by fox, angie
“I’ll get us a drink.” Nicolas leaned down, kissed me, and then walked away. He looked just as good from behind as from the front. Muscles shaped his arms, back, and legs.
“We’re going to dance,” my mother said as she strutted toward the dance floor with her Superman.
Annabelle was beside me swaying to the music and looking out over the crowd. The song was still playing and it still felt as if someone was watching me. When I looked out over the dance floor, I spotted Liam. He was staring right at me with his intense blue eyes and dazzling smile. Our eyes were locked on each other.
After a few seconds, a smile slid across his face. A tall werewolf was walking beside him and I assumed it was Jon.
“Oh, Little Red Riding Hood,” Jon said as he approached.
I laughed. “We should have coordinated costumes.”
“Come on, Big Bad Wolf, show me what you got.” Annabelle motioned toward Jon with her index finger.
Annabelle and Jon immediately left for the dance floor, leaving me with Liam. I looked around to see if Nicolas was coming back with the drinks. I hoped it didn’t take him much longer. Liam drank in my appearance. My heart sped up and my body tingled.
“You look gorgeous as usual.”
I tugged at the hem of my skirt. “Thanks. Who are you supposed to be?”
“Nicolas.” He gestured toward his black pants and black shirt. “Isn’t this how he dresses all the time?”
I snorted. “Did you plan this with him?”
He shook his head. “No. Why?”
I laughed. “You’ll see.”
The music slowed. “Would you like to dance?”
My mouth opened and I was just about to answer when Nicolas returned. Nicolas looked at me and then immediately made eye contact with Liam. They stared at each other for a second and then both laughed. Just one of the many things I loved about these brothers. I thought for sure they would have fought or at the very least argued.
A faster song started and I knew that I was off the hook for the slow dance with Liam. Well, until next time. Nicolas handed me a tall glass full of black liquid. It was the club’s signature drink and my favorite, the appropriately named Witches’ Brew. It consisted of black vodka, orange juice, and a little bit of tangerine. The stir stick was a piece of black licorice.
Just then a commotion came from out on the dance floor. I had hoped that we’d get through the evening without a crisis. It seemed like there was always drama at the Bubbling Cauldron.
As I peered through the crowd, I spotted a woman pointing her finger at my mother. She was wearing a long black dress, but I didn’t think it was a Halloween costume. I ran across the floor.
“What’s going on?” I stepped between the woman and my mother.
The dark-haired woman narrowed her eyes. “Oh, good, the queen of the Underworld to her mother’s rescue.”
I quirked a brow. “I simply asked what the problem was. I don’t need a snarky reply.”
The woman placed her hands on her hips. “I’ll tell you what is wrong. I’m mad at your mother. She sold me faulty beauty products.” She pointed at her face. “Now look at my face.”
It was kind of hard not to notice the warts on her face, but I’d just figured she had a skin condition. I was usually the one who messed up the magic, not my mother. Since I’d discovered the Book of Mystics, my spellcasting had greatly improved.
I waved my hands. “Okay, let’s just stay calm. Tell me what happened.” At this point everyone around us was staring.
“Not only did her beauty product do this to me, but it also took away my magic. Now anyone I touch has their magic taken away too.”
A few gasps rang out. Immediately everyone backed away from us. The music even stopped. I had to admit I moved back a couple of steps too. The last thing I wanted to do was to take my chances with losing my magic.
“I have no idea what she is talking about. I stand by my spells. I do all of them…” My mother stopped mid-sentence and we looked at each other.
Recently my mother had allowed Annabelle do some of the spells. It seemed as if Annabelle had a natural knack for it. Now I wasn’t so sure. Annabelle noticed the commotion and walked over. When she saw we were all staring at her she said, “What’s wrong?”
“This woman says one of the spells from my other’s shop has caused her to lose her powers.”
Annabelle’s face dropped. “So you think it was one of the spells I did?”
“Annabelle, sweetheart, I have been performing magic before you were born and I never had anything like this happen.”
Annabelle’s expression dropped even lower. I felt so bad for her. With years of casting dud spells behind me, I knew all too well exactly how she felt. I just hoped that I could fix the problem before it got out of hand.
Without saying a word, Annabelle turned around and stormed across the dance floor. Everyone was gawking at her as she zoomed past.
My mother waved her hands. “Don’t just stand there. Go get her.”
Chapter 2
Jon ran after Annabelle and I rushed across the dance floor too.
In a flash, Annabelle was out the door. I stepped out into the night air and looked to my left and then to my right. She was nowhere in sight and Jon was gone too. It would have been easy to spot a big werewolf running down the street. A man and woman weaved around me so they could enter the club. Of course they flashed a curious look my way.
I hated that Annabelle felt this way. We had no idea if she was really responsible for the spell gone wrong. We didn’t even know for sure that it was my mother’s product that had caused the problem.
“What happened?”
When I looked over my shoulder, Nicolas was standing to my right and Liam was on my left.
“Annabelle ran off after she thought we accused her of messing up the spell.” Maybe I had indirectly accused her, and for that I felt terrible.
“You look that way and I’ll look this way,” Nicolas said, pointing to Liam.
I just hoped that Jon had caught up to Annabelle. I would feel a little better knowing that she wasn’t alone.
Nicolas grabbed my hand and we took off toward the parking lot to look for her car. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed her number. “I can’t believe she would just leave like that, without talking to me. She must think that I think she is responsible for what happened.” I knew how easy it was to make a mistake. There had to be a way to fix the spell.
When we reached the parking lot, we stopped and peered around at the rows of cars.
“Where did she park?” Nicolas asked.
I pointed toward the edge of the parking lot. “Over there. Her car is still there.”
“Well, that’s a good sign.”
“Let’s check it out,” I said, motioning for Nicolas to follow me.
We hurried over to the car and peered in. Nothing seemed out of place.
Nicolas ran his hand through his hair as he peered around the lot again. “I guess we should check back and see if Liam found her. I know you’re worried, but we’ll work it out.” Nicolas gently squeezed my hand.
We made the short walk back to the sidewalk and continued toward the club’s entrance. As we neared the door, I spotted Liam. Unfortunately, neither Annabelle nor Jon was with him.
“You didn’t find her either?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No sign of them. I called Jon, but he didn’t answer.”
I released a deep breath.
“It looks like some magic might be in order,” Liam said.
“Let’s go back inside and try to find out what happened,” I suggested.
Nicolas opened the door and I stepped through. So much for having a relaxing evening. We weaved around the people. Everyone had gone back to the partying. So far I hadn’t spotted the woman who claimed to have gotten the bad spell. I had no idea what had happened to her.
Witchy Woman was playing through the club. Now if only I could only find the witchy woman…
“She’s not here,” I said, looking out across the club.
“We’ll track her down. She can’t disappear forever,” Nicolas said.
“We’ll find my mother and see if she knows who that woman was. After all, my mother is the one who sold her the potion.”
I headed through the crowd looking for Wonder Woman and Superman. Finally, I spotted my mother on the dance floor. She didn’t appear to be too broken up by what had happened.
I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.
She spun around and then clutched her chest. “I thought you were that woman again.”
I stared at her. “No, but why are you dancing again? Shouldn’t you be helping us find Annabelle?”
My mother placed her hands on her hips, drawing emphasis to the gold belt around her waist. “I figured you were right outside talking to her.”
I shook my head. “Annabelle took off and now we can’t find her.”
“Oh, dear. This isn’t good. I should have known not to let her do the spells.”
“We don’t know that she had anything to do with this. First, we need more information. Did you see where the woman went?”
My mother adjusted her cleavage. “No. One minute she was here and the next she was gone.”
“Do you remember selling the cream to her?” I asked.
My mother frowned. “No, not really. But I move a fair number of products every day, so it’s hard to keep up. Maybe I can look in my files tomorrow and find her.”
“Tomorrow? We don’t have time to wait for that. You have to do it tonight.” I grabbed her hand.
“Tonight?” Her mouth dropped open. “But what about the party?”
“The party will have to end early.”
A frown darkened Superman’s brow. He didn’t look happy about that, but that was the least of my problems at the moment.
Liam stepped away from a woman who had bumped him while she danced. He said, “Right now we have to find that woman and Annabelle,” Liam said.
I nodded. “But where do we start?”
Liam shrugged. “Obviously we have to use magic. We just need to decide which spell will work the best in order to find her.”
I wasn’t even going to look at my mother’s face at the mention of my magic. She was still a little antsy about me doing magic in public places.
“I think I know where to start,” Nicolas said.
I looked at him. “Where do we start?”
“We have to cast a spell right here in the Bubbling Cauldron.” He pointed. “If we do the spell outside it won’t be powerful enough.”
My mother let out a little gasp. “The Bubbling Cauldron has a strict no-spells policy.”
Could you imagine what kind of spells a bunch of drunk witches would cast? It would not be a pretty sight. So the policy was in place for a very good reason. Of course I was the leader, and if I deemed it necessary to do a spell, then I hoped they would understand, but still I wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“I know you are hesitant, but in an emergency sometimes things are necessary.”
Nicolas had a point.
Liam nodded. “You’ll have to do it, it’s the only way.”
“Yes, I suppose it is.” I released a deep breath and began to prepare myself for the spell.
If the patrons knew that I was about to cast a spell, they would probably run. Everyone knew I had a knack for accidentally turning people into toads. Not to mention I’d set a few buildings on fire too. The flames had been easy to put out though, if that counted for anything.
We gathered around the middle of the dance floor. No one seemed to notice us. If they had paid attention, they probably would have guessed what we were about to do.
“Are you ready?” Nicolas asked.
I nodded. “I’m ready.”
My mother closed her eyes. She was probably praying that it all worked out. I didn’t blame her for worrying.
I recited the words and watched as tiny sparks of light gathered above each person’s head. No one looked up, so I knew that the spell must be working. When everyone was frozen, we could search for the woman without her knowledge.
As I looked around the club, I realized that everyone had stopped moving and was now frozen on the spot. At least my magic had worked.
“We don’t have much time before the spell wears off,” I said. “Mom, you and Superman go that way.”
Frustration darkened Superman’s expression. What did he expect when he was wearing that cape? Without any further complaints, they took off for the left side of the club.
“Nicolas, take the right, and I’ll go down the middle and back. Liam, you look in the front and around the outside.” I couldn’t believe that I was actually taking charge and everyone was listening. Times really had changed since I’d found the Book of Mystics.
The three of us took off at the same time, walking around the club looking for her. I weaved through the sea of bodies, checking everyone’s faces to make sure that I didn’t miss her. Needless to say there were some awkward expressions since I’d caught everyone off guard with the spell. How could she just disappear when she had been so angry? I figured she would want to stick around to see if we could reverse the spell. I hadn’t seen her go out, so I didn’t think she had followed Annabelle to confront her. At least I hoped not. Annabelle had reluctantly stepped into the paranormal world. This would chase her away for sure.
I walked around the middle of the club and then through the back, even looking in the storage room and the office. The woman wasn’t there or anywhere in the club as far as I could tell. I couldn’t believe that I had lost her.
When I stepped back to the middle of the dance floor, Liam and Nicolas approached. They shook their heads at the same time. It was still funny to see how they had tried to dress up as each other.
“She isn’t around,” they said.
When my mother and Superman returned with grim looks on their faces I knew we were in trouble.
“She wasn’t there,” my mother said.
“What do we do now?” Superman adjusted his cape.
Everyone looked at me for the answer. I paused, running through the list of what to say in my mind. Finally, I settled on, “We have to go to Bewitching Bath and Beauty. You can look through your records to see if you can find out who this woman is.”
My mother nodded. “I’ll try my best.”
I started across the crowd and motioned for everyone to follow me.
“What about the people?” Superman asked.
I stopped in my tracks. “Right. I almost forgot.” I waved my hand through the air and the music started again. Everyone continued dancing as if nothing had happened. Now that was pretty cool. As far as they knew nothing had happened. And I hoped to keep it that way.
Chapter 3
All five of us jumped into Nicolas’ brand-new sleek black BMW. As we headed toward the shop I was thankful that it was a short distance. Somehow in the haste to get in the car I had ended up in the backseat. Nicolas frowned in the rear-view mirror when he saw me back there. I was wedged between my mother and Superman as they made googly eyes at each other. I never wanted to be that close to Superman again.
After parking in front of the shop, we jumped out. When my mother finally got the door open we all pushed though at the same time, barely squeezing through like a bunch of clowns trying to escape the clown car all at once. Once inside my mother headed straight for the computer on the counter. As she waited for it to turn on, we all stood around looking at each other. An awkward silence hung in the air. The shop looked even brighter under the shining overhead light that my mother had switched on when she’d entered. The walls were white, along with the shelves. Glass bottles and jars lined the walls with my mother’s specially made lotions, gels, moisturizers, and every other beauty product imaginable.
“Did you hear that?” Nicolas whispered.
I paused to listen and then a crash came from the back of
the store. Nicolas and Liam took off for the office and storage area and I went after them. I trusted Superman to take care of my mother. I was worried that someone had broken in her store to steal something and didn’t know how they would react when they saw all of us there. When we reached the back room, a man in dark clothing sprinted out the back door.
“Who was that?” I yelled.
Liam and Nicolas reached the door within seconds. They burst out to chase after the intruder. I rushed over to the door. When I stepped outside, Nicolas and Liam were nowhere in sight. There were a few trash cans in the alley, but other than that there was no place for anyone to hide. Twinkling stars filled the velvety sky. The air remained still, and a little haunting. I didn’t know which way to go. As I stood there confused for a couple seconds, Liam and Nicolas came around the corner of the building.
“We lost him,” Nicolas said in exasperation.
I blew out a deep breath. “Did you get a look at him?”
“Just the back of him,” Liam said.
Yeah, that wouldn’t help much. The only detail I had about this man was that he was dressed in dark clothing. There was only one thing that could help: magic.
“We might as well go back inside,” Nicolas said.
“I guess that’s all we can do…” I peered down the street, but the man didn’t reappear.
As we headed back inside, I noticed my mother and Superman standing by the back door. With frowns prominently displayed on their faces, they looked like superheroes who’d had their powers taken away.
“We couldn’t find him. Did he take anything?” I asked.
“I couldn’t find anything missing.” She fidgeted her hands.
“I really don’t think this is a random break-in. If he didn’t take anything, after the weird encounter at the club, I think it has to be related. Normally, I would say he was breaking in and got scared away when he heard us, but after everything that has happened in Enchantment Pointe lately…”
“I think you are probably right,” Nicolas said.
As we headed back inside, I said, “We need to do a spell not only to see if we can find the mysterious woman from the club, but also to see if we can find out who that man was.” My list of spells to do was expanding by the minute.
