A Spell for Trouble

by Esme Addison

  Alex gasped. Jenna had vanished, morphing into a completely different person.

  “So you see, I actually am a Wesley,” she purred.

  “A spell for trouble.” Alex murmured in amazement as she stared at Bryn. It’s real. Bryn Wesley had used magic to turn herself into Jenna. “The cloaking spell. That’s how you disguised yourself.” Dylan had been right when he’d said his sister was nice for a viper.

  Bryn’s mouth dropped open. “I heard that!” With a fling of her arm, a gust of wind lifted Alex off the ground and smashed her back against the wall. Pain ripped through her shoulders and she heard a snap. Alex screamed as she hit the floor.

  Bryn mock-winced. “That sounded bad. It’s probably broken.”

  Alex gritted her teeth and clutched her broken shoulder. Her right arm was useless, and every movement sent fire through her muscles. When she spoke, she struggled to get the words out.

  “You and your brother were in this together from the start.” Alex felt sadness at the realization that Dylan had deceived her so completely. “I thought he was better than that.”

  “Ugh, don’t get me started,” Bryn spat. “Dylan. He’s such a Mundane. I was shocked when he pulled you from that wave. Shocked, I tell you. I didn’t think he even remembered how to do that … well. I’ll finish you off in a minute.”

  Bryn rounded the desk and leaned against the front. “But no, he didn’t know anything about this. Dylan is idealistic. He thinks anything can be negotiated and bought in the Mundane way. But he was wrong, wasn’t he, Stephanie?” She glanced at the squirming woman stuck to the wall. “Randy wouldn’t sell, so I took him out. I parked outside his house, waited for Edwin to leave, and then I paid him one last visit.” She grinned. “We had tea together. It was kind of our thing.”

  “You weren’t on the security footage,” Alex pointed out. “How did you … Magic?”

  “Ding, ding, ding. Give the girl a cookie. Yeah, I just made myself invisible for a few minutes. It’s also a spell for trouble, but I think you know by now the Wesleys don’t play by the rules.”

  “And Edwin?” Alex asked, hoping to keep her talking until she could figure out a way out of this situation.

  “When Dylan reapproached the company, Edwin wasn’t playing fair.” She frowned. “He took the land off the table, said it wasn’t for sale. I mean, no one actually wanted that stupid company. What we need is the land.” She laughed in disbelief, stalking toward Alex until she was nearly on top of her. “Like anyone would pay one hundred million dollars for that real-estate company. It’s only worth a quarter of that. Give me a break.”

  On the word break, Bryn pressed her fingers into Alex’s broken shoulder. A red mist bloomed in front of Alex’s eyes, and she screamed. “You have no idea how badly I wanted to get rid of you. Especially when you began looking for the journal,” Bryn hissed. “But making it look like Stephanie killed you will work, too.”

  She gave one last push and Alex nearly lost consciousness, but she gritted her teeth, fought through the tears, and focused on her need to survive this moment.

  Alex drew stuttering breaths and sat upright slowly, clasping her right arm to her side with her left hand. Could she actually heal herself without Bryn knowing? If Bryn found out, she might kill Alex outright.

  “I don’t get it,” Alex said, buying time. “I understand that you want the land, but why go to these lengths? Why the urgency? Surely this could have been negotiated over time. Money’s not an object for your family.”

  “Time is of the essence,” Bryn said. “If Edwin hadn’t filed those plans to develop the land, he would still be alive. That land can’t be torn up by Mundanes. Do you have any idea what’s under there?”

  “How would I—” Alex paused. Something had clicked, or maybe she had heard Bryn’s thoughts. “It’s the Mermaid of Warsaw’s shield, isn’t it?” From what Kamila had told her, the Warsaw Shield would make the owner invincible, giving the Wesleys unchecked power. “You think it’s still on that land?”

  “Duh,” she snarled. “It was in the old house when it burned, but then no one could find it in the rubble.”

  “Maybe because it was never there,” Alex replied. “Because it’s just a fairy tale your ancestors made up and they never had it in the first place.”

  Bryn rolled her eyes. “The story in our family is that someone saved it from the fire and hid it from the witch hunter by burying it in the ground. But when it was safe to retrieve it, no one could remember where it was hidden.” She grunted in frustration. “It’s been lost for generations.”

  Alex watched her for a moment. “I believe you’re actually telling the truth.”

  Bryn made a face. “Like I care what you believe. But even someone as Mundane as you can see what a tragedy it would be if that priceless part of our history was removed and carted off to some museum.” A look of disgust twisted her features. “And Edwin was going to build his apartment building right over the place where our home used to stand. Someone had to intervene.”

  “But why frame my aunt?” Alex said. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Yes I did, Alex,” she replied with exaggerated patience. “Because your family still believes the shield belongs to them. Like I would do all of this work, get that land, and then leave Lidia free to come after us?” She scoffed. “No. I thought, let the Council do my work for me. Lidia gets convicted of murder and they slap a shackle spell on her. Perfect, right?” Bryn shook her head. “But then my mother pointed out that once we have the shield, we’re untouchable. No more Council rules, no more worrying about black-magic percentages. We could do whatever we wanted.”

  “So Tegan knew about this?” Alex asked.

  “Yes, I’m afraid she did, and I had her blessing. Her only advice to me was not to fail.” A bitter look crossed her face. “Then you appeared, causing problems, raising questions—I have to admit, though, I was very surprised at how nice you were to poor little pathetic wimpy Jenna. Does it make you sad to know your kindness was wasted on a fake person?” Bryn frowned mockingly. “I don’t want to make you sad, Alex. You were so darn nice to me in that coffee shop when you thought I was a crybaby mourning the loss of a disgusting sleazoid of a man. Then Minka gave me a job. I was touched.” She chuckled. “You Sobieskis are something else.

  “I was going to marry Randy as Jenna. I really was. Bryn was going to take a long trip to Paris while Jenna stayed around and married him. And then I was going to kill him after the ceremony so I’d get his property. Then Jenna would sell me the land before disappearing into thin air.” She snapped her fingers.

  She turned her glare on Stephanie. “But then Randy was talking about reconciling with his wife, and he gave me perfume as a consolation gift. Can you imagine? ‘I’m sorry we’re not getting married, but here’s a bottle of perfume.’” She shook her head. “He had it coming. He’d planned to tell Stephanie he wanted her back, but she was at the spa. I hope that was restful, Stephanie. It sounds nice. Ill-timed but really, really lovely.”

  Stephanie’s face creased in pain, but she still couldn’t make a sound.

  Alex closed her eyes to focus on healing her shoulder. A tingling sensation like nerves sparking rose through her right fingers and trembled up her arm. She ground her teeth together. The sensation of rapid healing was excruciating, and her eyes watered. She stopped, breathless. The pain was too much to continue. But now when she moved, her shoulder hurt considerably less.

  “That’s pretty low, Bryn,” Alex began. “Even by Wesley standards. Were you having an affair with Randy and Edwin?” She looked at Stephanie, who was watching Bryn closely.

  Maybe she could build up a gust of wind and send the gun flying into her own hands. But given her lack of control over her powers, the gun might accidentally go off, or fly in the wrong direction.

  “Of course not.” Bryn wrinkled her nose. “Randy was bad enough. No offense, Steph,” she said with a nod. “I don’t know how you stayed married to him. He w
as slimy. Edwin was a step up, so good for you. But no, I didn’t have an affair with him. I tried to beguile Edwin, and I think I succeeded. Young graduate student, trying to negotiate a deal so she could impress her internship coordinator at Neptune Investments.” She barked a laugh. “As if an intern would be given that responsibility. But Edwin ate it up, and me stroking his ego didn’t hurt.” She lifted a shoulder. “Men, you know?”

  She stuck out her lower lip in a pout. “Sadly, it wasn’t enough. So I killed him. I have to say, Alex.” She turned back. “I thought I was handing you a gift by making Edwin confess to Randy’s death. It was the least I could do to thank you for helping me in my time of fake need. Lidia would go free, everyone lives happily ever after …”

  “Except Randy and Edwin,” Alex said through a clenched jaw. “They won’t live happily ever after.”

  “Right,” Bryn nodded. “Or Stephanie here. She’s got to go, too. Right after she signs a purchase-and-sale agreement for her interest in Bay Realty. Including the land.” She looked at Stephanie. “Do you want to do that now?” She offered a polite hostess smile. “We may as well.”

  The blue bands holding Stephanie dissolved in clouds of blue sparks. She fell off the wall and crashed to the floor.

  Alex started to jump up to run to her side, but the pain in her shoulder made her head spin. So much for healing. She sat back against the wall, clenching her jaw. “Are you okay?”

  “She can’t answer you, Einstein,” Bryn said. “I sealed her mouth. Now Stephanie, I need you to sign some papers for me.”

  Alex watched helplessly as Stephanie stumbled to the desk and signed page after page. “It won’t be valid without witnesses,” Alex noted.

  Bryn laughed. “Yeah, okay. You think I can’t find someone to witness this after the fact? As long as I have her signature and her fingerprints on the papers.”

  When Stephanie was finished, she pushed the stack angrily over to Bryn. “One sec, I just need to check.” She flipped casually through the pages. “You have to initial—oh no, I see it now. Great.” She stacked the documents neatly. “Looks like all the paperwork is in order. I’ll take this with me.” She tucked the documents carefully into a manila envelope before filing them into a bag behind the desk. “I’m going to need you to write out a note, too. For the police. I’ll dictate.”

  Stephanie’s hand moved over the paper, but Alex knew that Bryn was controlling her by magic.

  “‘I’m lost without Edwin and Randy,’” Bryn dictated. “‘At least the company will survive.’” Bryn checked the note and gave a satisfied nod. “That’s perfect. Thank you for being so cooperative, Stephanie.”

  “You’re not giving her a choice,” Alex seethed.

  “I’m trying to be nice,” Bryn said in mock sotto voce. “Don’t ruin this. Now, Stephanie, you’re going to pick up that gun. Go ahead, now.”

  It was now or never, controlled magic or not. As Stephanie reached for the weapon, Alex focused her attention. Come to me. A strong breeze came out of nowhere and sent the gun flying toward the bookcase.

  Bryn’s gaze turned toward Alex, amused. “You want to make this interesting?” She couldn’t suppress her laughter. “A magical girl fight?”

  Alex cursed to herself. With a deep breath, she rolled onto her knees and launched herself toward the bookcase, her vision clouded by sparks of hot pain. As Alex reached out a hand to clasp the gun, Bryn kicked it out of reach. “Poor little witch. Too bad someone shackled your mother before she could teach you how to actually fight.”

  Alex froze, still stretched out on her left side. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, come on. I can’t be telling you anything new.” Bryn crouched lower. Stephanie was frozen by the desk, still restrained by magic. “Everyone knows that your mother was shackled when she drowned. She could practically command the ocean. How else do you explain it?”

  Alex’s eyes widened, and a fresh ache grew in the center of her chest. “But that means—”

  “She was murdered,” Bryn finished. “Lidia never told you? A Magical put a shackle spell on her and drowned her.” She grunted an unladylike laugh. “I mean, the irony. A water witch drowning?” Her lips twisted into a sneer. “No offense, but I want to shake the hand of a witch powerful enough to defeat your mother. I heard she was fierce. The best.” She sighed. “But you? You’re just a nuisance.”

  But as Bryn began to focus her ice-blue eyes, Alex turned to the bookcase. Strike, she silently commanded a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary. Obediently, the book dropped onto Bryn’s back, knocking her to the floor. “Ouch!”

  Prodded by a surge of adrenaline, Alex fumbled toward the gun, her right arm limp at her side. Behind her, Bryn was already rising. Knock her down, she ordered a set of textbooks. One landed squarely against her back, but three others fell harmlessly to the ground.

  “Enough of this amateur-hour shtick. What’s next, pulling a rabbit out of a top hat?” Bryn thrust both hands forward, sending a hot gust of wind that knocked Alex’s head against the large wooden desk. Her vision blurred. Alex blinked, seeing double. When she could see clearly, she was relieved that the gun was still lying on the floor and only inches away.

  Alex sent the bookcase crashing down, but Bryn was too quick, and it missed hitting her by inches. But it distracted Bryn long enough to allow Alex to reach the gun. Fighting against the pain in her broken shoulder and tears welling in her eyes, Alex lifted the weapon in the air with her left hand and aimed it in Bryn’s direction.

  She’d gone shooting with her father a few times as a teenager. As a law enforcement officer, he’d thought it was important that his little girl know how to defend herself and handle a gun. Only she hadn’t paid much attention to the lessons. Now she fervently wished she’d taken notes. However, she figured she could recall enough to shoot Bryn if it came down to it. She just really hoped it didn’t.

  “Tell me who shackled my mother,” she demanded.

  “Is that supposed to scare me?” Bryn tilted her head and pointed at the weapon.

  “A bullet can kill you just like anyone else,” Alex said. “Magical or not.”

  “I don’t know who killed her.” Bryn smirked. “I was barely out of diapers.”

  Bryn feinted to the right, then lurched forward, arms ready to fling another bone-shattering wind her way. Alex took a deep breath, held it, and then squeezed the trigger. She remembered to keep her eyes open and her arm steady. The gun fired with a spark and a loud bang.

  Bryn held up a hand and tried to stop the bullet with her magic, and for a moment the bullet wavered in the air between them.

  Alex focused everything she had on the bullet. Hit her, she commanded with all of the authority she could muster, and it slowly moved through the air, picking up speed as it closed in on her.

  Bryn stared at the bullet, her eyes widening in shock as she realized that Alex’s powers superseded her own. She released a blood-curdling scream as the bullet exploded into her arm.

  Alex couldn’t tell what hurt Bryn more: the pain of the bullet or the fact that she couldn’t match Alex’s power.

  As Bryn clutched her right arm to her body, blood began to seep through her sleeve. She stared at the wound in her bicep, watching the blood drip out, and then she turned to Alex. “That was stupid,” she growled.

  She gazed down at her torn skin again and murmured something. Seconds later, Bryn turned her attention back to Alex. “I’m tired of you.”

  Alex didn’t have to suffer Bryn’s magic, and she didn’t need Mundane weapons. She could block Bryn’s power with her own.

  As Bryn narrowed her gaze, Alex directed her focus on Bryn’s neck. You can’t breathe. With a shudder, Bryn’s head flung back and she clutched at her throat. She turned in surprise and stared at Alex, who heard her thoughts clearly. What do you think you’re doing?

  “I’m stopping you,” Alex replied calmly.

  She kept her eyes fixed on Bryn, who was clawing at her neck. She felt a hu
m of power coursing through her veins, a rush of adrenaline unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

  I am a water witch.

  I am descended from the Mermaid of Warsaw.

  She was powerful, a protector. She didn’t wield a sword and shield like her ancestor, but she would not allow anyone to mess with the people she cared about. A sensation hummed through her body, a pulsating energy that came from protecting the weak. It suffused her whole being, and she knew she was fulfilling her purpose in a way she never had before. She searched the room for Stephanie and found her cowering behind her desk, suddenly released from Bryn’s magic.

  “You need to run, Stephanie. Now. Go get help.”

  Stephanie grabbed on to the rim of the desk but struggled to stand on her feet. “I can’t. My legs. They feel so heavy.”

  Placing her attention on Stephanie must have weakened Alex’s magical grip on Bryn. A gurgle escaped from Bryn’s throat as a blast of wind struck Alex squarely in the face, knocking her against a wall.

  “You baby witch,” Bryn growled. “You think you’re better than me?”

  With a flick of her wrist, she lifted Alex off the ground and slammed her back against the wall again. Alex’s scream echoed in her own ears as her newly healed shoulder, still tender and raw, was reinjured.

  Footsteps hit the stairs outside the room. Minka turned the corner to see Alex’s figure crumpled in the corner. “Oh no you don’t, Bryn.” She entered and lifted a hand, forcing Bryn to the floor. “Alex, can you heal yourself?”

  She didn’t think she could. Not again. Not in this moment. Healing magic hurt almost as much as the injury itself. “Minka. How did you know?” She righted herself, but couldn’t stand.

  Despite the seriousness of the moment, Minka smiled. “You butt-dialed me, girl.”

  “I must have called you when I checked to make sure my phone was in my pocket.”

  “I tried to call you back, but you didn’t pick up.” Minka shrugged. “It gave me a good excuse to leave my date early. He was kind of a dud. He’s a Mundane. I don’t know why I expected more. Maybe I should start dating Magicals. Anyway, now I have a long voice mail with Ms. Wesley here talking about how she killed everyone. Wonder what the Council will have to say about that? I’m guessing you’re going to be put in a shackle spell and forced to live as a Mundane for a long, long time.”