Putting on the Witch Read Free Page B

strong position for water magic, sandwiched between the coast and the river. I had always used a small cauldron as my symbol of magic until last year when I’d rediscovered the amulet passed down to me from my mother. Now I used that strong charm that held a bit of the sea in it—a gift to an ancestor from an ancient sea god. I could feel its strength flow through me.
    The three of us held hands and whispered a locator spell that would keep Dorothy in our sights. It was her decision to make, but I was too fond of her to take it for granted that she would ignore her father’s charm. At least we could offer help and guidance if she needed it.
    Creating the spell was much simpler now than it had been last year. Elsie and I were more focused and in tune with our magic. Brian, of course, not only had youth and focus on his side, he had passion and fear motivating him. He loved Dorothy. I didn’t believe that he would let her go so easily.
    Elsie, Brian and I set stronger protection spells on the shop before we left. I wasn’t sure there was a spell we could conjure that would keep Drago out, but we all felt the need to try. I locked up and followed Brian and Elsie into the parking lot. Brian left in his bright red corvette with the WCHYMAN license plate, a gift from his family.
    â€œWhat do you think, Molly?” Elsie asked as we got in my car. “If Drago was here to hurt Dorothy or take her away, he was certainly nice and polite about it, wasn’t he? Not like the water witch trying to take Brian! I’m sure he could’ve done whatever he wanted and we couldn’t have stopped him. Maybe Olivia has exaggerated how evil he was so we’d be on her side in all this.”
    â€œMaybe he really only wants to connect with her.” I started the car. “Although I really believe Olivia felt that there was a threat or she wouldn’t have gone off on her own to have Dorothy in the first place. I can’t imagine she wanted to leave Drago, as exciting and fascinating as everyone seems to feel he is. But if he’s telling the truth, and she’s his only child, that could make someone different. Or maybe he’s not as evil as Olivia thought he was.”
    â€œOr he’s mellowed,” she said. “Either way, it’s not like she ever said he wasn’t charming.”
    â€œThat’s true. But all we can do is keep an eye on Dorothy and see what happens. She’s an adult, and all this was started a long time ago. Olivia made her choice when she and Drago made a child.”
    â€œAnd now those roosters have come home to roost.”
    I dropped Elsie off at her home. She waved as I pulled away. Traffic was light in Wilmington. Storms were moving in from the Atlantic. I’d felt them coming a few days before the weatherman mentioned it, and so did Elsie, Brian and Dorothy—as well as every other witch. They’d been coming to Smuggler’s Arcane for protection candles and other storm-related magic paraphernalia. We were as ready for what was coming as possible.
    My son, Mike, was home on a break from East Carolina University, which meant a ton of laundry and other problems that had come up while he’d been gone. His cell phone had died, and my husband, Joe, had taken him to get another. Mike had slept the whole first day he’d been back and thenhad eaten two pizzas by himself. In between he’d talked about a girl he was dating at school—nothing serious, he assured us, just wanted us to know.
    Joe and Mike were still out. I didn’t mind. It would be good to have some time to myself to decompress. Life had been crazy the last week or two. I decided to take a nice pomegranate bath and lie back with a cucumber face mask on for a while. I needed a little tinting on my brown hair. Maybe some blond highlights? Those would look good with my dark blue eyes. I was no beauty, but I tried to keep up with my appearance.
    My key was barely in