Callie shook her head. “I don’t understand. You used magic on my family to make us nice so we’d let you kick us out of our home?”
“Not nice,” the professor said. He seemed incensed by the suggestion. “Good. There’s a difference.”
“But the spell grew stronger as the days progressed,” I said. “You didn’t expect that, did you?”
He regained his composure. “After meeting the Minors, I realized I’d need to double the strength.”
“Not quite how it worked out, though, is it?” Ember asked.
“Do you not see the irony of caring more about the tangi’s well-being than you do about others?” I asked. “Dr. Hall could’ve killed someone. Phoebe almost hurt Florian. Octavia almost hurt herself.”
Darcy and Callie looked at me. “She did?” they asked in unison.
“Is that why she’s locked up?” Darcy asked. “I thought she attacked someone.”
“She did that, too,” I said.
“I want this property,” Professor Wallis said, stomping his foot. “The tangi needs to be protected and if they won’t give it to me, I’ll have to take it.”
“We can look after the tangi without signing over our land,” Darcy said.
“No,” he sputtered. “You’re already talking about stripping bark from their trees. You won’t do it properly. You’re not good enough.”
“Sorry, Professor,” I said, producing my wand. “Looks like it’s the end of the rainbow for you.”
Ember shot me a quizzical look. “Is that your catchphrase or something?”
“No.” I pointed my wand at him. “The tangi makes rainbows. I thought it was clever.” I paused. “Do you have a catchphrase?”
“No, but now I think I want one.”
“You will regret your choice, ladies,” he said, his breathing ragged. Coarse hair erupted on his skin until every inch was covered. His eyes bulged and darkened as his body burst into a rounder shape. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good.
“I think he’s shifting,” Ember said.
“Yes, but into what?”
Six hairy legs broke through his skin, answering my question. The legs propelled outward, knocking over furniture in the process.
Professor Wallis was a giant spider shifter—and still clumsy.
“Gross, did he have to be a spider?” Ember asked.
Thankfully, I didn’t mind spiders, although I would’ve preferred a smaller size.
“Everybody out,” I said firmly. I couldn’t risk hurting someone else with my magic. The sunroom was too compact.
Callie and Darcy complied without protest, probably because they were still under the spell and felt compelled to be good.
“I’m not leaving you,” Ember said. She whipped out her wand and moved to stand beside me. “The guy has more arms than you.”
“Technically, those are legs.”
“Fine, he’s got more legs than you, too.”
We kept our eyes fixed on the giant spider. He made a guttural sound that made the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Sometimes size did matter.
Ember aimed her wand and said, “Congelo.”
Two of his legs froze, not very helpful when the other six were in perfect working order. We’d have to try another tack.
Before I could raise my wand, one of his legs shot out and knocked Ember to the floor, along with her wand. I seized his momentary distraction.
“Step on a crack/suffer blowback,” I said.
The spider lifted into the air and slammed against the glass wall of the sunroom. Cracks splintered from the place of impact.
Unfortunately, the spider recovered more quickly than I anticipated. He peeled himself off the glass and pounced. There was no time to react. I fell back against the floor and lost my grip on the wand. Two of his legs pinned my arms to the floor. My fingers wiggled and reached for the wand but to no avail. His spider fangs hovered dangerously close to my face.
There was no way I could get to my wand. I’d have to rely on raw sorceress power.
“All good things must come to an end, Professor,” I ground out.
I focused on my will and energy surged inside me before exploding into the air. Roller skates appeared at the end of the spider’s legs. He tried to stay balanced, but his legs rolled too far away and he fell to the floor on his back. His legs flailed in the air as he desperately tried to recover.
Ember climbed back to her feet and pointed her wand at the spider. “Regressus.”
The hair and legs receded and the body shriveled until the professor returned to his human appearance, a pair of roller skates still on his feet.
I reclaimed my wand and scrambled to my feet. “He’s unconscious.”
“Thanks the gods.” She inclined her head to his feet. “Interesting choice. What made you decide on skates?”
“I didn’t consciously choose them,” I said. I’d tapped into my sorceress power which dug deeper than the witchy spells I often used. Somewhere in my subconscious must’ve been the memory of the boggart in Harry Potter who becomes less scary when wearing skates.
Ember smiled. “Awesome job, and those rhyming spells are seriously adorable. They’re like magical nursery rhymes.”
“Latin makes you sound smart,” I said.
She barked a laugh. “Don’t be fooled. Half the time I don’t know what they mean. I’m just repeating the words my instructors taught me.”
“Well, you sound very convincing.”
We both turned at the sound of the door flying off its hinges. Sheriff Astrid and Britta rounded the corner and skidded into the sunroom.
“What took you so long?” I asked. “I told Josie to get you ages ago.”
“It was our fault,” Phoebe said, appearing behind them. “We insisted she join us for tea and cookies. They’re better when they’re fresh.”
Sheriff Astrid gave me a sharp look. “You swore to me you wouldn’t handle this on your own.”
“And I didn’t.” I pointed to Ember. “I had a partner in fighting crime right here.”
The Valkyrie shook her head, not entirely persuaded. “I’m just glad everyone is okay.”
“They will be once the spell is reversed,” I said.
Ember looked at the professor on the floor. “I don’t get it. I was staying in the house. Why wasn’t I affected by the spell?”
“Because the flowers were in the kitchen,” I said. “The harpies spend a lot of time in there, but I bet none of you did.”
Ember shook her head. “No, they told us it was off-limits when we arrived. Raoul wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t about to argue with a bunch of scary bird ladies.”
Britta gestured to Ember and me. “You two need a cool nickname. How about the dynamic duo?”
“That’s taken,” Ember said.
“Two Dope Witches?” Britta suggested.
“Technically not a witch,” I said.
Britta threw up her hands. “I give up. Think of your own nickname.”
“Pardon the interruption, but how do we undo the flower spell?” Phoebe asked. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Is anyone else creeped out by nice Phoebe?” Britta asked, inching away from the harpy.
An idea popped into my head. “I think I know someone who can help. Juniper Brimstone. You’ll find her at the academy.”
“The new instructor.” Britta nodded. “I met her the other day. Very laidback for a witch.”
“Make sure to round up Dr. Hall, Rue Halloran, and Stefany,” I said. “Actually, start with Stefany because she…”
Oh no.
“What is it?” Sheriff Astrid asked.
Panic ripped through me. “I need to go.”
Ember seemed to grasp the urgency of the situation. “Oh no, the troll. Yes, go! We’ll handle the rest of them.”
I bolted from the house. I was able to stop Professor Wallis from taking advantage of the harpies. I only hoped I wasn’t too late to stop Stefany from doing som
ething she’d regret for the rest of her life.
Chapter Nineteen
I pounded on Stefany’s front door and hoped I wasn’t too late. As awful as I felt about scuppering Bitsy’s chances for an organ transplant, I couldn’t let Stefany go through with it. If the troll was under the influence of a spell, it wasn’t right, no matter how ‘good’ and selfless the act seemed.
The door cracked open and a troll peered at me through the gap.
“Stefany?”
The gap widened and I realized it was a younger, male version of Stefany. “No, sorry. She’s not here.”
“You must be Stefany’s son,” I said. “I’m Emma Hart. My friend and I were here to talk to her recently about her decision to donate her organ to Bitsy.”
His brow wrinkled in confusion. “Are you the ones that tried to talk her out of it?”
“No, my friend is a reporter and she wanted to write an article about your mother’s altruism.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty great,” he said. “They’re both at the healer’s office now. I was about to head over there.”
Then there was no time to waste. The rest of my words tumbled out in a rush. “I know this sounds strange, but I have to check the pig vase for flowers.”
His eyes turned to slits as he examined me. “Sorry. The what for what?”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but there’s no time to explain.” I pushed past him and ran to the kitchen. “Gods, no.”
The pig vase was no longer on the table. My head jerked left and right in search of the roses.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.
I didn’t want to use magic on the innocent troll, but I would if it came to it. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I need to find the bouquet of roses your mother had in the pig vase. They were on the table the other day when Ember and I were here.”
“What’s so important about flowers?” he asked.
“Please, I’ll explain everything, but right now I need to find those flowers.” I heard the note of panic in my voice and hoped it was enough to convince him to help me and not toss me out.
“They’re in the garden waste bin,” he said. “It’s out back.”
He opened the screen door to the backyard and I shot past him. The brown bin was filled to the brim with grass clippings, leaves, and other garden waste. I didn’t have time to sift through it all by hand. I pulled out my wand and aimed it at the bin.
The troll pushed down the end of the wand. “Whoa. What do you think you’re doing?”
“A simple spell to find the roses,” I said. “I won’t make a mess, I promise.” I’d make more of a mess if I tried to do this without magic.
He removed his hand from the wand. “I don’t get this. Why are you so worried about what my mom’s doing? Most folks would consider it a good thing.”
“It is—unless your mother doesn’t really want to do it. There’s a chance she might be under the influence of magic and not really acting of her own free will.”
He balked. “Wait. You think Bitsy put a spell on her so she’d agree to the organ donation?” He muttered a string of curses. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted this. It was all too good to be true.”
“No, no,” I said quickly. “It’s nothing to do with Bitsy. There were a handful of red roses from the flower festival that were spelled. If there’s a red rose in here…”
The troll itched his ear. “That would mean Mom doesn’t really want to donate? But Bitsy will die if she can’t have the transplant. The healers say she’s beyond magical help.”
I gave him a sympathetic look. “We’ll know for sure in a minute.”
The troll nodded, his expression solemn. “Do whatever you need to do.”
I aimed my wand, focused my will, and said, “Gods above, throw me a bone/if a red rose is here, let its presence be known.”
The garden waste shifted and I watched with bated breath as an orange rose appeared, followed by another one. Four more orange roses drifted to the top of the bin, followed by six yellow ones. They floated out of the bin and lined up in a row on the ground in front of me. A dozen roses and not one of them was red. I nearly wept at the sight of them. Stefany wasn’t under the influence of the spell after all. She really intended to help her former daughter-in-law despite their past issues.
The troll sagged with relief. “No magic?”
“No magic,” I confirmed.
Tears filled his eyes. “I knew it. My mom’s the best.”
I placed a comforting hand on his wide shoulders. “I can see why you think so.”
“When they’ve both recovered, there’s going to be another wedding.” He squared his shoulders and raised his chin a fraction. “Bitsy and I are in it for the long haul this time.”
“I hope she says yes.”
He grinned at me. “She already has. I just didn’t want to announce it until after the surgery. Today is about Bitsy and my mom.” He punched the air in jubilation. “How many of us are lucky enough to get a do-over?”
I felt a rush of pure joy. It was reassuring to know there were still good paranormals in the world doing good deeds. Ansell and Stefany had both committed selfless acts, despite their own rocky histories. If only Professor Wallis’s selflessness hadn’t become so twisted…Like the very spell he conjured, he ended up swinging too far in the opposite direction.
“Not to rush you out,” the troll said, “but I want to get over to the healer’s office before they begin.”
“I understand. Good luck with everything,” I said.
“Thanks.” He gazed at the mess of flowers at his feet. “I think I’m going to save these, maybe get creative and make a keepsake with them to show our kids someday.”
“That’s a brilliant idea.”
After I arrived home, drained from the nonstop activity, my household committed a selfless act of their own by letting me nap in the middle of the day.
They took their promise seriously, too. No one awakened me to feed or change Diana. The alarm was my only reminder to rejoin the land of the living—and one dead undead.
I padded into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to brush my teeth. Ember and her family would be leaving town shortly and I wanted to be able to say goodbye without melting their skin with my bad breath.
Magpie leaped onto the counter and I jerked back. My toothbrush flew out of my hand and plunged into the toilet.
“Magpie, what are you doing?”
I glanced helplessly at the floating toothbrush. I knew the bowl was clean, but I still wouldn’t be able to get past this.
The hellbeast batted at the stream of water with his paw.
“Are you serious? I sacrificed a toothbrush so you can play in the sink like a toddler?”
Magpie hissed at me and then dipped his head to drink from the tap.
I checked the cabinet for another toothbrush and was relieved to find one still in the package. As I tore off the plastic, I heard a screech of terror. I inadvertently screamed in response and threw the whole package into the air. The toothbrush landed in the toilet with a gentle splash.
“Emma!” Gareth’s voice was so high-pitched that I winced at the sound. “Come quickly!”
I forgot all about the toothbrushes and raced down the hall, my heart thundering as loudly as my feet. “Where are you?”
“Nursery,” he said.
Oh gods. Something happened to Diana. I should never have napped. This was my punishment.
I arrived at the threshold of the nursery to see Gareth flat against the wall, afraid to move. Diana stood in her crib, laughing as dozens of dark green toads hopped around the room.
“What happened?” I asked. I scooped Diana out of the crib and backed toward the doorway, careful not to step on any toads along the way.
“What does it look like?” Gareth said. “She turned all her toys into toads.”
My gaze swept the room. Sure enough, her toys were nowhere to be seen.
“How?” I asked. “She can’t even talk yet. How could she conjure a spell like that?”
A toad hopped across my toe and I jerked my foot away.
“This is a nightmare,” Gareth moaned.
“You said you wanted her to be extraordinary.” I hugged Diana to my chest. “Looks like you got your wish.”
He shrieked as a toad hopped down from a shelf and nearly landed on his foot.
“Why are you so uncomfortable?” I asked. “It’s not like they can touch you. You’re a ghost.”
Gareth squeezed his eyes closed. “Make them go away.”
“Why don’t you go downstairs and I’ll see whether Diana and I can change them back?” I’d hate for her to lose all her toys. If the toads left the house and hopped into the forest, we’d never find them.
Gareth didn’t need to be asked twice. He merged with the wall and disappeared.
I held Diana in front of me so that I could see her face. “You are a naughty minx,” I said, unable to hide a proud smile. “You’ve had your fun and now we need to change the toads into toys again.”
Diana squealed with delight.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” I placed her in the crib so I could use my wand to focus the magic. It would be too awkward to perform magic one-handed. I was clumsy enough at the best of times.
Diana reached for my wand and I pulled my hand back before she could grab it. She had quick reflexes, I’d give her that.
“We need to change the toads back into toys,” I said. I made sure to adopt a neutral tone and was careful to enunciate. I didn’t want her to think I was angry, but at the same time I didn’t want her to think it was acceptable to use magic willy-nilly.
Diana smiled and shook her head.
My eyes popped. “Did you understand me?” The request had been more of a formality. I’d fully intended to undo the spell myself.
Diana watched happily as a parade of toads hopped around the room. They jumped down from dressers and shelves to join their friends on the floor.
Halo Effect Page 17
