A Spell Of Trouble (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (15 page)

Christian’s hands flew up to his eyes. “Ouch!” Unfortunately he didn’t drop the mirror or the vial of salamander blood.

Issy staggered to her feet, calling on all of her magical energy to wield a spell that would weaken him so that she could get the upper hand.

Christian raised the mirror in a defensive gesture, his red-rimmed eyes glaring at her with a look of hatred that chilled her blood.

Slowly, he raised the vial of salamander blood in front of his face. The red blood inside glowed in the moonlight. With one quick movement of his thumb, he flicked the sterling-silver top off the glass vial. A tendril of red mist floated upward.

It was now or never. If Christian used the blood to amplify whatever evil spell he had in store for her, Issy would be a goner.

Issy sucked in a breath and conjured up the words for a muscle-weakening spell.

Christian watched her closely, his eyes drilling into hers as his body tensed. He must have been busy conjuring up his own spell.

She would have to be faster than him.

He was holding the mirror in his left hand up near his heart. Issy focused on his right foot, the farthest spot away from the mirror. If she was fast enough, she’d be able to disable him before he could get the mirror down to reflect the spell.

She flung her fingers outward. “
Attenuati!
”

Her heart stopped as she watched the magic sparks fly toward Christian’s foot as if in slow motion.

In one deft movement Christian swooped the mirror down to his foot and at the same time tipped the vial.

The sparks hit the mirror and bounced off, bursting through the stream of salamander blood as they ricocheted back toward Issy.

A loud boom of thunder started Issy’s heart back up, and she dived out of the way of the sparks, barely registering the bolts of lightning that were hitting the ground around the edges of the circle.

She didn’t dive far enough. Pinpoints of hot pain peppered her left side. Her muscles turned to jelly, and she wobbled to the ground like her aunt Edna’s cranberry mold.

She lay on the ground, unable to move a muscle. Even though she’d been only partially hit, the amplification of the salamander blood had frozen every major muscle in her body. Only her thumbs and eyelids seemed to be working.

A shadow loomed over her, and she glanced upward to see him looking down at her.

He laughed. The unpleasant sound bounced off trees and mingled with Brittany’s squeals of victory and Bella’s terrified yips.

Issy’s heart sank.

She was done for.

I
ssy could feel
the pine needles, pebbles, and cold earth pressing into her as she lay on her side. At least she still had feeling, even though she couldn’t move. Or maybe that was a bad thing, depending on what Christian planned to do to her—maybe she didn’t
want
to feel it.

She screwed her eyes shut, not wanting to see what was coming. With her eyes closed, her other senses went into overdrive. She could hear the thunder, which had sounded as if it was right overhead only minutes ago, far off now and the grating sound of Brittany’s cackling laugh outside the circle. She could smell damp earth and the ozone from the lightning.

“
Yipe!
”

Issy’s eyes flew open. Bella!

Bella’s panicked cry had come from behind her. She tried to roll over, but the only thing she could move was her neck. Wait… she could move her neck! She hadn’t been able to move that a few seconds ago. Was the spell wearing off already?

She twisted her neck to face the sound, her pulse skittering in her chest when she saw Brittany had snatched Bella up and was holding her out away from her body. The dog wriggled violently in an attempt to get away.

“Hand her over through here.” Christian walked to one section of the circle. He still held the vial in his hand, and he stopped at the edge and tilted it. The last drop of blood fell on the barely visible outline of the circle.

Snick.

The air shimmered, and an invisible door opened. Brittany handed Bella through to Christian and quickly withdrew her hands, the air shimmering in their wake as the circle completed itself again.

Issy’s eyes fell on the vial. Was that the only way to open the circle? She certainly hoped not since it now appeared to be empty.

Christian held Bella awkwardly. Panic clawed at Issy when she saw the look of sheer terror on the dog’s face.

“What are you going to do to Bella? Put her down!” Issy yelled.

Her brain instinctively gave the command to run over and grab the dog out of his hands, but her muscles didn’t obey. All she could do was raise her head a few inches off the ground.

“
Yipe!
” Bella turned to give Issy another heartbreaking look.

Christian laughed. “Everyone knows you need a beating heart for the spell to work, and it sure isn’t going to be mine. I need to time it so the authorities get here while the heart is still warm so there is no mistaking your intentions.”

Issy’s blood froze. He was going to kill Bella for her heart. Painful memories of her first familiar surfaced. She’d been too weak to fight dark magic back then, and today was no different. Her worst fears had come true. She should never have adopted Bella—it was her fault now that the innocent little dog was going to die.

“
Grr…
” Bella’s low growl snapped her out of her thoughts. This wasn’t just about
her
now. She couldn’t just lie here and wallow in self-pity because of what she’d failed to do in the past. She had to at least
try
to help Bella.

But how? Her muscles were like Jell-O. Wait. She could move more now than just a few seconds ago. Instead of just her neck, thumbs, and eyelids, now she could move her hands, even one arm and a big toe.

The spell was wearing off. The thought didn’t make her feel any better, because it was her own spell that had been amplified by the salamander blood. Was her magic that weak, and if so, did she have any chance of fighting Christian even if she could regain movement?

Then again, it couldn’t hurt to try, but she needed to buy some more time.

“Sic him, Bella!
” Issy said the words out loud and telegraphed her thoughts to the Pomeranian, willing the dog to sink her little teeth into Christian’s arm.

Christian laughed. “This little thing? Why, what could she possibly do to—Ouch!”

Christian dropped Bella and clutched his forearm where a small half moon—shaped area welled with dots of blood. Bella ran to Issy, and Issy scooped her up with her right arm, which was now working fine. She pulled Bella close, hugging her against her chest.

Too bad the rest of her didn’t work as well as her right arm. Christian stomped over, blood dripping from the puncture wounds. He grabbed Bella by the scruff of the neck and jerked her roughly out of Issy’s hands then produced a gleaming silver knife from the side pocket of his black cargo pants.

“There’s no time to screw around. They’ll be coming soon, and I need to set the stage.”

Christian knelt down, placing the knife beside him on the ground. He pinned Bella on the ground with one hand. He was still holding on to the mirror with the other hand and casting cautious glances at Issy.

Bella snarled and growled, wriggling to get away and making Christian’s job all that much harder. Issy didn’t know if the Pomeranian was just working on survival instinct or if she knew that her struggle was buying Issy the precious time she desperately needed to regain full use of her body. She’d take it either way.

She struggled to sit up but flopped back onto the ground. Even so, her muscles were getting stronger with each passing second. It was only a matter of time.

Christian glanced sideways at her. “Don’t even think about trying it.” He raised the mirror. “Whatever you send will boomerang back, and in your weakened condition that will be the end of you. You might as well just lie back and let it happen, because after I’m done with this mangy mutt, I’m going to bring you to the brink of death, which is how the authorities will find you—weakened from your dark spell and unable to struggle when they take you in.”

“Hurry, Chrissy! They’ll be here soon!” Brittany nagged from outside the circle.

Christian ignored her and turned back to Bella. But he couldn’t hold down the wriggling dog, keep the mirror in his hand, and wield the knife at the same time.

While he was busy struggling to juggle all three, Issy could feel herself getting stronger.

Something skulking low around the perimeter of the circle caught her eye. She squinted it into focus.

Brimstone!

He was merely a black shadow in the moonlight except for his golden-orange eyes that glowed like twin fires. He nodded at her, and she felt a surge of hope, as if his very presence gave her inner strength. She concentrated on that strength, willing her muscles to work, focusing deep down on a spell to render Christian useless.

Christian placed the mirror on the ground so he could use one hand to hold Bella down, the other to raise the deadly knife. He must have thought Issy was no threat. She concentrated even harder, conjuring up a spell that would stop him but not harm him fatally. Even though technically she was defending herself, she still wanted to honor her vow to do no harm. She gave one big push and sat upright.

“Look out behind you!” Brittany shrieked.

Christian slid his eyes over to Issy. His brows shot up as he noticed she was now sitting and flexing her fingers.

He dropped the knife and grabbed the mirror. His grip loosened on Bella, and she wrenched free and ran toward Issy. Issy’s heart skipped as she looked into the mirror. The constrictor spell she meant to cast would render the recipient unable to move, as if a boa constrictor were wrapped around them. If Christian reflected it back on her with the mirror, she and Bella would be done for. But what choice did she have?

The acorn amulet in her pocket vibrated. She’d forgotten all about it.

Use it.

The suggestion floated into her mind. Her gaze snapped to Brimstone, who nodded.

Like all charms, the beauty charm Issy had bestowed on the amulet had its negative elements, and since one’s own beauty was viewed in a mirror, the negative aspect to the charm was that the amulet was never to be reflected in a mirror.

Issy wasn’t sure what would happen if she held the acorn amulet up to the mirror, but she knew for sure that if Christian could boomerang the constrictor spell back at her, she’d be incapacitated.

She summoned all her energy, held her breath, made a tight fist with her right hand, and pulled the amulet out of her pocket with her left. Then in a whoosh of breath and hope, she thrust out the fingers of her right hand, pushing all her magical energy outward.

A rainbow of sparks flew toward Christian.

He jerked the mirror up in front of him to deflect the sparks.

From where Issy sat, she could see each spark’s reflection in the mirror, making it appear as if there were twice as many. She clutched the amulet in her left hand, dangling it at an angle so it was also reflected in the mirror.

She turned her face and shielded Bella with her right hand. She had no idea what might happen, and she didn’t want the dog to get hurt.

For two heart-thudding seconds, nothing at all happened. And then…

Crack!

A whoosh of hot air hit her first, blowing her hair back, and then…

Kaboom!

The explosion lifted her off the ground. Bella was torn from her arms as she was propelled backward.

Smack!

She landed with a jarring thud on the ground, the force of it clacking her teeth together and knocking the air out of her lungs.

* * *

I
ssy wasn’t
sure what had happened. The explosion muddled her brain, and she sat there, stunned, taking inventory of her body to make sure nothing was broken. Everything seemed to work fine, but she couldn’t see a thing, because a mist hung in the air so thickly that visibility past two feet was impaired.

“
Woof!
”

“Bella!” Issy opened her arms, and the dog jumped in her lap. They were both unharmed! Or so it seemed. But where were they?

The mist began to clear, and she realized she’d been catapulted a few feet away from where she’d been when the explosion happened.

She was outside the circle!

“Arghh…”

Issy’s gut churned upon hearing Christian. Was he planning to retaliate? Should she run? But she couldn’t, not if Dee Dee and Cosmo were still there.

Issy put Bella down and stood. Her legs were a little wobbly, but she could walk.

“
Woof!
”

The mist had cleared enough for Issy to see Bella at the edge of the circle. Inside the circle, Christian lay on the ground, arms pressed to his sides, legs tight together, as if he were trussed with an invisible rope. Jagged shards of mirror stuck out of the ground beside him. He rolled onto his back, wriggling and squirming.

Brittany sat on the ground, shaking her head, apparently dazed. She took one look at Christian and slowly stood, her gaze jerking to Issy. “What happened? Oh crap, you beat him, didn’t you?”

“I guess so.” Issy watched Christian cautiously. Maybe this was a trick and Brittany was in on it.

“I’m out of here!” Brittany turned and bolted.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a trick.

“Good riddance.” Brimstone appeared from behind a stand of trees. He held something in his mouth that muffled his words. “Well, you better act quickly. The committee, the FBPI, and the cops will be here any second. My advice is to hit Christian with a tell-the-truth spell so he confesses as soon as they get here.”

“Good idea.” Issy clenched her fist and sucked in a breath.

Bella trotted over to the circle and sniffed the edge and poked a tentative paw out toward it.

Zap!

“
Yipe!
” She jerked her paw back. The circle was still protected by magic.

Issy’s breath whooshed out, the sound of sirens in the distance setting off a tremor of panic in her chest. “I can’t cast the spell through the magic circle!”

Brimstone rolled his eyes. “Right. If you would have just let me finish…” He trotted over to the circle and spit out a purple spotted salamander. The reptile landed directly on the edge of the circle, causing a shimmer in the air above it similar to when Christian had unlocked the section of circle with salamander blood. It proceeded to scurry around the entire circle.

“Works better when the blood is actually
in
the salamander.” Brimstone spat on the ground. “Yech. Those things are nasty. Taste like sour chicken. I suggest you hurry before you get caught here, too. The committee might implicate you in all of this.” Brimstone trotted over to Cosmo and nudged him with his nose.

“What are you doing?” Issy asked.

“The creature is helpless. He doesn’t possess my superior skills.” Brimstone narrowed his eyes at Bella, who gave a soft yip. “None of these creatures do. But I suppose I’ll have to lower myself to help them.” Brimstone picked the unconscious Cosmo up in his mouth. But he didn’t fool Issy—she could tell he was taking care to be gentle with the bird. Brimstone might talk a good talk, but Issy knew his heart was in the right place.

“Humfy op an casht da schpell,” Brimstone, mouth full of bird feathers, shot over his shoulder as he trotted off.

The spell! Issy jerked her attention back to Christian, who was still wriggling in the circle.

She held her breath, conjured up the spell, fisted her right hand, then flung her fingers out toward Christian. "
Verum!
"

The sound of sirens grew louder. Time to run. When the authorities came they would catch Christian in the circle, and he would blurt out the truth. No one needed to know that she had been here.