She nods, zipping up her hoodie. “It’s happened a few times. And there has even been a couple of times when someone forced a fey to let them touch their wings so they could go to the fey realm.”
“Why would anyone want to go there if they aren’t fey?” I ask as I swipe my finger across the screen of my phone.
“To steal power,” she says, causing me to glance up at her. “It grows all over the trees. And anyone who goes there can take it.”
The craziest thought crosses my mind in that moment. There’s extra power in the fey realm that anyone can just take? If I took it, would I become more powerful?
I quickly dropkick the ludicrous thought from my mind. Seriously, Eva? You’re getting so desperate now that you’re thinking about stealing power from a different species?
Witches of all witches, what the hell is wrong with me?
“That’s crazy.” I redirect my focus back to the phone. Three missed messages? “That power just grows on trees.”
“Well, the fey realm is a magical, magical place,” she singsongs through a laugh. “I wish you could see it.”
“Me, too …” The words taper off from my lips as I read the missed messages. One is from my mom, reminding me to check on the house while they’re on vacation, but the second sends a chill up my spine.
Unknown: Time to play a little game with my favorite archenemy. It’s called: payback is a witch in the ass.
At first, I think the text is from whoever took my sister’s body, but then I read the third message and become aware that I have other problems on top of finding the body snatcher.
Unknown: Remember that day you told my longtime crush that I liked him and he never spoke to me again? And then I got teased so badly at school I had to be sent away to boarding school across Mystic Willow Lake? Well, I’m back now, and I’m seeking revenge. I’m going to be real nice about it, though, and give you a hint. An eye for an eye. Or, in our case, a lost crush for a lost crush.
I press my fingers to the brim of my nose.
Great. Now, on top of finding my sister’s body, I have to worry about a crazy witch hopped up on revenge.
Chapter Five
Okay, so let me explain myself before you start thinking I’m a terrible person who outed another witch’s crush.
Claire, aka my unknown texter, is a witch I befriended during my freshman year when we were partnered up for a project. We were both little weirdoes and instantly hit it off enough that we shared some of our most private secrets, like the wizards we had a crush on. The problem with our friendship was that we were both clumsy in the magical department, and during Practicing Wand Twirling for Amateurs class, she accidentally set off her wand and blasted me with a spilling secrets spell.
It wouldn’t have been too terrible—at least for her—if the spell didn’t reflect off my wand, causing a magical reflection, which basically means that, instead of me spilling my own secrets, I spilled hers. Then, it might not have been too bad if she hadn’t had a crush on Troy, the most stuck-up, douchey wizard in school—aka Hunter’s older brother—and who a lot of people thought was completely out of Claire’s league.
Needless to say, after I spilled the beans, she became the laughing joke of the school and was constantly tormented. I tried to stick to her side and stand up for her, but she refused to have anything to do with me. Then, about two weeks after the incident, her parents decided to ship her off to boarding school where she could have a fresh start.
I always hoped that, if I ever saw her again, she’d finally forgive me. Apparently, quite the opposite has happened.
“What’s wrong?” Opal asks worriedly. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”
I release an exasperated exhale as I stuff my phone into my back pocket. “Do you remember that thing that happened between Claire and me in high school?”
“You mean, when you told everyone in school that she was crushing on Troy,” she says, nodding. “Of course I remember. I felt so sorry for her. Kids can be such asshats. So a girl has a crush on you? So what? It’s no excuse to treat a person like crap and act like a total douchebag.”
“Yeah, I know,” I agree. “For the record, Troy was a douchebag way before that.”
She flicks a piece of silver glitter over her shoulder, and for the craziest, stupidest moment, I question if Opal took my sister. Then I mentally kick myself in the ass.
Seriously, Opal? She’s like the nicest fey—no scratch that—person ever. What would she even want with a dead body?
“You know, I’ve always wondered how someone as sweet as Hunter could be related to someone as stuck-up and kind of stupid as Troy,” Opal states, slipping her hands into the front pockets of her hoodie.
I chuckle. “He definitely isn’t the nicest and brightest bulb in town, is he?”
“Not at all.” She gives me a knowing smile. “You definitely picked the better brother to get a crush—”
I clap my hands together, cutting her off as Hunter materializes at the top of the stairs.
He startles at the sound and presses his hand to his chest. “What the hell is up with the clapping? Wait. You’re not thinking about going out for the Mystic Willow Bay Star Wizard Cheerleading team again, are you?”
I give him a quick once-over to assess what kind of mood he is in, attempting to see if Claire has divulged that I’m all goo-goo eyes for him or not.
His brows are knit, and his eyes spin with confusion, but I can’t detect an ounce of horror or irritation, so that’s a good sign, right?
“What do you mean again?” I play dumb. “I’ve never thought about being a cheerleader.”
Hunter looks strangely annoyed. “You’re such a little liar. I saw the brochure in your room.”
Crap. I’m so busted.
“That was an old brochure.” I nervously scratch the side of my neck. “From, like, five summers ago.”
He cocks a brow. “Then why was it dated this year?”
“Umm …” I shrug. “Maybe that one belonged to Ry?”
“Ry wasn’t a cheerleading sort of girl.” He gives a long pause, his brows knitting. “Then again, I thought you weren’t, either.”
“I’m not.”
“So, you weren’t thinking about trying out, then?”
“No … Yes … I mean, no …” Motherload of all babbling witches, what is wrong with me today! I’m usually a pro at lying when I need to. Maybe the stress is messing with my head or something. “Okay, fine, you caught me. Earlier this year, I briefly—and I stress the briefly part—lost my damn mind and considered trying out for the cheerleading team. But after thinking about it for, like, a second, I realized how sucky it would be.”
“Why?” Opal intervenes. “You’re a really good dancer. I’m sure you’d …” She smashes her lips together as I sneak a please-be-quiet look. “Never mind.”
Hunter stares at me like I’m some foreign creature who just sprouted a unicorn horn out of her butt. “Since when do you know how to dance? Last time I checked, you could barely do the chicken dance.”
“She took a bunch of classes throughout high school,” Opal announces then pulls a whoops face as I glare at her. “Sorry, I forgot it was supposed to be a secret. Although, I still don’t know why you don’t want anyone knowing you’re badass at shaking your ass.”
Because I don’t want to be a badass dancer. I want to be a badass witch like my parents, sister, and even my grandparents.
The only reason I even started taking dance classes was because my mom wanted me to have a hobby outside of magic. While she never flat out said it, I think she hoped that by pushing me away from magic, I’d find something I was actually good at. I guess she was right. I just wish that something else was much cooler.
“It’s not a big deal.” I act all casual and smooth. “And while I’d love to stay here and chat about this some more, I’ve got places to go and a mystery to solve.”
“A mystery to solve?” Opal blinks at me. “Huh?”
> “I’ll explain later,” I tell her, though I won’t. How can I when she doesn’t know I’ve been keeping my sister’s dead body in the basement? I’m sure that conversation would go over fantastically. Can you imagine?
Hey, Opal, remember the other day when you said you thought you smelled the stench of rotting eggs and dirty socks flowing through the vents. Well, that was my sister’s rotting body that I’ve been hiding in the basement for a couple of weeks now. But you didn’t know that because I charmed the basement so you can’t ever find it.
Yep, I’m sure she’d be thrilled to hear that.
Throwing a wave over my shoulder, I start down the stairs and toward the front door. Hunter follows, keeping close to my heels.
“So, a cheerleader, huh?” he mutters. “Who would’ve thought?”