Southern Conjuring Read online

  Wait. Those weren’t the right words.

  “Stop—”

  But Cordelia was already reciting. “Sprite of blight, sprite of spite—”

  “Those aren’t the right words, Cord,” I said.

  “Something’s wrong,” Amelia said.

  But Cordelia didn’t stop. She ignored us until the words were out of her lips and into the world.

  My eyes widened as I looked at Amelia. Amelia backed away from the cauldron. “I don’t think those were the words our moms said.”

  Cordelia flicked the paper toward us. “But y’all said it was a cleaning spell.”

  “Not those words.” I snatched the paper from her. “These weren’t them.”

  Cordelia’s face filled with fear. “Then what did I just do?”

  Amelia shook her head. “I don’t know, but we’d better stand back. It looks like the cauldron’s about to blow.”

  I’d been so focused on Cordelia that I hadn’t noticed the cauldron had started to rock and sway.

  “Oh no,” I said. “Is there a way to stop it?”

  Cordelia shouted above the trembling cauldron. “Look at the paper.”

  I quickly scanned it, but there was nothing else after the incantation. But I remembered what Snow had said. I snapped my fingers. “All we have to do is tell the spirit to go away. That’s all. It’s what Snow told me.”

  Amelia shrank back. “Then you’d better start telling it, because here it comes.”

  Yellow froth spilled from the lip of the cauldron, splashing onto the everlasting fire. The fire spat and hissed. Oh, the heart stone would probably kill me for this. I hadn’t spoken to it in forever, but boy did that object have an opinion about things.

  As the fire continued to protest the golden froth leaking on it, a dark figure emerged from the mouth of the cauldron.

  It was an inky outline, reminding me of a shadow. It possessed a human form with a head, shoulders and torso.

  But no face. The thing had absolutely no face.

  “Um,” Amelia’s said, her voice small and quaking, “will you clean these mason jars?”

  The thing launched itself toward Amelia, stopping inches from her face. Then it hissed.

  “Ah,” she shrieked.

  “Get back,” Cordelia commanded. “Go back to where you came from. If you’re not going to clean and mind us, you can leave!”

  The figure turned toward my cousin. “Go back,” she demanded.

  The inky creature floated toward Cordelia, took one…I suppose, look at her—that’s the only way I can describe it—and then zipped straight toward the door, disappearing from the cottage.

  The fire stopped hissing. The cottage quieted as the three of us stared at each other.

  “What is that thing?” Cordelia said.

  Amelia slowly shook her head. “I don’t know, but it sure as heck didn’t mind the way it was supposed to.”

  I fisted my hands and brought them to my chest. “That Snow. She’s the one who did this. She set us up. Oh gosh, why did we have to chant that stupid spell?”

  “It wasn’t us.” Amelia pointed to Cordelia. “It was you.”

  Cordelia’s jaw dropped. “You’re the one who told me about it. Besides”—she thrust her hand toward the jars—“we’re buried under a mountain of jars.”

  “It’s my job,” Amelia shot back.

  “You’re pretty lousy at it. You can’t even get them cleaned up.”

  “Stop it,” I shouted. My cousins shut up and turned to me. “Blame isn’t going to help us. We’ve got to figure this out. First off, whatever it is, it’s not here to help us. The incantation was dark, using words like ‘blight.’”

  Amelia folded her arms. “So what are we supposed to do about it?”

  “For one, we can visit Snow and find out exactly what we’re dealing with.”

  Amelia grabbed her purse. “Great. Let’s go.”

  “Wait.” I pulled out my phone and pushed Axel’s name. “First we need reinforcements.”

  FOUR

  “Thanks for helping me.”

  Axel winked at me. “I do whatever I can to spend more time with you. Besides, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about yet.”

  “It hissed at us.”

  Axel was silent for a moment. “A lot of things hiss.”

  I grinned. “Have I ever told you how much I love your optimism?”

  He wrapped a hand over my shoulder. “Have I told you I love you?”

  I considered his question. Finally I answered. “I don’t think so.”

  “Well then,” he murmured in my hair. “I love you to infinity.”

  “Love you to infinity plus one.”

  “Ah!” He leaned away and pretended to have been shot in the heart. “You’re killing me.” His lashes lifted. Our eyes locked. A swoosh of air flooded from my lungs as Axel took my hand and kissed the back of it.

  “Now,” he said. “Let’s find out what that thing was. Were there any clues? Anything you can remember that will help?”

  Axel started up the Land Rover, and we rumbled through town on our way back to the Cobweb Forest and Snow’s house.

  I cringed. Of course my fiancé would ask, like, the most logical question. “It was black. Oh, and it didn’t obey us when we told it to go away. Like if we conjured it, shouldn’t it have listened to us?”

  “Should have,” he murmured.

  “Amelia and Cordelia are searching for it, too, but since Snow gave me the spell, albeit without my knowledge, I figured we should go there.”

  Axel’s right hand tightened on the steering wheel. Corded muscles popped in his forearm. Wow. Even his smallest movement was crazy sexy. “It hissed, huh?”

  I nodded, dragging my gaze from his arm before I drooled onto my lap. “It hissed and disappeared out the door.”

  Axel was silent.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure, but be prepared.” His blue eyes snagged on mine. “It might not be good.”

  My heart fluttered up into my throat. “Please don’t say that. We’ve got to stop it.”

  “That’s what we’re doing.”

  We entered the Cobweb Forest. The road that led into the heart of the woods was gravel and dirt. Rocks slung from the tires, bouncing off the underbelly of the truck. It sounded like we were being pelted with stones.

  I curled my fingers into the seat and did my best not to seethe. “Snow Wigley better have a good reason for giving me such a horrible spell.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  It took about ten minutes for the truck to climb the winding mountain road that led to the bluff. When the blue cottage came into view, my hair stood on end.

  The front door hung from its hinges. Wind slammed into the house, picking up the door and slapping it against the siding.

  “What in the world?” I said.

  The Land Rover ground to a halt, and Axel pulled the emergency brake. “Stay here.”

  I was already unbuckling my seat belt. “Like heck I will.”

  “Why do I even bother to request it?” Axel mused.

  I curled my fingers around the door handle and opened it. “No idea.”

  I came around the nose of the vehicle and stood behind Axel. “Let’s go slow. Be careful.”

  When we reached the porch, a voice sounded out from the crawl space. “Let me out!”

  I glanced down to see the little possum’s pink nose peeking out from the latticework.

  “Hey, let me out! It might be horrible inside. Don’t go in there!”

  Axel’s gaze darted to the possum. He placed a finger over his lips, and the possum went silent.

  As quietly as possible we climbed the stairs. As if the door weighed nothing more than a slip of paper, Axel shoved it away.

  Darkness lay inside. Axel motioned for me to stay behind him. I rolled my eyes and stepped through the threshold.

  “Ms. Wigley? Are you here?”

  Axel shot me a dark look. I smiled brightly in response.

  “I’m trying to keep you safe,” he said.

  I shrugged. “Good luck.”

  “Pepper,” he growled.

  I patted his shoulder. “With the grace of God I defeated Lacy, who was the head of the Head Witch Order. Very little scares me now, Axel. I’m not going to be intimidated by a house with its door hanging off, whether you want to stand back or not.”

  “I understand, but I put your safety first.”

  I cocked my head and smiled. “What if she’s hurt? We need to stop talking and start acting.”

  I wasn’t trying to be difficult, but everything I had said was true. I didn’t need him trying to protect me. I was a big girl, and I had proved I could take care of myself.

  Rubble crunched beneath my feet. I leaned down and plucked a shattered picture frame from the floor. I scanned the rest of the room.

  The house was wrecked. “Ms. Wigley?”

  Axel brushed past. He’d probably decided that since I wasn’t going to stay back, he should at least have a head start on me.

  “Ms. Wigley,” he called as he righted tables and chairs. He turned back and shot me a grim look.

  I grimaced. “I know,” I whispered. “It doesn’t look good.”

  We slowly threaded our way through the house until we came to the kitchen. Axel took a step inside, stopped and ground his teeth.

  “You don’t want to come in here.”

  “What is it? Is it her?”

  He nodded.

  “Then I want to see.”

  He slowly nodded, and I followed him in. Snow Wigley sat in a chair, her mouth gaping open and her hands dangling at her sides. Her eyes had a strange hazy sheen to them, as if they were covered in cataracts. They weren’t the same eyes
that I’d met earlier in the day.

  Her fingers were curled like claws. I noticed a slip of paper on the floor. It looked exactly like the one she had first given to me. I picked it up.

  It was the correct spell, the one for the cleaning spirit. What did that mean? Had she switched the spells on purpose?

  “This is the spell I was supposed to use,” I said.

  “But not the one you did.” Axel raked his fingers through his hair. “This is bad.”

  I stared at her. “What happened? Was it a stroke? Heart attack?”

  Axel pressed a hand to the old woman’s forehead and slid it down her face, shutting her eyes. He slowly shook his head.

  Axel gestured to Snow. “Heart attacks and strokes don’t do that to your eyes.”

  “What does?”

  His gaze slowly dragged around the room. He motioned for us to leave. “I don’t want to talk about it in here.”

  I frowned. “Why not?”

  “In case it’s still lingering.”

  “What is?”

  Axel cupped my elbow and guided me through the house toward his vehicle.

  “It was a magic eater, wasn’t it?” the possum shouted. “You can tell me. I saw part of it but wasn’t sure.”

  Axel whirled on the creature. “How do you know that?”

  The words formed dumbly on my mouth. “Magic eater?”

  Axel shot the possum a scorching look. “Yes. But I wasn’t going to tell you until we were safely inside the truck.” He pinned an angry gaze on the possum. “In case it thought we were calling it.”

  “Guess I messed up your plan, huh?” the possum squealed.

  Axel ignored the creature and focused on me. “Are you all right?”

  Thoughts tornadoed in my mind. “Did we call it? Is that what we unleashed?” Bile crept up my throat. “I feel sick.”

  Axel rubbed my back. When our gazes met, his eyes were so full of disappointment I thought I’d throw up. “As much as I hate to say it, yes, I’m afraid you and your cousins called a magic eater into Magnolia Cove.”

  My lower lip trembled. I bit down on it until pain bloomed on my mouth. “What does that mean, exactly?”

  “Magic eaters are difficult to deal with.” Axel stared off into the distance. “Once they get started, they usually don’t stop stealing magic from people until an entire town is gone, dead.”

  I raked my hands over my face. “So Snow is just the beginning? This—creature, will stay in Magnolia Cove until it steals the magic from every single person?”

  Axel nodded sadly.

  “Then what are we waiting for?” I hiked my purse onto my shoulder. “We need to get back to town and tell everyone so we can find a way to stop it.”

  FIVE

  As we headed back to the truck, the possum kept jabbering. “She’s dead, isn’t she? You can tell me. I have to know. I’m stuck here, you see. Stuck here under this porch, just sitting, biding my time until whatever that thing was comes back and kills me, too.”

  I grabbed Axel’s arm and turned to him. “We can’t just leave the little fellow.”

  “Who’re you calling little fellow? I’m a girl.”

  “Oh I’m sorry; the deep voice made me think you were male.” I was mortified. It was like asking a rather large woman when her baby was due and finding out she wasn’t pregnant. I felt absolutely terrible assuming that because the possum sounded male, it was a male instead of a female.

  Axel stepped to the side. “I’m going to call Garrick, get him out here while you deal with the possum.” He considered a moment and leaned back into me. “Do me a favor and find out why the possum can’t come out, will you?”

  “I think it’s spelled under there.”

  Something dark flashed in Axel’s eyes. “Yes, but why?”

  I nodded in understanding and watched as he drifted away. Time to find out if the possum would be more trouble than she was worth or if we needed her.

  Of course, I also didn’t want the creature to starve now that Snow was gone. Besides, it was possible the spell Snow had cast to contain it had vanished with Snow’s death.

  I knelt and came eye to eye with the creature. “Why are you under there?”

  “Snow trapped me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she doesn’t like possums.”

  A sly smile tugged the corners of my lips. “You’re not a regular possum. You can talk.”

  “She still didn’t like me.”

  I cocked my head at the creature. In reply the possum pawed her whiskers. “Why don’t you tell me why Snow didn’t like you?”

  “She had a prejudice against rodents.”

  This little gal thought I was dumb. It was obvious. She figured I’d see a cute little possum trapped under a porch and be all like, let’s protect animals against evil witches. But I’d been around plenty of talking creatures to know that things weren’t always the way they seemed.

  I started to back away. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. You can just stay right where you are.”

  “Stop,” the rodent called. “Don’t leave me here. What if the creature comes back?”

  “Why would the creature come back?”

  The possum shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t speak Magic Eater. Do you?”

  “How’d you know it was a magic eater?”

  The possum slowly nodded. “I’ve seen one before.”

  The tops of my ears tingled with interest. “Where was that?”

  The possum tugged on the lattice that now seemed like cell bars. “Let me out and I’ll tell you everything. But you have to let me out.”

  “Stay here.”

  I crossed to Axel, who’d just hung up with Garrick. “The police are on their way. I told them we’d wait.”

  I rubbed my shoulders. “Instead of going into town and warning everyone?”

  His jaw flexed. “You go ahead.”

  I cringed. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  He squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I’m not alone. I have a possum.”

  “About that.” I glanced over my shoulder at the rodent, who currently gnawed on the lattice. “The possum wants out, and in exchange she’ll tell us what she knows.”

  Axel stared in the creature’s direction. “Do you think she has information?”

  “Hard to say.”

  A breeze ticked up and slid through Axel’s hair. He grimaced. “There’s no time to play it safe right now, not when people might be in danger. I say we let her out.”

  I nodded. “I’ll follow your lead.”

  The possum had disappeared back into the cavernous depths of the crawl space. Axel strode over to the lattice, and in one quick movement he ripped a patch of the white crisscrossed wood away.

  “Easy enough,” he murmured.

  “Are you in there?” I called.

  Suddenly the little critter darted through the hole. She stood on her hind legs and reached for the sky.

  “Years of not being able to stretch will give you such a tight spine. Oh, this feels good. It feels so wonderful to stand to my full height! Anyway, thanks for all your help. I appreciate it. Now I’ll just be going.”

  Before the possum could scamper away, Axel grabbed her by the scruff of the neck. “Hold on a minute. You got a name?”

  “Flower.”

  “Flower the Possum,” Axel said, straight-faced. I nearly laughed at such a sweet name on such a prickly furred creature, but I let it go.

  Axel studied the possum. “Flower, you suggested to Pepper that you knew something. Let me tell you what I know—my fiancée and her cousins summoned the creature accidentally. It came from a spell that Snow had given them. But why would Snow have them summon a creature that would only return and claim her?”

  The possum pawed the air, clearing wanting down. “Maybe Snow had a death wish? Maybe she handed them the wrong spell?”

  I placed the slip of paper with the correct spell in front of the possum. “This was the right spell. Somehow I ended up with the wrong one. It was switched.”

  Flower blinked at the paper. “Oh no, then someone changed it. One of the people at the meeting must have done it.”

  “But who?” I said.

  “Ask your grandmother. Betty Craple would know.”

  I reached out and took Flower away from Axel. “Perfect, let’s go, Possum. You can help me.”

  “No.” The rodent struggled in my arms. “I’m free now. I’ve told you everything I know.”