“It had a little fit yesterday. It tossed all the drawers out of the desk. I’d like to do something about it.” Before he can interrupt, I barrel on. “I have this spell—”
“No!” he barks.
It’s the loudest I’ve ever heard his voice, and I jump.
He closes his eyes, pulling himself together. “Rhea, I told you about my mom. Spells can be dangerous. If any part of it is wrong, if an ingredient is missing, things can get deadly.”
“It’s the whole spell,” I say. “From someone who’s used it a bunch.”
He carefully puts down the coffee mug and sits beside me at the table. “How can you know that for sure? Where did the spell come from?”
“Farrah gave it to me. She was friends with my mom. I think I trust her.”
“You think?”
I look down, feeling silly. “Why would she lie to me? She didn’t go to Joyce’s farm that day. Her grimoire is fine. You can ask your grandmother. Wait.” I sit up. “Maybe your grandmother can help. If we call her and Tina and Shelby, people who’ve been doing spells all along, who know the magic—”
“They’ll never trust you. Not after Maggie.”
“The McGowans still have their grimoires. They can do spells. They weren’t there, either.”
His head is in his hands. “God, I didn’t know that. I thought it hit everybody. But they’ve just had their spells, all this time? No wonder they didn’t hate Maggie like my folks did.”
“Please, Hunter. I need this ghost gone. It’s terrorizing me, and I can’t open a business with it—I don’t know—throwing dictionaries at people, as much as they might need it. Just talk to your grandmother. Let’s at least meet and discuss it. I get why it’s not smart for me, a brand-new witch who knows nothing, to do big spells, but if we bring together several people who know better—”
“This is a bad idea,” Maggie warns in my head. “He’s right. They’ll never trust you.”
“I trust these people,” I say firmly, for both of them to hear. “Itrust that they want the best for me, and that they want the best for Arcadia Falls.” I don’t tell Hunter that part of my reasoning behind the ghost banishment is that I need to be totally safe while I search for the grimoire. I can’t. Maggie is listening.
And that’s how it comes to pass that at noon, I’m opening the bookstore door for Farrah, Joyce, Tina, and Shelby, who called them all together. I already owe Shelby so much that I don’t know how I’ll ever repay it. I lead everyone to the office, with Hunter trailing along behind and Maggie sitting on my shoulder, muttering negativity directly into my brain. Hunter is wary, but he’s willing to listen. I wanted to call it a parley, but we both agreed that sounded too much like a pirate party.
“We first encountered the poltergeist in the storage room.” I point to the door but have no interest in touching it. “There was a big pile of chairs against that door, and it threw a mop bucket at us. But now it seems focused on the office. It’s locked me in there, banged on the floor, tore up the desk, moved the chair. Even tried to lure me in with money. It was almost…talking to me one day, knock once foryesand twice forno.But I can’t open a business with something like that around.”
“Have you tried the spell?” Farrah asks me.
“Not yet. To be perfectly honest with you, I’m a little scared. I know that bad things can happen if a spell goes wrong.”
Joyce’s eyes flick around the circle. “How do we know this isn’t a trick?”
“Because I’m not behind it,” Maggie says in my head.
“Because it’s my spell,” Farrah says so that everyone can hear. “And I wouldn’t be here doing it if I didn’t believe it was one hundred percent safe.” She’s got that no-nonsense, no-BS way about her, such that doubting her almost feels like a sin.
I hold out the paper she gave me, and Joyce snatches it frommy hand. She puts on a pair of readers that have been nestled in her hair, and when she’s done, she passes it to Tina. Shelby reads it over her shoulder.
“I don’t see anything dangerous,” Joyce allows. “But that doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
“How do you know—” Hunter begins, but he can’t go on.
“You get a feel for spells,” Tina explains. “The ratios just make sense. That’s how people come up with things—they get good at guessing.” She smiles softly. “Like your mama.”
“I’m willing to try if y’all are.” Shelby looks to me. “Rhea, do you have the ingredients? And some water from the falls?”
I draw in a gasp. “Y’all are willing to help me? Right now? Just like that? We can do the spell together?”
“We can’t…We shouldn’t…” Hunter trails off and looks helplessly from me to Joyce. “I don’t know if I can. Maybe the more experienced people can do it and Rhea and I can go somewhere else, somewhere out of—”
“Blast range?” I say. “No way. This is my store. My home. I need to be part of it.” I put a hand on his arm. “This isn’t like what happened to your mom. Farrah has used this spell, and she’s here to help cast it. We’re going to be fine. But if you don’t want to be here, I understand. I want you to do what you need to do.” I give him an encouraging smile. “Hunter, this is what we were born to do. Spells. Magic. We’re witches. This is our legacy.”
