by Lauren Quick
Felicity threw stunning spells from the palm of her hand, but nothing was penetrating the poisonwood or damaging the tree. Clover heaved one of the orbs toward the target. The explosion of red sparks and a flash of heat filled the branches and washed over the entire area, allowing Felicity cover as she sprinted the final distance to the tree. Hopefully the explosion would alert the sheriff to the trouble inside the maze. Unfortunately, the tree reacted to the magical attack. Thick roots broke through the ground and ripped toward Felicity, but she tumbled out of the way like a gymnast. A branch flung back and forth, sending a barrage of poison darts directly at Clover. In the last second, she yanked a charm free from her bracelet, throwing up a ward just in time to avoid an onslaught of sharp spears.
Clover’s heart raced. Swallowing her fear, she pushed on. She knelt behind the ward and kept the side of the maze to her back as she slid toward the blackened tree trunk. The stench was wretched. The maze wall shuddered against her back, sending a chill up her spine. Suddenly, the opossum was back, peeking through the bush and whispering in her ear. “Need some help?” it asked.
“Beat it, creep. I’m busy.”
“Maybe I can be of assistance.” Its whiskers twitched. “Think of me as your guardian familiar.”
Clover rolled her eyes. “Now is not a good time. Unless you’re going to tell me how to get the witch down, I don’t have time for games.”
“This maze was designed by Oliver Yearling. I also am his creation. Everything is interconnected.”
She shot the opossum a warning glare. “Then I’m definitely not talking to you. In case you hadn’t noticed, this maze has been infected with black magic. It’s cursed. For all I know, you’re a part of that.”
“You’re right, but not all of it is infected with darkness. And Oliver was not a black magic wizard, not in the slightest.”
“Oliver was very sick. Now help me or scram.” Clover tensed as another round of poison darts pelted the ward, and she hoped it held.
“The sassy witch is right. The maze is a game. I’ll give you a clue to your predicament. Oliver hid pitfalls throughout the maze, but he also hid solutions to every problem. The poisonwood tree must live by the rules of nature.” The opossum grinned at her and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Thankfully.
“Not helpful, not helpful at all.” She considered the clue. Rules of nature? It was a poisonous tree infected with black magic. What’s natural about that? Then she remembered what Tabitha Rosewood had told her about poisons that day at her garden. Poison was a necessary part of nature that coexisted in the natural world, but to control it, she needed a neutralizing agent, which she didn’t have.
What would neutralize the poisonwood tree?
Clover focused on the plan and waited for her cue. Felicity advanced again, but this time she shot off a series of detonation spells at the trunk of the tree. The tree shook madly, and the trapped witch coughed. The vine around her neck had loosened enough for her to get a few gulps of air. When she did, Clover yanked the sleeping charm off of her bracelet and threw it toward the witch and screamed the activation spell. Within seconds the witch fell asleep, slumping in the tree branches. Their hope was that if the witch could relax and stop struggling, the branches would stop strangling her. And it appeared to have worked.
Clover dug into her satchel and pulled out the final orb—the one from Rain. It was similar to an elemental sphere, but not nearly as powerful. It was all she had left to neutralize the poison. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but she had to try.
She sprinted forward, the ward surrounding her wavering. The ground trembled beneath her feet. Clover launched the orb in the air and Felicity struck the orb with a detonation spell, igniting the magic inside. Rain began to pour from the sky around the tree. The plan had been to keep the orb within the area of the maze to keep the labyrinth from neutralizing the magic the way it had done to the first orb.
The rain soaked the bark, but the tree continued to lash out at them as Clover and Felicity made their way closer. Felicity launched a full-out dash for the tree and began to scale the trunk. Screams erupted from her mouth as the poisonous tree struck her to the ground with a painful thud. Clover took a slap to the cheek from a branch, but made it to the trunk, holding her stung face.
“It’s not enough,” Felicity said, exhaustion etched in her face. “The rain isn’t neutralizing the poison.”
“We need to strengthen the elemental magic. We don’t need to completely neutralize it, just slow it down enough to get the witch out of the branches.” Then Clover remembered the swarm of bees that had attacked her and got an idea. “Try sending a freezing spell into the rain cloud.”
Felicity shook her head. “I think that’s a bad idea. We don’t want freezing rain and hail on top of all this.”
“No, but snow might be the perfect middle ground.”
Felicity nodded and sent a bolt of magic into the center of the cloud. Snow drifted from above and gradually strengthened into a full-blown snowstorm, forming a half-inch of powder on the ground within minutes. The temperature around the tree plummeted. Clover shivered, soaked to the skin. The cold was even more biting through her wet clothes. She rubbed her arms, trying to warm up. The tree attempted a few feeble strikes, which Clover fended off with a ward, before the movements of the tree slowed. Finally, they were able to reach the witch and free her from the trap. Clover held the witch while Felicity pulled a knife from her boot and cut the vines that turned out to be roots tangled around her neck.
Sounds erupted all around them. The sheriff and his officers raced up from the depths of the maze, finally coming to their aid. Felicity delivered the injured witch to a set of healers, who carried her away, and the Sheriff ordered his team to contain the scene, disarm any more magical devices in the maze, and continue neutralizing the poisonwood tree.
“About time,” Clover said, slumping against the side of the maze, overwhelmed with exhaustion. “What tipped you off that we needed help?”
“Sorry we couldn’t get here sooner.” The sheriff kneeled down to her level. “From what we can tell, it appears that the snowstorm you started slowed the effects of the black magic of the tree, and since the tree was at the center of the maze, it was also controlling a magical net over the entire labyrinth. Once the tree was neutralized enough by the snow, we were able to see that there was trouble and enter the maze.”
“Found something,” Juniper said over by the trunk of the tree. She erected a magical force field, similar to the one in Clover’s yard, over the new evidence.
Clover noticed someone coming up the path. “Austin? What are you doing here?” The muscles in his face went slack when he saw the tree.
“What’s happened to the labyrinth? What did you and Felicity do?” His feet crunched through the snow, a look of shock and disgust on his pinched face.
Anger rose in her. “What did we do? What did your father do? That’s the question. Austin, you’ve got it all wrong. Oliver’s been using black magic.”
“That’s impossible.” He stared in stunned awe at his surroundings.
“He’s right. Oliver would never use black magic, but I’d bet Austin would do anything to keep his inheritance,” Felicity said and nodded toward Juniper whose head was bent over a black trunk, pulled from beneath the tangled roots of the poisonwood tree.
“That’s a despicable lie!” Austin exploded in anger and rushed Felicity, but the sheriff blocked his path and held him back. “You gold-digging witch! You’ll pay for your lies!” He pointed at her, his face bright red.
“It looks bad,” Juniper said, waving her wand over the edge of the trunk. “I’ve got Austin’s prints all over it.” Glowing prints appeared. Juniper disengaged the lock and popped the lid. “Poison inside.” She covered her mouth with her hand and with a flick of her wand, encased the trunk in a prot
ective bubble. “A jar of belladonna, lots of other stuff.” Her nose wrinkled. “Bad stuff, sir.”
The sheriff latched onto Austin’s arm. “I’m sorry, Austin. But I’m going to have to detain you,” the sheriff said.
“This is ridiculous. I was with you the entire time.” His mouth hung open in disbelief and his eyes pleaded with the sheriff to no avail.
“Which is actually a really smart cover. You can explain everything down a the station.” Lance motioned to an officer, who escorted Austin away.
Clover’s head spun. She blacked out for what felt like seconds, but according to Lance it was a few minutes. She tried to stand, but stumbled. Even with the runes, the poison had done a number on her. Lance wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “I’m fine. I’m fine, really. What’s happening?” She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her focus.
“It looks like Felicity was right and Austin sabotaged the labyrinth. He raced in to help after the last beacon went off and we shut it down. We found a trunk of supplies under the tree—poisonwood pods, nightshade, black ash, broken glass, and a picture of his mother. His prints are on everything.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Clover leaned against Lance and watched as Juniper levitated the trunk out of the labyrinth.
“Evidence is evidence. He had opportunity, means, and motive. Now we have hard evidence thanks to you and Felicity.”
“I know, but there was something about him. Something I can’t put my finger on. But I don’t know.” Clover’s head ached.
“It’s true. How did you get in here anyway?” Lance asked.
Clover pulled her now tattered satchel from her neck and handed it to him. “There’s a hood in here. Someone pushed me into the labyrinth. I never saw his face.”
“I’ll look into it. Right now we need to clear the scene. After you give a statement, you can see a healer and then head home and get some rest. You’ve been around a lot of poison today.” He waved an officer over to help her.
The runes had protected Clover once again from a poisonous death. She’d have to send Tabitha a thank-you note, but first she was going to take Lance’s advice, give a statement, and go home.
22
Clover was taken to the local healing ward, treated immediately, and released into the care of her sisters. Since the earth magic runes protected her, the poison was not lethal, luckily, but had done a number on her throat and lungs. She’d been forced to drink numerous neutralizing and cooling remedies. Both Honora and Vivi had dropped everything and come to nurse their sister back to health. Currently, Clover was propped up on what seemed like a million pillows in the center of her giant canopy bed, after taking a long nap and receiving copious amounts of pampering from her sisters. Honora had even given her a foot massage.
“How’s Felicity?” Clover asked, drinking a green juice Vivi had made.
“She’s fine. Lance is even calling her a hero. She saved the witch, reaching her just in time.” Vivi fluffed Clover’s pillow for the tenth time.
“After all the witches were accounted for from the labyrinth, Juniper found Austin’s stash. He had a dark wizard’s trunk buried under the tree. It contained the black magic materials used to cast the circle on your porch, including the broken amber glass. He tried to set up Bradley Adams, but it looks like he was behind it all along,” Honora said.
“I knew Bradley was innocent.” Clover bit her bottom lip. “But it still doesn’t make sense. I really didn’t think Austin would do this to his own father. They seemed so close.”
“You never knew him that well. His desperation for gold drew him to it, but it was all for nothing. Now he won’t see much of his inheritance.” Vivi sat on the edge of the bed.
Honora pushed back the curtain and peered out the window in the direction of Oliver’s house. “Now you’ll have a new neighbor. After the labyrinth was secured by Lance, Felicity convinced him to let her finish the maze, which she did easily once the tree was neutralized. She’ll be inheriting the labyrinth and the land, and with Austin in jail, she might even end up with his house. He’ll have to sell it to pay his legal fees.”
Clover relaxed into her mass of pillows, her senses twitching. “I guess I can’t believe it’s over.”
Around dinnertime Clover hopped out of bed and threw on a pair of jeans and cotton T-shirt. She’d had enough of recuperating.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Honora asked with arms crossed over her chest as she stood like a leather pant-wearing sentry blocking the doorway.
“I feel fine, really. The healers worked wonders and I can’t sleep anymore. I’m going to go crazy if I stay cooped up in my bedroom another second.”
“You need to rest. The poison was no joke,” Vivi said.
“I’ll rest at Derek’s house. I don’t even know if he’s out of jail yet.” Clover shoved her feet into a pair of sandals and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
“I’ll go and check on him,” Honora said.
“Good. The more, the merrier. But I’m going to the tree house and you two aren’t stopping me. Feel free to tag along if you want.” She pushed past her sisters and headed out.
Derek lived in a custom-made tree house about a mile from Clover’s house. Vivi refused to let her walk and drove her on the back of a hover bike she’d borrowed from Lance, while Honora took to the sky and met them there.
“This place is beyond cool,” Honora said, floating in the air, inspecting the elaborate tree house.
“He and a few local carpenter wizards built it. Pretty amazing,” Clover said.
The tree house was built into a huge thick oak and was three levels high. The first level had a main room, kitchenette, and bathroom. The second had a bedroom and reading nook and the third level was the crow’s nest with a telescope. It even had a wraparound staircase that circled the trunk from the ground up to the first floor. No rickety ladder to climb.
Derek’s face brightened when he saw them. He gave Clover a long embrace. “I’m so glad you’re safe. I heard about what happened today at the labyrinth.”
“I’m fine. And relieved you aren’t still in jail. You look much better at your house and out of the cell.”
“After the sheriff brought Austin in and had him booked for murder, he took pity on me and had the prosecutor hear my case. I’m still facing charges on obstructing justice, but Rutherford was able to get me out on bail.”
“I guess we have a lot to talk about.”
“Come in and sit down. I’m making dinner and there’s plenty to go around. Food at the police station is about as bad as you might imagine.”
The three sisters took a seat in Derek’s cozy living room. The floor was made of wide planks covered with a few throw rugs. There was a sofa and leather chair, along with a few bar stools pushed up to a counter that overlooked the small kitchen area. The ceiling was raw wood and there were lots of round windows to let in light.
“I always knew you were a talented wizard, Derek, but you were keeping a big secret. Being a spell breaker is a real gift,” Clover said.
Derek turned his back to her and served up four bowls of creamy polenta topped with marinated beef that fell off the bone. Comfort food was on the menu. “After my parents’ death I lost all faith in magic. If I was such a powerful wizard, why couldn’t I save them? Magic failed me. I felt lost, betrayed by my gifts. So I stuffed it deep down inside of me where I didn’t have to deal with it. I didn’t want to face my magic. It reminded me of them and all I’ve lost.”
Clover’s heart ached for him. “I’m sorry. I understand why you kept it a secret.”
“I couldn’t lose you, too. It wasn’t fair. And I’m still willing to do my time to keep your secret. The sheriff didn’t have the right to invade your house and your private life and I still believe that.” He handed her a bowl and on
e for Vivi, before giving one to Honora.
Clover shifted on her stool. “I know. Let’s wait and see how all of this plays out. A lot has happened today.”
“You don’t seem too convinced that Austin is the murderer.” Honora shoveled a huge spoonful of food into her mouth.
Clover’s brow knitted. “I’m not. There’s more to this. I can feel it in my bones.”
“A witch always needs to listen to her bones,” Honora said.
“That’s deep,” Vivi said with a grin. “Real philosophical.”
“This is serious. And there are too many loose threads. Have you guys forgotten that someone pushed me into the labyrinth?” Clover asked, recalling the black hood that covered her head before she was launched into the hedge.
Vivi swallowed a sip of her drink. “But you never saw who it was. It was probably Austin. He pushed you inside, hoping that you would end up poisoned by that terrible tree. Lance said he cursed the labyrinth—his father’s lifework. The police suspect he wanted to destroy the maze and sell off the land.”
“What is this?” Honora asked fingering a piece of fruit from the bowl on the counter. “It’s not a strawberry.”
“Peach berry. It’s new. I got it at the farmers market,” Derek said.
“That’s it!” The sight of the fruit jogged Clover’s memory. “That’s what I smelled on the hood and wizard—peach berry!”
“What?” Honora asked.
“When I was attacked, I smelled something sweet in the hood, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I never believed Austin pushed me inside, because he ran the other way toward the commotion, but what if it was Pete? He was at the labyrinth today, lurking around.”
“It makes sense. The Winters wanted the land. They could’ve worked with Austin to sabotage the labyrinth,” Derek said.
