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  “Please forgive us,” Ben said. “My wife is a little distraught.” I was too dumbstruck to say anything. Gary and Kitty were completely in the dark. It was left to Travis to grab the reins of the situation. He motioned for the waitress to bring our check and told the rest of us he’d catch up outside.

  I couldn’t get out of the Grotto fast enough. Everyone in there had been treated to a dandy show. It was bound to be the talk of the town in Watkins Glen and by tomorrow in New Camel. I led the way out of the restaurant, trying not to look at the expressions on the faces we passed.

  “That woman is clearly disturbed,” Kitty said. We were standing together near their car after brunch. “I felt so bad for her husband. And for you. What on earth did she think you would do to her child?”

  I explained about the day I’d stopped in the ceramic shop to chat. When I reached the part where Conner was on a collision course with the heavy kiln, I switched out magick for quick reflexes. “Fortunately, I was close enough to grab him out of harm’s way. Somehow the situation got turned around in her head and suddenly I’ve become the boogey man.”

  Gary gave me a fatherly pat on the shoulder. “Don’t give it another thought. Proof of your innocence was evident to everyone in the restaurant—that little boy was delighted to see you again.”

  “She may have been off her meds,” Kitty added as Travis trotted up to us.

  “Hey, I’m just glad we were able to finish our meal in peace before they walked in.” He reminded his folks they should get started on their trip home. There was always a lot of traffic on a Sunday afternoon. Kitty gave us fair warning that they’d be returning in the not too distant future to see New Camel, particularly my shop, and to meet the rest of my tiny family. I said I looked forward to it.

  They hugged us both goodbye. “Don’t you let what happened in there trouble you,” Gary said as he slid behind the wheel. I smiled and nodded. The odds were he and Kitty would have put it out of their heads before they were halfway home, but for me it would remain ever present. Too many people had witnessed it and heard what Tess said. People who knew Tess and knew there was nothing wrong with her mind. Over the next days and weeks, they would make it their nosey business to ask her what the brouhaha was all about. And they’d pass her answer on to friends and family.

  Chapter 28

  My mother popped into the bathroom as I was getting ready for bed. Her energy cloud was a queasy combination of chartreuse and puce that I’d never seen before. “I was afraid of just this sort of thing,” she started with, instead of hello.

  I spit out the toothpaste in my mouth. “Me too.” I meant both the incident at brunch and her inevitable rant about it, but I didn’t say that out loud.

  “The question for now is how to handle it,” Morgana continued.

  “Handle it?” Bronwen appeared in the mirror giving me a start. One moment I was looking at my own reflection and the next I was looking at her cloud infused with a lilac hue of calm. “There is no way to handle it. Anything she did now would only etch it more permanently into everyone’s brains.”

  Morgana looked appalled “Your advice is to do nothing?” To let rumors fly uncontested until they eventually impact her business? Lead to threats on her life?”

  “The rumors will fizzle out as long as Kailyn holds her head high and refuses to get down in the mud with Tess Webster and the gossipmongers. Even if a few people stay away initially, it won’t be long before they realize they can’t buy remedies half as potent as the ones they get at Abracadabra. You’ll see how quickly they decide that a little magick isn’t such a bad thing.”

  I patted our hydrating cream on my face and neck. “Do I get a say in this?”

  “No,” my mother said, “there are some things your elders should decide.”

  “Yes, of course you do,” my grandmother countered, popping out of the mirror for emphasis or perhaps to stare her daughter down. “Morgana, you need to accept the fact that we’re dead. We won’t always be able to advise her. She’s the one who’s living. She must make the decisions that will impact her life.”

  I couldn’t ignore them any longer and I didn’t want to squeeze past them to reach the hall. “Do you want to know what I think?” They both turned to me, at least I think they did. It can be hard to tell with clouds. “I don’t intend to say a word about the incident unless someone brings it up. If they do, I’ll answer them as honestly as I can without mentioning magick.” I didn’t wait for their reactions. I’d already spent far too much time worrying about the brunch, which was ridiculous because no amount of worrying could change anything. I had a business to run and I needed sleep. I drew in my breath to make myself as narrow as possible and slid between them to make my escape. They could follow me of course, but I was banking on the fact that they much preferred sparring with each other.

  * * * *

  I had no idea what time they took their leave, but when I went into the bathroom the next morning I was the only one there. Except for one of my cats who loved curling up in the sink, providing it was dry. I showered, applied eyeliner and mascara, and ran a brush through my hair.

  I fed the cats, made a cup of strong coffee that I poured into a thermos, and ran upstairs to pull on jeans and a light sweater. It was the time of year when it was hard to know how to dress. I rounded up Sashkatu, who’d fallen asleep on the powder room floor after breakfast. We were crossing the street to my shop when a car came barreling toward us. I grabbed Sashki and jumped out of the way. The car screeched to a stop and reversed to where I was standing with Sashkatu in my arms. My knees were trembling, making no promise to keep us upright. The driver rolled down the heavily tinted window. I thought he wanted to make sure we were all right and maybe apologize. I stepped closer to the car. That’s when the back door flew open. A guy as big as a linebacker was on me before I could react. When I opened my mouth to scream, he slapped a hand the size of a ham across my mouth. The driver handed him some packing tape to shut me up. I tried to fight him, but with Sashki in my arms it was impossible.

  The linebacker demanded I drop the cat, but Sashki leaped at his face, raking his claws from the guy’s eye to his chin and jumping to the ground before he could retaliate. The linebacker screamed, but the driver told him to shut up before the neighbors heard him and called 911. He settled for muttering a string of epithets under his breath while he pulled my hands behind my back and bound my wrists with plastic cuffs—the kind police use. He threw me into the backseat, clambering in after me. Blood was dripping onto his clothes. “Damn cat ruined my shirt,” he grumbled. “He’s lucky he got away. I would’ve liked to wring his neck.”

  “Shut your trap, Boscoe,” the driver snapped. “We got what we came for.” He hung a U-ie and sped out of New Camel. “Get the blindfold on her.”

  The linebacker named Boscoe pulled a frayed and dirty-looking bandana out of his jeans’ pocket. He pulled it across my eyes and tied it at the back of my head. It was too tight, pressing into my eyes, but I couldn’t say anything with the tape across my mouth. All that came out were unintelligible sounds. The driver told me to shut the hell up or he’d have his colleague knock me out.

  For a while I tried to keep track of where they were taking me. But after twenty minutes and too many left and right turns, I gave up. Instead I listened for sounds that might help orient me along the way. If my mouth wasn’t bound with the tape, I would have laughed at myself. It wasn’t going to matter where they were taking me if their goal was to kill me. Yet if that was their intention, why wait to do it? A dead body is much easier to transport than a living one with a mind of its own. Maybe whoever had paid for their services wanted to kill me themselves. My time in the car could be put to better use by creating a spell to supplement my protection wards that had been MIA so far today. I would only use the spell as a last resort. Using my abilities to save a child from harm had come back to bite me. I didn’t want to find out what
the blowback would be from using a spell to cause harm.

  We drove for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably no more than an hour. Time drags when you’re not having fun. I didn’t know what was hurting more—the tape, the blindfold or the plastic cuffs abrading my wrists. I decided they all played second fiddle to the fear twisting in my gut. I might have finally gotten myself into more trouble than I could survive. With me out of the way, Whitney could swoop right in and guilt her way back into Travis’s heart. That thought reawakened my survival instincts more than any other. I wasn’t ready to join Morgana and Bronwen in the great beyond.

  The car made one final turn and we bumped along a badly rutted road for five minutes, before the car came to a stop and the driver turned off the engine. Boscoe opened the door and pulled me out of the car. I smelled fresh vegetation and moldering layers of dead leaves. It was shaded, little light making it through the blindfold. And it was deeply quiet.

  “Don’t take off the blindfold and tape until we get her inside,” the driver said. We went a couple dozen steps. I was jerked along by the arm, tripping over the uneven ground and my own feet. I didn’t bother to complain. Not only wouldn’t they understand me, but my comfort was clearly the last thing on their minds.

  A door creaked open. The driver told me to watch my step. Very funny, I thought as I tripped over the threshold and went down hard on my knees. The linebacker pulled me up, almost wrenching my arm out of the socket. If I got out of this alive, I was going to need the best remedies my aunt and Merlin could whip up.

  One of my captors closed the door behind us. Whatever this place was, it smelled old and stale with a note of mildew. A light went on. At least there was electricity. Boscoe pulled off the blindfold. For a minute, all I could see were spots and flashes of light. It took a little while, but once I could see properly again, there wasn’t much to take in. We were in a small, one room cabin without much in the way of amenities. An old cot with a stained mattress was pushed against one wall. Across from it was an ancient sink, a dorm-sized fridge and a small shiny microwave that looked anachronistic among the other things.

  “This I’m gonna enjoy,” the linebacker sneered as he ripped the packing tape off my mouth. I wanted to scream, but I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. It did me good to see the long, red welt on his face compliments of Sashkatu. I’d been worried about him from the moment he scratched Boscoe and jumped down. But he hadn’t appeared to be limping. I told myself over and over that he was a wily and resourceful cat. If Tilly or Merlin didn’t hear him yowl through the back of the building that housed our shops, he would go around to the front door where they would be sure to see him. Tilly would be worried about me when she saw him there alone. She’d run for the connecting door, only to find it still locked. She’d call my house and cell phone and when I didn’t answer, she’d dial 911 and get in touch with Travis. The police might refuse to start the search until forty-eight hours had passed, but I knew Curtis would help in whatever capacity he could. And Travis was probably out looking for me even now.

  Chapter 29

  Boscoe and the driver were looking around the accommodations as if they had never been there before. Now that I saw the driver standing, he and Boscoe reminded me of Abbott and Costello in the old sitcoms Tilly used to watch. The driver was short and stout like Costello.

  “Why did you kidnap me?” I asked. “What does your employer want from me?”

  The driver smirked. “You’ll find out.”

  Boscoe edged closer to him and whispered in his ear loudly enough for me to hear. “Hey, you told me you didn’t know.”

  “Never mind what I know or I don’t know,” the driver snapped, pushing Boscoe away and rubbing at his ear the way a child rubs a kiss away from his cheek.

  “Any chance you could uncuff me?” I asked. “I need to use the bathroom.” There was one door set into the wall opposite the front door. Three possibilities came to mind. It could be a backdoor out of the cabin, a bathroom or a closet. I was wishing hard for a bathroom.

  “If I take off the cuffs, you better not try anything stupid,” the driver warned me.

  “You’re kidding, right? Like I’d have a chance against the two of you.”

  Boscoe laughed. “She ain’t no Wonder Woman.”

  “Okay, fine,” the driver said. He went over to the sink and opened the lopsided cabinet beneath it. “If I can’t find a knife or a scissor, you’re out of luck.” Great—these two rocket scientists brought cuffs, but no means of removing them. I swallowed my frustration and tried to think calmly. I could use a spell to make them fall off, but then I’d be showing them my hand, so to speak. If they got scared enough they might decide not to wait for their boss to put a bullet in me. I was debating what to do when the linebacker pulled a Swiss army knife out of his pocket.

  “You know I think this thing has a scissor.” The driver came up to him and grabbed it out of his hand.

  “Yeah, you think?!” He opened the knife, found the scissor and snipped off the cuffs. We were about to learn what was behind door number two. The driver tossed the knife back to the linebacker and went to find out. The wood was warped and took some tugging to open, but it was a bathroom. He told me not to lock the door or he’d break it down. I figured he meant his large colleague would knock it down. I was so happy to see the bathroom that I would have promised him my first born. Luckily it didn’t come to that.

  The bathroom was tiny and old. There was a rust stained toilet and sink. No window. I stepped inside and closed the door without engaging the lock. While I was taking care of business, I looked for something I could use to my advantage. I had no doubt that MacGyver would have come up with half a dozen ideas. Then it hit me. And one idea was all I needed.

  “What’s takin’ so long?” the driver asked. “Do I have to come in there?”

  I opened the door. “A girl needs time to primp,” I said with a hefty dose of sarcasm. “Do you happen to know how long we’re going to be here?”

  “Why? You got a hot date?” Boscoe snorted.

  “What if I do? What if it’s with a cop? What if the cop is already on your trail?” I knew I shouldn’t be baiting them, but I couldn’t help myself. Boscoe looked worried.

  “You think she’s telling the truth?” he said to the driver. “Maybe we should get out of here. I don’t like this.” He was getting himself worked up. “Didn’t like it from the start. I don’t know why I let you talk me into stuff. Easy money, you said. I haven’t seen a penny yet. Why should we take the rap for—” The driver hauled off and punched Boscoe on the chin, which was as high as he could reach. He had a pretty solid right hook.

  “Shut up. Try usin’ your brain for a change. Even if her boyfriend is a cop, how would he know what happened to her? He probably won’t even know she’s missing till he goes to pick her up tonight. And how on earth would he find this place anyways?”

  If I could get the two of them fighting, I might have a chance to escape. “He may already know where I am. My aunt is a psychic,” I said. “Surely you’ve heard of Matillda Wilde—she’s famous. Celebrities come from all over the world for her readings. She’s probably homed in on my brain waves and is directing the police here as we speak.” I’d pushed too far. I saw it in the driver’s eyes as he came at me. He smacked me so hard, my lip split and I fell back onto the cot.

  “Shut your mouth or I’ll knock your teeth out next time!”

  “Do. Not. Ever. Touch me again!” I said, fury whipping through me like a cyclone.

  “Or what?!” he snarled.

  It was time for the spell I’d created in the car—consequences be damned. I recited it three times to myself:

  I am razors; I am knives,

  I am needles in your eyes.

  I will burn you like hot coal;

  I will freeze you like North’s pole.

  “Or what?!” he repeate
d, grabbing my arm. He cried out and dropped it instantly as if he were holding a hot branding iron. “What the—!” he bellowed, the arrogant sneer gone from his face.

  “What happened?” Boscoe asked.

  “She burned me. See?” The driver held out his palm. There wasn’t a mark on him.

  Boscoe laughed. “Use your brain, sucker—does it look like you’re burned?”

  “Yeah, well you go touch her and see what happens, bird brain.” Boscoe approached me warily. He reached out to touch my arm with his fingertips, but the moment they came in contact with my skin, he pulled away from me with a high-pitched shriek.

  “She sliced my fingers,” he said, cradling his hand.

  “Lemme see.” Boscoe slowly uncurled the fingers of his right hand. They both stared in disbelief at his fine, uninjured fingers. “She’s gotta be a witch or somethin’” the driver said.

  “What are we gonna do?”

  The driver seemed to have regained some of his wits. From a safe distance, he ordered me into the bathroom. I did as I was told, looking down, walking like a penitent. “If you try to come out of there, I’ll shoot you,” he said. I nodded meekly. It was exactly what I wanted to hear.

  Chapter 30

  It might be my only chance to escape. As much as I wanted to see who had hired these two buffoons to abduct me, I knew it would be foolhardy to pass up an opportunity to save myself. Neither Tilly nor Travis would ever forgive me if I wound up dead. And even if I found out who the killer was, what good would it do if I wasn’t alive to tell anyone?