“I’m not sure. I think so,” she finally said before she stood up so fast, she nearly knocked the chair over. “I have to go.”
“Hollie! Wait!” I cried out, then winced as a pain shot up my left side. She rushed out the door just as my mother was walking in.
“What in the world did you say to Hollie to make her run out of here like that, Lucas Dayton?”
Staring at the door Hollie had run out of, I said, “I have no idea.”
Hollie
I rushed into Aunt Lucy’s store and stopped when I saw her talking to someone. She glanced up and smiled at me.
“Hollie, I’ve been expecting you.”
Oh, Lord, what did that mean?
“What are you going here?” Sarah asked from my left. I spun to face her.
“You were right.”
One brow slowly raised as if to say she was always right. “About what?”
I glanced back to the couple Lucy was talking to, then grabbed my sister by the arm and dragged her into the other room of Lucy’s store. The room where she kept all the potions, crystals, and spell-type stuff.
When I was positive no one would hear, I drew in a deep breath, then closed my eyes as I exhaled and said, “I can’t believe I’m about to say this.”
“Say what?”
Looking at my sister, I leaned in closer and whispered, “I think the spell I put on Lucas worked. I mean, it didn’t work the way I wanted it to work because I used the wrong spell.”
“You put a hex on him,” Sarah said, folding her arms across her chest.
“Did you tell Aunt Lucy?”
Sarah frowned. “No. I told you, you’re going to have to clean this up yourself.”
I shook my head in confusion. “But when I walked in, she said she was expecting me.”
Sighing, Sarah gave me a pitying look, like I should know why my aunt said that. “She probably felt you doing magick, like I did.”
Feeling frustrated, I spat out, “That is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said. How in the hell would you feel that?”
“How did you know Lucas was hurt?”
My mouth opened to reply, but I quickly snapped it shut. “How did you know that?”
“I’m a witch.” Then she flashed a shit-eating grin. “And Rose called. She said you told Lucas you felt he had gotten hurt and that he said you were acting very strange at the hospital. She wanted to make sure you were okay.”
I started to wring my hands. “Did she also tell you he’s had a series of misfortunes all day? And that they started yesterday? Yesterday, Sarah. The day after I put the spell...” She tilted her head. “The hex, the day after I put the hex on him.”
“That, she did not tell me. What kinds of misfortunes?”
I started to pace back and forth. “I don’t know. He stubbed his toes, spilled hot coffee on himself, cut his hand, burned his dinner, nearly started a fire in his stove, got into a car accident…! I mean, do I really need to go on? No one has that kind of bad luck all at once.”
My aunt’s voice came from behind me. “This is what happens when you try to do magick and think it’s all a game.”
Spinning around, I watched as my aunt drew near me.
She tsked as she stopped in front of me. “This isn’t a game, Hollie. You’ve ignored this for far too long. The gift is powerful in you—we all saw it when you were little. You’re probably a better witch than me, your mother, and Sarah put together.”