Something to Curse About by Gayla Drummond Read Free Book Online Page B

Betty.
     

EIGHT
     
     
    Nearly two hours later my hand hurt from holding the stupid gun, but Dad, Betty, and Sean were clean of any magic. Dad sent Betty and Sean home after deciding he’d stay with me until the situation ended. Sean protested, but Betty agreed because Jonah’s babysitter needed to get home.
    “Okay.” David sat down on a chair across from the one I’d dropped into as soon as we arrived at the Blue Orb. He ran a hand through his fine blonde hair while blinking owlishly at me. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
    I related the events up to the hug from Betty, trying not to squirm. Having a handful of gun made a restroom trip a little on the problematic side. “And then I opened my eyes, and boom! Everyone was staring at me and I had Damian’s gun in my hand.”
    “You didn’t hear any voices?”
    “No.”
    “You don’t remember anything that happened between hugging Betty and realizing you had the gun?”
    “Nope.”
    He ran a hand through his hair and turned to Damian. “Your turn. What happened?”
    “We walked up to them just as Cordi let go of Betty and stepped back. Next thing I knew, my gun was missing.”
    “I can’t teleport stuff I’m not touching, so…”
    Jo interrupted. “You’ve never tried to, have you?”
    I thought about it. “Actually, no, I don’t think I have. When I need to move stuff, I use telekinesis.”
    “It looks like you can teleport things you aren’t in contact with, it’s just that you never thought of trying before.” She half-smiled. “Hell of a way to find it out, huh?”
    “You could say that.” I’d have to practice since I had no clue how I’d done it.
    “Anyway,” Damian said. “Cordi turned around to face us, and had my gun. She began to raise it…”
    “And I asked her what she was doing,” Dad broke in. “She lowered it, and seemed normal, except for not being able to let go of it.”
    David leaned back, tugging at the cuff of his gray cardigan. “Hm. That’s interesting. You’re certain you didn’t hear any voices?”
    “No voices.”
    “Are you hearing any now?”
    “Just yours.” My reply earned a chuckle from Jo.
    “Do you feel any urges to shoot yourself or anyone else?”
    “No.”
    He half-closed his eyes, brow wrinkling while his fingers plucked away at his cardigan. “I think we can rule out any sort of possession if she’s not hearing voices or feeling extreme urges.”
    I was so beginning to feel a certain extreme urge, and crossed my legs to suppress it.
    “Which leaves what? Compulsion spell?” Jo ran her hand through her auburn hair when David nodded. “Those are tricky, especially if designed to jump from person to person by touch instead of being created with a certain person as the target. I wouldn’t know where to begin with creating a spell like that.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. My friends were pretty accomplished witches. Each of them had a specialization or two, which combined, made them one of the most powerful covens in Santo Trueno. “Is this going to be one of those spells that requires a sacrifice? Because I had enough of that with the whole demon thing.”
    Damian cleared his throat. “The most well-known compulsion spells are love spells, but those tend to be created as potions or objects.”
    “Yes, but a person could be used in place of an object.” Pursing his lips, David sank lower in his chair. “Yet the more people who touch an object that’s been spelled, the more it tends to dilute the compulsion.”
    “So this isn’t a sacrifice thing?”
    “Well…” he hedged. The three witches traded looks, and I sighed.
    “It could be. That’s what you’re not saying, right?”
    “Any spell can be made more powerful by a sacrifice of some sort. It doesn’t have to be a sacrifice that ends in death though.” Jo shrugged. “I can’t wrap my mind around one thing in particular. If this particular compulsion spell is strong enough to pass from one person to another,