Stuck with a Spell Read Online Free Page A

of the
light and plunged deep into the dark side of karmic
balance.
    “ That’s right. She’s also
known as Lady of the Shadows. You see, Santa Muerte and Louisiana
Voodoo are sort of related in that they both come from mixing
traditional religions with Catholicism in the New
World.”
    This was starting to sound more than a
little creepy. The queasiness I’d felt after hearing about Hank’s
choking incident was back wreaking havoc. I was beginning to wonder
if I should have ever opened up this can of twisted
worms.
    But, I was also relieved that I always
carried with me a small bottle of Holy Water. My psychic had
suggested I do so, and for this trip, it might come in
handy.
    “ I take it the darker parts
of the spells that you used to mess with Darryl and Hank come from
the Santa Muerte tradition?”
    “ Yes. Look, Samantha. I can
tell that this is making you uncomfortable, but you have to
remember that I never really wanted to hurt anyone, not even
Darryl.”
    “ I believe you, Liza. On the
Hank front. Not so much where Darryl’s concerned though.
Regardless, I’m just trying to understand what went wrong so we can
try to fix it.”
    “ Gotchya,” she
said.
    But her voice indicated she was way too
excited about all of this to be taking it anywhere close to as
serious as I was.
    “ So, anyway, before we
separated, I took some hair from Darryl. I just cut off a big wad
while he was sleeping. And that’s what I use on the dolls. I need
something that’s connected to a person in a significant way. It
could be a piece of clothing, a lock of hair or...”
    “ Or a wedding ring,” I
added, suddenly feeling my own throat constrict.
    “ That’s right. Speaking of
which, I think I know what might have gone wrong with Hank’s spell.
I put the ring around the doll’s neck, and I can only assume that
has something to do with why he ended up choking.”
    That was not exactly the breakthrough
I’d hoped for. Even I could figure out that’s why Hank damn near
choked to death.
    “ You didn’t think something
like that could happen?”
    “ To be honest, I thought he
might get a sore throat or something.”
    “ Well, he certainly has a
sore throat now.”
    I’d said it in a rather snotty way, and
probably shouldn’t have if I wanted to keep her on my good side.
But sometimes, I couldn’t contain my New York City snark,
especially when I was being pushed to the end of my
patience.
    Not that it mattered that I’d been
rather catty, because it appeared she’d missed my zinger
altogether. She had her head cocked to one side, listening intently
to something. And whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t me. After
a few moments, she nodded her head ever so slightly and then
refocused her attention on me.
    “ I’m sorry, Sam. She doesn’t
mean to interrupt. Now, what were you saying?”
    “ I said...” But now I
couldn’t remember what I’d said. “It was nothing. So, who were you
listening to instead of me?”
    “ Oh, it was just my
rhododendron reminding me that it’s time for her monthly watering.
The old gal’s gettin’ thirsty, and we can’t have her shrivelling
all up and wasting away. I mean, I’d feel just terrible if anything
ever happened to her. We go way back.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    “ Y our rhododendron?”
    Here I am trying to get to the bottom
of the fact that she damn near offed our exes, and she’d rather
talk to her plant?!
    “ Yeah. Right over there,”
Liza said, pointing to a bushy plant with purple flowers in the
corner of the room. “Actually, I’m surprised you didn’t hear her
too. After our talk at the lake house, I just assumed you also
communicated on a horticultural level.”
    Ah, yes. That. With all of the
confusion of the past few days, I’d all but forgotten about Liza’s
plant whispering.
    We still hadn’t spoken about the
talking bushes at the lake house, but now was not the
time.
    “ I’ll tell you what...how
‘bout we get your Voodoo spell issues resolved