“When did it start?”
“About an hour ago, I think.”
I wasn’t about to let an opportunity go. “What has he eaten and drunk today?”
“He had sausages, toast, and a cup of tea for breakfast. That’s it, I think.”
“At home or out?”
“Why are you asking me these questions?”
“I’ve heard the police think there’s something in the food. Please just tell me where you got the food. You don’t want this to happen again, do you?”
She looked over at Brian, who had his head in a rose bush. “Um, we got the sausages from the Westerham butcher, and the tea I get from T-riffic. They can make up whatever blend you want. But we’ve never had a problem with them before. And I made the bread with supermarket-bought flour.”
“Okay, thanks. I appreciate your help.”
“Will he be okay? I mean, should I watch him, make sure he’s all right?”
He straightened from the roses and zigzagged to the next house, buzzing as he went. “Um, I guess you could watch him. He’ll probably be a bit confused when it wears off.”
“Okay, thanks, um, what was your name?”
I smiled. “Lily.”
“Thanks for helping me. I just…. He’s not usually—”
“I know, but if it happens again, please call the police.”
She nodded and slowly followed Brian as he buzzed from flower to flower. I smirked, then went back to the car.
When I’d gotten in and shut the door, Olivia asked, “What the hell just happened? What did you do?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s illegal for a witch to put a spell on a non-witch, even if it’s to save his girlfriend or sister or whoever she is and stop his violent rampage. Maybe he just decided to channel his energy into bee-ing more productive?” I snorted.
“That was rather bzzz-arre.” She giggled and started the car. “To the teahouse?”
“Yes, and afterwards we’ll take a detour to T-riffic. Have you heard of it?”
“I have, actually. I sometimes get tea from there. They have the most amazing blends.” She signalled, looked over her shoulder, then pulled out.
The teahouse was only a few minutes down the road, on the fringe of Westerham. Olivia pulled into a reasonable-sized dirt parking area that sprawled in front of a two-storey brick barn conversion. On the left, as we faced the building, was the teahouse, and on the right-hand side was an antique and collectables shop.
But something wasn’t right. I scanned the parking area. It was almost empty. “Is this normally a popular place?”
“Yes.” Olivia turned her head, looking out her window, my window, then at the large glass door directly in front. “Oh, it’s closed.”
Damn. “Maybe they didn’t feel safe, so they shut it until things die down? Let’s have a look anyway.” I was reaching for my door handle when my phone dinged with a message. I hurried to get it out of my pocket, expecting or hoping to see James’s number. Nope. I frowned as sadness rested heavy hands on my shoulders.
Unknown number.
I opened the message. “What the…?”
“What is it?” Olivia looked at me.
I was just about to tell her when I realised that I needed to be extra careful now that Dana had turned everyone against me. She wanted to discover my secrets, and I wouldn’t put it past her to spy somehow. I whispered the private bubble spell, which meant no one else could hear our conversation with normal hearing or magic. If I was being targeted by an agent, I needed to start thinking like one.
“It's from James, but it’s not from his phone. I’ll read it out.” I was relieved he’d messaged, and I smiled, but why hadn’t he sent it from his phone? “Hey, sis, sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner. Mill and the baby are fine. The doctors said it might just be stress. Beren couldn’t find anything untoward either, so we’ve just come home, and Mill is supposed to rest for the afternoon. I’m going to stay with her.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I’ll say, but hang on; there’s more. ‘I’m sending this from a throwaway phone. My other phone is being monitored. I’m not sure what happened this afternoon, Lil, but I want you to know that I know Dana is up to something. Everyone was acting weird, so I thought I’d better play along, but I’ve got your back. I’m sorry I had to pretend like I didn’t notice. Also, the emergency with Millicent. It’s not safe for us to catch up today, but I’ll try and work something out for tomorrow, and bring Olivia. Also, just so you know it’s me: Mum’s diaries. Love you. J.’”
I lifted my head and met Olivia’s stare. She smiled. “Told you he’d be on your side. What the hell is going on over there? And if Dana’s managed to influence everyone else, how come your brother isn’t affected?”
“Probably the same reason she can’t influence me. Maybe it’s some kind of genetic talent?”
“Don’t look at me. I know even less than you do.” She grinned.
“That’s not something to be happy about. Sheesh. We need all the info we can get.” I smiled. It did feel good to know my brother still loved me. And now, if we found anything, I could pass the information onto him. “We’ve still got work to do. Let’s go.”
I slid out of the car and approached the front doors. I rested my forehead on the glass and peered in. Empty chairs sat at clean tables. The lights were off, although daylight gave me a clear view of the unmanned register and the vacant display windows next to the counter that normally would have held ready-made food.
Olivia stood next to me and looked in. After a couple of minutes, we stepped back. “Now what?” she asked.
“Well, we can’t get any samples to test, which is really disappointing. If I knew where they kept their tea, I could magic some out, but without being able to visualise it…” I shrugged. “What if we go to the hospital? It’s not like they can close. We’ll get a sample of whatever you had.”
“Yeah, but Dad ate there too, and he was fine.”
“True. You both had the pudding, right?”
“Yes, although we drank different things.”
“I thought you both had tea?”
“I had Earl Grey, and he had English Breakfast.” Her eyes grew bigger as she likely realised what that meant.
It was kind of exciting news. It meant that maybe only one type of tea was affected—if, indeed, tea was the culprit. Considering most English people drank tea, it would make sense to contaminate it if you wanted to create a massive calamity. Putting poison or whatever in the water supply was probably a tad too obvious and trickier.
I grinned. “Come on. Let’s go.” I hurried to her car and jumped in. Excitement had my legs bouncing.
My happy buzz was short-lived.
The prickly sensation of someone using magic crawled from my scalp down my nape. I shuddered. Normally, it was just a warm, slightly uncomfortable feeling, but this had an ickiness about it, like the stabbing of fast-moving, little cockroach claws. As Olivia got in the car, I whispered the return-to-sender spell and tensed, waiting for the drain on my power. It didn’t come, but I kept my guard up. I glanced around the car park. I was sure we’d been the only ones here. Had we been followed?
Olivia turned to me. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a witch out there using magic.”
“Could it just be random, like someone magicking something to themselves, and they just happen to be nearby?”
“Maybe, but I get the feeling it’s more than that.” There was no one near us, that I could see, anyway, but I didn’t want to take any chances. It might be someone sent by whoever was after me, or it could be Dana, looking to cause more trouble. As much as it pained me to say it, I couldn’t take the risk. “Liv, let’s go home. I need a coffee.” I shook my head at her, hoping she didn’t argue. Whoever was out there could be listening in, and I didn’t have the skill to keep up a return-to-sender spell and a bubble of silence. I snorted. The things I was saying to myself these days would have had t
he me from a few months ago thinking it was time to check myself into somewhere that had straight jackets.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, really.”
“You can’t do that, Lily.”
“Huh?”
“It’s like when someone on Facebook posts a vague status, like ‘I’m over this,’ or whatever. It’s bad form, lady. Bad form.”
I laughed. “Fair enough. I hate vaguebooking too. I was just musing at how weird my life is now that things like bubbles of silence and spells are the norm. How the hell did I get here?” I hadn’t had that much time to ponder things since I’d arrived in the UK, and that was probably a good thing because the life I lived now was a tad terrifying. But did I want to return to ignorance and a relatively simple life back in Sydney? It was certainly tempting.
Olivia started the car. “I’m not sure how you got here, but I’m glad you made it.” She smiled. “Let’s get you that coffee.”
As she drove out of the premises, I spied a black Porsche across the road. The windows were so dark that I couldn't see who was inside. “Pull over for a sec.”
Liv did as I asked.
I took out my phone, then leant across to whisper in her ear. “See that Porsche? What’s the number plate?” She had a better view of it than I did, and I wasn’t going to get out of the car and be obvious about what I was doing. I also hoped if they were listening in with magic, that they couldn’t hear a whisper. I was pretty sure listening with magic was like having a listening device that didn’t necessarily amplify what was being said.
I handed her my phone, and she typed in the seven letter-number combination.
“Thanks. Okay, let’s go.”
We didn’t talk on the way back to Angelica’s. As soon as we arrived home and got inside, I dropped my return-to-sender spell and made a bubble of silence around the two of us. Dana had influenced Angelica, so there was no way I wanted her hearing what I had to say either. Guilt sat uncomfortably in my chest like heartburn. Angelica had been my mother’s best friend, and she’d protected me so far, but things had changed. I knew it wasn’t real—if Dana hadn’t tampered with her mind, I wouldn’t be in this situation. But she had, and I was. It didn’t mean I had to like keeping secrets from Angelica.
We went into the kitchen. I turned the coffee machine on, and Olivia filled the kettle. Then we sat next to each other at the kitchen table.
“It’s safe to talk. I’ve created a bubble. I couldn’t before because I had another spell activated.”
“Okay, cool. So, why the change of plans?” Olivia asked.
“We’d been followed by, I’m guessing, whoever was in the Porsche. Now that I’m blacklisted from the PIB, I have to be extra careful. They took my protective detail away too.”
Her mouth formed a large O. “Oh my God! You didn’t mention that before. Surely James wouldn’t leave you vulnerable?”
“Ordinarily, no, but stupid Piranha’s influenced everyone. I bet if James asked an agent to watch over me, they’d say no, that they’ve had orders from higher up. Dana questioned the fact that resources were being wasted on me, and she had everyone’s support. Even Beren and William are caught up in her magic.” Another piece of my heart broke off and slid into the ever-deepening black hole of abandonment. I took a moment to feel sorry for myself. Dramatic, I knew, but totally justified.
“You’re not on your own.” Olivia put her hand on mine. “I know I can’t do magic, but I’ve got your back. Whatever you need, just ask.”
“Thanks, Liv. I appreciate it.” Boiling water echoed inside the steel kettle and tripped the off switch. Click.
Olivia made her tea while I manually made my coffee—I wasn’t done with my bubble of silence yet.
Once we had our beverages, we reconvened at the table. I deeply inhaled the heady coffee scent. It did wonders to soothe my angst. If only coffee could solve all my problems.
I took a sip, then spoke. “I have the makings of a plan.”
“Spill.”
“Okay, so I need the address of that hospital and exactly which cafeteria it is because they sometimes have more than one.”
She nodded. “I can do that. What else?”
“Once you give me that, I can look up the coordinates on my mind map and travel there, grab the samples we need, and come back. In the meantime, I’m hoping you can look up the number plate. Do you know how to access those things yet?”
“I know where I’m supposed to get the information, but I need to be added to the system first, as in, I need to have an authorised account.”
“Hmm. I could probably magic you in somehow, but if we got caught, we’d both be in a world of crap. I wonder if James could arrange it without being found out?”
“It’s worth a try.”
“The only problem is that I have to wait for him to contact me. We may have to wait a day or two for that, but I can grab those samples today and start testing.”
Olivia curled both hands around her cup. “Sounds good. Then what?”
“Well, it depends on the results. If I can’t figure anything out, we’re back to the beginning, but if I get a positive result, we’ll have to find out where they get their tea from. The number of people affected means it’s probably not individuals at different places contaminating the tea. It’s likely happening at the source.”
“True. So, if Angelica comes home when you’re out, what do you want me to say?”
I tapped my fingernail against my mug. She was sure to know if Olivia lied. “I hate saying this, but we can’t trust her, and she can read your mind if she wants. She’ll know if you’re not telling the truth. I could put a mind shield on you, but then she’d just be suspicious. I can’t risk anything getting back to the psycho fish.”
Olivia giggled. “Wouldn’t it be cool if you could turn her into an actual piranha. Then we could flush her down the toilet.”
I laughed. “I couldn’t think of anything more fitting. I’ll get started on that spell once we figure out who’s ruining Westerham society.” It was good to have goals.
“So what can you do to make sure Angelica doesn’t find out what we’re doing?”
“I wonder if I could protect just the thoughts to do with me and disguise it so no one can tell at a quick look. It’s illegal for witches to read minds without due cause, but now Dana’s involved, I’d say the usual rules don’t apply. But I'm thinking if anyone delves into your thoughts, it will be just a cursory look. Although, because it is illegal, Angelica’s unlikely to ask me why your mind is shielded since she’ll be giving herself away. I’d just rather no one figured we were being extra careful.”
She shivered. “I don’t like the sound of a witch slinking through my thoughts. Creepy.”
“Yeah. It's not nice. Hang on a sec.” I mumbled the words to magic the grimoire to me. Will had given it to me before Dana had fully gotten her sharp teeth into him. There were an insane number of spells inside. There was sure to be one for what I wanted.
I read through six pages of the contents list before I found what I wanted: Hide Specific Thought. There was detailed information on the spell.
This spell involves burying a memory under many others. If the memory is buried deep enough, it is possible to hide it from the subjects themselves. A reverse spell may be required to give the person access to the memory at a later time. Be sure to cast the spell with only a trickle of power: the mind is a delicate thing, and you are looking to hide rather than destroy the memory. If too much force is utilised, other memories are also at risk of being destroyed. Not a spell for new witches. At least three years’ experience is recommended.
I gulped and looked at Olivia, who leaned away from me.
“I don’t like that look on your face, Lily. What’s wrong?”
“The spell requires finesse I may not have. If I get it wrong, you’ll permanently forget what I’m trying to hide, and if I’m really crap, you could lose other memories.” Did I want to risk that? More imp
ortantly, did she want to risk it?
“Would they be memories of the last few days, because I could really stand to lose a few of those?” She grinned.
I totally knew how she felt. “I have no idea. If you don’t want to do it this way, it’s fine. I can just shield your mind, and so what if Angelica finds out. Although it might make you a target of Agent Witchface when she discovers you’re helping me.”
“If that was her following us today, she’d already realise. It’s a no-brainer, really.”
“Okay, we’ll just go for the normal mind-protection spell.”
“Cool. Let’s do this.” She sat up straight and licked her bottom lip.
“Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt. Promise.” I placed my hands on either side of her head. I was careful to only draw a small amount of power—too much would fry her brain or hair. Best not to think about that. I shook my head to clear it.
I made sure my voice was clear, confident. I didn’t want Olivia worrying more than necessary. “These thoughts are Olivia’s. She does not wish to share. Protect them well, little bubble, with a barrier as invisible as air.” An almost inaudible bell sounded. It didn’t always happen when a spell was complete, but sometimes it did. I had no idea why or what it was for, but whatever. Random witch stuff, I supposed.
“Did you hear that?”
I never would have guessed she could have heard it. “The little bell?”
“Yes. What does it mean?”
“I think it’s like a confirmation the spell worked, but I really don’t know for sure. See, it didn’t hurt.”
“No, and I don’t really feel any different.” She smiled and pulled out her phone. After a minute, she said, “I’ve got the hospital details.” She opened the map, and I studied it.
I shut my eyes and brought up the world map in my mind and focussed in on Westerham. I opened my eyes and checked out the hospital in relation to where we were. I shut my eyes and adjusted the magic map in my mind, took one last look at the map on Liv’s phone, and went back to the magic map. I honed in on the hospital. Once I was close enough, coordinates floated above the map. I memorised them.
Witchslapped in Westerham Page 7
