Chapter 24
Prim woke to the familiar scent of her lavender bush.
The moon shone down on her herbs, each of them lined up in perfect little rows just the way she’d planted them early in the spring.
Honeybees buzzed quietly over the lavender blooms, and Prim wondered if this was heaven.
Had she died and this was her afterlife?
If so, it wasn’t so bad. She could happily live in her hidden garden. But would she see her sisters again? Her grandmother? Dante?
“Good. You’re awake,” that familiar voice said.
Prim blinked up at the brunette. The one with the pretty manicure with the shooting stars. She furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of what was happening.
“Sit up,” the woman said and then lifted Prim’s shoulders so that she was leaning against the wooden fence. “Why couldn’t you have just left it alone?”
“Left what alone?” Prim croaked out.
“The investigation. Once you told that task force guy about Mary and Dee stealing those stupid books, he started looking at the cast closer, and I just couldn’t have him investigating me.
I really am sorry. I never meant for those knitting needles to stab Bree like that.
It was supposed to look like an accident, but you know how magic is. It often has a mind of its own.”
Prim cleared her throat. “Who are you?”
The woman blinked at her then screwed her face up in disgust. “I’m Risa McDougal.
Star of A Spell in Time and Enchanted by Mistletoe.
You know, the Christmas movies that everyone loves to make fun of every year because they always have the same plot, even though they don’t.
They just involved a magical Christmas romance.
And now everyone says they are the same. ”
“I like those movies,” Prim said, trying to place her. “Didn’t the star have blond hair?”
“Yes. I dyed it black just to get someone to take me seriously,” she said.
“And it worked. I was booked for the lead role in McKenna’s movie, only the studio wanted Bree.
The starring role was ripped away from me at the last minute, and I was offered a tiny part with less than ten lines.
Talk about insulting. I knew that if I could get Bree off the set, they’d give it to me.
And that’s exactly what happened. Everything was fine until you started butting in. ”
“You mean until I was arrested for something I didn’t do?”
Risa shrugged. “That’s not my fault. No one meant to frame you.”
“Okay.” The feeling had come back into Prim’s hands, and her wrists were starting to ache. She shifted, trying to get into a better position. The zip tie slipped a little, giving her a bit of room to move her hands. “So what now?”
“Well, here’s the deal. I need to take the heat off me and my castmates for that spell that caused Bree’s accident.
So you’re going to redo it so that your magical signature is all over it.
That way they won’t be able to trace it back to me, and I’ll be in the clear to become the star I’m meant to be. ”
“That’s it? You’ll let me and Shari go if I cast that spell?” Prim asked, more than a little suspicious.
“Well, no,” she admitted. “Not exactly.”
Of course not. “All right. Lay it on me.”
“I’m going to wipe your memory of the entire thing, and that one over there is going to help me do it.” She pointed to Shari, who was still passed out on the ground.
“She’s in on this?” Prim gasped out.
“No. I just need the energy of another witch to cast that spell. Then I’ll take you both back to that house of horrors where you’re on your own.” Risa smiled a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin, clearly pleased with herself.
Prim had to admit that it wasn’t a terrible plan if she could pull it off. However, now that Prim knew about it, there was no way she’d go along with it. Not unless the actress held a gun to her head, and she didn’t see one.
“You’re thinking too hard, Prim,” Risa said. “I wouldn’t consider crossing me. Did I tell you who my father is?”
Well, this was going to be good. “No.”
“Perry Penelton,” she said.
Prim’s mouth went dry before she croaked out, “But your last name is McDougal.”
She laughed. “You think I’m going to keep his last name? With his notoriety? Give me some credit.”
Perry Penelton was a notorious black magic witch who was suspected of dozens of murders.
He’d been tried at least a half dozen times and never convicted.
He was the most notorious criminal witch of their time.
She’d shared that with Prim as a warning.
If she wanted her dead, she could make it happen.
“If that’s the case, then why this show of wiping my memory? Why not just get rid of me?”
She shrugged. “That’s not my style, but if you cross me, I’ll do what I have to do.”
Prim didn’t know if she should believe her about Perry Penelton. She was an actress after all. One thing she did know was that she was at a disadvantage, and that if Risa wanted to kill her, she could. Prim would have to play along, at least long enough to get her hands free.
“Okay, I’ll do the spell,” Prim said. “But I need my hands to do it.”
“You can just chant the spell. That will be fine,” Risa said. “I’m not that stupid.”
“That’s up for debate,” Prim snapped. “Because not only do I need my hands so that I can call magic to me, I also need to prepare some herbs. So unless you want to just kill me right now and face the consequences with the Magical Task Force, you’re going to have to let me have the use of my hands.”
“Forget it. I’ll do the herbs and then we’ll try it my way first.” Risa walked over to Prim, stared her in the eyes, and said, “Don’t test me.”
The darkness she saw there sent a chill down Prim’s spine, and for the first time since they’d started talking, Prim believed the woman would do whatever it took to make sure no one stood in her way. Risa nodded slowly. “I see you understand now. Let’s get to work.”
Prim swallowed, glanced at the still-prone form of Shari, and said, “You’re going to need my pestle and mortar and a small knife.”
“Are those out here?” Risa asked.
“No, inside in the storage area. Against the back wall.”
“I’ll get them.” Risa disappeared into the shop, the flashlight of her phone lit so that she could see.
Prim glanced around, looking for anything that might help her in a fight against the younger witch.
It was then that she spotted a hole in the fence where some boards had been removed.
The space was just large enough for a human to pass through.
That must have been how Risa got them in the garden.
Prim had briefly wondered how they’d gotten into the shop without anyone noticing.
Shifting to the side, Prim struggled against the zip ties holding her wrists together and then yanked her right hand up.
The plastic scraped against her skin, causing her eyes to water.
She gritted her teeth and pulled harder.
Her hand came free as some of her skin shaved right off.
A yelp escaped from her lips just before she clamped her mouth shut, trying to be silent as she reached into her pocket for the silk sachet her grandmother had given her.
Footsteps alerted her to Risa’s presence, and she quickly hid her hand behind her back as she settled against the fence again.
“Where am I?” Shari cried suddenly, sitting up and glancing around the garden.
Risa turned toward her, and Prim took her chance. She lurched forward on her knees, throwing the protective spell right into Risa’s face. The other witch sputtered, sneezed, and then fell backward, temporarily paralyzed.
Prim scrambled for the knife the younger witch had been holding, quickly cut the zip tie at her feet, and then stood and raised her hands to the sky.
Shari was screaming at the top of her lungs for Prim to free her of her restraints, but Prim ignored her.
She fed off the energy in her garden, pulled the strength lent to her by her sisters, and cried, “Goddess of the righteous Befana Bay Witches, hear my call! Protect us from evil, from the greedy, from the wicked, and bind those seek to destroy everything we’ve worked for. Protect us! Heal us! Free us of evil!”
Lightning crackled in the sky just as magic crackled through Prim’s garden. Magic rose and swirled around her, creating a barrier just as Risa jumped to her feet and threw a torrent of dirty magic at her.
The shield around Prim absorbed it, crackled, and turned a sickly green before it spit it back out right at Risa, hurling her backward into the fence. The force was so strong that the wooden structure splintered, sending shards of wood everywhere.
Prim stared at the witch, the smoke rising from her clothes, and then suddenly sank back down onto the ground as all her limbs became heavy with fatigue. Her power was depleted again. She’d used every last ounce of it to fight off Risa.
Shari stared at her, eyes narrowed as she chanted something in Latin.
Prim could feel the magic building, and she pushed herself to her knees, knowing that she wasn’t going to have the strength to fight whatever Shari managed to conjure from her spell.
If she could just get back into the herb garden she’d have a chance.
Scrambling forward, Prim reached for the lavender plant just as she felt magic crackle through the air. She flattened herself and said a prayer of protection, bracing herself for the worst.
Shari let out a cry of frustration, and Prim realized that the magic in the air was all too familiar.
And when she looked up, she found all three of her sisters standing in front of her, their hands raised to block Shari’s curse.
Behind her was Bethany Befana, her amulet raised and pointed right at Shari.
Bethany muttered two words. “Bind her.”
Golden magical ropes wound around Shari in a coil, binding her arms to her sides, and when Shari opened her mouth, Bethany called, “Gag her.”
A golden ball of light appeared out of thin air and lodged in Shari’s mouth, muzzling her.
Bethany walked over to Risa and nudged her with a toe. When the witch twitched, she pointed the amulet at her, too, binding her with the same magical rope.
Lily, Sage, and Indigo rushed to Prim’s side.
“Are you all right?” Lily asked, running her hands over Prim’s arms, presumably checking for injuries.
“I think so,” she said, wincing as Lily found the scrape on her wrist from the zip ties. She looked up at Indigo, who was hovering over her. “How did you find me?”
“Dante called Niko when you didn’t show up at the hospital, and we used the Find Me app to track your iPhone.
It took us to that crazy house of horrors, and then we followed the magic trail back here.
Took us a bit since it wasn’t that strong, but it looks like we managed the perfect dramatic entrance. ”
Prim let out a small laugh that was followed by a sob as she climbed to her feet and was engulfed in a hug by all three of her sisters.