“It seems I left you at the right time, Luna,” Virginia said coldly. “At least as a witch, you had some power. But you gave that all up, didn’t you? And for what? To play house with some walking hairball and to bear his brats?”
“I owe you nothing, Virginia,” Luna ground out, a growl underlying the words. “And you can never understand that power comes in many forms. My children will grow to be strong and kind and to help rid the world of monsters like you.”
“They will die or live cursed lives. That I can guarantee.” As the ghost shared this eerie promise, I knew better than to doubt her words.
As much as I’d thought this wasn’t the right time for my cats to start a family, I would fight with everything I had to protect Luna’s litter. Virginia had meant to scare us, but she’d only given me more motivation.
I would defeat her once and for all.
Those kittens would never know how close they’d come to ending before they’d ever had a chance to begin.
Auntie Gracie was on the case.
And she would not let them down.
25
By the time Drake returned, Virginia’s ghostly body had materialized down to her navel.
And those twenty-odd minutes of waiting, trapped in place, while she ranted and raved and told us all how awful we were, proved to be among the most excruciating of my life. A few times she charged at me, but I was able to deftly knock her away with my broomstick.
Honestly, I think we were both relieved when Drake’s car pulled into my driveway for the second time that night. This time, however, two sets of footsteps approached my door instead of just one.
“Drake?” I called out warily.Please let it be him. Please let it be him.
“It’s me,” he called through the door.
“And me,” a second voice chimed.
“Kelley?” I croaked. Why on earth would he have knowingly brought her into a dangerous situation? Now that my friends were at risk, too, I felt the pressure mount. Me, Luna, Merlin, the kittens, Drake, Kelley—I had to save us all and fast. Virginia was reforming more and more quickly. Soon she’d be able to cast whatever she had planned for me, and then she’d take us all out one by one.
“I ran into her at that house,” Drake shouted to explain Kelley’s presence. “How come you didn’t tell me it was hers? Anyway, she wanted to help, so I brought her back with me. Now will you please let us in?”
“No, don’t come in!” I shouted, but it was too late.
Virginia used a small bit of her accumulated magic to throw the door open and pull both Kelley and Drake inside.
“Gracie, what’s going on?” Kelley trembled as she caught sight of Virginia’s imposing presence.
“Whoa,” Drake said on the wings of an exhale. “Why is she green?”
“She has magic. She trapped me inside, and now I fear she’s trapped you as w-well,” I sputtered. I was determined to win, but also terrified I wouldn’t be able to. We needed to mix the potion in the cauldron and either lure Virginia outside or bring the mix inside to bind her. But how, if no one could move through the barrier without her consent?
Virginia must have realized this as well, because she chose that exact moment to let out a textbook perfect evil laugh.“And now you’ve brought me one more. I shall kill her, too.”
Kelley choked out a sob, which only made Virginia laugh harder. Oh, she would pay for that!
Drake took Kelley in his arms and made soft shushing noises.“I’ll protect you,” he promised, then glanced up toward me. “Both of you.”
“She’s erected a barrier around the house. Nobody can go out or come in unless she allows it. And I can’t move from this spot,” I explained, gesturing toward my useless legs.
“Yeah, no. I’m not letting some ninja turtle looking banshee tell me what I can and can’t do,” Drake declared. He guided Kelley into my waiting arms and then marched back toward the front door.
No, no, no.For all I knew the barrier was electrified. Sure, it hadn’t hurt Merlin when he touched it, but Drake wasn’t magical. Could he withstand the sudden shock of making contact?
“Drake, stop!” I yelled. “She—”
But then he stepped outside. Turning to me, he pushed his hair back with a flip and flashed us all a debonair grin.“You were saying?”
“How is this possible?” Virginia screamed and spun around the house.
At the same time, Kelley launched herself from my arms and went flying toward the door. When she reached the threshold, though, she slammed into it with athwack and fell backward with a heavy thud.“I don’t understand,” she sobbed. “Why can he leave, but I can’t?”
Drake reached through the doorway and offered her his hand, but hard as he tried, he couldn’t pull her through. When he let her go, Kelley pushed herself against the wall and curled into a whimpering ball.
“How did you do that?” I demanded of him. And would I be able to do it, too, once I was able to move from this exact spot on the floor?
Drake shrugged.“I don’t know. Sometimes I can just do stuff others can’t. Or sometimes I just know things, like how I knew where you lived without you telling me.”
“You followed me,” I said, preferring the explanation that made more sense. Even if it was creepy and stalkerish.
He shook his head.“Nope, I just pulled it from of my memory. Weird thing is I don’t remember making the memory in the first place, but there it was, ready to be of service.”
“Enough of this,” Virginia seethed. “Let me recharge in peace.”
“Why would we do anything for you?” I snapped. “You’re just going to kill us.”
“And, oh, how I am looking forward to that.” She flashed bright as her ghostly hips now started to materialize. We were running out of time.
“Drake, take the ingredients you got from the garden to the birdbath in the front yard, mix everything together, and then put it in some kind of container and bring it back inside.”
“How much of each thing? I mean, if I’m making a recipe, surely there are certain measurements required to get it right?”
He had a point. But how could he be so nonchalant about this all? I’d already known all about magic, and yet I was terrified. Kelley lay curled in the fetal position, but Drake was fine with talking casually about everything?
“I… I don’t know,” I mumbled.
But then Luna appeared outside the open door and promptly introduced herself to Drake.“Hi, I’m a cat. I used to be a witch, but I’m not anymore. Still, I can help you save Gracie if you’ll let me guide you in making this potion.”
Drake stared at her with wide eyes.
Kelley’s sobbing intensified.
I waited, afraid to look away. Afraid of what would happen next.
Drake let out a long, stuttering sigh.“Yeah, okay, cat lady. Let’s go do the thing.”
26
It was agony not being able to watch Luna and Drake prepare the potion. Merlin did move to the open doorway to offer an update, but Virginia quickly slammed the door in his face. He then moved back to the window so that the magic flowing out of me would have an easier time reaching him.
“Gracie, do you have a pitcher or something?” Drake called, charging back through the front door so easily Virginia shook and flashed with rage.
“Never mind. Found one,” he called out a moment later. As he passed by me, I realized he’d taken the same pitcher I’d used as a vase for the flower he gifted me. I wondered if he noticed.
He stopped before reaching the door, then turned to address me again.“Oh, the cat lady said I need a piece of some frog to finish the potion. Know where I can get that?”
That’s right. We still needed something that had belonged to Virginia. Even though her little garden creature had shattered, those shards could still be of use. That was a relief.
“Hallway,” I directed Drake, jerking my head to the side, and he took off to retrieve the needed ingredient.