Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“It’s fine. So what if we copied it down? We didn’t even use the right things. I used a rubber spider!”
Closing her eyes, Sarah shook her head. “She never let us see it because they aren’t spells, they’re cures. You cast a hex on Lucas.”
Kristin laughed this time. “Sarah, I totally get that you’re heavy into this, but do you see what is in the pile? Those are Halloween decorations!”
I finished off my water. “That’s what I told her.”
Sarah reached down and picked up the black candle. “You would have used red, not black.”
“She didn’t want him to fall in love with her,” Kristin explained helpfully.
“You cannot alter someone’s free will, but you can give them passion,” Sarah stated.
Kristin turned to me. “Maybe you are a witch. She sounds just like you.”
Sarah sighed. “Black is used for protection, repelling, banishing.”
I froze. “Repelling?”
Slowly shaking her head, she handed me the candle and the book. “You got yourself into this, Hollie Craft, you’re going to have to get yourself out of it.”
I stared down at the book, then snapped my head up to watch my sister walk toward the front door.
“Sarah, how in the world did you know we were messing around last night?”
With her hand on the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder. “I felt the magick coming from you.”
My entire body shivered. “You felt the magick?” I asked, trying to sound as if I thought she was insane.
“Yes, Hollie. You may not want to believe it’s true, but you are indeed a witch, whether you want to believe it or not.”
Before I could say a word, she was out the door, and I jumped when it slammed shut.
I turned to look at Kristin. “You don’t think we…?”
She laughed, but it wasn’t very convincing. “No way. Not in a million years. Although, the whole fire cracking and thunder thing was kind of weird.”
Nodding, I looked back down at the circle on the floor and tried to ignore the strange sensation that coursed through my entire body.
“You don’t really think you actually put a hex on him, do you?” Kristin asked as I stared at the picture of Lucas.
“No, no. It was all in fun, that’s all,” I said, not sure who I was trying to convince. I looked over at Kristin and forced a smile. “It was silly, and we were drunk. I had no idea what I was even doing.”
She nodded and returned my smile. But there was something in my best friend’s eyes that told me she wasn’t convinced either.
“Well, time will tell. Right?”
I swallowed hard. “Time will tell.”
Sitting down on the sofa, I stared down at the picture of Lucas.
“What do you think your sister meant when she said a good memory was one of my gifts?”
Swallowing hard, I looked at my best friend. “I think we both know what she was saying.”
Kristin bit down on her lip. I didn’t need for Kristin to say what she was thinking. I heard it loud and clear.
“If two witches cast a spell, it makes the spell that much stronger.”
Our gazes locked, and Kristin whispered, “We’re so badass.”
Lucas
City archaeologist. That was my job. I also carried the title of historical preservation officer for the city of Salem, Massachusetts. And I loved my job, usually. But right now, all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and go to sleep. Nothing had been going right since I’d woken up. It had been a series of accidents since I stepped out of bed.
I stubbed my toe on a chair. Spilled coffee on my shirt. Nearly fell down the steps of my back porch and broke my neck, and now, I was being called out to the field. And for some reason, it was the last place I wanted to be. I normally loved being out in the field, so I wasn’t sure why it was bothering me today.
Anyone who knew me knew history was something I was passionate about. So, after doing an internship during high school with the then-city archaeologist, Mary Sinclair, I knew that was the job I wanted. The fact that Mary retired and the city hired me to replace her was a bonus.
One of my favorite archaeology sites was the home of Samuel Parris. Anyone familiar with the Salem witch trials knows that it all started there. The site was open to visitors now, but we were doing another dig not far from the home. We had stumbled upon it by mistake. The city was getting ready to excavate for a park, and artifacts were found, causing the park project to be put on hold. Now we had the city breathing down our backs to hurry up and get all the historical items out of the area so they could continue with their project.
As I ducked under the rope keeping the site blocked off, I tripped and caught myself with my hands. My pants, unfortunately, caught on something and ripped. I stood and cursed as a shooting pain hit the middle of my hand.