For Witch's Sake (Bless Your Witch Book Five)

by Amy Boyles

  She blotted a tissue on her nose. "How're you doing, Dylan?"

  I rubbed her shoulder. "I'm fine, but what about you? What's wrong?"

  Eliza stuffed the tissue in her purse and cleared her throat. "Oh, it's nothing. Just allergies."

  "Are you sure?" She grimaced, clearly trying to get ahold of herself. I needed her to spill some beans, darn it. "You can tell me."

  Her lower lip trembled, and then big ole fat tears started rolling down her cheeks. "It's Pearbottom."

  "What about him?"

  She covered her eyes. "He's disappeared."

  TWENTY

  We found Roman at the station, deep in what looked like an intriguing pile of paperwork.

  Not really.

  He shot me a concerned glance when he saw us.

  "Pearbottom's disappeared," I explained. "He hasn't returned your aunt's calls in two days."

  "He hasn't disappeared," Roman said.

  Eliza sank into a chair. "What's going on?"

  "He's turned to the dark side," I said.

  "What?"

  Roman explained everything. I guess we both figured since she was crying about Pearbottom, Roman's aunt had nothing to do with him destroying the fake Chasity .

  Eliza blew her nose. Her fingers shook as she pulled the tissue away. "Jonathan would never do that. He wouldn't kill someone. But he did act strangely when I saw him at your house the night you had that baby unicorn free you from the cuff."

  "Weird how?" I said.

  She rubbed her temples. "I don't know. When he looked at me, there didn't seem to be a connection there. It's hard to explain."

  Hmm. So that was why Eliza looked confused when Pearbottom was at the house. I shrugged. "Anyway, we saw what we saw."

  Her gaze cut from me to Roman. "So you think he's in on it?"

  "Seems that way," Roman said.

  Eliza shook her head. "I don't believe it, but what I do believe is that your father knows more than he's telling."

  Roman frowned. "No, he doesn't."

  "Then let me see him."

  Roman threaded his fingers through his blond locks. "What will that prove?"

  "He may remember something else—something that will help us discover who killed Wanda. Roman, I need to see him. You owe me this."

  Roman sighed. "Okay, I'll take you to him." He stood. "We'll need to get there by magic."

  Eliza stuffed a tissue in her purse and locked the clasp. "Where are we going?"

  Roman's voice turned gravelly when he said, "Castle Witch."

  ***

  "Don't attack him when you see him," Roman said.

  "I'm not going to do that," Eliza said.

  Roman shot her a harsh look. "I know how you feel about him, but he's innocent."

  Eliza shrugged. "So you say." She toed the ground in front of Roman's cottage. "Roman, I haven't seen him in years. I don't know how he'll respond to me. Open the door."

  "Are you sure?"

  She huffed out a breath and nodded. Roman knocked. Footsteps sounded behind the door. The knob turned, and it opened.

  The silver-bearded Boo Bane stood in front of us. He looked like a biker guy with long silver hair and beard, but inside the man was all kitten. He broke into a wide smile. "Roman. Dylan. Good to see you two kids. Come on in." His gaze settled on Eliza. "Who's this?"

  "Hello, Richard," she said, her tone not quite cold but definitely not warm.

  Boo paused. He peered at Eliza as if for a brief second trying to remember who she was. I noted the moment the lightbulb inside his head switched on. Boo moved toward her.

  "Eliza," he said. "I'm so sorry." He reached for her. Eliza stood stiffly. Boo wrapped her up in a hug.

  He cried. Then she started crying. Well, technically I don't think Eliza ever really finished crying.

  "I'm so sorry about Catherine," he said. "If I could have saved her, I would."

  "I know," Eliza whispered. "I know you would have."

  They sobbed into each other's arms. I backed away, giving them plenty of space.

  "Come on," Roman said. "Let's head to the castle."

  "Why?"

  "’Cause there's something I want to look for."

  "What?" I said.

  He swiped a finger over his lip. "A mind-control spell."

  "Why would you want to look for that?"

  He shrugged. "Because I think someone might be controlling Pearbottom. I want to ask Em about the details."

  We headed to the castle. One of the staff found Em for us. She met us in her bright and cheery solar.

  "Mind control?" she said. "I've heard of such a thin', but ain't never known no witch to do it."

  Roman steepled his fingers to his lips. "But it is possible."

  She shrugged. "Sure. Don't see why not."

  "There's a spell here, isn't there? In the museum?"

  Em's face paled. "How do you know about that?"

  Roman rolled his eyes. "Come on, Em. My mother was queen. I know a lot of things."

  "No one's supposed to know about it."

  "Cat's out of the bag. Have you looked to make sure it's still there?"

  I splayed out my hands. "Wait a minute. Do either of you want to tell me about this spell?"

  Roman drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. "There's a powerful spell kept hidden here, at the castle. It's a potion that can be used to control someone. The unlucky person on the other side of the spell will be rendered unable to do anything that concerns their own free will."

  "They'll become a zombie," I said.

  "Basically," Em said. "It ain't nothin' to be messin' around with."

  Roman rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to be messing around with it. I just want to make sure it's here. Safe and sound."

  I narrowed my eyes. "Couldn't anyone make this potion?"

  Em shook her head. "It has ingredients that aren't available anymore—like dragon's wing."

  I chuckled. "I bet the fairies are hiding a dragon somewhere. I'm sure there's still one around."

  Em didn't say anything. "If y'all want to see the potion, come with me."

  She led us through the halls of the castle to the museum. It'd been months since I'd been in the museum, and the place looked exactly the same—books and potions all crammed inside.

  Em led us to a curio cabinet. Knickknacks sat behind glass on the top half, while the bottom was lined with drawers. She snapped her fingers. A key appeared in her hand.

  "There's only two other people who have copies of this key," she said.

  "Right," Roman said. "I know."

  I ran a finger over the cabinet's lip. "Why?" I said.

  "Because the potion was once used to wreak a lot of havoc in the witching world," Roman said. "So it's kept here, with three keys hidden in three different places, to make sure that sort of power can't easily be used against someone."

  "So only three people have keys to get into this potion?" I said. "These are trustworthy people?"

  Roman nodded. "None of them want this potion used again."

  "I'm sure it's still sitting in here," she said.

  Roman nodded. "I'm sure. Can you just open it and see."

  Em released an annoyed breath. She pushed the key into the lock and turned until we heard a snick.

  "I'm sure it's in here," she said, sliding the drawer open. It moved on smooth hinges, gliding toward us with efficiency. She stared down. "It should be here."

  "Let me guess," Roman said. "It's not."

  She stared up at him, her face white with shock. "Who would do this? Who would steal the potion?"

  "Who owns the other two keys?" I said.

  "Brock has one of them," Roman said.

  "And the other?" I said.

  Em glanced at us, her lower lip trembling as she said, "The fairy king."

  ***

  "What is going on?" I said to Roman.

  We were walking back to the cottage to grab Eliza and get the heck out of Castle Witch.

  "O
kay, would you ever in your right mind believe that Pearbottom would kill someone on our side?"

  "Seriously?" I said. "He hates me and my family."

  "But he's never just come in and attacked you."

  I quirked a brow at Roman.

  He rolled his eyes. "I know Jonathan isn't likable—heck, I don't even like him—but he's on the right side. He plays by witch police rules. It doesn't make sense. Then my aunt's bawling about him disappearing—it made me think of that potion."

  "You think someone's controlling him?"

  "Not someone. Smiley Martin."

  "We don't even know where Smiley is."

  Roman shook his head. "We know for sure where he was."

  "Where? Fairyland?"

  Roman nodded. "You up for a trip back there?"

  I fingered a lock of hair that cascaded over my shoulder. "Clothar does like my clothes."

  "Come on, let's go get Eliza and head on back."

  We retrieved his aunt, who looked like she'd done the ugly cry the entire time we were gone. I fished a couple of ibuprofen from my purse and handed them to her, knowing full well that she was about to have a suffocating headache from all that bawling.

  She magicked us to Silver Springs—her back to the hotel and me and Roman to my house. When we entered, Nan was back, and she was dancing around the living room with my sisters, grandmother, and Chasity.

  I leaned into Roman. "What's going on here?"

  He shook his head. "I think they're pooling their magic."

  They did a lap around the couch, raised their hands and shouted. In that instant, the cuffs latched to my sisters' ankles broke loose with a splitting crack.

  They stopped. My sisters grinned at Chasity, who in turn fluffed out her hair and said, "That's how you do together magic to overcome an obstacle."

  "We've done magic together before," Sera said, "but nothing ever so powerful."

  "I thought you were going to keep your cuffs on," I interrupted. "Until the time ran out."

  Reid flashed me a cheeky grin. "We were going to, but I mean, come on—we've been stuck here for almost a week while you've been running around. Chasity told us this could work without alerting Pearbottom, so we took a chance. See? No Pearbottom!"

  I elbowed Roman in the gut. He flinched slightly. "Looks like you're in the clear."

  Sera slicked her hair back into a ponytail. "What are y'all about to do?"

  "We're about to go to Fairyland," I blurted out.

  Roman shot me a look that said I wasn't supposed to say anything.

  I shrugged. "What? Is it a secret?"

  "Is what a secret?" Reid said. She dabbed her sleeve over the sheen of sweat sprinkled on her forehead.

  "Nothing," Roman said. "We're going to Fairyland."

  "Will Brock be there?" Sera said.

  I nodded. "He was the last time."

  She scoffed. "And you didn't tell me?"

  I scoffed. "It's not my job to keep up with your boyfriend."

  "Then I want to go," Sera said.

  "Me too," Reid said.

  Grandma grabbed her coat. "Why don't we all go? Nan, are you coming?"

  Nan brushed a thread of lint from her floral housecoat. "You can never trust fairies. They might try to attack us. Of course I'm going. I've got to protect this family."

  Right. Sure thing. "Chasity?" I said.

  "She's going," Roman answered. "If we're going, then so is she."

  "I guess that answers that," I said. "Grandma, you ready to beam us up to Fairyland?"

  "One does not beam, Dylan. One magicks." She threw the end of a scarf over her shoulder and said, "Let's go."

  We arrived on the outskirts of Monkey Town—all seven of us. Yes, that's right. There were seven of us. Six women and one hunky man.

  Brock met us at the gate. He brushed his lips against Sera's cheek and smiled to the rest of us.

  "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

  "We need to talk," Roman said.

  Brock's lips pressed into a thin line. "Y'all come inside and we'll do just that." He pointed everyone toward the official monkey spa.

  "Feel free to get a massage or have a cup of tea on me. We'll meet up later," he said.

  Reid gaped at the offer. "Seriously?"

  Brock nodded. "All y'all go enjoy some comforts."

  "I don't need comforts," Nan said.

  Brock raised a dark eyebrow. He crossed to Nan and kneaded her shoulders. Her mouth sagged open. "How does that feel?"

  "Like heaven."

  He pointed toward the massage hut. "A massage will help keep your fighting skills sharp. Why don't you go relax? My guards will take watch." He rubbed her temples. Nan closed her eyes, sinking into his touch. "Let them do the work while you get a little relaxation time. When was the last time you slept?"

  "It's been days. I've lost count," she said.

  Brock shot me a startled glance. I nodded. It was true. He patted Nan's shoulder. "Let the ladies with those magic fingers lull you to sleep. Thirty minutes of rest and you'll feel like a new woman. I promise."

  My family shuffled off to get massages. Once they were out of earshot, Brock turned to us. "Let's go take a look at my box."

  I shot Roman a confused look.

  He shrugged. "I called ahead."

  We followed Brock to a small, heavily guarded door. Once we were inside, he took a box off the shelf and opened it.

  "There should have been a key here." Brock ran his hand over the velvety inside. "The key to the controlling spell."

  "Who else knows?" Roman asked.

  "Only you."

  Roman's face hardened. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

  Brock nodded. "Someone in Monkey Town stole my key. Someone's working on the wrong side."

  I nibbled my lip. "Any idea who it could be?"

  Brock shook his head. Dark hair swirled around his face. "No, but I'm going to find out. One monkey at a time."

  TWENTY-ONE

  Brock invited us to a banquet. Seriously, y'all. I mean like a crazy amazing banquet. There was the freshest of tropical fruit—mangoes, pineapple and coconut. Then there were dishes of fruit mixed with hot rice dripping with sweet, tangy sauces.

  It was a far cry from Southern shrimp and grits, but it was amazing.

  Roman sat next to me. "What d’you think? You, me and a tropical island?"

  I grinned. "Will you be wearing a flowing white shirt and a lei?"

  He chuckled. Crinkles kissed the corners of his eyes. "Only if you wear a hula skirt."

  I laughed. "I suppose we'll be solving a murder there, too."

  Roman's laughter faded. His eyes hardened, but the ghost of a smile remained. "Darlin', I don't think we could avoid solving a murder in our sleep."

  I frowned. "Wait. Does that mean we'll be dreaming of solving murders? Or, we're always in the middle of them?"

  He shrugged. "Take your pick."

  "So is what Eliza said true? Is Pearbottom missing?"

  Roman nodded. "He hasn't been to work since we were almost captured there."

  "Yeah, that was a close one. Thank goodness for Milly."

  Roman squeezed my arm. I followed his gaze as he glanced over at Brock. "I've got to discuss some things with the king. I'll be back."

  "Okay."

  Roman tossed down his napkin and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Save my seat."

  As soon as he left, I peered over at my sisters and grandmother. Grandma waved her hands dramatically. No doubt she was telling a story about how she wrangled a gaggle of fire-breathing geese or something. My sisters had their heads together with Chasity.

  Since I'm super nosy and it looked like they were talking about something interesting, I vacated my seat and sat next to them.

  "What's going on over here?" I asked.

  "Oh, Chasity was just discussing magic theory with us," Reid gushed.

  "Wow. Magic theory. I didn't know about that."

  Sera swiped a finger down her
arm. "That's ’cause we were never formally trained."

  "Tell me about it," I said.

  Chasity shrugged. "You already know the basic concepts—magic is physics based. It can't be created or destroyed. It's like energy and can only be transferred. The key to making the most of your magic is to see it truly, clearly. Don't muddy your thoughts and your magic will soar."

  "That's very interesting," Reid said.

  I scoffed. "I can't even get my magic back."

  Sera rubbed my arm. "You'll get it back."

  I shook my head. "We don't know that. Pearbottom's gone crazy, and he's the only person who can release me from this."

  "Is he?" Chasity said.

  I shook my head. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to pull some Dorothy crap from The Wizard of Oz on me. The power was inside me all along, right? That's what you're going to say?"

  She nodded innocently. "The power is inside you. All you have to do is find it."

  "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I'll keep looking. Anyway, what else are y'all talking about?"

  Chasity went on to talk more about magical theory, and I have to say it was some fascinating stuff. Truly amazing concepts that would be great if I'd only had my magic so that I could try them.

  But the most important thing I learned during that time was that my sisters really liked Chasity, and she liked them. They had bonded in a way that we hadn't done with any other witches around our own age.

  Reid and Sera started talking concepts of magic, and Chasity turned to me. "I'm sorry about your magic and so thankful that y'all have become my friends. I needed one, especially with what's happened to my mother." She shook out her cloud of blonde curls. "When I was little, Wanda left me to live with an aunt of hers. She raised me until her death a few years ago. Then I went to live in my mother's house since it was empty. I started visiting her in prison. I think Wanda wanted me to be good because she was so bad. She knew if I lived with her, I would never be good." She shuddered. "So she left me."

  I hesitated. "Chasity, she never told you anything about the night Roman's mother and sisters died? You never overheard anything?"