Southern Omens (Sweet Tea Witch Mysteries Book 17) Page 5

  “What did you hear?” she hissed.

  Oh no. She knew that I knew, and now I was in for it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The boy told me that he saw you near us. That’s what’s wrong with that little idiot. He thinks that he’s so smart.” Her lips coiled in a wicked grin. “But he isn’t. Now. What do you know?”

  I recoiled, feeling the energy of the truth wafting through me. “I heard enough,” I shouted, “to know that you’re a liar!”

  The room went quiet. All eyes focused on me. My gaze flickered around the room until it landed on Betty.

  “Misha is lying,” I yelled. “Betty, it’s all a trick. An evil trick by an evil woman. You have to reverse the spell, change it.”

  Misha patted the air with both hands. “I’m sorry, but she’s taking this very badly, very badly indeed. She can’t accept what’s going to happen.”

  “I can’t accept it,” I said, “because you’ve lied. Betty, Misha’s plan is to take over—”

  A screech filled the air. Witches and wizards gasped as a great flutter of wings descended on the room. A snowy owl as big as a mountain lion landed on the back of a chair.

  “The second omen,” Ignatius (of course) screamed. “That’s the second omen. There is only one more to go, one more before death will descend on this town!”

  “That’s what I’m trying to say,” I yelled. “Everything we’ve learned is false!”

  The owl extended its wings and with a flap that filled the room with a hurricane-like wind, lifted up into the air. The creature turned its head. Its golden gaze landed on me.

  There is only one omen left, it said, speaking telepathically to me.

  I squinted at it. You know this? How?

  Beware, the owl replied.

  Before it could say another word, the owl flew from the room.

  I threw out my hand. “Wait! Come back!”

  But the owl was gone and with it, whatever knowledge it had. After a moment the room settled.

  I turned back to Betty, who had started moving toward me, concern filling her eyes.

  “You have to listen to me,” I said.

  Misha’s hand touched my back. “Oh no, dear. I see that you don’t feel well.”

  Magic seeped from her hand, sinking into my back. A fog filled my head, and everything started to darken. I reached for a chair to steady myself.

  I twisted my head and glared at Misha. I opened my mouth to speak, to tell her that I knew she’d magicked me. But no words came out.

  Misha smirked. “Someone catch her. Pepper’s fainting!”

  Just as I started to tumble forward, strong arms wrapped around my waist. My eyelids fluttered up, and I stared at Axel. I tried to speak but couldn’t.

  Then the world went black.

  CHAPTER 7

  I awoke in a room that I didn’t recognize. The light was dim, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. A blanket had been laid atop me, and I had to stop and think, remember why I was here in the first place.

  Misha!

  I threw the blanket off and jumped off the bed, rushing to the door. I turned the knob and tugged, but it was locked.

  Locked. Who would do this?

  I banged on it, and a moment later I heard the soft click of a lock and the knob turned. Worried that Misha’s face would be the one that I saw, I reared back, ready to attack.

  But it was Axel’s face that appeared.

  I threw my arms around his neck. “Oh, thank goodness.”

  He slid his hands to my cheeks and rubbed his thumbs over my flesh. “Are you okay? You fainted out there.”

  “I only fainted because Misha did something to me.”

  He scowled. “What?”

  “It’s her, Axel.” My words came out hoarsely. “She convinced Betty to be the person who receives the apple so that she can get Betty out of the way.”

  “Why?”

  My throat was parched, my lips dry. I swallowed and licked my lips, trying to stop my voice from catching. “Because she and her sisters want to run this town. They can’t do it with Betty here, so they devised a plan to get rid of her.”

  He gripped my hand. “Then we have to stop them. Come on.”

  We rushed from the room. I was relieved that he believed me. What if no one listened to me? What if they thought I was just making it all up because I didn’t want anything to happen to Betty?

  I shoved all of that aside as we re-entered the party. Dinner was over, and people were moving outside to enjoy the evening.

  I glanced around, but there was no sign of Betty. My stomach rumbled. It was not happy that I’d missed a meal. Well, my stomach would have to wait. Saving Betty was more important.

  Outside, stars constellated the night sky. Thousands of them dotted the darkness, circling the moon. Torches flamed around the perimeter. People milled about, chatting and smiling.

  “Where is she?” Desperation strangled my voice. “We’ve got to find her.”

  Axel tugged me to the left. “Let’s look over here.”

  We raced through the crowd. “Excuse me,” I said. “Pardon me. Have you seen Betty?”

  But every person I asked said that they hadn’t. Finally I saw Amelia and Cordelia.

  I bolted toward them. “We have to find Betty. Have y’all seen her?”

  “Pepper.” Amelia squeezed my arm. “Are you okay? We were all so worried about you.”

  I batted away her hand. “Yes, I’m fine. But we have to find our grandmother. Have you seen her?”

  Amelia shook her head. “She said that she wanted to be alone.”

  Alone? I raked my fingers down my face. “Where would she have gone?”

  Amelia shot Cordelia a searching glance. “Do you know? I don’t.”

  Cordelia shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure.”

  Axel tapped my shoulder. “I’ll keep looking.”

  He darted off, and I said to Cordelia and Amelia, “She’s been lied to, by Misha. The whole thing is a ruse for Misha and her sisters to gain control of our town. Betty is sacrificing herself for nothing. We have to stop her.”

  Amelia’s eyes filled with tears. “If you’re right, we need to find Betty and we need to have done it yesterday.”

  “Let’s go,” Cordelia said. “Split up. We can cover more ground that way.”

  There were so many people, and they were all clustered in groups that were difficult to maneuver. I dodged one way, and the next thing I knew, a swarm of people would be blocking my path. It was like going to Disney World and seeing an open spot in the pavement, where no one is walking and you decide to head there but suddenly the entire world has swarmed that one spot and then the once-free area is impossible to cut through.

  Yes, that is a thing.

  So that was what I faced outside. I yelled Betty’s name, and people stared at me as if I’d gone crazy. I asked them if they had seen her, and it was always the same reply—no, they hadn’t.

  I started to think that maybe Misha had gotten hold of my grandmother, that she had whisked her off to some dark corner to make sure that her evil plan would succeed.

  Of course thinking that made me more panicked. My heart flew into my throat, beating like a hummingbird’s wings, the quick rhythm of it sending sweat pouring out of me and making my hands slick.

  I no longer saw Amelia and Cordelia, but I could hear them calling for her, too. Axel was also nowhere to be found, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t afraid of anyone, and if I found Misha before I found Betty, I would grab her by the ear and force her to admit the truth.

  But it seemed all the players that I needed in this game had disappeared, vanished like smoke in the air.

  I searched the perimeter of the crowd and swept around, back toward where we had come out in the first place.

  Axel met me there. Worry had made his eyes the color of coal. “I haven’t seen her. Have you?”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t found Misha or her sisters, either. Do you think they’re all together?”

  “I’ll ask the manager, see if anyone knows where they are. You keep looking.” Axel brushed his lips to my forehead. “And Pepper, be careful.”

  “I will be.” We broke apart. “Hurry.”

  Without another word he disappeared inside the club. I turned around to see Amelia and Cordelia.

  “Still no sign?” Cordelia asked.

  “No. Axel’s checking inside.” I raked my fingers down my face and felt myself wanting to collapse, wanting to crumble, but that was the last thing that I could do. “Is there someplace that we haven’t looked?”

  Cordelia nibbled her bottom lip. “There’s a golf course beside us. I didn’t go there.”

  “Me neither,” Amelia admitted. “But I will. Right now.”

  Before I could say another word, Amelia and Cordelia darted off. That gave me time to think and mull.

  Where would Betty be? If this was the last moment that she would be alive, why wouldn’t she be with her family? Would she have picked to be with Misha and her sisters?

  No, she wouldn’t. Which meant that they must have done something to her. That made sense because they would want to make sure that she received the apple.

  Where would the four of them be?

  Then it hit me—Betty’s house. That’s exactly where they would have gone. I moved toward the club door, thinking I should tell Axel.

  But there was no time. He’d be angry that I ran off on my own, but sometimes it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Wasn’t it?

  You know, I always thought that was a weird saying. Isn’t it easier to ask permission first? That’s the sort of statement that teenagers use as an excuse to get into trouble.

  But whatever, there wasn’t ti
me to ruminate on teenagers and all the ways they find to drive their parents crazy. I rushed through the country club, narrowly avoiding colliding with servers who were still cleaning up our evening meal.

  My gaze met Ignatius’s, who was just coming out of the bathroom.

  “I’m right, you know,” he said.

  I nearly kicked him into the wall but kept going, past the front entrance and the desk there, all the way out the front doors and back into the humid night.

  My dress clung to my clammy skin, and my hair was glued to my neck. I picked it up and felt a breeze brush over my flesh, instantly cooling me.

  I raced down the lawn and stopped when my gaze caught a bright spot in the sky.

  My breath hitched as a white-gold comet flared, looking like a fireball. I could almost hear the crackling of fire as it cut a path across the stars.

  “No, no, no,” I shrieked.

  The last sign. This was the very last one. This meant that death was on its—

  “Ah!”

  A scream split the air. My heart clenched, and tears sprang to my eyes. I was too late. I felt my insides wither, my legs weaken. My knees wobbled and they wanted to collapse, but that couldn’t happen. I had to prepare myself for the moment to come.

  The scream had come from the side of the club, not far from where I was. I peered into the darkness and saw a copse of trees. I rushed over, fully expecting to see Betty’s lifeless body beneath the branches, but as I grew closer, the shape of the figure wasn’t right at all.

  It was larger and more lumpy. Moon shade from the trees made it difficult to see any more than that. I grabbed a piece of the heavy fabric covering the body and yanked it off.

  I sucked air. Misha lay on the ground, her sightless eyes staring up at the sky. In her open fingers lay a ruby-red apple—the same apple that was supposed to have appeared before Betty.

  Grass crunched behind me. I whirled to see Ignatius standing in the grove, a mass of people behind him.

  He jabbed a finger at me. “She’s dead, isn’t she? And you killed her! You, Pepper Reign, are a murderer!”

  CHAPTER 8

  G arrick was on the scene immediately. He shoved his fedora off his forehead and knelt. Glowing balls of light hovered in the sky, bobbing up and down, illuminating the scene.

  “And you say you found her?” he said.

  A chill set in my arms. I rubbed them, shivering. “Just now.”

  Ignatius pointed at me. “She killed Misha. It was revenge for my prophecy about death.”

  Axel, who stood next to me, stalked over to the boy. My husband was so angry I could almost see fiery waves of heat wafting off him.

  He took Ignatius by the collar. “If my wife had been angry at anyone about the prophecy, it would have been you. She would have dispatched you instead of Misha.”

  “Don’t hurt me,” Ignatius wailed. “I’m only a boy!”

  Axel released him. “A boy who tries to speak like a man and falls short. Do me a favor and pick which one you want to be and go for it. Because right now, you hiding behind your age is getting old.”

  Ignatius jerked out of Axel’s reach and adjusted his collar. “I don’t like you.”

  “The feeling is mutual.”

  Betty waddled up. “What’s going on?”

  Relief flooded through me. I pulled her into a hug. “Oh, Betty. I was looking for you. I had to tell you what I overheard Misha say—that she tricked you into taking the death apple. That she and her sisters wanted to run Magnolia Cove. Where were you?”

  Betty pulled her pipe from a pocket in her dress and lit it. In case you were wondering, Betty’s corncob pipe was sometimes prepacked.

  “Had to go to the little ladies’ room,” she snipped. “What’s this about the sisters wanting our town?”

  Garrick tipped his hat at me. “I’d like to hear more of this, too.”

  The curious look in his eyes made me feel like I was being scrutinized. My throat shrank, and it seemed like the world was spinning. I clutched Axel’s chest, leaning onto him.

  “I don’t feel very well,” I said. “I need to rest.”

  “What happened to our sister?” a voice called out.

  Freya and Katrina strode forward, their faces pinched with worry.

  Garrick rose and turned. “Ladies, let’s take a walk over here.”

  Freya brought a shaking hand to her mouth. “Why? What happened to her? Someone said she collapsed.”

  Garrick moved to block the women, but they cast a spell that let them slip right past him. The witches took one look at their sister and started wailing.

  “She received the apple,” Katrina cried. “How is that possible?”

  “Betty was supposed to get it,” Freya said, tears streaming down her face. She pointed at Betty. “It was supposed to be you—you were to get this. Not her. She told us that you made an agreement.”

  Garrick flicked Betty a curious look. “Is that true?”

  Oh no. He wasn’t about to start pinning this crime on Betty. Not if I had anything to do with it. I uncurled my fingers from Axel’s chest and pitched forward.

  “Betty was set up,” I nearly screamed. “I heard the sisters in the country club. Misha was saying how it was all part of the plan. Earlier she told me that no one was going to die, that we shouldn’t listen to Ignatius. Then Betty said that was a lie, that someone had to die and that Betty had taken the responsibility.

  “But that wasn’t true, was it?” I directed to the sisters. “The truth is that Ignatius can’t quite determine what he sees, that he’s not so good at soothsaying. So Misha took his prophecy and made a big spectacle about it, convincing everyone that someone could die. She then went to Betty and told her that if she wanted to help this town, she would work the spell on herself and receive the death apple. Then all Misha and her sisters had to do was wait until Betty died and they would convince everyone that we needed their protection.”

  “Ridiculous,” Freya murmured.

  I exhaled, tired of talking, but I wasn’t finished. “But that is just plain stupid. You wouldn’t have kept anyone safe because someone, my grandmother, would have died. Your plan was ridiculous and now, look—Misha is dead. She got the apple. The question is, how?” My gaze darted from Freya to Katrina. “Which one of you was it? Who killed Misha?”

  Freya scoffed. “You’re full of nonsense. Neither of us killed our sister. If it was anyone, it was you.”

  I stared at her, openmouthed. “I didn’t kill her.”

  Katrina removed her glasses and wiped her eyes. “They say you found her, and you heard Misha’s plan. You wanted to keep your grandmother safe. If it was anyone, then it was you. My sister and I were together.”

  I wanted to rip her eyes out. “Misha spelled me. She made me faint so that I couldn’t tell Betty what I knew.”

  “And you didn’t get a chance to?” Garrick said, studying me a little more intently than I liked.

  “No,” I snapped. “Because Betty was apparently in the bathroom, so I didn’t get to tell her or any of y’all what I knew. We were searching for her. Axel, you can tell him.”

  He nodded. “Everything that Pepper says is accurate. We were looking for Betty.”

  Freya smirked. Her pink lipstick matched her pink hair, and I despised both the hair and the lipstick. “Are you sure that you didn’t take the law into your own hands?”

  Now I wanted to throttle her. “No, unlike your family, I’m a reputable person. I don’t go around telling people that they have to work spells that will kill them so that I can take over a town.”

  Freya gasped. “You misunderstood our plan.” She batted her lashes at Garrick. “We never intended to take over. Misha did what she believed was right. She thought that the death apple was the answer to counter Ignatius’s spell. That’s what she meant when you overheard us.”

  I crossed my arms. “Oh? And what about the part where Misha said that with Betty out of the way, y’all could lead? That with her gone you could easily convince everyone that you would protect us?”

  Freya blinked at me as if I had two heads. “Well, haven’t we protected you? I think you forget who the original prophecy was for—you and the baby. Though Ignatius didn’t say both of you were involved, it was implied. We have kept you safe. You aren’t dead, but it looks like you took the spell into your own hands.”