled, but she didn’t run. If only Bella would leave, Issy would have one less thing to worry about. Bella didn’t leave—instead she trotted over to Cosmo and sniffed at him. With everything else going on, Issy had almost forgotten about the poor bird. A quick glance in his direction showed that he was indeed still alive but unconscious.

“Why take Cosmo? What do you plan to do to him?”

“Oh, I do have a plan for the bird, but don’t worry—he won’t be harmed. He was just the bait to lure you and Dee Dee here. One of the benefits of living in a small town is they practically roll the streets up after supper. But I knew that Gray was open late. You gave me that information yourself in Hans’s office.”

Issy wanted to wipe the smug smile from Brittany’s face with a slapping spell, but she didn’t dare start flinging magic. If she did, Brittany would surely retaliate, and she wasn’t sure who would come out the winner. Better to try to find a way to disarm her first and make a run for it.

“So you kidnapped him knowing I’d try to read his last thoughts and come looking. But what about Dee Dee? She wasn’t looking for Cosmo,” Issy said.

“Dee Dee was easy. I simply put a call in to the police station about a ruckus going on out here in the woods. I knew Dee Dee would rush out and conveniently drive right by the hair salon. Planting Dee Dee’s amulet under Cosmo’s cage only sealed the deal to make you more suspicious. I knew once you saw her race by you’d follow her. I was afraid you’d bring one of your pesky cousins, but it looks like I got lucky.”

“So you’re the witch who used dark magic to kill Louella?”

Brittany shrugged. “Do I look like a witch? I don’t have a wart on my nose or a pointed hat.”

Brittany stepped forward, driving Issy back even more. Trying to keep up the conversation and think of a way to outwit Brittany was exhausting. If there was only some way to put her out of commission for a while, but a sleep spell like the one she’d cast on Dee Dee could boomerang on her, and Issy couldn’t risk that.

What about some sort of distraction spell? It would have to distract her long enough to allow Issy to reverse the sleeping spell and wake Dee Dee. But Issy wasn’t sure if she was powerful enough to hold the distraction spell and wake up the sleeping wolf. If only she had help to carry Dee Dee out, then she would only need to cast one spell. She needed more time to think. More time to summon energy from her core.

“How do you plan to prove that I’m doing dark magic on Dee Dee?”

“A magic circle, of course. I have one cleverly hidden.” Brittany made a wide gesture with her hand to indicate the entire wooded section they stood in. “All the ingredients you need for a transformation spell already included, so there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to what you are up to.”

Issy wasn’t sure how much the FBPI knew about the various ingredients that went into spells, but the committee would know. And if she were caught by one of them in the woods with the ingredients for a transformation spell, it wouldn’t be good. To make matters worse, she had Dee Dee’s acorn amulet in her pocket. Part of getting the spell to work was having an item from the intended recipient that had been close to their skin, and Dee Dee had worn that amulet around her neck for months.

Most of the ingredients needed for the transformation spell were easy to get. Sea salt, feathers from a raven’s tail, graveyard dust. But there was one big thing Brittany couldn’t possibly have, and that one thing might be Issy’s saving grace. “I doubt they will fall for that. A transformation spell requires a beating heart, and you couldn’t possibly have that. For that you’d need a sacrifice.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Brittany pointed to the large oak that Bella had been so interested in sniffing. Issy saw the telltale shimmer of magic at its base.

Issy’s heart twisted as the shimmer materialized into the form of Christian Vonner. He was chained to the oak tree with heavy metal chain. Struggling against them, he twisted and turned.

He looked right at Issy, his panicked energy washing over her like a giant tidal wave. “Help me!”

Issy jerked her head back toward Brittany. “You wouldn’t!”

“Of course I would…” Brittany held her hands up in front of her. “Oh, I know he was my boyfriend and everything, but he’s kind of young. We don’t have a lot in common. Besides, now I have my sights set on a much more suitable boyfriend.” Brittany fluffed her hair, making it obvious that she was talking about Gray.

“Gray? He wouldn’t go for you.”

“No? Not even after I save his precious Cosmo from your evil plans?”

“He would never believe that. No one will, and besides, I’m not cutting Christian’s heart out.”

“No, I’ll do that. I’m just going to make it
look
like it was you.”

Issy’s heart tumbled. Her eyes flicked to Christian, who was still struggling and pleading with her to help him. Was Brittany seriously going to kill Christian? But if she’d been the one to kill Louella, it probably wouldn’t faze her to kill Christian, too.

Brittany came closer.

Issy had to think of something fast.

Next to Cosmo, Bella let out a high-pitched bark. Cosmo was still lying unconscious. Dee Dee in her wolf form lay there just as still. Alive but unconscious. She needed to get them both out of there, but the only one here to help her was Bella.

Unless…

If she could free Christian, he could carry Dee Dee. Then Issy could take Cosmo while she tried to hold off Brittany.

But how could she free him and still keep an eye on Brittany? Issy took another step backward. She was surprised Brittany hadn’t tried any magic on her yet. It was possible the other witch was conserving energy so she could whammy her with a concentrated dose.

Issy didn’t think she could fight off a concentrated dose, but she had to act soon. She needed to get very close to the chain in order to break it quickly. Her magic would be more powerful the closer she was, and she wouldn’t have to take her focus from Brittany for quite as long.

Brittany’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as Issy backed up toward Christian.

She needed a distraction.

“Well, I gotta get this show on the road so the FBPI can get here in time to witness you doing dark magic. The timing has to be just so. It’s tedious, really,” Brittany said.

It was now or never.

Issy sucked in a breath and spun around in a movement that she hoped would confuse and distract Brittany.

“
Turbonicious!
” She didn’t want to aim her magic directly at Brittany for fear it would boomerang back and hit her. Instead, she aimed it at the ground, creating a whirlwind of dirt and dried leaves that engulfed Brittany, swirling around her as if she were in the middle of tornado.

“Hey, what the—” Brittany batted at the leaves and dirt, forgetting to pay attention to Issy as she tried to work a way out from the whirlwind.

Issy took advantage of the opportunity. She rushed toward Christian, kneeling beside him and taking the heavy chain in her hand.

“I’m going to break the chain! We don’t have much time. You have to help me get Dee Dee out of here while Brittany is distracted.”

A weird tingle of energy coursed through her, but Issy didn’t have time to wonder why it felt so strange. She screwed up her eyes and held her breath, focusing on the thick metal chains as she curled her hand into a fist, directing her energy out to her fingertips.

The electrifying buzz shot down her arm through her elbow and to her wrist then spilled into her fingers. A few more seconds, and she’d have it.

A hand clamped over her wrist, sending white-hot energy back up her arm.

Her eyes shot open. It was Christian’s hand. But how had he gotten unchained? Her gaze shot from his hand to his face, and her heart jerked in her chest.

Deep in his eyes she saw the truth just as she felt the surge of his energy draining hers. She’d made a huge mistake.

Brittany wasn’t the dark witch. It was Christian.

She’d fallen right into the trap that had put her directly into his aura and given him the opportunity to drain her magical energy.

I
ssy’s magic faltered
. The vortex stopped swirling around Brittany, and the leaves fluttered to the ground. Issy’s limbs grew weak as Christian drained the energy out of her. His powers were strong. Dark powers. Worse than the ones she hadn’t been able to fight before.

Still crouching on the ground, she tried to scramble away, but Christian’s aura held her in place like a magnet. Her gaze drifted to his black boots. The same exact boots that were in the salamander's frantic memories. Cold seeped into every inch of her. She was vaguely aware of Brittany cackling in the background.

Even though Brittany’s cackle was witchlike, Issy now knew that Brittany was no witch. That was why she hadn’t felt that tingle of awareness she usually felt when she encountered another paranormal when they’d run into her at Hans’s office and probably why Mortimer hadn’t wilted. Issy wondered if Brittany had been the one dealing with Hans about the Vonner property at Christian’s request.

With regret, Issy realized she should have listened to her intuition. She’d thought something wasn’t right about the paranormal presence she’d felt here in the woods when Brittany had first appeared. Now she knew it hadn’t felt “right” because the source wasn’t Brittany, standing in front of her—it was Christian.

“You set me up.” Issy was surprised to find her voice was still strong. A lukewarm flicker of hope sprang up inside her as she managed to move a few inches away from Christian, backing toward the edge of the circle, which she could now see outlined in a faint glow around her.

Christian laughed. “Duh. It always did take you a while to catch on, like when I was a teenager and used to steal frogs and fish food from your store for my pet piranhas.”

“I knew you were stealing. I just didn’t turn you in for it. I figured it was a phase and you were just a kid.” Issy’s voice was steady, but her mind was frantically searching for a way out. Though being in Christian’s aura had drained her initially, she found some of that energy being restored as she inched her way backward. Maybe he wasn’t as strong as she’d thought, or maybe her own magic was stronger?

Her eyes fell on Cosmo and Dee Dee. What would become of them if she didn’t at least try to fight Christian? Not to mention Bella, who was trotting around the edge of the circle, sniffing and whining. It was clear that she wanted to get to Issy, but the invisible magic barrier of the circle stopped her.

“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.