Page 115 of Autumn L.A.W

“I wonder if it had to do with the lunar eclipse,” Brianna said.

Lioness slapped herself upside the head. “Of course! I was probably too busy drawing it to notice the connection.”

Rayna huffed. “I wish these stupid predictions came with a time frame.”

Joell chuckled. “At least it’s better than trying to figure out what Katie’s goldfish was trying to tell us.”

They all chuckled or rolled their eyes.

“Well, it’s time to blow this popsicle stand,” Lioness said.

Sahara crossed her arms. “You make as much sense as Katie’s familiar, Bubbles. We need to come up with a simple spell to get back to present-day Long Island.”

“Take us to the place from whence we all came…” Brianna began. “Does that work?”

“You two, grab onto the sorceress.” Rayna pointed to Joell and Sahara. “We need to be sure she comes with us.”

When they had a good grip on the unconscious woman’s arms, the witches chanted the phrase Brianna had proposed three times.

The world folded, and after a moment of nausea, they were back.

Inside the cabin doorway, Victoria yelled, “Bring her in here!” As soon as Sahara and Joell had dragged the sorceress inside, Victoria unleashed the capture spell. “Voi Ci Merde.”

“If she has any power left in here, it’s not working,” Duke said.

Victoria snorted. “That’s a good thing, because we’re not done. We need Rosa.”

A few minutes later, Joell and Rayna returned with Rosa in Victoria’s body. Sahara brought the rest of the truth spell, and Magda carried the ritual mixture. She had already incorporated the corpse plant and bottled the mixture from the cauldron.

“Sit next to each other on the grass,” Duke instructed the body swappers. Victoria and Rosa sat on the scraggly lawn without complaint. He surrounded them with the ancient rock dust, then shook the rare plant ingredients all over both of them, like hot sauce.

“Gross!” Rosa said. “What kind of disgusting liquid did you just spray on us?”

“Wait there. I’ll be back in just a moment,” Duke said, ignoring Rosa’s outburst.

Then he strode inside the cabin, holding an ancient-looking scroll. “Sahara, can you perform the truth spell on the sorceress?”

“With pleasure,” she ground out through her teeth.

Duke waved a hand over the Sorceress’s face, and she came to, as if he’d waved an ammonia capsule under her nose.

“Sahara. Truth spell.”

The sorceress’s eyes widened as bright light surrounded her.

“As much as I’d like to ask you to spill all your secrets,” Duke said, “I don’t have time for that. All I want to know is if this is the spell you cast into the talisman that the dry cleaner used.” He stood over her inert body and unfurled the scroll, holding it over her face so she could read it.

The sorceress tried to mash her lips together, as if desperate not to answer.

Sahara laughed. “You can’t hold your lips together forever…”

“It’s like trying to hold in diarrhea!” Lioness added, playfully.

“All right!” she burst out. “Yes! That is the correct spell, but how did you get it? It belonged to Merlin himself!”

While Sahara and Lioness guarded the sorceress inside the cabin, outside, Duke raised his hands over the two women sitting on the lawn and chanted the incantation three times, backward. His eyes glowed, and his hands trembled with the intensity of the spell.

Joell, Crystal, Brianna, Magda, and Rayna stood by his side, ready to assist if needed.