Bottling It (A Wayfair Witches' Cozy Mystery #1)

by A. A. Albright

  ‘If you don’t mind me asking,’ she said to Alice. ‘Why did you choose those particular victims? I mean, I know you’re not all for weredog rights or anything, but I’ve never known you to hate their supporters this much.’

  Alice shrugged. ‘Well, you know, I hid my racism well.’

  I snorted. ‘Yeah, right. I know why you killed them. And I also know that you didn’t do any of this on your own. There was a vampire involved in a lot of the attacks all right, but it wasn’t Mildred. It was her husband, Basil. The pair of you set Mildred up. It’s disappointing, really. I mean, of all the reasons to go on a murderous rampage, I think that “I did it for a man,” has got to be one of the most pathetic reasons there is.’

  While everyone else in the room gasped in shock, Alice glared at me. Her eyes seemed to get greener all the time. If I ever escaped from this, I might have to pay a visit to her salon. For a woman of indeterminate age, she really did look amazing.

  ‘There is nothing pathetic about eternal love. But I wouldn’t expect a snivelling spy like you to understand. I bugged the dining room the other night, did you know that? I heard you when you were eating dinner with Will, trying to get him to answer questions about me. You used my nephew. If I weren’t already about to kill you for something else, I would definitely kill you for that.’

  ‘You called the emergency meeting.’ I narrowed my eyes. ‘You did it to get him away from me.’

  ‘Well, duh.’ She placed her hands on her hips. Her eyes had taken on somewhat of a murderous glint. Well, more murderous. ‘I told the whole coven we needed to discuss Will’s possible relationship with a Wayfair. Poor, innocent Will didn’t see the point. He said there was no way you were a spy. He said you were the most honest person he’d ever met. I said that if that was the case, then you’d consent to disowning the Wayfairs and joining the Berrys. Will agreed that he’d ask you today. But guess what? When he asked you to meet him you turned him down, because you had more important things to do.’ She came closer to me. ‘Like betraying him and going after his favourite aunt. You’d never make it as a Berry. You have no idea what coven loyalty means.’ She smirked, clicked her fingers and, just before she disappeared, said, ‘But I suppose that doesn’t matter anymore. You have five minutes, folks. Time to say your goodbyes.’

  18.Inferno

  As soon as Alice left the room, an enormous clock appeared, suspended in the air. Bright red digits shone against a black screen, counting down. We had four minutes and thirty seconds remaining.

  ‘Well, that’s dramatic,’ said Max.

  ‘It’s good.’ My mother gave the clock an appreciative nod. ‘She’s quite talented, isn’t she?’

  ‘Mm.’ Christine murmured her agreement. ‘It’s a beautiful spell. More complicated than it looks. And do you know what else impressed me? She didn’t overdo it, did she? I mean, yes, she went on a bit. But nothing like they usually do.’

  My mother grabbed Christine’s arm, a burst of laughter erupting. ‘Do you remember …’ She paused for breath, clearly finding something hilarious. ‘Do you remember that witch in Galway? The one who was luring young female swimmers into her private pool and stealing their youth?’

  ‘Oh my stars!’ Christine laughed uproariously. ‘I do remember her. We timed her, didn’t we? A one hour monologue if I’m not mistaken.’

  While they reminisced, Max, Adeline and I got to work. None of our phones were working, but hey, that would have made things too easy, right?

  ‘The area around the clock is the epicentre of the spell, so to speak,’ said Adeline. ‘That’s where the fire will come from. But the clock and the Inferno seem to have been interlinked, if I followed her incantation correctly. Break the clock, we might be able to break the spell.’

  ‘I’ll go first,’ said Max.

  ‘What, because you’re the guy?’

  He rolled his eyes, walked towards the timer and his body shot back across the room. Luckily, an upturned coffee table stopped his flight. He sat on the ground, rubbing his back. ‘It’s just like the couch. I can’t get near it’

  ‘Oh gee, really?’

  He seemed to have a sixth sense for sarcasm, did Max. With a wide smile, he looked up at me, waved a hand in the direction of the timer and said, ‘Well, little lady. It’s all yours.’

  I approached cautiously, feeling out the air. This whole magic thing was a bit of a rush, to be honest. Being able to feel power in the air … wow. As I drew closer to the clock, the air grew thicker, like trying to walk through mud. The closer I went, the thicker it felt. A foot or so away from the clock, though, was like a charged wall. I put out a finger, then pulled it back as the shock rippled through my body. A slow, careful search of the air revealed that there wasn’t even a millimetre Alice hadn’t covered. That countdown timer, just like the couch, was one hundred percent sealed.

  Adeline tried too, but she had no more luck than I had. Just as we were ungraciously accepting defeat, I noticed it: a tabby cat, curled up on a chair close to the fireplace.

  ‘Has he been there the whole time?’

  Adeline patted the cat. ‘Julian could sleep through an earthquake.’

  Oh dear. Her eyes lit up when she rubbed him. She loved that lazy little guy in the same way my mother loved Mischief.

  ‘Well, let’s hope he can also sleep through being burned to death, then,’ I said – perhaps not quite as sympathetically as I’d been going for. ‘But let’s hope even more that it doesn’t come to that. Look, we can’t get to the countdown timer. But we can’t give up. Maybe you could try all of the doors and windows, Adeline. There has to be a weak spot somewhere. And I’ll feel out the barrier around the couch.’

  Adeline didn’t look too confident, but she ran off to check nonetheless. I approached the couch again – well, as close as I could manage – testing the air. Just like the air around the countdown timer, there didn’t seem to be so much as a millimetre of weakness.

  ‘We’ve already tried, love,’ said my mother. ‘This spell is about as tight as they come.’

  I glanced at the timer. Three minutes, five seconds to go. Well, gosh darn it anyway. Finally I came into my power, and now it was about to be taken away from me. In quite a painful way too, I might add.

  ‘Tell me about the Inferno spell.’

  My mother frowned. ‘Really, Wanda? I think this might be one of those cases where not knowing is best, love.’

  I grunted. ‘Come on. Tell me. You’re not seriously just going to accept this, are you? Tell me you’re thinking of a plan.’

  ‘We’re trying,’ said Christine. ‘Really, we are. But it’s like we said – Alice is a lot more powerful than we expected. And there are only two ways to get that kind of power – dark forbidden magic, or old – as in very old – age. I’m not sure which route Alice has gone down, but there’s no way we can compete on the same level. We can’t stop her Inferno spell. And the house will stay sealed until it’s over. It–’

  ‘Wait!’ I interrupted. ‘Stop right there. You said you can’t stop it, and that it’ll stay sealed till it’s over. So … how long does an Inferno spell last?’

  They seemed to think about it for a moment. ‘About an hour, usually,’ my mother replied. ‘They burn incredibly hot. Water can’t put them out. Nothing can. They burn till everything is destroyed, then the spell just … stops.’

  ‘Usually,’ Christine added.

  ‘Well, let’s say we give it an hour and a half, then, just to be on the safe side.’ I paced the small living room, turning it all over in my mind. I could have done with another burrito, to be honest, but for the moment the cogs were turning just fine. ‘So that’s what we have to do, then.’ I nodded to myself, realising that I was thinking a lot more than I was actually saying. But I understood what I meant, that was the main thing. ‘Yes,’ I repeated. ‘That’s exactly what we have to do.’

  While my mother, Christine and Lassie looked on in confusion, Max jumped up, grinning at me. ‘You’re right, Wan
da. All we have to do is make it through the Inferno!’

  ‘Yes!’ I cried, hugging him. I pulled away from him, looking at him in wonderment for a moment. Of all the people in the room who could have figured out what crazy idea I had percolating, I would not have bet my money on Max. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking,’ I said. ‘Then the seal will be undone. Then we can leave.’ We turned to the couch. ‘Right?’

  My mother and Christine exchanged somewhat dubious glances. ‘Well … technically, yes,’ said Christine. ‘But there’s just one problem. How do we survive an Inferno spell?’

  I bit my lip, looking tentatively at them. Once I said this, we’d all know the truth about Wanda Wayfair. Either I was a mad genius, or I was clutching at soggy straws. I steeled myself, and spat it out. ‘By making this house very, very cold.’

  ≈

  Sometimes, things look and sound a lot easier than they are. For years I looked on enviously as my coven performed spells. It always seemed to me that they did it with the greatest of ease. Even though they swore it had taken tons of effort and study, I never quite believed them.

  Well, today I finally did.

  ‘I can do incredibly precise Freezing spells,’ said Christine carefully. ‘It’s vital for me. I need to be good at it so I can preserve my visions.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘Why do you seem so sure that there’s a but?’ asked Adeline.

  ‘Because,’ I informed her, ‘this is my coven. I know when there’s about to be a but.’

  ‘Well, yes, there is a bit of a but,’ Christine admitted. ‘Although I would have thought you’d have figured it out by now.’

  ‘Figured it …. Oh.’ I slapped a hand to my forehead, and looked at my mother, Christine and Lassie, all sitting on the couch, sealed within an incredibly powerful barrier. ‘You can’t do magic in there, can you?’

  My mother shook her head. ‘No. Or at least not in any way that’d help you. Christine can do a freezing spell in here all right, but it would be limited to within the barrier Alice put up around us. It would only affect me, Christine and Lassie. You know what this means, Wanda?’

  I slumped back into the armchair. ‘That me, Max and Adeline, are soon going to smell like barbecue, and you guys can either choose to burn along with us or to save yourselves and look on in horror while we burn in front of you?’ Always the optimist, amn’t I? ‘But wait.’ I sat up, looking at Adeline. ‘I don’t suppose you …’

  She shook her head. ‘I’ve always been better at chronicling than actually doing. I mean, I could probably freeze something small. But a spell powerful enough to outlast an Inferno? No way.’

  I slumped back again.

  ‘That’s not what I meant when I asked you if you knew what this means, Wanda,’ said my mother. ‘I meant that you’ll have to do it. Christine will do her own spell for us, you’ll follow her and freeze the rest of the house. I’ve been watching you these last few days. I think you’re capable. Although–’ She glanced at Adeline. ‘–it would be nice if the other witches in the room would at least try before giving up.’

  Adeline’s cheeks flushed. ‘You’re right. Of course I’ll help. Christine, is there an incantation, or …?’

  Christine bit her lip. ‘It’s a long time since I’ve needed one for a Freezing spell. It comes so naturally to me these days, I don’t even have to incant. Did that sound big-headed? I didn’t mean to sound big-headed.’

  ‘Be as big-headed as you like,’ my mother cut in. ‘As long as you come up with the incantation that saves my daughter’s life.’

  Christine’s teeth made a grinding noise. Not good. That was something she and Melissa did when they were incredibly nervous. ‘Okay. Okay. Just give me a moment to bring it to mind.’ She muttered beneath her breath, clearly trying to come up with the right words. ‘Right. I’ve got it. But it’s best that we time it so that it begins right before the Inferno spell. And also … your mother will be able to create a bit of inner heat so that we can survive the freeze. But I think that might be a bit too much for you to handle just yet, Wanda. So maybe you’d better go and find some warm clothes.’

  I ran around the house with Adeline and Max, finding cardigans, coats and blankets. Adeline boiled the kettle and made a flask of hot chocolate, too. By the time we were back in the room, wrapped up in winter clothes, the countdown timer told us there were fifty-three seconds to go.

  ‘Right,’ said Christine. ‘I think I’ve come up with an incantation to suit the situation. But I mean, we’re freezing a whole house for the goddess’s sake, so I hope it works. Okay.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Okay, repeat after me:

  ‘Frozen things remain the same

  Untouched by age, by time or flames

  Frozen things stand still till thawed

  By a word, or a witch, or till safeness has dawned

  Frozen things withstand the fire

  No matter how big, no matter how dire

  In a frozen state we shall be in this house

  Till the Inferno is over

  Or the fire is doused.’

  Nervously, Adeline and I repeated each and every one of Christine’s words. As we incanted, the Inferno was already beginning. A huge ball of flame erupted from where the digital timer had been, growing outwards.

  Normally, I quite like fire. There’s nothing better than curling up in front of one on a winter’s evening, a good book in hand, a warm drink by your side. So let’s just say that this wasn’t that sort of fire. There was nothing friendly about it – you wouldn’t want to gaze into its depths and dream of things to come. Looking into this fire was like looking into hell.

  We repeated the incantation over and over – I swear, I know those words by heart now – furiously chanting while the Inferno refused to abate.

  I could feel the heat of it, stinging my skin through all of my layers of clothes. But I could feel something else, too – something coming out of me. From my very centre, a chill was coursing. I felt it creep out from my core, then lick along my limbs. I gasped as strands of icy filaments shot from my fingers, rushing towards the ball of flame. A look at Adeline told me that she had icy strands emitting from her fingertips, too.

  Together, we sent that chill towards the flame. Soon, silvery frost was covering the flame, damping it down and dousing it before it could grow.

  Max looked at me in awe. ‘It’s working,’ he said.

  I couldn’t reply. I was too busy muttering the incantation, over and over through chattering teeth. But inwardly, I was just as amazed as he was. I mean, no one wants to think of themselves as a crispy corpse, do they? Now that the Freezing spell seemed to be working, I could go back to imagining myself live a long, wonderful life.

  The frost crystals multiplied and multiplied, hardening quickly. Soon, every surface in the house was slick with ice, and the ground was too slippery for us to stand upon. Adeline, Max and I fell into Adeline’s poor, destroyed chairs – Adeline’s cat didn’t so much as open an eyelid when she sat next to him – and huddled inside our coats and blankets.

  My mam, Christine and Lassie didn’t have the luxury of layers, so they huddled into one another, teeth chattering, while my mother stuttered out spells that would raise their body heat.

  Despite the fact that the house was now, basically, a giant freezer, the Inferno spell did not let up. The flames kept erupting from the centre of the living room, over and over. We had to repeat the Freezing spell three times more. I glanced at my wristwatch every now and then, wondering how long the Inferno could possibly last. The hot chocolate was gone. My lips were blue. Max huddled closer to me, lending me some of his body heat, while Adeline grabbed onto her cat for warmth (even then, Julian stayed snoring).

  One hour and eighteen minutes had passed in discomfort when Max unstuck his eyelids and nodded to where the flames had been erupting from. ‘H-haven’t seen any n-newcomers for a w-while,’ he stammered hopefully.

  ‘N-no. Me n-neither,’ I chattered back.

&n
bsp; Christine and my mother sat forward. My mother reached out a hand testing the air around her. ‘The seal is gone!’ she cried. ‘The spell is over!’

  I leapt towards the couch, crashing into my mother’s and Christine’s arms. Lassie hugged Max fiercely (I’m pretty sure I heard them woof a bit, too), and Adeline stood up and said, ‘Well then … I guess it’s off to the Wyrd Court.’

  19.A Snitch in Time

  ‘Um …’ Lassie twiddled her hair between her fingers. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to help. I hate Alice Berry for what she’s put all of us through. But you all know as well as I do … the word of a weredog will only get us so far.’

  Max growled. ‘That’s ridiculous, Lassie. You saw Alice enchant that human into killing Connor with the candlestick. Then Alice threatened you. And she admitted it to all of us, too.’

  Lassie still looked unsure, and the uncomfortable truth was that I couldn’t blame her. I’d only been back in the supernatural world a short time, but it was enough for me to know that things could be very, very unfair.

  ‘You should go,’ I said to Lassie, despite my misgivings. ‘You’re a witness, like Max says. And the rest of us are witnesses now, too. Alice won’t get away with this. But …’ I glanced at my mother. ‘Maybe while they go to the courthouse, you could take me on a little detour first?’

  ≈

  The Wyrd Court was closed to travelling, meaning that you couldn’t simply click your fingers and wind up inside. It seemed like a sensible enough measure, but for our purposes just then, it was an extremely inconvenient one.

  Our detour had already taken far longer than I’d hoped. By the time my mother clicked her fingers and landed us on the steps of the Wyrd Court, the trial was already in progress. My powers of observation, and the sign on the closed door that said Trial in Progress was what clued me in to the fact. The crowd outside the court was enormous. Wyrd News’s Sandra was there, looking even skinnier and more big-haired than she did on TV.