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  She certainly had a way with him. He turned around and walked inside.

  “Come on in,” he yelled.

  She smiled and motioned for me to go first. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to enter his place again, but I had to do it. The same as before, we sat around the dinged-up dining table. He sized me up with his beady eyes.

  “Rylie needs help and protection.” Natalie placed her hands on the table as if this was a board meeting and she was negotiating the terms for a major deal.

  “You gave me the wrong address for Sarah,” I said.

  He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair. “I can’t help it if Sarah moves around a lot. I gave you the address I had.”

  “You know there’s more to it than that.” I fixed my stare on him.

  “What do you want me to do?” He flashed a smile showing off a missing tooth.

  “She needs you to help her get rid of the witch.” Natalie answered for me.

  Roger scoffed. “Why should I do that?”

  “Because it’ll give you the power that you’ve been seeking. If you finally bring Sarah down because of this, then that’s all you need.”

  The wheels in his mind were moving, a good sign in my direction.

  “You see, Rylie has been cursed from birth. Her family has and it goes back to the witches. If you manage to stop that, then you’ll be the most powerful.”

  A small smile slid across his face and I knew then that we had him.

  He leaned forward in the chair. “All right, I’ll do it, but there are things that you will need.”

  “More shopping at Walmart for gifts?” I asked.

  He quirked an eyebrow. “These are things that we’ll need to cast the spell. You’ll need hair from each of the witches who are casting a spell against you.”

  “Oh, is that all?” I asked sarcastically. “Now how in the world am I going to find that?”

  He was the one going to get the credit for this powerful spell, yet I was the one going out and snatching witches bald. I was the one doing all the hard work, and then he would get the credit for it. That didn’t seem fair, although life wasn’t always fair. Nevertheless, I needed the witch out of my life and I really didn’t care who got the credit.

  “Take it or leave it,” he said.

  “How will I find hair from all of the witches?”

  “You’ll find a way,” he said.

  So right now I was on a scavenger hunt.

  Natalie stood from the table. “Well, I suppose we’d better get going, Rylie. We have a lot of work to do.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I said.

  Natalie and I left Roger at the table. At least he hadn’t followed us out with a gun. Once back in the car we sped down the driveway on a mission.

  “Don’t worry, it won’t be as hard as you think.” Natalie shifted gears.

  “I think it’ll be pretty dangerous. I mean, how will we get close enough to that witch to get hair?”

  “There are other ways. Maybe we can get it from her hairbrush.”

  “That’s gross,” I said.

  “Nonetheless, we need it,” Natalie said.

  “I think we should have some extra help,” I said.

  She glanced my way. “Who’s that?”

  “My best friend Jennifer. She’s not a witch. She’s not a werewolf. She’s just human, but she’s a lot of help. She’d do anything for me and I’d do anything for her.”

  Natalie focused on the road. “All right, tell me where to find her.”

  After giving her the address we soon arrived in front of the building. I’d already called Jennifer to warn her that I’d be picking her up, avoiding giving her the specifics. I didn’t want to get into that just yet. I needed to do that in person. That way she’d be less likely to say no. I knew I said she’d do anything for me, but Jennifer really did have her limits. I didn’t blame her for that. I didn’t want her to get hurt either.

  Jennifer hopped into the backseat with her giant black purse, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. It looked as if she knew we would find ourselves in a bit of trouble. I supposed she knew me well.

  “My name’s Jennifer,” she said. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Natalie said.

  She wasn’t exactly rude, but she wasn’t as bubbly as Jennifer.

  “So where do we go first?” I asked.

  “You pick. Which witch would you like to start with?” Natalie asked.

  “That’s a tough decision, but I’d say let’s go with Laurie first. She will be the easiest. We can get practice with her.”

  “Wait. Timeout.” Jennifer made a signal with her hands. “What exactly are we doing? This doesn’t sound right.”

  Chapter 24

  How to Date a Witch Rule #24

  Never break the circle

  “We can’t just go there without a plan. It has to be more than just going up to the door and asking for a strand of her hair,” I said.

  “What ideas do you have?” Natalie asked.

  “Well, we need her hairbrush, I guess, right? That would be in the bathroom, so we have to get in the house. We’ll have to go straight to the bathroom.”

  “Unless she keeps it somewhere else,” Jennifer said.

  “The only other place would be the bedroom, right? So we’ll split up. Natalie goes to the bedroom while Jennifer and I will go to the bathroom.”

  “I could just stay in the car.” Jennifer’s voice sounded not as bubbly.

  “Are you serious?” I looked at her in the rear-view mirror.

  Jennifer scoffed. “No, I’m not serious. I want to live dangerously and potentially get zapped by witchcraft.”

  I wasn’t positive, but I thought she was being facetious. We arrived at the house and parked in front. The three of us stared at it for a few moments, trying to get up enough nerve to get out of the car.

  “How do we get in?” I asked.

  “Since we don’t have a key, I guess we’ll have to break in.” Natalie grabbed the car door handle.

  “I really don’t want to go to jail,” Jennifer said.

  “Me neither,” I said.

  “The only other option is to knock on the door,” Natalie said.

  “I have an idea… Jennifer can knock on the door. Laurie doesn’t know Jennifer. She can talk to her, distract her while we go inside.” I sounded way more excited than I should be.

  “How do I distract her?” Jennifer asked.

  I tapped my index finger against my bottom lip. “Ask her if you can use the phone. Once you’re inside, make sure the door is unlocked, and we’ll come in after you. Keep her at the back of the house, away from the bathroom and the bedroom.”

  “Something tells me this will not work out,” Jennifer said.

  “Don’t have a negative attitude,” I said. “Think positive thoughts.”

  “Yeah, right,” Jennifer mumbled.

  We got out of the car and headed toward the house. I hoped that Laurie wasn’t looking out the window at us. Oddly though, when we reached the front door, it was open just slightly. It looked as if we would have a change of plans. Natalie inched the door open just a little bit more. She peeked inside.

  “What do you see?” I whispered.

  “There’s no one in there,” she said.

  “How do we know Laurie isn’t just in another room?”

  “I’ll call out to her,” Natalie said. “Hello? Is anyone home?”

  There was no answer. No sound or any movements. Jennifer stood behind me as if I was her shield.

  “We’ll have to take a chance and go in there,” Natalie said.

  She opened the door and inched inside. I grabbed Jennifer’s hand and pulled her along with me into the house. A long hallway stretched out in front of us, which I assumed led to the bathroom and the bedroom. We hurried down there, trying not to bump into a wall in the dimly lit space. I motioned to the left and Natalie went to the bedroom, while Jennifer and
I hurried to the right and into the bathroom.

  “I don’t see any brushes here. No hair,” Jennifer said. “She must have just cleaned.”

  “I hope Natalie is having better luck than we are,” I said.

  Just as we were about to leave, I noticed a basket sitting on the floor beside the sink. A brown brush peeked out from the top. I reached down and grabbed it. There was no way I was going to pull the hair off, so I just took the whole thing. Jennifer and I hurried back into the hallway. Natalie came out of the bedroom at the same time. I waved the brush.

  “Oh, good, you found it,” she said.

  No sooner had she finished her sentence when a noise came from somewhere in the house. It sounded like a door closing. We were in huge trouble now.

  “Where do we go?” Jennifer whispered.

  I was frozen on the spot. Wrapping my hand around the doorknob of the door across from us, I pushed it open. It looked as if it led to the basement. I motioned for everyone to follow me. My hand was barely visible in front of my face without turning on the light. If I turned on the light Laurie would know that someone was down there. Now we were stuck in this crazy place with no light.

  My eyes adjusted to the darkness slightly and I noticed shelves with supplies and a washer and dryer across from those. A window broke up the wall on the far wall, but it was covered, blocking any light. How long would we be stuck down here before we could get out of the house? I’d never liked basements. They were dark, dank, and creepy. Footsteps sounded across the floor above us. They stopped.

  I held my breath, wondering if Laurie knew we were down there. Maybe she had been waiting and knew we were there all along. Just then a click echoed and I was pretty sure it was the lock on the basement door. Now we were trapped down there. I felt like a caged animal and now I was having a panic attack. I raced back up the basement stairs and tried the door, but sure enough, it was locked.

  “Now what?” Jennifer asked. “I can’t breathe. I’m suffocating.”

  “Just calm down,” I said, taking her arms. “Look at me. We’ll be fine. We’ll get out of here.”

  I tried to calm her down, but who was going to calm me down? I scanned around the basement to see if there was anything that would be able to break the door down. Even if I found something it probably wouldn’t work. I looked back at the window. We had to get out of there through the window. Natalie must’ve been thinking the same thing.

  “Before we try something like that, let me cast a spell. Maybe I can get the door open with my witchcraft,” Natalie said.

  I’d thought about asking, but was her magic really that good? She chanted words and held her arms up, pointing toward the sky. She tried the door again, but just as before, when I tried the door was locked. Now we were back to the beginning.

  “Okay, so my spells aren’t perfect, and there might be some complexities to her witchcraft that I’m not aware of. I would need a bit to time to work it out.”

  “I don’t think we have a bit of time.” I rushed over to the wall with the window. “We need out now.”

  Sure, I was panicking, but I was trapped in the basement, so it was understandable, right?

  Natalie looked up at the window again. “I guess we’ll have to try the window. You’re the smallest, you can get through there.”

  “I’m not worried about getting through it. I’m worried about getting up to it,” I said.

  I was sure there was no way I could reach the window.

  “Well, none of us can, but that’s why we’ll hoist you up. Climb on that table over there.” Natalie pointed.

  The three of us moved the table over to the window. I stepped up on it, but still was unable to reach the window. Natalie climbed on the table. It wobbled under the weight of the two of us. She gave me a boost. After a couple tries, I reached the window, but it was locked as well.

  “It’s locked and now the hook is broken,” I said.

  I was feeling more panicked than ever.

  “Here, take this and break it.” Natalie handed me some kind of tool.

  I pulled back my arm and then smashed the tool against the window. Glass shattered and went everywhere. There was no way Laurie hadn’t heard that noise. I had to move quickly and get us out of there before she discovered what was going on. With the edge of my shirt wrapped around my hand, I pushed the glass out of the way and then pulled my body forward.

  Somehow I managed to pull myself out. When I got outside, I peered around. Luckily, neither Sarah nor the other witches were out there waiting for us. Now I had to get Natalie and Jennifer out of there. Jennifer came next, but how was Natalie going to get out if there was no one to hoist her? Of course she was taller. As I watched her jump up, I realized she hadn’t needed to help. It was a good thing she’d gone last.

  “Wait a minute. You said I was the only one who could fit,” I said.

  Natalie shrugged. “I figured you’d never make it if you went last. No offense.”

  Jennifer grabbed my hand. “No time for her to take offense now.”

  We took off running around the side of the house, then I froze. Jennifer and Natalie almost stumbled over me. Laurie was in the front yard. I knew that she was looking for us. We just needed to get to the car so we could get out of there. At least I still had the brush. Natalie picked up a rock and threw it, causing a distraction. That was when we took off running toward the car. I couldn’t look back to see if Laurie had noticed. I just had to make a run for it.

  The energy changed around me and I knew that Laurie had cast a spell on us. I managed to remain upright. When I looked over, Jennifer had tumbled to the ground. I reached down and pulled on her arm, helping her up. I didn’t have time to shift so I wouldn’t be able to fight Laurie right now. I just had to take cover as quickly as possible. Natalie turned around and looked right at Laurie. What was she going to do?

  Natalie reached up and cast a spell, waving her arms in the air, as if conducting music. It must have worked because Laurie let out a groan and stumbled backward, landing on her butt right there on the grass. She looked stunned that she’d actually been hit with something. I was glad to have Natalie on our side. Laurie hadn’t expected us to fight back.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Natalie yelled.

  We ran for the car, jumped in, and locked the doors. Natalie drove off in a hurry with squealing tires. The hairbrush was still in my hand. I was victorious, but that was only the first one. We still had a couple more to go. What if there were witches in on this whom I didn’t even know about? This could all be for nothing. I looked back to the rearview mirror. Laurie was still standing there dumbfounded.

  Natalie laughed. “Did you see the look on her face?”

  “Yeah, she was pretty stunned,” I said.

  “That was exhilarating,” Natalie said with a touch of excitement in her voice.

  “If you say so,” I said.

  I wasn’t so sure about exhilarating, but I was glad to have her with us.

  “Where to now?” Natalie asked.

  I wished the answer was home, but I knew we had to go to Gracie’s house. It wouldn’t be nearly as easy. This one had been far from simple. Nevertheless, we headed in that direction.

  “Are you all right back there, Jennifer?” I asked.

  “Just peachy,” she said with a shocked look on her face.

  Chapter 25

  How to Date a Witch Rule #25

  Never tell her you don’t believe in witchcraft

  Once at Gracie’s house I knew that I would have a fight on my hands. If she found out I was here she wouldn’t be nearly as calm as Laurie.

  “Now what?” Jennifer asked from the backseat. “Do we plan on doing the same thing with Gracie?”

  “I suppose that’s the only choice we have,” I said. “But just remember, if she gets too crazy we have to abandon this mission.”

  “I can handle her.” Natalie shut off the car.

  I wasn’t sure if she understood the amount of lunacy that c
ame from Gracie.

  Lily should have come with us for this mission. Maybe it wasn’t too late—I could call her. The thought had barely entered my mind when I noticed movement from Gracie’s house. When I looked over I spotted her.

  “Here she comes,” I said. “I wonder if she knows we’re out here.”

  We ducked down in the car just a bit so that we could still see her, but hopefully she wouldn’t notice us sitting there. Gracie came out carrying a duffel bag and wearing her yoga pants, sports bra, and sneakers. She hopped in her red Prius without looking over at us.

  “She’s going to the gym, right? We should follow her there,” Natalie said.

  “Absolutely.” I gestured ahead. “She had a duffel bag. I bet she had a hairbrush in there.”

  “I take a hairbrush with me to the gym,” Jennifer said.

  “Me too,” I said.

  Of course I had one with me everywhere I went. My hair needed it after I shifted. Once I shifted back, my hair was kind of a mess… but I digressed. Natalie started the car and pulled away from the curb. We fell in behind Gracie’s car.

  As far as I could tell Gracie had no idea that we were back there and I hoped it stayed that way. Gracie made the short drive, and then, as I suspected, she pulled into the gym’s parking lot. We followed along behind her, not close enough that she’d see us. Gracie parked her car in a spot up by the door and we wheeled in across the lot. Gracie got out and we hurried out of the car after her.

  “She’ll have to put the bag in the locker room, right?” I asked.

  “Knowing her she’ll keep it with her,” Jennifer said.

  “That’s true, but we have to give it a shot.”

  Gracie entered the gym and we went right behind her. As soon as we stepped into the lobby area, the woman working at the check-in desk noticed us.

  “She’s going to ask us for some sort of membership card,” I whispered. “We have to get out of here quickly.”

  I fell in behind a couple of people walking in at the same time as us. They gave me strange looks, but I just smiled in return. It looked as if the employee had lost track of us now. She was busy at the front desk talking to other members. We had successfully slipped in. However, we’d lost Gracie in the process.