Once Upon a Charmed Time Read online

  “I can do a lot of things,” I said.

  I was just about to ask more questions when the phone went dead. I wasn’t sure if the call had dropped or if he had hung up on purpose. I tried to dial back, but of course just as the times before there was no answer and it went straight to voicemail. They only wanted to talk when it was on their terms, which made me furious.

  “They said they moved her,” I said. “So now we have to try all over again.”

  “Well, if we discover her location once we can do it again,” my mother said from the backseat.

  “We have to do the scrying again,” I said.

  “We don’t have a big mirror, but I have this compact.” My mother pulled it from her purse.

  “I suppose that will have to do,” I said. These weren’t the ideal circumstances, but it was better than nothing. “Where are we going to do the magic? I don’t think the car is the ideal location.”

  “There’s a park right around the corner. I don’t think there’ll be anyone there. It’s quiet.”

  “Perfect,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  We hurried over to the park and jumped out of the car, racing over to the picnic table so that we could do a spell. If anyone was watching they’d definitely think we were bonkers. That was something I was willing to accept in this situation. I didn’t care what they thought.

  My mother put the tiny little mirror on top of the table and we held hands. We recited the words as we had the last time, but something seemed different. I didn’t feel as positive about this, as much as I tried to remain that way. I looked down at the mirror after reciting the words, but it was just my reflection. There was no misty fog or images that were slowly appearing. This was a huge disappointment and I was beginning to panic. Why wasn’t this working?

  “It’s not working,” I said.

  “Okay, just stay calm,” my mother said. “We’ll try again.”

  So we did it again, reciting the words again, but it was the same outcome.

  “Let’s do another spell,” I said. “Maybe that will warm us up for this one.”

  I was grasping at straws trying to think of something, but I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. I recited the spell that would help clear my mind. We held hands and stood up from the table so that our energy would flow throughout our bodies nonstop without anything stopping it.

  Again I felt a strange. A vibe ran through my body and it wasn’t a positive one. It was one of negativity and the more I tried to speak the words, the more the feelings came over me. All of the sudden there was a loud pop and a sizzle. We fell to the ground. I’d never had my magic do that before. Even when I was at my worst it had never been that powerful or that bad.

  “What happened?” my mother asked as she rubbed her head.

  “I don’t know.”

  We managed to get up from the ground. I wanted to do a spell again. I wanted to see if what I suspected was true.

  “Let’s do the spell again,” I said.

  We tried it all over again and… bang, sizzle. We fell to the ground.

  “Now you do a spell,” I told my mother.

  We held hands while she recited the words, and then… bang, sizzle. I fell to the ground, but no one else. Just as I suspected. It was me. My magic had now gone awry. It wasn’t everyone else. It was just me, like it had been before, but worse.

  Nicolas rushed over and helped me up. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m all right, just my emotions are bad right now.”

  My mother looked at me and said, “Do you think it has something to do with the potion?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I think it’s making me unable to do my magic for whatever reason. It started after that potion fell on me and now maybe my being around you all is making your magic bad. I’m having that effect on you, just like I did before, but this is even worse.”

  “Don’t say that, Hallie. I’m sure things will work out. The potion just needs time to maybe fade.”

  It was kind of them to say that. They tried to make me feel better, but I knew that I had to make this stop before it got worse.

  My mother reached out her hand to me. “Well, let’s try something one more time, okay?”

  I wasn’t so sure that we should even bother. I knew the outcome. See? My positive thoughts were fading quickly, and no matter what I did I could only fill my mind with the negative—bad thoughts that I would never find Annabelle and then I would lose the manor and leadership. My friends and my family, basically everything. I went along with my mother’s request and grabbed her hand again so that we could try another magic spell. And to think a short time ago my biggest worry was what food to serve at my wedding reception.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked.

  “Let’s see. What would be a good spell right now?” My mother held up her finger. “I’m trying a different spell for positive thoughts and energy.”

  She took my hand again as she recited the words. All of a sudden I was back on the ground. It hadn’t worked, so now I knew that my magic was affecting the others.

  I had a plan. I needed to get away from them so that I wouldn’t have this negative effect on them anymore. I couldn’t let them know my plan though because then they would try to stop me. I needed to do this all on my own.

  I would wait until later and then sneak away from them. It was one of the saddest things that I would ever have to do. How long would I have to be away from them? How long would it take me to fix this? Or would I ever be able to fix it? That was my greatest fear. What if I was never able to go back around my family again? They deserved better than having to deal with my non-magic. I had a feeling that they would disagree with it, but I wouldn’t put them through this.

  “We should get out of here. Maybe going somewhere else would help a lot,” Liam said.

  “Sure,” I said. “That would help.” I knew in my mind that it wouldn’t and that I would just go along with whatever they said.

  “How about my place?” Liam asked.

  “That’ll work,” I said.

  Liam lived at the headquarters for the New Orleans Coven, a beautiful old plantation. We got back into the car and headed for the house.

  Chapter 26

  Within seconds of pulling up to the plantation and getting out of the car my phone rang. For some reason I felt immediately nervous when I saw Stephanie’s number pop up on my phone. When I answered I sensed the bad news in her voice.

  “I hate to tell you this, but LaVeau Manor is on fire,” Stephanie said.

  My heart sank and my stomach dropped. It wasn’t exactly what I had hoped to hear.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “What’s wrong?” my mother asked with panic in her voice.

  Liam and Nicolas immediately rushed to my side.

  “I don’t know for sure. I just happened to go by on my way home and I saw the flames. I don’t think it has spread far. The fire department was out here right away, surprisingly. But you might want to get here as quickly as possible if you can.”

  “How is Pluto?” I asked. “He’s still with you?”

  “Oh, he’s fine, and I’m just glad that I came earlier when I did and figured out that he was alone. He’s safe at my house now.”

  “Thank goodness,” I said. “I’ll be there as quickly as possible.”

  “What happened to the manor? Is Pluto okay?” my mother asked again as soon as I hung up the call.

  “LaVeau Manor is on fire.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” my mother screamed from the over my shoulder.

  “We have to get there right away,” Liam said.

  Nicolas took me by the arms. “Look at me, Hallie. Just remember everything will be all right. I’m here, okay?”

  I nodded. “Sure, everything will be all right.”

  I repeated his words, but my voice didn’t sound convinced. Now I just had to find a way to get there quickly. Driving would take an hour from the plantation. I didn’t want
to spend that much time.

  “Is there any way I can get a flight to the manor?” I asked. “Liam, you know one of the coven members is a pilot, right?”

  “Yes. Adam is a pilot. I’ll give him a call and see if he can fly you.”

  Liam took off to make the phone call while I paced up and down the front porch. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I hated to just stand around. I felt as if I should be on my way already.

  “What if the whole place burns to the ground?” I asked.

  “It won’t happen, Hallie,” Nicolas said. “It’ll be fine. Just try to stay calm.”

  “You need to do steady your breathing,” my mother said.

  It was easy for them to tell me that things would be fine, but I knew that they didn’t fully believe that. They had to say it to make me feel better and I supposed that was something. They could have been negative and said, Yeah, the place is going to be gone when you get there. Prepare for the worst.

  Luckily, Liam came back over and said, “All right, it’s on. We just have to get to the airport.”

  “How far is that?” I asked.

  “It’s about five minutes from here.”

  “Perfect. Can we go right now?” I asked.

  Liam touched me on the chin with his index finger. “Of course.”

  We hurried over to the car and jumped inside. Soon we arrived at the airport and the guy was waiting for us. As much as I’d hated the flight to California, this ride would be even worse. The plane was tiny.

  “Okay, I can only fit one passenger,” the pilot said.

  “What?” I asked. My stomach flipped and I thought I was going to be sick.

  “You can do this, Hallie.” Nicolas hugged me.

  “It’s just the pilot and you. We’ll get in the car and meet you there,” Liam said.

  “We’ll be there soon, okay?” my mother said.

  “I want Annabelle to have my jewelry. She always loved my gold cuff bracelet. Also make sure she gets my candle collection. Even the bubblegum scented candle that I never burn because they don’t make them anymore and I don’t want to waste it. The manor goes to the three of you. Work it out. Wait. What am I saying?”

  My mother patted my arm. “Exactly. You’re just being paranoid. The flight will be fine.”

  “No, I mean the manor will be gone with all the contents in it, so it doesn’t matter who gets what when I die in a plane crash.”

  My mother pointed at the plane. “Stop that kind of talk and get on that plane.”

  I pushed my shoulders back and marched toward the little plane.

  “All right, let’s do this,” I said.

  The next thing I knew we had taken off. We were up in the air.

  “You’ll be all right,” the guy said.

  “Yeah, right.”

  I didn’t even know this person and here I was up in the air with him. Thank goodness we would be there soon.

  Luckily it was a short flight. Stephanie was waiting for me at the airport when we touched down. I thanked him for the ride and hopped in the car with her. I didn’t know what would happen from here. Where would I stay for the night? I really wanted to go back to New Orleans as soon as possible and continue my search.

  We were headed straight toward the manor.

  “So do you have any updates?” I asked.

  “No, but I know that the fire marshal is waiting to talk to you when you arrive.”

  “Is the house completely gone?” My voice trembled as I forced out the words.

  “Well, I can’t say for sure what happened after I left.”

  That wasn’t very encouraging. I supposed I should prepare myself for the worst. Even though we were only a couple of minutes away it seemed like the longest drive of my life. The entrance for LaVeau Manor came into view. Luckily, I didn’t see any flames billowing or remnants of smoke. That was a good sign. Unless they’d already put the flames out and there was nothing left to burn.

  We turned into the gates and down the long driveway. But the manor was still there. I really couldn’t see anything that was damaged.

  “What a relief. Everything looks fine,” I said.

  “Yeah, like I said, it was at the back of the house, so I’m not sure what happened.”

  She parked the car in front of the manor. Trucks were still around and a few police cars. I ran up to the fire chief.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Well, we’ve contained the fire. It was only in the small room on the third floor. The attic.”

  I paused. “The attic? What would have caused a fire in the attic?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” he said. “We’re almost finished here. I wanted to let you know that the house seems fine. There is damage, but you’ll be able to get that fixed.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate all the help and that you got here so quickly to save the manor.”

  “That’s what we’re here for,” he said with a small smile.

  I pulled out my phone to dial Nicolas. I wanted to let them know that the place was still standing. They were worried. I wanted to let them know that things would be fine. I was so relieved, but yet I still wanted to see the damage.

  He picked up right away. “Are you there?”

  “Everything is okay. It was just a small fire in the attic, but the house is okay.”

  “Thank goodness.”

  “Yeah, they don’t know what caused the fire yet.”

  “We’ll be there soon, okay?”

  “All right. I’ll wait here with Stephanie.”

  I walked inside the manor. I just had to see for myself that things were fine. We went around the first floor because people were still going up and down the steps, but everything was fine. I couldn’t see anything out of place, except for Addie had just disappeared. I would think that she had left on her own if I hadn’t known better.

  The fire chief stepped into the parlor. “We’re all finished here. The damage was to the right back of the room. Mainly the walls and ceiling.”

  “Is it safe to go in the room?” I asked.

  “Yes, it’s safe. There was one thing we found in that area,” he said.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “It’s out in the foyer.” He motioned.

  I followed him out of the room and into the foyer.

  He grabbed a plastic bag and after putting on gloves pulled out the contents. “Is this yours?”

  I recognized the potion bottle right away. It was just like the ones at Dalton’s house.

  “Are you okay?” the fire chief asked.

  I took my attention away from the bottle for a moment. I couldn’t tell him it was magic. I knew this bottle had some connection to the fire.

  “It’s not my bottle,” I said.

  He placed it back into the bag. “We’ll check out the ingredients and look for fingerprints.”

  The thought that someone had been in the manor and set the fire sent a chill down my spine. How had they gotten into the house?

  “Were there any points of entry?” I asked.

  Now I was sounding like a detective. With all the mysteries around here I needed to be a sleuth.

  “Not that we’ve found,” he said.

  There had to be a broken door or window. I’d put a spell on the manor to protect it from someone bad getting in. I’d have to check every inch of this house.

  The crunch of gravel under wheels caught my attention. I stepped out onto the porch.

  My mother, Nicolas, and Liam had arrived. As soon as the car stopped my mother opened the door and rushed toward me.

  “Halloween, I’m so glad everything is okay.”

  Nicolas hugged me. “How are you holding up?”

  “There was a potion bottle upstairs at the scene of the fire,” I said.

  “Are you serious?” Liam asked.

  “They showed it to me. It looks just like the ones from Dalton’s.”

  “So someone set the fire on purpo
se,” my mother said.

  “It looks that way. Plus, the fire was started upstairs in the attic. I think that is symbolic,” I said. “I think we need to look through the whole house to find out how they got inside.”

  The fire chief stepped outside. “We’re all finished here. We’ll be in touch as soon as we have more information.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Chapter 27

  After securing everything at the manor, we drove the hour-long trip back to the plantation in New Orleans. Before retiring to bed we sat in the parlor and discussed the case. We had written the clues on the board hanging on the wall. I had written out the weird name that we had gotten from the psychic—Niwde. I still couldn’t make any sense of it. I’d never heard it before, so I wasn’t sure what to do with it. If only she could tell me what it meant, but she wasn’t interested in talking to us anymore.

  I was hanging out waiting for the guys to bring back snacks from the kitchen. I decided to pull out my compact and check my makeup. I didn’t want to look too bad while stressing over this. My mother always said makeup had magic powers. Of course I was sure she said that because that was what she did for a living. She sold makeup and beauty items with magic in them, for heaven’s sake. I checked my reflection. The makeup was still in mostly place, although I could stand a little bit more lipstick. Nonetheless, I wasn’t going to worry about it right now.

  As I was looking at my reflection I caught sight of the board behind me. That was when the name made sense to me. Edwin. It was the name of the man from Dalton’s. That was who the fortune-teller had been trying to tell me about. Why she hadn’t given me his name, I wasn’t sure, but I intended on finding him and confronting him about this now.

  Now that I had his name he wouldn’t be able to withhold the information any longer, right? It was odd that this had been right in front of my eyes the whole time, but I just hadn’t been able to put it together. How had she gotten the name backwards? Thank goodness I’d seen the reflection in the mirror or I would have never figured that out. I couldn’t wait to tell the guys when they got back. I had to admit I was pretty proud of myself for figuring this out. Though I supposed it was just good luck and there wasn’t much to be proud of. Nevertheless, I could still be excited. I put the mirror back in my purse and tapped my fingers against the table, impatiently waiting for the guys to return.