Spell Struck (21 page)

~Aidan.

I pushed
send, then went back to my inbox. A new email topped the list, one from Mr
. Castellano.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Re: Urgent I speak with you.

My hands froze above the keyboard. What if Magdalena held him hostage? Maybe Papo had threatened him. What if the email was a trap? My mind careened through numerous scenarios, all bad.

"Everything okay?" Kali asked.

"Salem emailed me within the last hour. She sounded a little anxious."

"Do you still want to go over there?" Kali asked.

"If she doesn't email back in a few minutes, then yes." I glanced over my shoulder at June. She sat at the table with both dogs in her lap. "Do you mind if we hang out here a little longer?"

"Actually, I thought you two might want to spend the night." She glanced toward the garbage bags in the entry. "But you have to be straight with me. Are you running from the law?"

Kali and I exchanged glances. "The people we are hiding from are not the law," I assured her.

"Your parents, then?"

"Mine are both gone. Mom to cancer, Dad to alcohol after we lost Mom."

"I'm sorry." June shifted her gaze to Kali.

Kali squirmed in her seat. I could see the warmth, food, and June's manner had chipped away at her defenses. "We aren't real cousins," she confessed, sidestepping the question about her parents. "We've lived together on the streets for so many years, it feels like we are." Kali stared down at her bamboo placemat.

"I see." June waited, but Kali remained silent. I knew she didn't like to talk about why she had run away from her mother and her mother's boyfriend. But I could see in her eyes she was determined to escape Papo and Magdalena.

"Let me see if Salem has written back." I checked the monitor. Nothing from Salem, but Mr. Castellano's email remained, unopened, no doubt a harbinger of trouble. "No word."

June tapped the table with both hands, startling the dogs. "It's settled, then. Aidan, you can use Jì's room. Kali, you can have the guest room at the end of the hall. We'll work out the rest of it later. Meanwhile, let me find my car keys. Aidan, I'll drop you off at the Millers'. Kali, you come with us and keep me company for the ride home."

****

The lantern-shaped light fixture above the Millers' front door cast amber light on the bristly welcome mat. I pressed the doorbell, igniting mad barking. The sound grew closer and closer. I was about to give up when the door opened.

"Aidan. What a surprise," Mr. Miller said. "Did Sarah forget you were coming over?"

I glanced back at June, who had kept the car idling by the curb. Seeing Mr. Miller, she waved and drove off. "Perhaps I got the date wrong. She emailed me yesterday. We were supposed to work on our play for Drama. Is she here?"

"She's at Evie's." The voice came from a rosemary-and-citrus scented blonde in the hallway. Underfed, gaunt-eyed, and clutching a stuffed dolphin, the older teen appeared young and lost. Otherwise, despite the different hair color, she could have been Salem's twin.

"You must be Amy. Your sister has told me so much about you."

Her shoulders rolled forward, and her chin dipped down. "I can just imagine."

"All good, I assure you." I extended my hand. "I'm Aidan."

Her jerky energy sparked down her arms and out her hand chakras, like her system was overloaded and short-circuiting. Zapped, I ended the handshake. She pinned me with her enormous waif eyes.

Mr. Miller said, "I'm afraid Amy is right. Sarah is at Evie's. Come in. I'll try her cell."

"Thanks, sir."

Amy closed the door behind me, shutting out the cold.

"I left my phone in the study. Warm yourself by the fire," Mr. Miller said. "I'll be right back."

"This way." Amy led me to the family room and stood beside me in front of the fireplace. "Mom's running an errand," she said, as if explaining why the television was on pause.

"Oh." I rocked on my heels, stealing as much warmth as I could.

"Are you and Salem just study buddies?" Amy asked.

"Umm. Sure."

She did a perfect imitation of Salem's gunslinger squint.

I laughed and raised my arms. "I confess. I have a major crush on her. Don't shoot me."

Amy laughed, a wondrous sound like fairies flying through wind chimes. She put the stuffed dolphin on the sofa and patted its back. "How did you get past the giant chip on Sarah's shoulder?"

"Easy. I read her energy and realized it was all an act. Well, most of it."

She rejoined me by the fire. "Can you read my energy?"

"I already have."

"What did it tell you?" she asked, her tone belying fear.

I placed my hands above her head and caressed her energy field, bringing my hands down so they skimmed the air above her shoulders, then glided alongside her arms, brushing away the sparks.

"Wow. It's like warm honey cascading over me." She glanced over one shoulder, then the other. "I feel so calm. How did you do that?"

I shrugged. "It's a gift."

"It certainly is." Neither of us had noticed Mr. Miller enter the room. He tapped his cell phone against his lips and regarded me. "My firm handles the advertising for a local wellness center. Perhaps you could volunteer there. It might lead to a paid position."

"Great. Maybe after the holidays."

"Just tell me when you're ready." He lowered the phone and slid it in his pocket. "As for my youngest, she is not answering her cell."

Amy's expression lit up. "Let's crash the slumber party! Come on. I'll drive you."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Mr. Miller said.

"Oh, Daddy. It is a five-minute drive. We'll be back in fifteen. We have to do something. Aidan's ride already left."

Mr. Miller's gaze darted from Amy to me, no doubt weighing the risk level.

"Mommy took your car. Only two people can fit into Teensy Weensy. I'd rather drive than be left here alone."

She'd clinched it. I had no idea what Teensy Weensy was, but Mr. Miller's gaze shifted to me. Our eyes locked. His unspoken message hit me.
Don't let anything bad happen to her.

Chapter Thirty

"Who are you calling?" I asked.

"Nana in Palm Springs." Evie punched a series of numbers into her old-fashioned, cream-colored desk phone. "She told me to look for the spell link when Parvani cast the love spell. Maybe she can help us with this."

Parvani pursed her lips. Guess she didn't want to be reminded of the damage her spell had unleashed.
Tough. Live with it.

Evie angled the receiver away from her ear so we could hear the ringing on the other end. "Don't tell her about the
Grey Grimoire!" I added.

Evie nodded.

"Hello?"

"Hi Nana. It's Evie."

"Hello, Precious. What a pleasant surprise. Did you ever get things straightened out with the love spell your friend screwed up?"

Parvani winced.

"Yes, Nana. Thanks. But something else has come up. May I put you on speaker? I'm here with my friends Parvani and Salem. They helped me correct the love spell."

"Sure, kiddo. Go ahead. Hi, girls."

"Hi," Parvani and I said.

Evie punched the orange speaker button. "Can you hear us?"

"Fine and dandy. What magical mess did you get into this time?"

I leaned forward on the bed while Evie filled her in. Part of me wanted to come clean about the
Grey Grimoire and the danger involved. But I was afraid Evie
's grandmother would advise us to burn or bury the spell book, and I couldn't. Not until it revealed the secret to help Amy.

"Hmm," Nana said when Evie finished. "The book almost self-destructed after the wrongful spell was cast, then improved when a rightful spell was cast. Correct?"

"Yes, but the problem now is the writing has disappeared."

"Think about it," Nana said. "The two are connected." Whatever else she wanted to say was cut off by a deafening rendition of the James Bond movie theme song. When the music ended, Nana said, "Sorry, kiddo. You heard the doorbell. My ride is here to take me to my dragon magic class. Oops! Forget I said anything. It's supposed to be a secret. Good luck, girls!" The line went dead.

"Did she say 'dragon magic class'?" Parvani asked.

"She must be trying something new. Nana is rather eccentric."

"I think she missed the spaceship this time," Parvani said. "How can we cast rightful spells for Amy if we can't read
Teen Wytche?"

Realization struck me. "The book shut down after Parvani cast a wrongful—"

"Can we
please give that horse a rest?
" Parvani implored.

"Yes, but first hear me out. The book imploded after the wrongful love spell. The book started to improve with a rightful love spell. It got much better after Aidan and I held hands—"

"Whoa," Evie said. "When did this happen?"

"At the movies."

"See?" Parvani crossed her arms. "I did something right. I pushed you two together."

"Yes, but the spell book knows you as its destroyer. It doesn't trust you. When it sensed you in the room—"

"It made the spells invisible so you couldn't read them." Evie tapped her fingers together. "Which is super inconvenient since you are the only one of us who could translate the writing."

Parvani threw herself on the bed. The down comforter puffed around her. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

I opened the grimoire to a random, unreadable page. "A few more."

"Wait. This may not be about Parvani's mistake," Evie said. "The grimoire likes when we do the right thing. Maybe it prevented her from reading the spells because there is no rightful magic to cure mental illness."

My jaw dropped as I searched for a comeback. Evie placed her hand on my shoulder and stared into my eyes. "The grimoire likes you. Maybe it's trying to stop you from going down the wrong path."

"But I have no other option."

Parvani slid off the bed. "There is always more than one path. The mistake is in thinking things can only be approached one way."

"She's right," Evie said. "You're ready to keel over. Let's put the grimoire back in the tote for now. Go to sleep, and ask your dreams to guide you."

I glanced at the new clock on Evie's desk. She must have made it as a memorial to her father. I doubted one could buy a coffin-shaped clock with shrapnel and war photos decoupaged on it. "It's not even eight o'clock."

"If you aren't sleepy, then we can climb into bed and Parvani will lead us through a guided meditation. It couldn't hurt. What do you think?" Evie glanced from me to Parvani.

Parvani shrugged. "Sure. Or—" She paused while she unzipped her designer suitcase and withdrew a box the size of a board game. "We can ask the Ouija board for advice."

"Are you serious?" I bent down for a closer look. "Where did you find this?"

"I ordered it online with a gift card."

Evie shuddered. "Those things freak me out. Look." She pushed up the sleeve of her Cal sweatshirt. "You haven't pulled it out of the box, and I already have goose bumps."

"You can ask it questions about Jordan." Parvani's voice snaked around Evie like a charmer. "Will you two marry someday? How many children will you have?"

"Be quiet." A blush bloomed from Evie's throat to her strawberry blond hairline. She removed her dad's hat and fanned herself. "We're supposed to be helping Salem."

Parvani pushed aside a tangle of belts, a pair of rain boots, and Baby's dog blanket and unpacked the Ouija board. "So we'll ask it how Salem can best help Amy."

The thing gave me the creeps. "I don't know…"

Parvani flapped her arms and clucked like a chicken. Evie and I exchanged glances. "Fine." Fatigue and desperation had lowered my resistance. "But just for a few minutes."

Parvani beamed. In the hall, Baby whined and scratched at the door.

"Baby, no!" Evie snapped.

Somewhere in the peripheral layer of my brain, a worry nagged at me. I was forgetting something important. I yawned, but the cobwebs didn't clear.

Parvani rotated the board toward me. It appeared more benign than others I'd seen — no grinning skulls or angry moons. Against the amber wood grain background, YES had been printed in block letters in the upper left corner, NO in the upper right. Two broad arcs of lettering dominated the middle of the board. The top row included, in engraver's style capital letters, A through M. The bottom arc depicted N through Z. Forming a straight line beneath the lower arc were the numbers 1234567890. The line at the bottom announced, in block letters, GOOD BYE.

Maybe it would be okay. "Evie, you in?"

She knelt beside me on the rag rug. "I don't know. I've never done this before. Don't some people think these things are demonic?"

Parvani scoffed. "Probably. But many scientists believe the unconscious mind controls the outcome."

"Others believe angels or spirits of the departed guide the planchette," I said.

"What's a planchette?"

"This." Parvani handed Evie a heart-shaped plank slightly larger than her palm. "We place our fingertips on it, ask a question, then wait and see what happens."

"The planchette will move toward yes or no, or spell out an answer," I added.

"I see." Evie's eyebrows furrowed as she handed back the board piece. "What are we going to ask it?"

Parvani placed the planchette on the middle of the board, with the pointy end facing up. "Let's start with, are there any helpful spirits in the room?"

"Sounds safe enough." Evie positioned her fingertips opposite Parvani's on the planchette. She glanced up at me. "Salem?"

I stifled a yawn. "Okay. Fine." Our fingertips formed a triangle. "Are there any helpful spirits in the room?"

We held our breaths. Baby whined in the hallway. Nothing happened.

I was about to fall back and ask for more pizza when the planchette cruised toward the letter
H
.

"H," Parvani said in a low, breathy voice. The planchette ambled to the letter
I. "
I," Parvani said.